Rumiko Lumikko's Story

With the arrival of spring comes the well-anticipated blooming of the cherry blossoms. Throughout the country and throughout it's history, people have been mesmerized by the sight of cherry trues in bloom, as temporary as they may be. Perhaps it's their fleetingness that draws people to them. Some people look at them and think of death, whereas others just admire they're beauty without thinking too deeply. Indeed, there must be something supernatural about them that draws people to want to do nothing but sit under them and just allow themselves to be mesmerized.

The land between the mountains, almost forgotten by society, was definitely one of such mesmerizing sights. The pink and white treetops stretched out over vast tracks of land, most heavily clustered around the high ground where only a single shrine sat. The shrine was not the only place in bloom. Thousands of flowers bordered the Misty Lake, where fairies sung and danced. The Forest of Magic was somewhat lacking in terms of blossoms, with the exception of some notable clusters, yet rare flowers that only grew in the darkest jungles could be found within these shady woods. The various fields that sat between the forests of Gensokyo were covered in flowers as well. Even the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was in full bloom, an exceedingly uncommon event that only ever occurred once every sixty years.

It seemed as if the flowers were going to take over Gensokyo. Perhaps they were making up for the disappointing blooms of last year, when consecutive heavy rain quickly ruined the cherry blossoms in a period of a few short days, leaving no time for any decent flower viewings. Perhaps it was for this reason that the humans of the village were especially rowdy this year. In times of relative peace, the village people tended to host festivals that lasted as long as the cherry blossoms did, where they'd sing, dance, recite, act, drink and have a great time while viewing the cherry blossoms. There was no real meaning to these celebrations other than to simply forget all the bad things in life and have a good time while being surrounded by a breathtaking environment, and to admire the cherry blossoms, of course.

Still, even amidst all this festivity is that unshakable feeling of suspicion and dread that one gets used to when living in Gensokyo, the feeling that at any moment, a Youkai may appear and attack you. However, thanks to recent triumphs in Youkai extermination, such as a complete clean-sweep of all Tsukumogami within the village, the villagers have been able to enjoy some peace of mind.

The Youkai, however, are in a period of unrest. With the security of the village increased, attacking the village directly seems unthinkable for any lone creature. The Youkai, for the most part, are scattered and unorganized, none of them possibly brave enough to try to cause any real incidents. The organized powers are also in unrest. In secret locations, the Youkai leaders meet to discuss their concerns for the future of Gensokyo, but it seems as if such a future is going to be a grim one.

Among disunified Youkai, festive humans and a suspicious spring does our tale start. Let us all spin the tale that puts a close to all folktales. Let this denouement begin.

Rumiko wandered into the town, wearing her usual disguise as traveling monk (including a face-concealing hat). Much as she hated hiding her radiance from everyone, it was necessary to not draw undue attention to herself. She didn't want any undesirables attempting to pursue her or any even-less-desirables cluing in to the fact that she was a yokai and trying to cause trouble.

She played her bamboo flute as she walked down the road, keeping an eye out for any... attractive humans... upon whom she might exercise her wiles... or at the very least, anything the street vendors were selling that might be worth a steal. It wasn't the most secure living a person could make, but it was mostly free of worry... Rumiko mused that she might actually be starting to take this enlightenment thing seriously as something more than a disguise.

She kept walking as Marran dashed into the street, bumping into him and throwing off her tune.
"Oy, watch it, idiot," she grunted at him. Probably not the most in-character thing for a Buddhist beggar to say, but she let her impulses get the better of her.

