-.-.-.-.-
-4-
-.-.-.-.-
Now let me return to the spring of this year, which happens to be the 120th since the erection of the Great Hakurei Barrier and the creation of Gensokyo.
It had been six months since the end of the Eternal Night Incident, and was now our second spring since arriving in this world. The two years seem to have flown by. At this point we had become so comfortable and familiar with life in Gensokyo that I rarely found myself thinking of Kyoto or its conveniences any more. Back at the end of the Eternal Night Incident, Reimu had confirmed to us that there was no known way for us to return to our own time, and I had made peace with that. Renko still seemed to believe that the youkai sage held the key to the mystery of our appearance in this world and might eventually be convinced to reveal it, but even she seemed in no hurry to achieve that goal. For my part, I was content with the idea that I might live out the rest of my life in this world, and, as long as I could manage that life having an ending other than the two of us ending up as a meal for a youkai that Renko had managed to annoy just a little too much, I found the thought unobjectionable.
The day-to-day routine of our lives was proceeding much as it ever had. The detective agency continued to have few to no clients and Keine's temple school continued to improve its enrolment numbers semester after semester. Renko's math class had been especially well received and its outcomes were praised among the village's parents who were impressed by the children's aptitude. The persistent gossip about the school being run a half-youkai and a pair of suspicious foreigners began to die down as conversation instead began to circle around the demonstrable prowess the children under Renko's tutelage now displayed. Few such happy discussions ever mentioned my literature and composition class -most children learned to read and write at home anyway and an appreciation for writing as an art form was sadly rather uncommon among the farmers, artisans and merchants of the human village.
"Bye, miss Merry!"
"Goodbye, see you tomorrow. Be good at home!"
I was calling such farewells as I waved to the children from the doorway of the school one day. As the last of them disappeared through the gate to the yard, I let out a slow, tense breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Back in my life in Kyoto, I had never thought of myself as being good at dealing with children, but after repeated exposure, I was starting to get used to their needs and habits now. I counted my blessings that I was lucky enough to have mostly well-behaved children in my class.
I returned to the classroom of the temple school to put away my teaching materials and gather up the textbooks for next time. I was mildly surprised to find Renko, who had had her students during first period this morning and should have been waiting back in our office, standing in the classroom, snooping over my records.
As soon as I walked in the door, she looked up at me saying "All done, Merry? Get packed up, we've got to get moving."
"I was just going to clean up and make some adjustments to tomorrow's lesson plan. Get moving where? What's got you so excited?"
"She's coming again today. I'm gonna catch her for sure this time."
I sighed heavily as my partner grinned at me.
"Again, Renko? How long are you going to keep stalking her?"
"The intellectual curiosity of a genius mind cannot be stifled, Merry, nor is it dulled by the passage of time. Waiting only gives me more time to think up new experiments we could be performing."
"And what about the trouble these experiments are causing her? She only comes into town to work you know, and you're disrupting that."
"That's why I pay her the professional courtesy of only bothering her when she's here in the village. I'd love to spend all my time at Eientei experimenting, researching and investigating the nature of her abilities, but I'm pretty sure she's actually busier when she's at home. As a super-unified physics student, how could I do any less? I'd be shirking my lab duties!"
There was no point on arguing any further. When it came to matters related to physics there was no reasoning with Renko once she got started and any attempt to do so ran the risk of condemning you to an hour-long lecture on the minutia of interactions between quantum magnetism and criticality or the like.
"It's my specialty, Merry," Renko was continuing, heedless of my sighs. "I guess you could say she's just my type, I'd be an idiot not to pursue her."
"Well, what do you need me to come along for then?"
"You and I make one Hifuu Club, Merry, we're inseparable! Besides, if we end up leaving the village without an escort Ran's obligated to keep an eye on us. If we're in two different places, that would make her work much harder, wouldn't you think? I'm just trying to be considerate."
"How long did it take you to dream up that excuse? How can you think of something like that while ignoring the fact that you're the one proposing leaving the village in the first place or that you'd be leaving it to further harass poor Reisen?"
