Touhou Doujin: Dawitsu's Recompense

Chapter 1: Parsee Mizuhashi syndrome

Dawitsu Mansion, Mid-January, around nine anti-meridian

Yutaka was waiting in the kitchen for the kettle to boil. Such a mundane task wouldn't usually be enjoyable, but the severity of the current winter caused Yutaka to cherish and thus stay close to anything remotely warm.

The real reason the kettle was boiling was a familiar one: To make tea. Dawitsu and Ran were sat in the foyer, shivering as they huddled together on the sofa.

Ran was not enjoying the huddle, however. "Master, why are you holding me so tightly?"

"B-b-b-because it's f-f-freezing! We n-n-n-need to sh-share our heat!" Dawitsu stammered as some form of excuse. Dawitsu turned his head towards the kitchen. "Y-Yutaka! Is the t-t-tea nearly ready?"

"Yes, sir! I'm just adding the final touches... done!" Yutaka replied, soon walking into view with a Teapot and three cups.

"H-h-how d-does Chen stay in b-b-bed in this w-weather? It's t-too c-c-cold to sleep!" Dawitsu wondered out loud.

"Do you want me to get her up for you, master?" Ran offered.

Dawitsu picked up the teapot and a cup, and poured himself a cup of Green Tea. He took a sip, and instantly lost the urge to steal Ran's relatively ample body heat. "No, it's alright, Ran. I guess in the wild, animal youkai have to conserve their energy over the winter time. Speaking of which, why are you still getting up at five in the morning? It's not good for you..."

Ran sighed. Even though he was just being concerned, it was like Dawitsu didn't appreciate the value of being a hard worker. Yutaka poured Ran a cup of tea of her own, and did likewise for herself. "Perhaps she couldn't get to sleep, just like you... didn't you spend all of last night watching that DVD Tomasu bought you?" Yutaka proposed.

Dawitsu suddenly became indignant. "Uh... well, yeah, I did, but that's okay, because I'm not an animal youkai... my instinct is to stay active during the winter."

Yutaka looked at her Boss almost as if he didn't know what he was talking about. His unshaven chin and bags under his eyes indicated that he did, in fact, need sleep. "Boss, how about after this cup of tea, we all go back to bed? It seems that we've all had a less than adequate resting period."

Ran yawned, almost meaningfully, and said, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. We can get any jobs that need doing done later, I guess."

Dawitsu, despite being tired, refused to go with them, "Look, I don't want to go to bed... it's just not warm enough at the moment."

"I could make you a hot water bottle if you want, boss..." Yutaka suggested.

"No, it's okay. Actually, I might go out and see what I can buy in the human village... you know, if they'll let me in..." Dawitsu proceeded to walk over to a lift. He entered it, and after a short delay, returned wearing a blue coat that matched his usual cloak-like cardigan.

Yutaka, who hadn't bothered moving due to knowing Dawitsu would want too say something, said, "If you insist, Boss. Be careful, though. It's really snowing out there."

Dawitsu smiled. Yutaka was acting like a mother, almost. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Okay, you and Ran take it easy, now!" Dawitsu concluded, and opened the door, almost instantly getting carried out of the house by the vicious winds. After a short delay, he returned to close the door.

Ran turned to Yutaka. "So, why is the master so unwilling to rest?"

Yutaka grinned. "I think I know... let's just say he's missing a certain someone... I know for a fact he's not going to the human village."

Scarlet Devil Mansion, about half an hour later

Dawitsu had been buffeted by the wind and snow, and was practically limping towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion's elaborate gates. Hong Meiling was somehow still standing at her guard's post, her skin an unsettling shade of blue. Upon seeing the potential intruder in the distance, Meiling slowly came back to life, and eventually shouted, "Hey! Who are you? This is private property, you know! Turn back or feel my fury!"

Dawitsu continued to walk towards the mansion, too weather-mottled to listen. He stopped in front of the guard, "It's... m-m-me... don't you remember? D-D-D-Dawitsu... Sakuya's friend..."

Hong Meiling examined the snow-covered youkai. "Hm. Yes, I remember you now. Well, I'm not going to force you away from here, but if it's Sakuya you're after, she's not here. She went to... the forest of magic. She had a huge smile on her face for some reason... perhaps she's..."

"Perhaps she's... what?" Dawitsu asked in a tone indicating his irritation at having to walk elsewhere to find who he was after.

