(in which genkan pilots the fisherprice car)

They got me, man. I wiped out.

I woke up, and it was… evening. Yeah, our sleep patterns are fucked!

Me, Genkan, Ha-chan and Maria are just in a pile again. Genkan has me hugged close. Maria's wedged up against my back, trapped there by Ha-chan. There's a cover over us, but the chaotic forces of thought and nature have forced it to get bunched up, only covering our midsections.

We're all still clothed though, 'cause we considered passing out in the village on par with passing out in a dungeon or something. I'll be honest: everywhere's a dungeon! S'not gonna be until me and Genkan refurbish the cave that anything's gonna be comfy enough for me to truly loaf out in the nude.

...After a few drowsy moments, Genkan is awake too, watching me.

"Oou." I groaned.

"Nnmn." Genkan groaned back.

Wind howled. Oh…?

Y'know what, I give up. I buried my face in her chest and died.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO: MARIA'S PERSPECTIVE ====

Wh— where… am I? Oh. Up against Brad's back, somehow…

I yawned. What hour is it…?

When I sat up, I saw how Brad tried his hardest to wedge himself between Genkan, the bed and himself.

Drowsily, Genkan blinked up at me, looking peaceful.

It was… strangely ephemeral, everything being so cold but warm at the same time.

Looking down along all of our legs, I took in my stupid golden boots Brad got me. Combined with my snowflake shirt and outfit, I'm at least fully resistant to the cold…

We're all immune. We can literally sleep anywhere that's cold. What a thought.

If only moments like these could last forever.

Beautiful rainbow lights hung in the air around the village, visible through this guest room's windows, some light bleeding through the fair paper walls.

It was snowing. I could hear the wind sigh against the house.

Maybe Brad was right in going back to bed. ...No, I ought to get up. How long have we been out?

"Genkan… do you know how long we've been asleep?" She was awake, after all, so…

Her voice was quiet. "No idea."

I guess it's not important. Alright…

Now this feels like a holiday. These rainbow lights, this fleeting feeling of calm. Later I'll rub this in Genkan's face… but now's not the time. No, now's the time to… relax.

Wait… what? Ugh. I reached under me, and took out a fluffle that was tucked under my side.

"type two type b" What was it doing there? No, get, get. "nugge get get get" I threw the fluffle, and it spread its fins out to glide across the room.

...Spreading out on the bed, I wrap an arm around Hana, and another around Brad.

PATATATAT! A violent noise came from outside.

CRACK! Fzzt. What's going on out there? It sounded like something was getting destroyed.

"We killed it."

"Good riddance."

"Why is this happening now?"

Three monotone voices were heard, and lights flickered around near the door to the room. After another moment, they were gone.

...Once the commotion passed, the fluffle continued to make small noises by slamming its tub onto the floor repeatedly.

What was that about? ...It's probably not important.

I closed my eyes. I'll gladly return to sleep, if only to… feel as though I've captured this moment.

What is it I really want out of it, though? Something feels so close. Maybe this is just what being happy feels like…

Something's calling for me. Maybe I'm just restless. I spent a lot of New Years itself dead inside from a lack of energy. Now we're… well, is it still New Years? We picked a great day to totally screw up our sleep timing.

I have to ask Brad about this. I'm sure he's felt something similar. I have half a mind to think his questing for power and loot is just an excuse to see the sights. Not that I can blame him…

I yawned again. Oh, gods.

...So, I waited. It used to be slightly awkward, waiting in bed with everyone as the hours went by. Now it's just normal. It's still awkward, but… it's not uncomfortable.

The colors around the village, the cold, the void of black, it was all so nice.

I wanna sleep again. I wanna dream.

After who knows how long, Hana stirred. Wha— hey…

She climbed onto me. Smiling, she just flopped onto me and Brad, half of her on each of us, hugging on.

"Hehe…" Drool still crept from the right of her mouth. "Mwa." She— she kissed my cheek! "Mmm…" Leaning over to Brad, she gave him a peck too.

Giving into my spontaneous energy, and because she's Hana, I hugged onto her thin frame and buried my face in her chest.

You wanna know something? Genkan might be around a D-cup, but I'd say Hana's a B or C. More importantly, I'd say, is their frames. Hana is very skinny, with some curves. Genkan is… huh. I'm not sure how to put it. Womanly? They're both a different kind of balanced, I guess.

"Mmf." Hana's new kimono smelt like smoke. Weird.

One good thing about being extremely cold is that we all don't really smell. Even Brad. It's sweat that makes scent, but even when exerted, we don't really get warm, so we don't sweat. We just… get tired, and get better. It's weird.

If we were all heat resistant, would this be the same? Sweat's a process of maintaining the body's temperature and, in the case of exercise, expending the heat made by bodily reactions… so what if that didn't matter? We'd probably still be immune to sweating.

The only thing is, we could sweat with cold immunity… if we were in a very warm environment. It's just after New Years, so that's probably not going to happen.

"We should all bathe again." I quietly suggested it into Hana's kimono.

Genkan snorted. "...Perhaps. We do smell, somewhat…"

That's not why I suggested that. I suggested it because I was a pervert who wanted to rub Hana and Genkan's breasts again. I'm gonna be honest about it. I never got a close look at Brad either, but he's like… he just feels like he's Genkan's. You know? It'd just feel wrong. It feels wrong thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Genkan's boobs are a community resource. ...I'm not sure if I should hold onto that thought as a joke for later.

"Hey, Hana. Do you like boobs?" I'm in an awfully strange mood this morning.

"Whnn." Hana's still dead.

...I need to stop thinking about horny things. I'm in a pile with my friends. I just… ugh. I was on my own for a little yesterday, why couldn't I have just gotten it out of my system then!?

"That was an awfully Brad thing to say," Genkan suddenly accused me. "I see he doesn't even need to be awake to debuff the party's intelligence."

The worst part is that she's right. "It— it's nothing…"

"It was just so random, I had to tease you. What's up?"

"...Wha— what do you mean, what's up? Nothing's up."

"...Okay." Genkan just accepted that, and began to smile.

Brad rolled slightly, but Hana had him trapped. "I'm up…!"

"No you're not." Genkan clarified.

"What…! Woah— mmn." Brad was silenced. She hugged him tight, smothering him.

"I am sex." Hana declared. "Hear me roar…"

I could feel Brad's quiet chuckling through his back. Genkan smiled strangely, probably able to feel it in the core of her chest.

Oh, man. Now I'm actually… tired again.

Whatever, Brad's back will do. I curled up into my pillow, sort of nuzzling into Brad's back… but not too close, just in case he rolled over and accidentally smashed my face in. If only I had Genkan's presence, so I could just entirely encapsulate him and make him worried I'd roll over onto him.

