In Gensokyo, one of its most important locations, if not the most important, is the Hakurei Shrine, for it is the center of the Hakurei Barrier, one of two barriers that form and protect Gensokyo, as well as seal it away from the outside world. However, just because the important location is a shrine doesn't mean that it gets that many visitors, or more accurately, visitors that are human. While the Hakurei Shrine being placed on a tall hill is certainly inconvenient, the real reason why humans rarely visit the Hakurei Shrine is that yokai more often than not treat the shrine like an inn, and while the Spell Card System makes sure that conflict between humans and yokai are relatively bloodless, most of the humans in the Human Village aren't skilled in magic, much less combat magic, so they more often than not stay away from the Hakurei Shrine than test their luck against yokai who may or may not decide to follow Spell Card rules.
Speaking of the Hakurei shrine, the name of its current shrine maiden is Hakurei Reimu. She wore a stylised red Miko outfit and a large red bow on top of her head, and she is holding a purification rod in her right hand. As to what exactly is Reimu doing right now, she is currently spending her evening lying down on the floor and daydreaming as she looks at the ceiling with a somewhat downcast look on her face, as this was one of the few days that yokai not named Yukari or Ran decided to not bother her, which she would've taken full advantage of if she had any real hobbies or motivation to perform the duties of a shrine maiden beyond the bare minimum. Alas, she had neither, so she just spent most of her non-eating hours Dreaming, as she was a Dreamer herself. As to why Reimu is currently not Dreaming, however, it is because she is currently waiting for two people to arrive, and those two people were rather important to her.
Eventually, one of those two people important to Reimu arrived while riding a flying broom, that person being Marisa Kirisame, who wore a black and white dress with what looked like four yellow buttons on her chest, a large witch's hat, and an apron. In addition, she had blond hair and yellow eyes. Lastly, Marisa is also a Dreamer.
"Yo, Reimu, I'm here, da-ze!" Marisa said as she hopped off her broom and entered the shrine without any regard to manners.
"Hi, Marisa," Reimu said with no emotion in her voice and not moving from her spot at all.
"Come on, Reimu, can't you greet your best friend with a bit more emotion?"
Reimu sighed as she sat up. "Hello, Marisa," Reimu said with a bit of forced enthusiasm, though her downcast look was still apparent.
Marisa noticed the downcast look on Reimu's face, so she dropped her act, walked up to Reimu, and sat to the left of her. "You alright?" Marisa said in a softer tone.
Reimu took a moment to consider her answer. "As alright as I can be."
So she's feeling more down than usual, but not enough for her to break into tears at any moment, Marisa thought. "Wanna watch the setting sun together?"
"Sure, why not?" Reimu said before she and Marisa got up and walked to the front of the shrine before sitting back down.
Shortly after the two sat down, Marisa put her right arm around Reimu's shoulder. "While I may not always be here, my shoulder will always be available for you to lean on while I am."
Reimu's response was to do exactly that, which caused Marisa to chuckle as the two began to watch the sun set.
A few minutes went by before the other person important to Reimu finally appeared by walking up the long stairs that lead to the Hakurei Shrine, with that person being a woman named Meira. Meira wore a red and white Hakama and her long, purple hair was tied in a ponytail. In addition, she had a sheathed katana on her left side and was currently also wearing a traditional wooden backpack chest.
"Oi, Meira, took ya long enough, da-ze!" Marisa said as she took on her signature rough accent anf she and Reimu broke away from each other.
"Unlike a certain witch, I prefer to take a relaxing walk, thank you very much," Meira quipped as she walked towards Marisa and Reimu. "Maybe if you decided to take a walk every now and then, you'd be healthier and not be so short."
"Hah? Almost sounds like ya tryin' to start somethin'," Marisa said in an accusatory tone as she got up.
Meira smirked in response. "And if I am?"
"I'll gladly take ya lanky ass on, da-ze, Spell Card rules or not!"
"Kotohime didn't come with you, Meira?" Reimu asked, interrupting Marisa and Meira's banter.
"Unfortunately, she didn't want to, though I don't exactly blame her," Meira said as she entered the shrine, her tone instantly switching to a more kind one.
"Aw man, was hoping to have her over," Marisa said in a slightly disappointed tone.
"So what's for dinner?" Reimu asked.
"We're having ramen tonight," Meira said as she began to take off her backpack chest.
"Don't 'cha get tired of bringin' food here twice everyday, Meira?" Marisa asked.
"What can I say? Old habits die hard," Meira answered as she shrugged. "After all, as Reimu's godmother and honorary aunt, the least I can do is provide for her if barely anyone donates to her. Now then, let's get cooking."
