Myouren temple was an active place, more active than any other area that Flandre and Meiling have visited since their adventure had begun. Whereas Eientei had several rabbits doing the household chores similar to how the fairy maids did at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Myouren temple instead had many of its residents pitching in to help out. The efforts put forth by the temple's resident youkai were much more effective than the work Meiling and Flandre had seen the fairy maids and rabbits do.
Most of the youkai looked like they were doing the chores of their own volition rather than being asked to do it, as each of them always had a smile on their faces as they worked. Ichirin and Unzan were busying themselves with the temple's laundry, but even then they were kind enough to drop their work to assist anyone who needed any help. Mamizou was taking care of the temple's financials, as she apparently had experience with money from the outside world.
Kyouko, along with her usual cleaning duties as the temple's janitor, was chosen as the guide to the temple's three newest visitors to show them the ropes, she seemed optimistic at being chosen for the job, that or she was excited about the concert her band would be doing later that day. She had decided on taking the group with her to the temple's outer entrance to clean the front path, as it was overdue for a good sweeping.
"And that's how you sweep the floors!" Kyouko exclaimed after giving a rather lengthy explanation on how to do her job. "Any questions?" she asked the pair of Flandre and Koishi, with Meiling being absent from doing some other task for the temple instead of learning about the proper ways of handling a broom from Kyouko.
Flandre and Koishi shook their heads in response, making Kyouko's smile grow even larger. "Great! Now let's sweep until the temple is spotless!" Kyouko cheered as she handed each of them a broom identical to her own. She began to energetically sweep the temple grounds, making a small cloud of dust form around her feet as she did.
The two of them followed Kyouko's example, both of them sweeping the ground vigorously until the temple's path was free from dirt. As they swept the floor clean from dirt, Kyouko was trying to make conversation with her two new sweeping partners.
"So how do you like the temple so far?" Kyouko asked, "I personally love it here! Everyone's so nice…It's kind of like one big family!"
"It's fantastic! Miss Byakuren's so nice, and she smells good, and her smile reminds me of big sister!" Koishi exclaimed, beginning to start one of her sessions of rambling on again.
"I'm glad! Sister Byakuren said that you seem a lot happier now than you were before." Kyouko stated plainly, "She says that you seem to have more of a flare of life now than you used to, she told me you use to almost seem to be lifeless."
"Do I?" Koishi asked, apparently oblivious to the changes Kyouko mentioned. "I don't feel much different than before…except my stomach feels warmer now..."
"Huh…Well as long as you're happy, then everything is just wonderful!" Kyouko said enthusiastically, "What about you Flan-chan? Are you enjoying your stay?"
Flandre didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation at all and was absent-mindedly sweeping the ground; she didn't hear the question and simply kept on sweeping one small area with a blank expression on her face.
"Flandre? Hey, hello? Anyone there?" Kyouko asked as she waved her hand in front of the vampire's face in an attempt to grab her attention.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Flandre asked as she was snapped out of her distracted state.
"I asked if you're enjoying your stay at the temple silly!" Kyouko said, giggling softly as she kept on sweeping the entryway diligently.
"Sorry…I was thinking about my big sister…" Flandre apologized.
"Huh? You have an elder sister? Is she nice like sister Byakuren? Or brave like sister Shou?" Kyouko asked.
Flandre nodded, "Big sis's one of the greatest people I know, she's at the top of the list with Meiling. Though she kinda acts like she knows everything even when she doesn't sometimes…" Flandre trailed off as she reminisced about Remilia.
"One of the greatest? She must be really spectacular! What's she done that's so great though?" Kyouko asked, looking genuinely curious about what kind of person Remilia is.
"Well…One time big sis covered Gensokyo in a lot of red mist, she beat up some moon people with Saky to save the moon from them…and Meiling told me that she went to the moon once." Flandre said as she tried to list the most notable things her sister had done in the past years.
"Your sister went to the moon!?" Koishi exclaimed, "The big circle that shows up in the sky at night!?"
"Uh-huh, I dunno why though…" Flandre replied. "She flew there on a rocket-ship…Or at least that's what Meiling said."
"Awwwwww! I wish my big sister would go to the moon…then she could bring me back a souvenir…" Koishi grumbled. "Flanny's big sister sounds so much cooler than mine…"
"Wow that's incredible! Not even sister Byakuren's done that before!" Kyouko exclaimed in awe, "Your big sister sounds amazing! Like some sort of super-hero or something!"
