Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I... mostly thought about what happened today, if I'm being honest. Finding out Trish is alright was... one thing, albeit with a new wound. She always was one to get hurt, dirty, and rough I guess... I mean, she did stand up for me against some bullies once, and boy did she kick their asses!

Haha... Feels weird to be reminiscing on that stuff, though. Man, that was years ago... I bet she doesn't even remember it, but that's why I've always looked up to her. Trish, I mean. She's a bit of a loner, maybe a nihilist if she can be called that, but she's not outright ignorant of everything around her. She'll still stick up for people, and even though we don't really... see eye to eye on a lot of things, she still helps me.

...Be it with bullying or just general life. I don't honestly know where I'd be without Trish. It's funny... It's like that symbology with the twin snakes, a brother of the light, and the sister of the dark.

Actually, isn't it-... Wait, yeah, no, I'm not confusing it. Oops, that's me doubting myself...

...

I'm getting off-topic. I uh... yeah, I look up to Trish, but I don't like her getting hurt so much... Not that I'd know the feeling, I'm... surprisingly more aware of my surroundings than she is, but I'm not the most physically fit person. Trish, however, is.

Then again, being this slender helps with being more sneaky and just... generally lighter, if I'm being honest. Makes a lot of people underestimate you, too... I guess that weird girl from when I first got here was proof. I might look frail, maybe a bit... you know, weak, but I make up for it with reaction time and stuff.

And now that I have Aegis, the shield Junko gave me, um... I guess I can actually make use of that reaction time to retaliate if I'm attacked, or something. It does feel pretty powerful for a shield.

Err... Moving on, u~m... Yuuka! Yuuka, Yuuka... 

Hmm... Yuuka said she wanted to help me with my whole... instinct and emotion thing, because she figures it's linked to those weird... things I did when I was in peril. Keine said not to trust her, I know that, but... Yuuka just... genuinely doesn't feel malicious, or something. She's more... peaceful. Serene? Um...

...Actually, I think 'polite' fits better. She was polite to me, anyway. I just can't see her as a bad person. Maybe misunderstood? I don't know. Her ability of manipulating flowers is... kinda unique, and it also makes me wonder just what kinds of flowers're in that Garden of the Sun place.

Judging from the name, I guess sunflowers are a no-brainer, right? Ahah...

...

I forgot to mention it, but Junko's still flying and carrying me. I guess I'm just too... invested with my thoughts, or whatever. But this is stuff I need to think about, so... I guess it equals out. She doesn't seem like she wants to make any conversation either, so...

...

Back to the thoughts I go! Hehe... Reisen's words when I departed Eientei still... bounce around in my head, namely because they're really accurate.

...She also said them with... certainty. A lot of certainty. 'Not exactly the best with handling her emotion'. That's what she said, right?

I mean, yeah, I kinda... noticed that, actually. Not that it was hard to, it was actually really easy I mean, but um-. Yeah, um... yeah.

...I'm so awkward with talking about that... It just feels weird to. Dunno why it feels weird, that's the kicker. I think it's because Junko does genuinely remind me of my own mom, maybe? I mean... it could be that, but then again, she actually was a mother at some point in her life, so...

...

Back to Yuuka, though. Whilst she's um... offered to try and help me with that, however she can, there was also Eirin, she said she wanted to look into it too...

...I feel like Trish might take her up on that. Just... she's generally closer to Eientei, and all that. Guess living in that bamboo forest has its benefits, doesn't it? Especially with Mokou.

...Say, speaking of Mokou... I think I read something about a 'Fujiwara clan'...? I don't know when or where I was doing that, probably online a few months ago when I wanted to look into the past of Japan, but... yeah, the Fujiwara clan was something that came up. I remember it, too, since her last name reminded me. Fujiwara.

Does... Trish know? I think she does. She might.

...Hmm... Thinking like this is good. It helps me to vent out everything that I've just got bottled up in my head. Maybe I should take a few minutes of my day to compile these things... Or, better yet, what if I got a diary? It wouldn't hurt...

Actually... 

Couldn't I just do that on my ph-...

...Oh, right, I've... huh. Must've put my phone on the side back at home. Damn. Then again, not like I could've expected getting... sent here somehow. Bit of a shame though, I would've liked to take some pictures, and a phone's just easier to use in general.

I... always did like to stow away in technology, honestly. It simultaneously bewilders yet fascinates me as to how so much of it works and why so much of it is just... there, around us. O-Outside of this Gensokyo place, anyway, I'm not sure if there's anything like that here...

...Actually, I could ask Junko, when I consider it. She might know. "Hey, Junko...?"

"...Mmm?" She acknowledges that I asked a question.

"Is there any like... technology in Gensokyo, or not...?" I ask her awkwardly. "I know it's a stupid question, but-."

"...There's no such thing as a stupid question." Junko shakes her head, smiling whilst looking ahead. "And, as a matter of fact, I do believe there is some somewhere. If my memory serves right, there are kappa who live in a ravine near that mountain who are... quite adept at technology and making... ahem, interesting machinery. Questionable yet interesting, I mean."

...Wait, what?! "I-... Um, oh, okay? I just... genuinely didn't expect there to be any technology in this place." I admit sheepishly, scratching my neck awkwardly.

"A reasonable assumption. I believe you'd be interested in meeting them eventually, as all of their... bizarre creations are themed around things from outside of Gensokyo." Junko brings up, closing her eyes as she keeps flying ahead.

Kappa... That sounds familiar to me, actually. I think there was something about kappa in regards to mythology, or something...? Though, maybe it's more... reasonable to assume they're just youkai. Because, yeah, that's what everything who isn't a human is, apparently.

...Then again, there's gods, supposedly. Actual gods. Which reminds me that I wasn't really too into that thing. Religion just... doesn't appeal to me that much, honestly. Best way I can put it is that weak-willed people put their faith in something to make them feel more confident.

Ah... that might be a bit rude, actually. I do know a few religious people who're super nice, but man some religions are strict...

...But... I know there's a lot of Japanese gods, though. Shinto, and all that stuff, right?

Back to the point... I guess youkai is just an umbrella term. I'm willing to bet a lot of people misidentify things as a youkai, too. Maybe. Human error's something you've gotta consider regarding identification, isn't it? Like, for all they know, that could just be some human who looks weird or probably hates their life.

I mean, I mistake Trish for a demon or something when she wakes up early for whatever reason, sometimes. Seriously, she looks... very scary when she's tired. It's funny how I'm the one who's more of a morning person between us both, because sometimes she doesn't even wake up until late into the afternoon. Weird part is she doesn't even stay up late, because I know she goes to sleep around the same time I do.

...Then again, there were a few instances where she does stay up late into the night doing stuff on her computer. I know that because she laughs pretty loudly, and it wakes me up sometimes.

Ah... I notice that the surroundings start to change. I-. Okay, I've just gotta ask... "How exactly do we get here...?"

"...Hm? Oh, Senkai is merely reached through the belief that any given crack contains endless space underneath. It, in a sense, allows this realm to be accessed from just about anywhere." Junko elaborates... I-... A crack?

"Like... Uh... So this is like ants tunnelling into a crack in the ground...?" That... really is what it sounds like, if I'm being honest...

"...In a sense." Junko sighs. "Though, being compared to an ant is not befitting of us both. I would rather refer to it as the wind blowing through even the slightest crack in the window, or water seeping through and beneath various crevices of rock and soil. It's more akin to a cave being much bigger than it looks on the outside, would it not?"

"...Ah... I guess so." I consider that, bringing a finger to my chin. Wind and rain are some good examples to use... and I guess the whole 'much bigger than it looks' part fits really well. This place is hidden inside of cracks, after all.

...I wonder if that includes any and all cracks...? Like... cracks in a mirror, or small crevices you can't, if not barely, stick your hand in or behind...

Also, rain reminds me... I did like to listen to rain falling. It makes for good background noise to take my mind off of things. It's a thing I've had for years where if it was raining, I'd do something really quietly, or as quietly as I could actually, in an attempt to listen to it.

...It feels... strange. Why am I reminiscing so much...? Am I just nostalgic? If so, then Trish won't let me hear the end of it if she finds out.

Keyword being 'if'. I can keep it secret from her. After all, I like keeping secrets, be it my own or someone else's. Because secrets're meant to be kept secret, not thrown out in the open. Except for ones that need to be. Like horrible stuff that people want to be kept secret. That can be thrown out there for all I care.

"...You do seem to be thinking an awful lot." Junko decides to comment on my... well, silence, and visible pondering. Outside of when I asked her those questions and stuff.

"What can I say? Today's just been... pretty eventful, even if it doesn't seem like it..." Sighing, I lower my eyes, nearly yawning. Nope, resist the temptation to yawn... I'm not that tired.

...

Okay, maybe I am tired, actually, but it's not that late, is it?

...Is it?

"...I suppose it has been, for you." Nodding along to my answer, Junko gives me a soft smile. "However, these types of things are... quite common in Gensokyo." Sighing, her eyes lower too. "Outsiders getting hurt whilst being relatively powerless to fight back against youkai... It does sicken and irritate me. Sometimes outsiders fall into Gensokyo to only immediately be eaten by youkai, like you almost were."

"...Really?" That just... makes it sound like that happens. A lot. 

"Mmh." She grimaces. "Though, it is the circle of life here, in a sense. It's a cruel, sink or swim world for most humans. They're mostly cattle being led along... though I suppose some youkai are, in fact, in similar situations. However, it would be a shame if such a young man like yourself were to meet a similar fate."

Young man... I-... No, she's right, I... um... I'm an adult, yeah... Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, totally... totally not anything else...

...

God, I really am awkward.

Also-. I know I just said I'm not that keen on religion, but I still use a god's name in vain. Namely because it's too convenient not to, but we don't talk about that.

"I've also noticed that there's been rather... abrupt changes to your being." Junko abruptly comments...? Abrupt changes? What does she mean?

"...What do you mean by 'abrupt changes'...?" I blink.

"I mean that as in your body seems to be willingly accepting purity gradually. Divinity, in a sense, meaning you may have some attunement related to my ability that I wasn't aware of initially, but when I take a glance at your overall purity, I have noticed such a subtle change." Junko elaborates for me. Divinity, huh... "...I believe your body is accepting it due to being in such close proximity to myself. Before long, you may very well be a purified human, should your body be able to withstand it... though it may take months. Maybe a year, at most."

...Oh. That's... quite a while away, actually. Hmm...

"...However, it is there, do not forget that. Actual gods may notice that oddity in you, too. Hence why I would recommend steering clear of someone should you know they're a god." She also points out. Gods'll notice this...?

"Right..." I hold my arms. It's actually pretty cold, even with me being this close to Junko, alongside my ribbons, and stuff...

She... surprisingly touched down inside of her home, this time, not at the front door. 

"It has been a rather long day, hasn't it? I believe you may be better off getting some rest, instead of doing anything else..." She places a hand on my shoulder softly after putting me on my feet.

"Ahh..." I think about it, looking at where we landed specifically. Right outside of the bedrooms. So, um, yeah... "...Probably...?"

...She gives me a much more serious stare. I-. Oh. Um-. Yeah, uh-. 

"O-Okay, fine, I'll get some sleep..." I bite my lip as she nods in content. 

"Very good. Remember, I care about you, Rajime. I wouldn't like it were you to overthink things more than you should. A common saying I'm quite familiar with is 'there's no such thing as common sense in Gensokyo'. I believe you'd want to keep that in mind, too. It could help." She releases her hand from my shoulder, putting both hands in her sleeves, before getting ready to walk off elsewhere.

O-Oh, this might be a good time to... "W-Wouldn't you want this? It's... got all of the groceries and stuff we picked up in it..." I hold out my bag to her, making her pause.

"...Ah, yes, I had almost forgotten." Junko pauses, sighing with a smile. "Thank you."

As she takes it, she seems to notice something. "...You aren't wearing your scarf?"

...Oh. "I... actually completely forgot about it, sorry..." I admit, scratching my head.

"...Mmm. Here." She passes me the scarf after digging around for it inside of the bag, then gets ready to properly leave. "You'll have your bag back by tomorrow. Good night."

"A-Actually, one... one more thing...!" I call out for her again as I put my scarf on loosely, making Junko simply turn her head to look at me.

"...Yes?" She raises a brow.

"W-Would... Would it be alright if I got a diary, at some point? It's just..." I try and figure out how to say my next words. Words are hard. "It's just so I can keep a track of what goes on in my day, and all..." 

"That..." Pausing properly, she thinks on it. "...That may actually be a wise investment, should you remember to use it. Would you?"

"Y-Yeah! Yeah, I would!" I grin, nodding. "I mean, I want to keep track of what's happened in my life, and a diary's the best way to do it...! It'll also let me go over my thoughts more properly..."

...Junko clicks her tongue, giving it some consideration. "...I see. Alright, then. I'll try and find you a blank diary you can use tomorrow. It's late into the night, after all."

Right...

"...Now then... I'm imagining that's everything." Junko resumes her pace in the direction she was going earlier, leaving me at the door. "Good night, Rajime."

"Good night!" I call back to her, turning to the door and opening it, before heading inside. It's... how I remember it. Nothing's been touched or rifled through since this morning, it looks like...

Which, mind you, is actually pretty good to know. That this really is private and... you know, nobody can get into here. 

Though now that I've said that, maybe it is possible for someone to break into here, I just haven't been unlucky enough yet for that to happen, ahaha...

I-. Actually, no, I shouldn't joke about being unlucky. Because then I'd actually be unlucky and someone'd break in to... kidnap me, for some reason. Really shouldn't be something to joke about, that.

...I prop Aegis near the door, before taking my hat and shoes off again. As well as the ribbons, this time. I don't want to crease them, and I forgot to take them off yesterday too, so... whoops?

Oh well, sleeping on them for that one night wouldn't hurt, I'm pretty sure... And regarding the scarf? I don't really mind it, it's loose enough and it keeps my neck warm.

...

As I lay down in the futon again, I realise something. It'd be convenient if I had a shield for every kind of thing, as in, water, fire, ice, so on, right? But... at the same time, it'd be really awkward if I had to keep swapping between them...

...Maybe Aegis could just be its own thing? I mean, it is a purified shield, after all. Hmm...

...

Who am I kidding, I can worry about that later, right...?

Yeah... Yeah, I can.

With those thoughts in mind, I drift off to sleep...

You know... I would've expected to bump into Kolar again. Or maybe Trish. In the dream, I mean. But... no. They didn't show up here.

...Not yet, anyway. Maybe? Or maybe that's just me being hopeful.

It feels... weird. Really weird. To know that you're dreaming. Don't they call this 'lucid dreaming' or something...? 

...

Actually, I could dream about anything in here, when I think about it. Right now, it's just... a black void. Nothing too notable about it...

Hmm... It's pretty dreary, actually. U~m... Let's give it a bit of flavour. 

...I suddenly have a paintbrush in my hand. Why...?

I mean-. I always did like making stuff, be it a drawing or painting, and I'm way better than Trish is at it, but... I'm not the best at this kind of thing. I could pass for an above-average artist at best, I think.

...Pretty sure I could, anyway. You never know with this kind of thing, sometimes you see little things that just irritate you, so you go to change it, but no matter how hard you try, it just looks wrong, then even more wrong, until you just give up until tomorrow because it's that annoying.

Anyways, I'm 'you' in that instance. I'm... a bit of a perfectionist regarding that. Then again, wasn't there that thing about not all art being perfect...?

...The fact I'm acknowledging the fact I'm a perfectionist is one thing, but uh... it's just a fear of screwing up. Or being rejected. Sometimes both.

...

A-Anyways, moving on, um... let's just... try and ignore that fact. I mean, I know I'm alone, but there's a gut feeling that I just have someone watching me. Or someones. I don't know, it's a... pretty vague feeling. It's like eyes're being drilled into the back of my head, gaze... burning almost.

Ehh... That just sounded a bit too dramatic, just then. It's just like I can feel stares in here, no matter where I go or how hard I try to ignore it. That's what I mean by me feeling that there's someone watching me.

Let's just... try and ignore it. Probably my mind playing tricks on me, even though this is a dream.

...I'm also suddenly holding a pencil in my other hand. Why...?

I-. Oh, that's why. When I move it to try and draw something in the air, it just... made a bright white outline of the lines.

...Huh. I mean, it really stands out against the darkness... What background should I give this place...?

I mean, the void I was in before was purple, not black, so maybe this is my own dream...? Maybe that purple one is the one that allows me, Trish, and Kolar to talk to each other?

...I wonder if it is every three days we're thrown into that...?

O-Oh, right, I'm ignoring the fact I'm supposed to be... making a background. U~m... What to make, what to make...

...How about a little clearing in front of a river? I like the sound of flowing water, it's just... soothing. Maybe if I have it in front of me, I'll have a better dream? Worth a shot.

And who knows...? Maybe my dreams after this might not even be lucid ones. I might just have regular old dreams and wake up the next day.

So I begin drawing the river's outline with the pencil, then some trees, then some more stuff, and...

...

I have a bunch of white lines going all over the place, which make... a semi-coherent image? It just needs colour...

...My eyes glaze over the brush. What's this for, then...?

I move it over the river I 'drew'-.

Fwu~sh!

I-. Oh. Oh, okay. That-. Okay, neat...? That brush just made the river come to life. It's actually water. What...?

How the hell do these work...? Are these some special dream tools? If so, then... that's interesting.

...I paint the trees next, followed by all the grass and riverbank. It's... all coming to life, as if I'm creating it, funnily enough. As I said, I always did like making things. Not just art stuff, like drawings or crafts or... whatever, but I can also cook for myself if I need to. I'm... particularly a fan of baking cakes or cupcakes. Savoury and sweet stuff's my thing. I really like scones, too. Probably can't get those here though, which is... kind of a shame.

Wh-. Oh. Okay, that's... strange. When I wasn't looking, it seems I'm actually in the... thing I made. The river painting thing. It just expanded and grew to... regular sizes. To the sizes I'd expect in real life. That's... interesting.

...I made this. That's actually pretty nice to know, that this wasn't prefabricated, but this was something I drew and painted, now it's... something I can relax in.

"You're welcome for those tools, by the way." 

A voice makes me perk up. It's not one I recognise at all, it just sounds... smug, yet pretty calm. I'm not sure why I immediately thought smug, but it just sounds smug. It's also... feminine. Again.

