The Color That I Cannot Have

"You won't be so lucky…next time."

She breathed and it was probably the last thing her mind could manage to say. She lay on the ground, her body numb all over from the wrack of pain that flooded in her system when she parted her lips.  Three bruises on her left shoulder, a bump on her forehead albeit small, and her prized clothes torn to oblivion; they were her trophies, at least something she could proudly claim rather than losing her life in the moment.  It was an unimaginable scenario for a proud magician like her but the gravity of the loss wasn't as devastating as she had expected it to be. Danmaku was, in fact, a normal routine. If a normal person takes exercise like simple stretching or warm ups every morning as an activity to do on a regular basis, in Gensokyo, the labor in firing various projectiles, ranging from stars, orbs and lasers to any moving creatures willing to retaliate is the way Marisa starts her day and she won't sit idle and wait to taste the exhilaration as she takes to the air - to the sky which she loves so dearly.

In every battle there will be one victor and Marisa's haughty pride had been dedicated to this. She worked harder than any humans she had been acquainted with. And as they have mentioned, the sight of her, a certain black and white means one or two will blow to pieces. Frankly, destruction wasn't her style from the start. No, she wanted to be gallant; to be at least inspired by constellations like her previous Master and she wanted it more for presentation than raw destruction. But the more she realized how exactly frightening Gensokyo was for a normal human like her; the more she had to reason out herself with superior fire power.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth so they say.

Youkai were not really the type to listen to creatures inferior to them and Marisa had thought of this adamantly than she had realized. In her training, she burned the image of those foul creatures in mind, focused on how to stand on equal footing and before she had a say, she was already wielding a power worthy enough to be feared. Every day, she would consume herself, like an obsessed criminal in how she could repel youkai and be liberated to fly in the same sky like her.

Her. The very mention of that person was enough to flush her body with emotions she could not comprehend.

In and out, she took air. It was practically painful like she was swallowing a sack of needles. Her throat felt dry and she badly needed liquid to quench her need. She tried to lift her finger. One.Two. Eventually, she was able to raise her whole arm. Deadened by the impact of her loss, she mustered to keep her eyes from falling one last time. Marisa had never been so enamored looking at something so divine, so unreachable even if she could just stand up and grab that glamour with her hand.

It was a torture to think of such feat but she understood the clarity of the act.

Marisa can never grasp the color of crimson right before her very eyes.

"Ugh…"She managed to muster a silent groan. Her head was in pain and it had paralyzed all of her remaining senses. She was left to lie on the ground for a few more minutes, staring at the figure standing so proudly with the sky as her backdrop.

"It's useless, Marisa" Her companion said with a disappointing tone. She landed on the ground just beside the fallen black and white.

"Cut me some slack for once, Reimu. I wasn't even serious." She laughed at how weak that rung in her ears. Reimu looked at her, observed her even, and shrugged her shoulders to brush off her own pride.  She lowered the gohei which normally hanged on her shoulder and offered a hand to the fallen magician.

"Sorry for being so impertinent but I'm quite in a hurry." Reimu said, her hand still free for another.  With a weak groan, Marisa stared up at the shrine maiden, forcing a cocky smile. She took Reimu's hand in a grip that surprised both of them. They stayed like that and finally, Marisa broke the contact, her cheeks in full color.

"W-Whatever." She had to sound self-assured or Reimu will notice this side of hers. In fact, her intuition was a scary thing and it had saved her butt a lot of times. Not only that, it was something the shrine maiden had that even youkai respected her even more aside from her enormous power. When something went amiss, Reimu always had such serious look in her and she probably hasn't realized that yet. It was a Hakurei thing, probably. Children with that blood had a lot of strange power in them that they could only look human in appearance.

Reimu seems bemused at her friend's reaction. She cleared her throat, catching Marisa's attention once again. "I'll be visiting Remilia for an afternoon tea. She seldom does this 'private' invitation and I bet that woman is up to no good again." She sounded annoyed but her face depicted otherwise. "If you're going to lounge at the shrine, I left some food there for you to eat."

Clearly, Marisa was at loss of words. She was expecting her? Enough to even save her some food?

Before she could reply, Reimu took off and vanished with a soundless flight, crimson swallowed by the calmness of sky blue.

