"Stained Torture Incident?" Kenzaki said as he calmed himself down. "What's that all about? But more importantly, why would Yukari gap me in the first place?"
The shrine became quiet as the Outsider noticed Akemi's group alongside Naoki giving him a somber look.
Even Keine, despite tending to a gloomy Kotohime that had managed to pull herself together, has a sadden look as well.
"Before we could tell you why Yukari gapped you here, it's best if we bring up the recent Incident that shook Gensokyo much before your arrival," the schoolteacher suggested. "It can give you better clarification over why she had to resort to this."
"Not only that, my ability is nullification whenever someone is within my radius," Haruto added professionally. "I had it extend it to a field around the Hakurei Shrine and the nearby forest surrounding it so nobody can use their powers to eavesdrop the conversation. Though I didn't let anyone know about it incase they decide to exploit this other than my friends and family. Alongside threatening Akihiro with not getting sweets if he blurts it out."
The younger Sasaki had to giggle nervously once Akemi, Hiroko, Daisuke, Naoki, and his older brother glared at him at that while waving his hands nervously.
"With that out of the way, do you want to hear what happened before you arrived here?" Akemi offered gently.
The Outsider, unsure what's going on in regards to this 'Stained Torture' Incident that Reimu didn't tell him about, yet he felt he deserved to know about it.
Especially due to his current predicament with being stranded in a foreign land against his will.
"Alright then," the blonde young man stated firmly. "Please tell me about the Stained Torture Incident, please?"
All he sees is silent nods from the Gensokyo residents, indicating that they understood what the Outsider really wants to hear.
"Okay . . . the Stained Torture Incident started sometime when reports of missing people both human and Youkai start emerging not too long ago," Akemi started out. "And while unrelated to previous Incidents from before, this brought attention after a gradual increase in disappearances within the Human Village and Youkai-related settlements, most particularly within the Youkai Mountains."
"So basically, thanks to the disappearances, both humans and Youkai have to stay in groups just to avoid going missing, and that's just a temporary solution," Daisuke said. "While things were not severe at first, things slowly grew worse as the days goes by afterwards."
"When did Reimu found out about this?" Kenzaki asked.
"According to the Kouridou store owner named Rinnosuke Morichika, she and a human named Marisa Kirisame came there just to get a heater due to the cold weather when they encountered a Crow Tengu named Aya Shameimaru, a White Wolf Tengu named Momiji Inubashiri, and a Kappa named Nitori Kawashiro alongside Moriya Shrine Maiden Sanae Kochiya," Hiroko explained when her stoic face grew into a bitter frown. "The four of them told Reimu and Marisa what's going on alongside the store owner about the disappearances and they need to keep their eyes peeled until the culprits are found.
"Both Reimu and Marisa offered to help investigate the disappearances to the four young women after hearing this," The young woman in purple and black continued. "Though the Moriya Shrine Maiden and the three Youkai seemed reluctant at first, they agree to let the two help resolve this Incident."
"Sadly, a few days after both of them start investigating, the Black and White Magician went missing under mysterious circumstances after an intruder broke into her home within the Forest of Magic," Kotohime added. "While this is bad news to begin within the Human Village, this affected Hakurei greatly as she and Ms. Kirisame were pretty close friends who been on multiple adventures despite the latter being infamous for her kleptomaniacal tendencies. Thanks to that, the Hakurei shrine maiden started to go on a mad hunt to find her."
"Unfortunately, things didn't go out well as Reimu had found out where Marisa was after being given a special locator built by the Kappa in case of further disappearances as a test run," Haruto said in a stoic tone. "The location the Hakurei Shrine maiden found? An abandoned farmhouse in the forest not too far off from the Human Village. But things turn for the worse when she found out what's inside this building."
"What happened?" Kenzaki didn't want to know what happened next but had a feeling he needed to know regardless.