I'm starting to get convinced that men are a rare commodity or something, because I've only seen two since I got here, those being that one guy at the village gate, and Kolar, because he's here too. I've not seen any others. Yet.

...Technically, I should include myself, but yeah, no, I'm not counting myself.

More importantly... "Who...?" I look around, trying to find the source...

"I'm right here." The voice comes from... right beside me. Wait, when-.

As soon as I look to my right, I'm met with something... relatively unnerving. It's a girl with this relatively smug yet unnerving smile on her face. I'm not sure why I think it's so unnerving, she's just... smiling. Other things to note are dark blue hair and eyes, sort of like Kolar's...

...I also notice the fact this girl has a white tail, meaning she isn't a human, though I guess that's a given because tail.

Clothes-wise, she's got a black and white dress on with similarly coloured orbs that're the opposite of the colour they're placed on, so like... black part of the dress, white orbs.

...They also vary in size, it looks like. There's a red nightcap on her head and... yeah.

She's also holding a book and-.

"...As much as I appreciate you looking at me so hard, I'd like it if you actually responded." She breaks my focus on her general figure, giving me a more dry stare. "I'm aware men could lack... discreetness, regarding that, though you..."

Wait, what-. "No-. I'm not looking at you like that, I just... I just like to take down every detail about whoever I meet." I flinch. I'm not... that much of an idiot...

"...Ah." The girl pauses, giving me a curious glance as she considers my words. "That's relieving to know, then. You outsiders are especially an odd bunch, I had just thought... Nevermind."

"Yeah, um..." I grin, scratching the back of my neck. "...Sorry? The design of your clothes did also sort of... interest me."

"Mmm. I could say the same for your own." Giving my own outfit a gesture, she regains her smug yet calm attitude.

Ha! Kolar called this outfit gaudy, but it is fashionable! Someone acknowledged it!

"Thanks." Smiling, I nod at her, before realising something. "Ah, my name-."

"Is Rajime Naga, yes, I know." She just casually cuts in and reveals that... she knows who I am. Wait, how-?! "Don't be so surprised. On that note, how about I introduce myself? It should make more sense how I know who you are, that way."

...I just nod quietly, still surprised over the fact she just said my name aloud.

"...I am Doremy Sweet, and I... whilst I would say rule, it's more akin to managing. I manage the Dream World, not as a ruler, but more of a zookeeper of sorts." Doremy introduces herself. I-... Oh, now it makes more sense... "There you go. As for how I know who you are, Rajime? Your name, among your sister's, got brought up by someone else in another dream."

"Someone else?" I'm confused now... Who brought me and Trish up...? The only ones who've seen or know about me and Trish both existing are...

...Actually, a lot of people do, when I think about it.

"...I believe you'd know her as Sumireko?" Doremy raises a brow. I-. Sumi?! Now it makes more sense...! "She said you and your sister had abruptly disappeared one day from the Outside World after she came to visit again 'the day after she spoke to you', seemingly without a trace at that."

"She came to visit again the next day...?" I blink, furrowing my brows.

"If I remember, she was hoping to talk to your sister, Trish." Doremy elaborates some more, flipping open that book... It's got a cute little bookmark that seems similar to her tail, which I just noticed. "That is when I had noticed your name in my dream journal. This has the dreams of everyone who has ever dreamt in their life, so I decided to pay your dream a visit when it was active."

"When it's active?" I'm confused, now...

"Right now, you're aware you're in a dream." She raises a finger, then looks at the scenery I created. "I took notice, of course, so I came over to talk to you specifically as this was the best time to do so. Your dream only becomes active once your actual body is truly asleep. You are merged with your dream self, at this moment in time, hence the heightened awareness of this world being a dream. However, this won't happen all the time. You'll sometimes not know you're in a dream, and you'll only vaguely remember what your dream self experiences."

"Oh..." I nod a few times. That's not hard to understand, honestly.

"...You catch on rather quick for an outsider, if I'm being honest." She comments on my understanding. 

"...Was it meant to be hard to catch on to?"

...

"You're quite a strange one." Doremy decides outright. "All dreams are, in a sense, loosely connected to each other through me. However, you seem to understand the concept of lucid dreaming quite well, and how to properly control a dream."

"...I've had some before." I reveal, tilting my head. "There was also this dream I had where I was able to talk with my sister and a friend of mine, yesterday..."

"Ah, that one." Doremy nods in understanding. "Yes, I'm aware of it, and what that dream entailed. You, your sister, and your friend have ended up in Gensokyo. You'd also like to use that space as a way to go over what you know every three days? I can arrange that, as it's relatively harmless."

"That dream journal must be really useful..." I give the book she's holding a brief glance.

"It's necessary to have if you were to do what I am to do on a daily basis." Doremy keeps her smug smile, but it grows slightly larger than before.

"...Guess that would be true." I opt to grin, sitting down in front of the river.

Doremy opts for sitting down, too. "Is this truly what you want your dreamscape to look like, from here onwards?"

"You mean it'll stay like this?" I tilt my head. What does she mean by that...?

"Indeed. It'll remain this way so long as you keep dreaming." Doremy informs me. Is that really how it works? If so, then... huh. "...Those tools I had temporarily lended you were a Dream Brush and a Figment Pencil."

As she says this, she produces the brush and the pencil again, allowing me a better look. The pencil's like... periwinkle and slightly red. There's a small sheep clip attached to the top of it, too. As for the brush, it's a purplish-pink, with the brush itself being black and white, though I get faint flashes of what looks like a rainbow coursing through it every now and then.

...It's also got a similar sheep clip attached to the end of the handle. Ah-. Oh, it just dawned on me, the whole 'counting sheep' thing... A~h, that's why there's sheep on them...

...Wait, I wonder if...? "What exactly are you, anyway, Doremy...?"

"Quite an abrupt question to ask. Though, I suppose there's no harm in answering it. I am a baku, a tapir-like youkai which can devour dreams or nightmares... You have no need to worry, though, I'm not here to eat your dream. In fact, I can even create another one for you if I wanted." She chuckles, shaking her head. That red hat's pretty long actually. I just noticed because I can see it trailing down past her back, as it rests on the ground, though the middle part sways alongside her head shake. "I suppose I have been regarded as the most dangerous youkai in the Dream World, however. I'll let you decide what to do with that information, hmm?"

...Dangerous? I mean... "You don't really strike me as dangerous, if I'm... being honest." I give it some more thought. "I mean, the whole eating dreams thing is... well, one thing. Also, a tapir... I can't say I've ever seen, or read about, an actual one."

"They're mostly docile." Doremy keeps her smug look. "Unless if you provoke them, of course. But you wouldn't. You're one to avoid conflict."

"How did you...?" I blink a few times. She knows I don't really like provoking people?

"...You generally present yourself as a gentle figure. You'd rather focus solely on defending instead of ever attacking, akin to a pacifist of some kind. Normally, that would be understandable, not many people strive for active conflict. However, since you're in Gensokyo... That line of thinking just won't do." She sighs. "Fortunately, you seem to have found rather... odd workarounds to fighting, though. As for how I know? Well..."

I take a glance at the journal she's got in her hands. It's still open, then I notice the fact she has Junko's page singled out, alongside my own. For some reason they're side by side...

"It seems you've noticed what I was looking at." Doremy comments on the diary, holding it over to me momentarily, before closing it. "I was just looking through when I had noticed that sagacious spirit had actively mentioned you several times in her dream. You specifically, nobody else. My, it's almost as if she's got some kind of obsession."

"An obsession...?" I blink a few times. I mean, I know Junko's a bit... overprotective, but obsessed? That... might be pushing it.

"Mmm. She's solely concerned with your safety. I typically tend to watch her dreams, every now and then. Namely because of agreements with a certain someone at this moment in time, though that's not important right now." She closes her eyes as I stare into the river some more. "...I noticed because you repeatedly came up a lot in her dream, yesterday. It was too interesting to not find out more about, though I suppose I have now."

Then, she decides to point something else out. "...You don't look like you're actively against my presence, either, which is strange for a human. I figured you'd be weirded out, maybe slightly intimidated."

"Why would I be intimidated?" I turn my gaze back to her, confused. "I mean, as far as I'm aware, you don't mean any harm... This dream stuff actually interests me, too."

"I suppose so." Her smug smile shifts into a more genuine one. 

"And... besides." I fold my arms. "Having someone to talk to's nice. I just... don't like being alone. It's one of my worst nightmares, to be somewhere dark and miserable, whilst being alone."

"...A fear of loneliness?" Doremy seems invested. "I suppose you have nothing to fear regarding that, then."

"For now, yeah, but..." I pause, wondering if I should elaborate further. I mean, there's a lot to elaborate on there, but let's go over the lesser details for now... "I'm... just also afraid that I'll turn people away from me, with my... well, with my personality, my ideals, and... yeah."

"Ah." She seems to understand why I'm so afraid of it. "...Though, it seems there's more you want to say, but you're actively fighting the desire to talk about it."

...How did she...? I mean, she isn't wrong, but...

"If you don't wish to talk about it right now, we can always touch on it later, I suppose."

Those words... Later? "Later? As in... you'll visit my dreams again?" I didn't think she actually would want to come back... I'm pretty boring, if I'm being honest.

"Between you, your friend, and your sister, you're far more curious." Doremy elaborates. "That, and... what was your friend called again?"

"Um... Kolar, why?" I blink.

"Kolar already has his dreams set straight." Doremy vaguely explains. What does that mean?! "As in, he can't lucidly dream very often. They're rather linear, if I'm being honest."

"Linear?" I tilt my head. "Why linear? As in... his dreams follow the same pattern?"

"More or less, they do." She flips open her dream diary to show me, leaving it open on Kolar's page this time. "They're linear as 'fate' plans for him to dream such things."

Right now, it says he's dreaming about how to better himself at talking to other people...? And... how to do chores. And stuff like that.

...Why?

"...Though, this 'fate' is instead the result of being enthralled to a vampire, which, in a sense, allows said vampire to control what he thinks and dreams about to a degree. He can still make his own decisions though, which is... partially bizarre in of itself." Doremy brings up. Enthralled to a vampire, huh...? Makes me wonder just what Kolar's actually getting up to. "However, I can influence these 'dreams' of his if I want to. I believe he might get bored of dreaming the same things eventually."

"Ah... I see." I scratch my neck. "What about Trish?"

"Your sister?" Doremy seems to give this some thought, tilting her head as her expression goes somewhat more serious, instead of being the normal 'smug and playful' aura she gives off. "...I'm actually having difficulties interacting with her dreams, let alone entering or even observing them. It's almost as if the boundary between her dream and the rest of the Dream World has been... tampered with, in a sense. This may be the doing of that gap youkai, as she's the only one who genuinely comes to mind. The motives behind such a tampering, however, is lost on me."

Then, she regains her regular look. "However, your dreams were wide open, alongside your dreams being considerably more lucid than any other dream. This is why I am able to freely enter and talk to you, and I'd like to be able to do so in the future. I may even be able to arrange something that'll allow you to talk to Usami, should you wish to."

"Yeah, I'd... I'd like to talk to Sumi." I lower my eyes. I feel... pretty bad that I had that conversation with her, then just... vanished the next day. Then again, there's no way either of us could've expected this to happen.

"Very well. I'll go over it with her and arrange accordingly. It may take some time, however." Doremy hazards me. "Because I also have to take your 'meetings' with your friend and your sister into consideration, too."

Ah, right, that... Man, she's... pretty nice, actually. "How can I even repay you for this...? For... For letting me meet with Kolar and Trish every three days, and um... yeah."

"...I can allow you to meet with your friend. I'm not too sure about your sister, though, because her dream's boundaries have been tampered with to prevent my interference. I may be able to pull some string and get around that rather puzzling complication, however, as I am the manager of the Dream World. As for repaying me? There's no need. This is my job, after all." Doremy closes her book shut pretty audibly, before producing a... pillow. "On this note... May I interest you in a Sweet Sleep Pillow?"

A what? I look at the pillow in her hands. It's... got frills on the edges, and there's some creatures which I'm assuming are tapirs wearing hats like Doremy's all over it.

Um... It does look comfy, though, but as much as I'd like to have one... "I've... not got any money."

"Who said I was selling it to you?" Her smile widens. "I'm willing to give one away for free, just this once. It'll allow me to keep in contact with you easier. Not a lot of people know this about the pillows, but they've been given special enchantments which will make them dream about the same thing - me. They're popular among humans and fairies nonetheless, though."

"Really...?" I give the pillow more of an examining look than before. "I mean, it does look comfy... Wait, but this is a dream, how will you...?"

"...I can drop one in the real world for you to use. I can easily come and go between the Dream World, Gensokyo, and various other places, so I'm not limited to just staying here." She smugly explains. Why's she so smug about everything, anyway?

But I don't think I'm really going to question it. Doremy's nice enough... I think. I mean, she is a youkai, so she might be lying to me because I'm a human, but... I want to believe her. I don't like to think people are lying. Hell, I don't like lying myself, it's awful.

"On the note of the real world..." She pauses, furrowing her brows. "...It seems you have a visitor."

Eh? "...Who...?"

"Mmm..." Doremy hums to herself for a moment, before placing a hand on my shoulder. "Not to worry, however. It isn't that spirit who's taking care of you, although..."

...She proceeds to open a small hole in the air, then expands it open. It shows... my bedroom - or the guest room Junko's letting me use more like - and... I'm there sleeping, but there's someone rummaging around in there. Wearing light blue clothes. And some weird veil thing, and this odd hair accessory... I can make out golden eyes, too. Who...?

"Hmm... Doesn't look like there's much in here." It's... a woman, it sounds like. She sounds disappointed. We can hear them...?

"Who is that?" I stare at the figure moving around in my bedroom.

"...A wicked hermit known as Seiga Kaku." Doremy elaborates, staring at this 'Seiga'. "She's most likely looking for things to steal from you, as you're living in Senkai, then when she does so, she'd most likely try and sell them back to you."

"...How long has she been there...?" I'm... slightly disturbed by that fact...

"Around a minute. However-." Doremy was about to continue when I watch the door to my bedroom fly open, then Junko floats in extremely menacingly and angrily. I-. Oh. Oh. "...That's exactly what I was about to mention. That spirit was aware this would happen at some point. She dreamt about it, at one point. Be it Seiga stealing from her or you. She's constantly checking to make sure anything specifically impure wasn't there, aside from yourself." 

"Junko was expecting this...? That's... huh..." I watch as this Seiga slowly freezes in place, looks at Junko, and the light from the lanterns abruptly flaring to life makes me get a look at the realisation on her face. This Seiga's a woman, it looks like. How did she even get in there? I kept the window shut, and... yeah.

"She was. Seiga's ability is to pass through walls. See that hole in the floor?" Doremy focuses on a part of the floor that... has a big hole in it. "That is a hole made by Seiga. She physically cut that hole with the hair stick you see her wearing. However, they close of their own accord after some time passes."

...That... totally isn't terrifying! Nope, not at all...!

"Leave. Now." Junko suddenly has those tail-like flames flaring behind her and-. Oh, yeah, there goes danmaku. Most of it somehow misses me. I... How the hell am I sleeping through that? 

Also, I say most, since it looks like some actually are hitting me. Junko's trying to avoid me as much as possible, though Seiga doesn't seem to care that I'm there.

"...A danmaku battle in such an enclosed space is... well, dangerous." Doremy comments. "I wouldn't be surprised if they-"

"Let's take this outside, shall we?" Oh, and the window's gone. Seiga just blasted it open and flew out of it, with an even angrier Junko flying after her. Um.

"-went outside." She finishes, sighing. "...You may feel stiff in the morning. Being exposed to danmaku for the first time is rather painful, you feel numb and the energy from the bullets would most likely overwhelm you immediately. I believe that your limit for these bullets is around a single spread of regular danmaku. So, give or take a few, around ten bullets is all it would take to immobilise, or defeat I should say, you."

"Oh..." I nod a few times as she closes the hole. "So, um..."

"You'll get used to danmaku pain with time." Doremy gives me a smile again. "In fact, you could even learn how to use it, if you wanted to."

"...I can...?" I tilt my head, considering it.

"Danmaku's a good way to reliably take down someone non-lethally." Doremy elaborates. Ehh... "...You seem opposed to it, though. You may need to learn that fighting is necessary for survival in Gensokyo eventually, Rajime."

"I know, but... I just don't want to hurt people." I reason, folding my arms. "Even after my family was... um..."

...I pause immediately. Did-. Did I nearly just talk about that? No, no, I don't... need to talk about that.

"...Your family?" Doremy raises a brow. 

"T-That's... That's not important..." I close my eyes, partially grimacing. "I don't... want to remember my family." The only member of my family that I actually want to remember is Trish. Hell, I don't even want to remember mom or dad... It's just...

It's just painful to think about them. To remember them. 

"The way you say that..." The baku mulls my words over, before hazarding a guess. "Abuse?"

"I don't... want to talk about it." I shake my head. "Not... Not right now."

"...Very well." She stops trying to push me about it, surprisingly. "Now I see why you fear being alone... It's for a feeling of safety, isn't it?"

Huh...? "Where'd that...?"

"It's the only reasonable assumption to make. You're afraid of someone hurting you if you're alone, aren't you?" Doremy closes her eyes, raising her brows as she keeps smiling. 

"Well, um..." I hold my arm awkwardly, before smiling back. "...If that's what you want to assume, then... um... yeah, go for it." 

"Though you aren't alone. You have people who care for you, clear as day." Opening her eyes again, she gives me a more examining look. That Junko lady, for one. I'm assuming your sister cares about you too."

Right... Right, yeah, that's right... Junko cares for me. She even said she'd... kill to protect me, which is still pretty unnerving to think about, but it's clear she cares. Trish does too, because I know for a fact she does...

"...Seems that's given you some food for thought." Doremy goes back to her normal expression of just being generally smug.

Let's... move the topic on. "You mentioned a gap youkai earlier...?"

