Chapter Text
(2007)
Sanae Kochiya fell to the ground, grasping the earth in between her fingers and panting for air. "You're strong... hahh... hahh..." she squinted up at the black-haired girl in red and white clothing, stood over her with a majesty that didn't even seem human. "W-wow, y-you're really good at this..."
The black-haired girl shrugged. "I know. It seems like you aren't, though."
Ashamed and humiliated, Sanae stared back at the ground and bit her lip.
"But..." the red-white shrine maiden continued, holding a hand out to help her opponent back up with an awkward smile. "You definitely could be!"
Sanae's yellow eyes widened with surprise, as she gave the other girl her hand and was helped to her feet. Her determined defeater then turned away and stared up the mountain.
"Oi, you okay?" shouted out the blonde girl wearing a large pointy black hat, as she ran to assist in helping the green-head to her feet.
"I'm fine..." The defeated shrine maiden half-lied, as she meekly dusted off her white and blue robes. She turned back towards the red-white miko and frowned with confusion. "Hey... If you're this powerful, why doesn't your shrine have more followers?"
"I'd like to know that myself. Maybe things aren't as simple as you so rudely assumed the other day."
"I-I..." the white-blue miko awkwardly clenched her hand to her chest. "All I wanted was for people to revere this mountain in the name of Lady Yasaka, the goddess of mountains. I thought that the humans and youkai that lived here would like that..."
The blonde witch-looking girl playfully slapped Sanae on the back. "They don't!" after which she giggled at the black-haired girl, who couldn't help but giggle back briefly before sighing and hovering into the air again.
"Now! I'm off to deliver some divine punishment to the god who's been causing me all this trouble!" she turned back to the other two with a grin, and a fire of excitement in her dark red eyes.
"Huh!? So, then, your goal is..." Sanae stuttered as the red-white miko took off, flying towards the mountaintop shrine at great speed. "You can't be serious!?"
"She is." the blonde grinned enthusiastically. "Man, it's good to see her like this again! It's been a while since anything exciting happened."
"Exciting!?" Sanae responded exasperatedly. "All I did was tell her to close down her shrine, and now everyone's fighting!"
"What did you think would happen? Haven't you heard any stories about her?" the blonde smiled sheepishly, before hopping onto her broom and hovering off the ground herself. "She was already irritated by her shrine's lack of worshippers, an' then you lit a fire in her that I haven't seen in years! It was like she suddenly felt like she needed to prove something t' you."
Sanae blinked in disbelief at what she had just heard. What was happening. The immediacy of it all was a little overwhelming. Then, as she gazed back towards the mountaintop to see that the black-haired girl was now barely a spec, she began to quiver slightly with anxiety.
Could that girl... really defeat such a powerful god?
The blonde witch held her hand out as she lifted off the ground. "Wanna come watch?"
Reimu Hakurei sighed, sweeping the leaves that had mercilessly piled around Hakurei Shrine over the last week or so. She had been pretty busy, so it was inevitable. Unfortunately that brief excitement had ended all too quickly, and the mundane had returned.
Sure, things felt a little different now. Reimu had been Gensokyo's sole active shrine maiden - until just recently. Not to mention Hakurei Shrine had always been Gensokyo's sole shrine - until just recently. A new shrine maiden and a new shrine, with living, tangible gods and everything...
Reimu shot a glare at the small branch shrine the Moriya Shrine had set up on her shrine grounds. It was all amicable now, of course, set up entirely cooperatively. But on a quiet autumn day like this, it was the only thing that actually seemed any different. It wasn't like it sang or danced or anything. And it hadn't gotten her any extra donations or worshippers yet either.
It had only been like, a week. But still! Wasn't that other shrine maiden complaining about Hakurei Shrine's lack of faith or human worshippers? Because it didn't seem like that was changing at all!
Reimu sighed audibly. She shot a look over to her blonde friend, who was lying about on the shrine's walkway. Nothing.
Actually, the truth was Reimu was bored of being frustrated at the whole 'lack of faith' thing already. Right now she was more annoyed that her new acquaintances were all way too far away to regularly poke fun at, or shout at, or drink with...
She sighed again, louder this time, on purpose.
"What's up girl." Marisa Kirisame lazily responded. The blonde human magician was relaxing, looking through the chestnuts she had picked from around the mountain recently. The weather hadn't gotten too cold yet, but she was already wrapped up in a scarf and had let down her long hair to help keep her head warm.
"You think Sanae will visit again soon?" Reimu asked plainly.
