After saying your goodbyes to Cirno and Dai, you make your way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. A short walk later, you arrive at the front gate. Usually, you came here with Marisa by flying past the gate and enter one of the many library windows but today, you're on your own. Next to the big, open gate, lies someone standing asleep. The sleeping girl has long scarlet hair. She wears a green beret on her head and a green dress, similar to a Chinese dress. On her beret, in front of it, there is a gold star with a writing on it, but you can't make sense what it means. You always saw her whenever you and Marisa flies past the gate. It seems she acts like a gatekeeper of some sort. You want to wake her up so that you can gain entry but seeing the girl fast asleep like this, you stop. You can't possibly interrupt her nap. You can even hear her sleep talking, something about how Sakuya is feeding her. As to not disturb the girl, you walk into the gate of the mansion. When suddenly,
"Stop," a voice rings out right next to you. You turn your head to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper is looking at you with her aqua-blue eyes. She walks and stops in front of you, blocking entry of the gate. She then speaks,
"What business do you have with the Scarlet Devil Mansion?" the gatekeeper asks. You tell her that you're here to meet with Patchouli. The gatekeeper responds, "Hmm… I never seen you before, coming inside the mansion. I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to leave. Until I have conformation from Lady Patchouli, I'm afraid that I can't let you enter." You say to the gatekeeper that Patchouli knows you and you already met before. The gatekeeper responds, "Unlikely. Lady Patchouli would never leave her place in the library. If you and her met, that can only mean you met her inside. As far as I'm here, no one like you has ever passed this gate. Now, please leave for today. I'll get conformation from Lady Patchouli herself, so please come another day," the gatekeeper unbudging. That would be a problem. You tell the gatekeeper that you're here to return the books that you (Marisa) borrow, but then the gatekeeper becomes alerted.
"How do you have those books? Those books are from the library. I know those because Lady Patchouli asks me to pick those books from Marisa's place once. But how are you in possession of those? … Don't tell me -" the gatekeeper comes to a realization. At least this should be of proof of your friendship with Patchouli, "- a thief?!" the gatekeeper accuses. What? No, you're not! You try to tell her that you're here to return the books from Marisa place, but the gatekeeper cuts you off and continues, "I can't believe it! We not only have one book thief, but two! Not to mention, I can't believe you managed to sneak past me and the others inside. You're not someone to be made light off," she gets into a fighting stance, "Looks like the criminal has come back to the scene of the crime!" She's not listening to you at all. You vehemently try to deny her allegations but it falls on deaf ear.
"If I let you go like this, you might continue on your criminal ways. I have no choice but to stop you here and now. Now, get ready, here I come!" the gatekeeper ready to steps forward. Seeing this, you instinctively shield your body, but then,
"What are you doing, Meiling?" a familiar voice come from behind the gatekeeper. You and the gatekeeper turn to the voice and see the Scarlet Devil's head maid, Sakuya. You first met Sakuya when she and Remilia came over to the shrine that one time.
"Stay back, Sakuya! This person is a criminal. He has entered the mansion and stole Lady Patchouli's books and went unnoticed. But don't worry, I'll take care of this!" Meiling says.
Sakuya sighs and walk past Meiling and stops in front of you. "Thank you for bringing the books. It has been a great help for me," Sakuya smiles.
"Wha-what is going on? Sakuya, who is this?" Meiling asks, still confuse by the situation. Sakuya turns to Meiling and says,
"Meiling, this is the Outsider. Outsider, Meiling. He has been frequenting in his visits here to meet with Lady Patchouli."
"B-but I've never seen him before…"
"That's a given, as he enters with that thief of ours. Which reminds me, you haven't done an adequate job on guarding the gate."
"Bu-but Sakuya, Marisa enters by 'flying' past the gate. That would be out of my scope of place to gatekeep, right?"
"If I recall, the Scarlet Devil Mansion has metal fences around it. Shouldn't a gatekeeper prevent any intruder for entering?"
"Well… Marisa is 'flying' though."
"Then just fly."
Meiling and Sakuya continues their back and forth. You feel that this won't end, so you interrupt the two. You ask if you're able to enter the SDM today or not. Sakuya look troubled by your question.
"You can. However, I would advise against it today." You ask Sakuya the reason why. She then points up towards the sky. Then, you see a familiar magician flying with her broom, with books in haul.
"Thanks, Patchy! I'll be borrowing these books for now. I'll return it when I turn to my grave. Oh, hey!" Marisa waves to you, "Thanks for distracting that head maid for me. Love you, ahahaha," the borrowing magician flies off. You can faintly hear Patchouli scream Marisa's name inside the library. You apologize on Marisa's behalf and for distracting her when the ordeal happens.
"That's alright," Sakuya says, "If I hadn't come here, Meiling might have given you a thrashing. It's my fault for not informing her of you. I apologize," Sakuya gives a small, apologetic bow, "As for Marisa's case, it's not a main priority anymore. As we have our own honorary book-getter. I have to thank you again for doing this." You say it's not a big deal, as it is a part of a deal that you and Patchouli made. "Even so, help is still help. Anyway," Sakuya turns to Meiling, "Meiling, this human here is now a guest of Lady Patchouli. As of now, please allow him access to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Also, please actually do your job, it would bring shame to the Scarlet Devil Mansion's name if our resident gatekeeper were seen slacking off."
"Y-yes, Miss Sakuya!" Meiling gives Sakuya a salute. "I'll do my best!"
"I would hope so. Now, would you like to meet with Lady Patchouli today?" the head maid asks. You don't think that it's the right time today –unless you want to get an earful, which you don't -, so you decide to leave for today. You give the books to Sakuya, says your goodbyes to the two and made your way home.
