東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 10:Imperishable Night

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰, 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝑇𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘪 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘒𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺.


—28—


Renko blinked in surprise, but took the news well. It took her only a moment to catch up. "I'm guessing that has something to do with the elixir of immortality that was supposedly burned on mount Fuji ages ago?"

"That's right. I had left that medicine behind for the emperor of Japan, and she went and drank it. I'm not really upset about that though. Thanks to that I'll always have someone to play with, and trying to kill me gives her a goal to strive for, so I don't mind."

Even though I had heard the story before, from both sides, hearing Kaguya say it so shamelessly was shocking. She smiled and tilted her head inquisitively, saying "Aren’t you going to offer the master of the house you're staying in a cushion when they come to visit?"

I scrambled to fetch a cushion for each of us. Renko scooted one under her butt while Kaguya knelt gracefully upon hers. As far as methods of killing a fraction of eternity went, I wondered how a casual chat like this ranked compared to endless murder and death with Mokou.

Renko pondered for a moment, muttering to herself. "So if Princess Kaguya exists, then the elixir of immortality is more than just a legend as well, at least here in Gensokyo." She looked up, and addressed Kaguya with a determined expression. "Miss Kaguya. If you really are the Princess Kaguya of legend, then there's something I need to ask you."

"Oh? What's that? If you're going to ask why I'm here on Earth instead of the moon then it's simple. Eirin was the lunar emissary sent to collect me. When she met me though, she had said 'let's escape from lunar society together, we can live forever on the Earth. I guess you’d call our lives here a little romantic escape flight of the bamboo cutter’s daughter and her attendant."

"What reason would she have to run away from lunar society? I assume in your case, you came to Earth as a punishment for a crime committed on the moon, but if they sent Eirin to collect you, wouldn't that mean that you had been forgiven?"

"Apparently that's not the case, but Eirin's never volunteered any details. I like it here on Earth, where things are much more exciting than on the moon, so it's fine by me, whatever the reason."

"Well onto my question then. What exactly was the crime you committed on the moon that got you sent down to Earth?"

Leave it to Renko to ask directly, without a gram of tact. Kaguya narrowed her eyes, but replied just as directly, without a hint of shame.

"I drank the Hourai Elixir."

"Hourai Elixir?"

"The same elixir of immortality that Mokou drank. It was made by Eirin. Drinking it is a taboo in the Lunar Capital."

Renko listened, tilting her head to the side in surprise at that.

"Is something wrong?" Kaguya asked.

"Miss Kaguya, do you know the 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘰 𝘊𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 as it's told here on Earth?"

"The inaba have told it to me. Most of it's true, if a little overblown. The only part that's wrong is that I return to the moon at the end, right?"

"Not quite."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well at the end of the 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 there's mention of the elixir of immortality all right, but supposedly it's a medicine given to Princess Kaguya by the lunar emissary before they depart. She leaves some for the emperor, then has a sip herself. It’s the last thing she does before she leaves for the moon."

Kaguya blinked and hid her mouth behind her sleeve again. "Oh, is that so? I never noticed that they got that wrong. That story is more than a thousand years old though. I'm sure some details have slipped a bit over time."

"...perhaps so. Let me change the question then. What exactly is this Hourai Elixir?"

"Oh my, I feel like I'm being interrogated."

"My apologies, Miss. I hope you don't mind indulging the curiosity of an Earthling. It's just my nature to be questioning."

"Oh I don't mind at all. It's very rare for me to have a guest to talk to. I enjoy the change of pace." She laughed cheerily. "If you want to know how the Hourai Elixir works though, you'd have to ask Eirin. She said it would have been impossible to make without my ability though."

"And what ability is that?"

"Eirin calls it 'the ability to manipulate moments and eternity.' It can affect both the smallest possible amount of time, or even things that are timeless. To most people time is a continuous flow of existence, but to me it’s an endless array of individual instants all chained together. I can look at an individual one of those, and hold on to it, if I want."

"And Eirin used that ability to create an elixir of immortality?"

"Yes. But apparently drinking it makes you filled with the same impurity as an Earthling. That's what I wanted it for, personally. That's why it's a crime on the moon though. The Lunar Capital is free from all the impurity of life. To drink the Hourai Elixir is to become like an Earthling, and so the only fitting punishment is banishment to Earth."

