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Epilogue: Square one

"… So!"

"…"

"I was right after all, huh?"

"… Yeah, yeah, you were…"

"Hmph...!" the resident shrine maiden of the famous (or infamous) Hakurei Shrine folded her arms conceitedly, "So… What am I to do with the two of you?" Hakurei Reimu fired the question at one sheepish looking Ibuki Suika from across the table. Next to Suika was seated an equally sheepish looking Tatara Kogasa, and behind them observing with mild amusement was Hoshiguma Yuugi and Mizuhashi Parsee. The sliding Japanese doors to the room were open, allowing the cool autumn breeze in as well as treating the guests within to an unobstructed view of the stone paved courtyard. Lining it were gently waving trees liberally sprinkling their gold and red flakes about the ground and tossing them carelessly to the wind. All in all, a pleasant atmosphere, except for…

… Wh-What is with this "Meet-the-Parents" feeling…? Suika sweat dropped in her mind.

"Well… I did make myself clear, didn't I?" Reimu interrogated Suika.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"That I have no time, energy or resources to take care of another youkai when really I should be exterminating them," Reimu reminded Suika harshly.

"Th-That's why I'm not asking you to take her up!" Suika argued, "I'm going to help her out this time!"

"That's what you said the last time before you left for your trip…" Reimu easily shot Suika down.

"A-Ah…" Suika recoiled, "B-But! But this time, it's going to be different!" she pressed on determinedly.

"Oh?"

"I'm going with her this time!" Suika declared.

"… And just where do you intend to bring her now?" Reimu asked skeptically.

"I… I haven't worked that part out yet…" Suika uneasily confessed, red-faced.

"Sigh… You haven't changed, have you? Useless as ever…" Reimu casually said, and Suika flinched again, "Well… I don't mind you staying, but the other one has to go," Reimu leaned back and said to the air, and Kogasa looked down sadly.

"H-Hang on!" Suika rose up from the floor onto her knees, "You can't just throw her out like that-"

"I wasn't thinking of you staying, I was thinking of Kogasa staying and you leaving…" Reimu looked at Suika dryly.

Yuugi and Parsee had to fight to contain their laughter while Kogasa looked shocked. Suika's jaw fell to the floor. Reimu's chest was swelling with haughtiness. (a/n: No, her bosom wasn't literally growing, I won't be that kind…)

"What? It's only the natural choice, right?" Reimu sneered, the corpse of an anonymous person suddenly hanging from a tree branch in the far distance, "Kogasa's much more useful about the house, so it would be better if I kicked you out and kept her for myself…" her eyes shined with mischief.

"No!" it was Kogasa this time who rose to her knees indignantly while Yuugi and Parsee eyed the corpse nervously. H-Haven't we seen that body somewhere before…? "No! If Suika leaves, then I leave!" Kogasa stated firmly.

"Leave then," was Reimu's apathetic response.

Suika cringed from Reimu's frosty reply, and even Kogasa appeared a little stunned. Parsee was nudging Yuugi in the ribs while Yuugi, obliging to Parsee's silent requests, tried to discreetly shoot the bothersome body from the tree branch down with danmaku and out of sight. It was not easy, the body was really some distance away, and so far Yuugi was missing…

"… W-Well, if that's your answer, then there's no disagreement here! We'll leave," Suika recovered somewhat.

"Good luck trying to take care of her," Reimu once again shot Suika down to a painful fall. Yuugi was firing away shot after shot, Parsee watching on with mild interest. Damn… That body was a really small target…

"Reimu-san!" Kogasa came round indignantly, "You don't have to worry about me like some sort of weak Youkai! I can look after the two of us if you don't believe in Suika! I only wish to be by Suika's side… that's all…" she trailed away blushingly.

"Ah~ah… Such a dedicated lover," Reimu said with grudging admiration, "And Yuugi, what are you doing?" she asked the one horned Oni at the back of the room. Yuugi was now firing away like a Gatling canon with a difficult expression on her face.

"That body… Is really pissing me off…!" Yuugi said through gritted teeth, canon shot after canon shot blasting out of her palms and striking everywhere save for the body on the tree branch.

"Leave it…" Reimu took up a cup of tea and drank it in a calmly irritated manner, "It's a warning to the next person…"

"Warning for what?" Parsee questioned Reimu's sometimes ludicrousness, "And that body isreally unsight-"

Pow! With a sound like that out of a sniper rifle, the body on the tree branch was not only shot out of sight, but out of orbit. All four youkai within the room sat in fear as Reimu slowly lowered her smoking gohei, her other hand still holding her tea cup to her lips.

"You're right…" she narrowed her eyes coolly, "That body is unsightly…" And a chill was felt throughout the room.

Suika was the first to get back on topic, "Erm… Disregarding that body, which probably belonged to a nobody-"

"Suika, I… Sigh…" Reimu put down her tea cup and finally let down her icy exterior, "I'm just concerned for you, and more so for Kogasa, that's all. I mean, if you're not prepared…"

Suika smiled, "Yeah… Thanks for your concern… But you don't have to worry, don't you? I've been kicked out of plenty of places over my long lifetime and I'm still fine, aren't I?"

"This time's different though," Reimu countered, "You'll be with another person, so you can't just be the same irresponsible you, can you?"

"Leave that to us!" Yuugi gallantly called out, "If Suika ever makes Kogasa-chan suffer, then Parsee and I will come set her straight, won't we?" Yuugi looked at Parsee.

"Shouldn't you set yourself straight first?" Parsee raised an eyebrow and a smirk. Yuugi cringed while everyone else chuckled.

