On a scorching afternoon, you are on your way back home from the Human Village, buying ingredients for your meal. You manage to secure some vegetables, a whole raw chicken and some ice for refreshment. You were supposed to head out with Reimu. However, Reimu was looking lethargic due the heat wave. Whenever you went out, you are usually accompanied by Aunn, Reimu or Marisa but today Aunn is busy helping around the shrine and Marisa haven't come often lately. Thus, you decide to head there yourself. The reason why they usually accompany you is because of the roaming youkai and wild animals. But it's alright, because you are a big boy. If there's any danger you can just run away from it… you hope. Moreover, it's rare for you to go the Human Village in the first place; because there's no reason for it. You usually went to the Human Village whenever you need to buy food or rent some books but that's usually a non-issue. This is because sometimes, human worshipper came over to the shrine and sent some donation. This made Reimu eyes lit up and she does her best at her job as the shrine maiden, and if it's not human worshipper, non-human (youkai, hermit, sages, etc.) came over and brought over food and beverage (mostly alcoholic). Despite Reimu grumbling that because of this, this is the reason why the ratio of human to non-human worshipper has a huge gap and why this place has been called a Youkai Shrine, she just accepts it as, donation is still donation, no matter who it's from. And if its book, you mostly borrow from Marisa –mostly taken from the Scarlet Devil Mansion – with a fee of food and tea.
Halfway through, you spot a black ball on your left in the field. The size of the ball is small (similar to a child's height). You didn't notice the ball when you were walking towards the Human Village before. Albeit curious, the cat lives today as you turn back and head towards your destination, thinking that it's the heat playing tricks on you when suddenly,
"Ah," a voice came from the direction of the ball. You turn back and was greeted with two red eyes, staring back at you. Soon, the black ball slowly disappears, leaving a child in its place.
You take a look at the child: she has red eyes and short blonde hair. She wears a black vest and skirt, and white blouse with a red tie bordered by two large beads around the neck. On her left side of her hair, there is a red and white ribbon tied to it.
As you are still looking, the girl charge towards you in a '十'-like position. Eventually, she collides with you and you both fell to the ground, the girl sits on top of you.
"A human! I was getting hungry~~. Thanks for the meal~~" her open mouth crept closer to your neck. You try to push the girl away alas you're not strong enough. You're only able to hold her in place, but it won't last long. Wait! you scream. The girl stops.
"Eeehhh, why~~?" she looks at you, waiting for a response.
You don't know how to get out of this. Using strength to overpower her is out of the question. However, the fact that you can understand each other, there's a chance that you could talk it out and find a middle ground. You ask her if she's hungry which she nod. Well of course, she did try to eat you. You then look to the scatter food from when you fell and encourage her to take anything from there. She looks at the direction where you are looking and look at the food. She asks you what's there and you list the thing that you bought recently. When you said the chicken, she reacted to it. She looks back at you and then,
"If I eat you, I can eat the chicken too~~"
Shoot, she's right! There's no reason for her to keep you alive when she can just eat both you and the chicken. "Well, thanks for th-". Wait! you yelled out.
"What now?" she pouts, annoyed by the constant interruption.
You don't know what to do. You're drawing a blank here. You have to say something, anything. You mouthed out I'll make it worthwhile. She tilts her head, waiting for you to elaborate. You said to her that you could bring more food to her. Delicious food to her. She looks up as if to think on your offer. A couple of seconds pass, then she looks at you and said,
"Okay~~, I'll let you go~~" she gets off of you. You slowly get back up, surprised that that work. "You promise, right~~?" she looks at you. You said that in the heat of the moment, but you promised anyway. She smiles then pick up the chicken. "I can have this, right~~?" she held the chicken and show it to you. You agree to hand it to her. She's beaming, thanking you and munch on the raw chicken. Goodbye, chicken. You were a noble sacrifice. You pick up the leftover food that is scatter around. Thankfully, the ice hasn't melt completely yet. You said your goodbye to the eating girl and go to the Hakurei Shrine.
