Chapter 9: The Disappearance of Koishi Komeiji
"What are you doing here?" Kokoro said, mild irritation in her voice as the lone satori hovered before her. Her eyes wandered around, never once focusing on the menreiki even as she lowered her eyebrows into a slight stare. Though what other attitude could be expected of Kokoro after she was forced to the ground with the force of a large stone?
"Koishi!" Kokoro exclaimed the person's name, and that quickly got their attention as the person rested their fingers against their mouth and said in a sing-song tone "Yeeeeees Kooookooooroooo~?"
"Answer my question, I don't have time to play around." Kokoro was blunt but her voice was raspy, a result of the last coughing fit she had before Koisihi showed up. Koishi was very ignorant of that and said with a disappointing moan "Awwwww, you don't have time to play with me? You aren't growing up already are you?" Kokoro widened her eyes for a moment and then stared at the satori, who was twirling around with her arms out and seemingly not aware of what she just said.
"W-What are you talking about?" Kokoro murmured, but her guest just left things be without a word as all she did was hum and twirl about like a joyous top. She even placed the tip of her foot on the ground to use as a pivot. Kokoro closed her eyes and sighed, turning around and preparing to leave when Koishi suddenly leaped onto her back and wrapped her arms around her neck.
"Where do you think you're going Kokoro? I want to have some F-U-N!" The satori then covered Kokoro's eyes, stunning her for a little until she grabbed the back of those cold hands and tried to peel them away from her face. Koishi slowly fell back to the ground, resting against it like a newly wilted leaf, but with her face bright with a smile.
Kokoro wanted to wander off again, but Koishi quickly stood up and said with her hand waved out "Wait wait wait! I've been following you all day, can't you let me talk?" The menreiki paused and lazily looked back, wondering in pity how the satori could just say such things so casually, even if she wasn't totally in control of her actions.
"All day?" She inquired, and Koishi rapidly bobbed her head. Kokoro widened her eyes a bit and then shook her head while looking forward, but only had her solitude of thoughts for a few seconds before Koishi suddenly flew in front of her and grabbed her hands up to lift them up.
"Come on sourpuss, lets have some fun together!" She proclaimed while bounding up and down, but Kokoro was still focused on another matter entirely and asked "Koishi, about what you said earlier…"
"Huh? What did I say?" They replied, but did so while glancing aside with a slight smirk on their face. Kokoro irritatingly looked into her eyes and murmured "You know exactly what you said. I'm serious Koishi, I have no time for games…I need to go home and rest." Rudely, Kokoro jerked her arms away from Koishi's grip and began to walk around her, but the girl was being much more stubborn than usual and once more flew in front of her.
At this point, Kokoro held her hands up and summoned her pike in the grasp of them both, her mask radiating with blue fire as she clearly said "Move. NOW." Koishi swung her arms up defensively but cracked a smile and proclaimed with the utmost joy "Yaaaay! You want to play now! What are we going to do?"
"…Hide 'n' seek." Kokoro said seriously, her eyebrows raising as though she had a plan. Koishi spun around a couple times and backed off while saying "I loooove that game! Who will hide, who will seek?"
"…I'll hide, you can seek. Count to fifty, and then try and find me." Kokoro put her pike away and calmed down, and Koishi nodded her head twice before resting against a nearby tree and covering her eyes with her sleeves. Kokoro silently flew into the forest, the satori's voice dimming more and more until there was at last silence. The menreiki let out a relieved sigh and just kept moving on, but was having a bit of trouble as the sunlight was now gone and the moon hadn't come out to replace it.
Kokoro wandered in the woods for a little bit, but went slowly to avoid ramming into any trees. Eventually though, she heard a giggle echoing behind her and turned around, seeing a pair of strange pale eyes glowing within the darkness, but then vanished without a trace a moment later. The damage was done though, as Kokoro tensed up and called forth her pike, letting out a slight cough before backing up slowly.
