Yet another chapter. I decided to to put this one out a bit ahead of time than I originally planned. This particular chapter is more of a slice of life chapter, I mean, not every day is gonna be wild for John and the others(mostly)and I wanted to reflect that with this chapter, so it mostly acts as a bit of set up for what other things are set to come. Happy reading!
John awoke in a daze. It had been a wild night at Kaguya's home, as tensions had boiled over with Kogasa and Yuuka and the two proceeded to get into a danmaku match. The two of them had gotten into a disagreement over who would share a bed with John that night. While he tried to protest that he wouldn't share it with anyone, that...didn't go over too well with either of them, and a quick glare from them both shut him right up. The danmaku battle only lasted a total of 10 minutes, if even that.
Needless to say Yuuka won that battle with ease.
Now, while that fight had ended and John had figured that Yuuka would (forcibly) sleep in the same bed as him, things seemed to go...differently.
As John sat up, he felt four bodies laying on top of him. Somehow, within the middle of the night, Kogasa,Yuuka, Kaguya, and Medicine had all decided to sleep in the same bed as him. The result of this made that night's sleep a bit 'interesting' so to speak. Or rather...if any of the girls were awake right now, they'd probably a notable poke and that was something he didn't want to go through. So he decided that he would get up quietly and get himself properly dressed.
"Morning darling~." Yuuka said rubbing her eyes.
Well there goes that plan.
"Uh...morning Yuuka." John said trying to hurriedly get up while making sure to keep the others from waking up. "I'm just gonna-"
"Oh no you don't~!" Yuuka whispered getting up just as quickly and wrapping her arms around him in a vice-like grip "You aren't getting out of here without giving me my morning kiss. Although, I get the feeling you'd much rather do something else~" She cooed while looking down at his boxers "Goodness, I'm not regretting that we had you strip."
"Why did you make me do that, while everyone else got to sleep in their normal clothing?"
"John, it's only fair that we girls get a bit of fanservice no?"
"Speaking of that, you don't seem too angry that the others just decided to snuggle up..."
"Oh it's fine, I...well to be honest, just between you and me, I'm just glad we're together." Yuuka said, allowing her teasing demeanor to drop and small pink tint to appear on her cheeks "Please don't tell anyone?"
"Sure, just let me bathe in peace?"
"Of course dear."
With that, John left the room, while Yuuka decided to enjoy the moment of silence. It wouldn't be long until the others woke up, especially Kogasa who had been clinging to the left side of John as he slept. Of course, as if on cue, the umbrella woke up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. It took her a few moments, but she quickly realized that John wasn't around, sending her into a mild panic.
"J-John?! W-where is?!" Kogasa exclaimed
"Calm down dear, John is just taking a bath." Yuuka said with a giggle "Really, you'll get wrinkles if you worry all the time like that."
"Oh shut up." Kogasa growled "Wait, what are the others doing here?"
"I'm here to make sure that neither you nor Yuuka did anything...untoward to John while he slept...though unfortunately, fatigue seems to have beaten me. How regrettable..." Kaguya said with a yawn
"Yeah yeah, you just came in here because the other two were sleeping with him and you felt left out." Medicine said rubbing her eyes as she woke up. Her words, left Kaguya with a faint blush as the princess quickly covered her face with one of her sleeves to hide it.
"T-that is most untrue, I would never stoop to such levels."
"No, but I'm pretty sure you'd do some rather risque things in here with John if we left you alone." Medicine teased
"Y-you're wrong. And what of you then Medicine? Why did you come sleep in here?" Kaguya shot back
"Well I mean, everyone else was in here, I figured why not?"
"Can you guys stop talking about John like that? He's not hat kind of person!" Kogasa spoke up visibly annoyed "He'd never do anything like that!"
"I don't know..." Yuuka said rubbing her chin "He is a healthy young man and I've seen him try to sneak a few looks at you, me, and even the princess a few times."
"You're surprised? All men are pervs." Medicine said casually "I'm pretty sure if the mood was right, he'd push any of you down and well...I'm sure I don't need to say anything more."