As you arrive at the shrine, you see Aunn splashing water at the entryway. She notices and greet you, she apologizes for not being able to go with you to the Human Village today. You pat her head and give her one of the ice that you bought. Her eyes lit up and she thank you for the treat. She stops what she was doing and walk with you to the shrine entrance and found Reimu, still laying in the same position as you left. You shake Reimu awake, and she groggily open her eyes. She look at you and you showed her the thing that you bought at the Human Village. She thanked you for doing the groceries. As she slowly gets up from laying down to a sitting position, she notices that you didn't bring back the chicken for the karaage tonight. She asks if the chicken was out today. You nervously laugh and said that the chicken was expensive today. She stares at you and says "Oh well" while picking one of the ice from the bag. She asks you to put this in the kitchen and bring out the Barley tea out.
You are lazing around with Reimu and Aunn while eating the ice and drinking tea when you ask Reimu about the blonde girl you met earlier.
"Huh? Oh, that's Rumia. She's a youkai that's able to manipulate darkness. Yukari said that she has a history with my mother but when I ask her, she said she doesn't know anything. She shouldn't be dangerous but be careful, as she is a youkai that hunt human as food. Why do you ask?"
No reason, I just met her when I was walking home you said to Reimu.
"Is that so? … Wait, did she take the chicken from you?" Reimu ask, her face turn to a scowl. You said no, it really was expensive today. She stares at you for a moment before returning to a neutral expression. You forgot that Reimu has good intuition. "Speaking of youkai," Reimu continues "Here" she hands you an amulet. "I finally manage to finish this. This amulet should repel any low-class youkai away from you. It's imbued with prayers by yours truly" she smugly said. "However, that's all it does. Don't go hoping for a miracle with this. At least, with this you can freely move around without my supervision. It won't stop any higher-class youkai, but they should be understanding, and you be able to talk it out if things get out of hand and if they're still bothering you, just say my name. They'll stop, to an extent." she smiles.
You tightly grasp the amulet in your hand and thank Reimu for the gift. Is this the reason she's been staying up all night? you asked. The red miko blush as she punches you on the shoulder.
"You better be grateful that I didn't charge you for this!" she adds while looking away to hide her embarrassment. You quietly laugh. An embarrassed Reimu is a cute Reimu you thought.
Three days has passed and you're heading to the Human Village. Apparently, there supposedly to be a banquet held at the shrine tonight and Reimu had forgotten about it. Seeing that Reimu and Aunn are busy preparing the place, you take it upon yourself the duty of buying ingredient to make for tonight. With the amulet that Reimu gave you, you should be fine if you ever encounter any trouble. On your way there, you spot the youkai of darkness, Rumia sitting on top of a small rock. She seems to be looking at the butterflies flying around the small patch of flowers. Eventually, she turn her head around and your eyes meet hers. Her mouth turn to a smile and she runs toward you.
"Human! I was waiting for you~~" she stops in front of you. Then, she circles around you, seemingly looking for something. Unable to find the things she wants, she stops in front of you again.
"Where is it?" Rumia asks.
Where is what? You don't understand what she is talking about.
"You promised to bring food" she pouts.
You scratch your head, trying to remember but then it hits. You did promised to bring her food in exchange of sparing your life the other day. Before you're able to do anything, Rumia grabs your hand, her mouth steadily opens,
"If there's no food, then you are the food~~. Thanks for the meal~~" her mouth inches closer to your left wrist.
Realizing this, you try moving your hand from harm ways but fail to do so. Instead, you close your eyes for the inevitable pain that that you'll receive on your left hand. You pray, hoping for a miracle to happen. Slowly, you felt a slight prick on your left wrist, the feeling of something sharp (presumably her teeth) trying to dig deeper into your flesh. You wince from the pressure. However, the pressure then stops, slowly the sharp pain is lift off from your wrist. You open your eyes, confuse as to what has happened. You look at your left wrist, there's a small bite mark on it and small amount of blood coming out. You turn to look at the youkai,
"Bleeeehh!" she spits out. "You taste bad!" she blehs out a few more times. "Mrgrgr! Human is a liar and taste bad! Liar! Liar! Bad taste!" she envelopes herself darkness and runs off.
