Interlude Komainu

Flying off, Komainu grinned; she was back in Gensokyo, which was great. Aidan was here as well, which was even better. The sun was shining high in the sky, which meant that Mystia's stall wouldn't be open for another few hours.

She often opened in the afternoon and closed around midnight. It had also become a gathering point for a few less powerful youkai. They would play or goof around while Mystia was not working.

Komainu had met them soon after being created and managed to integrate herself somewhat with them. They knew she would be pulled away someday, but until then, they were willing to play and have fun together.

The other big thing she did was meet with Ran, who worked for the Scary Lady. Komainu didn't know who the Scary Lady was or her name, but she was spooky.

On the other hand, Ran was quite nice and helped Komainu learn and adapt to what the outside world would be like. However, Ran only came to her, and the few times Komainu sought her out, she hadn't been able to find her, so she would have to wait to see her again.

Flying towards The Lake, Komainu started poking around for Crino. She couldn't talk to the others until later in the day, but Cirno didn't need sleep and could be reliably found around The Lake. All you had to do was look for large amounts of ice where it shouldn't be.

A few minutes later, she spotted a small childlike figure floating a few feet above the ground, peering at half a dozen frogs, of which a little over half were trapped in blocks of ice.

Flying behind her, Komainu greeted her with a tackle hug. The tiny fairy of ice was sent tumbling to the ground as Komainu rolled off her and greeted her. "Hi, Crino!"

All of the burgeoning anger was swept away, and Crino floated back up and grinned back. "Hello, Komainu; it's great to see you again. I thought you got tired of us."

"Of course, I didn't," Komainu said indigently before explaining. "I met my Master. His name is Aidan, and he is the best person ever!" Crino tilted her head in confusion as she attempted to remember if Komainu had ever mentioned such a person before.

"I don't remember you talking about a master before." Shaking her head, Komainu elaborated. "It's why I was made. Scary Lady and Miss Ran helped. My purpose was to be sent to my Master, serve them and protect their home no matter what."

It was easy to see that Crino was still not grasping it, but like any fairy, she shrugged it off and congratulated Komainu. "Well, that's good for you!" She said, enthusiasm filling her voice.

"I know, it's great!" Komainu said, her smile growing before she asked another question. "Is everybody going to be at Mystia's tonight? I want to tell them the good news." This question caused Crino to think once again before she gave a single nod.

Sighing in relief, Komainu could tell that Crino wanted to go back to her prior fun of freezing frogs but was at least attempting to be polite. "Have a good day, Crino," Komainu said as she waved goodbye and flew off, allowing Crino to resume her torment of the frogs.

Floating in the air, Komainu thought over where she could go next. She had a few hours before she could meet the others and tell them the good news. As she was about to go off looking for something else to do, she spotted a familiar figure rising to meet her.

Grinning, Komainu darted down to meet her and hugged her tightly. "Hello, Miss Ran. It's great to see you again. I met my Master, his name is Aidan, and he is the best person ever!" She said once again before releasing the tall figure.

Looking back down at her was Ran, clad in a dress with a hat that covered her fox ears and nine large tails gently swaying in the air behind her. Ran looked down with a small smile before scratching the top of Komainu's head, causing her to relax and lean into it.

"Let's head to the ground where it's easier to talk, shall we? You can also tell me all about your master." Ran said in her soft motherly tone as she descended, causing Komainu to follow as they landed on solid ground.

Still running a finger through Komainu's hair, Ran spoke up. "How has it gone, if you don't mind telling me about what your master has done since he met." This caused Komainu to puff up before launching into a long rant on her master.

"He's the best; he is so smart and nice. He even made me immortal and still wants to protect me even though I can't die now. " This caused Ran's eyebrows to furrow slightly; however, Komainu continued on headless of the concern.

"He's also being better. He kidnapped and killed some people, but he regrets it, so he saved the world!" At that statement, Ran's hand stopped petting Komainu's hair resulting in her whining slightly before Ran asked. "Do you mind explaining more about how he saved the world?"

"Of course, Miss Ran." Komainu chirped before continuing. "He had to stop somebody named Ang-Angra Mainyu" While stuttering a bit at the strange name, she managed to spit it out. "He was going to drown the world in curses or something, and Master stopped."

Looking up at Ran Komainu's smile was nearly blinding. "He is the best, isn't he?" She asked guilelessly while quivering in anticipation at Ran's response.

"I agree; he sounds wonderful. While I do have to go, do you think you could direct him to meet me at some point? I would like to know him better?" The result of this statement caused Komainu's eyes to bug out as she pulled Ran into another hug.

While comical due to the near-foot difference in height, it was clear that Ran was happy to see Komainu and was not objecting to the hugs. Giving one last head rub, Ran turned to leave while speaking.

