Touhou belongs to Team Shanghai Alice. So do concepts, characters and everything else you have experienced while playing the game, except the dishes. Here's another man who wants to use his ideas for a story.
Yagokoro Eirin withdrew the needle from her frail patient's arm, tossed it aside and sat on the balls of her feet in a kneeling position, waiting for a response from the recipient of the unknown drug. She did not bother to stem the miniscule bleeding from the perforated skin, only to simply stare at Nitori's facial expressions.
If it contained the Hourai Elixir… well… one drop and she would forget death. A second drop and she would forget illnesses and age. Whatever I had injected into her was probably more than what I had used for myself and that silly Fujiwara girl. Her health should be restored in a moment's time.
If it's the drug Yukari gave me… I'm sorry Nitori, the pain will only last for a little longer, but you will sleep peacefully after that. A long, long sleep, one that you will never wake up from, but it takes the pain away.
Anytime now…
A minute had passed and Nitori still showed no symptoms of either drug. Eirin glanced at her wrist for her electronic watch impatiently and returned her stare to the still-suffering kappa. It's taking too long! What did I give you?
Nitori! Tell me, what did I give you?
No changes in facial expression.
Nitori!
Another minute of wait.
Tell me, now!
…
…
…
Why are you tormenting me?
Tell me what I have done!
It was as if Nitori was drowning Eirin in her own guilt for her decision, as a total of ten minutes had passed and Nitori still hadn't shown the slightest symptoms of either medicine, only to continue straining herself in an inner struggle.
I must have given her Yukari's drug. Maybe that one isn't so potent after all.
It must be it. Phew. Time to go back to my apartment.
Convincing herself of doing the right thing, Eirin packed her bag with trembling hands, despite her forced-cool demeanor and strode for the door, not even looking back. I have done this before. No need to look back, it will happen eventually. I've done my job, I've done it a thousand times.
So why am I feeling like I did something wrong?
Yukari was still seated at the same spot, despite having left the couch earlier to poke her head into the basement workshop, sipping a cup of hot tea, when she spied Eirin marching for the still-opened front door. "Leaving already?"
Eirin stood her spot and spun around. "I don't want to do this again, Yukari."
"From your not-so-soft screaming and that wet face of yours," Yukari took another sip of her tea, her voice even. "You must have had a hard time deciding."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Have you not have any faith in your skills?"
Eirin lost her cool and shouted across the hall. "Don't play games with me, Yukari! I have just taken somebody's life today! Can't you imagine what I'm going through right now?" Her fists were balled and shaking with anger; they looked as if the knuckle ends would find their mark on the seated elder's face at any moment. "And don't give me that 'you used to do that anyway' crap!"
Yukari, however, remained silent this time as she savored more of her tea, enraging the Lunarian beyond belief, who sauntered over and slapped the cup of tea out of her hands, sending the tea cup flying. "ANSWER MY QUESTION!" she bellowed into her face.
At that moment, the tea cup, which had been sent flying in the direction of the open door, was caught by a hand that had appeared from outside the mansion. "Whoa, what a welcome for us!" the owner of the hand exclaimed.
Surprised by the unexpected visitor, Eirin spun around to confront the new person.
And froze.
Kochiya Sanae ran.
And ran.
And continued running, never turning back to look at the figure tracking her down in the forest.
The cool night wind blew against her sweat-soaked clothes from running away, causing her to develop a dry throat from inhaling the cool air, her heavy breathing not helping in any form of soothing the dry feeling in her throat.
Broken roots and fallen trunks threatened at every turn to trip both hunter and hunted, but while luck seemed to be on Sanae's side as she tore through the forest, her hunter also seemed to share the same luck, as if that person was made to run in the jungle. Gotta get away fast!
Twice or thrice, she had stepped on hidden mud puddles, splashing the mud on herself, and even one time almost getting into her eye, but she had managed to keep running, the fear of getting caught by her adversary fueling her determination to escape. Her chaser was less than a hundred metres behind her when she had last looked; Sanae's heart began racing at an increased rate as adrenaline pushed her onward.