Before the three were even able to prepare their dinner, however, a crow flew into the shrine and began cawing. "[Intruders! Intruders!]"
"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Meira asked as she reached out her right arm so that the now-named Ichigo could land on it, with Marisa and Reimu turning to focus on Ichigo.
"[Intruders! Five humans and one yokai! Arrived via teleportation! Some distance behind shrine!]" Ichigo crowed as she landed on Meira's outreached arm.
"Intruders? Sudden teleportation?" Meira said with a hint of worry. "This better not be the start of an incident."
"Oi, that's Reimu's line you're stealin', da-ze!" Marisa said. "And besides, don't worry, old lady, Reimu and I will handle it for ya, ze," Marisa then said as she winked at Meira.
"Old lady?" Meira said in a tone that was both amused and annoyed as she lowered her right arm, causing Ichigo to briefly fly up and land on her right shoulder. "I might be retired from Incident solving, but that doesn't mean that I turn a blind eye from trouble brewing in front of me, and I'm certainly not old enough for my hair to gray out."
"Can we go check out the intruders now?" Reimu said with a hint of annoyance, interrupting Marisa and Meira's banter. "I wanna get this over with and eat dinner as soon as possible."
""Sorry about that./Sorry, da-ze,"" Meira and Marisa said at the same time, respectively, before they glanced at each other for doing so. With Marisa's and Meira's banter out of the way, the three began walking towards the source of the crow's concern, with Reimu taking the lead, followed by Marisa and Meira. As for Ichigo themselves, they flew away as the three Gensokyo residents began to leave, having learned long ago not to get caught in the crossfire should things go bad.
It didn't take long for Reimu to arrive at the location, and as she did so, she overheard what seemed to be part of a conversation.
"...While this world does feel like a real world, at the same time, it feels like a Dream World, and that has interesting implications," said Yomika.
Just as Yomika said her words, the Sealing Club and Yomika heard the shuffling of footsteps, so they turned to the source of the sound. There, they spotted Reimu, and when she and the other four Dreamers locked eyes with each other, they all had a look of surprise on their faces as they all suddenly received a message.
A fellow Dreamer.
"Yo, Reimu, what stopped you in your tracks, da-ze?" Said Marisa. "I hope it's a troublemaker we can beat--" as Marisa came around the shrine, she saw the Sealing Club and Yomika, and when Marisa locked eyes with one of the Dreamers, she dropped her broom and stopped herself in surprise as she also received a message that she found fellow Dreamers.
A moment of silence lingered over as the Dreamers looked at each other in surprise. As for the Usami sisters, they looked on the scene with confusion on their faces, though Renko soon recognized that Maribel had also reacted similarly when they first met Madotsuki and Urotsuki as well as Yomika.
"Reimu? Marisa? Is everything alright?" Meira asked as she came around the corner, though her question would soon be answered by the sight of Marisa, Reimu, the Secret Sealing Club members, and Yomika. As Meira's eyes wandered to the Sealing Club and Yomika, she took note of the group's clothing, as well as their surprised looks and lack of hostility. Meira soon sensed their general lack of magic, barring Maribel, Sumireko, and Yomika, and in addition, she sensed that Yomika felt different and definitely non-Human compared to the rest of the group. Perhaps this was the yokai Ichigo mentioned. Regardless, with this information in mind, she guessed that the group in front if her were outsiders. "Outsiders, huh? Now that's something you don't see everyday," Meira said as she caught up with Marisa and Reimu. "Mind telling us your names?"
Madotsuki, Urotsuki, and Yomika were the first to recover from their surprise, and Urotsuki was the first to introduce herself. "Oh, name's Urotsuki."
"My name's Madotsuki," Madotsuki said.
"Yomika," Yomika simply replied.
"My name is Maribel Hearn. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said as she bowed, which caused Meira to raise an eyebrow at Maribel's formal introduction.
"Name's Usami Renko, nice to meet you."
Sumireko took a dramatic pose as she began her introduction. "My name is Usami Sumireko, high school student extraordinaire and leader of the Secret Sealing Club!" Sumireko then struck another dramatic pose.
"Self-proclaimed leader," Renko corrected as she ignored Sumirenko's exclamation at having the rug pulled under her. "Speaking of which, with the exception of Yomika, all of us are high schoolers, though Sumireko is a lower grade than us."
"'High schoolers'?" Marisa asked in a curious tone as she picked up her broom. "I know what a school is, but what exactly does 'high school' mean, da-ze?"
"As much as I'd also like to know, I think it's best if us three introduce ourselves before continuing our conversation in the shrine," Meira said before the Sealing Club members and/or Yomika could answer. "Wouldn't want to just stand around all day, now would we?" When everyone else said they agreed in some form, Meira spoke once more. "With that plan in mind, allow me to introduce myself. Name's Meira, Chief Guard and Yokai Hunter of the Human Village."