Sanae Kochiya, the new shrine maiden. The shrine maiden from the Outside World. From near Lake Suwa, apparently? Wherever that was. It all had a really fascinating ring to it.
"Uh, Maybe? Why? Didn't she kinda annoy you? Pickin' fights and everythin'?" the magician looked at Reimu with a raised eyebrow. "What was it you said she said t' you? 'If Gensokyo's only shrine continues to shed faith, the land will weaken...'" Marisa recited theatrically, making her friend chuckle quietly. "'Close down Hakurei Shrine, and let it be taken over by the great gods at Moriya Shrine!'" she continued.
"I guess so. She really pissed me off, I almost thought she was a weird youkai at first." Reimu giggled, scratching her cheek awkwardly. "That's not a normal way for humans to introduce themselves to new neighbours, is it?"
"Maybe in the Outside World!" Marisa laughed "Buut then again Reimu, you're not really a normal human either."
Almost completely ignoring Marisa's comment, Reimu smiled to herself. "Another shrine maiden, huh... yeah, I want to see her again." she paused from the sweeping and clutched her broom to her chest. "She's kind of adorable."
"Ooh!" Marisa jolted upright with a delighted grin and a light scattering of pink on her cheeks. "It's been ages since I heard you describe a girl that way!"
Reimu laughed at Marisa's reaction, but didn't seem too flustered herself. "She's like a lost puppy. It makes me want to look after her."
Marisa flopped onto her back, almost disappointed. "Huh... Yeah, she definitely has that kinda vibe."
"Plus, she's really pretty... isn't she?"
And up again Marisa jolted. "It's definitely been ages since you described a girl that way! Should I tell everyone you're startin' a Sanae fanclub!?" she excitedly teased.
"Don't." Reimu rolled her eyes at Marisa, frowning slightly. "I'm only saying she's pretty 'cause she is. And interesting... don't you wonder what kinds of things shrine maidens have to do in the Outside World!?" her mood flipped around, becoming more excited again.
"Why're you asking me? I didn't even know 'shrine maiden' was a 'job' til we fought Sanae! I thought it was just... you." Marisa giggled again, beginning to calm down. "But man, you really got over your annoyance at her quickly huh?"
Reimu shrugged and smiled gently at her friend, and Marisa knowingly took that as a yes. Reimu was obviously too busy being endeared by the cute, naive newcomer to stay annoyed at her, and Marisa found Reimu's initial annoyance more entertaining than anything to begin with.
Was it because meeting another powerful human around her age was rare? Was it because Sanae was the only person in Gensokyo with the same job as herself? Or perhaps Sanae's strange, 'modern' personality simply intrigued her? In truth, Reimu had never been the type to dwell on the whys. As far as she was concerned she didn't need a good reason. She just wanted to see Sanae again, and it was exciting to think that next time there may be less frustration or annoyance behind it.
Unfortunately, despite just recently meeting the considerably more motivated and diligent Sanae, Reimu's own motivation to pick up the shrine's act and to gather more faith was already beginning to dry up. She stood still on the shrine grounds and stared absentmindedly off into space.
"Wanna have a drink?" Marisa asked, sensing Reimu's lack of motivation and deciding to enable it a little.
"Didn't we drink with everyone just the other day?" Reimu smirked, raising an eyebrow at Marisa.
"It's different when it's just the two of us!" Marisa grinned, pulling out a bottle of sake from god-knows-where.
So despite the shrine maiden's weak-willed objections, Reimu and Marisa decided to relax together for the rest of the day.
(2011)
"But math is the same everywhere in the world! Even in space! Being from Gensokyo isn't an excuse, how can you not know math this basic?"
"'Equations'? Or whatever? Aren't basic! What the hell do you even need this stuff for anyway? How is any of this going to help a shrine maiden to exterminate youkai!?"
"That's exactly the kind of attitude that keeps people like you so stuck in the past!"
"Ahh shut up! 'People like me'!? You only ever pull out this nerdy crap to look down on others anyway!"
"Oi..." Marisa rubbed the back of her head irritably. "Can you two give it a break? You're makin' the cherry blossoms wilt."
Determined to come across as the more mature one, Sanae de-escalated, smiling awkwardly. "M-Marisa is right, Reimu. I hoped you would find it interesting, but for now let's just enjoy the nice weather?"
"I-interesting!?" Reimu dragged an irritated palm across her face. "Acting all high 'n' mighty... isn't... interesting..." she sighed, making extra sure to show how exasperated she was.
Sanae pouted, holding her hands behind her back. She didn't argue back again, she just sighed. "Should I... go?"
"No... no. You don't have to go." Reimu sighed in response. And then an awkward silence hung in the air for a very, very long minute.