...I say that, but I'm actually really comfortable with my body. I can't imagine being super tall. Like Brad. Compared to Gensokyo's normal sizes, he's a freak. And normally people's height is like, somewhat related to their power level— unless they're a freakishly powerful little girl like the earth goddess or that one oni. Or Marisa.

Hmm. Maybe height is more coincidental. Powerful people always just feel really tall though. It's probably because most of them float or can fly… that, and their big fluffy dresses.

It's still unbelievable that Hana doesn't know what sex is. I'm sure she's received an abstract on the whole thing, but freaking… come on.

"We're telling Hana what sex is," I decided.

Genkan gave me the flattest look. "...How?"

"I don't know. But I really want you guys to be more honest with her. She's been good to you both so far, right?"

...Genkan closed her eyes. "This is true, yes. What would you have me do? It's clear that she wants to have sex with Brad."

Oh. That's… I hadn't thought that far ahead. "I— I, uh…"

When Genkan opened her eyes, she stared into mine. "You hadn't really thought about it, have you?"

On one hand, sex is weird. On the other, sex is really weird. Logically, Brad should just teach Hana and get it over with. On the other, I'm not sure if it'd be that easy. Fairies have strangely large libido.

Maybe it couldn't hurt. I opened my mouth to say that.

"Maybe— I'll show her!"

...That seemed like a better way out in my head, I'll be honest. Oh my god. What did I just say. Oh, no.

Genkan hardly reacted. "Really…"

Screw it. I guess I'll just— stew in embarrassment forever. "Or maybe I don't know Brad could actually do something with her— but you're his boyfriend so it's your decision…" Inhale! "But I didn't want to say that 'cause it sounded wrong!"

"Mmm. It does sound wrong." Genkan sighed. "This party dynamic of ours… really is so confusing."

I should just shut up. The more I say, the more Genkan's going to think I'm weird. "I just… I don't know. Sex is and isn't a big deal."

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

Stretching my neck, I approached the door, making sure my outfit was on straight… yeah, it was.

It's night time now. I forgot that we fell asleep in the noon so now it's night. Yeah, we really screwed up our patterns. This is gonna be annoying when I wanna do things in the village.

"I need a brush." Genkan's hair was screwed up.

"I am a brush!" Brad woke up mid-way through the commotion.

...When no one said anything, I became curious. "Genkan, what if you brushed your hair with his hair?"

"We'd just shed on one another. A brush's strands are firm for a reason. Brad's messy hair is soft and fluffy. More suited to mop the floor with."

"Fluffle duster," Brad declared.

...Turning back, I saw the mess of blankets we'd left Hana in. Her face was still red, her cyan eyes pitched unevenly as she laid there love-drunk.

"Um… when you're all rested, you can find us, right?" I'll just say it outright: we taught her a thing or two. It was embarrassing. Brad woke up mid-way— or, wait, was he always up and I just forgot? Either way, it was a nightmare… for my nerves, at least.

"Hwaa. Ye— yeah…"

Cool. "We'll leave you here for now, then. We've gotta get moving."

"I'll… catch up." She closed her eyes. "I'm so warm…"

Taking a deep breath, I turned to the guys. "Alright. How about... we get a move-on?"

Brad and Genkan stared at me with equal innocence, but Brad looked displaced by the sheer hormonal chaos that just happened.

Me and Genkan— we helped Hana masturbate. Right there. Then and there. That's all I'll say. And personally, I'm still… pent up. But I'll get over it. I wonder how much that influenced Brad and Genkan...

Genkan agreed. "Let us wander about, aimlessly."

"Are we not gonna talk about that?" Brad wanted to talk about it!

"No." Genkan decided. "Or else Maria will explode." Thank you…

"But uh…!"

"If we aren't going to requite her desire to have sex with you, Brad, the least we can do is show her how to get it out at all, while we think about it. I hadn't known she just didn't know how to do that."

"Y'know, that kinda slipped my mind, yeah." Brad admitted. "S'probably not a bad idea… but the fact I rolled over and it was just happening right there…!"

Genkan actually kinda smirked at that. "Hey, hey. This party thing was your idea Brad. We're in these things together." Oh my god, the amount of sass. Genkan's surprisingly confident after all of that!

"Ha ha haanh~..." Brad whined affectionately. "Maaan."

Basically: we um, showed Hana how to do it at that moment because it really couldn't wait much longer. We could tell Hana was melting.

With that, we went outside, into the evening.

vzzt, vzzt. On the deck of the house, there was a… what the heck is that? It looks busted. It's fizzling, still smouldering.

"What…?" Brad gazed upon it with almost adoring incredulity. "Oh. How?"

"What is it?" I'm curious.

"It's a broken television! Aw…" He crouched before it, giving the side of it a tap. "It's freakin' full a' ice. I think a snow chick killed it."

The outside air is full of the rainbow lights that I'd seen drifting about from inside the house. They're just bright enough to pierce the paper shoji walls, creating this wonderfully cozy atmosphere. It feels stupid to just be like… "look at the pretty colors," but I mean… they're really pretty!

He stepped back from the television that was punctured through the center by a chair-sized spike. We followed him off the porch, into the dark central road.

No one was out… which was strange. It didn't seem yuki-onna obeyed human sleep cycles on their own, so I don't see why they were all away. Unless there's something I missed.

"Are they all asleep?" I wondered aloud.

Genkan shook her head. "No. They're… hiding?"

Oh no. "That… can't be good."

"Hooh." Brad scratched his head. "...Man. I dunno if it's 'cause it's still night, or whatever the hell you guys were doin' but I still feel kinda zoned out."

"With any luck, whatever's forced them into hiding isn't that scary." Genkan supposed. I hope she didn't jynx us.

However, before we could really go anywhere, some yuki-onna drifted up to us. And they were armed to the teeth.

"Ooh…" Brad made a noise, examining their armaments. "They're freakin' ready!"

They were three hime-cut girls, but they had facial masks with white X's painted on them. Like, the mouth-guarding kind. They had black kimonos, and they carried futuristic rifles.

"You three." The one in the lead came up to us. "Go home."

"What's going on?" Genkan decided to make peace with them.

"Don't you see the lights? The village is being threatened."

"Threatened?" Genkan's brows drifted up. "How so?"

FZSHHH! That's when something roared to life behind us!

KZZT! The black-clad yuki-onna held out a walkie-talkie. "We found one!"

"Oh, god!" Brad recognized our foe. "The television has come to life, before our very eyes…!"

FZSHHH. The floating television roared with static, hovering towards us menacingly.