The next day, you are heading to the SDM. The purpose of this trip is not to meet with Patchouli, rather, the gatekeeper, Meiling. You want to apologize to Meiling for getting her scolded by Sakuya yesterday. As you're thinking of ways to apologize, you arrive at your destination, the front gate of the SDM. You look for Meiling and she is standing next to the gate, saying her greeting to random passer-by. You call out to Meiling, and she turns her head to you.
"Ah, you're from yesterday. Hello, what business do you have today? Are you here to meet with Lady Patchouli?" the gatekeeper asks. You say that you're here to meet her today, but before you're able to apologize, she cuts you off,
"Ahhh, wait. Before you say anything. I need to say something," she holds out her hand in a 'stop' gesture. Well, you have something to say to her too, maybe you should say it to her first. You take a deep breath and,
I'm sorry, "I'm sorry!"
both of you simultaneously says and give a slight bow. Looks like you both apologize at the same time. After seconds of silence, you begin speaking,
I want to say sorry. Because of me, you got yelled at by Sakuya, you say.
"No, no. It's my fault. I should have listened to you first before acting rashly," Meiling says.
No, it's my fault. If I hadn't trespass to the SDM with Marisa, this wouldn't happen.
"Well, if I did my job, like Miss Sakuya said, I would have met you earlier and this wouldn't happen. So, I should be apologizing."
No, I'm the one who should be apologizing.
"No, I should."
Look, I'm the one in the wrong. So just let me apologize.
"Huh? I'm the one in the wrong. So, I should apologize."
Huh?
"Huh?" You both stare at each other before bursting into laughter. Later, you both finish laughing, you say to Meiling, seeing we're both apologizing, how about we both accept it? in which Meiling replies,
"Hahahaha, yeah. I like that. Anyway, I don't think we're properly introduced yesterday. Ehem. My name is Hong Meiling, the sole gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Nice to meet you," she puts out her hand. You grab her hand and shake it. You can tell from this handshake that she is strong (from her grip strength alone). You say that it's amazing how she guards the entirety of the SDM all by herself.
"Ehehehe, it's nothing special. It's my job," Meiling blushes, "Anyway, what business do you have here? Are you here to meet with Lady Patchouli?" No, no. You say that you're here to meet with her.
"With me? Well, what do you need? I'll assist you in any way I can." Seeing that she's the guardian to the SDM, she must be somewhat strong. You ask her if she have any experience in fighting.
"I do," she gets into a stance, "I study in the martial arts of Bajiquan," Meiling throws few punches and kicks in the air. You don't know what that means but it sounds cool. You clap at Meiling performances. "A good gatekeeper needs to know a few martial arts up her sleeves. Why do you ask?" Meiling asks you. You tell her the reason that you come here today, to ask her to train you in fighting. You're not letting the chance of your growth slip by like this. A way for you to stands proud next to Reimu. Now, you just have to wait for Meiling to give you an ans-
"Sure! I be happy to!" reply an enthusiastic Meiling.
–wer. That was quick. There's no hesitation at all from her.
"I mean, there hasn't been anyone that I can train with. The people in the SDM doesn't really have any interest in this. Lady Remilia thinks that it's barbaric, Lady Patchouli says that it's too tiring for her, Koakuma has to take care of the library, Miss Sakuya just says 'No' and Lady Flandre is too strong. The people that came here only show small interest in it, but they don't last long. I can only do this alone with the flowers as my audience," Meiling shares her struggle, "Now," she holds you hand, "With you here, I won't be as bored in guarding the gate, and I can keep awake and Miss Sakuya won't be mad at me. It's a good deal, right?" she holds your hand tighter. You laugh and say to be gentle with you. She lets go of your hand and says,
"Now before we start," she takes a couple steps back, "Hit me."
What? you ask, confuse by the request.
"I need you to hit me. Throw your best punch," Meiling pats her well-defined stomach.
I-I can't do that. I can't hit a girl.
"Hey. Let me remind you. Holding back is the biggest insult there is to a martial artist. Now, hit me!"
She's right. If you want her to train you seriously, you need to do this earnestly. Not to mention, the strongest person that you ever known is also a woman. You curl up your hand to a fist and with all your strength, you jab straight at Meiling's stomach. Before the hit connect, she parries your hand to the side with her right hand while she moves her body and ram her left side to you, her elbow connect towards your solar plexus. Receiving the blow, you're pushed back, your knee weakens, and you fell to the floor, both of your hand clutching on your stomach (the place where she hits you). You feel like you're inside is trying to get out from the entrance side.
"Hm, hm. I see," Meiling start speaking, "Your core body isn't as strong as I imagine. We should start you off with Tai Chi instead, so that you can get the feel of it."
You want to give a response to her, but because of certain circumstances, you're unable to do so. You can only hold your stomach out in pain.
"I think we can start this today!" Meiling continues, "Just like the saying goes, 'Today's thing should be done today' and I be-"Meiling eyes falls to you, "Hm? What's wrong? Are you okay?" And then realization hits her, "A-aaah sorry! I'm sorry!" she scrambles to get you the medical assistance you need. After a plentiful amount of sorry by Meiling, today doesn't seem to be the day that you start training. Maybe that saying has some faults to it? Thankfully, you still manage to impishly walk back to the shrine with a forlorn Meiling looking behind you. She insists on bringing you home, but you decline, as she still currently doing her job right now, and you don't want her to be scolded by Sakuya again. Arriving home, you have a light dinner, and you head to bed.
Tomorrow comes and you are heading to the SDM again to meet with Meiling. Although your stomach still feels the brunt of her blow from yesterday, that doesn't deter you from your activities today. Soon, you arrive in front of the gate of the SDM, with Meiling standing next to it. You wave your hand to get her attention, but she doesn't notice you. You get closer to the gatekeeper and see that her eyes are currently close with her arm crossed. You use this moment to take a closer look at her. Looking closely at her face, you can see that Meiling is rather handsome. However, her figure betrays her as she has the right gifts on the right places. On your sightseeing, you hear someone says,
"What are you doing?" the person in front of you asks, her right eyes open to look at you. Startled, you jump back a few steps. How long has she been awake for?
