Chapter Text
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“Aaah~” Rinnosuke happily sighed, resting his head in his hands at the sound of coins tumbling into his new little toy. Each time it happened it clearly cut through the tinny bleeps and blurbs that regularly hummed from the back while it ran. “I don’t have to sell it, and it can generate income. It’s perfect.”
In the back where it sat, standing in front of it, Reimu furrowed her brow as she squinted at its screen. “Uhhhhhhh…” She prodded the screen with her finger. “Nothing’s happening.”
Standing beside her with her hands tucked against her chest, Marisa bemusedly watched with a growing smile. “I told you what to do, remember?”
Reimu glanced at her, eyes swiveling between her and the cabinet. “No?”
“Start button?” Marisa patiently hummed.
Reimu prodded the screen again with a frustrated frown.
“Down.”
Reimu prodded the bottom of the screen.
Marisa giggled and shook her head with a smile. “Khnk-khnk-khnk! Not there, look down. Straight down.”
Reimu looked straight down, then bent over and started pushing the glowing orange coin release buttons.
“Ahahaaa, ha-ha! Hnnnk!” Marisa joyfully laughed, wheezing in at the end.
Reimu pounded the air and turned to her. “You do it, then!”
Marisa walked back to her side, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pat her on the shoulder. “Nonono, you’ve almost got it!”
Reimu clenched her fist and stomped. “Point!”
Marisa pat the shelf with round buttons labeled 1 Player, 2 Player, FIRE, and SINIBOMB. “Here.”
Reimu blinked, and her tension uncoiled. “…oh.” Marisa let go and Reimu turned to the game, nudging the joystick. “That was straight down.” Reimu prodded each of the buttons in succession, noting that the black button in the top left corner was only painted on, unlike the others. “Sorry. Thought it ate my money.”
“It’s okay! Press ‘1 Player,’ we can do the other one later.”
Reimu scanned the button-covered shelf and pointed at a red button on the right-hand side.
“Left.”
Reimu scanned her finger over to the left-hand side.
“Up.”
Reimu pointed at the blue button at the top of the right-hand side. “Here it is!”
“Yeah! You’re gettin’ it!” Marisa planted her fists on her hips and stood tall, nodding encouragingly. As Reimu reached for it, Marisa suddenly swung in front of her and stammered. “Uh—b-by-the-way-it’s-loud!”
Reimu’s finger hit the button and the game blared a deafening cacophony of semi-musical buzzing as it started up, and she reflexively turned away and covered her ears. “Aah, damn! You could’ve warned me sooner!”
Marisa slouched and scratched the back of her head. “My bad, I… seriously just forgot about that.”
Reimu turned the joystick around in a circle and pressed all the buttons to see what they did, and in no time at all, she was flying around and landing accurate shots. It seemed that in spite of this being so unfamiliar, Reimu was still a very quick learner. She scoffed at a thought that crossed her mind, glancing to Marisa beside her. “Firing lasers and bombs in space, no wonder you love this game so much.”
Teeth beaming through a happy grin, Marisa nodded and reclined with her arms behind her head. “It’s name’s a pun, too!”
Reimu rolled her eyes. “Oh god.”
Hand balled daintily beside her cheek, Marisa giggled. “Khnk-khnk-khnk-khnk-khnk!”
Reimu quickly scanned around the room. “Sini-star. Right.” She glanced behind her, then seeing no one else in the room, she leaned over to Marisa and they quickly kissed. As they pulled apart, Reimu lingered in front of Marisa with a warm and happy smile, and the longer she stayed, the more Marisa blushed.
Lips crinkled into a shapeless squiggle, Marisa turned away and pulled the sides of her hat down over her face. “Uh-y-you’re dying.”
Reimu smugly returned to the game. “No I’m not.”
She was. Her head was in the clouds and she wasn’t even touching the controls, so the enemies killed her spaceship, and Marisa could hear it. Not a word came between them as the two of them smiled in silence, staring aimlessly.
Suddenly, Reimu jerked herself straight. “Shoot! That’s right!”
Marisa turned.
Reimu frantically slammed all the buttons. “This game costs money!!”
Marisa cackled with her face in her hand. “HA HA HA HA HA!!”
Her spaceship blew up again. “Arrrgh, no!!”
A post-death intermission screen appeared:
YOU HAVE 2 SINIBOMBS
SINISTAR HAS 19 PIECES
MINE CRYSTALS TO MAKE SINIBOMBS
A dastardly grin spread across Marisa’s face, widening until she bared her prominent canine.
Waving her hands, Reimu shook her head. “O-okay, I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels here, what am I supposed to do again??”
Marisa’s face returned to normal, her tone upbeat as always. “Shoot the little asteroids, then collect the yellow thingies that fly off ‘em to make the bombs you use to kill Sinistar.”
Reimu straightened back up. “Oh, right, there’s a thing called Sinistar in this game and you’re supposed to exterminate him.”
Marisa turned and stepped into the shadows with her hands folded behind her back, an ominous smirk upon her lips. Little could be seen of her face in the darkness except her bright yellow eyes.
Reimu furrowed her brown in confusion. “Where is he? His face is all over this thing, but I haven’t seen him all game.”
As if on cue, a deep voice boomed and shook the room as it thundered, “BEWARE, I LIVE!”
Reimu jolted and froze where she stood. “What the hell was that?”
Marisa covered her mouth and snickered into her palm.
Reimu turned and looked but couldn’t find her. “Marisa??”
Eyes flaring red, the titular demon flung across her screen faster than her ship could fly and howled an inhuman, blood-curdling roar, “RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUWWWRGH!!”
From the front of the store, Rinnosuke heard a loud crash and the piercing scattering of tiny bits of metal and glass, as if dozens, if not hundreds of items had tumbled to the ground. Marisa’s cackling and Reimu’s yelling filled the air in its wake.
“HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!”
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
“HA-HAAA, HA-HAAA, HA-HAAA, HA-HAAAAAH!”
“I’LL KILL YOU I’LL KILL YOU I’LL KILL YOU I’LL KILL YOU I’LL KILL YOU I! WILL! KILL! YOU!”
Rinnosuke straightened his glasses and called out. “Girls!? What’s going on back there!?”
Silence, which soon broke between gasps and worried exclamations.
“*gaaaaasp!*”
“Oh shit! …watch your step.”
“You tell him!”
Footsteps crunched on metallic bits as Marisa slowly emerged, stepping out sideways and sheepishly grinning. “Uhh, Kourin? We got a problem.”
Rinnosuke glared. “What did you two do this time?”
Marisa windmilled her hands and looked around the room. “You know that game you had?”
Rinnosuke stood up and sternly enunciated. “’Had’!?’”
Marisa clasped her hands, twiddling her thumbs and bouncing the toe of her boot against the floor behind her. “Reimu, uh… ‘exterminated’ it.”
Rinnosuke’s shout could be heard from the moon. “WHAT!?”