One Random Sukima 8

Crack of dawn. Ail is finally sleeping comfortably in his bed, while Budou sleeps in the living room's ceiling, covering herself and Phredia, who sleeps in her hair, with her bat wings. Everything is calm and quiet in Gensokyo, and even the spirits seems to be at peace. In Makai, all that peace is just about to end. Shinki and Yumeko wake up as usual, although Yumeko keeps staring apologetically at Shinki, who smiles and says "child, I already told you, I'm not angry. Besides, going myself might prove to be fun." Yumeko doesn't respond, then, they continue to walk toward the main hall. Once there, Shinki sits on her chair and takes a breath of air, ready to say some words, then a bloody scream of pure horror echoes all over the palace. Shinki jumps off her chair, looking ready for a fight, saying "that was Yuki! Yumeko, get ready!" Yumeko stands beside her mistress and says "ready, my lady!" They get ready to move as quickly as possible to Yuki's room, but they hear her footsteps getting closer, Yuki crying "NOOOO~~~!!! Get away form me-he-hee~!" The door bursts open and Yuki, running so fast, she trails dust behind her as she runs straight behind Shinki and cries "help mee~!" After Yuki, hovering with an evil smile on her face, is Mima, carrying a pink dress and a brown cat-ears head-band. Mima smiles wickedly and says "come o~~n! You'll look so ADORABLE in these!!!" Yumeko sweats and says "wait, all that ruckus for THIS? Yuki, what the hell's the MATTER with you!? You almost gave us a heart attack!" Yuki whimpers "*sniffle* she popped from inside my belly with that... PINK DRESS!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!" Mima, who continues to smile like a maniac, says "come on, it's just for a little while! I won't bite, I promise!" Shinki smiles and says "Yuki, you should try it. Who knows, maybe you'll look cute in pink!" Yuki petrifies, then turns her petrified face to Shinki's and says "y-you... two... mama?" Shinki sweats and says "oh, come on, it's just-" Yuki jumps away from Shinki and cries "WAAAAA~H I don't believe thi~s!" then, crying and sobbing, she runs away toward the exit of the palace. Shinki, worriedly, says "oh dear. Yumeko, please make sure she's ok, will you?" Yumeko bows elegantly, placing her hand on her chest, and says "right away, my lady." then vanishes in an instant. Mima stares at Shinki, now looking more normal, then asks "will you wear this?" Shinki blushes and says "oh, why not!?" Shinki wears a puffy and frilly pink dress full of rose ribbons and the cat-ears, then sits on Mima's lap. Mima's nose is bleeding a lot, but she seems comfortable with it. Yumeko, holding a camera and bleeding through her nose, looking quite content and taking as many pictures as possible from a small crack on the door, whispers "I'll have to thank that spirit later!" Yuki continues to tremble and says "pink... it's pink... I hate pink!"

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu wakes up, feeling a bit groggy and tired, but forces herself to get up and off her futon, then heads outside. She scans the inside of the shrine and thinks "Renko and Maribel are gone. I... I never though I'd miss them so much." She feels a strong tug in her heart, but holds back the tears that want to come out, then she realizes Rika isn't there either. Her heart starts beating faster as she opens her eyes wide, looking everywhere inside for her, but she doesn't even see the futon. Reimu rushes outside and shouts "Rika!?" Rika pops her head from the front of the shrine, smiles and says "lady Reimu! Good morning!" Rika notices Reimu's expression and asks "l-lady Reimu, are you feeling well?" She rushes to Reimu and immediately holds her shoulders, taking her inside and sitting her by the table, saying "I'll get you some breakfast. You just rest" Reimu takes a deep breath and says "thank you... Rika." In just a few minutes, Rika finishes preparing the meal, then, as she serves it to Reimu, she says "so... lady Reimu... about that oath." Reimu coughs a little, looking quite annoyed, then says "not again. Rika, that ceremony is barbaric, I'm not doing it!" Startling Reimu, Remilia springs from her left and says "come on, Reimu, you know you want to!" Reimu exclaims "Remilia!? When did YOU get here!?" Remilia looks straight into Reimu's eyes and says "Reimu, you GOTTA do it! If not, anyone can take Rika away from you!" Rika shouts "I'd NEVER DO THAT! No way, no HOW!!!" Remilia gets closer to Rika and whispers "play along, you idiot!" Rika catches on and says "oh..." Reimu seems lost in though for a moment. Rika and Remilia stare for some time, then Reimu says "or, I'm sorry, did you want something?" Remilia and Rika look at each other, then both nod and say "together now." Both jump on Reimu, who grabs her bowl of rice as she slides under the table, causing Remilia and Rika to crash against each other, both rubbing their heads as they get up, Remilia shouting "this isn't over!" Reimu completely ignores her and goes to the shrine's porch to eat her rice as Remilia says "I don't care how long it takes, I'll convince you!" She turns to Rika and asks "right!?" Rika smiles as she lies on the floor, admiring Reimu as she walks away, and says "my mistress is so wonderful, don't you think?!" At first, Remilia looks back at her disgusted, but then turns her face away and thinks "She's so cute too."

