#akyusuzu

Following the meal, she and Kosuzu walked around their island, sticking to the shoreline where they could. Ajuu no longer felt sunlight on her skin, but the warmth of the day had yet to recede. The insects of eventide droned on in the trees and bushes and in the air itself, beyond Ajuu's other senses but impossible to ignore. Her resolution continued to revolve within her, moving ahead notch by notch, waiting to be spoken aloud.

Ajuu halted. Time waited for no-one. "Can you see a place where we might sit down?"

"Sure. I'll take your hand."

Ajuu allowed herself to be lead aside and seated onto a sun-warmed rock by gentle talons which could pulverise bone. Kosuzu settled down right next to her. Whether it was due to necessity owing to the rock's size or Kosuzu's desire to be near her, Ajuu appreciated the intimacy.

"You have something weighing on your mind." It wasn't a question. Kosuzu had always been intelligent, and her youthful rashness had long since given way to insight brought on by both experience and forbidden knowledge.

Ajuu nodded. "It's about our future."

Kosuzu waited.

"I have roughly two weeks remaining. Perhaps three. Either way, I won't live to the next full moon."

Kosuzu squeezed her hand. It was the only acknowledgement necessary. After all, they had both known Ajuu's time was running out.

"I'll take care of the final arrangements tomorrow. After that, it's all settled and I can concentrate on living." Ajuu breathed in. It was time for the impossible part, made possible by her need to protect who she loved. "After I die, you shouldn't wait for my next reincarnation. In fact, I don't think you should seek me out at all."

The pressure on her hand was expected, as was the ripple of shock shuddering into her through the touch. What Ajuu hadn't expected was how quiet and flat Kosuzu's voice was when she next spoke. "Why?"

Ajuu took a deep breath for composure's sake, then another. A third one would have been cruelty, and so she made herself. "Because when I return, I will once again grow to be a different person. Even assuming we will survive to meet again, there is no guarantee things will be as they are now."

"I understand that. But you'll remember me. There's a lot more about me in the Chronicle now than there was before, and you remembered me just fine last time."

"You're right. I will remember you. But knowledge can only guide our emotions instead of controlling them." Ajuu shifted. There was an uncomfortable bump in the rock close to her tailbone, and she leaned into Kosuzu to escape it. The arm that settled around her was blessedly warm. "It seems almost impossible right now, but it could still happen. Even if I do believe I will fall in love with you over and over again, it's still possible for my heart to go elsewhere. It's equally possible you won't love or even like the person I will become."

"That's never going to happen."

"I don't want to trap you in your memories."

The arm around her stiffened. After a long pause, Kosuzu removed it and helped Ajuu back to her feet.

They kept walking. Ajuu went along, her heart heavier than it had been before. Hadn't she spoken to clear the air? To unshackle Kosuzu before she chained herself to Ajuu for another long wait, chained herself to stone that might — could — would —  crumble beneath her feet?

"You don't have to keep treating me like a child." Kosuzu paused just for a moment before she kept speaking, so quiet Ajuu had to strain to catch her words. "I haven't been one in a long while."

"I understand that." Even as she said that, Ajuu wondered if she truly did understand. She knew, of course, of what Kosuzu had done to become what she was now, and she knew too it was unlikely to be pure luck which had allowed Ajuu to live in the wilderness on and off for her entire life without any harm befalling her. Even so, she struggled to reconcile these ideas with her image of Kosuzu; Kosuzu, who had lost none of her optimism or curiosity upon becoming a youkai; Kosuzu, who treated her with unswerving kindness; Kosuzu, whom she could even now sense smiling.

"But maybe you're right. Maybe I'm still a little naive. Because even though I know nothing lasts forever and that I might not even live to see your next reincarnation," Kosuzu halted and guided Ajuu around an obstacle on the path, "even though I know all that, I want to hold out hope that we'll meet again. Even if things are completely different next time."

They had circled around and returned to the beach. Kosuzu let go of Ajuu, and so Ajuu made her own way to the water, walking across the fine sand that yielded underneath even the lightest foothold. She faced the bay, savouring the cool richness of the wind rushing against her skin.

She grew serious as she heard Kosuzu approach. "I've insulted you."

"You didn't, really." Kosuzu's words grew wistful. "The truth is, when I first decided to wait for you I did think of it like it was a fairy tale. That one day you'd walk out of the ocean just like you were in my final memories of you. I knew it was impossible, of course, but I still kept dreaming about that moment."

Ajuu couldn't help but sigh. "I understand the sentiment."