"Well... it's sort of private, you know? There are some things that stay between me and Sakuya... we are fellow employees of the Scarlet Devil after all..."

Dawitsu's anger rose, "I... oh, I guess I'll have to find out from her, then. Off in this terrible weather, once again..." Dawitsu began to mutter in self-pity despite he being the one who tasked himself on this quest.

Hong Meiling laughed, "How do you think I feel? I have to stay out here all the time, and I don't have a coat like you do..."

Dawitsu took the point on board. Meiling had it far worse than he did. "Okay, so where in particular would she be?"

"Perhaps Rinnosuke's curiosity shop? She's been going there a lot recently..." Hong smiled to herself. "Well, if you like, I'll send a fairy entourage with you to make sure you're safe."

"Are you sure they won't just steal my stuff and run away? Fairies aren't all that reliable."

"Fair enough. Well, goodbye now. I hope you find her, she's been mentioning that she wanted to talk to you about something..."

Dawitsu walked off, half apprehensive and half-curious as to what Sakuya had to say. Hong Meiling once again took to standing as still as possible, waiting in the cold in case of a genuine threat coming by.

Kourindou, about an hour later

Rinnosuke Morichika was cleaning his counter, and had just finished getting his fan heater warmed up when the door opened to reveal an unfamiliar face. He quickly combed his hair and straightened his outfit... an opportunity for a new regular customer had just opened itself, after all.

After blowing in enough snow to make a snowman out of, Dawitsu closed the door of Rinnosuke's antique shop.

"Hello, sir! I haven't seen you before, are you youkai or human?" Rinnosuke asked.

"Youkai. I'm here to talk to about a regular..." Dawitsu answered, only to be cut off by Rinnosuke.

"...Do you want this mind control device? I'm sure a youkai like yourself could use it in some way, perhaps to get humans to do your bidding... or something." Rinnosuke interrupted, gesturing to what Dawitsu quite clearly knew was a Game Boy colour.

Dawitsu sighed, "I'm sorry to say this, but you're mistaken. It's a game device invented by humans of the outside world. Have you got any batteries on you? I'll show you how it works."

"Sure do! Are you going to buy it, then?" Rinnosuke asked in an elevated tone of hope.

Dawitsu fumbled in his pockets. He had a large supply of shrapnel. He took a fistful of coins out, and it totalled around eighty Yen. "Will this do?"

Rinnosuke inspected the money, "Sure. Now, you said you wanted to ask me about a regular customer."

"Yes, I did. Her name's Sakuya Izayoi. She apparently has something to say to me..."

Rinnosuke smiled. "Ah. Sakuya. Well, you see, she's sort of... well, I'll get her now."

"What, she's behind the counter with you?" Dawitsu asked, trying to add up what this all meant.

"Yes, I'll just head upstairs and tell her you're here." Rinnosuke walked through a door at the very back of the store, and footsteps were heard as he walked up his stairs.

Dawitsu grew impatient and began to play the Game Boy. The cartridge inside it was 'Tetris', and he had just blocked off the one hole in his formation when a line piece dropped from the top of the screen.

"DAMN IT!" he shouted, and then turned to see that Rinnosuke had returned, this time with a just-awake Sakuya.

"Uh... Dawitsu..." Sakuya mumbled, unsure why Dawitsu had just cursed a mind-control device for no apparent reason.

"Ah! Oh, hi there, Sakuya! I... well, I just wanted to see you, I guess. Meiling said you had something important to tell me..." Dawitsu said calmly, hoping he could somehow un-humiliate himself after condemning an inanimate object to the pits of hell.

"...oh, that. Um... Rinnosuke..." Sakuya mused. "This sort of involves you, too, so feel free to stick around..."

Dawitsu was becoming more and more concerned. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Sakuya looked down, smiled, and then looked back at Dawitsu. "Well, you know how you wanted me to find a human. Someone to spend the rest of my life with? I've found him!" Sakuya then put her arm around Rinnosuke, and kissed him on the cheek.

Dawitsu's heart went into his throat... what was this feeling? He should have been happy for her... but instead he was feeling a bitter combination of shock and confusion.

Rinnosuke looked at Dawitsu, not sure what was going through his mind. "Ah, so he's the guy you were talking about, Sakuya? That uh... 'friend' of yours?"

