There were some developments this morning, the first is that Master dropped the orb training for now. When I asked why, she frowned and just said: "Leave it to me." I think she has something to do in her mind but for now, all my training is about getting me used to my ability.
She came up with a lot of random stuff to find exactly how my ability works, and in the end, there were three new things that I learned.
First, after asking Master why I felt so tired yesterday, she said that the more I get used to doing this stuff, the less tired I get.
Second, in the middle of my training, Reisen came to my room to check on me as normal, but she came carrying a weird pistol speaking under her breath about an odd 'sound' she heard coming from my direction and that's when it hit me.
Someone besides me can know if I am using my ability. I think it works more or less like a radar: If someone is actually 'listening,' they can pinpoint where I am.
Coming back to the present, I am currently looking around for Tewi. My goodness, I probably already talked about this more than enough, but why is this place such a maze? Shouldn't a clinic be accessible? I should just have asked Tewi to come to my room.
Unfortunately, since I was not paying attention, I did not see these two bunny girls running just around the corner, and I ended up bumping into one of them.
"Ouch!" One of the bunnies cried and fell over while the other managed to avoid me on time, I, on the other hand, barely felt much.
She doesn't seem hurt, but she looks upset as she composes herself.
"S-sorry, little one." I put a hand on her head and started gently petting her.
The bunny freezes for a bit before relaxing, after a bit more petting, the bunny's mood seems to have improved, so I stop
The other bunny seems weirdly fixed on my petting, but for some reason, I think we are even now.
"How long are you going to make me wait?" A familiar voice catches my attention and looking around shows me that it's our beloved friend Tewi, looking a bit impatient and upset.
"I am sorry," I sighed. "Master's training was tiring, and I was in no condition to see you afterward." She also sighed at that.
"Anyway, I have prepared something for you!" She then suddenly comes back to her energetic Self "But we will need to get some stuff prepared first." Prepared?
"What's this about, Tewi?" She seems confident with that.
"It's a surprise! Trust me, if you can do it, you will be the one thanking me in the end!" She comes close to me and starts to circle me as if she is judging something about me, her eyes trailing all over me. Now that I think about it...
I turn towards the two bunnies from before, and they seem to have left.
"Have you brushed your teeth today? Did you take a bath? Have you used any perfume before? And..."
Tewi just goes on and on about my aesthetics, manners, etc. Really, almost everything she said passed through one ear and left by the other. After the questioning, she took me to a bathroom nearby for a quick bath, which I needed, thank you, and told me to choose some antique perfume that I had never heard of in my life, which I was very careful to only use a little, I hate to be the guy to appear at a party soaked with perfume, and after some more talk, she seemed to be done.
All of this felt very weird because it looked like she was preparing me for some kind of date.
"Anyway, I think you are good enough." She turned around and gestured to me to follow her. Not going to lie, I am a bit excited about whatever she has for me, we have gone through all this preparation for something which I assume is about meeting someone or going to a place where I need to be tidy with looks.
After walking for a few minutes, we stopped at a corridor with only a single room at the end of it. However, this room was different from the others we passed, it had this big sliding door, decorated with gold, and it was also kinda big, as if it was made for some giant.
There's not only a door there, however, there are two of what I presume are guards, and they look kinda like Reisen. Unlike her, though, they were holding rifles that seem to be taken directly from some sci-fiction movie, and even stranger, these two wear some office shirts and skirts, just like Reisen. The only difference between the two was that one of them had black while the other was pink.
Is there some kind of dress code for guards to dress in Gensokyo?
Anyway, Tewi told me to wait a bit, and she went off to speak with them, I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but she seemed casual about it, and the guards seemed just to be bored of their minds black one glanced at me a few times while they talk but other than that, they seem pretty chill.
After a while, Tewi came back with a big smile on her face, acting like she had just got a million dollars. "Ok, they said you could come over and meet her!"
"Meet whom?" I feel like whoever I am going to meet is very important but whatever.
"Don't worry! I will introduce you to her." As I passed by the black-headed guard, she looked at me with the bad cop look while the other just gave a look at my pants and made a suggestive gesture towards me, they have very indeed different priorities.
After that Tewi and I entered the room.
The room itself was not as impressive as the guards guarding it, being mostly empty but as spacious as the shrine's living room with a wide half-open door opposite a porch and a small yard before a fence separating the bamboo trees from the estate.
