Author's Note:
And we're back again! Seems like 1.5-2 months is my regular pace for these updates, huh. Thank you all for your patience!
Let's see, updates… I've gotten busier at my job, and my responsibilities have slowly been growing, but I don't intend to let that stop me from posting updates here. Hope you're all in for the long haul!
Anyways, again, thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
[EDIT: You ever reread a document 7 times and only notice something STILL got left in that you wanted to edit out AFTER you posted it for all the public to see? Help me.]
~ STAGE 6: Nostalgic Lectures ~
[START]
Reimu's evening plans were pretty straightforward: return to the shrine, cook something for dinner for herself (and her slightly unwanted guest), relax, and then go to sleep. What she hadn't expected was for the unwanted guest to take over the first task.
"You really don't have to cook, you know." Reimu peered into her kitchen. "You're a guest, after all."
"Yeah, but I'd like to." Luka was already hard at work, having appropriated an apron and tied her hair back. "If anything, the fact that I'm a guest makes me want to do it even more. Just leave it to me!" It was a bit of a surprise to see how quickly she found her way around Reimu's kitchen. Without even asking her, Luka'd already gathered all the tools she needed, set up wood for the stove, assembled an assortment of vegetables, and washed and set the rice to cook. Within minutes, the kitchen was filled with the sounds of cutting, crackling, and sizzling. " " And cheerful humming, with a smell like something being fried. "~ ~ "
… She's got a nice voice. Reimu closed her eyes for a moment, caught up in the pleasant tune.
"Hey, do you have any liquor sitting around?" Luka cut off her own humming.
"—" Reimu's eyes popped open. "Huh? Er, yes. Why?"
"Woop, nevermind. found some." Luka suddenly had a bottle and a box of matches. "Yeah, this should do."
Chik! … Chik! Foosh!
"HUH?!"
Luka continued humming, seeming completely untroubled by the flaming wok she was holding over the stove.
What came next involved a lot of unnecessary, bug-eyed screaming from Reimu, followed by nervous staring at flames and buckets of water almost being flung at people. It was a miracle dinner ended up being finished after that wild display. Even moreso, how Luka managed to turn that fiery wok into an appetizing-looking platter of stir-fried vegetables and rice.
Luka looked like she was trying not to laugh as she set the dishes at the table. "I didn't expect you to freak out like that. You've never seen a flambé before?"
"No?! I don't even know what that is!" Reimu was still shaking. "I thought you were trying to burn my shrine down! Are you some kind of pyromaniac?!"
Luka nearly doubled over, quivering just a little with her hand over her mouth as Reimu swatted at her with her gohei. Seriously, she lit a fire like that so casually and thought the reaction was funny?! She really was a pyromaniac, wasn't she?!
"Easy, easy." Luka wiped a tear from her eye. "It's a self-taught cooking trick I'd use every now and then back home. I just felt like showing off a little, your shrine wasn't in any danger."
"A 'trick', huh?" Reimu glared suspiciously. She wasn't sure how much she trusted the phrase 'self-taught'.
Luka nodded. "By adding liquor to a dish as it's cooking, then burning that liquor out, you can add more complicated flavors to it without overwhelming the flavor with pure alcohol. There's some nuances to it, but as long as you choose ingredients that complement each other and burn the right amount of liquor out, it should turn out alright. Why not give it a try?"
Reimu stared nervously at the platter, then huffed as she sat down. "Honestly…" Seriously, this outsider was nothing but trouble. How she managed to make something so good after creating such chaos boggled the mind. "Thank you for the food…" She hoped it didn't taste like charcoal.
With a careful, hesitant bite…
"... !"
A complex explosion of flavor punched right into Reimu's taste buds. The vegetables were definitely lightly-singed by the earlier display, but there was a new flavor that had somehow snuck its way in. And, paired with the rice… Somehow, it was a perfect compliment, in almost every way. Simple, but with an inexplicable complexity.
"Like it?" Luka smirked, reading her expression.
"It's delicious!" She probably had stars in her eyes, but she couldn't help it! Reimu was in no way a bad cook, and she'd even made similar dishes to this before. But, this—the version Luka had put together was just a few giant steps beyond. "I don't know how you did it, but it's delicious!"
A proud nod from Luka. "I'm glad to hear that. I figured it'd be nice to treat you to something a little special as thanks." She grinned. "Fire can be a little scary to work with at first, but as long as you use it properly with the right stuff, you can get some good stuff. … Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed a bit of your liquor. Sorry about that." She rubbed her neck.
'Sorry'?! Honestly, if you could cook this for me every day, I'd be set for life! Reimu was too busy stuffing her face to say it out-loud, but judging by Luka's satisfied expression, she seemed to understand.
With that, Luka began to eat her own plate. While she started with a smile, as she ate, a complicated sort of expression formed on Luka's face. She had mentioned she did the whole 'flame-be' thing back home. Was she reminiscing again? It seemed like a bad habit of her's, to always be troubling herself with some deep thoughts. If anything, seeing her mope all the time was getting a little annoying.
"... I can escort you through the barrier and you can try returning to the outside world, you know." Reimu prodded. "I mean, I did go through the trouble of having Kotohime set up a place for you to stay, but you don't need to force yourself to stay here if you really don't want to."