"Haah…"

Marisa surrendered to gravity and met the ground once more. She lifted her arm, opened her palm and tried to catch what was left of Reimu's shadow. When she thought she had finally caught it, she closed her hand and brought it close to her chest.
She was still tired. Danmaku fights are tiring enough that she could eat two sets of meal after. Fighting with the shrine maiden was ten times the burn of her strength. She wasn't the guardian of this utopia for nothing and even if that woman doesn't train, her talent and her bloodline most especially were enough to give everyone a good wallop to tell people who the boss is. For Marisa, that one thing irritated her as she was someone who burned her ass in order to gain what she has right now. For Reimu, however, she was already powerful enough that consciously putting effort was out of the question and that had scarred Marisa in more ways than one.

Her legs twitched. The coldness of the ground soothed Marisa's tired body for some reason and she vouched herself to stay like this for a few more minutes. The sky was as vast as ever; an empty space of color and she admired it more that way.

"The sky, huh…"

Marisa could imagine Reimu flying all alone in that sky. Ever since she was a child, Marisa had also longed to taste the same feeling of the breeze and scenery of the vast blue world. When she first met her, Reimu had never looked so perfect. It came so naturally that her presence and the sky were two things that co-existed harmoniously with each other. They fought and Marisa felt her strength head on. She was still as proud as she was today and the idea of fighting the infamous Hakurei maiden made her stomach tingling in excitement. She could vaguely remember everything after her loss but one thing struck her so much and as much as she hated to admit it, Reimu's hand that time, which was extended to her; beckoning even more was her own calling and she had ever been so thankful for allowing her to see another world outside of the prison that took her very soul.

She held her so strongly as if she never would have let go.

Despite her unabashed look, Marisa considered Reimu as a great…friend. Perhaps the very first friend Marisa had claimed. She lived alone in a shrine on top of a mountain. The shrine is surrounded by several trees with but one which stood among all to call the place perfection for a visit. Cherry blossoms, magnificent trees with pinkish petals which bloom once in a year were the frequent excuse of visitors to go to the Hakurei Shrine. Youkai and Humans. The place stands as a symbol of equality for the two races. Obligated to these species, the Hakurei Maiden treats them all impartially and with kindness in between, befriending everyone but just as distant to avoid any personal issues.

She was always like that - so close, yet farther apart than anyone else.

She was her friend. Her closest friend but she could never understand her just as much as she wanted to understand herself.

"Why can't I do such a simple thing when I am the person who is always next to you?" She asked in a whisper, not really asking for an audience. Why indeed, she wondered. She had been with Reimu ever since the incident in Makai. As much as she disliked admitting it, she had tailed so close to her, remembering that hand she willingly offered and that warmth, god, Marisa could swear that she could still feel the warmth of her palm, unnerving and so gentle.

Of course, it must just be her being stubborn and all. Closest to her? Yeah right. The Hakurei maiden had already met and befriended an awful bunch of people that it gave Marisa the weirdest headache. They were all youkai which they had defeated during past incidents. Reimu isn't one of those people who would sit quietly when Gensokyo was in peril. Setting her responsibility to such cases, she was the type of girl who took displeasure in anything that went abnormal in her eyes. And obviously, the youkai who would start such trouble thought of it nothing more than a way to kill time. How very interesting it is to observe such logic.  The people in question, once they were defeated weren't against the idea of interacting with such an intriguing woman. They enjoyed her company, even visiting her shrine in a regular basis and driving humans away in the process, much to her dismay. It wouldn't be a surprise if Reimu had already found someone she could confide in behind her back.

"I smell a maiden in love." Marisa's eyes widened at the voice so close to her ear. She nearly gaped when she felt a breeze directly on its lobe soon after. Stunned, she got up just as quick as her body flushed from the contact.

"Y-you!" It was the only thing she could say; her finger pointing at the perpetrator.  A woman with blonde hair with sides tied with cute, little red ribbons looked at her with a sly smile, enjoying every inch of Marisa's reactions.  

"How curt of you, Marisa. You know it's not nice to point at others."

"Geesuz, Yukari! You do know that it ain't nice to sneak up on other people." Instinctively, she covered her ears fearing that the woman in front of her would gap behind so silently and give it another…intimate attention. Yukari laughed softly at her defensive posture.

