GENSOKYOBOUND

by SKOOLATOON

Hikari Hakurei is Reimu's own daughter of eighteen years. Her quiet demeanor's brought by social inexperience and natural introversion. Night of Gensokyian New Year party, Hikari wakes to a strange meteorite falling from the sky. While many of Gensokyo's finest are in drunken comas in the shrine, Hikari takes it upon herself to investigate. It'd be a long time before she gets home.

33. Hakurei Fantasy

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: TIMELINE B ====

There was still a hole in the shrine's roof, but considering it was still warm and it just snowed, there wasn't a rush to fix it.

Sitting beneath it, since it let some nice light in, Reimu sipped the tea she got from the village during her previous visit.

"Mmm…" Considering she hadn't had tea in some years, she was loving it.

Like this, time passed as usual, at the Hakurei Shrine, if a bit more enjoyably than it has all these years.

…

A gap opened in the middle of the shrine's common room. Reimu only noticed when she heard the clicks of a certain gap youkai's heels.

Tensing up, she whirled around. "Wh-who…"

...She saw Yukari step out. "Hello, Reimu~!"

…

Fwish, fwish, fwish!

The gap youkai was forced to twirl out of the way, a spread shot of ofuda ripping by her.

"Now, now, Reimu…" She spoke chidingly. "Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"Go away." Shifting her legs from their crossed posture, she struggled to get up, before just relying on her flight to carry her onto her feet. "I was having a good day until you came along. Where even were you?"

...Smiling, Yukari continued towards Reimu. "Around."

"...Yeah. Hiding until everything blew over, huh?" Still bitter, Reimu sighed. "That was always like you. You… cost me my daughter."

Pausing, Yukari thought that over. "...It seems that I have."

…

Glaring at her, Reimu summoned her two gohei to her hands, which flashed into existence. "Is… is that all you have to say!?"

"...Yes." Yukari held herself, her arms wrapping around her stomach. "Not every plan I had conceived across every iteration of Gensokyo went well. Though, all things considered, I wasn't-"

Fwap! An ofuda landed on her forehead, and began glowing brightly.

...She sighed. "I suppose I deserve this, though."

Expression flaring, Reimu threw herself towards Yukari. "Hra~h!"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

In the corner of what was once Kaguya's room, a vat sat. In it, the exposed and bare form of a earthen rabbit girl was drifting in stasis.

"Alright, Mokou…" Eirin stood before it. "When the modifications to her biology are complete- which will take some time- you are to aid me in rehabilitating her for a youkai life style."

Mokou was staring into space, sitting against the wall on the opposite side. "...Didn't you say that that'd take like, years?"

"I simply want you to be ready when that time comes." Turning around, the doctor stared at the vat. "I still have many procedures to perform on her to ensure that she is completely biological and no longer hindered by the consumption of fear. I have some decisions to make regarding her diet in the meantime, however…"

"That's great." Mokou monotoned, rolling her head to look at another section of ceiling. "Real happy fer ya."

...Eirin frowned. "Glad to hear it."

Then, a gap opened,

Both immortals drew their attention to it, unsure what to say at its sudden appearance.

...Two individuals walked out, one being a particularly ratty looking Yukari, and a less than pleased aged Reimu.

"...I see you've sensed it." Eirin gave Yukari a nod.

"Ind-... indeed…" Opening her mouth, the gap youkai reached in and took out an ofuda. "Nn…"

Mokou's face lit up. "O-oh, Reimu! How the hell have ya been!?"

...When Eirin turned to the miko, she was right up in her face, scowling at her.

"Ah…?" Taking a step back, she gave herself room. "Hakurei, are you-"

Thwa-thwack! Two gohei strikes sent Eirin hurtling back into the wall behind her. "Gagh…!?"

Mokou clapped her hands, ecstatic. "Hell yeah! Fuck her up! Fuck her-"

Fwap, fwap, fwap! Three ofuda met the immortal's face.

...They slowly began glowing, a soft sizzle coming from them. "A-ah… Aaa~h! Sh-shit, it burns!"

Yukari sighed.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Once the commotion was over, the four sat with their legs crossed next to the fear device mounted in the center of the room.

Reimu glared at the floor.

"...Once again, I apologize." Eirin had her arms folded. "It was nece-"

Mokou put a hand over Eirin's mouth. "No. Just- for now? ...Ya should shut up."

...Eirin rolled her eyes.

"Regardless," Yukari folded a fan before her face. "I've brought you all together to discuss how we can restore Gensokyo."

...Mokou furrowed her brows, resting her head on one of her arms. "Yer shootin' a little high there, buddy."

"Can't we just move on?" Reimu was tired. "Everything's broke enough as it is. Things can't be the same."

"Now, I'm not saying we should drastically change anything… we needn't shoot for Gensokyo's former glory." Yukari tried to get everyone's attention with this statement, which she did. "...I'm simply saying we should start by restoring a few conveniences."

Mokou snorted. "Like what? You gonna build a bridge between all the islands?"

...Yukari smiled. "Sure. We could go with that."

...This made Mokou decide to flop onto her back, arms behind her head. "He~re we go. And how're we gonna make it?"

...Making a compensating sort of expression, Yukari tilted her head back and forth as she folded up her fan. "...Well, there are plenty of inoperable robots simply being left to rot across the world. If we round them up and reprogram them, we'd surely be able to build anything."

"You say this as if you couldn't just materialize the bridge yourself." Reimu's monotone voice cut in.

"Hush now." Yukari didn't bother to glance at her to address her.

"I'd like to not spend that much of my time cleaning up your mistake." With that, Eirin stood up. "While I'll extend some of my personal resources to aid you, I will not spend a millennium reprogramming you a robot army."

"I suppose the kappa would aid in that regard." Yukari decided. "...On that note, the Moriya goddesses still live, even if severely short on faith."

"Oh?" Eirin was vaguely intrigued as she moved over to what was previously just a mana potion production station. "Perhaps they can aid with the bridge situation. One of them was a goddess of Earth, if I'm not mistaken."

"...I suppose." Looking between Reimu and Eirin, Yukari nodded. "It seems we all have some thinking to do."

Eirin snorted as she sat at the chair before her station.

"Mmm." Mokou couldn't really care.

Reimu was glaring at Yukari.

With that, the youkai abruptly retreated into a gap, smirking back at Reimu as she did so.

The gap closed.

…

"Hey…" Reimu called out for her a moment later. "...Hey!"

...Mokou sat up. "Hmm?"

"Don't just leave me here!" Springing to her feet, Reimu brandished her two gohei. "Get back here!"

…

Taking this moment, Reimu looked around the purple metal fashioned room. "Wow. What happened here…?"

"I had a lot of time to my fuckin' self, that's what happened." Mokou growled as she sprung into her own standing posture. "I got a little stir crazy."

...Reimu smiled at her. "I don't blame you. Actually…" Turning to Mokou fully, she informed her of the skies. "It's safe to fly, now. I flew to the village not too long ago."

"What…?" She blinked. "Really?" ...Then, her face fell. "...I can't fly that far. I have to use my stupid wings to do it, and they eat a fuckton of mana… which, as you might know, is kinda a limited resource now."

"I could remedy that." Eirin spoke from her station.

"...What, you gonna give me one of those retarded straw hats and make me sip mana potion the whole way?" Mokou scowled at her brief input.

...Eirin considered the idea, for a moment. "...We could do that, but I was thinking a basic jetpack would suffice."

"...Huh." Mokou nodded. "Yeah, that'd be cool. As long as that shit doesn't run out of fuel."

"Mmm. I'll give you the electricity and plasma variant, then." Eirin stood up, and began moving for the staircase. "There should be a few emergency ones on the ship."

Reimu and Mokou followed her, the former's curiosity piqued. "Ship…?"

"...Yes. Ship." Eirin's reply was prompt.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Despite having a lowered population, the tengu village was about as active as it always was. Guards and trainees alike found transit through the common roads of the rather quaint, almost town-looking village.

Also in spite of the walls around it being wooden log palisade, the buildings themselves were also of log. In the few places of common re-structuring there were tents instead of cabins.

A more recent development in the past thirty years, however, was the hexa-ballistas mounted to the roofs of the cabins, intended to blow Giygas' forces away to kingdom come. Each one had a box-like shape, six pointy logs resting on two different rows inside. They also didn't look very much like traditional ballistas, and were moreso hand-operated box turrets, a feat only possible since tengu were quite superior to humans in terms of strength.

A gap opened in the middle of the village, and Yukari stepped out.

...All of the tengu on the main road stopped, and stared at her.

…

All of the manned hexa-ballista turrets shifted to point at her, whereas the armed tengu drew their bows and blades.

Holding her hand up, a round barrier generated around the gap youkai, shining as it solidified.

Blasts resounded across the rooftops as the stout, log-shaped projectiles were launched at Yukari.

Ti-ti-ti-ti~ng! They were all deflected into the floor, her barrier sporting many new cracks to show for the strikes.

Rolling her eyes, Yukari retreated into her gap, an extra of herself floating out to sit inside the barrier.

The blades of the other tengu rained upon all sides of the bubble-shaped shield.

Ti-ti-ti-ti- Cra~ck!

Once the barrier was down, the other tengu floated up, and fired their arrows all into the center.

The Yukari clone inside blurred out of existence as the arrows flew straight through it.

…

"I'm not here to fight you." Yukari drifted above the village as she made her presence known. "I simply wish to-"

More projectiles flew towards her, ranging from lightning-fast, metal-tipped arrows to more logs from the mounted hexa-ballistas.

Gaps opened beneath her to consume all of the projectiles. "-speak with a few guests of yours."

