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-1-
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Before I begin, let me set the stage. It was the previous summer when this first started, less than a year before the Incident proper, just between the end of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Every Three Days Incident and the beginning of the Eternal Night Incident.
Back then, in a maze of tall sunflowers, we met her.
-.-.-.-.-
I, Maeribel Hearn and my partner, Renko Usami, run the Hifuu Detective Agency, which operates out of a storeroom in the back of miss Keine Kamishirasawa's temple school in the human village. Most days, our only visitors there are miss Keine, the children from the school or, occasionally, the various oddball humans and supernatural entities we've befriended in our time here. Very few of these visitors are ever paying customers.
It was the first of these three types of visitors who came to the door one Sunday morning. A somewhat unexpected visit, as the temple school is always closed on Sundays.
"Well, you look as busy as ever, detective," Keine said teasingly from the doorway.
"Well it's peaceful in Gensokyo just now," said my partner, the detective, from behind her desk. "As a member of the neighborhood watch, I'm sure you can appreciate not being busy as a good thing."
From behind Keine, there came a soft, awkward chuckle at that. It had come from a small girl standing behind Keine, wearing a kimono and a peaceful smile. Her name was Kotohime, a human villager and member of the neighborhood watch alongside Keine. Despite her frail looks, she was a surprisingly strong combatant against youkai, a descendant of the long dynasty of youkai hunters who had been the founders of the village. In Gensokyo, appearances often had nothing to do with the threat an individual posed.
Kotohime had shown an interest in our detective agency since we had first opened it and came by to haltingly ask questions from time to time. She never seemed to know how to end a conversation, asking the one or two queries on her mind, then just wandering off with a quick bow at the door. This time she seemed to have come with a gift. "I was just talking to Akyuu about the most recent Incident", she said while looking down. "So I brought you this." She handed me a small, round watermelon without further explanation.
It was hard to know what to say to such an impromptu gift, but I thanked her and put the melon in a tub of water to cool. By the time I returned she had struck up a conversation with Renko.
"I'm not sure you'll find much work as a detective here in the village. I can't even remember the last time we had a good string of grisly, unsolved murders," she said with a tone that sounded like an apology. "I kind of expected things to get more interesting after you opened up shop."
"Well, even if it would keep us busy, I'd rather not have my business be responsible for introducing such an element to the village. Thank you for your concern though," Renko flashed her a smile. "Aren't the police supposed to be the classic foil to any great detective though?"
"After the mystery is solved the police get to arrest and interrogate the murderer right? That seems like it would be fun. I found these at Korindo, and I've polished them up in anticipation." She produced a pair of steel handcuffs from a pocket on her kimono.
"Ooooh very nice, but you're just itching for someone you can slap those onto now, aren't you."
"Could the detective have been a criminal all along? Maybe I should interrogate you to find out why things have been so boring lately. I never even knew an Incident was happening this summer."
Renko raised her hands, posing as if to surrender. "You've got the wrong girl, officer. Having the detective be the culprit would violate Knox's Ten Commandments."
Kotohime sighed and tucked the handcuffs back into a pocket. She wasn't wearing any sort of formal uniform, and being here at our office must mean she wasn't on shift at the moment. I wondered if she made a habit of always carrying handcuffs around. Kotohime had always been a bit of an eccentric. Keine and the other volunteers wore armbands to identify themselves as members of the neighborhood watch while they were on shift, but Kotohime was the only one who ever referred to herself as being part of the police. In fact, she might have been the only person in Gensokyo I'd ever heard use that word.
I suspected that her familiarity with the concept had come from reading paperback mysteries at Suzunaan (something I was guilty of myself.) Her conception of a detective's role involved more in the way of fistfights, cunning traps and high drama than the realistic story of someone who just conducts repetitive interviews and wears the soles out of all their shoes.
"If you ever do get a juicy murder case here in the village, be sure to let me know, ok?"
"Hey Merry, what do you think a murder case in a place like Gensokyo would even look like? Would it adhere strictly to a formula because of expectations? Or would it be completely unsolvable because a youkai would just eat the corpse without a trace?"
"Well, if people keep reading mystery novels, they might start to expect one to happen. If that were the case though, the murder would probably happen in the sort of place one would be more likely to expect it, like the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It might even lead to the birth of a Mystery Youkai. She could be your arch-nemesis, Renko!"
"Like in a Kyohoku Natsuhiko story? That could be fun."
"I'm not sure if anything of theirs has made it into Suzunaan yet. It's only 2005 here."
As we were chatting pointlessly there was yet another voice outside our door. "Hello, is anyone in?"