"Ah, yes. I think she's most likely the reason I can't easily interact with your sister's dream. As I said, the boundaries for her dream had changed abruptly. Her name is Yukari Yakumo. Probably one you'd want to keep in mind, as she's one of the more important figures behind Gensokyo's balance. Not that I generally care for it, as I live in the Dream World, not Gensokyo." Doremy explains for me. Yukari Yakumo... "...I had heard that she sometimes spirits away outsiders in Gensokyo, however. She could very well be the reason you ended up in Gensokyo to begin with. She also tends to do mostly odd things nobody understands the meaning of, including her shikigami."

"...Shikigami?" What's that?

"It's akin to a servant or a familiar of some kind. Like a black cat or crow for a witch." Doremy gives an example, waving her free hand to emphasise it. "A shikigami is bound by a contract of sorts, and does as their master wishes. They grow stronger the better they do a given task, I believe. Yakumo's main shikigami is Ran Yakumo, a nine-tailed fox youkai, though her shikigami ironically has a shikigami called Chen, a bakeneko."

A nine-tailed fox, huh...?

"...A shikigami of a shikigami?" Now I'm confused... "How does... that even work?"

"I have not even the faintest clue how." Doremy reluctantly shakes her head. Huh... "However, people do often mistake shikigami for shinigami, funnily enough."

Wait, shinigami? "Shinigami as in... death gods?"

"Yes, the very same. In fact, there's one who frequents the Dream World as she's sleeping more often than not." Doremy casually brings up the fact that a literal death god sleeps a lot. What...?! How?! "Though, they're more akin to 'ferrymen'. Are you familiar with the Grim Reaper?"

Uh...? "Yes?"

"They're mostly identical to that, with the scythe. They ferry souls across the Sanzu River, which I'm sure you won't ever visit if you're careful enough, to be judged by a yama." Doremy explains further. "...I only know this because that shinigami I mentioned often rants about her job being incredibly boring in great detail. So she slacks off a lot, sometimes sleeping, sometimes visiting bars in the Human Village. You might see her eventually, her name is Komachi Onozuka, and trust me, you'll know who she is when you see her."

That's... totally not ominous. Okay, then. "I'll keep that in mind...?"

...

As I keep staring into the water for a while, I notice Doremy looking at what seems to be a watch. "...Ah. It seems it's nearly sunrise. I suppose having someone to actually talk to is nice, as you said. The dream versions of everyone can be rather... eccentric, at times. Though, most of my time tonight seems to have been spent here with you."

"Ahah... Sorry?" I sheepishly grin, apologising.

"You have nothing to apologise for. This conversation has more than satisfied me." Doremy shakes her head, exhaling. Ah... Really? I mean, I was the reason she spent so much time here, so I feel bad... "However, I would like it if you went over your escapades to me, or anything of note more like."

...Anything of note...? Well, um... "I'll see what I can do, but... I can't promise that I'll get up to anything... really noteworthy. Just surviving's one of my highest priorities right now and um... yeah." 

"I can appreciate that. It wouldn't do me any good if you were dead, either." Doremy looks more neutral than before...? "If you were under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be so concerned. Though, I presume you actually did make some bizarre shockwave on your first night in Gensokyo, otherwise you may not be standing here... or you would be, just majorly disadvantaged, maybe without a limb or two."

"...That's morbid..." I comment on how casually she just glazed over that... It doesn't sound like she cares if I do actually get hurt...

"...Ah, did I offend you? Apologies, it's just that I'm used to the natural order regarding Gensokyo." Doremy apologises, sighing relatively calmly. "I'm aware outsiders are mostly powerless against youkai and are often immediately attacked and killed by youkai upon entering Gensokyo, more often than not. Though, there are some other circumstances such as luck at play. Some outsiders may get dropped in or near the Human Village, which is regarded to be quite lucky. Or, in rarer circumstances, someone actually friendly to humans finds an outsider. Which is exactly what happened to both yourself, Kolar, and Trish if I'm interpreting the dream log for that joint dream of yours correctly."

O~h... Also, um... "I'm probably right in guessing you know about that... shockwave thing from... the dream log or whatever, right...?"

"...That is correct." She leans slightly closer...

"I um... I don't know how I did that." I reveal...?

"...I'm aware." Oh, so... she knew.

...

Man, this is awkward. Uh... "I'm... planning on seeing a youkai called Yuuka Kazami about trying to replicate how I did that...?"

"The once sleeping terror, now the Flower Master of the Four Seasons?" Doremy addresses her by Yuuka's proper title...? "...Hmm. I suppose she may be able to do something with you, though it depends on how willing you are to put up with her."

"...Did... you just call her by her title...?" I tilt my head. Do the more important people have a title or something...?

"Mmh? Well, yes, I did. Everyone who's more... important in Gensokyo's grand scheme have their own titles, which they're sometimes addressed by. For example, I believe you're familiar with the Scarlet Devil?" Doremy asks, just staring directly at me instead of anywhere else. She doesn't take her eyes off me once.

"Scarlet Devil... Yeah, it's someone called Remilia, why...?" I squint.

"That is her title. People, humans and youkai alike, are called these things because there's specific attributes about themselves which leads to the creation of their title. On another note, I am the Ruler of Dreams, for more obvious reasons." She explains, looking smugger than before. I mean, yeah, that one's... pretty obvious. "...However, that Junko lady has no title. Or, more like, she has no need for one."

"...She doesn't have a need for one? But... that's implying she's important." I furrow my brows. What's she getting at...?

"Junko is the only important figure who doesn't have a title, or a last name, as she's purified herself above the need for such a thing. In a sense, she's refined herself to such a level where she's abandoned her past name. Junko was never always her name, if I recall." The baku's eyes trail over to the water, her brows lowering slightly... "Back to the point, however, she is nameless. As are all things that are truly divine, you see, as they do not have names either."

"How do you know all of this?" I decide to ask her next.

"A past... incident regarding the moon has made me wish to learn more about certain people than I genuinely should delve into." Doremy vaguely elaborates.

"A past incident... about the moon? I've... heard roughly of what an incident is, but... who caused it?" I look directly at her.

She suddenly grins, looking me dead in the eyes.

"...I believe that's something you should ask Junko about. On that note... I believe our time's up. I'm sorry, I would like to talk longer, but you have things that need doing..." 

...Then, everything goes black...

Ah-.

I wake up with a jolt, realising that I'm not dreaming anymore. I-... Ow, everything feels... stiff.

...Why-... Oh, o~h, wait, the dream's coming to me. That's... probably the danmaku I was hit with whilst I was sleeping... Talk about 'feeling that in the morning', pfft...

...

So... a past incident that I should ask Junko about, huh... It feels considerably colder this morning too, so I tighten my scarf when I sit up.

...I then notice a certain pillow by the side of my futon. I pick it up, and there's a note on it. 

'I hope you enjoyed our talk. Consider this a parting gift from me to you, free of charge. - Doremy Sweet'

Ah, right... She said she'd give me one. That's... nice of her, I guess.

...I decide to place it where my other pillow is on the futon, then properly raise from my bed, still feeling stiff as all hell. I'm definitely going to be feeling that for a while...

Mmm... As I slip my shoes and hat on again, my thoughts drift to what else Doremy said in that dream. That whole title talk interested me, but the fact she'll keep coming back every now and then is... reassuring. That, and I... do want to talk about my fears to her. She looks like someone I can confide in, right...?

Then again, trusting people was... easily not my best skill. I'll trust anyone if I'm being honest.

...Ah... That Seiga woman was rummaging around in here. My eyes immediately glance at Aegis, which is still by the door. Good, she didn't... take that. I mean, she was only in here for a minute, before Junko came in and forced her out. She did look really angry. Junko, I mean... but I guess that's proof she does care about my safety. 

...Should I ask her about that past incident? I mean, I don't want to overstep any boundaries I don't know about, it might be a sensitive topic or something...

Slipping Aegis onto my arm properly, I scratch my head with my free hand, then rub my eyes. Waking up's a chore, sometimes. I'm sure Trish'd say that a lot. But it helps to wake up early in the morning, gives me more time to do things. I like to have a lot of time in my day, it's... pretty useful.

I go over what Doremy said some more as I get ready to head outside and try to find Junko. So there's a very lazy-sounding shinigami called Komachi somewhere, u~m... Yukari, she said that's a name to keep in mind... Who else...?

Actually, that 'wicked hermit', Seiga. She... might be someone to keep in mind. I mean, she literally just broke into my room, and I know what she looks like now, so...

...

I wonder if I'm ever going to accidentally run into that Hecatia person Junko mentioned, too? I mean, she did say Hecatia comes by to visit her every now and then... I wouldn't be surprised if I accidentally ran into her, one morning. Or afternoon. Or... evening. Depends.

...My eyes trail to the broken window again. That's... slightly annoying, honestly. I'm not one for manual labour either, so... me replacing it is out of the question.

Hmm... Maybe I should go wait in the teahouse. I'm not sure if Junko's actually here or not. She could still be fighting Seiga for all I know.

I move to leave, and the moment I do leave...

"Is that her?" I hear someone approach. "He~y, Jun... ko-sama...?" 

...

I look at whoever's mistaken me for Junko... It's um...

...How do I describe this outfit? It's like... Okay, you know the American flag, right? Put that on a dress. And stockings. Like, full-on stockings that even cover your feet. That's the best way to describe it.

It's a girl, too, who seems... way younger than I am. She's got blonde hair and red eyes... Actually, her hair's really long. She's also got a purple jester hat with a white star pattern on it, and... she's carrying what looks like a torch. It feels weird to look at, if I'm... being honest.

"Uh... wait..." She stares at me for a moment, blinking, then coming to a surprising revelation. "You aren't Junko-sama...!"

What...? "I'm not-."

"Who are you?! Are you a thief or something?!" She points that torch at me, which is lit mind you, and um-. Okay it's actually hard to try and look away from that-. "Answer me! Like, really, really answer me, or I'm gonna show you a... uh... a bad time? I mean, some people consider it a good time but-... Wait, that's not important! Just answer my question!"

...I notice wings behind her. So, clearly, not a human. They're like... insect wings, but she's not an insect as I can clearly tell. Or I think she isn't, anyway. They're translucent, sorta...

"C'mon!" She urges me to reply, which I probably should so-.

"I'm not a thief...! I actually live here!" I snap my gaze from the torchlight, opting to look to the side. I feel... I feel really weird. Like... Like something's messing with my head...

"Yeah, right! I know for a fact that only Junko-sama lives here!" I can vaguely make out a pouting face, as she tries to move the torch around to be in my view. But I just move my head from it, as tempting as it feels to look at it. "You're a thief, aren't you?! Ooh, just you wait until I tell Hecatia-sama...!"

Wait, Hecatia? Um... "You mean Hecatia as in... the goddess of Hell, right?" I actually bring Aegis up to my eyes to completely block any view of the torch.

"Yeah! Hecatia-sama's super great, and powerful, and stuff! She's aweso-." Suddenly, she pauses, sounding more annoyed. "Wait, why'm I telling you any of this?! You're just some no-good thief-."

"...I'm more willing to believe him here, honestly." A new voice comments. It sounds... feminine. A lot calmer than the blond girl, too. A lot more... mature. 

"Wha?!" The girl sounds shocked to hear this, so that means... Ah, hang on... Is that...?

"You can stop hiding your eyes, by the way." The newcomer tells me. I just... oblige, slowly lowering Aegis. I think this might be that Hecatia lady I heard about. Maybe.

...The moment I do, I'm probably granted with one of the most bizarre outfits I've seen since I've got here, if I'm excluding that girl in the stars and stripes literally just over there.

Speaking of which, she's not got her torch right now. Which is pretty relieving.

Oh, right, this person's outfit... Where do I even begin? For starters, it's a woman, that much is obvious, but her attire's really modern. As in, it looks like something you'd see someone wearing in city streets, or something. Red hair and eyes, some... odd red ball thing sat in a little hat on her head. It looks like a planet...?

...It's got a chain on it, which is linked to a collar that she's wearing, with two other chains branching off to a floating miniature Moon and Earth respectively. Okay, that's... got to be one of the weirdest things I've seen yet. Clothes-wise, she's... wearing a modern black t-shirt with 'Welcome Hell' written on it. There's also a red heart on it, as well as some other splashes of red that aren't really shaped like anything. And she's got a skirt on with three colours, those being red, blue, and green.

As I said, pretty modern-looking clothes. Which is surreal to see, compared to the outfits of other people that I've seen so far in Gensokyo and even here. It's not frilly or over-the-top or anything, it's just... modern. Which is pretty reassuring to feel, that I'm not the only one wearing very odd clothes.

"So, who are you, exactly?" She decides to ask me, remaining relatively neutral. I'm pretty sure she did notice me eyeing her all over for a pretty long time, but... either she doesn't care, or she's just being polite. One of the two, I think. "It's not everyday a normal human is at Junko's place. Did she convince you to work for her as a servant, o~r...?"

"W-What?" A servant? That's... a rather abrupt guess. "No...?"

"...Huh." The redhead tilts her head to the side, before grinning. "Judging by your clothes... You're not from Gensokyo, are you? Because nobody wears that sort of outfit, like, at all."

I might regret this, but... "So says the woman wearing similar clothing."

"What?!" The blond snaps, glaring at me. "You can't-."

"A-Ahahaha!" I actually amused the redhead, though...! "I guess I'm one to speak about that, aren't I? Then again, I'm the Goddess of Hell, and Hell uh... really doesn't like formal clothing if you catch my drift."

...So this woman is Hecatia, then. That's good to know. "...So you're Hecatia, then...?"

"O~h, you've heard of me?" Hecatia outright confirms, interested more.

"Well, Junko did... mention you, a few times." I reveal, scratching the back of my neck. "As I said, I'm... just living here, because she's letting me."

"O~h, so you heard from Junko herself, huh?" Hecatia nods, then gives me a more inquisitive look. "...What's your name?"

"...Rajime Naga." I introduce myself, putting my shield-less hand on my hat's rim.

"Right, right..." Her eyes trail over my ribbons next, presumably. "I mean, yeah, I can see it. Your ribbons there coil like snakes around your arms and legs. Pretty fashionable, honestly."

Uh... "Thanks...?"

"Don't mention it. If you're a friend of Junko's, you're a friend of mine, right?" She grins. I guess that... if she really wants to see it as that, then sure, I guess...?

"B-But, Hecatia-sama, what if he's lying-." The still unnamed blond turns to look at Hecatia, still doubtful and... honestly, she looks pretty confused that Hecatia's willing to just... trust me.

"He~y, don't worry, we can always confirm with Junko!" Hecatia reassures her. "Besides, it's not like he can do anything to us, right?"

"...Right..." She pouts, then still looks at me. She just seems... uneasy about me being here. I don't know why...

Also, Hecatia just... casually downplayed me. I mean, it makes sense, she is a god, whilst I'm a human, but... this girl too? Just who is she...?

"Oh, right, that's Clownpiece. But I just call her Piece, because it's way easier." Hecatia properly introduces me to the blond, despite her dismay.

"...I think it's obvious she doesn't trust me." I frown, looking away.

"I don't!" Clownpiece abruptly blurts out. "Humans're always lying to people and stuff, you can never trust them!"

"Though, what does it mean if I'm to trust him, then?" Hecatia gives the fairy a grin. You know, it is... interesting to actually see a fairy up close. I mean, I've obviously heard of them, there's a reason fairy tales are named fairy tales, after all. Fairies, or fae I should say, are usually pretty prominent in some...

"That-... Mgh..." She pouts, refusing to say anything else. 

...I just now noticed that she's actually pretty short. Clownpiece, I mean. Hecatia's around my height, if not slightly taller. Then again, she's floating. And she doesn't have shoes on, for... some reason. Which says a fair bit, honestly. I might be taller than she is. I can't exactly tell right now...

"So how exactly do you know Junko, anyway?" Hecatia decides to ask me...? "As in, like, why'd she bring you here to Senkai? Just so I can confirm with her, honest."

...Just so she can confirm... Right. "...Well, I woke up in Gensokyo... around two nights ago. I was attacked by a youkai and she found me, then... saved me from that youkai. As in she stepped in to stop the youkai by knocking them out. Then she brought me here for safety reasons." I give a brief explanation on what happened for me to end up here.

"So you're a relatively new outsider, huh? I mean, yeah, I can see why she would bring you here, honestly, instead of just throwing you in that village, or at Hakurei Shrine, or something." Hecatia nods at my explanation. I-. Wait, what does that mean?

"...Huh?" Clownpiece is also confused, it looks like...

"A~h... Story for later." Hecatia grins. Story for later... I mean, I want to know the details, but... "So what about that shield there, then? On your arm? I thought Junko said she'd never use that thing again."

"...I call it Aegis, she um... she gave it to me to use. I don't really like fighting if I'm being honest, I'm more of a fan of actually talking things out..." I hold the shield with my free hand, rubbing it slightly. I'm still pretty stiff from that danmaku I got hit with in the middle of the night, so... it feels awkward to do. I still feel pretty numb as well, which sucks, but what can I do about it? It's danmaku. I guess Doremy was right, too, I'm also aching like hell since this is my first time being exposed to it... though I didn't see a need to mention the aching.

"Aegis? Like that one shield? Didn't know people still liked to reference all that old stuff that happened." Giving me an even more curious look, Hecatia thinks about it. "Then again, guess the modern definition of it applies too. You're using it under Junko's aegis, right?"

Now Clownpiece looks absolutely lost. I am too, if I'm being honest.

"Uh... as in you're using it under her protection?" Hecatia elaborates. I-. Oh, that's what it means in more of a modern sense? That's... one hell of a coincidence, but I guess it does make sense, doesn't it...? "Moving on~... You don't like fighting? As in, you're a pacifist of some kind?"

"...If you're about to say 'that line of thinking won't do in Gensokyo', don't. I've heard it several times already." I deadpan.

"Pff-. It seems you're familiar with how Gensokyo exactly works, then. You can't really get peace there. Like-. The most peaceful day still has the odd bit of chaos going on somewhere." Hecatia did nearly burst out laughing at my abrupt remark, but held herself back. "Then again... I'm pretty sure you're not the only one who wants actual peace." 

"...Whah...?" I'm not the only one?

"You'll find out, I guess." She... completely refuses to elaborate further on the matter. Um...

...I'm about to press her, when-.

"...Troublesome hermit..." Junko suddenly descends from above, still looking relatively annoyed.

"There you are! Sheesh, I was wondering if you just up and vanished, or something." Hecatia regards Junko, who turns to look at her.

