"So your theory is that we're already on an alternate timeline?"

Renko had listened carefully and with great interest to my theory and the story of my meeting with the youkai sage the night before. Despite its delusional premise and its lack of evidence or confirmation, she had heard the whole thing out without judgement. Now that I had finished relating it, she crossed her arms and groaned, looking up at the ceiling as she leaned back, resting her spine against the wall.

"If that were the case then our arrival in Gensokyo in 2003 wouldn't be a result of any constraint on the sage's power or the nature of time, but rather a deliberate action - her placing us right when she wanted us as part of a grand strategy to alter the history of Gensokyo. It's a surprisingly self-centered and conceited theory to come from you, but I have to admit it has merit. It even addresses some of the facts more sensibly that my own theory. Great job, Merry, I like it."

"I'm not sure if I should be happy to receive praise from an experienced delusional like yourself, but it hardly matters if I'm right or wrong in the end. We'll never know and we can't do anything about it either way."

I sighed and took a sip of my tea, before setting the cup down on the edge of her desk. I had ended up spending the rest of the night on the roof of the school, only getting down when Renko had awoken in the morning and rushed outside. I had had to bear the indignity of waiting for her to go and borrow a ladder from a neighbor at the crack of dawn in just my nightie before I could slink back into our office and explain everything, but at least it was a Sunday, with no classes or students lining up outside. Renko had waited patiently for me the whole time, but still wasn't dressed herself, having put everything on hold except for making tea until I had told her every last detail. Now I was starting to feel sleepy after my long, restless night, but Renko was wide awake with excitement.

Laying down on her stomach on top of her futon, she rested her elbows on the wadded blankets and looked up at me with her chin resting on her hands. "That's true," she said. "If there was an alternate time line before in which the youkai sage had done something to earn the wrath of the heavens, then we'd never know about it. Any history book from that timeline would have ceased to exist and the only person who'd remember any details would be a being who could exist in a state unaffected by the convolutions of time. I'm pretty sure that's a group so exclusive it only includes the sage herself."

"Exactly. So the whole meeting with her was pointless. We can't even be sure we time traveled. You and I have memories of the Scientific century, but we're the only ones who do, and there's no way to look outside and verify it was really there. The only truth we can observe and confirm is that we are currently in Gensokyo."

"Us lower dimensional beings are but playthings in the hands of a higher dimensional entity. If such a being were to exist, their abilities would be indistinguishable from those of an all-powerful capital-G God to people like us. Ten billion days and ten billion nights might pass in a looped instant and we'd never be the wiser.

I closed my eyes sleepily, then opened them to look down at my partner staring up at me and smiling. I picked up my teacup, yawned, then set it back down. "Renko, why do you think we're here?"

"Oooh, that's a big question Merry. I think philosophers have been playing with that one for the last 20,000 years or so, so it might be a bit beyond me. Aren't questions like that closer to your specialty anyway?"

I closed my eyes again, sighing, then felt her place both of her warm, slim-fingered hands on top of mine. "Look, Merry. I don't know if this world that we're in is connected to the one we left or not. It could be the same, or it could be an alternate timeline, or we could have already lived ten thousand looped lifetimes and had this same conversation innumerable times amongst them. But according to Relative Psychology, all of those different experiences are valid and divergent, with none affecting any of the others or being any more or less 'real', right?" Her deep brown eyes looked into mine, never turning away from their freakish nature or shying away from meeting someone's gaze like I tended to. "The future is unknowable and time only flows in one direction. But that just means the future is ours to make of it what we will. There might be a universe of other Renkos having this conversation an infinite number of times with other Merrys, but this one, and everything that comes after it, are ours. No matter what the machinations of the youkai sage might do, or how she might modify, loop, abandon, recreate or manipulate this timeline, we get to go through it together. We get to make unique observations and share our experiences with eachother. This is our life to live. Together, for better or for worse."

"Renko, you've really become quite the Relativist." I said with a smile.

"Living in a world of fantasy tends to have that effect on people, I guess." She said, smiling faintly and giving my hands a squeeze. "If the youkai sage is going to try to choose the best future for Gensokyo, then I'm going to try to find the best future for us. That's all anyone can do, really. I get to go through this particular timeline with you though, so I'd say its a good one."