While the Sealing Club members had questioning looks upon hearing of yokai and the specific term of "human village", they held their tongue for now. As for Yomika, she bristled in response to Meira being a Yokai Hunter, which Meira took notice of, but didn't comment on.
Reimu was the next to introduce herself as she bowed. "Hakurei Reimu, Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei Shrine."
Marisa grinned as she took a pose. "Kirisame Marisa, ordinary human Magician extraordinaire and second best Incident solver, at your service, da-ze!"
Sumireko gasped in excitement and surprise. "Magician?! Do you mean one who casts magic and not one uses parlor tricks and sleight-of-hand?"
"Hell yeah, I do, though I also know some parlor tricks myself, da-ze," said Marisa. "Though like Meira said, let's take this inside, don' wanna have ta' stand outside all day."
"Ah, that's so cool!" Sumireko gushed as she and the rest of the group began to walk towards and inside Reimu's shrine. "Can you show us your magic?"
Reimu pointedly looked at Marisa, which the latter noticed. "Mou, Reimu, I ain't gonna destroy the shrine!"
"You said that last time you wanted to show off the new magic spell you learned, only to do the opposite," Reimu said with a hint of annoyance.
As Marisa and Reimu began to banter with each other, Sumireko was a bit disappointed that Marisa hadn't already shown her magic yet. However, it was rectified by her intuition/maybe-a-psychic-empath-power telling her that the tone of Marisa and Reimu's argument were similar to a married couple's, just like how Maribel and her sister acted sometimes, causing Sumireko to chuckle in amusement when she made the comparison.
"Ah, come on, Reimu, it wasn't that bad!" Said Marisa "Sure, I didn't expect it to be so big, but I did stop it before any major damage could happen, da-ze!" Marisa then put her arm around Reimu and pulled her in, causing the latter to yelp in surprise. "Besides, if it really did destroy your shrine, then that just gives me the excuse to invite ya to stay over, now, eh?"
"I refuse to live in the trash heap you call a home," Reimu said as she looked away from Marisa.
Marisa mock-gasped as she backed off and let go of Reimu. "You wound me with your hurtful words," she teased. "You better say sorry, da-ze!"
Before Reimu could respond to Marisa, Meira spoke up, interrupting Marisa's and Reimu's banter. "We're here, let's head inside." The group then headed inside of the Hakurei Shrine and eventually sat down.
"So, Marisa, about the magic you were about to show us…." Sumireko said.
"Ah, right, I almost forgot!" Marisa said before she pointed her index finger up and conjured a small flame at its tip. "I'd like to show ya something much cooler, but Reimu's here, so yeah."
"Can you two also use magic, Meira and Reimu?" Urotsuki asked.
"Yes, we can, though I'd rather show it right now," Meira answered as Reimu simply nodded in response.
"Hey, Meira," Renko said, catching Meira's attention. "Earlier, you said that you were the Chief Guard of the Human Village, as well as a Yokai Hunter. What does that entail, exactly?"
Meira raised an eyebrow at Renko's words. "Ain't gonna ask if yokai are real?"
"Considering how we got here, I'm inclined to believe they are, especially if you yourself implicitly confirmed it with your job as a Yokai Hunter."
Meira chuckled in response. "Makes sense. As a Chief Guard, I'm head of the guards that protect the Human Village from yokai that decide to show their fangs, as well as police work. As for being a Yokai Hunter, well, it's kind of the same thing, minus the police work in exchange for allowing me to head outside the Village should I need to."
"I see. That answers my question well enough," Renko said as she nodded.
"How did all of you get here?" Reimu suddenly asked with a serious look on her face, causing the Sealing Club members to flinch in surprise while Yomika looked at Meira, the latter quickly taking notice of Yomika's gaze as the both of them took on an unnaturally neutral face that hid their tension.
"Uuh…" Renko nervously said before looking at Yomika. Upon noticing Yomika's faintly tense gaze, she followed Yomika's eyesight and saw Meira, who not only was similarly tense, but Renko also saw Meira slightly inch her left hand towards her katana, causing Renko's nervousness to quickly turn into fear.
Marisa, noticing the tense situation, decided to step in and try to defuse the situation. "Um, you don't have to tell us if you want to!" Everyone looked at Marisa in response, who flinched at the attention. "Uh… is there a reason why you can't exactly tell us? Da-ze?"
The Sealing Club members looked at Yomika for answers, which didn't go unnoticed by everyone else. Yomika, for her part, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Marisa, Reimu. You do know of our… status, correct? The status you learned when you saw us for the first time?"
