Blossom of Bodhisattva (Touhou)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hfs5a7_9aI&ab_channel=SkuddeOuo

[A Tengu who wants an interview]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

A man, though not truly a man, a youkai in the guise of one was before you in the snow. He was stick thin, with pale hair barely darker than the snow around him, and the dull grey jacket wrapped around him only further emphasized how bony he was. The only splash of color in his features was the bright red scarf peeking out from under the jacket, the same color as the rims outlining the strange glass disks he has perched atop his nose, in front of each eye.

The tight and narrow cast of his face may have seemed suited for severe glares - except that he seemed genuinely cheerful and energized by his current task, as he knelt in the snow. He had not yet noticed your presence, as he poked a small measuring stick into one of the many piles of snow that had built up around the trees, and meticulously took note of the reading.

Based on how rapidly he flipped through his notes, he must have taken dozens, perhaps even hundreds of such readings already, but he seems fully entranced by his repetitive task. Poking out of the satchel at his side, you can see even more notebooks and loose pages, showing that this is far from an isolated event. Even as you draw closer, he still continues to ignore your presence - and while your footsteps were silent, the fairy riding atop you was not.

Only when you walk past him does he finally notice you, out of the corner of his eye. He turns to face you momentarily. "Hmm? Oh, a human!" he nods in greeting, then turns back to his work.

A moment passes, and then he suddenly startles, as if remembering something, fumbling and dropping his stick as he once again focuses on you. "Wait, wait, I'm supposed to… are you from Outside? If you are, it's, er, it's not safe for humans here, you could encounter something dangerous!"

You smile, the care was more than you had expected, admittedly. "I am yes, in multiple facets of the term 'from Outside', and I shall be fine my good young friend."

"Oh, bird people. They always try to sell me papers then get upset when I don't carry money." Cirno mutters. Quietly, but not too quietly. The form of quiet one uses when one wishes to appear to be discrete, while wanting everyone to know your exact thoughts. You had unfortunately met more than one person in your long years with the habit.

His eyes flick up to the fairy, and his eyes widen, his hand reaching up to adjust his glasses. "Oh, you have that one with you? Good, good, she can protect you, I can stick to my measurements… although, wait. I'm supposed to note down anything interesting." He leans in towards you. "Are you interesting? You've gotten the ice fairy's attention, that's interesting already. Wait, who are you again?"

Your smile dampens, somewhat. "I would less say I had her along, more that I wished to protect her from the dangers of the forest myself. As for introductions, I am Hijiri, a servant of the Buddha."

"Hijiri, Hijiri… I've heard that before, somewhere. Buddha. Another religious war? Haven't paid attention to that side…" He's pulled up his notepad now, flipping through it quickly to a new page as he mutters. He looks back up at you. "So you've intentionally come to Gensokyo - not just been spirited away? Are you looking for something in particular?"

"Indeed," you say, moving to lean against your staff. "I am seeking my sister, she runs a local temple in this land. I am not here to start a war, to play off your original idea."

"Huh. Would be a nice change of pace, I guess - a new religious leader showing up without immediately causing a whole Incident. I'd have to go look up the last time that happened, I can't even remember anything like that." He continues scribbling for a moment, then suddenly pauses. "Sister. That's where I've heard that. Byakuren Hijiri." He looks up at you, his smile widening. "Oh my, I've never been able to report on her before, the higher-ups always claim the religious stories, they're such consistent big news-"

He seems to catch himself, and after a moment to compose himself, bows slightly. "Sir, please, could I have an interview?"

"To what end?"

He seems flummoxed "... to write up and put in the newspaper?"

"And what is a newspaper?" you ask, puzzled.

He blinks, slowly. "How old… right, so, erm. So uh, a newspaper is a paper, a sheaf of paper, more than one actually, although I suppose you could use parchment, and nowadays it's digital pretty often, but you wouldn't know about that so let's stick to the paper, right? And then the paper, you put news in it -so news, paper, newspaper. And the news is articles and interviews and it's all about, uh, it's supposed to 'elucidate the uneducated reader and present them with a condensed summary of the goings-on of the world, such that they may shape their understanding of life', or that's what my aunt says. So I take news, well mostly I take measurements, like snowfall levels or mushroom growth rates or leaf-fall speeds and then I compile them into charts, I don't normally do interviews, so this would be a big step up for me, and… and… wait, are you even following that? Did I screw it up!?"

"I understood enough, young man." You say, saying a slight fib without truly lying. It was a chronicle of a sort you supposed, you had never been asked before, but you failed to see the harm in it. "I would not be against it, though I would ask you for directions to her temple if at all possible."

He slowly sighs in relief. "Alright. Alright. Great. Thank you. And yeah, I can tell you how to get to the temple, it's right by the Human Village, once you're there you can't miss it. Right. So, um, Hijiri, sir - who are you? You're a… monk?"

