The performance put on by Choujuu Gigako was an interesting one to say the least. The aspiring pair of musicians Kyouko and Mystia was surprisingly not half bad. The two actually managed to fill out quite a few seats in the temple and had a good sized audience. Most of the temple had come to give their support to the two of them, though most of the audience seemed to be reluctant to come to their show at first.
But before the night had ended, almost everyone was cheering Kyouko and Mystia on. Though their seemingly biggest fan of the night was the blonde woman Flandre and Koishi had met earlier that day, who they later found out, was Shou Toramaru. She was banging her head vigorously to almost all of their songs, her mouse companion however didn't seem to appreciate punk rock genre as much as she did, as she covered her ears with her hands the entire show in an attempt to block out the sound of their playing.
Even Byakuren seemed to enjoy the performance, as she had a warm smile on her face for the entire show. That or she was great at hiding her displeasure with their music. The next day everything went back to normal, with the stage and decorations nowhere in sight by morning time.
Flandre sat by herself in the temple's courtyard, still half-asleep. She was exhausted from last night's concert, but her sleep was restless and she couldn't find herself drifting off into sleep. Meiling and Koishi however, didn't seem to share her problem, and were resting peacefully in their rooms, along with many of the other temple residents. Flandre finally decided on waiting outside until one of her companions finally woke up and joined her, though sadly for her that didn't appear to be happening anytime soon.
Though as time passed by, to Flandre's surprise, found Kyouko walking out from the temple, with her usual beaming smile still on her face. She didn't even show the slightest bit of fatigue, an impressive feat considering how late she was up the night before playing with her Mystia. In her hands she carried her usual broom, and strangely enough a bowl of steaming porridge.
Flandre watched her idly as Kyouko walked passed her while humming a cheerful tune. She didn't seem to notice Flandre sitting there, as she kept on going about her business without even a single glance at the vampire. Flandre continued to watch Kyouko with an interested expression as the yamabiko wandered off towards the back of the temple.
"Where's she going?" Flandre asked herself, with her eyes focused on Kyouko as she continued on her way merrily.
Flandre found herself following her out of curiosity and boredom, sneaking behind Kyouko as she kept going about her business, completely oblivious that Flandre was following her every move. Before long, Flandre followed Kyouko into the temple's large cemetery, where there were several tomb-stones scattered about the area in orderly fashioned rows.
Many of the tomb-stones were in good condition and had flowers placed in front of them, other tombs however weren't so lucky, with some of them being in such bad condition that the inscriptions on them couldn't be made out; leaving the identity of the one buried there a mystery.
Flandre suddenly came up with a devious idea for a prank from looking around the eerily quiet cemetery. A mischievous smile grew on her face as she hid behind a grave-marker, she would scare the priest-in-training silly when she least expected it. Flandre didn't prank others often, but she couldn't pass down this perfectly good opportunity at some fun at Kyouko's expense.
The prank was quickly forgotten though, as Flandre noticed Kyouko carefully placing the bowl of porridge at the foot of a grave. Kyouko then began to do what she did best, sweeping. She quickly dusted off the grave with her trusty broom while humming a quiet melody. Flandre simply observed Kyouko with curiosity as she stayed out of sight behind the tombstone she was situated at.
"Boo." A childish voice said softly, causing Kyouko to look up from her work in mild surprise.
Sitting on the very tombstone that Kyouko was dusting off was a small girl, looking to be about the same height as Kyouko. Her hair was short, only reaching down to her shoulders; it was a shade of light-blue, the same color as the dress she wore. Her eyes were oddly colored, with one being just as blue as her hair and dress, and the other being as red as Flandre's. She was shaded by a large purple umbrella that had an odd design on it, it had one eye with a red pupil, and strangest of all, a large tongue hanging out of its large mouth.
"Huh? Oh Kogasa! Good morning! I didn't think you'd be up yet." Kyouko greeted with a friendly smile.
"Morning. I saw your concert last night, you were pretty good." Kogasa replied.
"Oh thank you! I'm glad you thought so!" Kyouko said cheerfully as she finished her sweeping and picked up the bowl of porridge, "Here, I brought this for you!" she said as she held the bowl out to the karakasa.