Luka frowned. Her brow furrowed in thought. "What about what Yukari said?" Her eyes drifted to the side. "If I'm just going to disappear when I walk back out the barrier, then…"
"Don't take everything she says at face value." Reimu waved her hand dismissively. "It's true that if you really are a youkai that is a possibility. But she could also have been lying, maybe to scare you into staying."
Luka still seemed hesitant. "Why would she do that?"
"How am I supposed to know? That hag's an enigma to everyone." Reimu said. "... But, that's not really the point. Do you want to try to go back home?"
It was clear that Luka wanted to go back. That homesick, puppy-eyed pout she kept flashing made it abundantly obvious. And yet, she seemed to swallow that feeling, and her eyes met Reimu's.
"Thank you. But no, I don't think I should."
Reimu's brow creased. "Still afraid you'll vanish?"
"No, it's more complicated than that." Luka frowned. "... Dad wasn't really secretive about the fact I was adopted. I knew for most of my life. It didn't change that he was my dad, and that I really do love him, and my old life!" There was a clear hesitance to her words. "But… I couldn't really help but think about my parents. It was hard not to, every now and then. Who they were, why they didn't… Well, why didn't they want me?"
Reimu's lips curved downwards ever-so-slightly.
Luka sighed, not noticing it. "Dad wasn't normally a secretive guy. But, whenever I asked about them, it was like he'd dodge the questions. Always vague statements. I never pried, because it seemed like a touchy matter, and it didn't seem important, but…" She narrowed her eyes. "Yukari knows something about them. I don't know what she's thinking, or planning, but if it's got something to do with them, maybe I can get some answers. Figure out why dad was so secretive about them, you know? I want to know about them." An awkward smile. "There's other reasons too, things I can't really explain for a multitude of reasons. It's hard to find the words..."
"It definitely sounds complicated." Wanting to know anything about your parents who'd orphaned you? Going to absurd lengths to figure out that sort of stuff? Reimu couldn't really relate. "I don't really get it, but you seem pretty serious."
"Mm." Luka nodded. "... Besides, judging by those stars in your eyes earlier, I've got at least one person who likes me being here."
"I like your cooking, let's not get carried away." Reimu passively took a bite of rice.
Luka slumped her shoulders jokingly. "Ow, food-zoned."
… That said, Luka really was a damn good cook. It went without saying that dinner was delicious, far better than normal. If she was this handy in the kitchen, Reimu half-considered telling Kotohime 'nevermind, actually' anyways and keeping her around the shrine. If only the cost of feeding two people wasn't such a concern…
Speaking of food and buying it.
"By the way, I saw some fried tofu among the stuff you bought." Reimu said. "Are you seriously going to try and bring that to the fox?"
"I was going to try to." Luka nodded. "She held up her end of the bargain. It's only fair that I follow through, right?"
"No, I mean," Reimu frowned. "How are you planning to get to the gap youkai's house to deliver it to her? I'm not helping you to go over there for something like that."
"I—" Luka stopped, like the gears in her brain hit a jam. "... Crap." Of course…
"You should've planned further ahead." Reimu sighed. "The sum of your year is on New Year's Day, after all."
"What's that, a proverb?" Luka folded her arms. "Well, now what…"
"You can always just store it away. I hear the fox visits the village sometimes to run errands for her master." Reimu smirked. "Of course, I'll eat it if you don't feel like going to that trouble."
Luka scowled at her for that. With a sigh, Luka walked back into the kitchen, presumably to make sure they were tucked away someplace Reimu wouldn't be able to find. She wasn't being serious, anyways…
After a brief pause… "What the hell?!"
"Huh?!" Reimu stood up. "What, what is it?!"
"It's gone! You didn't seriously eat it, did you?!"
Wait, what?! "Of course not!" I may be broke, but I'm not a thief!
"Wait…" Some sounds of shuffling about. "Is that… it is!" Luka rounded back in, a confused expression on her face. In her hands was a small black box, which she seemed to be eying like it was some kind of legendary artifact.
"Hm?" It took Reimu a moment to recognize the shape. "Is that a mobile phone?"
"Yeah, it's my cell phone. How'd it… —Wait." Luka looked at her. "How'd you know what it is?"
"I don't exactly know, but I've seen some before." Reimu shrugged. "Most outsiders wander in with something like that. A weird little box-shaped shikigami they hold to their ear and talk to. I figured it was like that." There was also that one shop near the village. The owner tended to hoard various knick-knacks that had floated in from the outside, and she'd seen a few in his inventory every now and then.
It looked like there was something in that description Luka wanted to comment on, but she chose not to. "I… see." She looked down at her shikigami suspiciously. "What the hell… The tofu was gone, and my phone was tucked away in its place. What's up with that?"
"Maybe your shikigami followed you here and ate the tofu." Reimu shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if it burnt through most of its energy finding its way back to you."
Luka stared at her like the translation spell suddenly turned off. "What the hell are you talking about? It's a phone, they don't eat."
