Nitori wasn't a social person by nature, no matter how she much she'd love to be more outgoing and increase the size of her circle of friends, she'd always freeze up when encountering a stranger. Her hands would become clammy, she'd trip over her words, and sweat would trickle down her face like rain. She accepted that as a part of herself and was content with her life, her shyness didn't affect her too much amongst her own kind, and she was fortunate enough to have Hina as a friend as well.

She was especially grateful to Hina, as she was one of the few people who she had created a true bond of friendship with over her long life. The Goddess may have been a little over the top when it came to trying to help her overcome her meekness, but the Kappa knew she was only trying to help and humored her. She would participate in whatever strange idea she had to cure her shyness, which ended in complete failure every time. The two would simply laugh off the failure and end their day with a nice chat over some cucumber flavored tea.

However, Nitori would never have thought Hina would have actually brought complete strangers into her home to stay for the night, especially when these strangers had a rather huge reputation on the Youkai Mountain. Nitori tried to keep calm, but she couldn't help but fidget in her seat as she watched the three Hina brought in roll out sleeping bags out on her floor. She had heard quite a bit about the three from a combination of idle chatter amongst her people and through Aya's newspaper. While she usually never paid rumors much mind, she couldn't possible ignore them now that the people these rumors stemmed from where standing in her home.

She had heard that the vampire had the stability of a mental-ward patient, and the recent destruction of Myouren Temple's cemetery was actually due to her going off the wall…Though the Satori concerned her even more, since the first time she stepped into her home she had been rambling on about complete nonsense, nonsense that only the red-clad vampire seemingly understood. Not to mention the girl's stare was quite eerie, her eyes almost looked like they were devoid of life…The Kappa was almost afraid to take her eyes off the girl lest she went completely berserk and destroyed her home or something of the sort…The only one of these guests she wasn't terrified of was the tall one in green, she always wore a polite smile and minded her manners when she spoke to her. In a sense she reminded her of Hina…

Speaking of the Goddess, she seemed completely unfazed by just how bizarre their guests were. While she knew the Goddess didn't hear much news outside from when they had tea, she would have thought Hina would have at least seen a discarded newspaper with their faces on it, or even heard some gossip about them… Though she supposed it wouldn't have mattered who they were regardless, Hina would have helped anyone in need, no matter who they were. She was always such a selfless person, despite being feared by the majority of the other denizens on the mountain, which caused her to stay in seclusion most of the time. Aside from herself, she wasn't even sure if Hina had anyone she could actually call a friend. Yet despite all of this, she was always so kind to others…She always went out of her way to help others, from scaring humans away from the mountain to prevent themselves from getting themselves killed, to absorbing the misfortune they've accumulated. The curse-goddess was a saint in her eyes, the only person who could compete with her selflessness was the Saint Byakuren Hijiri…

"Hello? Nitori…?" the curse-goddess said, causing Nitori to snap out of her musing. "Is there a reason you're staring at me so intently? Do you have something to say to me?"

"Wh-Wha? N-No! Nothing of the sort! I just blanked out there for a second…" Nitori refuted as she waved her hands in front of herself defensively.

"I see. It's quite alright; I must admit I enjoyed the attention." Hina giggled.

Before she could stutter out a response to the curse-goddess, Nitori felt a gentle tug on her work-belt. Looking over her shoulder, the Kappa nearly jumped out of her skin as her blue eyes met a pair of empty ones. "Hey, what's this thing do?" Koishi asked as she held out a metal tool to the disheveled Kappa.

"Th-That's a wrench…I-It's used to tighten things…" Nitori meekly answered. While she could normally go on all day about her tools and give an in-depth explanation as to why each tool is immensely important and unique in their own way, the Kappa's tongue always would lock up around strangers. Especially when the stranger in question made chills go up her spine just by taking the smallest of glances at them.

"Oh…" the satori said quietly as she simply stared at the tool that rested in her hands, "Can it do anything fun though?"

"W-Well…It's not a toy…It's a tool to work with and create things…I-I guess that's kind of fun…For me anyways." Nitori said quietly.

Despite the volume of her voice, the satori seemed to have heard her clear as day, as her eyes immediately lit up. "Ooh! You build things? Can I see? Please? Pretty please? With a bucket of sugar on top?" Koishi pleaded.