Kogasa hesitated for a moment before accepting the bowl, "Thanks! But won't your friends be mad that you're giving me their food?" she asked as began to take a spoonful of the porridge.
"Nah, Sister Byakuren says that giving to those in need is important! I'm sure she won't mind if I gave you some food, in fact she often says she worries about your health and wishes you'd come live in the temple instead of out here in the graveyard all by yourself. I mean it must get pretty lonely out here…plus it's really creepy out here…" Kyouko said as she looked around cautiously, as if she expected to be ambushed at any moment.
Kogasa giggled lightly, "You know I can't leave the cemetery…but thanks anyways…Besides, it's not too bad out here. It's so eerie and creepy…It's the perfect spot to scare people in! Plus it's nice and safe and away from that green-haired shrine-maiden…" Kogasa felt a shiver go done her spine as she remembered her defeats at the mountain shrine-maiden's hands. Disturbingly enough was that the wind priestess seemed to enjoy every moment of beating the karakasa to a pulp in their danmaku duels. The girl's cruel grin was still fresh in her mind; Kogasa prayed she'd never encounter that crazy lunatic of a girl again. "Besides, it's not too lonely out here. Yoshika and Nue come by, and there's a kasha that drops by sometimes too…"
"Yoshika? That zombie girl? I thought she scares you."
"She didn't scare me! She just startled me is all…" Kogasa denied as she puffed out her cheeks, causing Kyouko to laugh. "Besides she isn't that bad once you get to know her actually, I usually see her in the human village."
"Huh…Well I'm glad you're making friends!" Kyouko said happily, she took a glance at the sky for a moment, "Well I had better go back to the temple before everyone else wakes up. Take care Kogasa." Kyouko said somewhat sadly as she bid her friend good-bye.
Kogasa frowned sadly at her departure, "Yeah…I will, hope you drop by again soon." She gave her friend a wave good-bye as she left her by herself amongst the graves once again.
Meanwhile Flandre still remained undetected by either of the girls, as she watched Kyouko pass by without noticing her presence. Flandre gave the odd karakasa one last glance before following the yamabiko's lead and returning to the temple.
"Huh…I wonder what's up with that umbrella girl…"
Flandre jumped in surprise and turned around, only to find what many of the temple's residents have been calling 'Flandre's shadow', Koishi. She looked over Flandre's shoulder at the light-blue haired girl with curiosity. Strangely enough Flandre hadn't noticed the girl approach her, almost as if she popped out of thin air.
"Koishi, what're you doing here?" Flandre asked her strange companion.
Koishi turned her attention away from the lone karakasa and put on one of her usual cheerful smiles, "Flan-chan wasn't in her room, so I decided to look for you!" she answered happily.
Flandre was a little confused on how the satori managed to track her down, especially without any knowledge of where she had ran off to. But she decided to just drop the subject and leave it at that.
"Hey Flanny, let's go get some breakfast! I'm hungry." Koishi said as she rubbed her stomach to emphasize her point.
"Alright Koi-koi, I'm getting pretty hungry myself…Plus maybe China'll be up." Flandre replied as she let Koishi take her by the hand as they walked back to the temple.
Flandre took one last glance at the odd blue-haired girl as she silently sat on top of the gravestone before she finally faded from sight as the pair entered the temple.
Later in the day, Flandre still found that the odd umbrella girl was still where she saw her last; still sitting on the same grave she was sitting on that very morning. Flandre began to wonder about the strange umbrella girl she saw Kyouko with earlier, something about her seemed…strange to her. She only saw the girl leave once the cemetery once that day, but she returned within the hour, which served to make Flandre even more curious about the girl. So Flandre decided to investigate this peculiar girl further.
She decided to question Shou about the girl, since she seemed to know quite a bit about the individuals living at the temple. Koishi, as usual decided to tag along with her, though she didn't mind the company one bit despite her odd quirks.
The two found Shou out in the courtyard greeting visitors to the temple along with her mouse friend. Surprisingly enough, a few humans even came to the temple, despite the large quantity of youkai at the temple.
"Hmmmm, quite a busy day, wouldn't you say Nazirin?" Shou said to her companion.
"Sure is…Little surprised that these meat-sacks are showing up though…I mean this is a youkai temple…" Nazirin replied as she leaned against the temple's walls.
