Maidens of the Kaleidoscope
~Hakurei Shrine~ => Patchouli's Scarlet Library => Topic started by: Alfred F. Jones on January 07, 2010, 02:06:24 AM
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Lately I was hit by a story idea, much like a 50-gallon Hefty bag filled with soup hits a sidewalk. Needless to say, I've been writing this instead of White Rose. It's quite different in mood from Kurumi and Elly, so it's not going in that thread. Thanks to terrible timing, all I can give right now is the prologue, and I'll be back in three days after vacation in the Rocky Mountains to post some more.
Rest assured, White Rose will be back. Eventually. This is shorter, much shorter, and I'd like to get this out of the way before I return to my hobby of making Koishi's life miserable.
Yes, UD, I'm using the first person perspective for once in my life. Happy now? And thanks to bofh for some source material, namely Renko's math dialogue, which is more in chapter 1 than this prologue, but whatever.
Anyway, let's begin.
I think I always knew, somehow...
It was a beautiful night, that night. We were in my dorm room, at 1:30 AM in the dead of night, laughing so hard we thought we'd get kicked out for being so loud. Instead of studying like we should have for our first round of midterms tomorrow, Mary had the idea that stressing ourselves out the night before the test would have no effect, so we decided to play a video game together. We were both doing so terribly that we had to stop; our button inputs wouldn't work if we were shaking so hard from laughter from each other's stupid puns.
Then we went outside onto the balcony, pulled out my mattress, and lay on it together while I pointed out all of the stars and all their constellations. Mary took the names and told me about the mythology of each and every one of them.
Then we started talking about Gensokyo, about Mary's latest vision of a flying ship in the sky. I thought the idea of a magical flying ship was silly, but I was interested in the whole idea of small UFOs floating about in the skies for people to catch them.
Eventually we got sleepy, but Mary wanted to talk some more.
?Ah, it's 2:37 AM... maybe we should go to sle--?
?Look, the moon. It's beautiful, isn't it??
?I guess...?
?I'd like to see the moon in person one of these days... but not the cold, dead moon that we always hear about, I want to see the one where there are rabbits pounding mochi and see the amazing capital.?
?Hmmm... if I went, I'd like to try out their immortality elixir.?
?Oh? You would drink immortality elixir if you had a choice, Renko??
?Of course I would! I mean, I think immortality has too bad of a reputation. You know how the stories are always talking about immortality being immoral and wrong...?
Maribel shifted then and turned towards me on the mattress. She was getting sleepy, so I lowered my tone of voice and kept going.
?They were just warning against greediness and rebellion. That doesn't mean immortality is wrong, though.?
I took advantage of the moment and put my right arm around Mary's shoulders as I waved up at the evening sky.
?Immortality doesn't mean that you'll never die, it just means that the boundary between life and death disappears, and you are in a state neither alive nor dead. Just as if you were in the world of the living and the world of the dead at the same time--?
?A Necrofantasia.?
?Yes... exactly.?
?That... sounds terrible, Renko.?
?Ahahahaha... maybe I should think about this more...?
Maribel chuckled. It was the beginning of autumn, so it wasn't cold outside, but even then she rested her right arm across my chest and hugged me from the side as she pulled closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder.
She liked having her hair stroked, I knew, so I ran my fingers through her hair as her breathing slowed and became more and more even. I was still looking up at the sky-- it was 2:54 AM, and I was almost about to fall asleep myself, but then a thought occurred to me.
?What sounds terrible, Mary??
I had waited too long. Maribel's breathing had already slowed too much. She was fast asleep, out here on the mattress beneath the stars right next to me.
I sighed and pulled my shirt buttons open a bit. I had to get some rest tonight, after all. It would be a long day tomorrow; I had midterms in Statistical Physics II and Intro to Combinatorics, one right after the other, a quick lunch break, then a short reprieve in an English Composition test, followed up by a Solid State Physics II test.
... Oh dear... maybe I should have studied?
But now, a full year after that night, I don't regret having stayed up all night with Maribel. I did fine on the tests, though I could have done better. That's fine. It was worth it to spend the night with her.
Still, I should have known...
Right before I fell sleep, Maribel's voice responded to my question.
?Living forever.?
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End of Prologue
Back in three days, will post some more when I return.
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Ooh, not bad. I look forward to seeing where this is going.
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Yeah, seems to be pretty good. Nice use of the Magical Astronomy story. Also I smell shipping (not that this is a bad thing, mind you, I mean this is me talking ;))
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Nice use of the Magical Astronomy story.
Contrary to what I like to let people think, I do in fact read ZUN's fiction. It's where I get my hypothesis that ZUN's drunkenness is directly proportional to the quality of his works. The reason the games' plots don't make sense is not because he's too drunk, it's because he's not drunk enough.
Anyway, thanks to fate conspiring against me to not let me go on vacation, here's chapter one in its entirety.
Chapter One
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Seventeen hours, forty-five minutes
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Oh dear. Three questions left, five minutes on the clock, and then I'll be free. Two weeks of break, excellent. I'm gonna go to visit the Hakurei Shrine with Maribel tomorrow night, and then we're going to go out to do momijigari in the forest, and on Saturd--
Oh, right, right, four and a half minutes now. Gotta concentrate. Let's see... ?Suppose that p and q are prime numbers, n = pq, p>q,...? oh wow, can this get any easier? First, prove that p+q = n + \phi(n) - 1, then subtitute in n = pq, \phi(n) = (p-1)(q-1), distribute, cancel, receive answer. Three minutes and fifty-eight seconds to go, moving on.
Explain what prime numbers and irrationals are.... oh, this is going to be fun. Any arbitrarily long, but finite sequence of the form sqrt(p_1) + sqrt(p_2) + sqrt(p_3) + ... + sqrt(p_n) with p_k, 1 \leq k \leq n is prime. On the other hand, the irrationals are just all of the limit points of Cauchy Sequences of rational numbers (which is just a sequence where after a certain point in it, the terms in it are arbitrarily close to each other), also defined as the non-rational numbers in the completion of the reals, also defined as the set of all Dedekind Cuts over the reals. There is c many of them, i.e. they are uncountable, and they have infinite Lebesgue Measure. They also form a G_{\delta} set under the definition R \ Q = \cup_{n=1}^\infty R\{q_n}, where {q_n}_{n=1}^\infty is an enumeration of the rationals. Mathematically, it's \exists N_0 \in N s.t. if n,m \geq N_0, |a_n - a_m| < \epsilon, \forall \epsilon > 0-- oh, crap, I'm taking too long on this! One question left, moving on!
Explain Cauchy sequences using Fourier Analy-- why, that's what I was going to get to! Fourier Analysis is incredibly awesome. It states that, with some limitations, we can represent almost any periodic function as the infinite sum of a bunch of sines and cosines. All right, how to answer this question... Consider, for instance, the sequence s_n = \sum_{i=1}^n 1/n! This forms a sequence something like 2, 2.5, 2.65, 2.7, 2.71, 2.715, 2.1755, 2.716, 2.7165, 2.7175, and so on... Essentially, it gets arbitrarily close to the number e ~ 2.718281828... Now, each number in the sequence is rational. It's a finite sum of rational numbers. The rationals are a field and thus closed under addition. But when you take the limit as n -> \infty, you get e, which is not a rational number. As for Fourier: Calculate the Fourier Coefficients of 1/t, and then plug them into Parseval's Identity which gives you \sum_{i=1}^\infty |c_n(f)|^2 = \int_{-\pi}^\pi |f(x)|^2 dx. Throwing in Parseval's Identity: \sum_{i=1}^\infty 1/n^{2k}, k \in N. it all winds up converging to expressions of the form pi^{2k}/n, where n is a natural numb-- oh boy, look at the time, this test is OVER and I'm on break!
I put down my pencil and gathered my things while all my fellow students clustered around the teacher's desk, dropping off their exams. I waited out the crowd, then came up to turn in my test. Then I rummaged around in my pocket and pulled out an apple, and placed it on the teacher's desk.
?Ha, ha. Very funny, Renko.?
I grinned at the professor, who happened to be the Sealing Club sponsor. ?Just wanted to say hi before break, since you'll be busy and all.?
?Ah. Yeah, you and Maribel go off and dig up graves and whatnot and tell me all about it when you get back.? She turned away from her desk and looked at me, then blinked. ?My goodness, you look awfully pale.?
?I'm exhausted,? I admitted, and I was. The adrenaline of test-taking had worn off, and the hours I had spent awake over the past few days studying for my midterms had managed to catch up with me in a space of minutes.
?You sure you don't want a strawberry to raise your blood sugar??
She offered me one from her basket of goodies, but I shook my head no. ?I'm gonna go take a nap, I think.?
?That's probably best. Have a beautiful dream, Renko.?
I yawned and turned away, waving to her over my shoulder as I left. ?You too, Okazaki-sensei.?
?As soon as I get all these papers graded!? she yelled, and I laughed and closed the door behind me.
I sighed and leaned on the door. I wanted to fall asleep somewhere as fast as I could. My eyes already felt like they were going to close and not open again for a few more hours. I was ready to crash.
?Renko, Renko...?
?Mary.? I tried to be cheerful, but I was just too tired.
Mary came up beside me, also looking like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while. ?Renko, let's go to your room, it's closer.?
I nodded, my vision already getting bleary. I didn't have a fraction of the panic energy I had felt in my last class, and I staggered out of the building and headed to the dorms with Mary by my side. I shuffled along down the hallways, opened my room, dropped my stuff on the floor, and fell over onto the spare mattress. Maribel shut the door behind us, tossed her bookbag to the side, fell somewhere next to me on the bed, and the two of us fell fast asleep.
A few hours later, I woke up. I had woken up at 7:00 AM this morning after having fallen asleep four hours before. I finished my midterms at 1:30 PM, had made my way here to sleep, and it was now 6:23, according to the clock.
I groaned a bit and yawned. I was insanely hungry and I had a headache. I had had nothing for breakfast and had managed to swallow an orange during lunch while I had been cramming for my Solid State Physics II midterm. I wanted something to eat. I sat up, wondering where my wallet was--
?Mm...?
I looked down. Mary's arms were around my middle. She had fallen asleep next to me and must have decided to use me as a teddy bear. I was going to pat her head and go back to sleep, and then my stomach rumbled. She murmured in her sleep; my right eye twitched. I had to get something to eat as fast as I could.
So reaching down, I gently pried Maribel's fingers apart. She had intertwined them, which made my task a little harder, but I knew I had to do it. When she woke up, she'd be as hungry as I was.
Speaking of, she'd probably wake up soon and find me missing. I didn't want her to panic, so I pulled a bright neon orange sticky note off of my desk and placed it on the inside of my door where she would surely see it. Then I grabbed my wallet and rushed off.
The cafeteria wasn't far, and it wasn't packed either. Most of the commuters on campus had left long ago, and the only people there were students talking with one another over food, teachers with huge cups of coffee, and--
?Wait, Sanae? Is that you??
?Ah!? Green hair, blue skirt, white sleeveless button-up with blue tie. Yep, her. She turns around, surprise on her face. ?Renko? It's been so long!?
?Hahaha, nice to see you here.? I ran over and hugged her.
Sanae Kotiya is technically my underclassmen and one of my favourite people. She's about four years younger than me and Maribel. As one of the brightest students in her high school, she was allowed to take some courses here at the university before she even graduated. One day, while walking through the religious studies hallway, she saw a sign Mary and I had hung up outside of Prof. Okazaki's class (she teaches physics and a course on esoteric cults of the world, for some bizarre reason) advertising the Sealing Club. We tried to portray ourselves as necromancers back in those days, to scare everyone else away. It backfired horribly at first, since we attracted every New Age freak in Japan, but then they realized that we didn't do ghost summoning or exorcising as a proper necromancer group did. So they left, and now they all just believe we're incompetents, which is fine.
Sanae, though, wasn't fooled. She stuck around, and we couldn't exactly kick her out without her going around and telling everyone we were looking for gaps in reality. That was what the Sealing Club was secretly devoted to: finding the spiritual boundaries of this world, and possibly finding an entrance to Shangri-La. We had good reason to believe that there was a separate reality around this area, occupying the same physical space but not the same... dimension. There was a barrier separating the two, though, so we could not get in and the people or creatures in there could not come out.
But there are cracks. There always are. And after Sanae accidentally managed to stumble into them more than once, Maribel and I were forced to tell her the truth: we were looking for Gensokyo, the paradise of legend for all the things that have been forgotten over time.
After we took her into our confidence, she would come by with permission from her guardians at the shrine where she worked late at night to join us on our expeditions. I swear we were... luckier when she was around. We found more clues with her around than we ever had before. A shoot of bamboo, a large autumn leaf in the middle of spring, cherry blossoms that lit up the sky like fireflies-- all this and more happened when she was around.
She had had to leave a few months ago. Her shrine was relocating, she told us, because the two main guardians were sick and had to go to a different city to get the constant care and attention they needed. The entire shrine staff had to go with them, which meant Sanae had to go. She said good bye to us, and then she left the next day.
And now she was here!
?Why did you come back? Are you moving back for good?? I asked.
Sanae shook her head. ?Sorry, I'm not staying for good. But I am spending my break with Okazaki-sensei at her house.?
?That she is,? a voice said. I looked at her, and I wasn't surprised I had taken her for a simple high school girl at first. She was wearing a blue-trimmed sailor uniform and white skirt-- about as old-school as you could get. But it wasn't a student, it was Okazaki-sensei's assistant Kitashirakawa... which is even harder to pronounce than Maribel, so I just call her--
?Chiyuri-sempai.? I nodded to her, and she tipped her sailor cap to me.
?She's staying at our house,? Chiyuri confirmed as she walked to a table with a bowl of soup. She continued talking as we followed her to a table and sat down. ?Her guardians asked us to use one of our rooms so Sanae can wrap up some loose ends here.?
?Oh?? I turned to Sanae. ?What loose ends??
Sanae was smiling with undisguised joy. ?I want to get my Associate's degree in religious studies!?
?You do?? I was surprised. I didn't think she would have come back for that... then again, who was I kidding? She was a shrine maiden, after all.
?When I left, I only needed three more credits to get my Associate's,? Sanae explained. ?I thought it would be a shame to just leave it hanging... even if I don't really need it where I am or for what I'm doing. I just wanted to be able to say I had earned my diploma, you know what I mean?? She smiled again. ?So my pa-- guardians pulled some strings and I was able to come back here for a short while. Just long enough to earn my final science credits.? She ate a spoonful of her bowl of vegetable soup. ?Plus, I did want to see you and Maribel again. How are you two doing these days??
?We just finished our midterms today!? I said. ?After we stayed up for hours last night playing Melty Blood instead of studying!?
Sanae laughed. ?Just like old times.?
?Who won?? Chiyuri asked.
?Mary did, of course. She used Archetype Earth, and A:E's crazy combos never stopped terrifying m-- oh no!? I hit my forehead out of stupidity. ?I just woke up from falling asleep after the tests! I was supposed to bring her lunch so she wouldn't have to come looking for me!?
?Ah,? Sanae gasped as I rushed up to the counter and purchased two bowls of soup and two sandwiches as fast as I could.
I rushed back to Chiyuri and Sanae and bowed, apologizing profusely. ?So sorry I have to leave, I have to take these to Mary before she wakes up and wonders where I've gone--?
?No worries,? Chiyuri said, waving it off.
?I can see you guys later.? Sanae brushed her hair over her shoulder. ?Maybe you can come to Yumemi's place and we can play Melty together again!?
?That sounds great!? I said as I dashed off, leaving the two of them to talk. Chiyuri didn't look older than a high school girl, but she was actually just three years younger than Yumemi, though to be fair Yumemi Okazaki-sensei wasn't very old to begin with. Sanae and Chiyuri would be fine together.
As for me, though, I had to get this soup back to my room as fast as I could. Maribel, being Maribel, would have probably woken up by now and had headed out to look for me, ignoring the sticky note on the door, and being Maribel, she would then wind up getting horribly lost.
I opened the door to my dorm as soon as I could, ready for the worst.
?Mm,? Mary muttered as she turned over in her sleep, all wrapped up in a pillow.
I sighed and closed the door behind me. All my worry had been for nothing.
I set the soup down on the table next to the bed and walked around to Maribel. (Just because I can't pronounce her name correctly doesn't mean I don't know what it is. She has yet to figure this out.)
?Hey,? I said in a quiet voice. ?Hey, Mary, wake up. Wake up, aren't you hungry??
No response. I shook her arm a bit. ?Mary, wake up, it's lunchtime and you're way past sleeping off your exhaustion.?
She still didn't wake up. I sighed and backed off. I looked over at the balcony and pulled back my mattress where we had fallen asleep the night before. Moving the cups of soup off to the side, I moved that mattress back where it was supposed to be and sat down on it. Then I sat and ate my soup, waiting for Mary to wake up.
I had already gotten bored of drawing silly scribbles in one of my old notebooks when Mary finally opened her eyes and stretched.
?Mmm,? she groaned. ?Renko? What time is it??
?It's 7:19,? I replied, closing my notebook. ?You've been asleep for the past six hours.?
?Really?? Mary sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes. ?Six hours??
?Eh, I guess it's not that big a deal,? I said, trying to put it into perspective. ?We've been pulling late-nighters and all-nighters this past week. At least now you're fine, right??
?Six hours? During the day?? Mary kept rubbing her head, her blue eyes wide.
?Eh, don't worry about it, we've been exhausted for the past week,? I reassured her. ?You didn't miss out on anything.?
She still looked worried. I stood up and poured Maribel's cold soup into a bowl, and tossed it into the microwave to re-heat it. ?Oh, that reminds me. I saw Sanae today.?
?You did?? That seemed to distract her a bit. Maybe Mary felt guilty about sleeping so long. ?She's back??
?Not permanently,? I replied. ?Just visiting. She's staying at Okazaki-sensei's house.? I took out the bowl of soup, pulled out a plastic spoon, and handed them to Maribel, who attacked it with hungry ferocity. ?You're welcome.?
?Thanks, Renko,? she told me.
She ate in silence while I opened up my notebook again to doodle. Then she spoke up. ?Uh... Renko??
?Hm??
?Can you toss me my day planner? It's right next to you inside my bookbag.?
?Sure.? I turned to my left and opened up her bookbag. Yep, her day planner was the small notebook right inside. I pulled it out and reached over the table to hand it to Maribel.
?Thank you.? She pulled a pen out of her pocket and wrote something down.
?I assume you've written down the date for our expedition tomorrow night?? I asked.
?Of course.? She tapped her pen against her chin, then spoke up again. ?Wait, if Sanae is back, will she be coming with us??
?Maybe. Damn, I forgot to get her new cell phone number.?
?She has a new cell phone??
?Probably,? I said, pulling out my cell phone and dialing her old number. ?Didn't her old number stop working when she left? Probably out of range.?