You don't know what had happen, but you breathe a sigh of relief. It seems you're able to live today. Even though you feel happy, you felt a pang of guilt for not upholding your promise. Even if she's a youkai, a promise is a promise, and you should always follow through your promises. You make a note to yourself; that the next time you meet with her, you'll bring her delicious food. But for now, you head to the Human Village to finish what you started.
Two weeks has passed and you're on your way to the Hakurei Shrine from the Human Village. You went today to borrow some books from Suzunaan. The new installation from Agata Chris Q came out last week and you're excited on figuring out who's the murderer this time. Before leaving, you bought some meat skewers, taiyakis and puddings. Lately, you start buying snacks before you went home. These pass couple of days, you were searching for Rumia, hoping that you could give her the snacks that you brought but to your dismay, she's nowhere to be seen. Whenever that happens, you give the snacks to the residence of Hakurei Shrine. Aunn, Suika and Clownpiece are happy with the gifts, but Reimu looks apprehensive, but doesn't inquire further. Your small allowance (receive from helping around the shrine) has become even smaller. You don't know if you could keep buying these snacks in the near future. As you were thinking that, Lady Luck has blessed you, as you finally see the blonde girl running around. She then turns her head around and your eyes meet. Her nose scrunches and she start running away from you. You can't let this chance slip by, so you give chase.
Rumia, wait! you scream. She doesn't stop. She keeps on running. On your chase, you realize that you're not getting any closer to her. You need something to distract her or slow her down. You yell out that you brought the food for her. She still hasn't stop running. You're getting tired. Despite moving about and helping around the shrine, you haven't done any strenuous activity. You list out the food that you bought on the Human Village and when she heard the meat skewers, she reacted to it and start slowing down. Eventually, she stops moving, her back is facing you. You close in on her and stop behind her, taking this moment to catch your breath.
"Really?" Rumia turns around, facing you, still wary of you.
Ye-yeah, here, you place the bag in front of you. You sit down, tired from the run. She watches you at first, then slowly approaches the bag. She places her hand inside the bag, trying to fish out her prize – the meat skewer – and when she pulls it out of the bag, her eyes twinkle on the prize. She looks at you and ask if she could have it in which you nod. She thanks you for the food. She puts the meat skewer in her mouth and runs off. You smile. With this, no promise has gone broken. You sit there for a while, gathering your breath. When you finally regain your stamina, you pick up the remaining produce and head back to the shrine.
The next day and forth, whenever you leave the shrine to attend to things, sometimes you will meet with Rumia. Most of the time (almost always) she expects you to give her food and whenever you don't have any with you at hand, she always looks dejectedly downwards. Seeing this pains your heart. Because of this, you start making bentos whenever you went out. It's not a problem. If she's not around, you just eat it or give it to anyone near you. After eating, sometimes she ask you to play with her. Her playing consists of: hide and seek and tag. Other times she envelops herself with you in her ball of darkness. The first time you enter the dark ball, it is completely pitch black. Even when you thought your eyes are adjusted to the darkness, you still can't see anything. To this day, you're still unadjusted to her darkness. You ask her how she walk when it's this dark in her ball which she replied,
"? You just walk~~" she demonstrates by walking, avoiding various obstacles. There are some that she's unable to evade, but you're still impressed by her ability.
One lazy afternoon, Rumia – sitting on your lap – is eating a meat bun. You try giving her different types of food, from stir fry vegetables to dairy products, but the one that she likes the most are food that mostly have meat in it. Heck, you can give her a whole raw chicken and she'll love it. When you look at her like this, you can't really believe that she someone that eats human. You can only see her as a normal girl. Normal in Gensokyo standard that is. A random thought came into your head. You remember that Rumia said that you tasted(?) bad. You ask Rumia if the other people she (allegedly) eat tasted different. She nods.
"Everyone else taste like chicken~~. Only human taste bad" she savours the meat bun.
Hearing that, you don't know whether to be happy or sad. On one hand, youkais would be less likely to eat you because you taste bad, while on the other hand, it hurts your feeling, knowing that your meat taste inedible, differ from others. You should be similar to the other humans. Is it because you came from the Outside World? As you are thinking, you place your hand inside your left pocket, touching the amulet. Then you remember. You recall what Reimu said.
