With the lights off, there was silence for a few moments. Then Marisa's voice piped up.

"Hey Reimu."

"Mmm?"

"You looked sorta serious when I suggested we stay here in the outside world. Have you ever, you know, really thought of giving up the whole miko thing?"

"What? No. Not really."

"I mean, you're always complaining about how you get no donations and how the shrine is falling apart and you've got all those youkai freeloading off you. I just thought..." Marisa's voice trailed off.

"Do I really complain that much?"

"Yeah. You do."

Reimu sighed. "Being a miko is not something you can just give up, Marisa. Someone has to help maintain the border. Yukari's powerful, but she can't do it all by herself. There needs to be a miko of the Hakurei blood as well. Otherwise, Gensoukyou can't be kept safe - or the outside world. Can you imagine what would happen if all the youkai ended up here?"

Marisa chuckled. "Yeah. It's a pretty funny picture."

"It's no laughing matter. The responsibility of protecting the humans of this world has fallen to me, and I can never forsake it."

Marisa shifted onto her side. "You know, Reimu, sometimes you're actually really cool."

Reimu stopped. She felt a blush spreading across her face and neck and was glad it was hidden in the darkness.

Marisa continued. "So I guess all that talk about you preferring youkai to humans is wrong then, huh."

"What talk?"

"Oh, nothing, really. You just seem pretty popular with the youkai, is all."

"Are you talking about Yukari?"

"Among others."

"Well, you're popular as well. What about Alice? You and her seem pretty close."

The witch didn't say anything for a while. Then, "You're pretty close to Yukari as well, aren't you?"

Reimu didn't reply. It was such an unexpected question from Marisa. She sensed the witch roll onto her side and felt her eyes on her. It made her suddenly nervous.

"I suppose," she said at last.

Silence. The shadow that was Marisa didn't move and Reimu realised that more was expected of her, but she didn't really know what to say.

"You two seem to have a pretty good relationship," Marisa continued. "You know, hugging and kissing and stuff like that."

"What?" In the darkness Reimu frowned. "Oh, that. She's always messing around like that."

A pause. "I think she likes you, Reimu."

"I like her too," said Reimu, without really thinking.

Silence. The bedclothes rustled. Reimu's eyes had adjusted to the darkness somewhat and she knew that Marisa had turned onto her back.

"I mean, she's a pretty likeable person when you get to know her," Reimu continued, disliking the sudden silence. "When she's not being lewd or annoying."

More rustling. Marisa cleared her throat. Her voice, when it floated across to her, seemed strange.

"No. I mean, do you like like her? Like Renko and Merry like each other. Or those girls we saw in the lobby like each other."

Reimu's heart skipped a beat. She had no idea what to say. The silence went for longer than she realised.

"Like you and Alice, you mean?" The words were out before Reimu could stop them. It was probably the only way she would ever be able to broach the subject of the two of them. It was a question she'd wanted to ask for a long time but never had.

Why hadn't she?

Probably because she was afraid of the answer.

Marisa rolled back over to face her, but Reimu was now on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Actually, she already knew the answer. That was why she'd never asked. It was obvious. An obvious, painful truth she'd tried hard to avoid thinking about.

Tears welled in her eyes. She pushed her face into the pillow.

Stupid. Why did she care so much?

"You're right, Reimu," said Marisa at last. The words seemed to come with difficulty. "Alice and I... we were together, once."

Once? Reimu's chest tightened.

"It didn't work out, though. We broke up. Years ago."

Relief mixed with confusion surged in her heart. She'd always suspected but never really believed that Marisa and Alice had... had been involved in that way, but now, to actually hear the witch say it...

Marisa's voice shocked her out of her reverie. "You didn't give me an answer, Reimu."

"Do I like Yukari like that?" It was true that their relationship was a strangely intimate one, and maybe at times it had come close to being something else, but... "No," she said, "Maybe Yukari likes me that way, but I don't feel the same towards her. She's just a very close friend."

"Oh," said the witch at last. "I always kinda assumed that you and her were together."

"What?" A sudden, horrible feeling gripped Reimu. "Does... does everyone think that?"

"I dunno," said Marisa. "It's probably just me, being stupid."

"You're not stupid, Marisa. You know a lot more than me... especially about that sort of thing."