"Get… get away from me!" Sanae screamed at the shadow in the dark forest.
For the second time, she heard her hunter's female voice. "STOP! YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
"No!"
I'm sure it's burnt down by now. It is pretty secluded in the woods, nobody would be around to douse the fire. Sanae hastened her pace as she made her way back to the shrine.
Sure enough, it had been too late for anybody to save the shrine, as could be seen by local police officers cordoning off the area and preventing people, who had probably heard about the fire and had came to help, from getting too close to the crime scene.
It was already nightfall, and the police had set up strong spotlights to aid in their investigations and she saw medical personnel tending to a young woman dressed in red and white garments. Damn that miko, Sanae silently cursed to herself. She should have died in that fire! Lucky prick!
Acting totally normal, as if she was passing by, she merged herself into the small crowd of onlookers to see the fruits of her labor. One more shrine down. Suwako knows how many of these shrines are there.
A couple of the officers had canines on leash, which were sniffing for any traces of the culprit, something Sanae was sure the dogs would never be able to pick up. I've taken precautions on this firebombing attempt, they shouldn't be able to trace-
One of the dogs suddenly perked its tail up straight and seemed to take on an aggressive stance before barking out loud. Guilt rising, Sanae involuntarily tensed. Did it pick my scent up?
The canine began sniffing the ground again and followed a trail that led towards the crowd, dead straight for Sanae's position. Fearing that she would be exposed and apprehended, the Moriya shrine maiden edged her way out of the crowd and tried to escape from the crime scene. As she did so, she re-entered the darkness of the nearby woods again, and breathed a sigh of relief.
As she followed the dark stone path back out of the woods, she became aware of two persons ahead of her in the darkness talking softly. Listening carefully while walking past them, she realized it was just another police officer interviewing a possible witness. Nothing too dangerous, as long as I keep walking-
"Hey," the male police officer suddenly raised his voice to normal level. Under the soft bath of the full moon above them, Sanae could see him turning his head in random directions, and heard the sharp intakes of breaths. Sounds like he's sniffing the air. "Do you smell gasoline?"
"Hmm…" the other voice, now identifiable as a woman, sniffed the air too. "Yeah. Where's that coming from?"
On a reflex, Sanae began discreetly sniffing her own clothes for any traces of the gasoline she had used for her homemade firebomb. As she picked up the hem of her skirt and brought it to her nose, the strong scent of gasoline suddenly shot into her nose, causing her to cry out in surprise. Damn, I forgot to wash up before coming here!
A hand suddenly clamped on her shoulders, shocking the shrine maiden again. "Excuse me, are you alright? If you aren't, I would be happy to escort you out of the woods, where we can help seek medical attention for you."
"Uh…"
"There, don't be afraid, I can protect you… hey, that smell seems to be coming from…"
With a shriek, Sanae suddenly thrust her right hand forward and stabbed her pocket knife into what she assumed to be the guts. The police officer cried out in pain and doubled over before crashing onto the stone path. Her heart racing as she panicked, Sanae threw her weapon away and fled into the woods off the stony path, well aware of the other woman who had begun running after her, yelling at her to stop.
"I know… I know it's… it's you!" her adversary's equally breathless voice called out. Sounds like she's less than fifty metres behind me! "You smelt of gas… back there…! I can smell… it!"
"I… I didn't… didn't… do anything-thing!" she panted.
"Then stop… stop running!"
Above them, a police helicopter roared ahead, a powerful spotlight beaming down at a spot just some distance ahead of the direction Sanae was running in. Wanting to avoid the police, she made a sharp turn to her left and sprinted off in the direction; her hunter seemed to be able to see her in the dark forest and so followed.
I can't lose her! Where am I going? The town is definitely not this way… I'm lost in the forest.
Suwako… help me… please…
As if to answer her prayers, Sanae heard a sharp yelp as her hunter sounded as if she tripped on a log. Taking advantage of the pause, she slowed down her pace to recover, her leg muscles burning, seeming ready to rip apart anytime. Looking back again, she saw no silhouette chasing her and so took cover under thick foliage.