For the course of two days, Rika and Remilia tried everything to convince Reimu to do that ceremony. Popping from inside the bath-tub during her mid-day bath, writing messages on her food, cleaning until everything sparkles inside and outside, stalking her while she takes on some wild and dangerous youkai, Rika unable to bear watching and helping her mistress out using those wind blades of hers, trying to sleep with her inside her futon, Sakuya picking up Remilia while she tries to fight back. The next day, Remilia is already in the shrine by the time Reimu wakes up in the morning. Reimu stares at her and says "no!" Rika comes with a vegetable stew and manages to write in it "my lady and I forever" This creeps Reimu out, but she's hungry, so the eats the writing. Remilia goes as far as enlisting Aya's help, convincing her to write an article on the master and servant oath ceremony and using an unwilling Sakuya to reveal some details about hers with Remilia's. Reimu grabs the paper and roaring furiously, she turns it into a ball, then tosses it as far away as she can. Finally, noon. Rika and Remilia are beat and running out of ideas. Rika is just about to give up, then Remilia says "hey... why don't you fake defeat." Rika looks at her curiously, then says "but miss Remilia, I can't do that to my lady. It's too mean." Remilia gets up from the ground and shouts "so that's IT!? You're just gonna give up!? After all I've done here to help YOU!?" Rika sighs and says "I appreciate your help, but it's just not in me to fake these things." Remilia smirks and says "oh, so you can't fake it, huh? Then allow me to help you with that." Remilia kicks Rika's back, sending her flying toward the donation box, then shouts "you FAILURE! You DARE call yourself a MAID! HAH, how PATHETIC. You can't even convince your master to do the oath with you. Pheh! You make me SICK. You FAILURE, you quitter, you LIAR! Stop calling yourself a maid right now, before you stain the name. Yeah YOU HEARD ME!" Just then, Sakuya comes from behind, holding her mistress' umbrella and saying "my lady, I think that's enough" Sakuya points at Rika, who kneels in front of the donation box, her eyes turning red and glassy, her mouth trembling as she sniffles, then suddenly starts bawling loud. Remilia gulps and says "er, Sakuya, let's hide." Sakuya says "good idea, my lady" Sakuya and Remilia rush to hide behind some trees and watch as Reimu rushes to Rika. Reimu rushes to Rika, shouting "RIKA!" The kneels beside Rika and brushes her wavy hair with her fingers and asks "Rika, what's wrong?" Rika continues to cry, but doesn't respond" Reimu says "I'll get you some water!" Rika manages to say "NO~~! I failed you again~! WAAAAH~~!" Reimu asks "failed?" Rika sniffles and says "my-my lady, I have failed so miserably. I can't be your maid if you don't do the oath ceremony. I'm a FAILURE~!!" Rika bawls again, then Reimu shouts "whoa, whoa, Rika, stop it!" Rika continues to cry large waterfalls. Reimu looks around, hoping to find something to cheer Rika up, but finds nothing, then shouts "alright, ALRIGHT!!! I'll do it!" Rika sniffles and asks "wha?" Reimu repeats "*sigh" I'll do it... I'll do the ceremony." Rika smiles angelically, her eyes still glassy as she places her hands together as if praying, then says "my lady! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Rika lunges at Reimu and give her a big hug. Reimu says "alright, that's enough... We'll have to get some witnesses, right?" Rika says "of course, my lady! Leave that to me!" Reimu says "fine... I'll just... be inside getting ready." Rika springs up and salutes Reimu, saying "yes, my lady!" As soon as Reimu leaves, Rika heads straight toward Remilia and asks "so, was I convincing?" Remilia and Sakuya stare at each other in disbelief, then look back at Rika, who stands smiling at them.