"...Ah. Hecatia." She lightens up, smiling. "It's nice to see you here. I have a s-..."

...Then she notices me and Clownpiece, sighing. "...Nevermind. It seems you've already met him."

"Yeah, but only because Piece started yelling." Hecatia shrugs. She only noticed I was here because Clownpiece yelled? I mean, she was pretty loud when talking to me, but... actually, no, she's right.

"So who is he?!" Clownpiece pouts. "I thought he was a thief, or something!"

"...Normal people can't reach this place because of it's location." Junko regards her dryly, shaking her head. "But, aside from that, he is Rajime. An outsider, wouldn't you know it, who's residing with me."

"Mhm, that's what he told us." Hecatia nods. I'm just... sort of listening along.

Junko sighs. "...My apologies for not being here. I just had to deal with an actual thief."

...I'm assuming that Seiga person is either injured or dead, now, judging from Junko's tone. I'm more inclined to the former, because... yeah. Hopefully.

"So why bring him here, exactly? Instead of, you know, putting him in that village or whatever." Hecatia asks Junko, raising a brow slightly.

"...I'm not particularly keen on how the village actually treats outsiders." Junko sighs. "That, and... I suppose his circumstances are more unique when compared to the average outsider's, too."

"Unique how, exactly?" Hecatia wants to know more, it looks like...

"I believe this would be best explained over some tea." Junko gives me a very subtle glance, which I notice because, well, she looked directly at me briefly, then begins walking off in the direction of the teahouse.

...Hecatia gives me a glance, too, before floating after her. I can still feel Clownpiece staring at me before I follow suit, then she does too once she realises she's being left behind. Flying. With her wings.

...Tea always was a good way to calm down, alongside it tasting good, if I'm being honest. And no, that's not because I'm English, I genuinely like tea for those two reasons.

You know... I was just reminded how much of a pain it was to properly learn Japanese, before moving here. I can read and write it okay now, but a few years back, I barely could. It was... agonising, if I'm being honest, but I guess that's the experience with learning a new language, innit?

Ah... That's me getting distracted with other things again... Right now, I'm having tea with Hecatia, Junko, and... I'd say Clownpiece, but she has some juice thing instead. I don't exactly know what it is, because she won't let me look at it, as she still distrusts me. How sad...

"Alright..." Hecatia looks directly at Junko after sipping from her cup, giving me a glance. "So what's the deal with your outsider friend here, then, Junko? Not like you to be this interested in a normal human. What makes him different than all the other dozens of outsiders that fall into Gensokyo?"

...Dozens?

"If you wish for me to be transparent and blunt... Then, would you allow me to tell you that he has an inherent latent magical ability? As in, it's there, he can use it if need be, but he can't always use it. That is why he's more unique compared to other outsiders." Junko explains outright. W-Whoa, she's... getting straight to the point here, isn't she...?

"Inherent latent magical ability, huh...?" Hecatia gives me a more interested glance, before grinning. "Alright, show me, then. Show me this 'magic' of yours, Rajime!"

I... I um...

"...I-... I can't." I deadpan. Seriously, Junko just said I can't use it all the time, more or less. Did Hecatia somehow not hear that part?

"Yeah, I bet you can't! Because you're a normal human guy who can't do anything!" Clownpiece sticks her tongue out at me, but...

"...Clownpiece." Hecatia addresses the fairy by her full name...! Her tone's also a lot more serious than before...! "Don't insult him. After all, he's normal, compared to us, though he's smart and considerably friendly, right?"

"U-Um... Yeah, I..." The fairy falters under the god's stare. I mean, I would too...! "That was um... uh..."

Whilst she fumbles over her words, Junko sighs. "Mmm... It's as he said, though. He can't always use it. It's entirely dependent on the intensity of a situation, his presumable stress at a given moment, although... Rajime doesn't seem to acknowledge the fact he's even using magic initially. He does it without thinking." She elaborates, but she doesn't seem that bothered by the exchange... "Or, in simpler terms, it's linked directly to his instincts and emotions. Several people, alongside myself, are aware of this."

"So... stress? Alright, so what if I were to-." Hecatia goes to stand up...

"Kindly refrain from harming him now. I'd like him intact." Junko just stops her with a more annoyed look. 

"Fine, fine, geez, I was just joking..." She sits back down, looking more apprehensive. Junko can... actually intimidate a god, it seems... Which might actually go to show just how powerful she really is. Because, you know, Junko and Hecatia know each other. That's why it's so unnerving to realise that.

Though, I mean, it's not like I'm gonna speak up about it... I'm just gonna stay quiet and listen. Because, you know, being respectful.

"Anyways~..." Hecatia proceeds to move the topic along, because... well, yeah, it's really obvious why. "That talk about magical ability stuff reminded me that some weird things are happening in Gensokyo again."

"Weird things are always happening there, Hecatia. Please elaborate." Junko gives her a dry look.

"I'm getting to that." The god deadpans, before proceeding to explain. "So there's some weird thing going on where one person can seemingly use another person's ability. Which, well, sounds really weird, right?"

"People can do what...?" How's that possible?

"That reminds me. That 'thief' I had mentioned prior to this was in possession of a rather bizarre item, which contained something representive of me. As it turns out, this item was linked directly to my ability, leading me to believe that this is very well one of those incidents that occur in Gensokyo." Junko sighs, before shaking her head. "...Not that it concerns me, however. It shouldn't concern you either, Hecatia."

"...Actually, it kinda does." Hecatia reveals. "Because if there's one of those things with your ability, there's probably one of mine too, right?" Then, she looks at Clownpiece. "Some other evidence also kinda supports that claim!"

"Other evidence?" Junko then expectantly looks at the fairy too. "Please, do elaborate."

"Well, I... found this earlier...!" Clownpiece grins, proceeding to pull out a... is... is that a card? Yeah, no, that is a card. It looks like a trading card if I'm being honest. It's got a design on the front that looks like a blood-red moon, but on the other side, there's... writing, I think.

Junko's brows raise. "...Ah. That is nearly identical to what that thief held earlier..."

"Right? So they're all cards." Hecatia nods, then gives me a glance. "Have uh... you found anything like those yet, or...?"

"...No?" I blink. "I mean, I only just woke up before I... bumped into you, so..." I scratch my neck, looking at the table awkwardly.

"Right, right... So, the only ones I've seen're Piece's and a few others." Hecatia shrugs. "Everyone in Hell seems to be trading them around like it's some sort of game."

"...Regardless of the fact..." Junko seems to consider the severity of this card thing... "It doesn't seem to be anything too sever. It's just harmless card trading is all."

"Card trading that allows you to get someone else's ability should you try hard enough." Hecatia reiterates, staring at the spirit.

Clownpiece has been... pretty quiet since she said she found that card. When I look at her, I notice that she's staring at it pretty intently. But when she notices that I'm looking at her, she hides it, pouting.

Okay then, keep your secrets.

"I understand that much, Hecatia. Though I still don't entirely see how this incident, if it is one, should concern me." Junko still isn't that interested in the incident.

"...Everyone in Hell is blowing each other up with danmaku violently in too many different ways for me to be bothered counting them all." Hecatia deadpans, sighing. "This incident might actually, y'know, put a halt to our plans."

At this, Junko seemingly snaps her focus to Hecatia, getting more serious. "...Do not mention what we have planned. Not in front of him."

...Not in front of me? That's just... made me more curious, now.

"Oh, right." Hecatia gives me a grin. "Sorry, private plans, y'know?"

I understand plans being private, but... I'd like to be in the know, at least. "...And... what if those plans concern me, like, at all...?"

"They won't. I promise." Junko quickly shoots that question down with no hesitation. I'm still pretty suspicious, though...

But, regardless, I sip my tea, then blink, staring into it as I change the topic. "...I was thinking of going out into Gensokyo today, actually."

"Really? Oh, that's actually perfect! I kinda want to gather some of those cards myself. Never hurts to have a supply, right?" Hecatia nods a few times. 

Junko, however, seems to have doubts about this idea. "...In the middle of an incident? May I ask why you want to leave Senkai, exactly?"

I might as well be honest... "It's so I can go see Yuuka. I... I just want to learn how to properly control my fear."

"Ehh... The mean sunflower lady..." Clownpiece sounds... slightly sour to hear Yuuka's name. I wonder why...? I mean, she called her mean, but... Yuuka's not mean all the time, right...?

"Oh, uh... her?" Hecatia seems to be aware of her, as she raises a brow. "I mean, if you've got a death wish, sure, go for it. I can always pull you out of the Sanzu River later, then you'd be a ghost."

...Oddly specific.

"As much as I would normally be against this..." Junko sighs, staring down into her cup. "...I feel as if there'd be no changing your mind, so I'm willing to allow this."

"Wait, really? You're not gonna try and stop him? I thought you'd shift into your usual overprotective self, Junko." Hecatia's shocked to hear this, for some reason... 

"Well, for one, I have faith in him. That, alongside the fact Kazami seemed genuinely interested in him, might lead to an unlikely scenario regarding her and a human." Junko elaborates further into the matter. "...It's not as if Rajime's your average run-of-the-mill human, either, is he?"

"You've already met her before?" Hecatia stares at me as I nod along. "Now it makes more sense... and yeah, I guess he isn't, if he's here instead of anywhere else."

Then, she decides to make a request. "Hey, so like, Rajime, when you go out later today, make sure to gather as much of those cards as you can? Please?"

"...What do you want with those... items exactly, Hecatia?" Junko has her brow raised now... I'm actually curious myself. Why would a Hell god want those cards...? Is she wanting to make a collection of them? A scrapbook or something? An album?

...I just realised those three examples are literally just the same thing, honestly, but I don't care. Maybe she just wants to expand her power to an extent...? I mean, you'd need power if you're ruling over Hell, right?

"A~h... They're just interesting is all. Besides, knowing what each and every one does is useful too, right?" Hecatia shrugs in return. Oh, so information gathering, then.

I have a question, actually. "...Why ask me, exactly...?"

"Because you're probably gonna have more luck than me." She 'reasons'. That makes absolutely no sense. How can I, a normal person, be luckier than a goddess. That-. What is the logic at play behind that assumption...?!

"...You're just being lazy. I know for a fact you could do it yourself, Hecatia. I even know Clownpiece could if she tried hard enough." Junko abruptly comments to my surprise. Yeah, she'd know, wouldn't she...?

"Maybe." ...I'm inclined to believe Junko, now. "But hey, it's like a test for him, right? Like... you know, an initiative test, or whatever you'd call it."

"...I suppose it could be." Junko, please...! "However, I'll only approve of this should he be able to use the cards he collects whenever he wishes."

Oh, that's... actually a reasonable condition to give. I mean, yeah, I'd like to use those cards! Could be useful for defending myself, if not for just general evasion of wild youkai. Who want to rip my face off and gnaw on my bones, feast on my flesh, so on so forth. You know, as is the norm in Gensokyo's wilderness, it seems.

...It's actually pretty violent and dark, if I'm being honest. Figuratively and literally, because seemingly nobody cares about outsiders like me... most of the time.

I say that last part since, well, Junko cares. So does that Mokou girl from yesterday, since she's uh... letting Trish stay with her.

...How the hell did Trish even manage that anyway? Somehow magically befriending an immortal. Like... I'm fairly sure I heard someone mention that immortals don't tend to make friends with mortal people. I completely forgot who said that, even though I most likely heard that yesterday, but it still makes sense when I think about it.

I don't mention Kolar and that Remilia person since... well, vampires and humans don't mix pretty well very often. Since vampires drink blood and all. I think Kolar'd be better off somewhere else, other than at that mansion... but I guess I could pay him a visit, at some point.

Anyways, uh...

"Yeah, sure, I can let that slide." Hecatia nods in agreement, then turns to me expectantly. "So are you in or not?"

I mean, it is something to do, alongside whatever Yuuka'd have planned for me... I also remember I have the sunflower on. Somehow... that was never brought up. Hell if I know why it wasn't.

My answer? "...Sure... Not sure how good I'd be at it, but... I'll just see it as a treasure hunt, or something." It helps with strengthening my desire to do it, if I see it as something lesser...

...Actually, now that I've said that, I'm probably going to interpret it as a colossal task. Because it is, if Hecatia wants me to collect every single unique one in existence. Then it'd be more akin to going for an achievement that requires you to collect one-hundred percent of the collectable items and stuff in a video game. Because that's literally what it is.

I've said 'because it is' twice now. In a really short timespan, too. Y'know, I always do like to repeat myself... Helps me to understand things sometimes, if I go over it a bunch.

"Yeah, why can't you just let me do it?" Clownpiece also brings up a pretty good question... "You trust me more, right?!"

"Mmm... While that is true..." Hecatia's eyes trail to the side, before she grins again. "I got a good feeling, y'know?" Then she looks back at me. "I can tell you've got some potential in there from one glance, deep down. Not hard to notice, but it's tucked away pretty good."

She can tell that from a single look at me? I mean, she's a god, yeah, it makes sense, but... really? Is it that obvious...?

"...Harnessing that potential is the hard part, however." Junko elaborates on what the pure issue is. "This potential is only made extremely apparent under high stress, as you know."

I-. Wait, did I just... refer to that as a 'pure issue' without thinking? Uh... huh. Well, abrupt yet unexpected pun is an abrupt yet unexpected pun, I guess. Can't help that, right?

...My eyes trail down to the sunflower. It's... still not wilted. That hopefully means Yuuka's still interested in me, which might be a good thing.

"Now..." Junko sighs, turning to look at Hecatia. "...I'd appreciate it if we went over our plans again." Then, she turns to look at me, then Clownpiece. "Alone, preferably."

Ah... alone... I want to know what exactly they're planning about, which is so private that it shouldn't be actively mentioned in front of me... But, at the same time, I want to respect privacy... Mgh, it's just so conflicting...! 

"Right, right." Hecatia nods, watching me stand with my cup as I begin leaving.

I'll... respect the privacy of their plans for now. It doesn't concern me, I think... Or, at least, I don't think it does. If it does, then, well, no harm no foul, right?

"...That means you too, Piece." Hecatia comments, making me look back to see a slightly annoyed Clownpiece flying out with that cup of... juice. Whatever juice it is, or liquid since I don't know if it is juice. It's a dark purple, it looks like. Can't exactly tell much else though... "Don't worry, you can spend some time getting familiar with Rajime!"

...That's a horrible idea, but I'm not against it... There's always worse, as they say. Actually, who even is they in that circumstance? Ah... I don't know, actually. Hmm...

Clownpiece doesn't really respond to that as we both go outside of the tearoom. She just opts for pouting.

...I settled for sitting on one of the few benches out here in the garden. Because there are some. It looks like they're cleaned regularly though, which is reassuring...

Hmm... My eyes move over to look at Clownpiece, who's just standing as far away from me as possible, still pouting. She... really doesn't like me being here, does she?

...Then again, might as well try and be kind to her. No harm in that, is there? "You can sit down, you know..."

"Don't tell me what to do!" She abruptly snaps back. Oh. Rude. "...But I guess I should. It's better than standing..."

I feel like she just doesn't want to listen to me or say thanks to me or... do anything regarding me that isn't some remark.

Sipping my tea, I watch her sit down on the bench opposite me, since it's the only really near one. It's starting to go cold now, since I'm out here... My tea, that is. I don't entirely know what I should do with it once I'm done either. Do I just keep hold of it, leave it here, or what?

...

Okay, let's... try and make some conversation. "So how's your day going...?"

"...I don't wanna talk to you." She huffs, looking away. Please, just... humour me.

Wait, maybe she still thinks...? "If you're still thinking that I'm some thief, I... I'm not. There's no way I'd be able to fool Junko. Not at all."

"Sure, maybe you aren't a thief, but..." Clownpiece looks directly at me, scowling. "I bet you're some spy or something!"

A-. A spy. Where did that come from? "...A spy?"

"Yeah! Don't try and play dumb!" Why's she so insistent that I'm a spy...? 

"...Who would even want to spy on Junko? Seriously, I don't know anybody who would want to do that. Hell, as much as that whole 'plans' thing she and Hecatia mentioned interested me, I'm still willing to respect privacy. Do you see me trying to listen in right now?" I fold my arms upon placing the cup down beside me, raising a brow at the fairy.

"You're not eavesdropping because I'm here!" She retorts. I-... Okay, that's a pretty good reason, honestly. But at the same time...

"Everything Junko's told you and Hecatia about me is true. I'm just an outsider, a plain human, insignificant, weak, frail, dumb, so on so forth. Not afraid to admit that." I close my eyes... then sigh. "...But, what she also said about my 'latent magical potential' or whatever it was she actually said is true. Not that I know how to use it. Comes and goes under extreme stress, which I know she said. I was literally attacked by a youkai on my first night in Gensokyo. If she didn't step in, I wouldn't be here right now. I didn't even know she existed, or where I was, or anything."

"Yeah, you're right! You're weak and stupid, and um..." She trails off, blinking. "Unimportant, uh... darn, you've actually said everything that comes to mind about humans..."

Pffft. I'm not wrong, though. The majority of humans outside of Gensokyo are incredibly stupid, aggressive, and most often don't know what they're talking about. I specify 'majority' since there's some good golden eggs among those uh... those cracked ones. Seriously, finding a genuinely good person these days is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I also specify 'outside of Gensokyo' since... well, I'm still not sure on how that type of thing goes here. Humans, that is... I'm not sure since they seem to vary.

...That, and everybody here looks human, so...

Also, humans like to boast about their strength and stuff, but it's just a bravado most of the time. People try and make themselves look big to scare others. Doesn't really fool the smart people though... like Trish. Whenever someone tries to intimidate her, she slowly turns to them, looks them dead in the eyes, but she doesn't say anything. She just... stares. It absolutely terrifies people. I think it helps that she's taller than I am, so...

Ahh... that's aside the point. "...Well, I don't like to call myself those, but it's true. Ever wondered why people are so aggressive? Humans specifically?" Not too sure about some youkai or whatever.

"...Whah?" I think I've managed to confuse her. Mostly because I'm smack-talking my own race.

"They're scared. Scared of the actual people in control." I grin. "They try and make themselves look big to hide that fear. I mean, I only know this because my sister's pretty smart. She knows how to actually intimidate people. I'm uh... not really the best at it. I mean, I can try, but it doesn't go right, namely since I don't really like conflict..."