I interrupted them. "Miss Mokou told me that the people on the moon had once been Earthlings themselves, but moved to the moon to escape the impurity inherent in life on Earth."

Kaguya clasped her hands together and smiled. "Yes! That's it exactly! The Lunar Capital is a perfectly lifeless place, devoid of all this excitement and chaos. That's why I came to Earth. Eirin has always tried to maintain that sort of sterility, hiding us away here and keeping me locked away, but last night was fantastic. We'd never had so many guests before, or such rowdy ones." She giggled then, letting out a pure, innocent peal of laughter, like that of a child. "Eirin told me you'd be leaving soon, but feel free to come back and visit any time. I'm sure now that the mansion's finally been stained by the Earth's impurity, Eirin won't be as picky about letting people visit."

"Really?"

Kaguya nodded. "I think things are going to be a lot more fun from now on. I'm glad I came down to Earth."

Renko didn't respond, merely crossing her arms and tucking her chin to her chest, lost in thought.


—29—


"Renko, Merry. How are you both doing?"

A little while after Kaguya had said goodbye and returned to the mansion we were greeted by Keine, who had come to visit. Looking at us, she noticed that Renko's eyes were uncovered. "Oh, are you cured now?"

"Yep, I can see." Renko grinned, waving a hand in front of her face as if to demonstrate.

"I’m glad to hear that. I suppose there's no reason not to come back to the village then."

"It would be unwise to leave without a doctor's permission," said Eirin, who was approaching from the direction of the mansion. Keine jumped, startled by the unexpected voice behind her and whirled around.

"Oh! You surprised me." She said, laying a hand over her heart.

"You surprised yourself. You're a friend of the princess' playmate, if I recall?"

"Yes, I'm Kamishirasawa Keine, a teacher and historian in the human village. Thank you for taking care of these two, especially since we arrived with Mokou." She bowed politely.

"I see," Eirin replied without much interest. "Well you two are free to go now. You should probably avoid staring at the moon too much though. I'm sure the princess will see you again at some point, so in lieu of payment, I’ll ask you both to come back and see her whenever it’s convenient for you."

Eirin turned on her heel and left. Renko looked like she wanted to say something, but refrained, watching as Eirin walked back toward the mansion.

Instead she turned to Keine. "I'm sorry about all of this, Keine, I've missed almost a week of work without any prior notice. Merry too."

"It wasn't under your control. Tonight's a full moon, so the school will be closed tomorrow, but I'll be expecting a lot of hard work from the both of you starting the day after. For now though let's head back. If you feel up to it, maybe we can go see Mokou on the way back."

Renko fell silent for a moment, as if considering her words, then looked up at Keine. When she did, Keine seemed to understand the meaning behind the look on her face at once.

"Ah, I see. Renko, did they tell you? About Mokou?"

Renko nodded.

"I see. I hadn’t intended to keep it a secret from you…"

"No, that’s not what I’m thinking about, it’s just—"

Keine sighed and lowered herself to sit on the cushion that Kaguya had used previously, then began speaking, cutting Renko off and getting straight to the heart of the matter. "Mokou is immortal. She's been alive for a long time, and rejected from human society numerous times. After a generation or so, humans tend to notice that she doesn't age and can't be killed. That tends to form biases against her. She ended up wandering for a long time, avoiding any human contact until she ended up here in Gensokyo. Even now, she generally tries to avoid being noticed by the villagers. She says she's lived that way for more than a thousand years."

She crossed her arms and stared straight at Renko. "I had hoped that the two of you could meet Mokou without being defensive and maybe get along with her. She's been all alone for so long, you see. Maybe that's not fair to you though. I was hoping you could be friends with her, but I won't force you to see her if you don't want to any more."

"Keine, wait. You've got it all wrong. That's not at all what I'm thinking."

Keine blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Renko laughed and picked up her hat from the ground, flipping it onto head. "I've already met vampires, ghosts, and oni. You yourself turn into a youkai under the full moon. Immortals don't bother me. Sorry if I seemed gloomy, I just have a lot I've been thinking about."

"Like what?"

"Miss Mokou’s immortality is part of it. I'll tell you once I get it all figured out. For now though, let's head home. There's still plenty of things I need to think through before I can ask Miss Mokou about them." Renko smiled as she climbed to her feet.

