Damn, that was the most horrifying fall I ever experienced.

And that's crazy.

I mean, I actually encountered standing at the tallest sky scraper I could climb and had indeed looked down, seeing how high I was from the ground, jumped off to the nearest rooftop and landed with a roll, ending with a few collective bruises and sprains on my person, along with the adrenaline still in my system, but the fall that I had just now was absolutely incomparable. Among all the jumps I've done, this one was actually different.

Why?

Because I was literally falling to my death.

And I survived it.

Hmm? You wish to know how it happened? Okay, I'll tell you.

But first, sit down and be comfortable, maybe grab a snack or drink so things don't get a little boring, yeah?

….

You got your delicacies? Good? Don't worry, I won't ask for some, I'm not hungry.

Okay, let's start at how it lead me to where I am.

I was doing my usual living, running from rooftop to rooftop, escaping the people who were after me, especially the Police.

Oh, you want to know my life story? I'm sorry, but can we deal with that for later, please? I'm not really comfortable to speak about it, especially if my back is hurting so bad. But on the plus side, I think people will eventually ask me about my past time so that means Patience shall be valued for now.

As I were saying—I was being myself at the time, running, running, and more running. For more than 3 hours did I ran, or maybe it was half a day did I ran? Sort of? Maybe? I don't know, but I'm certain that it's lunch time right now.

Anyway, I ran because I have been chasing after someone. The police was a completely unimportant concern now the moment I saw that person.

What may be surprising, however, is that I was chasing after a woman. A freakin' tall woman, and her heels weren't even high. She wore something akin to a Chinese attire and a frilled gown merged together, a bit of western and eastern theme going on in there at once. In my opinion, it was quite an eye-catching dress. She wore a mob cap too, a little red string adorned to it. forming a little ribbon in its center. Her hair was quite long, a beautiful golden blonde, also adorned with a few red ribbons here and there at the ends. She had an umbrella in hand, the design quite fanciful and out of the ordinary. For one thing, she was a person I have been after for 3 months, and finally I caught her.

Wait a minute, that sounded like I was stalking her.

Just to be clear, I am not a stalker, and I never will! I swear!

The reason why I chased her was because she can create portals. Yes, that's right. She can create portals, a fuckin' portal. The way it looked like, it was almost as if the air was being split apart, or ripped open, as if an unseen 'doorman' was opening a door for her before she steps through.

I thought I hallucinated at first, my addled mind probably making up fantasies just to kill the boredom existence that is reality. I merely saw her on the rooftop, a few blocks away, suddenly disappearing through an 'eye'. But when I saw it happening again the second time, the portal ripping open and with her stepping out of it as if she was exiting a carriage, umbrella in hand, I knew that it was real. She was real.

That's why, I've sought to meet her. Try to talk to her, find what exactly had she done, what is she, and finally, WHO is she.

But it was so infuriating at first, because it took me a long time to accomplish it. While she does appear from time to time, that doesn't mean she appears at the same place. That means I have to go from place to place, hoping that she emerges just close to me so she could see me and acknowledge the fact that I had been chasing her for a long time and wanted to speak with her. I've had my moments that I got lucky and she appeared just in plain view, but what's unfortunate however is that she was across the street, atop another rooftop, and she was already gone before I could be there.

Damn it, just my luck.

It's been like that for the past 2 months, jump to rooftop A over there, sit and hope for teleporting lady to appear nearby; after 2 hours with lady not arriving, go to rooftop B; hope to catch her if you see her; if failed, rest up for the night and pray for success tomorrow; rinse and repeat. And the entire process built up my stamina, agility, and a little bit of muscle on the arms and legs. And by little, I mean a lot.

At least I earned a good and proper exercise, but I was getting tired of all the bullshit that kept repeating. But I was determined, and I never stop once I am. Rage-quitting was the closest thing I could've done but nope, I don't quit that easy. When something's crazy, I go crazy for the sake of seeing it.

When the third month came (quite long, right?), it was the time did she notice me, she looked my way and her eyes met mine. I was delighted, I waved at her and yelled for her attention, thanking God so much that she actually noticed me. She was surprised at the sight of me, probably having her secret powers exposed to a bystander, I thought she would be flustered or worried for her goal to keep her abilities secret had failed, but instead she was smiling.

Then she disappeared via eye portal.

Even though she didn't talk to me, merely giving me a smile and absolutely nothing else, I was satisfied. I went to sleep with a smile on my lips and dreamt of success. I hope to see her again.

…..

It was at that moment, however, did I damn myself for being naïve. It wasn't a smile on her face, she was smirking, and she was fooling me around. Whenever I've come close to her, she just disappears to another rooftop, a foldable fan covering the laughing mouth she had as she looked back at my exasperated face with gleeful mirth.

I thought she was playing a game of tag with me at first for the first few weeks, but when I actually heard her laughing at me when I failed to latch onto the edge of a roof and, apparently, fell down to a pile of garbage bags that cushioned my fall (AW, the smell!) and looked up to the mischievous girl's face looking down on me, foldable fan covering her mouth, probably laughing at me again, sitting on the edge of her portal. If I wasn't on top of a pile of non-recyclable "waste", clouded by flies, and had not apparently been humiliated, I would have commented a thing about the utility of her magic.

She drew a piece of paper from a small portal and wrote on it with a pen that mysteriously appeared to her hand. Where on earth did that pen come from? After writing on the paper, she nonchalantly lets it slip off her hand, the written letter falling down to my sprawled corpse and she winked before disappearing.

When the letter was in reach, I caught it in-between index and middle finger and unfolded it, drawing it close to my eyes.

In very exquisite penmanship, it is written:

Good luck next time~

Yakumo, Yukari.

At least she had the courtesy to tell me her name and encourage me to try again, but that wasn't what I first thought after I pocketed it. Not only did I feel annoyed that I didn't succeed, again, it was because I was about to flip out. So much raging going on that day, but I'm still not quitting yet!

I was lucky that I didn't actually flip out on the bystander that came to inspect the sprawled human being that was me, checking if I was alive or dead. I wanted to thank him for worrying, but I was too annoyed to care so I just sat up from the shit pile like it was nothing (didn't hurt, really) and ran for the river, ignoring his hollered questions of worry.

Gonna do some laundry for that day. I stunk like a skunk and I don't want to smell like a punk.

The next few days, I didn't humor her with the chasing game, instead I was preparing myself for the next time we meet. Because next time, I will definitely catch her and make her talk. Can't catch up to her in my current level that day so I worked my ass off. So I did some conventional exercises to improve my agility even further, and I increased my stretching capability. Ignoring the task of chasing her the entire time.

Just so you know, I'm a man who can do the splits. I can show it to you with me in between two buildings that were close to each other, but let's do it later, yeah?

When I was through, probably a week of non-stop exertions of muscle with two days of rest, I was up and early in the morning, with an early breakfast consumed, I was back to the usual place where I would usually see her. This time, this Yukari Yakumo will not escape.

Unfortunately, I had another problem to deal with.

Running on somebody's rooftop and leaving a very intolerable mess in your wake is good enough to make someone call the police. Not to mention that the person who called them was a person you've robbed before and had recognized your face that sooner he saw ya.

So, that ended with me running for more than 5 hours, trying to hide from the law. What was amazing, however, is that I wasn't even tired yet, I could still scale the walls, I could still shimmy at the edge of buildings for more than 3 minutes and my wall run jump height didn't go down yet. I still have enough stamina to chase after the teleporting lady. All those running for the past 3 months paid well.

It was at the time of noon, however, did I finally see Yukari again, stood on the edge of the rooftop, and looking down on the streets, wondering what all the commotion was about with the red and blue lights blinking.

When I saw her, I knew that this is now or never. If I fail, I will go to jail, if I succeed, I know that something big will happen.

"Yukari Yakumo! You will not escape me!" I screamed as I sprinted as fast as I could towards her with all the remaining stamina I have, hoping to lose the cops that were behind me. They kept lagging behind, because they were not trained enough to chase after a nimble hooligan who can vault over obstacles without losing speed and could jump from another building to another, so far as to actually latch on to the edges before lifting myself up and run.

Faith Connors would definitely be proud of me for this. We can run together side by side if I think about it.

When I was able to give the police the slip (but only temporarily), I was finally in the same rooftop as her, and she didn't teleport away. She looked at me with an amused smirk the sooner she noticed me and twirled her umbrella above her, I was not sure if she was silently giving me praise or was she ridiculing me. But I didn't question that, my task was at hand and this is the last shot I've got.