"When you came closer. Honestly, it's impolite to stare at someone's face like that," Meiling scolds you. You apologize to Meiling, saying that your eyes are just drawn to her. "Please don't do that again… it's embarrassing…" Meiling mutters something but you can't hear her, "And before you say anything," she continues," No, I was not sleeping, I was meditating," she says, trying to prove her point to no one.
"Ehem. Now, are you ready for today lesson?" Meiling asks you, her right-hand rest on her hip. You nod and gives her a thumbs up. She smiles. "I like the enthusiasm. But before we start… How is your stomach? Does it still hurt?" Meiling questions you. You say that your fine, but Meiling doesn't seem to believe you and ask you again. You demonstrate that you're fine by patting your stomach a few times. It still hurts, but you bear through it so that you can ease Meiling's worry. You learn a valuable lesson as to not underestimate anyone, no matter who they are. With that, Meiling breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. I was afraid that yesterday incident would made you hate martial arts. Again, I'm sorry for that." Meiling apologizes once again. "Now then, are you ready to begin your first lesson?" the gatekeeper asks. You nod and she gives a big smile. "Alright, we're going to start off with a bit of Tai Chi. It shouldn't be too difficult for starters and a great way to loosen up the muscles," she shifts her posture a bit, "Now, follow after me. We start with lowering our knee, and then…" Meiling gives you instructions while demonstrating the movement. You follow her every move to the best of your abilities. She teaches you different things, ranging from: breathing techniques, movement, and meditation. There are some parts that you been off balance because you're doing it quickly. Meiling remind you that,
"Tai Chi, in its core, is a form of meditation and self-defense. Let your body move in rhythm with the flow. Let your qi steadies and flow like a river. If you let your mind be in worry, or rushing through, you'll bound to make mistakes. As the saying goes, 'Stretching young plants to make them grow'."
You take the advice that Meiling gave you and you take it slow, following Meiling's moves in tandem. They are still some parts where you got off-balance, noticing that, Meiling comes closer to you,
"Ah, people always struggle with this part," she goes behind your back, "For this, you need to keep your footing balance while leaning forward. Imagine your feet as the trunk of a tree and…" she gets closer to you, her hand guiding your movement. However, your unable to focus, as her… womanly assets are pressed against your back. "… and like that. Do you get it no-"before she finishes her sentence, you hunch over. Confuse, Meiling asks, "Are you alright?" You say to her that you need a few minutes to rest. Although confused, Meiling respects your wishes and give you a quick break. It takes a couple of minutes before your vigour spread elsewhere.
After a while, you and Meiling are done with Tai Chi. "And done. Phew. How are you feeling?" the gatekeeper asks. You say that you're fine. You feel energize and your head a bit clearer. Meiling smiles. "You can do that whenever you have free time, or you can join me. I'm here every day. Hahaha," she winks and laughs at her own joke. Riding the flow, you ask Meiling if she can teach you how to spar. That is the main reason why you're here in the first place. Meiling scratches her head and says,
"Actually, I think it's better if you rest for today."
How come? you ask Meiling.
"Right now, we're focusing on Tai Chi. Too much information can make your understanding mixed up or forgotten entirely. As the saying goes 'He who chases two hares, catches none'."
It'll be fine. I'm sure that I can remem-
"No!" Meiling leans forward and points her finger at you. She then straightens her back, "I understand that you're eager to learn and I like that about you. Right now, it's best for you to rest. Just before you have trouble with the lesson and needed rest." Meiling scolds you. You want to correct her that that's different, but you hold your tongue, due to embarrassment. Meiling continues, "Rest is also a needed for your body to grow. No human can operate to their fullest if tired. But, if you don't want to rest, then you can meditate with me! It's a great method to put you back to a relaxed state. Now, what do you say?" Meiling outstretch her hand to you. Seeing that there's nothing else that you have to do today, and you don't want to sleep, you take Meiling hand and you walk back to the front of the gate. Meiling instructs you to sit down, close your eyes and to empty one's mind. Let nothing distract you today. Before you meditate, you look at Meiling, still standing. You ask her if she's not going to sit down, and she says that she can meditate in any situation. Hearing this, you close your eyes and empty your mind. You can hear the wind rustling the grass beneath, some birds chirping in the distant and your own breath. Soon, you're mind start losing its grip on reality and then, you fall asleep.
Soon after, you groggily wake up. You scan your surroundings, un-aware of where you are. Your eyes land on Meiling's body. You look up to see Meiling face; her eyes closed and a trail of drool leaving her opened mouth. You raise both your arms and stretch upwards, feeling your entire body loosen up. You then twist your body side to side to release tension on your hips. During your twist and turn, you see a figure behind you. Someone who's wearing a maid dress, her arms crossed, and dread falls over you. You didn't get a good look on the maid's face, but you know there's not a smile on there. You slowly stand up and lay your hand on Meiling body, shaking her to wake her up. Meiling grumbles in her sleep meditation and after a while, she wakes up.
"Fuaah, what is it? Are you going home now?" she looks at you for a moment before stretching her arm upwards. You put your left hand up and points behind her with your right hand, your left hand blocking the right. "Hmm, what is it?" Meiling lazily turn her head towards the direction your pointing, then brings it back, her face look like someone who've seen a monster.
"Oh my," the person behind says, "Isn't it rude to not greet your fellow friend."
Do-do you think Sakuya knows that we were asleep? you whisper to Meiling.