"Thanks…I just hope she isn't mad at me…" Flandre said sadly.
"Why'd she be mad? Did you do something mean like a pull a really nasty prank?" Kyouko asked, "I'm sure your sister won't be too mad as long as you're sorry."
Flandre shook her head. "No, nothing like that…I kinda ran away from home with Meiling to explore the world…I'm afraid she hates me now…"
"That's not true!" Kyouko exclaimed, surprising both Flandre and Koishi with her outburst. "I'm sure your big sister is thinking about you right now, and she's waiting for you to return safe and sound!"
"You really think so?"
"I know so! Big sisters are supposed to worry about their siblings!" Kyouko insisted, "Just ask Koishi, I'll bet her sister worries about her!"
Koishi nodded cheerfully "Uh-huh! Big sister always says how worried she is about me! She always asks me if I have enough clothes or if I'm brushing my teeth or not or if I eat enough! I'll bet Flanny's big sister home right now worrying about you!"
"I'm making big sis worry? I don't want her to be worried sick about me! What have I done!?" Flandre cried, looking remorseful as an image of her sister being worried sick about her came to her mind.
"No wait! Um…I'm sure she's worried about you…but she knows you have Meiling with you so um…She knows you'll be okay!" Kyouko struggled to say, "Man…Miss Mamy is so much better with words than I am…" Kyouko mumbled under her breath as she scratched the back of her head in thought. "Anyways do you understand what I'm trying to say here?"
Flandre nodded, "Kinda…You're saying Remy is worried about me…But knows that I'll be alright?" Flandre asked, with Kyouko happily shaking her head up and down. She looked relieved that Flandre had understood. "Thanks Kyouko, I feel a little better now…"
Kyouko sheepishly laughed at the compliment, "Shucks, it's no problem…Just a part of being a priest in training…" Kyouko said as she finished sweeping. "But maybe you should talk to Miss Mamizou, she's much better with words than I am! If she wanted to, I'll bet she could be a great priest!"
Koishi stopped sweeping and her eyes seemed to widen, as if she had some sort of brilliant idea pop into her mind. She turned and faced Flandre with an eager smile, "That's it Flanny! Let's go talk to the raccoon lady!" Koishi exclaimed as she took her by the arm, causing Flandre to drop her broom.
"Huh?" was all Flandre could think to say as she stared at her with bewilderment. Koishi began dragging her towards the temple as soon as she got a solid grip on her friend's wrist.
"Yeah! We're gonna go see Mami!" Koishi said happily, "She'll be able to help you with your problems! Plus her tail is nice and soft…" Koishi said dreamily at her reminiscence.
As Koishi dragged Flandre to the temple, she passed by Ichirin and Unzan, both of them were carrying baskets filled with freshly washed laundry.
"Well done you three, you did a lovely job…Hey where are you two going?" Ichirin asked as she watched Koishi dragging Flandre along with her.
"We're gonna go see the raccoon lady!" Koishi shouted back to her before disappearing from sight into the temple, with a bewildered Flandre in tow.
"Um…Alright, have fun then…" Ichirin said as she gave one last glance at the doorway that Koishi disappeared through. She looked to her longtime friend and guardian with an eyebrow raised, as if looking to him for an answer, but he was just as clueless as his master was and just gave her a shrug in reponse.
"They're going to go visit Miss Mamizou, I think Koishi wanted Flandre to talk to her or something…" Kyouko said, clearing the situation up for the two.
"Ah, I see. Miss Mamizou is great with words, I'm sure she just wanted to talk about her problems with her. Sister Byakuren did say that she did have a few family problems from the sound of it…" Ichirin said as she and Unzan made their way to the clothesline. "Anyways, you did an excellent job with the cleaning again Kyouko, I swear the temple has never been so clean before." Ichirin complemented, with Unzan nodding in agreement.
"Oh thank you sister Ichirin, and brother Unzan! I try my best!"
Ichirin laughed lightly as she set the basket down, with Unzan following suit. "You're welcome Kyouko, just keep up the excellent work." Ichirin said as she started hanging clothes up, as Unzan handed her different articles of clothing as she did. The two made an excellent team, with the chore being done at a quick rate.
"Oh I will sister Ichirin! I'll make this temple proud!" Kyouko said enthusiastically as she gave her a salute.
"I'm sure you will, Kyouko." Ichirin replied. Unzan took a small break from handing clothes to his partner to whisper into her ear, what he said being inaudible to all but Ichirin. "Oh, and Unzan thinks so too!" Ichirin added, speaking for her silent partner.
