Paradise Sukima 4

It’s been one week since Rika’s welcoming party. At the underground, Parsee is locked up inside her house, still embarrassed of her behavior during the party. Banging hard on the door is Yuugi, shouting “come on already! You have a job to do, remember!?” From inside Parsee replies “leave me alone! I’m NEVER coming out!” Yuugi shouts “it’s been a week already! How long are you going to be like this!?” Parsee shouts “I called that maid a ‘beauty’ when I was supposed to be JEALOUS of that!” Yuugi sighs, places her back against the door and slides down to sit on the ground and says “fine, suit yourself. I guess you can just be jealous of those dust-bunnies under your mat from now on... You won’t be able to be properly jealous of that human that is crossing your bridge right now.” The second she finishes her sentence, Parsee opens her door, sending Yuugi flying all the way back to the streets of Former Hell, and with a look of despair on her face, Parsee gasps and looks toward her bridge, shouting “how dare that human be so bold and brave! I’m gonna be so jealous when I see him!!! Huh?” Parsee immediately calms down when she sees a 3 day old newspaper lying on her doormat, ignoring Kyo, who continues to boldly cross that bridge, seemingly for no apparent reason. Parsee reads the front page of that paper, then suddenly gasps, her eyes hiding under a light shadow as her mouth stays open wide, and slowly her entire body turns to stone and cracks. Parsee enters her house again so fast, she leaves an after-image of herself in shock, then the her scream echoes from inside her house and all the way back to Satori’s mansion. Yuugi walks back to Parsee’s house and looks at the paper with a black and white picture of Parsee playing with Satori’s hair, making two side-pony tails on her. Yuugi’s mouth wriggle, then she face palms hard, saying “I forgot the papers.” Parsee screams again after Yuugi mentions the paper, then Kyo approaches Yuugi, saying “well, I did my part, so I expect to be paid what was agreed upon.” Looking defeated, Yuugi says “oni never lie. Here you go.” She hands Kyo a large jar of strawberry jam, and with a glint on his eyes he smiles and says “that’s the good stuff. Err... sorry your plan didn’t work.” Yuugi sighs and says “it’s fine. Enjoy. You earned it.” Outside the cave, Kyo takes a handful of jam from the jar, somehow managing to close the jar with the same hand he is holding it with, then stuffs his face, groaning contently as he chews. A small sparrow swoops down and takes the jar away from Kyo’s hands without him noticing until he was already far away. Angrily waving his arm Kyo shouts “HEY~! That’s mine, you undersized pillow stuffer!!!” Hanging upside-down on a tree in front of the entrance is Luna, letting her hair and dress hang down with her, showing her tight white pants while casually staring back at Kyo. In a sweet, yet ominous voice, she asks “and what would that have been I wonder..?” Kyo sweats coldly when he turns to face Luna, but by the time he turns around she’s already right next to him, poking his lips with her finger, then tasting it. She grabs him by the neck, and with a smile on her face she says “my, my, my, you were having strawberry jam without me? Oh~ you know how much I love strawberry jam, right?” Kyo nods while shaking uncontrollably. Speaking seductively, Luna says “you do know what this means, right?” Kyo gulps, and within seconds he finds himself running through the trees and bushes, screaming like a girl and begging for mercy, while Luna slashes away with her gun-blades, shooting her knife danmaku bullets whenever she’s close enough, and with an ominous smile and glowing eyes she cackles and shouts “come back darling! I just want my SHARE! AHAHAHAHAHA~!”

At the Moriya Shrine, Mystia sits on a branch of one of the trees right in front of the shrine’s entrance. She happily hums to herself for some time while seemingly preparing herself for something, then stands up and takes a deep breath. She starts to sing, when from her left a girl shouts “WAKE UP YOU LAZY SLOBS~!!!”, startling Mystia and making her almost fall off the tree. Mystia manages to keep her footing then glares to her left and while raising her little fist she shouts “who the hell are you, and what’s the big idea!?” Yuki casually says “I’m Yuki...” then stares at Mystia with glinting eyes and drooling while saying “and I’ve been looking for you~!” Mystia darts away from the top of the trees, crying “she wants to eat me~!!”, and Yuki matches her speed as she chases after her, shouting “WAIT! IT’S JUST WINDY UNDERNEATH!!!” Inside the shrine, on the ceiling of Sanae’s room, sleep Budou and Phredia. After Yuki’s screaming they both wake up, Budou stretching her arms and wings, while Phredia lets herself drop from Budou’s hair and stretches after flapping her wings to fly. Budou quietly drops to the floor and somberly heads to the door, accompanied by Phredia. Without waking Sanae, she exits and immediately makes her sleepy way to her computer, which is on the Kotatsu at the moment. She turns it on, and right as it starts up she smiles wickedly, then says “what noobs...” Meanwhile, in the hidden lab of Rikako Asakura, S-Kyo and Rikako are working many keyboards and buttons, Rikako seriously asking “are you SURE she won’t detect us?” S-Kyo arranges his glasses as he glares back at Rikako and says “of course I’m sure. Last time I just made a mistake. This time there is no way she’ll...” The largest monitor in the center of the room turns on by itself, and there the image of the smiling Budou and Phredia is displayed while she says “well, good morning. I was starting to wonder if you guys were ever going to try and hack me again. How are you?” Rikako and S-Kyo stare at the monitor for a moment, then they look at each other, Rikako glaring at him and asking “you were saying?” From the monitor, Budou looks like the mastermind of an organized crime syndicate, placing both hands under her chin, resting her head on them while Phredia sits on the right armrest, both staring straight to the monitor... however the image is