It's now a beautiful night and everything is prepared for Reimu and Rika's master and servant oath ceremony. Attending the event are Ail, Budou, Sanae, Kanako, Suwako, Mima, Kyo, Luna, Medicine, Renko, Maribel, Sakuya, Suika and Remilia, who's helping Reimu memorize the chant, telling her she's not supposed to read from a paper. Uninvited, but still there, is Aya, who continues to take pictures at random. Everything is set, most of the witnesses have gathered, and Reimu and Rika stand in front of the red gate of the shrine, ready to begin the ceremony. At the left side of the shrine, on the porch, are Mima, Kyo, Suika and Kanako, all a little drunk, smiling and laughing at jokes. They all keep silent when Suika whispers "oh, it's starting." Mima stares at Budou, who is on Sanae's arms and whispers "Budou~" She lets go of the empty sake bottle she was holding on to, letting it roll away. Reimu and Rika stand in the center of a circle made with torches, then Reimu and Rika elegantly bow to each other upon facing each other. Rika kneels in front of Reimu, kisses the back of her right hand, then Reimu chants "Now, I thus declare this human being, a defiant of both soul and body, as servant of both honor and high.... c-caliber." From the sides, Remilia smacks her own head, whispering "ugh, she almost forgot her line." Reimu continues "My soul and body will remember this pact, and thus, shall it be sealed by the blood... the blood of the chosen *gulps* master." Reimu holds a small knife to her index finger, thinking "this is so barbaric" She hesitates and seems as though she's going to back down, but that's when Remilia's dagger, the same one she fired at Reimu three days before, comes flying from the night skies with one of Mystia's feathers, half of a sunflower and an autographed picture of Akyuu that reads "I am alive and well. Please remember me!" Reimu spots the dagger and is just about to dodge out of it's way, but Mima's sake bottle makes her slip, making her let go of her knife and raise her hand in the air, cutting precisely on her fingertip, then Reimu waves her hand and a drop of blood falls right on Rika's lips, just as she looks up to her master and stops her from falling to the ground. Reimu smiles along with Rika as they both look at each other, then both start giggling. Reimu composes herself and says "oh, here! A small gift from me to you." Reimu rummages through her pocket and pulls out a small sapphire yin-yang orb. Rika smiles widely as Reimu gives her the orb and says "with this, you'll be able to fly, and trust me, you'll be needing to, if you want to be successful with the chores." Rika continues to smile widely, but then, both Reimu and Rika shriek as Reimu's hand starts to glow, and Rika's pocket as well. Rika pulls out her spell card and realizes the chains on it break apart, leaving the yin-yang seal free. Rika watches curiously, then whispers "Oath Keeper" For a moment, the card glows and tries to fly away from Rika's hand, but it stops as soon as Rika turns her attention to Reimu, who shouts "WHAT IS THI~~S!" On the back of Reimu's hand, a pair of white feather wings magically materialize on her hand, to her surprise. Remilia chuckles and says to Sakuya "heh heh, it seems I failed to mention that to Reimu." Sakuya smiles and says "my lady is so playful."

