Chapter 7

Not a Chance

"Hello, Reimu? Are you here?" Keine says, throwing some money into the offertory box.
"Yes, I am. Give me a moment, please." Reimu says from inside the shrine. She pokes her head out from the shrine, saying "How sweet do you want your tea?"
"I would like it fairly sweet" Keine says.
"I actually prefer it bitter, myself" Alex says.
"Okay, so two sweet, one bitter." Reimu says to herself, heading back inside the shrine.

A short while later, Reimu fully exits the shrine, carrying a plate with three cups of tea. She is wearing her usual red dress with the detached white sleeves. "Come on, sit down." she says, sitting on the raised porch and patting the space beside her.
"Thank you, and again, hello Reimu." Keine says, sitting and taking the cup of tea that Reimu indicates for her.
"Yes, thank you, Miss Reimu. I'm, uh, I'm Alex." Alex says, sitting down. Reimu tenses slightly at the name, but indicates his cup of tea nonetheless. Alex sniffs the tea before taking a sip. "What kind of tea is this? I don't remember ever smelling it before." he says.

"So, you're an outsider?" Reimu says, with a not-quite-but-almost accusing tone of voice. Alex nods, looking somewhat confused. "This is sencha, and it's quite common around here. That's how I could tell." Reimu says.
"Oh. I imagine you can guess why I'm here, then." Alex says.
Reimu nods. "Excuse me, Alex, but may I talk to Keine alone for a while?" she says. Alex nods, before taking a sip of the tea. This is pretty good, but it's a bit too sweet for my taste, Alex thinks as the two women head into the shrine.

"Keine, a while ago Yukari told me about someone who was dangerous to Gensokyo. She told me, 'Whatever you do, do not let him out of Gensokyo' or something like that. And you brought him here, so you need to help me deal with him." Reimu says, once they are out of earshot of Alex.
"I know he's dangerous if he goes back into the outside world. When I met him, he said that Yukari brought him here, saying he was dangerous to her home." Keine says. "But… He's not a bad guy. He just wants to go back and live with his family and play with his friends. Are you sure Yukari's right about this? I mean, there has to be something we can do for the poor kid." she says.

"I'm sorry, but Yukari's never been wrong about things like this before. I trust her over this outsider who I've only just met, don't you?" Reimu says.
"Yes, but… After I met him, he decided to become a teacher at the school, and he didn't even complain about me making him sleep in the school building. The kids all love him, too, and you know more than anyone about a child's intuition." Keine says, referring to how Reimu solves most incidents based on 'intuition'. "I just can't see how someone who's such a good teacher could possibly be evil enough to destroy Gensokyo." she says.
"Hmm, yeah. If he really is being a good teacher at the school, I don't think he'd intentionally hurt us. But what if he wasn't trying to hurt us? What if it was just something about him being in the outside world that indirectly endangered us?" Reimu says.

Keine gasps. "Now that you mention it, he said, when he was talking about Yukari taking him here, that he managed to make a sword float. What if… What if he was planning on talking to dangerous people, people he thought he could trust, about this, and they're the real danger to us?" she says.
"Yeah, that might be it." Reimu says. "In that case, as long as we get him to swear to never try to use magic again, he can go back home!" Reimu says, with a smile that slowly fades as she notices the sad look on Keine's face. "What is it, Keine?" she says.
"Apparently, Yukari already took steps to make sure no one went looking for him. He said that she dragged an alternate him into the room, and made it look like he committed suicide." Keine says, sounding defeated.

"Damn." Reimu says. "In that case, if he did show up fine back in his home, it would cause an even bigger fiasco than him using magic would." she says.

"I really am sorry about this, Alex." Reimu says.
Alex looks down, sniffling. "WHY GODAMMIT, WHY?! … … All I wanted was to know that magic was real. It's real, alright… Real enough that it FUCKED MY LIFE OVER!" Alex yells, crying.
"Well… We can at least help you realize your dream. We can teach you magic." Reimu says, trying to comfort the poor man.
"I DIDN'T WANT TO BE A FUCKING MAGICIAN! I just wanted to make video games and make people happy…" Alex sobs, running into the shrine.

"The United States has asked for UN support in its mission to find Alexander Johnson, and fight whatever it was that took him away. The UN has agreed, and is sending its special forces units into all countries that belong to it. The agreement of the organization to find a single child has raised some eyebrows amongst its members. What does this mean for foreign relations, and does the U.S. control the U.N.?" *click*