ruined by Budou’s long white grape-designs pajamas, and the small golden whistle around her neck in a black necklace. Budou smiles wickedly and says “if you can tell me a good reason NOT to totally destroy your equipment with my personal favorite, miss Yuka virus, I MIGHT reconsider.” S-Kyo trembles, but Rikako keeps herself steeled. She looks back at Budou and the 16-bit image of Yuka pointing her umbrella at her, then says “just...” Her voice squeaks, so she gulps and tries again. “We just wanted to leave you something without actually letting you know it was us... but since you managed to catch us...” Rikako glares at S-Kyo after saying this, then turns to face Budou again and continues “might as well send this your way, formally.” The image of a grey bar being filled by a pink bar is displayed on the monitor, and just before the upload finished, and quite quickly too, Budou seriously says “this better not be a joke, or I’ll send THESE to the tengu.” Displayed on the monitor is the picture of two men in red trunks at the beach, holding hands while licking large red lollipops, their heads replaced by Rikako’s and S-Kyo’s. The shaggy Kyo sweats, but Rikako keeps her composure and says “just read that.” Back inside the Moriya Shrine, the monitor’s light reflects on Budou’s face as she reads the documents. Budou suddenly stops reading and gasps. Phredia looks worried as Budou suddenly whispers “papa?” Phredia reads as quickly as possible, then covers her open mouth with both hands. All around the shrine grounds Budou’s voice echoes as she screams “PAPA~~!”

At the Hakurei Shrine, Mystia and Yuki sit on the shrine’s roof, both wearing each others’ outfits, and fitting in them quite comfortably, though for Mystia, Yuki’s skirt is a little too long. Yuki places her left hand on her chest and tries to sing, however she sings off-key. Mystia angrily says “no, no! You’re doing it wrong!” Annoyed, Yuki points at Mystia and says “fine. They YOU try.” Mystia defiantly replies “FINE” then stands on the roof’s edge, waiting for Mima to get close as she somberly floats to the shrine. Mystia waits for just the right moment, and just as Mima is about to reach the porch, Mystia unleashes a small orb that releases various multi-colored feathers that float down on to Mima’s clothes. Mima looks at herself and touches one of the cold feathers. It turns to a sticky liquid, and when she exclaims “eww~! What is this?”, all the feathers explode hard, leaving Mima’s face and clothes looking singed. Yuki and Mystia laugh hard on the roof, and Yuki says “not bad for a beginner, hahaha!” Mystia wipes the tears of laughter from her eyes as she laughs and says “see-he-he! I told you I could do it!” Yuki’s eyes suddenly widen, then flies away, shouting “RUN AWAY~!” Mystia looks behind her and realizes Mima is breathing steam, then flies away after Yuki, shouting “wait for me you meanie!” Mima flies after them, shouting “GET BACK HERE! Mima’s got a SPANKING for you!” From below, Rika watches these events, then continues to casually sweep the ground while slowly flapping her wings, sighting and saying to herself “these kids need a better pastime.”

A few hours later, at the back of the shrine, Rika trains with her sword, and her newfound ability, while Reimu practices with what she learned about barrier manipulation from Rika’s scroll, deep in meditation. Next to her, the usual rectangular wall barrier, blue in color, slowly expands, inflating like a balloon until it becomes a perfect round orb, big enough to have a fully-gown human inside. Reimu opens her eyes and looks at her barrier, and with a smile on her face she says “after two weeks of meditation, I think I got it now. What do you think, Rika?” Rika is father away, her wings grown, her eyes brighter with the hints of clouds coursing through, and her family sword, again transformed to its colorful state. She holds the sword in its sheath, slowly folding her wings behind her while staring straight at the training dummy, and like a quick blur, she moves around the dummy, and right after she stops, her wings spread open, she sheathes her sword and right after it clicks in place the dummy falls to perfect square pieces, then Rika exhales and her wings shrink, her eyes return to their regular light-blue, and her family sword returns to its regular state, looking like a regular sword with a golden hand-guard. Rika looks to her mistress and after noticing the barrier she smiles and says “you did it, my lady!” Reimu stands up and dusts herself, saying “and it seems you have improved much in just one week. Three hours in your Soraogan mode. Last week you couldn’t last an hour.” Rika sweats and asks “So... Soraogan mode, my lady?” Reimu giggles and says “well, since your eyes look like the daytime sky, I thought that name would be appropriate. Soraogan? Blue Sky..?” Rika flaps her small wings while blushing lightly with her angelic smile and saying “it’s perfect, my lady!” Reimu’s smile suddenly turns serious as she opens her mouth to speak again, however Sanae’s call interrupts her. Flying fast and out of control Sanae desperately shouts “REIMU~! RIKA~! Have you seen Budou around-KYAH!” Sanae flies straight inside Reimu’s barrier and before she knows it, she’s trapped. From inside her voice sounds a bit muffled as she asks “what in blazes...? Where am I!?” She strikes the insides with her fists, shouting “get me OUT OF HERE!” Reimu chuckles while Rika looks on in disbelief, saying “my lady, don’t be so mean.” Reimu laughs and says “alright, alright, hahaha. But before I get you out of there... Sanae, could you fire one of your stars for me?” Sanae shouts “Reimu I really don’t have time for this!” Reimu casually says “if you do it, I’ll help you with whatever you need.” Rika is in shock, looking at Reimu from the background, saying “my lady!” Sanae angrily sighs then says “fine!” She fires a small red star that simply vanishes when it touches the barrier’s walls. Reimu says “still needs some work, but my barriers just became really effective traps.”, then chuckles. Enraged, Sanae shouts “GET ME OUT OF HERE ALREADY!”