KRING- KRING- KRING! Oh— it sent a cascading eruption of metal things from the floor at us! They were neon-red, reflective hexagonal signs, all reading "STOP" in capitalized English.

CHU CHU CHU! One of the yuki-onna unloaded her lunar plasma rifle at the thing.

KZZT! "Grenade." Another drew a wispy, blue object from her kimono pockets, tossing it at the television.

Genkan tried to approach, but Brad held her back. "Yo— don't get near the blue thing! S'boutta go off!"

"Oh?" Genkan stared intently.

The blue, fluttering wisp stuck to the television. In reality, it was a ball-like device emitting the wispy blue smoke. It seemed to be a fiery, almost plasma-like reaction once it really got going. It hadn't ignited until well after it left the snow woman's pocket. It must've gotten hot really fast!

And then— it went off.

KRRAAASH! The flash of blue and white from the plasma explosion was sheerly blinding. It was incredibly violent.

"Aa—" Genkan's voice vibrated and she planted herself on the ground. Even though the blast was many meters away, the wave of sheer heat from the detonation was alarming.

"...Holy shit." Brad beamed, beholding the violence.

The television was just a smoldering, flaming heap now. It was also many, many stories in the air, having been totally annihilated by the explosive.

KZZT. "We killed it." The yuki-onna spoke into her walkie-talkie. "No loss of life on our side. We used one of the plasma grenades. It favored a ground-based non-elemental attack. We cut it off before it could approach."

...When Genkan turned to her, she approached Genkan and gave her the lunar plasma rifle she had. "You will need this more than me. We have many to spare. Keep yourself safe, sister."

"Oh. Thank you…" Genkan gazed at the plasma rifle in slight befuddlement.

With that, the special operations yuki-onna accelerated off, going off the trail to scout around the village.

I sighed. "You know, it's always when we do something really close that something whacky like this happens immediately after."

BAAM! Oh! I jumped when the television wreckage landed behind us!

...We all watched it, as a fluffle came up to sit before the burning television, gazing on as it burned.

"Man, we gotta get some drinks. It's too early for this." Brad leisurely began to stroll towards some random buildings ahead of us. I don't know if he knew where he was going.

"I'm armed." Genkan hugged her new rifle with excitement. "I really want to practice my dance combat arts. It's been awhile since we've seriously fought something where it could apply."

"I still gotta work my water magic." I can't go back to Patchouli with insufficient data. "And…"

"That's it, son. We're gonna climb this igloo." Brad approached this cute-looking igloo on the other side of the road.

shoof. Rather incredibly, a fluffle raised its face from the snowy soil next to the igloo, looking absolutely blasted for no good reason.

"What..." Brad was in awe. Scooping it up, he brought it over to me. "Here, friend."

Huh? "I'm gonna blow you up." I don't want it.

...Against my better judgment, I held the incredible fluffle close. Smelled like it was digging in the dirt.

Brad climbed up onto the top of the igloo while I wasn't looking.

crunch. And, promptly, one of the ceiling bricks gave away. "Woah!" Brad descended inside.

"Hey…" Genkan drifted up over the igloo, worried. "Brad?"

"Aw!" Brad's voice came from inside. "Greetings, comrades!"

...Fwish! Fwish, fwish, fwish! After a delay, the yuki-onna inside the snow home began attacking him with ice.

"Aaaaa~!" Brad yelled unnecessarily, considering he was actively healing from it. "Aaa— aah, aaa~!"

I knocked on the front door, and the violence slowed.

shoof. A yuki-onna slid the wooden front door open. "Hello?"

"I'm here to trade." I held out the incredible but dirty fluffle.

She took it from me wordlessly. Brad shuffled out of their house, stopping next to me, his shoulders and hair covered in snow.

Shuft. Still quietly, she slid the door shut, glad to have solved the home invasion somehow.

"Y'know… I like when they just forgo words entirely and just attack you." Brad reflected on his actions.

Genkan snorted. "Sometimes we panic. Though, Brad, imagine this. You're minding your business during an invasion of your village, keeping safe, and then your roof silently gives away to a strange-looking man."

"...Y'got a point!" Brad admitted. "I'd probably attack on sight too!"

We returned to the road and walked in a big circle because this single road is only so big. No vendors were out, so we couldn't buy anything.

Brad walked into the center of town, looking stranded. "What. No. Come back…" He knelt on the ground, arms on his knees. "I've got a fluffle pet…"

Once he's done pretending to be dramatic, he activates his gravity boots and drifts into the air. "I'mma get a bird's eye view! Ooh!" Sometimes, I wonder what goes through his head.

...Promptly, he landed again, losing his balance because he deactivated his boots too early. "Wha— oof!"

"Brad, please." Genkan gave him a flat look. "Perhaps we should just get back in the car and drive it around. That was fun. It would kill time."

"I came back down— 'cause I spotted an attack! Like, this way!" Brad got up and immediately ran past some buildings. An attack…?

When me and Genkan slowly followed— oh, geez!

KRINGKRKRINGKRKRKRING! A roar of noise! It was the eruption of multiple sign-like objects from the floor ahead!

Fwi- Click! Summoning his dual dart gun hangers, Brad ascended into the air. "Yeehaw!" Oh, boy…

There were five levitating televisions approaching us.

"Hup— aah…" Genkan broke away from me, spun around and twirled into a handstand! "Yee— haw!" That's incredibly unfitting coming from her!

"Watera!" Thrusting Iron Lantern into the air, I watched the blue light flare from it as I cast.

Fwush, fwish, fwoosh. From the snow around me, clumps disintegrated into water, forming a crystalline, spiralling mass of wet around me.

FWLUP! Extending my staff, I aimed it at one of the televisions ahead of Genkan!

KERSPLASH! The massive glob of water enveloped a TV head-on.

ZAZAZAP- KABOOM! Oh my god! It exploded! Are they weak to water?

KRING! KRING! KRING! A wall of stop signs erupted towards Genkan from a different TV…!

"Huup!" Diving out of her handstand spin, Genkan spun around briefly to regain her sense of balance, before curling up into a ball and doing another. "Waaa~!"

WHAP! One of her feet hit the floating TV.

CRACK! The second strike hit the screen full of eyes and static, shattering it.

WHAPWHAPWHAPWHAP! The proceeding succession of rapid hits from Genkan's twirling handstand made the TV more and more depressed, until it flopped out of the air, into the snow.

"Yahoo!" Dropping onto her hips, Genkan spun the base of her spine into it.

CRACK- BOOM! Oh! It exploded!

Crunch! Genkan was sent hurtling through the air, landing in the snow next to me. "Aa— uu."