"Of course she does! She's Sakuya," Meiling whispers back, "Look, let's play dumb. Maybe she'll let us off free if we don't bring it up." You nod at Meiling suggestion. "Don't worry. If things not looking good, I have an ace up my sleeve. So, on three, we both turn around and act dumb. Okay?" Another nod from you. "Alright, one, two, three. "Meiling turn around and you follow her.
"He-hey Sakuya. Didn't see you there," Meiling awkwardly says, "Great weather were having today. What brings you here today? Oh, and there haven't been any threats to the mansion today! It's just me and him today," she wraps her arm to your neck. You wave at Sakuya. Now that you get a good look on her face, you can see that Sakuya's eyes are close, and she has a smile on her face. Despite that, you don't feel any warmth from it.
"Nothing much," Sakuya speaks, "I was just wondering how my two favourite hardworking friends are doing."
"Ahaha, we're just guarding the gate. No one will dare enter when Meiling's around!"
"Oh yes, you're right, Meiling. And I'm sure that the mighty gatekeeper was not sleeping on her job."
"A-ahaha yeah. Of course. Today has been a full day of serious gatekeeping. No sleeping! Ahahaha."
"I see. In that case, Meiling has been deliberately ignoring my calls." You turn to look at Meiling and you can see a tear of sweat, coming down from her forehead. "I mean, if you weren't sleeping on the job, then that's the only possible reason. Honestly, I'm hurt Meiling," Sakuya brings out her handkerchief and wipes a tear(?) from her eyes, "I didn't know what I did to hurt you to a point that Meiling ignores me. Haven't we've been together for many moons now. Truly, I'm hurt. *sob sob*"
"A-aaah it's not like that, Miss Sakuya!" Meiling let go of her arm around you and take a step forward, "It's not like that!"
"*sob sob* Then what is it, Meiling? I can't see any other possible reason for you to ignore me unless… you were sleeping on the job… *sob sob*" Sakuya continues to cry, her hand hides her face.
"Yes, I was sleeping on the job! I will never, ever, ignore any of Sakuya's call!" Meiling admits to her crime.
"So, you were sleeping on the job," her tears stop.
"Yes, I- eh?" Meiling look at Sakuya, her face cold as the tundra. Sakuya has the face of someone of pure contempt. Meiling scrambles her words trying to fix everything but before she's able to, Sakuya says,
"Now, what's your excuse today, Miss Meiling?" she crosses her arms. Meiling stands there for a few seconds and with a 'Hmph' she takes a step forward and,
"I'm sorry!" does a dogeza.
"No. Buried yourself. Stop breathing." Sakuya coldly and quickly response.
"You're telling me to die?!"
"No. I say to stop breathing."
"That's the same thing!"
To not let the tension prolonged any further, you step in to an angry angry Sakuya. You say to Sakuya that's it's not Meiling fault for her to be fall asleep. It's because she was busy training you in martial arts and that you both were tired back then. Hearing that, Sakuya raises an eyebrow and says,
"Meiling did?" You nod. She waits a few second before asking Meiling, in which Meiling replies "Yes." She waits another few seconds, then sigh.
"It seems the fault does not lie on our gatekeeper. I apologize for that," she gives and apologetic bow. You say to Sakuya that she didn't do anything wrong and that is us two that need to apologize to her. Sakuya adds,
"No, I should be apologizing as well. As I immediately put the blame on her without any evidence. Now," she turns to Meiling, still in her dogeza pose, "Meiling. Please stand up."
"Y-you're not mad anymore?" Meiling impishly asks.
"I will be if you don't get up this instant." Hearing that, Meiling springs up from her dogeza pose. "Meiling," she waits a few seconds before bowing her head," I'm sorry."
"N-no it's okay… It's true that I was asleep back there…" Meiling awkwardly adds, unsure what to do in this situation. Silence fell for the three of us. Meiling first break the silence, "S-so, Sakuya, what brings you here today, ehehe…"
Sakuya slowly raise her head, "I'm at a lost on what to make for dinner tonight and I would like your opinion on it."
"Anything that Miss Sakuya make is delicious! I'll eat all of it!"
Sakuya sighs. "That does not help me narrow down what to make tonight. I'll just boiled you some water for dinner."
"H-huh? Surely, you're joking Miss Sakuya. Hahaha."
"Of course. I'll seasoned it with salt."
"M-miss Sakuyaaaaaa," a teary Meiling cries.
Ignoring Meiling cries, Sakuya turns to you, "Would you be joining us for dinner before you leave?" You say to the head maid that you don't want to impose on her hospitality, to which she says, "It's alright. Adding another serving is easy." Although it does sound tempting – the food that Sakuya made are leagues different from yours – you have to decline, as the sun is coming down and you have to start making preparation for dinner tonight. Hearing this, Sakuya answers with, "I see. Then, I'll head back inside now. Meiling, work a bit longer. I'll call for you when the food is done."
"Yes, Miss Sakuya!" the gatekeeper salutes. Without turning back, Sakuya head backs inside the mansion. You wave your goodbye to Sakuya and Meiling and make your way back home. However, before you leave, you can hear Sakuya asks Meiling if she's alright, but you couldn't make out what they're saying.
Night soon comes when you arrive in front of the shrine. You enter the shrine and see Aunn, sitting on the porch, taking in the night breeze. She spots you and you both greet each other. Looking around the room, you find that Reimu is nowhere to be found. Aunn notices you looking around, and she says that Reimu today has to be in the Human Village. She explains that there's seemed to be an incident of some sort and that it requires her to be there and so she ask you to eat first. You thank Aunn for telling you all this and you pat her head, her tail swivel to and fro from your touch. Letting go of her head, you start preparing for dinner. You made an extra portion for Reimu in case that she comes back for the night. You finish your meal, freshen up and head for bed – saying good night to Aunn as well-.