You were directed here with a task, what that task was you see no cause to reveal. But your status? That was never meant to be a secret. "I am a Bodhisattva."

"Oh. That's… you're - enlightened? And you serve the Buddha directly? I remember that much… How does that work?"

"It is quite simple, I have walked the eightfold path and have reached the highest state of my being. And, via personal will I have chosen to return to aid others reach the same conclusion." You reply, smiling fully once more.

His smile grows slightly stilted, and one of his hands drifts down towards his jacket. "... this isn't one of those things where you 'help others reach the right conclusion' through force, right? We've had intruders like that before…"

"Were there any who would do so, they would not be considered a true follower of the path. Strife and violence is not the way, and those who would claim to do so in the Buddha's name I would speak to personally."

"Okay, uh, good? Um, right, interview, uhhhhh… right, okay, what do you think of Gensokyo so far?"

"Quite violent." You reply, gesturing to the fairy perched atop your head.

"I challenged him to a duel… it was a draw." Cirno says, sounding chipper in the first half, dour in the second.

"A… draw? Wait, how did you even meet… you're Cirno, right?"

"Duh!" Cirno responds, eloquently.

"She took issue with my entrance into Gensokyo and challenged me to a battle, I refused, she persisted. So I simply waited for her to tire herself out." You reply.

"Really?" His focus is once again fully upon his notes. "I've heard many times that she's too hard-headed to ever give up on a notion once she's latched onto it, but I suppose even she must have her limits…" He flips back through the previous pages he's filled out. "Right, so you only just arrived, you're here to see your sister, no war desired… any other message you want to have printed and shared? If not, we can wrap this up, I think."

"None comes to mind," you answer honestly. "Has your mother fully recovered from her ailment young man?"

"..." He looks up. "She's… wait. You… know her?"

You smile. "Atago Shion, four hundred and ninety, cancer at the base of the wings I believe?"

For once, his hands are still at his sides. "Right. That was before I was born, they said that she'd waste away, but she… miraculously recovered. She still lost her flight, permanently, but she's otherwise healthy… should I be thanking you? Was that you?"

You shake your head. "I had no hand in her recovery, I simply know of her, as I do you Ryuji. And Cirno, and the rest."

"Oh. So you… right. So that's what… Enlightened. Um." He turns his face away, and seizing upon the measurement stick he abandoned in the snow, he begins to fidget with it. "I, uh, need to go back to my measurements. You can. Please, uh, leave?"

You smile one final time, "of course, please do have a good day."

With that you walked past the tengu, making your way to the village you saw before.

"You knew who I was?" Cirno asks curiously.

"Name, not personality." You reply. "And your life is a mystery to me I must admit, most curious."

"What's 'curious'?"

"I shall explain in due time."

—

The young man stated 'right by' the Human Village, and to your satisfaction you found him to be correct. You hadn't bothered entering the village itself, there was little reason for you to do so. But it seemed pleasant enough, more sizable than those you had visited back when you were alive, with a pleasant mix of simple houses to grand estates. You had however, as stated, no reason to enter it, as from the very moment you had left the forest you had spotted your destination. It sat just outside the walls that were built around the village.

It was… sizable, and changed from when you had been alive. Gone was the simple wooden structure, now it was a grand, multistory thing surrounded by gleaming white stones and banners advertising it as the 'Myouren Temple'. It was ostentatious, well maintained and advertising wealth and success. And that was just the gate, behind it was a truly expansive compound with a good dozen buildings. It would not be a surprise that the temple had changed since your death, but you would never expect it to be this… grand.

"We going?"

"I am, yes. Do you plan on coming with me?"

Cirno shrugs from her perch atop your head. "Got nothin' better to do."

"Then it shall be so." You reply, then begin your trek to the temple, you arrive there quickly and without issue. Your ears could pick up sermons and conversation coming into the temple, and with slight effort you could distinguish the conversations… But you avoid doing so. Now that you were closer, you saw yet more that you were not overly fond of. The front had been partially converted to a graveyard, stone pillars rising in front of it, giving the building more the presence of a mausoleum than a place of peace and contemplation. Tall red banners snapped in the wind, each bearing the name 'Myouren', placed next to the steps like a general's banner, a show of strength? Perhaps, but for what purpose. The steps themselves were spotless, new marble freshly swept and clean, with nary a mark nor scuff upon them.

This was no temple, not by any standard of your time.

It was a lord's palace.

You find yourself paused, observing it all for a moment, then you turn your head towards the figure that had been staring at you since the moment you arrived.

—

[] [A young youkai with a broom, joyous.]

[] [A raccoon-dog pretending to be human, terrified.]

[] [An ancient youkai, grinning.]

[] [A servant of war, somber]

[] [A nun, drunk]

[] [A mouse, angry]