"And what of you then? What makes you think he'd not do the same to you?" Kaguya asked blushing harder as she tried to remove the image from her mind.
"Well for one thing, I'm a doll, and the second is that if John tried to get frisky with me like that, I'd give him some very terrible poisons. I know quite a few that could make a man suffer quite a bit."
The silence in the room was tantamount as the other girls let that statement sink in. All the while Medicine had a rather sadistic smile on her face.
"Well...anyway, thank you for letting us use your home as temproray shelter princess." Kogasa said changing the subject.
"It is no problem, I think it's wise that John chose to use the money to renovate the office...don't tell him I said this, but it was a deplorable looking place to look let alone live...surely you and Medicine couldn't have enjoyed it."
"I dunno, I kinda liked it, it had a real homey vibe to it. Sure it was small, but it was still pretty nice having the place all to ourselves"
"Speak for yourself." Medicine said "I'm glad he's fixing the place up. I'll have my own room to sleep in instead of having to share a bed."
"Wait...you share the bed with John?" Kaguya asked
"Nah, Kogasa. John said it wasn't right for him to have me on the floor or something like that, so he usually lets me and Kogasa take it. I don't mind, the girl makes a good pillow."
"Oh uh...thanks?" Kogasa replied awkwardly, she wasn't sure how to respond to that exactly.
"Well, I don't know about you all, but I'm hungry. I'll go prepare us some breakfast." Yuuka said standing up
"Nonsense, allow the servants to take care of that." Kaguya replied "It's their job after all."
"Fine, but I'm supervising them, they don't seem to get the taste of the food just right at all."
With that, the flower youkai left, as everyone else conversed for the time being until John returned from bathing.
"Hey girls, hows everyone doing?"
Words of confirmation about their well-being reverberated throughout the room. John settling down and joining in on the conversation.
"So how long until the renovations are done?" Medicine asked
"Should be about another week or so. I can't wait to see what the place looks like! Nothing like a proper bed right? And that way you and Kogasa won't have to share a bed anymore.
"Yeah, I mean, I didn't mind sharing it with Medicine but..."
"She'd much rather be sharing a bed with you John." Medicine teased, causing both John and Kogasa to turn red "Then again, I'm pretty sure waking up to four woman all sleeping on top of you fulfilled some perverted fantasy of yours."
"T-that's not..." John started
"It's okay if you liked it John, I'm pretty sure everyone here did, right ladies?" Yuuka asked cheerfully
None of them spoke up, not even Medicine, as they all had a small blush on their face. "Goodness, you girls won't get anywhere if you don't admit your feelings~!"
Everyone just ignored her and kept eating, until they heard a ruckus coming from the front. There was screaming going on, though no one could make out the voices from where they currently were.
"What is that...could it be Mokou?" John asked
"No...if it were Mokou she wouldn't have bothered yelling at anyone." Kaguya said plainly "Come, let us investigate this matter."
Following behind Kaguya, John and the others made their way to the front of Kaguya's home. Right out front of the waiting area, there were a few rabbit guards trying to hold back some girl wearing a red scarf. She had red eyes, a white blouse, black skirt, and small black wings and hair.
"Get out of here!" The rabbits shouted
"No way, not until I get the scoop. I know he's hiding out here, so let me just get an interview and I'll be on my way!" the girl exclaimed
"I said get out of here!" I won't say it again!" The rabbit roared
"What is going on here?" Kaguya asked raising her voice slightly so that her presence would be known.
"P-princess! We're sorry, but this tengu won't leave, but we'll remove her shortly."
"Hmmm...you're that tengu who writes that newspaper right?"
"That's me! The Pure and Honest Tengu Reporter Aya Shameimaru! And I've got some information that in good faith, the leader of some place called 'Favor Trade' is here!" Aya exclaimed smiling brightly
"Oh...uh, hi?" John said waving at her awkwardly "What do you want from me exactly?"
"An interview of course! I hear you're an interesting human who not only has some pretty amazing powers, but you've been taming youkai! Not to mention you're betrothed to Yuuka Kazami, a notoriously dangerous youkai."