But going back to the room, there was also a bonsai tree at the top of a small shelf, again, nothing fancy, but looking around, I saw the inhabitant of this room.
There she was, sitting in a wooden chair without legs that I would later learn was called a Zaisu, behind a short-leg table that also I would learn later was called a Chabudai, it feels very weird seeing that people in this part of the world sitting on the floor with little more than a mat between then.
But going back to the woman before me, her dress consisted of a simple pink shirt with many white bows in it, her skirt was long and had this mixture of very dark red with a bit of dark purple with drawings of leaves of different plants all over her dress, but I don't understand the meaning of it.
Coming to her features, she had this long, straight black hair that was so long that I felt like it just extended to her back indefinitely, and it seemed to be so well-kept that I wonder if Gensokyo had such good salons. But what struck me the most was her face; she was what I describe as the embodiment of Asian beauty as if her features were carefully modeled by an artist, and I am sure she must be young.
For what feels like an eternity, I just stand there, amazed by her beauty, not taking my eyes from her once and when she notices my presence, she smiles and oh Hakurei God! Please give me strength so I can talk with this beautiful woman.
"Hello, princess!" How am I not surprised she's some kind of princess? Uh, how should I present myself again?
"Good evening Tewi." She directs her attention away to our smaller friend "What brings you to visit me this evening? And who is this gentleman at your side?" Damn, I feel this warmth on me, whatever she speaks.
"Oh, it is just this gentleman who wanted to meet you! He wanted to offer his hand in marriage!" Tewi then gestures to me.
What the fuck?
"Oh, my, if that's the case," The Princess got up from her seat and made a little gesture to herself, "I am Kaguya Houraisan, the owner of Eientei and princess of the moon. Nice to meet you." She bows a little and quickly lifts her head.
I am screwed.
"Uhhh N-N-Nice to meet you, princess! My name is M-Manato! I am an Outsider currently under the supervision of the Shrine Maiden!" I do the same exaggerated bow I did when I met Master and quickly return to my usual posture.
"That's it, princess, I have to get going!" WAIT, TEWI, DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!
Before I can say anything, she dashes out of the room, leaving me alone with Kaguya.
"Very well" I take my eyes from the door and direct them at the Princess. "I guess we should start by you speaking about yourself?" She casually gestures to the zaisu before her.
"Uh, of course!" I awkwardly sat in my chair; although this was supposed to be a meeting about marriage, how could she act so casually about it?
...
...
...
I don't know what to talk about; my throat feels really dry all of a sudden, and I am sweating buckets! While Kaguya is just looking at me with a gentle smile, God, she's cute.
I think either Kaguya really is nice, or she ran out of patience because she decided to take the initiative.
"Manato-san, you said earlier that you were an Outsider." She shifts herself in place a bit.
"And guessing by the color of your skin you might be from...Okinawa? I heard they became a prefecture around 150 years ago, right? " Uh, that is not right.
"Actually, uh, I am not Japanese but from a country on the other side of the ocean but my grandfather was Japanese though!" And why did he leave Japan? I have no idea.
Kaguya's eyes light up a bit "Oh my, so we have both an Outsider and a foreigner here, making the first foreigner to set foot in Gensokyo since the barrier as far I am concerned, that being the case..." Kaguya rests her chin on her arm. "...Could you tell me more about the outside world? Ever since the Barrier, I did not have the opportunity to know much about what's happening outside. Can you tell me how the world is going right now?"
"Hm, that's a bit broad, which year we are talking about? There are so many things that have happened in the past 100 years that I don't know where exactly to start"
She places a hand on her chin, or rather, her sleeve, and thinks for a bit before responding.
"Well, what about Japan then? What was going on with Japan after the Barrier?" From what the Master told me, this was somewhere in the late 1800s.
"I am sorry to disappoint Princess," I bow my head, "I am not very knowledgeable on the history of Japan during those times, but I took a lot of pride in my understanding of Europe at that time, and since this continent had a really big influence on japan and the contemporary world" Her eyes gloom a little with the mention of Europe, I think I caught her attention.
"Very well, then where do we start exactly?"