This, however, caused a few to feel very uncomfortable after the Outsider said this, though Haruto stayed reserved as usual despite the foreboding nature.
"Once Reimu found out what actually happened to Marisa alongside the missing people, she screamed in sheer horror at what she had to witnessed," the older Sasaki stated, his tone gaining a hint of feeling disturbed. "Her screams echoed across Gensokyo that others had to find the source of it as well. But once they arrived, many saw her drenched in blood while brandishing a cleaver-like knife alongside several dismembered and butchered corpses. Even worse, they saw what actually happened to the missing people within the interiors as Reimu suffered a complete meltdown at what she had to witnessed."
"Inside the farmhouse was a horrific sight once everyone saw this," Keine looked down while shaking her head gently without dropping her hat. "A number of Youkai and Humans were tortured with such cruelty that no sane person would ever achieve of, using a variety of tools and equipment used to make them suffer an endless amount of pain that even disturbed those who had seen such slaughter before in their lifetime. Needless to say, it was probably one of the worst they had to witness."
"How bad was it?" Kenzaki dread the fact over what he had to hear.
"Enough to make you lose sleep for weeks, if not months to come," Naoki replied. "Sadly, Reimu was the first to find out herself."
"So, who did this?" The Outsider demanded while trying to maintain his cool. "More importantly, why kidnap Marisa over this?"
"The group of torturers are revealed to be young adults led by Tsūchi Inoue, the son of a well-known merchant and police chief respectively within the Human Village," Kotohime replied bitterly. "And one of the sickest people up to date in sheer insanity inside Gensokyo."
The schoolteacher gave a grim nod towards the rest of the group before continuing. "While some of them had done misdemeanors in the past, Tsūchi was arguably the least liked among the villagers other than his own family and inner circle for his hazardous behavior and over-inflated ego. And no matter what he and his group had done previously with their reckless behavior, his parents often chalk it up as being normal teens trying to get some attention, much to everyone's disappointment and gradual anger."
"Not only that, despite his family appearing upstanding, they don't seem to know or care about their son's harsh behavior, especially in regards to the people he's with." Hiroko added with a barely concealed disgust.
"He even one time tried to harass Akemi and Hiroko for his sick attention and start attacking them with his group when they ignored his advances," Daisuke recalled while tightening up his fist. "Despite Haruto, Naoki, and I managed to protect them while beating them up senseless, his parents weren't too happy that we attacked mercilessly and gave us a warning to not do it again while Tsūchi and his group went to get medical treatment afterwards."
"And a few of his friends are much younger than him yet have really nasty personalities," Akirhiro grumbled. "I had to learn self-defense just out of necessity, but also Haruto offered to be around me in case they decide to go after me for being associated with his group."
"So basically?" Kenzaki felt a sense of dread coming to him.
"Tsūchi's a real piece of work, but what he and his group did by starting the Stained Torture Incident is far worse than anyone had imagined that it brought a major uproar within Gensokyo once news broke out." Kotohime replied. "Especially with testimonies from the victims that were able to overhear and witness the whole event unfold."
"And to answer about why he did this and kidnap Marisa, according to Reimu, Tsūchi's group did this out of sheer boredom since the Youkai and humans they torture isn't enough to satisfy their sick enjoyment." Haruto growled at that mention of that response.
"But why though?" the Outsider demanded.
"Basically, in his words . . . 'why not?'" Kotohime answered gravelly, making the blonde paled in horror.
"Not only that, he had the nerve to insult at Reimu's face, mocking her, Marisa, and everything they did, including resolving Incidents(even including the most life-threatening Incidents up to date), and started laughing maliciously alongside his friends even as she start to have an emotional breakdown," Akemi said before her face turned pale. "The sheer monstrosity that a group of humans are willing to do and not even care one bit about their crimes alongside their family's connections caused her to snapped really badly, and in a blind rage, massacred Tsūchi and his group with extreme and brutal prejudice."