"This time," I began, my breath in labor but I forced myself to talk smoothly, "You will not run away. Don't you dare run away, or teleport out of here, because I need answers now! How did you do that, and what are you?"

Yukari the teleporting lady simply giggled, pulling out her fan out of nowhere (seriously, how does she do that?) and covered her mouth with it.

"Are you going to play dumb?" I asked irritably, "If so, then I'm just gonna force it out of ya!"

She giggled even more, and this time she was floating backwards, floating above whatever obstacle was behind her without looking, apparently trying to run away.

Playing hard to get, are we? Fine, but I play rough!

"Come back here!"

This time I was the pursuer. Excluding the 'For Law And Justice' motive, more like it was 'Hound The Magic Girl And Extort The Info By Force If Necessary' motive, I was chasing after a magician girl with an umbrella who just wouldn't give me the answers. Does that make me the offender and her the victim?

In a general sense, yes, that's the case and a good guy should be hounding my butt so he could save the damsel. But I think I should be the victim here, she was the first to fool me around and she wasn't giving me answers. I demand justice!

In this chase, she was cheating. She was floating majestically, her eyes never leaving me and her face still behind the damn fan. Stop laughing at me already! At least I use my legs! You're one of those impracticals who were wimpy!

"Stop floating or it'll be real bad if I catch you!"

"Oh, doshiyo kana~~?"

Wait a minute, was that Japanese? Is she a Japanese woman? Should've known from her name. It's a dead giveaway.

I don't speak of the language Japanese but I knew a few words and a few sentences, and I could piece them together to make a fitting sentence myself. Watching too much anime could give you these things. From the best of my knowledge, she apparently said 'Oh, whatever will I do~~?'

Don't underestimate me, Yukari!

I was doing everything I could to make sure I caught up to her. I vaulted over pipes and air conditioners, jumped over pit falls and to other buildings, I wall-runned 3 meters up a wall, I even had to front flip just to gauge my adrenaline. She had the consideration to stay on the rooftops and not float off the edges where I could never catch up, but she was leading me to a route where there were so many obstacles in the way. It was no problem for me, but the affects it had on my body weren't a joke. My exhaustion was catching up to me, and it took long for me to notice that my throat was getting dry. My legs are starting to burn, and my breathing is getting heavy.

"Stop! Police!"

"Stop or we'll shoot!"

Big problem.

Yukari was troubled as well, the amount of crazy for the law to see a floating Japanese woman wearing a gown is crazy enough that she gotta disappear. Her face becoming distraught and her pace increased.

Heading straight for the edge of the roof, so she could drop down the alley and disappear from there via portal.

Oh. No. You. DON'T!

With all of my power, I did the maddest sprint I ever did in my life, growling like a monster in every exhale and, as she floated off the edge, I immediately pulled a Left 4 Dead straight towards Yukari the sooner the middle of my shoe was against the edge of the building; I Hunter-Pounced her, screaming included.

I think I got the scream right, it was loud and very guttural, just like how the hooded guy would.

Tunnel-vision affecting my eyes, all sounds deafening around me, I was sure I heard a gunfire behind me. What's the point of firing if I was jumping to my death? But I didn't care if it was a warning shot or a kill shot, the only thing I could perceive was Yukari's shocked face as she beheld my crazed expression that implied that I was going to eat her alive. Well, if I was a real hunter, I would be ripping her apart before I eat her.

Thank God I'm not a cannibal. Eating people would be too barbaric for me, especially if the meat on my plate was from somebody beautiful.

Then I caught her in my arms with a victory wail, causing her to squeak in fright.

Cue the victory horns! Ladies and Gentlemen, I have successfully caught a teleporting lady!

And we're both falling to our deaths.

That turned my victory wail to a cry of horror as the hard cement below was coming closer and closer. The first instinct that came was to hug Yukari close, then for all the life in me, I twisted our bodies around so that I was the one below and she was on top, like that she will be saved from impending death.

I closed my eyes and awaited the hard concrete to meet my back and break my spine apart, include the part where my head will break open and splatter my brains on the cement. At least in death, I ended up saving someone, especially if I was chasing after her in the first place.

What a life I've lived. Robber, suddenly savior.

Emanuella, looks like I'm coming to see you.

I will finally face God's judgment that day.

….

Well, at that part, I just got stupid and forgot what the person I am holding can do. When I was certain that the cement was right there and I was about to land on it, it didn't, instead the sounds of wind rushing past my ears stopped but the falling feeling didn't.

I dared to open my eyes, slowly as possible, and I was shocked at where I was. All around me were eyes, wide gaping eyes, everywhere, even at the area where I fell past from, there were eyes above me, and all of them were looking at ME. There was nothing around me, only blackness and a lot of eyes. They're not even blinking. No matter how deep I fell in this pit, there were eyes everywhere.

Stuff was so creepy that I could have screamed but I didn't.

"Anata wa…."

I wondered at first who spoke.

"….eizoku-tekina…."

Then I realized that Yukari Yakumo, the teleporting lady, is still in my arms.

"…..Otoko desu ne..!" She snarled, turning her head to face me over her shoulder, despite the smile on her face, she definitely wants to dice me up.

I wasn't knowledgeable enough of the Japanese language to get that, but it's bloody obvious that she was mad at me and was not appreciative of the fact that I was holding her waist without her consent.

If I wasn't falling, including the fact that I was being leered at by so many eyes, I would've said 'I'm sorry' and released her gently and would not have yelled 'fucking hell' while throwing her off of me.

But since that wasn't the case, I only ended up throwing her towards the void of eyes out of fright and yelled, "FUCKIN' HELL‼"

I'm a horrible, horrible human being. Holy hell, I hate myself.

My moronic response to her remark was met with a powerful impact hitting my back and my head.

For all the things I have to learn in life, I will forever keep this one to heart: Watch your damn mouth when you talk to a lady, especially if that lady is justifiably pissed off.

Due to past experiences of epic fails in my free runs and practices that could've made a million hits on YouTube, I can instantly tell apart if the floor I am lying is cement or dirt. This time I fell on dirt.

The falling has stopped. I have finally hit the ground. And I am still alive.

When practicing parkour, you always stick to grassy grounds for your basics. One of the first things I've learned was the parkour roll; when falling at a high place you do this to use the momentum of your fall to your advantage. Dive roll was one of them, but I never will do a dive roll on hard ground.

There will be some moments in failure, that's why the phrase 'Safety first' is emphasized. But grass can still hurt you if you're not careful, even on the basics. If I had taken all these words to heart, then I am particularly familiar with all of my failures as well as the feeling of hitting the ground, either grass or rock.

But no matter how hard you practice or how well you know it, there is always failure, but failure is a part of success. Learn from the mistake, if you're smart then you are a wiser as you are stronger. So whenever I hit ground due to a failed attempt, I always think about what did I do wrong, and then I figure out the proper way to do it before I try again. But also, I get familiar with the pain. The more familiar I am with the impact, the more prepared I am for it and knew the risks afterwards.

But I never thought that falling from, like, I don't know, 150 meters high, include the part of me falling down a void of eyes that increased my falling momentum, was actually something I would ever experience in my life. Did I mention I was holding Yukari the whole time? Because I was holding Yukari the whole time.

Fall down 150 meters high while holding a lady. ✔

That's another one down on my bucket list (it's a fucking long list).

Due to falling that high, I should be dead. But since I'm telling you this, that means I'm not. That's the good part. You wanna know the bad part?

Good, because once I tell you this, that means we're going back to the present.

The bad part is going to present itself in three….

Two….

One.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Arrrghhhh‼" Yeah, That…! That's the bad part! Damn, that hurt SO MUCH! What kind of ground is this!? I thought this was dirt ground! How high did I fall exactly!?

Assessment. Assessment.

Head, concussion. Ouch.

Body, probable bruises on the back. Ow.

Elbows, definitely scraped and bruised. Ack.

Pelvis, bruised, especially the ass. Oogh.

Legs, tired and turned into spaghetti. Hmm, I feel like eating some spaghetti now.

Feet, stiff and hurting. Damn sneakers, why did I even pick you in this chase?

Lungs, air blown out on impact. I'm coughing. Where's my inhaler? Oh wait, I'm not asthmatic, am I?

Throat, dry. Man down, need some water over here! Make it a mojito! Blueberry!

Hands, still good. Fabric of Yukari's Chinese gown still there, smooth and perfumy. Gotta love that fabric.

Neck, still good. Still alive.

Body assessment, complete. ✔

Initiating cognitive check.

Name, Eman Letitia. It means happiness, and Eman came from Emmanuel.

History, Filipino mother, American father. Don't care about them now. They're better off.

Age, 19. Still immature, but knowledgeable.