I smiled at Renko, trying to return the easygoing, slightly cheesy grin she was wearing, but feeling like I only succeeded in making an awkward, wobbly half-smile. "Don't say things like that, Renko. You'll chase Sanae away again."

"Enh. Sanae's a friend, but only Merry is my partner. I intend to be with you for the rest of my life, remember? Were you maybe getting a little jealous again?"

"Not at all! Ideas like that are why I should leave the delusional thinking to you, Renko. You're a true master."

"Uh oh, now I've done it, Merry's getting snippy. No need to sulk, Merry."

"I'm not sulking! I never sulk. I'm just sleepy after last night."

"Alright then. You get some rest, Merry. I'll go pick up some breakfast and bring something cold back for you. You can have it when you wake up. Unless you think you'll get too jealous while I'm gone."

"Somehow, I think I'll manage. Get going, Renko. I'm sure I'll be ok after a quick nap." The innocent smile she gave me as she gathered up her clothes and headed for the screen in the corner of the room to get changed was the heart-warming sort I wish I could wear at a moment's notice, just as she did.

Maybe the distance between her ready smile and my nervous one was the perfect encapsulation of our relationship though. Her forging ahead, heedless of whether her path lead off a cliff or into a wall and me following behind, bumbling and bewildered but firmly in tow. And both of us smiling, in our own ways.

-.-.-.-.-

Later that day, after I had woken up from my nap and eaten breakfast with Renko, then, in the early afternoon, we had a visitor. Marisa Kirisame stopped by our office with a singular pupose: to deliver an invitation to a party.

"Hey, we're havin' a party today. You guys look about as busy as usual, so why not come by?"

"Where at, the shrine's still in ruins, right?"

Marisa grinned. It was that same slightly manic smile that usually accompanied her declaration of a challenge. "We're gonna have it up in Heaven. It was Suika's idea, a sort of groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hakurei Shrine."

"How are you going to have a groundbreaking ceremony in Heaven? And didn't you just celebrate that last time?"

"That was a 'commencement of rebuildin' project' party. This is a 'groundbreakin'' party. The main event is we're all gonna head up there and plow Tenshi into the dirt again. That's the groundbreakin'. After all, we heard Yukari got to go after her with no bigwigs from up above makin' a fuss, so I figure it's only polite that those of us who happen to live in these earthly realms go pay her a little visit too. I'mma express my thanks for all her efforts somethin' fierce," Marisa said, pulling her Hakkero out of her apron and flipping in the air before snatching it in her palm. "I'm just invitin' you guys to the afterparty though."

"Well, that sounds a little dangerous," Renko said, glancing over at me, "but if that's the way you do things in Gensokyo, then then 'when in Rome,' I guess. Do you mind if we invite Sanae to join in?"

"Go ahead. The more the merrier and it keeps me from having to fly you all the way up there. Just show up around six or so. I'll be bringing some Earth booze."

With that, Marisa climbed back on her broom and flew off. Renko stepped outside and waved to her as she left, then walked over to the small branch shrine sitting on a raised stone plinth just behind the storehouse that Sanae had erected several months back. Renko bowed before the altar and clapped twice before asking "Hello, Lady Yasaka. Is Sanae around by chance?"

There was moment's delay before a sourceless voice resounded in both of our heads. "Renko, this is a branch shrine. Sacred altars are not to be used as telephones."

"Well then, since you're working with the kappa and fond of technology, maybe you could ask them to build us an actual telephone so we don't have to bother you? Would it helped if I phrased my request as a prayer? Oh mighty goddess of the mountain, please hear my words. There's a party tonight and Sanae's been invited."

There was silence for a moment. I wonder if the sound of a goddess sighing would carry over whatever means Kanako was using to covey her words to us. "I'll tell her about it. Whether or not she ends up going, I'm sure she'll want to come see you and hear all about it, so expect her soon. Is this party to mark an end to the whole earthquake situation? I note that the rains have finally stopped."

"Quite right. A Keystone has been implanted in the grounds of the Hakurei shrine which should protect Gensokyo from any future earthquakes. If you and Lady Suwako like, you could accompany us to the party as well. It's going to be in the heavens. I could even introduce you to the culprit behind the Incident."

"Thank you, but we'll pass. You girls have fun with Sanae."

