Shrine Maiden (A Modern-Day Touhou Quest)

The chirping of birds doesn't so much wake Rei up as it fills her with determination. Today was the day. She wouldn't lose to the incessant chatter happening outside her window. Today, she would reclaim her rights as a teenager. She wouldn't drag herself out of bed until the sun had begun its descent in the sky. And she was prepared for this ordeal. Every pillow in her shrine was within arm's reach, just waiting to block out light and sound. All she needed to do was reach for them.

And reach for them she does. An endless pile of pillows mutes the caterwauling of obnoxious birds. Blankets blot out the sun. Everything is peaceful. Dark. And hot.

Rei huffs and flinches back from the heat of the exhale. She couldn't sleep like this. She'd die from asphyxiation. Or heatstroke.

A frustrated scream is muffled by the same bedding that is currently suffocating her before she throws them off. She breathes deeply of the fresh, cool air and directs the blackest scowl she can manage toward her window, where countless birds are chirping in mockery of her utter defeat. This meant war.

With a groan, Rei pulls herself upright and shambles toward the kitchen. It was time for tea. She'd feel more alive and far less murderous with some caffeine in her.

A cabinet door swings back, and she reaches in for her trusty tea kettle with one hand, even as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. Only she doesn't feel the cool touch of cast iron. She doesn't feel anything.

Dark eyes stare at where she'd placed her kettle every night after cleaning it. She blinks in confusion. There was nothing there. Her kettle was gone. Frustration, confusion, and panic flooded her in a complex surge of emotion almost as invigorating as a fresh cup of tea.

Far more quickly than her shuffle to the kitchen, Rei dashes to the back porch. Maybe she'd left it there last night after watching the stars. A glance is all it takes to tell her it's not there, and she ignores the serene peacefulness of dawn flickering across the morning dew as she rushes back inside.

Her bedroom was next, but it's not there either. Nor was it in the main hall or any of the spare rooms. Neither was it in the room with the yin-yang ball sitting on its altar. And thank the gods for that; she didn't want to have to go into that room at all. It was kind of… intimidating.

With the interior of her shrine checked, Rei rushes out the front door, pausing just long enough to slip on her shoes. The shrine grounds were not large, but with all the bushes she'd planted, it would take a minute to check.

Rei bends down to look under the flowing blossoms of her hydrangeas. She checks the gentle roots of cherry trees for a tell-tale shimmer of polished iron. Her eyes rake across freshly planted flower beds. All for naught.

Despair threatens to overwhelm her until she spots a flicker of something sitting beneath the mini-shrine set on the corner of the grounds.

How did it get over there…?

The question rings in her head but is drowned out by relief and the whoosh of air past her ears as she practically sprints across the lawn. Skidding to an abrupt, graceless stop, she leans forward and wraps her fingers around the smooth wooden handle and carefully, delicately picks up her prize.

Several minutes later, water boils happily on the top of her Thermo-Cooler. Rei sighs contentedly as she leans back into a carefully arranged stack of pillows and wraps a thin blanket around her shoulders to ward off the slight pre-dawn chill.
Today was a day for relaxing. All she needed to do was buy groceries. That and she should probably call Auntie to let her know she wasn't dead. But even taken together, the two tasks weren't more than an hour or so of things to do, even counting the walk to and from her shrine.

Yes. Today was a day for relaxing because tomorrow would be a day for mystery. Mysteries like tea kettles that apparently grow legs and walk away. Or garments with weird lettering that appear at the exact moment they were needed. Or shopkeepers able to create electronic appliances beyond anything even remotely available in other places.


Rei shifts her grocery bags from one hand to the other as the fabric straps begin to dig a bit too deeply into the palm of her hand. Why couldn't her mother have left her a car instead of a shrine? At least then she wouldn't have to lug a week's worth of groceries halfway across town every time she needed to stock up on food. She resolutely ignores the voice in her mind telling her what a stupid question that was and that she'd never have left Seattle for a Honda.