"Oh, really? You learn something new every day…" Reimu thought for a moment. If the tofu was a gift for the fox, then maybe… "Hm. They do say those who leave offerings for foxes can find themselves blessed with good fortune…" Given it was Yukari's shikigami, Reimu contemplated checking her cupboards to make sure the tofu was the only thing that was taken…
"Good karma, huh." Luka looked down at her shikigami and furrowed her brow. With a hesitant flick of her wrist, the box opened up. "—battery's at '999%', what—" She shook her head. "No, forget that, let me…"
Reimu watched silently as the girl fiddled with her shikigami. There was a brief pause, as Luka took a deep breath and pressed her thumb rather decisively against it. A brief loud noise emanated from it, and then it started speaking in the same language Luka had been when she first arrived. Whatever the little thing was reporting to her, it wasn't good news, as she grimaced the moment it started up. With a curse, she smacked it again with her thumb and it shut up. "No signal. Of course not, what was I expecting…" Luka's shoulders sank as she slumped back down to the table, forlorn eyes still staring at her newly reacquired shikigami.
"What exactly are you doing?" Reimu tilted her head.
"Trying to call home. See if maybe I could reach my dad somehow." Luka glared at no one in particular. "Of course, there's a whole dimensional barrier or whatever in the way, so that plan was dead in the water before I even tried."
Reimu looked at Luka for a moment, then to the shikigami. "'Call'? What do you mean?"
"It's a phone." She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and then caught herself. "I guess that doesn't mean much to you, huh." Luka sighed. "Basically, it's a device we can use to talk with people across the world, as long as you have their specific phone number. and a tower to transmit the signals."
"Sounds complicated." And now she was back to not really caring.
Luka continued to stare right into it. "... Even without the barrier problem, there probably aren't any cell towers anywhere around here. So the main purpose of a cell phone is basically moot here. Why give it back to me?"
Reimu could only offer a shrug as an answer.
"... Hm?" Luka's eyes narrowed, then widened. "Wait, she screwed with my contacts too?!" A glare, and Luka turned to Reimu. "I'm going to guess you don't have a phone, right?"
"Of course not. Most people in Gensokyo probably don't." Reimu could only imagine the kappa as an exception, and even then whatever they used was probably totally different. "Why?"
"Your name's in here now." She held the shikigami out for Reimu to see. Sure enough, on the small lit display was a bunch of words in a language she still didn't recognize and one set she did: her own name, written in proper Japanese. "That might explain why I don't see a number listed…"
"Odd…"
A brief pause. Luka's eyes narrowed even more.
"I don't recognize this ringtone." She pressed her thumb into the box. "What's—"
"ねこ、みこ、霊夢 愛してる
ねこ、みこ、霊夢 何してる？
ねこ、みこ、霊夢 酒乱ゆらり
ねこ、みこ、霊夢 無論ふらり~ —"
There was a deep pause as both of them stared at the singing shikigami. Luka gaped in wide-eyed shock, as if barely processing what she was hearing. Reimu's eyes darkened and smoldered.
On the screen, next to the contact's ringtone setting, was a single character written in Japanese: "草".Neither really understood what that was supposed to mean. But they could guess who had named it. And could imagine the connotation behind it.
A vision of a giggling old hag hung over the room.
A thin thread in the back of Reimu's head called 'patience'—one that had steadily been worn down over the past few days—snapped. In the next instant, a scene not unlike two cats fighting ensued.
"Hand it over!" Reimu hissed, futily reaching for Luka's now-pulled-away phone, the girl's hand firmly pressing back against her face. "I'm drowning it! Then I'm tracking that hag down and beating her to death with it!"
"Are you crazy?! My phone is a victim, not an accomplice!" Luka pried her back, holding her phone back as far away as she could. "You are NOT turning it into a murder weapon! DOWN GIRL, DOWN!"
All the while, the shikigami kept singing its nonsensical tune to completion.
It took a little while for things to calm down after that.
Reimu cleared her throat. "... That aside, it's getting late. We should probably get some sleep soon. There's a lot you're going to want to learn if you're going to stay in Gensokyo, and we'll be starting tomorrow."
"I figured." Luka flopped back-first onto the floor, exhausted from the earlier scuffle. "So, what's the first lesson?"
That was a good question. If Luka was going to commit to staying in Gensokyo, there was a lot of ground to cover in terms of explanations. More than Reimu actually wanted to do, but… Anyways, it was probably a good idea to start at the most important thing for someone who wanted to live in Gensokyo to know.
"It's simple. Tomorrow morning, I'll teach you about 'danmaku'."
The following morning, after a nice breakfast (yet again prepared by Luka—'Since when were eggs this good?!'), Reimu and Luka gathered in front of the shrine.
"So," Luka settled into a crouched position, stretching her legs and arms. "Where do we start with the whole 'bullet storm' thing?"
"Danmaku." Reimu corrected.
"That's what I said."
Reimu shrugged. "It's pretty simple. Do you remember the Spell Card rules I mentioned the other day?"
"Nonlethal lasers and explosions, yeah." Luka nodded. "We didn't go into a ton of detail."
Good, she remembered. Okay… "The principles by which those rules work center around 'danmaku'." Reimu said. "As for what 'danmaku is', it's kind of hard to explain what it is without showing it in action."
Reimu extended both of her hands outward in front of her. In one, she held a regular paper ofuda charm. In the other, nothing but her bare hand. With a deep breath and some concentration, a small light formed in that empty palm—changing, refining itself until it eventually mirrored the ofuda in her other hand.
Luka applauded plainly. The sight had probably worn out its shock factor, considering she'd witnessed it a few times already. "Neat. So, what does this have to do with me staying here? Some kind of self-defense skill?"
