The flight to the Hakurei Shrine had been nothing but miserable. Now, though, she was just walking, and was properly equipped for the unusual weather besides. It made the whole thing flat-out bearable! In fact, Marisa would almost go so far as to say she quite liked it. Not having to rough it out by herself certainly helped. Reimu coming along for something always gave Marisa that extra surge of confidence she needed on gloomy days like this. Maybe it was because a bright yellow raincoat was the easiest thing to see in this weather, but Marisa couldn't focus her eyes anywhere else, not that there was much else she could make out to begin with.

The two briefly stopped near the torii to pick up Marisa's fallen broom. The crash-landing from earlier broke it pretty badly, and based on how bad the damage was, she wouldn't be flying anytime soon. As the pair left the shrine grounds, at the top of the stairs leading up to the shrine, Reimu broke the relative silence.

"Hey, Marisa?"

"Yeah?"

There wasn't an immediate response. Judging by the look on Reimu's face, she was thinking long and hard about what to say next. In the end, rather than speaking, Reimu had apparently opted for action. She took Marisa by the wrist, dragging her along to the side, off the steps and into the trees flanking them. Marisa was pulled along, until Reimu put her back up against a tree just a bit out of sight from the steps. On a typical rainy day, being under the trees like this would help mitigate a lot of the rain, but this weather was anything but typical. Even with the leaves and branches to serve as shelter, it seemed like they did nothing to stop the deluge surrounding the girls.

"R-Reimu!?"

"Marisa..."

Reimu reached up, tugging at the sides of Marisa's raincoat hood, pulling them tight. Her peripheral vision was completely cut off by her hood with that. There was nowhere left to look except directly at Reimu, wide-eyed and red-faced. Her raincoat was soaked, glistening with who-knew-how-much rain constantly pelting it and sliding down its surface. The shrine maiden leaned in close...

"Marisa!"

Suddenly, Marisa felt a splash of water against her face, her eyes shutting reflexively. When they opened, she was back at the top of the stairs. Her heart was racing, and a sense of disappointment she didn't expect to feel washed over her when she realized everything that had just happened was nothing more than her imagination.

"Wha! Hey, what's with the water in the face!?"

"You were completely zoned out. That's not very like you at all. You sure this weather isn't getting to you?"

"Uhh..." After whatever that was, Marisa certainly couldn't say the weather wasn't getting to her in some way or another. But how was she supposed to tell Reimu what she'd just had happen in her head? Opting to keep things vague, Marisa simply answered "Yeah, I think it might be."

"Let's try to move quickly, then. Be careful on the steps though; they're slippery from all the water."

True to her warning, the steps had less traction than one would expect from stone stairs. Fortunately, they were able to descend free of any mishaps, owed both to a sufficient amount of caution, and the good grip provided by their rain boots. Marisa felt a tingle run down her spine when she took the first step off the stone path, onto the soft, muddy ground that had endured five days of a nonstop, waterfall-like deluge. She could feel her boot sink a good inch or two into the mud, and had to resist the sudden urge to press her foot down to make it sink further.

"Woah, it's all muddy down here," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's been getting like that all over Gensokyo," Reimu said, taking her first steps along the muddy path ahead. "Good thing we've got these rain boots, huh?"

"Uh, y-yeah." Every time Reimu talked about her raincoat, or her rain boots, that tingling surge shot up Marisa's spine again. Looking at her didn't help; all Marisa could focus on was the bright yellow and soaking wet sheen of the shrine maiden's rainwear. Looking out into the rain didn't help; the inordinate amounts of rain kept prompting all kinds of thoughts to start swimming around in her head. Marisa tried her luck looking at the ground behind her. No sooner was a footprint left behind by her or Reimu than the rain immediately filled it with water, turning every step into a fresh new puddle. She was still in the same headspace as she found herself in looking anywhere else, but it was at least a bit less so. But if she kept looking behind her, she'd lose track of Reimu. So, Marisa moved her gaze to the ground directly in front of her, staying a couple of steps behind Reimu and simply following the footprint-puddles she was leaving behind.