"I've been watching ever since you both started your little play." Yukari gallantly hopped off her gap and landed on the ground with a quiet thud.  She positioned her hands, her body in full stop and just as soon, a nice looking parasol dropped off from the sky and landed on her beautiful and waiting hands, her fingers slowly wrapping to its base. Under the shadow of her canopy, she became suddenly mysterious; unearthly, simply a youkai; an enigma but at the same time very peculiar.

"It is a beautiful day, isn't it? Danmaku play is so lovely to view during this peak." She said so in good grace, breaking the aforementioned descriptions. Marisa looked at her nonplussed and feeling all too comfortable again, dropped on the ground.

"Yeah? What are you doing here anyway?" Marisa asked with her gaze now fixed on the blue backdrop, a never ending plane of stillness, a little something she could admire for hours. Having a conversation with Yukari strike her as odd. She never bothered, and if she did, it was only when she was together with Reimu. Outside of that, she'd rather not involve herself with this one. She was far too uncanny to be understood, and if all youkai were like her, Marisa knew she would grow mad.

It must be the old age. They say you can measure a youkai's peculiar behavior by how long they have lived.

"Well, whatever. I lost anyway. I don't need to hear any preachin' from you." Marisa deliberately tried to say something else when she noticed the woman flinch a little. Yukari could be a mind reader. If she was, she'd be dead this instant. To her surprise, she didn't say anything or do something for that matter. Yukari walked closer to her. She stood behind just as close that Marisa could touch her if she wanted to.
'This vulnerability will cost you' she thought but ignored the idea and continued to float her thoughts together with the welkin. Frankly, they don't mix well for Yukari; getting caught off guard that is.

"How is it?" Yukari asked her, not looking directly at all.

"How is 'what'?" Marisa answered, bothered by the vagueness of her question. Right. She knew just as much how unpredictable this woman is so why was she still surprised by that? Yukari wanted to ask her something but she would normally take the questions and turn them into puzzles, never confronting direct on. This was one of the reasons why she would never initiate a talk with this youkai if she wasn't with Reimu. Apparently, only the latter could understand her, not entirely but just the tip of the iceberg if she could define it but it was enough. It was surprisingly amazing to see them converse. The two of them had nothing similar in terms of personality. They were called the Border Team once, rooting from their abilities as border manipulators: Yukari as the powerful gap youkai and Reimu with full control of border and barrier manipulation. They make a formidable opponent and Marisa agreed that they would prove a worthy match in a team battle.

Marisa looked at the standing figure of Yukari. She had to admit that she really was beautiful up close especially when she isn't thinking of doing anything devious. Yukari was a marvelous example of a youkai who had lived a thousand of years that the definition of beauty could no longer compare.

Yukari felt her stare but did not bother to look back. Like Marisa, she looked at the sky in deep thoughts. It had never dawned her once but only recently when she observed how the girl think of the atmosphere so highly that she ended up looking at it as a reminder of the shrine maiden.

Reimu was a bizarre subject, and probably the most interesting in all of the maidens who became guardians of the Great Border. In her age, Yukari had observed how these women bloomed and withered like the seasons changing, each of them developing their own unique personality. Not once had she felt so particularly close with one. They were just trivial things in her eyes; merely objects that need to exist in order to maintain the Border. When it was her turn, Reimu was the opposite of everything and that made her interesting in Yukari's eyes. She grew up with a light that Yukari never saw in the other shrine maidens.  A warm light. The girl was surrounded, blessed rather by something immaculate and Yukari was sure she saw something special in the child.

"Good day, little Reimu. I see that you're working quite diligently as well today." She could remember that day when she stood close to her. Reimu, at the tender age of six was already being taught off on how to sweep the shrine's grounds; an act clearly every maiden had to do in order to honor the sleeping god of Hakurei. A clean shrine is indeed an act to show great respect and how the Hakurei bloodline had long been dedicated to this. It is not only for the god but also to visitors to show how much they are welcomed to the place.

"Ah! Good day to you too, Miss Yukari!" She stopped her sweeping when she noticed the woman's presence. With her tiny legs, she mustered the strength to run towards Yukaru's direction and grabbed the hem of her skirt. "The elder said that she'll give me a reward if I work harder today!" She beamed a very childlike smile; those innocent red orbs looked straight at her.