"Why thank you Unzan, I appreciate the compliment!" Kyouko replied cheerfully. Unzan smiled happily in response, but didn't utter a single word. He quickly returned to assisting Ichirin in hanging the laundry, handing her another pair of clothes.
"Oh by the way Kyouko, have you seen where everyone else has run off to?" Ichirin asked. "I haven't seen Murasa or Nue around the temple since this morning, and those two have been slacking on their chores lately…"
Kyouko paused to think for a bit before shrugging in response, "Well…Murasa said she was going out for a bit, but never said where…and I think Nue might be hanging out at the cemetery again maybe…" Kyouko replied, not sounding all too sure of her answer.
Ichirin sighed in exasperation, rubbing her temples stressfully. "Well I suppose as long as they're not out causing trouble everything is alright…I just wish they'd help out a bit more." Ichirin said as she finished hanging up the last of the clothes to dry, letting the wind take care of the rest of the work. "Anyways, why don't you go inside and take a break? I'm sure you could use one."
"Ah thank you sister Ichirin!" Kyouko said, picking up the brooms Flandre and Koishi had left behind before leaving Ichirin and Unzan by themselves.
"My, she sure is an energetic one, isn't she?" Ichirin said, with Unzan silently nodding in agreement.
Remilia leisurely flew to through the sky, holding a parasol over herself. Sakuya was unusually absent, as the maid would usually always be at her side whenever she went out, but Remilia had insisted on making this trip alone as it was a personal matter. Remilia soon reached her destination, Gensokyo's local run-down Shinto shrine, the Hakurei shrine. She landed down directly in front of it, causing leaves to crunch as her feet made contact with the ground.
Nearby was a medium sized box with a small note attached to it that said 'donations.' It was a simple note, but it was straight to the point, not that the box was ever filled with any form of money very often. It was usually instead filled with leaves or rocks, which always infuriated the shrine's owner to no end.
"Hmmmmm…Where's that shrine maiden…?" Remilia asked herself as she took a look around the shrine, it looked like the shrine could collapse on itself at any given moment with the condition it was in.
"You looking for the cranky shrine maiden?" a squeaky voice asked, causing Remilia to turn around, only to find a trio of fairies behind her. She oddly enough didn't seem to sense their presences at all until now.
One of the fairies had long black hair and wore a blue and white dress, another had short blonde hair that was tied in a pair of pigtails and wore a red and white dress, and the last wore a completely white dress that had several small black bows going down the front, with her blonde hair arranged into three curls on each side.
"Oh, well if it isn't the three twits of light." Remilia replied as she faced the three fairies with a smug smile on her face.
"That's the three fairies of light to you!" the three of them said in unison irritably.
"Yes, yes whatever…Do you three know where Reimu is? I have some business to discuss with her." Remilia said as she stifled a yawn. She wasn't quite used to being out and about at this hour of the day, but she was too impatient to wait any longer and wanted to get this meeting over with.
"We're not telling you anything!" The one in blue yelled defiantly, crossing her arms as if to emphasize her point. Her name was Star if Remilia's memory was correct.
"Yeah! We aren't telling you anything!" The one in red said as she and her other companion nodded their heads in agreement, also crossing their arms just like Star was. This one was Sunny Milk, the leader of the group if her memory did recall correctly.
"Yeah! We ain't tellin' you nothin' unless you give us some booze!" The one in all white said, earning her two sighs of exasperation from her allies. Remilia determined that this one was the alcoholic of the group, Luna Child.
Remilia chuckled to herself quietly at the fairies defiant behavior, as they glared at the vampire, not that she was at all intimidated by them, their attempts at scaring her off only made the vampire laugh harder.
"What's so funny?" Sunny Milk asked as she furrowed her brow at Remilia.
"You fairies sure are something…" Remilia said as she began to catch her breath from her laughter. "But tell me where Reimu is, or else." Remilia warned as her expression darkened.
"Or else what?" Sunny Milk asked with a snort, with her face forming a cocky grin.
"Yeah! Or else what?" the other two asked together, each of them wearing a cocky grin identical to their leader. The three were obviously not intimidated by Remilia's threat.
"Or else…" Remilia's fangs suddenly grew slightly longer, and her wings grew into an intimidating size, with her eyes beginning to glow a fearsome shade of red. "I'll be painting the shrine red with your blood." Remilia growled.