"Remember, money is everything. Everything." Reimu eyes clouded as she handed you your first monthly allowance. Wait, no. That's not it. It was 'This amulet should repel any low-class youkai away from you'. Right. That's what she said. Maybe that's the reason why you taste bad. You decide to test the theory. You pull out the amulet and place it right next to you on the floor, not touching any part of your body. You see that Rumia has finish eating her meat bun, you ask her to taste you.
"Eeeehh~~ No, you taste bad" she shakes her head. You ask her again, but this time with the promise of doubling the amount of food you bring her the next time you meet. She sits in silence for a few seconds then she replies,
"Okay~~" she turns her head to the side and open her mouth. Following suit, you place your finger inside her mouth. It's warm and slimy. Slowly, Rumia closes her mouth. She starts sucking your finger, you can feel her tongue moving. At first, she starts slow, then she picks up the speed fervently. Judging by how she doesn't bleehs out your finger immediately, it seems that your hypothesis is right. The amulet is making you unpalatable towards youkai. You smile, knowing that it isn't you who is the problem, it's something else. During your afterglow, you suddenly felt a sharp pain on your finger. You tap on her shoulder to ask her to stop. She doesn't and kept going, the pain feels more intense than before. You shake her body with your other hand multiple times and the same happen still. No choice, you forcefully remove your finger inside of her mouth. You can see strain of saliva and blood left on your finger. There are couple of teeth mark imprinted on your finger. Before you can do anything, Rumia try to chomp on your finger again, which you abruptly move out of the way, placing your hand in the air. She follows your finger and slowly she faces you.
"Finger, why did you move it?" she look at you expectantly, her pupil dilated and her breath ragged. Before you could response, she tries to climb on top of you, trying to reach your hand. In quick response, you pick up the amulet that is on the floor, her mouth connects to your hand at the same time. A few second pass in silence, and Rumia then bleehs out your hand. Slowly, she gets off of you. You gather your breath, sweat starts pouring out of you. A second of silence then she starts to speak,
"Hey, hey. Why do you sometimes taste good and taste bad~~?" the youkai inquires. You keep quiet, you don't want to tell her it's because of the amulet. You don't want her to have any leverage on you. So, you tell her that it just happens sometimes.
"Is that so~~?" the girl tilts her head. Looks like she believes you. "Hey, hey" she gets closer to you "Can I taste you again~~?" she asks in a sing song manner. You stay silent. You glance at the state of your finger. Blood and saliva are mixed together, few bite marks are left imprinted. You can remember the pain when she bites into you, still fresh in your memory. Maybe because you take too long to respond, she adds,
"I can't?" she looks at you with puppy dog eyes. Aaaaaah your heart churns. Your resolve weakens whenever she looks sad like that. Even though you know this is a bad idea, you agree to her demand. Her eyes sparkle like a child getting a new toy, and she thank you, her smile widens from ear to ear. However, you have two rules. The first is to not bite into you and the second is that you can stop the activity whenever you want to. She listens to your demands and nod. You both come to an agreement. After the excursion, you hang with her for a bit and you both says your goodbyes and you go on your day.
The next and subsequent time you meet, Rumia take every opportunity to taste you. Before it was because you forgot to bring her any food, but now she does it almost every time. Not to mention, whenever she does taste you, she kept forgetting the rules that you had set up between you and her. No matter how many times you remind (and scold) her, she kept on repeating the same thing. Not to mention, she changed her target to bite. Sometimes your finger, sometimes your neck and sometimes your back. Because of this, whenever you went back home to the shrine, you're always covered in bite marks. Aunn is concerned because of your condition but you reassured her and tell her that it's a crazy trend from the kids in the Human Village. She looks at you in disbelief but doesn't pry further. Reimu, however, only stare at you.
One night, after patching yourself up with bandages, you're getting ready to go to sleep when Reimu start talking.