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Marisa's chuckle danced in the darkness. "Do I really give off that image? Aw, no. My reputation is ruined!"

Reimu snorted. "You're a boastful thief, Marisa. You can't really ruin that kind of reputation."

"Hey!"

"I'm just being honest. I... I want to be honest with you."

Silence. Reimu thought she could sense Marisa smiling beside her in the dark.

"Honest, huh? Well, okay. Why don't we play a game then? We ask each other questions and we have to be totally honest when we answer."

"What? That's not really a game, is it?"

"It is, kinda. Hey, don't tell me you've never played it? Girls play it all the time. You ask each other lewd questions, mostly."

"You play this with Alice?"

"Are you jealous?" Marisa's voice was teasing. "No. Mostly Patchy." She whistled. "Boy, does that girl have some stories to tell."

Reimu didn't ask, even though she was bursting to. "Okay," she said.

"You can go first," said Marisa.

Reimu fidgeted in the darkness. Why on earth was she going along with this stupid game? But there were things she wanted to know about Marisa. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the fact that they were in the outside world, or maybe it was just the whole stupid love hotel business, but there was a freedom she hadn't felt for a long time. She knew she'd regret it if she didn't make the most of it.

"Why did you and Alice break up?"

Marisa chuckled. "We used to argue all the time over the stupidest things. Then we just decided one day that the whole relationship thing was destroying our friendship and that we'd made better friends than lovers, so we kinda just broke it off." She sighed. "Actually, I think I annoyed her by turning up at her house all the time and borrowing things."

"So, you-"

"Hey!" the witch-girl interrupted. "That sounds like another question. It's my turn."

"Go ahead," said Reimu. Her heart beat faster. She knew she'd have to be just as honest with Marisa as she'd been with her.

"Have you ever gone out with anyone?"

It was a gentle question, but her heart skipped despite the fact. Marisa was being considerate, she realised, but somehow that made her feel even more nervous.

"Yes," she said.

Silence. Then, "Aw, c'mon Reimu. I gave you a bit more than just that."

"Okay," said Reimu. "I've told you about the whole Hakurei shrine tradition before, right?"

"That 'Hakurei blood' thing?"

"Yes. To keep the border strong the mikos must be related to one another. I'm an only child, so that means the only way to keep the tradition going is for me to have a daughter. And so Yukari is always setting me up, I guess you could call it, with boys from the Human Village."

"Wow," said Marisa. "You've been keeping that under wraps pretty well."

Reimu blushed in the dark. "Oh, it's not like I've gone out with every one of them. I think my taste and Yukari's are a bit too different."

"'Every one of them'," repeated Marisa. "So you've been out with at least one, right?"

"That sounds like another question," said Reimu, delighted at the chance to turn the tables. "Me first. Have you gone out with a boy before?"

"Nope. Never."

Reimu was surprised. "So... so you've only ever... Wait, that's another question isn't it?"

"I'll answer anyway," said Marisa, laughter warming her voice. "I don't want to short change you after complaining about it myself. Yeah, I guess I just like girls. I mean, it's not like I hate boys or anything like that, but..." She kicked her legs up and down under the covers. "Aw, it's a bit hard to explain. I guess guys just do nothing for me." She stopped kicking. "Okay, my turn. So you've been out with at least one boy. Is it anyone I know?"

"I don't think so."

"What's his name?"

Reimu's silence was heavy, so after a while Marisa said, "Actually, I take that one back. I don't really need to know."

"You can ask me another question," said Reimu. The relief in her voice was palpable.

"Can I make it a really personal one, then?"

Personal? "Go ahead," she said. Marisa had been kind to her by taking back the previous question, so she guessed she owed it to her.

"Reimu... are you still a virgin?"

"No." There was no hesitation before she answered. She'd known the question was coming and somehow she felt that if she was straight forward in the way she answered it would be somehow easier. It was.

But there was silence afterwards. Marisa said nothing and Reimu began to wonder whether she'd even heard her answer. When the witch spoke at last, her voice was soft.

"It's funny," she said. "I guess I'm the one who's still a virgin, technically, since I've never been with a boy before."

Reimu made no reply. Marisa's words had shocked her. She'd always thought that Marisa was the more experienced one, and now it seemed...

"I don't think you count as a virgin if you've made love to another girl," said Reimu at last. The silence was growing dark, somehow, and she knew she had to say something. She had no idea if it was the right thing to say, though.

