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She lifted a cup of tea up to her mouth, taking a small sip. Mornings so relaxed and slow as these were rarer nowadays, or so she felt. Of course, she hadn’t minded the excitement too much- it was spice her life had been lacking in for a little while now- but taking a moment to relax, especially when it was aided by being somewhere like Eientei, was pleasant as well.
“Oh, Kaguya, you’re here?” Eirin opened the door, giving her a small wave. “Reisen had said she had seen you last in the village.. Did you go out there last night?”
“Hmm? No, I didn’t. I went to sleep early last night.” She set the teacup down, turning to face Eirin, “Perhaps she saw someone else. But usually she has quite good eyesight..”
“She was fairly certain it was you- they were wearing the same clothes you usually wear, down to the sleeves. You don’t sleepwalk, right?” Eirin asked with complete sincerity, and she stifled a laugh, assisted by hiding her face with her sleeve.
“Of course not. What did she supposedly see me doing there, anyways?”
“Apparently you kept hiding in the shadows, and when she tried to approach you, you fled. She mentioned it to me, because that’s rather odd for you. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around at the time either, so it’s not like you were trying to lure her away from someone..” She paced while saying this, her shoes creating soft taps on the floor, as it became obvious to Kaguya this had somehow managed to interest her. “Oh, should I be saying “you” here, or something else?”
“It’s some kind of impostor, but I know what you mean. I am curious myself.” She was quiet for a moment, absentmindedly smoothing out her skirt, “Perhaps I should go out there tonight and see myself. It might be that other immortal playing a prank of some kind, but then I’m not sure why she’d run away from Reisen.”
“I can’t imagine it’s Fujiwara. She doesn’t seem the type to go that in depth for something like that.” Eirin kept pacing, still thinking, “This somewhat reminds me of when there were two of that outside world girl. Usami, or something.”
“Sumireko Usami? I heard a few things about that incident from Mokou. But that was an urban legend, right? I think I would’ve noticed if I had an urban legend that was causing visions of me elsewhere..” The two were both silent, until Kaguya broke it, “Well, perhaps Reisen really just didn’t see it. I’m sure it isn’t that serious.”
“That would make it much easier if she really did just hallucinate it.” The two looked over at the sound of a third voice as Yukari stood there, a gap closing behind her as an otherworldly wind ruffled her blonde hair, creating an arcane silhouette for just a moment. “Apologies for the intrusion, but I can confirm what she saw. It was absolutely Kaguya- I heard her speak, and unless someone is able to perfectly mimic your face and voice, then either you lied or we have a much bigger issue on our hands.”
“Oh, Lady Yukari. I hadn’t expected you to be listening, but I swear I really did go to sleep last night. Right after sunset- I’ve been more tired lately.” She dipped her head to Yukari, brushing her hair out of her own face now, “So is this now some kind of incident?”
“It’s not impossible. Can you confirm she’s telling the truth?” Yukari looked at Eirin, who shook her head.
“I haven’t seen Kaguya myself until this morning. But she has no reason to lie to you. But why is this so serious? It might just be a rogue bake-danuki.”
“Well, this isn’t the first time something like this occurred. I’ve heard a lot of people claiming to see Flandre Scarlet- Remilia’s younger sister- out in public.. Which is extremely uncommon for her. I thought it was a bake-danuki at first, but when I saw Kaguya last night, the impostor had no ears or tail, so it’s impossible.” Yukari tapped her fan against her arm, though with little force and absentmindedly as she talked, “And those aren’t the only two I’ve heard about. I’ve heard about both of the Komeijis, Alice Margatroid, Sanae Kochiya, even Reimu.. The sightings are only at night, but they’re too weird now to ignore.”
“The Komeijis.. Those are the satoris, right? I know they don’t venture out into the upper world much either. This is uncharacteristic for all of us..” She stood up, again smoothing out her skirt, “If I can help, then I will. I don’t want my reputation harmed by some impostor.”
“I will help too, if you think of anything I can do.” Eirin clasped her hands together as she began to pace again. “If they’re only at night, perhaps the person being asleep has something to do with it. DIdn’t Reisen have something like that, once? She thought she was asleep, but she was awake and acting strange the whole time.”
“Now that you say that, she did. Right around the same time the strange occurrences with Sumireko happened too.” Yukari nodded, as if confirming it to herself, “That was because of the dream world, so perhaps something similar is occurring here.. You’re possessed by your dream self somehow, and act strange. But Reisen’s dream self was so unlike all of yours.”
“Well, if it happens while we’re asleep, then why don’t we test it now? If I fall asleep and the impostor doesn’t appear, then it’s unconnected. If it does , then we just need to confront the dream world’s ruler, yes?” Kaguya was eager to volunteer herself for the task- again, another break from the boredom of her eternal life. “What do you two think?”
“If you’re willing to volunteer for it, then that would be great. I’ll have Ran and Chen watch the village to see if you appear.” Yukari opened a gap, disappearing.
“Are you sure, Kaguya? I would’ve thought you’d want to try and confront the impostor yourself.” Eirin asked.
