Don't Own Touhou, or Dxd, Only The Oc
'thought'
"Speech"
"Powerful Creatures Speaking, like a dragon or a god"
System Text
"Text/speech via book, Tv, or newspaper... when those are around..."
Eventually, through the use of my boundary manipulation, I find a way to 'turn off' the power.
No sooner than I do, Sakuya appears beside the table, a large- and fancy- tea kettle in hand.
A teacup is sat in front of both myself and Remilia, then perfectly filled with steaming tea.
Sakuya bows her head slightly and stands off to the side, her hands folded in her lap.
"I am... curious, miss Scarlet." I begin slowly.
"Please. Call me Remilia." The girl before me smiles slightly.
"I see... in that case, please, call me Suzutsu." I reply with an equally polite smile. "As I was saying, I am curious... why have you reached out to me? We aren't close, having met only one singular time. So why invite me to tea like this?"
"Curiosity." The vampire simply replies. "Simple curiosity on my part. You see, it's a bit unusual for newcomers to arrive in Gensokyo. In fact, I believe that me and my own here were the most recent to arrive... and that has been quite a long thirty years... clearly newcomers are quite a rare commodity, so that has obviously led me to become curious about you. A boundary youkai. One just like her."
She gently raises her cup, causing me to follow along.
Wow. This is surprisingly good tea.
"Despite being a new face in Gensokyo." The girl continues. "I can already tell that you will perhaps be one of the big players in this world... if the Gap Youkai is any indication of your potential, at the very least. So. That has made me curious about you. The new power within this world. I want to get a read on both your personality, and your history."
"I see." I hum mutely. "Well, I can agree to that, but... I am quite curious about you as well; why don't we speak casually. History for history. Quirk for quirk."
There's a small twitch to her face that I wouldn't have caught without my new abilities.
Holy shit boundaries are overpowered.
It...
It can be used as a pseudo-mind reading ability as I can view the boundary of her emotions. I sure as hell can't do anything with that, yet. I'm far too amateurish. It's like trying to perform open heart surgery with the hammer that is my current control over boundary manipulations.
I wouldn't put it past Yukari to be able to make someone miserable by manipulating the boundary between happiness and practically every other emotion.
Regardless, with my sight, I can tell that the vampire before me is quite pleased with the fact that I am interested in her.
"So. Why don't I start us off, then?" I question idly. "I... was not always a youkai."
"You weren't?!" She seems genuinely dumbfounded by this.
"I was human." I confirm.
"That- wh- I had thought that humans could only turn into weak youkai? Like... a book youkai... or some form of spirit or ghost. But a boundary youkai?!"
"I was quite surprised myself." I huff humorlessly. "And allow me to say... the ability to see boundaries? Perhaps not as much of a gift as it sounds. A ceaseless headache and an inability to see anything but psychedelic rainbows and rips in reality for around a month... a month of even Yukari saying that she was suppressing the worst of it."
"Hm." The girl hums, seemingly deciding on her next question. But. As is part of our agreement, now she must reveal something about herself. "Well, I am five hundred and fifty six years old."
"Oh, that's impressive, I note. Did you meet any 'historical' figures?"
"Hn. Quite hard to say." The girl hums. "After all, in the moment, historical figures are just people, no?"
She seems to think on it for a long moment. "I... did meet someone that was vaguely talked about in the time before we came here to Gensokyo. You could see him as a historical figure as he was still spoken about for nearly a century... I'm unsure if that has changed during our time here in Gensokyo."
She takes another quiet and refined sip of her drink before she continues. "You might have heard of him... he called himself 'Jack the Ripper'."
My eyes widen slightly, causing the vampire to preen under my surprised gaze. "You know perhaps the most infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper?!"