"A bit before the First World War, that had such an impact in the world that its effects are very clear." She leans a bit hearing the famed Great War: "This war shaped our world in such a way that created countries overnight, forced us to rethink all of our ways of international relations, how people see themselves, forged in the blood of millions of soldiers, such huge was this war that it broke empires..."
"And as the man sat quietly on the bench, sadly eating his lunch, thinking about the events of that day, he wondered if he would ever get another chance to.." I make an exaggerated surprised face "Oh my! Is that the archduke? And his wife?"
Kaguya tights her fights on her dress and unconsciously puts a hand into her mouth as if she realized the gravity of the situation.
"Yes! The two of them were passing right in front of him with their open car. His driver didn't know the roads of Belgrade all that well, and he accidentally ended up taking a wrong turn, perhaps if the circumstances were different, things might have come different, but something had to happen that day!"
Kaguya is right now covering her mouth with both hands, not bothering to show both her excitement and anticipation.
"W-what happens next then?" I smile.
"There's no words, just action." I pretended to take a fake gun from my fake coat and pointed my finger at her, pretending it was a gun.
Kaguya almost fell over on her back as if I was pointing a real thing at her.
"He then fires two shots that would change the world forever."
When I was done, Kaguya kind of stood there with her mouth wide open, trying to process it all. I tried telling the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire while trying to frame him as one of these assassinations you'd see in novellas.
It went better than I expected, but not in the way I thought it would.
Because out of nowhere, Kaguya starts to cry.
"J-J-Just when the two of them could have a time they could s-spend time together, this happens." She takes a piece of cloth from her sleeves and dries her eyes with it.
"T-Then…" Her eyes seem to beam for a moment "What happens next? What happens with the assassin? How will this start the war?" Hmm, she seems to be excited, but…
"Er, actually, I don't know how to take from here." I look down. "I don't have a map with me to show you the troop movements and how the battles will play out." I could see her getting a bit sad at the news, but after the July Crisis, I really couldn't explain stuff further without a map.
"That's... sad." Seeing her down like this kinda makes me sad for a bit, I know this because she is cute.
Kaguya puts a hand on her chin as if thinking of something.
"A map, hm... Oh! I think I know where we can get one!" Her expression beams once again, and she gets up from her chair, oh my, she's freaking huge!
"That teacher mentioned a place where we were able to get a map!"
"Uh, where's it, Princess?" Wait, she's speaking like we will go out and get the map.
"It's a shop called Kourindou, where you can do all sorts of weird stuff from the outside world that somehow manages to sneak into the barrier, mainly things that have been forgotten." Ok, now I am curious.
"So, where is this shop?" Her beaming expression fades a little.
"I don't exactly know where it is, just that it is located between the Human Village and the Forest of Magic."
Okay, that's a bit of relief, it's not like I don't want to go, after all, I always liked to look at old stuff, even better if it's electronics, but if either Reisen or worse, Eirin, find out I was sneaking away, I am pretty sure they would get mad at me.
And Master? Let's just say she enjoys the cafeteria's food while I am hospitalized.
"...But flying would be easy!" Before I could say anything, she opened the doors to the backyard and just flew away.
She either doesn't know that I can't fly or forgets that I am a patient here, also, how can she fly? Is that a basic thing that everyone can do like that?
Anyway, after a bit, she came with a neutral, slightly disappointed face and landed back in the backyard.
"You can't fly?"
"Uh, no?" How could I do that?
"Oh," Something should have struck her in the head. "right, you are not like the Shrine Maiden." She then started doing something weird, she walked to me until she was almost touching me, and when I said touching, my face was almost touching her boobs.
"P-princess, what is the matter?"
She gave a puzzled look. "How else should I know which map I should get if you are not there?" She then in an instant, warped her arms around me. "What?" and she just took off.
"Ah!" Holy shit, she is going up fast! Does everyone here know how to fly?
Kaguya doesn't seem effaced by me, and instead of flying above the bamboo trees, she flies between them, although after a bit of panic, I noticed that we didn't come close to hitting a bamboo. The bamboo seemed out of our way, which is weird since, from what I see from my room, the forest was pretty packed to the brim.
"Fuu~ It seems that person is not going to bother us." Speaking to nobody in particular, she stops for a bit to position me on one arm and proceeds to fly a bit slower as if she is we are clear of whoever she was trying to evade, and I mean slower in a sense that the forest below me does not appear like a blurred mass of green, but still I wish I had something to block all this wind getting into my eyes, also speaking of the forest...
