The Gensokyo Hat Heist

In Truth.

Spirit lies on the ground, blood oozing from their wounds. It spreads into the dirt dyeing it a sickening crimson-brown.

They gasp for breath as I stand over them, unsure of what to do. I look to Keine.

Akyuu:"Wh... h-how could... How could you do this? Sp-Spirit? SPIRIT!?"

Spirit:"G-Gaaaah..."

As I rush towards Spirit, a danmaku blasts the ground in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.

Keine:"Step away... and stop using that name. This miscreant is undeserving of it."

Akyuu:"But they'll die!"

Keine:"Good."

Akyuu:"Keine you-!"

Spirit:"A...Aichi."

The words catch in my throat as I watch Spirit's body burst into a pale blue light before disappearing completely. The horn that dissected their heart moments ago topples to the ground.

They don't reappear in another form... they're just... gone. But I know for a fact that they retain several forms! So what's going on!? D-Did they run out of time? No, there's no way... W-was there a limit to how much they could die? B-But if that was the case...

Why didn't they tell me?

In the time I used to spit venom at Keine, Spirit's life was extinguished. I... I didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't get to thank them for using their precious time in Gensokyo to help me.

Akyuu:"A...Ah..."

Keine:"All this talk of chameleon youkai... dragging up Spirit's name... it's all far too painful. How long have you known Akyuu? I thought I scrubbed their existence... what did I miss?"

Akyuu:"I... I don't know anything anymore! Why are you talking about chameleon youkai!? I just used them as a cover story for Spirit! I've read Aichi's notes extensively, they went extinct centuries ago!"

Keine:"You are talking about things that you couldn't possibly understand."

Akyuu:"It's hard to understand things when you've been scrubbing my memory! Let's not forget that Spirit's death is on your hands!"

Keine:"I KNOW! I KNOW I'M RESPONSIBLE!!!"

I jump a little, caught off guard by Keine's loss of temper. Keine has never shouted at me before, I didn't even know she could get mad. But looking at her tear stained face I know now that that was a selfish and stupid assumption.

Akyuu:"Keine?"

Keine:"I...I know. ...I know I killed them, I know..."

Akyuu:"You have no right..."

Keine:"..."

Akyuu:"Wipe those tears off your face, you have no right to be sad! You've sent hundreds to their deaths to resurrect me against my wishes! If I'm getting my immortality off of the backs of others, then I don't want it to begin with!"

Keine:"You agreed with the terms."

Akyuu:"I... I wouldn't..."

Keine:"You did. Every. Single. Time. Aichi couldn't say it but I know she would've I asked you every time your life was coming to a close and every single time you agreed to be resurrected. You are you. You are Aichi."

Akyuu:"Wh-... I."

I slowly reach for the flower clipped to my head, unfastening it and holding it in my hands. I look at it. Inside of it's petals I see my past lives, every one of them, every iteration of Aichi, held within a plant.