Inside the shrine, shaking almost as Ayalina was the day she appeared looking for Ail, Sanae says “she started screaming and calling for Ail, then just left. We-we tried to get her back, but she’s too fast. Now she’s locked up inside Ail’s house and somehow activated the magical defenses... ag-against me. I can’t get in.” Reimu and Rika stare at Sanae with concern in their eyes, Reimu looking particularly worried, thinking “just like Ayalina... but at least she knows where Budou is. This year’s becoming quite active... though not in a very positive way.” Reimu places a hand on Sanae’s shoulder, then says “calm down. Rika and I will come with you. Let’s get Budou out of there.” Sanae smiles while Rika flaps her small wings contently. Very suddenly, all three look up and see a shower of small keystones fall from the sky, one headed straight to the shrine’s front yard. As they run to the front yard Reimu comments “geez, that celestial is becoming a pain!” Rika is the first to approach the small keystone, finding a note tied to its rope. The unties it and gives it to Reimu, who reads it out loud. “You are invited to attend to the fight at Bhava-Agra, starring me, the magnificent celestial, Tenshi Hinanai. Watch me as I take out the terrifying demon girl from the dreaded Onkamikami clan, Rika Onkamikami. The fight will be held in two more weeks from today. Please tell your friends.” Written in gold at the lower right edge of the paper is the name “Tenshi Hinanai” Reimu looks frightfully serious at Rika, then asks “Rika? Are you going?” Determined, Rika replies “yes, my lady. I have to teach that girl, that clan of hers, how mistaken they are.” Reimu sighs and sounding annoyed she says “fine. Let’s just go and get Budou.” Before they set off, Remilia lands in front of them, looking angry as she quickly asks “has anybody seen a little sparrow!?” Surprised, the three girls shake their heads left and right, then Remilia clenches her teeth and shouts “that stupid bird!” Just as she sets off again, Sakuya comes from behind, shouting “my lady stop~! You’re umbrella!!” Remilia shouts back “stop holding me BACK!” Reimu looks up to the sky, her annoyed eyes hiding under a shadow as she comments “it’s always something.”

At the Forest of Magic, inside Ail’s house, a constant tweet passes through the walls of the house and echo all over the neighboring area. Inside the house’s storage room, the same room where Ail found Budou, the little bat youkai sobs, sitting on a corner of the room, holding her knees with one arm and using the other to place the golden whistle on her lips, blowing on it and sobbing when nothing happens. She sobs louder after blowing on it one last time, then grasps it tightly in her little hand and sobs “he didn’t come *sob*. He promise he would come...” Phredia flies from the living room and hurries to Budou when she sees her crying like that. The moment Phredia hugs Budou’s arm, the little youkai closes her wings around them and continues to sob away. Outside, some voices can be heard. One says “miss Reimu, this is intense.” Reimu’s voice replies “I know. It’s going to take time.” Outside, Reimu, Rika and Sanae stand a few feet away from the house, staring at it from a safe distance. Reimu and Rika can see the intense magical aura that composes the house’s magical defenses. Sanae is too distraught to see it at the moment, and sounding nervous she shouts “what do we do? Why is she hiding there? Budou! Budou, sweetie, are you ok!?” There’s no answer. Sanae tries to get close, shouting “Budou please, answer me!” but a large fireball forms up in just a second and quickly heads straight to Sanae, however she reacts fast enough to defend herself with her gohei, though in her unsettled state, all she managed to do was cut the power of the magic in half. Reimu pulls the singed Sanae by the back of her shirt and says “let me handle this. Rika, hold Sanae for me.” She tosses Sanae straight to Rika, who locks her arms behind, saying “sorry miss Sanae, but miss Reimu might hurt you by mistake.” At first Sanae struggles to break free, but after Rika speaks to her, she calms down and says “I’m sorry, I’m just so worried.” Reimu flies just above the house, positioning a barrier under her, protecting herself from the moon-beams underneath, while she dodges a shower or black spear danmaku bullets and extra-large fireballs. She approaches the roof of the house and places on red charm on the left side, flies away, dodging 3 more giant fireballs, then places two green charms on the right side of the roof. She flies away to the sky, avoiding more moon-beams and black spears, flips her gohei in the air, then claps her hands together while still holding the gohei, then the charms glint, and just like that, the magical defenses stop working. Landing next to the door, Reimu signals Rika to let Sanae go, then opens the door and says “ladies first.” Sanae rushes inside, calling desperately for Budou while Rika approaches Reimu, and with a smile on her face she says “that was very impressive, my lady.” Reimu flaps her hand in the air, casually saying “yeah, it was nothing. Come on, let’s go in.” Rika enters before Reimu, who takes her time before entering, hiding a piece of singed skirt behind herself, whispering “I’m out of practice.” Right after Reimu enters she hears Sanae inside one of the rooms, saying “Budou, please talk to me! What’s the matter?” Reimu and Rika are about to follow in, but blasts come from inside the room and Sanae rushes back to the living room. Reimu, looking very concerned asks “what happened? Is she alright in there!?” Sanae shouts toward the room “Phredia, what the hell’s