"That was how it began. But... while I waited, I think I grew up. For a second time, I mean. I realised that my dream was just a dream and that I didn't actually have any idea what was going to happen when you were reborn. The only thing I was sure about was that it would be different from what I thought. I didn't even know if you would recognise me as a youkai."

It struck Ajuu as very odd that Kosuzu had never mentioned any of this before. It sounded like the truth, all the same. "But you still waited."

"Of course! I just began to think about it differently. That at most I'd hope to be your friend. Someone who could help you with your work and help keep you safe. And if you wanted nothing to do with me... I would have to accept that I might end up being in pain."

Ajuu closed her eyes from the wavering shadows and looked instead at her memories, rendered in perfect vivid colours. The guileless, hopeful smile of the girl who had become a youkai to be able to meet Ajuu. The youkai who had watched over Ajuu while still giving her space, who had allowed her to see so much of Gensokyo normally inaccessible to humans. The woman who had been so startled when Ajuu, now a woman herself, had cupped her face with her hands and kissed her.

"I already knew," she finally said, stunned by the revelation. "I couldn't have not known. Then how..."

She didn't need to see Kosuzu to hear the smile in her voice. "For someone with such a perfect memory, you can be pretty forgetful."

"Oh, hush." But Ajuu couldn't help but smile as she realised just who had been trapped in her memories. Ah, vanity.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're right."

The wind blowing from the bay redoubled its efforts. Ajuu closed her eyes to keep her fringe from flying into them. "I understand now. I won't tell you what to do. If you wish to wait, then you'll wait."

"And whatever happens, happens." Kosuzu's taloned hand slipped into Ajuu's, smooth as feathers. "But right now, what I want more than anything else in the world is to spend as much time with Hieda no Ajuu as possible."

There were a few advantages to losing one's eyesight. The enhancement to Ajuu's sense of touch made the experience of embracing Kosuzu and feeling her wings enfold around her all the more vibrant.

She halted, blinking in the sudden light. There were half a dozen customers within, humans and youkai alike, nursing teacups and expressions ranging from vexed to serene. Although there were multiple chairs for each table, every single customer was solitary. What had looked like an oden cart from the outside was precisely that; no-one appeared to man it, although the occasional bang and tuneful whistle from within it told her that someone was indeed there, just beyond sight.

"Komachi," she began, more puzzled than troubled even as she clutched the Rod of Remorse closer to her chest. "We should keep our eyes—"

It was at that moment that she became aware of a distinct lack of Komachi by her side. Only Mike was there, waving her legs in the air and looking very pleased with herself.

Eiki spun around. "Komachi?"

No answer. No sight of Komachi, either.

Standing by the entrance feeling foolish wasn't going to do anyone much good. Ignoring the slow blink Mike was giving her, Eiki stepped back outside.

And collided with an invisible barrier with enough force to momentarily bounce her off her feet. She staggered back in surprise.

Mike gave her an apologetic wince. "Sorry, Sis." Her tail swished low as Eiki studied her forehead for bumps. "After I've invited ya in, ya've gotta stay a while."

"Is this your ability?" Eiki prodded at the barrier with the Rod of Remorse. It proved as solid and unyielding as a ten-foot block of ice. "What happened to Komachi?"

"She'll be fine," said a familiar voice behind Eiki. "At least, she will be according to what Mike told me. You'll be a better judge of whether it's true or not."

Eiki turned to see a slightly less familiar face smiling at her close to the back of the tent and responded in kind. "I didn't notice you before. May I join you?"

Hieda no Akyuu assented with a nod. She waited for Eiki to take the seat opposite of her before continuing. "I hope you've been well. This present situation expected, of course."

Eiki crossed her hands on the table. "I would say so. The situation in Hell remains both confusing and volatile, but that's to be expected. Has your work progressed well?"

Akyuu took a careful sip from her cup. "It has, thank you. I've kept comfortably busy. And Kosuzu..." Akyuu's smile, which bore a distinct resemblance to that of her previous incarnation, brightened and then immediately dimmed. "I hope you don't mind my saying this, but I expected her to sit where you sit now." Her smile grew more rueful still. "Especially since she's the one who wished to come here."

"Has this establishment..." Eiki gestured at their surroundings and discovered that she couldn't call them that without correcting herself. "...Tent been here for long?"

"It appeared yesterday. As for me, I have been here for ten minutes. Mike informed me that it takes at least an hour for her invitations to be considered fulfilled."

"That's longer than I had hoped." Eiki frowned at the innocuous-looking exit and Mike, who was currently occupied with a moth circling the lantern nearest to the entrance before turning her attention back to Akyuu. "Can you tell me precisely what's going on in this place?"

"I can explain that!" a muddled but cheery voice called from the bottom of the oden cart.