In the moment before the connection faded, an idea suddenly occurred to me and I rushed forward, quickly bowing and clapping before the altar as well. "Um, Lady Kanako..." I began. Whatever curse Renko eventually earns for using a goddess like a telephone operator I'm sure to bear too, I thought to myself.

"Yes, what is it, Merry?" said the voice in my head.

"If it were possible to do, do you think it would be right of us to try and convince the celestials behind this event to place Keystones in the Outside world too? To prevent earthquakes?"

There was another moment of silence, during which I could almost feel Lady Yasaka crossing her arms and frowning in thought.

"I take it you have foreknowledge of a great earthquake that will occur at some future point in the Outside world? Is it in Suwa?"

"Ah, well, um, no, but..."

"Ah, nevermind. I shouldn't even have asked that. When we came here we became goddesses of this small, closed off world. The fate of the Outside world is no longer any of our concern."

Silence hung in the air again for a moment, but this time it was because I didn't know what to say. Perhaps a goddess who could no longer gain faith from the people of the Outside world would feel no obligation to help people there, but as a human, I still felt empathy. Renko and I had knowledge of coming disasters, and potentially at least, a means to avert them. Could the fear of the unknown really balance the scales against the countless lives that would be lost?

"Merry, take it from me. A human should never try to play the role of a god, even if they have the best of intentions." The sudden voice in my head surprised me, and I looked up, even though there was no one to see.

"You possess a unique gift of knowledge, which might be used to prevent numerous tragedies if carefully applied. If you were to attempt to do that though, you would become like Sanae. Even if they did not know who was responsible, people would pray to you for salvation. Certainly you can't claim to know the exact time and place of every earthquake to occur in the next several decades, and it's inevitable that some of those disasters will result in injuries or deaths. Those who are hurt, or those who lose loved ones will call out to you, wondering why you didn't take action to protect them as you did others. As mere humans though, there is no way you could save everyone. At that point you would have to choose between abandoning your humanity or accepting responsibility for the death of everyone you couldn't save. Such actions are the sort of things that make people stop being human. If you became a god or a youkai in such a manner, it would not be long before humanity would begin to petition you for more than just protection. Why couldn't earthquakes come to strike a person's enemies, or spare some bit of scenery or a certain building? Any human who has had their destiny altered even once will never cease to imagine other ways in which they could benefit from such interference. If you intend to make such a decision, it is not something to be done lightly. If you cannot reliably deliver humans to salvation, you might even be dooming yourself. There's little faith to be found for a failed god who can't deliver promised blessings."

I was without any words to reply. Instead I bowed my head again in silence. After a moment, I thought I felt something, like a hand softly patting my head, loving and motherly.

"Might I hazard a guess that this idea you just mentioned was originally something of Sanae's?" The voice in my head asked.

"Ah, yes, originally."

There was another silence that felt like it could have been a sigh. "Even though we've told her it's alright for her to be a human here, and that she doesn't bear the responsibilities of the divine, she can't help but to think like a goddess sometimes. I'll talk to her after she comes back from your party. Renko, I feel that you must be worried about the fate of the outside world too somewhat. There is no need for that. You two are humans, time travelers or not. You should live as humans and concern yourself only with matters that are within your control. A life well-lived is one that leaves acts of god to the gods and embraces humanity, with all its limitations and frailty for what it can achieve and experience despite that."

There was another break of silence, then the voice spoke one final time. "Alright, that's enough sermonizing from me. That's what formalized human religions are for. I'll have to see about training some priests from the village at some point. I'll let Sanae know and send her your way. You two just worry about the party and having a good time with Sanae for now. That's a concern much more befitting of a human."

We both spoke a word of thanks, and then the sense of a nearby presence was lost.

-.-.-.-.-

"It's going to be a party to beat up Tenshi again? I'm totally going! If everyone will be there, maybe it can help raise the prestige of the Moriya shrine!"

Sanae had been excited as soon as she showed up at our office, and revealing the true purpose of the party had only made her more so. She had wanted to depart for the heavens immediately to see if she could be the first to claim a victory over Tenshi and Renko wasn't the sort to talk her out of it, so we ended up arriving quite early, just a little past four in the afternoon.