Ran, the shikigami servant of the administrator had told us she would be following and observing us on the youkai sage's orders. I never felt like we were being observed, but she had shown up unannounced from time to time to remind us she was always nearby. I could never be sure if her presence or the threat of it was the reason why we had never been attacked by wandering youkai after leaving the village.
"Come on, Merry. If you come along and we end up leaving town, there's always a chance you could end up seeing the mofumofu again."
"...Alright, I'll pack up."
It was useless to fight the compulsion. It wasn't the possibility of potentially having another chance to snuggle the blissful golden warmth of Ran's tails that motivated me, though I'll admit the thought was a nice bonus. It was just in my nature to pursue these mysteries and indulge Renko's curiosity, as much as I might hate to admit it. Things were just more interesting with Renko around.
As much as she might say the same to me, I often felt that without her leading the way my life would be hopelessly dull and dreary. From the moment we had first joined hands while exploring that graveyard in our own world, through all our time in Kyoto, right through to our present day in Gensokyo, we were still the same old Hifuu Club as always. Renko answered my resigned sigh with a troublesome grin as she took my hand and lead the way out of the school.
-.-.-.-.-
And that's how I ended up in this improbable situation.
As soon as we had left the office, Renko had turned to me, saying "The game is afoot, Watson. Our target will be on the streets of town somewhere, carrying a large parcel on their back and walking from house to house. She shouldn't be too hard to find."
"Of course, Sherlock" I sighed as I hung the 'Be Back Later' sign on the door. "Does it bother you at all to think that this hobby we're pursuing in the middle of the work day doesn't bring in a penny to our coffers?"
"It doesn't cost a thing either though, so seeing as we have no clients, the fact that we might get some free advertising out of being seen out and about makes this a net positive," she reasoned as we walked together out of the gate in front of the school. "Now, where should we begin our search?"
Before I could reply, I was interrupted by a voice calling out from a few houses down along the street. "Oh no, not you again."
We stopped and turned, looking at the figure who had spoken. There was our quarry, just steps away, having apparently had the misfortune of wandering into our neighborhood at just that moment. She had traded her modern-looking blazer and skirt for a loose-fitting jinbei of undyed cotton and had her ears concealed under a conical woven bamboo hat, making her look almost human as long as you didn't look her in the eye. Upon spotting her, we turned and glanced at eachother for a moment before raising our hands and waving.
"I suppose I'm glad you're not hiding conspicuously behind fences and following me any more, but I'd appreciate if you would stop stalking me altogether," she said.
"Well hello, hello!" Renko greeted her enthusiastically, tipping her hat back with a poke of her finger. "I'm afraid there's been no stalking today, you've merely happened upon our dwelling. Merry and I live right over there," Renko said, jerking her thumb back at our office. "Since we've had the fortune to run into you here and now though..." she began.
After the Incident at Eientei, the veil of illusions covering the mansion had been lifted, making it so that anyone willing to brave the Bamboo Forest of the Lost could enter or leave the grounds of the estate without issue. Since then Miss Yagokoro (who insisted that people not use the appellation of 'doctor' despite providing medical care) had taken to treating human patients and allowing visitors to come and go freely. As part of their efforts to integrate themselves with the human community, Reisen had even been dispatched on a weekly basis to travel through the human village as a medicine peddler, going door to door, selling all manner of concoctions. As a new face in the village, people had initially been suspicious, but as the efficacy and convenience of Eirin's medicines became better known, Reisen was becoming a welcome visitor, especially among the village's ill and elderly, for whom her effective and reasonably priced medicines were a welcome change from the sometimes questionable efficacy of the village's typical folk remedies.
"I'm trying to work here. Would you mind not interfering in my business?" Reisen interrupted before Renko could really start to spool up.
"I wouldn't dream of it, my friend," Renko said convivially. "We can wait until you're done for the day and talk to you when you're off shift, if you like."
"I'd rather you didn't talk to me at all unless you're buying something! I don't remember ever agreeing to be a part of your experiments."
"Please, be reasonable, Reisen. Your abilities to manipulate wavelengths on a quantum level might well provide the evidence needed to overturn more than a century's worth of quantum mechanical theory! You could hold the key to advancing the state of physics in the Scientific Century beyond what was previously thought possible. With a few simple, quantifiable observations you and I could revitalize the entire field!"