"...Blizzard." I pointed my staff at her casually, spraying frost onto her.

Fwoash! The ice magic rejuvenated her. Lifting her face up out of the snow, she snapped into her usual relaxed floating posture in record time. Glaring, she promptly accelerated at the television horde, not breaking her relaxed posture. Genkan, why?

KABOOM- BABOOM! KABOOM! Oh god— what's Brad doing? "Woohohoaah!" In the background, he's riding an exploding stack of televisions higher into the air, taking off into the midnight sky.

THOOM- CRUNCH! THOOM! Televisions rained down from the tiny mushroom cloud that was produced by all of them dying at the same time.

Only a few more televisions remained, but—

pzt- oom. They chose to shut down instead of keep fighting, embedding in the snow immediately beneath them.

...Descending from the air incredulously, Brad did circles around one of them, before landing and putting his hands on it. "Dude, free TV!" He tried to pick it up, but stalled. "Oh my god, it's heavy. Fuckin' old ass tube TVs."

Genkan approached cautiously. "How do you know it's not simply biding its time, waiting to strike?"

"Good question! I dunno, if it did strike, we could probably just kill it! S'a freakin TV! They're not actually that intimidating!"

"Are these things… normally aggressive, on the outside?" I was curious…

"No more aggressive than fuckin' ovens and toasters!" Brad looked somewhat set aside by all of this. "Why's the snow woman community literally under attack from televisions…!?"

Genkan had a theory. "Maybe my sisters angered them."

Brad's mouth hung open. "Aa— angered the TVs? Stole their TV children from their TV nest?"

Genkan furrowed her brows. "Is… is that how it works?"

Beaming wider, Brad held his own hair. "No~…! They're inanimate objects! Well— they're supposed to be!" ...After a quiet moment, he took out his bag. "Genkan, help me thieve this teevee. We're taking a prisoner. Maybe later we can like, interrogate it, or make a pet out of it, if it ever wakes up again."

Once they secured the wild television, I'd had enough of how much we just kind of wandered out here on auto-pilot. You know what? "Brad, I need to practice my water magic, so I'm just gonna shoot you with it."

Brad blinked. "Wait, what…!?"

"Waterra!" Raising my staff, I cast the spell.

Fwush, fwish, fwoosh. Once more, my liquid is derived from the previously frozen snow, creating a halo of water around myself.

SPLOOSH! Then, I shot it!

"Hooh!"Brad moved to get out of the way— but the glob tracked him.

KERSPLASH! Woah! When you're so close, you realize just how violent the impact is.

"Woohoohoohoo~!" Brad was sent hurtling meters away in a linear ray, before descending for the flank of a big tree. "Woah!"

He flipped around mid-flight, and used his gravity boots to brace the impact. Woah…

The buoyancy caused him to do an involuntary forward flip. When he righted himself, then landed, he stumbled back to me…

"Jesus…!" He held his now-soggy hair. "Y'freakin' dunked me!"

"Waterra!" I cast it again.

Fwi-Click! While my halo of water formed, he switched his equipment. Oh… it's those new gauntlets made out of those arch-fairies.

SPLOOSH! Once more, I sent the whirling glob of water at him. This is a really fun spell to cast!

He held the purple gauntlet named Nari up high, and once the water neared, he braced his arm against it.

Krack! Amazingly, a flash of white-purple light exploded from the impact. The water dispersed as a shockwave, some still brushing past Brad, but it hardly managed to touch him at all. Some of the clear drops rained down around us.

"Hehah!" He beamed at me, looking over his arm. It seems like he took a little force from the impact, but if his body could sustain it, it must've been very negligible. "...Hoh." It didn't seem like the attack charged his weapon with much energy either. It was just a rush of water.

I was curious. "Hey, Brad. How do you think that weapon works?"

He gave his best guess. "The orange arm parries physical attacks, and the purple one parries magic. They both charge independently, and uh… honestly I haven't really used 'em enough to find out what their benefits are!"

That's fair. "Let's find out, then. Fire!"

Fwoom! Abruptly, I shoot a ball of fire at him!

"Oh!"He brought his arm up to stop the impact.

Shing. A grating, duller metal sound was created, Nari absorbing the fire and creating a visible pulse of electrical, magnetic energy around Brad.

"...Huh." He gazed at it idly. That was less amazing than last time.

I had an idea. "Try it again, but defend yourself at the last possible second. Fire!"

Fwoom! Shooting another fireball from my staff's tip, I watched expectantly.

Brad inhaled, and lowered his arm. He flung Nari up to guard it as it raced towards his face.

Krack! This time when the fire was erased, brilliant sparks danced out from the impact, and the spell was all but erased, no shockwave residue to be seen.

...How strange. I don't have any really heavy-duty magic to use on him to test out if it does anything under high loads.

"Aw, dude." Brad held up a fluffle he just found, somehow. "I found a fluffle. It's incredible." Whaaat.

Genkan approached him innocently while he took in the fluffle's dusty scent. "You are literally sniffing dirt, dear boyfriend."

"It's incredible," Brad looked awed for some reason.

Genkan took it from him. "Incredibly bad. Here." She spun around, and chucked it!

"fly in our hearts forever free" The fluffle spread its fins out and glided up into the sky.

"The legendary sand bird is born!" Brad celebrated the take-off.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO: BRAD'S PERSPECTIVE ====

...How's the sun still not up yet? How fucked did we make our sleep schedules!?

CLACK, CLACK CLACK. Under the rainbow warning lights of the snow village under mild invasion, Genkan drove our toy-like ice car along the snowy plains outside the town.

Maria and Ha-chan zoned out in the back seat while Genkan drove, and I just kinda… looked around.

"Here I was hoping we'd at least get into more awkward confrontations with my people," Genkan reflected. "I suppose we'll have to make another return trip, some day. Though I cannot deny that the guest house is quite cozy. I can tell it never gets used."

Y'know, she's right. "Yeah, it's pretty good, actually." It's only got one room, but it's a nice room.

I dug through my inventory while Genkan drove around. Man, as always, I've got too much shit in here…

/!\ so i'm rewriting a section from here going forward because of some very technical inventory shit combined with pacing, antepiece logic (to foreshadow a future encounter) and combat logistics

CHUNK! Oh, woah. Genkan drove us onto a small ledge by accident.

"Oops." She realized what was about to happen.

Clunk. The icy slot-car spilled onto its side. We all slid out and onto the forest floor.

"Aah…" Maria landed on her back.

"Where'd ya learn to drive?" Despite my question's tone, I asked it entirely listlessly…!

Genkan rotated in the air to right herself, and began working to right the car. "I'll be more careful next time…"

"Hoh."

