"No, Sanae. We can't do it." After hearing Sanae's proposal out and spending several moments in consideration, that was Renko's response. "It might be the humane thing to do, but it's not like we could just..."

Suddenly, Renko froze, mid-sentence, her mouth still hanging open. We both looked at her in confusion for a moment before she swallowed and shut her mouth, continuing to stare, unseeing into space. "No way..." she muttered.

"Renko? What's wrong?" Sanae asked. Rather than responding, Renko's hands slowly crept to her head, her fingers twining themselves in her hair.

All at once she exploded into a flurry of motion, frantically ruffling her hair before slamming both of her hands down on her desk. "Agggh! I can't believe I overlooked something so simple! Could this really be it? We were so close to the answer this whole time!" Saying that, she flopped over backward, kicking her legs out under her desk and laying flat on her back on the tatami.

"What's going on, Renko? Do you have to be so dramatic?" I asked, turning my head toward her.

Unlike me, Sanae was new to these sorts of outbursts and so she scooted over on her knees, looking down at Renko's upturned face with concern.

Renko covered her face with her hands and sighed. "Sanae, your idea is a good one, and the motivations behind it are admirable. But we can't do it. I hate to sound like a cliché, but if it's even possible, we can't predict what the outcomes would be. It would be dangerously irresponsible. We still don't even know how Merry and I managed to get here."

"That's true, but you're here now. Don't you want to..."

"Sanae, no. Let me ask you this. I meant to ask you sooner, but it never came up." Renko sat up off of the floor, turning to regard Sanae with a serious expression. "How is it that you and the goddesses at your shrine came to Gensokyo, exactly? What was involved in crossing over the barrier from the Outside world?"

"Oh. I don't know all the details, but it seemed like teleportation to me. It was a big ritual. Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako showed me how. We spent all day marking the grounds, then the three of us worked together. There was a lot of light and wind that sounded like it was going to tear down the walls, then it all died down and when I went outside, we were on Youkai mountain."

"Did either of the goddesses tell you anything about the ritual?"

"Um... Lady Suwako said that on the other side of a barrier there's a world of fantasy and illusion and the ritual would pave the way to get there. Honestly, I thought there'd be more to it, like we'd still have to move all of our stuff and everything, but to me it was just like going into an elevator. The doors close, and then when they open you're somewhere else. It didn't even feel like we moved. It was more like the ritual changed everything outside of the shrine."

"...I see." Renko tucked her chin to her chest for a moment then suddenly stood up. "Sorry Sanae. It's a neat idea, but we'll have to talk about it some other time, alright?"

"Uh, okay."

Without another word Renko spun on her heel and stepped into the entryway, slipping her feet into her shoes.

"Hey Renko, where are you going?" I asked, climbing to my own feet.

She didn't bother turning around as she answered. "To see Akyuu," she said, sliding the door open. I looked over at Sanae in surprise as she stepped out of the door, then dashed up to put my own boots on, leaving Sanae alone in the office as I chased after Renko.

-.-.-.-.-

Akyuu was sitting in her reading room, drinking tea when we came by. It was much smaller and less ornate than the usual reception room, but the idea of having a dedicated reading room, with a nice view of the courtyard from the second floor and numerous long kneeling tables and cushions for rolling out scrolls was a luxury of a different sort. She looked up at us from her kneeling position over a furl of yellowed paper as we arrived.

"The maids told me you said it was urgent this time. What's gotten you so worked up?" she asked, amiably.

Renko's tone was deadly serious, but I still couldn't imagine what was going through her head.

"Miss Akyuu, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for years, but I've always figured you wouldn't tell me. I may as well try now though. Will you hear me out?"

"Whatever is it?" She asked, setting down her teacup and turning to give Renko her full attention.

Renko eased herself into a sitting position beside her and looked her directly in the eye as she asked "Where exactly in Japan is Gensokyo located?"

Akyuu closed her eyes and sighed. "I can't tell you. It's not that I don't want to, but it's something I don't actually know. It's a rather conspicuous blank spot in my memories from any of my previous lives, and its been erased from any record I've ever seen kept by the Hieda. It hardly matters though. Ever since the erection of the Great Hakurei Barrier, we're completely cut off from the Outside world. It's been more than 120 years since that happened, so you won't find anyone in the village who remembers either."

"It does matter though, doesn't it? Even though Gensokyo is separate from the Outside world, it's still connected to it. Animals and natural things like sunlight and wind pass freely though the barrier, don't they?"

"They do. That's because the barrier is not a physical thing. If a human from the Outside world were to come to the physical location of Gensokyo, my understanding is that they'd be able to cross these lands without issue, but never set foot in our world. If something like a youkai, a creature whose natural home is in the realm of fantasy, came here though they would only see Gensokyo, not whatever might be there in the Outside world. If they knew the right procedures, they could even enter Gensokyo from the Outside."

"Yes, you mentioned that to me a long time ago -'if they knew the right procedures' then someone could get in from the outside. What 'procedures' would those be?"

"The Administrator has told me that such practices exist, but I don't know the details. It's something about creating an opening. Given the nature of her abilities, I suppose its something like her gaps. All I know for certain is that if a creature defies the common sense of the outside world and belongs in the realm of fantasy, they can come here, no matter where they are in Japan. Maybe no matter where they are in the world. I don't think the vampires were Japanese, originally.

"So you can get to Gensokyo from anywhere in Japan, maybe even from farther away if you know how."

"That's my understanding, yes."

"Alright then, thank you. I just have one more question then, on a different topic. The origin of earthquakes is the flopping of a giant catfish underground, is that correct?"

"Yes, any school child knows that."

"And there are quakes in places other than Gensokyo, right?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"So then it stands to reason that there must be giant catfish under the ground elsewhere in this world or in other worlds as well, right?"

"There are multiple catfish all over the world as far as I know. Sometimes when one of them goes on a rampage, it sets off other ones, and chain reactions like that are what cause the most devastating earthquakes. In the Outside world, I think they call the catfish something different though. I read a book that mentioned them at Suzunaan once. Faulty tech tonics or something like that. I can re-read it if you like."

"No, that's not necessary. Instead, let me ask you this: in the 120 years since the Great Hakurei Barrier was erected, has there ever been a catastrophic earthquake in Gensokyo?"

"No, never." Akyuu said with a smile. "Nothing I would call severe at all."