"Is that right? Good girl." Yukari patted her head. "What a good girl Reimu is."

"Hehe! Do you have business with the elder?"

"No," She assured the little girl. "I just came to see how you're doing. I suppose the elder is busy today with the all the youkai invading the town nearby. I wouldn't want to disturb the council when they're busy." In a gentle motion, Yukari carried the little Reimu with her arms outstretched. How very interesting this human is that she's currently holding. A child of such stature will eventually turn into something that every being in existence will grow to fear.

'…I too may cower when the time comes.' She thought, a frown forming on her lips. She brushed off the disturbing feeling and smiled once more in front of the child.

"Haha!"  She seemed to like the feeling of getting carried. Reimu frantically swung her arms up and down like a bird flapping its wings, feeling the air and ready to take flight. It made her feel like she was floating and it made her safe from the laws of the ground. She wondered if she could fly or if someone will teach her to when she grows up.

"Miss Yukari, do you want to play?"

"Eh?" The question caught the gap youkai by surprise. Not once had she ever heard such invitation, more or less had someone personally addressed to her to do something outside of her responsibilities. Had she lost her touch if a mere child like this could make her heart dwindle?

"The elder will be mad if she sees you playing with a youkai, Reimu."
Reimu placed her hands on Yukari's face, her tiny hands touching the suppleness of the flesh and marking it as the first time she ever made contact with the youkai personally. She looked at her earnestly. Red meets Purple, both which represents the two border ends of the prism. An indivisible connection. A thing the two of them will share for a lifetime.

"I don't see anything wrong with that" She started again with those red eyes focused quite unbefitting for a human in her age. Children usually lost interest just as easily as time ticks to the next hour. But Reimu looked at her unaffected by normality and spoke with Yukari within a clarity she could not forget.  

"because I like Mistress Yukari!"

She had such a clear voice for a child and it reached Yukari in ways she could not understand even in her knowledge as a sage. It dawned to her now how she could never grasp completely this child in her hand. A color she will forever be in awed. A color in the opposite end of her light; shinning so brightly just the same, giving life to those it came in contact with.

Crimson. Reimu's color and something that people will recognize her when she finally becomes the guardian of the Great Border.

"Mmn. You really are an interesting child, Reimu."

If the previous shrine maidens thought of her as nothing but a powerful youkai, worthy of respect and disdain; a mentor in the shadow and nothing else, Reimu Hakurei welcomed her with an impartial upbringing and although tempered with annoyance, thought of her as a friend. A friend she could count on, not a youkai she would cringe in disgust at the very sight. She had stayed with her, closer than anyone and watched the shrine maiden grow into a fine woman. She gave her the support she needed because she wanted an excuse to stay even closer. She became her favorite and not once had she thought of leaving her side.

"Yukari?" Marisa called out to her, now feeling all anxious at the silence surrounding the two of them.

"Fu fu." Yukari laughed which caught Marisa to look at her with a questioning look. "It's funny, really. I was just about to ask you of what you feel for the Hakurei maiden," Her voice mellowed and finally, she looked at Marisa, her purple eyes gleamed faintly. Marisa swore she saw something within those that she could empathize. Yukari was surprised herself that she could voice out something outside of her scheming notions. "And I caught myself pondering the same thing."

It took her a minute and when she was about to say something in return, Marisa clamped up. She just continued to lie on the ground, looking at the sky which had turned in the same color of the hearth flame.

"That's not really surprising. Coming from you, I mean." It was the only thing she could say as she already understood what Yukari meant. It summed up her thoughts out here in the open and now it was clearer, even more so, and it made her heart pound louder at the thought of it.

"I must say, we both have such a peculiar taste." Yukari admitted in defeated, a smile forming in her lips. Hearing that, Marisa couldn't help but laugh.

They were both in love with her.



----



"And? Can I ask what you two are doing here in the middle of the night?"

Reimu said in between her dinner. A portion of rice hangs idle in between her chopsticks with her fish left unattended. She looked at her two visitors, both sitting at the opposite of each other but seated just as close to the maiden in question. Yukari and Marisa knew what they wanted but the oblivious Reimu had no idea what these two are plotting for an altogether visit. It came rarely that there was no animosity between them, which caught Reimu by surprise because she believed Marisa and Yukari are the polar opposites of each other and would never get along. Ever.