"And that's precisely why I have no intention of helping you! What reason do I have to help humans understand the nature of the universe? Why does a human even know or care about any of this stuff?"
"No, no, no, wait. What if we just tried a few things? We could make it like a game, if you'd just..." Renko was speaking rapidly, trying to badger and cajole Reisen as she turned and walked away. It had been like this for several weeks now, with Renko doggedly pursuing and harassing Reisen the whole time she was in town or on her way home, raising theoretical questions and proposing experiments while Reisen did her best to both ignore Renko and try not to draw attention to herself despite the detective following a few steps behind her everywhere she went.
It wasn't hard to see why Renko was so interested in her, even if she let her curiosity drive her to annoying extremes. Reisen's ability to manipulate wavelengths could potentially offer the opportunity to directly observe quantum phenomena that thus far had only been theorized or modeled. The very ability to set quantum properties of a system itself violated the uncertainty principle as I understood it, making for a limitless number of possible applications. According to Renko, it opened the possibility of constructing 'Laplace's Demon,' whatever that meant.
To me, the thought of deriving a new theory of quantum mechanics from observations of a world where people could fly in the air and fairies, gods and youkai were real and then expecting that theory to hold any meaning or relevance back in the Scientific Century seemed like a fool's errand. To Renko, however, the development of such a theory was a perfectly reasonable goal in and of itself, potential real-world applications be damned.
"Merry, say something. You have to help me convince her how important this is."
"Me? I'm not a physics major or any kind of expert in relativity. Relative Psychology is an unrelated field, despite the similar names. Here in Gensokyo though, quantum mechanics may well not be what we're dealing with. When you think about it, isn't Reisen's ability more likely to be related to Relative Psychology?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well, Reisen can recognize and manipulate wavelengths with her eyes. In Gensokyo, those wavelengths, like all aspects of observable reality, are governed by the tenets of Relative Psychology -that is to say that the act of perception and recognition has impacts on the nature of things, as if the reality we live in followed some of the same rules as particles do on a quantum scale. Her ability to manipulate wavelengths descends from her eyes' ability to perceive them -if you could see the quanta before it passed through the double slit, you'd always be able to predict which way it would go right? Right now you're like a stage magician trying to play a shell game without knowing where the ball is to begin with. If we could eliminate that, controlling where it ends up becomes simply a matter of execution."
"Hmm, that's a very interesting observation, Merry. An interesting observation about observation, even. In that case Reisen could even become Laplace's Demon herself with a broad enough field of view. Could a moon rabbit end up being the ultimate deterministic observer? A whole watchmaker's universe ticking away on the spring of a bunny in a miniskirt?"
Reisen turned from where she had been standing as we talked, with her fist still halfway raised to knock on another door. She whirled on us with her red eyes flashing in annoyance. "If you're going to make unreasonable demands of me, at least make them in a language I can understand. What are you even talking about?"
Renko responded before I could even think about how to explain. "Right! It's settled then. I know just the way to make clear both my intentions and the importance of this scientific endeavor in the quickest, easiest way possible."
Both Reisen and I looked at her incredulously. "What?" we asked in unison.
"We'll have a physics seminar hosted by none other than the illustrious professor Renko Usami at Eientei. As part of our newly begun travelling lecture series."
"What? I didn't agree to any of this. Why would an Earthling come and teach at..."
"No need to fret, Reisen, old friend. I've got it all figured out," Renko said, tapping her temple with one finger. "We'll see you after work to begin the preparations." With that, Renko spun on her heel and began to march off, leaving us both behind.
At that moment the door to the house Reisen had been standing in front of slid open and the hunched form of a smiling old grandpa looked up at her from the doorway. "Oh, the medicine peddler! Dear, we have a guest!" The old man called inside the house.
Reisen twisted around toward the old man, then back towards Renko's quickly receding form, then back to her customer again as Renko rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight. The old man took Reisen's sleeve and began to pull her inside.
"Don't just decide by yourself!" she yelled as she disappeared into the house. Perhaps at Renko, perhaps at the universe itself. If either heard her plea, they gave no sign.