"I don't like this girl." Yuuka growled "Shall I remove her dear?"
"E-ehehehe, L-lets not get too hasty now!" Aya said trembling slightly as Yuuka began drawing near her, cracking her knuckles threateningly
"Calm down Yuuka." John said holding a hand out to stop her "I think an interview would be fine, I mean, who could it hurt?"
"I dunno, I hear this girl makes up a lot of her stories." Kogasa said "I don't think we should trust her."
"H-hey, I'll have you know, that as a journalist, I value the truth above all else!"
"Suuuure." Medicine replied "So what's the plan John?"
"I mean, I don't mind doing an interview, it could be fun."
"Well okay...but someone should go with you, just in case." Kogasa said stepping forward
"I will go." Kaguya spoke up suddenly "I've always enjoyed reading the tengu's paper. It's quite fun...if you're willing John, I'd like to join you in this interview."
"I don't mind princess, if that's okay with everyone else?"
Everyone nodded, save Kogasa who gave a notable humph, but nodded after a moment as well.
"Great, then let's find a place to sit down and talk yeah?"
"Of course. Follow me, as for you two, can you have someone bring us tea and some snacks?"
"Yes Princess!" the two guards bowed
With that out of the way, Kaguya lead both John and Aya to a small room, the same that had been used when the two first met all those months ago. A few moments after they sat down, some tea and snacks were laid out for them, while Aya pulled out her notepad, ready and eager.
"Alright then, let's jump right into it! So John, you run 'Favor Trade' right?"
"That's correct." John replied
"Okay, and what exactly is Favor Trade?"
"Well, it's exactly what it sounds like, a trading of favors. For doing a favor for someone, they do the same for us. Such as giving us some food or medicine, or some other supplies. Money is fine too."
"Hmmm, I see, and this service is exclusive to only people in the village?"
"I...well, not really I guess? I mean, I've not had anyone from outside the village ask me for anything, except maybe Marisa… or someone from the mansion."
"I see...so if you were to say get some youkai customers who needed a favor, you'd help them?"
"I don't see why not, if it isn't something underhanded I wouldn't be opposed to lending a helping hand."
"That's nice...that's nice indeed. Now who are the members exactly?"
"I'll answer this." Kaguya stated, taking a sip of tea
"The members as of right now, are John, Kogasa, Medicine, Flandre, and myself."
"Wait...Flandre? Flandre Scarlet?! The child from the mansion?!"
"Yes."
"S-she's a member…? W-why her? And...wait, that's not right, you didn't count Yuuka!"
"That's...a bit complicated. Yuuka both is and isn't a member. She mostly stays at the office, acting as well...if I must be honest, a housewife."
"Aha! So John is going to marry Yuuka!"
"N-no!" the both of them yelled back
"Oh~? Then tell me John, who would you marry? Is the Princess on the table?"
"Um well..."
"Actually, you're around quite a few woman, is a more...open relationship going on?"
"W-what do you mean by open?!" John exclaimed
"I mean...that's five women you're around...and there's seven days in the week~!"
"P-please , it's not like that." Kaguya said trying to steer things away from the current topic.
"I see...but would you be against that Princess?"
"Er...well, I suppose not?"
"W-what!? P-P-Princess?!" John exclaimed
"Oh wow, this is great stuff! So you'd totally go for a five-way wedding?"
"I...suppose if all parties were willing..."
"But what of the trials?"
"The trials? Oh, that wouldn't be needed. John has proven himself to much better than any of the other men who tried to court me. Not many would go to face Yuuka Kazami or go to a field of poisonous flowers just to help me, and I'm sure I do not need to mention the young mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"
At this Aya nodded and eagerly continued writing "Yeah, yeah I get ya, I've gotten into that place myself and that vampire isn't someone I want to deal with again. I'm glad she's not here right now though..."
As if on cue, there was a loud crash as the wall of the room the three were in was destroyed, Flandre standing there with a smile on her face.
