...
I'm not saying anything this time. Here we go.
It'd been a few weeks since John's foray into Heaven, and with thing settling down he'd decided to partake in his favorite past time that he always engaged in after a long day of work: Playing video games and eating food. To be truthful, John had been slacking on XIV lately and so had missed some of the opening days of fighting against the new primal bosses to farm the mounts and weapons. Time had simply gotten away from the young man as he handled the day to day tasks of Favor Trade and keeping the women in his life happy. Speaking of…
"John, come on, let's go outside and explore!" Tenshi exclaimed "There's gotta be some interesting stuff around!"
Tenshi had made her presence quite known within the house/office and while she had openly said that it wasn't anywhere near as good as her home in Heaven (something Kaguya took offense of more than anyone else) she still found it decent enough and homely. That really went to Yuuka, who had fallen into that housewife role more than anyone else. Happily cleaning the place and in her own words, usually getting in touch with Sakuya to give her a hand (though how they were doing that with no one noticing was anyone's guess).
"No, it's game time now." John replied swatting Tenshi away
"But you've been playing that thing for the last few days! What is it even for?"
"To put blunt, it's the source of my power and I need to continue getting stronger, now shush, we've almost got Susano down! I'm gonna get that wolf mount this time!"
After another few minutes of fighting, the boss fell and left behind a Summoner weapon(which John already had) causing him to let out a groan. "Damn, no mount...that makes 52 totems now."
"There you're done, let's go do something else now~!" Tenshi whined
"Lunch time everybody!" Yuuka called from the dining room
"Well, now it's time to eat!" John laughed as he quickly shot a message to the group he'd been in that he was leaving to go eat. He could come back later and grind out more totems if he needed to, 47 more runs wasn't too bad...was it?"
Heading into the kitchen, everyone had already gotten together to get ready for a good meal. Yuugi had pulled out some sake for everyone to partake in, but most had refused stating that it was too early in the day to get completely wasted. Needless to say that Yuugi disagreed with that notion. She happily took a swig of her drink as everyone else began eating. The table consisted of idle chatter for the most part, the ladies of the house talking about what jobs they were going to do. Tenshi in particular had a completely confused look on her face when Kaguya mentioned that she was a bouncer for one of the taverns and a particularly popular one at that. She was even more surprised when Flan, Youmu and Medicine took turns acting as gate guards for the village or how Yuugi would help out with alcohol creation and testing.
"Actually, there is something important." Kogasa said, getting everyone's attention "Reimu should be having one of her festivals soon. We should really think about going. It should be in a few days."
"Festival?" John asked with a raised eyebrow "What's that all about?"
"It's a big party celebrating the coming of summer." Yuugi said "I think the official name that she gave it is 'Reitaisai' or something like that. It's usually held in the spring, but there was pushed back this time.
John had a good feeling as to what that was but chose to say nothing.
"So we go there and just spend our time partying?"
"Yup! Food tastes better when you aren't the one who has to worry about it!" Sanae said "Of course, the Moriya shrine is offering some aid to Reimu's of course, but for the most part this will be mostly her show."
"I see, I guess we can go. Make it a family outing sort of thing."
The girls were all excitedly talking about the festival, until Kogasa coughed loudly to get their attention.
"Is there something you'd like to say Kogasa?" Kaguya said in a demure tone, though there was a noticeable edge to it as well.
Kogasa merely smiled at the princess and spoke calmly. "I would like to invoke 'it'."
For a moment it was silent around the table, but John noticed that several of the girls were looking at Kogasa with a mix of anger and disbelief.
"Why Kogasa I have no idea what you-"
"I'm using my personal day."
John stared at Kogasa "I'm sorry, you're using the what now?"
"Basically…" Flandre said in an annoyed tone "We all agreed that we each get a day where we have you all to ourselves. No one can interfere with it and to challenge it requires a spellcard duel."
"That's...when the hell did you all make this up."