Renko glanced over at me. It was rare to have any visitors most days, let alone three on the same day. "Yes, we're in. I'm coming now." Renko stood up and hurried over to slide the door open.
Standing behind it was a formally-dressed woman we didn't recognize. Before anyone could say another word though, she bowed and stepped back, saying "The head of the Hieda household, lady Akyuu, ninth child of Miare." She gestured elegantly as she stepped out of the way to reveal Akyuu instead.
"Hello," Akyuu smiled amiably. "Are you busy at the moment?" She tilted her head, peering around Renko to see the other guests looking out in surprise.
"Don't worry about us, lady Hieda, we weren't discussing anything important." Kotohime said with a nervous laugh.
"Nothing that couldn't wait, anyway," Renko confirmed. "What can I do for you?"
"I was thinking of conducting an interview."
"An interview? Are you looking to go to Hakugyokuro? Or to see miss Suika at the shrine again?"
A while back Akyuu had had a similar request, asking us to escort her to the Scarlet Devil Mansion to chat with Remilia and Sakuya about their involvement in recent Incidents. The shrine would be a reasonable destination, but I didn't know if Suika was still hanging around there. Getting to Hakugyokuro on our own would be pretty difficult though...
"No, I don't need anyone to introduce me to anyone this time."
"Oh," Renko looked a little disappointed. "Well, if you want an escort, Kotohime here would probably be better suited to it, or miss Keine." She nodded toward our guests.
Akyuu smiled. "I'm not here to ask for an escort either. Besides, whenever I ask Keine for one she just tries to talk me out of leaving town, saying 'the child of Miare is too important to risk outside the walls of the village' even though I don't really perform any important political role here other than being a symbol." Akyuu was smiling, but it seemed like there was an edge of dissatisfaction with that in her voice. "I've come to ask you all to come with me simply as friends. I was planning on going out to the Garden of the Sun. The flowers are spectacular this time of year. Would you like to go see them?"
-.-.-.-.-
-2-
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An endless sea of nothing but nohana blossoms. Was that the line from the poem by Yamamura Kuretori? I couldn't remember, but it came to mind as we came to the Garden of the Sun - an endless sea of sunflowers, stretching as far as the eye could see under the withering heat of a summer afternoon.
In the long, narrow hollow of a field cut by a stream south of the village, thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of them were blooming, every face turned toward the sun, a softly undulating sea of yellow. Mere words can't do the sight justice. The vitality and vibrancy of the colors rendered me speechless, and even my more empirical-minded partner had to ease her hat back and whistle in appreciation. "That is some spectacle alright," she said.
"We should have come earlier," I agreed in a hushed whisper.
Although it was only sunflowers, planted in uneven, scattershot rows, the field had the same sense of awe to it that might be found in the depths of an old-growth forest. When I had heard that there was a flower garden south of the village, I had initially been uninterested, never imagining such a visual feast. Renko had wanted to come here earlier on to take in a show by the Prismriver Ensemble, but the village gates were closed soon after dark and staying out all night was a sure way to earn ourselves a headbutt from Keine.
"These sunflowers are amazing," Renko marveled. "What could be in the soil here?"
"Well they're not cherry trees, so I don't think it's corpses if that's what you're implying" Akyuu said with a smile. "Let's go have a closer look."
Kotohime's eyes went wide. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I heard there's a ferocious monster that lives in this field."
Akyuu nodded as she picked her way down the slope leading to the field. "That's right. I'm here to interview her."
"I see," Kotohime said. "So there is more to this then just a flower viewing."
"Reimu has apparently exterminated her several times, but that was when I was just a child, so I've never had a chance to interview her." To me, Akyuu looked to be about eleven, though she acted and spoke like someone much older. I wondered just how long ago 'when she was just a child' could have been. At any rate, she was quickly moving down the embankment. Kotohime, Renko and I scrambled to keep up.
As we reached the bottom of the hollow, we found that the sunflowers were even taller than they had appeared from the road. They easily reached above our heads, forming natural walls, obscuring sight and making passage between them difficult in places. Just by virtue of their height and density, the sunflowers formed a natural maze. "There are a lot of fairies who live in here, so be careful not to get lost," Akyuu said as she vanished behind the leaves.
"That sounds like something your escort should be saying," Kotohime murmured as she followed behind.
Renko and I reached the bottom of the slope, just before the dense wall of the sunflower stalks, watching the leaves sway and flutter in the summer breeze. "Well, what do you think, Renko?" I asked, trying to see where exactly Akyuu had vanished to.
