Chapter Text
Snatches of animated, drunken conversation and the sharp scent of burning firewood drifted to Marisa on the air as she stepped out of her house. All things considered, the move had gone surprisingly well. Suika had gotten her house up to the shrine without breaking more than a couple windows, and between a horde of mini-Suikas and Sumireko’s ability to shove iron through stone like it was soggy paper, they’d managed to get the house more or less secured in record time. Of course, she wouldn’t be surprised if the whole thing suddenly collapsed in a couple months, but that was a problem for another day.
Marisa closed the door behind her, and looked around. Her house now sat a few minutes’ walk away from the shrine, in the midst of the surrounding woods. Before her, the best view in Gensokyo stretched out away from the slope of the mountain, the countryside bathing in the soft, silver light of a brilliant full moon.
Exiting her house to this view, instead of the Forest, had a surreal quality to it, almost making her feel like she’d wake from a dream any moment, but Marisa didn’t think she’d have too much trouble getting used to this part.
Marisa made her way towards the shrine. There was no trail to her house, of course, what with it having been dropped in the woods, but Marisa already had plans to build a simple one with Aunn and Reimu’s help. In the meantime, even on a moonless night it wouldn’t have been difficult to follow the firelight and conversation to the shrine, and the moon tonight was very bright indeed. The indistinct hubbub of conversation grew louder as Marisa neared, resolving into individual voices. Marisa heard Reimu singing something tipsy and nonsensical, and smiled. She picked up her pace slightly. She’d done enough work for one day. Now, she wanted to hold Reimu’s hand and drink by the fire.
Marisa emerged from the woods around, and stepped into the ring of firelight cast by the bonfire roaring on the stone square fronting the shrine. Around the fire, a number of people sat on blankets, talking animatedly and helping themselves to the plates of food and bottles of sake scattered everywhere. Reimu looked up from the fire, saw Marisa, and waved excitedly.
“So, the party got started without me!” Marisa said with mock indignation as she stepped up to the fire. “But aren’t I supposed to be the guest of honor?”
“I’m the guest of honor!” Suika said, striking a heroic pose, then nearly toppling over backwards into the fire with an inebriated lurch. “I moved the house, didn’t I?”
Reimu whacked Suika away from the fire with her gohei. “This is Marisa’s party, Suika. Stop hogging center stage and just shut up and drink.”
Suika fell about laughing, and scooped up a plate of meat.
“Congratulations on the move, Marisa!” Sanae said. She sat on the next blanket over, alongside Sakuya and Remilia. “I’m happy for you two!”
“Yes, congratulations,” Remilia said. A smug smile flitted across her face. “I hope Reimu won’t make you regret it-ow!”
Reimu brandished her gohei, threatening Remilia with another whack. “Behave yourself or go home.”
Marisa laughed. “That’s not going to happen, so don’t worry about it,” she said to Remilia, and took Reimu’s hand. Reimu’s face flushed happily. “Thanks, Sanae,” Marisa continued.
Someone tackled Marisa from behind. “You two are so cute!” Sumireko squealed, throwing her arms around Marisa and Reimu and pulling them together. “I just have to get a selfie with you!” She pulled out the weird rectangular artifact she called a “smartphone”, held it out in front of them, and tapped a finger on it. “Perfect!” she said, giggling to herself as she pulled the smartphone back and looked at it. Sumireko had explained “selfies” to Marisa before, but Marisa still didn’t really get it. Wouldn’t it be better to have somebody else take the picture for you? The Outside World seemed like a weird place.
“Hey, when did you get back, Sumireko?” Marisa asked, as Reimu gently dislodged the girl and settled her at a more reasonable distance. “I thought you disappeared hours ago.”
“My stupid teacher woke me up to make me do classwork,” Sumireko said, making a face. “I’m asleep at home now, though, so I can enjoy the party with no interruptions!”
“Would you like some sake?” Sakuya asked, offering Sumireko a cup.
“Ewww, no thanks,” Sumireko said. “Plus, it’s illegal for me to drink, don’t you know? I’m still in high school!”
“She’s right, she can’t!” Sanae said. “Oh, I guess laws from outside don’t really apply here, but she’s still a Japanese citizen, and we are still technically in Japan, after all.” Sanae leaned over towards Sumireko. “Hey, I want to see that selfie! Can you show me?”