"Knew." She corrects. "A terrible guest. Rude and Surly... and above all else, Arrogant. Arrogance holds no place in such a weak species. I only humored him because his hubris was a brief reprieve from my boredom. Alas. His routine became quite dull after a few days of captivity, and his uncouth mouth became far too grating for its own good. I had Sakuya do to him what he had done to others, then cast him out... I do not believe anyone ever found the body."
"So, now for your turn, do you mind if I ask you a question?" The girl continues.
"As long as it is fine for me to do so as well." I agree.
"What is your relation to the Gap Woman?" Remilia questions.
"Well... about six months ago, I was a mere mundane human. But, I unlocked an ability that seemed to pull me into... here..." I gesture around to the world around us. "Every time I went to sleep. I spent the majority of the first day being harassed by a simple darkness youkai, each and every time she killed me... I woke up. Each and every time I managed to return to sleep, I would reappear close by, thus I was locked in a constant chain of battle. I'd like to say I did quite well for myself despite being an ordinary human. I managed to make the youkai cry after breaking her nose with a punch, at least."
"After a considerable amount of time, she appeared. I locked eyes with her... and became a Boundary Youkai on the spot. At which point, she decided the fact that the combination of my original power of dream-like immortality and my new boundary shenanigans was a threat to the stability of Gensokyo, as I could, hypothetically, pluck one strand and cause the entire pocket dimension fold in on itself like an omelette Thus, she killed me here and followed my returning consciousness back to my home in the outside world. At which point she kidnapped me and gave me two options. Come here and learn. Or have my original ability sealed and live with a constant headache until I can master boundary manipulation on my own."
I reach up to the side, a rift in reality forms at my whims. "I chose the prior... and I would say that it has been worth it."
"To have that much power... at only six months of being a youkai." The girl whispers, cupping her chin, her eyes seem to scan my body as the faintest of smiles appears on her face. "You must be quite inexperienced, then. It seems I was correct in my earlier assumption that you would shake Gensokyo to its core. Tell me... just how old are you?"
"I turned Sixteen not that long ago."
"Hm." The girl hums mutely, seemingly deep in thought for a moment.
I take this time to ask my own question. "I am fairly new to this 'supernatural' stuff... it isn't as apparent back home. Yes, there are stories of youkai, vampires, werewolves, angels and devils, but they are widely thought to be mere fiction. So, I'd like to ask you... what is it like being a vampire? Are you really weak to sunlight? Garlic? I mean, it's clear you don't like sunlight considering the scarlet mist, but is it actually deadly to you?"
"Ah. Yes. I have seen those superstitions about vampires." The girl notes with a slow nod. "Sunlight is... annoying. Not deadly, mind you, to me as I am not fated to die in the sun, but it is weakening and mentally exhausting. Silver stings with a touch, that is why all of my 'Silvery' colored jewelry is made of Platinum instead. Though, honestly, I prefer gold. Garlic? Hn. No. That one in fact is a total myth, strong smelling spices and ingredients such as Garlic or Onion are merely bothersome to my heightened sense of smell... As for the story of a 'stake to the heart'. A simple wooden spike won't be enough to annoy me, let alone slay me."
Wait...
She uses her ability to make it so sunlight doesn't affect her?! That's bullshit! She casually manipulated her own fate to make herself immune to one of her greatest weaknesses?!
I suppose that is run of the mill for touhou.
I take a sip of the tea that I had been offered, opening me up for another question.
"I am curious about how mundane life has changed while I have been here in Gensokyo." She begins.
"You wish to know about the changes?" I question, idly, pondering for a long moment at her sole nod.
"Well, have you ever been to an arcade before? Or seen a movie?" I question.
"I have heard of an arcade, yes, but I didn't have much of an opportunity to go... as for movies, yes, I quite enjoyed the animated movies that did come out at the time." The corners of her mouth turn upwards as she wistfully stares past me.
"Well, in that thirty-year time frame Arcades went from being a place you go... to a small box you can place inside of your house. In addition, each and every house came with its own small movie theatre. Allowing you to watch whatever you could afford. Entertainment really has improved in the last thirty years or so. It is a shame that you missed it."
