Message to reviewers:

Omega11: Oh my bad, I meant to put up the sauce for the smooth jazz in the previous chapter. The name of the songs are "This Masquerade" by Mark Maxwell, all the songs from the album "Ain't No Mountain High Enough",everything in the album "東方ふゅーじょんdemo+４ & 幻視の夜～GhostlyEyes～" aka Touhou Fusion demo+４ & Night Vision ～GhostlyEyes～ from UI-70, and this song here: (watch?v=FbkgV8IpAEo).

For that last song, please don't google search the name of the game; it's NSFW, I just like the song, it's incredibly catchy. No, I'm not a pervert, if anything Youtube is the pervert here for recommending me that song. It's strange, usually doujin music appears on my recommendations, but never games that one. It's safe to say that Youtube and Google will recommend you lewd things if you watch too much anime, waifu games, and touhou stuff there.

Nefer: Let's not put too much thought on that scene. I surprised myself sometimes. :D

Chapter 4

A gentle breeze smack my face and I woke up in the office, a mess load of notes on my head immediately slid off. I looked at my smartphone; it's 5AM or roughly 2 hours before school begins here. My vision has definitely improved, but not by a whole lot.

A voice rang out, "Good morning."

I look in that direction and saw Keine; she was clearer now and that caused my eyes widened, "I see barely see you now!" I said in a excited voice.

The teacher said in a confused voice, "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, it's a good thing, before that I can barely see you when I was right in your face. Now I can barely see you when I'm almost 2 feet away." I said in excitement, "Good god, Yukari was telling the truth."

I can barely make out her smile when I continued, "By the way, remind me to not talk about history with you, we basically spoke until I collapsed."

"It's a shame that we didn't talk about anything else about Gensokyo" I thought.

Keine laughed nervously, "Sorry, sorry, but no one here is interested in history except for you." she walked over to the opened window, "It appears that we weren't alone that night."

I walked over and look down, "Who is it? I can't see."

A familiar voice from a reporter was heard, "Ayayaya, you guys are probably Gensokyo's most boring couple. I came here late at night hoping to get some hot steamy events for my paper and what I get? A lecture on late 19th century to early 1950s Japan!"

I shrugged, "Well excuse me for not having a teacher fetish, plus couples do not talk about history."

Aya jumped into the window and was now in my face, "That reminds me, we need to do an interview!" a question mark appeared above her head and she rushed up to my face, "And where are your glasses? You look very dead."

I can observe the dark spots under her eyelids; she was definitely up all night trying to dig some dirt on us. I replied in sarcasm, "Gee, thanks for the compliment. It's my latest tactic to fool humans and youkai into believing that I am an undead zombie."

The tengu added in, "My most popular article was about Reimu being an undead zombie!" I can feel her gaze upon me as she spoke, "Hmm, aside from the eyes, your skin is way too tanned to look like a zombie."

"I blame California weather." I replied back with memories of how shocked Japanese students studying aboard were when they met Japanese Americans with much darker skin because of West Coast weather.

"Ahem!" the sound of someone clearing her throat stopped us, it was Keine, "Joking aside, Yukari stole his glasses."

Aya stepped back, pulled out a notepad, and scribbled things down, "Interesting, that makes two people with missing glasses."

"Really? Who is the other one?" Asked Keine.

Aya closed her notepad, "Mamizou Futatsuiwa, I have to admit, it was funny to watch her accidentally knocking Byakuren's motorcycle over and making her cry."

I nodded, "I don't blame her for crying; knocking someone's motorcycle is a big no-no."

Aya hovered towards the windowsill and sat on it, "Oh and Nelson, I'm cancelling the interview until you can see again. I'll be back in a jiffy, a blind person like you needs a guide wolf!"

"Wait, but I'-" Aya disappeared in a flash and caused a bunch of papers to scatter, "not blind..."

I look back at Keine and asked, "Guide wolf?"

The school teacher shrugged.

"Well I'm heading out to do my usually routine." I said as I leave the building. The usual routine is basically just a morning shower and breakfast, aka what any sane person would do to be clean.

Bam!

I fell back on the ground because I walked into the wall. I heard Keine quietly holding her laughter, "I'll walk you out."

