Author's Notes: Still narrative, still with Reimu's victim, Yamato Haru (last name, first name), and the perspective will change next chapter to the next girl's victim.

WARNING: Scary end for Yamato Haru (last name, first name)

Earlier today, I made a promise to myself that I would try to reclaim my life. I'm going to do just that with help from the only person I AM allowed to talk to; Reimu herself.

Unfortunately, at this time, the shrine maiden isn't here, so I'm stuck at the shrine being the message boy to tell the pests to come back at a later time.

My heart will remain closed for now until I gain my freedom when I can start anew. I know that's a long ways off, but I'll wait until death or freedom before I open up to anyone. If Reimu wants to force her way in, she'll need to do what Miyu-chan did; try to get to know the 'me' that I couldn't express to everyone; a scared boy who is afraid of being rejected. A coward, essentially.

Cut ahead to evening, when Reimu returned from whatever she was up to.

"I'm back, Haru-kun"

Reimu announced as she returned. Her tone of voice sounded like 'I'm back, but I don't really care', something I know is a tsun-tsun style of 'I'm back!' for a friend returning.

"A couple pests showed up; some witch, an annoying hag that just pisses people off with her attitude, and a kappa"

I informed her of a few that came to mind.

"The witch is Marisa, that 'hag' sounds like Yukari, and the only kappa I'm familiar with is Nitori. Sounds like the others were just random youkai seeking to kill me and cause chaos. I'll deal with them when they come back, except for Yukari, who I'm sure was about to tell me of an incident she caused"

Her words were to the point this time. I could definitely feel she wasn't being a tsundere for now. She might be later, when I have to ask an important question. Now isn't the time to ask it now, unless I risk death from her irritation.

"I see"

That was all I said to her to keep the potential danger away by remaining neutral in my answers.

She shook her head disapprovingly, and muttered a few comments I knew were just tsundere moments.

"Why must you be so difficult NOW? You were a pathetic person when I took you in, and now you're just plain difficult. I should've let you die back there when everyone was taken away and possibly killed or eaten"

Wait, 'let me die back there'? I wasn't sure if that was her being tsundere or not, but it was a serious thing to say, considering the timing of when she said that.

"You'd best pick your words more carefully; death of a close one and being told to die is very tempting if told to do so shortly after learning about that. Now then, I'm going to take a rest after keeping the shrine tidy all day"

It was as close to a threat as I could make it without setting her off. Thankfully, it was sufficient to make her flinch at the scold.

"Fine... I should've just let you get kidnapped by someone else then. Who knows what she'd do to you instead"

"That'll do for now"

I thought to myself, a little more satisfied at her slight understanding of my shock now in memory.

"That'll do. Now then, I'll be off"

I told her sternly while taking my leave to my room.

While it was inconsiderate of Reimu to say those things, even in her tsun-tsun moments, she did back off to remember that if she was in my shoes, she would say the same. I gave her some credit for realizing this.

Late night, and I'm trying to get some sleep. Much to my disappointment, Reimu forced me to bunk in her room on the excuse of Suika taking the room I bunked in last time. I found out earlier that was Suika's room, and she was out partying with Yuugi for some reason last night. Had there been another room at the shrine, she would've slapped me with it.

Remember last night's problem with her coming to my room? It's almost the opposite tonight; I'm in her room because she doesn't want me to leave her sight.

I knew some tsunderes will do that, but... I think that's more prominent with their opposites. Demented love, was it? I just hope that isn't the case, but it began to seem that way with her telling me to bunk with her, on the second night with her.

Of course, I'm in a separate futon than Reimu's, and to be honest, I'm not comfortable being in the same room as her. Had I been in an intimate relationship with her, maybe I would've considered it not that big a deal.

The same problem last night is happening right now, except I'm still awake. Reimu got out of her futon and moved it closer to mine.

"If you have a problem with me sleeping near you, then you can go ahead and kill yourself. I felt like sleeping next you, so don't get any ideas"

She said as she readjusted her futon.

"Tsun-tsun moment, but it's not a moment I want to deal with yet"

I thought to myself.