But Marisa's voice seemed lighter when she spoke. "Huh! I guess you're right. So... how was it?"

They weren't following the rules any more, but Reimu didn't care. Talking about this kind of thing was embarrassing, but also thrilling. Why was that?

It was the danger of an answer hurting her, she realised, of Marisa saying something that would break her heart. Maybe Marisa was feeling the same. It was a dangerous game, but she couldn't stop playing it. Not now.

"It was okay," Reimu said at last. "I think he enjoyed it more than I did. Maybe I'm just bad at it."

"Huh. I find that hard to believe," said Marisa.

The warmth and humour in her voice made Reimu feel better. The memory that had come to her as she'd answered had been surprisingly raw. Not the memory of that first time, but how the two of them... how it had ended.

"I... I think I was just trying too hard," she said at last. "That's the reason we broke up. I was trying too hard to make it perfect, to make everything work."

She felt Marisa's hand on her shoulder where her bathrobe had slipped down. The suddenness of the witch-girl's bare skin touching her own made her heart skip, but the weight of her friend's hand calmed her. She placed her own hand on Marisa's and squeezed it.

Marisa's hand withdrew.

It was a dangerous game, Reimu realised, and one which was moving towards a point. That question. She'd been dancing around it, frightened to ask, but it had got to the point now that if she didn't ask it, it would end up festering inside her. It had already begun to, she realised. It was what made her seem so fierce, made her irritable and snippy around Marisa. Even with all her annoying habits, the witch girl had only ever shown her kindness. Grinning at her sarcasm and scolding, smiling, always smiling at her, that smile that threatened to make Reimu feel so happy she was afraid she'd split apart if she let it. Why was she always running away from happiness?

Because she was worried that if she ever let herself be happy, it would be stolen away from her.

But it was too late to turn back now, wasn't it? Marisa, that little thief, had already stolen her heart away and it was hers to break if she wanted to. Reimu couldn't escape that fact now, here, with the two of them so close together under the bedclothes, Marisa's warmth and scent within arms' reach of her. It was Marisa she wanted, to be with her like this, not just as friends, but...

She might as well ask the question.

"Marisa, can I ask you something?"

Marisa stirred. She murmured as if she'd begun to drift off to sleep. "Mmm? We're still playing?"

"I guess," said Reimu. No more hesitating. She felt her chest constrict until it seemed like her ribs were squeezing the life from her. Her eyes, wide open and staring up at the ceiling invisible in the darkness, were hot. "Marisa, uh..."

Just ask it, you coward. Ask! There will never, ever be a better time.

"Do you... do you have a special someone?"

Silence followed. The darkness crowded in on Reimu, like a suffocating blanket. Why was Marisa taking so long to answer? Was she... was she worried about what her reaction might..?

"Yeah," said Marisa. "I do."

Reimu closed her eyes. Her heart stopped, grew chill without its flow of blood, sunk in her chest like a lump of ice. She felt herself begin to tremble.

Stupid. Of course she had someone. Of course she did. Marisa, beautiful, popular, happy-go-lucky Marisa with her smile and her energy and...

"Who?" whispered Reimu. "Who is it?"

Silence. Again. Worse this time. Reimu's mind fled, flying towards the answers she most dreaded. Patchy?

Patchy. The two of them together, in a secluded part of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library. Marisa, the 'borrowing' of books just an excuse to be with the beautiful and mysterious magician. The two of them, there, in the candlelit twilight, the bookshelves like great cliffs about them, the tea service swept from the table as Marisa leaned forward to...

Or Nitori?

Nitori. The two of them growing close during the incident in Former Hell. Nitori, the adorable little kappa, always with that smudge of oil on her cheek. Marisa, joking with her, Nitori's innocent blushing, the delight on her face whenever she was with her. The way she looked at her, her shyness forgotten...

Tears. Stupid, cowardly tears. They burned Reimu's eyes as she squeezed them tightly shut. She clutched at her pillow, her hands claws, as if terrified it would be taken from her too.

"I know her, don't I?" Reimu's voice was surprisingly steady, although her throat was tight and her head choked everywhere by hot tears.

A hand. Marisa's hand, warm and strong and steady, on her own. Why? Why was she...?

With the answer came the final horror.

