Blossom of Bodhisattva (Touhou)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWgwi5Wd-o0

[Ichirin]
A lost child, seeking guidance. Her companion, terrified of being banished. Two lives linked together, worried you'll tear them apart.

—

You could hear them, you could hear just about everyone. But you focus on no-one. For that would be rude. So instead, you looked towards the residences of the Buddhists, temporary though they may be. Tomorrow you will be meeting with Shinki and Sariel to retrieve Alice. But for now, you had to obtain food, likely from the Human Village. Which was why you were very happy someone was stomping up to you looking quite angry.

That was quite common, come to think of it. It was Ichirin. The closest thing that your sister's temple had to a nun. Though, you knew she was far from it. For she had as many vices, and in some ways, more vices than most in this place. That was to say nothing of her conjoining with a youkai, a most unusual occurrence. She was also looking quite perturbed, but that, as mentioned, was far from unusual lately, and as she came to a stomping stop in front of you, faint wisps of pink smoke were coiling around her. A sign that the youkai she merged with, Unzan, was near… though he had not deigned to show himself.

You smile. "Good afternoon, young Ichirin."

She rolls her eyes as she walks closer. "Cut the crap. You've done nothing but make trouble since you showed up, and I've tolerated that for now out of respect for your sister… but now you've gone and made her cry." She snorts. "Not gonna lie, I expected better."

"So goes life, you are but one of many that expected better. For it seems that with my arrival the world should have sounded trumpets and called the end of all suffering." You lean slightly against your staff. "But alas, not as such. And my sister and I have made up and reached an understanding in any case."

Ichirin hums. "Yeah. She's a softie in the end. Part of why I like her so much - she's willing to give people she really shouldn't some credit. Youkai, monsters, killers… and you. Sometimes she's right, and sometimes she's wrong. But she tries." She leans back on her heels. "I'll follow her lead, for now. Not like I can do much to stop you, if trusting you ends up being one of her mistakes."

Your smile dims. "I admire your candor and bluntness. To dance around words is to merely delay life. But do be careful whom you choose to insult as well, young Ichirin. I am aware of your own dalliances upon the path. All of them."

She nods. "Maybe. But while I'm not the most well read Buddhist, I've read enough - you'd know what my thoughts were either way, hmm? No point pussyfooting around the point." She sighs. "And in what world am I 'young'? I'm barely a decade younger than you."

"You are not young in years." You admit. "Yet still you stand before me a nun, via your own choices. Not a priestess, nor anything else. You grew too fond of the form you have."

She frowns. "Now you sound like Unzan. I've played the sage old woman role before. Never really fit me. I've always preferred to just act, get in the thick of things, go out and risk it." Her hand idly drifts through the pink smoke around her, as she talks. "It's a lie, in some ways, to take this form, sure. But it would be a lie in other ways to pretend to be some crone. Might as well be comfortable while I'm here."

You sigh, you do not need to, but it gets the point across. "Ichirin, you are as failed as my sister. To what end do you make this conversation? She turned to her dark arts out of grief and fear of death. Explain yourself."

She blinks. "Which part? Why I owe Byakuren? Why I'm confronting you?"

"No." You reply. "This." Then you tap your staff against the ground. Instantly, the pink smoke stills, then violently wrenches itself away from Ichirin. Unzan gains form, an olds man's face amidst smoke. You turn your attention to the cloud, it's expression a face of panic. You did not summon it, you did not call it. You separated it from Ichirin.

Ichirin, whose expression has twisted into pure fury. "You absolute fuck."

You smile. "Thank you, now you are truly speaking your mind."

She glares up at you. "I fucking knew you'd do some bullshit like this. If you think killing my best friend is going to make me a better person, I think you've made an enormous mistake."

You tilt your head. "Kill him? Whyever would I do that?"

She, somehow, gets angrier. "I already told you to cut the crap, asshole. You're stronger than me, and now you're fucking with my sou–"

You turn your attention to Unzan, while Ichirin continues to rant. "Good morning, I merely wished to ask if she had been treating you well."

The cloud spirit spares you a worried glance, before his enormous hand slowly descends, enveloping Ichirin in a facsimile of a hug. Gently, he nudges the girl backwards, taking up a position in front of her. Ready to defend her, you can sense, should you be a danger.

"I do understand your hesitance, but I have no qualm with youkai, unless they knowingly commit evil for the sake of it. You were a maneater once, it is true. But that is no different than a tiger preying upon a farmer. One cannot blame the animal, for it is on the path just as everything else is." You look past the cloud towards the still ranting monk as she continues to scream invectives at you. "What a firebrand."