"Ah well… I'm sure we'll think of something, right?" Kogasa looked at Suika bracingly.

"Hmmm…? R-Right!" Suika said with a little less confidence then Kogasa would have liked.

"… Then it's settled then!" Reimu suddenly declared. Everyone turned to her in surprise.

"Wh-What's settled?" Suika asked nervously.

Reimu closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them wide and stuck out a finger dramatically, "One week!"

Wargh! ! All four youkai jumped back, "Th-This again? !" they cried.

"Yes! This again!" Reimu exclaimed, "One week is all I'm going to give you and Kogasa, Suika! One week to stay here and sort things out! And I'm warning you… this will be my absolute last chance!"

"Arrgghhhh! ! !" Suika got up and started dancing around in panic while Kogasa grudgingly gave an awkward giggle at the rather amusing display. Reimu was grinning satisfactorily at her handiwork and Yuugi and Parsee were heaving their shoulders and sighing in resignation.

"Not to worry, da ze!" All eyes suddenly turned at the familiar voice to see Kirisame Marisa barge in like nobody's business, an embarrassed Kochiya Sanae behind her.

"Marisa…? S-Sanae-chan…? !" Reimu blinked her eyes in surprise, an expression reflected on the faces of the four youkai present.

"H-Hi… Sorry for the sudden intrusion, Reimu…" Sanae apologised on her and Marisa's behalf.

"Yup, don't mind us!" Marisa said, "We heard that Reimu had a youkai problem on her hands, so we came to help out!"

"Hey! Don't refer to us as some 'youkai problem'!" cried out the four youkai in annoyance.

"Hah… And I see that you've brought back Kogasa… T'ch, I was wrong to have faith in you," Marisa said to Suika with disappointment and fished out what sounded like a small pouch of coins, reluctantly tossing it to a triumphant and very happy looking Reimu.

"Oi, oi, Marisa…" Suika started.

"Well, if you're looking for a place to stay for the time being, we at the Moriya shrine won't mind boarding you at our place for awhile in exchange for help in gathering faith," Sanae offered kindly towards Suika and Kogasa, especially Kogasa.

"No thank you!" was Kogasa's instant reply.

"Or maybe we could find you a place in the Forest of Magic?" Marisa shrugged her shoulders, "You know that place's uninhabited, right? It should be nice and quiet, and there's already a nice little cottage over there-"

"Doesn't that seven-coloured puppeteer live there? You shameless black-white…" Suika said.

"Well… How about the both of you working for us then?" came a new voice at the door. And suddenly, before anyone was aware of it, Kaenbyou Rin had joined the fray.

"O-Orin? !" Suika, Kogasa, Yuugi and Parsee exclaimed in surprise.

"Wh-Why is everyone suddenly showing up here? !" cried out a distressed Reimu.

"You know Satori-sama was joking when she said that she would not accept you as an employee, right?" Orin sided up with Kogasa with a friendly smile.

"But would Satori allow Suika to work for her?" Parsee asked sceptically.

"No," was Orin's frank reply, "But that's a minor detail-"

"It's still no better a plan then, isn't it? !" everyone cried out.

"Hmm…" Orin scratched her head in thought.

"Or if you wanted, the both of you could come over to my flower field," Kazami Yuuka had just brazenly showed herself into the already crowded living room, much to the dismay of Reimu, "I was thinking of starting an actual rice field for sake brewing and will be needing a couple of servants…"

"Or if you would really like," entered Nazrin, "We wouldn't mind you living at the Myouren temple, new followers are always welcomed. Of course, there's a strict ban on alcohol…"

"And there is still a strict ban on you on Tengu grounds!" Inubarashi Momiji came in and pointedly addressed Suika, "So don't you dare consider those places! Just a warning for you-"

"ENOUGH!"

All activity instantly ceased and anxious, furtive glances cast in the direction of the Hakurei Shrine maiden, whose face was by now as red as her dress, her ears giving off copious amounts of steam.

"Suika…" Reimu breathed.

"Y-Yes?" Suika replied nervously

"… One week, alright?" Reimu slumped forward, eager to wash her hands of this matter, "I don't care how you do it, just… Ah, whatever… And good luck with Kogasa by the way…" she threw in the last bit grudgingly.

"… Thanks," Suika looked to her side and grinned at Kogasa, who grinned back.

Oh well… Here we go again!

And now truly… THE END.

Wow… This story really, really has been rather long, hasn't it? And if I remember correctly, it was started around the time I was still writing my first fic…

And so… *takes a deep bow* thank you very much for all your support! It has been really great fun writing this story, but to be honest I'm actually glad to have finally been able to conclude it.

When I first started writing it, it had absolutely no direction whatsoever, so yes, as some of you may have observed *takes a quick look at the more recent reviews* there are some rather abrupt changes to it a third of the way through. But writing like that is rather refreshing, I have to say. You write a bit, go down and rest a bit, and somehow some other idea creeps in and you find yourself smiling like an idiot.

To be really honest, even when the whole Kogasa x Suika thing had been more or less settled on, I was still writing at a whim, which was why some chapters took forever to come out. It was also why sometimes there was a bit of er… sugar overload. Yup. Sorry about that… It just somehow keeps creeping in. That being said, I do have a few stories coming up that have a different style (I hope) so maybe you can look forward to that.

And with that, thank you once again! Especially, especially those who read it from start to finish, really grateful for you being so patient with me. That is all I have now for dear little Suika and Kogasa. I'll see you in my next fic!

Till then.

P.S: I'm hoping to write shorter stories now. This experience has left me rather tired and drained, hehe…