"John! Princess! And...oh I remember you, the bird woman who played with me!" She said noticing Aya
"Oh, hey Flan." John said casually, not paying mind to the wreckage
"How do you do?" Kaguya greeted, just as casually
It was Aya who had the most realistic reaction "W-why is she here?! And why did she break down the wall...and why do you two seem so relaxed?!"
"That's just how Flan is." John replied
It was true. Shortly after John had allowed her to join the group Flandre had shown up a day later...by crashing through the window. The small vampire told him that she'd only be able to show up on cloudy days, and she'd broken the window as a means of making a 'dynamic' entry. Of course, John had to wonder if she'd picked up on some things from Might Guy, but pretty soon, he became used to it as she continually kept breaking the windows on the days she showed up. Truthfully, Flandre's arrivals were part of the reason he decided to even renovate the office at all. The little vampire had quite the penchant for breaking things and he was lucky she didn't wreck his laptop.
"I-I-I see...w-well um, shall we continue with the interview then?" Aya asked, though she was slowly inching away, just in case she needed to make a quick escape.
"Sure, what's the next question?"
"Hmmm, well how about a story of your exploits, what has been your greatest adventure?"
"My greatest adventure…? Well...that'd have to be the adventures I had while in Ishgard."
"...Ishgard?" Kaguya asked "I don't think I've ever heard of that place."
With that John went into detail about the general plot of the Heavensward expansion, and how he'd been framed for killing the sultana of Ul'Dah. Kaguya, Aya, and even Flan were so enraptured they clung to his every word. However, there was one thing that John felt a bit strange. As he recounted these exploits, it felt...real. Too real. His heartbeat picked up speed as he recalled fighting through Sohm Al, which was infested with deadly dragons. How he and Estinien went up against Nidhogg in The Aery...and how Haurchefaunt...one of the best friends he'd ever had lost his life in The Vault. That particular mention actually had John shed tears. The pain was so evident, even Aya tried comforting him.
"Er...on that note, I think I'll end the interview here. Um...try to cheer up okay? The paper will be released soon!" Aya said flying off at breakneck speeds, partly to get away from Flan and partly because she felt a bit guilty for dredging up what seemed to be a rather painful memory.
"John...are you okay?" Flandre asked with a sad look
"Yeah...yeah I'm fine...I don't know what came over me. I'm...gonna go for a walk." He said standing up to leave
The two girls could only sit and watch as he walked off. "To think that he carried such burdens on his shoulders. Flandre, I suspect we've seen a small glimpse of John's life that he'd rather forget if possible. We shouldn't speak of this to anyone else."
Flandre merely nodded in agreement, the vampire at a loss for words. She didn't think she'd ever see John that sad, especially with them having only just met.
Meanwhile, John was taking a walk around the area. While he had been initially sad beyond belief, he'd managed to get his emotions under control, but even so, he found himself wiping away a tear or two. Why did he have such an emotional outburst at the mention of Haurchefaunt? Why did his heart feel like it had been ripped in two? He tried thinking of other things that had happened in the game, and the more he felt an array of different emotions. From happiness, to fright, to sadness, to moments he wanted to laugh (which was thanks to the Hildebrand questline). Still, at the end of it all he couldn't draw a proper conclusion as to why he suddenly felt like this and so he simply groaned in annoyance.
"Is everything alright John?" Came the voice of Kogasa
"Huh…? Oh Kogasa, yeah...everything is fine. The interview just left me slightly irritated is all."
"I've heard the same from a few people who have talked to that tengu before...but what did she say?"
"Well...it's not so much what she said, but rather...I ended up stirring up some bad memories as I was telling a story, I gotta say looking back at it, I probably looked like a fool in front of Flan and Kaguya."
"Well, whatever happened, I'm sure they won't mind. But...if you mind my asking, what exactly happened?"
And so John recounted what led up to his small breakdown, with Kogasa giving him a hug afterwards "It's okay John...I'm sorry about your friend, but I'm sure the others won't think any less of you! But...hmmmm, I think I know a way to help, why not go talk to Byakuren? She's usually good at making people feel better!"
