A trip to the Human Village

I feel that someone is softly shaking me and wake up. It's Sanae. "Good morning. Time to get ready." She says. "Good morning. Is the bath occupied?" I ask. "No, it shouldn't be." She tells me. I get fresh clothes and head to the bathroom. I bathe quickly and dress. When I get out Sanae is ready and waiting for me. "Ready?" Sanae smiles. "Yes, let's go." I say.

She leads me outside and I follow her closely. We are following a paved road that leads to the human village. "Are you sure the villagers won't surround you to get your blessings or something? I mean you are a goddess and a shrine maiden." I am curious as Sanae seems unbothered. "The people in the village know to respect us, they'll leave us alone as they are busy with their own work." Sanae gives me a reassuring smile.

Soon enough I can see the village from afar. It looks old, though everything in Gensokyo looks old. It has its charm though. I see farms on the left of me. The fields are huge, and the crops are shining gold.

As we step into the village Sanae turns "Welcome to the village! Looks ancient, eh?" She smiles. "Yes, it does. What is your plan now?" I ask Sanae. "First we eat, I am a bit hungry, then we can go to the market and maybe buy something cute for you! And lastly, we eat again. Sounds like a solid plan, doesn't it?" She seems excited. "Sure, I mean I never really ate that much Japanese food, so I am excited to try ot out."

We sit down outside of a restaurant. A waitress comes to us. "Welcome, what can I do for you?" She turns to Sanae first. "I'd like a bowl of roasted mushrooms please." Sanae orders. The Waitress writes it down before turning to me. "And you?" The waitress asks. I think for a second before answering "Make it two please." the waitress nods and heads into the restaurant.

Sanae looks at me with a smile while we are waiting for our food "So, who is your favourite?" she asks innocently. "What do you mean?" I don't really understand as her question is too vague. "From everyone you met, who's your favourite?" She asks me again. I know that there is only one right answer, and I don't want to make her sad. "It can only be you; I mean you are the one who cared for me while I was unconscious, and you gave me a shelter and food." I tell her as I feel like there was no better answer to give. "I see." Sanae says and winks at me.

Soon enough our food arrives. The waitress places the two bowls of roasted mushrooms down and says, "Enjoy your meal." before attending other costumers. "Roasted mushrooms was a good idea, I always love eating mushrooms." I say while eating. Sanae doesn't say anything, she just looks at me with a smile while eating herself.

Soon enough we finish eating. "Now, that we ate let's go to the marketplace!" Sanae says excitedly. "Sure!" I reply. Sanae pays for the two of us and takes my hand. We head to the village centre. It's busy and full of stands and shops. Clothes, Masks, Decorations, Accessories and so on are everywhere.

Sanae leads me further in until she found a shop she likes. We enter it and I look around. The shop is full of many accessories. Wooden, Metal and even some golden necklaces and wristbands. "Look what do you think of these!" She holds two bracelets in her hand. It's the classic black and white yin yang sign split in half on two bracelets. "They are perfectly representing our friendship! Should I buy it?" Sanae looks at me expectantly. "They look really nice." I hesitate to answer yes because people will think we are a couple. After around five long seconds I answer, "You are right they do represent our friendship well, you can buy them if you want." I finally answer. Sanae buys the two bracelets without a second thought. We walk outside the store and Sanae hands me the majority black one. "Here you go. And don't take it off, ok?" Sanae looks at me for a sign of approval and I nod.

For the next hours we just casually walk through the market looking and talking about the different products that are for sale. Sanae often reminds me that she'll buy me something if I wanted, but I don't want to drain her wallet, so I never ask for anything.

Soon enough we went through the entire market looking at every shop. The sun slowly starts setting and Sanae turns around and faces me "Looks like the day will end soon. Let's eat one more time before going home." Sanae seems like she enjoyed the day. "Yes, I am quite hungry." I respond.

She then leads me out of the market. "Did you like going to the village with me?" She asks. "Of course, it was great! I mean this whole village feels so ancient and all the buildings seem so old. It's like I went back in time." I say while looking at the buildings that surround us. Sanae giggles "It's really different if you are here for the first time. It really feels like you went back in time. Gensokyo overall just feels different from the normal world. I went from just a nerdy girl to a goddess with powers and all that other stuff. I just hope I can make life a bit easier for you because I know how hard it is to be an outsider here." She sighs. "If that's your goal then you definitely reached it. You make me feel at home. The shrine is great and the people there are great as well! Sometimes I do miss my world of course, but you are really doing a great job at guiding me." I tell her doing my best to keep a reassuring smile for her. "I am glad I met you." Sanae says while blushing.

We arrive at the restaurant. At noon the restaurant was filled with many kinds of people of all ages, now though it is filled with mostly men drinking with their friends and enjoying themselves. We sit down "These drunkards make me sick, like how can you have nothing better to do than drinking alcohol." Sanae says. I nod, thinking about the night I was in a bar with the black-haired woman. Unlike Sanae I wasn't too bothered by people drinking alcohol.

A waiter comes to our table and asks, "Welcome, how can I help you two?" The waiter has his pen ready. "We would like Ramen, please" Sanae responds. The waiter retreats into the inside of the restaurant and we are both more or less alone again.

"You have never really told me what kind of magic you specify in. Tell me I want to know more about it!" Sanae looks at me with blazing curiosity. "Patchouli told me it's control magic. From what I've read control magic focusses on mental stuff." I try to give as good of an answer as possible. "So like hypnotization and controlling someone's body? Maybe even mind reading?" She seems eager to know more. "I am not sure, maybe when I actually get good at control magic, maybe then I can do that." I answer.

The waiter comes and places down the plates of food "Enjoy your meal." the waiter says and swiftly goes away. We eat without much talking just enjoying the delicious food. Somehow though I feel a little watched sometimes. I can't quite put my finger on it but since I first went to the vampire mansion.

Soon enough we finish eating, Sanae pays, and we make our way to the Shrine.