The Disillusioned Land

Chapter 21 - Unexpected Visitor

How humorous, I am in a Hakurei shrine storage room and a crate is speaking to me; I must have finally lost it. Perhaps I got hit a little too hard on the head during my daily training, or I'm starting to hear things in my current overworked state. I should ask Reimu if we could ease up a little so that I may have a chance to breathe a little easier, in fact, I should do that right now. I let out a chuckle and began to leave my wooden conversation partner behind, in response it began to shake slightly and loud noises were coming out, as if something inside was trying to claw its way out of its prison.

"Hey! Don't just stand there and laugh at me, let me out!" the voice from earlier cried out to me, maybe there really is someone in there. I cautiously approached the wooden container and spoke to it.

"Why are you stuck in there?" I asked my mysterious companion

"Oh-I don't know! I woke up and I was just here. It's really cramped in here and my whole body hurts, please just let me out!"

"Who are you supposed to be exactly? How do I know you're not some dangerous individual that would probably stab me if I ever met them?"

"What? Look, I'm somebody of no significance whatsoever, and I don't want to hurt anyone anymore, I'm past that now. Please just free me, I promise I won't do anything bad." a hint of remorse lines their voice, I'm not exactly quite convinced of their docility so I'll take an extra precaution before letting them out.

"Wait here a moment, I'll be back"

"Huh?! Wait-" I barely pay them any attention as I run out the storage building; the sun has begun to set, I better get this over with quickly. I head towards the dormitories in search of someone reliable for the task at hand, and I find their door quickly. I lightly knock on the door and await a response, after a few long drawn out moments, someone on the other side finally opens it to greet me.

"Yes? What is it-huh? Ryan?" Kyoko was surprised to see me, I give her an awkward smile

"Er-hi Kyoko, are you doing anything right now?"

"Not particularly, no, why? Need something?"

"I do in fact, if it's not too much could you accompany me to the storage building? There's something there I need you to see"

"The storage building? I know we have some weird stuff in there but I don't think there'd be anything worthwhile to drag me out there to see"

"That's the thing though, it's not exactly something I need to show you, it's someone"

"What? You telling me that some strange person is in there? If there was we'd all be alerted to their location already with how the place is set up"

"I know this is gonna sound ridiculous, but someone is stuck in a crate in there and I don't know if they're dangerous or not"

"Really now, a person stuck in a box?"

"I'm being completely serious here"

"And why me of all people? Aren't you and Reimu familiar with each other? Why not ask her instead? She'd probably be a better fit for the job."

"I..." that's right, why did I come to Kyoko first? Recalling back to our first meeting, she didn't recognize me at all, nor does she seem to remember what happened back in that other world. This Kyoko has only known me for a few days now and to her I'm probably just some weird dude Reimu dragged in. "...Nevermind, sorry for bothering you" I say to her with a slight distraught expression lining my face; Seeing this however seemed to elicit some reaction out of Kyoko

"Wait" she said to me as I turned around, making me look back at her "I've changed my mind, I'll come with you, but you owe me a small favor afterwards" the look she gave me was ambiguous, it looked as if some other hidden emotion I couldn't decipher was behind it.

"Oh, alright then. Go get some of your gear, I don't know if this person is dangerous or not" I tell her

"Right, wait for me outside the storage, I'll meet you there" she replies and then closes her door, I head back to the storage building and wait for her outside. When she arrives she's out of her usual shrine maiden outfit, instead wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, gohei in her left hand, needles in the other. I led her inside and to where the crate in question was located, still in the same spot as I've left it, whoever was inside seemed to pick up on our approach and spoke the moment we came close.

"You're finally back! Can I be let out now?" the person inside says with a relieved voice

"Sure, but I'm warning you if you try anything I brought someone else here to stop you" I say in a stern voice

"O-okay fine! Just please get me out of here" I attempt to open the crate with a pry bar I found lying around while leading Kyoko here, and the top comes off with little resistance. Whoever was inside slowly rises up out of the box and stretches their arms and groans.

"Hah~ feels great to finally be able to do that" I take a closer look at her, she's wearing a black blazer with a white shirt underneath and a red necktie, a white skirt reaching down to her knees. Her hair is brown and flows just a little beneath her shoulders, two rabbit ears poke out the top of her head. She turns and looks at me with her dark brown eyes and smiles.

"Thank you for that, I thought I'd be trapped in there for much longer" she steps out of the box and stretches her legs

"Right, let's get introductions out of the way, my name is Ryan, what is yours?" I introduce myself to her

"Name?" she gives me a strange look "I..." she lowers her gaze "I don't have one"