The first time I ever met Renko, her interest in my eyes had been much the same. Seeing her act this way again, I was struck by a bittersweet nostalgia. What would it be like if Renko were to recruit Reisen to become the third member of the Hifuu Club, I wondered. What would it be like if Reisen replaced me as the object of Renko's endless fascination, a voice deep inside me asked.
What a foolish question to ponder. I shook my head from side to side, disappointed in the meaningless garbage my overanxious brain had decided to ruminate on. Sighing softly to myself I set out to see just where Renko had wandered off to.
-.-.-.-.-
-5-
-.-.-.-.-
A few hours later, we found ourselves walking along behind Reisen as she made her way back to Eientei after a day selling medicine in the village.
"Quit following me already!"
"We're not following you," Renko called out from a dozen paces back. "We're just on our way to Eientei."
"Even if you come to my house, I'm not going to agree to be your lab rat. Just save your breath!"
"Don't worry, I'm not going to dissect you or anything. Being my lab rat will be much easier than being Eirin's."
"That's not the point!" Reisen cried, refusing to even turn around to address us. From our position behind her I could see the tension in her shoulders rising as she walked.
"Hey Renko, if you're really so interested in Reisen, why go to all of this trouble? Why not just ask Eirin? I'm sure she's both studied how Reisen's ability works and knows as much about physics as you'd be able to learn from studying Reisen herself."
"Come on, Merry. You've spent enough time talking to Eirin to know why that won't work."
In other words, Renko had already had the same idea and gone ahead and asked Eirin. For her to still be so obsessed with Reisen's unique abilities after having done so meant that Eirin had either refused to answer, or the answer had been so confusing and over Renko's head that it might have well been in another language.
"So even the illustrious professor Renko couldn't follow explanation from the Lunar Sage then?"
"Hey don't make me sound so clueless. There were whole concepts and units of measurement completely unknown to the model of physics of the Scientific Century in what she told me. If I wanted to understand her explanation, I'd have to fist systematize the physical laws of Gensokyo and come up with a new unified model which includes perception as a fifth fundamental force. Coming up with something like that in a few months, with no access to research materials or proper lab equipment is beyond even professor Renko's abilities. Asking her to explain was hopeless. As soon as I came across one unknown unit, she'd explain it using another. She might well be a genius inventor, but when it comes to being a teacher, even you have her beat, Merry."
"So you won't be giving lectures on lunar science anytime soon then?"
"Afraid not. With any luck though, someday students may end up learning about the Usami-Inaba postulate, or establishing proofs of the Unified Hifuu Theorem."
"Hmm, somehow I doubt our students would be interested, and who knows if your theories would even hold true back in our own world. I sort of expect that Eientei couldn't have continued to exist in the Outside world if it hadn't been built in what would eventually become Gensokyo."
"Well lucky for us we're all here then. 'When in Rome, do as the Romans' as they say, and in this case that means revealing the truth behind the underpinnings of this fantasyland. Gensokyo has rules just like our world did. They might even be the same ones. The only difference is that the people here are using those rules to play a different game, like playing a game of chess where both players were trying to get all their pawns across the board without capturing anything instead of trying to capture the opponent's king."
"If you say so, Renko. For the moment though, there's something more pressing we need to discover. Where exactly are we?"
It seems at some point Reisen had given us the slip. We had been following her through the bamboo Forest of the Lost for a few minutes, and after walking ahead of us for a bit, she had passed behind a dense clump of swaying green stems and simply vanished, leaving nothing behind but the faintest ripple of twisted space. Enough for me to know she had concealed herself at some point, but with no trail indicating which way she had turned. Without any sign of her nearby, we were utterly directionless. We had been far too absorbed in our discussion to realize where we were headed, and now seemed to be far from any recognizable landmarks.
As Renko peered around trying to get her bearings, I began to worry that our situation might be hopeless when all at once there was a loud cry from up ahead, followed immediately by a rustling of leaves and a heavy thump. Renko and I glanced at eachother for a moment before running toward the source of the commotion. Even before we arrived though, we heard another sound from the same direction. It was a girl's voice, singing playfully.
"Oh, what have I caught in my trap today? Something tasty that has lost its way? Is it a beast that has gotten stuck, or is it a human who is out of luck?"