And she was horribly mistaken. Not when she's looking at them right now, giggling with every passing look.

"You do know it's hard to eat when the two of you are hogging both of my arms like that." She sound displeased but never took the chance to brush them off.  What made it uncomfortable was that Reimu could feel their bodies press on her sides. She felt her temperature rise a little.

"Marisa and I wanted to have a nice little drinking session with you." Yukari replied, squeezing herself on the red white further. She grabbed the lone sake bottle on her side and brought it on top of the table. "Although it would have been better if it was just the…" She intentionally grazed her eyes on Reimu's and let it slip to her chest and finally to her hand. "…two of us taking all the luxury together." She moved her hand to touch the hem of her sleeves and felt the base of Reimu's hand.

"That's right, ze." Marisa, who had been looking at them for a long time answered in recognition. She used her free hand to swat the venturing hand of the scheming youkai. Yukari answered her attack with a glare but Marisa ignored this and opened the sake bottle. "Don't mind me crashin'. It was Yukari's idea, ya see." She gave the lid a tight squeeze and it came open just as soon.

"Seriously? I don't recall any occasion worthy of this." Reimu pondered at the intention, totally missing the point of them intruding. Her annoyance disappeared at the ring of the fine liquor and the special attention she was receiving. "But doing this in the middle of the night…"

"My, it's fine. We should enjoy ourselves for once. Shall I pour some to your cup?"

"Mmmgh, Reimu? What's wrong? It's so noisy." There was a crackle and clinging of chains bumping on each other as the voice approached the three in their idle. A horned little girl stood just beside the wooden door, rubbing the sleepiness in her eyes. She held a purple gourd on her other hand and it came swinging to her mouth.

"Huh? Yukari? What are you doing here…?" She released the gourd after a loud gulp.

"Ara, Suika. It's such a fine evening." Yukari answered, glad to see her friend. "We're inviting our dear Reimu for evening sake." She opened a small gap and out came two cups. They landed quietly on the table.

"Have a seat." She motioned Suika to sit with them.

"I don't know what you young ones are up to but if its sake, I'm always on fire!" Suika sat with a loud thud just beside Reimu. Her face beamed with excitement. Drinking is and will always be the favorite past time of an Oni. Even if she had lived in the surface for quite some time, Suika had never once forgotten the enjoyment of such delicate liquor. Every day. The merriment of humans during a feast was some of the things Suika had liked in the surface.

Yukari smiled at her reaction.  She continued to pour until all of the cups were filled.

"Well, I don't really back down when it's sake we're talking about." The shrine maiden sighed, confused whether it was a sigh of resignation or because Yukari was being so diligent about the ruckus that her body gave in. She watched as Yukari gallantly pour sake on a small cup with a petal of a cherry blossom on its ridges. It was a simple design but it completed the look of such a finely made cup. It was Reimu's favorite because it reminded her too much of the Hakurei shrine during spring, a time where the cherry blossoms were at their finest glory. She had been using it ever since with that memory in her mind.  

"It wouldn't be fun if I'm the only one drinking, you know?" Reimu asked with concern.
  
"While we're at it, I'll get the snacks in the kitchen." Suika responded proudly. She walked with a giddy aura towards the kitchen. Reimu could hear the rattle of cans and jars being opened and she could not help but make another face of defeat. She had saved those munchies as rations and now they'll be gone because of such an abrupt party. She wondered how both she and Suika will survive the coming days if she wasn't getting donations from the villagers.

"I shall accompany her." Yukari stood and followed the little Oni to the kitchen.

"Haaa…well, whatever."

Holding the cup sturdily, she moved towards the shrine's outside hallway, a place people know her for sitting idly for countless of hours. Reimu had grown fond of this place. It had the best view of the area and it made her much more aware of everything. The torii located on the shrine's entrance undergo two transformations. In the morning, it looked serene in radiance with the sky as its background while breathtakingly marvelous with the shine of the moonlight during twilight. It was the perfect spot and only a few had realized this.

With the corner of her eye, she looked at the two of them again but this time, she observed their features in full consideration. The coarse feeling of the liquor burned on her throat. She gulped it full down and her stomach flared. Had she enjoyed drinking sake this much? Or was the ambience quite different than before? She mused about it and just enjoyed the moment.

