Chapter Text
It had been a couple of weeks since Sakuya last visited.
Everything had gone back to normal. Reimu was alone at the shrine with the occasional youkai visiting.
It was a rainy afternoon, with the moon hidden behind the grey clouds. Pitter patter against the roof of the Shrine.
Reimu was lounging around, reading some old manga she had borrowed from the most recent gensokyo resident.
“Man outside world entertainment sure is something. It’s all about having powers and using them in situations to gain the upperhand. They have some weird powers however. Like this old dude, his name was spelled in all caps, DIO. He can apparently stop time with his... Huh…? Wait a minute that sounds familiar...”
A certain maid appeared in her mind.
“Bah! I wanted to read this to stop thinking about her!” Reimu quickly dismissed the thought.
Laying down beneath her table, she thought about what she did. Reimu had given Sakuya a hug from behind.
“It just felt like the right thing to do. Do I...”
Then she heard heels clacking at the wooden steps of the shrine, next to the donation box. With the steps, it came with a voice.
“Ah! I’m soaking wet!”
Reimu recognized that voice and those heels anywhere, it was all she could think about since her last visit. She decided to let Sakuya sit outside on the shrine steps for a little bit to listen in on the one-sided conversation, and to also punish her for leaving suddenly.
“I can’t pause time and just walk through the rain! It’s like trying to squeeze past a bunch of tiny walls, but everywhere!” she complained.
Reimu noted to herself, she can’t stop time when surrounded by bullets or rain. Challenge her when it’s raining.
“But man,” Sakuya continued “Reimu’s place huh. I should really clear things up with her.”
Reimu’s ears perked up. “Clear things up? What could she mean?” Reimu thought. She decided to open up the front door of the shrine.
“Hah? What do we have here? I thought I heard something but it turns out it was just the maid.”
“Did you expect something more?” A quick retort. It’s like she had that prepared. “Here I’ll give you something as an apology.” Sakuya took out a 10,000 yen bill and tossed it into the donation box.
Reimu’s demeanor instantly changed.
“C’mon in, c’mon in! You must be cold and tired! Here, some green tea.”
Reimu welcomed Sakuya with the most hospitality she could offer.
“A change of clothes would be nice.” Sakuya said, knowing she could take full advantage of this mood change.
“Right away! Sit under the kotatsu while you wait alright.” Reimu merrily skipped out of the living room.
…
Sakuya changed into the breezy shrine maiden outfit that Reimu always wears. When things calmed down, Reimu went back to her regular personality.
“So. What brings you here?” Reimu asked while snacking on rice crackers.
“Just here to weather the rain. I was wandering around the village looking for any new spices that washed up from outside but I found nothing new. So here I am.”
...
Silence. Nothing but the raindrops could be heard.
Normally silence between the two was nothing new but this time they were both thinking about what happened last time. The hug that Reimu gave.
The once comfortable silence that two stoics had known was gone.
It felt like an eternity. Waiting for the other to speak up, to acknowledge the other.
...
“Hey-” “Do you-”
“No you-” “Go ahead-”
“What the-” “Really?”
They both started talking at the same time.
“Pfft” “This is silly.”
They chuckled to themselves at how ridiculous this situation was. The atmosphere lightened up.
“So?” Sakuya said, still chuckling, “What did you want to say?”
“Ah it was nothing. I feel like I was worried over nothing.” Reimu started to rest her head on the tabletop.
“Well if it was nothing, it shouldn’t be important then. Here. I’ll whip up something to get our minds off of it.” she said with a smile.
Sakuya then disappeared and noises could be heard in the kitchen.
Reimu let out a sigh.
“Ah. There you go again” Reimu casted her eyes downward. “leaving me without a chance to say anything.” Reimu said under her breath.
---
Sakuya was alone in the kitchen. A smile on her face.
“It shouldn’t be important...is that it?”
She let out a sigh.
“What was that… I’m sure it’s on both our minds. The thing that Reimu did when I was last here.”
Sakuya recalled the warmth that she felt on her back that day. The small arms that went around her waist.
She tried imitating it. It didn’t feel the same. Why did it feel different?
Sakuya shook her head. “I shouldn’t dwell on it for too long, I have something to make after all.”