The three fairies of light's bravado quickly vanished as fear quickly set in. Sunny Milk soon found her two comrades cowering behind, not that she could blame them, as she desperately wanted to follow her friends lead and cower in fear behind the closest object in the immediate area as well. Though she managed to summon up enough courage not to run in terror and point toward the shrine with a shaky hand.
"Sh-She's in the backyard…P-Please don't hurt us!" Sunny Milk pleaded as tears began running down her face in sheer terror.
Remilia's fangs quickly reverted back to their normal length, along with her wings. "Thank you, I'll be taking my leave now." Remilia said simply as she turned her back to the three cowering fairies and leisurely made her way toward the shrine's backyard. "Farewell, the three twits of light."
The three fairies of light sighed in relief as Remilia disappeared from sight, "That was close…You guys are lucky I was here to scare her away!" Sunny said, earning her a glare from her two friends.
"Scare her away!? You almost got us killed!" Star screamed in anger as she clenched her hands at her sides.
"Oh y-yeah...well…you were agreeing with me!" Sunny countered, making Star to sheepishly rub the back of her head, with her cheeks turning a rosy red.
"Y-Yeah well…Luna's the one who pissed her off by asking her for alcohol!" Star said, pointing an accusatory finger at Luna in an attempt to throw the blame away from her.
"W-Well…I wouldn't have had to ask if we had any sake!" Luna countered, "Besides, Sunny's the leader! She should take responsibility of her subordinate's actions!" Luna quickly added on to her previous statement, throwing the blame right back to Sunny.
"Shut up Luna! It was Star's idea to talk to her in the first place!"
"Nuh-uh you big liar! It was your idea!"
"Shut up! You're acting dumber than Cirno!" Sunny yelled as she began flying back into the woods.
"Take that back!" Star shouted, chasing after her in anger.
Luna sighed in relief at her success of driving the blame away from herself as she watched Star chase after their supposedly fearless leader. "Maybe I should keep my distance from those two for a while…Hmmmm, I wonder if Mystia's got any sake…or maybe some coffee beans…" she mumbled to herself as she followed after her two bickering friends at a safe distance into the forest where the two were scaring away any wildlife in the area with their heated argument.
"Koishi are you sure Miss Mamy will be alright with us barging into her room? Meiling says it's rude to barge into places…" Flandre asked as Koishi quickly led her along, earning the two a few odd looks as they trampled along through the temple.
"Of course she'll be alright with it! I do it all the time at home, why wouldn't it be alright now?" Koishi said with a beaming smile. Flandre held back the urge to face-palm at her ignorance on why it was rude to barge into rooms.
Koishi stopped in her tracks once she reached the hallway and looked to both her left and right. "Oh…Hmmmmm…Where's her room again…?" Koishi asked with uncertainty.
"You don't know where her room is?" Flandre asked in disbelief, "You mean we've been running around without a clue where her room is?"
"Noooooo…I know where her room is! I just forgot!"
"Maybe we should ask for directions?" Flandre suggested, "China says there's no shame in asking for help."
Koishi laughed at the notion, "We don't need help! Not while I'm here to guide us through this labyrinth!"
"But you just said you forgot where her room is!"
"It's um…This way!" Koishi exclaimed, ignoring Flandre's protests. Koishi began to drag Flandre along with her again.
Just as soon as she began to move, she immediately ran right into someone else in the hallway, causing both Koishi and Flandre to fall onto the temple floors with a thud.
"Ouchy…That hurt…" Koishi groaned as she picked up her hat, which had fallen off her head at the impact. Koishi began dusting it off before placing it back on her head happily. Flandre readjusted her hat slightly before turning her attention to the one they had knocked into.
"Watch where you're going you brats..." The stranger said with venom in her voice, she obviously didn't appreciate people running into her one bit.
The person Flandre and Koishi had accidentally knocked into had short jet-black hair, and wore an entirely black dress. Her legs were covered by black knee-high stockings; her feet were covered by a pair of completely red shoes. Her most unusual detail was the mismatched pair of appendages she had coming out from her back, on one side of her were three red metallic like things, on the other were three light-blue arrow like tentacles of some sort. It was hard to tell what exactly those appendages were, but they most certainly were not wings from the looks of it.
Koishi and Flandre just gawked at her; she looked quite intimidating as she glared down at the two with her pair of red eyes. The trident she held at her side didn't make help her look any less frightening.
"Wow…You're wings are really pretty…" Flandre said with admiration as she looked directly at the girl's odd looking wings.