Until, suddenly, she felt herself walk face-first into something. Looking up at what obstruction had cut off her path, Marisa found nothing less than Reimu herself, glaring back at the magician. Was she mad? Concerned? Marisa couldn't really tell from the look on her face. Her tone of voice didn't make it much clearer either, but it was probably one of those two, at least.

"Okay, seriously, what's going on?"

"Huh?"

"You're not acting anything like you! You said it's the weather getting to you, but the Marisa I know wouldn't let any amount of rain get in the way of her infectious go-getter attitude." Reimu took a forceful step closer. "Knowing you, rather than getting all quiet and unsure like this, you'd more likely puff out your chest, and say something like, "Pah! So what if it's raining more than usual? I've got shit to do, so I'm gonna do it!" I've got a pretty good eye for when something's wrong, and something's definitely wrong here. So spit it out."

"Uh..."

"Marisa." Another step forward. And another one. The distance between the two girls was practically zero. "You trust me, right? Even if you just say you'd rather keep it under wraps, I'll take it, but we're not going anywhere until I get some kind of-"

"Hit me."

"...what?"

"I need you to hit me!" Looking up defiantly, straight into the shrine maiden's eyes, Marisa shouted "You're right, this ain't me at all, but I'm still stuck in whatever the hell's up! So punch it out of me! Just one good swing!"

"This isn't some sort of perverted thing, is it?"

"You hitting me? No. I'm sure there's plenty of folks in Gensokyo who'd love that, but not me."

"If you say so." Winding and stretching her arms, Reimu said "Close your eyes." Once Marisa's eyes were closed, Reimu took a step back, then reared back her arm. Her arm shot forward, her body leaning into the attack, her fist landing firmly into Marisa's stomach. The magician let out a forced breath as she fell down to her knees, clutching her midsection, before glaring up at Reimu a second time.

"What the hell!?"

"The hell do you mean "what the hell"!? You're the one who said to hit you!"

"Yeah, but I thought you'd go for the face!"

"Your face!? Why would I do that!?"

"I don't know! I just thought that's what you'd do!" Planting a booted foot firmly in the ground, Marisa shakily got back up, not daring to put her hands in the muddy ground beneath her. After a couple of deep breaths, most of the immediate pain was fading away. The punch definitely snapped her out of it. Whatever rain-induced fog had been filling her head before, Reimu's fist cleared it, even if it didn't connect where Marisa had predicted. She could even look directly at Reimu, clad in her raincoat as she was, without thinking weird thoughts. "But thanks."

"Anytime. Now, let's get going while you tell me what's up with you."

"Yeah, yeah." Her steps were still a bit wobbly as the magician continued to recover from the unexpected gut-punch Reimu had delivered, but after a couple of quicker steps to catch up, Marisa was at least able to walk side-by-side and keep pace with Reimu. It took a bit to gather her thoughts, but once they were gathered, she was ready to speak her mind. "And you won't laugh?"

"Probably not."

"Eh, close enough. I think all this wet weather crap has awakened something in me." Reaching over to her side, Marisa tugged at the sleeve of Reimu's raincoat. The smooth, wet texture was like a drug now that she'd finally touched it. It didn't completely derail her train of thought, but it sure did distract her for a short instant or two before she continued. "Your raincoat, for example. I can't stop thinking about it, or how you look wearing it. In like... a lewd way."

"Lewd? This?"

"Well, it feels like it's something lewd, at least."

"Pfffffffft!" By the letter of her word, Reimu was only "probably not" going to laugh. That answer definitely went into the territory that prompted her to laugh, however. It was a light-hearted laugh, but it was still full of energy and volume. Marisa was very familiar with that laugh. It was probably one of her favorite sounds. "That's it? You saw me like this, and it unlocked some sort of raincoat fetish?"