"Yeah, we do, but why do you ask?" Marisa asked.
"Does Meira know of your status?" Yomika said, answering with a question.
"She does," Reimu answered for Marisa, causing Yomika to look at Reimu for clarification. "Meira is my godmother, and both I and Marisa trusted her enough to confide of our dreams." Reimu then looked at the other Dreamers, those being Maribel, Madotsuki, and Urotsuki, before she continued. "Truthfully, the reason why I asked how you all arrived in here is because it is my duty as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. Asides from the typical shrine maiden duties, it is also my duty to protect the balance of Gensokyo, which is the name this land that you all have found yourself in. Depending on how you arrived here, your mere arrival could be enough to destabilize the status quo and cause an Incident."
Maribel nervously swallowed the accumulated spit in her mouth. "W-we didn't arrive here to cause any trouble, if-if that's what you're wondering."
"Ye-yeah, Maribel's right!" Sumireko chimed in. "We just wanted to explore this world, that's all!"
Meira sighed. "Gensokyo isn't exactly a tourist destination, you know. It's a safe haven for all things mystical, where belief in myths and legends still stand strong even as faith from the Outside World weakens ever so slightly."
"Speaking of which, that brings me back my question," said Reimu. "How did you all get here?"
The Secret Sealing Club members all looked at each other before looking at Yomika. Yomika took notice of their looks and began to speak on their behalf. "Truthfully? We got here through a higher dimension we call the Hyper Nexus. We do no't know much about it ourselves other than that it allows us to travel to other worlds."
"And how does one access this Hyper Nexus, da-ze?" Marisa asked.
"We still have no definite answer, as Madotsuki, Urotsuki, and I stumbled upon it one day while trying to share our Dreams," Yomika answered. "Ever since we first came across it, however, all we had to do to get to the Hyper Nexus is to simply think of going there as we begin to Dream. As for how non-Dreamers such as the Usami sisters came along, they were in close contact with us when we all decided to go there."
"Yo Reimu, is Yukari and the other Great Sages aware of this, da-ze?" Marisa asked.
Reimu nodded in response. "Yukari confided to me that they are aware that in addition to Dreamers like us, those with abilities relating to dreams that doesn't relate to our Dreams and those sufficiently powerful enough could enter the Hyper Nexus without issue, and have been monitoring it ever since Gensokyo's inception. From what Yukari has told me, practically no one had used the Hyper Nexus to enter Gensokyo, and decided to enter here through other means."
"No one outside of these folks, that is," Meira said as she tilted her head towards Yomika and the Sealing Club members. "With that in mind, I can only presume that the Hyper Nexus is incredibly obscure, and I don't want to consider the implications as to why that is."
Marisa exclaimed in frustration. "All of this serious talk of multidimensional traveling and its implications is making my head spin, da-ze. Can we talk 'bout somethin' else?" When everyone else had agreed, Marisa took a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that we're on the same page, let's move on."
"So, any questions not relating to the Hyper Nexus?" Meira asked as she turned to the Sealing Club members and Yomika.
"I have a question," Madotsuki said. "Should we worry about yokai?"
"That depends, who here can cast magic, da-ze?" Marisa answered with a question of her own.
"I can cast magic," Yomika responded while Sumireko raised her hand, causing Madotsuki and Urotsuki to look at Yomika in surprise.
""You can?"" Madotsuki and Urotsuki asked Yomika at the same time.
Yomika had an uncertain look on her face. "I think I can. Asides from the odd and brief feeling of displacement I get whenever I teleport, there is also a feeling that something has been drained from me. It is small, but definitely something I can notice."
"Now that you mention it…" Marisa said with curiosity as she silently casted a detection spell to sense any magic within Yomika, and a few moments later, Marisa had sensed something interesting within both Yomika and Maribel. Oh, how interesting, Marisa thought to herself. Not only does Yomika have magic, but I also sense that she's a yokai. Either her friends already know or she's keeping it a secret. If she hasn't told them yet, then I won't, as well. As for Maribel, she also has magic. It's faint, but it's there. It also feels familiar for some reason. Eh, the familiarity's probably just a false positive with how raw and unused it feels. "Yeah, no question about it, you definitely have magic, Yomika. I also sense magic in Maribel, as well, da-ze."
"Huh? Me?" Maribel said in surprise. "But I don't have magic."
"My detection spells say otherwise, though with what you just said, seems like you didn't even know you had magic until now," said Marisa. "With how faint your magic feels, I don't exactly blame ya for not even noticing it, especially with you being from the Outside World and all."