wrong with you!?” Phredia hovers by the archway to the room, looking like a small guard. Reimu and Sanae stare straight into her eyes... she’s letting neither through, no matter what, and to this, Reimu says “so you won’t let anyone through?” Phredia nods, then points at Rika, who points at herself and sounding infinitely confused she asks “ME!? Why me!?” Phredia closes her little eyes and a blue light surrounds Rika, lifting her from the ground, making her flap her wings on instinct as she hovers unwillingly toward the room. Once inside, she finds Budou sitting in a corner and covering herself up with her wings, while Phredia keeps an eye on the two maiden outside. From outside, Reimu comments “it’s really dusty in here” then shouts “Rika, try to find out what’s going on with Budou.” Sanae adds “please tell her I’m worried about her!” Rika simply nods, to which Phredia nods at the maidens outside, letting them know Rika acknowledged them. Slowly, Rika approaches Budou and kneels by her side, gently passing her hand through her wings, asking “little Budou, are you ok?” Rika feels Budou shake her head, then asks “did someone hurt you?” Again, she feels when Budou shakes her head again. Rika sighs and says “you know, if you lock yourself up like this, you’re only going to feel sadder, and if you feel even sadder, Sanae will feel even worse. Why don’t you open up those wings. Let Sanae in here. She’s very worried about you.” For a while there is no response, but after that, Budou slowly opens her wings, revealing her wide open eyes, seemingly in a trance. Her cheeks are red and her eyes are puffy, tears still coming out of here eyes as she stares blankly at the other side of the room. Rika wants to gasp, to cry with her, but she knows that’ll do no good and simply smiles and says “there you go. Now why don’t you tell me what happened? It’ll make you feel better.” Budou stares silently at the other side of the room, unblinking and unmoving. From outside, Reimu closes her eyes for a moment, then says “the village...” Sanae asks “what about the village?” As if having a plan of her own, Reimu says to Sanae “I think I know who can help us. Please wait here.” Before she heads out the door she shouts “Rika, I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t leave her alone.” From inside Rika says “not even if the world crumbles, my lady!” Reimu nods and with a determined look in her eyes, she sets off to the Human Village.

At the Myouren Temple, Nazrin and Ichirin stare at Nue, who lies on the ground with a large bump on her head next to the keystone that fell through the roof. Nazrin looks seemingly uninterested at Nue, then back at Ichirin, then says “well, I told her to move.” Ichirin looks concerned and shouts “don’t just stare! Help me treat that wound!” While Nazrin slowly kneels down to help, saying “right, right” Shou enters the room, asking “girl’s what’s all the racket? You are disturbing lady Hijiri’s meditation.” A little agitated, Ichirin says “that rock came flying through the roof and hit poor Nue on the head.” Casually, Nazrin says “I told her to move.” While Shou approaches the small keystone and picks it up, Ichirin angrily says to Nazrin “you know, you could show a little more concern.” Shou finds the note and upon pulling it lose, a few golden coins fall off on to the ground. The second the golden coins hit the floor Nazrin’s eyes glint as she shouts “TREASURE!”, then takes a sudden dive to grab the shiny golden coins. Ichirin stares annoyed and softly grumbles “honestly”, while soaking a piece of cotton with alcohol. Shou reads the letter and says “oh, it seems there’s going to be an event at heaven. I’ll inform lady Hijiri.” While Shou heads back to the meditation room and Nazrin stares at the golden coins with bright and shiny eyes, Ichirin applies the alcohol on Nue’s bump, making it sizzle and causing Nue to jump to her feet, screaming in pain “YAAH~! What the HELL is that!? Acid!?” Ichirin smiles and casually says “just alcohol.” From inside the meditation room, Ichirin’s voice is heard as she says “oh wait, it is acid.” Nue suddenly shouts “WAH~! It burns, it BURNS! Do something!” Shou sits crossing her legs next to Byakuren, who sits on the floor on a small cushion, crossing her legs under her skirt, her eyes closed, and holding both hands while resting them in front of her abdomen. Shou closes her eyes to meditate with Byakuren, when her lady asks “you got something for me?” Shou sweats and says “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Byakuren smiles and says “no, no, I heard everything. That racket is really disturbing, so I’m just sitting here for now.” Shou sweats, forcing a confused smile, then hands Byakuren the letter. After quietly reading it, she looks at Shou with a determined look, though a little sadness in her eyes. Worried, Shou asks “is something wrong?” Byakuren says “Shou, we are going, to show our support to that girl.” Shou asks “you mean, miss...” Byakuren says “exactly! She’s going to need a lot of support for this.” Shou smiles and nods, then says “understood.” From outside, Nue shouts “come BACK here and take you medicine!!!” Ichirin cries “I already said I was sorry~! Waah~! Unzan, help me~!” There’s a moment of silence, then suddenly Nue bursts into the room head-first and slides on the floor all the way in front of Byakuren, the mutters “pain... unfair.. taxing hotcakes with blue icing made of berries...” then falls unconscious. Byakuren face palms the right side of her face as she sighs, then says “get Mini-chan to fix all this, will you Shou?” Shou nods, sweating and smiling nervously, then quickly leaves the room.