"Fine, fine. Get close and I'll keep an eye on you tonight, Reimu-san"

That's what I said back to her.

"Reimu to you, Haru-kun"

I really had a hard time following what she's really asking me, but I can handle the tsundere moments for now, but the occasional opposite moments, I hope I never set off moments that cause those.

"Alright then. I'll keep an eye on you, Reimu. Good night"

When I said that to her, correcting myself, I could hear a satisfied sigh, and could tell she nodded with a small smile on her face as she finished adjusting her futon close to mine.

We slept almost literally back-to-back, a couple inches apart from one another. This was uncomfortable for me, sleeping close to a girl I'm not in an intimate relationship with, so I think I'll keep it safe and remain this way.

Facing away from her, and her facing away from me while she practically forced herself close to me, that was hardly a good enough reason for me to suddenly turn around and get perverted with her; the danger of dying was still present, and unless I am able to fight on equal footing like Reimu, Marisa, and all the other big-name Gensokyo girls, I NEED to play it safe to stay alive. Until then, I need to grit my teeth and bear the bullshit I know I'm in for.

My train of thought was interrupted again, and for the same reason as last night; Reimu, in her sleep, turned around to embrace me from behind.

Dammit, another night of this? I really don't feel comfortable with the pleasures of a girl unless I feel I earned it, and even then, the temptation to turn around and fondle her breasts was present again. It's kind of a predicament; to embrace the desire and risk death, or fight off my desire and live the next day.

Obviously, my survival was important, so I opted to ignore the warm feeling that was pressing against my back. It was hard to stop myself from turning around, but I had to do it to stay alive.

Another opportunity for me to be myself, gone up in smoke for the sake of survival.

And so, the night passed, with me trying to sleep while ignoring that feeling most guys would kill to have even for a moment.

This time, Reimu got up before I did.

There was no feeling of pain on my body, so I think Reimu might not have realized the situation in the morning if she woke up half-asleep. That's probably a good sign if luck saved me from the beating due to the morning blues.

Reimu should be washing up at the lake behind the shrine if I recalled correctly from yesterday. Whether she tried to seduce me last night or not, it'll be dangerous to ask her that directly.

All I could do right now was get ready for the day myself.

In doing so, I also went to the lake behind the shrine, but further away from where she was; she was directly behind the shrine, so I was more off to the side, next to where a giant turtle was sleeping was.

It had facial hair, which was unusual to me, as I've never seen a turtle like that.

"So, you found Genji. He's a friend of mine since I first became a shrine maiden, and has helped me learn how to fly"

I was startled to hear Reimu's voice so close after I checked to see she was further away from me than I remember; she was a ways away from where I was washing.

Upon hearing her voice so close to me, I jumped in surprise, splashing my clothes instead of my face.

"Gah! Reimu! Don't scare me like that; I hate it!"

I really told her off for startling me like that.

She chuckled softly and began to tell me about the turtle.

"Genji, that turtle you found, lives here behind the shrine since he retired as the Hakurei guardian. Nowadays, he and I talk about the past, and he brings me news from Makai..."

She began talking about herself and Genji, and how the two of them solved incidents before as a team. While this was an unexpected side of Reimu, it was surprisingly interesting to hear about her past.

However, there was still this emotional barrier I put on myself to avoid getting too attached to someone, especially Reimu. That would be the situation that caused me to fall in love with Miyu-chan. Yes, I'm dead set on this. The 'me' that fell in love, is not the 'me' that I am now; Reimu has to find that 'me' before I answer any of her advances onto me. Until then, we are just going to be difficult to one another.

It was then that her explanation of Genji came to an end, and how they were a team in her early days as a shrine maiden.

"Sounds like you two went through a lot before you became independent yourself"

I replied after hearing the explanation.

Reimu folded her arms and looked away.

"I told you about myself, now tell me about yourself; it's only fair"

I should've expected something like this; someone talking about themselves, and then asking to hear about the other person.

Well, it's not the way I wanted to start to know Reimu, but it's a start nonetheless.

"If you went specifically after me, you probably already know enough about me to want to take me in..."