We pass by the last bamboo trees, and we are, uh, somewhere? I can see large fields of crops, and since we are not flying all that high, I can even see some farmers working on them. Oh, one of them saw us!
I awkwardly wave my hand to him, and he also awkwardly waves his hand towards me. We are so close to the ground that I can see his weird face, I hope this does not bring me trouble.
Now that I think about it, since I am this high, why not try and use my ability here? Maybe I can sense something that is so far away that my eyes can't see?
..."Ugh!" I shake for a bit while Kaguya gives me weird looks. My god, this hurts! But it confirmed a theory I have. I indeed can use it to scan my surroundings, but I won't use it for much, the amount of stuff I can sense is too big for now.
Speaking of what I sensed, to my left, there's something way closer to us from Youkai Mountain. I think it's also flying and tinting my head for a bit. I can barely make out something purple in the distance, and after observing for a bit, I think it's following us, but It never gets too close that I can make out who or what it is, and although I am a bit worried, there's nothing I can do really.
After a bit more flying, I start to make out the outline of the village and, beside it, a big ass forest, although this one has normal trees instead of bamboo, it looks just as packed as the last one.
You know, I kinda calmed down now, Kaguya is keeping her distance from the ground, and her hold on me is quite strong, so I feel safe here, but It's still a bit cold out here. The trees and the coldness say we are in the middle of autumn.
Kaguya spots a trail that starts from inside the village, goes into the forest, and decides to follow it, which makes me wonder...
"Uh, princess, do you know where we are going?" Without looking at me, she responds.
"Not exactly, but I know the general location. Reisen and Tewi had visited there before, so I know it exists." So you don't know where we are going.
Eventually, after following the path a bit, we spot a small shop (Or what you could make of one), but the closer we get, the more familiar the items around them again, shop, become, ranging from Japanese public signs, Christmas trees, and all the stuff you see left in someone's else old junk they forgot to clean from their basements.
Kaguya stops right outside the door with a big sign with what I supposed is the name of the shop, Kourindou, or what I think is the reading of the Kanji anyway.
Looking around, something catches my attention: a yellowed computer. I can see a Pentium sticker on the case, but It's so old and dirty that I wonder, why is it left outside like this? I would be impressed if it turned on.
I hold the door open for Kaguya to enter, and she happily takes the kindness. s I also go inside, a *ding* makes our existence apparent to whoever is inside the shop.
Have I not been informed that this place was indeed a 'shop' I might have mistaken this as some basement because, well, so it's disorganized that although he puts stuff on shelves, nothing is organized, and you can find stuff like vacuum cleaners and garden stuff stuffed in the same shelf also, should I mention that there is stuff lying around like T-shirts and speakers in the ground near the shelves? As if someone just picked up from the other side of the store but changed their mind so they just lazily left by the nearest shelf? All of this just contributes to this place being very cramped and disorganized and also, it's a bit hot here for some reason, even though we might be approaching winter.
Even Kaguya is taken aback by...this place but I guess we might be able to find what we want if we have the help of someone.
Soon enough, someone shows up from behind the counter. A tall young man, perhaps in his early 20s, with grey hair and eyes spelling golden, coming out from the back of the cup holding a cup of what I smell is tea, and he wears black and blue clothes.
"Good evening, how can I help you tw-" His eyes widen when he spots Kaguya but I think he is more interested in me and points a finger at me.
"I never thought I would see you so soon. Weren't you injured?" Wait, how does he know?
As if reading my mind, the young man continues. "Marisa spoke about you and, yes, I know you are an Outsider, so rest assured, you are not in danger here." He sits in a chair behind the counter and sips a bit of tea before introducing himself." I am Rinnosuke Morichika, the owner of this shop. What can I do for you two?" He seems very easygoing.
Kaguya turns to me, signaling for me to take the lead.
"Very well." I think he isn't much of a talkative person so I better go straight to the point. "We are looking for the late 1800s to early 1914 maps of Europe, the bigger, the better, do you have any?"