Nitori mentally chided herself for mentioning what she had. While she had no trouble showing her fellow Kappa her various inventions, she was reluctant to even let the Satori to be in the same room as them. She feared that the girl would carelessly break or damage the inventions she labored so hard on to get them to work at maximum capacity. Though she feared much more what would happen if she refused her as well. After observing her closely and paying close attention to her childish demeanor, she worried the girl would throw a tantrum if she didn't allow her to even the tiniest of peeks at her inventions…Though she supposed if it came to that, perhaps the one in green who made sure that both she and the vampire didn't misbehave or accidentally destroy the mountain would resolve the situation before too much damage could be done…

Before she could decide upon which course of action to take, the decision was all but chosen for her, as the grey-haired girl began tugging on her arms relentlessly with a beaming grin on her face, giggling all the while. Nitori would have found the sight to be cute, if the girl didn't horrify her so much… "Oh Nitori, just show the girl your contraptions." The curse-goddess said with a gentle smile on her face, obviously trying to hide her amusement at the sight before, "She did ask so nicely after all."

Finding her hands tied, Nitori let out a deep sigh. "Alright…C-Come along now…" the Kappa said as she gently pushed the satori along, who cheered victoriously. Nitori made herself a mental note to get some payback at Hina later, even if it were the last thing she did…

Just as Nitori reluctantly took Koishi along to sate her curiosity, Meiling entered the room, with Flandre following close behind. Not too long after they had rejoined the curse goddess' company, the gatekeeper noticed they were short one satori. Meiling began to scan the room for their missing party-member in an almost frantic manner, she feared to think of what would happen if she left the girl unsupervised...

"Nitori took your little friend to go see her strange gadgets, curious as a child that one is." Hina said, answering Meiling's unspoken question.

"Oh, I see. Well, at least Nitori's warming up to her. Koishi has a strange habit of making bad first-impressions, you see…" Meiling said with a chuckle.

"I see, well regardless, she seems like a nice enough girl. I'm sure a little time together will be good for both her and Nitori." The curse goddess said happily, "Anyways, if you don't mind me asking, why is it that you're climbing the Youkai Mountain? Not many climb the mountain unless they have reason to."

"We're gonna go visit Koi-Koi's big sister!" Flandre interjected happily.

Hina simply nodded in understanding, "Ah…Yes, family is important. I can see now why you'd risk the dangers of the mountain so willingly, not that you couldn't handle anything the mountain threw your way of course." The green-haired woman said with a polite smile.

"What about you Hina? Do you have any big sisters?" Flandre asked curiously as she perched herself atop Nitori's neatly made bed.

Hina chuckled at the question, causing two pairs of eyebrows to be raised. "No, I'm afraid not. For a god or goddess to have siblings is a very rare case, the only deities I know that have another they can call a sister are the Aki sisters. I unfortunately was not blessed with such fortune."

Frowning at the answer she was given, Flandre looked at the goddess sadly. "That's too bad…Having a big sister is the best! A big-sister always looks out for you; she teaches you how to act like a lady...Ooh! And she also visits with you sometimes and if you're really lucky, she'll play games with you!"

"I…see." Hina responded in confusion at the vampire's last examples. Looking from the corner of her eye, she could see that Meiling was frowning at Flandre's last examples as she tipped her hat see her eyes were no longer visible. "Your sister…You must love her very much, yes?"

"Huh? Of course I do silly! Remy's the greatest!" the vampire responded gleefully, "Oh! But I like you and Koishi a bunch too, China!"

Meiling simply gave a warm smile and a nod; obviously still upset a little upset at Flandre's choice of words in describing the role of an elder sister. "So Hina, if I may ask what's it like living on the mountain? It must be tiring to deal with all the Tengu zipping around in search of the next story for their gossip papers, am I right?" Meiling said with a laugh.

"Not at all, the Tengu may be a little zealous when it comes to their literature, but they aren't too much of a bother when one becomes accustomed to it. Though that isn't to say they can't get on one's nerves every once in a while…" Hina chuckled, "Goddesses have much more pressing matters to worry about than the press besides, especially these days…"

"Could you elaborate?" the gatekeeper asked curiously, "Er that is, if it isn't too much trouble I mean."