I began, hoping to take a jab at whether Reimu knew about me as much as she doesn't let on. If she hints at knowing more about me than she lets on, then I may be facing that other personality I dreaded from the stories I heard from Akyuu.

As I explained to her a bit about myself, and my life prior to the human village ransack, she seemed to have the face of 'I know', and in her tone too.

While I talked about myself and answered questions she had (asked without purpose, since she seemed to be asking them to try and get me to open up to her), she seemed to have already known the answers before I answered them, but never letting on that she knew them already.

I tried to avoid the questions about myself as much as possible, especially the ones about my real personality as a coward. That kind of knowledge Reimu has to earn, not demand.

With this in the back of my head, I answered most other questions she had about me, most of which were pointless to even answer.

Thankfully, the sleeping turtle, Genji, woke up and greeted the two of us.

"Ah, you must be... Genji-san. Reimu's told me about you and her in her early days of being a shrine maiden. My name's Yamato Haru"

I introduced myself to the turtle, and I think I'm safe when I glanced over to Reimu for a moment. She seemed content with me talking to Genji, as if she allowed it without saying a word.

Genji introduced himself, and then looked over to Reimu. He seemed polite, and I knew he was relatively old in human years from the sound of his voice.

He then relayed news from what he heard last night to the shrine maiden regarding Makai, a place I've never heard of until Reimu mentioned it as 'news from there'. Still, I began to wonder if Makai was another part of Gensokyo that Reimu is forbidden from entering or something.

A long while passed between the three of us talking about various things, Genji being rather curious about me, and Reimu catching up with him about Makai-related news.

Let's move forward to the start of the afternoon.

"Reimu. While I feel this is not possible for me, I would like training in danmaku so I can be able to fight back youkai as much as possible"

I asked her rather bluntly while we were snacking on rice cookies. Actually, her response was rather amusing.

She looked at me as if I was crazy, and chuckled.

"You? Learning danmaku? That's rich..."

Then came the laughter from her.

"... do you really think a non-magic user can actually use danmaku, magic bullets, essentially, without having any form of magic knowledge!? You really are an idiot!"

I don't think this is a tsundere moment; she might be laughing because there might be no way for a non-magic user to use magic of any kind.

"It's impossible huh?"

I muttered, looking away with embarrassment.

At this point, I was really starting to feel standing up for myself, especially to show that hag to never mess with humans, was now impossible.

"You are an idiot, you know that? It IS possible, but you lack the knowledge of using the magic around you to do that. Learning that without any knowledge of magic whatsoever is something only my friend, Marisa, was capable of doing because she learned under Mima's teachings, and even then, it was because Marisa's ability to use magic was dormant when she was taught by Mima. I don't know if it is possible for you since you have NO magic abilities dormant like Marisa did"

Hearing this, my head perked with interest at hearing it's POSSIBLE. However, like my feeling of helplessness before, I frowned upon hearing the reason Marisa was able to use magic; hers was dormant, and was brought out by Mima, a vengeful spirit I heard to stay away from at all costs by Keine-sensei.

"Is it possible, Reimu, for a non-magic user to learn how to use the magic around them to use magic around them similar to magic-users?"

I asked her seriously. If she says it's possible, then I NEED to get started on trying to make it happen immediately. If she says it's impossible, then my resolve to stand up for myself would be shot down.

Of course, her answer regarding this serious question would determine part of my future.

Reimu looked directly in my eyes, and I could tell from her reactions that she saw how serious I was about this.

"You probably can't, but you just leave the fighting to me. I will protect you from the others. All you need to do is be a good boy, and I'll keep you alive..."

If I know her behavior by now, this is where she switches to Tsun-tsun mode.

"... though you should probably start with the scrolls I have in my room; they should give you more information on how danmaku is used, so start studying if you're serious about moving up from useless to somewhat useful"

Yup, even if not a direct tsun-tsun moment, I still called it.

"Very well, I'll get started right away; go deal with whatever incidents are out there, and I'll probably still be studying by the time you get back... not that I'll be of any use by then, and even then, you'll probably look down on me for trying"

This time, I decided to be a dick and act tsun-tsun myself to the tsundere shrine maiden.