We arrived to see that the source of the song had been Tewi, who was squatting and smiling down into a deep pit that had been dug into the soft loam of the forest. From the steep slopes of the pit it looked like it had been dug in such a way that the walls would collapse as soon as something fell inside, partially burying whatever had triggered the trap inside in the hole. From the bottom of the pit Reisen's angry voice rang out.
"Tewi!"
"Oh, I caught a Reisen. Bad luck for you." She said as she peered into the hole. Seeing us approach she smiled up at us as several of her Inaba emerged from nearby hiding spots to swarm around our ankles. "Oh, hello humans. Nice of Reisen to bring home guests. You'll have to forgive her at the moment though, I'm afraid. She looks a little grumpy. And irritable. And self-important, overly serious and uncooperative too. It's so nice of you to come and cheer her up when she's having a bad day like this. Why don't I show you inside?"
"I didn't invite them! They can just go home!" said the voice in the hole.
"I should probably get an adult's permission before you invite me over to play, Reisen." Renko called with a broad smile on her face.
From the bottom of the hole came a strange grumbling noise, followed by Reisen's voice again. "What are you planning, human?"
"Well, since you're stuck here and it would be a bit of a pain to get you out, I'll offer my help and see if miss Eirin and miss Houraisan would mind lending you to me for a while in exchange."
"You can't borrow people like they're tools!"
"Oh, I can leave some of the Inaba here to play with you, Reisen. Don't worry, we'll be back soon. This way to Eientei, humans!" Tewi bounded off with the Inaba cavorting all around her. Renko laughed and followed along, leaving me behind. I sighed and looked down into the pit. Amongst the deep shadows I could just make out Reisen's form, buried up to her hips in loose, shifting dirt that also ran in rivulets through her hair.
I sighed and turned toward Renko who was still chasing behind Tewi. If I didn't hustle, she'd soon be out of sight. Reluctantly I jogged after her as Reisen's frustrated cries echoed behind me.
-.-.-.-.-
"You want to borrow Udonge? I don't mind, I suppose. As a mortal human you couldn't possibly keep her for all that long."
That had been Eirin's response when we had arrived at the mansion and Renko had asked. There had been no prior discussion of what Renko had planned.
All of us, including Reisen, were now gathered around a table in one of the rooms off the hallway with the doors open to the veranda. Reisen had been dragged from the hole with the aid of a rope Tewi had leant us, but the leader of the Inaba had mysteriously vanished as soon as Reisen was almost to the surface. When we got to Eientei we had found her, Eirin and Kaguya all awaiting us in this sitting room.
"It would be a bit troublesome if you were to dissect her though, so I'll ask that you refrain." Eirin's delivery was completely deadpan as usual. If she was joking, there was no way to tell.
"I wouldn't do anything like that of course. I just want to investigate some of the properties of her unique abilities."
"Oh, is that all? I explained the theory of their operation to you already, did I not?"
"Indeed, but the theory must be tested and confirmed through empirical observation."
"I see. How true."
Reisen's shoulders fell as she looked on hopelessly. "Really, master? You want me to help this lowly human?"
"You help humans all the time, Udonge. You've just returned from selling medicines in the village, have you not? Repaying her help in getting you out of that hole you blundered into with a bit of laboratory work hardly seems an unreasonable request."
Renko laughed and clapped Reisen on the shoulder. Tiny streams of dirt fell from her hair and the folds of her jinbei. "It'll be a pleasure to work with you, friend!"
Kaguya gasped in feigned amazement, holding one sleeve over her mouth. "Friend? Reisen did you hear that? You've made your first friend on Earth! I'm so happy for you."
"She's not my friend!" Reisen said, incensed. "Why would I be friends with an Earthling?"
"Because you can't go back to the moon, remember?" Tewi added with a smile. "You tried that already. You may as well give up and become an Earth rabbit."
Reisen lowered her head in defeat. The woven bamboo of her hat clunked against the table, sending a few more streams of soil tumbling off of it. "I'm going to go change and get clean." She said in a tone of utter despair. "Though I doubt I could ever wash the stain of Earthly impurity off at this point." She slumped out of the room, leaving a faint trail of dirt as she went.