The group then heard someone knock on the shrine's entrance. Out of all of the visitors Reimu gets that visit/invade her shrine while she was inside, only four people were polite enough to knock and announce their presence, with those four people being Kotohime, Meira, Ran, and Yukari, and while Yukari observed politeness only if she wanted to, her portals were recognizable enough to be an announcement themselves. Ironically enough, Reimu had deigned them, as well as Marisa, the privilege to arrive without any announcement, which only Marisa and sometimes Yukari used. As for the current polite visitor, they announced themselves soon after knocking. "Good evening, Reimu. It is I, Ran."
"Come in, Ran," Reimu said as she briefly turned to the shrine entrance to project her voice towards Ran better.
Eventually, Ran came into view of the group after entering the shrine. She then bowed as she began to introduce herself for the benefit of the Sealing Club members and Yomika. "Good evening, everyone. I am Yakumo Ran. It is a pleasure to meet you." As Ran introduced herself, the Sealing Club members gawked at Ran's formal bearing and her nine tails.
"So fluffy…." Sumireko said her thoughts out loud as if she was in a daze, causing everyone except Ran to glance at her for the odd outburst.
"So, Ran, what brings ya 'round here, da-ze?" Marisa asked, bringing the Sealing Club members back into reality.
"My visit here is on Yukari-sama's orders, and she wanted me to check up on these outsiders." Ran answered as she examined the Sealing Club members and Yomika.
"What are you checking them out for?" Meira asked, the conversation about the Hyper Nexus being brought back in her mind.
"The reason for my visit is between Yukari and I," Ran responded. As Ran looked over Yomika and the Sealing Club members, she saw Maribel. Ran's scrutinizing gaze began to linger on Maribel, the latter quickly taking notice of it.
"Uh… hello there, Ran," Maribel nervously said as she took a small bow, "N-name's Maribel Hearn."
Ran's response was to continue staring at Maribel Hearn, as she was lost in thought. A few moments later, Ran lifted her gaze and bowed at Maribel. "Apologies for my rudeness, Maribel. I did not mean to stare at you for so long, as I was simply lost in my thoughts."
"Ah, no worries, Ran!" Maribel said in a reassuring manner as she waved her hands. "You probably mistook me for someone else, that's all!"
I truly wish that was the case, Maribel-sama, Ran thought before turning to Reimu. "I will be taking my leave now, Reimu." Ran then turned towards the rest of the group and bowed for the final time. "Good night, all of you." Ran then turned towards the outsiders. "If we do meet again, hopefully, it is under better circumstances."
"You're leaving already?" Marisa asked, bewildered at Ran's brief visit as everyone began to focus on Ran.
"I did say that I was ordered to check up on these outsiders, Marisa," Ran replied as she turned around to leave. "With my task complete, I shall now leave." Ran then left the shrine with haste, not even letting anyone say their goodbyes. Once Ran was out of sight, the group refocused on themselves as they processed Ran's short visit.
"If Ran's visit is about us being outsiders, then I swear that we'll do out best to not cause trouble," Maribel said with a hint of worry.
Reimu sighed. "Depending on what actions Yukari might take, your presence alone might be trouble. I can only hope that isn't the case and Yukari is just being cautious."
"Going back to our conversation, where were we?" Marisa rhetorically asked.
"We were talking about Maribel's faint magic," Meira answered.
"That was rhetorical question, Meira, but whatever," Marisa said before turning to Maribel. "So, Maribel, wanna see if you can unlock your magical potential?"
"I'm not too particularly interested in learning magic," Maribel said. "School's already busy as it is."
"Ah, come on, Merry, if I can teach myself how to use my psychic and magic powers, despite school, then you can, as well! Besides, it's not everyday you get to learn magic!"
"The sole reason why you learned your magic and psychic powers is because you're obsessed with them," Renko said.
"Pot calling kettle black," Sumireko responded. "Besides, you wouldn't be in this club if you didn't have an interest in them, as well."
"My interest in them is more due to my interest in Merry's dreams, as well as the occult in general," said Renko.
"Hoh?" Sumireko exclaimed teasingly. "A specific interest in Maribel's dreams, you say? How interesting," Sumireko said nothing else, as she let the implications speak for themselves. Renko's eyebrow twitched in frustration as Maribel blushed at what Sumireko was implying.
Seeing that Sumireko's antics are getting to Renko's nerves, Meira decided to the topic back on track. "Getting back on topic, if only Sumireko is able to use the magic she has, then all of you will definitely need to learn how it if you wish to visit Gensokyo beyond the Hakurei Shrine."
Reimu nodded at Meira's information. "You'll need magic to protect yourselves from yokai, or at least buy you time to head towards safety, Spell Card rules or no."
"Spell card rules?" Madotsuki asked.