Common description: Un-ordinarily Suicidal.

Cognitive check, complete. ✔

Thanks, conscience. You're always a helping hand, especially when I'm writhing like a worm on a sunset.—No, scratch that. Make that 'especially if I'm exposed to the sun and having ultraviolet eye surgery with eyes closed'.

HELP!

Oh the pain!

It burns!

…

At least the pain on my back is subsiding. Still not good to sit up though.

Okay, think of a sunny beach. Except that the beach has dirt, and the sound of waves crashing to the shores are like the insides of a wind tunnel. Because damn, this wind feels nice, especially after that wild run I did with the cops.

Wait, the cops aren't here, right?

I tightly pressed my eyes tight, turned my head to the side and opened them at the slightest.

Huh, no boots here, or roads, or, people, even cruiser wheels. I see nature, grass and trees. And I don't hear anything else, no wee woo wee woo, only the dancing trees are my company. They always sound nice, just like rain drops. If my body was still good, I might've climbed one and slept on the branches. I did it once, best sleep ever (nearly fell though).

Whatever happened, from jumping off a building to falling down a bottomless pit of eyes, it had thrown me to somewhere quiet and peaceful.

That puts me at ease.

"Hihihihi." Yeah, yeah. Laugh it off, me. That's what you always were. You make the bad result funny, you make the good results jolly. "Hehehehehe."

Yeah. In my situation, especially when you're young, broke, but not dumb, being positive is the only thing keeping me alive. When it's a good moment, make good with it.

"Hehehehehehehehe! Hahahahahahaha!"

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Yakumo Yukari, the gap Youkai, watched with odd interest towards the sprawled human's hysterics. This man is quite strange, especially when this one was particularly one of the most interesting subjects she had took interest in, and it's been long since she had found one among all humans.

For one, he actually caught her, by foot out of all forms of mobility, which was something that never happened before, since she is always the one doing the taking. Secondly, he's laughing. That fall could've hurt most humans, this one falls on the same category, she's fully aware that his body cannot stand the damage by that much, but instead of groaning or writhing, he's laughing.

But what for? For escaping the police? For the rush of his feet? For winning the silly game she and him had created since they saw each other? Or was it for the danger that happened? He just jumped off a building, just to catch her?

Doesn't this human fear death? He even switched their positions around midfall where it could end with him as the one dying.

First he was annoyed with her, then he was chivalrous the second in his demise.

Odd, but still interesting.

She had seen humans with the mobility of a monkey or the flexibility of an octopus but such capabilities were barely ever used for stunts such as earlier, which was to chase her down through clusters and clusters of obstacles, even over a 5 meter wall she chose to fly over. She thought he had given up at that barrier but, apparently, he had worked his way around it. He scaled the adjacent wall with the use of the numerous rugged edges around it and latched off once he had the sizable height to reach the edge of the wall.

She was impressed, by that much.

There was the fact that he had been chased as well.

Yukari giggled a little, hiding her mirth with her trusty fan. She was pursued by a pursuer who was being pursued by humans who pursuehumans like him.

It was too late to contain herself, the interesting human's hysterics were quite infectious.

"Hehehehehehe!"

[HAHAhahahahaahaha!]

It escalated quickly for noise to arrive, this clearing of the forest is filled with the mirth of laughter, from a man on the floor to the Youkai on the air.

[What are you laughing for?] She heard the human speak in a strained voice, he even smiled.

"Look who's talking, what are you laughing for?" She countered, wiping a tear off her eyes.

[Because, I was being chased seconds ago in a city, now I'm here in some forest I don't even know where.] The human paused, lifting a hand up to cover his eyes from the sun, or maybe wipe away his tears as well. [I mean, come on. How does that happen? Hehehehe!]

She created a gap in front of her and assumed a prone position, with her arms crossed, placed on the edge of the gap to support herself and appeared right next to his head. It took a second for the human to acknowledge that she was suddenly beside him, and instead of yelping in surprise like she expected him to do, he just turned to face her with a lazy smile, the hand on his face going back to lie on his chest.

[Sup.] He greeted in a way as if his back hadn't just met the ground in the speed of 19 mph.

That's unusual, not a lot of outsiders react like that. "You're not surprised." It was more of a statement than a question.

He snickered a little, [Well, I've seen you do that many times so it's not a surprise anymore.] He replied, closing his eyes and inhaling a deep breath before he exhaled through his nose and opening his eyes again, continuing, [For 3 months you've been doing that.]

She smirked, resting her cheek to her palm, "Quite an adventurous 3 months for you, it seemed. You've been chasing after me non-stop, I've never seen a human have a drive like that."

The man squinted his eyes, as if what she said was something he never heard of before. After a few seconds of him mulling, he faced her, "I…." He was suddenly speaking in Japanese. "Cannot….understand…..many…..Japanese…..words." He then sighed deeply, almost in relief as if pronouncing those words were laborious as that to carrying a boulder. "I….know…little….me….bad….Japanese…..talking."

Oh.

So he wasn't bilingual, he can only understand basic sentences. "Let me help you with that." She offered, reaching for his head. He only shut his eyes closed and held still. Good, shutting off the sight makes the process faster. Laying her hand to his sweaty forehead, she focused her senses a little and she was able to reach the cognitive networks of his brain that contains the language and speech in no time. His mind was clear, free of thought or anything akin to fear, only focusing to her touch. That makes it even better. Tapping a little in his system, she flushed her own knowledge of nihongo speech to his memory. When she knew that he had the words he needed, she released him, moving her gap just back a little in case of him thrashing.

That escalated him to groan, the sort of sound he should've made when he landed. Clutching his head, and rolling side to side without aggravating his wounded back, now he's having a minor headache, confusion and distortion of equilibrium must be rolling off in his noggin now. Usually happens, no matter how the subject cooperates. She could've used her abilities and tap that language barrier he had, it's a more painless method than anything but since he has a bit of knowledge of Japanese speech, she should gift him fluency to that language. She barely does that anymore. But at least this time it was quick, just under one minute.

When the interesting human finally got his bearings, he looked up at the sky, the clouds granting him assistance by blocking out the sun for him. His mouth moved, but no words coming out. Yukari wondered if she had accidentally broken his mind. Maybe he should've been a little more defensive in his mentality during the process.

"…wastahi…"

Hm? She lifted an eyebrow, wondering if she heard that one word right.

"….Boku…" He muttered.

Hmm.

"….Ore…"

"Tell me, are you broken or are you trying to figure out which pronoun suits you?" She asked, not entirely worried for his wellbeing.

"….Washi…" He said, an earnest tone making way to his voice. "….Washi no namea wa…."

"Hmm." She hummed, interlocking her fingers below her chin, her interest to the result of her faster-than-ordinary vocabulary transfer rising. "Look at me in the eyes and say that again, in a loud and clear voice this time."

He complied, turning his head to face her straight in the eyes, his hazel orbs meeting hers, "My name is Letitia Eman, and I thank you for giving me the speech that suffices the setting of my situation." He said in a very smooth and polite voice, befitting people of the noblest positions, a warm smile forming on his face, as if he appreciated the new language so very much.

She returned the smile with a small one, exiting her gapped upper body from the portal and floated down to the grassy ground, kneeling next to his lying form, her umbrella providing shade to his face and to herself as the sun came to shine again. "Welcome to Gensokyo, Eman."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Goodness, this new language is quite something. I never thought I'd be speaking Yen so early, much so in a half-a-minute instant, in courtesy of the Lady beside me. "Here, Madam Yukari." I said as I returned her the letter she gave me since the day I face-planted a wall and fell to a heap of crap.

"You have been keeping this the whole time? I'm impressed." Ah, you make me blush. "And it barely has a crumple, have you been planning to return this to me in perfect condition since then?" She asked, folding the paper once in the vertical direction unlike my horizontal.

All that energy just for a piece of frickin' paper? Might as well be my homework. Good thing I'm not going through that anymore. "My first and foremost intention was to draw out answers from you. But I brought myself the initiative to do this beforehand." This language is much more polite than I would usually go by, even for the person I should be apologizing to. She speaks almost casually, how do I do that?

"Well, now that you've returned it, and had potentially caught me, which was something nobody has ever done," She opened a small portal as thin as a slit, slipping the folded letter in like a suggestion slip to a suggestion box. "You deserve a treat. So what are your questions?"

I wish I could ask her to treat me a bottle of water, because I really need that now. It's literally Sahara desert in my throat, and I need to sweat some more. "Well, let us begin with the trivial ones for a start." Damn polite vocabulary. You speak too long. "What kind of human are you?" I hope this isn't impolite.