Eventually bumping into something, Kokoro turns and leaps back, ending up surprised to see Koishi again, only this time she was hovering upside-down with her mouth agape in a very bizarre smile as her eyes continued to glow bright. As Koishi slowly spun herself around and rested a foot on the ground, Kokoro was uncertain of just how long had passed since she had tried to deceive the satori, and thus held the pike to their forehead and asked "Did you actually count correctly?"
"Fifty is fifty, I'm not an idiot Kokoro! Not like you anyways, you chose a horrible hiding spot!" Koishi chose to be rather blunt, and Kokoro responded with "Are you just saying that because you found me, or because I thought it'd get you off my back?"
"Yes!" Was the satori's reply as she took the tip of Kokoro's pike to her fingertip and then pushed it to the side, drawing little blood from her skin that she didn't care about as she then hovered inches away from Kokoro's body and said with her eyes closed "We can play another game now! I want to see what you can come up with!"
"Besides the fact it's you…Can you even say why you're bothering me so much, Koishi?" Kokoro inquired, trying to keep her cool as much as physically possible, but then Koishi rubbed up against her face and embraced her in a half-hearted hug and caused the menreiki's emotions to flare a little.
"You're my favorite person in the world, why wouldn't I want to spend time with you!" Kokoro couldn't tell if that was genuine or just the satori's uncontrolled nature at play, but either way Kokoro got rid of her pike and pushed Koishi's forehead to get her to fall back. The satori flipped a couple times in the air with a joyous cry before steadying herself and holding a hand out to the menreiki.
"You're so hard to deal with sometimes, Kokoro!" Koishi said with surprising bluntness, but Kokoro replied with her own equally blunt tone "As if you can talk! Go home Koishi!"
"Home? Home is all of Gensokyo, so tah-dah! I'm already here!" She swung her arms up a few times in celebration. At this point, Kokoro could only think of one thing to say.
"Nemesis, you're like an undying leech. Get off of me and let me go home in peace." Koishi widened her mouth in shock and froze in place for a few seconds, with Kokoro taking advantage of that to walk around her, though her heart did feel a bit weighted with guilt.
"You weren't this bad last time we saw each other Koishi…Grrr, I can't deal with this right now." Kokoro closed her eyes and was hoping that'd be the end of things right now, but then a cold hand grabbed onto her elbow and a more desperate voice called out to her.
"P-Please don't go! I don't want to vanish, Kokoro!" Kokoro paused with eyes widened and then looked back. For a moment, she could've sworn the satori looked exasperated, but their smile was more prominent.
"Koishi…W-What did you just say? Don't try and hide it from me this time." Kokoro turned around and looked the satori in the eyes, and this time she held her arms behind her back and while swaying her hips she said "I uhhhh…Didn't say anything?" At this point the menreiki was left wondering if perhaps, in her own bizarre away, the satori was telling the truth. But what mattered the most was that it was HER voice that said that.
"Can I…really leave this alone?" Kokoro's thoughts were followed by a couple slight coughs, but they didn't feel as rough as before. Then the menreiki looked into Koishi's eyes and told her "C-Can we go somewhere else? A dark forest isn't the best place to talk." Against her better judgment, Kokoro decided to stay with Koishi, just to see if she could find out what's wrong with her. Koishi widened her eyes and then grabbed Kokoro's hands, quickly lifting her out of the forest and spinning her around.
"W-Whoa!" Kokoro was a bit dazed by this sudden action, but Koishi told her before she could say more "I think I maybe remember a place to go! Come on, come on!" Koishi then let go and flew off towards the west, with Kokoro trying her best to keep up with her. Eventually she went down towards the road between this forest and the bamboo one, where a light from a humble food stand shone up and guided the two Youkai to that location.
Running the stand at the moment was Mystia, who was wearing an apron and cook's bandana along with her normal attire of brown dress and feathered winged hat. She was in the middle of cleaning some silverware when Koishi suddenly plopped down on the seat in front of the grill, which shook the whole cart and made Mystia twist herself around in surprise, though that feeling went away when Kokoro showed up.
