Kourindou, Double-DealerThe antiques business moves slowly, so dealers become very familiar with the character of the items in their stock. Second-hand items salesman Rinnosuke Morichika's special ability gives him an extra degree of familiarity. As a youkai incident is on the brink of turning life in Gensokyo on its head, will he discover there's more to his stock than even he knows? The third fan-made chapter in the story based on the popular Touhou series is about to begin!
-
Something very unusual is happening.
Overnight, my entire shop appears to have rearranged itself. It took a surprisingly long time for me to notice, but since the shop is usually in some disarray it can be hard to tell when things aren't where they should be.
I live in Gensokyo, so it's only natural to assume some youkai is behind this. I've never heard of a youkai who rearranges inventories and then disappears for no reason, though. Since I can rule out youkai interference, the other natural assumption is that a human did it. But humans that enter a property in the dead of night to go through items tend to be burglars. I know a burglar, but nothing seems to be missing, so I can rule her out too.
It's quite puzzling. The weather is getting chilly again and mornings like this demand the use of my heater from the outside world, except now it's buried under piles of stuff that wasn't there when I went to sleep and I can't reach it. That one youkai with the chilling smile always showed an uncomfortable interest in my heater, but why would she bury it? As some punishment perhaps? I've never failed to uphold my end of the bargain... or at least, I think so. The terms of our arrangement were never clear to me, but over the five or so years since we first discussed it there has never been a problem.
?Oy, Kourin! Wha'd'y'do to my hakkero!??
Compounding the problem, it's Marisa again, apparently in quite a sore mood. She immediately sits upon the same pile of items she always does, not even noticing it's in a different place now. She's dripping wet, although it's not raining near my shop. I dread to think what mischief she's been involved with.
?Hello Marisa. I haven't touched your Hakkero since I improved it a long time ago. Actually, it could probably do with some maintenance after all this time.?
?No kidding! Every time I use it, fire spews everywhere! It's really makin' me mad!?
Given her current mood, the fire might actually be coming from her. It's probably a bad idea to say that out loud though.
?An' there's some stupid storm goin' on that's got youkai written all over it, an' I can't even go beat 'em up without cookin' myself!?
?I'd like to have a look, but as you can see my work surfaces are all covered in shop stock. Somehow, my shop rearranged itself over night.?
?How can you tell? This pile of junk looks the same however you toss it.?
Although it's usually disarrayed, a good shopkeeper always knows where his stock is. What looks like an unidentifiable pile of junk to an outsider is a well-documented tower of gold to it's shopkeeper. If even one object was where it didn't belong, I'd be able to tell immediately. As for how it happened...
?You wouldn't know anything about how this happened, would you??
?You're accusing me of what, now??
I thought I'd worded it politely enough, but Marisa assumed the worst. It's unusual for her to be so moody.
?I'm not accusing you. You're more likely to take my stuff, not just move it around.?
?That's right.?
I should tell her off for how readily she accepts the title of 'thief', but now isn't the time. I take a look at the hakkero, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it, at least physically. It's a delicate instrument and she certainly pushes it to it's limits, but I'd even say it looks in better shape now than it ever did. I ask her if she can think of anything that happened to it that would explain the odd behaviour.
?Well, I noticed it was outputtin' a lot more power than normal, so I went to fight some small fry youkai with it as a test. It was like it was fightin' by itself- I normally hafta push it real hard to get power like that. But then it just started spewin' fire everywhere and I couldn't use it. I got beat by a fairy!?
The door opens, and we have another guest. It's not who I was expecting. The Scarlet Maid is standing there, placidly holding quite a mean looking blade. If I didn't know her, I might be worried by the sight. Then again, I know her well enough that it's a scary sight anyway...
?Good morning to you both. I'm glad to see you here, Marisa.?
We both return greetings. Mine is polite, while Marisa is Marisa.
?Whatcha got there??
?Oh, it's just a knife.?
?Whichever way you look at it, that's a sword.?
?Mm. I came by here today to ask if Mr. Kourin needed help resolving any... problems.?
One problem I have is that, thanks to Marisa, no one ever gets my name right. That's not really a problem you can solve with a sword, though. Marisa has her own questions, talking over me as though I'm not even here.
?Thought you'd stopped doin' the whole incident-solvin' thing??