"Even their pleads for mercy made Hakurei torture them even more as she used all their utensils for their sick games and use them to make them scream in horror long enough until all of them were completely dead after being mutilated nonstop," Kotohime recalled. "By the time everyone else show up, nothing left remains for Tsūchi and his group. Not only that, Hakurei pretty much took Marisa and left the scene, mentally broken at what she had to see."
"After that?" Kenzaki felt the urge to believe it's all just twisted joke at this point.
Akemi face grew depressed. "We're not sure what happened, but what Haruto told us from Eirin when Reimu took Marisa to Eientei, she looked traumatized by the whole ordeal she had to witness."
"And from what Eirin told me is that Tsūchi and his group made several horrible wounds so bad that the Eientei Doctor forced Princess Kaguya Houraisan to use her ability of eternity to seal the wounds to prevent them from opening up while she uses her strongest drugs to keep them comatose state to make surgeries more bearable," Haruto continued before he gave off a sigh. "In response, Eirin had people from the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Youkai Mountain, and the Moriya Shrine to help her out with the patients, which they surprising agree to do this, probably due to what Marisa had gone through.
"Not only that, once Eirin examines the tools that Tsūchi's group got revealed to have traces of Lunarian-based gadgetry to help make wounds harder to heal while inflicting more pain on people didn't help matters entirely," Haruto added while shaking his head. "With the Eientei doctor's use of her gadgetry to examine on the group's memories, it's revealed that it was given to them by the Lunarians not too long ago during the nighttime under a full moon outside the Human Village in order to test them out in exchange for doing it on people the Lunarians hated, which Tsūchi's group did wholeheartedly."
"Wait, you're saying the Lunarians did this?" Kenzaki glance at the older Sasaki. "Yor're serious, right? In the Outside World, nobody actually mentions people living on the moon when astronauts landed there several years ago."
"Apparently, Lunarians had a less than stellar view on Earth, stating it to be Impure in their dim concept of Purity and likes to isolate themselves within the Lunar Capitol," Haruto replied with a frown. "However, Eirin, Kaguya, and Reisen Udongein don't have such views like them thankfully.
"But alas, a few days after the discovery, a number of Moon Rabbits and surviving Lunarians arrived one night around Eientei, many of them were severely traumatized and fearful as they offered asylum in exchange to not bothering anyone ever again after the Lunar Capitol was destroyed completely and most of them dead, in particular the higher ups and Eirin's students called the Watatsuki sisters." Haruto went back to what's going prior to the Outsider's arrival.
"How come?"
"Things were supposed to be normal in the Lunar Capitol when several psychotically insane shadow monsters from an unknown reality popped out of nowhere, immune to everything the Lunarians can throw at them, and start massacring everything in sight as the survivors used whatever they can to flee out towards Gensokyo for refuge," the older Sasaki stated. "This disturbed Eientei deeply over what had happened, but more importantly, the sheer savagery the monsters had did to them."
"So, any idea as to know how these monsters showed up?"
"To be honest, nobody, not even Eirin knows what actually happened over at the moon, but taking into the surviving Lunarians' accounts, it wasn't good news to begin with," Haruto shrugged his head. "But Eirin want to believe it's just a concidence as she had a feeling Yukari may have an involvement with the attack."
"I just hope not," Kenzaki croaked fearfully.
"Anyway, once it was discovered what had happened to victims thanks to Tsūchi and his group's horrific actions alongside Reimu suffering a horrible meltdown caused both humans and Youkai considered this to be the last straw as they gone into an uproar against the tortures' families for voluntarily ignoring their children's horrible behavior and for the countless number of victims that suffered with it," Keine reported. "Not only that, half of them came from renowned backgrounds, making things worse than before as both human and Youkai marched into the police office that held the families in for questioning to bring all of them out to execute them on the spot.