Who would fly to Japan for a beat-up Civic? The tickets would cost more than the car.

The door to the Western Union dings open, and she steps inside, lugging her groceries behind her. Rei looks around, frowning at how similar it was to the last time she'd visited. Once again, the store is empty of people except for the same old man reading a dirty magazine behind the counter. Just like last time, he doesn't even bother looking up as she clumps over to the rack of pay phones.

Rei sets her groceries down in a defensive barrier around her—hoping that her coffee-flavored ice cream won't melt too much while she talks to Auntie—and fumbles for her wallet. A ¥500 coin stares back at her from a paltry shell of ¥5000 notes, and she sighs. She was almost broke.

Not that much different from high school, I guess…

She reaches forward, punches in eleven digits, and waits as the phone rings.

"So, you're not dead yet?" Auntie's voice, still a bit rough from sleep, greets her.

"Don't sound so disappointed, Auntie." Rei grins into the receiver. As interesting as Japan has been, it was still good to hear her voice.

"I'm just disappointed that two weeks in Japan and you haven't learned a damned thing about time zones." The grumbled complaint is accompanied by the sound of footsteps stomping down stairs.

"Two weeks, really?" she mouths into the phone. Had time really passed that quickly? It must have. "Huh, I guess I've been busy."

"Sleeping until noon and lazing about, no doubt."

"There's too many birds for that. I've been up at dawn every day since I arrived." Rei whines into the phone.

"Hah," the mockery in Auntie's cackle is evident even through the slight static of the connection. "Serves your lazy ass right… college applications are soo much work Auntie; I'll just apply somewhere I know I'll get in…"

"Hmph," Rei grumps audibly but can't quite keep the embarrassment from flooding her cheeks. She had said that and had been so arrogant about saying it, too. She couldn't just let that bit of mockery slide, though, and thanks to a trip to that weirdo lawyer, she had a perfect defense. "Yeah, well, it worked out. I got a scholarship offer from Kyoto U. A much better school than UW."

"How'd you manage that kid?" Auntie makes no effort to hide the skepticism in her voice. "I'd bet my mortgage that applications for the fall are long since closed."

"Well, its… mymotherhelpedatenuredprofessorwithsomethingandshe'sofferedmeaspot." The words flood out of her in a single breath as her perfect defense crumbles around her.

"Hmm… say that again. It sounded like you were trying to defend yourself with something you didn't do a thing to deserve. But I know that a respectable young lady like would never try to pass off some good luck as the result of her own hard work…"

"That's…" Rei sighs in defeat. "Fine. You may be right. It's still a scholarship offer, though."

"Which, given what I know of my dear niece," Auntie sounds unbearably smug as she cracks open a bottle of something. "She hasn't even bothered to find out anything about it."

"I've been busy," she sighs again, her face falling into a slight pout that's only slightly ruined by a small grin that refuses to fade. "The shrine's been a lot…"

"You don't…" Auntie trails off for a long moment. "I wasn't sure about… when I saw Miya's letter, I worried… about a lot of things. About you going off to Japan by yourself. About you trying to balance your life here with whatever would be waiting for you there. About whether I'd done enough to raise you into the kind of resilient young woman that could deal with finding out about your long-lost mother and the legacy she left behind. But you seem happy… content."

"I-" Rei chokes. She blinks some stray water from her eyes and clears her throat. "I think I am, Auntie."

"Tell me about it."

She does. She talks about meeting Marisa and getting a job working with flowers, though she glosses over just how flirty Yuuka can be. The last thing she needed was Auntie hopping a plane and coming here to give her pervert boss a piece of her mind—on the other hand; it might be entertaining to watch… in the same way explosions were. She talks about the strange devices she'd bought from an even stranger girl and the work she'd put in to fix up her shrine. She even talks about…

"I found her gravesite… mother's." Rei breathes the last word out so softly that it's barely audible and then continues speaking in a completely flat monotone, as though she were reciting from a recipe book. "It looked like no one had been there in years. I cleaned it up and left an offering."