The two of them huddled together over Sumireko’s gadget, making bizarre facial expressions and hand gestures, and seemingly taking some more of those “selfies” together, judging by how Sumireko and Sanae held the thing.
Marisa took the opportunity to make the rounds of the rest of the party, with Reimu in tow. Yuyuko and Youmu were there, of course, chatting with Yukari, unfortunately. Marisa left that group with a quick wave and smile. She didn’t want to get into it with Yukari right now, and the sharp, knowing smile Yukari shot her as they moved on only reinforced that decision. Yukari was just the worst.
Past them, Kasen sat together with Mamizou and Aya, deep in serious-looking conversation. The trio looked up as Marisa and Reimu approached.
“Howdy!” Marisa said. “Thanks for coming to celebrate.”
“Of course,” Kasen said with a smile. Her gaze shifted to Reimu, and her expression became serious. “Now, Reimu, I hope you won’t let having Marisa around distract you. It’s important that you remain focused on your duties to the shrine, so don’t let me catch you spending all day at Marisa’s house.”
Reimu deflated a bit. “Yes, Kasen,” she mumbled. Marisa gave her hand a quick squeeze, and she perked back up.
“Hey, don’t worry, Kasen,” Marisa said. “There’s so much junk in my house that I don’t think Reimu and I could even fit inside at the same time. We’re still just gonna hang out at the shrine like always.”
“Well, Reimu, don’t let that distract you, either,” Kasen said. Next to her, Mamizou chuckled. “You sure are tough on that poor kid!” she said to Kasen, waving her pipe towards Reimu, then taking a puff on it. “It’s young love. Let ‘em enjoy it!”
“Reimu, any comment for the Bunbunmaru News?” Aya asked, her eyes glinting with keen interest.
“My comment for the Bunbunmaru News is that if there are any gossip columns printed about myself and my girlfriend, especially with photographs, there won’t be a Bunbunmaru News for much longer after that,” Reimu said, swishing her gohei for emphasis.
Aya produced pen and paper, and began taking notes. “Threats of violence against the press, unstable behavior…”
Better step in before this escalated, Marisa thought. “I got this one, Reimu,” she said. “Here’s a comment for the record, Aya. The Kirisame Magic Shop will reopen for business just as soon as I finish unpacking, and we hope all of our regular customers will enjoy our scenic new location.”
Which, of course, sounded better when you didn’t know that the Kirisame Magic Shop didn’t really have regular customers, or basically any customers at all. Maybe that would change now that she was out of the Forest. Marisa kind of doubted it, though, seeing as the shrine wasn’t exactly crawling with visitors.
“Thank you, Marisa,” Aya said with a gleaming smile. “See, Reimu, it’s not so difficult, is it?”
Reimu harrumphed. “Hey, Marisa, come with me for a second?” she said, pulling Marisa by the hand.
Marisa nodded. “Sure. Where are we going?”
“You’ll see in a minute,” Reimu said. She led them away from the fire, down the path, and through the shrine gate. They walked down the moonlit trail leading down the mountain in peaceful silence, hand in hand. After fifteen minutes or so, they arrived at a junction, where the trail to the shrine merged with several others winding around the mountainside.
“Here we are,” Reimu said, smiling, and looking at Marisa as though she expected her to say something.
Marisa looked around, a bit confused about what Reimu wanted from her. “It’s a nice spot, but what are we doing here?” she asked. They flew to the shrine, after all, so what was the point of hanging out on the trail?
“So much for my dramatic reveal,” Reimu sighed. She pointed to the wooden trail marker which denoted where the trail split and headed up the mountain to the shrine. The sign affixed to the moldering old wooden post looked brand-new, as though it had just come out of some carver’s woodshop.
It read, “Hakurei Shrine & Kirisame Magic Shop”, with an arrow pointing up the trail.
Heat flooded Marisa’s cheeks. “Reimu, you didn’t have to do that. Nobody’s gonna come to my shop anyways.”
“Well, I wanted to do it, so I did,” Reimu said. “And I’ll bet we can get you a bunch of visitors during festivals.” She pulled Marisa closer, taking both of Marisa’s hands in hers. “This is your home now, too,” she said. “I want you to feel like you belong.”
Fierce affection surged through Marisa. She kissed Reimu. “I already do,” she said, smiling.