In only a few seconds, I had a response. ?Hello??
?Ah, Sanae. Your old number still works??
?Oh, Renko. Hey there. Yeah, I still have this old cell phone. I guess it works now that I'm back.?
?Did you never charge it while you were gone??
A short pause. ?Ah-- yes, I mean no, I charged it when I got back.?
?You didn't have electricity??
?Not really...?
?I didn't know Sendai was that backwards.?
?Uh....?
She was lying, I knew. I had known ever since Sanae had first told me that she was moving, all those months back. Still, if she was lying, it was probably for a good reason. Sanae was a good girl in the best sense of the phrase; she wouldn't conceal something from me and Mary for no reason at all. Oh well, I wouldn't press her for it.
?Either way, Sanae, would you like to come with us tomorrow night? Me and Mary are going on an expedition, just like old times.?
?Oh, searching for cracks in the boundaries.... sorry, I don't think I can. I've got stuff planned tomorrow.?
?Okay, then. Give me a call if you change your mind.?
?Will do. See you, Renko!?
?See ya.?
I hung up and closed my cell. I looked over at Maribel, who had pulled out a calculator for some reason and was jotting things down in her notebook.
I went over to the calendar and marked the day off. ?Wednesday finished... Thursday, expedition night.?
?How late are we going to be out?? Maribel asked.
?I don't know. Maybe 1:00 AM like last time.?
Maribel looked pained. ?That late??
?You stay up all the time, Mary. How is this any different??
She lowered her eyes. ?In that case, I should go to sleep now.?
?But you just woke up...?
?Can I stay here?? she asked, wrapping herself up in my covers. ?I don't want to go back out to my dorm.?
She looked so adorable wrapped up in my sheets that I sighed and nodded. ?Yes, you may.?
?Thanks, Renkobon.?
Such a silly nickname. ?Sweet dreams, Mary.?
She smiled at me and without another word, Maribel lay down. Before long I heard the sounds of her soft snoring.
I sighed and pulled out my research notebook. Tomorrow would be a long night, and fortune rewards the prepared.
My notebook fell open to a certain page. It was a sketch Sanae had herself drawn, a sketch of a mountain set against the autumnal sky, complete with orchards and rivers and a waterfall. It was what she had seen when she had fallen into the border the last time we had gone on expedition.
I looked up at Maribel's sleeping body and looked back down. I turned the page and wrote the next day's date at the top.
Expedition: Thursday, October 17th.
Site: Former site of Moriya Shrine
Sanae might not like this, but it was a hunch. And if she wasn't around to notice, well then...
I glanced at the overly detailed drawing she had produced the last time, and looked up at the title. I had to wonder.
?... Youkai Mountain, eh??
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Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Seventeen hours, eleven minutes
End of Chapter One.
Boy, this is being written fast! Mainly 'cause I really wanna get the intro stuff out of the way. Also, thanks to bofh for rambling on IRC about math stuff, because there's no way I know any of that. :S
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Hahaha making fun of Sana
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YES RENKO YESSSS
Oh look, a Renkobon. Renko always makes me smi-WHY DOES A:E KEEP POPPING UP
I don't know how using questions I asked bofh is making fun of me, but even if it is, I don't care because Renko. >:<
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Still good so far. But one thing stuck out -- the whole reason Renko can't pronounce "Maribel" is because it isn't a Japanese name. Wouldn't Renko find "Kitashirakawa" easier to pronounce?
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Oh man I'm highly interested in this one.
Once again Ruro fails to disappoint.
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Extraordinarily nice!
Except the math part that brings back bad memory's.
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The math bit made me ???
I like it so far ?3
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Still good so far. But one thing stuck out -- the whole reason Renko can't pronounce "Maribel" is because it isn't a Japanese name. Wouldn't Renko find "Kitashirakawa" easier to pronounce?
Ah... bu-- ah... yeah, good point. >_> I'll worry about making that consistent later. (I've also noticed stupid spelling errors here and there that I'll go back to as well.)
And the math gives me bad memories too. :( Anyway, Wednesday update go.
Chapter Two
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, thirty-one minutes
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The only real problem with expedition nights is that the days are really, really boring.
It was Thursday, about 3 o' clock, and I had nothing to do. Maribel had gone to the library to read books early in the morning, around seven-ish, and since I hate being woken up early on my days off, I didn't come along. I had woken up groggy and sleepy while Maribel bustled around my dorm (doesn't she ever go back to hers?), and before I knew it she had made me some waffles and set them down in front of me as she went out the door, waving bye.
They were delicious. I was well-fed. But my mind had nothing to do at all. I felt like Sherlock Holmes after an interesting case, thinking that there was absolutely nothing out in the world to occupy my mind. Sleep was out of the question; I had woken up too late already. Spending several hours on the computer destroying other people at mahjong netplay got boring after a while, and there were only so many C-Riesbyfe combos I could perfect before my brain decided to distract itself with something, anything.
I looked out the window. Argh, cursed sunlight. That... thing that my eyes could do, to look up at the sky and from the position of the stars and moon and from there know exactly where and when I was, I could only do it at night, with more than one star in the sky. The sun indicated that it was 3:22, but without another star in the sky to use as a second base, my eyes couldn't tell me where I was.
Maribel's strange eyes were more useful, in my own opinion. She could see where the cracks in the boundary were. And this didn't apply just to the boundary separating us from Gensokyo, it applied to boundaries everywhere. Like the boundary of bullets and hitboxes, good choices and Nice Boat choices, and the boundary between normal operations and the blue screen of death, all of which were useful for Kana Anaberal (given her permanent NEET status, this wasn't a chore; Kotohime always told us she was a rather sickly girl), and the main reason we were allowed so often in the Anaberal Manor. We called it Okazaki-sensei's house, but it was really Kana's.
Speaking of. Okazaki-sensei was still around, wasn't she? She still had that class on religion on Thursdays. We were professor and student, but outside of class we were good friends. It was she who had fed my love of physics until I decided to take it as a major instead of chemistry, and it was she who had taken my and Maribel's request for the creation of the Sealing Club seriously.
Plus, she played a mean H-M Ryougi. And she was a great conversation partner if you could get her started on something science-related.
So I headed down to Yumemi's class, deciding that I would enter on a pretext of picking up my test from yesterday. (I could also learn my grade in her class, which would be nice.) Then I'd just stick around.
I got lucky; once I got to the physics lecture hall, half the class was already out of their seats and out the door. The other half were turning in their own midterms. I wondered for a brief moment what a midterm on esoteric cults of the world would look like. Heh, glad I wasn't taking that class.
Either way, I managed to make my way into the hall with ease. And when Yumemi had finished getting the last few stragglers out of the room, I waved hi.
?Hey, Renko!? She returned the wave and after stuffing the tests into her briefcase, we walked off together.
She was the very model of the physicist I hoped to become, I realized. All of my other physics colleagues, both students and professors, were sickly, weak fellows with skin so unexposed to the sun that they looked jaundiced (and a few of them probably were). They had intelligence, yes, but they also had weak characters. They thought that by virtue of knowing a few more math problems than the biology students and practicing a ?purer? discipline, they were somehow more important and more intelligent. I couldn't stand it, nor could I stand those people who identified as scientists, implying that they were therefore super smart.
?It annoys me that these people are supposed to be what I'll look forward to in a few years' time.?
Yumemi was also a good listener. She had bought us milkshakes (strawberry for her, lime for me) and sat there sipping quietly while I went on.
?But Yumemi, you're different. You're full of energy and life. Vitality. You have an actual personality, and it shows. Students fight to get into your classes, because you're a great teacher and you have a knack for making physics interesting, even fun.?
It was true. I had fought in my freshman year to get into her introduction to physics class. Sometimes I regretted using brass knuckles to get to the signup list, but it wasn't very often.
?The reason for the second part is that I'm extroverted, unlike everyone else in academia. It's called natural charisma.? She took another sip of her milkshake and set it down. ?The first part is even simpler. I'm a genius.?
She said it without a hint of pretention. More like she was stating a fact. ?I always have been. I was once Yumemi Okazaki, the child prodigy of Japan who would help bring our country into the forefront of scientific technology. If the other physicists here are always trying to make themselves look smart, I'm partially to blame. I don't have to try.?
I nodded. She wasn't exactly bluffing. I had read all the articles on Yumemi Okazaki, one of the famous Okazaki family members, also showing signs of being a brilliant scientist at the age of eight. It was why she had managed to become a professor at age 16, something unheard of in this country until her. She was destined to be the Einstein of the East, the leader of the new science--
But by age 18, everything had changed.
?Yumemi,? I asked, ?If you're as smart as you say you are-- which you are-- why are you still teaching here, and not at some super-expensive university??
She raised an eyebrow. ?You're not asking the whole question.?
My face flushed. It was a dead giveaway that Yumemi was right. Damnit!
?I knew it.? There was a slight gleam of triumph in Yumemi's eyes. The girl really was a genius, in interpersonal relations as well as science. ?So tell me, what did you really want to ask??
?What happened to you, Yumemi?? There wasn't much point in mincing words now. ?Why aren't you president of your own elite college of science nerds by now, if you were so big back in the day??
Yumemi was not one to take a pensive moment and then respond. She responded with a slightly bitter tone. ?Because as smart as I am, as smart as Chiyuri is, and as convincing as we are together, once people decide that you've gone a bit off the deep end, you stay that way.?
?It's a very long story,? Yumemi replied preemptively to my question. ?And though I'm still not allowed to tell it to just anybody... I can tell you that it's why I didn't think you or Maribel are crazy when you told me you wanted to have a club so you could find Gensokyo.?
I nodded. ?Thanks for the vote of confidence.?
?You're quite welcome.? Yumemi sipped her milkshake. ?At least that whole mess taught me that you can't take the future for certain.?
?Come again??
?Your fate isn't set in stone, Renko. I mean, look at me.? She sat back in her chair. ?I was, and am, a genius. I was supposed to be the next big thing, writing papers that rewrote the laws of physics themselves. I should be the head of my own research laboratory in Japan-- heck, I should be in America right now, teaching at a top university, and spending my free time working on the Large Hadron Collider! And look at me now.? She chuckled. ?I went from being Japan's top star to another eccentric college teacher who wears a cape to class.?
?The students love your cape,? I said, fingering the creases of my own capelet.
?Only the weird ones like you, Renko.? But Yumemi had been cheered up. That was the way she was; when she got depressed, she would make more and more nasty jokes aimed at herself. Anyone else would mistake it for self-deprecating wit, but I'd been her student and her friend for too long to fall for it.
?What I'm saying is--? Yumemi paused to finish off her milkshake. ?That you can expect a whole lot out of the future, but your plans can be derailed in a matter of days, minutes by the whims of the world.? She pointed her finger at me and jabbed it in the air with each word. ?Don't. Take. Anything. For. Granted.?
?I know.?
?Of course you know, Renko. You're a smart cookie like me. But do you REALLY know??
?Hah?? I... really didn't get what she was talking about now.
?Let me tell you a story.? Yumemi set her empty milkshake down on the table and wiped her mouth clean with a napkin. ?There was a man and his servant, and they lived in Baghdad, back in the days when Persia was the great power of the east. This man sent his servant to the marketplace to pick up some trinkets, a bit of food. The servant goes and gets it, but while he's in the marketplace, he bumps into someone. It's Death herself, and she looks at him, straight in the eyes. The servant panics and rushes out of the marketplace and back to his master.
?The servant tells his master what has happened in the marketplace, how Death saw him and glared at him. In sheer terror, he begs his master to let him have the fastest horse for tonight and ride to Samarra, several miles away. Surely, Death will not be able to track him down there.
?The master is a good man. He gives his frightened servant the horse he needs and waves him off as the servant rides off to Samarra. Then, to settle his own suspicions, he goes into the marketplace himself, and before long, he too comes face to face with Death.
?'Why did you glare at my servant earlier today?' the master asks Death.
?Death looks at him, confused. 'I didn't glare at your servant. I was just rather surprised to see him in Baghdad today. You see, I have an appointment with him tonight, in Samarra.'?
Yumemi paused after her story. ?A Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Ever read it? Scheherezade was very good at suspense stories.?
?I...?
That story sent a chill up my spine. For a moment, I couldn't think straight or do much of anything.
?Death is inevitable, Renko.? Yumemi's voice was firm; again, she was just stating a fact. ?One day, you and I will be fertilizing a rose garden somewhere. See this?? She put a hand over her heart. ?It's beating now. One day, it's going to stop. Might be today, might be in twenty years from now. But it'll happen.?
I put my hand over my heart as well. I felt as if a cold sweat had broken out on my forehead. And then it hit me. All those diagrams of the heart I had seen when I was younger, of blood pumping through the chambers, through the aorta, pushed out of the ventricles-- what was there to stop my heart from stopping? Nothing.
All it would take was one tiny nudge...
?Like I said.? She was drinking from a glass of water now. ?Don't take anything for granted. Not time, not life. Those are the only two things anyone can take from you that you can never get back.?
?Is this what they call an existential crisis?? I asked, trying to give her at least a weak smile.
Yumemi nodded. I could tell she wanted to give me a hug, but she was restraining herself. ?Yes. You won't believe how many of those I get in my class.?
?Your religion class??
?Actually, more in my physics class.? She winked. ?Just remember, Renko, don't worry about it. You can't add a single moment to your life by obsessing about how it's going to end, so don't even bother, just use it.
?... And always remember that some people have far less time than others.?
At the time, I didn't ask why she added that last line. One of many clues missed, I guess.
Yumemi yawned. ?What time is it, Renko??
?It's--? I looked up at the sky. ?... 3:50. Man, I've still got so much damn time to kill.?
?Time to kill?? Yumemi frowned. I knew that frown. It was her professional ?I just explained this shit already? frown when she thought her students weren't paying attention.
?Sorry. Time to use.?
?Much better.? Yumemi got up and picked up her briefcase. ?Aren't you going on expedition tonight??
?Yeah. Maribel's in the library getting stuff done before we take off at 10.?
?Ten o' clock?? Yumemi seemed... amused, somewhat. ?What time did she wake up??
?Uhh, she woke up before I did... she left at seven-ish, so she prob'ly woke up around six.?
?Hm.? Yumemi smiled. ?Take care of her, or else she might fall asleep in the middle of your job.?
?Ah, I know. She's an early bird, that one.? I looked up at Yumemi. ?Why do you ask??
?Because,? the professor replied, ?The reason Scheherezade always won was because she took advantage of the Sultan's early bedtime.?
?Huh?? I had never read A Thousand and One Arabian Nights; the reference was lost on me.
Yumemi shot me one of her annoyed glares. ?Philistine.?
?Hey, that's mean, Okazaki-sensei.?
?Do you know what the word 'philistine' comes from, Renko??
?... uh, no.?
She frowned. ?You should take my religion class.?
?I don't need it for a physics major!?
?See, that's the problem with you math and physics types. You never want to learn something that you have no immediate use for, so you miss out on all sorts of cool stuff.?
?What are you talking about? You teach physics!?
?I have a doctorate in religious studies and a master's in zoology.? She took another drink of water, and grinned at my shocked expression. ?What? You didn't think I actually knew physics before I started teaching your class? Heck no, I was just learning it as I went.? She winked. ?Otherwise, it would have been boring.?
?Okay,? I said, rubbing my fingers against my temples. ?Before my mind breaks at the implications of what you just said, quick question, 'cause you just reminded me.?
?Shoot. Preferably not bullets, I'd hate to have to dodge those again.?
?A doctorate in religious studies? Is that why Sanae is staying with you??
Yumemi raised an eyebrow. ?How do you know Sanae's staying in the Anaberal Manor??
?Because I ran into Sanae earlier today and she told me herself.?
?Ah.? The professor nodded. ?Yeah, she's back from Sendai for the next semester. She's got almost enough credits to get an Associate's in religious studies, only needs the last three or so to top it off. Sure, they're science credits, but she needs to pass a final exam in religion too. I can help her with studying for both of them.?
Interesting. Hadn't Yumemi realized that Sanae saying she had gone to Sendai was a lie? She seemed to believe it enough.
?And her guardians are letting her stay with you because...??
?Because I'm the Sealing Club sponsor.? She grinned. ?I always knew that sponsoring you crazy girls would pay off somehow.?
?Gee, thanks.? I checked the time by glancing up at the sky. ?3:57. Man, I need something to do with my time. I have all our supplies, all our research already done, but I have to sit around for a few more hours before I actually get to do anything.?
?Hmm.? Yumemi rubbed her chin. ?Tell you what. You come with me to my office, grade over two hundred freshman test papers and then come in and feed me strawberries while I soak in a hot bubble bath, and when you're done we'll watch Doctor Who on my very large widescreen monitor setup with a four-speaker surround sound system.?
I turned to her slowly.
?... is it season ten??
?Of course. I've also got strawberries and cream in my refrigerator there that you can have. You in??
?Am I! Lead on, Okazaki-sensei!?
?Awesome. I'll explain Heisenberg-Robinson's Uncertainty Principle on the way there, then.?
?I thought you didn't like math or physics.?
?Oh, I can't stand 'em. Twice as pure as biology and psychology, and four times as boring to make up for it. But I came up with the idea of this yesterday, then I looked it up online and saw that Heisenberg and Robinson had beaten me to it! So naturally I'm going to try and explain it better than they ever could.?
Yumemi shot me a giddy smile. I sighed.
?... I guess that makes some kind of sense.?
So I wandered off to Yumemi's office, making sure to leave my cell phone on for Maribel to give me a call.
-----
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, nineteen minutes
End of Chapter Two.
Good news: Thanks to this fic saving my desire to write, White Rose is progressing ever so slowly. Hooray. \o/
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Haha nice.
Shit, this just reminded me that I gotta go update MY fic now.
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I like this. Very very much.
Also, I knew that joke with the Death, but I didn't knew it was from 101 Nights (Is it 101? It's translated as 1001 Nights here).
[ruro]Oh that is just such a glaring error AAAAAAGH HOW DID I NOT NOTICE[/ruro]
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Fuck yes, Yumemi is the best teacher ever!
Ruro, you make me want to right, but I have no talent <:3c
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All I can think is ... "You know, people from Gensokyo must have so much (sarcastic) fun refraining from clearly spelling out Gensokyo to their muggle friends ..."
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?Tell you what. You come with me to my office, grade over two hundred freshman test papers and then come in and feed me strawberries while I soak in a hot bubble bath, and when you're done we'll watch Doctor Who on my very large widescreen monitor setup with a four-speaker surround sound system.?
That's what I call: "A offer you can't refuse!"
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Needs moar update.
Not rushin you or anything, just letting you know - you've got readers for this'n.
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Weekly updates are a joy~
Chapter Three
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, ten minutes
-----
We were right about to watch Planet of the Dead when my cell phone fell off the table from vibrating so much.
