We continued searching for Reimu, the next day until Suika spotted a clue. A red blanket. The only patch of color in a world of white. The same one Reimu was wrapped in on the night Ran attempted a murder suicide. It was the same red blanket Yukari normally wraps Reimu in before bed. Reimu couldn't have been far. I lightly dug through the snow and didn't turn up bones or hair, something that would point to signs of the worst. Reimu wasn't dead, she was still alive, just as we knew but we still had to find her. She couldn't have been very far and likely wouldn't made it on her own. Suika picked up the blanket and sniffed it, saying, "Go that way." She meant go southwest, which would mean that Reimu's location would be somewhere around there. Who knew Suika had a good sense of smell? Naturally, we followed that direction, coming across a shelter in the distance with a kitsune.
We observed this kitsune for awhile and noticed she was female and had three babies with her. Upon further observation, we noticed she had four babies as Reimu was with her. Reimu seemed to be unharmed and seemed not to have mind her situation. After observing her, she seems to have noticed us and started our way. She didn't seem to happy to see us but sensed what we were there for. We tried talking to her but she remained adamant, saying, "If you truly loved her, then you will not have abandoned her." and she held Reimu tighter, who was saying only, "Nuh?" We explained the situation to her but that made her more unwilling to give Reimu back to us and this led to arguments and it seemed those two were going to start sending fists.
As the argument grew more heated, Yuuka, being fed up, got up and stepped between the two, saying, "Stop it the both of you, stop it! Listen, neither place will be its safest and what has happened with Ducksie has happened and it could very happen to any of of us, including yourself and would happen if the situation were to be reverse. Either way, neither home is safest, as this one is exposed and the home we have has our dear Ducksie gone mad." Seeing no other way around it, she said, "Alright, let Reimu pick." She placed Reimu between us and herself. Reimu glanced this way and that before saying, "I want both." It was agreed that Reimu would live with us but that kitsune and her babies were to visit. Before we left, Reimu kissed them each.
When we got home, the first thing she wished to see was Ran. Ran, it seems, didn't really want to interact with her but stopped screaming when she realized Reimu hadn't died. Naturally, Reimu seemed not to be deterred and was utterly oblivious as to why Ran wanted to avoid her. From Suika's observation, Ran was doing a final act of love and was avoiding her or interacting with her with hesitance to keep from attempting to kill her. After awhile, she finally allowed herself to get close to Reimu, allowing her crawl into her arms for an embrace. She cried, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Reimu it seems to have forgave her.
"Isn't it heartbreaking, Chen, isn't it?"