The following week, you have been going to the SDM to be trained by the martial artist, Meiling. You did a lot of Tai Chi, sleep meditation, and whenever free, she shows you flowers from her small flower garden. Although you have gotten better at doing Tai Chi, Meiling still hasn't teach you on how to spar. Whenever you ask her to teach you, she either deflect or outright ignore it. You feel like she has no intention on teaching you. Not to mention, for the few couple days, Reimu has been doing night patrol at the Human Village. She only comes back when it's morning and by then, she usually fell asleep so that she can resume her night patrol. Thankfully, she still has her appetite as she ate your food whenever she came back. However, yesterday seems like she does an extra shift as the attack becoming more frequent. Before, it happens at night, now it happens during the day as well. After finishing your daily Tai Chi (Meiling still refuse to teach you how to fight), you say your goodbyes to Meiling and head back.
Soon, night come, and you have arrived at the shrine. Reimu still hasn't come back. You start preparing dinner (including Reimu's portion). During your cook, you hear a familiar –and tired- 'I'm back' from the porch of the shrine. You reply back and you hasten your cooking so that you can greet her. Finishing quickly, you place the food that you prepare on the table and see that Reimu is laying on the floor, her back touches the tatami floor. You go back to the kitchen to fetch her some water for her and hand it to her. She sees you and slowly gets up to a sitting position, take the glass from your hand and thanked you. After giving the glass to Reimu, you start plating for both of you and you both had dinner together in silent. Although it's only been a week, it feels like a lifetime. After finishing the meal, you clean the plates of both you and Reimu and after finishing, you head to where Reimu is, the porch, basking in the night. You sit next to her.
"Hey," Reimu speaks, "Thanks for doing the chore around the shrine. It's been a great help for me."
It's no big deal. It's the least I can do, you say to Reimu. Reimu face forward, looking at nothing. Say, Reimu, you continue. Reimu sounds a 'Hm?' and you continue talking, Did you find the thing that you're looking for? At the village. Reimu shakes her head. She then speak,
"It wouldn't be difficult if we have a way to identify it." You ask Reimu what she means by that. "For the past few days, some of the Human Village's shop has been ransacked, their crops uproot, and strange marks has been place where the crime occur. I've been asking the resident there on their account if they've seen the culprit, and you know what, everyone is willing to share. It just that…" Reimu pause for a bit, "all the culprits are different."
Does that mean, there's different people acting together?
"I wish it was that simple," Reimu sighs, "When I ask the people there, the culprit isn't only human… there's animal and youkai too. One saw someone acting strange, two saw a boar eating, five says that it's a youkai that enter the village at night and ransacking the place. The rate of the occurrence is too frequent to. It's unheard of."
Then it's just different occurrence happening at once?
"That should be the case, but then, just now, another incident occurs, this time it was behind one of the houses. There were two witnesses. So we, ah, Marisa was with me at the time, she's currently helping me in the investigation, right now she's at the Human Village patrolling, but anyway, when we ask them what they saw, we were surprised. Can you guess what they saw?" Reimu asks you. You think for a bit and say that they saw two different things. Reimu smiles. "You're right but not quite. You've been reading too much of Agatha Chris Q book. Hahaha. Anyway, you're right, they saw two different things. However, despite them seeing two different things, they can only recall one thing. None of the two saw what the other saw." You both stay silent. You don't know how you can help at this moment. Then, Reimu stretches and continues,
"Well, I need to get a quick shut eye. Tomorrow morning, I have to patrol the area again," she stands up, but before she leaves, you stop her. Reimu stops and wait for you.
Is there anything that I can do to help? you say to Reimu, I can help you with the patrol tomorrow an-
Reimu laughs. "Fufufu, thank you," she places her hand on top of your head, "Your concern is enough. Besides, we don't know what we're up against right now, and I don't want you to get hurt."
No, it's alright. I know how to take care of myself. Don't you remember? I have the amulet that you gave me, and I've been training with Meiling this past few days.
"Oh, have you now?" a smug Reimu says, "Is that where you've been going early in the morning? Good, good. Keep it up," she ruffles your hair.
Come on, Reimu! Stop treating me like a kid!
"Ahahaha, you act like one, you get treated like one," she continues ruffling your hair for a few seconds before slowing to a stop, "Thank you. However, I still can't bring you along. Having food on the table whenever I went home has been a great help for me. It warms my heart to see food readily available when I'm exhausted".
But Reimu, I-
"No buts. I've been giving you lots of leeway, but this would be like jumping into a youkai's mouth. Besides, I haven't tested your strength yet, so I can't say anything about it. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to forgive myself. Also, this is my job. Leave it to your reliable and adorable shrine maiden. I'll show you that I actually do my job. Now," she removes her hand from your head, and yawns "I really need this sleep, so I'll be heading to bed first. Good night." Reimu then leaves to the sleeping quarters. You stay there, pondering. Reimu is right. You have no experience in fighting yet. No matter how much you ask Meiling to teach you, she evades the question altogether. Tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure you will ask her to train you. With new resolution, you head to bed.
Tomorrow arrives, after finishing your daily morning routine, you head straight to the SDM to meet with Meiling. Slowly, the SDM comes to view, and you see Meiling standing at her usual place. You call her and wave your hand which she waves back. You walk to Meiling and stands in front of her.
"Hey, you're here early today! Someone's eager. I like that. Now, it's a bit early from our routine but it shouldn't be a pro-
Meiling.
"Hm? Yes, what is it?"
I need you to train me to fight.
"Yes, yes. We're getting to that. But first, let's begin with Tai Ch- "
Meiling! you raise your voice. Meiling stays silent. Then, she continues, "Let's begin with Tai C- "
Is that really it? Is this the only thing that you can teach me?
"You're not ready yet."
Ready? Ready?! When will I be ready?
"Not now, you aren't."