?NO,? Yumemi gasped. ?You cannot possibly leave before we watch this! You can't!?
?But it's expedition time!?
?PLANET OF THE DEAD IS MORE IMPORTANT!? She declared, pulling out a black and silver stick. She flipped out the plastic casing within it and lit it up red. ?FACE A SITH LORD'S WRATH!?
*And thus, Darth Okazaki is born. You're welcome, Touhou fandom.
?Gah!? I pulled out my own green lightsaber and began to duel with her as I answered Maribel's call with my other hand. ?Hello??
?Renko! Where the heck are you?!?
?In Yumemi's office house... thing,? I said, jumping back to avoid a low sweep of Yumemi's red lightsaber. ?I was helping her grade papers and feeding her strawberries in the bathtub.?
?... you WHAT?!?
?Doctor Who,? I explained, picking up a chair to shield me from the professor's onslaught. ?I couldn't resist!?
?Whatever! Did you even check the time, Renko??
?HAH!? I laughed as I beat Yumemi back with the power of the Force. To Maribel: ?Uh, no. Should I have??
?It's 10:55! We should have started almost an hour ago!? She didn't sound too happy. Whoops.
?What, really??
?YES, REALLY! NOW GET YOUR PHYSICIST ASS DOWN HERE BEFORE I USE FORCE LIGHTNING ON YOU!?
?-- wait, how did you know I was LARPing Star Wars??
?Because Yumemi's making those woom woom lightsaber sound effects in the background.?
?Hi, Maribel,? she called through my phone as she lunged at me with dual-wielding red lightsabers.
?I'll be there as soon as I can,? I promised Maribel.
?Hmph. You'd better. See you at the baseball field.?
?See you in a bit.?
I hung up just as Yumemi launched Force Lightning at me, complete with the electricity sound effects. ?Hahahaha! Renko Skywalker, come to the Dark Side!?
I sighed. ?Sorry, Okazaki-sensei. I have to get going. I'm late to the expedition tonight.?
?No problem,? she said, switching off her lightsabers. ?Sorry for making you late.?
?I owe you a lightsaber duel,? I said, tossing my green lightsaber to her. ?Thanks for today, sensei.?
She nodded. ?Good luck with finding something tonight,? she said as I picked up my jacket and backpack.
?Don't worry,? I said as I let myself out the door, remembering our destination. ?I'm very confident we will.?
-----
?The baseball field late at night. You'd think we were practicing around-the-clock to make it to Koshien.?
?YOU ARE AN HOUR AND TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES LATE!?
?An hour, twenty-six minutes, and fifty-five seconds late, to be exact.?
?I WAS ROUNDING.?
?I am not one to be debated on matters of time~? I came up to Maribel and tried to touch her shoulders. ?Come on, don't be like that, Mary...?
?Don't touch me.? She was in a bit of a huff. Justified, so I couldn't help feeling bad.
She stalked off to the side of the baseball field, where she had left our prepared supplies. I didn't say anything as she hauled my bike out of the shadows. She pulled out her own bicycle, took her seat, and rode off without speaking to me. I followed her.
My backpack was light compared to hers; Maribel's backpack was full of research books from the campus library. I would have asked her if I could have carried hers, but she wouldn't have responded. Instead I waited for her righteous anger to burn out. It would, given time, especially if she tired herself out first.
We didn't need to speak to go to the Moriya Shrine, anyway. We had visited the shrine before, with Sanae. It was only a fifteen- or twenty-minute bike ride, but somehow it seemed to drag on hours and hours. Watching Maribel's ever-receding form in front of me was painful.
Like me, she hadn't changed her clothes, though she had hitched up her dress onto her legs for riding the bike. I wondered if this was a good idea, given what we did on our expeditions, but I remembered that no one would expect enlightened, female university students in the 21st century to be wearing long dresses and poofy hats. In case anyone spotted us, they would write us off as harmless fools. Just like the Sealing Club, this was a good thing. If people took us seriously, they might start looking into our activities, and we couldn't have that.
I followed Maribel in silence, keeping an eye on the reflective panels attached to her bike. No cars in front of us or behind us. Kyoto was a big, busy city with an active nightlife, but not around the university. Behind the university, already located on the edge of the city, was strictly a residential area.
It was surreal, going through this area; we at the university considered ourselves to be cosmopolitan and modern, but anyone who took a ten-minute bike ride behind the main campus would find themselves in old Heian-Kyō. This place had been largely ignored by developers and industrialists since the Taisho era. Around here, there were traditional Japanese homes, with the sloping roofs and all, and a few large mansions; this was a historical neighborhood, one that had retained a certain air of... mystique. This neighborhood was intriguing, almost enigmatic. It was like being transported to the past, in a way. The only things you had to remind yourself that you were in the 21st century were the streetlights. Even the streets had retained their original pavement, mostly because few people here kept cars.
And there went Maribel, with me following her, riding through what could be mistaken for a street of the Meiji era, zooming along on our bikes.
In a neighborhood like this, it was no wonder that a place like the Moriya Shrine could have lasted as long as it did. Though it was a world away, the song ?Tradition? from Fiddler on the Roof would have worked well here. These people clung to their traditional lifestyle in the midst of all the clutter and rush of modern life. One of those traditions was respect to the old gods. The legend of Mishaguji being subjugated by the frog goddess Suwako was old; the legend of Suwako being defeated by Kanako was even older. Back in the safety of the classroom walls, it was easy to listen to people like Okazaki-sensei discuss this kind of fantasy legend with reason, with a certain professional detachment. But around here, those legends were real. So real, in fact, that people had until just recently come to the Moriya Shrine to pay their respects to Suwako and Kanako, day after day, week after week, for years, their last loyal servants.
Despite their devotion, though, time took its toll. Suwako-Kanako worship had once been prevalent in Kyoto, according to Sanae, but that was way back in Meiji. By the time Taisho rolled around, interest had already been waning. Almost ninety years later, the children of those who had believed in Suwako and Kanako were being claimed by old age. Thanks to the growing secularization movement amongst young people, Suwako and Kanako had not only been ignored, but actively derided as relics of a bygone, ignorant age. There was simply no place for worship of the old deities like that anymore.
With their worship base gone, Sanae told me, there was not much point in staying here in Kyoto. Even the most derelict shrine needed occasional donations, but now there was no income whatsoever. She was a rare case herself; she was young, but she had from childhood been one of the last remaining devotees of Kanako and Suwako. I had never understood how an orphaned seventeen-year-old girl had managed to obtain the deed to a hundred-year-old shrine, but somehow she had managed it. All the income from the Moriya Shrine went to her, to pay for her western-style schooling. It had run out constantly, but she had managed to snag donations from local fundraisers and historical societies, enough to keep herself afloat and keep food in the kitchen.
It was for this reason that she had seized upon the university's offer to allow high school students to take college courses for free if they had enough credits to graduate from their home school. The idea was to make them continue their schooling here, and though she didn't have much money or time, Sanae took full advantage of their offer. It was for this reason that she had met me and Maribel on campus, hanging up fliers for the Sealing Club. She was so close to getting her degree without even having finished high school; she did fantastically well. Naturally gifted, and with a tremendous work ethic to match; she was unstoppable.
Even then, she was always on the brink of bankruptcy. When the two main guardians of her shrine-- the two remaining ones, I assumed, though I wondered where they had been the whole time Sanae was trying to fight off poverty-- got sick, there really was no choice. Sanae had made the best of her situation thus far, but it was ultimately hopeless; with no worshipers, no money, and no chance, she was forced to say good bye to us and relocate to one of the few remaining Kanako-Suwako shrines, off in a rural area of Sendai.
She had returned now, but she wouldn't have returned to the Moriya Shrine. The shrine was doomed to sink into ruin with no one to look after it. But it still stood, at least for now. And it was worth investigating. Truth be told, I had wanted to investigate this place ever since I had heard about it, but out of respect for Sanae, I did not. She might be getting it appraised, possibly sold to the city-- I had heard something about making it a designated United Nations World Heritage Site, though I didn't put much stock in that happening-- but for now, Sanae's priorities were elsewhere.
This was our golden opportunity to investigate. And investigate it we would.
We were there before I knew it. The streets around here, paved during the Meiji era, were in remarkably good shape. It wasn't hard for us to make it here on our bikes. We soon pulled up to the street-facing path to the Moriya Shrine. But before we could walk in, we had to talk.
She halted her bike and got off, hauling it into some bushes near the entrance to the path so it wouldn't be seen. I was right behind her, but she was already hurrying down the path. I let my bike crash on the pavement as I jumped off. ?Mary,? I called out before Maribel could take a step down the path. ?Mary, stop.?
?What?? She turned halfway, enough to see me and glare at me. The sky was cloudy, with no moonlight. There was a light right next to us, a lamp post on the top of the right-hand gate of the Moriya Shrine. It was a city post, so it was still on. The light shone on Maribel's blonde hair, making it look almost like gold, but she was turned away from it, so her eyes were in shadow. This didn't stop her from glaring.
?I'm sorry for being so late.? I looked down at the ground. I really had come to regret arriving late. That wasn't fair to Maribel, who had woken up early and had done tons of last-minute research on our destination while I had lazed around and watched TV with Okazaki-sensei.
?I won't do it again,? I continued. ?I promise.?
She didn't budge.
?Well, ah... I might do it by accident. But I won't do it on purpose like this again. I'll keep my phone on pocket on vibrate or on a loud ring. But as best as I can, I'll get to our meetings on time.?
Maribel turned towards me the entire way. The light now reached her face. She was still glaring for a few moments. Then she relaxed her blue-eyed gaze and nodded. ?In that case, I forgive you.?
I sighed with relief as I opened my arms. She smiled and hugged me.
I hadn't wanted to start out our expedition on a sour note. ... and as Okazaki-sensei had taught me, time was short. If something went wrong on our expedition, then I don't think I could have lived with myself if I hadn't asked Maribel for forgiveness before something could go wrong.
?Hide your bike in the shrubs,? Maribel mumbled against my shirt as she pulled away from our hug. ?So that no one will think that we're looters here to ransack the shrine.?
?Sure thing.? I went back to my bike and picked it up out of the street. No one was on the streets around here so late at night; most of the people in this neighborhood were older people anyway. We didn't have much to fear from intruders. I guided my bike to the same shrub Mary had hidden hers, hoisted it up, and set it next to its companion.
?Do you want to leave your backpack here, Mary?? I asked. Mine was only carrying a notebook, so we could pick up any artifacts that may pass through from the other world to ours. Hers was full of books, enough that she couldn't zip up the pockets the whole way.
She shook her head. ?There's a decent chance of rain tonight. I don't want my stuff to get wet.?
?Eh, okay.? I made sure our bikes were secure and joined Maribel on the entrance to the cobblestone path leading to the Moriya Shrine. It wasn't visible from here, but there was a torii gate a ways down the path that showed me that we were in the right place.
Maribel turned to me with a smile. ?Shall we??
I tipped my hat. ?Lead the way, ma'am.?
Together, we set down the path to the Moriya Shrine.
-----
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, five minutes
? WARNING ? LESS THAN ONE HOUR LEFT FOR TODAY ? WARNING ?
End of Chapter Three.
And now, the mystery deepens. :3
Also, I must now get someone to make a shop of Darth Vader with Yumemi's head. >_>
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You have created a monster
For this sin you shall burn
Burn with your monster
ahahaha xD
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Whee, suspense! Can't wait to see what happens next.
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Star wars Yumemi...
...I.thought we agreed that she was Han :V
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No, that'd be Maribel.
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Anatevka? In Kyoto? Well, ... *imagine folks in black white kimonos who addressing their questions to Rabbi-sama surprisingly fitting.
Anyway, you did a great job creating a subtle suspense in a chapter where "nothing happened".
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Star wars Yumemi...
...I.thought we agreed that she was Han :V
Yumemi is Han. However, if she were given a choice, I think Yumemi would try to be Darth Okazaki instead.
Anyway, let's get going. I was going to update this yesterday, but I didn't want to distract from Odda C. finishing his fic. Again, congratulations. \o/
Chapter Four
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, five minutes
? WARNING ? LESS THAN ONE HOUR LEFT FOR TODAY ? WARNING ?
-----
Maribel looked up at the sky and frowned. ?Get your flashlight out, Renko.?
It was a dark night, with clouds covering the light of the moon. The last remaining streetlamp was behind us, and we were far enough in on the Moriya Shrine grounds-- past the first torii gate-- that no one outside would be able to see our flashlights.
Well, my flashlight, at least. Maribel did have a flashlight, but it was one of those piercingly bright, overpowered ones that you could make a Batsignal with. It was pretty big, and it was also too bright for our purposes. But we brought it along just in case. Ever since Maribel had wandered into that strange bamboo forest that one time*, she had carried some sort of lamp along with her.
*See: Changeability of Strange Dream
Even then, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to use it just now. Maybe further on inside the Shrine itself. As it stood, I pulled two flashlights off of my backpack and handed one to Maribel. ?Here you are.?
?Thanks.? We continued past the second torii gate. Dark or not, I wasn't scared. These shrine grounds were a safe place to be. Maribel looked slightly nervous, though; she kept glancing at her watch, which lit up when she pressed a button. 11: 50. 11:51. 11:52.
I was about to say something when the third and last torii loomed just ahead of us. I honestly hadn't noticed it before; I was watching the light of Maribel's flashlight on the ground so I knew where to step. I didn't like the idea of her going in front of me-- I didn't like the risk. Whatever happened to us, I wanted it to happen to me first. I didn't want her in danger. ... and I will admit that I wanted to be spirited away to Gensokyo too.
We slipped beneath the third torii and onto the front yard of the Moriya Shrine.
Sanae had abandoned it several months ago, and while that hadn't been enough to let the shrine fall this far into disrepair, I remembered that the Moriya Shrine had never been in the best condition to begin with. She hadn't been able to afford my advice of hiring a roofer. In any case, the shrine looked as if it had been abandoned for years, not months. The doors were cracked and the walls were decaying. The roof was caving in and the entire place looked dark and foreboding. The grounds of the shrine were no better, but at least those had the explanation that Sanae had just stopped sweeping. There was no need for everything else to look... hollow was the best way of putting it.
?It's like... someone gutted it,? Maribel said quietly. ?Pulled out all the peaceful atmosphere of the inside and took it somewhere.?
?Do you still want to go in?? I asked.
Maribel looked over at me, scoffed, and stepped over the debris that littered the front yard to the door of the shrine. Guess we were going in. Holding on firmly to my backpack?s straps, I followed her.
-----
Getting in wasn?t much of a problem. The shōji that made up the entrance to the side of the shrine were torn wide enough that we could just get in through the hole.
The Moriya Shrine had seen better days. At various points, the roof had broken open, and rain had managed to get into the shrine and ruin the tatami. There were no decorations, not even outside; there were no lanterns left at all.
?This shrine is... built oddly,? Maribel observed, speaking in a hushed tone. ?Were there never any small auxilary shrines, or is that just me??
?I don?t remember,? I replied. I did kind of remember seeing a komainu set outside the last time I had been here, but I hadn?t seen them this time. Maybe looters had taken them? But that didn?t make any sense-- I did remember that the last time I had been here, I had seen a board full of archaic, long-abandoned ema that Sanae had never had the heart to take down. Why would looters be interested in stealing ema, of all things?
?There?s something... off about this place.?
Maribel?s flashlight danced around the room until she found the sliding door leading to the next room. ?There?s definitely a lot of small cracks in the border here. Too many.?
?Too many? Didn?t you find dozens of cracks in the border when we visited the Hakurei Shrine?? It was I who had suggested visiting it in the first place. It was tended by a neglectful shrine maiden we heard of but never saw, and though she kept it in decent condition, she hadn?t been interested enough to stop us from going in to investigate.
?Yes, but those were all in one place,? Maribel replied. ?In the back, that one marker. That was where all the cracks were leading to.? She shone her flashlight along the floor of the shrine, where the floor met the walls. ?In this case, all the cracks are on the ground.?
?What does that mean?? I asked. I felt a tinge of jealousy again-- Maribel?s eyes, weird though they were, could see things that I never could. Maybe if I could see cracks in the boundary, I would be less skeptical about Gensokyo?s existence.
?The cracks are vertical,? she said, but she wasn?t really replying to me. She was talking to herself. ?Not horizontal. It?s like... someone pulled this entire shrine up off of the ground.?
?As far as I can tell, it?s still here.?
Maribel turned to me, an uncharacteristically coy smile on her face as she brought her flashlight up beneath her chin, throwing her face into shadow and light. ?Oh, is it~??
?Hah?? Now I was really getting lost. She grinned and turned her flashlight to the next door. ?Let?s keep exploring. I think I might have an idea of what happened here.?
?I don?t know how to say it,? I said as I walked through the next door, following Maribel. ?But this place feels strangely...?
??Gutted? would be a good word to use,? Maribel replied.
?Yeah. But I don?t know how.? I pointed my flashlight around the room. There was no furniture here, just as in the previous room, but there were imprints on the tatami that indicated that at some point, there had been a few shelves and maybe a wardrobe. ?Everything?s just... gone.?
?We?ve been here before, Renko. What?s so different about the shrine now??
?It's...? I racked my brain for the right words to use. ?Oh man, I don?t know how to say it. But... it feels... old and unappealing. Unwelcoming.?
?You?re right,? Maribel said. ?The last time we were here, the shrine was already old, but even when Sanae wasn?t here, it was never as foreboding as it is now.?
She was more observant than I gave her credit for, it seemed. ?This place?s atmosphere has changed. Not even graveyards feel this ominous.? I said that without a hint of sarcasm. We had been in graveyards more cheerful than this shrine.
?Everything that made this place feel safe is gone.? Maribel nodded. ?And the same cracks are in here as there were in the other room.?
I was starting to get worried. I didn?t really like the idea of small cracks in the boundary around the walls-- what if they fell in? And why were they structured so oddly?
I could only think of one way to figure it out once and for all.
?Let?s go into the heart of the shrine, Mary.?
?Eh?!? Maribel looked surprised. ?But Sanae told us that that we couldn?t go into the honden!?
?Sanae is not here.? I shone my flashlight at the ground between us so she could see my face. ?And we?re not going to tell her.?
?But the honden is supposed to be sacred and closed to the public. We could invoke a kami?s wrath.?
?Exactly. No one else would go in there, not even looters. No one will expect us to either.? I looked at my friend and grinned. ?I may believe in Gensokyo, but that?s just because I?ve seen the physical evidence you and Sanae have brought back. I have absolutely no reason at all to think that kami exist.
?And besides,? I said, opening the next door and heading to the back of the shrine. ?If Kanako and Suwako were ever here, they?re long gone by now. I don?t think they?ll mind.?