Marisa knew how she felt about her. She knew that her heart was breaking and Marisa, beautiful, kind-hearted Marisa was... feeling sorry for her.

Marisa's voice. Answering her at last. Disembodied, hovering in the darkness about her.

"Yeah, you know her. She's pretty cute, but she can be a bit scary at times."

A youkai, then? "Does... does she know? How you feel?" Maybe, maybe if Marisa hadn't confessed to her yet, then maybe she could...

"Funny thing is, I always thought she did," said the witch. "I always thought she was trying to be kind to me by ignoring it because she loved someone else. But now I know she's just clueless."

"Who is she?" Reimu whispered.

A strange sound. Was... was Marisa giggling? It couldn't be anything else. Marisa was trying to stifle a giggle and failing. She was laughing at her!

Reimu felt all the despair and loss that had been building up in her explode into anger. She jerked upright, her entire body trembling, ready to shout at her, to demand Marisa stop playing with her and put her out of this hideous torment, but before she could say anything the witch's lips were pressing against hers and no sound could escape.

Reimu froze. Her friend's lips, warm and soft, were flush against hers, her breath moist. The trembling in her body grew worse.

Then the lips pulled a fraction away.

"Reimu." Marisa's voice was so soft that Reimu felt more than heard the words as breath against her face.

"What?" she whispered, still reeling from the kiss.

"That's her name," said the witch. "The name of the one that I like. My special someone."

The tension in Reimu's body broke and she crumbled. The tears, held back for so long, spilled from her and she sobbed, a long sob that set her body shaking.

"Reimu?" Marisa pulled away, shocked at her reaction. "Reimu?"

"Marisa!" Reimu could barely form the word, so wracked was her body with sobbing.

Marisa took Reimu's hand and brought it to her face. The miko felt the hot wetness of the witch-girl's tears on the softness of her cheek.

"I love you Reimu," Marisa whispered, crushing the hand to her as if it was her lifeline. "Please... please tell me you feel the same way. Please don't cry."

"Marisa, I... I can't stop crying." She reached down and, grabbing the witch's free hand in her own, she entwined their fingers together and brought them to her lips. "It's just... I think I'm just too happy."

"Does... does that mean..?"

"Stupid Marisa," Reimu muttered against her hand. "Don't make me say it."

"Uh..." Marisa's voice was subdued, so totally unlike her. "Then I guess my next question is 'Will you go out with me?'"

"Let me think about it." Then Reimu chuckled, the laughter so mixed with the thickness of her emotion that it was more like a sob. "Yes. Yes, I will."

The lights flashed on. Marisa was leaning over her. Reimu blinked at the sudden brightness, dislodging the tears remaining in her eyes.

"Don't look at me!" she cried, jerking her face away. "My eyes, the tears... I must look ugly."

Marisa gently turned Reimu's face away from the pillow. "There's no way you will ever look ugly to me." And then she kissed each of the girl's swollen eyes in turn.

Reimu sobbed and threw her arms around the witch. At that moment she needed to hold her, to cling to her, to feel that she was real. Marisa's still-wet hair stuck to her face and all Reimu could think about was how all she could smell was Marisa - her hair, her skin, her breath.

The witch was staring into her eyes, her own wide golden eyes strangely demure. "Reimu, is it... is it okay if I kiss you?"

So hesitant and unsure, and so unlike the usual Marisa!

"Just do it," murmured Reimu, heart-stricken by how cute her friend was. "You don't have to ask permission. We're going out now, right? Anyway, you kissed me before without asking."

Marisa brought her face close, tentative and nervous. Reimu, impatient, darted forward and brought their lips together, at the same time pulling the witch down on top of her with her all her weight.

Marisa, emboldened, kissed her, and Reimu parted her lips, meeting the tongue that slipped inside her mouth with her own. Marisa's kiss was exquisitely soft and shy, and Reimu marvelled at how different it was from what she had expected.

As they broke the kiss, Reimu looked up at Marisa from beneath the darkness of her thick lashes.

"I don't think I've ever been kissed like that," she sighed.

"Too gentle?" Marisa's gold eyes gleamed as she leaned forward and cupping Reimu's chin with both hands she attacked her mouth with her own.