"Well," She twirled her umbrella. Oh, those swinging lines look so majestic right now, keep twirling it, please. "For one, I'm not a human. I'm a Youkai."

Hmm? "Youkai? You mean like those Japanese spirit or apparitions?" If she's Japanese, what was she doing on America at the time?

She gave a shrug, "Something like that. So, anything else you want to ask?"

That was quite brief, even for me. And she looks more of a sophisticated royal woman than an apparition. Are all Youkais human-like, or maybe it's that way for her race? Eh, whatever. Okay, let's see, let's see. Uhhh, what do I ask next? Oh, this one. "Is Gensokyo, as you say this place is called, a town or a forest?"

Oi, my back is sweating SO bad right now. I need to get up soon, but I'm still not good enough to get up.

"Both," Oh, twirly, twirly, keep the umbrella a spinny, Yukari. "This is just a small part of a forest in Gensekyo. If you go north and follow the road, you'll end up in the human village. Go to the right instead of the left, you'll be in the Hakurei Shrine. There are lots of mountains here, including the forests, some of which are too dangerous for defenseless humans like you." I'm not a child, Yukari. Don't poke my nose like that.

"Why is that, pardon my asking? Are there dangerous animals and ursine beasts?" My hands are good enough to make a fist and send Kumaflying, but my ankles are so stiff I can't point my feet upwards. I can't run like this. These are going to stay for more than 2 days.

She does the pull-the-fan-out-of-nowhere thingy and covers her mouth with it, is she laughing or what? Because I'm at a loss whenever she does that. "Oh, much more than that, Mr. Eman. Some of which might surprise you."

Cryptic speech, eh? I love this language, keep talking.

"Humor me of one entity that might elicit the surprise out of me, if you so may consider?" Damn it, vocabulary! Stop making my words long!

She snapped the fan shut, delivering the suspense and signifying the ultimate answer is about to come. What is it!?

"Fairies."

…..

You ruined it, Yukari. That was supposed to be the big giveaway and you just ruined it! Out of all things, 'Fairies'? There's the chupacabra or giant snakes, or maybe even a Leviathan but 'fairies'? "Fairies?"

"Yep."

You're just making it worse, Yukari. It's not scary anymore. How could Tinker Bell hurt me? I might as well take a hike in these mountains and look 'em in the eye for myself. "I find such an existence something less to be cautious with. In my belief, they could not be in the world nor can they exist. My best wager of dangerous would be lizards with a venomous spit."

A rip suddenly shreds open in front of me and a gigantic eye shaped portal that could only belong to Yakumo Yukari was suddenly in front of me, what was inside: SO MANY EYES! And there are disembodied arms trying to claw their way out—THEY'RE TRYING TO GRAB ME!

"Yow!" AH! They're all looking at me! Kill it! Close it! Burn it with fire! Please! Someone! Close it!

"Tut, tut, tut, tut." Yukari tuts rapidly. "Now, now, if you think fairies don't exist, how come I could get to do that, hmm?" There was too much honey in her voice—it's not sweet. "While you're right that fairies are hardly anything to worry about, you must know that you should take my words seriously. When I say that the mountains are too dangerous, I mean it. When I say that something is dangerous, I mean it. When I say that you're going to die, I mean it."

The portal got even wider, the eyes within are bulging like no tomorrow. And those fucking arms are coming close to grabbing me!

Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!

"Well, Eman?" She placed a hand on my head, ruffling it with a strength that was too much for petting someone's head. "What will you say to me now that I've warned you?"

"I-I-I am…I mean, I-I—I"

"Speak properly, Eman~" She's tugging my hair! She's tugging my hair! She's gonna rip my head off! "I cannot understand you with stutters~!"

She's pulling!

"I-I am—" Damn it, vocabulary! Hurry up and say it! "I understand, Madam Yukari. I swear to this day from now on that I will never doubt your words again."

It snapped shut, and the view of clear blue skies replaced the horror.

"Good boy." She patted my head with a very gentle hand. I would've liked it if I wasn't traumatized and about to go to the bathroom early. Thank goodness I was too tired and too injured to shit myself. "So, since you so rudely presumed the nonexistence of almost the majority population of this land, it shall be my turn to ask questions."

Ask anything. Please, just ask anything. I'll answer whatever question you have. Those eyes are still pictured to my head and I need to distract myself from it.

"To start, where did you learn such capabilities? You're running, I mean."

Oh, a question about my runner skills? Oh yes, please, I can tell you all about it.

Ahem, "Well, since my years in the passing of 6 summers after my first breath, I have always been adept of scaling the trees." Oy, vocabulary. You are making this even longer and awkward. "I can forgive you if you compare me to a monkey, because I spent half my childhood in the trees than in my abode."

"Such a childhood, you have. Did you ever fall?"

Look at me smirking here, Yukari, you could literally see the real answer from there. "Many times." I'm proud enough to admit it, I got a fine strong ass now. Though in the situation I'm in now, I didn't get to use it. "But that was only because of my immaturity. After the passing of one more summer, I am now a master tree climber." Though, I was living in the city after I became 10 and moved to America. Barely any trees there in the city I stayed at. I might've gotten rusty in my adolescence. "But in urban areas, such as my last living abode, there are barely any trees for me to climb anymore."

"So you converted to climbing buildings."

I nodded; yup. Can't let go of me climbin' life. "Quite a grand change of pace, to be honest. That's when I began honing my free-running abilities over time, which lead me to here." I chuckled sheepishly, "I hope you have forgiven me, for pouncing you in such a rude way."

"Oh, it's alright. In fact, it was quite a bit of a fun chase for me." Ho, thank goodness. "I must say, you're very good with your feet."

Oh thank you, these legs were given quite the working out for nearly my whole life.

"Your compliments honors me, Madam Yukari." If I was wearing a suit, top hat on my head and cane in hand, and standing, I would've bowed like Jacob Frye. The thing would fit with the vocabulary. "Any more you wish to know from me?"

She mulled, placing a hand to her chin before facing me, "Where exactly do you live?"

Uh…..Um….Awkward…..too sensitive for me…..

"Why do you ask?"

I'm not surprised anymore with her drawing that fan out of nowhere, "Listen, when you noticed me for the first time, I knew that you saw me. That means you're wrong if you ever thought that I never noticed you until the 3rd month."

Are you serious? I've been hounding you for 2 months, you knew that I was, and you still ignored me all throughout until you felt like it on the 3rd month? "Why didn't you acknowledge me when you had?"

"As I were saying," She ignored me, brilliant. "After I took notice of you, you were living in a coworker's apartment for 1 month, then you were sleeping in a tent for 3 weeks, then after that you have gone nomadic, always sleeping at the last area you've last seen me." I think I'm going to melt from all these embarrassments. She's been watching me the whole time, and I kept thinking the whole time she wouldn't know what I was doing in my life. "Why is that? Where do you live, exactly?"

Oy….

"In reality, nowhere. I had no home." I covered my eyes with my forearm, staring back at her was getting difficult. "I've ran away from home, and I lived off working part-time jobs from time to time. I either live on the streets or on the roof."

"But I've noticed you've been chasing after me every day instead of working." Of course, she would notice. She had me in her surveillance more often than me, even in the night. "How did you live throughout the whole time?"

I gave her a thumbs up with my other hand along with a smirk, "Saving. My earnings are only to put food on my table and to keep me healthy."

"So you used up all your money just to chase after me? What a waste." Ouch. That actually hit me deep. "If I had given up my interest in you and moved back to Japan, it would've been all for nothing and you would've been taken away to jail."

"But it was worth the trouble and effort, wasn't it?" I hastily defended, "I caught you, and I was brought to a place called Gensokyo."

She hummed cryptically, "One last question, Eman." She then waved her fan at me, giving breezes of delicious air to my heated neck. "Why were you after me? What did you think might happen if you caught me?"

If she wasn't a teleporting lady, she's good to be a verbal interrogator because every question she asked is like an armor-piercing bullet fired from a Barrett .50 Cal. straight to my heart.