"What are you doing here, Yakumo!?"

Looking down at the town hall, Yukari saw an extremely muscular, armored tengu step out. Red, black, and white portions of cloth showed through his steel plates which were attached to his shoulder and to a few places along his torso.

He rose his steel broad-sword, which was about as long as he was tall, over his shoulder. "You hold no custody over our land, any longer! Gensokyo is no more!"

"Oh, I was simply paying a visit." Yukari casually addressed him. "I just woke up from my nap, you see."

The tengu below her produced a low murmur, mostly of disdain for her sleeping habits in Gensokyo's time of need.

She began to drift downward towards the heavily armored tengu. "Surely we can still talk as friends, Tenma?"

...Tenma scowled. "We were never 'friends', Yakumo. Despite what you may have told yourself."

"You hurt me, Tenma." Yukari unexpressively stopped before him.

In the next moment, his large blade's tip was at her neck, faster than the human eye would be able to read. "I'm gonna really hurt you! Don't think I don't know your limits, Yakumo."

"Is that so…?" Yukari had a small smile. "Show me my limits, then. I seem to have forgotten, after all these years."

Tenma drove his blade through the neck of the form before him, before it blurred out of existence.

Cla-cla-cla~ng! In the next instant, a myriad of colorful street signs were erected from the floor and air, locking his blade and his limbs in place.

Twisting his torso, his powerful arms rended through the thin metal beams of the signs. "Wh-what-"

Cla-cla-clang! Cla-cla-cla-cla~ng!

More shot out, this time aggressively jabbing into his joints in an attempt to cut their force and stop him from articulating them. "The hell-"

Cla-cla-clang!

Six signs dug into him from six very distinct directions all around him, locking him in place. "Is this…!?"

Clang!

A single, triangular sign reading 'yield' in English shot from a small gap, piercing his chest, but not poking through him entirely.

"Gugh…!?" His eyes widened.

...Yukari floated down from above, still looking lazy and unexpressive. "I think now would be a good time to yield."

...He grinned. "O-oh yeah? I'm just gettin' started, here!"

Clenching his fists tightly, he put in great effort in empowering his limbs again. "Hra~h!"

The wretched sound of metal bending and snapping became audible, as he jabbed his sword towards Yukari again.

She let it jab into a gap. "...I'll have to do this the boring way, then." Yukari held herself with one arm, as she outstretched the other.

A reflective, purple barrier generated around Tenma, the cylindrical form stretching to the sky.

"Hah!" He grinned widely. "You think that can stop me!?"

With a spinning leap, he rocketed up a great length of the barrier shaft, his sword's incisions in it made visible up the entire way.

An ear-rending 'ting' sound made Yukari scrunch her face. "Really, now…"

… He landed loudly against the ground within the barrier, dust flying up as his metal sandals dug into the stone they landed on. "... Hmph. Impressive barrier, Yakumo."

...Yukari put her hand on it, smiling. "It's what I do."

...As Tenma began thinking about how to experiment with his magic to smash the barrier, a gap opened up above him-

Vrrrrr~!

The shaft was filled with danmaku energy. "Aaaaaa~h!"

The bright, violet laser continued for a few seconds, before Yukari snapped her fingers, and both the barrier and the danmaku laser firing gap dissipated.

...Tenma fell to his knees, then onto his stomach, unconscious.

"I found them, anyway." Yukari's eyes scanned the village as she turned, her gaze triggering her other illusionary doppelgangers to blur into non-existence, before too many tengu were alarmed by their scouting.

She drifted into a gap she made on the floor.

Now inside a building, Yukari walked forward and used her hand to dissipate the clone of herself that was before her.

Kanako and Suwako sat there, both of them the size of young girls, sitting on the edge of a bed that was way too big for the both of them combined.

...Yukari gushed. "My, my! You're both so cute!"

"That's what not-you said, already." Kanako was unamused.

"But was she wrong?" Suwako turned to her fellow goddess.

...Kanako was conflicted on how to reply to that.

"In any case…" Yukari tilted her head forward, slightly. "I would like to ask a few favors of you two."

"Yeah." Kanako rolled her eyes. "Like you're in any position to ask favors from us. Especially after what you let happen."

...Suddenly melancholic, Suwako smiled. "...Yeah."

Yukari smiled. "I'm sure you're aware that the rest of the outside world is in chaos, correct?"

...Kanako considered this. "I thought about it. Apparently now I know it is, not that there's a lot we can do about it. We can't even fly anymore."

With that, Yukari revealed a plan. "Well, our answer is simple, then. We'll reintroduce the concept of gods to the outside world… and we'll do it by teaching them fear, again."

…

"I can't say that's not tempting." Kanako frowned.

"I think it's really all we have." Suwako lazily turned to her partner in crime.

"...Alright." With that, Kanako hopped from the bed. "We'll participate in your little world domination plan, then. Keep in mind, we know fully that you're not doing this to help us, specifically."

"Can't I help out an old friend?" Yukari pouted. "I mean… you're a few feet shorter than I remember. And, you seem to be missing a dear friend-"

"You will not speak of her!" Kanako's voice boomed, despite her body being small. "Yo-you…"

Suwako got close to her. "Calm down, Kana-chan…"

"Do-don't call me that…" Kanako gently nudged her away.

...Grinning, Yukari turned away, towards her gap. "I'm glad we could reach an agreement. I will be back when things are ready."

With that, she left through the gap she came in, departing from the tengu village.

…

"Ngh…" Kanako grimly flopped back onto the bed. "This sucks."

"Yeah." Suwako nodded, flopping down next to her. "I know…"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Reimu kept a moderate distance from Mokou, the loud jetpack grating on her ears.

"Hahaha~!" Mokou was pretty hyped, though.

The two drifted through the pale blue sky towards the human village's sky island.

Once they got to the edge of the main road, they slowed down, and glided towards the floor…

Reimu made sure to land with care, her legs not like what they used to be. "There~ we-"

Thud. Mokou slammed into the ground. "Ah, shit…" After she fumbled for the controls on the straps a bit, she managed to turn it off before it dragged her along too far. "...Eheh."

"...Good job." Reimu grinned at her, before moving forward on the dirt road.

Mokou quickly climbed back onto her feet, and followed behind. "Hey, Eirin didn't tell me this thing sucked with landings."

With that, the two continued to move down to the village square.

Keine and Kosuzu were at a table in the midst, again, and no one else seemed to be out at the moment. There was another individual at the table, who Reimu wasn't sure of from this far.

"Who's that?" Mokou wondered aloud.

"Maybe a villager…" Reimu would have to get closer to really be sure. "Those bright blue clothes are a bit much, though."

The three turned to them as they neared. Once Reimu made the hair color out as green, she knew who the blue-clad girl was. "...Eiki?"

Mokou jerked her head back. "...Who?"

"Hello, Reimu." Eiki gave a somewhat worn smile to the two newcomers. "Why don't you both take a seat with us?"

Mokou was more transfixed by the one she came to see, though. "Keine!"

The teacher gave her a bright smile, and a short wave. "Hey, Mokou. How've you been?"

Snorting, Mokou pulled up a seat next to her. "Well- okay… kinda shitty, really, but okay overall, I guess."

Before they went off onto a conversation of their own, Eiki spoke. "I'm here to talk about the recent… catastrophe, which had occurred."

"As opposed to the one that didn't." Reimu grinned.

Eiki's lips curled in amusement. "Yes, well… I'd like to start by saying that the administration and I did all we could to prevent it from happening, but it seems to have been something beyond our capabilities as a whole."

Reimu felt like rolling her eyes. "Yeah. Why didn't they send you?"

...Eiki slouched. "Well, if I ended up trapped somewhere, or incapacitated indefinitely, that would most definitely not be good for the flow of the afterlife. It's simply too much risk for too little reward."

"...Right." Reimu had no patience for politics these days.

"Hello~!" Yukari stepped onto the scene, from nowhere.

Keine frowned at her. "...What are you doing here?"

"Stopping by for some tea, and a nice chat." Yukari's own pink-tinted version of the chairs they were using rose underneath her, from a gap. "That, and I figured with the judge being here for the first time in many years, it would be worth a look-see."

Eiki nodded at that. "Good. I won't have to go looking for you, then."

"Oh?" Yukari smiled. "Looking for little old me?"

"...Yes." Eiki continued, "I'm here to remind you that, despite the Hakurei Barrier's shattering, you are to do your best job at keeping youkai influence within Gensokyo. We cannot have what few influential individuals who are left do whatever they want just because the world is in a state of chaos."

Yukari nodded. "Oh, certainly. I'll have to find out who's where, first, so right now I can't make any promises. For all we know, someone's made a run for it, already…"

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Eiki smiled at that, before looking Yukari in the eyes. "I mean it, now. The administration will give me further messages to give to you in the coming years. You are expected to play your part, as are the rest of those expected to take charge."

"Ye~s, ye~s." Yukari felt the urge to express dismissal, but simply settled for looking bored. "How dare I overstep my boundaries, yes?"

"Indeed." ...Eiki blinked, giving Yukari an examining look, for a moment. "...As long as you understand what is expected of you, and the consequences of disobedience. After all… I suppose this bubble, if you will, is still considered Gensokyo. We'll most likely allot you more land as we see fit, knowing you like that sort of thing."

"Ah, yes. You understand me so well." Yukari smiles widely, locking her hands together in dull but appreciative glee.

Eiki blinked again, "...Right," before she stood up. "Alright. I'll have to be leaving, now. It was nice meeting you again, Keine, Reimu, Mokou…"

Mokou's stare was dry. "Where didja learn my name?"