"Hey. You."

We all paused, hearin' a new, somewhat deep voice. Hooh, is it random encounter time?

A blue-haired bunny soldier strolled towards us, on the path just before the Scarlet Devil Mansion. He wore only a musty orange work jacket around his shoulders, leaving his abs exposed all the way down to his pants' belt buckle.

"Shimokoa." He spoke up, waltzing past me and Maria an' Hana, immediately movin' up to Genkan. "You owe me, bitch."

Genkan furrowed her brows. "I'm not her."

He marched up, grabbed her by the hems a' her kimono, and began pushing her away from the cart. Yo, hey!

I got up an' moved towards the guy— and he pulled out a fuckin' glock on me what the fuck!

PAP! He shot it! …Oh! I fell back onto my ass, a bullet hole through my shoulder. He shot me!?

"Blizzard!" Maria cast a basic ice spell on me on reflex upon seeing me take incredible damage.

He twisted to face Genkan again.

WHAM! Genkan immediately did an incredible backflip, kicking him in the jaw!

"Hugh—!" He flew way back, sailin' over me entirely! When he landed, Ha-chan came up and kicked 'em! "Ngh!"

"Maria, cast point lightning!" Genkan took charge and yelled a command.

"On it! Lightningbolt!" Maria held Iron Beacon up, and it flashed yellow.

KRING! While the guy was on the ground, his spine got fuckin' pulverized by an ice blade erupting from the soil! Holy shit!

KRAK- THWASH! Lightning struck him as he ascended, thrusting him back down into the icy blade.

He slid down the side of the blunt blade, a long red streak painted across it, his jacket now tattered and his abdomen ripped open.

He crawled, then leapt up off the ground, running into the nearby brush with crazy inhuman speed. Damn, that man got juggled!

Genkan sped up to me, got onto her knees, and hugged me. At the same time, she healed me by focusing her ice magic on me.

"Y'know…" I gasped and stood. "If I had that energy shield we picked up equipped— that wouldn't've been quite so bad!"

"...I hate this." Genkan was miffed. "I hate how this can just happen. Is this what we're doing now? Why are people trying to assassinate us?"

"S'a freakin' good question!" Sounded like… he mistook Genkan for her friend, for some damn reason. What the Shimokoa doin'? "Now I gotta get someone to pick this freakin' bullet outta my shoulder later. Where the hell did that guy come from?"

Maria sighed. "Where do any of them come from?"

"I assume we were followed," Genkan figured. "You'd think they would have been more combat-ready."

"We oughta find hiss ass and shake 'em down for crafting materials!" Haah… "Aah, whatever."

"Do you have any outfits that protect you from that sort of thing?" Genkan asked me. "Maybe you should consider wearing something more defensive, even if you'll be cold."

Hoh… she might be right.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

We approached the front gate a' the Scarlet Devil Mansion!

Genkan stepped forward first. She wore one of the renegade lunar jackets around her shoulders. Her midsection was exposed, her snowy abdomen on display. Her cow bra and skirt were plainly revealed to the world. She held the two massive cardboard fans dubbed Heavy Tanker. She also had on those Chinese martial shoes we got her too!

Maria had a crimson gown on, that Scarlet Event Dress we got. A black-crismon rose was fixed to her hair. A gorgeous ring of rubies, sapphires and topaz hung from her right ring finger. The Golden Treads were still on her feet too. Combined, she was still immune to ice! Those elementalist accessories really cover the bases too well! Oh, and she still wielded Iron Beacon.

Ha-chan hung behind Maria, ready to lift her. I left her in her kimono and ice crown, 'cause ideally she won't be taking hits.

Myself? I had the Lunar Jacket worn over my Camouflage Kimono, since it seems like the jacket's more of an accessory. Really I just need it for the energy shield! For my protection, I had the Yellow Racecar Helmet on, and still wore my Gravity Boots.

...Genkan turned to me. "You've entirely ruined our core sense of aesthetics. My advice was not an invitation to randomize our equipment."

"Somehow, having that jacket on over your half-naked outfit makes it even hotter," I've got to admit!

"Somehow that helmet makes you look even more stupid."

"I somehow came out looking cool…" Maria liked her new rich red-and-black aesthetic! "I kinda feel like Remilia in this stuff."

…Aw, speakin' of, Remilia's just out here at the front gate.

I gave her a wave! "Yo ho ho. What happened t'Meiling? Y'eat her? She sick?"

Remi laughed! "Haha. No. I was just bored. I was hoping you'd get into a bigger fight with that lunar mercenary following you. But, it's not like them to fight on their own, so the outcome was to be expected."

Hooh. "Ya were watching?"

"I heard it, yes. Wouldn't say I watched it." Remi paused, staring up at the sky. It's starting to dawn on navy-blue, stars just beginning to obscure. "Shame you had to get here so late… as if my sleeping patterns for the past few months have not been strange."

"Hoh."

"By the way…" Remi set her sights on Maria with a warm smile. "Good taste. I forget if I gave those to you or if you just stole them from a box somewhere. Either way, black and red is quite an old aesthetic for me. Keep it."

Maria blinked twice. "...Um, thanks, I think."

"Royalty is befitting of a woman like you." Remilia stretched! "Mmn. But I'm sure you didn't need my confirmation. You're a queen in your mind, aren't you?"

Maria swallowed, looking mildly called-out! "Mmh…"

She gestured to the already open gate. "Go ahead. If I need to, I'll catch up. I'm not feeling particularly social at the moment."

Hoh? "What, are you sick…!?"

She shook her head! "No, fool. I just want to take in the atmosphere. Normally, not a soul would approach the gate at evening with myself standing guard. Meiling's the one everything wants to pick a fight with. It's all about the rush of the infiltration, you know? Seeing me out on the lawn kills the fun of getting to me for a lot of people."

Genkan piped up! "Why would things wish to attack the mansion?"

"Well…" Remilia winked one eye shut. "Imagine being a strapping young beast, seeing my visage through the window, and seeing all of my ironclad defenses. Captivated by my beauty, in a passionate frenzy, they throw themselves at the walls, all for a chance to lay their claws on my skin, to run their tongue across these delicate, doll-like features of mine."

"Aw, shut up!" Meiling showed up, kinda just strollin' on out here! She had a cup a' what was probably tea, and for some reason, a surprisingly casual outfit! "If y'wanna write a play, go write it."

"You're on break. Shoo." Remilia fanned her off!

"Thought I heard a gunshot."

"That was just the fun gang being themselves." The fun gang…!? Aw! "Which reminds me: we had a rabbit problem, just a moment ago. Quite inconvenient. Gave dear Maria here a case of the sniffles. Brad may as well have caught hay fever."