Remilia ducks on the ground, holding her head and rubbing a bump on her head, left by Reimu, who wasn't amused by Remilia's lack of information. Rika and Reimu head to Ail, Budou and Sanae, Rika wearing the sapphire yin-yang on her neck ribbon. Ail extends his hand to Rika as Reimu says "this is Ail, the strange boy I told you about." Rika bows as she shakes his hands, saying "it's a pleasure to meet you, mister Ail." Ail sweats a little and forces a smile as he says "I'm not that strange." Rika tightens her grip on Ail's hand, smiling dangerously and saying "don't question my lady!" She lets go of Ail, who sweats but doesn't reply to Rika, then Reimu says to her "and these are Sanae and Budou" Rika bows, and says "how do you do, miss Sanae. And my, what a cute little girl you are, little Budou" Rika rubs Budou's head, making her giggle, and that's when Aya shouts "ALRIGHT EVERYONE! Let's all take a picture together to remember this day!" Everyone except Reimu cheer, then Aya thinks "heh heh heh~, this should make for a GREAT story." Everybody groups up, Reimu, Rika, Ail, Sanae and Budou close to each other. Aya shouts "ready in 1, 2, 3!" Aya takes the picture, but before everyone goes their ways, she says "WAIT, WAIT, one more, just one more!" All groan as Aya gets ready to take the picture. Rika says to Ail "so, mister Ail. I hear you can break gaps in barriers like Yukari." Ail blushes and says "Yukari has much more experience than me." Rika replies "oh... but can't you show me?" Ail says "sure. Actually, I just think of someplace, or some dimension I want to open, like say, the shadow realm. I concentrate on the destination, grab the barrier with my magic, then..." Just as Ail opens the gap to the shadow realm, exactly where his gap is opening up, Yukari opens her gap, shouting HI EVERYONE~!!" Yukari shrieks loudly as she is sucked into her own gap, then, with sharp jagged teeth, it starts chewing on her. Yukari scream "KYAAH~! Help...me....AIL~!" Just then Aya takes the picture while everyone look surprised at Yukari being chewed by a gap, Reimu face-palming herself, Rika trying to smile and everyone else either backing away or trying to run away. Aya shouts "YIKES! What the HECK is that!!?" Reimu shouts "I'll get it!" The gap says "BLECH!" then spits Yukari out, covered in drool and cuts. Yukari springs up and shouts "REIMU NO! That's a Random Sukima!" Reimu tries to place some charms on it, but the Random Sukima gobbles her, chews a little, then with a "Mm-MMM" it swallows Reimu. Rika shouts "MASTER!!!" Yukari shouts back "Rika, she's at the sunflower fields, go GET HER!!!" Rika nods,and as if already knowing how, she flies to the night's skies. Yukari continues shouting "AIL YOU IDIOT, what the HELL were you doing!?" Ail replies "close it now, explain later!" Sanae lets go of Budou and says "fly away!" Behind Budou comes Mima, shouting "I'll take care of her!"

Suwako rushes to Sanae, Yukari and Ail and asks "what the HELL is this thing!?" They all shoot as much danmaku as they can to it, but the shots go right through it. Ail shouts "one of my gaps mixed with Yukari's. It's come alive!" All the others have scattered away, while Luna forces Kyo to go with her back to the village, Kyo shouting "Luna, my FRIEND is there!" Luna shouts back "he can handle it, just GO!" Medicine adds "the yama!!!" Shikieiki and Komachi fly up the stairs and as soon as they land Shiki sighs and says "Komachi, help me get everyone out of here!" Komachi asks "what about those 4?" Shiki says "they are too close!" Immediately, Komachi grabs Renko and Maribel, who were bravely heading to help the others, saying "no, girls, you are humans! This could be too dangerous for you!" Renko and Maribel sigh as Komachi takes them to the stairs and says "go to the village. Make sure nobody else comes by." Maribel nods just before rushing down the rest of the stairs. Shiki spots Aya, Remilia and Sakuya heading toward the sunflower fields, then looks beside her and spots Kanako watching from a distance. Shiki says "you idiot, get out of here now!" Kanako shouts back "I won't leave without Sanae and Suwako!" Shiki says "you have an important task right now, goddess." Kanako grunts, then says "alright, alright! Just make sure they are all ok!" Shiki nods as Kanako leaves, then spots Komachi using sake to lead Suika away from the shrine. While everyone is being evacuated, the 4 brave fools continue to fire danmaku at the Random Sukima, even though they do nothing to it. Yukari shouts "keep shooting, no matter what!" With those words, the Random Sukima opens up, bearing it's jagged teeth, then gobbles Suwako, chewing on her, saying "hmm" then swallows her. Sanae shouts in horror "Lady MORIYA, NO~!" Yukari says "relax! She's elsewhere!" Just stop this thing!" The Random Sukima smiles, bearing it's jagged teeth, then, in an instant, it bites on Sanae, contently saying "MMMM~" then swallowing. Ail gets mad and shouts "now you're gonna GET IT!" Ail concentrates on closing down that gap, but the Random Sukima feels Ail's attempts weakening it, so it immediately bites down hard on him, then says "yummy" then chews a little longer before swallowing him. Yukari frowns and thinks "dammit, I can't stop it on my own!" The Random Sukima turns around, ignoring Yukari, who shouts "don't you DARE!" however, when she tries to move, sharp pain courses through her entire body, then she falls down on the floor. The Sukima heads straight to Komachi and Shikieiki, smacking it's lips, smiling with it's jagged teeth bared. Shiki stares at it with a stern and strict look, her eyes glowing bright blue as Komachi stands looking neutrally at it, stretching her arms behind her head. Shiki says "you sure you wanna try your luck?" The Sukima's smile turns to a frown, then, making a sound just like Yukari's gaps, it disappears. Komachi asks "Shiki-sama... what now?" Shiki closes her eyes for a moment, then says "I'm afraid this time, I haven't got a clue."

