48 Tragedy Breaker (1/2)

Author Note: I know it's late but, 1st Year Anniversary!! WOHOOOOO!! YAAAAAAAY!! …I want to puke, acting happy is hazardous for my health. But seriously tho, 1 year has passed since I start writing. I hope I could write more than 100 chapter of this.

Altered East 02: Tragedy Breaker

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Editor: Crembo.

-Afternoon, Hakugyokurou Inn-

-My POV-​

”Let's all settle down first and continue this after we have lunch.” Yuyuko's soft voice resounded clearly in the tense kitchen atmosphere.

”Yuyuko!!” Yukari berated her.

”Why not? It's been several hours, but he hasn't done anything malicious to me and he even offered to cook.”

”… Are you sure it's not because of the free food?” Yukari guessed.

”Of course not.”

'It's definitely because of the free food.' I thought… and probably everyone else too. By the way, I'd already paused my cooking when Yukari entered the building.

”Aaah-, you just had a rude thought about me, haven't you?” Yuyuko accused me.

”Would you like some pudding for dessert? I can make some for all of us.” I dodged her question with a promise of pudding.

”Ara-, sounds delicious. I would love to taste it.”

”Y-yuyuko-sama, what if he cooks something dangerous?!” Youmu sounded a concern.

I could see Youmu's expression, troubled as she was by Yuyuko's actions. Should I ease her mind a bit?

”Don't worry; cooking is a sacred thing to us chefs. I have my pride as a chef for cooking good food, and I swore to that pride that I would never put any poison or inedible things in my food.” I assured her.

”See.” Yuyuko smiled while presenting me with her hand, as if to show that her words were right.

Even though Yuyuko had already said her piece, Youmu still looked conflicted.

As for Yukari, she seemed to be considering something while the other two were and I were talking. A few seconds later, she seemed to have finally come to a decision.

”… Okay then, if Yuyuko says so.” Yukari gave in.

Yukari lowered her hostility and Ran followed suit, though Youmu remained an exception.

”Youmu-chan.” said Yuyuko in a sterner voice.

”… Yes, Yuyuko-sama.” Youmu also gave in and finally sheathed her katana.

Finally, the situation was diffused peacefully by Yuyuko.

”Now that that's settled, do you people mind if I continue preparing lunch?” I asked.

”!! C-chef-san! Can I help you cook?! I could help your food match everyone's tastes since I'm the one who usually cooks for them!” Youmu volunteered herself.

I looked at her.

'Checking if I put something strange in their food are we? Well, let's just let her in, it's not like I'm doing something like that and an extra hand in cooking isn't that bad either.'

Seems like Yuyuko also didn't disapprove of Youmu's action because she and the rest left the room after Youmu said her request.

”Okay, please take care of me.” I nodded in approval.

”Y-yes! Please take care of me too!” she lightly bowed before moving on to grab the green cooking apron that was hanging on the wall.

”Well, guess that means we need to make more food for everyone.”

I started taking out more ingredients from my Dimension Pocket.

”…Eh?” She saw what I was doing. ” ….W-w-wha-ingredients started appearing out of nowhere!! W-what's going on?!” Youmu panicked

I smiled. For the record, I did want to introduce myself after we ate, so letting Youmu see these is not really a big deal.

”Magic, that's what's going on.” I calmly said.

After several minutes of power-aided cooking (yeah, I use my abilities to cook large amount of foods, problem?), I finished everyone's share of lunch; from deep-fried tofu for Ran to the normal meals for the humans, including Yuyuko's portion - though I only made 3 people's worth of food for her, just to be safe for her human counterpart's stomach.

I carried all the food with my Telekinesis to the dining table, Youmu also helping to carrying some.

”Sorry for the wait.” I said while carrying the food with both my hands and Telekinesis.

I could see their looks of wonder at seeing many flying plates of food.

I placed each of their shares on the dining table.

The dining table was a round, short-legged table. It was like a coffee table, but for eating while seated on the floor; though, of course, they were not sitting directly on the floor but on some kind of sitting-pillow-thingy instead.

I sat at the empty spot at the side of the table, guessing this was where I was supposed to sit, and then looked at where everyone else was seated.

Yukari sat opposite of me, while Yuyuko…

… Yuyuko sat between me and Yukari. It was as if she was the fence or the bridge between me and her.

I prepared the food just like Youmu told me to.

Ran started drooling while looking back and forth between Yukari and her food.

Yukari looked subtly skeptical with the food, but on the other hand...

Yuyuko didn't change her expression when seeing her share. Does that mean that's the normal amount of food for her here too?

”Itadakimasu!” Yuyuko moved her chopsticks.

Yuyuko fearlessly ate her food.

'Does Yukari have full trust in Yuyuko's decision, hence why she isn't stopping her?'

”Delicious!” Yuyuko praised.

”Thank you for the praise.” I said as I picked up my spoon to eat.

And with that as a cue, everyone started to eat their food too.

As I ate, I started thinking about Yuyuko's actions.