"Hmph, fine"

A tsundere pout scored from her. Looking away after nailing what she WOULD consider me to be, she had the look of 'dammit, you got it right'.

I'll admit, it felt good to return the tsun-tsun back to the tsundere, and let them have a taste of their own medicine (their contradicting actions and emotions).

Reimu, now knowing my plans for today, took off to go around Gensokyo and do whatever it is she does nowadays.

There haven't been any incidents lately, so I assume she went out on other business.

I better do my part and learn if it IS possible for me to use the magic around me as a form of magic itself.

Moving ahead a few minutes later, and in Reimu's room. I had her permission to find something specific and study from it, so going into a girl's room is not an issue for me this time.

The scrolls on danmaku basics were on some shelves in Reimu's room. This would be my second time in here (first time being last night, and that was due to Reimu's insistence for her possible other personality I feared was in place), so it was a little easier to find the scrolls than if I didn't know what her room looked like.

I skimmed through the first scrolls I found for a summary of what each one is about, but I found out they're not exactly organized; the first one I found was advanced tips and small drawings on how to carry out danmaku combat. This scroll I would have to remember for a later time when and if I find out if I CAN use danmaku.

Another scroll I began skimming through was about the basics of danmaku for beginners. This I would hold onto for now, but without knowing HOW danmaku is formed, created, or used, it's not going to do me much good.

The third scroll I skimmed through was unrelated, but about the Hakurei lineage. I don't think Reimu would've wanted me to go through it without her permission, so I closed it up quickly, and set it back where I found it.

The next one was about the Hakurei Orbs I heard about when Reimu goes out on an incident. It was surprisingly detailed about it's functions, history, and who were capable of using them in the Hakurei lineage. Like the previous scroll, I figured Reimu wouldn't want me to go through it without her permission.

Fifth scroll, and this one was about the danmaku system Reimu placed on Gensokyo when she became the Hakurei shrine maiden. This one might be relevant to me understanding the danmaku battles, but nothing here on HOW danmaku is made. I put this aside to look at later.

The sixth scroll I picked up was the answer to my prayer at first, but I need to go through it before I can call it a miracle; it was about the basics of danmaku as a concept, and in practicality. This was the scroll I went through first.

It turned out danmaku is just magic, in small quantity, given a physical form and shape, and thrown at others as a sort of 'game' which everyone calls a battle. While this was confusing at first, I made the analogy of danmaku being like paintball; it's water, but given a shape in a container that explodes upon impact. Danmaku, from what I read, functions similarly, but not the same as a paintball bullet. One side is the 'boss' which has heavy resistance to the other side's danmaku, and the other side is the 'player' in which case one bullet hitting a 'hitbox', whatever that means, means instant loss of life, this part scares me right now, and needing to use another life to continue the battle. That part doesn't make sense to me, about how being hit is a loss of life. Is it like those guns from the human world where one bullet is usually enough to kill another person? If so, then what I'm trying to learn might kill me instead of Reimu killing me with her other personality I fear she might have.

The next part of the scroll was an introduction for magic users to learn how to danmaku. Since I'm not a magic user, this part's irrelevant to me.

The part after that, thankfully, HAD an introduction to using danmaku for the non-magic users.

This part might be able to give me a head-start on learning to fend for myself; it was explaining what I heard, but in more detail as to how to harness the magic around you as an alternative to the magic user's version.

When I tried out the methods described, I couldn't feel the magic being harnessed at first, but the scroll did say that's normal at first, but the magic IS there being harnessed. I'll take it's words at face-value for now and continue practicing this 'pseudo-magic' as I call it.

While it seemed like I was getting nowhere, the scroll was insistent on the magic actually at work, and it will take a while before non-magic users start to feel it at work.

The self-training didn't show me any results, even though it kept saying the results were there. Eventually, I lost track of time, and Reimu came into the room.

When I realized she arrived, I jumped up, startled, and then it hit me that my self-training on danmaku made time fly by into the evening hours.

"Remember that hag that pissed you off yesterday?"

She asked me rather seriously.