Marisa watched the shrine maiden in her somber, mesmerized by how gallant her actions still conveyed. She filled her own cup and joined Reimu outside of the shrine, sitting just beside her but left a little distance to save her chest from pounding too loudly, fearing that the maiden might hear.

"Doing something like this isn't bad once in awhile, I guess." Reimu said. Her cup rested on her parted lips. She savored the smell of the liquor before letting it slip to her mouth. Marisa did the same, but she was boorish in contrast. She filled her cup again and tried to copy the elegance of her friend's action, but failed each time she attempted to do. Reimu looked at her quietly but failed to contain her laughter.

"W-What?" She responded, perplexed at the shrine maiden's sudden unbecoming.

"I don't know why you're forcing yourself when I'm pretty sure you lack tolerance." Again, she smiled, this time quite mischievously as she held the bottle of sake and filling her cup halfway. "Don't come crying to me later, alright?" Reimu's eyes narrowed and in the basking light of the full moon, Marisa faintly saw that her eyes gleamed red before the former drank the liquor with surprising ease: a beautiful glow that reminded her of a gemstone.

It must have been her pride, but her words stung like a challenge.

" Just because you've been doing this longer than I do doesn't mean I can't beat y-" Her pitched voice halted and she felt Reimu's head fell gently on her shoulder, a quiet thud that she never expected.

"Reimu?" She asked but the person in question did not answer. She could feel her breathing, her chest heaving, and her body now defenseless. Marisa body stiffened in response and she was left sitting there, carrying her friend's weight.  She looked at the cup in between her hands; her reflection apparent on the clear liquid as she peeked inside and the crimson shade painted on her cheeks. The Hakurei shrine was quiet and she could only hear her companion's breathing, softly, calmly as if they were whispers of her own heart.

"…."

Her unguarded figure annoyed Marisa. She had always looked up on her. But right now, Marisa could not help but feel the need to protect her friend more fervently than before. Even though she knew that Reimu was someone who needed no protection. When she looked at her sleeping like this, like an innocent child in her afternoon nap, she could not stop the feelings swirling in her chest.

How much had she sacrificed to stay by her side? How much had she endured being compared? How long had she trained and hurt herself in the process to get the same recognition?
And now, she felt no greater joy than to fly in the same sky with her, regardless of the treatment.

"I'm really hopeless when it comes to you." She drank her last cup. With a satisfied sigh, she laid it beside her and wrapped her arm on the shrine maiden's shoulder, giving her warmth enough to stave off the night's chill.

"You seem to be getting rather cozy." Marisa's eyes widened at the voice so close to her ear and she tried her utmost best not to yelp to save Reimu from waking. Her reaction made her extra companion to snicker.

"Geesuz! How many times must you keep on doing that?!" Marisa glared at the sudden imposition of Yukari who barely gapped herself away to save herself from an earful. Her reaction was just the same as before and she could not stop the blood from rushing to her face.

"I just had a nice chat with Suika so I came quite late." Yukari made her entrance just beside the sleeping Reimu, and sat quietly so as not to disturb her. "But I see the two of you getting rather close and it made my maiden heart…flamed with jealousy." Yukari mimicked a woman stung with hurtful words from a husband. She sat on the wooden floor, suspended with her hand on her chest and made short sniffles. A creative mind could even picture out a spotlight on the youkai as she try to internalize her pain. Marisa had to try not to be hysteric but she could feel her stomach flipping at the sight.

"Pffft—don't do that, you stupid woman!" Her joy was more obvious than her disgust. Yukari gathered her composition back and looked at her, smiling. Again, Marisa felt another stroke and she hated how this woman in the opposite side could set her cheeks blazing and the latter could only enjoy her reaction to her heart's content.

"The crimson that we cannot reach..." Yukari started and looked longingly at Reimu. She placed a gentle hand on her head, soothing her ebony hair with each stroke. She heard the shrine maiden mumble something and while Marisa failed to hear them, Yukari reacted with a heartfelt laugh, obvious of how much her feelings cost for the girl dressed in red and white. "When she's like this, it's possible for us to grasp even a faint flicker of that color." Marisa looked at Yukari silently before her eyes fell on the sleeping shrine maiden.