"Oohh... My first thought before you elaborated was that you were some kind of youkai acting as a human!" The fairy nods, her hat jingling, because it has bells on them. Jester hats're weird. "...Wait, is your sister a youkai, then?"

"No, she's just a very scary person who nobody talks to, namely because they're afraid of her..." I pause, thinking about it. "...Except for some people. Like me, and a few others..."

"A few others...?" She tilts her head.

"Our outsider friend, for starters." I give an example. Wait, hang on. "...It'd probably help if I gave some names. My sister's Trish, that friend I just mentioned is Kolar. Trish is my sister, but she's the complete opposite of me. She's more blunt and crude, and she's smart whilst being a bit of a brawler. I'm more of a strategy and planning guy, whilst also wanting peace. Kolar's sort of a mediator. Pretty timid guy, plus his legs're made of metal. Whilst that does sound cool, it's uh... actually really inconvenient for him. He understands Trish's sentiment of being straightforward and getting rough, but he holds my ideas of being peaceful and strategic in some regard too."

"...What's your sister like? Um... Trish, that's her name, right?" I can tell she's getting more interested... Well that's good to see. Means I'm making some progress. 

"...She's violent, as I've said. Way she sees life is that if you want something, you've gotta fight for it, get physical. She's not really one to wait around for things, she's also... really impatient. But she can be pretty nice to people if they get on her good side, but it's really weird to see her being overly nice to someone." I explain further into who Trish really is for her. I'm probably the only person you can ask about that, too, outside of Trish herself. "...We bicker every now and then, different views and all, but she really wants everyone to be free and to do what they want. I want that too, but in moderation. As in, people can do what they want, but it can't be overly chaotic."

"Hecatia-sama wants people to have freedom, too..." Then, she pauses, her eyes widening. "Wait, why'm I telling you any of this?! Why am I letting my guard down, too?! You're probably deceiving me for info!"

...Aaand back to square one. Honestly... "...If you want, I could throw myself into Gensokyo's wilderness, get mauled by a youkai, then let you deal with the aftermath. Just say the words."

"Sure! Do that, I don't care!" She ignorantly nods her head.

"...So should I tell Junko that you're actively encouraging me to get myself killed?" I grin. I'm not wrong there, either.

"Ah-." That makes her realise the severity of me just willingly offing myself to prove a point. "Well, that, um...! You-... You're the one who offered to do that!"

"Still doesn't excuse encouraging me to do that though." I remind her, wagging my finger. 

"You meanie...!" She pouts. But not because she's angry at, or hating maybe, me, it's more general annoyance now. Which... might be a good sign. 

Okay, might as well ask her a good question... "...So do you still think I'm a spy, or whatever? I just... want to be friends, with you, that is. I don't want any hostilities between us."

"Hmm... I dunno..." Clownpiece rubs her chin, giving the concept of being friends with me... several thoughts it looks like. I hear her humming in positivity and negativity. "I mean, Hecatia-sama trusts you, so does Junko-sama..."

Oh, right... Honorifics. I don't really bother with those, if I'm being frank. I know the 'sama' suffix is one you use for people you should really respect... and I guess she's using them right. I'm not all that familiar with it, but I've been called 'kun' or 'san' a lot. Never 'chan', which is the one I normally expect. Trish jokingly uses it sometimes, but never that often...

...Come to think of it, Sumireko never addressed my by an honorific either, when I spoke to her. I wonder why? Maybe she just doesn't care, or something?

"I got it! Ji-kun!" She snaps her fingers. Speaking of honorifics, I'm a kun to her, apparently. That's nice. At least it isn't 'chan', because then there might be a complications.

...Then again, kun is generally the umbrella suffix for young boys or guys, like me. Kolar used it when we first met, but he addressed me as 'san', and Trish as 'kun', which was actually really funny the first few times around. 

But I digress. "...Ji-kun, huh?" I wonder why she chose 'Ji' specifically from my name? I personally prefer something like 'Ra-kun', or whatever. Rolls of the tongue better, but that's just my taste in nicknames, I guess...

Though, in English, I guess Ji fits better than Ra, because then you'd be referring to that one Egyptian god. And I'm not that.

"I don't wanna bother with long names." My-. My name is literally six letters long. What do you mean. "Or is it complex...?" How is my name complex?!

...I just stare at her blankly for a few moments, across the path, then sigh. "Alright, Ji-kun it is then. Also, if we're going off of long names, yours is longer, Clownpiece. So I'm calling you Piece-chan."

"Wha-. No! Piece-san!" She pouts. That... really doesn't fit. Like, it doesn't fit whatsoever. "Call me Piece-san!"

"...If I'm letting you call me 'Ji-kun', you should let me call you 'Piece-chan'. Or... would 'Piece-kun' work better?" I give it some thought. Whilst 'chan' might work, I feel like 'kun' is better... If I remember right, people address their friends as 'kun'...

...Oh. I used the wrong suffix. Dang, I'm not good at that...

"...Fine... Piece-kun. But nothing else." At least she settled on Piece-kun. That's good. "Okay?"

"You got it." I pocket my hands. I wonder where my bag is...? Ah... Junko probably still has it, actually. I did give it to her so she can unpack everything we bought yesterday, didn't I...? Might be one of the reasons she sent me out here, alongside talking to Hecatia about those plans...

...I actually wonder what they're talking about. Like, if she said to not actively talk about it in front of me, Junko I mean, then... it just sounds suspicious, dubious, and curious.

Huh. All three of those words end in 'ious'. I might go delerious from the curiosity...

...Oh, no, I did it again. Whoopsies. 

That-... That is actually a weird word. Whoopsies. How did it come about...? It just sounds like a silly word, but you can actually use it.

Then again, words are hard, sometimes.

"...I dunno why Hecatia-sama or Junko-sama trust you so much, Ji-kun." Clownpiece speaks up again whilst I think about words being hard. 

"It's Hecatia I don't understand. Junko... I sort of get why she trusts me." I bring my hand to my chin, giving it some thought. If I had to hazard a guess... "...She probably trusts me because I remind her of her own son." 

"Her own son...? U~h... I'm pretty sure she's mentioned that once or twice." The fairy blinks, looking to the side. Hmm. "...Awh, now I feel stupid. That's probably why Junko-sama trusts you so much..."

"...You're not stupid." I shake my head. "To be fair, you just misunderstood the situation, when you met me for the first time earlier today. It did surprise me though, being yelled at so early in the morning..."

"Yeah, uh... sorry? I guess?" She awkwardly grins, shaking her head. "I mean, I dunno, I still don't exactly... y'know, trust you, but... I kinda don't want anything bad happening to you, if Junko-sama sees you the way she does..."

...Hm? "What's that supposed to mean, Piece-kun?"

"Like... You said she saw you as a son, or something, didn't she...?" Piece tilts her head. I just realised I can refer to her as 'Piece' now. Well-. Piece-kun, but it's still Piece. "I um... If something bad was to happen to you, if that's true, I... u-uh..."

She looks genuinely terrified now. I wonder why...? "Is something the matter?"

"N-No, it's just... she might go... over the edge, if something like that happened... I-I dunno if you know this, but she can be really scary sometimes..." She's incredibly confident in saying that... almost as if she's actually seen Junko get angry before.

"You're talking as if you know how she'd react." I fold my arms, leaning into the bench some more. "Why?"

"Why...? Well, that's because-." She's about to continue, but-.

"I'm afraid that's not important, right now." Junko suddenly steps onto the path. Where did she...? "...It's a story for later, too." 

Piece freezes up on the spot. Where's Hecatia...?

A quick look around tells me that... she's nowhere near here. Is she still in the teahouse? 

...Junko notices me looking around. "...If you're wondering where Hecatia is, she's headed to the library I have here. If I recall one of the conversations we had whilst you were out here, your potential piqued her interest, Rajime, so she had gone to look into what the exact potential the average human has."

"...There's a book on something like that?" I tilt my head. Imagine if that was a thing like... everywhere in the world. You could just use some machine to check your potential and how likely you are to develop as a person in any aspect... Man, that'd actually be really, really useful.

"Mmm. There are books on a rather substantial amount of topics, either on Gensokyo, or other places, like the very realm we're in right now, Senkai." Junko elaborates on the books. I notice that she's holding my bag in her right hand... 

"Ah, that's... my bag..." I look directly at it.

"...I had forgotten to give it back to you when I was finished with unpacking its contents, as I was... preoccupied with other matters, as you know." Junko frowns. "My apologies."

"It's fine, not like I was going anywhere yet, anyway..." I rub my neck with a grin, reclaiming the bag when she hands it over.

...I quickly peek inside and rummage around to notice that there's a lunchbox in here, so I pull it out. Why...?

"If you're staying outside for a rather long time, like today, and you let me know, I can pack some lunch for you." Junko tells me, now smiling. That's... incredibly nice of her to offer. Man, I really do feel like a leech...

...Ah-. That reminds me, I need to make my bed... Ah well, I can do that tomorrow... if I don't forget, that is. Which I might.

"Uh... thanks..." I-It's... actually pretty weird to have someone pack me a lunch again... 

"What about me...?!" Piece pouts.

"...You never asked." Junko keeps her neutral smile. "However, I do have some sweets in reserve, as a result of a shopping trip just yesterday. You can have some if you wish."

"Yea~h!" The fairy pumps a fist in the air. 

Actually, just out of curiosity... "What's even in this, anyway...? Just so I know for later." I ask Junko, staring down at the packaged box. It's like a little paper parcel, with rope tied around it. It's got an R on it in ink...

"Hm? It's a mixture. There's some rice, some fish, alongside fruits and tofu. I figured you would enjoy those, am I correct?" She asks me, looking plain. Ah, that's what's inside...

"Yeah, I'm not against those... It's just because I wanted to know what's inside." I place the lunchbox back into the bag, then secure the sack around my waist. "When're you gonna take me to the Garden of the Sun, anyway...?"

"...In a while. Around midday, in fact. I'd believe you'd appreciate some preparation, because Kazami is not one to be taken lightly." Junko closes her eyes, stepping off in a direction as she takes my now empty cup, which I entirely forgot to mention. Guess I subconsciously drank all of the tea... "You have an hour, Rajime. Please do make the most of it, because I would, if I were you."

"Uh... right." I do recall Keine's warnings about Yuuka and her concern for me... being involved with her. But it can't go that badly, right? I still can't see Yuuka as a bad person, like, at all. Then again, maybe that is a facade she puts up around humans...

...Gah... I don't like doubting myself. It feels horrible to, but at the same time, questioning everything's the only way you're ever gonna get answers, ain't it...?

With that, Junko departs, leaving me and Clownpiece to ourselves again. So I might as well ask her... "...What were you going to say before? Before Junko cut in, I mean."

"Huh? Uh..." She looks in the direction Junko went, doubtful and hesitant. "...I don't... I dunno if I should actually talk about that, because if Junko-sama doesn't want me to, then..."

Reasonable. "Right, right... I just can't help but feel curious about that, though. It's like she's trying to keep this info from me, for some reason." I wonder what reason she could have for doing that, though? Is it to protect me? Is knowing that information dangerous, would it... would it hurt me? I've heard of 'words that kill' before, but... they don't actually exist... right? Right?

...I sure hope they don't. Because if they do, then... that'll cause a whole bunch of issues.

I'm still curious on a lot of things. Like, outside of Yuuka and whatever her deal is. Doremy mentioned a bunch of people in my dream last night. There's also that Seiga woman... I remember some names. Komachi, a shinigami... Chen, the shikigami of a shikigami... Ran, a shikigami and a master of another shikigami... and one 'Yukari Yakumo', who's apparently someone really important in Gensokyo's overall grand scheme of things. 

Doremy did say that the last one, Yukari, was probably the person who altered the boudnaries of Trish's dreams... which prevents Doremy's direct influence outright, though she said she can find workarounds for now... or something along those lines.

Ah... When I mention Trish, I remember that Mokou girl she was with. She looked... young. Beautiful, too, when I think about it. It's almost unnatural, weird to see... out of place, maybe? But her last name, Fujiwara... If I ever get the chance, or if I ask Trish to do it, I'll ask Mokou what her exact ties with the Fujiwara clan are.

...I also want to visit Hakurei Shrine, at some point. There's someone called Reimu there, a... shrine maiden, if I remember Junko's words right. It'd be nice to talk to her at some point... I think. I mean, I don't want to go back to outside of this place. After all, there's still that whole mystery regarding my um... latent magic potential or whatever, isn't there? 

And... another thing. That place Kolar went to. What did he call it, again? The... Scarlet Devil Mansion, right? Hey, hang on, Scarlet Devil... That's that Remilia person's title, isn't it? Scarlet Devil... Vampires. I'd probably like to see how he's doing at some point... if it's actually possible. He also said that place had maids and it's a European-styled manor. Apparently. I mean, if it is, then that's a selling point to me, because if it's owned by a vampire, that means it's probably old, and that means interesting building designs! I like those little details the Victorians had on their buildings, those little wooden or ceramic flourishes. They don't really serve any purpose other than aesthetic, but they make a building stand out among others. Those little things interest me.

...But... I'm probably getting ahead of myself, I think. That's a lot of things to do, too... so maybe I am better off getting a journal, or something. It'd help me to plan my priorities, get my thoughts together, and just... you know, generally rant. It might also be useful for, well, jotting down things for later. Journals actually have a lot of uses, when I consider them...

"I mean... yeah, maybe...?" Piece tilts her head, not really sure. "I dunno why she'd wanna hide it from you, though... Hey, maybe Junko-sama doesn't trust you as much as I thought!"

"...That, or knowing what the plans are could hurt me... or something regarding me, more like." I bring up a different possibility, snapping my fingers a few times to try and get some ideas... "She did tell me that she wanted my safety to be her highest priority, or something along those lines..."

"Hmm..." My fairy... 'friend' pushes a finger to her forehead, really giving it some thought. Even though I said I want to be friends, I'm... not that sure if she actually is my friend. Acquaintances, sure, but I don't know about friends. "...I got nothing..."

Oh. Unfortunate. Hey, hang on... "Maybe we could ask Hecatia why? Like, aside from it being plans between them, I want a reason why they can't just give me a vague idea of what their plans are..."

"Oh, oh, great idea, Ji-kun!" Piece beams. "Hecatia-sama'd probably be willing to do that... I think!"

You think.

"Well, I try, what can I say?" I shrug at the feedback for the idea, gaining a smill grin myself. "Where's your torch, anyway?"

"Uh... My torch?" She blinks at me, before searching her pockets. "I dunno, actuall-. Oh, wait, here it is!" 

Pulling that torch out from behind her, she waves it around in the air. The flame's like... a purplish-red. It makes me feel weird to look at still, and more importantly, where... was she keeping that, exactly? S-. Should I even ask...?

Actually, no, what I should be asking is... "Why does the flame of that feel so... weird to look at?"

"Huh? Oh, it drives people insane!" She casually states. Oh, gee, no wonder it feels odd. The sensation I get from looking into it is... like a calming one, yet at the same time, it makes me feel extremely invigorated and energetic. That's how strange it feels.

Also-. Wait, insane? I immediately pry my eyes from it, finding decent success in doing so. "O-Okay, that's... good to know for the future...! M-Maybe... Maybe keep it away when you're around me, Piece-kun?"

"Right, yeah, that..." She puts it away, making a surprisingly neutral face of... what exactly is that? Displeasure? I think it's displeasure. "I mean, it'd be a fun experience for you, but... mgh..." 

"...Being insane isn't 'fun'." I shake my head. "...More importantly, we were going to ask Hecatia about what that conversation was about plans roughly, and why they didn't vaguely say what they were to me or you."

"O-Oh, right, Hecatia-sama'd get mad if you were driven insane, I'm pretty sure..." Piece somehow just came to that revelation, too. How did she not do that initially? 

Regardless, I begin walking off in search of Hecatia, with Piece following behind me...

That... took considerably longer than it should've. Then again, the only areas I'm really familiar with here are my bedroom and the teahouse. Well-. The garden, too, yes, that's there, but I have to pass through that to get to the teahouse.

Also, allow me to put one thing into perspective. There's around fifteen different structures here. With different purposes. There's an entire building just dedicated to laundry, for some reason. Not asking why, but it's there. We did find the library, eventually.

"I didn't know Junko-sama had all this stuff..." Piece seems as surprised as I am. Other notable stuff was that one place was dedicated to gardening, but the tools and stuff in there don't look like they've been used for a while... Same goes for one area that had like... brooms, and other old cleaning utensils. Like the gardening equipment, they also didn't look well-used. I don't think Junko needs to bother with tools, when I think about it, especially regarding cleaning. She could probably just purify dust out of existence...

"...I didn't either." I give it some thought. "Just goes to show how big her home really is, though..." Could this place be considered a manor? I'd say definitely.

I saw a pretty homely living space, too. Like, just for general chilling out. There was um... I'm pretty sure they're called a kotatsu. There was one of those in there, alongside a few chairs. Other places were like... a kitchen, that's a given, but there were two, maybe three I think, of these buildings that I couldn't get into, because they were locked. Which is strange, because why would they be locked? Unless there's something private in there, I uh... I find it pretty strange.

...Hmm... How many have I mentioned now...? That's twelve, I think... out of the fifteen or so I noticed, anyway. The other three, if I recall, were like... Okay, one had cotton and fabrics inside, as well as a lot of sewing needles and dyes. Pretty sure Junko might do some sewing in there. Then again, the things in there don't look like they've been touched for a while... or used, more like, since they were free of dust.

"Yeah..." Piece flies in front of me, eyeing some of the books. "It's kinda big, actually. Bigger than I remember..."

"It's bigger than I expected." I admit, grinning. I know there was one area dedicated to bathing, that's a given for a home. There was also a hall-like space that looked... extremely traditional. There were odd, aged items scattered throughout it on pedestals. They looked like they'd been cleaned really recently, but I might want to go back to that space at some point. It was also lit by candles that gave off a pleasant scent, so, scented candles obviously. If my memory serves correctly, which it should since we were just in there, there were a bunch of candles gathered and lit in front of this stone structure. Which I think might be a shrine of some kind.