"...You've been talkin' to yourself a bunch again, haven't you?" Meiling figured!

Remilia looked caught off-guard! "Why, I—"

"You're really not that different from yer sister, y'know."

Deciding not to bother responding, Remi put her arms on her hips, lookin' pouty!

"Anyway…" Meiling looked on at me! "You been keepin' together?"

I held my arms out, "I got shot."

Meiling nodded idly. "That sucks. I'd teach you something to deal with that, but like… guy, you've got the physique of a vampire, and none of the magic powers. And you ain't a magician. Even them old martial arts masters you meet now and again, they're kinda ripped. You gotta grind, man."

"Hooh. Yeah, I figure I've been lookin' at this whole training thing all wrong. Still, I figure knowing a thing or two about how weapons are really used might be more up my alley. I ain't gonna be a martial arts master in a million years, but I can at least learn about the right way to think with various weapons, right?"

That got her attention. "Well, I'm just sayin', there's no downsides to good health. Lady Patchouli puts in double-time to make sure her magic makes up for her lack of strength, but ideally, she'd be fightin' with someone else to support them. S'why she's got her familiar. She knows better than to fight totally alone. That said, you're already movin' around all the time as it is, so your heart and legs probably ain't half bad. I'm sure you've gotten a little stronger since when you first showed up."

Genkan spoke up! "He also never eats."

Meiling smiled wider. "You also wanna start eating! I'm only a half-dragon myself, see, so I still gotta eat pretty good. Bein' youkai only goes so far."

Does it really? I'm sure being youkai removes some context from the act of maintaining a physique and the discipline therein, but… I dunno passive regen sounds pretty damn good for exercise too! Literally makes things less painful!

"Anyway, come on. Let's get you guys some tea." Her beckoning made Maria and Ha-chan perk up!

Remilia stayed behind, watching us go on.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

We're all seated at chairs in the dining room, pulled up to one a' the big windows. The sun continued to rise in the background. A dim cold world cracking with dawn's gold rays!

Meiling sipped her tea, sitting up in her wood chair with apparent vigor. The white winter light began to bloom on the world, at first golden as it came over the horizon. I saw how it met her eyes.

Genkan, comparatively, wasn't at quite the same angle, chilling out to her right. Despite being so close, it was almost as if she was in a dark shade.

Examining that made me become aware of the other party member's seats and my own, none positioned in quite the sweet spot as Meiling's. Things must feel pretty damn comfy where she's sittin'... but she might not realize how her spot looks from the inside. Only other people are privy to the framing!

I looked to the left, seeing the other window's edge before me. Perhaps my seat has a certain look to it too that I'll hafta survey when I get up later.

"Well…" Meiling felt at the back of her neck. "You can come by to practice whenever you feel like. I'll keep some trainin' weapons ready. And this time, it'll be less about me usin' 'em on you, and more about you usin' 'em with me."

I wonder if that'll be something worth being on-screen… but either way, it'll be nice to do. "Hoh. Yeah."

"Y'know…" Meiling smirked at Genkan. "That punk look's actually great on her. The moody bangs go well with the open jacket."

Genkan folded her legs, inadvertently showing off her chinese shoes. She opened her mouth—

"But the chinese shoes do not fit. Not at all. She needs boots for the tough girl outfit. I wonder if we got some around..."

After her first attempt at speaking was deflected, Genkan looked at me in worry! "Brad, what have you done to me?"

"I have filled you with the power of mean girls." Yeah man! "And Meiling's right, we need to get you boots."

"Why?" Genkan's protest is innocent and adorable.

"We gotta turn you into a Final Fantasy character!"

It has occurred to me that many of the times I've described Genkan as "gentle," it's when her innocence contrasts with her aura of pride or intellect. Although sometimes she's gentle and soft without any strings attached.

Maria spoke up! "Heey. While we're here, maybe we should use their washrooms and do a little laundry…"

Meiling perked up at that. "The laundromat's at the other entire end a' the mansion from the baths."

Maria smiled wider! "Okay but why...?"

"No idea!" Meiling beamed! "I think Sakuya's just screwin' with us."

"That I am." Sakuya was there, standing behind Genkan!

"D'you just like seein' everyone run around in their skivvies?" Meiling asked her outright! "Not like it's that bad of a walk, but still."

So yeah, we just kinda chillin'. Man, this place really is huge. Getting to the baths would take a linebreak, moving the laundry would take a year…

This is cozy, though... and I could tell by the ease on Genkan's face, a quiet version of the mansion's aesthetic was what she was lookin' for. Not like the crazy party we got thrown into the other day. I know people like faces, but man, it's total chaos! Enough to overwhelm me, even!

Genkan had a similar train of thought. "When will the next party be?"

Meiling snorted. "Pfh, I dunno. Last one literally just happened. Why, you still in the festive mood?"

"...I suppose so."

"You after the energy of it all? Or…" Meiling looked unsure how to word it. "Hmm."

"I'm not sure. It just… makes me feel at peace, weirdly."

Soon, pure golden light peered through the window from the morning sun. Everyone became quiet, innocently humbled by the gentle rays. The soft silence made everyone seem very cute!

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

The baths. We're all fuckin' washed up. Oh god.

My arms on my hips, I beheld the giant stone yukkuri Remilia faucet, which was dispensing vampire-friendly water onto the big indoor spring. Fuckin' gluten-free water! Dude, I never knew vampires were allergic to gluten so badly they'd fuckin' explode.

Like last time, the washroom was lit up with golden lights from beneath the water and from the air above us. It was really nice, 'specially with how warm everything was. The ivory tiles and monochrome tint to everything made it just look supremely healing.

There were already some freakin' noobs in the bath ahead of us.

Splasplasplasplash! Koi fumbled towards me in the water, eyes alight with excitement.

Genkan grabbed her by the hips and slowly brought her back. When she let Koi go, she continued to splash towards me, only for Genkan to catch up to her and bring her back again.

...When I turned around, Maria was claiming some of the bath water with a freakin' science beaker.

"You're right," I told her, both of us naked and completely not giving a shit. "We should purify this water to make gelatin."

Maria pursed her lips, then gazed upon the slightly tinted water. "You know, now I'm curious."

"I'm curious too— where'd you get that freakin' beaker from!?"

"Somewhere." Doh! "I bought it in the village. Anyway…"

Fwish! With a flash of some kind of magic, the water inside was gone. A purified, purple-black substance rolled around like soap at the bottom of the beaker. Weird, shifting, oval-like apparitions were seen in the dark ecclesia, as if it were far deeper and vast than it really was.