Rinnosuke raises an eyebrow at my request, but he responds. "Maps are easy, go straight to your right and at the end of the room you will find a brow box with a lot of maps in it, I don't remember correctly if it has exactly what you are looking for but there are a lot of maps in a brown box in a corner"
I bow slightly. "Thank you very much, Morichika-san, sorry for the intrusion." The shopkeeper nods and goes back to enjoying his tea.
Turning towards my right, man, this place is really claustrophobic but surprisingly clean, and as I walk around shelves, I spot even more peculiar stuff like some limited edition Xbox 360, a big ass CRT TV, and some other stuff that makes me kinda nostalgic.
After avoiding the numerous boxes and old articles for a bit, especially Kaguya since she's huge, I spotted a brown cardboard box stuffed to the brim with maps, casually rolled great.
Picking up the box, I look around and spot a small table made of wood, which I presume is also not from Gensokyo, in the opposite corner, and push some objects out of the table that I do not pay attention to and start taking out the maps from the box.
"Hm, Mashriq, India, and China... Russia" Kaguya, by the way, is quiet and observes me, sometimes giving an "Oh!" when she sees a particularly big country like Russia and India, but she just waits.
Eventually, I came across a map dating back to 1900. It was partially big, and it showed not only Europe but also a bit of the Ottoman Empire (In what is today Turkey), and it even has the names in Japanese, I suppose this one was either from a guy who was into this stuff or from some classroom, either way we found what we are looking for! I take the other maps and shove them into the box and spread the chosen one on the table.
"Okay, that's what we were looking for, princess, now let's go ba-" I hear the ding from the front door and some voices.
"You know, Keine, would they even care about some fancy pictures this "projector" can do?" Wait, she mentioned Keine?
"Don't say that, Mokou. Once I get these working, I can show some pictures to the students for them, but I know that I first need a computer to make this thing work." Yep, that's her voice, and from the subject, I can say she's trying to get some stuff for her classes, I wonder what kind of subject she teaches? Anyway, I can't see whoever Keine is talking to since we are at the very back of the back store and there is a lot of old rubbish between us.
I turn to Kaguya, who, by the way, is frozen for some reason. She seems to be surprised, but this quickly fades into a nasty grin, not the gentle and patient one I saw the entire day but the nasty and malicious face that only rich girls can accomplish.
She walks past me after evading the boxes once again. She emerges from the chaos and delivers her message.
"Ohohohoho!" You know, the one from these rich girls you see in anime? The one she covers her mouth and makes the loudest laugh possible? Yeah, that one.
"My, my, what do we have here?" She covers her mouth with her sleeve, pretending to be surprised. "Oh? Is it the wicked immortal that lives in that wicked shack she calls home? Ohohohoho!" She walks into the shop, allowing herself to see who is the person she is making fun of.
The person in question is a woman, she has red eyes and ankle-length white hair. She wears a light white shirt that appears and dark red pants that are tied high to her waist and randomly decorated with paper charms. Her white, a bit blueish, hair is tied with the same red and white paper charms her clothes are littered with charms, although I don't know what they are protecting from, but I suspect they have something to do with fire. Also, she is more or less the same height as Keine.
Going back to the present scene, this woman, whom I presume is Mokou, looks pissed.
"Kaguya Houraisan!"
"Fujiwara no Mokou!"
"I almost forgot to kick your lazy ass!"
"And I almost forgot to burn down that shoddy shack of yours!"
"What the fuck did you just say!?"
I don't think this will end well.
Kaguya's and Mokou's faces are barely centimeters apart, between Mokou being pissed and Kaguya with the nastiest grin I ever saw that says that she's enjoying every minute of and although I hoped to pass between them without much trouble, Mokou shifts her frown from Kaguya to me, and I can feel her air of hostility is shifted to me.
"Who are you?" I might be fucked.
"Uh, the m-my name is-" "He is the patient that Reimu brought in the other day, any problem with that spermhead?"
Holy shit, Kaguya just went from an innocent princess to an evil queen in seconds. I think they don't like each other, although if that's the case why does it seem they are enjoying it?
"Oh no, is that I didn't know your guys at Eientei were getting laid with shotas lately."
What? I am not that short! I might not be as tall as the guys in my class were but still!
"Look who's speaking! Don't you and that teacher at the temple school routinely do orgies at lunch break?" My god the venom between the two is so much that even I am getting poisoned.