"Immortality upsets the administration." Eiki smiled. "Unfortunately, it seems in your case it is irreversible. Or so we believe… but our solution to many problems is to just throw shinigami at them until they stop moving, so it may as well be irreversible."

Mokou frowned, keeping her arms folded as she relaxed her posture. "Yeah. Wish I was dead, sometimes, too."

"Mokou…" Keine was a little worried by that statement.

...Eiki felt like she did more harm than good. "Alright. Also, Reimu?"

"Hmm?" Reimu focused on her, looking away from the immortal and the teacher.

"...I'm sorry. I mean it." Eiki gave her a small smile.

"...Sure." Reimu didn't really want to talk about everything that happened.

...With that, Eiki walked off.

…

"How does she get home?" Kosuzu, who was awkwardly sitting between Reimu and Yukari the whole time, finally spoke.

"O~h, she just flies for awhile." Yukari provided, despite not knowing exactly how it was done herself. "Maybe opens a portal when she's isolated enough."

"Got plenty of isolation out here." Mokou smirked. "Everyone's dead."

"Fufufu…" Yukari got up. "Oh, I think it's about that time, too…"

"You just got here." Keine's expression was flat. "Unless all you came for was really to hear Eiki speak with you."

"How did you know?" Winking at her, Yukari turned away, moving for a gap. "Next time I'll make it more of a visit. I promise."

"Mmm…" Keine wasn't very enthused.

"Fuck off." Mokou was even less enthused. "Keine's tired of your shit."

...Yukari paused for a moment, but decided against doing anything unnecessary, especially with Reimu around. Quietly, she proceeded into her gap.

Then, it closed.

…

"Why'd she even come back?" Mokou stared at where Yukari was moments ago.

"She probably sensed that Giygas was gone." Reimu concluded. "So she's just out doing her thing again."

"Always gotta be something." Kosuzu grinned.

...With that, Mokou turned to her friend. "So, how's everything? The village, everyone…"

"Aah." Relaxing, Keine sighed, leaning back in her chair. "...At the moment, it's okay. I'm sure you noticed the huge shortage of pretty much everyone."

At that, Mokou smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Yeah…"

"...I see you've got a… jetpack, now." Keine made conversation of the new device Mokou had, after taking a moment to recall the name of the device.

"Oh, yeah, that crazy doctor gave it to me." Mokou tugged on the straps of it a bit. "She came back a few days ago, to talk with those stu-... those kids from the past." She watched her words, with Reimu just across the table.

"...My daughter and her friends." Reimu noted, lighting up instantly. "You talked with them, then? How were they?"

Mokou blinked. "Uu~h… good. We hit it off."

...Reimu smiled. "I'm glad."

"...Anyway," Mokou continued her previous thread of thought, "Doc went to the moon to get Kaguya's ass back down here. That'll give me something to do."

Keine snorted. "I see…"

...With that, Mokou thought of another possibility. "Probably gonna tell the moon how fucked the planet is, too."

"...Probably." Keine sighed. "Yakumo's got her work cut out for her, if she plans to contain all of what Gensokyo was within this bubble."

"...If she planned to do that in the first place." Reimu doubted such a notion, making a thoughtful face. "It probably doesn't matter to us, though."

The four girls continued to talk into the day, getting re-acquainted and familiar with one another again.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Space was dark, but also very illuminated at the same time. It really depended on which side of you was facing the sun. That is, if one didn't consider all the stars in the sky as illumination of their own.

Sitting in the pilot seat of the scouting craft, Eirin stared ahead at the advancing form of the moon. Next to her was a rabbit girl with mint green hair, and a communications helmet, though it wasn't on her head at the moment.

"...You could engage the legacy jump drive, y'know." The regular pilot, who was seated in the co-pilot seat, sassed her.

"I know." Eirin casually ignored her.

...Looking around the many territory, miniature displays, Eirin saw a broad view of the Earth from the craft's rear.

...The lunar rabbit relaxed. "Just gonna be a joy ride, huh?"

"Mmm." Eirin took in the Earth's appearance. "...You're a lot more sassy than the typical lunar scouting pilot."

The mint green haired rabbit snorted. "Yeah, well, when some of the cushier scouts went to look at the Earth, they kinda got put through a blender. The superiors didn't learn their lesson for awhile, and after burning through like a hundred scouts, they decided to forget training quality ones."

Eirin began to grin. "How often would they send the scouts out?"

"Once every two weeks." The pilot shook her head. "For the first five years it was the same course. They started to change it up when they couldn't get past Gensokyo's sky islands. Really, all they did was fly around the ocean a bit more, and when they got to land stuff usually turned them to scrap metal."

"Was it anti-air?" Eirin was curious.

"We only sent our long-range scouts." The rabbit grinned. "They were only equipped with distance tracking."

"...Those are for other solar systems, not Earth." Eirin shook her head. "Whose orders were these?"

"Watatsuki no Toyohime." The rabbit informed her.

"...No wonder." Eirin was amused. "Oh, well. The way should be clear for other scouts, now. Though, I should probably pass along that she should be informing scouts to have auto-evasion on at all times. Earth wasn't like it was before thirty years ago, after all."

"You need orders to use auto-evasion?" The rabbit furrowed her brows. "Why the hell's something like that locked behind orders?"

"Burns fuel. Which, in turn, burns resources." Eirin revealed. "That, and it decreases the range of crafts significantly, since they have far less fuel to work with… which should be irrelevant in and around Earth."

"...Ah." The rabbit nodded. "Still stupid."

...After a few minutes of silence, Eirin pushed a few buttons on the dashboard. A few lit up, while others deactivated upon each press.

…

"What's your name?" Eirin seemed to make idle banter.

"...Ruri." The pilot consented.

"After the return trip," Eirin turned to her. "I've got a request for you."

"Lock my credit allowance at triple and I'll consider it." Ruri grinned.

"Sure." Eirin didn't really care.

"...Wh-wait, really?" Ruri blinked, surprised. "N-no, I meant quadruple! Uhm, whatever six-tuple is!"

"When we land at Eientei again, you are to disable all your tracking sensors. I'll override the anti-rogue failsafes, and I want you to go to a few key coordinates across Earth, and take pictures. In addition, I've got a device I must attach for this operation."

...Ruri was curious. "This sounds awfully specific. I'll totally take sixtuple daily credits."

"You must tell no one of this." Eirin smiled at her. "And you will get what you want."

"Awesome." Ruri nodded enthusiastically.

With that, the two looked ahead at the moon quietly.

…

"Did anyone ever tell you you're awesome?" Ruri turned to her again.

She received a monotone response. "Don't push it."

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

The meeting room of the lunar council was dangerously shiny. It was one of the few places on the moon that bothered to have a fascination with brass trims, as well, though someone could easily mistake them for gold.

Chairs with tall backs, composed of white alloys trimmed with brass were arranged all around a glass table. The table's top was suspended in the air by broad anti-gravity pad underneath it, which also supplied soft, blue light.

Eirin's heels clicked on the white alloy that also composed the floor. This same alloy was also used for the walls, and the ceiling, and a majority of the non-notable furniture.

Moving for the chair reserved exclusively for herself, she took a deep breath.

"Lady Yagokoro!?" Watatsuki no Toyohime, a lunarian with long, pale blond hair and a peach hat, gaped at the appearance of her former tutor.

Her sister, Watatsuki no Yorihime, was less impressed. "Lady Yagokoro informed us over radio before she entered the planetary sensor array. You were in the same room, even, sister."

...Toyohime tilted her head. "That was her? I was busy playing with the pretty buttons…"

...This caused her sister to sigh. "Right. Well-"

"And the radio was really hard to hear…" Toyohime looked contemplative. "You know what? I think we need to allocate our funds to giving all the ships new radios! We have video streaming, why don't we have good radios?"

"Please." Yorihime put up a hand. "...Let us discuss this later."

...Looking around the wide table, Eirin took in the other faces, which were all largely the same as she always remembered. Many were rather typical aristocratic-looking princesses, all of which were about as unamused as ever.

"Hey, Eiri~n!" Kaguya waved an arm from across the table. The two women next to her, who had similar hime-cuts, turned to her and made shushing motions. "...What? Oh, fuck off…"

Eirin stared at the scene dryly, before scanning the rest of the faces…

There was the hunched over, somewhat bulky form of a person with a large, rectangular box over their head. It was built into their torso, as well. Eirin saw the optical dial on the front face turned in her direction, showing her that the mechanized person was looking at her.

...Turning to the largest chair to her right, the form of Lord Tsukuyomi rested there. He had vaguely relaxed posture, and wore a grand kimono, which included a hood. Turning to Eirin, he gave her a smirk. "On what occasion do we honor this visit, Lady Yagokoro?"

...The girls across the table quieted down once he spoke, allowing the discussion to flow uninhibited.

Giving him a curt grin, Eirin stiffened her posture before she addressed the rest of the table. "...I am here to report my findings from my personal scouting of Earth… specifically, Gensokyo."

Toyohime spoke up. "I'm so glad you came back! I thought you'd get blown up like all the other scouts!"

Eirin gave her sardonic smile. "Yes, well, let's say I was a little more equipped than the long-range scouts you sent to what was essentially our back yard."

...Toyohime smiled widely. "O~h, you're right! I'll give the next set of scouts chain-lasers. Duh."

Yorihime sighed loudly.

"What is the condition, then?" Tsukuyomi requested, to get things back on track.

"I'm sure you already know." Eirin gave him a glance. "Although, now the knowledge will be more public. Human civilization on Earth has all but collapsed."