Unzan hesitantly smiles. Pride at Ichirin's spiritedness, mixed with exasperation at the troubles it has caused the two over the centuries. And overarching it all - he would die for her, in a heartbeat. And she would die for him. You've separated their spirits, for now, but you cannot simply wave a hand and split centuries of shared life and memories.

You tap the staff again, and once more, things return to normal. Or, at least as normal as an immortal monk bound to a youkai could be. But then, was there really a point of delineation anymore?

Ichirin stumbles to her knees, taking deep, gasping breaths, as she tries to regain her spiritual equilibrium.

"Are you ready to talk in a more calm manner now?" you ask gently.

She looks up at you, and now that distant wariness has been replaced with a quiet loathing… and significant fear. "You- Fine. Fine. You win." She sounds defeated.

"I was not aiming to. I have no desire to harm you, or Unzan, or Kyouko or Nue. Or any of the other various youkai around. I have not harmed my sister. I have spoken to her of my purpose here, no you may not know what that is. And we have come to an understanding." You smile once more. "I took pains to remind her of her failings and successes, there are still prayer scrolls with teeth marks locked away in the ruins of the temple after all."

She stares at you for a moment. Then another. Then, almost unconsciously, she starts to laugh. The first giggle that slips through her lips seems to almost surprise her. "You… heh. You've done all this… and you weren't aiming to hurt anyone? Hahahaha!" Unzan's smoke wraps around her for a moment, in a supportive gesture. "Oh man. I'd say that you're lying to my face, but I know you can't. That… that almost gives me some hope. If even a Bodhisattva can be such a fuckup and still be fine, well. Maybe all of the other mistakes people make aren't so bad after all."

"Truly, do you think of me as such?"

She sighs. "Maybe. Maybe I'm just stuck in the pain of the moment, and can't see the future yet. But from where I'm sitting, this doesn't feel like a success. For either of us, really. You know why I wanted to talk to you in the first place, right? Seeing the hearts of men and all that?"

"Indeed, you were worried for the safety of your companion. I understand this. You exist as a conjoined being, a youkai and not. Human, yet not. If I so wanted I could simply have destroyed him, I could destroy any youkai within Gensokyo. Yet I willingly travel with Nue, entertain Kyouko, and teach Cirno. And you believe I would find fault with Unzan?"

She slowly levers herself up off the ground. "When you put it like that… But you've caused Murasa plenty of pain already."

"That was Reimu. I did not so much as lift my staff in my own defense."

She sighs. "There's an argument there, about the extent to which you goaded her. But I'm not really feeling up to arguing w-"

Your smile widens slightly. "You fear for your master and your companion. Such a thing is not worth feeling any grief about." You turn your head then, Murasa was out of sight, two buildings over. You stare at her for a moment, the Youkai had been suffering in silence, this much was true. Perhaps it was to not worry Byakuren? You had not given it much thought, she would live regardless, even if losing her 'haunt' was painful to her, and you had greater worries.

—


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiErWuWafeE

—

Reaching out a hand, you place it atop Ichirin's head, then you are both gone. Standing in front of Murasa a second later.

Ichirin jumps backwards like a startled cat a moment later, the pink smoke growing denser, but she manages to restrain herself from outright attacking you.

Murasa, on the other hand… somewhat listlessly turns to look at you. "Oh. It's you. Ahoy."

"Ahoy." You reply, then tap the rings of your staff onto her head.

You remove it a moment later, then look at Ichirin. "It is done."

Ichirin blinks. "What did you even-"

Murasa shivers in place for a moment, before standing up. Though "standing up" might be too simple a term - she shoots up like a cork held underwater, getting to her feet quickly enough that for a normal human, it would be impossible.

"Feeling better?" you ask.

The ghost stretches her arms out, and the cracking sounds that emanate remind you of old, rotted timber. "Much better, aye. Didn't think I'd feel this well for months, at least."

You nod your head. "You are now sharing in haunting this shrine with the other ghost present here. Please do not cause too many problems for the shrine maiden, she is being very patient with us." Then you turn your focus to Ichirin. "You or her simply needed to ask and I would help. I am here to help after all. I am just unfortunately very busy."

Ichirin blinks. "Wow, now I feel like an asshole." She steps forward. "You're still kinda a dick, though. Couldn't have made your point without scaring me half-to-death?"

You smile slightly more. "I would like you to imagine something. Imagine you had spent all of your life in devotion to Buddhism, every waking moment. Studying, practicing, working. You had followers, you had a temple, and you had someone you loved very much. Imagine comforting them as you stepped upon the next path of your journey, only for them to not do the same. Imagine waiting for them, only to see them fall to the dark practices you had spent your entire life teaching them against. Imagine watching them being sealed for their evil deeds, returning, then changing nothing as you continue to wait for them to rejoin you. I would like you to imagine this." Your smile fades away. "One apparently cannot get by with simple words alone."