Back at Ail’s house, Sanae sits on the living room’s couch, holding her head on her arms as she slouches and constantly sighs. Phredia is still guarding the door and doesn’t seem she’ll move anytime soon. Inside the room, Rika gently brushes Budou’s head with her hand, speaking in a soft and sweet tone of voice “sweetie, why won’t you let Sanae in? You know, she’s very worried about you. She even came to us for help because she was so worried.” Budou turns her blank stare at Rika for a second, then continues to stare to the wall across the room, then whispers “papa...” In her mind, Rika says “he left too suddenly... She’s still too young for this.”, but she smiles and manages to softly ask “you miss him?” There is no response; not even a blink. Rika sighs but then hears Reimu enter the house, saying “everyone, I’m back. I brought some help.” From the living room, Sanae exclaims “Chen, and miss Ran.” Hearing Chen’s name make’s Budou twitch and turn her eyes toward the door. Immediately, Phredia and Rika notice this and Rika rushes outside, saying “miss Chen, please.” Both the fairy and the shrine maid looks straight at Chen, who stares back with fright, then sounding a bit more calm Rika says “please, miss Chen, Budou isn’t feeling well, but she’s not telling us anything. Maybe you can help.” Phredia nods after Rika finishes speaking. Ran pats Chen’s shoulder, then says “I think you are forgetting, Chen is just a child.” Chen quietly pats Ran’s hand, turns to face her, then smiles and nods. Ran lets go of Chen’s shoulder, then the nekomata walks straight to Rika and Phredia. Before entering she notices Budou’s eyes, then whispers “umm... could you close the door?” Phredia and Rika look confused at each other, then back at Chen, but quietly nod and close the door right after Chen enters. Looking bravely at Budou, Chen immediately asks “what did you find out?” Budou lifts her blank sight towards Chen for a moment, and before she knows it, Budou is crying loud, clinging on her belly and crying “Chen, he’s gone! Papa is gone~! He’s not coming back, he’s not coming back!” Chen is shocked. She never expected any of this to happen, however she shakes of the shock, and showing some maturity in her eyes Chen says “you should have told this to miss Sanae.” Budou continues to cry and repeats what she said before, over and over again. Chen can only stand there and hope her friend calms down soon. From outside, placing their ears as close as they can to the door, Sanae, Reimu, Rika, Phredia and Ran all listen to what’s happening inside. Sanae sighs and says “it appears... she really misses him. But why isn’t she using her whistle?” Ran sighs loudly and says “they are children, they shouldn’t be going through this. Miss Sanae, she’s just torn in two right now. She wants him back at all costs, but she feels she would be a burden if she calls him back now. At least... that’s what I understand.” Reimu and Rika look at each other, Reimu saying “sounds like that’s exactly what’s happening.” Rika says “maybe you should call him in her stead.” Ran immediately snaps back “no, don’t!” She gets closer and whispers “if she finds out you did that, she’ll think she’s causing trouble. Look, let’s give her time to recover, let her call him on her own, even.” Sanae, her eyes hidden under a black shadow, stands in between them as they all discuss bout Ail and Budou, however to her she feels like she’s in a dark room, alone. She thinks “in the end I just wasn’t good enough. Only Chen managed to get in. I was quickly kicked out like nothing. I’m nothing to her after all...” Sanae slowly makes her way to the living room, thinking she’s unwanted there as she aims for the open door to the outside, however the door to the room suddenly burst open and out comes Budou, her eyes full of tears, and just after Sanae turns around, Budou hug-tackles here to the ground. On the ground and in surprise Sanae asks “wah? Budou?” Budou now cries on Sanae’s abdomen, but says nothing. Sanae sits up and immediately holds Budou tightly, resting her head on Budou’s whispering “there there. It’s alright.”, and thinking “she came to me after all... I’m happy. I want to make her happy too... but that is where I fail again.”