---

Komachi had walked merrily along for several minutes, taking in the twilight air and seeing if she could get her breath to fog up in the lingering cold from the past winter, when she realised she had at no point decided to take an evening stroll. Moreover, she was now alone, something which was the exact opposite of her plans for the night.

She halted in the middle of the path and turned to look over her shoulder. The greenness of the teahouse tent blended into the evening behind her, but she could still see it when she squinted. Distance of course meant little to her: she could be back there nearly as soon as she decided upon it.

But first, it was best to figure what had happened. It was likely nothing serious: the situation had the feel of a fairy prank to it. Still, the fact that she couldn't actually remember what had passed rubbed her the wrong way.

"Alright..." She adjusted her scythe to rest more comfortably on her shoulder. "What happened here?"

So, there was the weird teahouse, and Mike, who did strike Komachi as bit of a prankster, but who had seemed earnest enough inviting them in. Had Mike addressed her invitation to Lady Eiki alone? No, Komachi was sure it had been extended to them both.

She recalled her only previous encounter with Mike, on a lazy afternoon not that long ago when she had wandered into Gensokyo and struck up a conversation with the cat upon meeting her on the road. Mike had mentioned arriving in Gensokyo not that long ago, having only recently left behind the temple she had been born at, and that due to circumstances she had done so before she had completed her training as a maneki—

"Damn."

At the moment of realisation, Komachi became aware of of running footsteps rapidly approaching her, just in time not to be entirely surprised by someone small but fast-moving crashing into her.

"Ow!" The person who had collided with her tottered back, holding a hand to her nose. Even in the dying light and with half her face covered, she was obviously Kosuzu Motoori. "I'm sorry! I just..."

Kosuzu trailed off. Her eyes travelled first up to Komachi's face, then to the blade of her scythe. She took a startled step back.

Komachi grinned. "No need to fret. You're not dying tonight."

Kosuzu relaxed quickly in that quietly alarming way of humans who made of habit of traipsing too close to the border of the mundane and the supernatural. As her shock drained away, it was replaced by an almost mournful expression, so out of place it was almost comical.

"What's the matter?" Komachi almost began walking to see if Kosuzu would follow, but she had a funny feeling it would only result in Kosuzu crashing into her again. "It's not wise for you to run alone on a dark night like this. Did someone refuse to return your favourite book?"

Kosuzu fidgeted with her sleeves. "No, nothing like that." For a moment, she looked hesitant to speak, but once she did, the words spilled out of her in a tumble. "Actually, it's our anniversary today."

"Whose?"

Kosuzu's cheeks flushed pink. "Mine and Akyuu's."

"Really?" Komachi couldn't help but chuckle. "That's a funny coincidence."

"What is?"

"Never mind." Komachi relaxed her stance. "Let's see if I can guess what happened. Since it was your anniversary, you decided to go out to celebrate."

"That's right."

"And you happened upon a new, strange teahouse."

"Exactly!" Kosuzu halted her eager nodding to blink. "How did you know?"

"Because it sounds like we're in the same figurative boat."

"Oh." Kosuzu smiled weakly. "I suppose that's better than a literal boat. Um, I mean..."

Komachi laughed. "That'll be another day." Before Kosuzu could become too unsettled, she nudged her head towards the road behind them. "Come on. Let's go find our dates."

---

"Here you go." Suika Ibuki slammed the teacup onto the table with enough force to make half the liquid within leap into the air. Miraculously, not only were both the table and cup undamaged, but the drink returned into the cup without so much as a single drop spilling. She winked. "I'd say it's on the house, but I'm guessing you'd take that for a bribe."

Eiki took the cup gingerly. Seeing its contents in the air had already made it obvious it was filled with anything but tea, but the scent confirmed it. "Is this sake?"

"Well, yeah."

"The sign outside said you're running a teahouse."

"Yeah, yeah. Is there a law saying you can't serve sake in a teahouse?"

Eiki had to concede the point. "Not in Gensokyo, no."

"See? Try it. It's good." Suika turned towards Akyuu. "Care for a refill?"

As Akyuu murmured a demurral, Eiki took a sip from her drink. It was indeed rather good, but that was beside the real matter at hand. She looked up. "Suika—"

Suika had already left the table. Eiki watched her stalk around the tent, grinning as she went, gathering empty cups and refilling others with seemingly no input from the patrons.

"So where was I?" She returned and cheerfully pulled out the remaining seat for herself. If she was discomfited by any lingering memories of the less than auspicious circumstances during which she had last encountered Eiki, she showed no signs of it, instead beaming with the brightness shared by the very innocent and inveterate liars. "A story of some kind?"

