[Reconstruction - Five Days After The Disaster]

The next day, construction of the new Hakurei shrine began. The new shrine was only a timber frame placed on the foundations at this point, but that hadn't stopped Reimu from announcing that it was officially back in operation and accepting donations again. She had even had Tenshi's team of celestial workers make her a shiny new offertory box to sit out front.

When we arrived on the scene, we managed to come early enough that day to catch Tenshi before she left. Immediately after greeting her, my partner had started asking her about the sword.

"Huh? You mean this sword?" Tenshi had asked, gripping empty air and suddenly finding the sword in her right hand. She waved it around with a flourish, leaving scarlet streams of fiery mist rising into the air from its blade-that-wasn't-a-blade.

"That's the one," Renko said with a grin. "I see you still have it. We heard from miss Iku that its a priceless family heirloom, is that right?"

"You were talking to Nagae? I guess this thing's been passed down for sort of a long time. Do you wanna try it?"

"Eh? Can I?" Renko asked excitedly.

"Well, you can hold it. It won't work for an earthly being though."

Eyes gleaming with excitement, Renko reached out and took the sword from Tenshi. It was difficult to know how to hold it, as the nature of its blade seemed to constantly shift for me, but whatever the sword looked like to Renko, it didn't seem to present a problem as she accepted the weapon and tested its heft in her hands. "I wonder how this works? How does a sword reveal an opponent's temperament, exactly?" she muttered to herself.

"What do you mean 'how does it work?'" Tenshi asked, tilting her head in confusion. "It's a sword. It cuts things. You point the pointy end at something and it pierces their soul, allowing some of their temperament to leak out as mist."

"So it really does pierce the soul. Could a sword like this could cut a ghost then?"

"Ghosts, vengeful spirits, pretty much anything. There was even a half ghost who came to fight me. She just told me not to kill ghosts without permission though, she never asked about the weather."

I could only imagine she was referring to Youmu Konpaku. As a servant to the Administrator of the Netherworld, I imagine that having ghosts be slain before they could be delivered to her master's care to await reincarnation must be a problem. I wondered if there was some divine equivalent of paperwork that might be involved in accounting for such things. Yuyuko didn't seem like the sort to keep exacting records, but she was also the sort who seemed likely to surprise you. At any rate, it would seem that Youmu had her own reasons for wanting to end the Incident. Tenshi seemed to have a real knack for making enemies.

"Ok, give it back," Tenshi said to Renko. "You're making it look less cool, somehow."

Renko returned the blade, with only a faint glimmer of reluctance. "So is having one's soul pierced like that harmful? You pointed it at Merry and I yesterday, but our souls still appear to be intact, right?"

"If a temperament were very weak, it might be injured by something like this, I guess, but even animals like you shouldn't really notice. It's like a pin prick."

"And you don't need to physically strike an opponent to pierce them in this way, right? The sword functions at a distance?"

"As long as I can see someone it can read from them. All you have to do is point it at them. That's how I was gathering up everyone's temperaments from up in Heaven."

"You could see individuals well enough to point at them from all the way up there? You have good eyesight, Tenshi."

"Naturally," she said, thrusting out her chest, "I'm a celestial. Everything about me is perfect." Personally, I could think of a few things that could stand to be improved.

"So is that sword yours, Tenshi?" Renko continued, ignoring the bait.

"It is now."

"Ah, so you took it without permission then."

Tenshi scowled at Renko.

"Well, it was just left out in a conspicuous place. No one said anything to me, so it's not like they care anyway, and besides, I like it."

"Wasn't this sword treasured though? Iku seemed to think it was important."

"Maybe it used to be, but a sword is kind of a useless thing to have in Heaven. There's no conflict or strife there, so a sword is just a decoration. No one else would have wanted to use it either -swords are generally for killing people, and that would just lead to more souls clamoring to get in. I'm the only one who figured out a better use for a tool like this."

Renko chuckled. "You could at least call it a symbol. The Hinanawi clan's duty is to control earthquakes, right? Wouldn't the sword be like a badge of office for your father or something then?"

"Enh, maybe, but I don't really care about something like that. No one was using it and it was left out, so I took it. Simple as that."