Reimu squirmed beneath her, feeling the weight of the witch pressing down on her, the hungriness of her kiss, the heat and wetness of her invading tongue. Marisa's hair slid across her suddenly bare collar and shoulder, and Reimu realised her own robe was slipping off her. She struggled to right it, but Marisa's hands fell on her own and stopped her.

"No," murmured Reimu against her lips as Marisa continued to kiss her.

"No?" asked Marisa. She ceased moving her hands. "Should I stop?"

"No," gasped Reimu, clinging to her. "No, don't stop. But, please, turn off the lights."

Marisa grinned. "Shy?"

Reimu nodded, her cheeks bright pink from a mixture of embarrassment and excitement.

In the dark, Reimu felt her robe being taken off and she helped by drawing her arms out of the sleeves. She covered her breasts automatically as they were bared, even though it was impossible in the darkness to see them. Then she heard Marisa slip off her own robe and felt her swing a leg over her body and straddle her. Marisa's stomach pressed flat against hers as she leaned down to kiss her, and Reimu felt the soft weight of the witch's breasts squash against her own. She gasped.

"Am I too heavy?" whispered Marisa. She ran her fingers through the miko's hair as she kissed the area around her ear and neck.

"No, it's just... your boobs..." muttered Reimu.

"My boobs are too heavy?"

"Yes. No. I mean..."

Marisa held Reimu's arms down and kissed her, hard, then drew her lips down across her throat and collar, kissing and biting as she went.

Reimu squirmed beneath her. "Please... Marisa... Don't," she gasped. "It'll leave a mark. Everyone will see."

"I want everyone to see," said Marisa with a chuckle. "I want everyone to be jealous and wonder who the luckiest girl in Gensoukyou is."

And it wasn't long until Reimu's protests were melting away into gasps of delight as the witch's mouth and hands left a burning path across her body.

-

Marisa crushed Reimu's sweat-slick and trembling body against her as the final waves of the miko's climax washed over her.

"Any of your boys ever make you feel like that?" she whispered.

Reimu shook her head. She was beyond words now. Language and memory were vague and shifting for her: all she could remember was pleasure and all she could feel was the warm, slick body of the one she had loved for so long pressed against her, her smooth arms encircling her and making her feel safe.

She rested her head on Marisa's chest. Fingers were caressing her, stroking her hair, and she began to lightly sob.

"What's the matter?" whispered Marisa.

"I never knew it could be like that."

"It's so strange," Marisa murmured into her hair, "Before tonight I'd never, ever seen you cry and now suddenly I've made you cry twice."

"Stupid Marisa," muttered Reimu, clinging to the witch and breathing in the richness of her scent as sleep stole down upon her. "Stupid, stupid, stupid Marisa..."

-

Reimu woke. She was in a bed and it was dark and someone was snoring beside her. Her heart skipped a beat, but then her memory returned and joy blossomed inside her. Her hands crept across the mattress until she touched bare sleep-warm skin. She drew her fingers along it, feeling the outline of ribs beneath the tender smoothness. Her heart beating faster, she reached up and encountered the great soft promontory of a breast with her fingertips and covered it with her hand. The soft nipple under her palm grew harder and the snoring became a mutter.

"Wha... Reimu?"

Reimu jerked her hand away, guilty, but then she rolled on her side and took Marisa's hands in hers as the witch turned over to face her.

"Is it morning already?" asked Marisa with a yawn.

Reimu shook her head. "I can't sleep. I just... I think I'm just too happy."

Marisa's face closed the short distance between them, and then the witch was kissing her, her hands slipping down to her waist and circling round it to stroke the cheeks of her bottom.

Marisa muttered in delight. "I still can't believe I finally got to touch this."

"Stupid," said Reimu. She drew Marisa's hands away to the witch's disappointment.

"What's wrong?"

"I... I want to make you feel good this time. But..." Reimu pushed her face against Marisa's chest, embarrassed. "I don't really know how to... you know..."

Marisa took the miko's hands in her own. "It's okay," she said, "I'll show you how."

-

The next time they woke it was day. Grey light seeped in from around the edges of the blinds on the window. Marisa woke first. She sat up in bed yawning mightily and scratching her stomach. The movement roused Reimu who muttered and rolled over in an attempt to go back to sleep.

"C'mon sleepy," said Marisa, nudging her with an elbow. "We have to get moving. If I remember right, if we leave too late we have to pay for another night."

Reimu muttered something about Yukari's money and Marisa laughed.