Ichirin and Murasa both rock back from the intensity of your words. It's Ichirin who responds first, as the silence begins to stretch. "Right. I figured it was something like that, didn't expect to actually hear it straight from you." She catches Murasa's eye, before continuing. "We're not actually stupid, y'know. Byakuren isn't following the Buddhist path perfectly, we can all see that. But if you think she's actually changed nothing since her darkest days, then I think you're missing things too. She's the only reason I'm able to function in society at all. I owe her practically everything. Murasa's in a similar situation."

The ghost spirit nods. "Aye. I was… trapped with nothing but my hate, my fear, my loathing. For decades."

"I am aware, I would have simply wiped away your presence and entered you back upon the cycle." You say, looking at Murasa. "Speaking of which, are you ready to move on?"

She blinks. "...no?" She then pauses, actually thinking about it. Ichirin narrows her eyes at you, but before she can speak up, Murasa continues. "...No, not yet, thanks. Still got some ties, positive ones, that I want to see through, for now."

"So be it," you say warmly. "It is, after all, your decision as long as you aren't harming others." Then you return your focus to Ichirin. "I am aware of how she has changed, for I am aware of what caused her to be sealed. It was not simply her fondness for Youkai, after all. There is blood on her hands, and she shall spend the rest of her existence making up for that. But it is not my place to judge, and I don't, and I shall not. I am disappointed, to be sure. But I am not her judge. I am not here for her at all, truly. I merely went to see her despite my orders. Because I was worried about her."

Ichirin hums, slowly. "Man. My theory that you're a fuckup like the rest of us is getting stronger by the minute. But this side of you… I think I can tolerate you, if you're going to be like this. Just… don't fuck with people without asking, please? It's gonna be a lot easier to deal with you if you don't just poke people's souls."

The world around the three of you falls silent, the work about the shrine becomes little more than a distant, foggy noise. The birds fade away, even the wind stills. You turn to face Ichirin fully, your staff raising slightly. "Do you wish to continue to insult me? If you will not learn, must it be Unzan? Will he take your punishment?"

She stares up at you for a long moment, before smirking. "You're fucking with m-" That's as far as she gets, before the pink smoke suddenly wraps around her mouth and muffles her. As she's dragged backwards, Unzan's visage becomes briefly visible in the mist behind her. His expression is that of long-standing suffering, as he shakes his head in commiseration with you.

… You turn your attention towards Murasa. "Good sailor, would you mind doing me a favor?"

She blinks, then turns from her staring at Ichirin's antics to face you. "... Depends on the favor, but I owe you somethin' at least for helping me out. Let's hear it."

"I require you to haunt something for me."

She nods. "Aye, could do that. Would be easiest if it was a boat, or nautical in some way, but I can give it a shot regardless."

You smile. "Thank you." Then you tap her on the head. "You are now haunting Ichirin. Please have her watch her language, this is a shrine, and she is a nun."

She… cackles. "Alright, alright, can do. She'll hate that, it'll be great." She may have progressed greatly since her days causing shipwrecks, but her delight in others' pain has only been muted, not expunged completely.

With a thought, the sound returns as normal. "Thank you very much." Then you turn your attention to Ichirin. "Is there anything else?"

She opens her mouth, then… glances at both Unzan, and Murasa. "... nah, I'm good." A beat passes, and she smiles, wanly. "Gotta get away from you before even more random b… garbage happens. But… thanks for helping Murasa."

"Of course, feel free to let me know if anything else needs my assistance."

Ichirin says nothing. Perhaps out of fear. But regardless, the rest of the day passed with little incident. Shou was still glaring at you, but that would continue for a while yet. The morning followed the night, and with it…

The first visitor.

—

[][The shrine maiden, in red]
Reimu and Shiki seem to have gotten into an argument of some kind regarding their shared past. You are sought out as an adjudicator.

[][The angel, in blue]
Sariel has plans regarding future events which do not fully align with your own. See if you can find a compromise of some kind.

[][The magician, in black]
One of Reimu's friends has heard about the lively bunch currently residing in her shrine, and has decided to come and poke her nose in. This seems poised to go poorly, given how high tensions are riding.

—

AN:
Erien: He's kinda a dick but he's not wrong.

Redshirt: Murasa saw a chance to fuck with one of her friends and took it. Can you honestly say you wouldn't do the same?