"There she is!" Sanae had squealed excitedly, less than a minute after we broke through the layer of clouds atop Youkai Mountain. Without the scarlet thunderstorm, the guard tengu or even bad weather to worry about, the trip up to Heaven had been quick and easy this time. Holding both Renko's hand and my own, Sanae maneuvered us over toward Tenshi's position and descended to deposit us safely on one of the countless floating islets.

"More of you?" Tenshi asked with exasperation as we descended. "Just how many people did that oni call?"

"What do you mean more, are the others already here?"

"Well, I don't know who all is coming, but there have been earthlings coming up to challenge me since this morning. Some of them have been here since first light. Living in Gensokyo must be really boring if you're all so eager to come bask in my presence."

"We manage to find ways to keep busy." Sanae said, smiling fiercely as she whipped out her wand and pointed it at Tenshi. "Are you up for a rematch? I remember beating you pretty badly last time."

"How uncouth. Can you earthlings not even wait for a match to start before you start being such poor sports?" Tenshi asked, drawing forth her sword. "Those bad manners of yours will look pretty ridiculous once you realize what it means to fight against a celestial blessed by the heavens themselves."

"And you'll look pretty silly once you realize you're mouthing off to a living god!"

-.-.-.-.-

That was all we heard before the two of them rushed towards eachother to collide with a sound like a thunderclap as rumbling earth and roaring wind once again did battle on the idyllic fields basking in sun-drenched splendor. Renko and I left the two of them to their match and found our way to the place where numerous others had already gathered, atop a hill carpeted in pillow-soft grass overlooking the scene which had a collection of mats laid out and bedecked with all manner of earthly food and drink. Yuyuko, Youmu, Alice, Patchouli, Marisa, Sakuya and Suika were all already here, with only Reimu as a conspicuous absence.

"Isn't Reimu coming?" I asked as we arrived.

"She should be here shoon." Suika slurred. "The shtar of the show always shows up last." Even though we were several hours earlier than Marisa had told us to arrive, she was clearly already quite thoroughly sloshed. With Suika though, that was probably not an unusual state of affairs.

"Yeah, besides, humans shouldn't stay up in the heavens for too long, it could be bad for 'em." Marisa said with a wink.

"I don't see Remilia here either," Renko added. "Sakuya, did you leave her behind?"

"Regrettably, being above the clouds doesn't suit vampires very well. She sent me along with a load of earthly delicacies with her blessings. I believe her intention was to beat out the heavens in a contest of snacks without even needing to be present. In your case though, miss Usami, her absence might be for the best. I don't doubt that if she were to see you again right now, she'd find some other strange request to demand of you."

"A strange request? Of me?"

Patchouli was the next to speak, her gravelly drawl sounding somewhat less wheezy than usual. The air in the heavens seemed to agree with her asthma. "Remi's been obsessed with playing the armchair detective lately. She's been sending Sakuya out to round up all manner of 'suspects' and accusing them of the most fanciful crimes."

"Oh, do I have you to blame for Sakuya kicking down my door in the middle of the night then?" Alice said, turning to Renko.

"I'm innocent!" Renko pleaded, raising her hands. "Hiring me was her idea from the beginning. If anything she's my competition now, not my protégé."

"Because of that it's gotten much noisier in my library lately with her reading through all of the mysteries I own," Patchouli continued. "While I don't mind Remi's company, it's hard to get much research done with her yelling 'I knew it!' constantly at the books. You're an avid reader of mysteries too, are you not? Maybe you could come by for a book discussion some time soon and get her out of my hair."

"It's Merry who's the mystery otaku, not me, but that sounds like fun."

"Perhaps you could bring that mountain priestess with you when you come," Sakuya said. "Milady and the young miss both seem to have taken a liking to her."

"Really!" Renko said, shaking her head. "Well, I'll be sure to tell her that. I'm sure she'd be happy to come along." I still wasn't quite sure how Sanae and Flandre had managed to hit it off so well so quickly. Flandre was a sweet child, but it was hard to feel safe around her due to the overwhelming sense of barely constrained power she exuded. Maybe Sanae had had an easier time of it since the two shared similar levels of maturity, or maybe the idea of coming into tremendous power at a young age was something Sanae could relate to.

Speaking of Sanae, it wasn't long after that that she came drudging up the hill toward us, shoulders slumped and robes smeared with dirt. "Merry, Renko, I lost!" she wailed as she came toward the mat we were sitting on.