Thankfully, I wore bulletproof. "Because, Madam Yukari, I was tired." It's about time I told somebody of my thoughts of the world, maybe this vocabulary can make it even clearer than it was in English. "I don't mean of my exhaustion. I mean of life. How I lived and brought reality in stride with me, it had gotten tedious, repetitive. I used to love my life, I used to be excited whenever I want to impress a crowd with my acrobats. Now, I never see the world the same way anymore. The wars, the deaths, the cruelty of reality, I had enough of it." I removed my forearm from my eyes and stared straight to her beautiful lavender orbs, placing my hand gingerly just above her left knee. "When I saw you execute such a feat that every common man thought was impossible in physical reality, I found something within you. Even without proof, I knew that if I've managed to make myself known to you, I would find the key, the key to open the door and escape from reality." I raised my hand off her knee and forcefully sat up with my able hands, the spike of pain on my upper back, elbows and pelvis was not a joke, but I kept myself from groaning. When I got the proper upright position, with my hands holding me up shakily like the legs of a weakened animal, I continued my words as I faced her, "Suddenly being in this place was something that isn't possible. I was being pursued by the law on the rooftops of structures before, now at the blink of an eye, I'm here, with no sign of civilization around me. You create passageways with merely a thought, and you can appear to a place as far as the eye could see with just a flick of your wrist." I deeply inhaled and lowered my head as low as I could towards her, in the most Japanese way just like her ethnicity. "You are my salvation, Yakumo Yukari. Please, save me from the reality that tortured me."

Among all the things that I've felt, from having a stomachache suddenly disappear to waking up with the bruise you got a few days ago finally gone, saying all these words was the most liberating feeling I ever felt in my life. I understand now why people must let out their thoughts like this. It gives you freedom from the weight of your emotions.

…

"Fufufufu…"

Yukari?

"Fufufufufufu."

Wait a minute….

Was she—

"Ahahahahahahaha!"

[Hey, what the hell!?] Hey, my English came back! Oh, how I missed thee. Anyway, as I were saying, [What are you laughing at!? I was being serious, you know! I'm letting out the thoughts I've had for a long time and you're making an ass out of me afterwards!?]

"AHAHAhAhahaha‼" No good, I just made it worse. "Ahahahahahahahaha‼"

Anytime now.

"Ahahahahahahahaha‼"

Now…

"Ahahahahahahahaha‼"

Goodness.

"Ahahahahaha! Ahahahaha…" Now she stops. "My goodness, that was so dramatic!" She wiped a tear off her eyes. "Me, a salvation!? Oh my, that's so beyond me! Ahahaha!" Scratch that, she's not done yet.

[Uurrrrgggghhhhh] Whatever sentence I was going to say, it was all reduced to zombification, I just sagged to the floor like a deflated balloon man. I feel like eating dirt. There's pretty much an all-you-can-eat buffet around me. Grass looks like a nice side dish. Waiter, River water on the rocks, please. I don't mean ice, I mean plain rocks. If you got brimstone fresh from the fire, please dunk it in another glass of mud water. I could use some coffee.

"Kneel, Eman." I finally hear the voice of her Lady Yukari commanding me. Lifting my head from the earth, seeing that she was stood up to her feet and looking me over with a look of solemnity on her face, the whimsical expression gone for good, I complied and shakily raised my upper body up. Ack! My shoulder blades! Just put a knee below me and….liiiiift. There we go, now we're kneeling at one knee to the lady before us like a proper gentleman. Please continue thy sentence, oh Lady Yukari. "That was quite a confession, Mr. Eman, I've never seen a human from the outside world seek salvation from me, and I have to say," She leaned her upper body slightly downwards, "I'm flattered. For that, I welcome you to the Utopia that is Gensokyo." She extended a welcoming hand to me.

I smiled weakly and took her soft grasp, pulling myself up to my feet without actually pulling her and, this time, successfully ignored the pain of my back. "Thank you, Madam Yukari." I thanked, releasing her hand and tried to stand straight like a bamboo. I'm still a wreck. I'm probably shaking like an electric pole on an earthquake. "So, where can I start in this little land?"

She pointed to a hill yonder, I looked over and I could make out the brown colored building that stuck out from the shrubbery of trees. I never went to Japan before but I know very well that what I'm seeing is a shrine, especially with that red archway entrance and the almost hidden stone stairs that leads up to it. "The priestess of that shrine will tell you everything. She's a dear friend of mine, I'm pretty sure you two will get along."

Sweet. Looks like I'll be making best friends right off the bat. I hope my social skills didn't rot away. "I hope so. That looks quite a walk from here, but I can manage, this pain on my back will not be a detriment to our side."

"Oh no, no. I don't think you should be walking after going through all that." A rip opened right beside us and a portal of eyes leered over. She casually walks through it, the portal almost seemingly 'devouring' her existence. She turned around and looked at me expectantly, half of her body inside the portal. "Are you coming or not?"

…Uh…

"Um, may I, uh….Can we walk, Madam Yukari? Because I'm not jolly enough to walk through a sea of eyes." I tried to sound nonchalant but I probably failed. After looking at that fucking thing stare back at me in the worst way than the best rated horror movie, I'm not eager to go inside it again.

"What? Nothing will ever happen to you if you do." She pressed, then she smirked, this time she wasn't hiding it with her fan. "Unless…..you're chicken."

…

Oh you did NOT just say that to me.

I have climbed the tallest skyscrapers by hand that I could've died by falling and committed stunts that only those with a handful of balls could do, and she just calls me…CHICKEN!?

[Would a chicken….] The pain in my back was almost nonexistent as I took a dozen steps back. [….do…..] Crouched low with a hand on the grass, like a 100 meter running start. [THIS!?] I bolted to a sprint, when I got the good distance, I executed the cartwheel, my elbows and shoulder blades (somehow) holding the impact well (it did not, it fuckin' hurts!), then a follow up of 6 quick backhand springs (thank God my feet are still good) and I concluded with a double back-tuck somersault in the air, my distance from the ground will be very remarkable to the eyes of an average man.

Right into Yukari's portal.

I entered the world of eyes and released the tuck-it-in position, arms spread either side of me as I fell with my feet pointed to the ground….if there was even one.

…

Hurrghh. This feels so unnatural, falling without the roar of the wind whipping past your ears. It feels more like I was being weightless in the air. Looks like I don't need to go through a plane crash just to know how weightlessness feels like.

What was weird, however, is that I don't know which way the gravity is dropping me. Even though I'm falling down, I couldn't tell where the hell am I falling at exactly.

I didn't realize that the owner of this realm was right in front of me. "That was impressive." Yukari's voice rang almost everywhere, as if there were speakers all around me and the folded fan in her hand was the mic. "Now how will you stick the landing?"

"What?"

My question was answered with a portal opening below me.

Followed by me slipping through it.

The familiar blue skies came into view afterwards, and the actual feel of falling is there.

I finally felt gravity, and I realized that I was falling vertically, with my body in a horizontal position.

And I stuck the landing on the possible grass behind me.

Right on my back.

If there were any birds on the trees around me, I'm pretty sure I sent them flying away because the howl of pain that I made might've reached a person that was eating his sandwich in a 100 meters away.

[DAMN IT, YUKARI! TWICE‼!] I roared, the pain on my back multiplied fivefold. If I expected myself to heal at the end of the day, make that a fucking week.

"Technically, it's a third." I was too busy groaning and curling like a dying spider but I know that Yukari was standing just above my head, probably laughing at me, again. "If you include the part where you failed the jump and fell to a heap of garbage bags."

I snapped my head upwards to throw a sneer at her, [You said nothing will happen…‼] I snarled. Nothing will happen she said, it will be fine she said, THIS happened to me.

"Hey, this isn't my fault." She retorted with a frown, as if she is never entirely of fault. "You chose to tumble and you didn't stick the landing. Or rather, if you had just entered the gap with me, this wouldn't have happened."

There was so much emphasis in that sentence than I could ever count.

I just sighed, which kinda sounded like growling more than anything due to my desert throat and the pain. She had a point, if I had just manned up I wouldn't have been falling on my back twice. Ass, I think you're losing your usefulness here. Your main role was to cushion my fall every time and you're not doing it right! Stop letting Mr. Back be familiar with Ms. Ground, you two are already in a relationship! Stop screwing up!

….

Ow, my back…..

Couldn't stop the tears of pain here for a moment. I'll just close my eyes and let a moment of rest take all this pain away.

"Yukari, you've done it again!?" This time, another voice came, using a casual tone in the Japanese language. Sounds like a girl, and almost youthful. A teenager? Wait a minute, where are we? "That's it, I'm already busy with all the Youkai incidents everywhere and you're sending me another piece of work!?"

"Oh, hello, Reimu. I haven't seen you in a while." I see that Yukari knows her.

"Quit stalling and let me exterminate you. I always thought you'd do crazy things, but I never thought you'd bring an outsider here. AGAIN!" Sounds like this new voice doesn't sound happy, though I'm at a loss as to what's going on.

"Hey! I think I deserve to have a say here. I'm the victim here, Reimu."

"Like you never heard that from everybody you bring over."