"Oh it's just you. Brought a friend along for dinner?" Mystia inquired, though gave a few suspecting glares towards Koishi as the Youkai wasted no time reaching past the grill with her sleeve curled up to try and get a dish. Mystia slapped Koishi's hand to make her retract it before telling her bluntly "Pay for your food or you get nothing!"
"Oh, ok!" Koishi chipperly put a hand into her dress pocket and pulled out a small rattling bag, handing it over to Mystia. The shock on her face presently would only increase when she opened it up and was flashed with a few pieces of pure gold. Mystia slowly turned to Kokoro with widened eyes and said "T-This is enough for both of your dinners…Is that ok with you Kokoro?"
Mystia was clearly gripped by her surprise, and Kokoro looked at the satori while wondering where she could've gotten any money. It would be something she wouldn't get an answer for, as Mystia quickly threw some lamprey onto the grill and said "I-I was going to close early for the concert tonight with Kyouko, but that'd be rude to someone willing to pay this much!"
The bird worked her hardest to make sure the food was grilled to PERFECTION, and during that time Kokoro was thinking about what to say to Koishi. Surprisingly, besides a little humming, the satori kept to her seat and didn't cause much of a fuss if at all. When the dishes of fried lamprey and rice rested before the group on the bar, Koishi let out a joyous cry and then started at it wildly with her chopsticks, not caring about the heat of the food.
Kokoro and Mystia stared at her for a few seconds before the menreiki looked the bird in the eyes and said hoarsely "Thank you Mystia…" It took a few seconds, but Mystia then handed a cup of water over to her customer and said "So why exactly are you dragging yourself around with this odd girl this late at night?"
"I-It wasn't planned…I wanted to go home, but then she showed up out of nowhere like she usually does…" Kokoro answered, taking a drink of water to try and get her voice back to normal as Mystia held a hand out and said dryly "Never seen a Youkai like her around before." She looked at Koishi and saw her still chomping down on the food like a ravenous bird, a comparison Mystia wasn't intentionally trying to make.
"She's…from the Underground I think." Kokoro said with some uncertainty, with Mystia stating "Uhhh…huh? Not familiar with any of the Youkais from there, but whatever, a paying customer is a paying customer."
"By the by, weren't you at the forest earlier today? When that flaming girl and the strange outsider came by for food earlier I could've sworn I heard them mention you." Mystia asked, her feathery ears perking up as she smiled curiously. Kokoro wasn't receptive to her curiosity as she was focused on Koishi, who had finished her plate of food at a rather scary speed. Koishi then looked to Kokoro and exclaimed "That was delicious!"
"Mystia, I will have to talk later…I need to deal with this person first." Kokoro then pushed on her plate, even though it was halfway done, and stepped off the seat. Koishi did the same a moment later and twirled around as the menreiki said "I wasn't thinking this location…I want to talk with you alone, please."
Koishi frozen in the middle of a pirouette and then leaned her head back all the way, nearly falling as she stared at Kokoro with her smile and said "Oh ok…! Then I know a better spot!" There was no stopping her from just leaping off the ground and flying away, and Kokoro couldn't even pause to say farewell to Mystia without risking falling behind. Koishi flew for a while until moving towards a simple grassy plain, landing on it softly and putting her arms behind her back as she looked towards the rising moon.
"Do you remember this place, Kokoro?" Koishi inquired as the menreiki landed behind her and let out a cough. Of course, Kokoro couldn't be expected to remember one grassy plain from all the rest in the world, so Koishi looked over her shoulder and said "It's the place from that day you met me with that wacky blue-haired lady!" Her voice was filled with fondness, and oddly a sense that she was speaking willfully about things instead of being guided unconsciously.
"…Koishi, what's going on? Can you tell me NOW?" Kokoro asked, almost BEGGING for an answer, but yet again Koishi swayed back and forth before replying "N-O-P-E…! If I tell you, then you'll leave me, and if you leave me you'll grow up and never see me again!"
