Chapter Text
Reimu
As the sun crept upward during the break of dawn sunlight leaked into my mother's bedroom, spilling across our mattress. Despite my eyes being closed for rest, the light still blinded me, causing me to wake from my sleep. I groaned as I slowly sat upright and rubbed my eyes, feeling relieved as it got rid of the “morning stars” that usually form after a good night's sleep.
“Mama…?” I called my mother with a groggy voice and hoarse as I turned my head left to see that she was still asleep. “Mama…” I called again, gently shaking her to wake her up. How was she still asleep? Shouldn't she be awake by now cooking breakfast for us? “Mama… breakfast…”
“...Ngh. Five more minutes…” she answered, shifting to the side as she wrapped her blanket around her tighter. “Go change and fetch water… I'll be up by then…”
I slowly nodded in response. “Alright…” I then got off the bed and moved to my dresser. I reached in to grab my everyday clothes, using the light shining through the windows to guide me. I put my red dress on top of my sleepwear, which was a white shirt and bloomers. After this, I left the room to head out of the shrine to fetch a bucket of water from the well.
“Hnngh…!” I groaned, tugging against the rope to pull up the pail, but it wouldn’t budge. I took a deep breath and focused before a white aura surrounded my body. Giving me a burst of strength needed to yank the rope hard enough to send the bucket up to my level. I tied a knot on the well’s beams to keep the bucket in place so I could grab it. Once it was in my hands I set it down on the ground before shutting off my aura from flowing. I then picked up the bucket once more and headed into the shrine.
After that first adventure I had with Miss Sin, Mister Genjii, Mister Gyoku, and Mama had been teaching me how to use my newfound powers. Although Mama didn't seem too happy about it though. She always argued with Mister Gyoku and Mister Genjii that I was too young to start training, but after two weeks of reluctance during our training we had a discussion on what I was training for how dangerous it was, and how she would support me in every way she can. This never sat right with me, as Mama is usually quite firm in whatever stance she takes when it comes to matters that revolve around me. I expected she would keep this sentiment for months, but I guess she decided it was fine?
I set the bucket down on the kitchen sink, the water slightly spilling out of its container once it hit the basin. I then made my way into the bedroom again expecting to see Mama awake, only to see her still asleep as I moved to her side of the bed. “Mama, the water’s done.”
I heard a yawn from Mama as she shifted her body to face me. “Done already…?” she grumbled as she moved her hand toward a nearby shelf to turn on a lamp. A warm light illuminated the corner of this room, which made me notice an opened letter placed underneath the lampshade. “...don't mind that,” Mama said as she sat upright to grab the letter and stuff it in one of her pockets.
“Can you cook breakfast now? I'm hungry…”
“Alright, alright…” she ruffled my hair and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Can’t have my little Reirei go hungry now, can I?” Mama got up and tiredly left the room with me. I made my way to the dining table and sat down. Not soon after, I hear the sound of rice being fried and egg being beaten. Once again, Mama was making her signature dish, Egged Fried Rice.
I looked at Mama to voice a small complaint. “Can't you cook anything else for breakfast? We've been having this for a week now…”
“Well, maybe if your Auntie Kouko could actually get the groceries I try to keep sending her to get we might be able to cook something else,” she answered, before pouring the rice into the bowl she battered the eggs in to mix them. “Otherwise, we're stuck with this because we need to preserve ingredients.”
I grunted in my dissatisfaction. How is it that we always have eggs ready anyway? It's not like we run a chicken farm or something…
“Why can't you go shopping instead?” I asked, leaning the side of my head on my right palm. “You're the one that heads home late…”
“Because all the stalls close down when I leave the clinic,” she said before placing the egged rice back into the wok and mixing the rice with a spatula. “no one wants to sell goods when youkai might be crawling around…”
“But that's what people like the Purple Viper is for, right? To keep the streets safe from youkai…”
Mama tutted as she finished frying the rice. She placed the rice in a big bowl before grabbing two smaller bowls and two pairs of chopsticks as well before walking towards the table with all of these items in hand. “The Purple Viper…” Mama said with a slight twinge of disdain, “She's far too young to be a youkai exterminator.”
“Really?” I tilted my head as Mama prepared our food. Scooping up rice with the bowls before handing one of them over to me. “But I'm training to be just like her, aren't I? A youkai exterminator?”
I took a pair of chopsticks to begin eating and Mama let out a sigh as she looked at me. “Reimu, I don't wish to tell you this, but this ‘Purple Viper’ works for a bad person. If you see her, I need you to avoid her at all costs.”
“Auh budh mmersonph?” I said, food still in my mouth.
“Chew and swallow, Reirei. Don't speak while your mouth is full.”
I did what I was told, gulping down the rest of the food in my mouth. “A bad person? What do you mean?”
“She works for a vengeful spirit that once brought Gensokyo to its knees. She staged an incident that sent the seasons spiraling out of control with the help of youkai who controlled the seasons. You remember this story from Miss Keine, right?”
I nodded. It's been almost a year since we last discussed that. I remember reading from one of Mama’s papers that said something about the true perpetrators of that incident. A magician and a minion of hers.
“Well, that vengeful spirit used the chaos of the changing seasons to her advantage.” she continued. “Her true goal was not to make Gensokyo her’s. Instead, it was to kill your ancestor.”
I dropped my chopsticks and froze in place. “W-what…?” Killed my ancestors?”
“Yes. And the Purple Viper works for her. That’s why I want you to avoid her when you see her.”
“B-but..” I looked down at my food and whimpered. The Purple Viper was my hero, someone I wanted to be! There’s no way she’d be working for someone so evil!
“No buts, Reimu. It’s for your own good. I don’t want to see you near her.” she said with a stern voice. With that, I knew I could no longer argue with her. I sigh as I return to my meal, unhappy with how this conversation turned out.
“What's the name of the person the Purple Viper works for anyway?”
“Mima Lapizlazuli.” She answered, eyeing my shocked expression carefully. “Yes, the same Mima who faked being friendly to you, kidnapped a child from the Human Village, and the one that gave you that gohei that originally belonged to the ancestor she killed.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as Mama laid those accusations bare for me to listen to. Everyone in the shrine kept telling me how bad and evil Mima had been before, but I refused to believe them. They say that she’s a cruel person, but she was nothing like that when we met. Mama says Marisa was kidnapped by her which is why she disappeared one day, but Marisa seemed happy to be there. We had FUN playing together!
“But Mama, there’s no way she’s like that now!” I rebutted, my voice heightening with passion as I slammed my hands onto the table. “She didn’t do anything bad to me! She gave me food, a playmate, that gohei as a gift, and saved Miss Sin and me from that Makai place after Mister Konngara was defeated!”
Mama sighed before reaching her hand toward mine and gently grasped it. “Reirei, listen to me. People can lie, and deceive. Anyone can do it very easily and Mima is no exception. In fact, she’s very likely to do so. The better the liar, the more people she can fool. And you, Reirei, are still very young. I need you to understand that this is for your safety.”
“I… ngh…” And just like that, my will to fight back was quickly subdued just as fast as it returned. She was right, people can lie. But something still tells me that Mima really isn’t as bad as Mama makes her seem. However, I don’t want to take this further than necessary. We were beginning to run quite late due to Mama waking up later than usual.
We finished breakfast and Mama took our dishes to the sink to wash for later, moving much more sluggish than usual. She went ahead and changed into her usual clothes and once she had done so, we took hold of each other’s hands and walked down the shrine’s stairs, ready to start the day late.