"Of a sort. As I mentioned before, Spell Card battles and danmaku work in tandem as a system. We settle disputes between one another by these nonlethal dueling rules. Meaning that if you ever happen to run into a youkai while wandering around, you're going to want to be able to fight them with these rules."
"I see… So, as long as I fight with these rules, I shouldn't ever be in danger of dying?" Luka perked up interestedly.
"Not exactly." Reimu shook her head. "The system's not exact. It's kinda like dulling a sword so that it doesn't cut someone to ribbons—it's still going to hurt if you get hit dead-on by a super strong opponent. If you push your luck against the wrong person, you might actually die, so don't just go picking fights with whoever you want."
"Ah, well isn't that just great." Luke sank. "I guess it's better than nothing, but…"
"There are some other, maybe more important details, but it's kind of a pain to try and go over that all at once. We can worry about those parts later." Reimu cleared her throat. "As you can see," She held up the copy ofuda. "danmaku can take on any kind of appearance its user wants, from generic shapes to stylized bullets. I'm sure it looks like any other kind of magic to an outsider, but it's a bit more mundane. Like a supernatural martial art that anyone can do."
Luka folded her arms. "You're saying that, but it's hard to parse any kind of difference just by looking at it."
Reimu considered her words. "You can think of it as reflective of Gensokyo itself. It's based around belief and intent." As if to demonstrate, Reimu waved her hand. Without any conscious thought, she simply 'believed' that the bullets would appear around her. And of course, as she did, a circle of ofuda bullets formed and began orbiting around her. "You just need to believe that you can shoot bullets, and you can shoot them. And if your intent is that the bullets will be nonlethal, they'll be nonlethal."
"Peter Pan logic, huh." Luka narrowed her eyes skeptically. "So, what? Is it seriously just belief? It can't be that simple."
"Why don't you just give it a try?" Reimu swiped her hand forward. The bullets she'd formed all shot past Luka and zoomed to a nearby tree, smacking and popping against it like a series of punches, leaving a small cluster of leaves to flutter down to the ground. "It really is that simple. You should be able to do it if you just go for it."
Luka looked at her hesitantly, before turning to the tree she'd fired at. It was a simple process, really. The whole point of the Spell Card rules and danmaku was so anyone could learn them. So that youkai could freely show off their power and cause incidents without worry of creating any serious harm to anyone, and so that humans of Gensokyo could freely resolve the incidents those youkai caused. The balance of Gensokyo was maintained by their existence. It was key that any new resident of the land understood those rules.
In the short few years since she'd introduced the system, pretty much everyone who tried to use the system was able to shoot danmaku. Something based in such a simple system of belief in a place which literally ran on it made it intuitive and easy-to-use. It didn't require anything complex, just the belief that someone could shoot bullets. Just that universal belief, even if it was incomplete or half-hearted, was enough. At this point, the only people who 'couldn't' shoot danmaku were people who actively chose to stay in the village (or their shop) and not partake in the duels.
All Luka needed to do was believe she could shoot danmaku and she would.
Luka looked carefully at her target, then down at her hands. After a moment of consideration, Reimu watched as Luka took up a firing stance with one arm outstretched, her index finger and thumb extended, not unlike a gun.
Reimu thought back to a moon rabbit, then discarded the thought. Probably just a coincidence.
With Luka aimed at the tree, she waited for her to fire.
One breath. Two breaths. Three…
Luka moved her other hand to brace her extended finger-gun.
Ready… And…
…
… … …
"You can shoot whenever you're ready, you know." Reimu squinted.
"I know! Just," Luka grunted. "Give me a second…"
Another extended grunt. Luka's muscles tensed like someone suffering from constipation.
"... … Are you going to shoot?"
"Yes! Right now!"
… And, nothing. Luka just continued to strain herself.
Reimu smiled understandingly. "If you need to use the bathroom, the outhouse is over there…"
"That's not it! Besides, I went before we started—" Luka shook her head and spun around. "—look, nothing's happening, okay?!" She waved her finger-gun incredulously. "I'm believing that I'll shoot, and trying to shoot, but nothing's coming out!"
"..." Reimu blinked. "Wait, you're serious?"
"Yes!" There wasn't a hint of irony or deception on Luka's face. She really was struggling to shoot danmaku. "As serious as I can be!"
"... That's a first." It wasn't an exaggeration; absolutely everyone who had tried to use the system before was able to use it. From vampires to oni, from regular humans to Lunarians. Even people who had never participated in Spell Card battles could easily adapt to the rules once they were explained. "You should be able to do it just by trying to. Are you really serious?"
"How many more times do I need to say 'yes'?" Luka pointed back to the tree and exerted herself a few more times. Not a single bullet fired. "See?"
… She was sincerely having trouble with such a basic fundamental. She looked like a lost, frustrated child having trouble understanding simple multiplication. Reimu wasn't even sure how to react. She'd never encountered this problem before with anyone.
"Hmm." What a troublesome outsider… What could have been causing her to struggle so hard? The concept was so simple, even something as weak as a fairy could pick up on it.
… … … Or, perhaps that was the point?
Danmaku required some amount of power, whether it was spiritual, magical, or otherwise. Thus, while the theory was simple enough to grasp, it required at least that fundamental basis. It was easy for youkai to use it because they already had the necessary fundamentals. Humans in Gensokyo also could, once they grasped the idea behind it. Maybe, because Luka was an outsider, she just didn't get the idea.