"Oh just during one of our little get-togethers." Yuuka said "I quite like the idea of solving things through a duel, it's been a while since I got a good stretch in."
Immediately everyone at the table except for Yuugi became quite nervous at her words, though once again Kogasa spoke up.
"Sorry, but no duels this time. I'm the first wife, I'm invoking seniority here." the umbrella girl said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"That's no fair, you can't do that!" Youmu shouted a bit louder than usual "N-not that I care or anything!"
"Yes it is, I'm been with him the longest, I'm his umbrella and we've barely had any alone time. I wouldn't get in the way if any of you asked to use your personal day."
The girls were all quiet as if doubting her before Sanae sighed and spoke "Very well, it's only fair and we all agreed to this before, for the Retaisai Festival, John is all yours Kogasa. Have fun you two."
"Heh yeah, I'll just use mine to take you out on a drinking binge." Yuugi laughed
"Please don't." John replied with a sigh "But that aside, I don't mind a date, sounds like it'd be fun and I've never been to an authentic Japanese festival before."
"What were festivals back home like?" Kaguya asked "I must admit I'm quite curious."
John thought for a moment, in truth, he'd never really gone to any sort of festival back home, however he had gone to some college parties, so he'd use that for a basis.
"Nothing too great, just a bunch of idiots drinking, beer pong, pizza, the usual."
"Ah so much like here then...though I am unaware of what this 'pizza' is."
At this both Sanae and John looked at the princess in disbelief, causing her to recoil slightly "Did I...say something wrong?"
"Sanae?"
"Yes John?"
"We have got to find a way to get some pizza here."
"Agreed."
The two continued their scheming while Kogasa got to her feet. "Well, you two continue doing that, I have to go plan for our date John~!" Kogasa said with a wide smile "I'll see you later?"
"Sure thing, I'll be waiting outside the office for you...but where are you going?"
Kogasa merely brought a finger to her lips "It's a surprise, teehee~!"
With that, the umbrella girl left out of the office leaving the others to wonder just what she was getting up to. The other women at the table proceeded to talk about the festival and just how much fun it was going be. Yuugi was excited to get some drinking in and catch up with her fellow devas, while Sanae would be busy running a stall that'd sell some goods from her shrine, while the others would enjoy themselves and promise not to get in their way. Kaguya in particular noted she may waste some time by killing Mokou a few times.
Morbid as that was, John was used to it by this point, the princess casually made mention of it from time and time and John at this point figured it was just the way they spent time together.
-000-
The next few days went by without incident. Nothing of note had occurred and the girls were usually all going about their usual tasks within Favor Trade. Kogasa had continually left in the middle of the day though, citing that she was working on something special for her and John's date. Truth be told, he was getting kind of excited, wondering exactly what it was she had in store for him. The other women (sans Medicine) watched the excited umbrella with a mixture of happiness and jealousy. Happiness because their fellow sister-wife was clearly ecstatic. Jealousy because it wasn't any of them getting to experience being alone with John for an entire night during a festival. Yuuka silently swore that she'd be going to the next festival with John and she'd be more than happy to fight it out among the others.
The night of the festival finally came and as the sun began to dip below the horizon, the rest of the girls went on ahead, citing that they wanted to give Kogasa all the time to him that she wanted. John really had to hand it to the girls, they were following through on their agreements, even if they were clearly jealous at times of the others having time with him. As John waited in front of the office, he was soon greeted by Kogasa, now sporting a light blue yukata with white flowers emblazoned upon the front and side. Her hair, had been expertly done up as much as it could with a small flower sitting in her hair, to top it all off she carried her umbrella body with her, giving her a refined and elegant look.
"What do you think?" She asked teasingly
"You look amazing...I feel kind of bad just going out in my regular outfit like this." John replied looking at his clothe black shirt and blue jeans.
"Why thank you. I actually had Sakuya help me get ready, it's nice being on good terms with Flan's family also I think you look handsome just like that." Kogasa giggled "Come on, let's go to the shrine...but if it's okay with you, can we walk there? I want to enjoy all of our time together."