A few hours pass, it’s getting dark outside. Sanae managed to convince Budou to eat a fruit salad specially made by Rika herself, though the little youkai hasn’t said another word... until Sanae says “thank you all for your help, especially you, Chen. You’re a very brave girl.” Chen puffs her chest and proudly pounds on it, saying “all in a day’s work.” Sanae giggles while Ran grabs Chen, hugging her tightly and saying “that’s my Chen” while some blood drops down her nose. Sanae then continues “well, I guess we’ll be heading back to the shrine now...” Budou runs away from Sanae, saying “no! I don’t wanna...” She hides at the end of the large couch and peeks through the edge. Sanae looks surprised, then asks “Budou, what is it?” Chen clears her throat and hesitantly says “well... you see... Umm, how do I say this.” Rika twitches and looking to the ceiling with her eyes, as if pondering something, she says “I see. She wants to stay here for a few days, and asked if you could stay with her, right miss Chen?” She says these last words with an angelic smile while looking at Chen, who looks back quite surprised, then nods. Ran immediately says “but you two are children! Someone has to say with you to make sure you are well!” Reimu says “sadly, I can’t leave the shrine unattended for so long.”, to which Rika immediately adds “I would stay, but someone needs to take care of miss Reimu.” Reimu twitches and mouths “geez, I’m not a child.” Sanae says “I could stay, but just for a few days. And I’d have to tell miss Yasaka and lady Moriya or they might get worried.” From the background Reimu says “don’t you mean ‘lonely’?” Ran says “well, if lady Yukari were awake, It’d be no problem, but I have to take care of her while she sleeps.” From behind, Yukari’s voice says “then I guess I’ll have to wake up early after all.” Ran gasps and looks behind her, exclaiming “lady Yukari!” Yukari hides her face behind her fan and says “don’t worry, I know everything. Guess I’ll be staying over as well. Someone needs to take care of Ran. Ran pouts and thinks “don’t you mean you need someone to cook for you?” Inside her mind Yukari playfully says “I heard that.”, while looking playfully at Ran. Sanae sighs and bows as she says “then I guess it’s settled. Miss Yukari, miss Ran, miss Chen, thank you very much for all of this. I’ll be sure to repay you for your kindness.” Yukari giggles and smiles as she looks at Chen, who is kneeling next to Budou and pats her head, then says “it’s nothing, sweetie. Just make sure to come by often, alright.” She gets closer to the group, away from Chen and Budou, then whispers “she might want to tell you something as soon as she recovers.” Sanae smiles, however there is great sadness in her eyes as she says “I hope so. I truly hope so.” Inside the storage room, Phredia sits on one of the wooden supports of the roof, holding Budou’s whistle in her tiny hands and stares at it, as if trying to decipher the reason for its failure, however she blows a puff of air, signaling she can’t find any reason. Meanwhile, while flying back to the shrine, Rika asks Reimu “my lady, why didn’t you tell them about Ail’s mother?” Without looking back, with a serious expression on her, Reimu says “Budou is already broken, and Sanae is about to follow. If we tell them now they’ll just self-destruct.” Rika looks sadly away, then thinks “this is just terrible. I wish there were something I could do.” Reimu looks to Rika through the corner of her eyes and says “Rika! You can’t do anything for them as things are. Right now, though, I want you focused on that battle of yours. It’s just two weeks away... Are you sure you don’t want me to call it off?” Rika sighs and says “no, my lady... and you’re right. For now I best focus on the battle... but still.” Reimu smiles while flying ahead, keeping quiet the rest of the way.

Two weeks later, at the Forest of Magic, hours before Rika and Tenshi’s match, Marisa exits her house, stretching and groaning as she does. She looks at the trees, admiring how the leaves slowly return, signaling spring is soon to come. She smiles and says “alright! Today’s the day I get that whistle, ze!” With her confident smile she summons her broom to her hand and immediately flies away towards Alice’s house, saying “but first to check on miss noisy!” Arriving to Alice’s house, long before landing, Marisa spots Alice and Shinki working on the roof, patching one hole on it, and looking closer she notices there are two more spots that have already been patched. Shinki is the first to notice Marisa, and waving at her she shouts “miss Marisa, it’s been a while! How are you!?” Marisa waves back and hovers close to the roof now, saying “Alice, Shiki, what’s up, ze!?” She looks at Alice and curiously asks “hey, what was all that racket the other day? I swear, I thought I heard you crying again.” Alice blushes bright red and looks away, saying “I was-wasn’t crying...” Marisa looks at the house with curiosity and asks “then what happened here? Looks like there was a war here. Did Yuyuko finally return?” Alice growls and says “ugh, not her! This STUPID sparrow made a complete mess around here. That and some ODD events that I can’t even explain!” Shinki smiles and says “like the house falling next to miss Satori’s mansion.” Alice looks annoyed when she replies “exactly! How annoying was THAT!” Marisa stares at both for a moment, then suddenly starts to laugh so hard she almost falls off her broom, then starts to cry. After calming down and looking at the annoyed faces of Alice and Shinki, she smiles and asks “a little sparrow... and your house falling next to Satori’s mansion? You guys are the BEST story-tellers. You should write that down, ze!” Alice shouts “we’re not LYING, you idiot!” Shinki adds “that little feathered monster spoiled my Alice for marriage, and Alice says it’s fine!” Alice stares in shock and awestruck at Shinki, then her face turns bright red and then shouts “MOM!?! I already TOLD you, he only took my UNDERWEAR! Besides, I’ll NEVER marry a bird!” Shinki sighs and says “it’s just denial.” Marisa stares at them some more, her lips extend, her cheeks puff, then suddenly “pffft-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is just RICH! Alice, I never thought you’d be that type!” Beams and knives fly past Marisa, who dodges a few that were dead-on target, then says “well, it seems you’re ok so I’ll head off now.” Alice asks “ah, going to watch that fight?” From behind Shinki says to herself “and she’s already calm?” Marisa smiles and says “like I’d miss that celestial losing to Rika!” Concerned, Alice asks “you really think she’ll win?” Shanghai and Hourai rush from below the house, looking very agitated. Shanghai excitedly says “of course she’ll win! She’s good. Good people win! That’s how it should be! Right Hourai!?” Hourai nods, then looks away and says “I hope there’s cake there.” Shanghai quietly stares to Hourai, but says nothing. Marisa smiles, then says “I better be going now. I have something important I need to do before the fight starts... See you all at the fight, da-ze~!”, and flies away toward the Hakurei Shrine. Alice asks “mom, do you think there was something strange with Marisa today?” Shinki smiles wide, then says “dear, when you’ve lived with Yuki this long, everything else seems normal... Even that witch.” Alice sweats as she stares at Shinki with narrow surprised eyes, but says nothing.