How could Reimu explain the idea behind something like danmaku to an outsider?
"... Aha! That's it!" Reimu smashed her fist into her palm. "How about we try flying instead? That's even easier, and it might help you understand the process."
Luka just stared at Reimu like the same child suddenly being told division existed. "How exactly is learning to fly supposed to help me figure out magic bullets?"
"It's easy. Just watch."
Flight was even simpler than danmaku. Even more so than shooting bullets, which could be compared to martial arts, flight was akin to breathing. The action was natural to anyone and everyone in Gensokyo. That was because flight was, in itself, a natural part of Gensokyo.
Without another word, Reimu's feed left the ground. A mysterious sort of floating, with no justification. A mysterious sort of flying, but it was very much real. She wasn't carried by the wind, or lifted up by any kind of external force. She simply floated, with as much ease as if it were just her natural state of being. That was how it was for everyone in Gensokyo, as far as Reimu understood.
"There. Now you try."
Luka only offered her a blank stare. "Try what, exactly?"
"This." She dropped to the floor, then floated up again. "Go on, try it."
"No, I saw that part pretty clearly. I got a healthy dose of that two days ago. I'm asking you to explain what you're doing, exactly, to pull that off."
"Huh?" Reimu blinked. "I'm flying. What else is there to explain?"
"Everything?" Luka scratched her head. "Am I supposed to move my body in some kind of specific way? Exert some muscles in my body? Breathe in a specific way? What are you doing to pull that off? You've got to explain with a little depth."
"What depth? It's just flying." As far as Reimu understood, from the very beginning there wasn't much for her to really elaborate on. Both danmaku and flight were things everyone in Gensokyo could do with ease. "There's really not much to explain. You just do it."
"That's not how—" Luka threw her hands up, mumbling something under her breath. "Look, can't you give me some kind of description? Explain your process, somehow?"
It felt ridiculous to try explaining something so basic. Was Luka seriously struggling so badly to grasp it? She didn't even want to try. "Urgh, if it can't be helped, then…"
Reimu mulled over her words for a bit, trying to think of the best way to summarize her mindset when she flew. Back then, when she first learned how to fly, how it was explained to her… How did he put it?
"Okay… Let's think of it like this." She stood up straight. "Think of what flying means. What it stands for. To fly is to be unbound by all things; to float, unhindered, by the very laws of the world which bound man to the earth. By releasing yourself from those binding shackles, you defy the common sense that declared that 'what goes up must also come down'. That is what flight is: freedom from gravity, mankind's first fantasy." She nodded with a smile, content with her own words. "Well? Did that clear it up?"
Luka stared at her, eyes wide. "That was really beautiful. Super poetic description."
Reimu beamed pridefully. "Hm-hm~."
"It told me absolutely nothing." Guh—
"Well, what do you want me to say, then?! That was how I learned how to fly! Isn't that enough to understand it?"
"No, it really isn't." Luka sighed.
"Well, maybe you're just a bad student, then!" With a huff, she turned away, arms folded.
Mutter, mutter. "Or you're terrible at explaining things."
"What was that?!" She peeked over her shoulder.
"I said you're a bad explainer!"
It was useless. The entire lesson soon devolved into a really stupid argument. No matter how Reimu tried to explain something so simple, Luka just couldn't grasp the concepts she was putting forward. What was so hard about it, anyways?!
"Maybe it's just that you aren't properly motivated enough to fly." Reimu cupped her chin, and a devious smile crept onto her face. "Maybe if I had you walk the plank and put a man-eating youkai underneath you…"
"Try it. I'll drag you to hell with me."
A mutual glare was shared, sparks ready to start flying. Right before one of them started a fire…
"Oh, it's quite lively this morning. And with a fresh face, at that."
An elderly voice, like that of an old grandfather, came from just above the both of them. Reimu already recognized it, before she and Luka even turned to see who had spoken. Looking only confirmed it; a large, flying turtle, old and with a gray beard, hovering just overhead. Even though he took on more of a shape akin to an actual turtle, she could still make out the faintest outline of a smile on his face.
"Er." Luka stared stupidly. "Hi?"
"Gramps, what are you doing up so suddenly?" Reimu, meanwhile, completely lost all the malicious aura she'd been exuding, going totally meek.
"I could overhear your conversation all the way from the lake behind the shrine. You were quite loud, you know."
"Ah." Reimu only got meeker. "W-Well anyways, you don't need to force yourself to fly around and come check on me. I'm just trying to teach someone how to fly, and she's not really understanding. I've got this under control."
"Oho? So threatening your student is having everything under control?"
"Well, that's…" She started fidgeting.
Luka, who had been staring at Reimu like she'd suddenly morphed into a completely different species, snapped out of her daze. "Sorry, can I interrupt?" She gestured between the turtle and Reimu. "'Gramps'? You're saying that in an adopted sense, right? You're not a quarter-turtle or something?"
"What are you going on about? Are you stupid? He's just an old friend." Reimu said, avoiding direct eye-contact with the turtle. "He used to fly me around all the time, when I first started as a shrine maiden. That's all."
"Forgetting quite a bit in that explanation, aren't we? For instance, that I was the one who taught you how to fly." Genjii huffed. "It seems you're struggling to do the same."
"Mrgg…" What? It was Luka's fault!
