A few months passed. Keine accepted the nomination for being the Mayor of the Human village, and won by a landslide. Within a few weeks, the Human Village had changed it's policy on Youkai, the whole reason they wanted change in the first place.
Mystia was one of the first youkai to adapt to this change, and arranged, due to popular demand, to open up an actual shop in the human village. It took a month for her to get everything set up, and a lot of humans, and youkai interested, helped her out.
However, naturally, the first youkai to react was Yukari. She was aware that humans and youkai used different means to settle payment. Youkai would barer items, or trade favors with each other, while humans would use currency.
As such, Yukari invented something. A currency, that through magic, would allow trade between humans and youkai better. Every person in Gensokyo got given a magical coin, called the 'Yukarin' which could form a magical display, a number. This number was a currency, that could be traded for any agreement. Any other means of trade was still legal, but this new form was something both humans and youkai could use when trading between each other. The coin worked by magic. Losing the coin was impossible, it would just gap back into your pocket, as with being stolen.
People seemed to accrue Yukarins by doing their everyday things. Or, in Reimu's case, not accrue them. She was still dirt-poor, as normal.
This came at the perfect time, and human-youkai trade began. The Kappa were the first to provide trade, Mystia's store still being made, but Mystia was not long following.
It was opening night, and a large amount of humans and youkai were at the new restaurant. Mystia was in charge, and there were several humans and youkai that worked shifts, so she didn't have to work full time. She worked every other day, witha human in charge on her off days. Training them had been hard. Especially Kogasa, who insisted on helping out, as an excuse to let her surprise people at the store. Although Kogasa didn't need to be provided with a uniform at least, she just closed her umbrella, re-opened, and re-materialized in one.
Sadly, Keine advised Mystia to not let Wriggle work at the store, since humans wouldn't agree with an insect making them food. Mystia couldn't understand why, but Wriggle seemed fine with Keine's logic. Rumia was too busy, and fairies were asking for trouble, so Cirno wasn't employed at the store either.
Mystia wiped some sweat of her brow. The orders were in force, the store was full on the opening night. But with the money she made from this, she could buy as many shiny objects as she pleased. After paying the employees, of course.
Mokou and Keine were there, Mokou looking uncomfortable with so many people around. Reimu was there too with the drunken Suika. Marisa was there with Alice, and Sanae was with Suwako and Kanako. Aya flew from table to table, taking pictures. Even the shopkeeper, Rinnosuke, had shown up.
Rumia and Wriggle said they wouldn't come on opening night, since it was Mystia's night, and they wanted to see her shop when it wasn't as busy. They didn't want to be in the crowd, and she understood. Fairies still were not allowed in the village. They had been allowed briefly, but caused havoc. Even then, fairies did not eat anyway.
It was eleven pm, and everything had quietened down. The last two humans, a young couple, left The workers were gone, and Mystia was ready to shut the shop for the night.
Then, the door opened again, and a bell rang.
"I told you that we wouldn't be late." a voice said.
"Oh my, something smells nice~" another voice said.
Mystia froze when she heard the second voice. She knew that voice. She didn't want to know it, but she knew.
It's her.
Mystia looked over the counter, from the kitchen, cautiously, and saw three figures. The first was Yukari herself. The second, centre one, was Youmu, significantly shorter than the two by her sides.
Finally, Yuyuko was standing next to Youmu, her mouth watering.
Mystia felt a shiver down her spine, just looking at the Ghost Princess. Beating eaten by a ghost is not normal. Mystia was the victim of Yuyuko's hunger once. She went into a coma for a week, tormented by horrible nightmares. Yuyuko didn't eat her physically. She ate her spiritually.
"Oh my, Youmu, look who it is!" Yuyuko said, noticing Mystia. "It looks like dinner is already served~"
"Lady Yuyuko..." Youmu said, getting ignored.
Yukari grabbed Yuyuko's sleeve, holding her back.
"She is not the food, Yuyuko. She is the one who cooks the food. I don't understand why you think she's food." Yukari said.
"Have you never had cooked bird Yukari? I liked it back in the time when I was alive." Yuyuko said innocently.
"Lady Yuyuko, why do you only remember things with your stomach?" Youmu asked.
"One's stomach is the quickest route to their heart, Youmu~" Yuyuko said.
"Which is the entire reason we are here. A youkai's food is opening the hearts of humans, and changing tens of thousands of years of stigma and conflict." Yukari said.
Mystia stood behind the counter fully, gathering her courage.
"C-can I take your order?" Mystia asked.
"Aw; so cute! She's nervous Youmu! It's like you when you get all embarrassed!" Yuyuko said.
"I do not get embarrassed, Lady Yuyuko..." Youmu said.
Yukari reached into a gap, and pulled out a pair of underwear with a cherry petal print on them. Youmu went bright red.
"L-lady Yukari?! What are you doing?" Youmu stammered, looking red as a tomato.