"As the families of the torturers coward in fear by the raging mob, the police tried to reasoned the mob down when a few of the torturers' siblings and relatives made the gall of insulting the victims alongside Reimu and Marisa, declaring them weak and pathetic in front of them alongside the victims getting tortured was worth it. This made things worse as the mob violently seized the families and police officers that resisted out of the police office and gave them the worst execution up to date." The schoolteacher had to sigh over recalling this. "Something far worse than what the tortures did to the victims."
"And while the rest of us were not involved in the mass riot, we do know what actually happened to them from eyewitness accounts," Kotohime replied while trying to maintain her composure.
"Were they dead?" Kenzaki asked but felt he already knew the answer from what he heard.
"Yeah, but the families didn't die well," the police officer response felt something akin to a horror movie. "Many were stabbed, bludgeoned, pummeled, kicked, and more horrible ways the mob had inflicted on them, including Tsūchi's own parents, until all of them were literally torn apart into mere pieces. After that, they threw what's left of them outside the Human Village for scraps before everyone went back to their normal lives afterwards."
"And Reimu?"
"She was ordered to take a mandatory rest period until she fully recovers, but that didn't keep the Hakurei shrine maiden from being desperate enough to save Marisa at all cost," Kotohime replied. "We had to literally put her in house arrest for a couple of days until she recovers, and that even worries me still once she's free to leave the shrine afterwards."
This amount of info, despite it coming from a group of people that visited the shrine once Reimu had to go out, pretty much caused Kenzaki to feel disturbed about what happened in the past as nobody from the Human Village mentions the whole ordeal despite a somewhat quiet place within a Youkai-infested land when something came to him, in particular someone they mentioned.
"And how did Yukari gapped me in the first place in all this?" Kenzaki demanded. "Yeah, I now know Reimu had suffered PTSD thanks to those psychopaths, but that doesn't explain why I got transported to Gensokyo by the Gap Youkai?"
"I think I had an idea on how Yukari got you got here," Keine replied
"What is it?"
The schoolteacher looked at the Outsider, their eyes staring into each other intently. "What did you do before you wind up into Gensokyo?"
"I was simply going for a walk around town just to get outside the house during a snowy day," Kenzaki explained. "School was closed for a few days so I won't have to deal with that for the time being."
"And what was the last thing that happened before getting here?"
"The wind was blowing so hard that I had to cover myself to prevent the snow from getting into my face," the Outsider explained. "And before uncovering myself up in the forest near Misty Lake, I felt a sudden dread crept all over me like something bad is happening to me."
"And did you notice anything unfamiliar as well?"
"Once the harsh gust of wind had ended, I pretty much see lots of trees, alongside being stuck in Gensokyo."
The schoolteacher had to shake her head. "Something tells me Yukari must had either took advantage of the weather or have to use her power of her Gaps in order to keep you disoriented long enough to get into her Gap that leads to Gensokyo."
"And what does a Gap actually look like?"
"A gash that somehow rips into reality, revealing a purplish black space filled with eyes that stares at literally everyone," Keine explained, recalling the prior encounter with Yukari alongside Reimu sometime during the Imperishable Night Incident.
"How many eyes?"
"Lots of them within her Gap," the schoolteacher had to suppress a chill coming towards her body. "Nobody knows what is inside Yukari's gaps, but none of us are willing to take the risk of finding out."
"And given the fact that Yukari had known the Hakurei clan for a considerable amount of generations, she must had played a role in regards to the traumatized Reimu," Haruto added.
"In short, Yukari forced you to be Reimu's boyfriend!" Kotohime shouted.
"Why tell me about this?" Kenzaki shouted.
"We wanted to find out why you were sent here in the first place?" Akemi stated. "Naoki was worried that you're starting to get homesick alongside Reimu's stark change in behavior, so we investigated what was going on."
"It doesn't help that several days after the Tortured Scar incident, Reimu was ordered to take a mandatory break from her duties to prevent herself from going insane, though it had mixed results," Keine replied.