"Uh… huh." Luka looked at Reimu, then at the floating turtle. "I'm Luka East, a former 'outsider' or whatever the word is. You are…?"
"Genjii." He lowered himself down to them. "Merely Genjii. That is all."
"Nice to meet you, sir?" Luka still looked like she was processing the conversation. Her eyes continued to shift between the two of them, as if theorizing on their relationship in the back of her mind. "And, yeah, Reimu's explanations are kind of terrible so far."
"Why you—!" Reimu forcibly restrained herself in Genjii's presence.
"She is simply giving the advice which feels most natural to her." Genjii said. "She means well, I assure you. It's just that in her conceit, Reimu tends to forget her particular gifts are not shared by others."
"I'm standing right here…" She felt like crying.
"That is why I am saying it so bluntly, yes." Genjii turned to her. "You've a myriad of natural talents, my lady, but teaching is not one of them."
"U-Urgh." Why was everyone picking on her lately?! "It's not my fault she can't understand such a basic concept."
"Ah, you misunderstand." Genjii let out a mild laugh. The old turtle certainly got more jovial in his old age, didn't he? "To teach is not merely to explain the basic principles to someone. You must adapt your explanation to another's worldview so that they may understand it."
"?" Reimu tilted her head. "What do you mean? I said it pretty clearly…"
"... Mmm." The turtle turned to Luka. "You said you are an outsider, yes?"
"That's what everyone keeps calling me, yes." Luka shrugged.
Genjii nodded thoughtfully. "The outside world comes from a diverging mindset, completely different from that of Gensokyo. From what I overheard, you are concerning yourself with the 'why' and 'how' of flight, rather than simply accepting it."
"I mean, that's just logical, isn't it?" Luka rubbed the back of her head. "It's just how the world works. There's got to be a method, or some explanation for how it works."
"Perhaps. And indeed, maybe with time you could possibly uncover some hidden truth behind the grand fantasy of flight." Genjii said. "But as long as you are in Gensokyo, the law of this land is that unexplained, natural existence is what drives this place. That not every question requires an answer."
"Uh… This sounds more like a philosophy lecture than a lesson on flying." Luka folded her arms. "Can't you just explain it to me normally?"
"We have been explaining it to you normally…" Reimu pouted.
"Hm hm." Genjii closed his eyes for a moment in thought. "We merely have different ideals on what defines 'normal'. To teach, one must be willing to learn as well. It's been quite some time since I've spoken with an outsider in great detail, as well…" The turtle drifted over to Luka, an eager spark in his eyes. "Let us see if we can help you find your own method of flight, then."
Before she knew it, the old turtle had basically snatched her student from her. He'd begun verbally prodding at Luka, a familiar lesson plan to Reimu. Luka raised an eyebrow, but humored him. After a little while, Reimu found herself seated back at the main shrine, watching from afar.
He really just wanted an excuse to get out of the pond, didn't he…
It wasn't a common occurrence for Genjii to nose around the front of the shrine, not since he'd retired from their work. Against her will, Reimu had gotten to know many youkai over her career as a shrine maiden. Genjii was the first and potentially the oldest she'd met (if she could ever get a serious answer from Yukari to measure that). From his own words, he was a friend of a previous shrine maiden, who had shown him mercy generations ago during an incident long past the memory of anyone in the region. After that, he'd sworn loyalty to the Hakurei shrine maidens and taken it upon himself to watch over each one who took on the role.
… Supposedly. Reimu was pretty sure he was just a weird turtle who liked hanging around the shrine. Whatever his story was, the two of them had worked for quite a time before he'd finally decided to retire. Despite her horrible memory, she could still vaguely recall the time before the Spell Card rules were put into place. Back when she was just a little kid…
Watching the lecture, Reimu could make out the image of a little girl with black hair and a traditional shrine maiden's uniform fussing about in the same place Luka stood.
"Gramps, can't I just rely on you to fly everywhere? I really don't get how to fly…"
"You can't rely on me forever, my lady. Try to think of flight as being a natural thing for you to do. As the shrine maiden who presides over fantasy, it is only natural that you can fly."
"... Ahh, I don't get it at all!"
… Even back then she hated hard work. Her job came with too many responsibilities, it was hard to juggle everything at once. If anything, she welcomed Genjii nosing in, since it took some of the burden off of her. Now, she could at least sit back and try to relax for a bit in peace…
… … … … … So, of course the moment she tried to, she remembered something else.
"Ah," Reimu grimaced. "Er, Gramps? Since you're here, do you mind watching the problem child for a bit? There's something I need to go take care of."
Luka frowned. "You look the same age as me."
"Am I not already doing that?" Genjii seemed to smirk. "Worry not, your charge is in good hands."
Cheeky old man…
With a sigh, Reimu rose and walked to the side of the shrine. There, tucked between the trees surrounding it, was a small dirt path. Easy to miss, it barely had enough space for one person to squeeze along it. Even without accounting for her memory, it'd have been easy to forget it was there.
The only reason she didn't was because the path it led down was the host to a particular milestone in her career, albeit one not many people knew about: her very first incident.
After a few minutes of walking, the treeline opened up to an open field, the grass cleared in the center to reveal a great wooden torii. It stood untouched by time for the most part, likely in part to the guardian which watched over it.