"You shouldn't be referring to our human guests as meat-sacks, Naz, you'll scare them off." Shou chastised.
"Yeah, yeah…Whatever…" Nazirin shrugged off nonchalantly as she gazed at the sky. It was nice and warm out, without a cloud in sight, it was a perfect day to be outdoors.
"Still, I share the sentiment, it is surprising to see so many humans here…especially with the human saint running around and sputtering off her nonsense…"
"Right…that Toyosatomimi lady… she's gonna be trouble with her riling everyone up and all…I wonder if that friend of Nue's will actually be any help against her…I mean she seems to be real old…wouldn't be surprised if she busted her hip or something while she's trying to 'help' us."
"Knock it off Naz; don't be insulting our ally behind her back, Mamizou has been a great asset to the temple since she arrived in Gensokyo." Shou said with evident irritation in her voice.
"Yeah, yeah…sorry boss…"
"Goodness Naz…Sometimes I can't believe such a tiny little thing like you can have such a big mouth…"
"And sometimes I can't believe the avatar of bishamonten lost a priceless artifact…" Nazirin muttered under her breath.
"I didn't lose the pagoda, I simply misplaced it!" Shou argued.
"Whatever you say boss…You're just lucky you got me to clean up your messes." Nazirin said as a cheeky grin grew on her face.
"Shut your mouth you little-Oh hello you two…you need something?" Shou said sheepishly as she noticed the pair of Flandre and Koishi standing behind her.
"Yeah, do you know anything about that umbrella girl in the graveyard?" Koishi asked before Flandre even had the opportunity to open her mouth.
"Her? She's an odd one…no matter how many times Byakuren offers her a room in the temple, she always declines…" Shou trailed off as she began to think more about the odd-ball girl that lived in what was essentially their backyard. "That's all I really know about her…You know anything Naz?"
Nazirin's grin grew a little as she replied, "Why yes I do, that umbrella girl's name is Kogasa Tatara. She began to occupy the graveyard sometime before that Shrine-maiden and three of her friends trampled through our temple during that divine spirit incident with those hermits. I've talked to her a few times while I was looking for some treasure in the graveyard to help with our budget here, though she never told me why she picked a graveyard of all things to settle down in…That's all I know about her…Though Kyouko might know more about her, I've seen her sneak food in to the cemetery for her a few times."
"Huh…Okay…Thanks Miss Mouse." Flandre said gratefully, "Let's go find Kyouko Koishi!"
"Okey-dokey!" Koishi said happily as she followed after Flandre.
"Anytime kiddies, you can ask the great disciple of bishamonten anything you please!" Nazirin called back to them.
Shou shook her head in disapproval and gave a big sigh before saying, "You know Nazirin, I can't tell what's bigger, your mouth or that bloated ego of yours…"
"Awww shut up you dumb cat!"
Flandre and Koishi began their search the temple's resident yamabiko at Nazirin's suggestion. Soon after their search began Flandre found out that Koishi had her own ways of tracking others down, which consisted of barging into rooms without knocking, and yelling Kyouko's name loudly throughout the temple. Despite Koishi's tactics on finding people being very loud and rude, it was also very effective, as Kyouko shouted an enthusiastic 'yahoo' in response to Koishi's screaming, making finding her easy enough.
"Huh, Kogasa? What about her?" Kyouko said after being questioned about the mysterious girl.
"You know why she just sits in that graveyard all day? She sits there like a statue all day! She's like China when she falls asleep!" Flandre asked.
"Well…To be honest…I really don't know." Kyouko replied sadly, "She never told me why she lives there, and when I asked she always frowns at me…"
"Ugh…That mouse girl lied to us…Kyouko wasn't any help at all!" Koishi cried, stomping her feet on the ground in a bout of frustration. As Koishi threw her tantrum, Flandre noticed that her third eyes kept twitching, just like when the two had first met.
"I'm s-sorry…P-Please calm down…You're kind of freaking me out…" Kyouko pleaded as she backed off from the angered satori cautiously. "W-Why not just ask her yourself? Maybe she'll tell you…"
Kyouko's suggestion seemed to knock Koishi out of her tantrum as her eyes seemingly glowed with happiness from the suggestion, "Of course! The mouse girl wasn't lying! Kyouko was helpful!" she chirped happily. Kyouko and Flandre just blankly stared at Koishi in disbelief at the sudden change in her mood.