"What did you mean 'mixed results'?" The Outsider wondered.
"Days after Marisa was hospitalized, she started to wreak havoc on the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Alice Margatroid's house, Eientei, and the Moriya Shrine despite them wanting to help Marisa heal her wounds," Haruto stated.
"But why Reimu did this after they tried to help Marisa out?"
"From what Eirin recall from their testimonies, it's from Reimu's sheer desperation at wanting to see Marisa again, even if she had to resort to drastic measures just to do it." Haruto answered.
"Even among the Rabbit Youkai I talked to felt really scared when talking about encountering Reimu," Akihiro sadly added. "The way she became desperate while trying to keep herself from going insane much be really tragic if you think about it."
"But the last straw to her fractured sanity was when, after failing to get what she wanted, Reimu drowned herself in alcohol to fill that void," Keine said as her head fell down. "Deeply sadden and wanting to keep herself mentally afloat, she kept drinking herself when a noble by the name of Inin Sekijō alongside his buddies came and felt it was a good idea to mock her.
"While Reimu didn't care about the insults spewed over to her, but when Inin made real harsh remarks on Marisa's character while stating that she deserved getting tortured, Reimu lost it and start brutal decapitating Inin's group like animals using a knife that she found in the bar."
"It ended up forcing Kotohime to place a house arrest order to keep Reimu from endangering more lives regardless," Akemi said. "And while we feared Inin's family may want vengeance on what she did to him alongside his buddies, something tells me Yukari must had intervened on her behalf to prevent them and their allies from achieving it."
"Any proof to back it up?" the Outsider asked when Keine gives him several newspapers that she has with her on the kotatsu without even a response.
As Kenzaki looks at them, his face starts to pale over the headlines of the articles detailing the Stained Torture Incident alongside reading the pages, but more importantly the aftermath of the horrific Incident up to date.
Not only that, the Outsider made a realization thanks to the schoolteacher, the police officer, Naoki, and Akemi's group about what happened prior to him being Gapped to Gensokyo alongside Reimu's past actions that he couldn't help but be disturbed to no end.
"So now what?" Kenzaki gulped nervously, realizing Reimu's true character alongside the Stained Torture Incident. "While I hate leaving her to suffer like this, I'm worried she could kill anyone without warning, especially if she decides anyone that looks at me funny could suffer real badly regardless."
"We have ways for you to return back to the Outside World without complications," Akemi said.
"How so?"
"Enough for you to get back to your normal life without further complications down the road."
Kenzaki had to shake his head over what Reimu had did and her willingness to keep him from leaving Gensokyo whether he likes it or not.
"Okay, so let me hear them out," The Outsider said, wanting to know how to return back home safely.
"Yes, of course," Akemi nodded.
"However, once you leave Gensokyo, you will probably wake up like it's nothing more than a dream afterwards," Naoki added. "And while a number of Outsiders like yourself are offered to stay in the Human Village, there are those that want to return home and Reimu usually takes them out through the Hakurei Barrier. Though, with all the recent events going around, the Villagers probably didn't offer to let you know about it due to the fallout."
"Sadly, if you attempt to leave on your own as Reimu is unwilling to let you leave, it will be much more difficult as it could take you back to the same location over and over again repeatedly unless you have people who have abilities to get themselves out of Gensokyo without breaking the Hakurei Barrier." Hiroko replied.
"And if the Hakurei Barrier is broken?"
"At best, both worlds would have to deal with the fallout with the discoveries of locations foreign to them." Daisuke answered.
"At worst, you probably would expect serious conflict to ensue, with several devastating results." Hiroko added. "And given many within Gensokyo have a number of abilities with lots of applications, this could be really bad for the Outside World to deal with entirely. Is that all?"
Clearly understanding the whole point, Kenzaki nods quietly. "So, what are the options?"