Fujiwara no Mokou lay there motionless among the scorched remains of the bamboo forest around her. She could not move nor could she speak for the familiar agonizing pains of death that shot through her body the moment her opponent vaporized her had paralyzed her completely upon her resurrection. 'Damn that Kaguya. That's another win for her.' Mokou stared up at the starry night sky and she noticed that the smell of burnt bamboo was uncomfortably overwhelming. She would have to deal with it for awhile longer. Soon she would be able to move again once her body recovered. How long had it been since this began? A few hundred years or so? Though Mokou could not remember when she and Kaguya Houraisan began their days of "killing" each other she could clearly recall the first day they were reunited like it was yesterday. Since then day in and day out, Mokou and Kaguya had been at it for at least three hundred years. To be honest, it wasn't a bad way to spend your time. But most importantly whenever she fought Kaguya, Mokou believed that that's when she would fell the most "alive". Maybe that's why they were doing this constantly. By fighting and killing each other and coming so close to the "death" both desired so much helped them remember what it was like to be mortal again.

"By dying we live. By killing we are reminded what it felt like to be 'alive'."

A soft gentle voice piped up somewhere nearby. Kaguya Houraisan, who had been quietly sitting on the ground a bit away from Mokou, chuckled and gave Mokou a mocking grin. "It seems as though I win again, Mokou."

"What are you doing still here? I thought you had left." Mokou who had now regained control of at least her neck and head turned towards the Lunar Princess. Though once her eyes rested on Kaguya, Mokou could now see why she had stayed. The Princess was propped up against a few bamboo stalks, that seemed to have survived Mokou's inferno, but the whole right side of her body was incinerated down to the bone. It was a horrifying sight to behold but by now, these gruesome injuries had become amusing to the two. Mokou let out a small laugh of triumph and sneered at the disheveled Kaguya.

"Your saying you won in that state? Did I accidentally fry the whole right half of your brain as well? You can't even move!"

"Well unlike you, my body actually stayed intact after the fight so I am claiming it as my win." Kaguya retorted calmly.

"Tch....." Mokou turned her head away from Kaguya and looked to the stars above after realizing the woman was right. "Whatever."

"Say... Mokou?" Kaguya called to her.

"What?"

"Did you ever once in your past think that if you were to spend an eternity with someone that you would be doing this sort of thing? Fighting with them and hating them for the rest of your days?"

As Mokou gazed at the starry sky, she pondered Kaguya's question.

"When I was mortal... I never dreamed that Immortality would be something like this. If I had known.... I would've never taken that stupid abomination you called an Elixir back then."

"So your saying that this is all my fault?" Kaguya asked softly.

"Of course it is! Why else do you think I hate you so much? For the suffering you brought to the countless men of Japan including my father! You ruined us. And for what? Personal amusement? I don't even know. All I know is that I will continue to hate you for the rest of my days and there is nothing you can do to change that...."

"But who was it that made you drink the elixir?"

Mokou didn't say a word. Kaguya sighed and turned her eyes to the stars as well. "You haven't changed even one bit, Mokou."

Marran had pulled his hood down over his eyes so he didn't see the person until he'd already walked into them. He'd met a few monks in his time and this person looked pretty similar, though the way they were dressed indicated that anonymity was more of a priority, then again that was hardly a fair accusation considering what he was wearing. Their retort aswell didn't quite fit with his idea of what monks usually said but at this point Marran was far too flustered to think it over, true enough they might just let him be about his business if he walked off but it would probably be prudent to at least try and be friendly.

"Very sorry about that, didn't notice where I was going. My apologies." Marran took a few steps back as he said this just in case he needed to bolt, he was getting a terrible feeling that something was wrong and the fact he couldn't quite place it was nagging at him, perhaps it really hadn't been worth coming into the village at all. Marran tried to give a reassuring smile before realizing his mouth was covered, with any luck this monk wouldn't ask any awkward questions.

The air of the village was thick, but not just with festivity. People of all classes mingled together. The village may have had been slow to wake, but as time went on, things got busier and busier. Performers played frequently on stages throughout the day, but the merchants were slow to set up their stands. Those that were early wanted to appeal to those who were up and about around noon. Flower viewing festivals usually were rather calm throughout the day and only as it got dark did people get much more rowdy. Still, during the noon, there tended to be a rather large influx of people. This was mainly due to the fact that it was around noon that farmers were getting off of their rice fields, but bright skies, cool breezes and the fact that people were pretty much all awake by then were all contributing factors.