John couldn't help but blush a bit at her words "Sure thing Kogasa, anything for you."
The two slowly walked away from the village, talking to each other as they made their way to the Hakurei Shrine, there were some other villagers who were making the trek to the shrine as well and several of them took note of John and Kogasa (Who was leaning into him) walking together and giving small nods of approval. He couldn't help but blush a bit at it, but walking like this with Kogasa was a nice. The two reached the stairs to the shrine and began the trek up. Though he was in good shape, John had to admit that there was a LOT of stairs to go up. Kogasa didn't seemed bothered and neither did any other villagers, due to this he did his best not to appear winded from the walk and after about 5 more minutes of walking the pair had finally reached the top. What greeted them were numerous stalls that were all selling either food, drinks, or small trinkets, John had to admit that he was surprised at the sheer amount of people that were here both human and youkai alike.
"This is amazing…" John muttered "What do you wanna do first?"
"Food first, there's gonna be a lot of eating and drinking today, so I hope you didn't have too much to eat already."
John chuckled in response as the two of them made their way to one of the stalls selling beef skewers, thanks to all their work around the village, John had more than enough money to pay for it and the two sat down a bit of a ways away from the noise to enjoy their food. Kogasa happily leaned into John as the two began eating their food, John gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder to draw her even closer.
"This is nice." Kogasa said taking a small bite of her food
"Yeah...I think I could get used to something like this. Just me, you, and some nice atmosphere."
"Teehee, well unfortunately, it may not be me next time, knowing the other girls, they'll want some alone time as well."
"I'm surprised you're okay with...all this." John said "I've probably said it before, but this really isn't that normal and I'm just doing my best to deal with it."
"I know, but to be honest? I don't think I could imagine my life any other way. Everyday feels so...fresh. Even when we're just doing same old stuff around the village, it all feels so...fulfilling."
"I'm glad you're happy Kogasa." John said sincerely "I'd thought you'd be angry at me and everyone else."
"I'll admit, I wasn't too thrilled at first, but like I said it's nice and besides, I have something that the others don't."
"What's that?"
"I'm your umbrella. Only I can shield you from the rain or a the harsh sun. I can block some danmaku as well, but I'd rather not do that since it kinda hurts."
"Haha, that's fine, I'll block the danmaku, I have an actual shield." John laughed
"See? We're perfect for one another."
The two continued talking and joking before finishing up their food and deciding to move on. Kogasa took John's hand and led him along, stopping at a stall to grab a couple of beers for the two. The person running the stall assured them that the drinks were light in alcohol content so that they could enjoy the night properly without getting wasted within the first hour. As the two sip their drinks they come across a game stand being run by one of the kappa. It was one of those games where you take a toy rifle and shot the target to win a prize.
"Oh, these are one of the games that the gods at Sanae's shrine brought to Gensokyo. Apparently they're quite fun in the outside world?" Kogasa said looking at John
"They can be pretty fun." John said with a nod "Buuut they're usually just meant to suck the cash out innocent kids."
"Hey I resent that!" The kappa girl said "Come on and try, you'll have fun with this!"
Shrugging, John walked forward and placed some money on the counter. He took the toy rifle in his hand aimed at the target and shot.
BANG*
A loud blast erupted from the gun as an actual bullet fired from it and tore through one of the targets, leaving a large hole through it and the back of the tent.
"What the hell, this thing is real?!" John exclaimed setting the gun down carefully
"Yep! We decided to forego the toy design and make an actual working rifle! This one even comes with a built in hand-warmer holster for a drink!"
"That's...right, okay, I'm not going to start with why having an actual loaded firearm in a crowd is bad, but do I at least win a prize?"
"Sure do!" The kappa said pulling out...a miniature stuffed Kappa toy
John gently handed it over to Kogasa, who held it close, happy to receive a gift from him.