There were a few hushed whispers around the table.

"...Very well." Lord Tsukuyomi looked forward. "I would like to divert our efforts to Earth colonization."

Toyohime yelped in protest. "What!? But-... that place is dirty!"

Other aristocrats joined her. "The Earth is but a banquet of impurity!"

"Surely, not all of the imperfections have been stricken from their soil."

"I'm sure they left their toys out for us to step on, as well…"

"The solution is simple!" Tsukuyomi held up an arm, a pale blue orb generating above it. "We purify the land we stake." The orb flared to life, burning with moon elemental energy.

…

"That… sounds like excessive effort." One of the generic, hime-cut aristocrats spoke out.

Tsukuyomi lowered his arm. "Those who aid in this effort will receive sovereignty over various territories."

...Members of the council began to nod in approval.

"However." Raising an arm, Eirin draws everyone's attention. "Gensokyo, the core parts of it, still stand."

…

"How?" Yorihime had her brows furrowed. "They are but a crater and a few rocks. Surely that doesn't count as 'standing'."

"Simple." Eirin lowered her arm, her eyes scanning the room. "Yakumo still lives."

...Once again, contemplative silence overtook the meeting room.

"Hey! Uh- I mean…" Kaguya clears her throat. "Would Yu-Yakumo really mean anything to us? I mean… we got capital ships with guns. Even if she's still got that shrine maiden, and that… phoenix, I'm sure we can just like, vaporize her."

"You imply we could find her." Eirin stared at her dryly.

Kaguya grinned. "If we aim a cannon at that crater, I'm sure we'd find her."

"I'm also sure we'd lose a cannon." Eirin countered. "Even if it did fire, the residents of Gensokyo are now few enough that Yakumo could likely evacuate the entire premises multiple times if she really wished, islands and all."

…

"Fucking hacker." Kaguya folded her arms. The aristocrats around her scowled at her language, but it didn't visibly bother her.

"The Yakumo will likely be only a trivial concern." Tsukuyomi spoke. "Without her pawns, she can do little but observe the world around her. Though the world is ripe for the taking, together, we are many, and our adversaries few. With proper procedure and execution, the Earth's surface shall become ours, and we will profit as a civilization."

Eirin nodded at that, despite doubting the benefit of ignoring Yukari, knowing that most of the council was dismissive of the youkai's existence at best.

There was a quaint murmur of agreement amongst the others.

…

"Now, the next issue on the table…" Lord Tsukuyomi looked down, pressing into the air-

A blue panel formed from nothing before him. "...We are to discuss the daily credit allowance for the Lunar Rabbit Civilian Division. Again."

"U~gh…" There was an audible groan of disapproval, except from the single lunar rabbit in the entire room.

She had sleek, white hair, and wore a very decorated suit, which had multiple badges and arm bands. "...I mean, really. Ten credits? They'll buy a coffee table by next year."

Eirin stood up, knowing how unbearably long these meetings could go on for, at the worst taking the better of three days if nearly every point was a source of contention. Which, often, they always were, since all the points were more often than not complaints from the large majority of the society that the aristocrats always found a new way to write around or circumvent.

"...I see your concern, General Hanazawa." Tsukuyomi continued business as usual. "However, the amounts of acts passed regarding the Lunar Rabbit Civilian Division credit situation has… exceeded the allowed amount, so to say."

Hanazawa furrowed her brows. "...When was such a… mechanism in place?"

"It's actually been there for awhile…" Tsukuyomi brought his hands together, and interlocked them. "You see, it was conceptualized back when civilian life was being held in greater consideration by the-"

Eirin tapped the table, giving him an unenthused stare.

He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that. "...I'm not going to hurry up, if that's what you're asking for."

"You can give her the entire history of civilian care legislature after I've made my announcement." Eirin shafted the current train of discussion.

...Tsukuyomi nodded unexpressively. "Very well."

"I am to continue my scouting on Gensokyo's premises." Eirin declared to the council. "I will also be bringing Houraisan with me."

Kaguya stood up, launching her arms into the air. "Holy shit, yes! Get me the fuck outta here!"

…

Tsukuyomi coughed. "...What good would this serve? Especially now that we need your leadership as much as we do now?"

"Simple." Eirin addressed him directly. "Well- actually, to begin with, it's not terribly hard to assemble 'purification committees'. My advice would be to start 'training' portions of the civilian and lesser military divisions. I'm sure you can figure out the rest from there." She put portions of her speech in different tones, so that he could determine the actual meaning of some of her terms.

Getting out of her chair, Eirin progressed to the door. "Further, you underestimate Yakumo's influence. By having me- and by extension, Kaguya- scout there, we can not only see what she does with great accuracy, but we can instill complacency in her that may slow her ability to act." Eirin completely made up that last part.

However, Tsukuyomi didn't know Yukari like she did. "...I see. Your presence would likely give her comfort, and through that comfort, we may have yet another advantage. I am humbled by your strategy, Lady Yagokoro."

An aristocrat spoke up. "How do we know she's not just running off with her girlfriend, again?"

…Tsukuyomi frowned at her. "Do not speak such a way of your superior. Since her return, Lady Yagokoro has done nothing but tremendously accelerate the progress and growth of our society and our assets. To doubt her resolve is to doubt our society itself. Do you doubt our society?"

"...We-well, no…" She blushed, looking away. "But-"

"This discussion is over." Tsukuyomi ended the discussion.

...As Kaguya rounded the table to meet up with Eirin near the door, she turned to him and gave him two middle fingers. "You just got blown ou~t!"

Promptly, she followed Eirin out the door, and slammed it behind herself.

…

Sagume Kishin's eyes flickered open; she was resting in the seat to the left of where Eirin sat the entire time.

"...You know you just got played, right?" One of the other hime-cut girls spoke.

"Further insubordination will result in immediate revocation of privileges."

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Eirin stepped into the craft, the princess following behind her.

"Thank fucking god." Kaguya was very happy. "I can't believe I was ever happy in this hellhole. It's just so… boring. Everyone just wants to talk about their shitty fashion- fashion I designed in the first goddamn place- and then they mock me for not following it anymore! God, I was so… stupid!"

...Eirin tapped the white alloy next to one of the ship's rather obviously crafted audio sensors, which was a speaker-like port on the wall.

"I don't give a shit if they hear me." Kaguya walked right up to the port hole. "Hey, assholes! You're all a bunch of porcelain-skinned sluts!"

...Ruri, the pilot, was eying the princess with a mixture of bafflement and amusement as she sat along the interior wall on a cushioned chair.

Saying nothing, Eirin quickly moved to the cockpit,. Ruri followed behind her, but Kaguya pulled her out of the way. "Hey, hey…! That's not how this works!" Ruri grappled with Kaguya.

Kaguya snarled at her. "Fuck off! What- you're some fucking bum pilot we got on the side of the road? I've played Plane Simulator, I probably know more than you!"

"Princess," Eirin spoke up, "Procedure dictates the licensed pilot of a military aircraft must be in the control deck for the craft to be authorized to leave."

...Kaguya shrugs. "Fuck it, she can sit in my lap, then."

"What?" Ruri jerks her head back. "No."

"You want me to sit on yours?" She gets in her face.

"...Well, no." Ruri looks conflicted.

"Then get out of the way." Pushing her aside, Kaguya moves inside, and sits on the cushy seat to the right of Eirin. "Aa~h…"

...Ruri awkwardly looked into the pilot bay, unsure how she'd get in.

...Noticing that, Kaguya spread her legs. "Just sit inbetween. I'm not gonna eat you."

With that, Ruri slowly complied, bending her limbs precariously to get in between Kaguya's. After some trial and error, she managed to fit on the seat ontop of Kaguya.

...Kaguya sunk back into the chair. "Even with her on me, this is so much better than those stupid white metal chairs you guys use in the club room, or whatever the fuck that place is. Seriously- they don't even bend. It's no wonder everyone's such a bitch. Like, twenty million years of technology and we still haven't invented round chairs."

She proceeded to press down on the soft material of the pilot chair with her hands. "Except for in our ships, for some reason…"

"Okay, I don't care if I get axed for this: does she ever shut up?" Ruri turned to Eirin.

Eirin was almost through the takeoff procedure. "No."

The engines of the craft hummed to life, barely audible inside the craft itself, while they were a roar outside of it.

Noise flooded the cockpit from the intercom. "Yagokoro, you are set for takeoff."

...Kaguya furrowed her brows. "The radio's just fine. That stupid bitch..."

Eirin snorted. "Yagokoro to control, proceeding takeoff."

The intercom sounded one last time. "Acknowledged."

With that, the craft began moving, the large doors opening before them to allow them out into space.

Once they left the scout port, all was quiet.

…

"As nice as space looks, just engage the FTL drive." Kaguya complained about the vastness of space. "This is gonna take like a day otherwise."

"That's what I said!" Ruri complained, too. "...Also, it's a legacy-"

"Don't care. Teleporting bullshit is teleporting bullshit." Kaguya didn't discriminate between lightspeed drives.

Eirin didn't take her focus off of the empty space over Earth. "...Relax a little, princess. It's good for you."

"No." Kaguya refused. "I've had like ten years to relax, and trust me, I'm the most relaxed I've ever been in my fucking… so and so long life." She took a moment to reflect. "...Actually, scratch that. Nothing could beat how zombified I was before I went to Earth. That was true relaxation. Being a living corpse."

"This is gonna suck…" Ruri rested her body on her half of the dashboard, her torso pressing down on random buttons.

Eirin simply pressed the few buttons on her end to recalibrate. "Alright, alright. I'll jump us."