We made it to the entrance of the school, "Thank god" I thought.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in front of us, I felt Keine letting go of my hand and yelling, "Aya, are you trying to use the wind to lift my skirt?!"

"Ayayaya, I don't know what you're saying, I'm just an innocent tengu!" I felt Aya's footsteps getting closer, she grabbed my hand and made me hold on to a leash, "I present to you, Momiji, your new guide wolf tengu!"

I heard Keine sighing, "Aya, the villagers are looking at us."

A new voice was heard, "This isn't funny Aya, I know I lost that spell card battle, but this isn't fair!" The female voice sounded very angry with a hint of annoyance and sadness.

"Ah I know, but-" Aya patted me on the shoulder, "the rest is up to your new master, will you end up like those 18+ doujins from the outside world or not?"

"Ayayayayaya!" Her laughter was heard as she flew off.

"Did she just used her name as laughter?" I asked in astonishment.

Keine did a facepalm, "Nelson, don't even ask."

I look at my leash and back towards the wolf tengu girl, "Umm hi."

I swear I just thought I heard a whimper as the girl spoke, "Please don't do those things in the doujins." Judging by the way she sounded, if I had my glasses on, I am 100% sure that I would have died from moe.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, "Keine, can you untie the leash? Normally I would do this, but I can't see and I might touch somewhere..." there was a brief pause, "sensitive."

Keine untied Momiji and said, "It sounds like you had experienced something like this."

"Oh boy, don't remind me, I blame Yukari for that." I held out my hand, "Now that you're free, I'm Nelson Tristan Ryugu. What's yours?"

Momiji looked at my hand and bowed, "Momiji Inubashiri, thank you for that." I put my hand back and copied her bow. I felt her gaze, she was looking at my eyes, "Aya was right you are blind."

I waved my hands, "No, no, no, I can see, just barely." I chuckled a bit, "I don't need guide, you can go back and get even with Aya."

Momiji's voice sounded happy, "Alright, thanks."

I stopped her from leaving, "But first, picture?" I held out my smartphone, "I can't see you well, but a picture will let me see you without invading your personal space."

I heard the sound of a sword being shoved into the ground.

Click, Beep!

The photo was taken, I look at the picture with my face almost in front of the phone. Momiji was posing with her scimitar and shield. She has silver hair and wolf ears. She wore a white shirt of some sort with detachable sleeves and a black skirt with red fire-like designs on it. Her scimitar isn't of Japanese or East Asian origin, this is weapon commonly used in the Middle East. Her round shield has a red maple leaf on it, the Japanese don't used shields. Her weapons made her look foreign, but she is definitely a Japanese youkai.

I showed the picture in the phone. Her eyes lit up and her tail started wagging, "So this is what a camera from the modern era is capable of! Just don't show it Hatate or she'll probably beg you to sell it to her."

"Who's Hatate?" I asked.

"Another tengu reporter, she prefers cameras just like yours. Aya doesn't really care about other cameras except for hers. Now if you excuse me." Momiji took off in the direction of Aya.

"Ugh, too many names to remember already." I thought to myself.

I felt someone tapping my shoulder, I look back and it was Keine. She pointed at the group of students walking into the building, "Nelson, class is about to start so I can't help you anymore, I highly recommend you to visit Akyuu's mansion; she's probably waiting for your answer."

I had a confused look, "Answer for what?" then I remembered, "Oh it's about me staying or leaving right?"

Keine nodded, "Correct, you see, humans and youkai here are bounded by the spell card rules which gives humans an equal footing against youkai. Outsiders like you are not and that means you're free game. If you decide to stay, she'll record you in a book, that'll officially registered you as a villager here, and then you'll need to meet up with Reimu at the Hakurei Shrine. If you want to leave, then you'll need to go to the Hakurei Shrine and Reimu MIGHT be able to convince Yukari to let you leave; however, chances are that you'll be eaten by a stray youkai if you walk there without an escort."

I sweat-dropped, "That's a cold way of putting it."

The teacher frowned, "That's because it's the truth. You see, outsiders that are spirited away to this place are suppose to be food for the youkai. Like I said last time, you were very lucky to run into Wakasagihime." She crossed her arms, "So what will it be? Are you staying or leaving us?"