Upon first sight, it would've looked really stupid. Floating idly in front of the gate was a large, almost comically-sized ball with a yin-yang symbol on it. Just looking at it, one would've been forgiven for mistaking it as just an oversized Yin-Yang Orb. But as far as Reimu knew, the big thing had no connection to her trusty orb. Then again, she didn't know much about it to begin with.
The only things she knew were things she'd gleaned from that incident all those years ago. Her memory was hazy (as always), but she could still recall the basics. The frightful shake, before her shrine came crashing down. An ominous overflow of impure, malicious energy tainting and tearing apart everything in the surrounding area around her shrine. All of it leading a trail back to the gate, with a stained, berserk guardian standing watch.
Reimu didn't really delve into an investigation back then. It wasn't like she could—back then, she couldn't even fly. The only thing she had was her Yin-Yang Orb, with which she effectively played the world's most life-threatening game of kemari. What followed next was all a bit of a blur, involving mist-like outlines of spirits, spiritually corroded seals she had to purify (by kicking the Yin-Yang Orb at them, of course), and a lot of screaming. Whether it was hers or the spirits', she couldn't remember.
All she remembered was that by the end of it, she had a purified gate with whatever was sealed inside firmly locked back in-place, and the guardian back where it belonged. Since that day, she made it a minor habit to check in on the gate every now and then. 'Now and then' typically being whenever she remembered it, which was basically just down to 'whenever'. So long as nothing bad happened like that again, she was content to not do anything else with it.
"... Hm?"
Reimu snapped out of her reminiscing to spot a human-sized silhouette slowly approaching the gate and its guardian. "Hey! What are you doing here?!" Naturally, she darted down to them, preparing for a fight.
The figure spun to her with a shock. A green skirt and tabard decorated with a thorn pattern twirled; her pink hair bobbing like a rose spinning in the wind. As if brandishing her thorns, the rose's bandaged arm rose in a defensive posture and her eyes sharpened for the briefest of moments, only for both her gaze and her stance to soften as they met Reimu's glare.
"O-Oh, it's just you Reimu." The strange woman withdrew her arm, smiling awkwardly as if she wasn't trespassing. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"?" Her tone was way too familiar. "Do I know you?"
The woman blinked. "Eh? We've met before. A few times, actually."
Reimu squinted at her. "I'm terrible with faces."
"... I see." A tight-lipped smile. "Perhaps a name will do. Does 'Ibarakasen' ring any bells?"
Ibarakasen… Ibarakasen…
… Ah!
It took her a moment. Granted, none of their prior meetings had really been all that meaningful, so it was easy for Reimu to forget they had happened at all. All she remembered was a hermit who had a tendency to nose her way into other peoples' business, and loved to nag Reimu about every little thing.
"Right, Kasen. O-Of course I remember you." Reimu nodded. "You're that nosy, preachy hermit."
"'Preachy'?" Kasen squinted.
"Er-" Wait, don't get distracted! "That aside, what's a hermit doing poking around here? This isn't a place people should be sticking their nose around. It's dangerous."
"Oh?" Kasen looked impressed by something. "You sound like a proper shrine maiden all of a sudden, guarding this seal so diligently."
"For some reason, hearing that from you just makes me mad. ...Wait." Reimu blinked, then squinted at Kasen. "How did you know what this was?"
Kasen's eyes widened for a moment. "Ah, well—" Her eyes averted to the gate. "I simply—" She paused weirdly. "... Sensed something malicious here! So I guessed that there was something sealed here, right?" She seemed weirdly stiff.
"Hmm…" That made sense… She probably had some secret hermit sense or something. It was possible she sensed something bad and it was just making her tense, so she decided to investigate. "Yes, that's right. I don't really know all that much about it, though, just that it was here when I first became the Hakurei shrine maiden." She stared at the gate guardian.
"Hm, is that so." She didn't seem to react very much. "There's a certain age to the seal, that's for certain. I'd wager it's been here long before you were born."
"That wouldn't surprise me. It's pretty old."
"Mm. Speaking of its age…" She eyed the floating orb carefully. "Have you been taking good care of its shiki-ouji?"
"Huh?" Reimu turned to her. "You mean ShinGyoku?"
"—'Shin'— what?" Kasen gaped at her. "Huh?"
"Oh, it's the name I gave it." She gestured to the orb. "Since it's near the shrine a lot, it's probably got some kind of godly association or something. Plus it usually looks like a ball, so…" She drew two kanji in the air with her finger. "Shin(神)Gyoku(玉). I don't actually know what it is, though, so I usually just check to make sure it hasn't keeled over and died. It's not really like a pet, so I don't have to worry about feeding it. It's pretty convenient."
Kasen's face twisted in the funny way, like she'd just gotten to the end of a graphic horror novel.
"I—... Putting your naming sense aside, no, even worse, your total lack of any kind of urgency here—" Kasen cleared her throat. "This is a shiki-ouji. A type of shikigami."
Reimu tilted her head. "You mean like the gap hag's fox?"
"A bit." Kasen raised a finger like a teacher giving a lecture. "Though this one's a bit unique. —Er, from what I can tell, at least. It doesn't seem to serve a master in a traditional sense; rather, it functions as something that could be described as a 'masterless shikigami'. Something which can exist on its own, even after the person who created it no longer lives on."
"Ehhh. So it's like a ronin or something?" Reimu nodded thoughtfully. "That really is convenient." So she was right to not worry about feeding it, phew.