"Oh." What the fuck is that. "What is that?"

"Probably the unholy treatment to make the bathwater good for Remilia. It probably also empowers youkai. I'm wondering if we can steal some…"

That's the spirit! "Probably!"

...When I look to my left in the water again, instead of Koi and Genkan having their wacky race, Ha-chan is hiding in the water like a sea monster, ready to strike me.

"If we collect a lot of this stuff, we can probably do something dumb." With that, she began looking for Genkan! "I bet Genkan can help make more containers for it."

I like how last time we were here was infinite sexual tension, but now we're just chillin'. I totally missed this fuckin' yukkuri Remilia faucet the first time.

"Hey, Brad-kun…" Ha-chan slowly ascended from the water next to me! "Can I… wash you?" That's when I was reminded of the last time she requested. The one where I flooded fuckin' buddhist bath house and knocked Stormy the fuck out…!

I'm not sure what to say either! I panned my gaze to Genkan.

Koi was trying to do her hair into pigtails. Unlike Koi, Genkan had a lot more hair overall. I've never seen that fairy without her pigtails, now that I think of it.

I shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

Fwish. In the background, Maria obtained an armful of ice beakers. They were too much to carry, so she dropped them into the warm water, and they began melting instantly! "Genkaaan..."

"Oops." Genkan stared plainly into the water.

Since I said nothing, Ha-chan slipped behind me and began scrubbing my back! "I'll just— start here…"

It did feel good, although it was strange since I was just standin' here in waist deep water and shit was just happenin' to me. "Maybe we should sit at one of the stools!"

Y'know, some would say it's a bad idea for these marble stools to be in the spring pool, because you could fall and hit your head on them. They'd probably be right! But then I kinda remembered: these bathrooms are for fairies and vampires, both of whom aren't really concerned with cranial damage.

In a different timeline, maybe I'd be philosophizing over how inadvertently hostile magical girl architecture was to the average human. I just took it for granted myself 'cause I'm a freak like that. But I can only imagine someone like my dad bein' here and having all his paranoia warranted by how negligent all the architecture was. S'like being a regular human is to be disabled here!

...After a quiet moment of my back getting scrubbed by Ha-chan, Genkan came up to me. "The fairy forgot my hair was wet, so her hair style wouldn't work."

Oh, right. "Aw yeah. You're probably gonna have to do that while we're all awkwardly standing naked at the laundry area."

Maria comes up to us again, putting a cork on the top a' the beaker of magic pool miasma. "Good enough. Now..." Panning her gaze between me, Ha-chan, and Genkan, she pursed her lips. "For some reason, the energy of this moment is entirely different than I thought it'd be."

Genkan smiled. "What did you expect?"

"Sexual tension." Maria stared straight at my crotch, hung her gaze there, then unceremoniously went back to screwing with her ice beaker water purification science experiment.

Genkan was indifferent. "It's not getting any weirder than it's already gotten. That was a few days ago. This is now. Say… why don't you scrub Brad? I don't think you've ever lusted after him."

Maria snorted. "I'd rather wash you."

"Why not Brad?"

Maria's face began to redden. "You're… really pretty."

"I think Brad's pretty."

"Like heck he is. He's a guy, but guys aren't pretty."

Genkan snorted. "Guys can be pretty. I suppose he isn't pretty, but that's fine. I'll tell you what, Maria. If you're in the mood, why don't you wash all of us?"

"...You know what? Fine." Maria agreed to the incredible pact! "I'm saving you for last. Brad, get over here. I'm gonna get you over with."

Koi raised from the water behind her! "Can I join!?"

Genkan gave her a flat look. "We will beat you to death."

Koi looked mortified! "Wha— what? What'd I do…!?"

"My. You four are truly something else."

We all look at Remilia, who is just in the bath spring now too, with a towel around herself! Here I thought I'd only meet fairies." It took me a hot minute to remember that she can just feel our pulses from anywhere in the mansion, so she always knew we were in here. She chose to come in here! She came up to the water stool we were sat at, and just kinda took a nice sit. "You four do know we have towels, right?"

"You do?" Maria hadn't seen them… and I didn't either!

"Yes. You all didn't have to go commando." Remilia scanned me. "...If I remember right, last time you were all here, you got rather naughty. Not this time?"

"It's impolite to stare, son." Why's Remilia just starin' me down…!?

"Oh? Why not? You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Splash. Genkan plainly splashed her! "Stop trying to tease my boyfriend."

Remilia didn't flinch, just letting the water hit her eyes and face without caring. "Don't think I don't see his eyes. That said, teasing him is my last concern. I was thinking of something embarrassing to ask Maria there."

Maria smiled pensively! "Don't?"

"Oh! I know. Maria, would you say you're into men or women? Or both?"

"I'm into shutting you up."

"Fufufu." Remilia liked that! "I'll take that as a both."

"I didn't think you'd choose to kill time by flirting with us," Genkan gave her a plain stare. "Do you have nothing better to do?"

"...Frankly, not really." Remilia stared into the water. "I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. Get some socializing in, take my bath at the same time. That, and, this was so excruciatingly not awkward, I just had to do something."

"Scrub Brad," Maria decided!

"Do not scrub Brad," Genkan had a conflicting idea!

"How about me!?" Koi came up to Remilia! "Hey, mistress! Lemme wash you!"

"Who the hell are you?" Remilia was surprised by her! "No, get back. Get back—"

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

We have finished our laundry, and now we are here!

"Clean me, clean clothes…" Maria let out an easy breath. "This really makes me wish the village had more water to go around." Oh, right, the village is an eighteenth world country.

"Hooh. I keep forgettin' that the village is just that bad. Plumbing's like, kind of an important part a' society!"

"Is it?" Genkan didn't believe me! "...I say that, but my species is immune to the need to defecate."

That really do be something. Part of why youkai are allowed to be such characters is 'cause they literally don't have certain needs. Their existence is often a freakin' metaphysical tradeoff or some kind of abomination of physics, but they don't gotta eat, shit, or drink in the same way I've gotta. S'probably a real game-changer. No interruptions, no tax from biology, none of that.

Not like I've let that stop me! But man, getting other people to get over these things… I can't imagine. I'm really glad I only gotta deal with Genkan and Maria and Ha-chan!

"So, where are we heading?" Genkan realized we were wandering into a big cold dark hallway.

"Ah. To the clocktower."

"That's a strange place for us to head after bathing. I kind of want to cozy up in a nice warm room with a fireplace. Maybe take a nap…"

"We didn't even wake up that long ago," Maria chastised her! "We're gonna become lumps if we keep going to bed a whole bunch."