"Byakuren…?" John asked with a raised eyebrow
"She runs Myouren temple, it's a great place that's pretty friendly towards youkai and humans. Come on, let's go!" Kogasa said pulling him by the arm
"Wait, what about the others?" John said trying to stop her
A resounding 'boom' was heard as Yuuka numerous bunny guards screamed and the voice of Yuuka could be heard "Oh Flan~, it's not nice to break someone else's home...especially when I'm using the kitchen!"
Another boom could heard as Danmaku bullets sprayed from the roof, which had John give Kogasa a look of bewilderment, who returned it in kind.
"So, next stop Myouren temple?"
"Yes, let's get going!"
With that, the two of them sped away, avoiding the cataclysmic conflict that was about to unfold in Kaguya's home.
The two of them flew towards the Myouren Temple, which thankfully wasn't too far away from the village. In fact, it was only a half-hour away, which was quite convenient really, though as the two flew Kogasa told him that it was Buddhist temple, so John figured that them being so close was for the sake of followers more than anything. The two touched down at the top of the stairs leading up toward the temple, only to see a small girl wearing a long pink shirt with teal-flowered buttons and white skirt with black trim who was busy sweeping the courtyard.
"Oh it's Kyouko, hey there Kyouko!"
"Hey there Kyouko~!" The girl shouted back with a grin
John just gave Kogasa a confused stare at what had just happened.
"She's a yamabiko." Kogasa said plainly
"A...what?" John replied still confused
"She just likes to echo things sometimes, don't mind her. Anyway, Kyouko, is Hijiri in today?"
"Yes, she's just doing some light meditation, so it shouldn't be a problem if the two of you visit."
"Great, could you go get her for us? I think she'd like to meet John."
With a nod, the yamabiko scampered off to fetch her master, leaving John and Kogasa to chat for a small while before a woman wearing a black and white dress with long strips of black going across the middle. She had an...interesting hair color...or rather colors. Her hair started out purple at the top, but near the end it was a more brown color, giving it a gradient look. It was certainly eye-catching to say the least. The woman smiled warmly at John and Kogasa, giving a small bow.
"It's nice to see you again Kogasa...and this is the friend you told me about…? The one running that favor business?"
"This is him Hijiri. Meet John Graham." Kogasa said probably
"Hey there ." John said extending his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise I am Byakuren Hijiri, come in, let us have some tea as we talk."
"Do you have lemonade…?"
"What's that…?"
"...Nevermind."
The three made their way through Hijiri's home, until they were in a small room. It looked as if it were used for meetings or the like, as it felt a bit more proper with several tapestries with various sayings on them.
As the tea was sat down in front of them by a nun-looking woman, Hijiri began to speak. "So tell me -"
"Please, just call me John."
"I see...So then, John, what brought you here today?"
"Oh well Kogasa mentioned you and-
BOOM
A loud thunderous sound echoed throughout Gensokyo, the three went outside to look smoke billowing up into the sky, and judging from the direction, John knew where that was coming from.
"...And well...we wanted to get away from that as well."
Byakuren gave him an incredulous look as the three returned inside "So...what is that exactly?"
"Playtime with Flandre and Yuuka." Kogasa shuddered "Trust me Hijiri, you don't want to be around that."
"That seems...far too destructive for mere 'playtime'."
"It could be much worse." John chimed in taking a sip of tea "I've had experience firsthand and that little boom is just child's play really."
Hijiri let out a nervous chuckle, but decided to change the subject. "So John, I've heard that you're allowing youkai to work with you at your business?"
"Yeah, Kogasa has been with me since the start of it all, she's been really great to me. She's the best umbrella a guy could ask for." John said patting her head
"J-jeez...um...thanks." Kogasa said with a blush, which caused Byakuren to chuckle at the display
"I see, I think it's wonderful that you're allowing youkai to work with you, but I must say, from what Kogasa tells me you've never gone to ask any of the youkai if they have troubles they need help with?"
"Well...it's not like I really can, I mean, I'm situated in the village, and I have no idea where they are, and then there are the ones who try to kill me..."
"But you're more than capable of defending yourself."
"True, but still, you don't wanna be on the receiving end of someone like Medicine, she's got some really nasty poisons at her disposal."