"Hey" you pause "We need to talk." Hearing that, you sit back down. This is rare. Reimu rarely calls you for a talk like this. The only time we have this 'talk' is when you did something wrong. The last time you had a talk is when you played a prank on Reimu with Clownpiece. Clownpiece decided that it would be funny to put a tied-up mon on a string inside the donation box and when Reimu tried to pick it up, Clownpiece would yank it off from her hand. You have to admit that it's pretty funny seeing Reimu's reaction. However, that day you know what Hell truly is. Tangent aside, you can't recall any wrongdoings you had done (recently) but you apologize first before she lay it on you.
"?" Reimu look confuse "Did you do anything that need apologizing?"
Well, no, not that you know of any. You say to Reimu that you have this kind of talk is when you did something wrong, so you just assume. Reimu scratch her head.
"It's not like I like scolding you all the time. Anyway, this is something else" Reimu shifts around her seat "You have been meeting with that youkai, Rumia, haven't you?" Reimu question.
I have, but how did you know? you answer and question Reimu.
"A certain tengu blabbed her mouth. Also, there's no such thing as a 'biting' trend going on the Human Village. That's such a bold face lie, and I'm surprise you go with that. Even if it is, that would be a problem in itself," Reimu goes on "That's beside the point, this is about you meeting the youkai." Reimu pause. You wait for her to continue. "I want you to stop" she finishes.
Huh? Why? you ask.
"Why? Because she's a youkai" the red miko straightforwardly said.
I don't understand. That's not really a reason. you reply to the miko.
"Look, a youkai and human cannot live together. It is a given"
Then what about the Rokurobi, Sekibanki, who lives in the Human Village? Or Keine, a Hakutaku, currently teaching in school inside the Human Village? Are they not living together?
"They've learned how to mingle with their surroundings. Let me ask you. Do you think any other youkai would be as understanding or willing to learn as them?"
Well, I don't know but Rumia isn't like those youkai.
"I find it hard to believe when you come back with all those bite marks on you."
That's because I ask her to.
"Because of that you have turn incredibly lax. You lowered your guard around them. Don't be fooled by their human-like appearance. Once a youkai always a youkai. I don't want to see you end up dead, or worse."
But Reimu, you befriend the strong youkais here.
"We have a mutual agreement. If the youkai disrupts the balance of Gensokyo, I'll go and smack them a little. I can stand as equal as them. You can't."
Don't worry. It'll be fine. I can take care of myself and if there's anything that I can't handle, you'll be there for me, right Reimu?
"Stop!" Reimu yell "Enough. Please. I don't want you to make a mistake like them." Reimu has a pain expression. "Especially when you're under my protection. Take this advice as a resident of Gensokyo, and a friend. Cut off ties with her, with any youkai. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight" and with that, Reimu went to the other room.
You sit there in silence, Reimu's pain expression etch inside your head. You know that Reimu is doing what's best for you but for you to cut off a connection just because of a different species, it feels off to you. You sit there for a minute after Reimu left then head to bed.
The next day, you have an awkward breakfast. You both eat in silence, only the chopstick hitting the bowl can be heard. After finishing your breakfast, without saying anything, you leave the shrine. You start walking. Your goal: the youkai of darkness. Eventually, you found her. Rumia is sitting on top of a rock, watching the butterflies. The same spot where you meet her the second time. As she turns her head, your eyes meet. She smiles and rushes toward you.
"Human! What did you bring me toda-"
Rumia, wait. you cut her off. She stops and tilts her head to the side, waiting for you to continue. Now, you just need to say it to her. Say that you can't meet up with her anymore. That you'll be cutting ties with her. Reimu just doing what it's best for you. You know the strength of youkai and human is incomparable. You experience it firsthand. Then why? Why can't you say it? Why can't the words come out of your mouth? Reimu is right, isn't she? You don't want Reimu to make that expression again, but you don't want to cut ties with Rumia. You want Reimu to be happy while still maintaining your friendship with Rumia and the other youkais. These conflicting ideas made you incredibly selfish. You want your cake and eat it too. Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh you scream out, startling the youkai in front of you.
Rumia! Let's promise to be friends forever. you said.
"? Okay~~" Rumia reply, unbeknownst to what is happening right now. You made your decision. You're going to have it both ways. You know that this is incredibly selfish, but you don't care. You'll make sure that you'll get it both ways. Just as Marisa said, 'If there's any wall that stands in your way, just break through it.' And if Reimu is unsatisfied with your answer, you'll deal with it. You'll cross that bridge when you get there.