"Absolutely nothing that should embarrass you~" Yukari said, her 'fooling around' voice on.
Mystia sighed. She felt sorry for Youmu having to put with the Yuyuko's antics every day, and probobly Yukari's antics more than most too. She wondered how the swords-woman was sane.
Yukari put the underwear back in the gap. Youmu was still red. Yuyuko had her intricate patterned fan over her mouth, chuckling.
"May... I... take your order?" Mystia stammered again.
"Yukari, don't you think that the cherry blossoms are beautiful?" Yuyuko asked.
"Why yes, of course I do." Yukari said.
"Lady Yukari... Lady Yuyuko, you're ignoring..."
"Personally I'm growing a liking for the lotus recently, however, Yuyuko." Yukari said.
"The lotus is not a flower that agrees with a Ghost Princess' nature too much, Yukari." Yuyuko retorted.
Mystia felt annoyed at being ignored. Were these three here just to banter and stop her closing up?
"May I take your order!" Mystia shouted over the pair.
"Ah. She finally got the courage to ask us without stammering." Yukari said.
"Indeed." Yuyuko replied.
"Wait, you weren't just being rude?" Youmu asked.
"Of course not Youmu. Since when are we rude?" Yuyuko said, chuckling.
"I could spend the next ten years..." Youmu began before she just sighed.
Yukari picked up a menu off the table, and began to read it. Yuyuko just thought for a moment, and said "I'll take one of everything!" Youmu facepalmed.
"How are we going to pay for that?" Youmu asked.
"Yukari's paying." Yuyuko said.
"You see? You're being rude..." Youmu said. "You're taking advantage of Lady Yukari..."
"Why Youmu, are you implying that Yukari doesn't know me well enough to know what she was getting herself into when offering to buy me food?" Yuyuko said. "I'd say you are being the rude one here, insulting Yukari's intelligence and our friendship."
Youmu sighed again. She never won arguments. Ever.
Mystia cooked up a lot of lamprey. She didn't have enough in stock to give Yuyuko one of everything, but she didn't seem to mind, she was still getting twelve lamprey. Youmu took a lamprey with some lemon drizzled over it, with some simple herbs, while Yukari had a very strange combination of wasabi and a mild creamy glaze. Mystia wasn't at all surprised that Yukari would eat something weird that no-one else would.
Mystia kept her distance while the group ate, not listening too much to the conversation. However, as Yukari and Youmu ate slowly and with manners, and Yuyuko ate like Rumia would, she noticed a few things.
The topic was clearly, despite all the metaphors and purple prose exchanged between Yuyuko and Yukari, about death. She couldn't understand half of what they were saying, as they used words she didn't even understand. Youmu stayed quiet, she didn't even look like she was listening.
More interesting, Yukari seemed to be asking most of the questions. Only when Yuyuko answered a question with a question would Yukari answer. It was... strange, and felt odd. Mystia got a feeling that the pair were talking about something very serious.
Eventually, all three finished, Yuyuko waiting for quite a while, and Yukari walked over to the counter.
She opened a gap, and pulled out an ornate vial. The vial was filled with a beautiful, glittering liquid. It looked like liquid diamonds. There wasn't much in the small vial at all.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? I know you like shiny things, but this is not just for looking at. It is a special elixir, made by Eirin. It is called the Grand Patriot's Elixir, and inside are just three drops. Each drop is a dose, and magnifies the powers of those who take it massively, although the amount varies based on who takes it" Yukari said.
"So... you're giving me Eirin's shady new drug?" Mystia asked.
Yukari chuckled.
"I guess so, although it's hardly new. One dose releases your latent powers, letting you fight at full potential, without the limiters your body usually has. If a second dose is taken in ten minutes, it will increase that strength roughly tenfold. A third dose taken in the same timeframe would magnify that power by another tenfold, give or take. The multiplier is weaker for stronger beings. The reason there are only three doses is because any more would be too much for your body, and you would explode. The medicine lasts ten minutes, refreshed with each dose." Yukari explained.
"So... why are you giving this to me?" Mystia asked.
Yukari smiled.
"You'll know when the time comes. This payment will be worth far more to you, and your friends, than all the lamprey Yuyuko could ever eat." Yukari said, before she turned to Yuyuko and Youmu.
"I believe we are done here, I have settled the debt."
Yuyuko got up, and waved happily. "That was delicious! I'll have to have Youmu take me back here some time!"
"You know you won't be able to eat all the lamprey, you'll take it from other customers..." Youmu said.
"Silly Youmu, we just show up near closing time, like tonight!" Yuyuko replied, as the two left the store.
Yukari headed for the door, and turned.
"You do not even realize how important what you are doing is, and how happy I am." Yukari said, before adding, "I know you'll know the right time to use that."
Then, Yukari walked out.
Mystia looked at the glittering potion, and thought about everything that had happened, and they had said, attempting to make sense of it all.
The only thing that kept popping into her head was Youmu's underwear. She just decided she needed to sleep on it.