"What the hell are you blabbering about kid?" the girl asked angrily, the tone she used making it sound like she had just been insulted. Her expression seemed to grow more and more irritated the longer the pair of Koishi and Flandre were in her presence.
"I mean…Your wings are really pretty! They look amazing!" Flandre clarified for her, but the stranger didn't seem to grow any less angry.
"Is that it? Whatever just watch where you're going next time you little brats…" The girl grumbled as she stormed off.
She headed off toward the end of the hall, passing by a tall blonde haired woman; she knocked into her with her shoulder, but didn't bother to stop to apologize as she kept walking down the hall until she was out of sight.
The blonde haired woman glared at her for a few moments with anger in her eyes; grumbling some incoherent words as she approached the pair before her. "I hope that Nue didn't give you two too much trouble, I apologize on her behalf if she did anything to offend you." The woman said kindly, the tone in her voice reminded Flandre of the way Meiling would speak when a situation would become serious.
The blonde-haired woman was quite tall, she towered over the pair; the two of them wouldn't be surprised if she were a good head taller than Meiling. She had an orange hair decoration of some sort resting on her head, and wore a red robe-like dress with long baggy white sleeves. Resting on her shoulders was a white-shawl, not unlike the one Flandre had seen Iku wear. Her expression looked strict, but somehow at the same time approachable.
"Anyways…are you two lost?" the woman asked, "I noticed you two have been running around in circles for a while now."
"Yeah, thanks to Koishi's great sense of direction…" Flandre grumbled under her breath. Koishi either didn't hear her comment or just didn't care, as she didn't bother to say anything back to her.
"Yeah, Flanny and I are a little lost..." Koishi admitted sheepishly, "Do you know where the raccoon lady's room is…?" Koishi asked.
"You mean Mamizou? Follow me, I'll show you two the way." The tall woman said as she gestured for the two of them to follow her.
Flandre and Koishi exchanged glances with one another before nodding together, the two walked single file behind their guide, as she silently walked through the halls, the only sound that could be heard in the halls were the tapping of their shoes against the temple's floors.
Their guide suddenly stopped in her tracks right next to a door, "Here we are, Mamizou's room, she should be in there last I checked." Their guide announced much to the pair's relief.
"Thanks for the help lady." Flandre said, giving her a small curtsy in thanks, just like she had seen her sister do long ago. Koishi gave her a puzzled look before mimicking her friend.
"Yeah, thanks for the help lady…" Koishi mumbled.
"No problem, just give me a call if you ever find yourselves lost again." The woman began to walk away but paused for a moment, "Oh, and if Nue ever gives you any trouble just come to me, I'll set her straight." The woman said before finally leaving. By the time she was out of sight, the two realized they never learned what her name was.
"Well…? Knock on the door Flanny!" Koishi said as her eyes darted to the door, as if to gesture her into knocking on it.
Flandre did as she said and gently knocked on the door, she learned to be gentler with doors after a few incidents where she had accidentally blown the door off its hinges without trying several times. But Koishi didn't seem to be pleased with Flandre's attempt at gentleness with the door, shaking her head in disapproval.
Koishi sighed, "That's not how you knock on doors Flanny! Here, I'll show you how to do it right!" Koishi said as she gently pushed Flandre out of the way to work her door-opening magic.
As it turned out, the correct way of knocking on a door was Koishi pounding both of her arms into the door repeatedly while yelling "Let us in!" Flandre was glad that no one else besides her was there to witness her friend's childish antics.
Just as it looked like Mamizou's door couldn't take much more punishment from Koishi's pounding on it, it creaked open. Mamizou stared down at the two from her room with a puzzled expression.
"Greetings, Flandre and Koishi, yes? What can I do you for?"
Koishi spoke up for the two of them, "Kyouko says you're good at listening to people, and Flanny needs to talk to you about stuff!" It was a vague explanation, but one that would suffice.
Mamizou scratched her ear for a moment and adjusted her glasses a bit before answering. "I suppose if you have something you want to get off your chest, I could listen to your problems for a bit." Mamizou said with a smile, "Besides, I could use a bit of a break from managing the funds around here; it gets a bit tedious if one does it for too long…" Mamizou cracked her door all the way open, it opened with a long creaking noise. "Come on in, make yourself comfortable."
Flandre entered the room silently, feeling a bit nervous about telling someone she had only met a few hours ago about her troubles. Koishi began to follow after her, but was stopped by Mamizou.
"Huh? I'm with Flanny, let me in!"
"I think she'd prefer it if you waited outside, personal issues and all that." Mamizou explained.
