12 Unlucky Dreamer on the Loose

Editor: Crembo.

'… I can't say I never thought this would happen, but I didn't think it would happen so soon.'

I found a body.

"…Seriously, you had one job, and that was to stay alive until old age."

A dead body, to be exact.

"… How much of an idiot you are to not understand your position in Gensokyo."

Freedom is a privilege for the strong, and you guys are not strong, at all.

One day. Only one day since that newspaper came out and I've already found a human corpse in the Youkai Forest.

At first, I heard screaming in the distance and rushed towards it, but I was too late.

The scream's originator had already been mauled to death by something, probably Youkai, because I didn't see or sense anything in the perimeter after I discovered it.

*sigh*

His clothes were like something a Human Villager would wear, and there were a bunch of claw marks on his face and chest. This guy's probably from that "Secret History Association" group from the Human Village. Their goal is like to uncover Gensokyo's secrets, drive out the Youkai, and make it a human-only land.

There were two things I wanted to point out to the founder of this Suicidal Ignorance group.

First, Yakumo.

And lastly, Yukari. Done.

Gensokyo was built inside the Great Hakurei Barrier which was created in a collaboration between Youkai and humans, and Yukari is one of the original barrier creators that made Gensokyo - I don't need to explain any further what would happen to them.

Keine is also trying to fight this group's influence by teaching history lessons in her school, though I don't know how much that's helping.

Because they want to find Gensokyo's secrets, they keep going into Youkai infested territory, which has led a majority of the group members to their deaths. While the rules do say Youkai mustn't kill any humans, it's a different story if the humans themselves are trying to get killed by them. There's dangerous Youkai out there, and if said humans just walk into their den willy-nilly, it's obvious they would be killed on the spot.

To make a simple example, it's like that one guy who ignores a sign saying "Don't go near the cliff" because he wants to take a selfie, only to slip off and fall to his death.

*sigh*

… But still, it's uncomfortable to see a human corpse, and a fresh one at that.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A woman screamed in the distance.

'… Damnit, another one.' I turned toward the scream.

I made Quadra Wings and flew toward it.

"… For fuck's sake, at least make your group male only, idiots."

As I flew through the forest, I finally saw the source of the scream: a woman, being chased by a red-skinned caveman. A Youkai.

I moved one of my feet forward.

"HEY, RED-SKINNED PERVERT!" I shouted at him.

The woman and the Youkai stopped to look at me, and I sped up towards the Youkai's head.

"DROP KICK TO YOUR FACE!"

My foot connected, he flew through the forest, and I stuck a perfect Kamen Rider landing.

Everything's perfect.

"Kukuku, I'm overpowered like always. Now then," I stood up and turned toward the woman, "Who-".

*Glomp*

My face was suddenly covered by something and I felt pressure around my head.

'… Did she just hug me?'

"Thank you, Arah-kun, you saved me!" said the woman.

'… It's a woman. That means…'

"I was so scared, but you suddenly arrived and saved me."

'… Boobs…'

"… You okay, Arah-kun? You haven't said anything for a while."

'… Boobs…' I was still in La-la land.

"Arah-kun? Ah, sorry, my mistake!" she let go of her hug immediately.

I was slowly rebooting my brain after what just happened.

I shook my head. "Ugh, that was weird. What just happened?" And then I started looking at the woman.

She had blonde hair, purple eyes and a white mob cap; she also wore a pale blue blouse and blue-purple skirt, and had a bandage on her right arm. Oh wow, she is… just… like… Yukari…

I blinked.

I looked at her status immediately.

[Lv.9 The Dream Flipper, Maribel Hearn]

'… Oh my.'

"… Anything wrong, Arah-kun?" she worriedly asked.

I put my hand on my chin, to indicate I was thinking.

'How did she know my name? Isn't her ability just teleporting between her dreams and reality, and being able to see supernatural places with vision- only, right? This is supposed to be my first meeting with her, right?' '... Let's just genuinely ask her about myself.'

"… Miss, have we met before?" I asked her while still in my thinking pose.

"Wha-Don't you remember me?! It's me, Maribel Hearn. The woman that was led by the maid from the mansion, Arah-kun was playing the piano when we met for the first time!" she explained.