Genkan snorted. "I guess. You know me. My natural inclination is sleep."

We approached the mirror room, inside the great Scarlet clocktower. And— oh, right. I should mention this! Genkan actually had her hair done up in pig-tails!

Koi used freakin' shurikens as pins to put Genkan's hair through. Ultimately, since Genkan had super straight hair, she ended up with two massive thin pigtails that curved out and down towards her hips. Otherwise, she was still in her punk-like getup of boots, a loosely-worn jacket and the cow bra-skirt combo.

"We need to get you a maid outfit," I reflected.

"Why are you trying to make me look cute?" Genkan wondered! "I don't do cute. ...I don't do many things, but I especially don't do cute."

Maria felt at her scarlet dress, and at the rose in her hair. "This dress makes me feel sexy. I'm not sure if I really do sexy, personally."

Ha-chan felt at her kimono! "This makes me feel warm!"

As we continued town the dimly-lit, vacant-of-fairies hall, we kept on our way to the grand clocktower.

Then, we came up to a fuckin'... stock plant hanger just drifting in the air, rotating around. "Wat."

"Hmm?" Genkan took in the hanger. "What's this?"

"It's a plant hanger, just floating there." Maria announced! "...It's not magical or anything. It's just a normal one."

I accepted the stock hanger regardless, putting it in my bag. "Weird! Maybe it's a sign…!"

Maria snorted. "Of what?"

"A sign of fluffles. Yeah I dunno."

We slowed when we came onto another thing. It was a wooden staff, just floating there.

Maria took out her classic wooden staff. "...Um?"

We left it behind because it was apparently kinda useless as far as stock weapons go. Then, we came up to…

An icy shotgun— like the makeshift kind Genkan makes, it wasn't precious or anything, a NERF Maverick, and a taser, all just drifting in the air, rotating around…

I realized these were like, weapon drops. Like we were in a boomer shooter! ...I did take that extra Maverick though, that'll be useful later! Now I got fuckin' three. Yeah man, keep 'em comin'!

"Um?" Genkan was creeped out! "Why?"

Some distance forward, as the corridor grew dimmer, there was...

Woah. There's a Themier lancerocket launcher thing here!? "Dude, Genkan, they left you another rocket launcher! Now you can dual wield!"

"As if…" Genkan was not in the mood to dual-wield!

Beside it was a… stock greathanger? Huh. It's a greathanger-sized plant hanger, cast-iron, but it seems to be a totally normal one. Yeah, that totally pairs up to a fucking anti-armor launcher. Genkan gets a fuckin' DOOM loadout and I get a shoehorn and a big club!

Maria was given a second version of her ice staff, since it was her second weapon she ever got. She shoved it into her backpack unceremoniously.

We came up further up the hallway. There were three ornate bottles just drifting in the air there.

"Oh my god!" Maria was awed! "Elixirs!"

"It's time to never use them." We will store them in a box under Genkan's bed and they will go unused.

"What? Well, yeah, selling them might be a good idea…" Maria does not know the meme. "But we should keep them handy! They're… uuh. I don't know if they're human-grade, but considering everything else here's tailored for us..."

"Worst comes to worst, I will drink them all," Genkan announced for some reason! "...It would probably be for the best if we could avoid drinking them at all. Strange as it sounds, I think Brad was correct."

Maria furrowed her brows. "He used his sarcastic tone, though…"

I had to clarify now…! "On the outside world, elixirs are a sorta artistic idea in uh, some interactive video games. It's kind of a running joke for people to get a lot of them and not use them, and then once the game's over they end up not having a reason to use them ever."

"Elixirs are a concept on the outside?" Genkan was confused! "How is this?"

"We made it up, or so we thought. Someone probably remembered what they were and just decided to pretend they were fake, and everyone else ran with it."

"Ah."

We abruptly came up to the hallways's end, like it just popped up from the shadows before us. The door frame looked strange.

We step through the window-like door, entering a huge, dark room that I recognize as the clocktower interior…

"So… what was the deal?" Maria was still confused! "Why'd we just get stuff?"

"Someone left it here for us… presumably." I think I know who, but I won't say. This must be Yukari's veiled warning from her to me… or perhaps a sort of "good luck" greeting.

"Maybe we should be careful." Genkan was wise, dude. "Actually… why are we here, Brad? I get this feeling you brought us here for a specific reason."

"Nope!" Tellin' 'em about Yukari's bullshit would raise some unneeded questions. Taking a pause, I looked behind us.

Instead of a strangely window-like doorframe, there was just a mirror behind us. Hooh…

Before us, there were two more mirrors.

An' there was Maribel. Maribel gasped, turning to face us.

Genkan, Maria and Ha-chan all paused, slightly shocked to see 'er.

"You…" She swallowed. "You're not supposed to be here. Where did you come from?"

"Home." I smiled warmly.

"Crap…" Merry snapped her fingers, opened a gap, and fucked right off. Hoh, damn.

"Hey, wait!" I called out t'her! "What were ya doin'!?" She was already gone, though. Damn.

Both the room's mirrors shimmered.

Brittany emerged from the rightmost one, floating in the air with fairy wings, and her fairy posse was soon to follow. Her versions of Koi, Komi and Namori flew out after her.

From the leftmost mirror, someone trotted out with clicky shoes and a dour glare. They were me, again! Just uh… they wore a black suit, with a red tie.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

END OF CHAPTER 158

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

a SMALL, TINY chapter that does a lot of things!

the main utility of this chapter was to show the growth between brad and his party very concretely; additionally, finally, brad gets over some of the goals he's stuck on, finding the true answers through subverting his previous attempts

he's solidified the premise between him and genkan's love, admitting some of the conditions while also being down for the unconditional parts.

he's solidified his approach to power: in that he doesn't have to be that powerful as long as he can put himself in the right place

and, after all of that and all of the bonding, brad faces the confident face of someone who'd gone down a very tangential path: himself, the fairy lover, fairy pet and fairy warrior, child of nature, self-proclaimed wisdom wizard, a half-earned title given by those too biased and simple to properly judge. someone obsessed with the idea of approaching wisdom, who has naturally been granted confidence and power, yet still unable to truly get there, caught in her obligations, tripping on her(?) own power and the power of those who sometimes think for her.

friendship and social interaction is a hell of a drug, but too much of anything's a bad thing. brittany's friends give her power, but…

also this chapter had me go back and actually take survey of my inventory! and, man oh man, there's a lot of shit in it! next chapter has the TRUE (sans some mistakes probably) INVENTORY REPORT son

hoh hoh…

anyway i'm kinda up against the anniversary deadline so i gotta get going! i'll see you at the finish line

as always, see you all next time!