"I guess you haven't looked at the room service bill. We just about spent all of it," she said. "Well, there's maybe a bit left for breakfast and a few other things, but that's about it."

Reimu sat up. "We ate and drank that much?"

"Guess so," Marisa scratched her nose. "Although I think I was probably doing all the drinking."

"I had most of the parfait, though."

"I remember."

Reimu, blushing, sneaked a glance at Marisa as the witch rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She lingered on the pink smoothness the witch's shoulders and breasts, covered with her dishevelled blonde hair. Last night, with the lights off, it had all been about sound and touch and taste and smell, but now, in the grey daylight, Reimu couldn't resist feasting her eyes on her lover's naked body.

Marisa caught her peeping and grabbed up the sheet to cover herself, mock-angry. "Hey! What're you looking at?"

Reimu lowered her eyes. Despite her embarrassment, a smile flashed across her lips. "I- I was just thinking how beautiful you are."

Marisa blushed this time. She looked askance at Reimu. "You're the beauty of the relationship, Reimu."

"What?"

"I mean, with your nadeshiko hair, that beautiful pale skin of yours. I'm covered in freckles."

"Marisa, you have maybe six freckles."

"I'm too top heavy, too." She pouted as she poked one breast which gave the slightest of wobbles.

Reimu's smile was shy. "I love your breasts."

"You do?" Marisa chuckled. "Yeah. I guess you do. They got a lot of attention last night. My nipples are still sore."

"Marisa!" Reimu grabbed up her pillow and tossed it at her.

"Okay, okay! Let's get dressed."

"Why don't we have a bath first?"

Marisa grinned. "I guess we have the time."

-

They were drying themselves when there was a knock on the door.

"Probably the laundry service," said Marisa. "Bang on time." She towelled the glistening surface of one breast and winced. "Ow."

Reimu's face reddened. "I'm sorry. I... I shouldn't bite."

"Hehe," said Marisa. "No, I like it when you do. I'm just feeling ravished all over again like last night."

"You were the one who said we shouldn't waste the opportunity," Reimu protested.

"It's fun doing it in the bath, isn't it? Everything's so slippery."

Reimu said nothing but finished towelling her hair and swept the towel around her middle. "I'll get the clothes."

Again dressed in her outside world clothes, Marisa sighed. She reached back under her skirt and adjusted her pants.

"You know, I won't miss these things. They keep riding up my butt. I can't wait to get back in my old bloomers."

"Oh, I don't know," said Reimu. "They have a certain charm." She paused from brushing her hair to flip the hem of Marisa's skirt with her brush. The witch yelped and pulled her skirt back down.

"Hey! If you're trying to start something again-"

Reimu shook her head. "We have to go, don't we?"

As the door closed behind them, Reimu felt a sudden twinge of melancholy. While Marisa rummaged through her handbag to check over all the toiletries she'd 'borrowed', she turned and ran her fingers across the number on the door.

304. She'd remember that number for the rest of her life.

Marisa paid the room service bill at the front desk while Reimu stood just outside of the corridor that led to the elevator, looking ill at ease. They met no one as they left, and Reimu began to relax.

"You worried someone might see us?" asked Marisa.

Reimu made no reply.

Marisa's face grew serious. "Reimu, you're not... you know, ashamed of..."

But Reimu was already slipping her hand into hers and the witch's words were cut off by the joyful grin that sprang onto her face.

"I'll never be ashamed of you," said Reimu, "Even if you are a thief and a troublemaker."

They walked through the early morning coolness. There were few people in the street, which looked grey and sleepy still after all the light and excitement of the city at night. A store-keeper poured water onto the sidewalk in front of them and began to brush it. He watched them pass, hand in hand, and Reimu felt suddenly shy. But he smiled and said a soft good morning, which the two echoed.

Somehow, the store keeper's kindness brought everything to perfect completion. They walked together in silence, the world passing about them like a dream.

"Ya know," said Marisa, suddenly. "We still haven't found out who's been crossing the border."

Reimu sighed. "You're right, of course. We still have a job to do. It's why we came here, after all."

"It'll probably take all day."

"Probably," said Reimu.

"We'll need some energy if we're going to be able to keep walking around like this. We used up a lot already this morning."

Reimu slapped her hand lightly. "Marisa!"