?I had, but then I found this sword. It seemed a shame to let such a fine blade go to waste. So I came to help Mr. Kourin solve his... recurring problem.?
Logically speaking, Marisa is a problem that could be solved with a sword. ...Those are dark thoughts, so I direct the conversation away from the topic.
?You say you found it??
?Yes, it's not one I recognise, but it was in my collection one day so I took it. It's funny, but when I hold it, I just feel like I should be using it. I have a hard time stopping myself. So, speaking of your recurring problem...?
Trying to redirect the conversation only brought it back to the topic I was trying to avoid. Things always seem to happen that way in this shop. She's looking at Marisa with clear intent, and there can be no mistaking what she means by ?recurring problem?.
?I'm not recurring!?
She objects far too late, and to the wrong part, but there's something else on my mind. A misbehaving hakkero making Marisa grumpy, a strange sword making the Scarlet Maid act in an unusual way... I think I have an idea what is happening, but how would that explain my shop rearranging itself?
I decide to voice my idea to the girls. I doubt they will be able to offer much insight, but talking my thoughts out helps me to organise them. Also, I've been documenting both my thoughts and my conversations in this book- so if I speak my thoughts out loud, I save myself extra work.
?Seeing that sword gives me an idea of what's wrong with the hakkero, Marisa.?
?You ain't stabbin' it!?
?No, that's not what I mean. I believe it's becoming a tsukumogami.?
If a tool is mistreated or misused, the god inside it can become vengeful against it's owner. When that happens, the tool will start to misbehave, do things it isn't supposed to and refuse to do what it should, and in extreme cases seek to harm its owner. Marisa's hakkero clearly feels as though she isn't treating it correctly. The sword too seems to feel neglected, willing its owner to 'solve problems' with it.
?Eh? But I take great care of it!?
?Didn't you just say you push it to its limits??
?Yeah, but a tool as powerful as this has gotta love being pushed!?
The hakkero probably feels overworked, or maybe it feels bad about being used against youkai who don't deserve the full extent of Marisa's power. The maid has her own objections to my idea.
?But, Mr. Kourin, this isn't my sword. I found it in my collection one day, if you recall my saying so.?
?In that case, it probably sought a new owner of its own accord. It came to you knowing you'd be most likely to... use it.?
?Oh yeah? And how does this explain your shop goin' topsy-turvy, eh??
Marisa seems to be turning my accusations back onto me, but I doubt the odd happenings in my shop are related. As a shopkeeper, I have to take great care of my stock. I doubt anything here has reason to be upset with my treatment. The storefront may be in disarray, but I still take good care of each item individually. Well, she'll only shout at me if I say it, so I'll change the subject a little.
?Reimu normally shows up by now, doesn't she? She would be able to tell us if your items are becoming tsukumogami.?
?Nah, she went up into that storm I told you about. Said somethin' about her purification rod...?
The maid wasn't soaked through like Marisa, but she seemed to know about the eerie storm as well.
?Oh, yes. She could feel it guiding her towards troublesome youkai, if I remember correctly. Perhaps I should have followed her instead... I don't care if the necks I cut are troublesome or not, but she usually finds herself surrounded by deserving targets.?
Their ornery moods are making me feel uneasy, but it's not like I can help them. Only the master of the object can bring peace to it, by using it correctly and treating it with respect. Tactfully, I suggest they both seek Reimu's assistance, and bid them both farewell. I can see them bickering as they leave... I hope I don't have to clean up a headless body and a charred corpse tomorrow.
...When I think about it, I'm not truly the master of these items. They've all been forgotten by their owners and have come to me to find a new home. I'm something like an adoption agency for lost objects; they wait with me until a new master comes along who will hopefully take good care of them. Maybe some of the objects felt they weren't getting enough exposure and decided to rearrange themselves to take centre-stage in hopes of finding a new master.
The shop is in such disarray, it's no wonder they feel like this. Perhaps I'll do some rearranging today.
-
I get the impression Rinnosuke is wrong as often as he is right, and the stories are only written in his favour because he's the author. I think it's called an ?unreliable narrator?? Either way, I got to thinking about how the incident in DDC might affect a man whose entire life is surrounded by tools, and it seemed like a good opportunity to have him be half-correct about something.
Giving Marisa a grumpy, petulant edge was fun, but I hope she's still recognisable as Marisa. You'd be grumpy too if you lost a 1cc to midboss Cirno.