"Thank you." Both girls replied at the same time.

...Eirin lowered her arm, and pulled a lever along her side back a single notch. Then, she pulled it forward-

Fwoaom!

…

Eirin and Kaguya retreat to Gensokyo to live as they please, sending periodic, uneventful reports back to the moon now and then. The fate of the world was left up to the devices of the Lunar Capital's political gridlock and colonization ambition, and Yukari Yakumo's Gensokyo expansion plans… and who will come out on top is anybody's guess.

Gensokyo, however, would remain as is, for better or worse, though Yukari had many, many plans for the few individuals she had left. They would come to see the renovations she promised, and perhaps more. Giygas' destruction salvaged the last of it from otherwise total annihilation, and the echoes of this action have permanently shaped this universe.

This is not this Gensokyo's story, so for now, it will have to be left at that.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: TIMELINE A ====

Fwoaom!

Emerging from the temporal gate, the four friends landed firmly on their feet. They were greeted by the dark, pre-dawn sky once again. Tall bamboo hung around the party familiarly. Before them, the return party was were they always were.

…

"Wh-why are…" Reimu's mouth was open. "Why are two of you naked…?"

Dropping her giant club of a gohei, Hikari ran over to her mother, and glomped her.

"Wo-woah…!" Stumbling back, Reimu wrapped her arms around her. "Hey, hey…"

...

...Pulling back, Hikari flashed her a smile. "I love you, Mom."

...Reimu smiled back. "I love you too, Hikari." She wasn't quite sure what brought this on, though.

"...I was off by a few seconds." Eirin sighed. "Oh, well." Reaching into her pocket, she took out a yen bill. "Here."

Yukari's hand slipped out of a gap, and took it. "Tha~nk you!"

Hikari felt like grinning. 'They bet on how fast we'd come back…'

"We did it!" Osamu threw his arms into the air. "We saved the entire goddamn world! Hell yeah!"

...Marigold sighed, before smiling. "That was an experience."

"Mmm…" Hiyori looked around herself. "I certainly won't be forgetting that."

…

"So…" Reimu looked over her daughter up close. "Why are you naked?"

...Hikari shifted awkwardly. "It's… a long story."

Snorting, Reimu nodded. "I'm sure. Well… we have time, now. How about we head back to the shrine?"

With a casual nod, Hikari agreed. "Sure… I'd like that."

"I'm comin' too!" Osamu suddenly was next to them. "There's no way I'm lettin' you tell that story without all the awesome details!"

Before Reimu could say anything, Marigold stepped up to them. "I'd like to come, too. Since… yeah." She continued to conceal her details. "...Hikari's my friend."

"This adventure meant a lot to me." Hiyori announced. "...If it's okay, I'd like to be there, too."

...Reimu had a dry stare. "Well, I never said you couldn't come…"

Yukari slowly drifted over the five. "I'd like to be there, too. Can I, please, Reimu~?"

"Except for you." Her dry stare shifted up at the gap youkai. "But you'll probably be listening whether you're there or not, anyway."

'I didn't even see her, in the future…' Hikari stared up at the gap youkai neutrally.

"Aw~." Yukari's whine was more teasing than disappointed. "Just for that, I'll let you find your own way home. Tootaloo~!"

With that, she slipped into her gap space, the gap she was resting in closing up after her.

'She's probably still listening.'

Osamu snorted. "Good thing we can freakin' teleport."

"Yeah. There's no way we're flying back like this…" Reimu was somewhere between amused and distressed as to why her daughter came back from the future naked.

Eirin walked over to the temporal gate, to shut it down. Within a couple moments, she inserted her key into a very mechanized, clunky slot, and turned it, jiggling it when it hung.

The gate powered down.

"...I'll have to remember to add an adamantite casing, later." Standing up straight, Eirin began walking away. "That would surely stand the test of time."

...Marigold looked away from the party, over at Eirin. "Hey, Eirin!"

Pausing, Eirin turned to them. "Hmm?"

"Thank you!" Marigold gave her thanks.

...Eirin smiled, before turning away. "You're welcome."

The glass doors in front of Eientei slid open to let her in.

…

"Alright…" Turning back to the party, Marigold rubbed her hands together. "Let's get this naked conga line going."

Returning to position, and having gotten her gohei off the floor, Hikari grinned. "Alright. Get behind me, everyone."

Marigold was first. "We're gonna have to stick together, for this." She put her hand on Hikari's shoulders, covering her rear.

Grinning, Osamu began to strut towards them. "A~nd I think I'll just go right-"

Reimu walked in the way, and pushed him behind her. "There."

...He gave her a dry stare. "Yeah. Good." Like this, Reimu also concealed Marigold from Osamu.

Hiyori was last, solidly positioning herself behind Osamu. "...We seem to be good."

"Alright." Hikari braced herself. "On the count of three."

'This is exciting…!' Hikari was ready to relax, after everything she's seen.

Snap! Snap!

'Wh-what…?' Hikari blinked, the bright flashes blinding her in the darkness of the evening.

...Reimu excused herself from the line, for a moment. "Hold on."

She marched towards the brush where the flashes came from.

"Sh-shoot…" Disgruntled whispering came from a bush. "I forgot to shut the flash shutter off…"

Leaning over, Reimu opened up the bush.

...A black-haired crow tengu gave her a sheepish smile. "Aah-..." Then, she stood up, popping right out of the bush. "Hello~!"

...The party stared at her blankly. Reimu's dry stare was slowly becoming more menacing.

"I~, um…" She looked down at her camera, before having an idea. "Photographs taken instantly! I'm a photographic genius, if I do say so myself!"

"Aya…" Reimu slowly marched towards her.

Exiting the bush, Aya began to drift in a circle, staying just ahead of Reimu. "Okay! Get ready for an instant memory…!"

"Aya~...!" Reimu began power walking.

"Ready?" Aya held up her camera, grinning. "Look at the camera…!"

Marigold held her limbs over her features. "He-hey…!"

Hikari also did so, after a delay. 'Uhm…'

"Say, 'fuzzy pickles'!"

Hiyori raised her mace, intending to interrupt the tengu.

Osamu was amused, but perplexed. "What the hell kinda…"

Marigold turned around. "No!"

Hikari blinked. "Fu-fuzzy pickles?"

Snap!

"This'll surely make the greatest memory!" Aya held up her camera victoriously.

Woosh! She hung in the air, splaying her body out horizontally to dodge a swipe of Reimu's gohei. "Hoo~!"

Hiyori brought up her mace. "Hra~h!"

Aya was behind her by the time her mace hit the ground, pretending to yawn.

That gave Hikari an idea…

Hikari tried Hypnosis α!

Energy rippled around Aya's form…

"Wo-woah…?" Her eyes fluttered momentarily-

Thwack! Reimu's gohei connected with her forehead.

"Wa~h!?" Aya spun in place from the attack's strength.

Thwack! A consecutive hit from Reimu stopped her spinning, colliding with her arm and causing her camera to fly out of it.

Quickly, Reimu flew to grab it. "Gotcha!"

...Aya looked down at her hands. "A-ah- hey!"

Knowing she couldn't keep it safe from Aya forever, Reimu darted over to Hiyori. "Here."

...Accepting the camera, Hiyori held it tightly with one arm.

In the next moment, Aya was on her side, trying to pry it out. "Hn~gh…!"

"Give it a rest, Aya." Moving back into the line, Reimu positioned herself behind Marigold. "Now's not the time for that."

"Ye-yeah, sure…! Hnn~...!" Again, Aya tugged, trying to get her camera free.

...After that disruption, the party promptly moved into positions again.

Reimu pushed Osamu behind herself nonchalantly, again, before complaining about the tengu. "Geez… she just doesn't know when to quit."

"Seems not." Marigold anxiously paced behind Hikari. "...Let's hurry. It's… really cold out here."

...Hikari had hardly realized it in the excitement, but she was getting some shivers, herself. 'I forgot how cold it was in the present. The future's climate was unnaturally warm…'

Within moments, the party was back in formation… although Aya was still clinging to Hiyori's side with a focused expression, trying to wedge her camera out like it was some sort of puzzle.

"On three…" Hikari began again.

Everyone tensed up.

"One…" Hikari began calling wind to herself.

Hiyori latched her hand onto Osamu's shoulder resolutely, intent on holding on with just that. Her other arm was reserved for keeping the camera snug.

"Two…" Hikari smiled, ready to move.

Everyone was anticipating moving.

"Come o~n…" Aya whined, straining herself as she tried to pull on the camera-

"Three!" Stomping a sandal to the floor before sprinting, Hikari gave the signal for everyone else to begin mobilizing.

Hikari tried Teleport ß!

Quickly, the five and the additional bird began to speed up.

Hikari watched the world around her speed up slower than when she usually did this, though. 'Must be all the people…'

She took in Eientei's familiar darkness for a few more moments, before-

Krakoo~m!

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Elsewhere, a campfire burned. In the outskirts of Gensokyo, in one of the somewhat-wooded outreaches, a boy sat shivering before the flames.

Porky sniffled, holding his hands up before the tiny fire. "Stu-stupid… Id-idiots…"

Around the fire were the smashed and dented forms of the few Spinning Robots he could salvage from the army's grand siege of Gensokyo. There was also a Nuclear Reactor Robot, but it didn't respond anymore, so he left it behind.

"Gi-Giygas' robots…" Porky grinned through the cold, and the snot running down his nose, "are the greatest. If-if only they didn't… just stop working!"

...Leaning over, he picked up a rock, and chucked it at one of the idle Spinning Robots.

Bo~ng. The strike echoed off of the metal.