?If you say so,? Maribel said, following me.
-----
It may ruin my reputation as a science-loving heretic, but I must admit: I had never before snuck into a honden. They were the sacred home of the shinto god that was worshiped at a particular jinja. But I had never gone into one before. Never had the chance.
I did, however, know where the Moriya Shrine?s honden was. It was visible from the outside. I had made a note of it when I had come in. It was in the back of the shrine, set apart from the rest by being raised above the walls of the shrine proper. The state of the shrine made my task even easier-- all I had to do was find a portion of the roof that wasn?t caved in, and there I would find the honden above us.
We walked further in. I hadn't been able to see it from outside, but the Moriya Shrine was built on a gently-sloping hill. So we went further up and further in.
?The green cracks are increasing,? Maribel noted as we passed through the rooms. ?The cracks in the boundary. They're getting longer and there are more of them.?
?We must be going the right way, then.?
I opened the next door. There, up on the ceiling. Jackpot. Even if I hadn't known where the honden was, the very fact that this room had wooden support beams and a wooden platform in the center of the room would have given it away.
Maribel gave a slight gasp behind me. ?What's wrong, Mary??
?The cracks are... all over the ceiling. Stretching from there--? she pointed at some invisible line I could not see, her flashlight beam following. ?To there. They're everywhere.?
?Then we must really be going the right way, then.? I climbed up on top of the wooden platform. It was sturdy enough to hold me, but it wasn't a staircase that could help me reach the top of the ceiling. If I lifted my arms up, I could get a firm grip on-- on what? Hold on.
I pushed up and a small portion of the ceiling gave way. It was a square of wood, and I tossed it inside, up into the honden. I heard it thunk. The ceiling was strong enough to hold my weight-- unlike the rest of the thatched ceilings in the other rooms, this one was built for strength. It would still be a bit difficult to get up, unless you were a gymnast--
Which had been Sanae's specialty back in high school. This shrine had been designed for her.
I was no gymnast, but I was strong enough to get up. Whatever answers we could get, we would find them up there. I took hold of the ceiling beam.
?W-wait, Renko! Are you going to go up there?? Maribel looked up at me, standing on the worn tatami next to the platform.
?Uh, yes,? I replied. ?How else did you think we were going to get any answers??
?You can't go up there, Renko! There are too many cracks! What if you fall into one?!? Maribel raised her voice-- and in a way, it was comforting, because since we had come in, we had spoken to each other in low whispers. ?You could be in serious danger!?
I shrugged. ?No more than any other time we've been on expedition.?
Maribel growled. ?Damnit, Renko...? She took off her backpack and wedged her flashlight inside its straps, pointing it upwards. ?I'm coming up there with you. Hurry up.?
?Eh? You are??
?Of course I am. You can't see the cracks in the boundary, can you??
?I suppose not.? I extended my hand to Maribel, and she took it. I helped her up onto the wooden platform. There was just room enough for the two of us. This would be easier if I had help, anyway.
?Mary,? I said, turning to her, my face no more than six inches away from hers. ?Mary, I need you to put your hands on my waist.?
?E-eh? What?? Though the light was dim, Maribel's face was reddening. ?My hands? On your w-waist??
?Yes. I'm going to jump up onto the inside of the honden and it's easier if you help me lift myself.? I put my hands on her shoulders. ?I'll use you as a support.?
?Haah,? Maribel stuttered. I wondered what was wrong with her. ?Y-you got it,? she muttered as she put her hands on my waist.
I winked at her. ?Thanks, Mary.?
She looked like she was about to faint. Was she sleepy?
I tensed my knees. ?Alright, on the count of three. One, two, three!? I jumped up, with Maribel supporting some of my weight. I pushed up on her shoulders as far as I could and caught hold of the ceiling beam my first time.
?Got it--? Then I began to slip. ?-- Er, don't got it.?
But before I could fall, Maribel regained her sense of balance down there and took hold of my right foot. Cupping her hands under it, she made me a foothold. Scrambling to get a grip, my hands found a rung of sorts on the inside of the honden. Taking hold of it with both hands, I pushed up from Maribel's hands, feeling her push me up from below. I hoisted myself up and into the honden.
?Mary, toss up that overpowered flashlight of yours.?
Maribel nodded and grabbed her backpack, zipped it open and pulled out the powerful flashlight I had noted earlier. I set it next to me. I didn't want to turn it on in the honden without Maribel being next to me.
I reached down through the hole in the ceiling. ?Climb up here. I've got you.?
Maribel stood on the platform and counted aloud. ?One, two, three.? She leapt up and caught onto my arms. I nearly started to fall down with her, but I had a foot wedged into the rung I had managed to catch onto when I came up here. I slowly lifted her up and into the honden, where she scrambled to her feet.
?You all right, Mary?? I asked, brushing her hair out of her face.
?Y-yes, I'm fine.? But she can't have been fine, she was nervous. Was she claustrophobic in the dark?
Speaking of. I picked up Maribel's overpowered flashlight, nodded to her, and switched it on--
HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
-- And fell back screaming. ?YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!? I flailed wildly, tripping backwards over my own feet, stumbling. I nearly would have fallen down the hole I climbed up through except for Maribel pushing me out of the way in the last second. As it was, I landed hard on my backside, somehow managing to keep a grip on the flashlight the whole time.
My flashlight beam danced up and down over the shadowed, angular face of a massive hissing snake. But it wasn't hissing-- that little detail had been added by my strung-out nerves. Still worth getting nervous over, though.
Maribel stood, looked over at me, then at the snake, then back at me again. ?For heaven's sake, Renko, it's just a bronze statue. Look.? She indicated the kanji inscribed at the base of the statue. ?Kanako Yasaka. It's the symbol of the snake goddess.?
?S-so,? I stammered, still crawling backwards on my elbows, ?I-if that's Ka-Kanako, where's Su-Suwako??
Maribel pointed at a spot above my head. ?Probably that one right there.?
I looked up and had the pleasure of getting an eyeful of the gullet of a frog statue. This was nowhere near as scary as the snake had been, but it still wasn't something I wanted to go near. I crawled away from it, to the wall--
?NO! DON'T GO NEAR THE WALL!?
Maribel's yell surprised me as much as the statue of the snake had. I froze in my tracks.
?Renko, get up and come over here, to the center of the room, please.? She was speaking in an oddly formal tone-- definitely nervous. ?Come on!?
I got to my feet and walked over to her, but before I had even gotten to her side, her arm shot out and her iron grip pulled me towards her.
?Hey, what--? But she wasn't looking at me. The light coming from her flashlight only made the intense gaze in Maribel's eyes look even stronger. She was looking up, down, around, on all sides, her flashlight following each movement, along the walls, the ceiling, the floor.
?Cracks,? Maribel explained. ?Larger than any I've ever seen.? She glanced over at me. ?I was right. This entire place is a gateway to Gensokyo.?
?Huh? What do you mean??
?I was thinking about it this entire time we've been here,? she began. ?Why does this shrine feel so different now than it was before? It's not just because it's night. It's because the shrine has changed ever since Sanae left.?
Her flashlight danced over to the snake statue and met it right in the eyes. I nearly jumped when I saw a red light in the Kanako statue, but closer inspection revealed that it was just two rubies, one in each eye. Maribel continued. ?Think about it, Renko. This shrine was old, worn-down, and had only one teenage girl to defend it against vandals or thieves. Sure, it's not exactly near any centers of population, but why did no one ever, ever attack this shrine??
?I have no idea, but I'm going to bet you're about to tell me.?
?The blessings of the gods.? Maribel's flashlight turned to the Suwako statue, and the yellow glow of quartz in its eyes responded. ?Yes, these gods. Kanako and Suwako were here, and now they are gone. And they took the shrine with them.?
?Uh, as far as I can tell, the shrine is still here.? I was now getting thoroughly lost by her 'explanation'.
?This isn't the true shrine, Renko.? Maribel turned to me now. The flashlight was turned away, so I never knew if the purple gleam in Maribel's eyes was reflected off of her dress or if it came from within. ?The true Moriya Shrine was an insulated place of refuge, kept safe with the prayers of the devoted and the powers of the gods, within the walls of the shrine building itself. That's why there were those tiny tiny green cracks in the boundary on the ground where the wall met the floor. That's why they got longer and longer as we came closer to the honden. That's why they're everywhere here.? She moved her flashlight again, tracing lines in the air I could not see. ?It's just like they pulled the real Moriya Shrine out of this building, up and out. Now it's just a simple wooden building falling apart.
?But you see, the cracks remain. They pulled the true shrine up and out and it left scratches in the boundary, kind of what happens when you drag a table with metal legs across a wood floor. It leaves tracks.? She looked back up at the inside of the honden. ?And this place has been left as a gateway. The cracks here are large enough to fall through if you aren't cautious.?
?So why haven't we fallen through? And what are we waiting for?? That was the news I'd been waiting to hear! A path to Gensokyo, right here and now? Sure, why not? It's what I'd wanted for so long, to find an open gateway we could cross through!
?We can't.? Maribel sighed. ?We should be able to, but we can't. Actually...? She handed me her flashlight, and before I could stop her, she smacked the far wall.
Predictably, she ended up with nothing but a sting in her arm, but for a split second-- if I had blinked I would have missed it-- at the moment of impact, there had been a flash of green. A glimmer of light had spread out from where Maribel had touched the wall, and it traveled the lines of cracks. For a half moment, I could see the lines in the boundary as clearly as Maribel could-- and now I understood why she had been so nervous. She hadn't described them to me as being as terrifying as they actually were. The walls, the floor, the very space of the air seemed to be covered in green lines, cracks in the boundary. It looked like a spiderweb crack on glass, spreading and distorting the way reality was supposed to be.
Then it was gone, and even as I started to comprehend what I had just seen, Maribel staggered back to me, rubbing her sore arm. ?See? I should have fallen through that crack. But I didn't.? She took her flashlight back from me and pointed it back and forth at the snake and frog statues. ?And they're the reason why.?
?Hm?? I asked, trying to put it all together in my mind. ?What do the statues do??
?They're this gate's komainu set. The guardians.? She slowly moved her flashlight across from the tip of the snake's nose to the frog's and back again, looking at something I could not see. ?There's a white rope here. We can't cross through this gate unless we have the key for it.?
?A rope? What the heck are you talking about??
?A kekkai, like the kinds they put up in mountain shrines. A seal. It holds the gate shut until the person with the right key to open it comes along.?
?And... who's the person with the key??
Maribel turned to me. ?Do you really have to ask that question??
?Kotiya Sanae.? I knew it before, but I didn?t really understand what it all meant until I said her name aloud.
Then I realized: Sanae knew about Gensokyo, and had possibly known about it before she even joined the Sealing Club.
And the old shrine that she lived in was a gateway to Gensokyo.
-----
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, three minutes
? WARNING ? LESS THAN ONE HOUR LEFT FOR TODAY ? WARNING ?
Renko and Maribel have discovered Sanae's secret?! Will they be able to get through this gateway to Gensokyo? Or will they be found out? What's going to happen now? AND WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF THAT WEIRD TIMER AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF EACH CHAPTER?
Find out next week. (Except for maybe that last one!)
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[18:04] <Stoker-Rurouni> Hey Sana
[18:04] <Stoker-Rurouni> Renko
[18:04] <Stoker-Rurouni> http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=4587.msg235184#msg235184
[18:05] <Keine> Title: Sweet Dreams (at www.shrinemaiden.org)
[18:05] * Stoker-Rurouni runs
[18:05] <Sana> RENKOOOOO
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Timer = how long till Renko spontaneously falls asleep? :O
Fatigue sets in when you run out of waking capacity. Defeat a minor enemy for an energy tank, or find a safe spot and rest to recharge your waking capacity. Red Herbs can also be used as a substitute.
Whoops, she doesn't have any of those, does she >.>
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Curse you cliffhangers! Curse you!
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This update was a splendid one~
Fatigue sets in when you run out of waking capacity. Defeat a minor enemy for an energy tank, or find a safe spot and rest to recharge your waking capacity. Red Herbs can also be used as a substitute.
I confess that I imagined this in Colonel Campbell's voice.
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As always, I am very jealous of how well your writing flows. If I could just steal some of that talent...
A-anyway, looking forward to more. But what's with the sudden random insertions of Japanese words? The only reason I even understand some of the story is because I'm in my fourth year of Japanese and know some of these words.
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Man, I'm really close to finishing the next chapter...
...I need to stop procrastinating goddammit!
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This update was a splendid one~
I confess that I imagined this in Colonel Campbell's voice.
The scary thing is, so did I.
I have a talent for making things unnecessarily dramatic, as I am a...
say it with me now, Kimiko - LARGE HAM. It really is as fun as other hams seem to be having when being hammy. You should try hamming it up sometime :D
Anyways, I'm really hoping Renko doesn't fall asleep right after like, falling through a crack into Gensokyo, and ends up missing out.
{Edit} Oh no fair yours got to second page before mine did and it was entirely my fault. *hangs head in shame*
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But what's with the sudden random insertions of Japanese words? The only reason I even understand some of the story is because I'm in my fourth year of Japanese and know some of these words.
I try to hide it as best I can, but I am an extreme stickler for accuracy, especially historical accuracy. I fully respect artistic license, but I try to minimalize the extent of its use. The only Western equivalents I would use for the term honden, for example, would be something along the lines of "inner sanctum", "inner shrine", or, worse yet, "holy of holies" from Deuteronomy, the last of which is used to refer to the residence of the Ark of the Covenant that the High Priest could only enter once a year. None of these really convey the same meaning as honden does in Shinto; "inner sanctum" just sounds incredibly lame, "inner shrine" doesn't make much sense, and "holy of holies" brings in all sorts of strange connotations with old-school Judaism that I'd rather avoid (monotheistic and polytheistic terms don't mesh well, I've realized). I think the closest equivalent would be "santuario", but that's in Spanish, so. :/
I hate the fact that I do so much research to write fantasy-genre fiction sometimes. >_>
{Edit} Oh no fair yours got to second page before mine did and it was entirely my fault. *hangs head in shame*
>:3
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Things will becoming more and more absorbing now, you really know how to bond your readers.
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The only Touhou fanwork I've ever bothered to click on, and damn did I make a fine first choice.
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Lower your standards a bit, Furienify :v
Leavin' the rest of us wannabe authors out.
Try giving Reborn in Gensokyo a read.
White Rose of Chirieden, Rou's Random Shorts.
They're all good reads and well-written; this isn't a festering pit of slashfic and Naruto/DBZ/Touhou (ohgodivecreatedamonster) crossovers.
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White Rose of Chirieden
One of the very few I ever cared about.
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I've always been leery of fan works on principle, for some reason! :V Worried it would ruin the original material, likely. But I'll take your word for these.
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Yeah, this place seems to have higher standards in general. At least you weren't here for Pedonymous's fic ...
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What's also kinda nice is that shipping fics, while present, aren't quite the focus as with other places. I don't mind shipping too much, but seeing a romance shoehorned awkwardly into an otherwise decent piece of fiction kinda ruins it for me. :/
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Fascinating debate on shortfics as it is, this WAS originally a story.
I'd be perfectly happy to start a thread on the merits of original storylines, but lets try to hold off on derailing a story.
Please continue with Sweet Dreams :3
OH AND THESE POSTS DON'T COUNT TOWARDS PAGE THREE, MEANEYFACE
[ruro]They most certainly do, especially since I'm not deleting them. :3[/ruro]
Enjoy them while they last, meaneyface. I shall wait until you approach page 3, then I shall condense all the contents of my posts into one and delete the leftovers! Mefefefefefeefeeee
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You're a loony.
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What I like about Renko is she's sort of a medium figure in Touhou - a human in the outside world who's good friends with someone who can see the Border. I think there's a lot of potential in this piece.
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Last night, I came home at around 5:30 PM. Without even having time to change into my pajamas, I fell asleep at 6:00 PM and did not wake up until 7:00 AM this morning. That's thirteen solid hours of sleep. And that's not the first time something like this has happened to me.
The terror of knowing that you're sleeping your life away is something I hope no one else on this forum ever feels-- and at the same time, I wish that everyone would understand it, so that people would understand what it means to physically feel and know that you are running out of time in your life.
Take that into context when you read this.
Chapter Five
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, three minutes
? WARNING ? LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR LEFT FOR TODAY ? WARNING ?
-----
I put the pieces of the puzzle together in my mind. ?Wait? so this house is a gateway to Gensokyo??
Maribel shrugged. ?Well, we don?t have to think that every single crack to another world is to Gensokyo. I have some reason to think that there are other worlds bound to Kyoto through various gates? but this shrine?s cracks definitely lead to Gensokyo.? She hummed for a moment. ?Not sure how to explain it to someone who can't see it, but it's pretty easy to tell by sight if a crack leads to Gensokyo. These are definitely holes in the barrier separating that world from ours, though.?
?So... Sanae?s been lying to us.?
?Of course she has.? Maribel pointed at the wall, at a crack I could not see. ?That doesn?t look like Sendai, does it??
?Oh, I was worried I was the only one who had seen through that.?
Maribel stuck her tongue out at me. ?I'm not stupid, Renko.?
I took off my hat. ?Sorry for thinking it.?
She glanced at her watch. ?12:31... oh, damn, we've spent a lot longer here than I thought we would...? She opened her mouth and yawned. ?I'm exhausted...?
?Should we call it a night and go home?? I asked.
?Yeah... yeah, that sounds good.? Maribel began to look a bit unsteady on her feet. Was she really that tired?
I nodded. ?Let's go, then.? I glanced over at the entrance through which we had come in. ?You know what, I'm going to hop down myself and then I'll be down there to catch you if you need it.?
?Sure.? Maribel nodded, her head rolling forward a bit. ?Sounds good.?
Yeah, she wasn't going to last much longer. I sighed and pulled the screen off of the entrance. Down there, the flashlight Maribel had left was still lighting up the room. The platform was steady.
I glanced back up before I took the jump. The slitted red eyes of the snake eyed me, and the snake itself was coiled and ready to pounce if I made a mistake in its eyes. Maybe my nerves were just shot to bits, but I had an uneasy feeling that it was watching me.
Next to that, the frog didn't seem as intimidating. At the same time, I took note of the additional design behind the frog that the snake did not share. I was certain that I was starting to get sleepy myself, because for some reason the black wavy decorations behind it seemed to come to life for a half second. I wondered what they were doing there for a second, and then I remembered that Sanae herself had once told me about how Suwako had subjugated Mishaguji-sama, and that the story of her conquering the dark gods of old had been passed down through the ages. The dark tendrils back there must have been its influence.