We haven't even spar yet, how would you know? How about we do a bit of sparring, and you can judge me fro-
"Listen here. Right now, we're covering the basic. From what I see, you're not ready yet. You've only taken the first step into the martial arts world, and you think that you can beat everyone. Remember, 'Jade requires polishing to turn into a gem'. Besides, there's no need to rush is there? Rushing from one thing to another would just be wasted training. You'll learn nothing."
W-well, a certain miko's figure flashes in your head. There's nothing to refute. What she says made perfect sense. The problem is not from Meiling; it's you. You're just frustrated that she kept rejecting your wish to spar. The constant rejection make it feel like she's doing it just so that she can toy at you. You know she's not the kind of person to do that, but the thought still crosses your mind. But most importantly, you feel useless. In time where Reimu needed help, you can't be there for her. Meiling has never been the problem; it's you. You keep bottling it, but the bottle overflow, no, it broke.
Fine, I don't need you anyway! I can learn it from someone who will take me seriously! I hate you! Realizing what you say, you look at Meiling but immediately runs away. You can hear Meiling calls out your name, but you ignore it. You keep on running. You don't know where to, but you just let your feet run.
Slowly, the adrenaline runs out, and your body tires out. You look around at where you are and found the Misty Lake right next to you. You gather your breath, tired from running. You look back, but you don't see Meiling chasing after you. That's a given, seeing that she has a job to do. After the high wears off, you recall back the thing that you said to Meiling. You can't believe that you have it in you to say things like that. You have to apologize to Meiling… but not today. You don't feel like it today. Now, seeing that you're free, you're thinking of what to do today. You decide to walk back home today to plan the rest of your day. However, before you start walking, you hear something from your right. Turning your head to the direction, you see a black shadow, almost mist-like, emerge. You haven't seen that before, but you don't have the strength to go up to it. You decide to leave but before you do, the shadow-mist grew two red color, almond shape (similar to cats) eyes(?) and it stares right back at you. Before you can react, the shadow lunges its right arm(?) at you. You instinctively block the hit with your arms, and you are thrown a bit from the attack.
The hit left a mark on your arm. You use the small amount of time to gather your bearing and take a quick look at the thing attacking you. Although you want to explain it, you're unable to, as the shadow has a bit of fuzziness to it. Similar to a water ripple. You look beside the creature and see that only the shadow has the fuzziness effect on it. You want to run away, but you don't think that it would let you, judging how it immediately attack you. Instead, you enter a stance. The stance that Meiling has thought you for the past week. You wait for the creature to act. Slowly, the creature's body changing, and the fuzziness becomes clearer. You watch and steady your breath, waiting for it to finish. In the end, it turns to an all-familiar figure, a figure that you see every morning.
Reimu?! Although, not her per se, but her silhouette. You know that big ribbon anywhere, how she stands, and that unnecessary armpit reveal of her clothes. NotReimu stands there, not moving. You also stand there, unmoving. Both of you are waiting for the other to make the first move. Not long, NotReimu dash forward, lunging her right straight to your stomach. You remember that this is the same as what you did to Meiling, so you copied what Meiling did to you: you parry its hand aside and move your whole body to ram into it. Unfortunately, the shadow side-step your attack, jumping back a few steps to gain distance. You quickly get back to your stance. Before you're able to gather your breath, it moves again, it right hand -turn to fist- strike your left side. You feel the sharp pain that the shadow gives you as you suck in your breath quickly and clutching your hurt side. The shadow sees this is as an opportunity to continue it strike, but you tear the grass below you and throw it at the shadow. The shadow seems puzzled, giving you time to move back, farther your distance between you and it. Even with the pain in your kidney, you get back to your stance. You think what to do. During this time, you remember back to what Meiling has thought you.
"Remember, Tai Chi is meant as a form of meditation and self-defence and should never be use on another person. You got that?" the past gatekeeper said. "With that said, let's begin! First you need to take a deep breath. Clear your head."
NotReimu moves forward.
"Now, plant your feet on the ground. Imagine grasping on a sparrow's tail, or to better understand, a ball, and bring it in and press it out,"
You grab NotReimu's hand and push it back, but its other hand connects to your knee when you,
"You're doing great! Continuing on, imagine a rooster standing on one leg. You bring one knee upwards with the hand that the knee is raised, you put it up, next to your face,"
You teeter off-balance. Not missing a beat, NotReimu brings it hand up to strike you down but you,
"Hahahaha, you're a natural at this! Alright, next, is parting the wild's horse's mane. Now, think of a horse, then lean your body's forward so that you can pet his mane. Move your arm up and-"
Block the incoming strike from the shadow. Your hand hurts from receiving the hit but you grit through it. Continuing from this, you,
"After this, a white crane spread its wings. Pretty simple. You just put your arms to the side, and spread it open, like how a crane would,"
From this, the shadow loses its balance. Finally, you,
"Right, the next one is starving tiger mauls the goat. It sound dangerous, but it's really not. You bring your arms back to your side, like a wind-up, and then push forward. Remember to breath out when you push forward,"
And push the shadow away from you. The shadow is push back a few steps where it stops to see your move. The fight continues on as you block, hit and get hit from the attacker. Later, after receiving a lot of hits from your assailant, you unfortunately aren't able to dodge the last blow, and you are push to a tree, where your body slumps down. You can feel warmth coming out from your head, presumably from the hit to the head you receive from it. The shadow doesn't even look tired from your incessant blocking, as it moves closer to you. Ah, looks like this is it. The end of your road is here. There's no one that can save you by now. You have some regret that still lives with you but the biggest one has to be your fight with Meiling. You wish that you could apologize to her after this. You wait for the inevitable strike to appear, but it never came. Instead, you see a flying kick hit the shadow in front of you and the body flung over to the other side. Now, a familiar martial artist stands in front of you, her crimson hair and green Chinese dress tower over you.