She shot me a thumbs-up and a cheesy grin. "Let's give it a shot. Maybe we'll get to meet someone interesting. Worst case scenario we can play with some fairies."
"I just hope it's you playing with them and not the other way around."
Renko's grin shone out from the shadows beneath the brim of her hat as she took my hand and pressed through the leafy barrier of the field's edge. As soon as we entered we were immediately lost. The field was denser than the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, with sunflower stalks pushing up against every side. The stalks were narrow and flexible enough that they could be pushed aside enough to move between, but visibility was close to zero in every direction. Once you were more than a few steps into the field, there was no hope of seeing your way back out.
"Oh look, Merry, a fairy!" Renko said, pointing overhead as a childlike figure zoomed by cradling a sunflower in both arms. She ran a few steps ahead after it, until it disappeared from sight, pulling me along. By the time we stopped, we had no idea where we were. As living expressions of nature, I imagined the fairies must feel right at home in this field. From somewhere nearby we could hear their laughter, making for a tranquil scene in the dusty warmth and comfortable shade of the flowers.
"Where do you suppose Akyuu and the others got to? I can't see or hear any of them," I said as I parted two tall stalks to peer through.
"I'm sure they're just fine. Akyuu has Kotohime with her, after all. Besides, I doubt they could immediately come across the rumored ferocious youkai living here just by wandering blindly into a field. Oh, what if we come across her first though, Merry?"
"Well then we'll hopefully have someone new to talk to."
Renko stopped pushing her way through the field and turned to me. "Merry, what did you just say? Did you just actually express interest in talking to someone new? And a youkai at that? Your knees aren't even trembling! What's gotten into you?"
"I must be spending too much time with you, Renko, I'm starting to become reckless."
She grinned again. "Bwahaha, another innocent soul corrupted by my influence. Soon you'll be just like me!" She cackled maniacally like some villain from a children's cartoon. I reached out and pinched her forearm. "Ow! Ow! Oh no, I've gone too far, Merry's become a true monster now!" she said while laughing and hopping away from me.
The moment she finished speaking though, I had a strange feeling. It took me a moment to realize the cause of it. All around us the sounds had stopped. Once Renko stopped laughing, we were suddenly immersed in a deep silence. No birds called, and the sound of fairies at play had suddenly grown distant. Even the whisper of the breeze through the sunflowers seemed muted, as if they where holding their breath in anticipation. I was eerily reminded of an article I had once read describing how earthquakes could be predicted by looking for spikes in the number of runaway pets in an area.
"Hey Renko..." Unexpectedly, I found myself whispering. Somehow some instinctual and deep feeling of dread had washed over me, despite the bright sun still shining overhead. "Do you hear that?"
Renko grinned as she looked around, trying to see anything between the dense walls of green. "All that nothing, you mean?" She was whispering too, though she didn't look the least bit scared. Instead her face wore that same troublesome smile I had seen so often before. Usually right before things got dangerous. "Yeah. What do you think it'll be Merry? Snakes or oni? Or maybe a new kind of youkai."
Creeping silently along, she pressed her way through a wall of stems. Following her, we emerged into a brief break in the field where a trickle of a stream passed through a muddy, ankle deep channel. The break had cut a passage about as wide as my arms outstretched and perhaps a dozen meters long through this section of the field. At the far end of this brief clearing is where I first saw her emerge from the sunflowers.
The first thing that appeared, before anything else, was a pale pink parasol, nearly white under the bright sun. A knee-length red plaid skirt emerged underneath the parasol next. A sudden gust of wind rustled the sunflowers and she lifted the parasol, revealing wavy, shoulder-length dark green hair and a pair of eyes that narrowed as she looked us over.
"Oh? Humans? I thought I saw signs of something strange today." She wore a gentle smile as she walked toward us, but the primal sense of danger she exuded was overwhelming. So much so that I found myself unable to speak. Looking at her was like looking over the edge of a precipice hundreds of meters above the ground. It inspired that same sense that one was only seconds away from certain death if they didn't move away. "Who are you?" She asked, as she began to walk towards us.
If she had been a human, she would have been only a bit older than us, a woman in her 30s or early 40s. Looking at her though, the question of her humanity was instantly decided by her presence alone. Although she didn't have horns, wings, fangs or any other signifier of her lack of humanity, there could be no doubt that she was a youkai, and a powerful one at that. A youkai of a sufficiently terrifying nature that she didn't need such external signifiers or even the cover of night to inspire fear in humans. The kind of creature that any human would recognize as a predator without needing to see her hunt.