She headed to the food storage but she found the same old same old. Dusty old wood made up the ceiling and floors. It was somehow comforting.
“At least the food was properly covered, otherwise half the stuff she ate would be dust… Rice and leftover miso huh. You never change, Reimu. Oho? What’s this”
Spotted in the corner was a rack of dried meats.
“Reimu actually buying food? Besides rice? That’s a new one. I guess I’ll add this to the usual.”
Sakuya grabbed a basket and exited the storeroom. But as she was walking through the doorway-
“Oh hey Sakuya, I grabbed some- Uwah!”
The two had bumped into each other. But before either could hit the ground, Sakuya had stopped time.
It was purely on instinct, but Sakuya never found the surroundings to be any less jarring. All ambient noise stopped and the world lost its color.
Dust particles in the air from their contact could be still seen. A bundle of rice flying through the air. Reimu’s surprised face. The basket of dried goods spilling all over the place. Reimu’s clothes fold from the impact. Reimu’s legs buckling. Reimu’s arms tensing, getting ready to fly her way back to a stable position. Rei-
Sakuya stopped herself. Why was she so fixated on her? She’s never taken this much notice of her before. Her eyes… they were a beautiful brown. Completely normal unlike her own murky blue eyes.
And then, she felt it. That feeling again. That warmth in her body fired up when she looked at Reimu’s face.
Sakuya’s body moved on her own. She did what felt right. She wrapped her arms around Reimu and held her. This time, the world was literally stopped. It was just Sakuya in her own time and space.
Was it an instant or was it an eternity that she held her? All Sakuya knew was the warmth that she felt… there was nothing else like it. Only Reimu could give it to her at this moment.
...
“What am I doing...” Sakuya pulled away, readjusted Reimu and resumed time.
Tick Tock. The rain continued to pitter patter against the roof with its tiny drumming. Reimu’s face looked surprised as she was preparing for a fall that was already prevented.
“Uwah---... Oh you took care of that. Y’know, It doesn’t get any less surprising finding myself in a different spot than a second ago.”
“Really? I figured you’d be used to it now considering how many times I’ve saved your butt.”
“It was maybe like four times? One was when we were fighting Youmu. I had that dodge in the bag by the way.”
“Did not.”
“Did too. The second was against Yuyuko… I think?”
“Definitely. If I had a hard time then you must’ve as well.”
“Is that how that works? I think I’m the expert exterminator around here. It’s my job title. Well whatever. I think the third was against Kaguya?”
“Lunarians are nothing to sneeze at. Her ability to manipulate eternity also affected my time stop as well.”
“You think maybe she could stop time?”
“Probably? I’m not entirely sure on the specifics but since in my stopped time, things happen instantaneously but I can also reside within my stopped time for eternity.”
“You tested that?”
“I think I lasted about three months in stopped time? It can probably go on for longer but I would die of boredom.”
“What gives life its color is the people. Am I right?”
“That… may be true. You see, I don’t really have a good relationship with most people. I may be human but that is not what others see me as. So there’s not many people that I think that can give my life that ‘color’.”
“Then… how about me?”
“What?”
“The fourth time you moved me around while stopping time. After I...” Reimu looked at the floor. She hesitated. Not even against a barrage of bullets would she hesitate. A completely new side of Reimu.
“After you?”
“Y’know. When I hugged you from behind.”
“Hug?”
“Yeah! A hug! It’s when I wrap my arms around you! Like this!”
Reimu practically dove into Sakuya. Her head resting on Sakuya’s chest. Reimu turned her head and pouted.
“You can be real dense, you know.”
“…”
“Sakuya?”
There it was. That warmth again. Reimu was soft despite her outward appearance. Years of incident solving have trained her body but the nutrition wasn’t there to fully support that kind of lifestyle. Sakuya hugged back.
“So this is what that is!” Sakuya started to tear up. “Reimu!”
“Eh? What’s gotten into you?”
“I’m not sure what’s going on but… I just… want more of this feeling. Reimu!”
“Y-yes?”
“Will you be the person to give my life this color? And this warmth?”
“I’ll gladly be.”
They both closed their eyes and felt comfort in the embrace of the other.