Chapter 1: Family Ties & History

Back in the real world, on the veranda of a certain Japanese estate sits an old man in his late 70s, with grey hair and wearing a blue kimono, quietly watching the sky while sipping tea. When suddenly, "Master Genma! MASTER GENMA!"

Genma Yukimoto sighed to himself; it seems that he can't even have a single day of peace anymore.

"What is it, Midori?" He turned towards a young woman with long, black, flowing hair in her late 20s.

"It's horrible, Master Genma! The young master… he is missing!"

Genma raised an eyebrow, "Now hold your horses, Midori. Which young master are you talking about?"

"The eldest! The eldest young master is missing! He hasn't return home last night, and they found his cell phone lying on the street!"

"Oh really?" Genma said nonchalantly, "Then, there is nothing to worry about."

Midori stared in horror at the old man, "Master, do you realize what you are saying! This is your grandchild we are talking about!"

"Now Midori, you know that Kamino has been taking self-defense lessons from when he was merely 12 years old. He could handle any low thug on his own. Judging by what you tell, it sounds like he disappeared without so much as a struggle. Which means whatever ambushed him… could not have been human."

To say that Midori was horrified would be quite the understatement, "That's impossible! The family heirloom, it should have hidden his presence from the yokai! And if somehow it is true, that means the young master is in even greater peril!"

Genma sipped his tea, "My dear Midori. Have you forgotten a certain Yokai of Boundaries that our family has known for generations?"

As if on cue, a gap opened behind Genma, revealing a dimension with many eyes. A young woman walks out, wearing a purple Chinese-style tabard with various trigrams over a pale pink Western-style dress, otherwise known as a Taoist dress to the Japanese community. Her blond hair is coiled up into her mob cap and a parasol is seen hanging on her left hand.

Genma glanced behind him, "Ah, Yukari Yakumo. It has been awhile."

Yukari smirked, "Genma Yukimoto, I see that your age has not affected your perception one bit."

The old man laughed, "Would you like some tea?

"Gladly."

The Yokai of Boundaries sat down and laid her parasol at her side before receiving a cup of tea from Genma.

Midori looked at both of them before her anger gets the best of her, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO!"

Both man and yokai stared at the woman.

"Master, how can you be so calm when the one responsible for the young master's disappearance in front of! And you!" Midori glared at Yukari, "How dare you show your face here!"

"My my, is that how you treat your guests? You do realize that sort of behaviour will have you disemployed?" Yukari said as she covered her face with her fan.

"I don't care! If anything happens to the young master, I will cut you down from where you…"

"ENOUGH." Genma said in a soft yet firm and authoritative tone. Midori immediately backed down, lowering her head.

Yukari lowered her fan and smirked, "I see that the dog still knows who holds the leash." Midori glared at her, "And before you go baring your fangs at me again, I must tell you that it is misdirected, for I am not the one responsible for your precious master's disappearance."

There was disbelief in the eyes of humans.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he was taken by three yokai who were targeting humans here." She then raised her hand before anyone could speak, "And yes, I am well aware of the heirloom Kami-kun has inherited that hides his presence from all yokai, including me. It is likely he walked straight into a trap set up by the said yokai and was brought to Gensokyo to be cooked. Or at least he would be if Reimu haven't found out and had them exterminated."

Genma raised his cup, "Hah! That's Hakurei's descendant for ya!"

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to find Kami-kun among the humans we recovered. It is likely he fell off while those yokai were being chased by Reimu. My shikigami, Ran is searching for him as we speak. Though I'm sure you both realize with due to the charm, the search is a lot harder than it's supposed to be."

A sudden ringtone caught Yukari's attention.

"Excuse me." Yukari took out a cell phone and answered it, "Hello? Ran, have you found him? ... I see. Good work, Ran. Continue to monitor him for now."

Midori looked Yukari as the yokai put her cell phone way, "Well?"

"He is safe and is currently in the human village. Now if you excuse me…" Yukari got up, taking her parasol, "It's time for me to go meet with him."

"Yukari." The Yokai turned to Genma, "I know you and I don't know what your little scheme is or why you need Kamino, but as long as you can guarantee his safety I won't bother."

"Really now, do you think that every little thing I do all involves a scheme?"

"If I said no, then I'd be lying." The old man said with a grin.

"Really!" Yukari said with a huff before opening a gap as large as her.

"Oh yeah, before I forget!" Genma called out, "He prefers to be called Seido now!"

"Noted." Yukari said as she entered her gap, leaving both humans to themselves.

"Still worried?" Genma asked Midori, who nodded her head.

"He'll be fine, he is my grandson after all. Ah, to be young again~" The old man chuckled to himself.

…..

Gensokyo: Human Village

I've arrived at the village without incident, thankfully. But it sure feels awkward being the only one in modern clothes. It's like wearing a costume at a formal party.

"Hey kid! You're an outsider, aren't ya?"

I turned to see a bear yokai standing next to me. He has brown fur, has a hoe on his shoulder and is wearing farmer's clothing that consists of a jacket, a vest and field worker pants.

I gave a curt bow. "Yes, my name is Seido. What's your name?"

"Whoa, okay." The bear was surprised, "The name's Kenma. Honestly, I expected you to run away screaming like all the other outsiders I met."

