Chapter Text
May had come, and snow was still piled high at Hakurei Shrine. Reimu had appreciated the coziness of the cold weather when it first arrived, but staying bundled up for warmth was beginning to feel horribly stifling to her. She craved some sort of stimulus – a flower viewing party, a festival, maybe even a danmaku duel – to put an end to this antsy feeling.
I guess I could go resolve this incident, she thought to herself. Maybe I’ll go to the Underworld; my social life’s probably there.
She prepared herself to leave the shrine, only to find out that she was snowed in. Great. What can I even use as a snow shovel in this place...Fantasy Seal? No, no, you can’t just destroy the front door, Reimu! Fantasy Seal isn’t the solution to all your problems! Just most of them.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the snow vanished – replaced by a certain time-stopping maid holding a shovel and a briefcase. Damn it, Reimu thought to herself, why does she have to be a human? If she were a youkai, I could just Fantasy Seal her, too, completely unprovoked! Cursing her mercy, Reimu took a deep breath in, held it, and exhaled. Then, she opened the door.
“What do you want,” Reimu asked flatly.
“Your assistance, shrine maiden,” Sakuya answered. “I seem to recall you being quite skilled at youkai extermination.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Reimu said sharply, her brow furrowing.
“Scarlet Devil Mansion is about to run out of charcoal,” Sakuya said, getting down to business. “This winter needs to end now. And I have good reason to believe that a youkai is responsible.”
“Oh, so now that you need to save your own skin, incidents need to be resolved?” Reimu said, raising her voice. “I was about to take care of it myself before you decided to-.”
“I want to work together with you,” Sakuya interrupted.
Reimu was stunned for a moment, before continuing on her tirade.
“Why should I let you do that, Ms. I-Helped-Blanket-All-Of-Gensokyo-In-An-Ominous-Red-Mist?” Reimu shouted, gesticulating ferociously. “How do I even know that this isn’t a trap and you’re working for whatever youkai is responsible?”
“I am loyal only to my mistress,” Sakuya continued, beginning to lose her patience. “Who, I might add, has no interest whatsoever in an eternal winter and is running out of charcoal to heat her home, running the risk of all of her servants freezing to death.”
Reimu was a little impressed, she had to admit. She had always wondered how much of Sakuya’s devotion was an act, or maybe the result of some kind of guilt complex. But in this moment, she was beginning to see that Sakuya’s loyalty was fierce and honest.
“I also brought this,” Sakuya added, opening the briefcase to reveal a bottle and – that’s more money than Reimu has ever seen in her life, holy shit.
“Deal,” Reimu said. Is that oni sake?