Hina wore a small frown; the subject obviously must have been a touchy one. "Well, I'm not one to spread rumors, so if you could, please keep what I have to say to yourselves…" the curse-goddess requested.

"Of course, I wouldn't dare think of it." The red-head of the group replied.

"Don't worry! I've kept secrets for over a hundred years before!" Flandre responded enthusiastically as she scooted closer to the green-haired woman, obviously eager to hear what she had to say.

Hina looked around herself tentatively, as if trying to sniff out any eavesdroppers in the area. Seeing that the coast was clear for the moment, the goddess let out a drawn out sigh. "Well, as of late, I and my fellow goddesses have run into quite a bit of difficulty in collecting faith from the denizens of the mountain…"

"Faith…?" the vampire asked inquisitively, "Is that some sort dessert?"

"Faith is a deities' life-force, Flandre. It is their equivalent to what blood is to you if that helps put things into perspective." Meiling answered, "Gods and goddess' get faith from humans and the occasional youkai from their prayers and offerings, but if they don't receive enough faith from their followers, they will eventually fade from existence. Is this an agreeable explanation, Miss Hina?"

"Yes, that would be the basic idea. Anyways, living on this mountain where humans are scarce, it has always been difficult to collect enough faith to sustain ourselves on. Despite this, many deities have been able to overcome these difficulties and collect enough faith to survive for hundreds of years. But when a new deity comes, things always do tend to become…complicated. Tell me, have you heard of the Goddess, Kanako Yasaka who came here not too many years ago?"

The name was immediately recognizable to Meiling, as far as deities in Gensokyo came; Kanako was easily the most famous of them all despite only coming to Gensokyo a few years ago. In the time she had lived in Gensokyo, she had built quite a name for herself and the Moriya shrine, even her Shrine-Maiden was now solving incidents alongside Reimu and Marisa. Of course, her fame was also attributed to the many events she hosted, not to mention the fact that she had been responsible for two incidents, one of which put not only Gensokyo, but perhaps even the entire world in peril. But despite this, Kanako was still looked upon favorably by humans and youkai alike. In fact, she had a great amount of power on the Youkai Mountain, surprising considering she was a foreign god…

"Yes, I've heard all about Lady Kanako, what of her?"

"In short, since coming here, her influence has grown greatly; nearly everyone on the Mountain worships her, giving her a great abundance of faith and by extension, power. But this leaves the rest of us gods high and dry, so to speak. Kanako has all but monopolized the mountain's source of faith…and while a curse goddess like me doesn't live off of faith like other deities, with all the blessings Kanako has been giving to her followers, finding misfortune to sustain myself on has become scarce…" Hina said sadly, "While I have protested her actions along with my fellow gods and goddess', she refused to listen to a single word…I fear that the balance of powers have tipped far too much in her favor…before long, we will be forced to leave the Mountain we call home and find a new area to collect faith...Or we may just very well vanish all together."

"That doesn't sound good…" Flandre mumbled as she looked at the curse goddess with worry, as if she were going to vanish into nothingness at any given moment.

Meiling silently nodded in agreement, "Why hasn't Lady Yakumo interfered yet? Surely she wouldn't approve of Kanako taking all of the faith for herself? I mean, she did create Gensokyo, wouldn't she be concerned that someone has all but taken control over such a large part of Gensokyo?"

"Well, not to be speaking ill of those who aren't present, but Yukari doesn't take much interest in Gensokyo these days. From what I have heard, she has a more avid interest in the outside-world." The curse-goddess explained, "I suppose I could understand, for one who has lived as long as her, a land like Gensokyo, where things never change can surely become boring. Especially when compared to the outside world, where things are always changing, always evolving…"

"But what about Reimu then? It's her responsibility to uphold the balance within Gensokyo; surely she could solve this problem." Meiling asked.