…

"I-I bet that stupid idiot Hikari…" Porky shivered violently. "Ge-getting stupid miko cookies from her mom… a-and her stupid… friends..."

…

The bushes behind him rustled, causing him to freak out. "Aaaa~h! Stupid youkai! Stupid youkai!" Reaching into the pocket of his suspenders, he pulled out a funky looking plasma pistol he'd ripped off from some mooks. "I'll shoot! I'll kill you!"

...More bushes rustled, this time across the small clearing.

...Eyes wide, and legs quaking, Porky aimed his plasma pistol at the other bush. "I-I mean it! I have robots! They'll tear your arms off, and kill your families!"

A third bush rustled.

Porky began firing.

Choo, choo, choo! Three bright blue bolts flew into the brush, doing little but singing a few leaves.

Turning to the other bush, he began firing. "Hahaha~!"

Choo, choo, choo!

He repeated this process with a nearby tree, before progressing to the other bush.

"Yeah, take that!" With that, he grinned victoriously, seeing as he wasn't attacked. "Die! All youkai should just die!"

"...Is that so?"

Porky froze.

In the middle of the clearing, there was a tall woman with long, blonde hair, and a purple dress.

Porky aimed his gun up at her. "...Ye-yeah! All youkai do is- like… be stupid!"

"And so you campaign relentlessly in the name of genocide." The woman's purple eyes stared down at him, her lips curling into a smile. "Simply because you don't know how to change your selfish ways."

Porky bares his teeth. "Shut up! You don't know anything!"

"You'd rather go through the effort to destroy everything… than change your own ways." The woman smiled widely, tilting her head. "My, you humans never seem to get dull. You're all a very… unique bunch. A uniquely dull bunch, at any rate… the only surprise is just how far you go to try."

With shaky hands, Porky fired.

Choo, choo, choo!

Tiny rips in space opened to absorb the plasma bolts.

"That's where there are people like you." The woman walked through the air towards him, taking her time. "The human with strong resolve. The human who knows he's fighting for the right cause."

"Sh-shut up!" Porky continued to fire, but the shots did nothing. "You're not my mom!"

"...Fufufu~..." Focusing on him more intently that before, the woman spoke more conversationally. "You don't deserve my name. You may call me 'the eight purple clouds'."

She spread her arms out, and two sabers of danmaku energy generated in each. "I suppose I'll play with you until I tire of you, little boy."

Choo, choo, choo! Porky's plasma shots worked as well as they did the first time he tried them.

Stepping onto the floor, the woman continued to slowly walk towards him.

...Porky grinned. "Even Hikari wouldn't survive this…!" Pressing a few buttons on his blaster, he aimed it at the gap youkai.

Fw-fwaa~sh! A maelstrom of sparks whirled out, the cone of electrical energy moving towards her-

"Fufufu~..." She seemingly divided into two clones, the two copies of herself twirling away from the cone leisurely, like they were spinning on ice.

"A-ah- cancel! Cancel!" Porky quickly cut the energy to his pistol, and turned it to the rightmost woman. "Hahaha~!"

Choo!

The bullet passed through her, and the form of the woman blurred out of existence.

"Wh-what…!?" Porky was baffled.

Thwash! The real woman's handheld danmaku beam passed through his hand, sending his pistol flying. "O-oo~w!"

Thwash! She swiped the other arm's beam through him, causing his entire body to have a flush of pain. "Aa-aaaa~h!" Shaking violently, he stumbled back-

Clang! A mangled, rusty stop sign erupted from the ground behind him, locking him in place.

Cla~ng! The stop sign was knocked out of place by a sign depicting a stop light, the angle at which it came from launching Porky forward. "Gugh…!"

As he flew towards the woman, she swung both beams at him with both arms.

Thwa-thwash!

"Angh…" Danmaku energy traveled all throughout Porky's body, making him feel drowsy, as he landed on his side against the dirt floor…

As he rolled over, the woman loomed over him.

"...You're not like them." She observed. "You don't feel… in the way they do. How interesting."

Through teary eyes, Porky punched at the air. "Go-go away…! I-I hate you…"

"...What has that influence done to you?" The woman tilted her head. "...I suppose it doesn't matter anymore."

"Hi-Hikari sent you, didn't she!?" Porky blamed this problem on the obvious cause. "Tell her to go to Hell! In- infact..." Shifting to crawl away, he grinned up at the woman. "I-I'll kill her! I'll finally kill her! Just you wait and see!"

The woman snorted. "You will lose."

...Porky slowly frowned. "Bu-but Giygas, if he-"

"Giygas will lose." She shook her head. "It is inevitable."

...Bitter, Porky rapidly shook his own head after a moment's delay. "Wh-what… what do you know?"

"I know that you shouldn't play these sorts of games with beings far beyond your comprehension." She smiled down at him. "...I, myself, know not how the pieces fell into place as they did, but I do know that I knew when I set them up." She turned away, and began floating off. "Hikari, as a Hakurei, is merely my trump card. Though things did not go as expected, nor as soundly as I had hoped, this strategy is nearly without flaw. Knowing the fortitude of the Hakurei, you are destined to die painfully, your plans in vain and hated by all."

...Porky had stopped struggling, opting to stare up at the youkai-

"And no matter what you do." Her face was suddenly against his. "It will always end the same way. You will never be happy."

The woman was gone.

…

Porky sniffed.

…

"Sh-she… doe-doesn't kn-know…" Struggling to stand, Porky began to hobble towards the fire. "Gi-Giygas… is more powerful than her. He's smarter, a-and stronger, and stronger than Hikari- and…"

...Porky smiled, as he lurched back onto the log he sat on before the fire. "Ye-yeah… they'll see…"

The fire was, unfortunately, already out.

"Everyone wh-who doesn't like me… will be gone."

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Krakoo~m!

The party briefly skid to a stop before the stairs of the Hakurei Shrine.

'Smooth…' Hikari was quite pleased with their exit velocity.

"Wo-woah!" Aya jerked back, still mounted to Hiyori's side. "...So that's what that teleport thing feels like! ...Not as exciting as I hoped."

Reimu began to float up the stairs, like a cheater.

'Hey…' Turning to Hiyori, Hikari had an idea.

"Hey, hey!" Osamu began running up the stairs. "That's cheatin'!"

Marigold walked up two steps at a time, quickly outpacing Osamu. "You too!?"

"Hi." Hikari greeted her oni friend.

"...Hey." Hiyori still had Aya molesting her left arm.

"Toss me up." Smirking, the shrine maiden got into position next to Hiyori.

"...Sure." Lowering her arm, she allowed for her friend to plop down onto it.

"I-I need a picture of this!" Aya freaked out, using both her legs and arms to try and pry the camera out. "Hnn! Hnn! Hn~gh!"

Reeling her arm back, Hiyori looked up at the arch atop the stairway, and tossed Hikari up.

'Woa~h!' Soaring ahead, Hikari had her gohei ready to attack anything that was in the way of her ascent.

She flew by her mother, who double-took. "Wh-what?"

As Hikari neared the top of the stairs, she noticed herself nearing the top of the arch just above the stairs, instead.

To stop her impact with it, she swung the gohei down. "Ho~h!"

SMAAAA~SH!

Kri~ng! Yellow energy ran along the woodwork.

Crack!

…

Hikari found herself stuck hanging to the side of the arch's apex, the gohei jammed in the wood.

"...Oops." Hikari sheepishly grinned as her mother neared.

"...Why?" Reimu was amused.

"Well…" Hikari looked over at the arch, then at her mother again. "Why not?"

Floating up to it, Reimu pulled the gohei free with a few tugs, before carrying her daughter to the shrine by holding onto it.

Marigold was the first at the top of the stairs, sprinting towards the two. "Co-co~ld…!"

Osamu was behind her, halfway torn between complaining about being behind her and being glad that he got the view he did. "...Yo, wait up!"

Leisurely, Hiyori followed behind him, bounding up many steps at a time from her position at the bottom.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Inside, Reimu sat her daughter down next to the kotatsu, curiously eying the giant club her daughter apparently wielded.

...Then, her attention turned to the oni lying underneath the kotatsu, passed out.

"Ye~s!" Marigold quickly darted up to the kotatsu, and slid under it. "Aa~h… so warm…"

Hikari quickly claimed the opposite side. "Mmm…"

"Let me get you two some clothes…" Reimu moved towards Hikari's room.

"Dude, save a spot for me this time…" Osamu marched in, Hiyori following behind him. "It's cold as shit out there."

"You have clothes." Marigold was covering her chest, before she decided to slip under the kotatsu almost entirely save for her head. "Ooo~..."

The party heard shuffling from the kitchen area of the shrine…

'...Um?'

Aya sighed. "Okay, look… I'll cut you a deal."

"No." Hiyori shook her head.

Her response frazzled the tengu. "I didn't even give ya an offer yet!"

One of the shrine's alternate doors slid shut, out of sight of the party. 'Who is that…?'

...In moments, Reimu returned with two shrine maiden outfits. "You'll just have to do with this, Marigold."

"That's fine…" Marigold's voice came from inside the kotatsu. "...It's pretty cramped under here…"

Osamu sat under the kotatsu. "Well, it's about to get more cramped."

...Popping out, Marigold quickly darted over towards Hikari's room, doing her best to cover herself as she accepted the shrine maiden attire from Reimu.

Hikari nonchalantly got up and walked over there, taking an outfit as she passed her mother.

...Inside the room, Marigold looked through the outfit. "Oh, right. No bra or underwear…"

"Mmm." Hikari moved over to her dresser to get some chest bindings. "We have bloomers, though. I could wrap you, too." She raised her binding material to emphasize it.