Flying around lost and confused, Rika whimpers "I should have asked miss Yukari where the sunflower field is. I haven't got a clue where it is... or where I am. Oh, but I must NOT give up! Miss Reimu, I'm coming for you!" Rika shrieks when under her, a tree makes a very loud rustling sound. She looks around, but it's too dark for her to make anything out. There's another violent rustling a little farther ahead, then another to the left, and one more right under her, then a mysterious giggle. Rika panics and starts to hyperventilate. She closes her eyes and says to herself "Rika, you aren't just some defenseless girl. You've been trained in both diplomacy and combat. Besides, I am sure my lady would be so disappointed in me if she saw me like this." Again, a loud rustling under her. Rika shouts "WHO'S DOWN THERE!?" She gets no reply, then continues "I mean you no harm! Please show yourself!" No response, and now, the other rustlings seem to be getting closer to her. Rika gets her guard up, then pulls out her spell card and says "one last time... show yourself!" Only the tree under her rustles, now more violently than before. Rika thinks "no choice..." She grabs her spell card and says "Oath Keeper" She tosses her spell card beside her, then a yellow gate opens where the spell card is floating. She's just about to enter it when she hears Aya calling out to her, then cancels out the spell. From Aya's side, it looks like Rika's open up a golden square gate, so Aya shouts "Rika, is that you?!" The golden gate vanishes in an instant, then Rika replies "miss Aya,it's me, Rika!" Immediately after getting to her, Aya says "come on, Remilia and Sakuya went ahead to the field. Let's go!" Rika asks "you came to get me, miss Aya?" Aya smiles, flips her thumb up and says "now you didn't think I'd let you on your own after what happened tonight, right!? Come on, let's go look for Reimu." Rika smiles and nods, then quickly follow Aya to the Field of the Sun. Underneath them, four familiar silhouettes looks around before dispersing, two of them heading out together, a girl giggling as they get away. Inside the tree, Yuki pops her head out, looking around dreamily, then pulls herself back inside the tree, snoring loudly as soon as she does.

Ail wakes up next to the river at the Youkai Forest. Suwako is fighting back a few youkai that are trying to get close, so as soon as Ail wakes up, he springs up, fires a few white orbs around, scaring the youkai away, then asks "Suwako, are you alright?" Suwako quietly nods, then Ail asks "and Sanae!? Where is she!?" Suwako shakes her head left and right, then says "help me find her, but keep your hands to yourself." Ail says "now come on, what is up with you?" Ail follows as Suwako lifts to the air, then Suwako says "don't act dumb. You're tricking Sanae to think she likes you; admit it!" Like thunder, Ail's voice echoes as he says "I'M NOT TRICKING ANYONE!!!" Suwako feels a tremendous pressure coming from Ail. She notices his magical aura turning red. She backs away, looking on with terror, but calms down when Ail stops and takes a deep breath, his magical aura turning blue again. Ail looks at her and says "lady Moriya, I'm not tricking anyone... how could you even say that?" Suwako continues to stare awestruck, then Ail continues "I understand Sanae is special to you, and I would never take her away from you, but you have to understand she's a very special friend to me as well." Suwako stares curiously and thinks "wait... he said friend?" then says "we saw what you did, Ail. You tried to kiss her twice, then you had that sick little dream!" Ail looks angrily at Suwako; he feels he wants to blast her using all his power in every blow, but manages to calmly say "look I don't understand why that happened! I just don't understand!" He grabs his head, letting some hair go through his finger as he grasps it and tries to pull hard on it, then says "I don't understand why you hate me so much either; why you want to cause me pain! What did I do!?" Suwako continues to stare, then Ail flies to her, grabs her shoulder, then says "what do you want me to do? Come on, tell me. I don't want to lose your friendship, please!" Suwako lightly pushes Ail's hands away, then sighs and says "then you're as dense as a brick wall." Ail backs away, looking quite saddened, slowly dropping back to the ground. Suwako gasps, then says "hey, look alive! I'll need your help to look for Sanae, after all." Ail tries to fly back up, but continues to drop down slowly. Suwako stares curiously and awestruck, then snaps her fingers and says "what if she's hurt and needs your help!?" Ail's eyes glow with life as he starts to fly again, then says "You're right! Let' go find her!" Suwako says I can feel her presence... that way." Suwako points toward the Garden of the Sun, so Ail rushes ahead, Suwako following soon after, thinking "This kid... is he for real? He comes from the world outside, yet acts like a child. Maybe we should observe him a bit longer."