"Stay away from him!" the martial artist screams. After seeing that her opponent has fallen to the floor, she turns to you, "Are you alright?! Hey!" she presses her hands on your body. You give a weakly smile(?) and mutter something out of your mouth, but Meiling stops you.
"It's okay. You can rest now. I'll take care of this". So cool. She stands up and turn to the fallen shadow. Meiling steps forward to a reasonable distance from the shadow.
"My name is Hong Meiling!" she bows to the shadow, "I'll be your opponent for today," she raise her head. After, she lowers her body and spread her feet apart. "Now, come at me!"
The shadow slowly stands up. However, Meiling is surprised.
"N-no way, b-but how?" her voice quivers, "You shouldn't be here anymore." Without warning, the shadow lunge forward, catching Meiling off guard. Meiling got push back a bit early but rebound back. The fight between Meiling and NotReimu in a constant stalemate. This is mostly because Meiling seems to be holding back her hits. Whenever she gets a clean hit, she held back, only to be hit by the shadow. You don't know how long the fight will last. But then, the shadow changes it course of attack, it starts aiming you. Meiling sees this and block the hit, but the flurry of attack doesn't stop. It seems that it knows that Meiling will use her body to shield you from the harm of the shadow. Now, the shadow has more of an advantage. Until one time, where the shadow manages to hit one of Meiling's nerve point, letting Meiling's body to be push to the side. Now, Meiling has fall to the ground. She tries to stand up, but her body refuses to do so. The shadow closes in on her. You can only watch as it raises it arms upward. You try to move your body but to no avail. You try to scream but the words won't come out. Now, the shadow strikes. Before the land hits, a yin-yang orb come flying and hit NotReimu straight in the face, which made the shadow fall back. Slowly, you see the person who threw the orb. An all-familiar back.
"Finally, you show up straight to me. You know how tiring it's been trying to find you," she doesn't stop moving forward. "Don't worry," Reimu continues, "Leave this job to your local shrine maiden. Marisa… …" Reimu says something, but you couldn't make out what it is. You feel dizzier by the minute. Looks like the adrenaline runs out. You manage to see a familiar magician in black, holding you. And then, you black out.
You open your eyes and are greeted with the shrine's ceiling. You try to move your body, but you feel pain whenever you do so. However, you're able to turn your neck and you can see Reimu sleeping next to you. Soon, Reimu wakes up.
"Ah, morning," Reimu slowly gets up in a sitting position, "How are you holding up?" You try to say that your body hurts but your voice come out hoarse. "Relax, I'll bring you some water," Reimu gets up and walk to the kitchen. Coming out, she brings you the water. She picks you up so that you're sitting and then with a pain body, you down the drink which lead you to cough. She pats you on the back. You look at your body, you're bandage from head to toe. Then, you slowly lay down again. You ask Reimu what happen.
"Oi, oi, don't tell me you lost your memory again," Reimu sighs, "You encounter a youkai and got hurt." You ask her to explain, because your head is a bit fuzzy at the moment. "Don't worry. I will. But before that, someone's here to meet you," Reimu turns to the porch, "Ooi, Meiling, he's awake". Meiling slowly comes into view, you can see that her body has some bandages around the arm and stomach. She also has a band-aid on her left cheek.
"Hey. How're you feeling?" she comes inside, "Uwaahh, that look bad. Ahahaha…" she awkwardly laughs. The room stays silent. Reimu break the silence by saying, "Well, you take care of him for a while. I need to make congee for the guy," she gets up.
"Aah, no no, I can make i-" Meiling reply but quickly interrupted, "Meiling." From that one word, Meiling stays silent. Reimu then enter the kitchen. The silent re-emerge.
"The weather is great today, huh?" Meiling start small talk, "Bad start. Ah, changing the subject, that fight was something right, I can't believe you managed to fight off with a youkai of that stature." From the way that you are right now, you don't think that you win against the thing. "We-well, it's still amazing on what you did…" Meiling stays silent again.
"Hey. Can I tell you a story?" You nod. It's not like you can walk out anyway, "Ahaha, right. I want to tell you, why I have been avoiding teaching you how to fight…" Meiling take a deep breath, "It started long ago…"
It was morning, I was guarding the SDM and did a bit of exercise, when in the distance, I saw a girl being harassed by smaller youkais. I went in and drove the youkais away. After droving it away, I take a look at the girl. The girl is small in size and has a black bob-cut hair, her face covered in freckles around the bridge of her nose and her body was covered in cuts and bruises. When I asked the girl why she is out here alone, she told me that she was being pester by the children in the Human Village and she was asked to find something that they consider cool, or she's not allowed to come back. When I asked where her parents are, she doesn't respond, but her home is in the Village itself. Feeling sympathetic to the girl, you gave her a gold star with the writing 'Dragon' written in Chinese. Her eyes sparkle and her face lit up. She thanked me for the gold star and ran off towards the direction to the village.
The next day, doing my routine again, I spotted the girl. She came back to meet with me. I asked her if she's being bullied again but she shakes her head. Instead, she came here to ask me to teach her martial arts. She saw the way I fought and thought that it was cool. I asked her again if her parents allowed for her to be here, but she doesn't respond. Not wanting to pry further, I agree to her wishes. However, I told her that that martial arts is only use for self-defense and to never use it for violence. She nods and I started training with her.
She came by every day. Learning the craft from me. Days turn to weeks; weeks turn to month. She met and became acquainted with the people from the Mansion too. Every day, she gets stronger and stronger, I can see that she has the potential to surpass me even in a couple of years.