Right now, I felt angry at remembering the condescending gap hag. However, curiosity got the better of me, mostly because I didn't want to remember her face and smug attitude.

"What about her?"

I asked against my better preferences.

"She won't be bothering you any more; I made sure of it"

Wait, slow down... if she meant that in the same way I THINK she meant it, then I'm already in danger if I do anything that COULD anger her.

"Um... how so?"

I asked rather nervously, hoping my fear isn't the case.

"That's just it; she won't bother you anymore, and if she does, you tell me about it so I can deal with her. I took you in to protect you, and I'm going to do that. We NEED humans in Gensokyo to keep the faith of youkai alive, and thus our existences. I'm still not sure how many other men are alive, but if you can help keep Gensokyo alive, then I'll make sure of that"

One part of me was glad she was thinking about Gensokyo as a whole, another part was afraid she had THAT tendency against Yukari and threatened her with those tendencies, and another part of me wasn't sure if she was being tsun-tsun towards me when she brought up the importance of humans to Gensokyo. If she was being serious about the population of humans being a vital concern for Gensokyo, then I'm sure that was killing two birds with one stone; her tsun-tsun moment mixed with the information that was relevant to me being alive.

"I have to ask; why are men important to youkai?"

This was a question I had to ask when I remembered the 'other men are alive' part of her explanation.

"They help keep human population constant; without men to keep Gensokyo's humans populated, the youkai's existences would cease to exist. You should know this if you know the first thing about youkai"

I don't think this was a tsun-tsun moment; it was serious.

"I see"

That was all I could say, now that I learned one reason she picked me to 'take care of' in that sense.

"How much did you learn from the scrolls?"

She asked me suddenly, trying to change the subject.

I better report my progress right now.

I gave her a summary of what I thought I learned, though I made it clear of my doubts of learning anything to hint at progress; I tried the basics the scrolls were detailing, but didn't see any results that were noticeable even though the scroll said otherwise.

Reimu facepalmed upon hearing my doubt, and said she'll measure my progress if I show her exactly what I learned.

I gave up at this point, and went along with it, doing the 'imaginary danmaku magic harnessing' lessons I tried, then threw the 'supposed' magic towards her, expecting nothing to happen.

To my surprise, Reimu stepped to the side as if to dodge a bullet.

Seeing her dodge told me the progress WAS real, and that I haven't realized it yet. It seems I haven't figured out how to SEE the danmaku I made yet.

When Reimu approached me slowly, I feared I was going to get killed or something. However, when in close range, she told me something I didn't expect.

"You made quite a lot of progress, even if you don't realize it. What you did was harness the magic around you, but without a visible shape.."

Wait, visible shape? Did that mean I fired an invisible danmaku bullet that could look like anything or in any size?

"... and now you need to come up with a shape for the danmaku to take the shape of in order for it to become visible to you. Didn't you read ALL of the scroll on danmaku basics?"

This was definitely a scolding, but it can be argued since I haven't read all of it; I only practiced what I could as I read the scroll.

"No, sorry"

That was my response to her, and I bowed in apology.

As expected, she lightly whacked my head with her gohei.

"Geez, you're hopeless..."

As if I haven't heard that enough times, in whatever variation I hear from you.

"Just think of a shape you want your danmaku bullets to look like, but make sure it's reasonable in size so that both sides have a fair chance at dodging each others' bullets"

I did as instructed, and thought of a shape I thought looked cool for me.

Reimu then began to focus on something, and it seemed she extracted a copy of the shape of the danmaku bullet from my head and materialized a danmaku bullet of her own, and changed its shape to the image I had in my head.

The danmaku bullet I saw in front of me was the same exact shape as the one I was thinking of; it was shaped like a ring, and yellow in color. Similar to the rings one would wear if they are getting married, or a ring one would wear to show off wealth.

"There, that's your danmaku bullet you'll be using from now on"

She said this to me as she handed the bullet and pressed it to my body, which it seemed to be absorbed into me upon contact.

I felt the area where the bullet was absorbed into me, and I couldn't feel it any more.

"Try to make it appear from the magic around you. If you see the danmaku you created, then you have learned everything in the danmaku basics scroll you were just reading"

She ordered.