Reimu wakes up on a gigantic blue flower petal that seems to be as large as a house. Reimu's body aches, so she tries to stay sitting on the petal before getting up. She admires the gigantic flower, thinking "wow, Yuka really outdid herself this time. This flower is huge!" From a distance she hears Aya and Remilia calling "Reimu~ Where are you!?" After them, sounding dreadfully worried, Rika shouts "my lady, please answer!" Reimu feels she can't get up yet, so she calmly reaches into one of her sleeves, pull out a charm, then throws it on to the air. The charm explodes, creating a spark of light that illuminates the area she is in. She can hear them saying "there she it!" and that light allows Reimu to see the flower she is on. She opens her eyes a bit wider and says "no way... This is that flower Ail revived for Yuka." Before she can observe some more, Rika comes from the air and gives Reimu a bone-cracking hug. Reimu clenches her teeth as her right eye expands while her other sparkles like a star. Reimu grunts "Ri-Rika... that hurts!" Rika lets her go quickly, saying "oh, sorry, my lady. My emotions go the best of me." Reimu smiles and says "it's ok... Where are we?" Remilia says "The Sunflower Field." Aya adds "that weird mouth-thing sent you all the way back here." Reimu gasps and says "whoa, that's right! What happened to that thing!?" Remilia replies "that small god, the gap hag, that Ail and the green miko are taking care of it." Reimu relaxes and says "good, they should be able to handle it." From farther ahead, a loud explosion causes the ground to rattle. "KYAAAAAH~!" A scream shakes everyone up, all ready for anything, Aya pulling out a spell card, smirking as she says "looks like we get to have some fun of our own." Even in the darkness, they can make out Sanae, running for her life, being chased by sharp-looking flying flowers. Sanae shouts "I'm sorry~!" Behind her, Yuka is wearing a pink pajama, a blue sleeping hat with yellow stars and moons and holding a large pink pocket watch with roman numbers on it on her left hand, firing flower danmaku at Sanae with her right. Sanae shouts once more "I'm sorry~! Come one, forgive me already~!" Yuka replies "I'll forgive you after I blasted you!" Reimu face-palms an sighs, saying "better go help her." Suwako and Ail come flying straight to Sanae, getting between Yuka and her target. Suwako says "you leave my Sanae Alone!" Ail adds in a reprehensive tone "Yuka, she said she was sorry!" Yuka smiles and says "she destroyed a lot of the flowers near my house. She has to pay!" Ail sighs and says "you can revive them, can't you!?" Yuka continues smiling as she says "don't be unreasonable!" Ail sighs, then says "fine, I'll lend a hand; just leave her alone." Yuka smiles widely and nods as she says "ok... now come, it's this way." Without turning around Ail says "Reimu, I'll see you back at the shrine. Sanae, lady Moriya... I'll see you guys later." then walks away, following Yuka. Sanae stares curiously, and just as she's about to give chase, Suwako holds her shoulder and lightly shakes her head, then says "come on... Kanako needs us." Sanae quietly nods, then follows Suwako to the air. Reimu, Remilia, Sakuya, Rika and Aya stare as they fly away, then, Rika carries Reimu and says alright then, to the shrine!" As they lift off, Reimu asks "why are you carrying me?" Sakuya and Remilia quickly follow, but something catches Aya's attention for a moment. She stares toward the direction of Ail and Yuka, but decides to follow after Rika and the others.

An awkward silence between Sanae and Suwako makes their flight back home quite uncomfortable. Many thoughts cross through Sanae's mind, and then breaks the silence by asking "what did you say to him?" Suwako casually asks "what are you talking-?" Sanae shouts "he didn't even look my way. What did you SAY to him?" Sounding a little sad, Suwako says "actually... I think I understand him a little better now." Sanae stares angrily at Suwako, then Suwako adds "we had a small conversation... and I apologize to you, for the way I acted. It's was a little childish." Sanae scoffs and says "a little? You two tried turning him in to a dog!" Suwako stops in mid-air, staring at Sanae with an ever so evident surprise in her eyes. Sanae stops and looks back quite angry and says "I noticed what you did to his cup, and I told him about it. It was also I who caused it to backfire!" Suwako is unable to answer, then Sanae continues "lady Moriya, I appreciate you're trying to take care of me, but I can take good care of myself, so if you and lady Yasaka don't mind, please back off!" Suwako uses her hat to hide the shame in her eyes, however, there's nothing to cover the shame on her hat's eyes. Sana sighs and says "whatever. Come on, let's go... and what is lady Yasaka doing?" As they continue to fly to their shrine, Suwako manages to reply "she's going to try and bless Gensokyo. Hopefully, if the blessing is strong enough, we can take out that thing in the process." As they continue onward, Suwako smiles and thinks "my Sanae's so sharp. Guess it runs in her blood."