"Let's move on…" John said, wanting to get away from the stall as fast as possible before the gun exploded or something. "Oh yeah, you should probably not let any kids use that gun, you don't want to piss off any parents!"
"Eh, they'll fine." The Kappa said dismissively
Okay that didn't work, time for another angle "Let me rephrase, you don't wanna piss off Reimu!"
That got the Kappa's attention and as the couple left, the kappa begin frantically tinkering with the gun, probably trying to remove anything that could be considered dangerous to a child.
The sun had completely gone down by now, the entire area of the shrine was illuminated by numerous paper lanterns, dozens upon dozens of people were talking, laughing, eating and even some other couples enjoying the company of one another.
"You know…" John started after a few minutes "I'm surprised that humans and youkai are enjoying the party together like this. I'd heard that part of the reason many people avoid Reimu's shrine is because a lot of youkai hang around it."
At this Kogasa giggled "Oh it used to be that way, Reimu actually put in a lot of work to get it off the ground. There's sort of an agreement among youkai that come here that when the party is going on, we don't cause any problems with humans or other youkai. Think of it as a day off in a sense. We're here to eat, party, and drink and no one wants to be known as the person who ruined it."
"Did anyone ever try?" John asked
"Oh yeah, there had been attempts the first few times by some weaker youkai looking to make a name for themselves."
"What happened?"
"They aren't around any more. From what I hear, Reimu, Yukari, and Yuugi's friend…I think her name was Suika? They took care of it...after that no youkai has tried to mess with the festival again. Word got around. It definitely worked though, the youkai were scared into compliance and the humans felt safe to attend, in a way I guess everyone wins for the most part."
"Considering I get to spend time with you like this, I'd say so."
Kogasa couldn't help but blush deeply at his words "T-thanks...I feel the same. Um, let's get some more food yeah?"
John silently agreed, mentally patting himself on the back at clearly making her happy with his words.
'Damn, I'm smooth.' he thought as they made their way to a small ramen stand and ordered something to eat. It was nothing special, just some regular beef ramen, but eating it together with Kogasa made things taste way better than usual. The atmosphere between the two was perfect, as they were both fully focused on one another, each shooting the other a flirtatious glance or a smile that sent the other's heart aflutter.
Finishing up and paying for the food, the two continued going around the area, much to their surprise, they'd seen several familiar faces. Yuugi had started a drinking contest(and was winning pretty handily), Flandre had actually been spending time with her sister, drinking tea in a secluded area with Sakuya and Meiling by their side. As she said she'd been, Sanae was running a stand that was selling Moriya shrine goods (According to Sanae, it was part of the deal for helping set things up). Off in the distance, Kaguya could be seen high in the sky firing danmaku at Mokou. The two had drawn in a sizable crowd of humans and youkai who were watching the two of them go at it. John silently wished for his fiancee's success in her battle, nothing against Mokou but he was obligated to back Kaguya in this instance.
Continuing on, they stumbled upon Youmu...who was cradling her head in her hands as she watched Yuyuko eating through a mountain of food, with a bunch of trash already off to the side which was clearly from the ghost woman. She gave the couple a tired wave which they returned before going back to try and stop her lady from eating everything in the entire festival. A little later they saw Yuuka entertaining some kids...by making sunflowers grow around her. It was a nice little trick, and she'd even handed some flowers to the children, telling them to take care of them properly. After that and what surprised him the most was seeing Medicine alongside another woman participating in a show with several dolls dancing, and by that he meant that Medicine was among them dancing as the other woman controlled the smaller ones. He and Kogasa stopped by for a bit, watching as Medicine danced along, clearly enjoying herself at the awed children who were heaping her (and her fellow dolls) with praise. When the performance finished up, Medicine sauntered over to them, a small frown on her face.
"We don't speak of this." She said bluntly
"But you were having so much fun." John replied "You looked great and the kids loved it!"
"Shut it John."
Kogasa couldn't help but giggle at her response "So I take it this means you don't hate humans as much anymore?"