Without a choice, I did as told, and tried to harness the magic around me into forming one danmaku bullet in front of me.

Unlike my previous attempts and resulting in nothing, it actually formed a visible ring-shaped danmaku bullet in front of me.

"I see it. The one I created. I guess the doubts I had about that scroll are gone now"

I muttered at seeing the results of what I believed to be a waste of time.

"Don't get too excited; danmaku requires a LOT of those bullets to be fired at a time and at a constant rate if you want to defeat your enemies. The scrolls will only teach you so much, but it's just giving the basics of fighting, and the advanced techniques are also for newbies into the advanced methods of danmaku fighting..."

"Here comes THAT part of her now"

"... but most importantly, you really should leave the fighting to the experts unless you want to end up dead li-..."

Okay, she stopped mid-sentence, and I think she realized what she was going to say.

"Anyway, just leave the fighting to me. It won't be good if everyone else is possibly dead, and you also end up being the last human guy to die; that'd cause a catastrophe, and an impossibility for Gensokyo to remain existing"

Again, tsun-tsun hidden behind the words of truth; I could tell that much.

"I see. Sorry for troubling you with my request to learn something dangerous like this"

I apologized, now realizing how much effort she puts into danmaku fighting, on top of managing the world as a whole to keep peace, as well as being the go-to person for problems. My understanding of Gensokyo was limited, but I think I can safely say I'm going to do what I can now to help her out.

Danmaku battles seem hard enough now, but I have no idea how to fly, and I don't think I'm ready to ask if I can use a similar technique to fly using my 'pseudo-magic' ability now.

'Pseudo-magic', it's a term I made up for myself to explain how a non-magic user like me is able to imitate magic usage, except instead of using magic in the same way the others do, I use the magic around me to make danmaku.

"Don't worry too much about it..."

She began, but took out one of the Hakurei Orbs she had that was compact-size and handed it to me.

"... but hold onto this; just think of me when you need to get in contact immediately, and use it like a telephone. This will be our means of communication if you're really serious about trying to defend yourself"

I took the mini Hakurei Orb and pocketed it.

At this point, even if she won't admit it, she is starting to see me as a potential assistant. I think this is her way of trying to get me to look at her as friends for now, and then me opening up to her later. The personal barrier I set up will be broken down eventually, but I will acknowledge the first step in our friendship.

Hakurei Reimu... it seems I will be working with you soon enough.

That night, unfortunately, the same problem as always; Reimu sleeping in the same room I am, but this time, she made her room mine as well, in the sense that I HAVE to sleep in her room, but close to her. Fortunately, not WITH her, but close to her.

It's easier for me to resist the temptation of turning over and burying my face in her chest, but until I know for sure I'm ready for Reimu to be my girlfriend, or fiance, I need to keep my distance as far as possible without risking death from her unhappiness.

Still, if Reimu is like this BEFORE the sudden change of personality the day the ransack happened, then I think I might like this side of Reimu.

Wait, what am I even considering?

If this is an unintentional opening into my heart, then I need to straighten my thoughts for considering that to be a cute side of her for right now. Had I considered it IF we were intimate, then perhaps I would gently bring it up as a topic.

For right now, I put aside that thought and focused on trying to get some sleep while ignoring the warm sensation on her breasts on my back. Had it been Miyu-chan, I would've snuggled close to her, but it's Reimu. She can't take Miyu-chan's place, even if she forces me to look at her the same way Miyu-chan did. The engagement ring I have... is proof of my love for Tanaka Miyu, even if for a short while. I won't ever forget you.

"... Harruuuuuu..."

I heard Reimu talking in her sleep. I would find this cute, but I need to keep my thoughts in check if I'm going to rediscover love in my own way.

The third night passed without too many problems, but the temptation of finding her at-night habits cute were just as bad as the advances she made on me in her half-asleep state the first night at the Hakurei Shrine.

Now it's morning, and I need to start working on putting my danmaku skills into practice.

I asked Reimu to help me out at a beginner's level, which the gave me a hard time about before agreeing to helping me learn. The hard time part was definitely a tsun-tsun moment for sure.