"Miss Hakurei has been busy with her own troubles from what I can infer. The Hakurei shrine certainly isn't the epitome of wealth after all, and she has been busy enough with incidents the way it is. So unless she receives some sort of compensation or it affects her directly, I doubt she'll interfere with the goings on the Mountain. Besides, no disrespect to Miss Hakurei, but I don't believe diplomacy is her strong suit…"

Meiling couldn't have agreed with Hina's last remark, when she first encountered the Shrine-Maiden during the Scarlet Mist incident, the miko was rather…forceful about her means of entry into the Mansion. Just thinking about it was painful, it was the first time she had ever failed to stop a trespasser from entering the Mansion, and sadly, it wasn't the last thanks to a certain blonde-witch's frequent visits.

"Yes, that last part I can whole-heartedly agree on…But even so, couldn't Reimu just force Kanako into submission? Gods know she's done it to her before, not to mention to several others as well…And couldn't you and the other Gods of the Mountain provide some sort offering to her in place of coin? Gods were created from the desire of humans after all, I'm certain you could offer her something that'd make it worth her while. Like a plentiful harvest or even good fortune?"

Hina sadly shook her head, "While what you say is true, we could most certainly grant Miss Hakurei a few divine favors such as food and other things of that manner, I doubt she would be able to do anything to stop Lady Yasaka." Hina sighed, "While I certainly don't doubt Reimu's strength or her ability in performing her role as the Hakurei Shrine-Maiden, I fear that Kanako has grown far too strong for her to handle on her own. She had enough trouble engaging her when she first appeared in Gensokyo; I can't imagine the outcome coming out in her favor if she challenged her again, not with all of the followers providing her with faith now."

"Man, talk about a bleak situation…" Meiling said glumly, scratching the back of her head in thought. There must be some way to resolve this problem…

"As much as I hate to be a pessimist, I'd have to agree completely. While I can help my fellow deities find faith by relieving them of their misfortune, I'm saddened to say it will only delay the inevitable…" Hina sighed, "I ask that you mention none of this to Nitori. I'm not sure how the girl would take it to learn that my fate has been sealed…"

"I understand, but you ought to tell her, she deserves to know the truth, no matter how bitter." Meiling said.

"Yes…I'll tell her when the time comes…But until then, I just want to spend as much time with her as I can, so I may say I spent my last days happily." The curse-goddess said with a sad smile on her face. Hina had all but accepted that her demise would be soon, not believing there to be any alternative outcome. After all, in this world, the weak succumb to the strong. No matter how strong her desire was to live, her life would all the same be snuffed out, as is the order of the world.

"…It's not fair…"

Hina turned her attention to Flandre, who had remained silent during the entire conversation. In fact, she had almost forgotten she had sat and listened along with Meiling she was so quiet. The vampire had small tears in her crimson colored eyes.

Yet this sorrow was soon turned into determination, as Flandre stared into the curse-goddess' eyes, "Don't worry Miss Hina…I'll beat that big-bully into next week and make it so you won't have to go kyuu!" Flandre declared, "Then you won't have to say goodbye to Nitori ever!"

Hina was taken aback by Flandre's words, and judging by the expression Meiling was wearing, so was she. While she hadn't the slightest clue as to what, 'kyuu' meant, given the context she assumed she meant death. Never in her life had she met a stranger who cared for her existence. In all her life, people had feared her due to her nature as a goddess of misfortune causing her to be shunned by all, with the exception of a kappa who had accepted her despite her intimidating reputation. It was moments of virtue such as these that made her glad she had never lost faith that deep down; people truly were good at heart.

"…I thank you; your words bring me joy. But please young one, do not seek out a challenge with Yasaka, she's far too powerful… I could never forgive myself if you were to befall harm on my behalf…Your words alone have brought me hope."

Flandre frowned at the curse-goddess' request, but nodded silently in agreement as she wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hands. "Okay…B-But no going kyuu! You have to promise!" the vampire demanded as she extended her pinky-finger out towards the goddess.

Hina, without hesitation wrapped her own finger around Flandre's tiny one. With a smile the goddess whispered, "I Hina Kagiyama, swear that I shall live."

At that moment, Koishi rather loudly stomped her feet against the floor as she entered the room, with Nitori cringing at each metallic clang that echoed at the wake of the Satori's powerful stomps. "Man that was soooooooooooo boring…Where was all the mechas and robots…? There weren't even any lasers or explosions…" the satori grumbled in disappointment as she jumped down at a spot next to Flandre.