The two of them quickly go back to their quarrel, allowing me to sneak into the store without much fuss, much to the surprise of Keine, who sees me walking up to it with a mixture of worry and anger.
"Why didn't I see or hear you coming back to the village? And what about those bandages?!"
"I am fine! I was at Eientei, and I did not come back to the village because I thought the guards wouldn't allow me to return to the shrine at nigh-" *smack* "You idiot!"
"What would have happened if you had not managed to arrive at the shrine? And if you were fine, then why are you at Eientei?" For a moment, I thought she might try to smack me in the head again, but she just said, "I think you already learned your lesson, but she's going to hear about it." That said, Keine shifted her attention back to the two arguing heads, who were still insulting each other by the minute.
"And I just came here to get some stuff, and now we have to wait for these two to finish." It is not like I have any money with me right now.
I nod, this couldn't go for long, right?
...
...
...
Ok, this is getting ridiculous.
"Are they going to continue like this forever?"
Keine places a hand on her chin and thinks for a bit, "Hm...Maybe after they brawl for a bit? When they are like this, it usually ends with a pretty nasty fight, but most of the time, they are good friends; today is just the day they decided to yell at each other for no reason"
I sigh. "Well, supposedly, I should be resting in my bed instead of going on a little 'adventure.'" I am sure that neither Eirin nor Reisen would be much amused knowing I am out here.
Keine gives me a pitying look and just sighs as well, but she seems to remember something, and her eyes perk up.
"Why not go and tell them a joke? If you manage to get their attention, they will quickly cool off"
"What should I say to this arguing couple? As if they would...I have an idea." A devious grin forms on my face.
I proceed to walk towards them, giving Keine a nod, although she just gives me a puzzled look.
"You are just pissed because your father couldn't get laid!" We are still talking about getting laid?
This plan sounds way scariest when two women the size of basketball players are yelling just in front of you but I am still smiling, but here we go!
"Uh oh, h-hello? Can I talk to you two a minut-" "What?" " No turning back now.
"I was wondering if we could skip to the part where you two kiss." I am dead.
The shop got dead silent, Mokou's and Kaguya's jaws were on the floor, and my face started to heat up because it sounded way funnier in my head, but now I just felt the cringe, and then Kaguya just started laughing.
"Pfffff hahahahahahaha!" She's now laughing so loud, holding her stomach, that I feel kinda embarrassed, at some point, she is even gasping for air and utterly failing to hold herself together.
But she's not the only one laughing, when I gave Keine a peek, she was also very much amused by the situation, although she only showed that by her not-so-subtle smile on her face and the little chuckle she released here and there.
Uh, I think this is my cue to get the princess away from here as fast as possible.
"Princess, I think we should go back at once so nobody asks about your departure" I can feel the heat in my face right now, fuck, this joke was way too stupid.
"Princess!" What is it now?
When I turn around, there they were, the two bunnies that guarded her room against before looking kinda annoyed standing beside Kaguya, the bad cop speaking to Kaguya, and the pink, well, the horny one just holding her rifle tight, looking at Mokou absolutely terrified, I am pretty sure there is some explanation for this but...
"Princess, I know you like to sneak out all the time, but can't you at least notify someone beforehand? You even left alone with a man!" Wait a minute, before this whole scene, Tewi screwed me over and made out as if I was asking this woman in marriage. I wonder how I can get back at her?
"It's not that big of a deal, Kana-chan. We were just buying some stuff, which we already did, and we would come right back before anyone noticed." But someone did.
At that, Kana-chan sighed and turned to me.
"Finish your business, Shinoko and me are going to wait outside," Kana-chan started pushing Kaguya towards the door.
"Wait, me as well?" Kaguya pouts a little at her treatment.
"Yes, you came here to buy 'some stuff', remember? You did, so you don't need to be inside this place more than you do."
With that, they left, followed by the pink-haired bunny, or rather Shinoko.
I better pay for this map already and go back before Kana-chan gets more upset...I don't have any money! How the hell am I supposed to pay?
I turn and walk back to the counter, thinking of a way to convince Rinnosuke to let me pay later.
"Eh, I am sorry to bother you, Morichika-san, but-" "Take it" Uh?
He sighs, "I am used to having Marisa and Reimu take stuff without paying." Damn, I got so much free stuff these days, and I already feel guilty for slacking off Eientei, but that's life.