As she left, one of Tewi's Inaba had leapt up onto my lap. I gently stroked its soft fur and another one came up beside me, nuzzling my hip. The Inaba were nowhere near as fluffy as Ran's tail, but having their warm bodies nuzzling me contentedly was quite nice.
Kaguya watched Reisen leave, noting the trails of loose soil she left behind. "I'll have to get her to sweep that up later. In the meantime, may I ask you two how she's doing in the human village?"
"Your medicines have made her quite popular, especially with the ill and infirm, but Reisen herself is very suspicious and standoffish. The humans of the village are rather untrusting of youkai in general though," I explained, nodding to Eirin.
Eirin considered that for a moment. "Hmm, I wonder if I should assign her the task of socializing with the humans to establish friendly relations."
"She still has too much pride as a moon rabbit." Kaguya said, tittering softly. "She needs to broaden her horizons and learn to love the Earth. Open herself up to new experiences, like this newly opened Eientei."
"Oh, this coming from you, princess?" Tewi asked in wonder. "That Incident the other day really changed you. Before that, you were content to stay in your room for a century at a time."
"Oh, is that unusual?" Kaguya asked, resting a finger on her chin and tilting her head in consideration. "Everything I need is right here in the mansion after all. Maybe I should make a point of getting out more though. Hey, human."
"Who? Me or Merry?"
"Either or. When you do Reisen's autopsy, can I come observe?"
"I'm not planning on an autopsy, but if one happens, I'll make sure you're invited." Renko said with a grin.
"Oh? You might reconsider. It's quite unusual for Kaguya to show interest in anything outside the mansion" Eirin said, while nodding knowledgeably.
"Eirin, don't make me sound like a shut-in."
"Well, if you're looking for something to do, I would love to test your abilities too, princess." At this statement, Kaguya's eyes widened in surprise and Eirin's narrowed suspiciously. "Eirin mentioned you can control 'moments' and 'eternity' but I'd like to develop a more practical understanding of what that means. For example, I was thinking we could..."
All at once our conversation was interrupted by a sudden shriek of alarm coming from the back of the mansion.
-.-.-.-.-
-6-
-.-.-.-.-
At the moment we heard the scream, all of the Inaba instantly perked up their ears. Tewi looked up at me with a worried expression, as I looked at Renko and she looked at Tewi, as if all of use were confirming 'that wasn't you, right?'
Renko spoke first. "That was Reisen's voice, wasn't it?"
"Definitely Reisen," Tewi confirmed with a nod.
"Maybe I should go check on her," Renko said, rising to her feet. Kaguya and Eirin dismissed her with a nod, with Eirin adding. "I doubt it's anything serious, but be my guest."
Tewi and I followed Renko out of the room. Perhaps it was my imagination, but she seemed a little disappointed at Eirin's lack of alarm. I wonder if she had been hoping for the start of an Incident? Tewi seemed to read Renko's mood and scoffed as we walked toward the rear of the mansion, saying "she probably just found a weird bug or something." A half dozen of the Inaba followed behind us.
As we proceeded down the hallway, we soon heard the sound of hurried, angrily stomping footsteps rushing toward us. We stopped and a moment later, Reisen rounded the corner wearing her usual skirt and blazer. She stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw us, standing with both her hands behind her back.
"Oh, glad to see your OK," Renko began. "What was that noise?"
"It was nothing."
"Nothing? I'm pretty sure we heard you scream.
"I said It was nothing!" Reisen shouted. Behind her, something seemed to be moving. A white and translucent tendril squirmed and twisted like it was alive. Was she holding something behind her back?
"Reisen," I asked. "What is that?"
"What's what?" She asked indignantly. The white thing had drooped down like a long tail and began to twine itself around her legs. A moment later it constricted around her thigh and she yelped in alarm.
"Hiiiiiiii!"
Reisen cringed away from the contact and tried to disentangle herself from the coiling, translucent thing, but ended up hopping to the side and landing in a heap. As she grasped her skirt with both hands, the translucent object rose up over her shoulder, floating, wispy and bulbous, in the air.
"A phantom?" Renko asked.