"Alright then," Akemi nodded. "One, you can stay in Gensokyo and not see your friends and family from the Outside World ever again; Two, you can have us take you out back to your hometown through the Hakurei Barrier but risk invoking Reimu and Yukari's wrath; or Three, wait until Keine can become a werehakutaku under a full moon to use her ability to get you back here without further complications, but there could be various setbacks in the process."
The options seemed simple enough, yet something withing Kenzaki noted that each has its own set of consequences if he chooses which one that he could take.
"I'm not sure what to decide on that matter," Kenzaki replied. "Can you give me a day to decide for that matter?"
"Sure," Akemi nodded. "We'll give you some time to think over the options before you go, is that okay?"
"Of course," Kenzaki nodded.
"But we better be careful as Yukari has a number of spies watching our every move, so keep a low profile and don't expose ourselves to trouble," Kotohime stated. "We also need a place to meet again as we can't meet again here twice."
"Any ideas?" Naoki asked.
"My parents' house might be a good place to be in," Haruto offered. "They plan to meet up with my grandparents just to check on them and while Akihiro and I offered to stay in the house, it could give us time to plan things out."
"Plus, I can show you all the good stuff inside the house," Akihiro added before giving a smug smirk. "Unless Haruto decides to bring Reisen into the house."
The older Sasaki growled before he decides to counter it. "Well, at least on the bright side, you didn't bring Tewi, Flandre, any of the fairies, Cirno, or Daiyousei into the house for that matter."
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Akihiro shouted while pointing an accusation finger at him.
"Yeah right."
"Guys, can we leave before Reimu returns without warning!" Hiroko shouted while massaging her head, causing the Sasaki brothers to stop bickering for a moment.
"Sorry about that, Hiroko," Akihiro replied sheepishly.
"Couldn't agree better, little brother," Haruto added.
"Well, with that out of the way, we'll see you at the Human Village tomorrow then," Akemi said cheerfully.
"Will do that," the Outsider nodded as the group head out the Hakurei Shrine and return back to the Human Village, giving the young man a chance to weigh his options in.
Unbeknownst the group however, a zashiki warashi was watching the Shrine at a distance, her stoic gaze alerting her to what's going on inside its interiors.
Though one of the Sasaki brothers' ability is to Nullify other abilities within the radius, the zashiki warashi was grateful for having a special pair of goggles that can see through walls while recording the whole conversation from within.
And as the group starts to leave the Outsider to himself and the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, she knew automatically that heading back to her Youkai employer is now a necessity at this point as she heads towards the forest deep enough to avoid being seen by anyone.
Once far enough, the zashiki warashi used a small bell around her kimono and rang it quietly to avoid drawing attention.
The low yet sharp noise from the bell caused a Gap to open from reality itself, revealing to be Yukari herself.
"Kantatsu, what you have got so far?" the Gap Youkai asked in a reserved tone.
"Just this," the employee at Timber Designs replied as she pulled the goggles off her face before giving it to Yukari, who simply looks at the recording the zashiki warashi had got.
What the Gap Youkai found made her frown over what Akemi's group had offered to Kenzaki, but also the werehakutaku choosing to get involved in this alongside the police officer as well. And while the information and the aftermath of the Stained Torture Incident is sadly inevitable, the Outsider's choice to leave Gensokyo is not something she'll approve of regardless.
"Is that it, Ms. Yukari?" Kantatsu asked as she politely gives a formal bow.
The Gap Youkai give a small nod. "That will be all for today, so get some rest for the day then, okay?"
Thanks, Yukari," the zashiki warashi replied before heading out to what she normally plans to do for the day.
But for the Gap Youkai herself, she gave an internal frown over what she has to discover for the day.
Reimu is so not going to love this. Yukari noted to herself as she heads towards her gap.
8888
For the moment so far, Reimu had done nothing but investigate where the noise was coming from.
Granted it was some of the Fairies she had to deal with, but that didn't explain why they had to do this when the shrine maiden had to train the Outsider in the use of Danmaku.