If I hadn't met Osamu first, I'd freak out too. You are a bear after all.

"Can you direct me to the Hakurei Shrine?"

"Oh! So you already know about all of the places in Gensokyo?"

I shook my head, "No, just the places thought necessary for me to know."

"I could show where it is if I wasn't busy." Kenma frowned, "And I should tell you, it's not safe for you to go alone."

"How come?"

"Rogue yokai attacks. Lone humans are easy targets for these yokai."

So humans are still targets even now. Nothing has changed.

"I guess I'll try to ask somebody to accompany me. Where is the shrine?"

Kenma pointed in the direction of another mountain, to the left of Youkai Mountain, "Hakurei shrine would be in the middle of those two mountains. There's a straightforward path here that leads to it, so you can't miss it."

"Okay… how long will it take to walk there?"

"About two hours."

"TWO HOURS!" I shouted, "That's way too long!"

"Sorry, Seido. Unless you can fly, it's the only way to go. I better get going now, see ya Seido."

"Right, see ya." I waved goodbye to Kenma before taking a walk around the village, sighing myself.

A two-hour walk. There's no way I can go that long without meeting any yokai unless I could fly… Easier said than done.

One of my bad habits is walking while thinking. I don't pay attention to where I am going while in deep thought, so it's no surprise I often bump into someone or something. This time it's the former.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going!"

"I-I'm sorry. Are you alright?" It was then I noticed that I was just outside a shop called Kourindou.

The person I ran into is a young woman with blond hair with single braid on side tied with pick ribbon, wearing a black blouse with white sleeves, a black skirt with white frills along with a white apron and a red ribbon tied around her neck. Her head is covered by a large black witch's hat tied with a pink ribbon and her hand is holding a bamboo broom.

… You've got to be kidding me.

"It's alright. Oh, are you an outsider?"

"Yeah, my name is Seido. Are you by any chance… a witch?"

The woman grinned while nodding her head, "Yup! My name is Marisa Kirisame , the Ordinary Magician. Nice to meet you!" She then held her hand in front of me.

"Err… Yeah, sure." I shook hands with her before sighing again.

"Are you okay? You looked troubled ze."

"I wanted to head to Hakurei Shrine, but they told me it was too dangerous to go alone."

"Oh! In that case why don't you come with me? I'm heading there myself ze."

I looked at her in surprise, "Are you sure? I don't want to trouble you…"

Marisa grinned, "It's no trouble at all."

She then sat on her broom and started floating in the air. It sure was something, even if I was expecting it to happen.

"Hop on." Marisa gestured at the space she made on her broom.

I get to fly to Hakurei shrine AND ride on witch's broom? Osamu, you wonderful bas- I mean friend.

Sitting on the broom, I held on as tight as I can for obvious reasons.

"Ready? Here we go!"

As we lifted off, I watched as the ground below got smaller and smaller as we gained altitude. The view was magnificent.

"What do you think ze?"

"I think it's brilliant!"

We soon arrived at Hakurei Shrine and I reluctantly got off while Marisa calling out, "Reimu! Reimu, are you here?"

"Is that the name of Hakurei Shrine's priestess?"

"Yup! And she is my best friend!"

The shrine itself was just like the shrines in Japan. I walked closer and saw a saisen box in front. It is rather dusty and looks empty.

"I guess she's not here. Maybe Reimu went out exterminating yokai."

"She's what?"

"Exterminating yokai, that's her job. I'm a part-timer myself ze."

I'm not sure I can take you seriously with the way you talk.

"Well, since she's not here I might as well-"

*KLING! KLING! KLING!*

"What the?" That sounds like coins dropping… and it came from the saisen.

I peered into the box and sure enough, there are several coins inside now. Where did they come from?

"Hey, what are you doing!"

I turned around to see another girl. She has blackish-brown hair that reaches to her back, a large, red bow on her head with a red hair ornament attached on both sides of her face. Her clothing is typical miko clothing with the exception of detached sleeves and a red bow on her chest. She also holds a gohei in her hand.

Wait, how did she get here?

She went past Marisa and pushed past me. After peering into box, her stern expression changed to one of surprise.

"Did you… did you donate this?" She asked me.

"Huh? No, I didn't…"

"Of course, he did ze! Who else is there?"

That's what I want to know!

Better change the subject, "I'm Seido. So you must Reimu, right?"

"Yes. I'm Reimu, the Shrine Maiden of Paradise."

…. Is it significant for everyone here to have some fancy title?

"Hey, Reimu! I came over to play!"

"Can it wait? I just finished exterminating a lot of yokai today…"

"C'mon! Just one match, please?"

"…Fine, how many Spell Cards this time?"

"Three ze!"

Now I'm just plain confused, "Err, hello? The outsider is lost here."

"We're playing danmaku ze!"

Did she just say what I think she just said?

"I think you better sit in the shrine, it will be dangerous for you to be close." Reimu pointed to the veranda.

"Gotcha." If Marisa really meant what she said just now, this thing just got a whole lot better.

Sitting down on the veranda, I looked with great anticipation as the two girls slowly raised themselves into the air.

Unable to help myself, I shouted, "FIGHT!"