Marisa raised an amused eyebrow, almost as if she knew what was coming next.
Sanae stood up straight and weakly clapped her hands together. "Ah! Th-the cherry blossoms are still really piling up over there huh? I'm just going to go give them a little sweep? It'd bug me if I left it!" and without waiting for confirmation, Sanae briskly grabbed a nearby broom and wandered towards the edge of the courtyard.
"A-ah... yeah, thanks..." Reimu's voice trailed off. Her eyes lidded in irritation but she still smiled weakly. Why did this kind of thing keep happening? Marisa grinned and gave Reimu a hearty pat on the back. "Still on bad terms with the rival shrine eh?"
"Stop saying that..." Reimu rolled her eyes and nudged Marisa in the gut. "You know, some of the stuff she talks about actually is kinda interesting, I just wish she didn't act... y'know. Like that about it."
"You think it's interesting?" Marisa absentmindedly kicked a pebble around with her heel. "I mean, I love it when she talks about astrology an' stuff sure, but the other science and maths stuff just goes in one ear 'n' out the other for me."
Reimu's eyes drifted towards Sanae briefly, who was awkwardly staring at her feet as she swept blossoms from the path. "Seeing her talk about the stuff she's passionate about makes me feel like I'm finally getting to know her better. Like there's a really fascinating person in there somewhere that she hides from everyone."
"I kinda see whatcha mean..." Marisa stared at Sanae, too, holding her hands leisurely behind her head. "She's been comin' to enjoy the pleasant weather with us a lot more since those incidents with the buddhists and taoists, but she's so weird. What's even weirder is you two always having those culture clashes, or whatever..."
"Just us!?" Reimu pouted. "What about you, she looks down on you too doesn't she?"
"I guess?" Marisa shrugged. "But we deal with tons of cocky youkai like that every single week without battin' an eyelid, she's the only person you get worked up like this ‘bout."
Reimu mumbled something unintelligible to herself and frowned, looking over to Sanae again. She matched Sanae's lonely expression with her own.
Maybe awkwardness between the two shrines was inevitable for a few years, but the clashes between Reimu and Sanae in particular had become something a little more personal.
Working alongside each other for a couple of incidents had definitely helped Reimu and Marisa to become closer to the newcomer. Sanae had taken this new feeling of familiarity as an excuse to hang out with them more often too - alongside excuses like 'lovely weather we're having today!' or 'Do you need any help around the shrine?'
... Yeah, Reimu and Marisa had come to realise that Sanae was something of a workaholic. When Sanae wasn't doing chores at either her shrine or Reimu's, she was finding ways to gather faith and increase the influence of Moriya Shrine. To others, it probably seemed like it was all she cared about.
That was another way in which the two shrine maidens contrasted.
Sanae knew full well that she was a workaholic too. She saw being able to enter work-mode at any time as a convenient escape method - anything to get away from an awkward situation or keep those lonely thoughts at bay! Because as far as she was concerned she was annoying, and just plain bad at making friends.
Her attempts to talk about things that interested in her just ended up in her feeling naturally defensive, especially when someone made her feel like she was lesser for it. Besides her job, her interests were basically all she had after all. So before she knew it, she was in another pointless spat with someone she really genuinely wanted to get to know better.
It sucked. She had left behind a life where everyone thought she was weird, only to come to a world where people thought she was weird in a totally different way. 'Of course I didn't have any friends' she would often tell herself. 'What if Reimu and Marisa think the same? What if Reimu thinks I'm a pathetic excuse for a shrine maiden?'
All they did lately was argue, after all...
"Ugh..." Sanae finished up a small spot of sweeping as her mistakes continued to weigh on her mind. She quickly came up with an excuse, and set the broom gently to one side. "I'm gonna go after all, I remembered some errands I have to run for Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako..." she bowed gently at the other two and wiped some cherry blossoms from her robes while she was at it. "I-I..." she stuttered, struggling to vocalise her regret. "I apologise if I ever overstay my welcome... or anything."
"N-no! Not at all! Always a pleasure!" Reimu fumbled, trying to sound polite herself in an uncharacteristic kneejerk reaction, as a light pink scattered her face. She wasn't used to people being polite to her in general. "Take care and see you soon, I guess?"
Sanae's gloomy, apologetic expression softened slightly, and her eyes widened. Reimu really wanted her to keep visiting?
"You're one of this shrine's politest visitors, period, y'know." Marisa giggled and playfully rested an arm on Sanae's shoulder as she gestured towards Reimu. "Most of this girl's other friends are literal monsters who rudely show up uninvited, so you could do much worse."