Then, one day, after I finished sparring with her, she tells you that the children hadn't pick on her anymore. I congratulate her for the achievement, and she gave the biggest smile there is. However, on the next day, when I was guarding the gate, there are some human passing by. They were talking really loudly that I listen in. It turns out, the girl that I have been training has started pestering the children from the village. It seems that she does the same thing as the people before did to her. I can't believe my ears when I heard it, but there's nothing I can do at that time. It could have only been rumours. I waited for her to come tomorrow to hear it from her.
The next day came, and I confronted her. She stays silent and I asked her again. She said that they're just getting their desserts, they should feel what she felt at the time. By that time, I was raising my voice, I told her that martial arts are not meant to be use as a form of violence, but she replied back, saying that she had no choice. It's not like she wanted this to happen. It just happened. No one care for her in her life, and she have no way to defend herself and now that she has a way for it, everyone says that she's in the wrong. Isn't it messed up? When she's just repaying them the things that they have done to her, why was she painted as the bad guy? I told her again, the power that she wields now is for defending herself, not to inflict harm on others. By then, I don't remember what happen. It turns into a shouting match, both parties won't relent from their ideals, and a fight happen. I came as victor, but her face has the look of someone has betrayed her. She left soon after and she hadn't came back to the SDM.
The gossip of the girl hadn't died down, rather, it became the talk of the village at the time. More and more people recount their story. And then, the unimaginable happen, Meiling's voice quivers.
One day, the Bunbunmaru Newspaper published their newspaper, and on that very first page it reads;
INCIDENT IN THE HUMAN VILLAGE! A YOUNG GIRL TURNED YOUKAI ATTACKED CHILDREN AND ADULTS!
I read the description of the assailant and the more I read, more of my heart sank. It describes perfectly to the girl that came by few days ago. The same girl that I have argued with. Then, as if the world is making a fool of me, she came to the SDM. The girl that wasn't tainted by the youkai stink. The same girl, that once meek turned strong. The same girl, her eyes now turned red, and parts of her body were covered in black gunked. She came to meet me. To settle the score with me. I asked her if she hurt anyone at the Village, if this newspaper clipping is true. She stays silent. Then, she gave the biggest grin (similar when her bullies stop pestering her) of them all and said,
"Yeah, so what?"
By then, things turned into a blur, we exchanged blows between each other. If I hit her right cheek, she hit my left. If I kneed her stomach, she grabbed my knee and threw me to the ground. And by the end, both of us are spent. And then… and then…, Meiling slows down, she's having a hard time finishing the story.
"And then I dealt with her," Reimu comes back, with a bowl of congee on her hand. "I get reports from the humans there at the time. At first it was to solve the bullying problem, but that's not what my job is. That should be solved by the village itself," she puts down the congee on the table. "If it's a human-on-human conflict, I might step in as a mediator. But when she turns to a youkai, that's where the shrine maiden steps in".
"Thank you, Miss Reimu. I don't know what will happen if you weren't there at the time."
"It's what I do. Although, my donation box seems to be a bit empty~~"
"Ahahaha, don't worry, I'll put something in there later."
"ᗜˬᗜ ~~"
Remembering something, Reimu continues, "Right, I forgot to mention. The thing that you and Meiling fought before, it turns out to be a shapeshifting youkai. Its true body is a small ball of fuzziness shadow, but when it locks eyes with its prey, it will turn to the thing its prey most scared of. For our dear friend Meiling here, it seems to be that girl. I wouldn't put it past her. But now I'm curious… What did you see when you're fighting it?" Reimu asks you.
You look at Reimu. Then you say that you don't remember. Reimu responds with an 'Eehh?' elicit a laughter from both you and Meiling.
"And to you. I want to give you my deepest apologies," she bows her head reaching the floor.
No Meiling, it's my fault. I was the one who pushed you too far without knowing what's going on. I'm sorry.
"No, if I have overcome my past, you would not be in this situation. I'm sorry."
No, it's me who's wrong. If I hadn't ran away from you and just apologize immediately, we wouldn't be in this state.
"No, no. I should be the one apologizing."
No, I should be the one apologizing.
"No, I should."
Huh?
"Huh?"
"Is this a bad comedy sketch or what?" the miko in red interject.
You both laugh. You remember that you had this conversation with her before. After having your fill of laugh, Meiling continues,
"Hey. This time. I'll train you fully. I won't let the same mistakes ever again. And if I see you use it for the wrong reason, I'll be there to stop you. But I know, you're not the type to do that," the gatekeeper smiles, feeling a weight of her burden lifted.
"Alright, alright," Reimu interject again, "I think that's enough. The sick need to eat now. Come on Meiling, get him up."
"Right!" Meiling picks you up to a sitting position while Reimu pick up the congee. Today, even with you pained body, you feel the most happiness you can get here.
However, the day isn't over yet. You hear someone familiar calling out Reimu's name in the distance. Slowly, it became more audible. Then, she appears,
"Reimu! How is he? Has he wake up yet? It's been three days now shouldn't we bring him to Eintei an-" Marisa looks inside the shrine. Your eyes met.
"Ha-haaaa?! He's awake?! Oi, Reimu! Why didn't you tell meeee!"
"Aaaaah shut up, Marisa! He just woke up recently."
"Then, why didn't you tell meee?! If I had known, I would have brought something today."
"He just woke up, how am I supposed to tell you? Also, I don't need to tell you and if you're going to bring something, why only him? You can bring something to me too, you know?" Marisa ignores Reimu last remarks. She gets closer to you,
"Are you okay? Does it still hurt? Did Reimu do anything to you?" Marisa bombards you with questions.
"Huh? What the last one supposed to mean?!" an angry Reimu asks. Marisa continues questioning you,
"Have you eaten yet? Are you hungry? Let's see… Ah, perfect. I'll be taking this," Marisa fish out the bowl of congee and spoon from Reimu, "Okay, say 'Ahhh~~~"
You would like to rephrase. Today, despite pain all over your body, is the happiest moment of your life and the most hectic.