"I see...but if you could help out some youkai you would?"
"I would, you know it's funny, some crow girl asked the same sort of question not that long ago."
"Well, I suppose it is nice that you're at the very least willing to listen to the pleas of youkai...not many would go that far."
"I can understand the fear many have for them, but some of the people who've helped me the most since coming here have been youkai, so I can't really discriminate." John replied with a chuckle
The three continued their talks for a while, enjoying the company of one another as they learned about one another. It turned out that Byakuren was a monk which made John somewhat delighted as he mentioned he was kind of a monk himself.
"Oh my, you follow the teachings of Budda? Why didn't you say so?" Byakuren exclaimed lighting up at this revelation.
"Uh...well it's not Buddhism exactly. I don't think you'd really like the teachings of brotherhood I learned from."
"Hmmm…it's not Buddhism? I wouldn't mind learning about it all the same, perhaps I could learn something interesting!"
"You really wouldn't like it. The name of the patron god for my brotherhood is Rhalgr the Destroyer."
"...The Destroyer?" Byakuren asked with a nervous smile "That...sounds rather dangerous."
"That's putting it lightly. My mentor tried to kill me so he could get stronger." John replied casually, only to met with both women looking at him with wide eyes
"Uh...you sound just a bit too comfortable with that John." Kogasa said with a nervous giggle
"Oh that isn't even the worse thing. One time I was eaten alive by a three-headed dog. You should have seen what I had to fight to get out of that one."
Once more the women looked at him in stark disbelief. "C-come on John, enough with the jokes. What's next? You killed a god?"
"Several actually...At least, they're very close to gods anyway."
"I-I see...you seem to have quite the adventurous life..." Byakuren said with another nervous chuckle "But er...please don't antagonize the gods within Gensokyo would you?"
At this John raised an eyebrow in interest "There are gods here?"
"Oh yes, many. A couple are living on youkai mountain, though, I would advise against going there. Not only are there dangerous youkai living there, but there's also the tengu you'd have to worry about, and they're none too fond of outsiders. Even the Hakurei shrine maiden has some issues getting through there."
"Why all the hostility? Surely they wouldn't mind if someone were just passing through right?"
Byakuren brought her hand to her chin in a thinking gesture "I suppose not, but even so, they're quite territorial, so you may be better just waiting for Sanae to appear in the village and then going with her. She's allowed free passage through tengu territory since her shrine sits on the mountain."
"Huh...I'll keep that in mind. What's this Sanae girl look like?"
"Green hair, wears a blue and white shrine maiden outfit and has a snake ornament in her hair." Kogasa answered flatly
"Sounds like you don't like her that much..."John said
"She takes the youkai extermination thing a bit too seriously." She replied "She tried to kill me once because I was trying to scare people!"
"Why'd she jump to such an extreme solution?"
"I don't know! I scare people, not kill them!"
"Don't worry, Sanae is generally an amicable person." Byakuren interrupted calmly "It goes without saying that you're an outsider, so in that respect, perhaps you and her would find some common ground to get along?"
"She's from the outside too…?"
"Indeed. She's been here for several years now I think, but...now that I think a bit more, you sound as if you're from quite a far away place...so I'm not sure how much you'd be able to talk about.
"Oh don't worry, I'm from America, even if she's from Japan, I'm sure there's much we can talk about still."
Pretty soon, John and Kogasa departed, deciding to spend some time in town. They were originally going to head back to Kaguya's home, but all it took was another loud explosion and the manic laughter that echoed throughout after for them to decide that it was best that they didn't head back right now. Still, they were both surprised that Yuuka and Flan could keep things up for so many hours without getting tired at all. There was nothing much of note happening in the village, just the people greeting them as usual and wishing John well in his future wedding to Yuuka (He'd given up on trying to correct people) and things of that nature. Before long, the day had become night, and Yuuka and Flan had finally finished up their little game, allowing the two to return to Kaguya's home, although the place looked really beat up, in fact part of it was actually destroyed.