I took a breath, then followed suit. I wondered what exactly was tumbling around inside my partner's brain, but I knew she'd tell me once the picture came together.

—

We arrived home for the first time in a week. Renko was exuberant.

"Ah, dear, sweet home at last!"

I sighed as I walked in the door and closed it behind me. Renko had already gleefully collapsed face-first on the tatami mats. "Behave yourself, Renko." I chided.

She rolled over and sat up, eyes bright and alert. "Alright then! No interruptions this time. Let's hear Merry's confession."

"Okay, okay," I said. There was no point in holding back any further now. "Where should I start?"

"I want to hear the whole thing. Everything I wasn't there for, starting with the moment I collapsed."

"It'll be a long story then."

"We've got all day. Let's hear it."

"All right," I said and stood up. "I'll just want to make some tea first."

I spent most of the rest of the day recounting everything I had seen and heard during the course of the incident. I regurgitated every detail I could think of, while patiently ignoring Renko’s snarky comments the whole time. I'll refrain from recording that conversation here, as it was all the same details I've laid out in the previous chapters. There were two scenes in particular that caught Renko's attention. The first was my description of the moment when Mokou had thrust the knife into her own hand in front of me.

"So the wound closed up instantly?" she asked.

"Yes, almost as soon as she withdrew the knife, her hand knitted back together so cleanly you couldn't tell there had ever been a cut."

"So they're not immune to injury, but it goes beyond simply enhancing a body's natural ability to heal... And it was made using Kaguya's ability...."

I sighed as my partner muttered about the grisly details. If she was going to ponder every aspect of my story, this might take all week.

The second bit that caught her interest is when I recounted Eirin's testimony regarding her motivation for hiding Eientei. I had taken great care to memorize that monologue as best I could and had even written it down after the fact. The version I gave to her was the same as the one recorded in this story. As I finished retelling the story, my partner turned to me with eyes half-lidded, saying. "Merry, you didn't actually believe that story when she told you, did you?"

"Me? Well, um... what do you find so unbelievable about it?"

"Oh man, seriously? It's crazy. Assuming you're not omitting or misremembering some part of it, it says a lot about how credulous you are that you'd believe something like that."

"Maybe it says more about how delusional you are that you can't believe it."

"Sure, sure. Alright, I won't interrupt, just continue for now and we can discuss what's wrong with it or you later."

"Gee, how kind of you."

—

It was late at night by the time I got through the last of it.

"All right, I'm pretty sure that's everything, Renko."

My partner, who had laid themselves down on the futon already, checked to make sure I had gotten everything, then said simply: "All right, good night. I'm going to think it over and get some sleep." She rolled over, and within minutes was breathing softly and evenly.

I sighed, took another sip from my glass of water to soothe my dry throat, then brushed my teeth, changed into my nightclothes and crawled under the covers of my own futon.

My role as Watson had finally ended. My partner had all the information I could give her, and now I could rest assured her brain would come to a conclusion. Whether it would be anything close to the correct conclusion was anyone's guess. I looked over at Renko's huddled form, safely back in our own home one more time and snuffed the light.

That night the full moon returned to Gensokyo. I'm told a moon-viewing party was held at the shrine, but whether out of consideration for Renko's condition or some other reason, we weren't invited and didn't hear about it until the next day.

—

The next morning, when I woke up I found Renko already awake and writing something.

"Oh, good morning, Renko. What are you doing?"

"Good morning, Merry. I woke up with a clear head today, so I wanted to start sorting through everything you said yesterday right away. I've started writing down some questions."

Saying this, she handed me a folded sheet of paper. These were the riddles it contained:

𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐢 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐫:
• What is it?
• How could the immortality it grants be defined?
• Why does drinking it cause the imbiber to be filled with impurity?
• Why is it a sin to drink the elixir, but not to make it?
• Why did Eirin make it?
• Did she intend for Kaguya to drink it?
• Was the elixir in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘰 𝘊𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 the same one that Mokou drank? And was it also the same one that Kaguya and Eirin were exiled from the moon over?
• If it was the same, did Kaguya drink it twice? Once on the moon and once on Earth? If so, why?

𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐫𝐨 𝐄𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧:
• Why did the moon send an emissary to Kaguya, who had been exiled?
• Did Eirin really kill the lunar emissaries and run away with Kaguya? If so, why?
• Why did they live for a thousand years in a hidden mansion, with a ward to protect from Earthly impurity?
• Why is Eirin so afraid of pursuit from the Lunar Capital?

𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐮𝐣𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐧𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐮:
• Why did she drink the elixir of immortality?
• Has her appearance remained unchanged since the time she drank it?
• When did she learn to control flames?

𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧・𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐢𝐧・𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐚:
• Why did she flee the moon?
• How and why did she end up at Eientei?
• Were emissaries of the moon really sent to retrieve her?

𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲:
• What does it mean for something to be 'impure?'
• What are the effects of something being 'impure?'
• Why are the people of the moon so afraid of impurity?
• Are the Lunarians actually pursuing Eirin and Kaguya?

The second question on the list was the first to capture my attention. The definition of immortality was a tricky thing. "By some definitions, a creature like Remilia might be considered immortal," I muttered to myself.

"Exactly, Merry. All the mysteries of Eientei are tied together with that one string. Immortality."

"I feel like we've had this conversation before, Renko. Back when we were daydreaming about a moon tour." The memory came back to me, with the feeling of the warm spring sunshine and the taste of café au lait. The two of us had been sitting on the patio of a campus café, discussing abandoned attempts at space exploration, private lunar tours and other such space-related topics. I remember trying to see if I could view the lunar surface by looking for a gap in the reflection of the moon in a fountain. It hadn't worked that time, but a refinement of the same technique had eventually led to our excursion to the satellite TORIFUNE.

"I remember. Back then I said that immortality would not mean freedom death altogether, but rather the disappearance of the boundary between life and death, leading to a state that was neither, right?"

"And you think this Hourai Elixir causes people who drink it to end up like that?"

"Well that's the question. What would someone in that sort of a situation look like, do you think? Take Lady Saigyouji, for example. Would she count as immortal?"

"Yuyuko? She's dead, Renko."

"From a human perspective, yes. But as a ghost she may well be immortal. She can't reincarnate or resurrect, so where does that leave her? The concept of 'immortality' can only exist as a contrast to concepts like 'life' and 'death.' To be immortal is to exist without those concepts applying. But if you think of the sorts of events associated with life and death, they're all sources of what would traditionally be thought of as 'impurity.' Sex is a source of impurity, and so are childbirth, menstruation, disease and corpses. All things that are physical manifestations of the concepts of life or death. In short, we could say that impurity is equivalent to life or death. So what would immortality be then?"

"A state of being devoid of impurity?"

"Do you get it now? Do you see why it makes no sense?"

I thought for a moment, glancing over the page of enumerated riddles. "If both life and death produce impurity, and immortality is a state of being devoid of that..."

"—Then why would drinking the Hourai Elixir cause someone to be defiled with impurity? It's an obvious contradiction."


—30—


"The key to resolving this contradiction should be to talk to an immortal directly, don't you think?" With that rhetorical question, our agenda for the day was set. We ate our breakfast and headed out for Mokou's house.

"Don't you think we'd get better answers if we went and talked to Eirin? She created the elixir, after all."

"From your story, it definitely sounds like she’s the one with all of the answers, but I think if I bring questions to her without a working hypothesis of my own first she's not going to give us any information we can trust. Scientific reasoning requires the establishment of a hypothesis first and foremost. We'll build a theory up based on the evidence first, then it'll be up to her to either confirm it or tear it down by presenting a better explanation, if she can."

"I think you'd be hard-pressed to defend the methods you've used to investigate any of the previous Incidents as rigorously scientific, Renko."

"Well past a certain point faith and acceptance of a model that can't be disproven but also can't be proven accurate does play a role. Most of the super-unified model of physics is based on modeling of unobservable phenomena. The whole discipline is like a grand fiction put together to offer Science's best guess as to the solution to the whodunnit of the universe."

"Wait, I thought I was the mystery buff and you were the physics otaku. Aren't you getting our roles mixed up?"

We continued to banter as we made our way past the fields and toward the edge of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Even in daylight, the bamboo grove was dim and cool, shaded by the towering stalks and dense leaves. We carefully followed the faint, but now familiar path to Mokou's shack. Renko's knock at the door was met with a grunt and a half-asleep grumble of "who is it?" from within. A few moments later, Mokou appeared at the door, looking disheveled.