"Y-yeah I still do!" Medicine lied as she blushed heavily at Kogasa's words "I hate em all!"
John and Kogasa stared at the doll youkai for a full minute as her face became redder and redder.
"S-stop staring you assholes! Go make out behind a tree or something!"
"Not a bad idea." Kogasa giggled "There's still a bunch to see though, so we'll save that for later. Have fun with your show~!"
The couple left Medicine who was still shouting at them that it wasn't what they thought, as her voice became drowned out by the numerous people walking by. After a few more minutes of walking, the two had come across a small bonfire with people dancing around it.
"What's all this?" John asked, intrigued by the people enjoying themselves.
"Oh, come on John! Let's dance!" Kogasa said taking his hand and rushing to the bonfire. John had little time to react before being swept up in the atmosphere and begun dancing alongside Kogasa, waving his hands from side to side as she did the same, both of them dancing and moving around the bon-fire in unison. The two continued dancing together for a while, enjoying each other's presence, Kogasa getting even closer to him than before. After a half-hour, the two had finally finished their dancing and took a seat near the fire, panting slightly.
"That was actually pretty fun." John said "I didn't think I could dance that long."
"You weren't half-bad. Don't think I didn't notice you trip a few times though." Kogasa giggled
John shrugged "I won't deny it, dancing isn't really my thing, but it's nice every now and again."
"Glad you enjoyed yourself, come on, there's still more to see!" Kogasa took his hand and helped him up. The two continued throughout the area, looking at several stalls. Many of them selling food or drinks and there was even one that was allowing you to catch goldfish to keep as a pet. John was tempted to give it a try, but he figured that a goldfish wouldn't be too good for his home, all it took was one of the girls getting into an argument and then the poor thing's bowl would get hit and it'd be dead in no time.
The poor thing wouldn't last a day he was sure.
As the two continued looking around, they were surprised to see Patchouli with a stall. Well, to call it a stall would be a lie, it was like she found a semi-open spot, crammed herself there and opened up shop. Upon seeing them, Patchouli nodded in greeting.
"Hey Patchouli, I didn't expect to see you here." John said
"Getting out isn't bad every now and then." She replied with a shrug "Things like this aren't usually my kind of thing, but I tend to make an exception for the Retaisai."
"And you run a shop too?"
"Hmm, no. I usually don't, but I was convinced to try something new this year."
"What are you selling?" Kogasa asked "Some potions?"
"Indeed. Potions to increase stamina and promote good health and all that. In fact, I think I have just the ones for you two."
Patchouli reached into a small bag off to her side and pulled out two small vials with bright pink liquid in it."
"For you." Patchouli said handing it to them both.
"What does this potion do?" John asked shaking it slightly, curious at the concoction.
"Honestly? Nothing, it's just a new drink I concocted, mind giving it a test run, I wonder if it tastes well."
"Oh sure we could do that, you making it an official request?"
At this Patchouli chuckled "No, though I admire your business sense even at a time like this. Do I have to make it a formal request?"
"Nah, we're practically family...or will be soon, I can give you a freebie every now and then." John laughed.
"How about we drink it while the fireworks go off? It should be happening soon." Kogasa chimed in with a smile. She pulled him along, giggling all the while. However, what John failed to see was Kogasa looking back at Patchouli and shot her a wink and a grin. Patchouli only sighed before smiling back and shooting her a small thumbs up. As the two disappeared, Patchouli packed up her little 'shop' and began to head back to Remilia and the others.
"Poor John, he probably won't be able to move tomorrow morning." Patchouli said as she walked back to her friends. Still, she couldn't help but give Kogasa credit, that little umbrella was a lot more crafty than she appeared.
-000-
Kogasa continued leading John along until the two were behind Reimu's shrine. From here, despite it being so dark, John could see a small path that lead towards a small forest. Curious he turned to Kogasa and asked her if the spot was down this way.
"Yeah, there should be a small clearing where we can be alone together."