And then I looked up, over me. Above me, somewhere where I could not see but Maribel could, there was a rope placed as a seal on the Moriya Shrine's gate to Gensokyo. It was bitter for me. I was a scientist, a born skeptic. I needed to prove to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that this fantasy realm that Maribel talked to me about was real. I wanted to find unequivocal proof that Gensokyo existed, and what better way of doing it than by going to visit myself? But without strange eyes like Maribel's, I would never be able to see the truth for myself one way or the other, and the idea of that hurt me.
I remembered the flash of green that had revealed the true form of the cracks in the boundary not more than a few minutes ago. Would I ever see that again? Would I ever get the chance to prove to my doubting mind that Gensokyo was real?
?Renko?? Maribel asked, and I blinked.
?Sorry, I got distracted.? I tried to smile at her, but it was faked. I hoped that she wouldn't notice in the dark. ?Okay, let's go.? I swung my legs over the opening and jumped down.
The wooden platform must have been nailed to the floor from below, because it didn't budge a centimeter when I landed on it. I reminded myself that I might not be as lucky the next time, and that I should remember to bring stronger boots later.
I hopped off the platform and stood on the dirty tatami next to it. ?All right, Mary,? I called up. ?Toss me the flashlight.?
She did so. I set it down pointing upwards so I could see Maribel clearly. I opened my arms to her. ?All right, jump down.?
Maribel nodded, closed her eyes, and jumped. She landed, but she lost her balance. She gave a small cry and began to fall backwards, but I reached out in time and yanked on her dress, and she fell on me.
?Mary, wake up!? I scowled as I lowered her to the ground. ?You could have gotten seriously hurt!?
Maribel looked up at me, then her eyes lost focus and she began to slip in my grasp. ?I... guess.? She yawned. ?I'm just so tired...?
?Well, you'll wake up soon with the cold air in your face.? I got her to her feet again and picked up our stuff, not letting Maribel take her own backpack. She was drowsy enough as it was. ?Come on.?
This seemed to galvanize Maribel. ?Right, going.?
She followed after me again, her unsteady steps falling on the tatami behind me. We made our way through the shrine in reverse, retracing our steps. Maribel was getting progressively exhausted. She fell through the wall at one point, tearing the paper door separating the dinner room from one of the guest rooms. I went back and picked her up, then helped her walk to the exit.
I did feel sorry for her. We had been going to sleep late at night for the past week or so, except for just last night. It must have taken a much bigger toll on Maribel than on me. Her sleep deficit was catching up to her.
?All right, here we are.? I slid open the last door and let in a full blast of the cold nighttime breeze. It wasn't terribly cold, but it was fresh enough that it brought Maribel back to her senses. She looked up and around at the Moriya Shrine grounds, her eyes refocusing on the torii gate. I led her out and walked along the path with her, the two backpacks' weight on me slowing me down more than I would have liked.
?What time is it?? she asked, yawning again.
I looked up at the sky. ?12:38. AM, I guess.?
She nodded and lay her head on my shoulder as we walked to the entrance to the grounds. ?You're really really weird, Renkobon,? she murmured in that charming way that sleep-deprived people do. ?Your eyes see all sorts of funky things.? She giggled.
I tried to laugh it off. ?Yeah, Okazaki-sensei thought it was funny too when I first showed her. She made me have a showdown with an atomic clock once. It only beat me because I take some time to pronounce a number.?
But her words stung more than she knew. Certainly my eyes were strange in their own way. But her eyes could see something that had been denied to me: the truth. I could believe the things that Sanae and Maribel brought to me-- oak leaves in the spring, cherry blossoms in the autumn, and the like-- but the fact remained that I had never seen Gensokyo with my own two eyes, and I was beginning to think I never would.
We made it to the shrine outer gate at 12:40 AM. There, our two bikes were waiting for us. Maribel motioned for me to hand over her backpack. I didn't want to, but I saw that she had gained some energy with the fresh breeze in her face, so I handed over my lighter backpack and kept hers.
?All right, let's head home.? I kicked up the brake of my bicycle and took off, circling around once to see that Maribel was steady on her bike. She seemed to be fine now, so I stopped my spin and rode off, Maribel behind me.
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The ride back was quiet. The neighborhood was as quiet as it had been before. If we had stayed the entire night in the shrine, I doubt anyone would have taken notice. No one visited the shrine anymore, anyway. No one would have taken notice that there had been an intruder or two.
I did wonder if Sanae would return to the shrine, though. Speaking of... Maribel had said something earlier that bothered me now.
?That doesn?t look like Sendai, does it??
Certainly, the cracks were to Gensokyo. But really, wasn't it a bit of a stretch of logic to think that Sanae had gone there, and lived there? I knew she had never gone to Sendai, but immediately going from ?Sanae didn't go to Sendai? to ?Sanae moved to Gensokyo? was kind of out there...
Yet, it matched up with everything we knew. Sanae had always had a knack for falling into cracks in the border. I recalled the sketch she had drawn after one particular expedition, the ?Youkai Mountain?. It was the most detailed sketch in the whole notebook for one reason: she fell into that location so often that she always came back with more things to add to the drawing. It was slightly crazy, but what if Sanae had chosen to run away to Gensokyo and take up permanent residence there? It wasn't entirely out of the question, at least.
There was one thing to consider, though. Gensokyo was sealed for a reason-- to keep the youkai safe from the increasing power of the humans. I had once managed to get some books from Okazaki-sensei's library on local mythologies that dealt with precisely this issue. Though the legendary Hiziri Myouren, Hiziri Byakuren, and other saviors of youkai had popped up in the myths from time to time, the humans had always defeated them and continued to drive the youkai into the shadows. Gensokyo had been created as a refuge for them, from humans. How did a human like Sanae manage to fall into Gensokyo (in a place called Youkai Mountain, no less!) and not get eaten or tortured or killed or all three? She wasn't exactly the sanest person I knew-- she had a sci-fi otaku streak a kilometer wide-- but even then, not panicking when she saw monsters was very different from being able to stay alive for months. Unless, of course, she had managed to win the protection of a very formidable guardian, which was unlikely at best.
Operating on the assumption that she had in fact gone to Gensokyo and not just to some place that wasn't Sendai, how had she managed to survive in a world like that? And just as importantly, how had she gotten out? Was she intending to return? Could she bring us with her?
I was pondering these things for a few moments as I neared the top of a small incline, back to school. My eyes caught sight of the stars and automatically forwarded the time to me: 12:47 AM. I wondered if Maribel would have any insight on the matter; she had kept to herself the entire way back to the universit--
It was a quiet street, so the sound of Maribel's bike crashing against the pavement was loud enough for me to notice.
?MARY?!? I cried out, wanting to turn around. But then the hill pulled me back down. I acted against my instincts and took the risk, turning around completely to see Maribel's sprawled form lying on the ground, and her bike's wheels spinning in the air next to her. I thought I saw a stain of dark liquid under her, but the nearest streetlight was a ways off, so I couldn't see well. Her left leg was pinned beneath her bike. She wasn't moving.
?MARY!? I called out, riding my bike down the hill and braking as soon as I reached her side. I ran off of my bicycle, throwing off my backpack, and rushed to her, pulling her bike off of her. She was bleeding from a rather nasty wound on her shin; it wasn't particularly deep, but I would have to disinfect that as soon as we got back to my room.
I picked up Maribel's head. ?Mary,? I said. She didn't reply. Her eyes were closed. For a moment, my heart stopped. Had she hit the ground in such a way that she had hit her head and injured her back? Was she--
?Uhhh.? She groaned, at least. I let out a sigh of relief, even though I hated myself massively for not insisting on wearing a helmet. She could have died right there.
?Mary, are you all right?? I asked, but she only groaned again and lowered her head. I kept her head up and moved closer to her mouth. She was still breathing. I put my hand on her chest. Her heart was fine. So she wasn't dead, she was just... sleeping. Had she fallen asleep on her bike?
This was my fault. I hadn't wanted to waste any gas driving tonight because I was looking forward to watching the autumn leaves with her tomorrow, so I had planned for bikes tonight. If she hadn't been on a bike, she wouldn't have hurt herself.
I felt tears sting my eyes, but I rubbed them away. There was no point beating myself up right now. I would save that for later, in the privacy of my room. Getting Maribel someplace safe was a higher priority. But how could I move her? We were ten minutes away from the university, with two bikes and two backpacks. I could not carry all this; I was exhausted myself, and while I wasn't going to fall asleep on a moving bicycle, I didn't want to take any more risks tonight.
I thought of my cell phone. Could I call Okazaki-sensei? Of course I could. She would be more than willing to give us a ride-- but wasn't Sanae staying with her? How would I explain why we were out here so late at night around the Moriya Shrine? No, calling Yumemi was out of the question. We could not let Sanae know that we knew her secret. I would have to handle this myself.
Could I sit Maribel in my lap and hold on to the handlebars around her? There were few enough cars in this neighborhood that I might be able to get away with that, but I did not want to risk her falling again. And I could not simply leave our backpacks; they were full of too much information to risk losing, and some items in there, like Mary's exorcism charms, would prompt people to ask too many questions. But I could not think of any way to hook up her bicycle to mine and make it carry our things.
In the end, I decided to triage Mary's bike. I picked it up and set it on the sidewalk, propped up against the wall of a residence. I hoped it would be still be here when I returned for it tomorrow, but it would not be a huge loss if it were not. As for our backpacks, I had to abandon one of them. I took all of her things out of her pack and stuffed them into mine; my backpack was sturdier and slightly larger, and since it all fit into mine, it was a success. I reluctantly put this on her back; I would have preferred to carry it myself, but I would be carrying her, and that would be difficult enough.
Mary's leg kept bleeding. I pulled off my tie and wrapped it around the wound, forcing it to act as a bandage.
As for Maribel herself, I had to choose a rather... unsavory solution. I used some duct tape, taken from our supplies, and tied her hands together around my waist so she would stay on the bike. I set her down on the seat, moving forward so I could ride myself. The combined weight of our backpacks and Mary may have not been that much, but I was almost as sleep-deprived as she was. I didn't have much strength left.
It took some time to get this all set up. It was 12:54 AM when I finally managed to get moving again. I took a deep breath and with a grunt of effort, I set off, riding uphill with Maribel tied to me and a too-large backpack and gravity weighing me down. Somewhere in my head, my mind came up with the perfect equation to determine the force I needed to get up this angle with all this weight, disregarding friction. I just hoped I was capable of it.
The hill wasn't all that steep anyway. It just seemed so much higher with all the weight on my back. I did manage to make it to the top of the hill, and then I realized I could have theoretically just carried Maribel and set up everything up here. I cursed myself for being so shortsighted. What was wrong with me? My concern for my best friend was overriding my logic.
Again, I reminded myself to not beat myself up about this just yet. I had to get Mary someplace safe first.
The rest of the path would be easy from here, since there were no more hills or bumps up ahead. Thank god for the wheel. It truly was humanity's greatest invention. But the next time we went on expedition, I promised to myself, we would use my car.
Mary's head rolled onto my shoulder as I rode. I noticed that her head was bare. I must have missed her hat when I picked her up. It had been dark, it would have been easy to miss. I was half-tempted to go back and get it, but I decided I would just grab it when I went back for her bicycle tomorrow.
I rode through the streets at a sluggish pace, back to the university. At 1:09 AM, I finally made it back to the baseball field where I had met Maribel earlier. It was still some distance from here to the middle of campus where my dorm was. I was exhausted.
I rode my bike over the packed earth, hoping the bumping wouldn't make Maribel fall off. But the duct tape held, and I made it to the dorm building entrance. My legs were sore from all the pedaling and my arms felt like they were going to fall off. I wanted to bring the bike inside the building, so it would be just a little bit easier, but it probably wouldn't fit in my room.
I left the bike unchained outside of the building. I undid the duct tape around Maribel's hands and pulled her arms up. She was still sleeping. I pulled her arms over my shoulders and picked up her legs so that she was riding on my back. I looked down at the ground, where I had tossed the heavy backpack, and groaned. I kicked it along as I opened the dorm entrance and turned a left.
I had never been so happy that I had managed to nab a first-floor dormitory when I registered for classes this year. It was 1:15 AM when I finally managed to open the door of my room and drop Maribel onto the closest bed. I tossed the backpack off of my back, immediately feeling lightheaded and woozy. Drained, tired, and dizzy, I collapsed onto the bed next to Maribel, having only enough time to pull a blanket over the both of us before I passed out.
-----
Confirmed total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, one minute (as of Oct. 18 2009. 12:46 AM)
... damn. It just keeps going down, faster and faster each day. At this rate, I do not have much longer to live as a normal person. Before the end of this week's fall break, I'll be asleep more hours than I'll be awake, and then...
I've been lucky so far that this began to happen to me when I was already nineteen. My older brother came down with it in middle school, my older sister in high school. They never had a chance to do what they wanted. I had hoped that perhaps the sad fate of my family had skipped me. My father wrote in his will that he hoped the stain in his blood had passed me by. My mother, on her deathbed, had also said she wished she had been able to spare her children and that if nothing else, she was happy I would live the rest of my life without it.
But it seems that was not my fate.
Oh well. It doesn't matter. I've done all I can do with this life I've been given. All I have yet to do is tell Renko about... this thing that's destroying me, and tell her how much she means to me. I don't want to have to do this, but I must. I want to spare her the pain, I really do. I'm actually surprised she hasn't noticed yet. She's usually so observant... but she's been distracted lately, trying to find the truth, feeling bad that she cannot see the borders the way I can. Oh, Renko, if you only knew what price this ability has been bought for!
We're going on vacation, starting tomorrow. This is good; I want to spend my every waking moment now with her, with nothing separating us, no border between us. Perhaps I can work up the courage to tell her then, under the falling autumn leaves of Heian-Kyō, what is happening to me, what my unique blood really means-- and how much I will miss her.
I don't have time for politeness or caring about sensibilities anymore. I do not have much time between me and sleep never-ending. I have accepted my fate, will accept my fate with all the grace I can-- but I will not accept keeping Renko in the dark any longer. She must know the truth, and soon, or it will be too late.
- Maribel Hearn, Oct. 18 2009, 6:23 AM (Estimated time left: Two weeks)
And now for some news: I think I shall have to take a break from this piece. Updating White Rose reminded me how much I enjoy my pastime of making Koishi's life miserable, and quite frankly, I'm stuck on this particular piece of plot in Sweet Dreams. Moving this fic into its second phase is not looking like it will be easy, and I really want to go back to White Rose for a little while. So please don't expect an update on this next week.
See you folks later, and thanks for reading! o/
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...So today, I learned "galvanize" can be used for things other than chemistry, and duct tape should be carried around everywhere. :S
No Renkorenkorenkomary next week is saddening, but I guess it's to be expected when you're writing multiple things at once...
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...and duct tape should be carried around everywhere. :S
When was the last time you were in high school? You should carry that shit around EVERYWHERE. It's invaluable. >:|
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Hey, I was only in high school...7 months ago! And I never needed duct tape in high school because I never had to carry unconscious people on my back while biking. >:<
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We must have gone to very different high schools, then. :(
(btw, Renko's uni is similar to mine in one respect: At my school, all you had to do was go around the back and yes, it was like you were back in late 1800s Colorado, horses and all. Fun times!)
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With Sana there.
Also, Interesting turn of events, if not entirely unexpected.
Frankly, I should have seen this coming, myself. :V
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... *facedesk*
That's it, I'm outta here. *sfx footsteps, door slam*
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Ouch, you wound us Ruro
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It'll all be fine once Maribel wakes up in her true form.
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:(
And the story takes a turn for the depressing. Still good though.
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Mary and her family was Yukari's Avata--
/me is brutally murdered with books.
Anyway, I really like this piece, I wonder how it will end, hope it will be a Good satisfying ending.
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The best Good Ends are the ones that have been hard-earned through the protagonists' sweat and blood. I'm still hoping for Renko to pull an Emiya Shirou here.
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I knew I should have hunted this place down earlier. Good to see another piece of yours Ruro. Boarder futzing at it's finest. This could turn out very badly, but I see hope here. I'm rooting for the two!
So Mary's condition is related to her bloodline, I wonder....
And now to go through 6 more pages of fics. I really should have come here earlier...
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Oh my god. It's been way too long. Curse you, writer's block!
Wednesday update, and a late one indeed. It's been a while since I've disciplined myself like this, updating weekly. I've fallen out of practice. It'll take a while to get back to constant writing, the way I was before. Please be patient with me, dear readers, because your writer not only happens to be a busy college student, she's also a complete idiot （?・ω・｀）
I won't delay you any longer. Here's the next chapter.
Chapter Six
Confirmed total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, one minute
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I woke up and I groaned. Then I remembered that I was on break, and I didn?t have to wake up early and dash off somewhere, so I sighed with some relief.
Then I noticed Maribel. I vaguely began to remember what had happened last night-- and so I remembered that Mary being awake was a very good thing.
She was sitting on the bed, the backpack that I had had to cram our stuff into next to her. She was turned away from me, and she was leaning forward, writing something in a notebook. I wanted to surprise her with a hug, so I crawled forward on the bed, noticing that I had been too tired to change into decent pajamas last night, and came up behind her. I sat back on my knees so that I overlooked her shoulders, ready to tacklehug her.
I did manage to catch a glimpse of what she was writing in her notebook: it was a series of numbers, arranged in two columns, copied from what seemed like scrap pieces of paper scattered over her lap. Vaguely, I wondered what use a psychology major would have for number lists, but that was irrelevant. First things first, after all.
So I threw my arms around Maribel. ?Good morning!?
?Ah!? Maribel looked startled; I hadn?t managed to do that good of a job concealing my noise as I approached, but she had been so absorbed in her writing that she hadn?t heard me coming. But the look of fear and surprise on her face soon wore off, and she smiled back, brushing the scraps of paper into her notebook and setting it down on the backpack. ?Hey, Renko.?
?Are you feeling all right?? I asked. Now the memory of last night was becoming clear to me. I hugged Maribel to me, happy to feel her safe in my arms. ?You fell pretty hard last night.?
?Oh, yeah,? Maribel replied, trailing off. She scratched her cheek with one hand. ?Sorry about that. I guess I must have fainted or something.?
?No, you didn?t.? I still remembered how my heart had leapt out of my chest and into my throat when I saw Maribel?s body lying on the ground like that last night-- and the relief when I realized that she had been fast asleep. ?You fell asleep, not fainted.?
When Maribel had woken up earlier, she must have been the one to open the windows and let the morning sunshine in. So there was enough light for me to see her face turn-- pale? What the hell for? Maybe she was embarrassed, but how could anyone be embarrassed for their sleeping habit-- oh. Maybe it was that...
?Ahahaha, that?s silly. Who ever heard of someone falling asleep while riding a moving bicycle??
But I already understood. I turned to her.
?It?s fine, Mary. I just figured out what you?re hiding.?
?Wh-- WHAT?!? Maribel stammered. She looked horrified at my discovering her secret. ?Wh-- how did you-- what did you--?