….Okay, I starting to get that I'm not the first one to be teleported to Gensokyo.

"Reimu, dear. Listen to me, my reason is 100% justified."

"Alright, I'll listen, then I'll exterminate you."

Sounds like these two are not really in a healthy friendship.

"This man jumped me and I accidently brought him with me."

"'Jumped you'!?"

I think that sounded wrong in a way, please fix that sentence before you accidentally label me as a sexual predator, Yukari.

"This human here came here out of his own will, out of his consent and it was entirely by his choice." Hey, you knew my name! Use it! It could help ya have the upper hand of the conversation here, y'know!

"Really? How come he's not moving?"

Because my back is probably purple right now and any form of movement might just make it worse, thank you very much!

"He's just unconscious, he fell twice to get here." I'm NOT unconscious! Can't you see me opening my eyes leerin' at yer frickin' ass here!? Also, why d'ya have to point out that I fell twice!? And why did you say 'twice'!? You said it was a fucking third!‼

"Or you just kidnaped him and knocked him unconscious then you brought him here?"

I think there's a misunderstanding going on. I gotta settle that before these two go at each other. Sorry, Back, I think you're gonna have to take this one for the team.

*Snap!*

Yowch! That hurts! So much!

"I am alive!" I forced out, trying to get a proper sit up. At least my elbows didn't hit the ground the second time, otherwise I wouldn't be getting a proper sit up. "but not well." I finished with a slight whimper. Ow. I rubbed my back, trying to soothe the pain, which didn't do much because it really hurts just by touching it.

I turned to the general direction of where the new voice was. And I was right, this young woman looked like a teenager, somewhere 18 or 19, maybe 20. The robes she wore gave away what she was and where we are. That's a Shrine Maiden alright, and we're in freakin' Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun.

Though, if this girl wasn't frownin' while holding a stick with zigzagging ropes on it, poising it in a way as if she was gonna bonk somebody in the head with it, I would'a called her cute.

"Boy, answer me." She spoke, smacking the stick on her palm, as if implying I'm goona be the first person she hits with it if I do not give a satisfactory answer. "Did this hag send you here with your consent?"

"Oh Reimu, since when did you start calling me names behind my back?"

"Since ever."

Ow, that was quite straightforward.

I held a finger up, gesturing her to wait before I heaved a deep breath and…."Before I do, could you give me some water? Because I desperately need to drink." I even had to talk hoarsely just so she could get what was going on in my throat. If she doesn't I could just DIE!

The priestess sighed, lowering her weapon, and turning for the great shrine, "Come inside, I'll serve you some tea."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"So, how are your injuries?" Reimu's mention was little more than a muffle to my ears because my full attention was on this sweet, glorious, delicious tea that I've been drinking since she gave the cup to me.

"Ahh~." I practically slammed the cup to the table as I finished it. Now my throats good, no more worrying about death metal screaming now. "Priestess Reimu, would you believe me if I said that I never drank tea before?"

She looked surprised, recoiling with her back fully straightening.

"Because, this was the greatest first tea I ever drank in my lifetime." I added wholeheartedly, taking the kettle and helping with myself another serving.

"I can't believe that you never drank tea 'til now." She commented in disbelief, I wonder if people in Gensokyo drink tea a lot just like London, or is it just her?

"I speak the truth. I never had a liking to tea or coffee in my life. They tasted and smelled horrible." I explained before I brought the green cup to my lips and drank the sweet, gloriously delicious tea. I'm naming this as one of my favorites. This tea must've been made with wonders, I don't even feel the pain on my back anymore. I mean, it's still bruising (probably) but hey, I'm not feeling it anymore. That's a good thing.

"That's the 6th cup, I think you drank the entire kettle." Reimu pointed out.

"Save some for me, Mr. Eman." Yukari whined.

I chuckled sheepishly, "Well, do forgive me if I didn't leave you any share. I've been deprived of my nutrients for quite a while, especially water, for more than half a day." I turned to the brewer of the delicacy, "Your tea is a lifesaver." Ambiguous sentence, ambiguous sentence, is there any way for me to make a compound sentence?

She picked up the kettle and opened the lid to see how much is left. When she gave me an exasperated look, I could only raise a hand in silent apology for it along with an awkward smile. It seemed I got carried away thanks to my thirst. She and Yukari only had one serving, I should've thought of that.

"I'll go make more." Reimu said, placing the kettle on the tray and stood up, walking around the table before turning to the corner. Probably the kitchen.

"For someone who never drank tea, you hogged all of it." Yukari commented in a monotone, apparently upset for my greediness. She clearly loves that tea like I do.

"Like I said, Madam Yukari, I was thirsty since I have eaten my breakfast." I turned a stare to her, "If you had just let me talk to you earlier instead of making me pounce on you, I would have left you more than half of it."

She merely gave me a childish 'humph' and looked away, not a fitting reaction for an adult like her.

I adjusted my kneeling position and squatted, massaging my ankles. They're still stiff, still can't point them upwards. I took the time to look around me while Reimu readies more of that tea; so this is what the inside of a Shinto shrine looks like from the inside. Bamboo floors, paper windows and sliding doors, gives the natural feel of everything Japanese. Though, I noticed a few cracks and broken wood on some areas, particularly the floor. This place looked a little run down too, but it's clean 'nough that I can't consider it abandoned.

"Was this the shrine you were talking about?" I asked curiously.

She turned to me and answered, "Yes, and this place is considered the gateway between Gensokyo and the outside world. The Hakurei shrine." She even had to spread her arms, gesturing to the grand building before interlacing her fingers together on the table. "You'd be surprised that there is also another one in Japan, though abandoned." A short pause. "There is also the Great Hakurei Barrier. It is a boundary around Gensokyo that blocks off the outside world and keeps the humans outside from trespassing by accident, or intentionally. That can be said for anyone within from trying to get out."

Hmm. "Okay, I understand." At first I thought we were at an isolated island that wasn't discovered in the planet, but I'm starting to get that this is an invisible paradise in japan. But what for? I'll ask later, there's also this curiosity: "It might be a guess, but is Reimu, the priestess of this shrine, an important individual? Considering her occupation and work space, that is."

Hakurei Reimu = Great Hakurei Barrier = Hakurei Shrine = Gateway to the outside world. These are quite the giveaways to somebody whose name is all over something.

"I do more than just clean the dust off this place," The person in question interjected. We turned to see the red-white garbed priestess with a tray in hand, even from here the smell of the warm delicious tea could reach my nose. I turned to look at the teleporting Youkai, she looks delighted to have the beverage finally here. "I also handle incidents that happen in this place. Disasters or the like can handle itself, but anything that might involve the entirety of Gensokyo is my concern."

So she's a priestess, watchwoman, and a problem solver. Quite a lot of jobs for a single woman like her.

"There's more to that," Yukari interjected but pausing, awaiting Reimu to set the kettle down. When so, she took the kettle and poured herself her second. Bringing the cup close to her lips, she continued, "If Reimu is to die, then this paradise of mine will die with her."

…..

Wow.

So she's a priestess, watchwoman, problem solver, and the entire land's life force. I should be surprised here, and the girl acts so lax and casual for a supremely valuable individual.

And what did Yukari say? 'Paradise of mine'? "You created Gensokyo?" I asked, maintaining a levelheaded disposition amidst all the revelations before me.

"That's right." The apparent God of Gensokyo nodded, "And I built this place for the sakes of the Youkais that are starting to disappear because of the humans no longer fearing them or forgetting them."

I looked at Yakumo Yukari the second time, and I no longer see the mature, yet whimsical woman anymore. Now with the knowledge of her being the owner of the land, her presence was far more imposing to me.

"Then I am honored to be welcome to your humble paradise." I bowed, my impression on this lady had changed. I must regard her above respectful, I'm in her house and I'm one of her visitor-soon-to-be-resident.

"For an outsider that had recently arrived, you're quite polite." Yukari commented, "I like that."

I was tempted to drink another serving just to calm myself internally, but it would be rude of me if I did. I drank the entire first batch, I'm not going to repeat it. Deep breath, press a thumb on the palm and focus.

….

Exhale. Quite silent for a bit, no one said a thing, they probably remained quiet in consideration for me since I'm trying to take it all in. Damn it, I should've been calmer. Then again, I'm too influenced in reality to even believe it right off the bat. Then again, Yakumo Yukari was a creator of a certain paradise and she makes portals, I needed no other evidence than that to prove what's real and what isn't anymore.

"That's quite…..grand," As far as this new language could get, I ended up with that word. "And you say that you created this land for the sake of Youkai that are about to disappear." She nodded, "May I have a further elaboration to that statement?"