And yet, despite that, there was one human who stood beside me, seemingly completely oblivious to such danger despite the fact that it permeated every cell of my being and rose from this woman's body in waves, driving man and nature alike to flee before her. Renko stood idly in front of me, smiling at the approaching youkai and glancing around at the sunflowers surrounding us.
"Well now," she began appreciatively. "You must be the owner of this field of magnificent sunflowers, am I right?"
"I wouldn't say that," the woman replied, drawing closer. "The flowers don't belong to anyone, they're just here. Like I am, asking you who you are to be in this field."
"Ah, my apologies. The name's Renko Usami. This is my partner, Merry. There are probably two other humans around too, they're our friends."
"I see. I haven't seen your friends yet, but I sense they're nearby. I'm Yuuka Kazami, a free-spirited youkai that calls this place home. If you came here for the Prismriver Ensemble's concert, it's not until after dark. Or did you have some other reason for coming?"
"No, we're just two human girls from the village, enjoying the flowers and this nice weather. Are we intruding on anything here?"
The woman stopped in front us, smiling from beneath the parasol. "No, you're free to look around as long as you don't harm the flowers. Though be careful not to be mislead by mischievous fairies."
It was surprising and a little disconcerting to hear someone who radiated such an intense feeling of predatory danger being so polite and friendly. That's what I was thinking as our conversation was interrupted by a rustling in the nearby flowers. They parted as Akyuu and Kotohime emerged into the clearing blinking in surprise at both the sudden brightness and to see both us and this youkai standing here.
Akyuu paused for a moment as she took in the scene, then smiled as she jogged up to the three of us. "Ah, Renko, Merry. There you are. Would this by any chance be the youkai of this flower garden?" As she approached she turned to look up at the youkai's face, shaded by the parasol.
Yuuka seemed surprised by something and blinked a few times as she looked down at Akyuu. "Yes, that's right," she began after a moment. "And you would be the Child of Miare, from the human village, wouldn't you?"
It was Akyuu's turn to be surprised now. After a moment she nodded. "Yes, that's right. Were you perhaps acquainted with one of my previous incarnations?"
"How nostalgic. Yes, you look just like them. What is your name now?"
"It's Akyuu, of the Hieda. I'm the ninth child of Miare. You would be Yuuka Kazami then, correct?"
Yuuka smiled amiably and turned to the girl. As she began to raise her arm, I saw Kotohime suddenly tense, but she merely used her hand to collapse her parasol and hand it to Akyuu. "The sun is strong today. Why don't you use this while you're here... Akyuu," she said.
Akyuu took the parasol with both hands, saying "thank you very much" as she did.
"Take care of that umbrella. It's the only flower in Gensokyo that never withers." Akyuu popped the parasol open and looked up in confusion at that comment. Instead of explaining herself, Yuuka simply said "Just call me when you're ready to leave. I'll come show you the way out." With that, she turned to leave the little clearing.
"Ah, yes, I will, but first would you mind waiting just a moment?" Akyuu called out.
Yuuka turned. "Oh? Are you not here just to see the sunflowers?"
"Well I am, but I was also hoping to interview you, miss Kazami."
"You're going to include me in the Chronicle again? Well I don't mind. We can walk and look at the sunflowers as we talk. What did you want to ask?"
"Hmmmm... let's start with..."
As Yuuka was talking she had taken the parasol back from Akyuu and raised it to shield them both. She turned and the two of them walked off, side by side, leaving Renko, Kotohime and myself alone in the clearing.
"Oh, I wonder if I should have followed her?" Kotohime asked after they had disappeared among the flowers. "Seemed kind of awkward."
"I'm surprised you didn't try to follow Renko. Didn't you want to hear that interview?"
Renko smiled wryly and took her hat off, fanning herself with it for a moment before responding. "Even I can read the air sometimes, Merry. I think those two could use some time to reminisce."
-.-.-.-.-
-3-
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And so Renko, Kotohime and I spent the morning exploring the Garden of the Sun before spreading out our lunchboxes on a low hill and enjoying a meal. Several times during our lunch we were besieged by fairies that attempted to make off with our food, but even that seemed an enjoyable distraction beneath the bright sunshine.
Akyuu seemed to spend the whole day chatting with Yuuka and it was nearly sunset before we saw her again. When she arrived, She and Yuuka were still walking side by side. Upon seeing us, she turned and bowed to Yuuka. "Thank you for the interview," she said with a smile. "I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your day."
"Well, if its for the sake of the Chronicle, I don't mind. I trust you'll do as I asked?"
"Of course," she said, bowing again before turning and walking up the hill toward us.