"Thanks for the help Kyouko, we'll do that. See ya later!" Flandre said, waving to Kyouko as she left with Koishi in tow.
"Oh, no problem! See ya guys later!" Kyouko called back to them before she resumed her usual activity of sweeping the temple's halls as she hummed a cheerful tune.
"You know Flanny now that I think about it…Wouldn't it have been easier to ask the umbrella girl directly instead of asking others about her?" Koishi asked as she jumped from tombstone to tombstone gracefully, making her landings without a single flaw in her form. It was quite an impressive display.
"Ummm…Maybe?" Flandre replied sheepishly as she watched Koishi's acrobatics.
"Oh… Just making sure." Koishi said as she hopped off one of the gravestones, "Say, where's China? I haven't seen her in a while…"
"Miss Ichirin said that Mr. Cloud said that she was taking a nap, they said she was too tired out from yesterday…I kinda think she's just being lazy though."
"Oh…Yeah, China is kinda lazy…Oh we're here!"
Just as Koishi had said, they had reached the grave that Kogasa was currently using as a seat. She sat there silently, staring at them as she watched them approach her. She wore a neutral expression, not one of malice or good intention. Though despite her indifferent expression, her eggplant colored umbrella made her look quite intimidating, with it's one red eye seemingly staring the pair down as it shaded it's holder and the grave she sat on from the sun completely.
"Hello." She greeted in a quiet voice, "Are you visiting a loved one's grave today?" she asked.
"Huh? No. Nothing like that." Flandre answered, "We're here to talk to you."
"Me?" Kogasa asked in surprise, "Why?"
This time Koishi spoke up, clearing her throat before speaking. "Me and Flanny here wanna know why you sit in this creepy graveyard all day!" she shouted as she pointed at her accusingly.
Kogasa looked a bit taken aback by the sudden and unexpected question. She blinked several time as she regained her composure before replying with a simple, "Huh?"
"Tell us!" Koishi urged as she approached the karakasa, "If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear!"
Kogasa's neutral expression shifted into a frown before saying, "Why do you wanna know?"
"Because we're-"
"We'll be the one asking the questions here!" Koishi exclaimed, cutting off whatever Flandre was going to say.
Kogasa silently glared at the two of them, if looks could kill, the pair of them would most certainly be joining the deceased in this graveyard. "No."
"Huh?" Koishi asked as if she didn't hear her correctly, "What do you mean?"
"I mean it's none of your business! Now leave me alone!" Kogasa shouted at the satori angrily, her face twisted in anger as she stared down the two of them.
"Hey, that wasn't very nice you…you…BIG BULLY!" Koishi screamed back. As she did, her third eye once again began to twitch oddly, as if it couldn't decide whether to remain closed or opened. The satori looked like she'd jump at the karakasa and pummel her to a bloody pulp at this rate.
Fortunately for Kogasa, Flandre stepped in. She put a hand to her enraged friend's shoulder and said calmly, "It's alright Koi-Koi, calm down…Let's just go back inside and talk to Kyouko…"
Koishi didn't seem to calm down initially, as her breath was heavy and her face was red with anger. "Um…We can also have some sweets too; I still have some left over!" Flandre said in a last attempt to appease her friend's anger.
The notion of treats seemed to soothe Koishi's anger, as her face went back to its normal shade and her breathing became less heavy. "Really?" she asked finally after calming down a bit from her earlier outrage.
"Of course! I got some sweets in my room; we can share some and go play with Kyouko!" Flandre said happily.
"Yay! Then let's go!" Koishi giggled happily as she began to skip merrily to the temple. Her sudden changes in mood left Flandre slightly surprised, but she had begun to get used to Koishi's random mood changes.
Flandre silently followed her now happy friend back to the temple, without once turning back to take a look at Koagasa, who was still staring daggers at the pair as they left.
"Hmph…Bullies…" Kogasa grumbled under her breath as soon as the pair was out of earshot.