I shook my head. ?Did you really think I wouldn?t have figured it out by now? All the signs are there. You shouldn?t have tried to keep it a secret, Mary.?
She turned to me, putting her hands on my arms. ?But-- no, what--?
?You should have told me right off, before we went on expedition last night,? I went on, staring her down. ?What if something had happened? You could have gotten seriously hurt, and you almost DID get seriously hurt!?
?I?m so sorry,? she began, her eyes shining. ?Renko, I?m so sorry... I knew I should have told you from the start??
?It?s all right, Mary,? I assured her, clasping her hands. ?I completely understand.?
?Y-- you do?!? Maribel exclaimed. She began to smile a bit. ?R-really??
?Sure.? I returned the smile. ?That?s what friends are for.?
?Oh, thank you, Renko!? She pulled her hands out of mine and embraced me. ?Thank you so much!?
I patted her back. ?It?s the least I can do. So you don?t have to worry about a thing.?
?Oh, thank yo--?
?Because I?ll drive your car, just so you can get more rest.?
?Eh?? Maribel sounded surprised.
?That?s the least I can do, isn?t it? You?ve been putting up a brave front this whole time, but now that I know you?re severely sleep-deprived, you don?t have to hide your sleepiness in front of me any longer.?
Maribel released me from the hug and backed up. ?What??
?I?ve already driven your car before, you know,? I replied, hoping to settle her fears. ?I?ve got no problem with driving it to Ryōan-ji if you want to get some sleep in the back.?
?If you want to slee-- hah,? Maribel laughed. She sounded a bit angry for a moment, but it was gone quickly. ?Oh well.?
I frowned. ?Really, you should have told me this ages ago. I would have helped you out any way I could.?
Maribel paused for a moment. Then she got a strange look in her eye that I couldn?t immediately place and slowly took hold of my right hand. ?Do you really mean that??
?Yes,? I said, hoping my voice sounded firm. ?I do.?
Her other hand did not take hold of mine, but rather, she raised it up and put it on my shoulder, then ran it through my messy bedhead hair.
?Thank you,? she said with a smile. There was something about that smile that made my face feel hot, but I had no idea why. Even then, the sensation of her hand in my hair felt great, so I didn?t move her hand.
?I care for you, Mary. If I can help in any way, just tell me.?
?Okay then,? she agreed. I saw a faint blush come to her cheeks too. It made me smile to see her that happy.
Mary's lips parted, and for a half-second, I thought she was going to say something--
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
?Ah,? I said, feeling the haze in my head clear once and for all. ?It's 7:00 AM. G'morning, Mary.?
She hesitated for a moment, but then she smiled and nodded. ?Good morning, Renko.?
Remembering what time it was reminded me of what day it was, and I slapped my own forehead for my sleepiness-induced stupidity.
?It's Sunday,? I said, forgetting the actual date for a moment.
?October 18th,? Maribel clarified. ?We should be leaving soon, shouldn't we??
?Hm.? I fiddled with my tie, refocusing my mind on what needed to get done today. ?We're going to the Ryōan-ji temple for vacation, right??
She nodded, her blonde hair falling forward off her shoulders. ?We've still got to pack, though.?
I also nodded, but there was something that was bothering me that I couldn't quite put my finger on. ?Maybe we should get breakfast first, though.?
?I'm not sure what place is open this early,? she replied, wrapping one of her locks of blonde hair around her finger without seeming to notice. ?Maybe we could find a food stand.?
My eyes fixated on her finger, and then I had it.
?Mary, can you do me a favour?? I asked.
?What is it?? she asked as I stood up and undid my tie, then quickly unbuttoned my own shirt and tossed it to the side. ?Re--Renko! What are yo--?
?Last night, I had to leave your bike out on the street,? I replied, cutting her off as I reached into the small dresser where I kept my clothes to grab a shirt. It was a black dress shirt, which I was fine with. Dress shirts were my preferred shirts, and I threw it on, then undid the buttons on my black skirt while I turned around to grab a skirt or pair of pants, whichever met my hand first. ?And your backpack, too. I have to go pick it up before we leave and I forget all about it.?
?Re--Renko, put something on!? Maribel stammered as she pulled a pillow up to her red face.
I frowned at her. ?I am putting something on,? I said, kicking my skirt off while I buttoned up my new black shirt. ?I can't go out wearing the same clothes I did last night.?
?Bu--but we're riding in my car, aren't we?? she attempted to ask in a clear voice, but she was nervous. I could see why she may have been a bit embarrassed, since I was stripping down in front of her, but really, we were best friends. We'd both seen each other wearing less before, and besides, we were both girls, so what was the big deal?
I was tugging on a pair of gray pants as I answered, ?Yes, but I can't just leave your bike behind--? and then I remembered something else, so I pointed at Maribel's bare head. ?And I can't leave your hat behind, either.?
?Ah,? Maribel gave a small gasp as she touched the top of her head. ?I have some other hats, though...?
?Yes, but that one's your favourite, isn't it?? I buttoned up my pants and pulled on a pair of black tennis shoes, all the better for moving quickly. ?Sorry I had to leave them behind last night, but it was hard to carry you and all our stuff back here. I'll go grab 'em.? I tied up the tennis shoes, stood up, and reached over to the hook on the wall where my ties hung. ?If you can pack up our stuff in the meanwhile, that'd be great.?
She nodded, slowly pulling the pillow away from her face. ?Right then. Are you going on foot, Renko??
?Makes it easier to just ride your bike back here,? I explained, straightening my tie and adjusting my clothes. I reached over to the dresser where I had left my keyring and cell phone and nodded to Maribel. ?Well then, I'm off,? I said, pulling my hat off of the top of my desk chair. ?Back in a half hour.?
?Ah--? she was about to say something, but I was already halfway out the door.
But she was my best friend, so I couldn't just be a jerk and walk out. I popped my head back in before I had closed the door. ?What is it, Mary??
?Oh--? she seemed surprised that I had noticed. Maybe a bit nervous. She bit her lip.
I waited patiently, noting the digital clock behind her. 7:04 AM.
?I'll tell you later,? she said, waving me off. ?When we've got more time. Remind me later, okay??
I nodded, tipping my hat to her. ?Back in a bit, then.? I left, locking the door behind me.
-----
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With the sun shining the way it was over the distant cityscape, its rays of light warming the cold morning air, it was hard to believe that not a few hours ago, I had been wandering around in a shrine and encountered powers and mystical things so strange and shrouded in mystery that I may as well have been in a prior century.
There was a bit of fog, but the sun was dispelling it. I wasn't in any particular rush, because there weren't too many people walking around in this neighborhood so early in the morning, but I didn't want to slack off either, so I went at a decent fast pace. The steady rhythm of my feet lulled me to thinking, and without music to distract me, I began to wonder about last night.
It all seemed so... surreal, like it had happened many years ago, to some other girl who was not me. But no, I had definitely seen, even for just a half-second, the hairline-thickness cracks in the boundary that separated Gensokyo, the world of illusion, from mine.
But it was just so impossible to believe. I couldn't believe it. I was too much of a skeptic for that. Yes, there were some miraculous coincidences that had allowed me to hope for a moment that Gensokyo existed-- and there was the small matter that Maribel said Gensokyo existed, and I could not bring myself to doubt her-- but still. I needed to see it with my own two eyes, inhale its breeze, touch it with my hands, feel its existence as I could feel the pavement beneath my feet.
By this time, I was starting to confuse myself. I couldn't figure it out; didn't I want to visit Gensokyo? Didn't I want to believe as desperately as anything? I was being erratic, wasn't I? One moment, I believed in Gensokyo beyond a shadow of a doubt, and the other, denying what little evidence I could find.
I wished.... gah, this was hard to put into words. I didn't want to think of myself being this selfish. But I was.
I wished I had Maribel's eyes, so that I could see the truth of Gensokyo's existence.
I felt guilty about thinking she was lying. She couldn't be lying to me. What she said was too complex for any one imagination. The visions she saw, the dreams she had, the cracks she had peered through-- all internally consistent, if a bit unbelievable. And yet there was a nagging, paranoid part of me that wanted to go further, see it for myself, not having to rely on the word of people I trusted-- and wasn't thinking that way a betrayal of Maribel, in a way? I was saying that I didn't trust her enough to just accept what she said.
But still... was it so selfish to want to experience Gensokyo myself, without someone having to hold my hand to do it? To be able to believe in it, without any doubts?
Truth be told, that was why I was coming out here this early in the morning. In the sun of the daytime, I could fool myself into thinking that last night had never happened, that I had never made my way to the honden of the Moriya Shrine, that I had never found the statues of the frog and the snake, that I had never been so close to a crack in the boundary of Gensokyo, enough to reach out and touch it...
I took a deep breath and climbed the slight hill. On the other side, there would be the proof I needed.
Finding the bicycle and backpack I had left on the street where Maribel had fainted would put an end to those doubts. If I could go back and find them, I could confirm the events of last night, and no longer be able to deny that we had been in the Moriya Shrine, and that I had seen all those things, that my mind wasn't just so desperate to believe that it was making things up, that I really could some day go to Gensokyo--
When I reached the top of the hill, I looked down, and let out a sigh of relief.
There. I walked down to see it. There it was. Maribel's bicycle, that I had had to leave last night. Maribel's backpack, which I had been forced to leave behind. Proof that I had been where I was last night, that it hadn't just been a dream.
I allowed myself a smile.
Then, there was hope I could go to Gensokyo someday...
Thankfully, the bike and backpack were in perfect shape. The bike had stayed where I had left it leaning against the wall of a house, and the backpack had been hanging off of one of the handlebars. The morning dew hadn't been enough to leave any lasting damage. In fact, the seat had dried just enough for me to wipe it off and sit comfortably on it. Maribel's bike was taller than mine, but not by much; I got used to the feeling fast enough, and throwing the backpack over my shoulders, I began to pedal my way back to the hill, and back to school.
I didn't remember until halfway home that I had not seen Maribel's hat, but by this time, I was so hungry that I didn't care to go back and search for it. An animal had probably picked it up. Oh well. I shouldn't have expected to save everything.
The bike and backpack were all I needed for proof. I gripped the handlebar, trying to control the wide smile that was spreading over my face as I realized-- Yes, despite my doubt, skepticism, despair, there was proof, evidence, a basis for this wild hope, the hope that one day, I, Renko Usami-- I could someday go to Gensokyo!
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Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fifteen hours, fifty-one minutes
End of Chapter Six.
In the interests of full disclosure, I must say this: No one should expect me to write anything halfway decent anytime soon. :V I've still got to get back to the swing of things... Please be patient with me!
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Good job ruro! Don't worry, you'll snap out of it, hopefully without resorting to sleep deprivation like I am. Stupid essays.
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Ah, I'd been looking forward to seeing more of this. Worth waiting for even if it isn't on a weekly basis. Alas poor Renko, your logical deductions will get you nowhere. Well not for a while at least. I wonder how my guesses will pan out.
... I should write something with those two. Another thing for my list...
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...WHY I always read her name as "Usamimi"??
Also, it's good that you're writing again, Ruro.
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It's wonderful to see this updated again. =D Also, your writing is still leaps and bounds better than mine, so don't worry if you don't feel you're writing your best.
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Ah finally got around reading the next chapter.
And now I'm a bit more motiviated to finish mine. I hope to have it done by this weekend for you Ruro, but I tend to be a bit longer than what I first say :V
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After reading this, I immediately fell asleep afterwards for five hours. :ohdear:
Though it may have just been lightheadedness from imagining Renko changing
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After reading this, I immediately fell asleep afterwards for five hours. :ohdear: Though it may have just been lightheadedness from imagining Renko changing
Wait, how does one get sleepy from imagining Renko's underwe
hnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggnnnn...
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*KRAKATHOOM*
*thunder, lightning crash*
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7283/1204800902575.jpg)
So it turns out that being an admin of a site like MotK can eat up vast amounts of time. And writer's block is a bitch and a half.
However, this series' contract has officially been renewed. As has White Rose's, though out of necessity (the next update is a bit long), I'm updating Sweet Dreams this week, and White Rose the next. Stay tuned, folks, but for now, enjoy the return of Sweet Dreams!
Or don't. It's not like I c-care or anything. Hmph.
Chapter Seven
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fifteen hours, forty-two minutes
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When I came back, Maribel was singing.
?Whoa, doctor bones, doctor bones, doctor bones, I love you doctor boooooooooones!?
Swing music, I recognized when I walked in, the click of the lock opening going unheard next to the sound of our computer speakers playing one of Maribel's favourite CDs.
?Whoa, shake, shake, shake n' rattle, rattle 'em doctor bones-- c'mon, shake, shake, shake n' rattle, rattle 'em doctor bones--?
I could see her standing in our very small kitchenette, her right foot twirling around, tapping to the beat, and an apron tied around her as she flipped-- wait, were those homemade pancakes? Hell YES. I knew I loved this girl for a reason.
?Hey, Mary, I brought your things back,? I spoke loudly enough that she could hear me over the sound of her music.
Maribel half-turned, and smiled back at me. ?Awesome. Just dump my backpack somewhere.?
?Sure thing.? I dropped it on our couch, and sat down. Maribel had dragged out our traveling suitcases at some point while I had been gone, so now that I had it handy, I took the chance to start opening up my cabinets and pack away some clothes for the next seven days.
In the meantime, the dorm filled with the scent of fresh-made pancakes. I inhaled, and I realized then that I was really, REALLY hungry.
I reflected also that I was sitting, warm and comfortable after coming in from a fresh morning bike ride, spending the early hours with a best friend who was busy singing along to American swing music while making fresh pancakes, and I suddenly felt very fortunate.
The memory of what I had been talking about with Yumemi yesterday-- about how I could not take life for granted-- floated into my mind, and I had to smile. This was a fantastic life I led. If I could have any wish...
I wished then and there that things as they were now could last forever.
The song ended. Maribel turned and grinned at me.
?What's the reason for that smile, Renko??
?Hmm...? I didn't know how to reply in a fancy manner, so I just said what was true. ?Everything.?
Maribel chuckled and turned back to her cooking.
-----
A few minutes later, Maribel and I were seated at our small table, enjoying fresh-made pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries on them. And some syrup, too. Delicious stuff.
Maribel wiped her mouth with a napkin. ?So,? she asked, reaching over to grab my hand. ?What're we doing today??
I held her hand in mine, wondering where the sudden affection had come from, but not minding it in the least. ?Are you packed yet??
She nodded. ?Just need to throw your stuff in the car, and we can get going.?
?Great.? I racked my brain for anything I could be forgetting. ?Wait. Should we call Yumemi before we leave? Just so someone knows where we've gone.?
?Sounds good to me,? she replied, finishing her last slice of pancake. ?I'll take your things to the car.?
I nodded, swallowing my last slice as well. She left the room with my packed suitcase, pulling it along by its wheels, as I took my plate over to the small sink we had in our kitchenette. I washed it with one hand as I dialed Yumemi's home number with my other. It was 8:07 AM; she should've been awake by now.
The phone rang. It was answered. “Hello??
That wasn't Yumemi's voice, though. ?Good morning. Is Okazaki-sensei home??
?Who's calling??
?Renko Usami. I'm one of her physics students.?
?Ah, Renko! I didn't recognize you at first. It's me, Kotohime.?
?Kotohime!? It was the policewoman, the one I rarely ever saw because she was always working. But she was there in the morning. Maybe she had late mornings. ?Where's Yumemi??
?She already left with Sanae this morning,? Kotohime replied. ?They already left to go to Nagano at, like, 7:00 AM.?
Nagan-- wait, what?
I didn't say it aloud. I did pause for a moment, though.
Kotohime's playful tone cut through my thoughts. ?What do you need her for??
I stayed stunned for a moment longer, and then caught myself. ?Oh-- nothing, I just wanted to ask when I could see her again, to go stargazing later.?
?Ah, I see. Well, you could always try her cell.?
?I will. Thanks, Kotohime-san.?
?No problem, Renko~ see you around.?
I hung up.
Nagano? With Sanae? Earlier today? Already? But it was so early in the morning. Why had they gone? It sounded like they had left in some kind of rush.
Stop that, I snapped at myself. I was being paranoid. Stop jumping to crazy conclusions. In all likelihood, they left that early to beat the morning traffic. And they were going to Nagano to visit... something. I didn't know. But if it was Yumemi, Sanae wouldn't say anything about Gensokyo. Yumemi knew nothing about Gensokyo except what the Sealing Club had told her. Right? Right.
I couldn't help but worry, though. What was Sanae planning? What on earth were they up to?
Calm down, I told myself again. Watch, they're doing something utterly benign, and you're making too big a deal about it. Yumemi's a smart woman. She knows what she's doing. So does Sanae. They probably just went fishing or something. Yes. That was it.
I put my dirty dishes off to the side to dry. I really needed something to do before I drove myself crazy with these thoughts.
Thankfully, an opportunity presented itself, in the form of Maribel opening the door. ?Renko, you ready??
?Yes,? I replied, grabbing my mostly empty backpack. ?Let's get going.?
Maribel went over to grab her CD of swing music and a water bottle, and walked out of the room. I followed after, locking the door behind me, and bid farewell to our dorm for the next few days. I followed Maribel down the hall and out of the building (which was mostly empty by now) and out to the parking lot.
In front of her car, Maribel pulled her keys out of her pocket and dangled them in front of me. ?All yours, Renkobon.?
I shot her a snarky grin. ?Thanks, Maryberry.?
She grinned back and hopped in.
-----
Now, I understand how strange it is for two college-age girls to have a car in modern-day Japan, where EVERYONE uses public transportation. It's not actually that weird if I explain. For her 16th birthday, Maribel was told that she'd be getting a present from overseas. It turned out to be a Land Rover G4. British make, apparently-- cars were never my thing. But the thing was hers, and yes, it stood out in a country where everyone rides their bikes or the train everywhere.
Maribel didn't drive it often for that reason; the public transportation system was too efficient to justify it, and she didn't like driving besides. She really did prefer riding her bike with me. But for a trip like this, Maribel just felt she had to use her car, especially since we had luggage to carry around too, and I wanted the practice. I rarely got to drive, and though I didn't care much for car trivia, I did like driving.
?Master and slave-- in equal parts, split down the middle, drinkin' doubles at the bar-- oh, master and slave, god bless you both, I got two for the price of one-- Such a deal for your only sooooon--?
And so that was why I was driving through the streets of Kyoto, making my way to our destination, amused at all the looks this car was getting. I supposed the sight of two college-age girls (and one of them singing along to English swing music) in a car like this would draw stares.
?Geez, you'd think these people have never seen a Land Rover,? I commented.
?Wait 'till they see Yumemi's Cadillac,? Maribel replied, turning up the music. ?Ooh, this is the best part!?