"Hello again," Kotohime said as she approached. "What is that on your back?" She was pointing to a tall, withered sunflower that had been inserted into the waistband of Akyuu's kimono, reaching up so that it's face was just behind her head, seeming to give her a halo of withered leaves and seeds.
"My back?" Akyuu asked, feeling behind her. As her hands closed around the stem a panicked expression suddenly appeared on her face. "Aghhh! Has that been there the whole time? The fairies must have put it there while we were watching them make the faces of the sunflowers turn. Yuuka! Why didn't you tell me?" she called down the hill.
Yuuka's smile was the only part of her face poking out from the dark shadows of the parasol. "I thought you knew, so I left it." she replied with a laugh.
Akyuu spun around, trying futilely to remove the offending flower. "Get it off! Get it off!"
Kotohime stepped forward and slid it out from the belt, discarding it.
"I was distracted because they were turning all of the flowers to face me as I walked around. This is why I hate fairies!" Akyuu grumbled as Kotohime picked dead petals out of her hair.
"Kotohime smiled. "That sounds really cute, miss Akyuu."
Akyuu looked up and saw Yuuka smiling at her. "Right, we're done here!" she declared, spinning on her heel and beginning to march down the hill, back towards the road to the village. As she passed by us her face was quickly reddening.
Renko and I exchanged a quick glance then bowed to Yuuka before turning to follow Akyuu. I looked back once as we were leaving. Yuuka continued to wave from beneath her parasol until we were all out of sight.
-.-.-.-.-
"Well, she was quite different than I expected. I had heard rumors she was a terrifying monster," Kotohime said as we walked back toward the village under the beautiful colors of sunset.
"Powerful youkai are usually very polite," Akyuu said curtly. I though back to other youkai we had met. Ran, Yuyuko and Eirin had all been well spoken and meticulously well-mannered, though I didn't doubt that any of them would make for a terrifying opponent. That tendency toward politeness might well be the reason Renko and I were still alive after having encountered so many dangerous beings.
"Besides which," Akyuu continued, "she doesn't seem to be very interested in most humans. I'm not sure if she even noticed you were there, Kotohime."
"Oof. As a descendant of the youkai-hunters who founded the village, that must sting a little," Renko said, nudging Kotohime with her elbow. "Do you want to go back and pick a fight?"
Kotohime laughed self-consciously and shook her head. "No thanks. Just being near her I could sense the difference in strength between us. The friendly version is just fine."
"By the way," Renko asked, turning now to Akyuu, "what was it she asked you to do?"
Akyuu looked over her shoulder at Renko as she walked, laughing softly. "She asked me to write in the Chronicle that she's a terrifying, malicious youkai."
Renko grinned. "Oh do youkai get to make requests about how they're recorded now?"
"Well, much of the information in the Chronicle is self reported anyway, and judging from reports from others that I've heard, she's not a weak youkai trying to make herself appear strong, so I don't really see the harm in it. She has her reasons for wanting to discourage humans from interacting with her, I suppose."
Akyuu seemed to consider the request a reasonable, if comical indulgence. Renko, however, didn't seem convinced, fiddling thoughtfully with the brim of her hat as she walked along. In Gensokyo, where perception held power, the Gensokyo Chronicle was a vitally important book, especially for youkai whose lifespans far exceeded those of humans. A youkai who was recorded in those pages could expect future generations of humans to only learn about them by means of the Chronicle and its annexes unless they made a point of regularly interacting with the people of the village. In effect, false information written down by Akyuu might in time become true.
Akyuu noticed Renko's consideration. "It's a little petty," she said, reassuringly, "but it's not a dangerous request. Yuuka is a youkai with the potential to be dangerous to humans, and that's what I'll write. The fact that she asked me to write that she has a nasty personality and a cruel streak is just a little bit of artful embellishment. I don't see the harm."
"I agree," Renko said. "I'm just thinking about the implications. What if you ended up really hating a youkai and wrote that they were weak and stupid? In time, wouldn't that cause them to lose their power? Thinking about it from a youkai's point of view, you might be the most powerful human in Gensokyo."
"Well, that's the reason why the children of Miare and the Hieda household are held in such an esteemed position of the village. I don't know that such power has ever been intentionally wielded though."
Those were the sorts of things the four of us talked about as we made our way back to the village that evening. In all it had been a peaceful, enjoyable day.
-.-.-.-.-
And that is the story of how we met Yuuka Kazami. It was about a year after that that something strange began happening with the flowers of Gensokyo, heralding the beginning of what would eventually be called "The Great Barrier Incident of Sixty Years."
It was she who acted as the culprit responsible for this Incident.