I grabbed out the sapphire that Wakasagihime gave me, "You know, I actually want to know why she gave me this sapphire."

A shy-sounding voice rang out, "It's a good luck present!" I look in the direction and saw the blurry forms of two people. I pulled out my phone and used the camera to zoom in; it was Wakasagihime and a woman with dark red hair walking towards me. The woman looks like a human, but her wolf ears gave her away. She wore a red and white dress; the red was shaped like the sky while the white was shaped like a full moon. The odd thing were the guards next to them; they were on the edge.

I smiled, "Oh hey, I haven't seen you in a while." I looked at the sapphire, "Present?"

Realizing that she was being put in the spotlight, she looked around for an answer, "I umm uhh..."

The woman next to her decided to butt in, "She said you were born in September according that plastic thing in your wallet."

The mermaid suddenly spoke out loud, "If you're planning to stay here, then you can sell it, and get a nice house here!"

The woman did a face-palmed because that was a completely false statement. She smiled at me, "The name's Kagerou Imaizumi, I'm a werewolf." she grabbed Wakasagihime, "Now if you can excuse us, we'll be right back."

I blinked in confusion, "Alright then, I'll be back in thirty minutes or so too."

I can hear Kagerou whispering to Wakasagihime as she was being dragging away, "Wakasagihime, what are you doing?"

The mermaid replied back, "I-i-it's harder to speak when there's too many people!"

I looked at one of the faceless guards that were following the duo and asked, "So why are you guys following them?"

He replied, "It's a standard procedure, a lot of youkai eat people, especially outsiders." the guard left.

I looked at Keine and she said, "I have to go now, class is about to begin." She walked into the building. I opened the trunk of my CR-V, placed my belongings in there, and pulled out a set of clothes; a polo shirt, pair of jeans, etc. and feel my way to the bathhouse.

I walked straight into the door of the front entrance, everyone stopped and watched me as I fell back. The adventures in the bathhouse became a living hell, I had to ask a little boy to walk me to the men's area, and then the bathhouse workers had to get a servant to wash me. It was embarrassing for me because I am not a frail old man; I'm 24 years old and they had to get someone to wash me and put my clothes on.

An hour passed, I walked to the counter and asked, "Thanks for helping me, but how much will it cost?"

The lady by the counter smiled, "It's on the house for now, you're an outsider so your money is no good here."

I walked towards the door and someone opened the door for me as I left.

A familiar voice was heard, "See? I knew he would be here, his scent is very unique since he's an outsider." it was Kagerou, she pushed Wakasagihime, "Go on, tell him what you wanted to say, it'll take awhile before the guards to catch up again."

I felt Wakasagihime holding my hands and her face getting closer, "Don't sell that stone. A sapphire brings good luck for anyone born in September."

I felt uncomfortable, a pretty girl was very close to me. She probably noticed that my glasses were missing and did this on purpose. I man up and said, "J-just for the record, I'm not going to sell that sapphire, I mean, who in the right mind would sell off someone's gift?"

The mermaid smiled, "Thank you and," there was a pause as she was looking for the right words, "can we be friends?"

A angry voice was heard, "Halt!" it was accompanied by a lot of footsteps.

The same group of guards had arrived with reinforcements. Some were armed with yari spears and naginatas, but most were armed with the Dreyse needle guns and Starr carbines.

A samurai step out of the group and drew his katana, "Damn youkais, you think you can just sneak past us just to eat that outsider?!" He shouted at me, "Outsider, get away from here, we'll take care of this!"

I looked at the guards; they had a neutral expression, their fingers are not on the trigger, some had a bewildered expression because they probably knew these two are harmless. I looked at Wakasagihime; she was clutching behind Kagerou who was disinterested in the guards. I stepped forward and got in front of Kagerou and Wakasagihime, I did an awkward smile and waved, "I'm sorry about that, it's all a big misunderstanding."

I whispered to Wakasagihime, "I'm going to borrow you for a bit okay?" She nodded back at me.

I gently pulled her out, "She saved me from drowning when I got here. She just came back to check up on me and we became friends."