Koishi wouldn't be swayed so easily though, "Nonsense, I'll stay by Flanny's side until the very end! That's what friends do!" Koishi said, pouting at Mamizou.
"Hmmmm, What's that…? I think Kyouko's calling for you, I think she said something about wanting to share some sweets with you…?"
"Sweets!? I'll be right there Kyouko!" Koishi cried as she rocketed down the halls at speeds Flandre had never seen from the satori before, in the blink of an eye she was gone, leaving the tanuki and vampire alone. The satori had unwittingly been tricked.
"Quite the friend you have there." Mamizou commented before quietly closing the door.
"Thanks for that…She can be a bit…eccentric." Flandre said gratefully as she took a seat on a mat that lied on the room's floor. Mamizou's room was quite decorated; it looked like the complete opposite of the room that Flandre had slept in the night before.
The room was peppered with many mementos and foreign looking decoration and furniture. Her wall desk also had several pictures of herself with many friends and family, she looked happy in every one of them. Her walls had several hides of animals hanging from them; they looked like the skins of foxes.
Mamizou plopped down onto the mat across from Flandre; she pushed a few notepads and pencils away from the area and turned her focus to the vampire.
"So, what would you like to talk about now?" Mamizou asked with a kind smile, Flandre remained silent as she fidgeted around a bit uncomfortably. "Don't worry, everything you say will be completely confidential, no one will hear a word of it. This is just between you and me, so please speak your mind."
Flandre mustered up all of her courage as she began to share her problems with the tanuki, taking a deep breath, "Well…"
Remilia walked slowly to the back of the Hakurei shrine, where the three fairies had said that the shrine's miko was at the moment. Just as they had said, the Hakurei shrine-maiden was there, lazily lounging about on the shrine's porch. She was using her arms as a pillow as she rested without a care in the world.
"Shouldn't you be taking better care of your shrine, miss shrine maiden?" Remilia asked sarcastically as she approached her.
Reimu popped one of her eyes open, looking at Remilia from the corner of her eye before closing it again. "Oh, it's just the vampire. I thought you were the hermit for a second there…"
Reimu, the Hakurei shrine-maiden and one of Gensokyo's famous incident solvers was wearing her usual miko get-up. Wearing a red dress with a yellow ribbon around her collar, her arms were covered in a pair of detached sleeves and a large red bow tied in her hair.
Her expression was one of indifference, mixed with a bit of annoyance as Remilia sat down next to her. "What do you want Remilia? Don't you usually wait until night to bother me?" Reimu asked, not even bothering to move a muscle when addressing her guest.
"I need to talk to you about something."
"I don't have time to listen to everyone else's problems… I have enough of my own to deal with, so come back later…" Reimu groaned.
Remilia sighed as she dug through her dress and pulled out five-thousand yen, handing it to the shrine maiden. Reimu's eyes lit up with life at the sight of the money, quickly snatching it away from Remilia as she stared at it as if to check if the money were real or not. "Alright, what do you want to talk about Remilia?" Reimu asked as she began counting the money. Remilia almost swore that she began drooling over the sight of it; the shrine-maiden must have been in dire straits to be this happy over receiving a donation, even if it was from a youkai.
"It's about my sister…" Remilia began.
"What about her?" Reimu interrupted.
"I wanted to talk about some recent problems concerning her…"
"You mean how she escaped from the mansion and is now wandering around free as a bird and that you're holding a bounty on her head?"
"Yes, I see you've been keeping up with the news lately. I'm surprised you haven't gone off to collect the bounty to be honest, considering your shrine's…financial issues." Remilia said, trying to put Reimu's money problems as delicately as possible.
"Well believe me, I've considered it. But seeing as she almost beat me and Marisa together, I gave up on that thought…A shame too…I could do so much with that money…" Reimu sighed sadly.
"Why not just team up with Marisa then? Surely you could defeat her then and split the reward..." Remilia suggested.
"Sure, I could do that, but we barely beat her the first time even when working together…besides Marisa's a notorious thief, remember? She'd probably steal my share of the money and waste it all in one day." Reimu said nonchalantly, "Besides, I'm pretty sure she's friends with the little lunatic…So unless that sister of yours starts blowing Gensokyo up, I'm not even gonna bother worrying about it."
"That's a shame…I was hoping at least one of you would have taken up the offer…" Remilia said with slight disappointment on her face, "But enough of that, I wanted to talk about my sister, not the bounty."
