An invitation to Gensokyo

Chapter 2: Welcome to Gensokyo

The sliding door opens as Ran guides Ryusashi to the living space of the house. "Just follow behind me, alright?" Ran said reassuringly, Ryusashi nods and walks behind her. He notices something that he was surprised he didn't notice before, the fact that Ran had not one, not two, but nine big, fluffy tails on her back. They were bright orange with white tips, just like a fox's tail. His eyes followed them as they swayed back and forth as she walked, their movements felt hypnotic. Ryusashi couldn't resist the urge to touch them and grabbed the closest one, and Ran jumped in surprise. "HYA! DON'T JUST GRAB THEM LIKE THAT!" She screamed at him, pulling him out of the trance that she unintentionally put him into. "W-what? Ah, sorry. I'm not sure what came over me..." Ryusashi said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.  Ran's face was as red as a tomato as she embraced her violated tail, Ryusashi thought it was rather cute. "Mmm... Lady Yukari didn't mention anything about you being such a pervert, pulling on my tail like that. Hmph!" She stuck her nose in the air, away from Ryusashi as she continues to guide him down the hallways

"Wait, Yukari? Where have I heard that name before?" Ryusashi thought to himself as he followed her. Ryusashi focused his mind solely on that one word, but couldn't remember when he had heard it no matter how hard he tried. "Here we are." Ran said as she stepped through a doorway and into a small living room. "You can take a seat at the table there, Ryu- huh?" Ran stopped when she saw that Ryusashi was completely lost in thought, trying to figure out who Yukari was and where he met her. Ran tapped his shoulder with concern. "Are you alright, Ryusashi?" Ryusashi snapped back, looking at Ran. "Huh? Ah, it's nothing. I just spaced out for a minute there, happens all the time." Ran looked at him, a little bit confused, and she sighed. "Alright then, it's fine. You can take a seat at the table Ryusashi." Ran said as she turned and walked towards what seemed to be a kitchen. Ryusashi stepped through the doorway and looked around, it was another Japanese styled room with more tatami mats. There were sliding doors that seemed like they were made of paper on the far side of the room. "It feels like something out of a cruddy samurai movie..." Ryusashi thought to himself as he walked over to the table, only to find that there were not chairs to sit in. There were small, square shaped pillows on each side of the table in their place, Ryusashi sat down on one of them cross legged. "Ryusashi! Do you have a preference on what tea you'd like?" Ran called out to him and he turned around to reply. "Actually, if you could, I would prefer coffee, but if you can't whatever you make would be fine!" He called back to her.

A few moments later, one of the sliding doors on the other end of the room opened and Ryusashi turned to face the sound. There was a small girl who walked inside, she sleepily rubbed her eyes as she walked to the table, stopping next to Ryusashi. "Umm, can I help you?" Ryusashi asked the girl, awkwardly, she didn't respond. She simply flopped into his lap and fell asleep. Ryusashi wasn't sure what to think. "Ran, can you come here for a second?" Ryusashi called out, Ran's ears perked up a little. "Sorry, but I can't come right this second. Just give me a moment, would you?" Ryusashi looked down at the girl who decided his lap was a good place for a nap. She had ears and tails like Ran did, only her features were more cat-like. Her tails were very thin and long, and there were only two of them. Her ears were also much smaller and shorter than Ran's. "Maybe they know each other?" Ryusashi thought to himself. "Either way, I'm not your bed kid." Ryusashi picked up the girl as he stood up, and she groggily opened her eyes. The two of them stared at each other for a second before tears started forming in her eyes. "Hey, now just hold-" He wanted to tell her not to make a fuss, but he was too late. "LADY RAAAAAAAN! THERES A WIERD GUY IN OUR HOUSE AND HES GRABBING MEEEEEEEE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, loud enough to make Ryusashi's ears hurt. He dropped her, but caught her again by the back of her shirt. She kicked and screamed, trying her absolute hardest to break Ryusashi's grip, to no avail. "My goodness, it's so noisy in here! What's going on?" Ran said as she entered the room. The girl reached out to Ran, as if she was trying to grab onto her, and Ryusashi outstretched his arm to show Ran who he was holding. "Is this yours?" He asked as the girl continued to kick and scream for Ran, Ran placed her hands on her hips and sighs. "Chen... you're not causing problems for our guest, are you?" The girl, who's name is apparently "Chen" freezes for a moment, and laughs nervously. "I-I would never do anything like that lady Ran, honest!" Ryusashi scowled at her. "Don't lie, you just walked in and thought it was a good idea to sleep on top of me." Chen pouts for a moment. "Well YOU were the one who grabbed me!" Ran sighs again. "Alright, that's enough. Both of you." Ryusashi and Chen looked down, guiltily. "Sorry, Ran..." the two of them said in unison. Ran took Chen from Ryusashi, and Chen hugged her tightly. "Anyways, what are you doing up? It's past your bedtime, Chen." Chen looked up at Ran. "Well, I couldn't sleep, so I came to ask if you could lie down with me for a little bit..." She said in a whiny voice. Ran chuckles. "Alright, alright. Just for a little while, ok? Your coffee's waiting for you on the counter. You can take it whenever you'd like, I'll be back in a little bit." Ran said as she turned to walk Chen to her room.