Shrine as in... not the Japanese kind, with the shrine maidens, but like a small stone shrine. That's what I mean by shrine. Makes me wonder what it's for, but maybe that's a question to ask Junko later...

"...I'm pretty sure at least three of um... three of those places weren't here, when I last came by with Hecatia-sama..." Piece glances back at me. Really?

"Which ones?" I raise a brow, interested.

"Uhh... Two of the locked ones were new. I don't think I ever saw the laundry place before though..." Rubbing her chin, she gives it some thought.

Meanwhile, I decide to ask another question. "...How long has it been since you last, you know, came here?"

"That's... hmm..." She furrows her brows. "A few months? I dunno, time goes by pretty quick sometimes, I think..."

A few months... Yeah, that'd make sense. "Maybe she was doing those parts of the buildings up when you came with... uh... actually, what is your relationship with Hecatia, anyway?" Me nearly mentioning Hecatia then actually reminded me... Didn't Junko mention something along the lines of Clownpiece being Hecatia's favourite, or something?

I-. Oh. Oh... I just remembered. She actually warned me about Piece's torch. How the hell did I forget that...?

"Huh? Oh! She's my master!" She cheerily grins, which is a clear sign she's getting used to me being around now... which is strange, since we've only been hanging out for around half an hour so far. Then again, she seems very... childish. Playful, maybe. Is it because she's a fairy, or something...?

I mean, regardless of that, she's not actively hostile towards me anymore. Which is good.

"Master, eh?" I rub my chin, taking a look at some of the books. They're... in varying languages. I swear I can see Russian for some reason. Why Russian?

Then again, I saw one or two in English, among a few in Japanese and Chinese. It's a hodgepodge of languages, a cacaphony of... culture, if you want to call it that, which I am.

"Yeah!" Oh, right, I forgot I responded to Piece momentarily, there. "So show her a little respect!"

"I'm showing her respect regardless." I pocket my hands. "She's the goddess of Hell, for one. That, and she's a friend of Junko's."

"Fair..." Her eyes also drift to the books. "I dunno what half of these say, the ones that aren't in Japanese, or Greek, that is..." Why Greek? I-. Wait, no, Hecatia's got a Greek origin, being Hecate. It'd make sense for Piece to know it, too.

"I can only understand the ones in Japanese and English." I scratch my cheek, then pull out a book in... what language even is this? It's just... a mess of lines... "...I think these're moonrunes or something."

"Moonrunes're stupid!" She sticks her tongue out at the book as I put it back, then grab a nearby one in Japanese titled 'The Gensokyo Chronicle - Ninth Edition'... authored by someone called 'Hieda no Akyuu'. It's... pretty hefty, actually...

"...What's this one...?" I briefly open it to have a quick look through. Some reading of the pages tells me... ah, it looks like it's a whole bunch of information about Gensokyo, mostly on youkai and stuff... "...Oh, this... Hmm. Junko won't mind if I borrow this, right...?"

"Huh?" Piece watches me put the book away in my bag. "I mean, yeah, Hecatia-sama takes some out sometimes, 'cause Junko-sama has books up here that she can't get in Hell..."

"Oh, then it's fine. Good." The chronicle seemed to list a bunch of names, too, but it seemed to spiral off and monologue at times. Most likely that Akyuu person's doing, given how they authored the book. Well-. I say 'seemed to', since I only briefly looked through it, just to see what it was about. Its contents'd be useful for me to just... have on hand, though. Might let me scan through it if I need to know something about... well, someone, right? I wonder if there're more books like this...?

After all, as some people'd say, information is power, isn't it? Knowing stuff like the back of your hand's how you survive what seems to be certain death...

...Actually, no, that's... a weird example to use. Knowing stuff extremely well is how you prevent horrible accidents from happening. Yeah, that's more like it... Knowledge prevents incidents.

Trish may be smarter than I am in some areas, like fighting or just getting tougher, but I'm smarter than she is in terms of planning and general learning. Actually, all Trish cares about is being menacing at any given moment, but I think she just doesn't like talking to people very often, unless it's necessary. Me and Kolar are an exclusion, of course, but I think she's willing to come out of her shell a little bit as of late, because... well, ending up in Gensokyo, willingly talking to Mokou...

When I consider it, Trish seems to get along with Mokou a fair bit. There's some synergy between them when I try and recall how they talked to each other that one time in Eientei... after Trish got stabbed by a wild youkai. Didn't Keine say something about Mokou too...? Maybe Keine'd be willing to talk about Mokou, if I get the chance to ask her. Junko's also familiar with the white-haired immortal, too.

...Still can't get over the fact Trish somehow befriended an immortal, but then again, Kolar caught the interest of a vampire. Meanwhile, over here, I uh... I have the interests of several people focused on me. Yuuka's a glaringly obvious one, but Junko is too, as well as Doremy, if she really wants to keep visiting me when I'm dreaming sometimes.

A-Ahah... On the note of monologues, from that Gensokyo Chronicle, I just internally monologued. How ironic. Guess monologuing's just a thing people do sometimes, myself included... not that I've done it particularly often. Kolar's more of the monologue guy if anything. Guy's always ranting about stuff at school and stuff, and how his parents are-... Were encouraging to get him a job as soon as he graduated second year. 

...Oh, right, Kolar's a second year high school student. Some people actually think he's a third year, but he's just a second year. Funny how the schooling system works in different countries, sometimes... He's seventeen, so he's nearly an adult. Hence his parents encouraging him to get a job. Meanwhile, I'm eighteen, and Trish is... well, believe it or not, she's nineteen. She's not too far from me in terms of age, and it's a funny misconception a lot of people have. Guess that's the deceiving height at play, eh?

...By that, I mean Trish is way taller than I am. She's about... nine feet? Yeah, she's tall. I'm around seven feet, Kolar's just shy of six. So not only is she incredibly intimidating, she's also tall! And-. Oh, wait, I'm monologuing again. Damn, I... really like to do that, don't I? Then again, a lot's going through my head right now. I'm still trying to adjust to Gensokyo and Senkai. Guess you can call that jet lag, or whatever.

Moving on... Hecatia. We're uh... still walking around the library. It's actually decently sized, being pretty long and open... but not too big. It doesn't feel like a maze, at least. A maze of... books. Upon books.

The moment I turn a corner-.

Thud! A-Ah-.

...Thud. I fall to the ground...

Ow...! What did I just walk into...?!

"Uh... oops. That's me not watching where I'm going..." Hecatia's voice followed by a sigh is the first thing I hear. I-... Did I walk into her and then bang my head...? What did I even bang my head on...?! "...You okay down there?"

"Ngh..." I pick myself up from the floor, shaking my head, still dazed. "Other than feeling like I just walked into a brick wall, yeah, I'm fine..."

"Alright, that's good. Means Junko doesn't have a reason to hurt me later." She jokes, brushing my shoulders off. "Still, that's my bad. Why're you in here, anyway? The both of you, that is."

"We-... We came here to see you, actually..." I rub the side of my head as I adjust my hat, still aching from walking into Hecatia then just... falling over. It... was her I walked into right? If so, then what's she made of?! Bricks?! Steel?! I-. Wait, she's a god, why the hell am I asking that? Of course she's going to be ridiculously durable.

"Oh, really? What do you need?" She grins, putting her hands on her side. I notice the fact there's just a book floating beside her. Do not question that, do not question that...

"W-Well, um..." Piece looks slightly awkward about asking. 

Alright, might as well be blunt. "...I was just wondering why exactly you didn't want me or Piece-kun getting even a vague idea of what those plans were between you and Junko..."

"Pfft-. Piece-kun?" She nearly gets a laugh out of how I referred to Piece, before shrugging. "Ah... That's not important. Why you and Piece couldn't be let in, huh? That's it? Well... I'm imagining Junko doesn't want you knowing because it's dangerous for you to know exactly what it is, Rajime."

I knew it. "...She would probably elaborate if it wasn't, then..."

"Mmm... Maybe. I mean, I know her pretty well, and she still probably wouldn't outright tell you what it is we're planning." Hecatia shrugs. Really...?

"What about me...?!" Piece pouts, since Hecatia hasn't explained why she couldn't know just yet.

"Getting to it, Piece." The god sighs. "I mean, originally, these plans didn't really factor him into the equation." She gestures to me for a moment, before continuing. "But now they do. So I kinda need you to not be against him, Piece, okay?"

"I-... Ohh..." Surprisingly, that's easy to understand for her. 

Wait, hold on... "...I'm pretty sure Junko said these plans don't concern me. She even promised." I raise a brow. "Did something change...?"

"Oh, uh... did she not mention it? Huh, weird..." Hecatia furrows her brows, before dismissing the thought with a head shake. "But, yeah, what me and Junko have in mind actually does concern you, somewhat." Please be certain about this. "Like... nothing should happen to you, if everything goes right, but still, you're something to factor in now, nothing'll probably change that for a really long time, either."

A-. A really long time. "...How long?"

"A~h... Few years? Decades?" Hecatia wobbles her hand back and forth. I-. What do you mean decades...?! "Actually, maybe a lot longer, I'm not that sure..."

You know what. "...Okay, sure. Decades. Centuries, even." I deadpan. "If I ask, you're just not gonna tell me regardless. Neither will Junko. So I'm just not gonna bother with asking."

"Great! I knew you'd understand!" She claps her hands together. "I mean, when you die, you can just hang out in Hell with me as a ghost. Not that it... uh.. Not that it's happening anytime soon, obviously, but... y'know, when it does happen."

I'd rather not dying at all, Hecatia. I'm pretty sure Junko shares that sentiment, too...

I know it sounds selfish of me, but if that Mokou girl's actually immortal, then... who's to say I can't become one? I-... Wait, no, I just realised how much of an impact that'd have on my psyche... Is that really worth it to just... not die? Like, at all?

...Maybe not. Hrmm...

"A~h... Moving on!" She snaps her fingers, pointing at me. "Junko probably told you that your whole uh... bizarre potential's interesting to me, right?"

...Huh...? "Yeah, she did. She told me you came here to look into that...?" I tilt my head. 

"Well I had some luck!" The book that was just... floating beside her abruptly flies towards me, making me flinch before it suddenly stops mid-air, flipping itself open. I thought she was going to throw that book at me, then... "Take a look!"

I look down at the page it's open to, which is in Japanese thankfully. Piece also peeks over my shoulder to get a look...

"The potential of a human varies. Sometimes it can be incredibly poor, other times... it can even break gods. Though, a human with extremely high potential is incredibly rare, but is not something to be ignored. Chances of them existing are slim, but still high. A notable example of this are the Hakurei shrine maidens, both past and present." It reads, but there's still some more... "...However, there are hazy records of humans with even higher potential than that of the Hakurei. Worn records state that these humans can create bizarre essences of elements if pushed to the absolute limit... or they can destroy them. Or, in fact, they may even be able to balance these essences, though there's only one record of this happening, and even then, it's incomplete."

...What... the hell...?

"...That create part sounds a lot like you, doesn't it?" Hecatia closes the book in front of me. I'm just... stunned... 'Create bizarre essences of elements'...?

That... actually does sound... somewhat true, I think. That shockwave, or wind blast I should say, that electrical spark that nearly zapped Yuuka that one time... The fact it made her, a supposedly powerful youkai, hesitate...

"Uh... Rajime?" She raises a brow, waving a hand in front of my face. I-. O-Oh, right, I probably look like I'm spacing out... "There you are! So, yeah, sounds like you, doesn't it? Don't worry, Junko told me exactly what the weird things you've done are."

"Creation..." I blink, furrowing my brows as I rub my chin. Essences... Creation... Just feels so familiar, those two words being paired together... not that I know why. It's lost on me. "What... did it mean by worn records?"

"Those records're rea~lly old." Hecatia holds the book in her hand this time. "Like... a thousand years old, maybe older. Way back in the day, before Gensokyo had all that barrier nonsense. I mean, I know what this book said is reliable, it was written by a disciple of one certain 'Hieropha'."

"Wait, Hieropha as in...?!" Piece's brows raise as her eyes light up.

"Yeah, the very same lorekeeper and former ruler that used to live in Hell. She kinda... disappeared one day, though. Dunno where she went, she never told me." Hecatia gives it a bit of thought. "I don't know where the disciple that made this book went either, when I think about it. They all just kinda disappeared... but I guess they were kinda frowned upon for their ideals."

"Wait, wait, I feel like I'm missing something here..." I furrow my brows. "Who wrote that book?"

"A human, funnily enough." I-... A human? "Aikido Tsumugi, that's her name. I'm kinda familiar with her... but she can't actually die. Not outright immortal, though." Hecatia elaborates into the author of the book. "Apparently she lives so long as light and darkness exists somewhere, so she can't really go anywhere without both. Always lurked in the shadows, she did."

"I... How? If she's a human, then... wouldn't she die of old age eventually?" I furrow my brows. 

"Originally, yeah, she would have. But Hieropha took an interest in her and... well, yeah, now she sorta lives in the shadows forever." Hecatia nods. I-. Oh. "You're... probably wondering who Hieropha is, too. Well-."

"Hieropha was a super cool lady who originally ruled over Hell before Hecatia-sama did!" Piece abruptly butts in. This 'Hieropha' was Hell's former ruler, then...? 

"...Yeah, what she said." The god grins at the fairy's abrupt words. "After I came in, she settled for keeping records on Hell, Gensokyo, and the universe itself. You see these here?" She taps that Moon orb, then the Earth, then that... red orb thing in her hat. I nod along...? "Imagine these, but like, in the thousands. Maybe millions."

I-. Oh, hell, that's... wow. "That many...?"

"Mhm. Before she showed up in Hell, she was originally wandering space for something. I'm not sure if she's even from this galaxy, actually. Somewhere in the universe, sure, but definitely not the galaxy Earth is in. Apparently they're all planets she's seen and recorded the history of. Her ability allows her to immediately ascertain the history of anything, but it's not her only one." Hecatia raises a finger, closing her eyes momentarily to take a deep breath, before reopening them and sighing. "She originally had five, but she split those off to four disciples. Aikido's one of them, being the Disciple of Shadow. There're three others, but I'm not that familiar with them. You've got the Disciple of Surprise, real wild card apparently. After that, you've got the Disciple of Time. Pretty sagely guy, kinda chill too from what I've heard. And then you've got the strongest of the four, the Disciple of Deception. Nobody knows who they are. I don't even know anything about them, Hieropha only had vague ideas of who they actually were, too."

Four disciples...? "And... judging from what their disciples of, that makes finding out what those other four abilities were pretty obvious, I think..."

"Yeah, it's really obvious. Hieropha could originally mess around with time however she pleased. She could surprise anyone, make them fail to expect the unexpected no matter how hard they tried. In fact, she could even lie to their face and they'd believe her. Light and darkness was also kinda her playground, too. She could use both however she wanted, whenever and wherever too." Hecatia summarises. Not... something I expected to hear today. "Hieropha's really old, though. I wouldn't be surprised if her age's done her in."

"But she's really nice to people!" Piece raises her hands in the air, doing a little leap. "She's super nice to all the other fairies in Hell, but she's kind to both demons, youkai, AND humans! Even though I don't get why she's kind to the last ones..." 

"Hieropha was just a very accepting and welcoming person. After all, it takes a lot to just enter her home, let alone meet her." Hecatia shrugs.

"...What do you mean by 'it takes a lot'?" I tilt my head in wonder.

"To start, there's like, a bunch of puzzles to begin with. You've also gotta prove your strength, too. It's what I did when I first went to meet her. Best part is though, she automatically lets you through after you've done all the trials and what have you. Well-. It's not exactly her that does it, but it's extensions of her will." Looking to the side, Hecatia grins. "Hey, Rajime, are you familiar with robots?"

I-. Robots. "...I'm familiar with them in theory and in practice, why...?"

"Hieropha has a lot of robots in her home. Well-. They're sorta robots, but they're built to cater to her and her guests' needs. Sort of like a safety policy. They pack a punch, though." Hecatia looks back at me, looking more neutral. "They're called Altercators. And... I'm pretty sure she did make one that's entirely sentient. Hell if I know what happened to it though, she never told me anything about it after a while, even when I specifically asked about it, which was weird. Maybe it got too sentient."

"Why're you telling me all of this, anyway, Hecatia?" I mean, it is interesting, don't get me wrong, but... why? What's the reason?

"If that sunflower lady doesn't work out for you, then I can try and find Hieropha. She'd definitely be able to show you how to harness that potential. After all, she's the one who recorded humans being able to use that potential as magic." Hecatia grins. I-... Ah, that makes more sense, I guess. "Bu~t it might take some time if I have to. I don't know where she is. She just... disappeared one day. She and her home disappeared."

"Yeah, I kinda miss her..." Piece frowns, looking down. Guess this Hieropha was someone she looked up to, then...

"Also... Hey, hang on, I don't know if you've seen this yet, or if Junko's told you about this." ...What's Hecatia getting at now? She removes that red orb thing from her hat, then... moves the Earth orb into it-.

I-. Oh. Oh, okay. That's... wow. She just changed hair and eye colour by doing that. She also looks a lot more serene, too... More natural. I don't know why...

...

"...What?" I just stare at her in confusion. I-. Whah? She looks entirely different now...! 

"I just changed body." She's... a lot softer with her voice now. Sounds more caring and calmer than before. Also-. Changed her body?! "...The Moon, Earth, and the Otherworld as represented by the red orb there, all represent my different bodies. At first, I was the same entity, a mixture of all three, though Hieropha changed that. She gave me control to switch between the three, to avoid confusion..."

"R-Right, yeah, okay..." I'm still baffled on the premise that she can just... change bodies apparently. Did her personality change, too...? Her voice is far more comforting now, if I'm being honest. "...How long did this Hieropha rule over Hell, exactly...?"

"That's... actually a question I can't answer." Hecatia frowns. She doesn't know...? "If I had to guess, perhaps for several millennia."

Millennium... that's a thousand years, I know that. Sheesh, this Hieropha's that old...?

"But, as for how she came to rule Hell, I know the answer to that. She had the previous ruler killed and took his place. Hieropha actually ushered in Hell's golden age, so to speak. Instead of punishing people for sins, she opted for reforming them instead, whilst giving them freedom to do as they pleased. Lenient, but not too lenient. Hell's gotten a lot better over the years, believe me, I would know." Hecatia gives Clownpiece a brief glance, then back at me. "...You could come visit sometime, if you desire. You don't have to die to actually go to Hell as a human, you know. I can take you there, or if you're daring enough, you could cross the Sanzu River."