Heeding his future wife's words, John followed her to the clearing in question. True enough, it was a part of the forest that had sky peeking through the trees clearly. Before either could say anything else loud booms could be heard overhead and a shower of colors filled the sky.
"It's starting!" Kogasa exclaimed "See? From here we can see everything clearly without the lights ruining anything."
I gotta admit, you were right, this is pretty great." John said watching the fireworks go off "Oh yeah, you said we'd share a drink together now right."
"Oh...um, yeah!" Kogasa said blushing "Let's enjoy it!"
Both of them pulled out the drinks that Patchouli had given them, John made a motion for a toast which Kogasa happily partook in.
"To us I guess?" John said
"I like that. To us...and the others too I guess."
The two clinked the vials together and down them. It was surprisingly sweet tasting, a far cry from what he expected. However as the two continued watching the fireworks, John couldn't help but feel an overwhelming warmness within his body. At first he chalked it up as his emotions getting the better of him for a moment, but as the minutes went by he felt it spreading throughout his body. He was knocked out of his thoughts when Kogasa sidling up to him, pushing herself onto his body and practically rubbing against it.
John's body reacted to that as he noticed Kogasa's sizable chest, getting a good view down the front with how she was pushing herself up on him.
"Hey John...it's a bit hot isn't it?" Kogasa said her face flushed
John gulped trying to avert his eyes but failing horribly "Yeah...yeah it is."
"I think...I think we could...help each other cool off?"
The atmosphere around the two was suddenly very different. It was hot...and heavy, not in a bad way, but in a way that John knew was going to lead to something more. He tried to mouth out some words, but nothing came, especially since Kogasa had used the chance to move in and kiss him. He definitely felt tongue and after a moment she'd let him go so she could catch her breath.
Each of them stared at the other, the silence heavy, but a lot being said through their eyes alone and before John knew it, they were pressed against one another in the clearing, enjoying each other's bodies. There was one thought that repeatedly ran through John's head as he and Kogasa strengthened their bond with one another:
Best. Festival. Ever.
-000-
Reimu woke up with a splitting headache. She'd told herself that she wouldn't drink so much during the festival, but what could she do? Suika had brought some top shelf booze and invited her and anyone else she could convince to drink it with her. It's not often that you get so great alcohol to drink and so she had to gorge herself! She was definitely regretting it now though. The morning after a Reitaisai festival was always like this, dozens of drunken bodies strewn about the place, as a few other early risers managed to get their bearings before stumbling back home to sleep some more. In Reimu's case, she needed some water to help deal with the hangover and so she managed to stumble into the shrine after nearly tripping a half-dozen times. Which was saying something because she had passed out only a few feet from the door to her home.
She pushed the sliding door aside, stepping inside and over a pair of bodies that were tangled together on the living room floor. It took a bit of stumbling, but she'd managed to get herself some water she'd had set aside for in case someone was too drunk. In this case, it was going to help her get her bearings. At least Marisa was still knocked out, so she wouldn't have to suffer her jokes about how she couldn't handle her drink. After downing several gulps of water, Reimu finally felt decent enough to begin waking up all the drunk people and getting them off of the shrine grounds. She stepped back into the living room, her eyes nearly flew out of her skull as she looked on the floor and saw two naked bodies snuggled together.
It was John and Kogasa. Together. With one of Reimu's blankets draped over them, but clearly they'd tossed and turned because it was covering much. Not enough that Reimu didn't realize what had taken place in her home and on her living room floor. Her left eye twitched as she looked at the two of them, still sleeping soundly together. What followed next was of course, the proper reaction to seeing such a thing.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
It was on that day that many hungover festival goers quickly vacated the shrine grounds to avoid the rage of an angry shrine maiden. John and Kogasa however, were not as lucky.
And thus Kogasa made sure she was John's first. Never underestimate the umbrella. And yes, the two eventually did get back to Reimu's place and continued things there for a while, good thing everyone was drunk off their asses. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and see you next time!