A few curses later, Sanae heard her adversary sprinting in her direction again, so she laid still under the leaves, hoping whoever who was chasing her would not find her in the darkness. Sure enough, the sounds of leaves being crushed underfoot crackled past her and soon faded away as the chaser put more distance between herself and her intended target.
Sanae laid under the foliage for five minutes, which were the five most fearful minutes of her life, even beating the moments when Usutho attacked them in Gensokyo. Her ears listening carefully for returning footsteps, she quietly tried to brush away the foliage, intending to track her way back and, hopefully, make it out of the forest without getting caught.
A hiss on her left made her blood go cold. A snake. Go away, please… go away-
Without another moment, she felt two fangs sink into her right thigh, causing her to scream involuntarily in pain. Her high pitched scream echoed loudly throughout the forest all around her, Sanae quickly covered her mouth, hoping nobody had heard it. Should I hope nobody heard that? Or should I hope somebody heard it and rescue me before I die here, even at the cost of getting arrested for what I had done?
The answer to her mental question came in the form of leaves being crushed again, heading dead straight in her direction. No… gotta run…
Sanae managed to keep running for less than twenty seconds before the venom, unknown to Sanae, of the snake began coursing rapidly through her bloodstream, paralyzing her body with each step she took. As her pace slowed, her adversary caught up easily, and when she fell onto the grass, the police helicopter ahead happened to sweep its powerful spotlight across her. Within that split second, the light illuminated the forest all around her and she caught sight of two distinct colors on the clothes her hunter was wearing: red and white.
A miko? Of course, it is my divine retribution. I have been harming shrine maidens ever since I was here. Reimu must have sent this miko… I deserve this… I deserve whatever that's coming next…
But will I die before it happens?
Reimu, what are you playing at?
If the log was Suwako, the miko being you, was the snake Kanako?
Suwako saved me. Kanako wants to kill me. And now you are trying to bring me to justice.
What will my ending be?
"There… there you are!" her hunter's shadowed face appeared above her own, grabbing her by her clothes and somehow lifting her up.
"Help…" Sanae begged with a weak voice into the shadowed face. "Help… me… snake…"
"Sanae?" the breathless voice turned from hostile to surprise. "Sanae? Is… is that… is that really you?"
The world around her began spinning as the venom progressed in its destructive work, shutting down her organs and muscles, her own heart betraying her body by speeding up the process. She had already lost all feeling on her left leg; she felt her brain slowly losing consciousness. Her adversary was frantically shouting something at her, shaking her violently, but she could not make them out clearly. Before she fell into total darkness and silence, she managed to catch one word that her hunter had spoken.
"… … … Mokou!"
…
…
Huh?
…
Her eyes are moving!
Get the doctor!
Kochiya Sanae slowly opened her eyes; the white tiles of a ceiling in a room greeted her. Excited voices filled her ears, but she ignored them, choosing to get up from what she had assumed to be a bed, but found that her hands wouldn't move.
Slowly glancing to the right, she found her wrist cuffed to the side of a hospital bed, her left sharing the same fate. I… I'm alive?
"Sanae!" the same voice in the forest whispered from her left. Looking over, she saw the speaker's face and immediately recognized it; Fujiwara no Mokou. And it finally dawned on her that the miko she saw in the forest was not a miko, but Mokou's usual outfit that she had been wearing since her days in Gensokyo. Why would Mokou be in the forest? "You're awake!"
"I…"
"Relax, you are still weak. Thank Reimu I managed to get you out of the forest in time, or you would have gone to join her."
"If you would excuse me, madam," a male voice told Mokou. "We have an investigation to-"
"It's… it's me," Sanae whispered hoarsely. "I'm responsible."
"Sanae, why?" Mokou gripped her cuffed hand.
Tears formed in the eyes of the ex-wind priestess of Moriya Shrine as she admitted her crimes against the shrines and their miko near Lake Suwa to a shocked Mokou and the investigation officer in her hospital ward.