Arriving at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu, who somehow managed to free herself from Rika, immediately notices everything is left just at it was. She scans around then notices Mima, holding Budou in her arms, smiling and shouting "hey, you guys! You're finally back!" Budou adds "Hakurei sis, miss Rika, you're back!" Reimu waves back at them, but then realizes Remilia, Sakuya and Aya are missing. She asks Rika "hey, where did the others go?" Rika replies "miss Sakuya and miss Remilia left to their mansion, however I was certain miss Aya was behind me just now..." Reimu casually says "eh, she's probably found something interesting to make into a story." To their right, Ail's gap opens, and immediately Budou shouts "papa~! You're back!" Ail pops out from inside the gap, twitching a little, saying "Budou! Are you alright?" Mima comes walking toward them, then Ail asks "ah, so you forgive miss Mima?" Budou nods and says "yeah. Mama number 2 promised she'd never scare me or Chen again." Mima blushes as she thinks "I'm still scaring the villagers, though." but manages to smile and says "yeah" while rubbing her chin on Budou's hair. Reimu and Rika stare at them for a bit, then Reimu, in a dangerous tone, asks "so, Ail. Care so tell me what the hell you and Yukari did back there?" Ail shivers and backs away from Reimu, stuttering, unable to speak clearly, then an umbrella strikes him hard on the head. From behind, Yukari continues to smack Ail on the head with her umbrella as hard as she can, accompanied by Phredia, who pulls on his cheeks with amazing skill and strength for someone her size. Reimu says "Rika, please take care of all these torches." Rika salutes and says "right away, my lady!" then quickly gets to cleaning as fast as she can. Reimu casually walks to Yukari and says "Yukari, that's enough... we want him alive." Yukari stops her assault, turns her nose away and says "fine!" Reimu looks at Phredia and says "you too. Let him go" Phredia lets go of his cheeks, still glaring angrily at him, then slaps his left cheek. Ail's eyes are spinning while he lies on the ground, his head covered in bumps and his cheeks all red from Phredia's assault.

Ail finally recovers, so Reimu asks him and Yukari to explain, however, Ail hasn't got a clue as to what happened, so Yukari, who is still mad at him, explains. "That anomaly you saw is the effects of mixing two gaps at the same time in one same place, however, for it to have self consciousness it's even rarer, that's why I called it Random Sukima." She turns to Ail and angrily asks "and what, in the name of all that's rational, where you doing, opening a gap to the shadow realm like that!?" Ail answers "it was just a demonstration. It's not my fault you had to pop in like that!" Yukari grabs his neck and strangles him while saying "how was I supposed to know you were opening such dangerous gaps, you idiot!" Reimu gets up and says "calm down, Yukari. Is there any way we can stop this?" Yukari lets go of Ail and says "well, from what I could see, when Ail tried to close it, he weakened it, so all we have to do, is close it, I guess." Reimu head to the kitchen and asks "you 'guess'?" Yukari replies "this is one rare and random anomaly, Reimu. I don't even know if it could have any other effects. For now all we know is that it eats like Yuyuko!" Ail chuckles along with Mima, then Yukari asks "Reimu, what are you doing over there?" Reimu casually says "well, I made some peach pies for tonight, and it'd be a shame to let them go to waste." Rika opens her eyes wide and exclaims "p-peach pies? From my lady!?" Reimu pulls out two pies from her oven, cuts many pieces and both she and Rika serve them, everyone immediately taking a bite, all, even Yukari, smiling contently as they happily eat. Rika eats hers as many heats pop above her head, saying "oh, these are so DELICIOUS, my lady!" Ail finishes his piece and says "I must say, I am VERY impressed, Reimu. I never though you could cook this good!" In a fraction of a second, Rika sits right beside Ail, smiling angelically, saying in a most dangerous undertone "are you making fun of my lady?" Casually, Ail says "I'm just saying, I've been living around here for some time, and I've never tasted something this good, coming from Reimu." Yukari, Mima, Budou and Reimu all run away from the table the second Rika places one hand on Ail's shoulder. Moments later, at Eirin's clinic, Ail lies on at stretcher, his left leg above his head, tied in a knot with his right arm, his head twisted to the left, trembling in pain. Eirin stares, looking as though she's about to get sick and says "this is gonna hurt." From outside, loud cracking sounds cause all the rabbits, including Tewi, to run away from the area, covering their ears as Ail's screams of pain echo all the way to the Human Village.