With the streets becoming progressively busier, somehow, the atmosphere became progressively thicker. Perhaps it was simply the festive mood of many people getting together, or maybe it was the noise. Or maybe it was the mysterious mist that seemed to have gathered throughout the village. It was thin and pretty much unnoticeable, as well as not an uncommon occurrence in the village, despite how unusual it was. Most believed it was simply the fog that had blown off of the Misty Lake a few kilometers away, or possibly spores that blew in from the Forest of Magic less than a kilometer away, or most simply, dust kicked up by large amount of foot traffic. After all, it was only thicker depending on how many people were gathered in one place at one time.

However, this mist was no mere dust. After all, no dust could possibly have such a suspicious presence. While it was almost always ignored, there were those that could sense it, or otherwise sense a mysterious presence around them. Most waved it off as a sort of paranoia, but this paranoia did tend to keep people on guard. The humans of the village were always used to keeping their guard up, after all. An air of tension like this was always a reminder that there was some external threat that could harm them at any moment.

What many failed to realize, however, that the threat itself was the mist.

Suika watched over the many humans of the village, watching them about as they went through their days. Being able to thinly spread herself throughout the village, she could keep tabs on just about everybody. She watched as a merchant scolded his disciple for the damaging of a tea bowl and it's stand, as well as a servant dancing for his master, hiding the fact that he's been hunting badgers, as well as a hooded figure made his way down the streets, only to get into a collision in a travelling monk, as well as what appeared to be a big commotion.

It appeared that two men were carrying a Norimono, a hand-carried personal transport vehicle, while they were being escorted by several village guards, including a woman sporting a samurai's robes and weapons on her hip who was calling for the crowds to disperse. People around them were shouting out at the men, telling them to go back. Some of Suika was gathered around here, curious at to what was going on. Cries rang out through the streets; "Dispel the demons! Out with the Youkai! Bring that monster away from here!" So, it was more than obvious that a Youkai was being escorted. Suika was going to investigate further, when a bird's cry caught her attention.

A black figure flew high in the sky, giving off a strange cry. It had the appearance of a bird, but closer inspection would reveal that it was much larger than an ordinary bird, and of an unusual form. It circled above the village, crying it's strange, shrill cries, before suddenly diving into the trees outside the village. Suika sighed in her head. There was no doubt that the unusual creature was anything but one of the Tengu messengers, of which took the appearance of anthropomorphic crows. A Tengu's role in mountain society was easily distinguishable by their appearance. For example, the classical red-faced long-nosed ones tended to bureaucratic matters and were rarely seen by outsiders, while Tengu taking on white wolf-like appearances were guards. A Tengu messenger being sent all the way to the village was probably only looking for one person, and there was only one person who would possibly be sending a message.

Outside of the village, Suika found the messenger, dressed in long white robes, as well as a tokin hat with pom-poms that hung from it. All typical clothing articles of nearly all Tengu. A scroll hung at her side. She sat within a cherry tree, waiting for her recipient to arrive, as she wouldn't dare enter the village. Her great big black wings seemed to have disappeared somehow. She did seem to already be aware of Suika's presence, despite how thin it was. Gradually, Suika began to reintegrate herself, what appeared to be black dust quickly gathering itself into one form, until Suika finally materialized from it, lying on another branch within the same tree, taking a great big drink from her gourd. The Tengu was quick to begin speaking, but Suika put up a hand to pause her.

"Ahh~," Suika gasped after a good ten seconds of chugging, "That's good sake." She brought her hand to her chin, as if to consider it. "Sake under the cherry blossoms is definitely the best." Suika took a glance at the rather antsy looking Tengu (although, all crow Tengu were antsy) and wondered what she was doing there. Suika had temporarily forgotten about the Tengu's presence altogether when she was enjoying her sake. "So... What are you doing here?"