'... Mansion? Playing Piano? I hadn't visited the Mansion since my fight with Sakuya… Ah, I see, I understand, we met in the future! Her ability is tied to her dreams, and her dreams just randomly pick the timeline for her to teleport to. The problem now, then, is: how will she prove to me that we have met before…'

"… I'm sorry, but I strongly believe that I remember every single day I spent in this place, and I've never encountered you before."

"No way…" she sounded disappointed.

'Come on, the future me must have given her something to prove we met, something that doesn't need to be carried around, something that can just be remembered and only I would know.'

"… Wait, I remembered, you said the next time we met you wouldn't remember me, I just have to hum this song and you would understand instantly."

"Hum a song?" I asked.

"Yes, please wait a minute." She prepared, clasping her hands and closing her eyes.

*huuuum**hm-hm-hmhmmm**huuuum**hm-hm-hmhmmm*

'… That's…'

*hmhmhm-hmhm**hmhmhm-hmhm**huhuhum-hum-huhuhuhuhum*

'… My favorite theme, ZUN's theme.'

I smiled and waited for her to finish.

"Fuh…" she finally finished humming.

*clap**clap**clap* I clapped at her performance.

"I still remember the name of the song, its "Kid's festival –Innocent treasure-" and it has something to do with Yume-tagae, a prayer to be done in order to prevent a bad dream from coming true… Do you remember now?" she asked worriedly.

"Truthfully, no."

She looked dejected.

"But I understand what's going on."

"… What do you mean?" she looked surprised and curious with what I said.

"That song you just hummed is one of my favorite songs, and I doubt anyone in the world would know it except me."

"… Really?"

"Yeah, adding the fact that you hugged me, that can only mean one thing."

"What is it?"

"That means," I opened my arms toward Maribel, ready to receive her. "you are my FUTURE GIRLFRIEND!"

"Eeeeeeeh?!" Maribel was surprised by my 'revelation'.

"As expected of me, I can find such a beautiful girlfriend."

"B-beautiful?!"

"And older than me as well, I must be pretty good at kissing."

"K-k-kissing?!"

"But I think the joke's getting old already, so let's just talk seriously now."

"A joke?!"

… She's pretty dedicated to the 'straight man' act. No wonder Renko still stick with her, she's amusing to tease.

"… Was Arah-kun messing with me from the start?" she eyed me suspiciously.

"No, no, no, I really have never met with you before, Maribel-san. It's just that your explanation indicated that you were from the future."

"Indicated? Which part?"

"It's the playing piano part, I only just recently got permission to play the piano in the mansion, and I only played there once. I did plan to start playing there again in the future, while playing my favorite song that only I know. Because of that, I can pretty much guess that you really are from the future."

"I see, it does make sense if you think about it." She nodded understandingly, "But, Arah-kun, your attitude is a bit different from the first time we met, is this your real self?"

"Hooh~, that means my future self was really good pretending to be a gentleman then. As you experienced, I really like to tease people." I smiled triumphantly.

"Eeeeh~, please bring my Arah-kun back, I like the gentleman Arah more." Complained Maribel.

"'My'?" I asked.

"Yeah, I really want a brother that listens to me all the time. And Arah-kun at that time really fit my dream brother, I almost thought that I was dreaming at that time... Oh, wait, I really was dreaming at that time." She said cheerfully.

'…I think I should rethink my plan for her in the future.'

"*cough* Let's get back on topic, what are you doing here?"

"Sorry, well, it's my usual routine of dream traveling... Oh wait, since this is the past then I should explain what my ability is again, right? Yes, as you have heard I can switch between my dreams and reality, and vice versa, which lets me go to another world easily."

"But you can't control where the dream takes place, that's why this time-line issue happened, and also why you're here right now, in the middle of Youkai Forest, where a lot of Youkai are roaming about?" I finish her explanation.

"…Yes." Her mood visibly went down from my words.

"Is that also why you have a bandage on your arm?"

"Ah, this one?" she showed me the bandage on her right arm. "No, this one happened when me and my friend were traveling to a satellite station in space. The doctor said it would heal in a few days, you don't need to worry." She bitterly smiled.

'…She's already at 'Neo-traditionalism of Japan' huh. That means she can already pick up anything she consciously grabs in her dreams, and also that I can help her right now too.'

'System, buy and confirm everything that I told you.'

[Affirmative]

[Lesser Vitality Pill] x 100 = 10.000 IP.

[Healing Salve] x 6 = 3.000 IP.

Separate it into two pouches that hold 50 [Lesser Vitality Pill] and 3 [Healing Salve] each, put them in my waist pouch.