She lets out a quiet sigh. "Indeed."
"The next thing... would be that each and every home has a telephone, and, as of recently, they were made small enough that you could carry one wherever you went in your pocket. After that, cities became urban jungles of metal and concrete. Buildings climbing hundreds of feet into the sky. Almost everyone owns an automobile now, with large stone pathways crisscrossing entire countries for transport."
"I see." The girl mutters. "I had an Automobile myself but abandoned it after growing bored of it... it made a dreadful amount of noise... and the smoke it produced was especially foul smelling. I don't much care for the newfangled horseless carriages."
We fall into a brief moment of silence, so I speak up. "What about your life. How do you spend your time?"
"Well, it's... quite boring." The girl mutters. "More often than not, I simply reside in the library and read. The Scarlet Devil Mansion definitely has the most expansive library in Gensokyo, but... in my long-lived life I have read most of what I want from there. After that, I do try and have impressive tea parties to alleviate boredom, but those I invite rarely make an appearance."
"How rude." I comment.
Her eyes gain a distant look to them as she stares at me.
I don't even think she knows what she is looking at as of this moment, just staring blankly in front of herself, seemingly deep in thought. "It was my hopes, that through the scarlet mist, someone might arrive to come and put a stop to it. Just for brief entertainment. But, seeing as how no-one did after two weeks, I decided to just put a stop to it before I endanger my own health as well."
Yes, you decided to put a stop to it. Entirely on your own. Because you knew it would have disastrous effects on the environment that you cared about.
Honestly. The pride of this girl.
But... honestly, I do sort of feel bad for her.
She sits there for a long moment, seemingly dazed, then shakes her head. "Ah. Right, my apologies. I lost focus for a moment. Uh... how was your human life?"
"It was fine. Nothing special. Two parents, a younger brother." I begin quietly, only to let out a sigh and shake my head. "Honestly... I worry about how they are doing after my disappearance. My brother is a troublemaking pervert... and like... a really bad one. Always going on and on about boobies and porn and making a harem. Ugh... I can't believe him. Without me there he's sure to get in a bunch of trouble. He was born a mere five minutes after me. How can he be so much more immature? Doesn't he think that maybe becoming a social outcast to... practically everyone is going to come back to bite him in the future?!"
After a long moment of silent exasperation, rubbing a temple with a hand, I crack open an eye, deciding to pull the pin on this grenade here and now. "What about you? Do you have any family?"
"..."
"I..." She begins quietly. "Do."
"A little sister." She elaborates. "It would be best to not speak about my parentage. They were lost a long time ago. As for my sister."
She gazes up into the night sky. "Perhaps I was too cruel... no. I know I was. I will... try to reconnect with her soon enough. If she wishes to give me the time of day, that is another thing entirely."
She lets out a small distressed sounding sigh. "This must sound quite... confusing with a lack of context. But, frankly. I just realized I made a crucial mistake a long time ago... Flandre, my baby sister, was quite destructive. She... was the one who ended the lives of our parents, actually, as she awakened her innate talent..."
"The ability to destroy." She whispers, her eyes glazing over slightly. "I don't feel particularly bad because of what she did. Relations between vampires are quite... unorthodox and our family wasn't the greatest. In fact, I could even say that I hated them. But... not Flandre. I deeply love my adorable little sister. Yet, looking back on it I realized I did something monstrous and cruel."
"What did you do?" I question.
"I locked my poor sister in the basement for over four hundred years." She whispers, tears prickle at her eyes as she- Sakuya appears beside her, holding out a handkerchief.
She takes it, dapping the cloth towards her eyes, then lets out a shaky sigh.
"The reason why I agreed... was because Flandre was scared of her own power. Terrified. She wanted to be locked away... so she wouldn't hurt the people she cared about. But thinking back. This extent of solitary... it was even more cruel than the torture our parents sometimes inflicted upon us as punishments. I-I... I haven't seen her in over fifty years."