Marisa arrives to the Hakurei Shrine, but immediately upon landing she hears voices coming from inside, so she decides to hide by the donation box. Inside she hears Mima and Suika crying. Mima sniffles and says “I’m sorry, but that’s just so sad and beautiful!” Suika adds "I know! Rika, you poor sweet girl, you!" They both start crying loudly again, but stop when Reimu speaks louder than their cries shouting "RIKA, TELL ME SOMETHING!" They quiet down, then Reimu asks "is the outside world really that advanced? From what Sanae and the goddesses at the Moriya Shrine say... machines aren't as amazing as you describe them!" Marisa whispers “geez, what are they talking about? Don’t they know the fight is just in a few hours? Why aren’t they leaving?” From inside Reimu asks “what year do you believe this is?" Rika hesitantly says "well... 2785..." Marisa whispers “whoa... What the heck?” There are quick footsteps inside, then a moment of silence. Rika suddenly asks “my... my lady, is this thing accurate?” Reimu exclaims "Yukari brought this back the day she took you home!" Mima suspiciously asks "are you sure you're not pulling their legs?" Marisa chuckles, but covers her mouth so she’s not heard. Rika replies "but... how can that be? I mean..." Reimu sounds annoyed when she says "never mind! We'll ask Yukari when we see her. Please, just continue with your story!" Marisa whispers “story? Well, this is becoming interesting...” Rika sighs, then says "alright. Well, I WAS supposed to come back after 3 days but..." The hours pass, and Marisa listens to Rika’s tale while she was away back home, getting a good laugh when she hears Mima call herself “mama-Mima” while Suika cries after Mima calls her an un-cute drunk. Finally, Rika ends her story and there is silence. Marisa only hears a few mumbles, then Reimu suddenly says “but I still don’t understand, why do you have to do this!? Rika, just say the word and I’ll have this battle cancelled!” While they speak inside Marisa whispers “that girl’s gone through so much... She’s definitely tough, and at least that story explains the wings an all the changes... anyway, why aren’t they leaving already!?” From inside Reimu says “come on. It’s almost time. Rika giggles and says “right! Let’s go!” Marisa smiles and triumphantly whispers “finally! I can make my move.” She tip-toes to the back of the shrine, since Reimu’s locked the side entrance, but she stops when she sees Reimu rush back and enter the shrine very quickly. She can hear rummaging inside, then thinks “dammit all! Reimu’s too sharp sometimes.” Rika shouts “my lady, is everything alright? From the porch Reimu says “sorry! I forgot something important!” then flies away to heaven with Suika and Mima accompanying them. When everything is clear again, Marisa enters the shrine and heads straight to the cabinet. She rummages through all the drawers then sighs and says “Reimu, you just made this harder for me.” As she walks outside the shrine, she thinks “well, I got the metal, the paint... I just need the whistle and I can make an exact copy... though it’ll probably break after one use...” She places her hands behind her head and says “whatever. This just makes it more interesting, ze!”