But he isn't done yet! "But I would be happy if you came here someday to help me figure out how some of this stuff works." He gives me a grin.
"...Understood." I quickly bowed to the Shopkeeper and turned my attention to Keine.
"Uh, sorry to disturb your business! I-I know a good lot about computers, so if you need to set up anything please pass by the Shrine so that I may be able to help you!" Keine smiles a bit, a gentle motherly smile, and bows as well, now just needing to...
"I am also sorry to disturb you today, Mokou-san." I bow my head one last time. Mokou, for her part, just gives me a nod, and with that, I hurriedly walk towards the door.
"So you left with a man you just met this evening on a date?" Shit, I just arrived here, and my face is already burning.
I set foot outside to the sun already dropping below the trees and tainted with a deep orange Indicating that our little adventure was coming to a close.
"This is not exactly a date, Kana-chan; we just paused the meeting for some shopping."
"That sounds exactly like a date; most guys don't even get to spend as much as an hour with you." Y-you... why are you pressing for details?
"Uh, well..." Kaguya walked up to me and dragged me next to the two rabbits.
"First, he smells way better than those sweaty farmers." I just bathe at least two times a day because I like to stay clean.
Kana-chan, reluctantly, and Shinoko, less reluctantly, approaches me and sniffs for a bit before turning back to Kaguya.
"Y-yeah, I think I know what you mean, Princess." Kana-chan looked a bit embarrassed.
But why are you two sniffing me?
"Princess, I guarantee that these types of men are the best to sleep wit-" *Smack* "Ouch!" Shinoko was smacked by Kana-chan. "Hold your tongue when you are before the Princess, Shinoko!"
"Second, he may not have the manners nor had brought a gift, but he is way more mature than all the other men who visited me." I am still unemployed, by the way.
"And third, he was able to keep a conversation with me. You see, he's not only an Outsider but also a foreigner as well."
"Princess, this was supposed to be a secret! The Shrine Maiden said that I shouldn't be speaking about my origins in the open."
"Uh, teehee?" Teehee?
"Alright," we turn to Kana-chan, "I think we should go back by now?" All three of us nod. "Also, why are you just on socks?" Wait what?
I take a look at my foot and, well, shit, my socks are all dirty, making it worse that the porch here is not paved.
"Let me guess: Did the Princess, on a whim, just decide to take you shopping?"
I grin. "Ma'am you won't believe what I have to say!"
"You know what? Don't answer, let's go back already." Kana-chan turns around and lifts off, Shinoko does the same and follows Kana-chan back as well.
"Don't worry, you are not in trouble or anything." Kaguya stops by my side. "Unfortunately since the evening is coming to a close..." She grabs me again, this time more gently."...Our meeting hours are closing as well, but I hope you can still visit me again?" I nod, she smiles, and then we take off.
The evening breeze feels colder now, with the sun barely showing on the horizon, the light coming from the village starts to light up their lights as well. I wonder as well, last time I passed by, apart from the very edge of the village, I did not see any poles that could be placed there, so it might be just for a few hours? For the people to go get drunk in bars before going to sleep? I could maybe visit the village at night, but I would need to stay at an inn. There is no way I'm going back to the shrine in the middle of the night again, the Hakurei Trail might be safe, but I am not going to risk it until I can beat youkai on my own.
We passed through the village and fields without problems, but once we entered the bamboo forest we started having a bit of turbulence.
"Incoming!" Kana-chan, you sound like a Call of Duty character! For some reason, there's a swarm of fairies on the path to Eientei, and with fairies, there's danmaku.
"Fuck!" A danmaku bullet just hit Shinoko in the stomach. Man, that sounds painful. I don't want to be at the receiving end of it! Looking at Kana-chan, she seems to be doing just fine dodging the bullets, while shooting some bullets from her rifle whenever she has the chance.
"Tsk!" until she receives a purple bullet right in her face and almost falls off into the forest.
You wonder how I am doing? Well, Kaguya is quite good at dodging even when she has an extra bag to carry, but the problem, I'd say, is the number of bullets that is steadily growing, as the number of fairies, at the beginning it was quite easy to dodge but they are becoming so numerous that even Kaguya is starting to have close calls more often, until It was inevitable that I was going to get hit.