"I'll fill you up on that." Reimu offered, sagely interlocking her fingers on the table, "You ever heard of myths, legends, stories, monsters, spirits, demigods and monsters?" I felt the excitement burning in me because I could tell what was coming next. I nodded, "In here, everything that the outside world thought was nonexistent…." A short pause, "they're all real."

I straightened my back and clapped my hands above my head before spreading it. Hallelujah, superstition is real! Ladies and Gentlemen! Looks like God's creations were more than the plants, animals and human beings.

Reimu looked perplexed at my reaction, Yukari looked amused, probably because she knew of my reason to stray away from reality. Hearing that monsters existed is more like a dream come true for me.

I wonder if the Tall, Dark, and Slender guy is here. Hehe.

"Why do you look so happy?"

I chuckled inwardly, "Long story." I answered simply, putting my hands down on my lap. "I have a question. Why are all these supernatural beings in this land than uh…..out there?"

"Because of the advancement of human logic and technology, humans are no longer fearing them, or had probably forgot about them. Without the fear of humans, Youkais will perish and disappear. If they stay here, they can live on even without anyone fearing them. There are some cases that they were hunted, due to specific reasons." She finished and drank her tea.

Sounds…..logical, for a lack of better word. If I hazard a guess, those reasons might be because the Youkais were too hostile to humans or the people feared them too much because of being hideous and they were hunted just for that. Sounds like a two-sides-of-the-same-coin kind of situation.

"But remember," Yukari's voice sort of snapped me back to reality. Everything Reimu said was very intriguing that I completely forgot about the nearest Youkai beside me. "While I am a Youkai myself, it doesn't mean that all others are going to be friendly like me. Some of them attack humans out of instinct, sometimes they eat them."

Oh dear, forgot about that part regarding monsters. I guess I was too fascinated by their existence instead of thinking about the reality about them.

"This is it, Eman." This time, the Youkai's beautiful face contorted to the firmest grimace. A face I never seen her wear. "This is the world you have been chasing after. A world where danger lurks around every corner, and where outsiders like you are hunted. If you're not careful…." She drew her disappear-reappearing fan and covered her mouth with it. "….You could die."

….

"So?"

I took satisfaction over her absolutely shocked reaction, she never expected this response, deadpanned and unconcerned. But Reimu looked like she doesn't understand what I meant, "What have you two been agreeing on? Whatever it is, I need to know."

Oh yeah, right, we never told her of my coming here; Me, an outsider to this paradise, got bored with his own world that he had to chase after magicians just to flee to another one.

Yukari recovered and explained it in my stead, "This man here" Do you really have to point your finger at me like that? "This poor, homeless man had chased me all across his city just so he could be here." This looked a little offhanded here, first she welcomed me as a guest, now she looked like she's against me by critically pointing out my intentions. "He found his own land no longer livable. In other words, boring. He grew tired of his own life that he decided to abandon it and instead be in a world where it could easily kill him. Only immature children would dwell in their fantasies, especially if one of them had abandoned his own parents—"

*WHACK‼*

…

I don't know how the fuck she knew that last part, but had I not been injured, had I not fallen on my back twice, had this Yukari not been the owner of the land, had Reimu not been in our presence, I would have shown her why she should not have mentioned a damn thing about my parents.

Thankfully, the priestess of the Hakurei shrine noticed the storm conjuring within me. She took the familiar stick from before out of nowhere and had slammed it against the woman's head to stop her ramblings about my life before it gets worse.

"Stop, Yukari. You're making it worse." She growled, gripping the punishing weapon with both hands.

The woman just rubbed the lumping area, saying nothing more.

Reimu turned to me, a grim look on her face as she spoke, "While I will not question why you wanted to come here, are you really going to risk it? I mean, you're young and you still have a future ahead of you. In here, your life might be shortened, without anybody protecting you, you could get killed. Unlike the outside world, people here are prone to cause disasters. Answer me, Eman. Why here?"

She supports neither decisions, but it was obvious she was worried about my well-being. It was already said: the inhabitants of this place are mainly monsters that could hunt me down and kill me, or even eat me, and would not care if I was alive or dead.

If I go back to the real world, I wouldn't be worrying about something inhuman trying to kill me. I'd just be worrying about my health, my survival, and the authorities. I am a hunted criminal there, and I caused too many sins to be forgiven. Surely, I would be taken away, and be judged to be thrown to prison.

But if I stay in this Gensokyo, my survival rate would lessen, the authorities are not a problem anymore, it was the ones who wished me dead just because I was human. Food? Looks scarce around here. Water? I don't know how close the river is. I don't even know the path of the land, I don't even know if the principles and rules here are different. My health? Barely something to give a fuck about. Those monsters will make take the cake on that one.

I think my choice here is obvious.

Inhaling, trying to calm my nerves and let my anger cool, I exhaled and answered, "I will stay. That is my final decision."

Reimu stared at me very intently, her brown eyes boring hard on me like a Judge. "Your decision is a bad idea, no more no less. You're being suicidal, you know that?"

You should NOT have said the word 'Suicidal' there, Reimu. Because once somebody says it, ain't no way I'm gonna make second thoughts on my fuckin' decisions.

"I don't think there is a difference between this world to the one I formerly resided, Priestess Reimu." There really isn't. Because my life is never a good example for the innocents. "My habits in the outside world could kill me by either falling 150 meters high or landing on my head, breaking my skull. A monster could chase me down, so will the authorities in my world. My future? I doubted it. I am a poor, homeless man that could contribute nothing to the environment around him. My point is that living here makes no difference to my usual living. The only change I could see is the nature around me and the quiet atmosphere. If possible, I might have a chance to work like a proper person in this land."

The good thing about it is that it's just like my old home. Trees everywhere, grass on the ground, and a clear view of everything as you looked down atop a mountain, it was very idealistic to where I really wished to live. I think I won't be having a lot of complaints about the environment here.

Reimu bowed her head, eyes closed and arms crossed. She sighed once again, finally submitting to my words, "If that's what you say, I will not stop you."

I smiled a warm smile to her before I turned to Yukari, feeling nothing within me as I met her suddenly gold eyes, "Madam—" I cleared my throat. She's beyond that now. "Lady Yukari, while I am furious with you for even mentioning the people who brought me to the world, I just want to say thank you." She looked surprise, but only a raised eyebrow was the indication to that. Nonetheless I continued, "Thank you, for delivering me here. While I had to suffer a competition with you for 3 months, it was all worth the trouble for me." This time, I gave her a smile that would definitely say 'I forgive you'. "My only wish is that we can put aside our problems with each other and instead be friends, especially with Priestess Reimu here." The latter's reaction to my words was a smile, only slightly though.

Yukari gave me a warm smile. What I really liked seeing on people is when they smile, especially when I forgive them. Because whenever I do, my heart would always feel warmth like a gentle fire on the fireplace that keeps the family warm. "That's very noble of you, Eman." She told, and this time she was the one bowing.

"Well, at least that ended the right way." Reimu's voice snapped the moment, it was a little unnecessary but I guess I needed it. These dramatic moments, too cheesy. "But if you're planning to stay here, do you even have your belongings with you besides those weird clothes you're wearing?"

What do you mean 'weird clothes'? I'll have you know that—

….

Oh no…..

OH NO!

"Uuurrrggghhh" I just groaned to my palms, cursing myself of my own idiocy. I jumped to another world, without an extra set of clothes or even the tent that I carried since the day I left. Fucking hell, I. Am. An. IDIOT! My phone is even there, DAMN IT!

"Not to worry, Eman." Yukari assured, making me draw my face out of my hands. "I know exactly where you left the bag and I can bring it here for you if you like."

Without another thought, I slammed my hand on the table, somehow making the 3 cups present bounce 3 inches upwards without spilling or tipping over upon landing, bolted up my feet (I think I heard something snap on my back when I did but not now!) and held both her hands pleadingly, "Please bring it here! My precious possessions are in that bag and I cannot live on happily without it!"

Yukari seemed to be amused with my reaction, giggling. "Well, since you said 'please', how could I say no?" Thank you, Lady Yukari! "Are you going to let go, or are you going to stay like that?" She asked with a smirk.

I quickly let go and stepped back a few steps, worried more about the bag than her teasings.

She looked disappointed, probably because I wasn't shying or stuttering because of what she said but she nonetheless did the job. She raised her hand up, and I didn't recoil at the sight of a portal ripping open in space, diagonally pointed my way (there was actually red ribbons at the corners, quite invisible on the first glance since I was pissing myself). After one second, the familiar black, colossus duffle bag, almost as big as my upper body, came flying my way like a cannon.