As she's about to investigate further, Reimu sees a gap open up, revealing to be Yukari with an emotionless look on her face.
"Yukari, what is it?" the shrine maiden asked obediently.
The Gap Youkai had to look at Reimu until she made a response. "It's Keine, alongside Kotohime, Akemi's group, and Naoki from Timber Designs. They managed to use the distraction to tell Kenzaki what happened with the Stained Torture Incident and your actions afterwards."
To prove her point, Yukari pulls out the goggles from one of her Gaps and pressed a hidden button to show a holographic image in high definition that it's almost too real to be a video recording.
Even though Reimu is not too familiar with this kind of technology the Gap Youkai had brought, the Shrine Maiden still trusts her long enough to know that Yukari is telling nothing but the truth regardless.
"This is what's going on thanks to one of the zashiki warashis that was keeping tabs on Naoki as a precaution," the Gap Youkai stated after finishing the recording from the goggles when she glances at Reimu. "What do you think of this?"
Though neutral over the conversation the group had towards Kenzaki alongside the werehakutaku and the police officer talking about it, the shrine maiden barely contained her resentment over the Stained Torture Incident that took Marisa away from her, wishing she could have tortured Tsūchi's group much longer than usual, but she kept her dark thoughts to herself.
But with Akemi's group however, Reimu frowned about that Youkai Hunter who a number of people within the Human Village felt the Sanamoto should be a worthy Shrine Maiden to govern Gensokyo, unlike the Hakurei who is known to be too lazy to perform her typical duties aside from dealing with Incidents that pop up.
It doesn't help that Akemi has with her the Tsunoda guy that is her boyfriend and the Wallace girl who is always blunt with everybody she's with (and a few times the Wallace girl questions why Reimu became a shrine maiden in the first place, something she refuses to tell her outright).
"Is Kenzaki going to abandon Reimu?" the shrine maiden asked fearfully, her mask of stoicism having a small crack of fearfulness and insanity into the mix.
"Let's hope not, because I will be very angry if he does that," Yukari replied with a frown. "Though given Keine's abilities, I rather have to be careful with her if she decides to go all out."
The Gap Youkai then notices Reimu looking at her purplish eyes, the shrine maiden giving a nervous and almost panicked look on her face.
"Are they going to take Kenzaki away from Reimu . . . Kenzaki whom Reimu loved with all my heart," the Shrine Maiden tries to keep her emotions from bursting out of control.
Noticing this, Yukari hugs Reimu tightly while gently patting her on the back. "I hope they do not, but . . . just as a precaution, I may have to keep tabs on all of them just to make sure they don't do anything suspicious."
"And for Reimu?"
"Just try to act like you normally do around him," the Gap Youkai suggested. "The less he knows about what's going on, the better. Is that okay?"
"Yes, Yukari," the shrine maiden's tone returns to calm obedience.
"Great," the blonde-haired Youkai sighed in relief. "Whenever you're ready, I can let you go back to the shrine, okay?"
"Yes, Yukari."
88
The Hakurei Shrine was relatively quiet as Kenzaki contemplates his current predicament once he finally learns what had happened prior to his arrival to Gensokyo thanks to Yukari's Gaps.
While he felt surprised that Akemi's group is willing to help him return back to the Outside World, a part of him was worried about the repercussions he could face if he makes a decision to leave Gensokyo.
However, with Reimu's current emotional state thanks to the Stained Torture Incident alongside seeing this Marisa Kirisame tortured by Tsūchi and his cohorts, the Outsider thought about staying here and tend to the shrine maiden's emotional state when he realize that he has a life outside of Gensokyo and that he doesn't want to worry his own friends and family in the process.
And while the young man can make an excuse to why he we missing the past several days, Kenzaki hate lying to his friends and family yet felt unsure if they would believe him being trapped in a foreign land full of monsters from Japanese mythology, or the fact he had a Shrine Maiden with ties to a Gap Youkai within Gensokyo's borders.