"Then, to me, it sounds like you should stop hanging around having tea with some nobody youkai you met only yesterday and go to her." I begin slowly. "I don't know if your relationship has been irreparably damaged but putting it off and keeping her contained is only going to make things worse."
"You... You're right!" She declares as she rises to her feet, a resolute expression on her face. "Ah... one more question before I Leave. Do you have a place to stay?"
"Technically, yes. I have a mattress in a personal pocket dimension that I use to sleep." I admit.
"A mattress?! That will not do! Me running off like this is terrible manners as a host. Sakuya, could you please show him to one of the guest rooms. Offering you a place to stay is the least I can do. It has been quite some time since I have had anyone interesting to chat with."
She does courteous bow, lifting the hem of her dress slightly, then discorporates into hundreds of little black bats that fly off into the distance.
"Hm." I hum mutely before looking down into the teacup. "I suppose I could stick around."
I finish the remaining tea in my cup then rise to my feet, looking to the white haired maid stood just in front of me.
The corners of her mouth turn upwards slightly as she looks over me. "Thank you for speaking to Mistress."
"It was nothing." I admit with a shrug. "Just a conversation... one elder sibling to another."
"At first, I will admit, I did not like you." The woman begins. "You were arrogant, loud, overtly sanctimonious and spoke to my lady as if she were a little girl... however... You have helped her tackle one of her greatest personal issues."
"For a long time, I have wished for her to reconnect with her little sister, but as a servant, it was never my place to interfere. However, now it appears that my hopes will come to fruition, and for that, in addition to my Mistress' interest in you, I suppose you deserve some respect. Thank you."
"Everyone should have a good relationship with their family." I mutter. "I'm aware that's not always the case, but I feel that it should be the case."
I begin following the woman as she leads me through the frankly massive manor. Her high heels clicking on the tiled floors.
"I have a question if you don't mind me asking." I begin slowly.
"What is it?"
"Was that..." I begin slowly only to pause, trying to find the worlds. "Was Remilia's intention to make our meeting as romantic as physically possible? I mean, with the candles, the change of clothes, the offer to stay here?"
"..."
"I cannot claim to know the plans or intentions of my Mistress. I merely act and follow her orders." The woman robotically replies.
"I see... whatever." I mutter. "I was probably overthinking things. I doubt that I could be interesting enough for her to like me that way."
I lounge in bed, arms folded behind my head as I stare up at the ceiling.
My eyes drift shut as I continue to lay there.
'I'd kill for a Gameboy or something.'
The second I finish up here, I'm going to walk up to Yukari and ask her how the hell I go back to my own world.
I'll grab a book or something to entertain myself.
Maybe I could finally get into Harry Potter? I don't know if all the books have released yet, though.
Ah well, I'll worry about that later.
My hand finds its way to the bed. 'this is really soft...'
I'd be tempted to steal it for my pocket dimension, but I really don't want to gain a reputation like Yukari of being a yoinking and unreasonable force of nature.
Besides, I am curious if Remilia wanted to sleep with me or not.
There are certainly worse people to lose your virginity to...
Rumia for one.
That crow tengu reporter would probably also be pretty bad. She might decide to create a public record of it and be all 'Gap youkai. Three out of ten. Pretty good size but has zero idea how to use it.' I'd die on the spot. Crazy regeneration or not.
One does not simply recover from an injury like that.
I shake my head and let out a quiet sigh.
Ah, I'm getting a little hungry.
Manipulate boundary between hungry and not hungry annnnd fixed. I'm full yet again.
Damn. I love Boundary Manipulation. Fucking awesome.
Though, I will admit, I do crave some sushi every now and then... maybe a pizza?
A good bowl of ramen!
There's probably places like that here in Gensokyo... but I sure as hell don't have any money.