'I wonder why she has this much trust in me, we've only known each other for like less than 3 hours. Usually when someone is suddenly being too familiar with someone, they would get creeped out. In my case, I purposely revealed her information because she bait-and-hit me with half nudity and a pan. I would expect her to be more cautious right now.'

A thought suddenly hit me.

'…Wait, what if… what if she somehow one-upped me by any chance right now? One-upped by someone with a much lower level than mine? …one upped by that Yuyuko, I think that's like a privilege for a Touhou fan, holy shit, I've actually been one-upped by Yuyuko, fuck being pissed, I'm happy now.'

I was trying my very best to stop my facial muscles from forming a full blown smile from that thought. I bet all of them would think I was a creep if I suddenly smiled in the middle of lunch. …Weird, somehow I feel that they already think me as one.

…

…

… Shit, I forgot about what I did to Sakuya. They absolutely think of me as a creep, and that's probably why Yuyuko baited me with her body just now. This is karma, I reap what I sowed. It can't be-?!

I sensed something at a corner, down near the floor.

I looked at it, moving only my eyes.

A ghostly ball came emerged from the corner.

[Lv.17 Evil Phantom]

It was heading toward Yuyuko.

'…Interesting. Astral Barrier.'

I created an astral barrier that enveloped our table. The phantom bounced off the barrier, then tried to pass the barrier several times before going off into another part of the house.

I also saw Ran flinch when I erected the barrier.

'Seems like Ran could sense that I've done something, and probably Yukari too, despite how she didn't show any expression right now. No matter, at least this should prevent any ghostly being disturbing us while we eat.'

Now that that little disturbance was already taken care of, I continued eating my food until everyone finished their lunch. I also distributed the pudding. Note to self: Youmu loves pudding.

”Thank you for the food.” All of us said as we finished up our lunch.

Now they were all drinking their tea while Youmu and I started putting the plates away.

”Chef-san, how did you do that?” Youmu asked.

”Do what? Moving the plates? It's nothing big. I'm just using my Telekinesis.” I answered nonchalantly.

She froze.

”…Youmu-san?” I looked at her while also moving all the plates to the sink using my Telekinesis.

”…Chef-san, are you perhaps… a Magician?” said Youmu.

I blinked ”… I… Yes. Actually, I'm gonna explain to all of you fully after we clean all the plates.”

”I see, sorry for asking, it's just that one of my friends really likes magic, so she often says that she wants to be a magician. I had thought that kind of thing was useless, but now, seeing chef-san cook, being a magician actually seems pretty handy.” she said bashfully.

”No problem, you're just curious after all, there's nothing bad about being curious.” I said. 'A magic enthusiast …It was Marisa. …Hope she doesn't have any issues with her family on this side.' I thought.

Once again, I used my abilities to clean the plates quickly. Youmu again looked amazed at what she was seeing.

After a few minutes of working…

”Finally, it's time for the explanation, right?” said Yukari.

Now we were in the guest room, everyone but me sitting on their knees while I was the only one sitting cross-legged. I also took off my jacket and put it beside me, revealing the black t-shirt I wore underneath.

Like in the dining room, our sitting positions had me in the center of one side of the room while Yukari and Yuyuko sat at the opposite side, the followers sitting at the side of their respective masters.

”Right. Sorry for taking so long to explain, the timing was kinda off because I was cooking.” I said apologetically.

”Don't worry about it, in the end we got to eat delicious food, so it's not really a bad thing.” said Yuyuko happily.

”…Seriously.” Yukari kinda gave up after seeing Yuyuko's expression.

Their relationship is really good as always.

”Then, let's start by introducing ourselves.” everyone immediately focused their attention on me after I said that. ”Hello, my name is Arah, I'm a Magician, nice to meet you.”

I could see varying expressions.

Caution.

Ran eyeing me with caution.

Analyzing.

Yukari calmly evaluated me.

Interest.

Youmu was expecting something from me.

Analyzing but… 100 times faster?

”Ara-…” said Yuyuko while covering her smile with her sleeve. I could feel her gaze. She was seriously picking me apart piece by piece. It's like I became naked even though I'm fully clothed right now. She's probably already seen through my motives. People who don't know her probably only think she's a beauty with an air-head personality.

I know I'm being annoying with my constant paranoid speculations about her actions even though I never got solid proof of her being a genius on this side yet, but it never hurts to be cautious, and also, you know… This side also counts as Touhou, and she's a Touhou character. You never underestimate a Touhou character no matter how weak they are.

”All of you are probably wondering why a magician suddenly showed up here. Well, the answer to that is because of an experiment. ”

”Experiment?” asked Youmu.

”Yes, as a magician I often indulge myself in researching and experimenting on my own magic theories. Think of me as a scientist that specializes in magic. ”

”… Scientist and magic, it feels weird to hear those words together in one sentence.” said Yukari.

”Haha, yeah, at first I also felt the same thing, when I heard it from one of my magician friends in my world. But, if you think about it, it does make sense.”

I could hear the gears in everyone's heads stopping.

”… 'My world'?” asked Yukari suspiciously.