"There, there Sanae. You can't win them all." I said, hugging her shoulders as she collapsed onto my lap.

She looked up at me, pouting.

"Aw, don't worry about it." Marisa called over to her. "I think everyone here lost to her today. You did this morning, right Yuyuko?"

"A whole bunch!" she said, smiling with her eyes closed. She had three plates set out before her and was eagerly eyeing the packed trays of food sitting behind both Sakuya and Youmu. "Miss Hinanawi can be quite formidable when she sets her mind to it, it seems." She didn't seem the least bit upset about it.

Renko looked around at the faces of everyone assembled. "Wait a minute, she beat you all? Most of you beat her before though, right? Sanae, where's Tenshi now, is she coming?"

"Oh, she left after our match." Sanae replied, sitting up. "I think she was headed toward the Hakurei shrine."

"She went to get Reimu?" Yuyuko asked. "Oh good, let's start eating then."

"Just wait a moment lady Yuyuko, they'll be here soon. I brought two extra trays just for you, don't worry." Youmu said, her shoulders slumping.

As numerous conversations started up between the various people gathered together, Renko took the opportunity to single out Suika during a momentary lull and question her in a voice low enough it wouldn't carry.

"Hey Suika, did you invite the youkai sage tonight as well?"

"Yukari? Naw, I figured she already had plenty of fun blowin' up the shrine an' all. Why? Didja need to ask 'er somethin'?"

"Well, I'd like to ask her plenty. I've never met her, remember?"

"Oh right, you shaid somethin' about that before."

"I'm sure she wouldn't have come anyway. She never shows up at any party I'm at."

"What? Sure she does. I remember drinkin' with her back at the shrine just after I met you guys. You didn' see her there?"

"What? She was there?" Renko looked over at me. I nodded. "We never saw her at all."

"Well, she was around, but it's not too surprising if you never saw her. She's always like that. Everywhere she wantsh to be and nowher' she doesn' wanna be. She's prolly here right now. Just bein' all sneaky." Suika belched loudly then took another pull from her gourd and stared up at the azure expanse of the sky.

Renko and I could do nothing but look at eachother in surprise.

-.-.-.-.-

A little later Reimu and Tenshi arrived, and our little party became a proper banquet. The food that Tenshi supplied was very simple, consisting of only a few ingredients, mostly raw, but each of astonishingly good quality. Sakuya's dishes were just the opposite, elaborately made and presented, with a variety of rare and hard-to-come-by ingredients. The main dish was one of her creations as well: an enormous catfish, seared and seasoned to perfection. Renko spent the party happily flitting from group to group, joining in many conversations, sake cup in hand. I, on the other hand, spent most of the night keeping Sanae company, drinking water or peach juice by her side and laughing at others drunken antics. It seemed it would take her some time to get used to Gensokyo's typical style of party.

There was, however, one period when Sanae and Renko were going on about something far too ridiculous for me to have any interest, that I got up and went to get more food. While I was there, Tenshi happened to be present as well, scowling dubiously at a tray full of crepes loaded with berries and Devonshire cream. I noticed that she still had the Sword of Scarlet Perception in her hand. Evidently no one had asked her to give it back yet. As I was busy wondering about that, I looked up to see Tenshi was now staring directly at me, giving me the same dubious look that the crepes had endured a moment before.

"What is it?" I asked, trying not to instinctually cringe away from her.

"The same thing I noticed the last time we met." She raised the scarlet sword and once again pointed it at me, before sweeping it over to point at Renko. Crimson mist boiled from its ever-changing blade. "It's strange. You and that one that has the same temperament as the Hakurei. Your temperaments are all mixed together," she said, furrowing her brow.

"Eh? how so?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I've never seen it do that before. The temperaments the sword reveals are the very essence of a person. That's supposed to be unique to each individual. The essence of what makes them distinct. But yours are all... " she held up two fingers on her free hand, twisting them over eachother as an illustration. "She's sunny and you're a rain shower, but together, the two of you are something else. Like a sunshower or something."

"What does that mean? Is it just because we've lived together for a long time?"