I shoved my hand inside my waist pouch and pulled out the 2 pouches.

I took a healing salve out from one of them.

It's a medium-sized glass jar that has green cream inside it.

"Maribel-san, show me the wound."

"E-eh, there's no need to do anything to it, Arah-kun, it will heal in a few days."

She said pleadingly but I insisted.

I grabbed her right hand and turned it to look at the bandage.

I ripped the bandage off with my ability so that she won't feel pain from it.

The bandage came away from her skin, revealing a scar that ran from her elbow down to her hand.

'… I'm gonna Laser Snipe those Chimeras in that Space Station.'

"…Does it still hurt?" I asked her while looking at the scar.

"… Just a bit."

"… Then bear with the pain for a moment."

I opened the jar and smeared the green cream on the scar.

"…Ukh…kuh…" she moaned from the pain.

"… Please bear with it for a few more seconds."

This is serious business; even I won't joke around at her condition. A woman's skin is a precious thing, so if you can heal her, heal her.

I finished smearing the scream, and just as I finished, the scar and the cream slowly disappeared.

"… How does it feel?" I asked her.

She moved her arm, testing if there was any pain left from the scar.

"It healed, there is no more pain when I move my arm, Arah-kun, it healed!" She smiled toward me.

"Good, then-"

*glomp*

"You really are the best! Thank you very much!" she hugged me again.

'… Boobs…' And my brain malfunctioned again.

*ding*

[Achievement Alert]

[Impress The Dream Flipper]

[Reward: 20.000 AP & 20.000 IP]

-Several Minutes Later-

"Arah-kun, where are we going?" Maribel asked.

"To the Giant Toad Pond." I answered.

"Giant Toad?! Isn't it dangerous?"

"Not really, if you respect everything in the area then you will be okay. Moreover, I'll be there, so you don't have to worry about anything."

Maribel decided to follow me. Even though she could just wake up from here and take the pouch bag home, she instead wanted to follow me while I was gathering Magic Ingredients in Youkai Mountain.

"By the way, your pill really is amazing, Arah-kun. I don't feel tired at all even after hiking this mountain path."

"I'm really amazing you know, I'm happy that you know it now." I smugly smiled.

"Yes, yes, my little brother Arah-kun is amazing."

"… Damnit."

'Damn teenager height, just wait 4 more years and I will have my growth spurt and will be taller than every Japanese human in Gensokyo...'

The system turned me 15 years old per my request, while she's a college student.

Is this "Detective Conan" right now? Am I Conan right now? Then where's Gorou? Where's the drunkard idiot who is full of himself even though he doesn't know anything?

"I see the pond!"

I was snapped out of my useless pondering by Maribel's excited voice.

-Giant Toad Pond, Mountain Area-​

Giant Toad Pond, as its name implies, is a pond with a giant toad residing as its guardian. As long as you don't desecrate the pond, it won't attack you. Lotus flowers can be seen growing on the pond surface. Sunbeams also filter through the surrounding foliage. It looks just as beautiful in person as the illustrations did.

"It's so beautiful and looks so mysterious at the same time." Maribel admired.

'You said it.'

I saw a small shrine besides the mountain path near the pond.

"Hey, Maribel-san, look, a shrine." I alerted Maribel.

"A shrine?" she started approaching it. "I wonder who built it?"

I followed suite. "I don't know, but it must have been a religious fellow." I took out two apples from my waist pouch. "You wanna pray to it?"

I offered one of the apples to her.

"That's not a bad idea." She smiled while taking the apple.

Then both of us placed our apples as offerings and we started praying to the shrine.

"May both of our journeys be safe." I say my prayer.

Maribel looked at me.

"Aren't you supposed not to voice out your prayer?" she asked.

"Maybe, but I figure that since the gods are real in here, if I just voiced my prayer out loud, they'll hear me." I answered with an unconcerned attitude.

"I see. Then, may both of our journeys be safe." She made the same prayer as me.

Then both our offerings were gone.

"The apples are gone."

"Eh?! Really?! There's something in there?!"

"I already said that the gods are real here, it's not surprising that it accepted our offerings."

I turned toward Maribel.

"I'm going to search for Magical Ingredients, you can just sit and wait for me to finish. I'm sorry, but I can't let you help me, because only I know how to harvest it properly." I said apologetically.