“Oh, I do. But if it’s my dream self, then it’s not like I can exactly do that, right? So this is a good test.” She started to walk off, Eirin following, “You have a sleeping drug, right? I’ll take that so we can do this faster.”
-
Kaguya stretched, sitting up as she looked at Yukari and Eirin. She cleared her throat, “Nothing?”
“Chen and Ran saw nobody, and I had them ask around. Either your impostor was able to avoid the whole town on a busy morning, or she didn’t appear.” She sighed, a vaguely annoyed look on her face, “This is an annoying dead end. I was so sure it had to be dream versions, but… now I don’t even have the slightest idea where to look next.”
“Well, if it’s not dream selves, then I don’t think asking Reisen would do anything.” She got off of the couch she had been resting on, resettling the pillows back to where they were, “But it might be worth asking that Sumireko girl. Whatever happened to her.. Maybe it’s happening now to us?”
“It’s not the worst idea. I’ll go ask her myself.” She opened a gap, but turned back to Eirin and Kaguya before stepping through, “I may still need your assistance later on. Is that fine?”
“Absolutely. I’ve never been at the center of an incident before, so this is really quite exciting for me.” She smiled as Eirin sighed.
“You still have to be cautious. Just because you’re immortal doesn’t mean it’s smart to rush headfirst into things.” She gave a look to Kaguya, “But thank you for your help, Lady Yukari. Please, come back whenever you’ve learnt more.”
“Of course. Thank you two as well.” She disappeared into the gap as Kaguya giggled, eyes lighting up in excitement.
“Eirin, you have to lighten up a little. This is exciting, isn’t it?”
-
Sumireko touched down on the soft grass outside of the village, taking in a deep breath. The air was always sweet here- a big difference from the outside world. She could always breathe clearly. She crossed her arms, considering what to do- maybe visit Marisa, or go exploring on the mountain..
“Ah, you finally came.” She jumped at the voice, before realizing it was just Yukari. But what did she mean by finally ?
“Hey Yukari!” She turned around, giving the older woman a wave before noticing her almost worried expression. That was odd. “Oh, did something happen? Is there some kind of incident?”
“I believe so.” Yukari shushed her before she began exclaiming about how she was happy to be of use, “I need you to just answer some questions. Nothing more.”
“Oh, no fighting? Aw, well.. If you insist.” She teased, but then nodded. “I’ll answer them, though, count on that.”
“Alright. Do you remember when there was a second version of you running around in Gensokyo, while you were in the dream world?” She asked, and Sumireko nodded. “Well, something like that’s happening. There’s been sightings of people in two places at the same time- one in a normal place, and the other usually nearby the village and acting differently than usual. Do you know if your urban legend might be causing it?”
“Um, I don’t think so.. When did the last one occur? If I wasn’t here, then my urban legend couldn’t have caused that, right?”
“Last night. They all happen at night, too, but it doesn’t seem to be connected to if the person is sleeping or not.” Yukari looked up towards the sky, “It’s nearly night now, even. There could be one out right now.”
“Well, either way, I wasn’t here last night. Unless I somehow managed to completely forget that, which seems silly.” She shrugged, thinking, “Maybe it’s another urban legend. I brought in the occult balls, but someone created one here, right? Maybe another one was created somehow, and a weak urban legend got strong enough to affect multiple people.”
“I suppose that’s not impossible. So in that case, we need to make people stop believing in these apparitions, right? But when they occur so visibly..” Yukari fanned herself against the warmth of the summer night. “Well, you know how the humans are here.”
“Why don’t you have the people fight them? The ones who the apparitions are of, anyways. That might be another way to weaken it. Since if it’s multiple people, then destroying an apparition might also destroy a piece of the urban legend.”
Yukari paused, then nodded, “That might just work. I’ll try that, but while that’s going on, Sumireko, can you look to see if there’s an occult ball anywhere around?”
“Sure. If I find one, what should I do?” She jumped and began to hover in the air, her cape rippling behind her as the runes started to shift in their evermoving pattern again. “You want me to bring it back here so you can destroy it?”
“Yes, do that. I’m going to go look for an apparition- and Sumireko, if you see one, don’t interact. I don’t know how strong these things are.” Yukari opened a gap, stepping partially through as she shouted behind her.
“If you say so!”
-
“So, Yukari, you said that I should attack her?” Kaguya stepped through the gap almost warily, into the warmth of the human village. A stark difference from the forest of the lost, she noted.
“Yes. I think that might be able to resolve it.” Yukari didn’t exit the gap, leaving her there alone. “I’m going to find more myself. Can I trust that you’ll handle it?”
“Of course. I’m not some helpless princess, you know.” Kaguya smiled as the gap closed up, walking through the grassy paths. The moon was half full- how nice it was to see the moon clearly, and not blocked partially by an endless wall of bamboo. She strolled for a bit, keeping an eye out.