"The Spell Card System is a combat system where yokai and humans alike can settle disputes and co-exist without needless bloodshed," Reimu answered.
"And if yokai refuse to use the Spell Card System?" Madotsuki asked.
"That's where my job as a Yokai Hunter comes in," Meira said as she gestured towards herself. "Should any yokai cause trouble to the Village residents that doesn't fall under Spell Card rules, we go out and convince them to do otherwise."
"So what does Reimu and Marisa do?" Urotsuki asked.
"Oh, us?" Marisa replied. "We solve Incidents, that's what we do! And before you ask, we're kinda like Yokai Hunters, 'cept that Incidents tend to have far-reachin' consequences if not dealt with, da-ze. As of now, no Incident has ever ended with blood being spilled since the Spell Card system was first put in place, so if ya ask me, I think the Spell Card system is working as intended."
"If you don't mind me asking, how did Incidents end before Spell Card Rules, if they're as far-reaching as you say?" Madotsuki asked
Reimu and Marisa looked Meira, as only the latter had any real experience of pre-Spell Card combat. "That depends," Meira answered. "Usually, no blood was spilled, though there were some that were caused by stubborn people that needed a bit more 'convincing', if you will."
As Meira summarized how pre-Spell Card Incidents ended, Sumireko took out her smartphone to see what time it was and soon had a shock on her face. "Oh, crap, it's 4:47!" The rest of the Sealing Club members had looks of shock and surprise upon hearing Sumireko's words.
"It's that late already? Damn, we gotta go," Urotsuki said as she and the rest of the Sealing Club members got up from their sitting positions.
"Wait, why are y'all leavin'?" Marisa asked, confused at the sudden turn of events.
"Afterschool activities not related to sports have to close up shop at 5:00 PM," Madotsuki answered. "Plus, we gotta go home at some point."
"But what about this meeting, da-ze?" Marisa asked again as she and the other two residents of Gensokyo got up from their sitting positions. "And why are you going home?"
"Just like how you three have a life here, these five have a life back home," Yomika answered.
"We'll just catch up next time we come here, promise!" Maribel added.
"Wait a minute, just how do we get home?" Renko asked.
"Maribel, do you have any effects that teleport you to your Nexus while Dreaming?" Yomika asked as she turned towards Maribel.
"Yeah, why?" Maribel asked.
"Equip it," Yomika answered. "If how we got here is of any indication, non-Dreamers need physical contact as well as us Dreamers wanting to bring them along to do anything related to our Dreams and the Hyper Nexus. In addition, Effects that teleport you to your Nexus can do the same for the Hyper Nexus while in real worlds not your own."
Shortly after Yomika said her explanation, a flash of light appeared from Maribel, and in her left hand was a light pink parasol. "This Parasol Effect teleports me to my Dream World Nexus."
"Whoa!" Marisa exclaimed as Reimu and Meira looked on with surprise. "How d'ya do that, da-ze?"
"I just thought of equiping it just like how I equip my Effects in my Dreams," Maribel said.
"We're all ready now," Madotsuki said, getting Maribel's attention. Madotsuki and Urotsuki's effects were rather eye-catching, as Madotsuki was equipping an Effect that replaced her head with a large hand that had an eye in the palm, while Urotsuki's effect replaced her head with a dark purple and spherical cartoon bomb that had an eye pattern on it. Yomika's Effect, on the other hand, was almost completely unnoticeable, as the only real change to her appearance was that the hair bang that covered the left side of her face was gone.
Yomika looked at Madotsuki, Maribel, and Urotsuki before she nodded to herself. "I believe it is time for us to leave." Yomika then turned towards Marisa, Meira, and Reimu and bowed at them. "Thanks for your hospitality and information. It is unfortunate that we must leave, but hopefully, our next meeting will be soon."
"No worries, Yomika!" Marisa said. "It was nice to meet fellow Dreamers!"
After the Sealing Club members said their goodbyes, they and Yomika began to huddle up in a circle and held hands. "You all know what to do?" Yomika asked, to which everybody nodded before closing their eyes. Soon, a faint sound of burning rope came from Urotsuki's Eye Bomb Effect as the bomb's string burned away while Madotsuki's Eye Palm Effect closed itself and Yomika opened her left eye, revealing that the iris was glowing sky blue, with Marisa, Meira, and Reimu noticing that a hint of magic was also being used from Yomika. Shortly afterward, a flash of light came from all of the outsiders and they all disappeared, having been teleported to the Hyper Nexus.
"Huh, so that's how they get home," said Meira.
"If they can use their Effects in the real world da-ze, I wonder if we can do so, as well, Reimu!" Marisa said.