"No, lots of people do that, and it's normal for two people to gradually affect eachother's temperament, but this looks different. This is..." She grumbled for a moment, tilting her head as she searched for the words. "Each of you has your own temperament, but it's not really a whole one on its own. It feels like it's missing something. But when the two of you come together then you both have much more similar temperaments and they look whole. It's kind of like this party. Everyone here has an individual temperament, but when everyone's gathered together you all form a weak temperament together, a sort of boisterous, rowdy air. You and your partner do the same thing with just the two of you, but the temperament you have when you're together is clearer than the ones you have when you're apart. That's weird."

"Well, Renko always calls the two of us the Hifuu Club. Could something like that have a temperament of its own?"

"I dunno. Like I said, I've never seen something like this before. You two are just humans though, you should probably be a little more careful."

"Careful? About what?"

"There's an expression I've heard among people on Earth that says 'run with the herd or be left behind.' It kind of means you should forsake your individuality to fit in with the crowd. You two feel like you're doing that, but the crowd is just the pair of you. Like you don't really either have a proper temperament unless the two of you are together. I dunno, it's just weird. Like all of this human food. It's like you went out of your way to heap things on top of eachother then cover it all in dirt to make foods that are perfectly good on their own into something else."

"That's not dirt, those are seasonings. The brown stuff is chocolate shavings. Have you tried it?"

"Ugh, I'm not sullying myself with that." She turned on her heel and walked off, a look of utter disgust on her face.

I stood and watched her go, staring absentmindedly as I pondered what she had said. Her words continued playing in my head until I was suddenly shaken by a blow to the back.

"Oi, Merry, you ok? You looked like you were choking or somethin'. Here, have a drink," Marisa said, thumping me on the back again while pressing a bottle of sake into my hands.

"Ah, I'm fine. Sorry about that. I can't drink this much though." I said looking down at the bottle.

"Then come pour for us, Reimu was gonna tell the story of the time she almost burned down Korindo." She said, grinning as she held out her cup.

I looked over to Renko, who was still deep in an animated conversation with Sanae, then nodded, following along, Tenshi's words fading from my mind.

-.-.-.-.-

Sanae, Renko and I left the party, which was likely to continue all night, shortly after sunset. Renko and I had classes to teach in the morning, the food had all been eaten, and neither Sanae or I were much in the mood to watch everyone else make fools of themselves. Besides which, though it had been close to a year since the time we had showed up late for classes with Renko smelling of alcohol, I could still remember the force of Keine's headbutt quite clearly. I was in no hurry to repeat that lesson or her endless lecture which had preceded it.

Sanae was quite tired by the time we got back to the Moriya shrine, and asked us to stay the night, but we managed to talk her into flying us back as far as Misty lake, from which we could walk the rest of the way back to town. We'd have to talk the gate guards into allowing us in after dark, but Renko had made a point of getting to know all of them well enough that they would at least recognize her, and Sanae was far too groggy to ask any more of her. I was pretty sure she wouldn't nod off while flying home, but the worry did cross my mind.

As Renko and I walked through the warm summer night together, fireflies danced beside the river, slowly pulsing yellow-green light into the darkness. A pleasant breeze whispered through my hair as I tucked its length out of the way and looked up at the beautiful moon hanging in the sky. The river burbled and churned and the occasional chirp of an insect or frog resounded in the night, but the moon was silent -silvery, pale and still as it looked down on us.

"I wonder if we really are on an altered timeline, in a world where history was changed by the youkai sage?" I mused aloud, not really expecting an answer.

"Who could say?" Renko replied. "There's no such thing as history for a timeline that never happened."

I thought about that for a moment, then a question dawned on me as I stared up at the moon. "Hey Renko?"

She stopped walking and turned from her position a step or two ahead of me to look back quizzically.

"What is it, Merry?"

"I just thought of something. Eirin told us that the moon and the heavens were distinct places, but they shared a lot of similarities. Both are pure lands devoid of impurity filled with people who look down on the Earth and have no natural lifespan. It sounds to me like while they may be distinct, they have more in common with eachother than either has in common with the Earth. What if there was some sort of connection, or alliance between them?"

"What are you thinking, Merry? That the moon was the true mastermind behind recent events, not the youkai sage?" Renko stepped to my side and then turned and looked up at the moon, taking her hat off and fiddling with the brim. "I suppose it's possible. It seems more likely that the moon might be able to convince the heavenly courts not to confiscate the sword or punish Tenshi for taking it. What reason would the lunar society have to do any of that though?"

