#i wonder if animals that go extinct here appear in gensokyo...

[toho-literature]

Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Illusionary Bird

Marisa visited Kourindou carrying one of the beautiful crested ibises that had been increasing in number in Gensokyo lately. After catching it near Hakurei Shrine, Marisa was planning to cook it and eat it with Reimu. In the now lively Kourindou, the owner Rinnosuke was immersed in thought about the reason for the increase in the ibises...

Chapter 2 of an original story based on the Touhou series!

Illusionary Bird

“Hey, Kourin! What's up? Today's our routine hot pot day!”

She shouted as she threw open the door. As far as I'm concerned, today's Animal Protection Day.

“Oh, it's you, Marisa? What's the meaning of coming here and claiming this to be a 'hot pot day'?”

Marisa showed me what she had in her right hand, and there it was, a limp, red-and-white lump...

Some way from the Human Village in Gensokyo is the Forest of Magic, and close by this forest is my shop, Kourindou. In other words, it's halfway between where the humans live and where the youkai are. I thought that I could do business with both humans and youkai in this location, but the truth is that I almost never have clients of either kind. Well, it gets lively at times, but...

“Isn't that a crested ibis? What happened?”

“Yeah, I caught it by the shrine. Reimu's preparin' stuff for the hot pot, so she'll be late.”

“And why did you decide to meet at my place? You never even asked.”

“What are you talkin' about? This'll make a great meal! Sure, he looks a bit worse for the wear, but...”

The crested ibis. More and more of these birds have been appearing in Gensokyo every year. Wherever they become roused, the sky would become dyed in their colors. Yet their meat tastes good, despite their shabby appearances. The hot pot too, would end up dyed in that ibis color, almost a scarlet red. Not a nice way to put it, but it'd look like a human hot pot made by a vampire.

“Well, I guess it's fine, but why hot pot, all of a sudden?”

“Isn't it obvious? Cold days are all about hot pots.”

Marisa continued to chatter while barging into the kitchen. "Well, I just found 'im by chance, but he was pretty lively until a while ago."

Gensokyo is, quite literally, a place where illusionary creatures dwell. At some point, the people in the outside world wrote off “illusionary creatures” as nothing more than “fantasy creatures”. But, of course, illusionary creatures and fantasy creatures are very different. A fantasy creature is just another name for a delusion, misinterpretation or misunderstanding. On the other hand, an illusionary creature is one that can only be found in Gensokyo. It goes without saying, then, that both Marisa and I are also illusionary creatures.

However, the reason behind the sudden proliferation of crested ibises is something I don't understand. Could it be that they have become “illusionary birds”? That would be unthinkable in the outside world I knew, but then again, too much time has elapsed since then. As much as I try to imagine the outside world from limited literature and old memories, it would amount to nothing more than imaginations. An imagination plagued by imaginations is no more than a fantasy. For imaginations, I rank them in the order of Fantasy, Delusion, Prediction, the Virtual, and Illusion.

“Sorry for the wait! Marisa is here, too, right?”

“...I wasn't waiting. How could I when you girls showed up so suddenly?”

“Well, of course we came suddenly. But you should be waiting at all times. Isn't this a shop and everything?”

Reimu came just as Marisa said. She was carrying several bags with her. Ingredients for the hot pot, I guess.

“Hey, Reimu! Took ya long enough! Let's get this hot pot cookin'.”

Marisa had her arm outstretched, with a feeling of “C'mon, hand it over!” to it.

“I brought everything, yes.”

“Huh? This is red miso. Who told you to bring red miso?”

“I didn't need to be told. Red miso is the obvious choice for ibis broth!”

“Hey, hey! The hot pot is already red enough, so we should make it with white miso. Putting red miso in red broth? Are ya some kind of Communist?"

“It's not like you aren't going to eat because of the color. Since ibis meat is red to begin with, it shouldn't bother you, right? And why white miso? This isn't the Genpei War.”

The two of them went on about food coloring, but I wasn't listening. Regardless, Marisa was holding the ibis, and every time she gave it a squeeze, the ibis would squawk. It was kind of weird, like the ibis was supporting her. I'm sure Marisa was doing that on purpose.

"Don't red pickles go with tonkotsu? Wouldja put it in miso ramen?"

"And doesn't fukujinzuke go with curry? But knowing you, you'd probably throw it in cream stew.”

“Having somethin' red in the middle of somethin' white is the sign of a Japanese soul!”

“I'm already red and white enough. And what part of you has a Japanese soul, Marisa? Do you even know what 'Wabi-sabi' is?”

“I don't think ya know yerself, Reimu.”

“Of course I don't.”

“Anyway, we're not makin' a hot pot like that.”

“Wasn't it you who came up with the hot pot idea? We can't eat this ibis raw.”

“So is that how it is? Alright then, let's just divide it now.”

“Decide it?”

“Yeah, that'll work, too. Wanna go?”

In the end, it seems like they decided to settle the matter in a shooting duel, without so much as asking for my advice (even though they came to my shop uninvited). The rules were: 1-on-1 with Spellcard Rules. If Reimu won, the hot pot would be done her way; if Marisa won, she'd apparently make her go buy white miso. Never mind that I had white miso in my place, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I just let them be. Speaking of which, I actually know the tastiest way to cook a crested ibis...

“Marisa, what do I always tell you?”

“If you're gonna fight, then go outside, right?”

“More importantly, could you divide the bird up for Marisa, Mr. Rinnosuke?”

Their objectives seem to have changed already. Whatever the result is, I guess they'll happily eat it however I cook it. I could go as far as to think they arranged this scenario from the beginning, since it always follows the same pattern. Those two are frequently dueling to decide the most insignificant things. On top of that, they've been using attacks with lots of projectiles. It's extremely bright, and hard on the eyes.

Their duels are always a study in contrast. Against the gung-ho Marisa, Reimu – either on purpose or naturally – fights in a more laid-back style. The duels mostly go Reimu's way, but Marisa doesn't always lose. It's just that Marisa attacks with all her skill and might against Reimu, who looks just like she was made of air; it's like trying to pound a nail into dust. In any way, when looking at Reimu, she gives off a feeling that she is not quite from our own world. Anything more than that is something one cannot quite grasp.

“Hey, that's dangerous! What if it had hit me, Marisa!? Geez...”

“Aw, c'mon! Why didn't it hit?”

“Your bullets swerve to avoid me on their own. How nice of them!”

“They're flyin' straight...”

Since I could hear their voices, I went to see how things were going. Reimu looked like she would practically teleport at times. And her bullets would fly guided in impossible directions. It was kind of unfair.

Well then, this nice, round ibis looks really tasty; I've never seen one like it before. Speaking of which, Marisa said something that bothered me...

“Sorry for the wait, we've just made a decision.”

“Yes, you always make me wait like this. I already made the hot pot. With red miso, as expected.”

“Grrr... You already prepared the hot pot? What would ya do if I had won, Kourin?”

“I would have had you eat an ibis cooked in the tastiest way.”

The Hakurei Shrine is located in the edge of Gensokyo. And by edge, that doesn't mean only in the physical sense. There is the border between the outside world and Gensokyo. Because of that, the Hakurei Shrine is not an entirely “illusionary place”. And Marisa said she caught the ibis by the Shrine. It may be that this ibis is indeed from the outside world. So it would seem that crested ibises are not Illusionary Birds yet. I feel somewhat relieved.