"Go on…"
"Do you…Do you think that I'm handling the situation the right way?" Remilia asked, "I mean, putting a bounty on her and all."
Reimu remained silent, with both of her eyes shut. Remilia was beginning to grow impatient with the shrine maiden's lack of concern.
"Well…say something!"
"Hey, I was asked to listen, not give advice. I'm not any good at giving advice to others, alright?" Reimu answered impatiently, "Anything else you want to talk about and get off your chest?"
Remilia sighed in utter disappointment, "No…Just forget I asked." Remilia said quietly as she stared at the shrine's pond. Her eyes were filled with disappointment, talking to Reimu was like talking to a rock for all the help she gave her.
Reimu glanced over at Remilia quietly, with a look of mild concern growing on her face. Reimu sighed and got up from the porch, wiping the wrinkles out of her dress before approaching the vampire. "Look, I don't know if you're handling this situation the way you should be. Heck, I don't even know if I'm doing my job as the Hakurei shrine maiden right. But…If you need to talk about anything…Then I guess you can come to me about it…" Reimu said almost reluctantly.
Remilia grew a small smile, "Thank you Reimu…I…appreciate it."
"Yeah, yeah…Whatever. Just don't spread news that I'm some sort of therapist or something, I don't want a bunch of damn youkai showing up on my shrine wanting to talk about their feelings."
"I'll be sure to keep my lips sealed then." Remilia said with a light laugh.
"Good, now you want some tea?" Reimu offered, which was somewhat out of character for her to do. She was always reluctant to spare any of her scarce provisions for anyone but herself.
"I suppose I could go for a cup...It's been a while since I've had some of your tea." Remilia said as the two of them entered the shrine.
"I see…So you're having some family issues lately?" Mamizou asked with concern, fidgeting a bit with her glasses as she seemed to contemplate the situation. "Why not tell me a bit about your sister then?"
"Well…Big sister…She's the greatest person I know. She's super smart...nice…and she's really tough! She's beaten up a lot of people before!" Flandre said, a small smile growing on her face. "I'm just scared…I'm afraid she hates me now for running away from home with Meiling…" Flandre started staring down at the floor sadly; her smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared on her face.
"Hmmmmmm…Well let me tell you something about family." Mamizou said, Flandre looked up to the tanuki as she continued, "Family always looks out for one another, and has their family's best interest in mind. Now, I can't say for certain that your sister is correct about everything, and truly has your best interest in mind, but I do know this, your sister is just worried for you." Mamizou said with a smile. "It's only natural for the older siblings to protect and worry for their younger sisters. I'm sure that once you return to her side, you'll have shown her that you can handle yourself just fine out in the world and that you're no longer a child, and that she no longer has to be worried about you. Does this make sense to you?"
Flandre nodded happily in response, "Uh-huh…I feel a lot better now…Thanks Granny Mamy." Flandre said, wiping a few tears out of her eyes as she spoke before giving the tanuki a hug in thanks.
At first Mamizou was taken aback by the gesture, but quickly recovered and returned the embrace cheerfully. "It's not a problem, if you ever need an ear to listen, just call upon me. It's nice to have a break from my work once in a while." Mamizou said with a happy grin.
"Alright! Thanks again Granny Mamy!" Flandre said before exiting the room, leaving Mamizou to go find Koishi.
"…Granny Mamy? …Do I really appear to be that old…?" Mamizou asked herself worriedly as she looked at her reflection in a mirror. "…Maybe I should ask Byakuren how she keeps herself looking so young…"
Flandre quickly walked through the halls of the temple in search of Koishi. Her search took her to the mess hall, where there was a small stage placed at one end of the room with many rows of chairs sitting in front of it. There was also a large banner reading, 'Choujuu Gigako' that hung from above the stage.
Flandre didn't have time to contemplate why the mess hall had gone over such drastic changes since this morning, as she spotted Koishi nearby. She was sitting on one of the tabletops in the room with a disappointed frown on her face, resting her face in the palm of her hand.
"I can't believe Kyouko didn't have any sweets…how could she raise my hopes like that only to crush them…? How rude…" Koishi mumbled to herself as she sulked on the table. She seemed to be too distracted in her depressed state that she didn't notice Flandre taking a seat next to her.
"Something wrong Koishi?" Flandre asked, catching the satori's attention.
Koishi turned toward her friend and sighed sadly. "Kyouko didn't have any sweets...and I missed Flanny's private time with Mamy…" Koishi said with disappointment dripping from each and every word.