"No, no, I'm the one who should feel sorry, I'm the one who wished to tag along with Arah-kun, so it's okay to tell me to stay put if you deem it necessary."

"Great."

Then I started circling the pond, trying to pick as many Magical Ingredients as possible. Not including the Lotus in the Pond because it's forbidden, I think.

After a few minutes of collecting, I sensed the creature inside the pond leap out of the water, on top of giant lily pad in the middle of the pond.

It's the Giant Toad.

Seems like it sensed us. Correction, it's sensed ME, because it's staring at me right now.

I estimated the toad to be roughly the size of a car. It can swallow a child whole if it's that big.

'… Well, gotta do what everyone does.' I waved at it.

… It just kept staring at me.

Looking over at a panicking Maribel, she was making hand signs, but of course, I didn't understand any of them.

"It's okay! As long as you don't do anything to the pond, it won't attack you!" I shouted at her.

Maribel stopped making hand signs and started observing the toad. As for the toad, it kept staring at me.

'… Gotta get back to collecting stuff.'

-A few minute later-

"I think that's everything I can harvest right now." I reported my results to Maribel.

"I see, then that mean it's time to go back, right?"

"Yup."

She looked uneasy. Probably because of the toad, since, because I was standing right next to her, also meant the toad was staring in her direction.

"Speaking of going back, how do you go back from here?" I ask.

"Well, I just wake up and I will be back in my bedroom."

"I see… Stay healthy, 'kay?"

"Hehe, don't worry, I will." She smiled. "And thanks for the gift, I appreciate it." She said while holding the two pouch bags.

*pat* *pat*

… Did she just pat me?

"… Don't worry about it."

She started going transparent, slowly but surely disappearing, until finally she was gone.

"*sigh* … I want to be taller faster." I complained.

I started descending the mountain via the mountain path.

Just as I walked, I sensed something small following me from behind, and turned to look at it.

It was a frog.

"… Safe travel, huh." I smiled at it.

-A Week Later, SDM-

​

-Maribel POV-​

… Where am I?

… A mansion?

A maid suddenly appeared in front of me?!

"A guest? Are you here to sightsee the mansion?" she tilted her head.

W-what do I say!? L-let's just say yes. "Y-yes, I'm here to sightsee the mansion."

"I see, then follow me, I will show you around."

"O-okay."

She showed me around the mansion. It's so interesting in here, everything is red. Every painting has a red color scheme, there's a fairy dressed as a maid, and a maid that can disappear and reappear at the blink of an eye - is she moving really fast?

Just as I took a cookie that the maid offered, I heard it.

"Piano music?" I wondered.

"Piano? Ah, it must be him. He arrived before you, he's really good at the piano. I think it should be okay to guide you to him."

'Should be okay to guide me to him? Maid-san, what kind of people are you trying to introduce to me?'

But I was too interested to see who this person was, and just kept following where Maid-san was leading me.

As we kept walking, the sound of the piano kept getting louder and louder, until finally we arrived at a room.

"Here is the main ballroom. It's where we hold our frequent banquets."

I was a wide and big room. There was a raised platform with a podium on it, and another platform with a piano.

Someone was playing it right then.

'A teenager?'

A teenager was playing it, he looked so absorbed while playing it that he had his eyes closed.

He opened his eyes.

'Did he notice us?'

He looked toward us, smiling while playing the piano.

He waved at us while playing?! He's a pro!

"… Arah-san…" the maid called him.

Ah… He stopped playing.

He got up from the piano chair and started approaching us.

He had short black hair and black eyes. He wore a black yukata with a black cloud motif, and appeared to be wearing black jeans under the yukata. He was wearing black leather sandals, had some kind of black line around his neck, and wore a pouch beside his waist. He looked so… Modern.

"Hello, good afternoon, Sakuya-san and guest-san." He greeted us.

"A-ah, yes, hello and good afternoon to you too." I replied.

"… Arah-san, I know you can play the piano well, but please don't do that ever again, it's unsightly." Complained the maid.

"I'm sorry, Sakuya-san. I couldn't really stop playing because it was the good part of the music." He excused, "So, who is the guest?"

"Now that you ask, I don't know her name either."

Both of them looked at me.

"M-my name is Maribel Hearn, nice to meet you." I gave my introduction.

"A polite one, I see. The name's Arah, by the way, and the maid right here is named Izayoi Sakuya." He introduced himself and the maid to me.