"...Sure." The young mage was curious.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

The two walked from the room, both clad in shrine maiden outfits.

...Osamu shrugged. "Kinda liked ya both better without-"

Reimu punted him in the back as she passed him. "Ow! Shit…!"

Marigold giggled. "Don't worry, Reimu. I was planning on taking him out back to shoot him, anyway."

He chuckled at that. "What, 'm I a dog now're somethin'...?"

"You act like one." Marigold grinned.

With that, the two girls moved to get under the kotatsu again. Hiyori, Osamu- and by extension, Aya- shared a space, while Reimu was debating whether or not to drag Suika out from hers…

"I've got photos to ta~ke!" With her second wind, Aya tugged at the camera once more.

"What photos do you even take?" Reimu was getting tired of the crow tengu's presence in her shrine.

"All kinds!" Aya didn't focus on her.

...Moving away from Suika, she walked up to Aya and pushed her aside. "How about we see?"

"No!" Standing resolutely, she yells at Reimu. "They're for my next issue! I gotta type it up as soon as possible- I've been holding out since the new year for it!"

...Hikari had an idea. "Me and my friends just came back from the future."

"Yeah, yeah- I know, but-..." Aya turned to her, her mind taking a few moments to process the possibilities such an open-ended statement could imply. "I'll let you look at the photos if you let me interview your daughter!"

Reimu dryly turned to her daughter.

'I know she's not reliable… but if she publishes an article on time travel, I don't think anyone will really take her seriously. Not that they did in the first place.' Hikari nodded, smiling at her mother.

"...Fine." Reimu folded her arms, moving back over towards Suika. "Only this once."

"Woohoo~!" Aya threw her arms in the air. "...Can I have that camera now?"

"Sure." Hiyori handed it over.

Leaning over the table, Aya pressed a few buttons on the undercarriage of her camera, and-

Woosh. A pile of photos fluttered across the table.

...Hikari picked up one. It was a blurry shot of some dolls. 'Uhm…?'

Marigold lifted another. "...How did she take this?"

Hikari leaned towards her, and she showed her the photo…

It was the party, stationed at the top of Youkai Mountain, with Hiyori embedded in the rock at the top of it, right after they had leaped from the closest stone of Heaven.

"Dude…" Osamu grinned. "This pic is sick." He passed it towards Hikari.

She looked down at it. It was a shot of the zombie fairies that were infesting Eientei some time ago.

...Reimu cleared her throat. "So when was this?"

She held it facing opposite herself, so Hikari could see it from where she was.

Hikari leaned in…

'...That's me. I'm… oh.' It was a shot of her dragging an unconscious, paint-smeared Byakuren and Osamu up the side of a hill, practically on her knees. 'Wow.'

"...Awhile ago." Hikari tactfully revealed.

...Hiyori slid a picture towards Hikari. "This one's… interesting."

'Interesting, huh?' Hikari looked down at it…

It was a shot from the doorway of Remilia's room, with the vampire's hand piercing through Marigold's chest.

'Pffft…' Hikari was impressed by that one.

"Interesting…?" Marigold slid the picture towards herself. "...Oh, yeah. It's interesting alright."

The use of the word 'interesting' interested Reimu. "Let me see…"

'Oh, boy…'

Reimu took the picture, and focused on it. "...Oh. Oh." ...She looked up at Marigold with a worried look for a moment, before shaking it off. "Considering you're alright now, I'm not sure if I wanna know."

Marigold raised another picture up. "...Ah." It was a picture of the party standing outside Marisa's house, the witch talking to them from the doorframe. "...Kinda wish my family was here."

…

"I just said that out loud, didn't I?" Marigold slowly nodded, reading everyone's stares.

Hiyori nodded back. "Yeah."

...Taking her gohei, Reimu attacked the floor.

Thwack. "Yukari!"

…

"That's it…" Reimu slid Suika out of her spot at the kotatsu, and entered it. "There…" Then, she banged the base of her gohei into the floor repeatedly. "Yukari~!"

A gap opened over the table. "You rang?" She hung out upside-down, her long hair splaying down and getting in the way of everyone's vision.

"Get Patchouli, Marisa, and Alice over here." Reimu commanded her.

Yukari giggled, before unfurling a fan. "You're only too kind, Reimu. And what if I refuse?"

"Then we all take turns beating you up." Reimu decided. "Just do this for us."

"For us. Oo~h." Yukari grinned. "Well, if it's for us, then okay."

Three gaps opened.

Clack! A thick chair dropped from the first one. The shrine shook from its impact, and the purple mage seated in it looked up from her tome, her tired eyes slightly wider than normal. "Wh-what…!?"

From the next one-

Bam! A western style bed dropped from the large gap. Alice sat up, surprised. "Hu-huh!?"

The next gap was vertically aligned. Marisa shot out of it, a sack slung over her shoulder as she rode on her broom. "Wo-woah-woah-"

Bam! She rebounded off the wall, the bag falling to the floor as she was thrown from her broom. "Agh…" She landed on her side uncomfortably. "Shi-shit… my arm…"

'...Good one, Yukari.' Hikari gave the gap youkai a glare as she rapidly retreated.

"Have fu~n!" She was gone a moment later, the three gaps and her own shutting.

Hikari tried Lifeup ß!

...Sitting up, Marisa felt herself, stretching her previously injured arm.. "Wo-woah… I feel like I just downed a keg of beer!"

"For all we know, you may as well have." Patchouli cynically addressed the human mage. "Why was it I was summoned here?"

...The party looked amongst themselves, before pointing at Marigold.

...Patchouli blinked. "I see."

"Oo~h, this is so exciting…!" Aya bounced in place. "I'm gonna have the biggest scoop ever!" Flipping out her notebook and doing a little pose with a pen she accrued from her sleeve, she quickly formed posture fit for note taking.

"...Wh-wha~t...?" Alice was still waking up.

Standing up, Marisa looked around. "We havin' some kinda party?"

Hikari shrugged. "I mean, technically."

"Pretty much." Reimu shrugged. "No beer yet, though. I still haven't restocked after that last new years party we had."

"Awwh…" Marisa pouted.

...Marigold was a little shy. "I-I didn't expect this to just, uh… happen."

"Oo~h! We lookin' at pictures!?" Grinning, Marisa leaned over Reimu and plucked the one right before her. "Don't mind if I do! What poor sap's panties are these, this… time…" Marisa's face fell as she focused on the photo of Remilia piercing Marigold's chest.

...She looked up at Marigold, then down at the photograph.

"...What the hell kinda pictures you taking!?" She proceeded to yell at the tengu.

"I-I just took what I saw!" Aya put her arms up. "Honest!"

"When the hell…" Marisa was unsure what to make of the photograph… "Did… this actually happen?"

Marigold nodded. "Yeah. It hurt."

"...And you're somehow okay." Marisa flatly confirmed.

"Mmm." Marigold nodded. "Hikari knows healing magic."

"...Ah, yeah…" Marisa looked away at the miko, for a moment. "...Wait, what?"

Patchouli rose a brow. "Pictures, hmm? Also…" She held a hand into the air, and a softly glowing orb of solar energy formed, producing heat. "There we go."

"Yeah, uhm…" Marisa grinned, moving over to the mage. "Check this one out."

Marigold blushed, folding her arms. "Really, now…"

Patchouli took, the picture, and looked it over. "...I suppose a talk with Remi might be in order, at some point."

"How did my bed get here…?" Alice climbed out of bed in her pajamas…

"You didn't know?" Marisa smirked. "You moved in with Reimu a week ago!"

"I-I what…?" Alice rubbed her eyes. "Of course you'd be here… this is probably your fault."

"You know, there's a lot of pictures like those…" Aya states casually. "These four got beat up a lot!"

'Hey, now…' Hikari furrowed her brows at the tengu. Then, she held up another photo. This one had the party standing before one of the village's 'Destroyer' guards, which was lying on the ground and charred.

'...That may've been the guard we accidentally killed that one time.'

Hikari quietly slipped that photo into her clothing…

"This one has Porky in it." Hiyori handed a picture over to Hikari.

The miko flinched, surprised and hopeful that Hiyori didn't see her hiding the picture. "Ah…?"

Taking the picture, she looked it over…

"Porky?" Reimu rose a brow. "...O~h, right, that fat kid from the village. How's he doing, anyway?"

'...If only you knew.'

The picture was of Hikari and Porky standing near the meteor, a small yellow object hovering near Hikari, and what looked like a starman not too far away from them.

"He turned his dad into a robot and blew him up." Osamu nodded smugly.

...Reimu blinked.

"Oh! I think I have a picture of that…!" Aya leaned over the scattered pile of pictures, and took one out. "See?"

...Reimu took it, and soaked in the image of the former captain decked out with a gatling gun arm. "...Oh. Okay."

Marisa leaned over, grinning. "Wh-what the hell!? That's what happened to him!? When I asked Akyuu the other day, she wouldn't tell me! Keine didn't know shit, either, ze…!"

"He self-destructed, though." Osamu wobbled his head back and forth. "And, uh… yeah. Wasn't pretty."

Marisa pounded a fist into her hand. "That's why she threw out like ten trash cans worth of bloody towels!"

'...She just casually threw them out?'

"She should've burned them." Marigold tilted her head, somewhere between amused and disgusted.

"Porky did that, then…?" Reimu confirmed, curious and somewhat worried.

"Yeah." Hikari nodded.

"Why?" She sought further confirmation.

"Dude was nuts." Osamu did a good job of explaining it.