Visiting Hell... You know, I never thought there'd be a day where I'd even think of such a thing. I've never done anything genuinely wrong in my life, honestly, so it just feels weird to be thinking about heading there.

Now... it could be dangerous. Demons and stuff, y'know, that's typically what's in a Hell, right? Lava, spikes, etcetera... But, if I'm under Hecatia's protection, then I don't think I'd have anything to worry about. Because she's Hell's current ruler, as its goddess. 

Still, I'm curious as to who this Hieropha lady really was... She sounds... interesting, if she was Hell's ruler before Hecatia. Actually, that brings up a question... "How'd you come to rule Hell, anyway...?"

"Huh? Oh, Hieropha just passed the mantle onto me when she figured I was ready. She knew her time as Hell's ruler was limited, so... she passed it onto the person she trusted the most, that wasn't one of her four disciples. Besides, they all went into hiding just some time before I was instated as Hell's goddess." Hecatia explains into the matter. So Hieropha passed the role onto her...? "After I became ruler, Hieropha settled for recording the history of not just Hell, but the Earth, Heaven, Moon, and even Gensokyo eventually. She knew about Gensokyo well before the barrier was put in place. A long, long time before that, as a matter of fact."

"I see..." I bring a finger to my lips. The topic's definitely interesting... "So Hell's more of a rehabilitation centre nowadays...?"

"Mhm." She nods. "I want to keep her legacy going, after all. She started it, I'm just continuing the process. I'd argue she was Hell's greatest... I'm honestly torn between saying queen and empress, but that's even including myself."

"Wow... I didn't know you looked up to Hieropha like that, Hecatia-sama..." Piece seems... surprised. 

She turns to her fairy, smiling. "Hieropha did many great things for Hell, Piece. It's clear why I look up to her the way I do. She truly made everyone in there free to do as they please, whilst keeping Hell's original purpose in mind. Even some of the yama miss her sometimes, I'm pretty sure."

"You keep addressing her as Hieropha..." I have another question to ask. "Do... you actually know her full name?"

Hecatia turns to me with a relatively neutral smile. "Her full name is Lubrae Hieropha. I'm sorry, I merely forgot to properly introduce her. I suppose talking about her just made me reminisce on the days she was in power... Rather pleasant ones, those were. Hell knew peace, whilst retaining its normally chaotic nature."

"...Lubrae-san, then." I nod. "I'd ask if it'd be possible for me to meet her, at all, but... you don't know where she went, as you said."

"I'm imagining she can't have gone too far from Hell. She's most likely still compiling the history of everything in the universe. Her records date back to well before humans even evolved." Hecatia tilts her head to the side. "I can attempt to look for her, if you want. The moment I find her, I'll let you know, okay? In the meanwhile, do you remember our agreement?"

Oh, right, the agreement... Those cards... "Yeah, gather all of the cards I can and give them to you later, right?"

"That's the ticket." She gives me a more pleased smile, briefly taking my hat off to ruffle my hair in such a quick and fluid motion that I can't even react, before placing my hat back on. Wh-. How the hell did she just-. "Good boy."

...Okay, that was weird. I notice Piece grinning. "...Don't you talk of this ever."

"Wha~t? That happens to me all the time!" She keeps grinning. I-... Ha~h...

"Still, don't." I deadpan.

"Ah... that might actually happen a lot, depending on who you hang around." Hecatia comments, keeping her smile. Really... Mmh. It feels weird to have my hair ruffled. I'm a grown adult.

That aside... "...What time is it, actually...?" Because Junko said she'd take me to see Yuuka at noon, I... don't actually know what time it is right now.

"Hm? Few minutes before midday, why? Going somewhere" Hecatia raises a brow.

"...Noon's when Junko'll take me to see Yuuka." I raise a brow back. Did... she forget that I was planning on seeing Yuuka today? No, she can't have...

"O~h. I thought that would've been... y'know, later on in the day. Ah... nevermind." She shakes her head a few times. Why would you think it'd be later in the day...? Earlier the better, as I like to say.

Actually, speaking of Junko, where exactly is she, anyway? I'm imagining she's probably looking around for me by now...

"You're probably gonna be needing this, too." Hecatia suddenly produces an... album. Where was she keeping that? Like Clownpiece, I... don't genuinely see any pockets on her. Actually, now that I think about it, Junko doesn't have any pockets either, when I try and recall how she's dressed. Which must be horribly inefficient. Pockets're too useful not to have, y'know?

I flip it open and notice that there's actually a lot of pages and spaces for cards. As for the design of this album itself, it's plain leather for the cover and normal paper on the inside. You could fit about... four cards per page, I think. Might be three, depending on where they're placed...

Not that I've held a card and... you know, seen it up close. Best I've seen was that card Piece had, the one of that... red moon.

"The cards'll stick on the moment you place them down. It's a funny enchantment I put on it. Like, they'll stick and not move around loosely, but you can remove them easily." Hecatia explains as to how it works. There's an enchantment for that?

"Right..." I close the currently empty album, then notice that there's a pretty detailed drawing of Hecatia on the front. Guess that's obvious enough for who it belongs to... and one hell of a reminder, too.

...It's actually pretty funny that I use 'hell' sometimes when referring to things. Since, you know, Hecatia's right there in front of me. But, honestly, the weirder part is... why I just feel so neutral about all of this. Under normal circumstances, someone would most definitely be flipping their... uh... sss~stuff...? Yeah, stuff, that's the word I want to use...

...

I don't like swearing in general, honestly, that's why. Trish let's loose a whole torrent of them on a bad day. Seriously, she's like a printer, but if you gave it a souped up... everything. F-bombs, s-bombs, the whole nine yards. On a good day, she'll say like, five at most, sometimes none. Actually, it's rare for her to not curse, if anything... Tends to avoid letting loose the grand flooding of swears when I'm in the room, because she wants to be a good sister. She also avoids saying them in front of Kolar, since he's still in high school. Even though I bet he's been exposed to them constantly, classmates or otherwise. People like swearing for the sake of swearing, sometimes.

"So is that all you came here to see me for? Because, like, I've gotta let Junko know about this too." Hecatia gestures to the book that's in her hand, currently. The one on potential by that 'Aikido' person she briefly mentioned.

Actually, talking of Aikido... "You... implied that you knew this Aikidio person, not just Lubrae-san, too."

"Hieropha'd probably tell you to just call her Lubrae, or Hieropha, or something like that. No need to use the honorifics." Hecatia shakes her head. Ah, is that so...? "I mean, I'd know."

"Right... but still, Aikido?" I tilt my head.

"Aikido, even though she was a human before, during, and after... whatever it was Hieropha put her through, she still hung out in Hell a bunch. Surprisingly, she got along with a bunch of the demons and souls, and what have you. Then again, it's hard to oppose a disciple of Hieropha's." Hecatia's eyes trail to the side, onto a bookshelf. "I'm pretty sure Junko has all of the books Aikido ever authored, namely because I recommended them to her."

"Aikido's an author, then...? How many books did she make?" I raise my brow.

"A bunch! Like, a bunch kind of bunch!" Very descriptive, Piece. Thank you for that information, I understood all of it.

"Well, if we're being specific, Aikido wrote around eighty or something before vanishing. Weird part is, they're all decently long." Hecatia gives me the exact number of books Aikido wrote... "Well-known author among Hell and the Earth. Pretty well-liked one, at that, though all of her books're old."

"...How long ago did she write them? When did her latest one come out?" I press for more details. I want a rough idea...

"Gee, real eager for info, aren't you?" She jokes, chuckling. "I can answer that. Last one was published around~... I want to say three hundred years ago? Maybe four?"

Four hundred years... Yeesh.

"Then again, she disappeared from Hell just sometime after I came into power, which was around the same time that last book of hers came out. Hell was pretty dark, honestly, so she could exist just about anywhere. As for why it was so dark? Well, it's because a few of the suns we had down there were... shot down a rea~l long time ago, whilst Hieropha was in power." Hecatia scowls very briefly when talking about Hell's suns, before regaining her more serene look. Whoa, she seemed... angry.

Um... judging from how she talked about that, maybe I should keep asking about Aikido. "What kind of books did Aikido publish, anyway?"

"To be honest, she published so many different topics and categories that I lost track. Some of her books're like, basic living guides for humans. Some others were these extremely complicated puzzles and riddles, even I had trouble figuring them out sometimes. She was good at writing, probably the best at it, actually." Hecatia considers, humming very briefly, before focusing on me properly. "But her more popular books were ones delving into potential and cognition. One, because nobody else would bother doing it, and two, because it helped people to better understand each other, including Aikido herself. She studied a lot of the souls in Hell, how they responded to certain things whilst being rehabilitated. Those were probably her biggest hits."

"Ah... So she wrote a mixed bag of topics, then?" I gathered that much when I heard 'basic living guides', immediately followed by 'extremely complicated puzzles', and then hearing that her most popular books were ones on 'potential and cognition', the latter being the selling point.

...Namely because who in their right mind would write books on psychology around four hundred years ago?!

"Mh~m, that she did. So is that it, then? No more questions?" She asks. I... don't particularly have anymore, if I'm being honest, so I shake my head. "Alright! Also, it's noon, and-."

Junko suddenly walks in, then right up to me. "...I would've expected you to be in the garden waiting, not here."

"Well, I guess I just... lost track of the time." I admit, looking to the side sheepishly. That whole talk was interesting... and maybe I did get too invested in it. That's another two names to tack onto the list of 'people who have been mentioned but not yet met'... How many're on there now, like... nine? Nine people? The only ones I can think of're like... Seiga, namely because she was here last night and I wouldn't have even noticed if Doremy didn't point her out, uh... Komachi, Yukari, Ran, Chen, because Doremy brought them up... This Reimu person, who Junko actively mentioned, like, twice I think, u~hhh... Remilia, since she's been mentioned a whole bunch by not only Kolar, but a few others... and now Lubrae and Aikido.

...

I have an odd feeling that this list will only increase as time goes on, and I don't like that particular feeling. I-. Wait, no, ten. There's also that Hieda no Akyuu person who authored that Gensokyo Chronicle book I have on me right now... I think her first name's Akyuu, since the 'no' means of, so... Akyuu of Hieda? I think that's how it goes when translated to English... or Akyuu Hieda.

...Japanese naming conventions are particularly strange.

"Yeah, we were just having a particularly nice chat about things. His potential, for one, but then it sort of spiralled off into talking about Hieropha and Aikido. You know who those two are, right?" Hecatia at least backs me up on that...

"...Ah. Yes, those two I'm aware of. Hieropha was the ruler of Hell before you were, I know this much." Junko nods in understanding. "Still having issues locating her?"

"Mmm~..." Hecatia nods, now frowning. "I've been trying to find her for like, what, just shy of a hundred years now? It's gonna be the hundredth anniversary of me starting the search for her, now. We're on the ninety-ninth year since then."

...A hundred years? "Didn't you say you took over from Lubrae about four hundred years ago...?"

"Actually, that is true. Why did you not start searching for her until recently, Hecatia?" Junko has her brow raised.

"A-Ahah, well..." She begins grinning, scratching the back of her head. "...I kinda forgot to. I was just incredibly busy with making sure everything in Hell ran smoothly, you know? I was preoccupied and distracted, never really got the chance until recently."

...I guess it would take a fair bit of time and effort to efficiently take care of Hell... since, you know, it's Hell.

Hecatia seems to notice my understanding, anyway. "See? You get it."

"I suppose I did distract you with my own agenda, too..." Junko closes her eyes, sighing. "You were talking of Tsumugi also?"

"Mhm." I nod. "Her books are um..."

"Unique? Yes, they delve into... considerably noteworthy topics, no matter how minor. She always did make her books affordable for anyone, honestly, sometimes even giving them away for free..." Junko closes her eyes. "...She was quite a contrast to the rest of Hell's society."

"That she was, being a human among, like, devils, lampads, and everything else." Hecatia places one hand on her hip. "Then again, I've not seen her in a few centuries time. Either she fled with Hieropha, o~r..."

"...She's somewhere else entirely, presumably in Gensokyo. There's not an incredibly high chance she'd be outside of the barrier, as she wouldn't have been able to use her magic of manipulating light and darkness otherwise..." Junko finishes for her, thinking.

"What makes you so certain about that...?" I tilt my head. "She could still be in Hell, right?"

"That... is rather true, actually." She at least considers that option... "...Although, it's rather unlikely. I'm sure Hecatia would have noticed."

"I probably would've, unless if she's hiding really well. Then again, there's always lampads running about on the streets of Hell. Even then, Aikido could quite literally be anywhere, as long as there's shadows for her to slip in and out of. This also includes places, like, Makai. And the Moon." Hecatia lists two examples, one of which I've never heard of, and...

"...T-. The Moon." I echo. How the hell would she get to the Moon?

"...I genuinely hope she didn't go to the latter." Junko seems moderately more sour upon mentions of the Moon. Why...? "Namely because humans need to breathe to live, correct? And, the last I had checked, humans cannot breathe on the lunar surface."

"Yea~h, that's true, I guess." Hecatia considers it... I mean, that's just... whoever thinks she'd actually be on the Moon is stupid. Like, no, seriously, Aikido's still a human, apparently, she wouldn't be able to survive... you know, on there. It's outlandish, mate.

Also... "What's Makai, exactly...? Not somewhere I've heard of before..." I scratch my chin. 

"It's like Hell, but not really." Hecatia, that's... incredibly vague. "Okay, uh... imagine Hell, but not as an afterlife or anything. That's genuinely what Makai is. There's demons and strong youkai there."

Oh. That makes... somewhat more sense?

"...Although, if you're hoping to go there, uh... don't." She warns me outright to not go there. "Don't get me wrong, some humans live there, but it's like... really harsh and rough. There's a toxic miasma in the air over there, too, so you probably won't even last a few seconds without proper preparation or protection. Then again, there's a whole bunch of items there that you can't really get anywhere else."

"...I see..." I give it some thought. "Would... it be possible for Aikido to be there, then...? You did say 'some humans live there', didn't you?"

"Nope!" Piece abruptly speaks up...? Hecatia turns to raise a brow at her, as do Junko and myself. "I-I mean, I talked to Aiki-san a few times, and she said she never wanted to ever set foot in there...!"

"...You remember her saying such a thing?" Junko seems moderately surprised, though I do see Piece rapidly nodding. "The memories of fairies astounds me, sometimes..."

"Though, I guess that does rule out Makai, then. She probably is in Gensokyo, somewhere, since that's the best lead we've - or I've, really, since I'm the one looking - got." Hecatia grins. That's fair... "I'm probably imagining she'd be around that Youkai Mountain place, or something. Maybe somewhere near the peak?"

"That high up?" Junko raises a brow further. "On that mountain, no less? What of the tengu and Moriya?"

There's a mention of the Moriya again... but tengu?

"They probably won't even notice she's lurking around up there, if we're being honest." Hecatia shakes her head, holding a finger up. "Aikido's always in the shadows, so it'd be really hard to notice her, as far as Earth gods go. I don't have any troubles with seeing her, but I know for a fact some others do."

"The Moriya..." I furrow my brows. "I've heard of them before, when Junko took me to the village once. Two gods, and... a shrine maiden, right?"

"Right you are." Hecatia confirms with a nod. "...Though, their maiden insulted my fashion sense once." I-. Pfft-. Whah? That was abrupt...

"She did, in fact, do that. On an unrelated note, though, I had managed to find a blank journal you could use, Rajime." Junko suddenly announces, pulling out a diary... Wait, what? When did she...? "...That is what I had spent the hour searching around for." Ah. "Although, I'm not too sure how it exactly got here. I don't ever recall purchasing a journal before, or being given one..."

...Okay, spooky spontaneously appearing journal, then. "Really?" I tilt my head. "You're... sure about that?"

"...My certainty regarding this is equal to the sharpness of my memory and knowledge." Junko gives me a more neutral stare. "I'm frankly puzzled as to how it showed up, as it's entirely blank, though there was a note and an odd pen with it. All it said was 'you're welcome' in Japanese. Nothing else of note regarding it... though I feel as if the penmanship is familiar."

"Familiar, huh?" Hecatia seems to give it some thought too, before shrugging. "Well, I don't know who'd just randomly give you a convenient journal to use. So what do you mean by 'odd pen'?"

"It's styled like the ones I'd usually find my precious Reisen-chan using in Eientei." Junko calmly states. I-. 'My precious Reisen-chan'? What the hell...? Why'd she talk about Reisen like that? Does... she respect her, or something? I mean, if so, that's a pretty roundabout way of saying it...

...Also, I just remembered, she addressed Reisen normally when she was, you know, in the room with Junko. But now she isn't.

"Still interested in her, eh?" Hecatia grins. "Y'know, you've got several interests right now, when I think about it. Two major ones only really come to mind though..."

...As she says this, her eyes trail over to me without the slightest trace of subtlty. Gee, yeah, I wonder what those 'two major ones' are, now.

"...I have my reasons for those interests, Hecatia." Junko squints at the goddess. "Both are entirely different circumstances."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but ever since... y'know, that day you've been fascinated with that rabbit for a rea~lly long time." Hecatia keeps grinning. 'That day'? What's she talking about?

"...I feel like I'm missing something here..." I blink, glancing between Hecatia and Junko. Piece has also... been pretty quiet, considering. She's only really spoken up a few times, but that was about Lubrae and Aikido... "What do you mean by 'that day'?"

...Junko immediately freezes on the spot, gives Hecatia a semi-serious glare, before turning to address me whilst looking a lot more calmer. Uh...? "...Merely my chance first meeting with Reisen-chan, Rajime."

"I-. Uh, yeah, right..." Hecatia seems slightly intimidated again. Okay, yeah, no, they're hiding something from me, that's obvious. Two things, that is. Whatever their plans were, and 'that day', whatever Hecatia meant by that.

"Wait, by 'that day', do you mean-." Piece is about to speak, but she's given pretty hard stares by both Junko and Hecatia, making her stop. She knows too...?! "U-Uh... Oh."

"...Story for later?" I raise a brow at Junko.