"Ha ha, laugh it up. That's the gist of it, though. I'd probably laugh too, if our roles were switched."

"So do I look sexy to you right now?" Reimu paused in her stride, turning toward Marisa with a flourish and striking a simple pose that she thought might emphasize her raincoat. She tried to make a point to show off the hood covering her head, and display as much surface area of her raincoat as she could. "Does this do it for you?" Reimu's face broke into a smug grin when she was met with silence, and a blushing, open-mouthed Marisa.

"Hey! Doing that sort of thing without warning isn't fair!"

"Ahaha! How unfair, indeed! But I can tell you enjoyed the view." The girls continued their long walk to their destination, as Reimu pondered aloud, "I'll admit, I'm curious about this new development. And I don't trust you to take care of yourself properly in this kind of weather. So you should expect some visits from this unfair shrine maiden. You don't mind, right? Having a girl show up at your door every day in a soaking wet raincoat?"

"I can't really say no when you put it that way..."

"Great! With all that stuff settled, let's pick up the pace. As much fun as I'm having teasing you with this, I'd rather not be out in this rain longer than I have to be."

The walk to what Marisa eventually realized was going to be the Human Village was long and, against her initial expectations, quite pleasant. Aside from Reimu frequently spinning the conversation in an angle clearly meant to push Marisa's buttons and get a stir out of her, the only thing that seemed different today from how these outings usually went was the weather. Much to her surprise, however, the path Reimu led her down took a sudden turn, not long before reaching the village. And it soon became apparent why. Off the beaten path, just a little bit, there was a blue awning set up in the middle of the grass. As the girls stepped under its merciful cover, finally granted relief from the endless battering of rain, Marisa took a moment to adjust to her new surroundings. Seemingly alerted by the shuffling sounds the raincoats made as the two girls moved about, someone behind the counter started speaking, and began to turn to face them. Marisa would know that backpack anywhere.

"Well well well, a pair of customers, here to-GAH! You're back!?" Straightening up her posture, the kappa dressed in a blue raincoat that, to be frank, hardly looked any different from her usual outfit, raised a nervous brow at Reimu. "I assure you, whatever those humans told you, it's all fake news! They're just mad because supply and demand isn't working in their favor!"

"I haven't heard anything, though?" Raising an eyebrow of her own, Reimu pressed for details. "Did you do something I should know about, Nitori?"

"No ma'am, not in the slightest. We run an honest business here. Sure, we've had to up our prices a bit, but you need to understand, I'm not happy about it either." Lifting up a pair of rain boots from a table near her, Nitori gestured to the boots, as well as the many other pairs laid out on the table. "Making this stuff isn't cheap with the resources we've got, and we've been selling way more than expected. I told the other kappa the new rainwear would catch on as a fashion trend and people would want to be repeat customers once they realized we're in it for the long haul, but noooooo, everyone said we only needed enough to cover Gensokyo's total population with just a little wiggle room. Now it's going off the shelves faster than we can put it back on the shelves, supply and demand got totally skewed, and I'm catching all the blame because I'm the one selling at this location."

"Uh... huh..."

"Even worse, people are putting in custom orders now! Which is even more resources not going to restocking the standard stuff like what I've got here! The buyers may see us as greedy opportunists right now, and I'll admit, we kind of are, but I assure you it's not by choice in this case. Oh, but you didn't come here to hear me rant about the production situation, did you?" Setting the boots down, Nitori confidently leaned against the table, a glint in her eye as she sized up the two girls who had found their way to her humble stall. She nodded toward Marisa. "Let me guess, she's buying?"

"Uh, yeah." Marisa stepped forward, and looked around in more detail. She was immediately realizing that raincoats and rain boots were just the tip of the iceberg, apparently. All sorts of waterproof articles of clothing, in all sorts of colors, decorated a handful of tables scattered around under the awning's cover. "Wow. You've got all sorts of stuff here."