Reimu's brow furrowed at Marisa's implication that most of Reimu's friends were youkai - but she nodded anyway, because Marisa was right.
Sanae struggled to keep an awkward, wobbly smile from spreading across her face. She waved awkwardly, genuinely happy and warmed that they still tried to make her feel welcome despite their differences, but was quick to set off home anyway.
She just... wasn't good with situations like that. She couldn't relax at all!
During her trek back home, Sanae couldn't help but ruminate on how her relationship with those two, particularly with Reimu and her rival's shrine, had changed since Moriya Shrine had moved to Gensokyo.
For a long while, the shrines scarcely interacted with one another save for official matters. Like when Kanako needed help with Reimu or Marisa for some kind of science experiment, or during maintenance of the branch shrine, or during festivals in the human village where the rivals had to establish ground rules for fair competition...
But in the last couple years, Sanae had eagerly helped Marisa and Reimu with a few incidents. Infact she almost started to feel like... maybe, Reimu and Marisa actually appreciated her?
Even though she still lacked 'Gensokyo common sense' sometimes. Even though she was initially so confused about whether she wasn't taking danmaku fights seriously enough, or way too seriously.
Sanae struggled to keep a smile off her face as she arrived back home at Moriya Shrine, on the top of Youkai Mountain. Her argument with Reimu had once again been so stupid... and she felt so, so frustrated that genuine friendship seemed to be just within reach but her own stupid idiot brain kept messing it up by panicking and saying the wrong things.
But she was happy? Her heart ached with a bittersweet wistfulness as she remembered always feeling so lost in the Outside World. She remembered that her first years in Gensokyo were awe-inspiring and exciting, but also terrifying. So comparing back then to now? Her awful case of cabin fever finally seemed to be getting better, her persistent loneliness finally subsiding.
She couldn't help but entertain the thought that... she might actually be happier now than she ever had been before.
"I'm home!" Sanae chimed as she slid open the doors of Moriya Shrine and slipped off her shoes. "Welcome back." called a smooth, deep voice from the main room. "You sound rather chipper this evening."
"Really? That's good, I guess." Sanae suddenly realised she sounded like she was in a good mood, even though her mind had been dwelling so much on the dumb things she had said earlier. She lightly wandered in to the main room and knelt at the table near Kanako Yasaka, a wind god and the primary goddess of Moriya Shrine.
Kanako was sat cross-legged, staring through the shrine's side doors at Youkai Mountain's own cherry blossoms. She relaxed with a large cup of deep, red wine that almost matched the colour of her dress. Her bushy, dark blue hair swayed gently as a spring breeze rolled through the room. Kanako turned her head to smile gently at Sanae as she sat. Kanako's face was slightly reddened... she was a little tipsy, perhaps.
"Is Lady Suwako around?" Sanae mused, sighing and taking in some of Kanako's own relaxed atmosphere to help calm herself further.
"Sure am." came Suwako Moriya's enthusiastic voice from the next room, as she hopped in with a tray full of sweet snacks and began to help herself - taking hearty swigs of white wine in between bites. As always, the smaller god's long, straight blonde hair was covered up with her large brown hat, comically adorned with frog eyes. Her frog-pattern indigo dress further betrayed her bias towards the little amphibians. "What's up, Sanae?"
"You'll regret it if you keep indulging on sweets and wine that quickly..." Kanako softly mumbled, wiping a bit of red bean paste off of Suwako's cheek with her thumb and then licking her thumb. Suwako just waved her hand dismissively and the two goddesses chuckled together. As always.
Sanae couldn't help but giggle along with them. "Ahh, not much! I just visited Reimu again today... said some weird Outside World things I don't think she understood. The usual."
"Aw!" Suwako hopped round the table to ruffle Sanae's hair and playfully console her. "I should get Reimu over here sometime, she sounds like just the kinda old-fashioned I need to team up with against Kanako sometime."
"Leave me alone..." Kanako giggled a little more heartily as she nudged her other in the stomach. Her drunkenness becoming more evident. "I may not be quite as old as you, but age is never an excuse not to modern up a little. Science is-"
"-Awesome, yeah I know."
"Magnificent!!" Kanako couldn't help but blurt out.
"We get it!" Suwako laughed more loudly, playfully and affectionately wrapping her arms around Kanako's neck from behind as the two continued to enjoy Gensokyo's early spring atmosphere together.
They had definitely been happier since the move to Gensokyo, too...