A sudden motion caught her eye and she walked closer, slowing her steps as she did. Reisen had said that she ran away before, so she didn’t want to scare her.. She stopped. It really was her- down to the exact shoes she was wearing. This wasn’t any kind of prank- it really was an incident. She gently stepped closer, a faint sparkle behind her as she tried to subtly ready an attack.
“Wh-who’s there?!” The voice was exactly like her own, but the fearful tone was something she couldn’t ever remember herself using.. At least not within the past thousands of years. “D-don’t hurt me!”
She stayed silent, as the false Kaguya took a few steps back into the moonlight, now clearly seeing her.
“You.. How are you me ?” She trembled- as if Kaguya would ever do that - giving a fearful look to the sparkling bullets forming behind Kaguya. She yelped as they shot at her, narrowly dodging them. “What- why would you do that?”
She really did seem to be confused. Well, Yukari was right, this wasn’t how Kaguya herself would act. She was almost curious as to how the other fakes were.. She couldn’t imagine the sweet and literally empty-minded Koishi’s opposite. She sent another rain of bullets down with a wave of her hand, a sparkling rainbow lighting up the night as shining lasers pierced the night sky. Again, the fake dodged, but wasn’t able to avoid all of them, some hitting her body- there were no visible wounds, but she made a sound of pain, so it seemed possible to defeat her.
“Stop-stop attacking me!” She whined, and even Kaguya couldn’t resist a surge of anger at her voice. This thing was annoying . No, actually, annoying wasn’t even enough to describe her. Obnoxious was better. “I’ll kill you!”
“I’d like to see you try.” She really couldn’t resist provoking her, and the offended expression she had was well worth whatever anger she caused. She threw another wave of bullets, and another, a set of radiant red circles that the fake again failed to completely dodge.
“You- I can’t believe you’d do that!” Now the fake flung her own hand out, a wave of sparkling blue bullets swarming Kaguya that was difficult even for her to dodge. It’s not like she could actually die , which was unfortunate at times, but getting hit was embarrassing when this was what she was fighting. “Die!”
The fake let forth a swarm of bullets and glittering lasers, cowering behind a bright wall of glowing danmaku. Kaguya barely managed to not yell out about how pathetic it was- gloating like that was rude, even if it was technically herself she was fighting. She can’t be as casual as she was with Mokou in what she said while fighting.
She easily dodged the bullets, letting loose a swarm of crimson bullets, but just to distract from piercing white lasers that easily stabbed through the shield, prompting a shriek from the false Kaguya. She smiled, a wind blowing her hair behind her as another circle of bullets formed around her. This was easy. As she raised a hand to release them, suddenly a cold hand clamped around her throat, breaking her focus as the danmaku fizzled away and she went to tear it off, only to realize it was her own hand- the fake’s.
“I said, I will kill you.” All of the whining from earlier had disappeared to a cold, hard tone. What was going on? She seemed almost lunatic.. Not unlike a human when seeing the true full moon. But an insane lunarian? That was a preposterous idea. And yet the girl tightened her grip as Kaguya struggled, clawing at her hands.
“So, what are you? You can’t kill me, you know..” Kaguya ripped her off of her, shoving her back and resummoning her danmaku. “If you’re me, then you’d know how my immortality works.”
“I don’t have to explain that to myself.” The false Kaguya’s face seemed to be on the brink of snapping, eyes widened and breathing heavily. And somehow, she managed a monotone voice.. “I’m the real me. Your personality is a fake.”
“Excuse me? I’m the real one here.” Kaguya released another wave of bullets, a sparkling wave of rainbow twisting into a visual overload of an attack. “You know, you seem almost like a parody of myself. Something Mokou would make as an insult.”
“Mokou? I’m not concerned with her.” The fake retaliated with her own bullets, pale as the moon above. “I’d rather stay inside, away from something like her .”
It’s not like Kaguya was the biggest fan of Mokou, but she could respect her. And their fights were fun. This one was something else entirely- and staying inside? Kaguya would happily explore all of Gensokyo if Eirin would let her. If this fake was meant to trick people, well, it was a bad idea. Perhaps that “urban legend” theory Yukari mentioned had some weight to it..
She dodged another wave of danmaku, glittering lights fizzling away behind her. She was growing tired of this- the fake was at least somewhat skilled now. She raised her hands, a bright circle of blue forming behind her as bullets began to rain from it. A fitting way to end herself- her favorite spell she had ever created. Teal, then green, then yellow, red, and finally a cascade of rainbow bullets swarmed, converging on the fake Kaguya as even the moon seemed to tremble in the wake of her spell. In the chaos, she could barely see the fake struggle to dodge her bullets. Her own hands were trembling now- the spell took a lot out of her, but she pushed forward, the swarm growing thicker with bullets until finally, in the haze of rainbow it seemed even the moon had moved out of her path.
She finally lowered her hands, breathing heavily as the tremors ceased. The bullets flickered, disappearing with a multicolored flash. The false Kaguya was gone.. And only a shred of paper remained.
“Teruyo?” The name was written on the paper, with a short description. How odd. The name was familiar, but.. She hadn’t any idea who that really was.