Reimu… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…
These onbashira-celebrating shrines here… they remind me of Moriya Shrine. And whenever I think of Moriya Shrine, I would remember Kanako and how everything happened because of her! Kanako was the culprit for Gensokyo's downfall!
A few nights before those evil spirits began sprouting out from beneath the surface, I overheard both of my goddesses arguing in the next room from mine. From what I heard, Kanako was insisting on utilizing nuclear energy to modernize Gensokyo, just as what the Outer World, or now we know as Earth, did. She said it would bring a lot of benefits to Gensokyo, and that life would improve for the vast majority.
Suwako was against her proposal, claiming unforeseen disasters would befall on us if Kanako went ahead with her ideas. She said that Gensokyo simply wasn't ready for modernization like Earth was, and that magic still ruled Gensokyo. A great leap forward into modernization would be too fast for us, and it would disrupt the flow of technology and defeat every single purpose of Gensokyo, which was to be a safe haven for youkai, away from the humans of the Outer World.
I remember not being able to sleep that whole night as I kept hearing their angry voices. Finally Suwako left the room and it was the last time I heard from her for the next few days. The next morning, after attending to Kanako, she told me to stay put in the shrine while she went out to 'settle some business'. I asked if she was going to meet the kappas, but she refused to answer me. She, too, disappeared shortly.
On the afternoon of the day the news of your death came, Suwako finally appeared at our shrine, telling me how Kanako actually did the worst thing possible; getting that hell raven underground to merge herself with the divine flame god in the deepest reaches of Former Hell to be able to start nuclear fission… whatever it was. Suwako told me something went wrong with Kanako's plans and the hell raven had begun attacking Gensokyo instead of going along with the plan.
At that moment, that very hell raven struck at Moriya Shrine. As I stood at the front door of my shrine, frozen to the ground in surprise and shock, Reiuji Usutho, the name of the cursed hell raven, fired her arm cannon at me. At the last possible second, my goddess leapt into the line of fire, taking the hit for me.
Suwako was a goddess, right? The Goddess of Earth?
I didn't believe what I saw; Suwako's body disintegrated in front of my eyes!
I didn't dare to move, I couldn't move if I wanted. My very own goddess, whom I served with my life, whom I loved more than Kanako, disappearing in front of me! A goddess was as strong as the faith she have from her worshippers…
And then I realized people probably lost faith in us when they heard Kanako being the culprit of the disaster. At that moment, I had also lost faith in my goddesses; this was probably why Suwako had disappeared.
Usutho didn't seem to bother trying a second attack at me and instead took off in another direction. I don't know how long I stood at my gate, staring out dumbly for hours maybe?
A nekomata suddenly arrived at sunset, pulling me along with her. Introducing herself as one Chen, she claimed to know you, and that it was your instructions to gather everybody at Mayohiga for an exodus out of Gensokyo. I didn't know if I should believe her, but she dragged me along without hearing my protests. As we trekked through the lands, I could see fires burning in the far horizon, even the trees around me seemed shriveled.
I don't remember what happened as we trekked along the way, because Usutho reappeared and blasted the ground below me. I think I got knocked out, and what seemed to be hours, or even days later, I found myself near Lake Suwa in the Outer World.
I recognized it right away; it was as tranquil as it was before we moved into Gensokyo. I turned around, but saw no signs of Chen. Maybe she had rescued me? I don't know, there's nobody else that I recognized all around me; I was alone in this world. Maybe Suwako was guiding my feet, but I felt myself being pulled on a road that led to a small town near the lake.
In the town, everyone looked human enough, confirming that this place was really Earth, but they were wearing clothes I have never seen, probably something way ahead of our time. I spotted something I recognized; red and white miko wear on a lady. I supposed she was a miko, so I followed her till we arrived at her shrine. And gasped.
It was a shrine, alright, but it has an onbashira! I couldn't believe it, the tradition lasted! I felt so happy that something like this could last even into the future ages!
…
Why was I even happy?
My own goddess was gone, there's nobody to witness and celebrate this feat with me.
How did you live so long with that?