When Rika arrives to Bhava-Agra, she is surprised by the beauty of the vast land. Flower everywhere the eye can see, mountains caressed by soft white clouds, the sky looking so clean and the air so fresh. Rika can’t believe she’s about to have such a serious fight in such a beautiful land. Rika’s sight-seeing is cut short when a familiar voice says “please, move along. You’re holding up the line.” Rika looks down, and there, wearing a white robe tied with a golden rope by the waist, a white straw hat with eyes on her golden lose hair and a halo above, grey eyes, and with a pair of angel wings half the size of her own body, is Shadow Suwako. Rika exclaims “miss Shadow Suwako!? Is that you!? Oh my goodness, you look so CUTE!” Instinctively, Rika grabs S-Suwako and hugs her tight, both flapping their wings, though S-Suwako is because of the surprise. After placing her back on the ground, S-Suwako dusts herself, blushing a little, and says “well... umm, yes, hello miss Rika. I hear that celestial really gave you trouble.” Reimu answers for Rika, saying “yes, and I am against this!” She turns to Rika and says “Rika, reconsider! Let me cancel this fight!” Rika sighs and says “my lady, remember. I can keep in my ‘Soraogan mode’ for almost a day now! Please, have faith in me.” Reimu sighs in defeat, and looking a little sad she says “I have faith in you, Rika. I just don’t want to see you get hurt like this. Tenshi’s aiming for your life.” Rika looks confidently back to Reimu and says “I will not lose, my lady.” From farther away, a childish and playful voice calls “SPEE~!! Spee, where are you!?” In an instant, standing next to S-Suwako is S-Shinki, also known as Girlie. Her hair is long and raven black, and has a piece of it tied up in a ponytail by a pair of hair bobbles on the left side of her head, has a halo brighter than S-Suwako’s on her head as well. She has red innocent-looking eyes and she wears a white robe tied up with a golden rope by her waist, though her robe is twice her own size, and she also has a pair of angel wings half the size of her body like S-Suwako. She looks at S-Suwako and says Spee, Spee, why are we here again!?” S-Suwako face palms herself and says “please stop calling me that.” Reimu mischievously says “Spee, huh? Nice name.” Spee looks at Reimu and says “she gave me that name and refuses to change it... oh well.” Rika giggles and says “well it sounds nice... but why Spee?” Girlie raises her hand and excitedly says “ooh, ooh, I know. It’s because I saw Spee flying by REALLY fast, and I shouted at her, but all she could do was scream ‘eeeee~!’ so I decided to call her Spee~~!!” Spee looks away in embarrassment and says “I got launched by a catapult. The others said it was fun, but I swear I thought I was going to die again.” Rika and Reimu look at each other, chuckling nervously and Rika saying “well it’s a nice name, miss Spee. Oh, and what is your name, young girl.” Girlie quickly says “Girlie, and please call me by my name.” Rika giggles, then asks “ok Girlie... err, why is your robe so big?” Girlie winks and waves her finger, then says “because I’m going to grow up someday, so I want to be ready and have a BIG robe, so it doesn’t break when I grow...” Again, Rika giggles, this time flapping her wings while patting Girlie on the head, to which the little angel closes her eyes and smiles, enjoying Rika’s patting.

Reimu suddenly says “well, come on, let’s go.” Spee walks away with Girlie and waves back saying “we’ll be rooting for you, miss Rika.” Girlie adds “and if that meanie hurts you I’ll fill her pillow with rocks.” Again, Rika giggles as she waves at the two angels, then follows after Reimu, but feels a light tug on her shoulder and turns around to face Byakuren, who stands behind her with a smile, holding her hands to her chest. She says “miss Rika Onkamikami, hi~!” Rika smiles and says “miss Byakuren, what a surprise!” Byakuren says “I came here to give my support to such an important friend to my family.” Rika looks curiously at Byakuren and before she asks, Byakuren giggles and says “the Onkamikami once protected my family, particularly my brother... before he...” Like a wave, the memory of her family protecting the Hijiri rushes into Rika’s mind, then Rika gasps and says “oh my, lady Hijiri, of course!” Byakuren smiles, letting a teardrop fall from her eye as she says “it’s so barbaric that the Hinanai still act like this after so long. I wish I could do more than just watch... I will pray for you well-being.” Rika hugs Byakuren on impulse and says “that will be more than enough. Don’t worry...” She lets go of Byakuren and with a determined look in her eyes she says “that girl will learn about equality! After today, the Hinanai and the Onkamikami will stand as equals.” Reimu stands a few feet away, staring at the two smiling girls, then she feels infected by this and smiles as well, thinking “I see... This isn’t about honor... but about equality. Rika. You are so different from before.. yet you are still the same as ever.” From above the sky, a small glint catches Reimu’s eyes, but long before even she can react Tenshi falls right on top of Rika, holding her sword downward and laughing as she shouts “dishonorable blood BEGONE!” Reimu calls out for Rika, hoping to save her, but she’s too far away, and Tenshi’s falling too fast. By the time Rika and Byakuren notice the sneak attack it’s too late. Tenshi eyes her target with a wicked grin on her face, mere feet away, then a large golden washtub strikes the side of her heard so hard, she flies away from the field and slides on the ground, sliding all the way down to the edge of the mountain, destroying many flowers in her path. Rika looks at the destruction and gasps in horror, then says “no... The flowers...” From the edge of the mountain Tenshi’s voice echoes, shouting “I’m O~ KAY~!” While Rika and Byakuren stare toward Tenshi’s voice, Reimu looks behind her and sees Iku, glaring angrily toward where Tenshi just was. Reimu takes a breath of relief and mouths “thank you” at Iku, who winks back at her and flips her thumb up, accidentally setting off a bolt of lightning that strikes her own head.

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Spee (S-Suwako) and Girlie (S-Shinki) were created by Willie G.R.
Rika was created by Snapshot 2010
MAR 3 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
First off, I want to again thank those who have shown support by leaving their reviews/comments. Also, to a review on chapter 1, I am very glad this fic has inspired you to continue on your own.
Well, things are getting tough now. Budou knows something about Ail she’s not telling, her whistle failed, Sanae’s losing her spirit. It’s really tough, isn’t it? Sometimes I wish things like these didn’t happen... but oh well. Things will get better, right? “It’s always darkest just before dawn.” “The closer you are to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.” – Kingdom Hearts intro stage I believe this quote comes from.
Anyway, note that the next chapter might take me longer as it’s going to be a collaboration. Also, don’t think the two-week period I skipped over had no events. If not before chapter 4 of Paradise Sukima, or after, I’ll be posting a special little mishap that happen to Reimu and Rika at the shrine during one of these two skipped weeks. Oh well, I hope you are enjoying the read. Take care.