And even if the believe his story about Gensokyo, what's going to prevent Reimu from going on a manhunt to find him, especially due to her abilities alongside connection to this Yukari Yakumo, who could probably make his life more difficult than it already is.
However, Kenzaki staying here could help ease Reimu's emotional stress, but doing so would cause his family and friends to suffer emotional grief from him going missing and not being able to see them again; too many people in the Outside World had already dealt with missing person cases going unresolved, and Kenzaki refuses to be one of them.
The bigger question is this: could Kenzaki risk losing his chance to return home for the sake of an emotionally scarred and frightened young woman?
Or can he risk taking his chances and return back where he rightfully belongs at the cost of endangering himself and all that he cares about to someone who managed to resolve Incidents and isn't afraid to use lethal force to take him back through any means necessary? Especially with some like Yukari who may be more than willing to help commit atrocities to save her from her emotional strife.
And that's not getting into detail on what's going to happen to Naoki, Akemi, Daisuke, Hiroko, Akihiro, Keine, or Kotohime if Reimu and/or Yukari finds out what they told him, or if the group of people he interacted make it out in one piece alongside the rest of Gensokyo . . . if it remains intact after this.
Before the Outsider can think more further about his options, he sees the doors open up, revealing to be an exhausted and tired Reimu, who looked as if she had been busy with whatever Incident she had to deal with.
"So, how was your investigation?" Kenzaki asked sweetly towards the exhausted shrine maiden who was taking off her winter clothes.
"Tired, that's what," Reimu replied as she rested underneath the kotatsu until she turns her head. "What about you?"
"I chatted with Naoki, Akemi's group plus Akihiro, Keine, and Kotohime about things regarding to Gensokyo," the young man replied. "Though they had to leave afterwards to tend with personal stuff, I had a nice chat with them regardless."
Instead of questioning him further, Reimu gave a soft chuckle. "I see then."
"You up for dinner later in the afternoon?"
"Of course."
However, both Reimu and Kenzaki didn't want to confront the other about what they heard from Yukari and Akemi's group respectively.
But more importantly, what's going to happen tomorrow as well.
Omake:
"Alright, we're going to tell you everything we can about what happened prior to your arrival by the Gap Youkai before Reimu comes back," Akemi stated.
"Uh, yeah, about that," Kenzaki glances at Kotohime, who looked mentally scarred. "Is the police officer feeling okay?"
Keine had to groan in embarrassment. "Let's just say . . . Kotohime had to asked a certain someone to distract Reimu for the time being."
"And who was it?"
'What is going on now!' Reimu growled internally as she reaches the source of the noise when she finds a certain blue haired ice fairy floating in front of the shrine maiden with a small army of fairies at the blue haired fairy's back.
"REIMU!" Cirno shouted in a boastful tone before pointing a finger at her. "For defeating me back at the Human Village, I challenge you to a rematch!"
"Why?" the shrine maiden barely suppresses a growl.
"Because I will be the strongest! Plus I will reclaim my victory status." Cirno shouted when she notices the Hakurei gripping her gohei tight enough to almost break it. "Uh . . . what are you angry about?"
"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Reimu answered in a deep tone while giving a very intimidating stare with her cold red eyes before unleashing danmaku on all of them.
Needless to say, Cirno gulped while a number of fairies start fleeing for their very lives.
"I'm a crime starter!" Kotohime's eyes watered up in guilt over what she had done. "They're going to make a theatre about me someday . . . with four sequels!"
"Is she going to be okay?" Kenzaki asked as Keine patted the now grieving police officer who started weeping over what she had done.
"Just give her a moment to compose herself before she can talk it out," the schoolteacher explained politely.
Needless, to say, the Outsider, alongside everyone else, silently agree to let Kotohime get some space for the moment.