"Wakasagihime is also shy, like most mermaids she can't deal with a crowd." said Kagerou.

The samurai yelled, "Mermaids don't have feet!"

Kagerou sighed, "Wakasagihime, I'm sorry." She walked into the bathhouse and got out with a bucket of water. She splashed the water onto the mermaid and within a split second, she was on the ground with a tail instead a pair of legs.

She looked up at Kagerou and pouted, "Kagerou~" the werewolf grinned and shrugged.

"You know, this is nice and all, but can you get off of me?" I asked politely.

Wakasagihime looked down and saw my face; we were within kissing distance. Her face turned red, "I'm sorry!" she said as she rolled off.

I got up and looked at the blurry figure of the samurai, "Well here's your tail."

The samurai motioned the reinforcements to leave, "Very well," he then motioned the guards to leave, "I'll also let the guards watching over you to leave." He glared at Kagerou, "The mermaid is harmless, but I got my eye on you, werewolf."

Kagerou shouted back to the samurai as he was walking away, "Don't worry I'll only lick him!"

"You're really not going to lick me right?" I asked.

"No, only animals so that!" she exclaimed, she noticed Wakasagihime's displeased look, "Sorry, sorry, but it was the only way!"

"Do you have any idea how long it will take me to dry myself up?" the mermaid said in an annoyed tone.

I handed my towel to her, "The bathhouse is behind us, here's my towel." I put up a smile, "We'll wait."

Wakasagihime cheerfully said, "Thank you." she hovered into the bathhouse.

Kagerou held out her hand, "We haven't been properly introduced, Kagerou Imaizumi, I'm a werewolf."

I shook her hand, "Nelson Tristan Ryugu, just call me Nelson. I'm an American."

"So America is real." Kagerou said in astonishment.

I sighed, "You're the second person that said that."

Kagerou laughed, "Well in the most recent incident that just ended a few months ago, there was a fairy wearing the American flag." she starred at my eyes, "So do all Americans look like you?"

I waved my hands, "No, Americans are not a race; it's a nationality that's made up of many different races." I pointed to myself, "My parents, grandparents, and everyone before me, are all Japanese."

"So why did you and Wakasagihime came to check up on me?" I asked.

Kagerou answered back, "It was her idea, she was curious on how you're faring here, and to see if you're leaving or not." she placed her finger on her chin and got into a thinking pose, "it's strange though, I've known Wakasagihime for a long time, and I never expected her to opened up to someone."

"Oh, I think I know what this is, but I'm not too sure yet." I thought to myself, "The thing with shy people like Wakasagihime is that even if she is blushing, it does not mean she likes me; she's just either nervous or embarrassed. If she did had a crush on me, then she wouldn't have asked me to be her friend. No sire, it would've have been something else because shy people are unpredictable."

The door opened and Wakasagihime walked out, she held out the towel, "I didn't use it, the bathhouse has their own towels, but thanks anyways." I tried to grab the towel, but missed, she smiled, "You need us to walk you back right?"

I nodded and the two youkai decided to help me walk back to my CR-V. It was a quiet short walk in the afternoon sun, all the villagers are looking at us with probably weird looks. If these Japanese people are anything like the Asians I know in the outside world, then rumors are gonna spread like wildfire. Kagerou was walking behind me and Wakasagihime was holding my hand. We got to the car, I opened up the trunk and was ambushed by the hot air exiting the car.

Kagerou looked inside and felt the heat, "The back looks like a mess." she muttered in response to the piles of boxes with my belongings. She walked up to the front and looked through the window, "The seats look weird, but to think the outside world would advance so far."

I got in the driver seat and did something that is considered taboo; drive without any glasses. I started her up, lowered the windows, and gently let her roll up next to a tree. Once that was finished I raised the windows and shut her down. I got out the CR-V and locked the doors.

I asked, "Alright, can you girls do me favor?" the two youkai were looking at me, "I was told to visit Hieda no Akyuu's mansion if I want to stay in Gensokyo, but I have no idea where that is."

I felt Wakasagihime holding my hand, "You're staying?" she said in a happy tone.