"Yikes. Forgive me for saying so, but as a mortal human, it's pretty terrifying to hear that something as dangerous as that was just left lying unattended."

"I drove a Keystone into the ground here, so you're fine now. You'll never have to worry about an earthquake again."

"As long as no one pulls that Keystone out, right?"

"So don't pull it out then." She said dismissively.

Seeming to grow bored with the conversation, Tenshi looked away, back toward the team of celestials who were still working on the shrine. They were all dressed in diaphanous, glimmering robes and moving with a grace and ease that made their every movement seem like well-choreographed steps in some effortless dance, even while lifting heavy objects over their heads or working with tools. Changing the topic, I asked her about them. "Who exactly are all of these celestials doing the work on the shrine for you, Tenshi?"

"Them? I dunno, some of my father's subordinates, I guess."

Was that really the case? Even in Heaven did workers have to bend to the whims of bosses and clean up after other people's mistakes? Was nepotism a divine virtue? I couldn't help but feel sympathy for anyone who would have to work under Tenshi, though probably even a subordinate celestial wouldn't like the idea of being pitied by a mortal human.

"Hey, you've still got work to do! Don't spend all day just chatting!" Reimu called, emerging from her shack and hollering at Tenshi. "I want everything back just the way it was. Don't let them put the closets in upside down or something."

Tenshi sighed and stepped away, nodding toward Reimu before floating up off of the ground and calling out to the workers putting the roof on the shrine, shouting instructions. Aside from her clothes, she looked every bit the part of the lazy foreman on a construction site, sitting back, watching and yelling while laborers did all of the work. It was frightening to think that such an existence as theirs might count as a form of paradise.

-.-.-.-.-

After that, we had tea with Reimu and she showed us the Keystone which had been placed in the spot where the shrine had previously stood, with the new shrine just in front of that position, slightly closer to the torii gate. The keystone was driven into the ground, and what was visible above the surface just looked like a grey boulder with a shimenawa around it. Shortly thereafter, Tenshi dismissed the workers for the day and we took our leave as well.

"I don't like it, Merry. I don't think this is over yet," Renko said to me as we walked along the trail back to the village.

"With Tenshi, you mean? You think there'll be some reprisal for her actions?"

"It seems likely. I don't know what's going on in the heavens of course, but if no one up there decides to punish her, some youkai down here might. She made a lot of enemies. I just hope that if someone decides to take that sword from her they don't take the Keystone she planted too."

Renko let out a sigh as she crossed her arms behind her head and stretched, looking up at the cerulean sky from beneath her hat as she walked. "Even celestial beings have to worry about pleasing their superiors, looking good in front of the boss and working overtime when someone screws up, I guess, huh?"

"You say that Renko, but have you ever even had a boss? You were a student with me back in Kyoto and as soon as you got here you set up a business as a freelancer. I guess you could call Keine our boss, but she's also our landlord and ostensibly our guardian, and there isn't much in the way of office politics in an organization with only three employees."

"Never have and never hope to. If that's what life in the corporate world is like, I'll be happy to stay a freelancer."

"Then maybe you could put a little more effort into making our business profitable sometimes instead of pursuing cases based solely on your own curiosity?"

"I'm beginning to think that being a detective is more of a city gig. Maybe I should have picked something else like a treasure hunter or a gentleman thief when we came here."

"Well it's true that hard-boiled detective stories usually take place in the city. The most rural detective I can think of would be Atsuya Higashikawa's Karasukawa series. Those other two jobs are both markets that Marisa's got sewn up though, I think. Has the idea of doing actual work for a living ever crossed your mind? You've done pretty well as a teacher."

"Ugh, let's talk about something less horrible than a career. Like the youkai sage. I still want to know what she's up to. If she won't come to me, maybe there's a way we could go to her. I'd like to at least be able to keep an eye on her movements."

"How do you intend to do that, Renko? You've never even met her."

"I was hoping you could help me with that. Do you think you could sniff her out somehow? Follow her gaps with your eyes or look for boundaries she's messed with?"