She tapped her hand against the dashboard to the beat as she sang along, loudly enough to draw stares from pedestrians outside.
?While the masters and slaves scratch for pieces of the dream-- for purple mountain majesties, whatever the hell that means-- They give up on each other, and that's the way they get ahead-- But I can still see the stars, through these red, white, and blue prison bars-- oh, master and slave--?
I couldn't look over for more than a few seconds, but I got enough time to see Maribel air-microphoning, and I had to laugh aloud. It was just so wonderful, so fitting for such a great day today, to see her having that much fun.
?Hey, what is it?? Maribel looked over at me, pulling a sad face. ?Are you laughing at me??
?No,? I said, trying to choke back my laughter and failing. ?Okay, fine, yes.?
?Why? Are you making fun of me?? She asked, leaning over on her seat to me. ?How mean...?
?It's not that,? I chuckled. ?I'm amused, but not at your expense.?
?Whaaaat? What does that even mean??
I shook my head, making sure that the route was straight enough that I could look away from the road. ?I've laughed at you before, Mary, but not because I'm mocking you.? I looked at her; her face was no more than a foot away from mine. ?It's only because you're so unexpectedly wonderful that I can hardly believe it.?
I had to turn back to the road then, but I could have sworn I saw Maribel's face turn a dozen shades of red then as she sat back down onto her seat.
?Oh, Renko... thanks.?
?For what, telling the truth?? I shook my head. ?That's not something you need to thank me for.?
?But still...? A nudging on my right hand prompted me to look down. I saw Maribel's hand cover my own, and I glanced up at her to see her smile, warmer than ever, and a faint blush on her cheek. ?Thank you.?
I smiled back. ?You're welcome, then.?
Maribel squeezed my hand and let it go. I looked at my hand on the steering wheel, and I already missed the feel of her hand on mine. I shook that thought out of my head, glanced at the time-- 8:32 AM-- and concentrated on the road.
-----
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fifteen hours, twenty minutes
End of Chapter Seven.
Oh man it feels so damn good to be writing again. I'm terribly out of practice, though, as this update's quality should indicate. :V Please be patient with me!
We're finally moving into the second arc of Sweet Dreams. I can't wait to start writing some more of this. :3
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Nice to see this updated. I wonder where they're going~?
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Yes, it's back! Now I can see what....
Give me a sec, I need to review everything that came before.
Still it's great to see Renko and Mary back in action. And to see you writing again. Running something is always time consuming and I have no idea how much of a mess something the size of MotK would be.
Hm... Right, need to assign some time for my own Maribel plot...
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The visuals of Renko driving through Kyoto while Mary rocks out to swing music is just too amusing to me. So glad to see you back writing. :3
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Oh my goodness
IT'S ALIVEEEEE
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Nope. Just like White Rose, this ain't dead yet.
Fun meta fact: White Rose's word count is currently 153,081. Counting this update right down here, Sweet Dreams' word count is... 26,445. Can I count this as a short story yet? Well, it is by my standards :V
Things will start to get interesting from here on out, promise. Wednesday update, go!
Chapter Eight
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fifteen hours, sixteen minutes
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From a distance, we saw our destination.
?Oh my,? I said. Next to me, I heard Maribel's breath catch in her throat, and I knew I had picked the right spot.
Ryōan-ji temple was where we would be staying for the next few days. It was a Zen temple and a UNESCO world heritage site, and therefore off-limits for tourists?until just recently. Short version, I had managed to secure a guest room at the Ryōan-ji for Mary and myself for a full week with relative ease.
We parked a ways off, in a small, otherwise empty parking lot, and Maribel popped open the back trunk so we could get our things. We rolled our luggage up to the front door. From my glances at the Ryōan-ji temple web site, immediately inside was the kuri, the entrance area. This was the front step, so we both left our shoes here. I knocked and waited for someone to open the door.
Maribel, who got bored easily, reached over to a stack of guides to the temple grounds and opened it then and there. She frowned.
The door was taking some time to open. I looked over at Maribel. ?What are you doing??
?This is... a UNESCO World Heritage Site,? Maribel replied. ?Centuries old, and strictly hands-off, tourist-only. How in the hell did you manage to get a room here like it was a hotel??
I grinned. I had been waiting for Maribel to ask. ?Well--? I was about to explain, but then the door opened, and a wrinkled old woman in a purple yukata walked out and bowed at a shallow angle.
?Come right on in,? she greeted us.
I tried not to burst out laughing at the continued look of shock on Maribel?s face. I guessed the explanation would have to wait.
?Thank you. Can you show us the way inside??
?Of course,? she replied, turning around and walking inside. I followed after her, and Maribel shook off her surprise fast enough to walk in after me.
Maribel skipped up, enough to walk abreast of me. We walked through the kuri together, letting the servant lead us to our room. I could tell that she really wanted to ask what was going on, but she was containing herself as best she could.
Finally, the servant led us to a screen, and opened it to the side. ?This is one of the new guest chambers. This is where you?ll be staying for the week. Let the groundskeeper know if you need anything,? she said as she slid the shoji closed.
I let out a sigh of relief. ?Man, this is pretty cool.?
Maribel looked utterly horrified as I lay down on the mats. ?Re-- RENKO?!?
I raised an eyebrow as I put my hands behind my head. ?What's up??
?What the hell? How on earth did we manage to get a room in a place as old as this?!?
I smiled. ?No need to panic. The explanation is pretty simple.? I sat up, cross-legged. ?Remember when we went to visit my parents in Tokyo??
?Yes,? Maribel replied, unease in her voice.
?That time, during the 53-minute train ride, we were talking about how thanks to the Mount Fuji Revival Association, it was finally nominated as a United Nations world natural heritage site.? I wished I had the newspaper to show her, but I continued anyway. ?I grabbed the newspaper a few weeks back, and it caught my eye. Don?t you ever read the paper??
Maribel shook her head. I sighed.
?Not but a few weeks ago, Mt. Fuji was accepted as a world natural heritage site. So the Japanese government decided to try and nominate various other places, including this temple, worthy to be nominated as world heritage sites. In order to impress the international crowd, then, those places were now opened to the public, and this one in particular has been opened to week-long stays. However, they?re not yet popular, busy tourist areas, so it was pretty easy to get a room here.?
I had been sitting on this story for weeks. I waited to see Maribel?s reaction.
?Still...? she looked as worried as ever. ?Oh maaaaaan,? Maribel groaned, putting her hands on her head. ?There?s no way we should be allowed in a place this old. We are going to be in so much trouble. They'll put us in front of a firing squad for this.?
?Don't be so melodramatic,? I chastised her, somewhat disappointed that she wasn?t as excited as I was. Why did she have to focus on the details like this? That was my job, damnit. ?We're in, and it?s perfectly legal. What more do you want??
?I guess... this is a really beautiful temple,? she replied, looking around the room. ?Really beautiful.?
?I chose this place for the momijigari, as you requested,? I said, closing my eyes to give them a few minutes of rest. ?As soon as you're unpacked, we can head out for the day.?
She didn?t make a sound. I opened one eye to look at her.
Maribel stood, unmoving, and then she let out a long sigh as her shoulders sagged. She moved her arms from side to side and closed her eyes, then ran her hands through her loose blonde hair.
?All right. Let me get my stuff put away, and we can go have some fun.?
I smiled at her, happy that she had finally decided to give up and just enjoy our vacation, and while she was up to that, I pulled my hat over my face and got some rest.
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I was poked awake a while later-- at 9:25 AM, according to my watch. My hat fell off my face as I got up, and the first thing I saw was Maribel wearing a long purple-and-white kimono.
?When did you put that on?? I tried to ask. I ended up mumbling instead.
?Just now, while you were sleeping,? Maribel replied. She twirled, the wide sleeves of her kimono swinging around her. ?I don't think I tied the obi right, though...?
I blinked sleep away and focused on the obi tied around her waist.
?I don't see anything wrong with it,? I sighed.
Maribel looked down at me, and for some strange reason, she started to turn a bit red.
?C-could you check?? she asked. ?There might be something wrong with it. I'd hate it if my kimono just... slipped off at the worst time.?
?Mary, I don't know how to tie obi,? I replied. ?If you want my advice, just use a pin on it to keep it together. Or freakin' duct tape. Whatever.?
Maribel sighed, and I immediately felt bad. I didn't want to let her down-- but really, it had been years since I'd tied any obi. Still...
I stood up as Maribel began to turn away. ?Mary. Hold still.?
?Ah?? she asked as my hands found the back of her waist. ?Re-Renko??
?I'm fixing the mess you made of this knot,? I replied, putting my hat on Maribel's blonde head while I worked. ?It's all wrong. I'll have to take it all off.?
?Take what all off?? Maribel asked, her voice becoming high-pitched near the end.
?The obi, of course,? I replied, wishing I had a few bobby pins around. They'd solve this problem right quick. I finally managed to undo the whole obi, and the cloth of Maribel's kimono suddenly became a lot looser around her body. It would be really easy for it to fall off right now.
Almost as if on cue, Maribel shrugged, and suddenly her kimono began to fall off her shoulders, revealing the back of her bare chest to me.
?M-Mary!? I cried out, catching the cloth of her purple kimono before it could fall off. ?Hold on, don't move, or your clothes will just fall off.?
?Oh?? she replied, a slight huskiness in her voice. ?Fall off??
I nodded as I pulled the kimono back up. ?And that would be bad.?
?It... would?? she asked. Was she cold or something? It was pretty warm in this room.
?Mmhmm,? I replied as I managed to secure the kimono around her shoulders while messing with the obi. ?Ah, here we are.? I wound the obi around her waist, and got to work on the knots.
It had been years since I'd last tied an obi, but even if my head didn't remember it, my hands did. They wove through the cloth and slowly, her obi came together.
?You shouldn?t even be using an obi to do this any more,? I remarked. ?They have modern, pre-tied ones you can use instead.?
?That looks complicated,? Maribel remarked, looking over her shoulder at my work.
?Heh, that's a good thing,? I replied as I put the finishing touches on my masterpiece. ?I heard somewhere that the more knots a woman can make in an obi, the better she is with her hands. Token innuendo implied.?
?With her hands--? Maribel's face suddenly went bright red. ?R-really??
I nodded. ?I guess that would mean that I'd be really good at... actually, you know what? Let's not go there.?
Maribel had put her hands over her face and nose by now. She nodded up and down very quickly.
I grabbed my small backpack. I heard Maribel take a few deep breaths behind me. ?Wait. You're not going to put on a kimono??
I looked down at my gray pants, black shirt, and white tie. ?Right now, I'm good with what I'm wearing.?
She looked a bit disappointed. ?I was hoping I'd get to help you put one on.?
?Maybe later,? I laughed. ?Right now, I want to see the autumn leaf paths. When we get back, you can help me strip naked and throw on a yukata.?
I walked towards the door as Maribel turned redder than I had ever seen her before. She didn?t follow immediately-- I laughed and turned around. ?C'mon, let's go.?
?Y-yes... let's get going.?
I slid open the shoji door and let Maribel leave first. I followed after her, and together we found our way to a patio, where we found some sandals waiting for us, and from there we wandered off into the winding paths of the grounds of Ryōan-ji temple.
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The clicking of our wooden sandals went for a while, and then slowed down, muffled, and stopped altogether after a few minutes.
They were clicking as we walked over the paved paths to the nearby forest. They slowed down as we watched the hordes of red-orange Japanese maple leaves blowing in the breeze, moving like an ocean of fire over the treetops. They were muffled by the leaves underfoot that had already blown off and covered the path like a carpet, and they stopped altogether when we stopped caring about walking down the whole path, and just sat down to watch the autumn leaves in the warm breeze.
I hadn't gone autumn leaf viewing in a while. I thought about it, and regretted all the times I had decided to sleep in instead of going out to see red-gold leaves in the early morning. I had missed out.
Next to me, Maribel also seemed to be stunned into silence. I couldn't agree more with her. The waves of fire-red leaves undulating in the breeze above us, below us, and around us took my breath away.
I looked over at Maribel. Her blue eyes were opened wide, drinking in as much of the scene as they could. Her blonde hair had always been nice to look at, but against the backdrop of red-gold leaves moving like flames behind her, her hair looked even brighter.
I found myself unable to turn my gaze from her. She was absolutely radiant.
I knew it was impolite to stare, but I couldn?t help it.
?Ah?? Maribel turned to me, the most beautiful smile on her face. ?Renko, what is it??
??beautiful,? I managed to stammer, embarrassed at having been caught.
?It is really beautiful out here,? she agreed, turning back to see the red-gold sea of leaves around us. And then a slow grin crept over her face, and she came closer to me.
??uh?? I asked as she came to my left side and wrapped her arm around mine, and looked over to me with a smile.
?Something this beautiful... should be shared, don?t you think??
I nodded, my words caught in my throat. Against the burning sea around us, her ocean-blue eyes stared right into mine, and I was amazed at how beautiful they were.
?Yes,? I replied, and I put my arm over her shoulders and held her to my side. She laid her head against my shoulder, and we stayed that way for a long while as the sun ignited the treetops, and the wind moved the leaves like a sea of fire.
-----
I was the one to break the peace, unfortunately. I hadn?t had enough sleep last night. I was tired, and so I started closing my eyes.
Maribel caught me before I tipped over.
?Renko?? she asked, worried. The sound of her voice shattering the silence got me back to my senses. I blinked myself back to reality.
?Are you all right?? I was too heavy for Maribel to hold up. She let me down slowly onto the leaf-covered ground, and I picked up my hat-- I hadn?t even noticed it had fallen off.
?I?m all right,? I said, and yawned.
?You?re still sleepy from last night, aren?t you??
She looked worried for me again; I laughed. ?Well, yes. But I had to drive, and I had to get you out here.?
?I would have driven if you had asked,? she protested. ?And we could have slept in a bit longer if you had wanted to.?
?No, it?s fine, it?s fine.? I got to my feet, brushing leaves off of my skirt. ?Sleep problems aren?t a big deal.?
?Says you,? she countered, frowning. ?Seriously, Renko, let?s get back.?
?No, it?s too early to be sleeping.? I looked at my watch. ?It?s just 10:57 in the morning. Not even afternoon yet.?
?If you need to sleep now, you should,? Maribel objected, putting her hands on her hips.
?But... I don?t want to waste a moment of this trip with you,? I explained with a sigh.
She looked at me with a look of mild shock. ?Really??
?Yeah. So I don?t want to sleep unless I absolutely have to.?
?Well, I can relate to that,? she replied. ?But really, Renko. You need to sleep.?
?But--?
?Look, if you?re half-asleep throughout the whole trip, that?s really time wasted. But if you take right now to get some rest, we can wander around the rest of the grounds the rest of the afternoon. Instead of being half-rested all day and forgetting everything you did today, let?s go back and you can nap. We can even pick up a snack there while we?re at it.?
She smiled at me, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
?So, please, Renko? Do it for me??
I hoped that the sea of fire behind me was just as intense as it was behind her, because I was pretty sure that my cheeks were as red as the autumn leaves.
Still, I had to frown a bit, and look away. ?I guess.? Then I looked back at her. ?I?ll do it. But I?ll find my own way back, all right??
?Eh? Why?? she protested, the sleeves of her kimono moving with her as her arms twitched.
?Because I don?t want you to waste a moment of your vacation.? I sighed, and put my hands on her shoulders. ?Please? For me??
She frowned, but eventually she nodded. ?Fine. I?ll stay out here.?
?Good,? I replied. ?Look, I?m fine. The grounds are perfectly safe, you know that.?
?I do,? she said. ?But promise me that you?ll go straight back and go to sleep. Don?t go wandering off somewhere where I can?t find you.?
I threw her a mock salute. ?Yes, ma?am.?
She giggled, and the sound was like music. ?All right, I?ll wander around and see everything, so when you come back later I can take you to see the most beautiful places here.?
?Sounds good to me,? I said, adjusting my hat. ?See you later.? I turned, and began to walk down the same path, back to the temple, as Maribel stood alone in her purple kimono.
I turned around to see when I was further down the path, and she was still standing there, looking out for me. I waved, and she waved back, and then I continued walking.
-----
I had underestimated how long and winding the leaf-covered path was. I guess I hadn?t noticed earlier, with how much more interesting the leaves were, and how enjoyable it had been to be walking by Maribel?s side.
I had been lying. I really was very tired. My arms ached, and my legs were beginning to feel like lead. I looked at my watch-- how long had it taken for us to get out here, anyway?
11:25 AM? You must be joking, I?ve been walking that long on this path and I haven?t gotten anywhere?
I wished I had a water bottle to splash on my face. But the warmth of the late morning sun was already lulling me into sleep. I felt my eyelids start to turn heavy. At least Maribel had been right on that count-- I desperately needed sleep. But now I wished that she had been able to convince me to let her accompany me back. At this rate, I would end up falling asleep near the path here.
At least there were leaves everywhere on the ground. If I did need to sleep, it would be fine to sleep along the leaf-covered path.
I kicked some leaves off the path, to see how far I could walk off.
... except there was just grass on the ground.
No cobblestone path? Huh. I kicked the leaves off another part of the ground, expecting to see the telltale grey of the path-- but again, just grass.
I kicked another area. Grass.
Another. Grass.
Oh crap, I had wandered off the path.
The path had been covered with leaves, and I hadn't been paying attention, since I was so drowsy. I had gotten myself lost on the very expansive temple grounds. And I had left my cell phone in my room. Not that it mattered-- Maribel wouldn't be able to find me. Every area of the temple grounds looked the same-- a sea of orange-red leaves, everywhere.
And I was getting sleepier by the minute.
I looked up at the sky, but there weren't any stars out yet. Damn it. How was I supposed to find my way now?
I yawned, and my thoughts were replaced by ?where's a good place to sleep?? I didn't want to sleep outside, but it didn't look like there was another choice. I had to find a place to shut down, and fast.
I made up my mind quickly. The tree over there, in that small clearing. It was bigger than the ones around it, and looked brighter than the rest. If Maribel were to walk by here, she would certainly see me there.
I dragged myself over to it, and gathered up leaves to serve as a makeshift bed. They were a bit itchy where they rubbed my bare skin, but it was better than sleeping on the hard ground, and I was too tired to care at this point.
I lay down on top of my leaf pile bed and closed my eyes.
And just before I went to sleep, I swear I started to see a falling leaf in front of my eyes glow with light--
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Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fifteen hours, zero minutes
Yes, Sweet Dreams' first cliffhanger. In fact, it could be considered my first real cliffhanger at all, period. I'm sorry about that, I had no idea how else to end this update. :ohdear:
Thanks to Donut for help with the UNESCO world heritage site research. I was scratching my head for days to figure out how to get Maribel and Renko a room in the Ryōan-ji, and then he mentioned Mt. Fuji from Retrospective 53 Minutes being a new nomination for a world natural heritage site, yet still tourist-accessible. It's really amazing all the little details ZUN puts in his fiction that no one notices.