This morning, she trained me on the lessons I would've learned from the next scroll I would've looked at for danmaku training.

She didn't let up on the training at all, and it was starting to make me lose hope on possibly being able to hold my own and be Reimu's partner in incident resolving. I can't be useless if Reimu, despite her contradicting actions and emotions, took me in to save me from whatever caused the ransack.

If she did do this for my sake, then I need to pay back the favor.

She shot danmaku my way, and instructed me to dodge. Doesn't sound so hard, right?

Wrong.

What she shot my way was at speeds I thought only Aya could reach. I was fortunate to react at the last second, but the danmaku bullet of hers really left a painful scratch.

"That was grazing the bullet. A 'close call' bonus that hurts at first, but you'll eventually become used to the pain and continue fighting"

Reimu informed me as though meaning to kill.

"Hold on, I'm not ready for the hard stuff, Reimu! Please, I'm asking for the basics!"

I asked her, clearly intimidated.

"Too bad; if you want to be able to fight with me during incidents, you need to be at your best, and be able to handle danmaku at speeds like that at any given moment. Did you think Danmaku battles were about shooting visible air and it being all fun and games? It's a serious matter, Haru-kun"

She answered as though I hit a landmine.

"Danmaku isn't all fun and games huh? It's like war that the human world goes through all the time?"

I asked again.

"Exactly"

She answered again, lightening up now.

Now, she had me practice dodging again, except she shot a few danmaku bullets my way at a slower speed than before, which was alright for me to get the hang of.

I'm thankful for her loosening up and now being more cheerful instead of her intimidating demeanor a moment ago. The lessons continued throughout the day.

The training lasted all morning, and into the afternoon.

I was tired from all the training on the first day, and in a few hours. Honestly, I felt I was actually going to die with the advanced-level training she threw my way instead of beginner-level training I asked her help on.

"Can't we call it a day on this training, Reimu?"

I asked her nearly while out-of-breath. I was leaning forward on my knees, tired.

She just looked relentless when I asked her that, but then eased up with a sigh.

"Fine, we'll continue tomorrow. Just make sure you're ready tomorrow morning; if you can't learn as much as I expect, you won't last long trying to fight alongside me"

As she said that, she put away her ofudas and gohei.

I sighed a breath of relief at the break she gave me.

In all honesty, I would prefer to take things easy, and learn slowly. However, I don't think Reimu wants me to learn slowly.

That was, until one of her friends, Kirisame Marisa arrived on the scene.

"Ya-ho! Reimu~!"

We heard her announce as she flew down.

"Don't bother Haru-kun; he's not yours to take from me"

Reimu threatened Marisa quite aggressively.

Wait, did she call me by my first name in front of her best friend? Really? We aren't that close yet, and she's already...

Wait, is this another sign of that dreaded opposite?

"Oi, Reimu, I'm just here to see you, no need to get so defensive, ze~"

My limited knowledge of people's interactions told me she wasn't lying , and that she might be safe from Reimu's other tendencies for now.

Upon hearing that, Reimu's guard was lowered, and she calmed down.

"Haru-kun, prepare some tea for us"

She told me, but I gave her a grunt and said 'fine'.

She has her image to keep, and I have to respect that, not that she has anything to boast about.

So, in my defeat, I went to work to get the tea ready.

It's now evening hours.

Much to my fear, I was on edge, and so was Reimu since the majority of questions from Marisa were about me in comparison to her own captor. Rather, she Marisa was talking highly of her own captive being more useful and having more 'balls' than I do. Marisa's captive was a girl whose name I wasn't familiar with, personally, but I think I knew that name from people shouting at hearing she stole from one place, and the goods aren't found until someone notices the stolen goods found somewhere else in the human village.

This conversation was scaring me, not for my sake, but for Marisa's sake. I could tell Reimu didn't appreciate me being compared to this other human that Marisa's talking highly about.

Actually, I'm surprised Reimu's managed to keep her cool so far thus far.

Reimu was starting to lose her cool, and I could see her twitching violently.