"I'm not a bloodhound, Renko, you can't just put me on a leash and have me lead you around."

"Are you sure? I bet you'd be good at it. I'd buy you treats and give you belly rubs if you find her."

"If you try to put a collar on me, I'll hit you, Renko."

And so, with such pointless idle banter we passed a pleasant summer afternoon as we walked back to town.

-.-.-.-.-

[Aftershock- 18 Days After The Disaster]

It was a little less than two weeks later when things once again took a turn for the worse.

At this point it was midsummer and the temple school was dismissed for summer break. As usual during this time of year, our office was nearly deserted, with Renko and I spending the long summer days hiking about the countryside, enjoying picnics along the river or hiding from the heat inside the empty schoolhouse, which, at least in the mornings, tended to be cooler than our cramped room. The complete lack of visitors, let alone paying customers was not at all unusual for us, sadly. It was also not particularly unusual that Sanae would stop by to visit during this time. What she said as she arrived on this particular morning, however, definitely grabbed our attention.

"Disaster! Disaster! Renko, Merry, it's a disaster!"

I rushed to the door, pulling it open to reveal Sanae, panting and out of breath.

"Sanae! What is it, has there been another earthquake?"

"No! Just a few minutes ago the youkai sage came to our shrine. Merry, is she your older sister or something? She looks exactly like you, did you know that?"

Renko, who had been lying on her belly on the tatami mat scrambled to her feet as if she had been flipped. "What!? Sanae, you got to meet the youkai sage!?"

"Eh, well sort of. She just walked into the shrine and started a fight with me. I lost, then came here right away."

"Gah! Why didn't you call me! I would've come right over!"

"How could I call you? Even if I did, how would you get there? I live on the mountain, remember?"

"Did she say anything? Did she even introduce herself?"

"Not really. She said 'good morning,' then started shooting. I knew who she was though, I've seen her once before."

"What!? When was this?"

"Right after we first arrived in Gensokyo, before I met you or Merry. I didn't really meet her then either though, I just watched from the shrine while Lady Kanako went out to meet her. This time she showed up and I realized it must be her from the umbrella but I didn't know she looked so much like you, Merry. I greeted her, and she said 'Good morning,' nice as can be, then ba-choooooom!" Sanae said, making explosion noises and sweeping her hands expressively about in front of her.

"What were you doing at the time, Sanae? Could you have done something to anger her?"

"I don't think so, I was just standing in front of the outer shrine, sweeping the grounds and eating one of those delicious peaches from Heaven."

"Where'd you get more of those peaches? Did you go back up there?"

"Yeah, a few days ago. They're really good, and there's tons of them just growing on trees up there. Do you think she'd be mad about that? I didn't mean to steal them, but there was no one to ask."

"You're a peach thief now, Sanae? Are you trying to take Marisa's job?"

"They're really good, okay? And they were right there! Do you really think that's the problem?"

"No, she must have had a better reason than that for coming to the Moriya shrine. Did she stop to talk to Kanako or anything?"

"No, after she beat me she walked off. She was complaining about how hard it was to climb the mountain. I think she must have been headed for the peak."

Renko turned to look at me. A youkai, perhaps the greatest of all the youkai in Gensokyo, heading into the heavens? I didn't know what it meant, but it couldn't be good. Without a word, Renko brushed past me, grabbing her trenchcoat and hat off of the pegs on the wall and turning to Sanae with a serious expression.

"Sanae, there's no time to waste. We need to follow the youkai sage at once. Can you get us back to Heaven?"

"Eh? What? Why? I don't want to fight her again, she's scary."

"No time for that now, this is an emergency dispatch. Hifuu Detective Agency, move out!"

Sanae snapped to attention, standing stiff as a board and saluting. "Yes, ma'am! Part-time assistant Sanae Kochiya, ready for launch, boss!

They both turned to me, expectantly. I sighed and grabbed my cap. I had no idea if I would be seeing the youkai sage again today or not, but I couldn't deny that I was curious as well. If we did run across her, I'd have to make a point to try and wedge a question in edgewise between everything Renko was sure to ask. I had plenty of questions of my own that I had been thinking about asking her for some time now.