"Where the hell have you two been!?" Medicine roared upon their arrival
"Uh...around?" John replied sheepishly
"If you're gonna run off, at least take me next time, those two are insane!"
"Heh, sorry Medicine." John said patting her head instinctively, which Medicine swiped away at
"Sorry, no amount of head-patting is going to fix this!"
"Yelling won't either." Came the exasperated voice of Eirin "John, I understand that you and the others are the princess's guests, but if Kazami and that vampire cause so much damage again, I won't hesitate to put you and your employees out of here."
"Would that include me too Eirin?" Kaguya said with a grin
"Tch...no princess...I would never do that. Though, where were you during the fighting? You disappeared shortly after they began."
"Oh I was just watching from a safe distance. Yuuka and Flan put on quite the show. I'd say they rival Mokou and I when we go all out."
A small bead of sweat ran do Eirin's head as she heard those words "I-I see...well, the repairs should be done soon enough...well, enough to make the rooms somewhat decent. Shall we have dinner soon then?"
"Splendid!"Kaguya exclaimed clapping her hands together, come everyone, let's go eat."
"What about Yuuka and Flandre?" Kogasa asked
"They're all tuckered out I'm sure."
Sure enough, in one of the less damaged rooms, Yuuka and Flandre lay cuddled up together, sleeping soundly from their day of wanton destruction. The rest of the night passing without incident, though the two were a bit upset the following morning that they missed out on the food.
The Next Morning at Hakurei Shrine…
It was another boring morning for Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden had been so terribly bored the past few months. There had been no incidents, nothing of interest, and worst of all no donations or worshipers had come to her shrine at all. To put it bluntly, the shrine maiden was mildly frustrated at the entire thing. It was then, that two things occurred: One being that Marisa had just appeared at her doorstep. That wasn't anything especially new. The second was that Aya had just zoomed by, leaving a newspaper at her feet.
"Hey Reimu, how ya doin'?" Marisa asked cheerfully
"Fine...well, as fine as I could be. I wish Aya would stop dropping these things off, there's never anything interesting in them."
"Oh come on now Reimu, there's no need to be like that, at the very least her paper has some funny things in it." Marisa said taking the paper and opening it to the front page to see the headline
EXCLUSIVE: AN IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW WITH THE OWNER OF FAVOR TRADE. A FULL 3 PAGE. INCLUDES A SHOCKING REVELATION BY PRINCESS KAGUYA
"What in the..." Marisa muttered looking at the headline she began reading and pretty soon she let out a loud yell at what she'd read.
"W-what's wrong?!" Reimu asked snatching the paper from her
"T-that John guy. He's planning on marrying Kaguya and the other members of his little business!"
"S-so what? What's the big deal?"
"C'mon Reimu think about it: A human marrying Yuuka? Doesn't that sound off to you? I think they're up to something. It's an incident I'm telling ya!"
"Well...you may be right. Yuuka doesn't seem like the type to settle down...let alone with a human. Not to mention how much destruction she could possibly cause."
"Yeah...and he's got Flandre as a member now too." Marisa muttered grimly as she looked through the paper
"What?! Okay, now I know this guy is up to something. Flandre? Of all people to have hanging around with him?"
"So what's the plan Reimu?"
"We're heading to the vampire first. Let's see what information we can get out of Remilia."
Meanwhile in Former Hell…
Another night of drinking, and another day of partying. That was Satori Komeiji had to put up with frequently. Living underground with all the other youkai wasn't so bad, but sometimes the drinking parties got really out of hand. Today was no different, as many of the oni were still partying hard, even thought they'd started last night.
"I truly need a vacation." Satori groaned as she rubbed her head in annoyance. She'd barely gotten any sleep last night after all. It was then that one of her faithful pets, a rather large black dog had come bounding towards her with a newspaper in its mouth. Truthfully, Satori didn't care much for the Bunbunmaru newspaper and could usually tell when something was quite outlandish. Still, she opened it this time to see the headline, and intrigued by it, continued reading. She cared little for the bits of this 'John' person possibly ending up in a big marriage, or in how his business operated...until she saw one particular line of text that caught her interest: "The proprietor of Favor Trade, John Graham has gone on to state that he wouldn't mind taking youkai requests if anyone stopped by to ask."