"Ughh!" Holy shit, this hurts! A blue bullet just hit me in the side, and I almost dropped the map. My god, I feel like we can't keep going on like this forever.
"I can't tell which direction we are heading anymore; there are so many!" That's really bad!
Wait, what if I try to use my ability? Just as Kaguya barely dodges another stream of bullets, I take action, sending a signal I can-ugh, shit, it hurts a little less than last time, but I got something! There's a concentration of fairies right above us! They are the ones who are shooting danmaku the most, although you wouldn't notice since everything seems to be a blur of rainbows at this point.
"Ladies! Most of the bullets are coming from above! Does someone here have a spell card to blow them up?"
"How do you know that? They are coming from everywhere!" Shinoko yells, her clothes are already in tatters.
"Do you have any choice?!" I yell, while Kana-chan struggles to move around carrying extra weight.
"Very well, Kana-chan!" Kana-chan, who fairs a little better than Shinoko, briefly looks from position. "Take care of him, this man has given me great joy today." And without hesitation, Kaguya throws my body like a ragdoll towards Kana-chan.
"Oh-ohaa!" Holy shit, I felt like my heart would stop when she had thrown me! I hope Kaguya is able to finish them soon.
"You fairies have disturbed a really good evening, such is the inconvenience you all are."
「Robe of Fire Rat 'Unhurried Mind'」
"Tighten your grip." Woman, I already am! "We are going to take cover in the forest." Kana-chan takes a nose dive straight to the forest.
A reddish light flashes the forest followed by a huge amount of red bullets spreading around in all directions followed by red lasers. Although we took shelter within the forest, Kana-chan had to dodge the occasional stray bullet or laser coming from Kaguya's spell card. The spell card is simply and short yet very destructive.
After the red light fades in alongside the stream of bullets, Kaguya descends towards the forest, her clothes very damaged but otherwise she seems fine.
"I don't see any more fairies bothering us for today, how about we walk back home?" We nod and we start to lower to the ground but Kaguya raises her hand, signaling us to stop."Kana-chan can you give him back?" Kana-chan gives the princess a confused look but complies with her.
"Uh what are you doing Princess?" Why am I the only one not walking?
"Have you seen how you look? You are as pale as a vampire." Wait what. "It already looks bad that I took a patient in his recovery to go shopping, please, just relax, this forest is my domain, I know exactly how to get back."
"Ok?" Do I look this bad?
After some twenty minutes of walking, I see what I assume is the front door to the Eientei estate with an upset Reisen and a worried looking Eirin waiting just outside.
"Princess, why did you leave without telling anyone? And why were you having a meeting alone with a man? And why are your clothes in taters? It has been a long time since you fought against Mokou". Damn Eirin, you sound just like a mom right now.
"Cease already Eirin, I was just away for a bit, and Reisen did send my bodyguards after, didn't she? We just passed by some troublesome fairies, that's all." Eirin seems to have calmed down a bit, but I can't help but notice that Kaguya left out the part where she did meet Mokou. Do they fight all the time?
"Manato." Reisen time! "You look terrible, you are going straight to your room after receiving your medication, right to bed", She glances at my feet, or rather, my dirty socks and she gets even more upset. "Why did you wear only your socks?" I just point to Kaguya, who is still arguing with Eirin.
Reisen gives a heavy sigh but doesn't push further.
"Princess," Kaguya shifts her attention from Eirin to Reisen. "could you please put him down?."
"Very well, Manato-kun, could you please come to my room again tomorrow?" Eirin and Reisen's eyes widen and they look at one another as if they just saw a ghost.
"Sure? I don't know how well I will be tomorrow but I will try my best." Kaguya, satisfied, puts me down on my two feet and dammit, my body just feels really weak.
"Master, I will be leading the patient to his room." Eirin, still surprised, just nods and Reisen gives a quick bow before opening the door and going inside after which I follow her.
"Reisen, can I take a bath before going to sleep?"
She stops and turns to me. "No." Ahhhhhhhhhh I want to sleep clean!
Chapter Notes: Hello everyone! This chapter is over 7500 words and I intend this to be the new format going foward, I also intend on posting more regulary (maybe twice a month?).
Also I want to give my thanks to Caduceus12, jajaname and Maxis for proof reading this chapter, the google docs file was over 700 comments and it really helped with a lot things regarding the pace, grammar and the story in general.