"Maybe later, I just want to get to our dinner as soon as possible."
As soon as Reimu mentioned dinner, the three Gensokyo residents heard Ichigo's cawing as they flew into the shrine. "[Dinner! Dinner!]"
Meira chuckled to herself as she approached her backpack chest. "While the ramen noodles aren't fit for a crow, Ichigo, we can certainly give you some of the meat as a reward for you alerting us of Yomika's group." When Meira got to her backpack chest, she picked it up and headed over to Reimu's kitchen. "Now then, let's get cooking, shall we?"
Shortly after Yomika and the Sealing Club members teleported to the Hyper Nexus, Maribel asked a question. "So how are Sumi and Renko gonna get back home?"
"I can answer that," Madotsuki answered. "When we first got here, we immediately noticed that despite how far we traveled in the Hyper Nexus, we always know where the entrance to our home world is. It also helps that we can just use our Effects that teleport us to the our Dream World Nexus to teleport to our home world's entrance, if needed."
Urotsuki chuckled at Madotsuki's long-winded answer. "Man, we gotta come up with a name for Effects that send us back to our Nexus worlds."
"I just realized this, but you don't have a shorthand name for those kind of Effects?" Renko asked.
Urotsuki shrugged in response. "Kinda never needed to name them 'till now, as Madotsuki, Yomika, and I never really needed to talk about them beyond showing them for the first time, and we all know exactly what they do. Considering we're strapped for time, however, that'll be put on the back burner for now."
"Found our way back home!" Maribel said as she pointed at a Japanese classroom sliding door; as she had been looking for their world's entrance while Madotsuki, Urotsuki, and Renko had their discussion.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sumireko said as she ran towards the entrance, who was then followed by the rest of the group as they entered one by one.
When the group came to, they found themselves back in the same classroom they were in for today's meeting.
"Today's meeting was rather productive and interesting, if I say so myself," said Maribel. "Any ideas on our next meeting?"
"Sleepover!" Sumireko immediately answered. "There's no school tomorrow, so I wanna see the Dream Worlds of one of you Dreamers!" Plus, I can bail out of the Dream World exploration with an excuse and have some time to put some more Occult Balls around Gensokyo, Sumireko thought.
"I'd like to see Gensokyo once more, though I'm also fine with Sumi's suggestion," Renko said.
Sumireko flinched in response, though no one but Yomika noticed as the flinch was minute and brief, though even if Yomika wanted to comment on it, she didn't, as Sumireko answered shortly afterward. "Uh, but why?"
Renko raised an eyebrow at her sister's odd and out-of-character answer as she looked at Sumireko. "Normally, you'd kill to see a different world. Everything alright, Sumi?"
Sumireko took a moment to figure an answer, as she couldn't just tell Renko and the others that she had Occult Balls to spread all over Gensokyo. "Y-yeah, everything's fine! Just nervous going back there, that's all!"
"Sumireko'a nervousness is not unwarranted," Yomika jumped in. "Meira, Marisa, and Reimu did say that there were actual yokai in Gensokyo. Considering that some yokai were said to have pretty esoteric abilities, much less them being potential threat to you, I'd think twice on going there."
"You're a yokai yourself, right? I think you'd do just fine protecting us," Urotsuki said, causing the Usami sisters and Maribel to switch their bug-eyed looks at Urotsuki and Yomika.
"YOU'RE A YOKAI?!" Sumireko loudly exclaimed, interrupting whatever Yomika was about to say.
"I am," Yomika said as she gave Urotsuki a slightly frustrated look, which Urotsuki returned with a guilty look. "I was bound to tell you all eventually, just not now, especially since it's almost time for you all to close up shop."
"Getting back on topic, does anyone else have any suggestions for our next meeting?" Maribel asked.
"Not really, I'm cool with either Gensokyo or a Dream World tour," Urotsuki said.
"Are you sure about Gensokyo, Urotsuki?" Yomika asked.
"If Mado and I managed to get through Sabi's world just fine, then I can say that we can manage in Gensokyo," Urotsuki answered. "We just gotta be more careful, that's all."
"I agree," Madotsuki added as she nodded. "While I am nervous about Gensokyo, it's not that different from going camping and being worried about getting lost."
Yomika sighed in response. "You two are fools."
"Hey, if being fools got us to help Sabi's world, I'd say it's worth it," Urotsuki replied.
"If that is the case, then very well," Yomika said before turning towards Maribel. "I will be coming along for either Gensokyo or a Dream tour, as well."
"Those aren't very committal answers," Renko commented.
Urotsuki shrugged. "Eh, you three are the bosses of this club, Madotsuki and I are newcomers and Yomika's just tagging along with us."