And just like that, Satori had a wide smile on her face...looks like she just found the ticket to her vacation.
At Hakugyokurou…
Yuyuko Saigyouji had been growing a tad concerned. While the usual playful ghost would normally enjoy her time, eating tons of food. She'd seen something that had made her a bit uneasy. The night before she'd been enjoying her 25th helping of food. When the 26th didn't come, she had peeked in the kitchen to see Youmu Konpaku, her most loyal servant sleeping on the floor. The poor girl seemed to have been overworked most likely from a combination of her gardening, training, and keeping Yuyuko fed, which Yuyuko could only blame herself for. As much as she would prank and teaseYoumu, she did not enjoy the idea of her collapsing from work, which would make Yuyuko partly to blame.
Breaking her out of her thoughts was the small plop of a newspaper landing at her feet. Looking to clear her mind if only for a moment Yuyuko opened it and read the article.
"Interesting...this could be just what Youmu needs...a few extra hands to help around for a while would be perfect." she said with a grin "Don't you worry Youmu, I'll make everything better!" she giggled to herself
Mayohiga…
The beginning of spring had finally come along and Yukari Yakumo was finally awake. She very much enjoyed taking long naps and after her previous venture she needed it. She had decided to try her hand at gaping her way into some of the fictional worlds that resided out there. If only for her to have some fun toying with the inhabitants. This had proven to be a terrible idea on her part as she ended up humiliated and out-manipulated by a man dressed as a bat. The entire ordeal had really dealt a blow to Yukari's pride and she vowed to never return to Gotham City again so long as she could help it. Shortly after that, she'd returned back to Gensokyo and opted to go sleep straight away, not bothering to answer Ran about what all had occurred (she really didn't want to talk about it). Now that her months long hibernation was over she could wake up refreshed and without a care in the world.
Or so she thought.
Her shikigami, Ran had greeted her upon her waking up, having already prepared a fresh meal for her, which Yukari was eternally thankful for (though she'd never say it openly). It was when Ran placed the Bunbunmaru newspaper in front of her that her she was met with startling news.
"So Yukari-sama...what exactly are you planning?" Ran asked
"What do you mean Ran? I've been asleep this entire time." Yukari replied as she sleepily took a bite of her food
"Look at the paper, that headline."
"Yukari lazily looked at it, her eyes getting wider as she read on."
"What in the world is this? That Tengu is fabricating a story as usual isn't she?"
"Uh...wouldn't you know Yukari-Sama? I don't mean to be rude, but something like this is right up your territory? I've seen that human in passing a few times within the human village. He's definitely an outsider, from his face, he's from that America place you've told me about. Didn't you bring him here?
"No I didn't. Ran, I have nothing to do with this. And that human couldn't have possibly come through the barrier of his own volition. There's no way he could get through it if he really is from the west like you say."
"So what you're saying is that someone else brought him here?"
"Yes...and I intend to find out who. Spiriting humans away is my shtick I'll have you know!" Yukari shouted triumphantly
"Somehow, I have a feeling your more concerned about the wrong thing..."
"I think it's time I pay this John Graham a visit~." Yukari said with a wicked grin
Ah yes, I've been waiting to do this for a long time. You see, something I've noticed about the Touhou series and the fandom(and I guess the official works to some degree as well) is that Yukari is always always portrayed as this ingenious mastermind who has plans upon plans upon plans. A woman who has plans A-Z all mapped out in her mind and that no matter what, no matter what happens Yukari always wins out in some way. The entire universe could be imploding on itself and Yukari would survive because she had some convoluted master plan she set up 8500 years ago with Martians for the 45th dimension. My point here is that I think it'll be good to in some way give her a bit of a wake-up call as it were, and who else to do that than everyone's favorite dark knight...and whoever else it is that brought John to Gensokyo. It's funny, originally, I was going to have it be Yukari, but that felt too predictable. I think that was a better idea in the long run. Anyways, enough ranting from me, thanks for reading!