"Different people need rainwear for different purposes. You sure seem interested in the goods."

"I am! I mean, of course I am. Have you seen this weather?" Marisa ran her finger along the surface of a folded-up raincoat on the table. Then ran it back along its length, tracing circles in the waterproof material of it. "How much does all this stuff cost?"

"Well, usually, I could sell it pretty cheap, but like I said, we have a bit of a supply and demand issue right now." Nitori could sense the promise of a return customer. Marisa sounded far more interested than she probably meant to with that emphatic "I am!" just then. The kappa took a moment to consider her next move carefully, before a plan sprung to mind. "I think we can make something work, though. Would you be interested in working for us?"

"Huh? I thought kappa didn't like working with outsiders."

"We don't, but these are exceptional circumstances." Nitori moved to a counter at the back of the awning as she explained. "See, we've had to set up new assembly lines for rainwear specifically. Miss Sanae's been overseeing the process herself, and she's... well, to be frank, she's freakishly enthusiastic about the job. Point being, we've had some time to improve the process since getting this first big batch of rainwear out, but improving the process means making sure the product is also improved. And how better to test that than live day-to-day use? Here's what I'm thinking: You pick out stuff you like here, give me a heavily discounted sum of yen, and in exchange for the massive savings, I personally deliver similar items from our new batches and you help run quality assurance on those items. A girl like you's got all sorts of things that need doing even in this sort of climate, right? You're perfect for the job. How's that sound?"

"That... sounds..."

Marisa paused. This felt like a risky deal. There were a few things Marisa knew about youkai from so much experience dealing and interacting with them. And paramount among that knowledge was to never trust a kappa offering a discount. Nitori was up to something, and she was going to play Marisa like a fiddle if she let her, wasn't she? She was supposed to work for them, but still give them money? It sounded like Nitori was trying to trick her into free labor with the promise of savings. Sneaky creatures, those kappa. No way. But she wasn't going to deny it was a tempting offer. Her finger still tracing shapes along the surface of one of the raincoats in stock, Marisa reached with her other hand, grabbing her wrist and forcing herself away from the tactile siren's song and marched over to Nitori. Marisa's palms firmly planted themselves on the counter.

"How much of a discount are we talking!?"

"Half-off! And this is half-off from the usual price, mind you, so it's more like seventy percent!"

"No way! Make it a hundred percent off!"

"Wha! I can't do a hundred, are you crazy!? Why would you even suggest that!?"

"Because you're supposed to pay me if I'm working for you! Why do I have to pay for the stuff you want me to test!?"

"Uhhh... seventy-five percent off standard price!"

"A hundred or I'm going home right now!"

"Alright, alright, ninety! Final offer!"

"Ninety-nine!"

"You..." Nitori growled under her breath. Her eyes began darting in all directions. Marisa knew that bit of body language. Nitori was doing mental math, and an awful lot of it. Marisa could even hear the kappa processing her train of thought under her breath. "There's the cost of labor to consider..."

"But if we don't have to pay her in yen..."

"Sanae wasn't taking no for an answer when we said we didn't need to run QA... "

"Plus, at the end of the day, even if it's table scraps, it's still technically a sale..."

"Oh boy, the others aren't gonna like this one bit..."

"You drive a hard bargain, but I'll take it!" Nitori extended a hand across the counter. "I'll deliver wares sold to you at a ninety-nine percent discount, and in exchange, you'll be running quality assurance to make sure everything's up to the task!"

"Deal!" Marisa extended her hand in turn, and the two shook firmly to the beginning of a new business partnership.

"Hey, not to interrupt whatever weird bonding experience this is," Reimu interjected, raising her own hand. "But we do still need to buy some stuff for Marisa to wear today. Stuff that it sounds like your deal doesn't cover."

"Right, so you do! Please, browse all you like. I'll be right here, figuring out how I'm going to explain this to the other kappa."