A color that she cannot have. When Reimu flew to the sky, Marisa felt how liberated she was. She was a different person, far different from the Reimu she knew when they chat quietly on the ground.  No matter how fast she went, Reimu was always a step in advance. She could only look at her back and reach her hand, hoping that the red white would look behind and grab her once again.

"Yeah. I can't believe she's defenseless like a child when she's sleeping." She answered the youkai, her voice full of tenderness. She reached for Reimu's cheek and caressed it softly. Reimu reacted from the contact. She moved a little and her head fell on Marisa's neck, her breathing touched the fiber of her skin and her bosom squeezed on her arm and the witch swore that the sound of her heart that moment was louder than a crying cicada in summer days.

"My, how naughty." Yukari teased.

"Sh-Shut up!" Her face was so red that she could not look at the youkai anymore. She wrapped her arm tighter, bringing the maiden closer to her. She couldn't care less right now if Reimu could hear her chest drumming.

"Well, well. I hadn't had the chance to drink with the two of you especially when I was the one who thought of such proposition." With that, a gap opened just beside her a dark brown bottle landed on her hand. It was a different brand, one that she had never seen before. She marveled at how profound Yukari's knowledge is with this kind of things, especially with products that came from the outside world. But Marisa did not mind. It gave her the ticket to try foreign things. Being acquainted with the youkai isn't such a bad thing after all.

"I had planned to end the night with Reimu sleeping but what the heck? The night's still young as far as I can see!" She accepted the cup and held it with a firm grip to save the content from spilling. She heard the youkai heaved a content sigh. She closed her eyes; her long eye lashes came apparent as she savored the aroma going inside her nostrils. She reached her cup to Marisa and waited for the black white to respond.

"Here's to being in love with an oblivious miko."

Marisa smiled. She bumped her cup with the youkai's and with the cling so profound, hurriedly gulped the fine sake before the night's cold takes its essence completely.

"You really say the most interesting things."



----



The sound of Suika grumbling in her sleep woke Reimu in her slumber. She opened her eyes and found her back lying comfortably on the paper door. She couldn't remember how she got in this position more than how she managed to fall asleep when the she was finally drinking moderately. She heard grunting on her sides when she moved and felt her both of her arms wrapped tightly like they didn't want to let her go.  

"Mmghh, Reimuu….not gonna…lose this time…"

"Mn, let's…enjoy ourselves, Reimu…"

"How silly." She smiled and looked at the two people who were sleeping on her. Yukari's head rested comfortably on her shoulder. She wasn't heavy from her looks and from up close, Reimu could see how beautiful her long eyelashes were. Her lips pursed and she could hear her softly mumbling about her household. She wondered if her shikigami would visit tomorrow and question the whereabouts of her master. Reimu will have to tend to that.

Marisa rested her head on Reimu's lap. Her arms hugged on Reimu's sleeve as if it was a pillow that made things safe. She had a very contented look on her face and unlike Yukari's quiet breathing; Marisa heaved some cute little snorts here and there. She moved her body a little when she started feeling uncomfortable with her position but aside from that, she was in deep sleep. Reimu could look at these two for as long as she could take. Their very presence made her completely at ease.

"Honestly, we're going to catch a cold if we sleep here." She said in the open worried but she couldn't keep herself from smiling as she pondered at how nice it felt. If she wasn't the Hakurei maiden burdened by the law, maybe she could enjoy this simple luxury more and she could be honest. But alas, she wasn't given the option to choose her life and she had to live like this until the end.

Her life as the shrine maiden had stripped a lot of things from her. The shrine was her comfort. Outside of which was a perilous land infested by youkai, her home gave her a reason to continue. She had been considered an outcast but she did not mind. In fact, she got various companions that taught her about how to handle things even when they were all so odd and irritating. Reimu had taken comfort in their presence as much as she hated to admit.

It was hard for her to show how much she appreciates them but deep inside, she was more than thankful. If she could not say it in words, at least she could show it through her actions.

"Really. You guys give me nothing but trouble."

She bent down to give the two a kiss on the cheek. She heard them both grunt. Laughing for the last time, the shrine maiden closed her eyes, waiting to catch that sweet dream with her companions that will soon pass by.