Lie Engine, Start!!

I nodded. ”A while ago, I started experimenting with my research, on the subject of time and space- ahh… Based on your looks you people probably know what happened next.”

”You failed?” asked Yukari.

I shook my head. ”No, it was the other way around, it was a success, or too successful I might say,” I continued, ”Initially the experiment only involved moving myself far away from my starting point to another point and then coming back to the starting point. In other words, long range teleportation.”

”As I started the experiment, I felt that I had indeed moved from my original position. I arrived inside a building and then I saw signs written in Japanese. Ergo, I assumed I was in Japan, and it was a success. But then, this is the part when I realized the experiment was too successful. ”

”I saw Yukari-san, I saw her and then I realized that I actually moved between worlds. I moved from my Gensokyo to your Gensokyo.” I explained.

”Eh? Yukari-sama? Why? Eh? What do you mean? 'My Gensokyo'? 'Your Gensokyo'? Eh??” Youmu was lost.

I could see that everyone was already putting everything together. Except Youmu.

”An Alternate World.” said Yukari.

I nodded.

”No offense, but the first time I saw Yukari-san, I realized how weak she is compared to Yukari on my side, so-””RAN!!”

Ran lunged.

I stopped her using Telekinesis.

Yukari threw something at me.

I stopped it in mid air.

After Youmu realized what just happened, she tried to get up but I stopped her too.

Ran, her fox ears and tail revealed, was floating in mid air. Yukari's ofuda stayed in the air too, as if frozen in time, while Yukari readied another ofuda in her hand and Youmu was struggling to move from her spot.

'She only has one tail, seems fitting considering how low her level is.' I thought.

I stopped them all without even blinking, except Yuyuko because she didn't do anything except observe me.

”I actually respect all of you in my world, so please perish the thought that I'll harm any of you on this side too.”

I slowly put Ran back in her previous spot, let Youmu move again, and moved the ofuda Yukari had just thrown back in front of her.

Yukari slowly reached out for her ofuda and she finally took it.

She repeatedly looked back between her ofuda and me with a difficult expression.

”…Continue.” she said as she held her ofuda.

”Thank you. As I was saying, I realized that Yukari-san was different compared to her counterpart on my side, so I immediately assumed that this is a different world, which seems to be right. Since that fact has already been established, all I need now is just to repeat what I did in my experiment. Given time and resources, I can definitely recreate it and go back to my world. …At least, that was my original plan, thing have changed.”

… Holy shit, I could totally feel the air suddenly getting more tense.

”For context, at random times, I occasionally see glimpses of the future. That future can be bad or good, and I can change it if I know what to do for it to happen. Now that you know what I'm saying, I can safely say that a few hours ago, I saw it, the future. ”

Dramatic Pause!!

”…So what did you see?” asked Youmu worriedly.

”…I saw a tragedy.” I replied. ”Or maybe a bad omen, it was just a glimpse after all.” I said while doing my thinking pose.

From here on, it's a gamble. A gamble that I'm making based on her title and her situation. If I guess right, then this will be the starting point to finish my quest and gain more favorable point from everyone in this room, but if I guess wrong, then I can just kiss good bye to interacting with all the Touhou character on this side.

”I saw a person hanging from a rope. I didn't see the face, but the body looked limp and lifeless so I assume that someone is already dead. I also saw many phantoms dancing around the body.”

”P-p-p-p-phantoms?!” Youmu stuttered.

…Oh yeah, I forgot that she's scared of ghosts.

”A phantom is a person's residue that leaves the body after they are dead.” I explained,

”Dead?! G-g-ghost?!” Youmu was panicking.

…I want to tease her sooooo baaaaad right now, but I must restrain myself, the atmosphere is still serious after all.

”They usually appear in a place that is connected to the dead, for example graveyards or any long-abandoned building. They also cause negative effects on humans if they have a weak mind. Hence why I immediately went to a place that I think has a connection with the dead.”

…Revelation!

”Because of the obvious land mark, I easily located the place.”

Because the guest room has a window to look at the scenery, I turned my head to look at it. I turned to look at the scenery, the very big Sakuya tree, the Saigyou Ayakashi, or at least its counterpart because I don't know if this tree has a name.

Revelation!!

I turned back to look at the people inside.

Youmu and Ran both looked shocked that this is the place I'm talking about, but as for their masters…

Yukari was probably feeling my story was sketchy or is maybe in denial.

Yuyuko, she…she gave in? I don't know, I can't read her at all.

”… Why do you think that this place has any connection to the dead?” asked Yukari with a glare.

She wanted proof.

”This will be much quicker if I show you what she looks like in person.”

I looked at Yuyuko.

”I usually only do this after getting permission from the person in question, but I think it's okay since Yuyuko-san is in here. So Yuyuko-san, do I have the permission to show them an image of your counterpart?”

She thought a little before giving a nod.

”Thank you.”

I brought out a Projection Cube from my Dimension Storage. I started setting the device up.

[Projection Area: Hakugyokurou, Ready]