"N...not quite, but that isn't inaccurate…" Kasen sighed. "It's certainly convenient, but there are some downsides. For instance, lacking a master means it's more susceptible to outside influences." Kasen started wagging her finger at Reimu. Ah, there she goes… "You should know this—and take care to perform a purifying ritual on it every now and then! What do you think would happen if something managed to corrupt it? It could very well go berserk!"
"Uhm…" Reimu tried to not look Kasen directly in the eyes as she beared down on her. "Yes, well…"
Hm?" Kasen eyed her strictly. "What is it?"
Reimu avoided her gaze. "Nothing. I'll keep it in mind…" She didn't need to know anything.
Kasen held her glare on Reimu for a few seconds, like she was waiting for her to flinch, before eventually backing down. "Good. As long as you understand." A satisfied smile.
Geh… Such a preachy, exhausting person… What was she, her mother?
"That aside," Reimu snuck a glance back to the path she'd come down, and gradually started tip-toeing towards it. "Now that I've checked up on everything here… I really should get back to the shrine…"
"Running away after you've been cornered, hm?" Kasen gave a sly smirk. "That's rather irresponsible of you."
"Gh—" Go, just go! Don't continue fighting this losing battle! "Yes, yes, whatever!" And away she went.
"Don't forget to properly maintain this shiki-ouji!"
"I know, I've got it alreadyyyy!" Reimu yelled out as she fled, not looking back in the slightest.
Ahh… She didn't think she'd miss Genjii's lectures…
… … … …
Once she was certain the shrine maiden was completely gone, a sigh escaped from Kasen.
"My, the current shrine maiden is quite a handful, isn't she."
Kasen's eyes returned to the seal which she had come to check on. Her expression softened, tinged with an uncertain emotion. Staring into the wooden gate, she could only see through it into the forest surrounding them both. Yet, her gaze held to it, as though there was something there only she could see, something there only she could understand.
Without thinking, she'd rested her still-remaining arm on her bandaged 'right arm'. None could tell the myriad thoughts going through her mind, the lingering emotions resting in such a simple gesture. Things which were pointless to dwell on, useless to brood over, foolish to burden oneself with. Staring into that blank space inside the gate, she reflected.
It was the same thing every time she came here. It'd become an annual ritual, in a sense. Rustling grass, silent contemplative steps, and she stood directly before the gate. If she hadn't been trespassing before, she certainly was now, yet 'ShinGyoku' merely floated by idly. The guardian of the seal did not challenge her approach, and it wouldn't have stopped her if she even chose to touch the gate. It was only natural that was the case. The 'hermit' was not someone who it was programmed to defend against.
"... So much time has passed since then. How long has it been? How many human lifetimes? Two? Three?" She took a deep breath, and the stirred emotions within her settled just a little. "Quite a bit has happened in these intervening years…"
Kasen approached the side of the gate, resting her back against the wooden structure and seating herself. It was a shockingly casual gesture for a hermit who had lectured Reimu not too long ago about maintaining the safety of the seal. Though, she knew how to handle it delicately enough so as not to damage it, so she could afford to be a little hypocritical.
Not to mention once upon a time, they were 'villains' after all. Breaking rules was all too familiar.
"She really is a troublesome one, that shrine maiden." Kasen smiled. "I don't think I've ever met one quite so irresponsible. One who is so casual with youkai, in spite of putting on such fronts. I'm sure if you'd seen her, you would have likely thought it was some kind of act. Truth be told, she's rather emblematic of all that has changed in Gensokyo from all those years ago. All that is different from the world we chose to leave behind…" Her words were stained with a melancholic wistfulness. "Would you have been satisfied with it, I wonder?" Her tone harshened. "You damn fool…"
Words from her old self. The hermit's lips curved downwards. An uncharacteristic bitterness seized her as her bandages tightened into a fist. Despite the venom in her words, there was another emotion. One which couldn't be understood by any but the speaker and her 'audience'. A cutting warmth which defied definition.
… Her clenched fist loosened and her scowl faded. It was in the past. Both 'herself' and 'her'. She could only pray that she found some peace before she was forgotten. A complicated smile formed on her face.
After a brief pause, Kasen stood and pulled something from her pockets.
"The day hasn't yet come, when the barrier no longer needs to exist, and when humans and youkai no longer need conflict to survive… Until that day…"
… She did not finish the sentence.
With a solemn, heartfelt bow, the supposed hermit who called herself 'Ibarakasen' departed for her dojo.
Where she once was, left at the foot of the great torii gate, would be a wild rose of warmest pink.
Author's Note:
Words left unsaid, feelings left unshared…
… Hm? Oh, sorry, I got caught-up in my thoughts.
I know that not a lot of exciting things are happening right now in the story, and that's likely to continue for a bit. I do have a lot planned, so there's a lot of . For the time being, I can only politely ask you to enjoy these relaxing everyday stories for a bit before we get to the juicier stuff. I'll do my best to keep things entertaining, and feel free to share your thoughts via comments if you enjoyed something or disliked anything! Also, if you have any questions, I'll try to get to them in an orderly fashion (and not spoil anything in the process).
... Oh yeah, if you didn't initially get the joke during the phone ringtone section, feel free to slap those lyrics into a search engine of your choice and enjoy your trip down Touhou MV hell.
Once again, thank you for reading and see you all next time!