"Story for later." She settles on. Well that's... reassuring. If she's willing to at least talk to me about it later, then...

"Right..." I um... might as well move the topic on. "You mentioned an 'odd pen', right...? How's it odd? I mean, there's lots of pens outside of Gensokyo, so..."

"...Ah, yes, you see, I normally wouldn't question such a pen's existence. Under normal circumstances, however, as I see Reisen-chan use them more often than not." Junko furrows her brows. "I'm not entirely sure as to what it is, but the existence of that pen feels... altered somehow, though I don't have the faintest idea on how or why."

"So it's a spooky mysterious weirdly altered spontaneously appearing modern ink pen, then." I very bluntly summarise what it is.

"P-Pffft-. Ahahaha-. W-Where did that description come from...?" Seems I've amused Hecatia at least. 

...Meanwhile, with Piece, she looks like she's absolutely struggling to keep a straight face. "S-Spooky mysterious weirdly alte-. I-I can't say that, it just sounds so... so...!"

"Silly? Yeah." I pocket my hands. "I mean, if common sense doesn't exist, then I'm not using my common sense because I'm not questioning the spooky mysterious weirdly altered spontaneously appearing modern ink pen, you see."

"S-Stop saying it like that...!" Piece nearly bursts out laughing. Hecatia nearly does too, given how I repeated it with a straight face. 

"...Please don't call it that." Junko gives me a smile, at least. 

"Am I wrong, though?" I grin back.

"Not entirely." She produces the pen in question. Yeah, it's one of those pens. It's a clickable one, and it's... made of plastic. Not something I entirely expected to, like, see in Gensokyo. Or Senkai, I should say, since... well, yeah, I'm in Senkai, not Gensokyo. "...I'd rather you shorten that to 'odd pen', though."

"...Yeah, guess that'd be easier than spooky-." I'm about to say when my mouth's covered by Hecatia.

"Alright, alright, you don't need to say it for a third time. I'm pretty sure that'd break Piece entirely." The Hell goddess gives the fairy a subtle glance.

"...Indeed." Junko concurs, it seems. 

...Why did I just feel the need to use 'concur', there? 'Agree' probably would've worked far better...

...

Actually, what the hell am I even talking about? Why do I even feel a need to question that...?

"I'm not entirely sure what it does, although... it doesn't seem to be seperable from the journal." Junko notes something...? "Observe."

She raises the pen into the air, then throws it with... a surprising amount of force and dexterity.

Whoosh!

...Into the library it goes, sailing off into the distance...

...

I wait to see if I can hear it land, but it doesn't land... or it doesn't audibly make a landing noise, anyway.

"Now look back at me." Junko requests, so I comply, and...

...

Okay, how the...? The pen's just... attached to the diary. It's the same exact pen. What...?

"...How did you find this out?" I furrow my brows.

"The pen felt far too odd, so I left it and took only the journal with me. Then, to my surprise, it had appeared on the front page, attached when I wasn't looking. I'm not entirely sure how it does that." She stares down at it. I-. You're not sure?

"...Well, you can add that on to the 'weird things' about that pen, then." Hecatia observes, as if that wasn't obvious.

"Mmm. It's almost as if the pen and diary are inseperable... and are meant to be used together." Junko looks at me, holding them out. "It would probably do you well to have them, as I have no need for these."

Ah... right. I take them, then place the journal in... the bag, yeah, that seems right... I place the pen in my shirt pocket, though. I do note one thing whilst I was holding the diary itself, though... "...Pretty hefty for a journal."

"So you had noticed it too, then. It feels... heavier than the average one of those, like it has more pages than it's supposed to." Junko still sounds curious about the journal...

...Actually, I might as well make a note on something. I whip out the journal again, to the first page, and-.

...

"Wait, was it like this before?" I stare down at the front page in confusion. It's... got my name at the top of the page, but... there's some information about me too... I sure as hell didn't write that...

"...Huh?" Hecatia leans over to get a look at it too, then looks over at Junko. "Oh, uh... Hey, Junko, did you... write this stuff down for him, or...?"

"I hadn't... written anything in there." Oh, so she's as confused as I am. She even gets a look when I show her the diary... "...How strange."

"What's it say?! Lemme see!" Piece demands that I let her see it, so I show her. "O~h, yeah, that's weird!"

Okay, this diary's cursed or something. Either that or it fills up with people's information. Either that or it just... records things that happen to me. Why give me the pen, then...?!

What's written, however, reads as follows...

"Owner: Rajime Naga

A human outsider and the younger brother of Trish Naga, or I guess you could say that's me describing myself. Hey me who's reading this in the future. I'm currently living with Junko, a sagacious spirit, in Senkai after being saved from a wild youkai attack, and I'm... currently experiencing Gensokyo for the first time, having already experienced several oddities. Currently, I hold no title, whatever those are.

However! I have recently found out that I have this super weird potential! Or... I think I do, anyway. Sometimes I can use magic, but some people, like Yuuka and Junko, think it stems from instincts and my emotions. Not that I have any idea how to properly, like, use those, but it does make sense when I think about the times I've used magic... if it even is magic.

Right now, I'm equipped with a special shield called Aegis. Apparently it's one Junko owned in the past, but now it's found its way into my hands... or my arm, more like, since that's where it's held, haha.

I'm also planning to see Yuuka so I can try and make some use of my potential, after learning more about it from Hecatia, the sunflower on my shirt is proof of her interest as it doesn't seem removable, and it's still alive at the time of writing this."

...And that's how it goes. It's... written in the way I'd normally speak... What the hell is this...?

"When was this written, then...?" I'm... sort of unnerved that this diary just wrote practically all there is to know about me with no prompting...!

"It most likely wrote itself, though... May I see your penmanship?" Junko asks, raising a brow.

Ah, right... maybe...?

I try writing my name on the cover page... because it makes the most sense, doesn't it?

It-. Oh. It's actually pretty much identical to the way my name's written on there, when I look between my name on the cover, and my name on the first page...

"...Peculiar. There's no way you could have written in this... but that's certainly your writing style." Junko's really confused now... I am too! How the hell did it...?!

"Probably best not to question it." Hecatia settles on. "Hey, maybe look through the next few pages?"

"Ah, right... That's a good idea. Maybe there's some more...?" Complying, I flip to the next page, but... it's blank. "Blank..."

...My eyes trail to the top of the page. I wonder if...? 

I write in Junko's name, and-.

...

...

...

Wh-. Did I just space out...? It felt like everything went silent for a few seconds then, but my eyes're on the book, and... there's a whole lot more information below where I've written Junko's name...?

"...Are you feeling alright?" Junko seems... concerned? Why's she concerned...? "The moment you wrote my name in that book, you seemed to be in a trance... you didn't even respond to either of us three."

...I didn't? "...Huh... Everything was silent for me." I bring my fingers to my chin, thinking about it. Everything was... silent. Dead silent. I didn't hear anything.

"Maybe writing puts you into some kind of spell? Like, maybe that pen's enchanted to make you focus on writing everything you know about a given thing." Hecatia supposes, tapping the diary with her hand. "I mean, I've heard of those things before. Aikido used one once, I think."

...She did? If so, then... could it be that she's the one who...? No, wait, why would she do that? It doesn't make sense... she wouldn't even know about me, right? There's no way it's her...

"...Maybe hold off on writing for later." Junko hazards me. "If you started writing out in public and you weren't paying attention, I fear something bad may occur... or you may get into an accident. One or the other."

Ah, that's... true, actually. Maybe I should do it when I've got some time alone, or something... I am curious as to what I've got written down for Junko, though.

My eyes trail down at the page to read through the info I've written down...

"Junko

A sagacious spirit, apparently, but she's the one who pretty much saved me from a wild youkai, and is also the one currently letting me stay at Senkai. You know, it's weird, but she reminds me of my own mother, a couple of years back. Maybe it's her personality? Can't say for certain. She does treat me like a son, buying me things, giving me a place to live, and even making food for me, and she even said herself that I remind her of her own son. Meaning that, at one point, she was a mother, but she seemed to be solemn when talking about him... which is curious in of itself. Something must've happened, but I don't know if it's my place to ask her about it yet.

...According to Doremy, she doesn't have a title, unlike, say, Yuuka or Doremy herself, which is odd... but Doremy did also say that Junko doesn't have a particular need for a title, so I wonder why? Does she have a reason? Hmm... Only time'll tell, I guess.

...Moving on, she seems to be on relatively good and close terms with Hell, what with one of her friends being literally the Goddess of Hell herself, Hecatia Lapislazuli. I'm not sure if it's, as Trish would say, a 'cool' or a 'spicy' relationship. I have no idea why she says it like that, she just does. Also, by 'spicy', I mean if they're lovers or not, 'cool' meaning if it's more casual. I can't really tell, but they give me one of those vibes. Junko and Hecatia being lovers, I mean. Clownpiece is also just... there. She's like Hecatia's daughter, I guess, so would that make me something like Junko's son in this instance?

Junko, alongside her motherly appearance and demeanour, can be... pretty terrifying, if I'm being honest. Terrifyingly protective, that is. Though, Reisen did say that Junko's not particularly the best at controlling her emotions, or something along those lines. I can definitely see it, she even said she'd kill to protect me, if it comes to it. Which I don't want, like, at all. And during last night, at the time of writing this, she uh... she chased out a wicked hermit called Seiga Kaku, and it looked like Junko was expecting Seiga to show up... which makes me curious as to how she knew Seiga'd show up.

All in all, she's pretty nice, I'm pretty much trusting her with my life, after all... so I'm willing to do as she says, for the most part. She does, however, seem to respect my privacy."

...Damn, I wrote a hell of a lot more than what's been written down for myself... A lot more. It's like an encyclopedia page... which is interesting in of itself. Huh. Maybe this whole diary idea was a good thing. Well-. Diary doesn't feel fitting. It's like a hybrid between a notebook and a journal, right now.

I'll... write more entries later.

"...Y'know, you wrote a surprising lot about Junko." Hecatia does comment on the amount I've written down there. "Even if you were uh... spacing out, the fact you know that much already's sorta impressive. Also, what was that bit in the middle there?"

"...I-Ignore that." I close the journal immediately, looking away. Nobody needs to know about what I've written there, it's for my eyes only at any given moment.

Junko just has this extremely blank look. She's... staring directly at me, not doing anything else. I can't tell why her gaze is so blank. Is she surprised, or shocked, or confused, or what...?

Actually, wait, no this journal's like Wikipedia, but if it was written by me and it's meant for things Gensokyo-related instead of worldwide stuff.

...

That's given me a name idea, actually. "Uh... actually, given the amount of stuff I write in this, when I space out that is, it's like an encyclopedia... How about I call it Gensopedia, or something?"

Saying that seems to snap Junko out of that blank stare, as she jumps in place slightly. "Ah-. Yes, I suppose you may call it that, it is... fitting."

"...Okay, uh, Junko, are you feeling alright? You've just had this weird look for the past few minutes." Hecatia raises a brow at the spirit. "Did you see what he wrote in that middle part, or...?"

"...Potentially, yes, let's say I did." She gives me a slightly curious look again. Wait, she's not actively denying it. What. "...I'm surprised he came to the conclusion he did on that part, however."

She's not denying it at all! Was-. Was I correct in that guess, then?! The 'spicy relationship with Hecatia' part was actually a correct guess?!

"...What did he write there?" Hecatia wants answers, it seems.

"I'll tell you later." Junko very quickly shoots that down. Yeah, no, she really does know what I wrote and-... Hey, hang on, she's blushing. It's pretty faint, but I can see it...

...Well, with that implication, I think it's safe to assume that it is, in fact, a spicy relationship between her and Hecatia. I don't know how I did that. That's the first time I've even acknowledged that vibe.

"...Uh-huh, sure. I do actually want to confirm something with you, when you come back from dropping him off in Gensokyo." Hecatia gestures to me with one hand as I place Gensopedia, as I'm dubbing it, into my bag again. The pen goes back into my pocket with a smooth twirl, too.

"...Of course." Junko seems to have calmed down, now... "On such a note... Rajime?"

Ah-. Right, it's noon. "Yeah, we should probably go now, right...?"

"My point exactly." She begins to walk off, with me following behind her. "I'll be back soon enough Hecatia."

"Mhm." The goddess nods, waving me off. "Don't die now~!"

...Reassuring.

"Yeah, don't die, I've still got stuff I wanna ask you about!" Piece also blurts out, which earns her a curious glance from Hecatia. I wonder what she means by that?

...Ah well. Before I know it, I'm being carried into the air, away from the comfort and comparitively higher safety of Senkai, and into Gensokyo's wilds.

"...What did you mean when you wrote that middle part?" Junko decides to press me on that. "How exactly did you... come to that conclusion? In fact, I don't recall you ever bringing such a topic once."

"I didn't even know I got that feeling between you and Hecatia until a few minutes ago, when I thought about it. There's just something in the air between you two, I guess?" I shrug. I still have no idea how I didn't acknowledge it until recently...

"...Quite." She looks ahead, considering her next words, before smiling neutrally. "Although... you aren't wrong."

Pfft. Called it. "Thought so, judging how you reacted."

"Was it that apparent?" She raises a brow at me.

"...Yeah, it really was. To me, anyway. I don't think Piece put two and two together. Neither did Hecatia, somehow." Which... is actually pretty strange, thinking on it now. I'm fairly sure Hecatia should be way smarter than Piece is. After all, she's a god, Piece is a fairy, right?

"...Hecatia was always oblivious to when I tried to make a move, sometimes." Junko points out, looking almost reminiscent. She sounds... happy. Nostalgic, too, but it's a happy kind of nostalgia. Huh. "She still is today, too. Moving on... you seemed to know about that pest's invasion, in the midst of the night. How? I thought you were fast asleep."

"...Dreams are wild." I vaguely state, nodding to myself. Maybe she'll get that...?

"Ah. That baku's messing around then, it seems." Junko sighs. Oh, she knows about Doremy...? 

"I mean, yeah, she showed me what was going on in the real world whilst I was dreaming. I also felt the danmaku pain in the morning, so I know what she had shown me was real." I stare ahead as Junko flies through... a crack. I-. Oh, okay, that's... trippy. Whoa. It's like a whole mess of colours, and before I know it, we're in Gensokyo. I can tell because it looks way different... "Is that what you meant by cracks yesterday?"

"...Indeed." She retains a neutral tone of voice. "It's quite efficient, if I do say so myself."

"Hmm... How does Hecatia get there? The same way?" I tilt my head.

"Oh, no, she can appear there at any time." Junko denies. I-. Wait, how...? "...Senkai is classed as an Otherworld. much like the Dream World is. Gensokyo is classed as Earth, for apparent reasons. Hecatia rules over the Hells of the Earth, the Moon, and the Otherworlds... much like her predecessor, Hieropha, did before her."

"How do you know Lubrae, anyway...?" I wonder aloud.

"...I had originally gone to her for help on a matter, though she sadly couldn't do much about it. She did, however, allow Hecatia to assist me in my affairs. Hieropha could not get directly involved with them, as it would weaken her position as Hell's ruler." She explains. She originally went to Lubrae for help, but Lubrae couldn't help, so she allowed Hecatia to help instead? Huh... "Whilst Hieropha is extremely more powerful and imposing than Hecatia, she's old. Quite old, in fact. She could not do as many of the miracles she could perform for Hell in the past, as her age slows her down considerably. However, she was still wise. She taught me all she could, on how to efficiently finish my matters... though she vanished before I had learned the final thing she could have taught me. A pity."

"She taught you?" I scratch my chin. Lubrae sounds more and more like a teacher, when I think about it. A legendary one, having four disciples that wield four of her past abilities, she taught Hecatia a whole bunch, and she nearly taught Junko everything she could have done...

"Mmm." Junko hums in confirmation as we keep flying. I see a... well, sea of sunflowers, dead ahead. I know we passed the Human Village, at one point. I can see Youkai Mountain, too.

"...What was that last thing gonna be?" I decide to ask next.

...

...Um? "Junko-?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that at this moment in time. Not now." She shakes her head, looking solemn. Ah... Touchy topic, then...? "More importantly, we're here. Go see Kazami. I will return tomorrow morning, assuming she keeps you overnight."

Tomorrow morning, huh...? So, basically, don't die until tomorrow. Man, staying overnight in Gensokyo for the first time is gonna be weird...

"...Be safe, would you?" Junko warns me, before-. Ah-. Oh, okay, she's... hugging me. I didn't expect that, for some reason, so I just stand there like an idiot for a few seconds before returning it.

"I'll... I'll try." I awkwardly grip Aegis after she lets go. Hopefully, if all goes wrong, I should be able to defend myself, at the very least...

"Mmm... Maybe it would be wise if you kept a hold of this." Reaching into a-... Wait, she does have pockets in that dress! Huh, I thought she didn't... Regardless of that, she reaches into a pocket, and pulls out a... card. Ah, that's the same as the one Piece had earlier...

It's got those seven flame-like tails I've seen Junko with before, with a clenched fist between them as the image... or design, I should say. 

"What's this...?" I stare at it after she places it into my hand.

"...The card that pest of a hermit had last night, after I had... ahem, 'taught her a lesson'." Junko smiles slightly menacingly. So she took this from that Seiga person, then...

I flip it around. If I remember right, there's text on the other side...

Ah-. There is! It reads...

"Purified Strike

Annoyed at danmaku or people standing in your way? Well, with this baby, you can just purify their bullets out of existence, or badly damage people, depending. I mean, this card isn't meant to kill, after all, and even then, it's got a decent one-minute cooldown between purification strikes. Are you watching?! Because it's perfect for you non-lethal purely furious fans! "

...Talk about a weird description.

"Of course, it had no effect on me when used." Junko points out smugly, for whatever reason. "After all, I'm already a purified entity, so it's entirely useless."

Ah, I see... I pocket the card in my shorts regardless. "I see... I'll hold onto it, then. It might be useful..."

"It will. It could very well determine life or death." Junko gets more serious. "Please, use it wisely."

"I will." I tell her, before looking around. I... see nothing but sunflowers. Everywhere. There is, however, a path in front of me.

"...Very well. I'll be off then." Junko turns and begins flying away, as I start stepping through the paths...

...Might as well wander aimlessly until something noteworthy happens, I guess...

...