"Uhh yeah, Gensokyo seems like an interesting exotic place, I just want to learn more about it." I said before thinking, "Even though it's a backwards place, but if my eyesight can heal here, then I guess it's alright."

"You're a scholar or student of some sort?" Kagerou asked.

I nodded back and answered, "I attend a university and is Akyuu's place a long walk?"

Kagerou shook her head, "Nah, but we'll get there faster by flying. Wakasagihime, can you carry him?"

Wakasagihime nodded and held me by the waist, I panicked, "Wait, what if I fall?"

Kagerou gave me a thumbs up, "Don't worry, I'm going to be flying right under you, if anything happens, I'll catch you."

I felt my body being lifted off the ground by Wakasagihime, we took off into the air, and I couldn't see anything. It wasn't long before we made it to the mansion, as it turns out, the place was located right in the middle of the village. The mansion was surrounded by additional walls, this means that the mansion also functioned as a citadel as a last line of defense if any youkai army broke through the village walls. A upon closer look, the mansion is actually a Japanese castle, the foundation is made out of stone, and the castle itself was made out of wood. We landed in front of the gate, both youkai landed normally, while I stumbled a bit.

"Well it looks like the guards don't trust us yet." Kagerou motioned towards one of the guard towers, I saw two guards manning a gatling gun and it was pointed at us.

"State your business!" A guard behind the gate shouted.

"I'm Nelson Tristan Ryugu, Keine told me to visit Akyuu."

"So you're planning to live in Gensokyo?" The guard asked and I nodded, "Very well, but the two youkais have to wait outside."

I looked back at Kagerou and Wakasagihime. "Don't worry about us." said Kagerou.

I did my best to follow the guard. We entered the first room and I heard the guard spoke, "This is the dojo, we train our men here in melee." I can hear the shouting and grunting. I couldn't see where I was going and I bumped into something, then I heard the sounds of spears and katanas falling on to the floor; everyone went quiet and looked at me.

The guard moved closer and saw my eyes, "You're nearly blind right?" I nodded, "Sorry about that, I'll walk you to Hieda no Akyuu." The guard bowed to everyone in the dojo and walked me towards something, "I need you to take off your shoes and put on slippers."

I put on the paper slippers and walked with the guard. He knocked on the door, the door opened, and I felt my way into the room. A voice rang out, "We meet again Nelson, please take off the slippers before you enter this room," I heard Akyuu let out a giggle, "Did you enjoy knocking the soldiers' weapons down? I heard it from here."

I felt my face turning red in embarrassment, "It was an accident, I can't see remember?"

I think I saw her nodding, "So you made up your mind?"

I narrowed my eyes as a failed attempt to try to see her, "Yup, for two reasons: My eyes are slowly healing in Gensokyo and I want to learn more of this land because it's very unique."

"That's good, but there is one major rule for villagers here; do not become a youkai or more specifically, a Jinyou because Reimu will personally come down and kill you."

"Wait why?" I asked.

She answered, "A Jinyou is a human that became a youkai on purpose and that is one of the biggest sins you can commit in Gensokyo because they can upset the balance between youkai and humans, I do not know why it upsets the balance, but that was what I was taught for the past 1200+ years of my life. However, it is perfectly alright if a human accidentally becomes a youkai or is forced to become one."

"Well I don't think I'll become a youkai sooner or later." I stated, "The very thought of eating another person is scary."

Akyuu smiled, she grabbed out a big book, place it on the table, "This is book contains information on everyone living in Gensokyo, I guess you can call this a census by outsider terms." she opened to a blank page, "The first book is called Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, the second is titled, Symposium of Post-mysticism."

She looked at me and gave a nervous look, "I haven't thought of a name for the third book yet, so it's still work in progress." she grabbed out a feather with ink, "Shall I start the interview?"

"Sure, bring it on." I said as I sat down in front of her.

Notes

That last bit about Reimu coming down to kill the OC if he ever turns into a youkai is a reference to the Touhou manga, Forbidden Scrollery. I'm not going to spoil anything else, but things happen in that manga.

Next chapter is an extra chapter that'll be out very soon, I can definitely say by tomorrow. I'm sure you guys and gals know what it is.