"You were about to explain why we can't leave."

"Yeah, that's right. So this teahouse is just a bit of fun. I'll get going as soon as Reimu finds out I've set up shop this close to the village." Suika grinned. "Actually, I think I'll wait for her to show up. It's more fun that way."

Akyuu offered her a polite smile. Eiki pushed her cup aside. "And then you hired Mike?"

"That's right." Suika took Eiki's cup and downed it in a single long swig before continuing. "Of course, I don't really need her to gather customers. I can use my foregathering ability to bring people over just fine. But it feels more like a proper teahouse with an employee, doesn't it?"

"A floor might have a similar effect," commented Akyuu dryly.

"Anyway, since Mike can only invite one person in at a time, I decided to gather people into the area so that even if only half of them got in we'd still have plenty of customers. It worked really well, too. Until people tried to leave. I tried making the people disperse once they got stuck, obviously, but for some reason it only worked on those who hadn't been invited in at all. I'm guessing our abilities got entangled in some mysterious way."

Eiki nodded. "I see."

"Anyway, you don't have to worry. Everyone gets to leave eventually. Even the person stuck for the longest managed to walk out after two hours."

Akyuu set her cup down. "At least one of us may not have to wait for that long." She raised her voice. "Mike?"

Mike, who was no longer paying attention to the moth and was instead swinging her leg back and forth, jerked her head upwards. "What's up, Sis?"

"Can you step out for a moment?"

"Sure." Mike dove out. "Now what?"

Akyuu stood up and nodded at Suika. "Thank you for your hospitality." She gestured at Eiki to join her at the tent's entrance and waited until they were both there before speaking again. "Mike, can you attempt to invite us outside?"

"Oh, I see." Eiki smiled as she grasped Akyuu's intent. "Even if the invitation can only work on one of us, it still means one of us will be free to go."

"I hope you're the one invited out." Akyuu's smile was thin but sincere. "Unnerving as it is being this close to multiple youkai, I have made my peace with waiting here. After all, by remaining in one place I have better odds of re-uniting with—"

"Akyuu!"

They turned to look outside. Kosuzu hovered right behind Mike, bopping her head around in an effort to see past her. Behind her, calm but still curious, stood Komachi. Upon noticing Eiki, she gave her a cheery little wave.

Akyuu's smile immediately warmed to the point where its brightness was a match to the lanterns. "Everything is fine, Kosuzu. It's only a small supernatural obstacle."

Kosuzu gave a distracted nod, then turned towards Mike, looking almost ready to put hands on the cat. "Please invite us in!"

Mike's eyes darted from Komachi and Kosuzu to Akyuu and Eiki and then back. She frowned. "Kay, how about we try somethin' like this?"

She positioned herself in the tent's entrance, one foot in, one foot out. Before anyone could do anything to stop her, she beckoned with both hands. "Welcome!"

The next thing Eiki knew, she had collided with something unyielding but relatively soft.

"Oof." Komachi staggered back, then reached out to steady Eiki. She grinned. "At this rate I'm going to be qualified to work as a roadblock."

Back on her feet, Eiki looked around. She was outside again, with Komachi's hands on her arms and the tent securely behind. "Who knows how far I would have walked if you hadn't stopped me. Thank you for catching me."

"Did you ever doubt I wouldn't?"

Eiki smiled back at her. "No. I didn't."

They looked back. Within the tent, Kosuzu was clinging to Akyuu's arm, speaking rapidly but too quietly for any discernible words to make it outside the tent. Mike was watching them from her perch, smiling with self-satisfaction.

"Well, that worked out great." Suika came to the entrance, beaming as though Mike's success was hers as well. "Must be fate." She winked. "And don't worry about paying. The drink was on the house after all."

Given that most of the drink remained in the house, Eiki found little cause to complain. "Thank you." She frowned. "Don't invite more people in until you have understood what causes this. Consider—"

"Yeah, sure." Suika made a sweeping wave. "Have a good night!"

She retreated back into the tent. Only Mike remained near the entrance, still pleased with herself.

"That didn't exactly work out, huh?" said Komachi, smiling all the while.

"Yes, I suppose it didn't." Eiki watched Akyuu and Kosuzu retake the table Akyuu had previously occupied, smiling at each other all as though they were the only two people in the world. "But it doesn't seem to have done any harm, either. Should we consider the grilled lamprey stand?"

"Funny. I was just thinking I was in the mood for some fried fish." Komachi let go to adjust her scythe, which had nearly fallen from her shoulder in the collision, then held out her hand. "How about we go see what else fate has in store for us tonight?"