"Marisa... I've been calm about this, and I let you have your fun... but there's only so much I can take when you talk badly about Haru that way... Marisa... don't you DARE call him useless!"

Yikes, calling me by my first name without the honorific at this point, I think she's VERY serious about whatever she's going to do, and I am hoping, in vain, she's not about to do what I hope she's about to do.

Marisa's her best friend, and I don't think best friends would kill one another over something stupid like this, would they?

Unfortunately, it did.

Reimu took out her Gohei, and a handful of ofudas, pointing them threateningly at Marisa.

This I KNOW for sure; when girls fight over boys, the fights can get ugly. If one is on THAT personality, expect casualties.

Reimu was starting to show signs of being that other side too; the one personality I dreaded the most; Yandere.

If she IS one, hiding behind a tsundere outlook, then yes, I'm fucked... not only in a literal sense, but also I'm fucked because any HOPE for independence from her is out of the question. Yanderes DON'T let their loved ones go.

"Oh, you going to defend that lump who can't do anything except keep the shrine clean while you're gone? What's he going to do, offer himself to any visitors, and get in bed with the other girls for donations?"

Oh no Marisa DIDN'T just say that.

"Kirisame-san... if you knew ANYTHING about me, that would NOT happen at all. I've already had a girlfriend BEFORE that human village ransack, and I still remain faithful to her even now when she's dead. Men, while perverts at times, do NOT stoop that low. You disgust me, Kirisame-san"

I made it clear to her I was disgusted with her taunt, but Reimu, surprisingly, nodded in agreement.

Unfortunately, that would work against me.

"Haru's right; you don't know anything about him, and looking down upon someone else without any proof of doing so is just asking for trouble. If you're going to insist on him being useless in front of me, Marisa... expect to be dead in a few seconds. I'm not joking here"

The threat sounded dead serious; I have never seen a yandere in action before, and I'm pretty positive I don't WANT to be on the receiving end of the 'yan' part.

The next few moments... were seeing Marisa and Reimu go at one another, both in danmaku, and in melee. The fight was way more brutal than what I heard from Keine-sensei; instead of regulated fighting, Reimu was fighting with the intention to kill, while Marisa was just aggravating Reimu with petty statements of comparison.

When it died down, all I could see left was... Marisa's limp body; lifeless.

"Worthless thief got what she deserved after all these years of harassing everyone"

There's NO mistaking it; she's a yandere for sure; the one thing I feared the MOST in my life. It was enough to break my calm demeanor, and make me fear Reimu... for life.

"W-w-w-w-w-what th-th-th-the h-h-hell..."

I was clearly flabbergasted from seeing the sight.

She dropped her gohei on the ground and moved the body behind the shrine.

I was... horrified... now that the yandere Reimu has come out in plain sight. Truth be told, I don't think I'll ever live for Miyu-chan's sake now... I might be forced to be Reimu's; forgive me if I can't can't remain faithful... I'll make it up to you in death.

Night time...

I was back to being broken.

Unlike the nights before, where I COULD resist somewhat, Reimu didn't LET me resist. No, she made me embrace her, romantically, much to my fear. Had I shown any resistance to her advances onto me, she would threaten me with death, and THEN love me 'affectionately'.

Truth be told, this is the worst kind of love you can have; scary love.

It seems... my life from here on out... is with Reimu... against my will... until death takes one of us apart (against me since I have to 'love' her back to keep myself alive).

Yes, I, Yamato Haru, am stuck with a yandere 'girlfriend' (I have to consider her one if I'm to stay alive, but I won't admit it to myself), who will kill me if I don't love her back.

The days went on, me living in fear, and Reimu became more active in letting everyone know she has me marked as hers.

My life of hell... has just begun.

Author's Notes: Yes, I left off here since I don't need to describe his life any further than this. Reimu, a yandere, but tsundere when she isn't set off, now OWNS her victim, and won't let him go at all.

Sneak Peek: Next victim's captor should be a shout-out to a danbooru/pixiv comic at times, but otherwise, quite ironic. It's a girl this time by the name of Suzie Starling (again, names are made up on the spot, but the name isn't what makes the irony; it's her predicaments).