"A phantom." Tewi agreed.
It looked just like the ones we had seen in Hakugyokuro. Like those ones, it radiated a faint aura of cold. If this one had snuck up on Reisen in the bath and touched her, I could understand why she had screamed.
As the phantom wobbled and floated in the air, slowly drifting toward us, the Inaba all turned and bounded away in fright. Tewi scoffed as they passed her by, darting down the hall or out onto the veranda. "Tch! What are you guys doing, it's just a little ghost!" She called after them.
Reisen climbed to her feet. "Well, they can surprise you if you're not expecting them! I had never even seen one before, are these normal on Earth?"
"Oh? Are you afraid of ghosts, Reisen? I think I hear your voice trembling."
"Shut up!" Reisen's face was rapidly turning red.
Renko reached out and grabbed the phantom by the tail, examining it with a concerned expression.
"What are you doing, Renko? It's just a phantom like any other, right?"
"Sure, but what's it doing here?"
"Well unless you want to bring it to Youmu or Yuyuko, we can't exactly ask it. Phantoms can't talk, after all."
"Where did this come from, Reisen?"
"It snuck up on me as I was getting out of the bath," she grumbled. "But there's more."
"More?"
"A whole bunch more! Out in the courtyard." She pointed and we turned to follow where she lead. She guided us through another sliding door into a room that adjoined the carefully manicured garden. There, dozens of the wispy spirts were drifting lazily about.
"Whoa, Eientei's become Hakugyokuro!" Renko exclaimed.
Indeed, the scene of phantoms drifting about among the shrubs and flowers was eerily reminiscent of the Netherworld. If anything though, it looked more crowded. The Netherworld seemed to have an infinite amount of space, and Hakugyokuro was stretched wide across a broad section of it, making it almost uncomfortably large for mortals who still had to use their legs to walk around. Here in Eientei, the courtyard was more reasonably sized, and the roughly 50 or so translucent phantoms floating about it seemed almost cramped.
"Where did these all come from?" Renko asked as she slipped on a pair of geta sandals and stepped into the garden. She glanced around, taking in the strange scene for a moment before thrusting out her arm, toward the back of Eientei, saying "Merry, look!"
There, past the back of the mansion, the far edge of the grounds were marked by a fence of bamboo that had been planted to form a dense, living wall. Once there had been a veil of illusion and a barrier against impurity set flush with the wall as well, though that was long gone now. Instead, the bamboo which reached dozens of meters above was covered with... flowers?
Hundreds of flowers, of every imaginable type were growing from bushes, ground plants, vines and fronds. Many were varieties I had never seen before. Borrowing a pair of sandals myself, I joined Renko in the garden. Perhaps because of all of the phantoms, the air here was chilly, but not unbearably so.
"That's a Japanese ginseng," Renko said, pointing out a cluster of small red petals. Though I've never seen a live one before.
Tewi stepped into the garden too, not bothering with shoes and several of her Inaba timidly poked their heads into the phantom-filled courtyard. "Look, the bamboo flowers are blooming too, that's rare." Indeed, dozens of soft, tube-like flowers were hanging from the branches above, bobbing gently in the breeze.
"Renko, bamboo only blooms once every sixty years right?"
"For most species. It's 120 years or so for others. We must be lucky."
We took in the scene of the grove covered in blossoms. Normally the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was a slightly ominous place, but crowned with the colorful flowers it now sported, it was actually quite beautiful.
"Wait a minute Renko. What's that? Isn't that an autumn cherry blossom?"
"What? It's spring now." Frowning, she followed the direction I was pointing, glancing over to a dwarf tree with a dome-like canopy planted in the corner of the yard. Its branches were covered in pale pink blossoms. The Akizakura tree was not alone. Beside it, a willow was covered in delicate fuzz and beneath it numerous flowering plants each displayed their own brilliant plumage, as if each were celebrating its own season, independent of the rest or the actual time of year. Taken together with the calmly drifting phantoms that filled the courtyard, it was an intensely bizarre panorama.
"Renko... Do you think this is..."
Renko gleefully tugged her hat down over her eyes and fixed me with a ready stare.
"No question about it Merry. This is the beginning of an Incident."