Suddenly, for some reasons within me, I began to hate myself. I… I… I…
Mokou looked up from her pen and paper as Sanae began hyperventilating in her seat. The prison warden stepped forward to intervene while calling for assistance over her walkie talkie. Being unable to directly interfere with a prisoner, Mokou could only watch as Sanae began mumbling incoherently to herself while seeming having troubles breathing.
"Sanae! Get a hold of yourself!"
It was four months after Kochiya Sanae had pleaded guilty to criminal offences against the shrines in the Lake Suwa area, in addition to assault on a civil servant, and was sentenced to imprisonment. Mokou had kept up with a monthly visit to her, knowing of nobody else who would. On the first three visits, Sanae had not spoken much but simply gave curt answers whenever Mokou tried to talk to her.
However, on the fourth, Sanae had suddenly requested to want to send a message to Reimu. Mokou herself wasn't too sure if Reimu's rival really wanted to write to her, or simply get something off her chest. Glad that Sanae was finally wanting to lighten up, the immortal had happily obliged.
And so when she saw no fruitful results from the warden's attempts to calm her down, Mokou decided to try another method. "Sanae, why can't you forgive Kanako?"
The struggling convict ceased hyperventilating and stared, with stressed and tear-streaked eyes, at the person sitting across her at the table. "I know, Kanako was the root cause of the disaster that befell Gensokyo," Mokou said, herself getting weird stares from the prison warden. She probably thinks we are both mad. I hope I don't get thrown into a mental asylum after this. "Those shrines, they remind you of Moriya Shrine, didn't they?"
Sanae nodded meekly, casting her eyes downwards at her feet.
"And Moriya Shrine reminds you of Suwako."
Another nod.
"And Kanako."
For three seconds, Sanae did not respond, but finally gave a slight nod of her head. Any signs of her earlier struggles had ceased, only sweat from her exertions remained. The prison warden, at Mokou's signal, stood back to her position near the steel door, ever keeping a wary lookout for new signs of struggling. "But those same shrines you vandalized, those miko you have hurt, they were innocent."
"A god… exists if they receive faith…" Sanae said.
"And all you wanted was to prevent the gods from existing?"
"Why… why were you… in the forest?"
"Answer me my question, Sanae."
"No… answer mine. Why were you there?"
Mokou closed her eyes as she considered how she should reply. "I am the guardian of the very shrine you torched. I would do anything to protect it."
"Why… why would you do that?"
"Because Reimu had forgiven me."
"'Forgiven'? What did you do?"
"I did not protect the humans in..." Mokou eyed the frowning prison warden. "Our homeland. Reimu's giving me a second chance."
"A… second… chance…?"
Mokou nodded. "It's to make up to her, although after what had happened, I don't know if I would be able to face her if we ever met again."
"Twelve… twelve shrines… do you think Reimu will forgive me?"
"You had your reasons, right? You said that you didn't want something like..." Mokou eyed the warden again. "That to happen again."
Sanae only nodded in agreement.
I don't want another Kanako to bring a disaster to this world. I won't take any chances that Kanako is somewhere in this world too, seeking an opportunity to garner faith and once again bring her selfish desires across the land. I would have to stop any gods from rising.
Even if my dearest Suwako was one of them.
That… that's why I did that.
I have nothing against any of the miko, but I wanted to get the message across. To stop them from worshipping any gods of any kind. Stop people from giving faith to the gods they believed in.
Because nobody deserved the bad ending we had.
Blame me if you want, but there's nothing else I can do. If I could have taken your place as the one who sacrificed herself for our home, I will gladly do so. After all, I deserve the death for my own failures to stem Kanako's plans. True, I wouldn't be able to do much against my own goddess, but at least I could have tried…
…
…
I still cry for Suwako today. The woman that I have always thought of as my own mother…
But Reimu, can you tell me how you managed to stay strong despite being all alone in that shrine? Without a god, without any faith? Is it, by any chance, a miracle on your part? I believe in miracles! In fact, I'm pretty sure one day we will meet again, and when we do, enlighten me.
Then, and maybe then, I would finally understand what the true ending of my life will be.