"Yes, that's him. Well, Dawitsu, say something!" Sakuya declared. Dawitsu was holding his chin in his hands, as if he was thinking philosophically. He was trying his best not to look at the floor in an effort to avoid awkward eye contact.

Finally, he looked towards Sakuya and Rinnosuke, and said, "That's great news, Sakuya. I knew you'd finally find someone who was right for you. Now, Rinnosuke, she's an awesome young woman, don't just uh... take her for granted." Dawitsu then put on a weak false smile, "And uh... thanks for the Game Boy. I'll show you how to play it at some point, okay? Just don't let Merlin Prismriver get hold of one, she will never let it go, even if she doesn't pay for it." Dawitsu laughed awkwardly before opening the door and leaving the store.

Rinnosuke looked towards Sakuya. "Sakuya, you don't suppose that guy actually had any feelings towards you, do you?"

Sakuya reassured Rinnosuke and herself, "No, he's just my friend. Besides, he was the one who didn't want us to be in a relationship anyway. I'm sure he's totally cool with it. Now he can see anyone he wants, so I guess he'll be happy in his own way."

Meanwhile, Dawitsu was shuffling through the snow, unsure of how to react. Eventually he decided to sit under a spruce tree and think over the situation. He cupped his head in his hands and cried.

"Damn it, why am I such a moron?" he asked himself, "That young woman doesn't need people like me ruining her life! She needs a decent man, and now she's found one! Why am I so upset? It makes no sense! She's happy, and Rinnosuke is not the type to treat her bad, so she'll always be happy now... I'm... so..." Dawitsu turned to punch the trunk of the tree, "...STUPID!"

This moment of rage backfired as the tree shook so much that a pile of snow fell onto Dawitsu, covering him entirely. Dawitsu crawled out from the pile, chattering and shivering while he mentally berated himself. He decided that now was the best time to turn around and go home.

The wind picked up and the snowfall decreased, leaving Dawitsu unable to fly for the time being. He decided to go to the Hakurei Shrine via Marisa and Alice's houses, as that was the shortest route. As he passed Alice's still decrepit house, he sighed and felt a tinge of guilt. He stared at it for a while, and then looked down in shame. Once he looked back up, Alice Margatroid was in front of him, with a doll in hand. She instantly made it equip a club, and threw the effigy at his head.

Dawitsu's vision went from blurred to black, and once Alice was satisfied he was out cold, she dragged his limp body towards her house...

Dawitsu's Subconscious, unknown time

Dawitsu's vision returned to him as suddenly as it disappeared, and took in an odd set of surroundings. The world was anything but snowy... the ground was purple and had a polygonal look to it. There were buildings, all shaped like skyscrapers, but not all of them were the same height as one.

A river flowed through the strange land Dawitsu had found himself in, and it changed colour according to how Dawitsu was feeling. Upon inspection, Dawitsu suddenly noticed he was dreaming.

"Okay, so I'm dreaming... is anyone there?" Dawitsu asked, hoping some imaginary company would arrive.

And company indeed did arrive, in the form of Koishi Komeiji. She was looking at Dawitsu as if he was a long-lost friend. "Hello, there. It's me, your conscience. We haven't talked with each other for a while, even though I have been active. You know, you can consult me with things, I'm not mad at you..."

"You're very forward, aren't you? Yeah, sorry, Conscience. I guess that I've just let you get on with your work, and not acknowledged you over the years..." Dawitsu seemed too confident for someone speaking to their own conscience as if it were a separate entity.

"But I haven't always got the job done... and when I slacked off, you did some nasty things, didn't you?" Koishi said, looking at Dawitsu accusingly.

"No, that's a lie! My conscience is clean!" Dawitsu shouted in denial.

Koishi lifted her arms, "Smell me. I stink. I haven't washed my hair in a while. I'm anything but clean. That's why I want you to wash me. Give me a shower, so to speak."

"Oh, I won't mind doing that at all!" Dawitsu replied, a perverted grin forming on his face. "So, where's the shower?"

Koishi's face saddened. "That remark has only made me more unclean. The shower is not in this world. The only way I can be cleaned is by actions outside of the mind."

"But how? Surely you can show me where I need to go and what I need to do to fix you!" Dawitsu suddenly felt an urge to help his pitiable conscience.

"Well, I'll take you to the self-grudge locker room. It's presiding overseer is Guilt, so be aware that your feelings may be hurt by the experience." Koishi stared at Dawitsu. "Ready?"