In the Outside World, their very existence was threatened by lack of belief from modern culture. That was the core reason they had all decided to move Moriya Shrine to Gensokyo together. For the first time in Sanae's lifetime, it felt like she was seeing them both truly relax.
These two gods were Sanae's family. The closest thing she had to parents anymore. Even before the move to Gensokyo, they were two of the only people she was ever comfortable enough to call 'loved ones'. It was always so much easier to relax and be herself around them, and they meant everything to her. Plus, she often couldn't help but think that the very idea of three gods essentially forming a nuclear family was just... really cool. Like something out of a heartwarming fantasy story.
Oh yeah, that's right; Sanae was actually half-god herself. She was born human, but was actually a distant descendent of Suwako and had been imbued with enough faith as Moriya's miracle-performing shrine maiden to have nurtured her own divinity. Sanae was still young and clumsy though, so a lot of people often forgot that fact...
Of course she was endlessly grateful for everything Moriya Shrine and its gods had done for her, but sometimes she wished she felt closer to people her own age. She was almost afraid to tell the two of them just how lonely she often felt, because she didn't want to sound selfish.
Kanako, still dealing with her own drunken giggling, wiped a loose tear from the corner of her eye before returning her attention to the youngest god. "Anyway! Sanae, you've been very attached to Reimu lately, hm?"
Sanae, taken aback by the suddenness of Kanako's question, went bright pink as her back straightened. "W-well I j-just! I think she's kind of amazing, I guess!? Like a superhero!"
"Mmm?" Kanako raised an eyebrow, leaning her chin on her fist as she recalled the day she first met Reimu herself - the day Reimu soundly defeated her. "She's certainly very strong, it does make you forget she's just a human shrine maiden."
"R-right!?" Sanae's eyes lit up in excitement as Kanako indulged her. "And lately, fighting alongside her, seeing how she moves with like a sixth sense... it's like she's a force of nature almost? Like, not just a person, but beautiful and majestic like a part Gensokyo itself!"
Suddenly remembering she was talking to two actual gods of nature, she deflated in embarrassment after her slight nerd-out and knelt down again. Those thoughts had been bubbling inside her for so long that they'd burst forth at the smallest opportunity to talk about how cool Reimu was... but god was it cheesy.
To her relief, though, both the other gods were drunk enough to find that level of cheese utterly appropriate. "I think I can see why you say that, I'll have to work hard to not be outdone by her." Kanako nodded and chuckled again.
"That's a pretty low bar." Suwako bantered, causing Kanako's jaw to drop in playful shock as the two continued to laugh together. Sanae awkwardly laughed herself, rubbing the back of her head.
"Sh-she just... makes me feel at ease, I guess..." Sanae continued. "I always over-analyse, and worry, and overwork, but she's so straightforward and carefree."
Sanae had always been so highly conscious of her own issues, so she spent a lot of time thinking... and overthinking... and occasionally completely misreading things. Seeing how relaxed Reimu was though - taking life in her stride, always just about managing - really helped Sanae to keep things in perspective. It was refreshing. Inspiring, even.
They contrasted each other so strongly, but it was weirdly reassuring. Gensokyo's only two shrine maidens were from two totally different worlds, lonely in their own ways... so Sanae couldn't help but see Reimu as a kindred spirit. Someone she could really identify with and see herself in.
"Didn't you look down on her for being carefree at one point?" Suwako teased, notably the most carefree goddess of the three herself.
Sanae pouted. "Th-that was then! I misjudged her! But now I can't look down on her for a second. Even though I'm a half-goddess and I work so hard and I know all this science stuff, it sometimes feels like I'll never catch up to her... but that also means she always keeps me on my toes! A-and she's... somehow, she's one of the most reliable people I've ever met."
She smiled warmly to herself, wrapping her arms around her knees as she sat. "Like... if you're ever scared in this weird world full of monsters, you remember that Reimu is around... and then suddenly you feel like... everything's probably going to be okay."
The two gods smiled gently at Sanae as silence fell for a few moments. Kanako then gestured her wine cup at Sanae and winked. "You know, that's some pretty good poetic stuff you just said. Maybe you should tell her all that someday, instead of arguing with her about things."
"L-Lady Kanako...!!" Sanae heaved her shoulders in exasperation, her face growing redder, while Suwako burst into more giggles of laughter.
But... yeah... maybe Kanako was right. Maybe someday, Sanae would feel comfortable enough to tell Reimu all sorts of things. She'd be able to tell Reimu how cool she was. How much she appreciated Marisa's confidence. How much both of their warmth had meant to her ever since she met them.
And maybe someday, Sanae would find out that Reimu felt the same way about having another shrine maiden to relate to.