"Maybe in the history before Yukari looped time it wasn't the heavens that she attacked, but the moon. Would it be possible for an advanced civilization like theirs to know that she had altered history and want to send a message to her not to try it again? Maybe they even had Tenshi target the Hakurei shrine because in the previous timeline the sage teamed up with Reimu to go to the moon or something."

"I think the idea of Lunarian society managing to retain records of a history that no longer exists is pretty unlikely, but it's also not necessary. Even in the timeline we're in now, there was a clear instance of the youkai sage and the Hakurei miko working together to antagonize the moon, now that I think about it."

"Oh right! During the Eternal Night Incident. Yukari used Reimu to attack Kaguya, to send a message that she could find a way to hurt even someone like Eirin if she refused to play by Yukari's rules! In that case the mastermind behind all of this earthquake business would really have been Eirin! Do you really think this stretches that far back? Eirin would have had to wait more than five years to get her revenge over such a minor slight and would have had to use not only Tenshi, but the heavenly courts and whatever political apparatus on the moon could influence them as her proxies to do it. Would she really go to those lengths?"

"You're going to put me out of business, Merry. That's a wilder delusion than even I could come up with. There's no proof of course and the only one who would ever know for sure would be the culprit. It's so neat and tidy it almost makes me want to believe it though. It's just the way Eirin would do something like that if she were going to now, acting through numerous blinds and feeding us false information so that she could be assured there'd never be a single scrap of evidence pointing back to her."

"It's just like the question of why we were brought here then, there's no way to ever be sure."

"Not unless we can go to the moon and ask someone. Maybe we should try. Do you remember when we talked about going on a moon tour?"

"Are you still upset that you missed out on drinking Satellite Iced Coffee in the zero-G café?"

"Well, yes. Aren't you? That isn't what I was going to ask about though. You said back then that maybe there was another way we could get to the moon, didn't you?"

"Did I?"

Renko laughed at my automatic response. Innocently, carelessly, but in a way that gave me a strange sense of déjà vu. "Well if you had had an idea like that before, it might actually work here in Gensokyo. If you don't remember what it was though, I guess we're out of luck."

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Renko, I took her hand in mine as we gazed up at the moon. It hung there, gleaming and mysterious, further away than the heavens, one more mystery waiting for the day when a great detective would find a way to reveal its truths. For now though there was nothing more for us to do. We seemed to come to the conclusion at the same time. Renko gave my hand a squeeze, and then as the fireflies danced around us we made our way down the path to the village, on our way back to our everyday lives, and maybe, just maybe another, more terrestrial mystery. Maybe if you were to come to visit the storehouse behind the temple school one day, that mystery could even be yours.

Until the time that you come and knock on our door, however, I'm afraid that I must end the story here. Until that day that we might meet again, whether in the pages of another story or in the storeroom behind the temple school in the human village, we remain, as ever, at your service, the humble members of the one and only Hifuu Detective Agency.

We look forward to your visit.

[End of Book 7 - Scarlet Weather Rhapsody]

-.-.-.-.-

Author's Afterword:

Hello, this is Asakihara. Thank you very much for your continued support. In the postscript of the last book, I mentioned that I wouldn't be adding in Silent Sinner In Blue. I wonder if now you can see why.

This time I broke the fourth wall just a little, as Renko and Merry have realized that the Gensokyo they're inhabiting might not be quite the same one that we know. Perhaps that is only because in the official version of events there wasn't a great detective present. Or perhaps it was because I wanted to imagine 'what if Sanae was in SWR?'

At any rate the next story is Subterranean Animism. I hope you look forward to reading it as much as I have been looking forward to writing it.

Translator's Afterword:

That was SWR. Thank you for following along this far if you're still with me. August is going to be a busy month for me, with lots of travel for both business and pleasure. As a result, I'm going to be putting translation on hiatus for the rest of the month rather than pushing out random, sporadic updates. I'll still be working on translation in the background here and there though to build my backlog back up and plan to start Subterranean Animism in the last week of August or first week of September. If all goes well, I'll have enough chapters ready by then to release a number of them at once and get the story off to a good start.