"That's… you did good, kid." The sympathy in Auntie's voice was almost painful to hear. "Miya tried her best… sometimes life won't let that be enough."

"Yeah."

Silence stretches on both ends of the conversation for a seemingly endless moment until Auntie finally breaks it. "It sounds like you'll be staying there for a while."

"There are… yeah," Rei cuts herself off before she can mention anything about the mysteries surrounding Gensokyo. "Probably for a while."

"I kind of figured… Gensokyo has a pull to it that's hard to explain to people that haven't been there." Auntie humms into the phone the way she does when she's thinking seriously about something. "Well, I'm not quite made of money, but law pays well enough, and the least I can do is send my favorite niece a few bucks every now and then."

"I'm your only niece, Auntie," she responds instinctively before the offer quite filters through her mind. "You don't-"

"Wouldn't be much of a parent if I didn't." Auntie cuts her off before she can decline the offer like she had last time. "Enough to cover food and a night out every now and then."

"That's-"

"Say thank you, Auntie." Auntie's voice sing-songs through the phone and Rei can only sigh. Sigh and smile.

"Thank you, Auntie."

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Rei wanted to say yes; it was, but she could hardly turn down that kind of generosity. Plus, it would be nice to be able to eat at a restaurant rather than whatever she could heat in the Thermo-Cooler. "No, Auntie. I guess it wasn't."

"That's what I wanted to hear-" there's an audible yawn, "now go and enjoy your time in Gensokyo and let an old woman get some sleep."

"Good night, Auntie. I'll try to call even later next time." The phone hangs up with a muffled curse, and Rei grins. It was good to talk with her.


I've decided to change how event options work (now listed as mystery options). They no longer limit Rei to one action per turn, but only one mystery option can be undertaken at a time.

Rei will now receive a periodic allowance from her aunt.

Reminder: Rei has ¥12000 and 5 day of food left.

Rei has 2 actions available.

Exploration Options - Find a new place at random or look for a specific one
[] Explore the neighborhood around the shrine [1 of X discovered]
[] Explore Gensokyo [0 of X discovered]
[] Go hiking in the mountains around Gensokyo [0 of X discovered]

Social Options - Hang out with the friends and those important to you
[] Meet up with Marisa
[] Hang out with Nitori
[] Call Auntie

Hobby Options - Improve an existing hobby or learn a new one
[] Go to the arcade [Video Games] [¥500 - 1000]
[] Read manga [Reading]
[] Clean up the graveyard [Gardening]
[] Start a new hobby.
-[] write in which. Previously mentioned hobbies are art, exercise, sports, history, movies, camping, and music. Other hobbies can be written in

Shopping Options - Make the shrine and your existence there more pleasant
[] Buy home repair supplies [¥5000 - 10000]
[] Buy some electronic entertainment items [¥5000 - 10000]
[] Buy some furniture [> ¥10000]

Food Options - Feed yourself for a day or longer
[] Find a restaurant [¥1000 - 2000]
[] Go get dessert [¥500 - 1000]

Employment Options - Find a job so you can afford to buy stuff
[] Go work for Yuuka
[] See if the convenience store is hiring

Mystery Options - Try to unravel the inexplicable happenings in Gensokyo
[] Investigate the shrine with Marisa.
[] Translate the strange language on Rei's miko outfit.
[] Work on Nitori's cucumber patch.

Travel Options - the train station at Gensokyo opens up vast expanses of Japan for exploration
[] Visit Professor Okazaki about the scholarship to Kyoto U.

Write-in Options - The world is vast beyond belief and mysterious beyond words
[] Instead of writing out a neverending list of things to do, I'll leave this here if voters want to do something else. Write-ins may well be incorporated into the turn options even if not chosen, so feel free to suggest whatever you want to see and do.



[AN]
Updated some of the mechanics of the quest that I hope will give voters more freedom to choose what they want to see and do. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, but Rei is not the only one trying to work through how she feels about things with her mother.