Nitori simply remained silent as she slumped down into a chair and sighed. The kappa looked utterly exhausted, and Meiling had a few guesses as to why as she gave a sideward look towards Koishi.

"So, how did everything go? Did you two have fun?" Hina asked Nitori with a wide smile.

The kappa just stared at Hina with a blank expression and exhaled deeply, "Don't ask…I don't want to talk about it…EVER."

As soon as she said that, a thousand scenarios specifically involving Koishi popped into Meiling's mind. She was beginning to wonder if she should ever let Koishi out of her sight again, the girl just seemed prone to do the strangest, and most unexpected things. Then again, everything seemed to be in one piece, so the gatekeeper just decided to take that as a victory in itself…

"Er…Well…I apologize for whatever Koishi did…She's such a free-spirit…hahahaha…" Meiling chuckled nervously.

"Huh? I didn't do anything naughty at all though…" Koishi said innocently, "All I did was-"

"St-Stop talking! I thought we agreed it what happened down there, would stay down there!" the kappa cut off shrilly. Nitori was obviously deeply embarrassed by whatever had occurred while entertaining Koishi's curiosity, if her beet-red face was any indication.

The kappa's flustered behavior just made Meiling even more curious about what had happened…While she wasn't the type to pry into other people's business, the gatekeeper couldn't help but want to pursue the subject further…Yet she kept her mouth shut out of respect of their host for the night, but that didn't stop her from speculating…

"Oh yeah…oops…" Koishi sheepishly responded. The satori then took a long look at her vampire friend's face, "Were you crying Flanny? Your face is all red and puffy." The satori noted.

"Wh-What? N-No! I'm a big-girl, big-girls don't cry, silly." Flandre denied, though her red cheeks didn't make her lie very convincing.

"It's alright Flanny…Even the biggest-girls need to cry sometimes…" Koishi whispered soothingly into Flandre's ear, "Besides, I can't really blame you for tearing up; Miss Kappa's scent is really strong! She must bathe in cucumber juice!" the satori then burst out laughing, while Flandre simply stared at her in confusion. Even she at times wondered went through her grey-haired companion's mind…

"Koishi! Mind your manners, and apologize this instant." Meiling said sternly.

"Oh! S-Sorry, Miss Kappa! I didn't mean to be rude…I actually like the scent of cucumbers!"

Nitori started to blush profusely and hid her embarrassment using her hat, "I-It's fine…Really…I'm not offended or anything…" she mumbled from beneath her cap.

"Regardless, Koishi really ought to start thinking about what she says…One day I fear it'll be the end of us…" the gatekeeper sighed, "Anyways, we'd best turn in for the night. I want to get an early start on the next leg of the mountain, with any luck; we should arrive at the Tengu city before nightfall."

Koishi groaned, "Again...? I liked it better when we could sleep until noon…" despite her complaints, the satori complied and began to exit the room and get ready for the night along with Flandre.

Meiling however stayed and gave a bow to their host, "I thank you once again for your hospitality, Miss Kawashiro. My companions and I are immensely grateful for your selflessness."

Nitori began to squirm in her chair in reaction of the gesture, "Ye-Yeah…D-Don't sweat it…" the kappa muttered, "If you want th-there's some spare blankets in the back-room…I-If you get cold I mean…"

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Meiling then exited the room to get ready for bed as well.

"…This is a good thing you're doing, Nitori." Hina said with a smile once the gatekeeper left the room.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Hina…But if you ever do anything like this to me again, I'm going to smack you upside the head with the biggest hammer I have." The Kappa replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, I'm sure you will, dear." The goddess laughed.

A/N: Man, it's been a long time since I haven't used the grey-line thingy in a chapter…Well, minus the note one, but that really doesn't count. Anyways, I hope this wasn't too short, it feels like this chapter is puny in comparison to a few other ones I've done…But all in all, I like how this came out, except maybe the ending. It kind of feels…rushed, y'know?

Anyways, another uneventful chapter, but it was necessary to set the mood for future chapters...By the way, if I got anything wrong about the whole relation of gods and faith, be sure to call me out on that. I was just interpreting it using what I knew, so it's more than unlikely there's a few inaccuracies in there…Especially with whole Curse-Goddess shtick.

Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, despite it being boring! Until next time!