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Ch. 12: Rekindling the flame that never was

"Suika... Suika..." came a far off voice. A voice laden with plainness, no-frills, impoverished miko. This feeling... this feeling of being roughly pushed and shoved in desperation, trying to pry drunken eye-lids open, trying to shake a sack of alcohol awake... This feeling...

"Capatain! The ship is sinking!" Suika called out frantically. Damn those giant purple crabs!

"Suika... Suika... wake up!" The shaking and rolling got harder and faster.

"But the ship is sinking! We have to abandon ship now!" Suika looked around, fear and panic and a really painful migraine striking her deep in the heart and right to the back of her head. Fast, shallow gasps and a burning dryness with a hint of vomit came rising up her throat. They were losing buoyancy and sanity fast. The seas were broiling, the skies were spinning, thunder was booming...

A giant yin-yang orb was heading her way-

Smack!

Suika fell out of the seas, through the stars and landed hard on reality. Her eyes slowly opening, she peered out of blood red eyes and droopy eyelids to see one really, really pissed Reimu standing over her, gohei out.

"I think I preferred it when you were sober," Reimu grumbled.

"Ow ow ow..." Suika sat up, trying to rub dizziness out of her head. Her head really hurt, although to be fair most of the pain was self-inflicted...

"Sigh... " Reimu was seated adjacent to Suika at the living room table. "I see you got your gourd back to normal..." she said with slight disdain. "Going to be costing me a lot of trouble again..."

"Hehe... Ooh, I almost forgot about my gourd!" Suika lightened up at the thought of her now fixed gourd. She took a swig of the unlimited sake from Moriya Shrine no less, and smacked her lips with delighted. "Heee...! Ah... Oh, I've really missed you!" Suika kissed her gourd, all the while feeling another pirate ship adventure creeping up her spine.

"T'ch!" Reimu smacked Suika on the back of her head. "Don't black out now! And give me that!" she snatched the gourd from Suika's hands.

"H-Hey-"

"Don't 'hey' me Suika! We have guests today, and you're embarrassing as is!"

"S-So, why can't you just leave me in the back room or something," Suika made to snatch the gourd back.

"Because," Reimu evaded skilfully, "When you're drunk, you rarely stay in the back room, you're really loud, and your decency sinks faster than that pirate ship you have been shouting about!"

"P-Pirate ship?" Suika cocked her head to the side quizzically, before her insane dream came back to her. "Oh... Hehe, you heard that?" Suika asked sheepishly.

"You think?" Reimu smiled wryly at Suika. Suika can be really funny at times, if she was not so difficult to handle... "Sigh... Well, just promise me you'll be on good behaviour for today okay?"

"Okay..." Suika obliged. "But who's the big guest?"

"Oh, no one big, just Sanae coming over for a visit," Reimu got up to prepare to receive the guest.

Sanae? Kochiya Sanae? Was that not the green haired miko that had a crush on- Ooh... Suika smirked. Does Reimu know? "Hey Reimu," Suika asked, "So... Any idea why Sanae wants to visit you?"

"Not really," Reimu replied without stopping to think about it. "But then again, considering that this shrine receives Marisa, Yukari and Remilia on a regular basis among others, I've kind of given up on barring people entry into the grounds." Reimu prepared the tea with a slightly irate expression at the memories of all the unnecessary hassle her 'guests' had given her. "But it would be nice to have good company for a change," she commented.

"Good company..." Suika repeated. "So you think Sanae is a nice girl?"

"I have no reason not to." Reimu's face was not visible from where Suika was sitting.

"You know she's a direct competitor to your trade, right?"

"It's alright, she's a good girl."

"You fancy her, Reimu?"

"More than you."

"Heh... nice counter," Suika applauded Reimu. Doesn't seem like Reimu knows Sanae likes her, or that Reimu likes Sanae, Suika thought.

"Thank you," Reimu turned around and smiled, tray laden with tea in hand. "Now, help me out a little will you? There are some... huh?" Reimu turned to face the door, and Suika followed suit. There was quite a cheerful commotion outside... What was it?

"Oh, i-it isn't like that!" came a giggling voice.

"Really? 'Cause I heard you were pretty good!" complimented a mature woman's voice.

"Oh no... I'm just a junior, I could never compare to-" Kociya Sanae stepped into the house, accompanied by Hoshiguma Yuugi. "Reimu!" Sanae exclaimed upon seeing Reimu. She ran to grab Reimu's hands just as Reimu set down the tea tray on the table. "Hi!" Sanae blushed. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Ah... H-Hi!" Reimu managed, blushing as well from Sanae's sudden gesture. "You're in pretty good spirits! And Yuugi," Reimu looked at the much taller Oni standing just behind Sanae, "I wasn't expecting you, but welcome anyways."

"Hehe... sorry if I'm bothering you," Yuugi rubbed the back of her head, "But I came here to see Suika. Didn't expect to run into miss Kochiya right here!" Yuugi beamed at Sanae.