Dawitsu answered with his thoughts, and instantly he appeared in a large, dark filing cabinet which had dark blue, pulsating lumps that moved up and down floating within it. Koishi disappeared, saying "I'll leave you in Guilt's care now!"

"But how will I find..." Dawitsu attempted to ask, but she had already gone. "...guilt?"

Soon enough, Shikeiki Yamaxanadu appeared before him. "Hello. I'm Guilt."

"That's just too obvious..." Dawitsu remarked, "Why is my mind so unimaginative?"

"Because all your life you have merely copied, never once coming up with an original concept, idea, or plan. That is one of your major flaws. I have many other things to show you that make you a bad person... observe..."

Shikeiki pointed towards one of the blobs, and it formed a screen that projected a memory. This one showed Dawitsu destroying Aya's press, and almost destroying her house. She proceeded to point to more...

Stealing Laevateinn, letting Marisa and Alice's houses get destroyed, never fulfilling his promise to Remilia that he'd play with Flandre, never fixing Reimu's wall, messing Sakuya around, considering trading Ran back to Yukari, letting Yukari get hit with a frying pan, not wanting to visit his one and only brother, being a bad customer to the French Waiter while he was on holiday... the blobs were of varying sizes, and all of them hit Dawitsu like a brick. A realisation struck Dawitsu as he observed all his previous wrongdoings...

"I'm a terrible person, aren't I?" Dawitsu told Guilt. "That's what you're trying to tell me, isn't it?"

"No. You are merely unwilling to correct your mistakes. All beings do bad things from time to time, but your largest flaw is you don't go back to rectify the damage. That's why I'm reiterating them, to try and help you clean my good friend Conscience." Shikeiki looked downwards. "All I can hope is that you take heed of this experience, and do rectify the situations you've helped to make worse..."

"So, is that it? Am I done with the dream now?"

"No. I have someone to show you..." Shikeiki clicked, and made Nue Houjuu appear before his very eyes. "This is Sex Drive. She needs to be repressed. She was a primary cause in a lot of your failings."

Nue smirked, "Heh, don't listen to her, she's boring and frumpy! Hey, maybe I should take you to my area of the Brain..."

Dawitsu turned red, "No... no, I'm good, thanks..."

Nue sighed, "Oh, then I guess that Sakuya means nothing to you..."

"She means more to me than SEX!" Dawitsu yelled.

"Well, I guess you'd have to prove that. Just try to repress me when you see her next. You won't be able to... I know it!" Nue giggled for a bit, before flipping into a two-dimensional shape and obscuring herself from view.

Shikeiki put her hand on Dawitsu's shoulder, "She, along with Pride, Hate, Jealousy, and Selfishness need to be suppressed or you'll never be rid of this Guilt. You know in your heart what you must do. So, go on! Do it! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Shikeiki's voice worked itself into a chant, and Dawitsu's vision became black once again. Dawitsu awoke to Alice's voice shouting, "WAKE UP! Jeez, I didn't hit you that hard!"

Dawitsu gazed at Alice for a second or two, and then asked, "What happened?"

Alice, who was leaning over Dawitsu, suddenly sat upright and muttered, "Just Desserts..."

"Wait... you attacked me, didn't you? Then how come you kept me in your house?" Dawitsu said as the pieces were put together in his mind.

Alice suddenly panicked. "Uh... it's because... well... I have these pills. They make you have spectacular dreams... got them from Eirin you see, and... well, I... thought you could do with one... so you'd maybe... help me fix the house up?"

Now, normally when one gets attacked, kidnapped, and asked a favour, they adamantly refuse to help and run as far away as possible. But, for reasons other than Stockholm's Syndrome, Dawitsu agreed, and decided to take Alice with him to his house, so they could get some supplies.

Ebenezer Scrooge, a wicked, selfish man, overcome with greed, was reformed with a single dream. This phenomena seemed to occur exclusively in humans... but now an exception in the Youkai community was occurring. Alice, whether she knew it or not, was aiding Dawitsu in a way only music can; she had begun a healing process for his soul.

Author's Notes: I decided that I'd write a fic that was less action-orientated and more personal this time round. I hope you enjoy the change of pace, and I hope you're alright with the story in general.

Here begins another tale... oh God, I'm gonna be wasting my hours again, aren't I...