Morning at the SDM. Shinki approaches Meiling and says "good day. Is this the Scarlet Devil Mansion?" With a smile, Meiling says "oh, good day. Yes, this would be it. Got some business here?" Shinki chuckles and says "why yes, I came to apologize to your mistress for my daughters' intrusion, and to ask if she would allow me into her vast library." Meiling nods and says I see. Well, I am sorry, but I cannot let you pass unless I receive word beforehand." Shinki frowns and saw "oh, that's a shame... Is there any way to contact your mistress?" Before Meiling answers, Sakuya comes from inside, saying "welcome! You must be miss Shinki. We have been expecting you." Both Meiling and Shinki asked surprised "you have?" Sakuya chuckles and says "please, come with me. I'll take you to my lady." Sakuya leads Shinki through the mansion all the way to the dinning room, where Remilia is drinking some tea. She lifts her sights and says "ah, Shinki, I presume?" Shinki bows politely, then asks "please, pardon my question, but how do you know about me?" Sakuya smiles as she hands Shinki the red communication pin and says "we heard everything through this. Your maid left it behind when she tried to take some books with her." Shinki bows apologetically and says "please forgive us. We didn't mean to cause any trouble." Remilia gets closer, saying "yeah, yeah! Come, let's go to the basement." Remilia reaches Shinki, then both start looking at each other from top to bottom for some time, pondering as they do. Both turn sideways with narrow eyes and a big smile, shrugging and saying "no similarities!"

As they walk down to the library, Remilia and Shinki have a casual conversation about their roles and lifestyles. The hall to Patchouli's library was missing a large chunk of the carpet, and just before the door, a large cushion awaits, looking quite comfortable to be on. Remilia looks to her right and noticed a portrait of the SDM's family. Remilia looks at it and asks "when did we place this ugly picture, Sakuya? Ugh, it didn't get my good side." Sakuya replies "my lady, all your sides are your good sides." then grabs the portrait and takes it off the wall, placing it against the wall for later disposal. Remilia feels elated as she says "why, thank you Sakuya." Shinki shrieks as she takes another step, placing her foot inside a small wooden sandal with wheels on it that roll her all the way to the cushion, where she flips in the air before falling comfortably on it. Remilia panics and rushes to help her, but a golden washtub falls on her head, making a loud 'klunk' as Remilia's entire body stiffens upon impact. Remilia stands still, her body stiff, for some time. Sakuya gets worried and asks "my lady, are you alright?" Remilia ducks and rubs her head, then springs back up, her eyes on fire, her face red with rage as she shout "SAKUYA~! Find WHOEVER'S responsible for this and bring them to me on the...-" Sakuya and Remilia look around and everything is gone. The cushion, the washtub, and even the carpeting is replaced. Shinki stands farther ahead, smiles and waves at them as they glance to her. Remilia clears her throat and says "please, miss Shinki, forgive me... Shall we go in, then?" Shinki smiles motherly and says "please, if it's not too much." As they enter, Sakuya says "oh, my lady, I forgot to mention, Patchouli is studying with her apprentice today, so she asks to not be bothered." Remilia happily replies "then let's make sure to bother her as much as we can." Shinki adds "please, don't mind me." Before closing the door behind them, Remilia says "oh please, we do that to her often, right Sakuya?" Sakuya giggles and says "my lady is so playful." then the door finally closes. From the portrait pops Koakuma, holding the washtub in her hands, looking very content. After her comes Nitori, who says "see? I told you my device would work!" Koakuma hands Nitori some cucumbers in a basket and says "yes, you were true to your word. Please, accept a little extra from lady Patchouli. She thanks you for all your hard work." Nitori giggles and says "anytime. You know where to find me."

To be continued...

Characters and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Budou and Luna were created by Willie G.R.
Rika and Rika's spell cards were created by Snapshot2010
Mayor assistance by Snapshot2010

NOV 5 2009
written by
Willie G.R.