"Well," the Tengu responded somewhat impolitely, "I've got a message for Suika Ibuki-" "That's me," Suika interrupted. The Tengu rolled her eyes, another impolite gesture, before continuing, "... I've got a message from Hoshiguma-Douji." "Yuugi, huh?" Suika took another big drink from her gourd. Yuugi had been becoming increasingly strict as of lately, sometimes even refusing Suika's offers to drink. Suika wasn't at all fond of Yuugi's constant badgering and nagging over supposedly important issues and responsibilities. Therefore, Suika's been making it a point to be absent from her place on the mountain. Though, it's not as if Suika has been ignoring Yuugi or anything. Even today, Suika offered Yuugi to join her in flower viewing, but she refused because supposedly Suika had to be the representative of the Oni for the big meeting between the Youkai powers. Usually such meetings were accompanied by great feasts afterward, but as of late, the Youkai powers seem to have all become sticks in the mud.

The Tengu messenger opened up the scroll at her side and began to read at a rushed pace; "Suika where the hell are you you're supposed to be at this damn meeting this shit is too important for you to to be skipping seeing as this concerns the reputation of the Oni you better not be drinking your ass off in the village you better get here right now or else I will beat you so hard you won't be able to reintegrate straight." The Tengu read the entire thing tonelessly and without punctuation, losing the intended voice behind the message. Suika chuckled after taking a swig. "There's Yuugi's famed civility for you," she said without an obvious sarcastic tone.

"Uh, there's more," the Tengu continued, "I feel I should mention the suspicious figure has come here again and-" "Wait!" Suika interrupted, "Slow down a bit, your voice is giving me a headache." The Tengu continued, but at a more controlled pace, suddenly remembering what punctuation was, "...and although she seems awfully strange, I personally think we should give serious consideration toward what she says. Otherwise, we may have to resort to the plan that I suggested before, regardless of your reservations against it. End message." Suika sloshed her drink around in her gourd thoughtfully before taking a huge gulp.

"Ahh~" Suika was grinning, "Alright, messenger, I've got a message for 'ya. Listen close." "I'm listenin'," The Tengu said, reaching for a satchel at her side for a brush and ink. "No, listen really close," Suika gestured over to herself. The Tengu leaned in, close enough that she could smell Suika's alchohol-soaked breath. Suika spoke in a low voice, her pace inconsistent and some words slurred, causing the Tengu to ask her to repeat parts. "You'd make a bad reporter with an attention span like that," Suika mentioned at one point.

"Ayaya~!" The Tengu exclaimed, "All of them?" Suika chuckled and nodded. The Tengu was absolutely ecstatic. "That's, that's downright insane! That's absolutely, positively, ludicrously diabolical! Abso-posi-lutely! This plan, it most certainly sounds... exciting! That's what it is, yeah! It's so horrible, yet so, so amazing! I, I'll go deliver this message immediately! Lord Tenma will be happy to hear this! Except, what will Hoshiguma-doji think? Can we really handle such a task."

"Don't worry about it," Suika assured her, "In fact, don't tell her. This is confidential information between you, I and your boss. Yuugi'll figure it out for herself soon enough. You're the fastest of the Tengu, right? Hurry up then! Gather the Tengu! We shall begin this party when the sun falls under the mountains, when death is upon us."

"Gotcha, we'll be here in a flash!" Suddenly, great big black wings sprouted from the Tengu's back, and she instantly took into the sky, bursting out of the cherry tree with petals flying in her wake. The breeze got stronger as she cried out her strange call. Suika decided to sit for a bit to enjoy her surroundings, before dissipating into a thin mist once more.

As she spread herself thinly across the village, she began to gather them together. By night, all the humans were going to witness a great spectacle. A night parade of a hundred demons!

Rumiko paused for a moment, she wasn't expecting a response.
With neither able to see the other's face, they were just facing each other awkwardly for a moment.
Rumiko decided to excuse herself and hustle out of there. "Uh, well, bye."
She spun quickly around and heading back the other way.