Straight to my chest, blowing out my oxygen and sending me to the floor with a slam.

On. My. BACK.

AGAIN‼‼‼

Back, Stop being familiar with the Ground!

The bag sort of rolled to my face afterwards so the growling monstrosity that was me howling in pain was muffled like a tortured victim with a sack over his head as he gets his nails ripped out. Forcefully, I threw the heavy bag offa me and glared furiously at her, [Third time, Yukari!] I snarled, holding up three fingers with a good hand. [THIRD TIME‼] I swear to my life that I was about to flip her off, why didn't I do it?

"Hey, at least everything inside is everything you ever owned." She retorted, though she looked like she was about to break out laughing. "To be honest, I expected at least a small packet of drugs to be inside."

Yukari, if you mention a damn thing about me being a druggie ever again and I swear to the fucking Heavens I will FUCK YOU UP!

Oh dear, Reimu's about to give her another whack.

"Put the weapon, down, Priestess." I'll do the whacking myself when I have the chance.

I rolled over to my front and steadily raised my upper body up before kneeling. My back's aching again but I feel it dissipating second by second, but it does not mean that it doesn't hurt a lot, because it does, seriously. I swear, if someone throws me to the floor, on my back, again, I'm gonna punch 'em in the fucking face.

My back could barely bear such punishment, why must it be subject to such things?

Eh, whatever. I was too careful with my free-runs to even get used to back pains. Maybe it's just a bad day today, prolly won't happen again tomorrow.

Being poor and almost homeless, you can't keep your belongings in one place, you gotta know where you're going to hide these things from wandering hands. Thankfully, I know exactly how to hide my possessions, even without a duffle bag, I can memorize multiple hiding places for multiple objects. Pulling the duffel bag close, I opened the combination padlock (375) before zipping it open.

And Yukari kept her promise, everything was here. Tent, 5 sets of clothing, 3 big bottles of water, my plate and utensils (even if I'm poor, I'm not going to eat with my hands that quick), the Tupperware holding the last remains of my food, one wooly jacket, 3 neatly folded socks, my toothbrush and paste, my trusty rubber shoes, and finally—I reached for the pockets, zipping it open and I pulled out the one and final thing I would never surrender to anyone, my Iphone. It's old as 2 years, but I kept it under good condition. Even the charger is here.

Zipping it closed, but the phone going to my pockets (you're staying with me, baby), I faced the cannoneer with a bitter face, "I would say 'thank you, Lady Yukari', but I reconsidered for such….displeasing delivery."

"Eh~? Why?" Quit whining like a damn child, you're an adult, act like one.

"Can't you just give it to him like a normal person?" Yeah, what Reimu said! "If he's back gets worse than it is, then he's going to be more of a load than it is."

Okay, that's so hurtful. *Sob*

Man up, Eman, man up. No need to wimp out in front of the first lady who looked my age that I managed to talk to in a long time. "My apologies if this topic brings you displeasure once I bring it to your attention, Priestess, but where can I reside in residence?" I think this language could work for me, I am a guest who should show respect to the master. Being polite is a must, you know.

She sighed, "You can stay here for today, but I recommend you go to the human village as soon as you can. I think they can provide you a better house than this one, it's too cold in winter and too hot in the summer, and it's not a recommended place to stay."

"Then, you have my thanks." I told, pulling the duffel bag close to my side. "I promise, Reimu, I will make my presence nonexistent to this shrine and I hope to make my presence not much of a nuisance to you." I declared, opening the bag and pulling the rolled up tent out, placing it on my lap. If she lends me a spare of one of those 'futons' here, I'll just use it as my mat inside the tent. Poor as I am, my jacket and long pants are my only source of warmth in a cold night. A pile of my clothing are my pillows, no blankets. These jackets are too small to cover a tall body like mine.

"For an outsider, you sure talk with words." She remarked. "Were you some kind of rich stuck-up? I know somebody who tends to talk like that just for show."

URK! Don't call me a stuck-up if you please! I fucking HATE Rick stuck-ups! They don't know how to stand up from their chairs! "No, I'm just being polite."

"Well, that ends all that." Yukari declared, sipping the last of her tea before standing up and walking for the sliding door. Sliding it open, a portal was outside waiting for her. That looked kinda cool, to be honest. Though if I was the one opening that door, I would've panicked and screamed like a bitch upon seeing it. "I'll take my leave now. I'll see you then, Dear Reimu."

The Priestess just snorted, not returning the sentiments, drinking her tea.

"Good luck to you, Letitia, Eman. Let's see if you can adapt to the fantasy you sought after." She cryptically said before walking through, the portal devouring her existence before closing.

Now, everything feels normal.

Was it me, or did Yukari had a natural aura of making the atmosphere look so serious and nonsensical at the same time as long as she's around?

How's that possible?

"Haah." Reimu sighed a very relieved sigh, as if she was so damn glad that Yukari was no longer here. "Well, that ended differently." She turned to me, "And you, you look horrible."

I looked over my person, and she was right. If she can't see the bruises on my back, then the dirt, mud and rips on my clothes are an indication to a shitstorm journey before coming here, which was almost true.

Damn. "You would not believe how much effort I exerted just to come here." I replied, removing my vest off my body and letting it slip to the floor. Ah, the cool air felt nice. Even for a sunny day, this shrine is quite breezy. Probably because of the nature around us. "I fell on my back when I came through one of those portals of hers, then again when I arrived here." I paused just to roll my shoulder for a bit before I faced her with a smirk. "The person who screamed on your backyard, that was me."

She cheekily smirked, "That was quite loud, even for a guy like you." She eventually chuckled, which I shared. Ha ha, I made her laugh. Gotta make a friend out of her as soon as possible, I wanna workout my social skills a little more.

"So, could you point me to my quarters? I'd like to settle just to save ourselves the trouble." I requested.

"That room over there." She pointed past me, I looked over the direction and a paper walled room is there, the door already slid open and within is a rather empty and open-spaced entirety of a Japanese-styled room, good with tatami mats and windows. "You can settle there until we find you a proper home. I'll get your futon once you've unpacked." She then took a sip of her tea.

*BOOOM‼*

HOLY SHIT!

A motherfucking explosion occurred just afar ahead of the shrine, making me jump back in fright along with a yelp. Holy hell! That sounded way too close! What's going on!? Terrorist attack? No way. Not in a place full of monsters.

What if there are terrorist monsters?

What kind of an idiot would've thought of that!?

Reimu, I think we gotta—

"…."

Eh?

*Sips tea like nobody's business*

Um, Reimu? Why are you still sitting down and drinking tea?

"Um, Priestess?"

"What?"

"Didn't you hear the explosion just outside, maybe 500 meters away?"

She looked over her shoulder, facing the front entrance and beheld the now-rising smoke of said explosion yonder below the mountains. She turned back to her tea, "Oh, yeah. I heard it."

*Sips tea like nobody's business*

…..Am I really seeing this right now? "Reimu, I think you should start worrying instead of brushing that off like somebody yelling at your front yard."

"Don't worry, it's just 19 trees burning. No biggie."

Am I REALLY seeing this right now!? '19 trees'!? That's too much! A single explosion can't kill that many plant life, right!?

No, there's a bigger question here: IS THIS EVEN FUCKING HAPPENING!?

"Still, I can't ignore that." She remarked, a look of annoyance crossing her face, "Geez, I hope this wasn't Marisa's doing." She stood up and headed for the front door.

Wait. Where's she going? "Where are you going?"

"Going to investigate." Her feet finally touching the stone path, she stretched her arms above her and floaawaha-haha-aha-hahaha-aha why the hell is she floating!? "Be right back." She called out before she flew towards the pillar of smoke's location.

…

…

I suffered two life-threatening falls, why didn't my back break?

Why was Yukari suddenly against me when she just welcomed me?

Why was the Reimu, the life force of this land, shrugging off that explosion like some neighbor partying with the windows open?

How was she flying without any wings?

…..

…

Eh, whatever.

Well, let's unpack my stuff in the room I'll be burrowing and settle down, maybe walk around this little humble shrine. You know, getting familiar with the environment and the other shebang.

This is Gensokyo, not the real world now. I belong here now. No more escaping, no more hiding, no more stealing…..no more reality. I came here expecting things in my life to change, I should be expecting the unexpected while I am.

From now on, I'm gonna have to keep mind a lot of things if I want to survive in this fantasy land that could potentially kill me.

Starting with this: Common Sense has fucked off the window, took a cab, boarded a plane and flew off to Namibia, probably never to come back.

Good bye Cruel World, Hello Gensokyo.