"It was wonderful seeing you again; however, a Shikigami's job never ends. Have a good night." With that, she vanished into a split in the air that was bound with ribbons at each end and had countless eyes peering out.

Shivering slightly at the Scary Lady's power, Komainu gave a wave and shouted back. "It was great to see you as well, Miss Ran. I can't wait for you to meet Master. It will be great!"

As the portal zipped itself back up, Komainu took back into the air with a grin on her face. She had met Crino, Ran and was now going to see her other friends.

With that thought on her mind, she headed to Mystia's stand. Even if she was somewhat early, she could still help set the place up; if she were lucky, that would score her some food.

Arriving at the small shack that served as Mystia's business Komainu landed in front of the entrance to the kitchen. It was open air, so she could see inside and spotted Mystia returning from another task.

As Mystia closed the waist-high door to her stand, she saw Komainu and started. Komainu then lunged over the counter, causing Mystia to stumble back and drop the container she had been holding.

Heedless of the still-wet fish and lampreys, Komainu squeezed Mystia tightly, resulting in the bird-youkai letting out a squawk and rapidly patting Komainu's back in an effort to get her to let go.

"Sorry, I'm just so happy to see you again," Komainu said after letting go of Mystia and settling back on her heels. Rubbing her chest Mystia sighed before replying.

"That's fine, so where did you go? You up and vanished one for no reason." Komainu could tell that Mystia was slightly irritated at her disappearing. Youkai were a varied group; however, the less powerful, such as the one who met my Mystia's stand, often grew close somewhat quickly.

That didn't mean as much as it did for humans, but while youkai were alien and twisted reflections of humans, they were still reflections, and one could spot the similarities if they looked closely enough.

"Sorry," Komainu replied. "You know how I was to meet my Master someday?" Without waiting for a response, she shouted, "I did, his name is Aidan, and he is the best Master ever!"

Leaning back from the excited yelling, Mystia relaxed. She knew Komainu would have to leave one day to serve some far-off master. The fact that she was back healthy and with enough freedom to meet up and talk to old friends was enough for her.

Hopping up on the counter, Komainu then asked. "So, can I help out? You could use some help picking up the fish, and I can help" Looking down, Mystia realized that the lamprey and fish she had painstakingly fished to supply her restaurant were currently on the ground.

With a squawk of panic, she quickly started picking up the dead animals and putting them back in the pot she used to carry them. Komainu then hopped back down and helped her put them back.

A few minutes later, the foodstuff was back in the pot and set on the counter as Mystia and Komainu dusted off their hands. Mysia then turned and got to work but not before looking over her shoulder at Komainu.

"I know you want to stay here, but I need some time to get set up, so go sit and wait." In response, Komainu's shoulders slumped, and she meandered over to one of the small tables and sat down while her nose twitched at the smells of food from the stand.

While jittery, Komainu was willing to wait and sat for close to forty minutes before one of the regulars arrived. Wriggle a firefly youkai dressed in pants, a shirt, and a cape. She had dark green hair and two antennae that stuck up.

Landing on the ground, she didn't manage to spot Komainu and was promptly punished as she jumped up and pounced on the firefly youkai knocking her to the ground.

"Hi, Wriggle. It's so good to see you again. I met my Master, his name is Aidan, and he's the best!" She barked out as she grinned. Her response was a groan as Wriggle attempted to get out from under the excited komainu.

"Oops, sorry," Komainu said as she clambered off Wriggle. Brushing herself off, she shot Komainu an irritated look before sighing and giving a response. "It's good to see you as well, Komainu, I'd like some food, but then we can talk."

Following her words, she strode over to the stand with the ease of a long-time customer, ordered food, and sat down. She then gestured for Komainu to sit next to her.

Scampering over, Komainu sat down and waited, energy shuddering through her entire frame as she waited for Wriggle to receive her food. A few minutes later, a plate and cup were set out. Sitting on top of the plate was a fried lamprey, and a cup of green tea was placed beside it.

Forsaking utensils the firefly youkai dug in and, after a few bites, gestured with her head for Komainu to start speaking. This set off a long rant that was only stopped when the last regular member of their group besides Crino arrived.

Rumia was an unusual youkai. She had an insatiable appetite and was always looking for more food, typically humans. However, she could not hunt down people due to her lackluster skills and inability to see in the darkness she created.

All of these added up in a strangely weak youkai more likely to slam into a tree than eat somebody. On the other hand, she was good company so long as you ignored her strange comments.

Waving widely, Komainu shouted. "Hello, Rumia!" The youkai in question then floated over to her and looked her up and down before replying. "Hello there."

Without any further words, she flew to the stand and ordered her own food. A few minutes later, the same scene repeated itself with Rumia. Food was delivered along with a drink, and she dug in with her bare hands.

As Komainu chattered on, she thought back over the day. She had met Crino, talked to Ran, and seen her friends again. It was truly a great idea to come back to Gensokyo!