Can you do that for me? Mokou here says you have given her a second chance, what about me? I'm trying to turn over a new leaf for myself, Mokou has convinced me the error of my ways. I've been a good girl all these while, I deserve one more chance.
Pretty please? See you soon!
Kochiya Sanae
P.S.: You have worked too hard Reimu, it's time to rest. May we one day meet in paradise again.
(Year 8)
"I still can't believe you had to mention my name in your letter," Mokou said as the ex-miko exited through the gates, welcoming her back to the world.
"You are the only person I know in the Outer World," Sanae smiled, not looking back to the compound she had been forced to acknowledge as home for the past five years or so. Don't look back once you are out of the gates, Sanae, you don't have to miss this place. Forget that you are ever here, and look forward to a new start for yourself.
"Don't look back," Mokou repeated her thoughts.
"You are looking too pretty here," Sanae giggled. "How did you get those clothes from living in the forest?"
"Actually, I stopped living in the forest after you burnt down that shrine."
"Where did you go?"
"Well," Mokou scratched her head as they walked along the path leading to the nearest main road. "The miko that I saved talked too much about what I did for them. The locals in the town insisted I live among them in return. They rebuilt the shrine in that forest and told me I could start working there as a security guard if I wanted to."
The warmth of a family, even if it's people you don't know. I guess that's what I wanted after all.
"Something that I said?" Mokou turned to face the quiet girl.
"Nope, just thinking."
"Anyways, where do you intend to go, now that you are a free person?"
"I… I don't really know," Sanae admitted, staring at the ground below her as she walked. "I can't just live with you in that town, can I? Not after what I did."
"That's true."
"Well," she forced a smile. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Of course."
"Where?"
Mokou grabbed her hands, causing Sanae to gasp in surprise. "Where everybody is."
"Everybody?"
"I found them. Yukari and the others."
"But… how?"
"Miracle," Mokou grinned as she replied.
"There's no miracle!" Eirin yelled at the immortal and her partner. "How… how did you find your way here?"
"Like I said, a miracle. I saw you on the road two years ago and tailed you all the way back here," Mokou shrugged. "Pretty simple, if you ask me, nothing complicated."
"So why didn't you show up earlier?" Yukari asked. "For all I know about you, you probably thought you would find Kaguya here."
"I have found another reason for my existence. Kaguya is no longer part of my world. And I wanted to wait for Sanae's release before coming together."
"Well, have fun then," Eirin got up from her couch and headed for the door.
"Eirin," Yukari called out. "Are you really giving up?"
The Lunarian, again, stopped in her tracks. "You have heard Sanae's story. She may have erred, but she never gave up," the Boundary Youkai continued. "Sanae believes in miracles, and is still finding the ending for herself."
"It will take you a lifetime, girl," Eirin snapped at Sanae. "Don't be foolish, what's gone is gone! You will need a miracle for that to happen!"
"Even so, I believe I will find it, one day," the lime-colored hair girl replied.
"Why are you so stubborn?"
"That question, I throw it back to you," Yukari cut in before Sanae could answer.
Target acquired, target hit, Eirin could be seen considering that question herself. For a short moment, nobody said anything else, but when Eirin began to slowly turn around and faced the staircase to the basement, Yukari knew the Lunarian had been convinced that miracles could happen, with or without the Hourai Elixir.
Because sometimes, all you need is a little faith in yourself.
If a goddess feeds solely on faith, she will lose faith in herself.
Without faith, she is incapable of moving on.
Miracles do exist, but it takes a miracle for a miracle to happen.
Unknown to the current occupants of the Yakumo Mansion, these words floated in the wind that blew through the front door from a distant voice that nobody could hear.
A.N.: Who says Sanae is a good girl?
And once again, whatever Sanae said is based on her own judgment, much like Patchy thought about life.
I'm leaving this confusing chapter, along with Nitori's fate, as a cliffhanger for a future chapter. However, if there's any part that you felt I could have made clearer, please do not hesitate to PM me about it. As of this note, I'm still trying to think of better ways to put certain parts of the story clearer to the reader.