"Nice to meet you too, but Arah-san, I prefer to introduce myself rather than being introduced by others." She clearly looked annoyed with it.

"… What about Remilia?"

"It's natural for my mistress to do that, so I don't have any complaints about it." She said proudly.

They were talking about someone I didn't know. It was probably this mansion's owner because Sakuya-san called this someone her mistress.

"Now then, Maribel-san, what do you think about the music?"

"The music?" I asked.

"Yeah, the music that I just played. It's called "Kid's festival –Innocent treasure-" and it has something to do with Yume-tagae, a prayer done to prevent a bad dream from coming true."

… Prevent a bad dream from coming true?

"You know an awful lot about this song, Arah-san" Sakuya-san said.

"Of course, it's one of my favorite songs after all." He said proudly. "So, what do you think?" he looked toward me.

"I… can I hear it again please?"

"Of course." He said cheerfully.

He then went back to the piano, and started playing.

At first the music started slow, but it picked up the pace pretty quickly in the middle. It mellowed out for a while, but then picked up the pace again, the music always keeping its cheerful tone even after its low tone, it's as if it keep going happily even after its low key.

I smiled when I listened to it.

He finished after about a minute of playing.

"How about it?" he asked me.

"It's wonderful, wish I could play it too."

"Then do you want to try it?"

I just blinked at his offer.

"Don't worry, I can guide you through to the end."

"… Really?"

"Yeah, trust me."

I looked at Sakuya-san.

"Don't worry, if he does anything strange, I will punish him." Sakuya-san assured me.

"… I'm not gonna do anything strange, Sakuya-san."

Then I walked toward the piano.

"Just sit down on the chair."

I sat down.

"Good, confidence is the first step in everything." Said Arah-san.

"And then what do I do?" I looked at where I thought Arah-san was.

… He was sitting in mid air.

"Then, you will follow my lead."

"?!" My hands suddenly started moving on their own.

"Don't worry, as I said, I will lead you." He said, assuring me.

His hands and mine moved, mirroring each other, but I couldn't move them myself - did that mean Arah-san was controlling my hands instead?

My hands moved without my instruction, but they were creating music and I could feel each note as I kept pushing the keys.

It was weird at first, but… It's surprisingly fun.

I kept smiling as I was having fun until the end of the music.

"… Here's a cookie for making a girl laugh." Said Sakuya-san while giving him cookie.

"Thank you." Said Arah-kun.

Yes, Arah-kun. This was the first time I had fun in a dream. Usually, it's just me alone in a solitary place or getting chased by scary monsters, so meeting a friendly entity in my dream is really a rare occasion. And I think it's because of Arah-kun that I truly enjoyed this right then.

This feeling... I see, it's time.

"Everyone, I'm sorry. I think it's about time that I leave." I announced my leaving to the two people.

"I see, then please come again to this mansion, honored guest." She bowed toward me.

"Oh, before you go, Maribel-san, if we meet again and I don't remember you, please hum the music we played together and say its name. I'm sure the me at that time will understand what's going on." Said Arah-kun.

"It's a bit lengthy but I will try my best if we met again, Arah-kun." I replied.

I waved at them as everything started to go dim.

'I should tell Renko about this dream, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear it.' I smiled.

And everything turned dark.

-Me POV-​

And she's gone, that's one problem solved.

"… There's a reason why I said that to her." I tried giving my excuse.

"... Hoh~ a reason, is it. A reason that you will forget that nice girl." Sakuya said coldly at me.

"…Please believe me that there really is an important reason why I said that." I REALLY tried giving my excuse.

"Yes, yes, an important reason." Said Sakuya with the same tone.

I felt Sakuya summoning her Knife Danmaku.

"… Can you listen to my reason first?" I asked her.

"… What are the rules?" Sakuya asked me.

… Fuck my life.

Author note:

Heyo, Author here. Here it is, it's on schedule dude, I did it! As You guys probably know, Maribel ability is giving her random time line to teleport to, hence that's why I started off with her knowing about Arah, while I put her first meeting with Arah at the end of the chapter. As for her frequency of appearance in my story, uuuuuuuh, she probably not gonna appear for a really long time.

About theory of Maribel and Yukari is the same person, there's no official statement that they are the same person, so they are different person but have similar taste in my story.

As for ZUN theme, yup, it's one of my favorite themes in Touhou, and highly rated in my book.