"Where are they…? Why must life be so difficult Eirin…?" Kaguya asked as her head dropped onto the counter of the food stand she and her party had stopped to rest at.
The three's search for their elusive quarry hasn't gone well, it's been three days since they began their hunt, and since their first encounter with the girl and her red-haired lackey, she seemingly disappeared from the face of Gensokyo without a trace.
"Please calm down princess…we'll find them, and once we do, we'll turn their heads in for the bounty. It's just a matter of time before they show themselves…" Eirin said reassuringly, even though her patience with this hunt has also begun to wear thin.
This diversion after all, was taking time out of time she could be using to create new medical breakthroughs. Plus she wasn't entirely comfortable leaving Eientei under Tewi's command in their absence, who knows what sort of mischief might occur by leaving the prankster unsupervised?
"Master, are you sure this bounty is really worth the trouble? I mean isn't there some other way we could raise the money to pay off Princess Kaguya's outside world possessions?" Reisen asked quietly, avoiding eye contact with her teacher.
"It certainly is Udonge. The reward money was recently increased to a much greater sum, it would be enough to pay off any debts caused by the princess' recent…purchases and then some." Eirin explained simply without even bothering to take a glance at her pupil.
"But still…Couldn't we just have Tewi work some of her magic to make some money? I mean, she is a sign of fortune to humans…" Reisen suggested timidly.
Eirin sighed in an irritable tone as she rubbed her temples in annoyance before replying, "That would take time, Udonge. That's something we don't have, Tewi can't just spring good luck upon us and expect that money will rain from the sky. The most her luckiness will get us is some spare change. We need to pay off these debts as soon as possible, do you understand?" Eirin asked.
"Y-Yes master…" Reisen answered sadly.
"Good."
"Ugh…I hate this! Where the heck is that dumb girl and that red headed knave!? COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE YOU BLOODY COWARDS!" Kaguya screamed in frustration, causing a few villagers to stare at her and her two companions with odd looks. "I want to go home so badly…Why can't that Flandre girl just come out so we can get the money and go home…?" Kaguya mumbled sadly as Eirin comforted her.
"You guys are looking for Flandre?" the stand-keeper asked curiously as she wiped a glass dry with a clean rag, uttering her first words since the three arrived at her humble food stand.
"Yes, indeed we are. Would you happen to have any information on her whereabouts?" Eirin asked the stand-owner in a professional tone, one she reserved only to use on patients who visited her clinic.
"Yeah, sure I do." The stand-keeper replied simply.
"You do!? Tell us right now you little peasant or I'll roast you on an open fire!" Kaguya snapped.
"Princess, please let me handle this…" Eirin interrupted hastily. Kaguya conceded to Eirin's request and went silent, muttering something under breath angrily. "Please forgive my companion's outburst, we have been searching for this girl for a long time and are tired and frustrated. If you would please impart to us any information we could use to find the one we're searching for, that would be greatly appreciated."
The stand-owner didn't appear to be offended by Kaguya's earlier threat, as she willingly informed them of what she knew, "Last I saw she was at Myouren temple, you know, that temple run by that Byakuren lady? I played there a few days ago with my band and I saw her." she said informatively.
"Myouren temple then? That's not too far off from here; it would seem our search has come to an end princess." Eirin said as a twisted smile grew on her face.
"Yes! Finally! This time I'll put that red-headed knave in her place!" Kaguya said happily as she hopped out of her seat.
"Say why do you want to find Flandre so bad anyways?" the stand-keeper asked curiously with a concerned frown on her face.
"Oh, her older sister wishes for her to return home before she injures herself, we're just working upon her behalf, no need to worry." Eirin said with a warm-hearted smile on her face as she spoke.
The stand-keeper seemed to believe the story, as her face quickly shifted into a smile. "Well alright, tell her Mystia said 'hey' once you see her then."
"I'll be sure to impart the message." Eirin said, "Udonge come, it is time to go." She ordered.
"Y-Yes master…"
Mystia watched as the three left her stand silently before yelling to them, "What, no tip? I'm running a business here you know!" the three either didn't hear her, or didn't pay her any mind, as they didn't bother to respond. "Hmph…Cheapskates…didn't even get a thank you…" Mystia grumbled to herself as she turned her attention back to cleaning her dishes.