Renko raised a hand in greeting and I bowed. Mokou blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. "Merry? Renko? Hey, how's your head? Can you see again?"

"Yes, I can, largely thanks to you, as I understand it. I wanted to come and thank you for your help."

"Aw, don't worry about that. Those guys didn't do anything strange to you while you were there though, did they? Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm totally fine."

"That's good. I was a little worried that quack was going to experiment on you when I left." She turned and looked inside the house for a moment. "Keine's still asleep, but I can wake her up if you like. It was a full moon last night so she was up all night compiling history."

"No, let her sleep. I'm here to see you, Miss Mokou, not Miss Keine."

"Me? Did you need me to lead you back to Eientei?"

"Well possibly later, maybe. But for now..." Renko adjusted her hat, pushing it down to cover her eyes. "—I was going to ask you to tell me a story."

"A story? What do you mean?"

"Well, I never got a chance to hear the story of Miss Mokou straight from the source. I wanted to hear your version of things before I came to any conclusions."

Mokou's expression hardened and her eyes narrowed as she stepped out of the doorway and closed the door behind her. She looked appraisingly at Renko, who was still grinning beneath the shadow of her hat's brim. She turned to look at me with the same hardened expression. I cast my eyes down and Mokou sighed.

"I guess you've heard about it, then."

"Yes."

"Then you know what you need to. Beyond that, there are some stories better left unknown."

"But that's exactly what I want to know about. I want to know 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 history. I want to know about 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

Mokou looked surprised by that. "Why?" she asked.

Renko tipped her hat back, flashing her usual troublesome smile. "Because I consider you a friend. I want to know what you went through, and help carry that burden if I can. And I think you're cool and want to know more."

Mokou stared at her, wide-eyed and speechless.

"—Sorry if that's awkward to hear me say, but I just wanted to allay any concerns you might have about me not wanting to associate with someone just because of their unusual circumstances. That's not what this is about. I want to learn more about a friend so I can get to know them better. And to satisfy my own curiosity, I'll admit."

Mokou continued to stare, at a loss for words.

"I want to know more. Tell me the story of Miss Mokou." As she said this, she grasped Mokou's hand in both of hers, still wearing that friendly smile.

It was just like when Renko had met me for the first time. The same fascination, the same non-judgmental curiosity that had made her my closest friend. To an outside observer, she might have seemed almost too earnest to be believable, but I had known her long enough to know that Renko was honest. For her, it was just a matter of her being who she was —the sort of person to poke their nose into everything, push buttons and cause problems just to see what happens and rationally explain her grandiose delusions as if they were commonplace. Her forthrightness and willingness to indulge her curiosity at any cost had endeared her to the devils of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the administrator of the Netherworld and the oni girl at the Hakurei shrine. There was just some charm about the earnestness with which she followed her heart, no matter what she might find squirming under the rocks she turned over. It was that same charm that had once dragged me into joining the occult circle known as the Hifuu Club. If not for that, perhaps neither of us would be here now.

Mokou gave Renko one more disbelieving look and shook her head. She gave Renko's hands a squeeze before drawing hers back. "Alright, friend." She said, as her face crumpled into a smile. "You sound exactly like Keine did when I first met her. She was a weird one too. Even though she knew I was immortal, she'd bring me food and insist on lecturing me about looking out for my health even when it’s completely unnecessary. I asked her why she bothered with me and she would say the same thing: 'I want to know more about you.' Or 'I feel like you and I both don't fit in' or something like that. Speaking of not fitting in, quit calling me 'Miss Mokou' all the time, it sounds weird."

Renko's smile broadened. "Just Mokou, then?"

"Sure." Mokou’s smile had reached her eyes, making her squint almost as if she was about to cry. "I may be older than you, but just Mokou is fine."

"Oh! Or I could give you a nickname! What about Mokotan?"

"Not that! You sound like Kaguya." Mokou shouted, then shivered with revulsion.

With the tension suddenly diffused, we all couldn't help but laugh.

For people like my partner and myself with barely two decades of experience, it would be arrogant to assume that we could heal or even understand the wounds that centuries of rejection and loneliness might have caused an immortal. I don't think Renko had any such lofty goals though. She just wanted to get to know a friend better. I smiled, thinking back to when I had first met Renko. That same sentiment is probably how she had gotten through to me, originally too.