"Ah~~ Right~~" Rumia speaks "Let's pinky promise~~" she puts her pinky out. You're surprise that she knows something like this. You ask her where she learn this gesture.
"Someone from the shrine taught it to me~~ She said, that when you made promises, you do this~~" Rumia reply to your question.
Someone from the shrine, is it Reimu? you thought but don't inquire further. Nevertheless, a pinky promise, huh? You haven't done that in a long while. The last time that you did this is the same day where you and Clownpiece played a trick on Reimu. The Hell Day, as you dubbed it. You give a small laugh at the random thought. You hold out your pinky, and slowly inches closer to hers. Before you're able to do so, a voice rings out,
"I knew you'd be here" you hear a familiar voice.
You turn around and as you guess, it is the miko in red, slowly descending. How did she know you were here?
"I'll be absolutely naive if I wasn't. Now, I remember I told you not to get close to her?" Reimu said in a neutral tone, but despite that, you know there's weight to it.
"Ah! It's the stingy miko" Rumia points to Reimu. Reimu glare at the aforementioned youkai which made Rumia hide behind your back.
Reimu, I know that you ask me to do that. And I know that you meant well, but I'm afraid that I can't do that. I don't have the heart to do that.
"You'll be regretting it when she pulls your heart out literally. Look, I know that Rumia here look like any other human, but please remember: she's a youkai. A human. Eating. Youkai. There are plenty more like her out there and they are far more aggressive than her. Do you think they'll give you the time of day to talk things out?"
I don't know but if we don't try, we won't know.
"And if 'talking' doesn't work, what then? What will you do? Living in Gensokyo for months, you know the strength of a youkai by now. A human can't even compare to an average youkai. You'll be dead by then, or worse."
Then, I'll get stronger.
"How? How will you get strong? The you I know is someone that can't do magic, average in fitness, average in everything. You're just a human. A normal human. And if you think that I can save you every time that you get into trouble, you're mistaken. I'm no hero. I'm just your average miko. Please, you're confused right now. Now come here, and leave this idea that human and youkai can co-exist."
If this goes on like this, Reimu will surely win you over. Everything she said right now has its merit. But you just can't accept that. The idea that you can't befriend or live in fear of the youkai is something that you don't want.
I'll prove it.
"Hm?"
I'll prove it to you, Reimu. I'll get stronger. I'll become someone strong, someone that could stand next to you. Heck, why stop there. I'll be stronger that I can even protect you. I'll show you that I can be the right man for you! you scream with all your might. You feel like this won't do anything to sway Reimu's opinion, but you have to try. Anything. You both stay silence. Eventually, Reimu breaks the silence,
"You mean that?"
You nod.
"I won't be able to change your mind?"
You nod.
Reimu sighs, "You fool." She slowly walks up to you. She raises both of her hands and place it on your cheeks. Then, she pinches it really hard. It hurts! Owowowo. After 10 seconds, she let go.
"That's for lying to me. And making me worry."
Worry? Reimu? She doesn't look like it when you were at the shrine. You kept it to yourself.
"Fine. I'll allow you to do as you please. I won't stop you. However, next time, please don't let anyone do anything towards your body. Whether it's human or youkai, doesn't matter. It bothers me too much. Also, if I found you're colluding with any force that disrupt the balance of Gensokyo, I won't hesitate to stop you." her words feel like ice when she said. "Furthermore, if you did die to a youkai 'I told you so'" Reimu smugly said. "Alright, now that's that, let's go." Reimu starts walking.
Where are we going? you ask.
"The Human Village. You're paying for lunch today. Persuasion fee. Come on, Rumia. You're coming too. You can have anything you like. He's paying," Reimu calls out to Rumia.
"Really~~ Yay~~ Thank you, Reimu, human~~" Rumia dash to Reimu.
After that discussion, it looks like everything ends well. You got approval(?) from Reimu to befriend whoever you want. It looks like it turns to a happy ending today. You start running, catching up with Reimu and Rumia. What's not a happy ending is the weight of your wallet that day. Looks like you have to start being frugal for the next few months.