Fuckin Yukarin. Dropping me off here, being all 'hey, maybe go relieve some of those stressed ladies' then proceed to leave me with no entertainment or way to indulge in anything tasty.
Maybe I could go full mercenary?
There's a brief thud at the door, causing me to sit up. "Yeah?"
The door creaks open after a brief pause, revealing Sakuya yet again. She appears to be slightly exasperated, there's a slight flicker of movement telling me that she stopped time, before she perks up and returns to her 'perfect emotionless maid' expression.
"My lady said that if you so wished, you may make use of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's, washroom."
I offer her a slow blink as I rise from the bed. "Sure. I can clean myself with boundaries effortlessly... but it has been a while since I just soaked. That sounds lovely."
"Please follow me, then." The woman sighs, sounding slightly resigned.
She leads me through the mansion once more, eventually leading me to a pair of double doors. "One moment. I will be back with a towel."
By moment, she means a literal moment as she appears, standing by the door, holding a folded towel.
"Thank you, Sakuya." I thank briefly before stepping through the door.
As the door clicks behind me, I find myself in a dressing area, where you would remove your clothes and store them for later.
Seeing as how I only have one set... and I still don't entirely trust the people here... I simply store the Yukata that Yukari had given me, placing my underwear and sandals inside as well.
I tie my towel around my waist as I step into the next room, not really caring about getting it wet, because, once more, boundaries.
I freeze in shock.
"Oh? My my. I didn't expect for you to indulge in a bath so soon." A smug sounding voice in front of me hums. "That is my mistake... I suppose that I had just taken too long.
Sitting before me in the water, utterly uncaring about the fact that she is nude is the same blue haired girl who was trying to wine and dine me earlier.
Scattered around the bath are dozens of rose petals, little candles, there's two floating trays in the water, one with tea, another with an entire cake.
Just over the blue haired girl's shoulders is a large three-tiered desert stand.
A sweet aroma permeates around the room from the golden incense burner towards the corner of the room.
My eyes flick to the other person in the room, a pale blonde with scarlet red eyes, her hair tied into a side ponytail.
Instead of bat-like wings, she has long branch-like wings, the undersides lined with rainbow crystals of many colors. She sits on the lip of the bathtub, mostly out of the water.
Honestly she looks a little embarrassed to be here.
"Flandre, this is Suzutsu Hyoudou. A resident boundary youkai... Suzutsu, this is Flandre Scarlet, my adorable little sister."
"A pleasure to meet you." I smile as I step forwards, a muted breath leaving my lips as- seeing how the two vampires aren't covering themselves- I take off the towel around my waist and take a seat in the water, allowing the towel to rest behind me.
Remilia's eyes flick down below the water, the corner of her mouth turning upwards mischievously. "Well, originally, I was planning to get out sometime soon... but, since you are now here why don't we continue our conversation from earlier?"
"Hm." I hum with a small eye roll. "That's fine. Just allow me to say, this is quite heavy handed, no?"
"..."
"I do not know what you are talking about." The blue haired girl smiles innocently.
"Inviting me for a candlelit dinner, inviting me to stay the night, then we just so happen to enter the bath at the same time? Quite the twist of fate, hm? You know, I might be crazy, but... could it be that you are trying to seduce me?"
"..."
"If I were to be doing so... Hypothetically." She begins, a frown on her face. "How exactly would you be perceiving it."
"I'd say that you would be succeeding." I nod once.
Her smile becomes borderline predatory. "Oh? Is that so? Hm. Yes. I have been attempting that since you arrived. You intrigued me, you are powerful- or at the very least have incredible potential to be, seeing as how the only other boundary youkai is debatably the strongest being in all of Gensokyo, far outshining myself and even Flandre here. Thus... I view you worthy of being mine."
Her eyes flick to Flandre. "Of being ours."
Well. Things just got interesting. Hot threesome with vampire sisters? Hell yeah.
DUN DUN DUN! Suzutsu's chastity is in danger! Issei's going to be so fucking jealous!