"...I'm honestly not sure." Marigold concluded. "He had some kind of problem, though…"

...Giving it a moment of thought, Hikari gave an answer. "I think he just wanted a world where everyone who didn't like him was gone."

"...'Just'." Reimu dryly critiqued. "That's kinda a dangerous mindset…"

"Where'd that Porky kid go, ze?" Marisa rose her brow. "He still in the village?"

'...I honestly have no idea.'

…

The witch folded her arms behind her head. "Guess that's a 'no', then…"

"You four fought the source of our latest incident, I take it?" Patchouli commented from the sidelines.

"...Yeah." Marigold nodded. "It was work."

"I'd imagine." Patchouli snorted. "...Considering you all look alright, I take that it wasn't too much trouble?"

Osamu shook his head. "Nope. No~. It was a freakin' nightmare. It was like… It was like when ya eat peanut butter toast before bed."

Marisa tilted her head back. "Oo~h, damn. Was it really?"

"Who caused it?" Patchouli continued to press questions. "...Oh, right. This Giygas individual… What did he look like?"

...The party members were a bit stumped on how to describe that one.

"How about this…?" Hikari shifted herself to get a little comfier. "We had to travel to the future to actually… yeah, fight Giygas." She decided to leave out the whole timeline ordeal for the sake of simplicity, and because she didn't fully understand it herself.

"O~h, no way!" Marisa lit up. "What was it like!? Was I a kickass old lady, too? Or didja go ahead even further!?"

"...It was thirty years ahead." Marigold clarified. "And, uh… we didn't see you, technically."

Aya was furiously scribbling notes on the sidelines…

Marisa blinked. "...Didn't see me, technically? Were ya watchin' like, a danmaku battle from afar?"

Marigold reached into her backpack, to the mystification of those who didn't know where it came from, and pulled out the letter she saved from within the Bionic Kraken.

"Well…" Marigold looked away. "...Hikari, should we tell them?"

'...Now we have to tell them, when you put it like that.' Hikari stared at her dryly, before continuing herself. "...As a, uhm… forewarning, I guess, the stuff that happens in the future we saw won't exactly happen in this one."

...Reimu blinked. "...That's weird."

"I don't think that's how time works." Patchouli annotated from the sidelines. "...I say this with confidence despite only dabbling in temporal magic."

'Whelp.' Hikari took a deep breath…

"Well, the thing is…" Marigold put her arms up, to make gestures. "Let's say we've got two timelines, right?" She holds her two hands side by side. "Well… This timeline and the other timeline- the one we went to- run parallel until the point Hikari and us jumped forward."

"Ah." Patchouli nodded. "I see, then. What would the main differences be?"

Alice got up from her bed. "I'm getting a drink…"

...Hikari continued, "Well… in this other timeline, we never came back from going to the future. Also, uhm… the world ended, I think, and the Hakurei Barrier shattered."

…

Alice slowly turned away from Reimu's bar counter, eyebrows raised.

Patchouli's eyebrows raised.

Aya scribbled furiously into her notebook, grinning maniacally.

"Wha~t!?" The incident resolvers were a little more than surprised.

"The- the barrier shattered!?" Reimu slammed her arms on the kotatsu. "How!?"

Hikari subtly cringed back. "...Well, I think it had something to do with how all the land except for a few sky islands was obliterated."

Osamu chuckled. "The future's kinda fuckin' weird, dude…"

"Where was me!?" Marisa pointed at herself, incredulous. "Who did it!? I'll blow 'em up!"

Marigold extended her hand, offering her the letter. "Here. We found this where we found Hikari's new gohei."

...Hikari rose her club of a gohei.

Reimu was snapped out of her outrage. "...That's a gohei?"

"Gimme that…" Marisa took the letter, and rotated it multiple times. "Hey Reimu, can't stick around for long, mmhmhrm…" She trailed off, focusing more on reading the letter's contents. "...Ooh. I made that, huh?"

Hikari nodded. "Yeah."

Marisa grinned. "How'd Reimu like it?"

Reimu stared at the 'gohei' dryly. "I wouldn't imagine very much."

"...She never got it." Hikari revealed, unsure if she should say more.

...Marisa furrowed her brows. "Did I forget to deliver it ta her?"

"Nope." Osamu was always willing to deliver the bad news. "You got eaten by a fucking magic robot dragon and died."

…

"Wow." Marisa grinned. "That future sounds shitty! Did I at least put up a fight?"

Osamu shrugged exaggeratedly. "Eeh- I dunno. You were probably dead for awhile, 'cause the mansion was blown up, and you somehow got tea from it."

"Aw, shit." Marisa was disappointed in her future self's performance. "Guess I gotta look up how to kill magic robot dragons, ze…"

"...You mentioned the mansion." Patchouli spoke up. "How did we fare?"

...Osamu looked back at the girls, who stared at him dryly. "...What, I gotta tell her?"

"Apparently not well." Patchouli theorized. "Were any of us left?"

That was easier for Marigold. "Flandre."

"...Just Flandre?" Patchouli expressed dull surprise. "Must have been hard on her, no doubt."

"Mmm…" Marigold wasn't able to see Flandre's mental state… nor was she sure she wanted to.

"Was it known how we died?" Patchouli questioned further, positioning a bookmark in her tome for the time being. "For planning's sake."

"The barrier was smashed." Marigold reiterated. "You guys probably just disappeared."

...Patchouli nodded. "Ah. Right. It seems I forget how integral the Hakurei barrier has become for our extended lifespans."

Sitting down at her bed, Alice had a glass of water. "What did this Giygas thing look like?"

...The three party members decided it was Hiyori's turn to tell things, silently staring at her.

...After a moment, Hiyori noticed, and elaborated as best she could. "...From what I could see, it was a swirling mass of red mist. It engulfed the entire area within which we fought it, and cast some of the most powerful magic I had ever seen. I don't know if our attacks did anything to it."

Marisa snorted. "Sounds like fun, ze. How'd you beat it?"

...Only Hikari really knew the answer to that, so she spoke. "Once we did enough damage to it, the space around us solidified, and began to crush us. I was holding onto you guys," Hikari looks over her party members, "and I believe… Osamu and Marigold were frozen solid, Hiyori was knocked out, and I…" Hikari smiled. "I teleported us out of there. From Eientei's sky island, we saw something really big blow up, and figured that was it."

...Reimu was looking over some of the pictures, baffled by the amount of which were of Hikari or one of her friends being attacked by magic or sporting ghastly wounds. "I know you guys have Hikari to heal you, but… I feel like some of these injuries are just a little unnecessary."

Holding up a picture, she hands it over to Marisa. "Like- here… see that black stuff?"

Marisa blinked. "What am I even lookin' at?"

"Look here." Standing up and positioning herself next to Marisa, Reimu pointed to a spot on the black, charred mass that was in the photo. "See that?"

Marisa nodded. "Yea~h?"

"That looks like Marigold's glasses." Reimu half-smiled, feeling she got the message through.

...Marisa suddenly jerked her head back. "Holy shit, I think you're right."

To get off the topic, Marigold brought something else up. "Hey, Hikari, uh- didn't you say you got into contact with the Hakurei God right after the fight ended?"

"Ooo!" Osamu beamed. "You were all glowing and naked and shit! It was badass!"

'Aah…' Hikari felt put on the spot. "Yeah, that was… an experience."

Excited, Reimu slipped under the kotatsu, and propped her arms under herself as she leaned forward. "Wh-what!? How? I've been trying everything!"

Hikari scratched her cheek. "Well… I died."

…

"I mean…" Hikari clarified quickly, watching her mother's face quickly grow panicked. "I-I wasn't quite!"

"You said you died." Reimu blinked rapidly, shaking her head. "How is there a 'not quite'!?"

"...I mean, that's what I was told." Hikari shrugged. "I was dead… but not quite."

...Reimu didn't look satisfied with that answer, her eyes narrow.

Hiyori intervened with an attempt to better translate it. "It might be better explained by saying she reached the Hakurei afterlife and talked with the god there."

...Reimu slowly nodded, much more satisfied with that answer.

"I was told, however, how we could properly contact the god." Hikari revealed.

...Marisa folded her arms, looking smug. "See? Toldja ya were doin' it wrong."

Reimu swung her gohei backwards randomly and wildly, but Marisa quickly hopped away.

"...Well, if we can get it down here, then I can at least start interrogating it." Reimu resolved.

'Was that really the first thing that came to mind?' Hikari grinned at her mother's intentions…

"This is gonna be aweso~me!" Aya was having one of the best journalism days of her life, right now.

As the many people in the Hakurei Shrine conversed about the previous incident and all of the tomfoolery that went down as a result of it, the sun slowly rose over Gensokyo. The pale blue winter sky was slightly cloudy, but very calm. In a few moments, things would be slightly less cold, too.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

...Although, despite that, Hikari felt like going to sleep.

Moving into her room, now that all the discussing was said and done, Hikari moved towards her bed, and belly flopped onto it.

'So soft…' She felt like she was sinking into the mattress...

...Marigold grinned as she pulled the guest futon from the nearby closet. "Yeah. Me too..."

...Sighing, Hikari felt herself slow down.

The door slid open, and Reimu leaned in. "Should I think about making you breakfast, or, uh…" She noticed her daughter sacked out on the bed.

…

"So, how long were we up, overall…?" Yawning, Marigold sloppily positioned the futon on a random spot on the floor, and slipped into it. "...Hikari? ...Oh, wow."

Stepping towards the bed softly, Reimu smiled at her daughter. Leaning in, she planted a kiss on the back of Hikari's head. "Good night..."

Hikari Hakurei was asleep.