"It's alright Koi-Koi," Flandre said as she began digging in her pockets for something. She took out a small circular piece of chocolate that as wrapped in a red wrapper, holding it out to Koishi. "Here, you can have it."
"R-Really!?" Koishi asked in disbelief, as she stared at the sweet as if it were some sort of priceless treasure. Koishi hesitantly took the sweet from Flandre's hand and undid the wrapping and stared at the piece of chocolate for a bit.
Then she unexpectedly broke it into two pieces and handed one of the pieces to Flandre. "Here, have some." Koishi said plainly as she waited for Flandre to take it.
"Are you sure? You can have it if you want; I'm not that hungry anyways."
Koishi nodded, "Everything tastes better when you share it with others! Or at least that's what big sister told me once."
Flandre gladly took the sweet from Koishi, as they both tossed their halves into their mouths happily. Flandre was beginning to think that what Koishi said had some truth behind it, maybe sharing did make things taste better, she'd have to ask Meiling about it later to see if it were true or not.
As the two were enjoying their sweets, the two noticed that Kyouko had entered the room, with a great big smile on her face as always. Except she was in a completely different outfit than her usual dress, instead she was wearing a completely black leather one, along with a pair of knee-high black stockings. Her eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses, and she had a black collar around her neck.
"Hey guys! What's going on?" Kyouko greeted as she sat down next to them.
Koishi just silently glared at her for a bit before turning away from her with a grunt. "Sorry about that…Koishi thought you were going to be giving her some sweets…" Flandre apologized for Koishi's behavior.
"Huh? Why? I don't have any sweets right now; I only get them as gifts during holidays…"
"Um…Never mind, it's a long story." Flandre said, "So what's up with the costume?"
"Oh this?" Kyouko asked as she looked down at herself, "It's my stage outfit! My band's gonna play tonight right here at the temple, remember?" Kyouko asked with a grin as she glimpsed at the stage with pride.
"Oh yeah! I've never been to a concert before…"
"Really? Then I'm honored that my band will be playing at your first concert!" Kyouko said cheerfully. "We'll have to play twice as hard as we usually do now!"
"Hey, Kyouko! We need to do some sound checks real quick! Come on!" a familiar voice called. It was Mystia from the night before, or at least it looked like the night-sparrow.
She was wearing an odd looking helmet and a pair of goofy looking sunglasses. Her dress, rather than being brown like from the night before, was instead black like Kyouko's. She also wore a pair of black leather boots and held a guitar in her hands. It was almost like looking at a completely different person from the night before.
"Oh hey guys, looks like you found the temple alright." Mystia greeted as she walked up to the three of them.
"You're in a band, and you're a food-stand owner!?" Koishi asked in surprise. She didn't seem to be angry with Kyouko any longer, that or she had forgotten all about her.
"Yep." Mystia confirmed, "Being in a band makes it easier for people to hear my singing, one day me and Kyouko will be world famous musicians! But for now, we're stuck with small gigs…Anyways, we gotta go Kyouko. Y'know, gotta check the sound and all that? The concert's in less than an hour now!"
"Oh right, sorry! I'll be right there!" Kyouko apologized, "Well I gotta go, I hope you'll come to see our performance! Bye!" and with that the yamabiko and night-sparrow left the two to go prepare for their big concert, leaving the pair of Flandre and Koishi to relax as they waited for the concert to begin.
A/N: Well this chapter came out a bit faster than I had predicted it would...I might have underestimated myself a bit...Anyways, nothing extraordinarily special happened in this chapter, just more of a chapter to help develop some of the characters personalities and such. Though it somewhat feels like Kyouko stole the stage when it comes down to appearances so far in the Myouren temple group...Though that might just be because she's my favorite character from TD.
Though despite the short amount of screen time for everyone else besides Kyouko and Mamizou, I feel pretty good about how this chapter went. Especially the scene with Reimu...That scene practically wrote itself. Though if everyone's favorite down-in-the-dumps shrine-maiden will make any more appearances in this story is still undecided.
My only real problem with this chapter is how I ended it, though it was mostly due to a total lack of ideas on how to end this chapter honestly. So I apologize for the crap ending, my bad.
To address my latest review for this story...Crazy Scion: I admittedly want the story to be like that, I want to keep people unsure of how everything will end up until the very end. Thank you for your review, I really appreciate it!
Well, this Author's note is beginning to become longer than it should, so I'll end it now. All reviews and views are deeply appreciated! Until the next chapter, peace!