Marisa grinned. "I'm just sayin'."

They were back on the main street now, and there were cars on the road and people had started to appear. There was a smell of freshly baked bread as they passed a bakery

Reimu's stomach rumbled. "I suppose we can maybe stop for breakfast," she said. "How much money do we have left?"

Marisa handed her the little stack of bills.

"It's enough," said the miko. "No beer for you, though."

"Aw," said Marisa. Then her eyes flashed. "Coffee then?"

"I thought you said you'd never drink it again after all that can coffee you had yesterday."

Marisa shrugged. "I mean real coffee." She indicated a café on the other side of the street with a nod of her head. It was already open, but there were only a few people there. "How about there?"

"Okay," said Reimu.

As they waited for the lights to change, Reimu squeezed Marisa's hand. "I just realised something," she said.

"What's that?"

"This is our first date."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

Reimu sighed and placed her head on Marisa's shoulder. The witch went red, but she didn't try and move it.

-

Marisa set the remains of her caramel macchiato on the table and popped a final fragment of blueberry muffin in her mouth.

"Well, I guess we should get going," she said. "Those perpetrators aren't going to catch themselves, after all."

"Are you okay?" Reimu looked at her. "It's not like you to actually want to do a job."

Marisa's eyes narrowed. "Are you calling me lazy?"

"Yes, I am."

The witch pouted. "Ya know, just 'cause you're pretty doesn't mean you can be a bully."

"I'm sorry," murmured Reimu. "Where do you think we should start, then? Back at the University?"

"Well, I picked this up at the hotel," said Marisa, taking out a pamphlet from her handbag. "It's a list of famous spots around the city. I thought maybe we could, you know, go check them out. See if we can dig up some new leads or something."

Reimu took the pamphlet. "'Kyoto for Couples'?" A shy smile burst onto her face and her eyes began to glisten. "That's right. We're... we're a couple now, aren't we."

Marisa chuckled. "Well," she said, pointing to the various attractions displayed in the pamphlet. "I thought we might investigate the amusement park first. Then this cake shop. They have this all-you-can-eat in one hour thing."

"Really?" said Reimu, intrigued.

"And you never know," continued Marisa. "The ones we're looking for might even be hiding on this little island in the centre of the lake in the park. We'd have to rent one of those goose-boats with the pedals to go check it out, though."

"Swan-boats," murmured Reimu.

"Whatever."

Reimu reached across the table and placed her hand on Marisa's. "I think it's a great idea," she said.

-

The entire surface of the lake was sparkling in the late-afternoon sun. Reimu looked out across it at the other little swan-boats gliding about and it seemed to her like they were floating on a sea of molten gold.

"Hey, are you pedalling?" asked Marisa, breathless as she struggled to keep their own swan-boat in motion.

"Sorry," said Reimu. She slipped her feet back onto the pedals, but she kept gazing. Everything seemed so beautiful to her, so fresh and aglow as in a dream. She glanced at Marisa. The redness of the witch's face, the little beads of sweat on her forehead and her periodic grunts assured her that it was all very real.

Reimu slipped her hand onto Marisa's. The witch stopped pedalling and turned to her, grinning.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," said Reimu, smiling back at her.

Marisa's eyes focussed on something behind her and surprise flashed across her face.

"What is it?" asked Reimu, her smile turning mischievous. "Don't tell me you just spotted the perpetrators?"

Marisa shook her head, the grin on her face conspiratorial. "No, but look who it is!"

Reimu turned. There, in a little swan-boat not far from them, were Renko and Merry. The dark-haired girl was pedalling as hard as she could while also trying to keep hold of Merry, who had leaned out of the boat to take a photo of a duck that was floating nearby.

Merry spotted them and began to wave, which almost caused Renko to drop her into the water, but somehow she managed to pull her back into the boat before she did.

The two girls smiled and continued to wave as they passed by, and Marisa leaned over Reimu to wave back. With the witch's body pressed against hers, Reimu found herself blushing, but she did manage to raise a hand in greeting as well.

"They really are a cute couple, aren't they?" said Reimu with a sigh.

"Yeah," said Marisa. "But not as cute as us." And then she turned and kissed her, and for Reimu in that moment all the swans floating on their sea of gold dissolved away and there was nothing else except the soft warmth of the lips of the girl she loved more than anything else in the world.

The End