"Uh... um, right!" Sanae turned away quickly from Yuugi. "Yah, well, it was a total coincidence, wasn't it?" Sanae explained while looking at Reimu, as though the explanation of why she was with Yuugi was for her.

"Hey, Reimu, check this out," Yuugi grabbed Sanae by the shoulders and shifted the much smaller human in front of her frame. "Sanae's quite the fan girl! This whole time, when we were talking, she kept saying that she was not the best miko around and had nothing but praise for yo- Mmppfff!" Hoshiguma Yuugi suddenly found her mouth covered up tightly by a surprisingly strong hand of a desperate miko.

"Yuugi-san!" Sanae sqeaked. "You promised me!"

"Hehe... couldn't help it!" Yuugi grinned through Sanae's fingers. "But hey, Suika knows too..."

Sanae's eyes widened, and quickly rounded on Suika while still held by the shoulders by Yuugi. "That's right... Y-You... You were there too yesterday..."

"Hey, you can trust me, I won't tell anyone," Suika gave her the thumbs up. "Anyway, I've already known for sometime about your... secret," Suika grinned.

"What secret?" Reimu innocently asked. She had an annoyed expression, which Suika took to be irritation of being kept out of the dark about something.

"Haha... I'm telling the truth! There was this one time, when Suika actually said that!" Yuugi chortled.

"Eh? Really?" Kochiya Sanae asked a little uncomfortably. It was not that Yuugi-san was not funny, it was just that Suika looked rather annoyed. The four of them, two Onis and two mikos, were seated at Reimu's living room table, where tea was served. To her right sat Ibuki Suika, face flushed and a little angrily embarrassed. To her left sat one very cheerful Hoshiguma Yuugi, who was... haha, oh stop it! I can't breathe! Sanae inwardly laughed. Yuugi-san was being really over the top with her humour today, wasn't she?

And opposite Sanae sat Hakurei Reimu, her... objective for today. That's right... she came here today to confirm her feelings for Reimu. Reimu... Sanae admired her, liked her. But she had yet to confess to Reimu, nor ascertain Reimu's own feelings. Sanae looked across at Reimu. Reimu... looked a little irritated? Why? Is it because I'm here? Reimu caught Sanae's glance, gave her a small smile and a shrug, and resumed her look of irritation.

"So," Yuugi continued, unobstructed by Sanae's mental discourse, "What have you got to say now, hmmm?" she directly challenged Suika.

"Oh, c'mon, you idiot," Suika looked away pouting, "That was DECADES ago! Can you please let that slide?"

"Hard to imagine it used to be Suika bullying you huh?" Reimu added to the conversation.

"Yah, I was really actually smaller sized than her back then," Yuugi admitted. "Weaker too."

"You still are," came Suika's swift retort.

"Want to check that out?" Yuugi stayed her ground. "Maybe a little catching up is in order!"

"Oh yah?"

"Yah!"

"Yah?"

"Yah!"

"Alright, I've had it up to here with you, you lousy big oaf!" Suika got up and rolled her sleeves up. Even when standing, she was still shorter than Yuugi seated though...

"Ahem."

All three guests, Suika included, turned to look at Reimu. Reimu's eyes were closed, a cup of tea in her hands being placidly sipped. Suika slowly sat back down. Reimu's gohei was not in her hands yet, whew... To her left, Sanae had a look of awe on her face. That was the one thing that always struck her... Reimu's ability to command people and attention just like that. She was... the person she was supposed to be. Sanae held the title of living goddess, but to tell the truth...

And it was not just admiration for Reimu that Sanae had. Sanae had always wanted to get a little closer to Reimu. To know her more. She did not know what made her feel this way, only that there was something about Reimu that attracted her. Perhaps this was what they called love at first sight... well, not first sight, but you get the picture.

"Reimu..." Sanae unconsciously vocally muttered.

"Yes?" Reimu opened her eyes wide in attention.

"... Uh?" Sanae continued her unintended conversation. Crap... I don't know what to say? Wait... Why am I fretting over something so simple like this?

"Um, yes Sanae?" Reimu repeated most unhelpfully.

"Ah... Oh! I uh... I just wanted to ask, you know... since we're on the topic... W-Were you ever bullied before?"

For those of you who do not know, cicadas don't usually show up in spring. Yet there they were. You could hear them.

"I'm usually the one doing the bullying," came Reimu's casual response, thus lending credence to a long time Gensokyo prejudice of the red-white. The cicadas were still there.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" both Oni's dropped to the floor like sacks of alcohol, clutching their guts to prevent further splitting of their sides, while Sanae had a... shocked expression on her face. Reimu continued to sip her tea tranquilly, then caught Sanae's blue eyes with her own deep brown ones, and smiled mischievously, eliciting a giggle from the other miko. The two mikos then joined in with the Oni's laughter.

Yup, I definitely like Reimu, thought-

"Hey, ever had anyone tell you that you look pretty good when you smile?" casually complimented Yuugi between fits of laughter.

-thought Sanae... Sigh...