"Plus, us three can do either or on our own time, should we decide to do so," Madotsuki added.
"Makes sense," Renko said before turning towards Maribel. "So what do you wanna do, Merry?"
Maribel took a thinking pose as she thought on her answer. "I think I'd like to go to Gensokyo," she eventually answered.
"If that's the case, then I'm changing my vote to Gensokyo," said Renko.
"No fair, you always wanna do stuff with Merry whenever you get the chance!" Sumireko complained.
"Sumi…" Maribel said in a pleading voice. "Please?"
Sumireko held up for a while, but eventually relented as she sighed. "Fine, but you owe me a Dream World visit." Guess I'll have to find some free time for the Occult Ball business some other time.
"So, is everyone fine with meeting up tomorrow and heading over to Gensokyo once again?" Maribel asked everyone, with everyone answering in affirmative answers.
"Quick question, though," Urotsuki said. "I think it would be best if we had a sleepover. Wouldn't want to worry our parents on our sudden disappearance should they need to call us, and the eight hours of sleep normal people need would not only give us more than enough time, but also hide our travels as simple sleeping. With that in mind, who wants to host a sleepover?"
"Urotsuki and I can't host the sleepover, unfortunately," Madotsuki answered. "Our apartments can handle one other person coming over for a sleepover, but four more are out of the question."
"You have a home, Yomika?" Renko asked.
"Never needed one," Yomika. "As a yokai, and one that doesn't need to eat or sleep, at that, I spent most of my life either wandering around most of the world, barring the Americas, or within my Dream Worlds, and only recently, have I been chained by Madotsuki's and Urotsuki's friendship."
Sumireko gasped in excitement. "You've travelled the world before? That's so cool? What did you see?"
Yomika frowned at Sumireko's question. "Let's just say that I sometimes saw the worst of what humanity has to offer."
Sumireko realized what Yomika meant and had an apologetic look on her face. "Oh. Sorry for asking, Yomika."
"No need to apologize, Sumireko," Yomika replied. "I just prefer not to talk about my travels much, as it was during the lowest point of my life." Sumireko only felt even worse after hearing Yomika's words, but didn't say anything else.
"Getting back on track, I guess the sleepover falls on either myself or Sumireko and Renko," Maribel said as she gestured to herself and the Usami sisters. "Our houses are big enough to host all of us."
"I'll talk to mom and dad to see if they're cool with a sleepover tomorrow night," said Renko.
"Hey, Renko, you sure your parents will be cool with a sleepover after transferring here so soon?" Urotsuki asked.
"I'm inclined to believe so, yeah," Renko answered. "They liked that Sumi and I had already made steps to make friends with you all, so I doubt that they wouldn't want to see your faces."
"Guess that settles it, then," Urotsuki said.
"Indeed," Maribel added. "Now that our plans for tomorrow are set, any last questions before we all head home?" When everyone else in the group replied that they didn't in some form, Maribel nodded to herself before speaking once more. "If that's the case, then today's meeting is adjourned. Club dismissed."
With Maribel's words said, the Sealing Club members and Yomika cleaned up the classroom they were in before the students packed up their stuff and headed home, with Yomika traveling with Madotsuki and Urotsuki with her Mask Effect making Yomika be invisible to non-Dreamers while the Usami sisters and Maribel went home together.
Ran eventually returned to the Yakumo Residence and entered her home. The Yakumo Residence, while largely Japanese in design, had some European influences in it, one example being that while the house's entrance was rather spacious and had a Japanese sliding door, as well as a Japanese sliding door separating the living room from the kitchen and dining room, the hallway containing three bedrooms, a study room, and a bathroom had hinged European-styled doors that led up to said rooms.
As Ran made her way into the house, she came across Yukari, who was wearing a pale pink dress with a purple tabard and a pale pink mob cap that had a red ribbon tied into a bow on it. Yukari was currently sitting on the floor with her back turned towards Ran, as Yukari was writing traditional Japanese calligraphy to pass time.
Ran stopped when she encountered Yukari and bowed as she began to greet her. "I have arrived, Yukari-sama."
"Good, good," Yukari said off-handedly as she continued her calligraphy. "Any news on the… outsiders?"
Ran took a moment to respond, as she was nervous and unsure on how Yukari would react. "It is as you feared. Maribel-sama is indeed among the group of Outsiders."
Yukari had stopped her calligraphy upon hearing Ran's words. "I see." Yukari then placed her brush down on the calligraphy board. "Leave me alone for the time being, Ran. I wish to be alone with my thoughts."
"As you wish, Yukari-sama," Ran said as she bowed once more before leaving the living room and closing the door behind her, all while Yukari was beginning to stew in her thoughts.