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A lovely read, as always. Not sure if that classifies as a cliffhanger, but I am looking forward to knowing what the bright light is.
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Decided to read this, and boy, was it a good decision! It's a nice tale of Renko and Mary shenanigans, to be sure.... it makes me wonder just what fate there is in store, an if the worst can be averted, oh, the suspense is deadly. And the sexual tension (I suppose) in the later parts so far, heh... 's cute. It would be sad if Maribel succumbed and all would be for naught, but... well, this is far from over, isn't it? Wonder what's about to happen noooow...
In the short of it: I like it, and I wish this review was a little better. :V
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Knowing this is going to be a melancholy tale makes me afraid to keep reading - they seem to be having so much fun right now, I don't want that timer to wind down any further :ohdear:
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Knowing this is going to be a melancholy tale makes me afraid to keep reading - they seem to be having so much fun right now, I don't want that timer to wind down any further :ohdear:
You posting this has made me decide to say something that's been on my mind for a while now.
Now, Sweet Dreams originally emerged as an experiment with a short story. (It was also originally meant to be a one-shot. Look how that turned out! :V) I later planned out more or less the whole story in a notebook-- except for the ending, which is still... eh. The one thing I did know about the ending was that I wanted to try out a tragedy. I was a bit uncertain about this, but later I developed the almost sadistic resolve to not stop at anything to make Sweet Dreams as subtly horrific and saddening as possible, and certainly not listen to any objections-- if I wanted to write a tragedy, then by god, I would write one.
It made sense in a way. Sweet Dreams was originally conceived as a storehouse for my most deeply personal nightmare fuels, namely those related to my sleep disorder of narcolepsy. There's always something a bit... off about each chapter, some hint of an instability in the background, because that is my expression of fear.
Those of you who follow White Rose will notice this; ultimately, I am an optimist, an idealist, and I put my characters through bad situations because I have faith in them that they can pull themselves out. Consequently, the story is actually dark, because that makes the pulling through to the light so much sweeter.
Sweet Dreams is not like that. It is relentlessly enjoyable, fun, and lighthearted-- because that makes the eventual pulling down into the darkness that much scarier.
This was not conceived as an eventually uplifting tale. I have a tendency to write this after particularly difficult moments, too-- as an example, this chapter was written a few days after I had a rather nasty hallucination late at night that left me trembling in fear in my bed. I'd rather not go into the details, but you get the idea.
However, as time has progressed, I have come to grow... dissatisfied with the original intent of this fic. I have stated elsewhere that it was always intended to be a tragedy, and it was. But now I don't really want that anymore. It's not because I seek to change for my readers-- ultimately, my stories are written for myself. But I guess you could say that I've just plain grown attached to Renko and Maribel. This happens whenever I take up a main character-- to allude to White Rose again, Koishi has easily gained a spot in my top five characters, where I didn't care very much about her before I began to write that. Similarly, Renko and Maribel have gained respect in my eyes. I like them. I want to see them grow. And I don't want to give them a bad end just because I'm feeling sadistic. I'm not that kind of person. I'm not that kind of writer. How am I supposed to keep writing Sweet Dreams as a tragedy when even I've jumped ship on that idea?
Will I throw challenges in their path? Oh, you bet. I fully believe in earning your happy ending-- if making the worst mistake of your life, abandoning your family and friends, and experiencing tragic setback after tragic setback is what it takes to get a character to grow and choose the righteous path, then so be it. I'm not that nice, geez.
But will I doom Renko and Maribel to their original bad end? Hmm... good question. One thing's for sure, it's not going to be up to my pure sadism or my unrestrained personal fear that it happens. In a way, it's up to Renko and Maribel themselves. See, this may be odd to hear, but when I sit down to write, even though I have a rough outline to follow, it's more akin to letting out two birds into a multi-branched maze. Though they will eventually make it through, they have enough force of personality to make their own choices how to do it in the end.
And so it shall be in Sweet Dreams. It's up to Renko and Maribel themselves to see what their ending will be. I won't maneuver them into a bad end just because I want to. If they get a bad end, it's because they failed themselves and each other. And if they get a good end, it'll be because they had the courage and determination to see things through to the end. I'm just their writer; these characters aren't even mine! I'll write whatever story they inspire me to write, and if they're strong enough to fight for a good end, then I will give them that chance. Sure, a lot of the plot has been written out already, and yes, Sweet Dreams will always walk a bit on the edge of the dark-- but there's enough leeway that I have faith that Renko and Maribel can reach the light at the end if they really want it.
The days of Sweet Dreams being marked as an eventual tragedy are over. Their fate is completely up in the air-- it's all up to them now. Good end, or bad end? I can't tell, either. I hope you wish them luck, and keep reading to see what happens next!
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Ruro, I know how difficult it is to bring tragedy to characters you've grown attached to. The alternate ending to White Rose had me staring blankly at the screen for a good minute before I remembered it wasn't then end - even in tragedy there is at least a glimmer of hope at the end, or just a lesson to be learned. Leaving it up to the characters is certainly an interesting way to do it.
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Renkorenkorenko :O
Also no more implied "rocks fall, everyone dies" end is very good news : D
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Sweet Dreams is not like that. It is relentlessly enjoyable, fun, and lighthearted-- because that makes the eventual pulling down into the darkness that much scarier.
This is what has me terrified. You're a good enough writer to pull this off before I even notice it, and I will be affected by it.
I will hope, and I will wish them luck, but you've awakened that little voice of caution in the back of my head that constantly tells me, 'it could all go to hell in a handbasket any second now', and I don't particularly like that voice.
Don't feel guilty that you've woken it up - think of it more as a compliment to your writing ability. Such a goofy and lighthearted tale, doing that to me? Doesn't happen very often.
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So far, this fic has been terrifying for me. Well not, terrifying in the regular sense, but more... disturbing, sorta creeps me out when I think about the story. Reading White Rose is still a huge emotional rollercoaster, but I sorta know that in the end, everyone makes it out alive... They'll go through hard times (and boy are they difficult times) but Shinki, Yumeko, Satori, etc everyone else - they become what they are today when we see them in the games. But Marybel and Renko? It's all open ended. I have no idea what will happen to them. The stuff in the music CDs already happened, so where they go and how they end up are completely up to you (well, like you said, it's actually up to them two). That, plus the imminent endless sleep, the tension, the stuff Mary and Renko are dealing with on the inside and not telling each other - juxtaposed with a cheery atmosphere with Renko x Mary foreplay. It's like the scene where you know there's something off, something's not right, but you just can't figure out what. It's creepy. And I love it.
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You're a damn good writer, Ruro. Keep up the good work.
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I've just started reading this, and please forgive me for the pedantry, but I don't understand the following,
Any arbitrarily long, but finite sequence of the form sqrt(p_1) + sqrt(p_2) + sqrt(p_3) + ... + sqrt(p_n) with p_k, 1 \leq k \leq n is prime.
That doesn't look like any definition of prime I've ever come across :/.
[ruro]Not for me, either! :derp: I'll have to bother bofh about it later. Thanks for pointing it out![/ruro]
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Time for the obligatory it's-only-five-days-late update :]
't be fair, I really was busy and stressed out right around the time I needed to work on this update. Still, I'm sorry for letting my schedule slip. :ohdear:
On the other hand, the nice part of this update is that I finally get to show a villain, and introduce two characters I can't imagine anyone was expecting to show up in a fic ever.
Chapter Nine
Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fourteen hours, fifty-eight minutes
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I dreamed.
I don't dream very often, and when I do, I don't recall what happened, apart from a few snatches of a thought that I grasp in my hand as I wake, like trying to capture the morning fog in my grip, only to have it escape out the side, leaving nothing but cold and emptiness.
But this one was different.
It took place beneath the falling autumn leaves, still. I was walking beneath the branches, alone. I remembered thinking that I might have been awake, but as I walked, I found my way back to the building in the trees.
But it wasn't the temple.
I walked to the sliding door that led out to the grounds. My sandals were there, waiting for me, but the setting was all wrong.
This wasn't the Ryōan-ji temple. This was the Moriya Shrine.
I knelt down on a stone step and removed my shoes. Then I put on the soft sandals, got to my feet, and walked inside. I wasn't lucid, but strangely, I was somehow... aware of everything that was going on. My sandals were quiet as I walked down this hall, and then that one, and entered this door.
Then I realized what was going on.
The door to the honden, the most sacred place of the Moriya Shrine, the room that housed the figures of the gods themselves, was open. The durable, ritual staircase leading up had been set up, leading right up into the darkness. It was waiting for me.
I knew full well that it was a setup, but I kept going.
I put one foot on the staircase. Then the other. I held on to the railing, and it was then that I noticed I was wearing a light blue, wide-sleeved kimono with a pattern of falling snow on it, falling to the bottom of the hems. I stared at the design as I walked up into the darkness.
First my head, then the rest of me entered the honden. I knew I wasn't supposed to be there. Well, I knew it before, but now I was really having misgivings about having gone in. There was something... off about this place. My instincts were telling me to get out of there, and I agreed with them. Maybe I couldn't see borders like Maribel, but I could feel when something was the matter, and something was very much the matter here.
It was strangely cold in the honden. I found myself wrapping my arms around myself. I walked around the half-darkness, trying to stay warm as I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. In the dim light coming from below, I could see my own breath.
And then the door slammed shut.
I didn't give it much thought (dream, remember) but I soon looked down and came to the realization that I had been called up here to trap me. This honden was no shrine, it was a freezer. And I was shut inside.
I breathed on the tips of my fingers and flexed them. I wiggled my toes to recall the feeling in them. I stuck my hands beneath my armpits, to keep my extremities warm, and I kept moving to try and keep my mind sharp.
My sandals began to make noise. It was the sound of them scratching a thin layer of ice.
My eyes began to adjust to the darkness. I could see my own breath now, I thought. So I breathed--
And there in the shadow, a glowing red-eyed, fanged smile met my eyes, and I screamed.
I had wandered too far in the dark. I had ended up behind the statue of Suwako-no-kami's frog. This was... what was it, again? I didn't remember.
I had fallen to the ground on instinct, to get away from that smile. I put my hand on my heart and felt the rapid beating, and tried to calm my breath.
?That came out of nowhere,? I murmured. ?That was terrifying.?
I worked up the nerve to look up at it again. It was the wavy, dark pattern I had half-noticed the first time, behind Suwako's frog, but not Kanako's snake.
No wonder they kept it behind Suwako-no-kami's frog. It had not one but many horrifying faces. It was a mashup of many creatures, it looked like; wild animals of all shapes and sizes. I identified the red slitted eyes of a snake, yes, and the impeding charge of a wild boar. Spiders, a gorilla, a wolf, and all manner of monstrous-looking animals, all encrusted with red rubies to give the appearance of glowing red eyes.
The name came to me, and when it did, I said it in a whisper.
?Mishaguji-sama.?
And then something happened that sent a chill straight down my spine.
The mass of dark creatures?that monstrosity of animals and plants and... things long past their extinction-- that hideous apparition from an earth older than the one I lived in that I could not describe as anything other than blasphemous and wrong-- turned their heads towards me, and they simultaneously all blinked at me.
I screamed.
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In fact, I woke up screaming. It was the worst nightmare I had ever had. I needed something to hold on to, someone to hold me close and reassure me that it was all right, that it was just a dream.
So I reached out, and I buried my head in her stomach, wanting her warmth to seep into my chilled bones and whisper ?shhh, shhh, it?ll be all right? into my ear.
I felt her hand behind my neck, and her chin rested on top of my head. With her other hand, she rubbed my back and warmed me up, and I heard the regular beating of her heart. My own heart was pounding.
I remembered the feeling of holding my legs together under that winter-patterned kimono to keep them warm in that freezing cold place, a sacred place made profane by that... thing that yet lived behind the statue of Suwako-no-Kami. ?It felt so real,? I murmured into her chest. ?So real...?
?Just concentrate on your surroundings and calm down,? she said, running a hand through my hair as she laid me down onto her lap. She rested my head against her legs, and I closed my eyes and breathed in and out, trying to calm the racing of my heart.
In my mind, I saw the indelible memory of a chimera-like beast leering out of the darkness at me and smiling.
?Shhh, shhh,? she murmured as she stroked my back and laid my head to rest on her lap. ?You'll be all right.?
I stayed there for a while, forcing my eyes to stay open. I was not willing to let that vision into my mind again. Watching the steady fall of the autumn leaves helped take my mind off of that.
?Everything's all right,? she reassured me.
Now with my mind thinking about other things besides that monstrosity, it had room for other thoughts. Among them, I had the dull realization that that wasn't Maribel's voice.
I looked up at her.
No, it wasn?t Maribel. This girl was... probably a foreigner, yes, with blonde hair and brown eyes so light they looked almost gold under the light of the falling autumn leaves.
I felt the heat rise to my face, and I pushed myself out of her embrace. ?I-I?m sorry,? I stammered, my voice breaking. ?I thought-- I thought--?
But the girl waved a hand. ?Please don?t worry about it.? She smiled. ?I?m more concerned about you. Are you all right??
?Y-yeah,? I lied, running my hands through my hair and messing it up, a nervous habit. ?It was just... a bad dream.?
?Ah.? The girl nodded. ?That would explain it.?
I looked at her again. She had on her head a hair ornament of two red leaves, as well as a long red-gold dress, and the bottom of its hemline was cut out into the shape of maple leaves, almost as if she had wanted to blend in with the falling leaves all around. Behind her stood another girl, likely her sister from the resemblance, though she wore a brown fisherman hat of sorts, with... grapes up on the brim, or something. Grapes and vines. Hm. That wasn't weird. Okay.
I had no idea who they were; were they also guests at the temple? Probably. They didn't look like they lived nearby, so they had to be overseas visitors. Really strange overseas visitors who wore grapes on their hats. Actually, they were probably the daughters of some foreign diplomat. They looked too young to be visitors on their own.
I was effectively responsible for them now, wasn't I? Ah well. At least they were cute.
?I'm Usami Renko. Who are you?? I finally asked, moving my hands around the ground to find my fallen hat.
?Ah, my name is Shizuha. Aki Shizuha.? The girl in the long red dress introduced herself with a smile. ?And this is my younger sister, Aki Minoriko.?
Family name first. Ah, so they were Japanese? Still didn't explain the grape-on-the-hat thing. Cosplay, maybe?
?All right then. Are you two lost?? I asked as my hand brushed the brim of my own hat. I adjusted my own hair, pulling out dead leaves, and put my hat back on.
?Ah--? Shizuha looked over at her sister. A faint blush came to her cheeks as the younger sister sighed, and Shizuha looked back at me. ?You could say that.?
?T-then I should help you out,? I said, getting to my feet and brushing my skirt free of leaves. ?I know you probably won't believe me, but I'm nineteen years old. I am an adult, so I'm responsible for you.?
Minoriko laughed. I felt my face turn red. ?N-no, really! I should take care of you two. It's my duty.?
?It is?? Shizuha asked, looking surprised.
?Yeah,? I replied, hoping the awful blushing on my face would go away. ?You took care of me, so I should take care of you. Plus, I'm stronger than I look,? I said, rolling up my right sleeve and showing off my bicep for emphasis. ?You're younger than me, so I should protect you, right??
Shizuha raised an eyebrow, and smiled. ?Remind me to give you something special when I get back to our house.?
?There's no need for that... wait, where is your house?? I asked, smoothing out my sleeve.
?It's... not around here,? Shizuha admitted, rubbing the back of her head. ?Minoriko and I are... well, we kind of lost our way wandering around the orchard, and...?
?We got lost,? Minoriko spoke up, finishing Shizuha's sentence for her and speaking up for the first time.
?You got lost and you ended up here?? I tried to recall the map of the Ryōan-ji temple grounds, but I couldn't remember that any private residences were close by. These two girls must have wandered pretty far.
Minoriko sighed and nodded as she came closer to Shizuha and me. She was wearing, besides the grape hat, a beige dress shirt with wide sleeves and a dark purple dress under a red apron, accented by gold stitching in the form of grain and ears of corn.
I noticed then that the two sisters were both barefoot. I winced. How long had they been walking like that?
?We should get you home, but I don't know where that is.? I pondered for a few moments, scrunching my eyes together and folding my hands. ?Hmm. Would you two come with me to the temple??
?The temple?? Minoriko asked.
?Ryōan-ji Temple, of course,? I replied. ?Wait, is that anywhere near where you live??
Shizuha shook her head. ?There's the shrine on top of the mountain, but that's it.?
?Shrine on top of a--? Wait, what? I tried to remember the names of mountains in Kyoto, but I couldn't. Weren't we supposed to be in a valley, anyway? Good god, had these girls been lost for days? This was getting more confusing by the second.
I pushed aside all thoughts of landmarks of Kyoto and put my fingers to my head. ?Okay. Let me think.? My eyes opened. ?Going back to the temple is still our best bet. The UNESCO staff that runs the place would have maps for Kyoto, anyway. We can get you home that way.?
Shizuha looked over at Minoriko, then back at me, a worried look on her face. ?Oh, no, I don't think you'll be able to find our house that way--?
?Are you kidding?? Minoriko cut her off, stepping in front of her sister and giving her a look that I could not see. ?Sure, let's go.?
I nodded. ?All right. But first things first--? I looked up at the sky, or what I could see of it through the foliage. ?I got lost myself on my way to the temple.? It was still too early in the day to see any stars in the sky. ?We'll just have to find our way through trial and error.?
Shizuha had to laugh now, and so did her sister. I laughed with them.
Minoriko reached into a pocket in front of her apron, and pulled out some... baked sweet potatoes? ?I still have a few of these left,? she explained, handing one to her sister and one to me. ?Go ahead, they're quite good.?
I contemplated turning it down, but then the hunger in my stomach roared at me and I took it. ?Thank you, Minoriko-san,? I said and bit down into it.
Oh my-- this was quite good.
?This is really good,? I said aloud. ?Thanks a bunch!?
Minoriko gave me a warm smile. ?Sure, no problem.? She pulled a grape off of her hat and tossed it into her mouth. ?Always be prepared, you know??
I raised an eyebrow. Well, I guess that was the explanation for her hat.
?Well, let's go,? I said, taking off through the autumn trees as Shizuha and Minoriko came after me.
The nightmare faded into the shadows of my mind as I walked on.
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Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fourteen hours, fifty-two minutes
And it's Monday now. I have only a few days to write some more White Rose.
... fucking BRING IT. 8)
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Y'know, I always wanted to know more about Mishaguji-sama. I like where this is going. :3
Lovely work as usual, Ruro <3
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And so began RENKO AND MARY'S GENSOKYO ADVENTURES
...Right?
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Oh what.
Out of all the characters -
Keep going. I'm really curious now.