"I'm getting sick of-! …Wait, you said that thing again…" Kokoro was halted of her anger once the words registered, and Koishi turned around before stating clearly "Did I ever tell you something interesting about me? People with youthful minds can see and remember me, otherwise I don't exist!"
"Right…" Kokoro said with a slight uncertainty in her voice, and Koishi turned herself around before continuing "If you grow up, then you'll forget me, and then I'll stop existing! So if I stick around with you, you'll never grow up!"
"W-What are you even talking about when you say 'grow up'? I'm a Youkai, I won't-"
"I heard you talking with that weird blonde girl about getting older and becoming a hero! And you're trying to be responsible for yourself, and helping others…You're acting like a grown up more and more every day Kokoro!" Koishi gave a rather shocking response, but her voice wasn't filled with pride…It was gripped with fear, and for once she didn't even crack a smile and just shook her head violently. Kokoro raised a hand up and was left shocked, her mouth agape as she looked at the slight sadness in Koishi's eyes.
"B-But Koishi…I'm not the only person who remembers you. And I don't think-"
"That doesn't matter to me! Do you remember what happened here before, Kokoro? How you tried to make me feel emotions again?"
"Y-You remember that?"
"Yeah! It didn't work at first, but like…I think I felt sadness afterwards, and then I remembered happiness and surprise and joy…! Slowly I've been remembering what it's like to feel different emotions, and I think it's because of being exposed to you Kokoro…!" Koishi hovers closer to Kokoro, who rested her hand on her chest and felt some pain growing in it, followed by her coughing some more.
"Satoris are beings who can read the subconscious of others…I-I think I did something to stop me from doing that, and I lost the ability to feel emotions. But when you connected with me Kokoro…Your subconscious filled in that void a little, and now I slowly remember what it was like before I lost myself! If you forget me, that connection will be gone and that means an empty Koishi again!"
"…Koishi, I don't think I can forget you, even if I grew up. You're an odd girl, but that just leaves an impression on others they can't forget." Kokoro said with some degree of seriousness while closing her eyes, but all of a sudden she felt a sharp pain in her shoulders and opened her eyes to see Koishi grabbing onto her and floating dangerously close to her face.
"You think I'm going to accept an 'I don't think'?! You don't GET it Kokoro!" Koishi's eyes were widened with madness, but a contrasting grin was on her face. Kokoro was stiffened by both fear and a gripping cold in her chest. She coughed again, unable to reply as the satori went on to say "I-I can't take any risks Kokoro…! I don't want to disappear again! I want to be remembered, I want to be able to feel emotions!"
In between her coughs, Kokoro could only give a meek reply of "P-Please…let go of me…you're hurting me…" But Koishi's grip just tightened, her behavior becoming more monstrous as she suddenly pushed the menreiki to the ground, the impact of her head to the ground causing her to suddenly feel warmth flowing into her brain along with some degree of throbbing. Koishi pinned Kokoro's tiny legs to the ground with her own and started panting, her chest heaving with depravity even as she seems to be unaware of just what she was doing.
"You're in pain…But it's ok Kokoro, I'm in pain too! We can get over this pain together…I'll just keep you. You can be MINE, and you'll be at my side forever and EVER. You'll stay young, you'll remember me…And I-I-I…I'll never disappear again! Ha…Hahahahaha! HAHAHAHAH!" Koishi started laughing, and Kokoro's pain increased for every second that she stuck to the ground. She grimaced, the heat in her head and the gripping roughness in her chest causing her vision to blur, something not helped by the tears welling up as she tried to say just one last thing to the satori.
"P-Please…s-stop…K-Koishi…" Then she suddenly slipped into unconsciousness, her head resting on it's side while Koishi flinched and froze in place. After a few seconds she looked down at Kokoro's weary self and how badly she was sweating, raising a sleeve to her hand and feeling rather odd. Her madness had just all been swept away, replaced with concern for her fallen 'friend'. With only a slight thought to guide her, Koishi hoisted the menreiki over her shoulders and flew off, to take her to the one place she would be able to get the assistance needed…
Next Time: A Plea to the Enemy