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Description
Yuyuko was bored and that's probably an understatement. She had been this way for awhile now. Well, at least ever since school was out for the summer. It's not that she had to go to school, in point of fact she didn't. After all, ghosts don't go to school, now do they? But as she saw it, when school was in session she actually had some company. But right now, especially since it was late in the night, there was not a soul around the shrine; with the exception of her's that is.

She was bound to the temple grounds. It was just the way it worked. And as shrines went, this one wasn't particularly big nor did it have much of a view. In fact, the only view she had of the world beyond her confines was at the entrance to the temple. But situated as the shrine was, there was not much to see.

Even during the day time, there wasn't much for her to do. The priest of the shrine, Wasabi, was there daily, but he came only to empty the contents of the donation box and to clean up a bit. Not that he paid her much attention anyway, and if he did talk to anyone, it would be to one of the few regular worshippers that came to the shrine. None of these, however, could even see, let alone detect the presence of Yuyuko. And try as she might to spook them, if only for her own amusement, nothing seemed to perturb them. Each one seemed too pre-occupied with their own issues than to pay any attention to any of the minor physical antics that Yuyuko could pull off.

The shrine did have two shrine maidens. The first was Ditzy-chan, and she was the daughter of the Kami of the Shrine. She was half-human; her mother formerly being a priestess at the same shrine. Despite her less than human features, she had totally assimulated into the surrounding community. Not a soul seemed bothered at all that she had a tail and reptilian eyes. Plus she had friends outside of the temple whom she regularly hung out with. She even had a cellphone - she called it an I-Phone as Yuyuko recollected and was on it constantly even in the course of her duties at the shrine. 'Texting' as she termed it, with her classmates and especially, Miku. Yet, she did talk to Yuyuko and kept her updated as to her activities at the highschool she was attending. But, Ditzy also worked at night and during the weekends at Wasabi's ramen restaurant so she didn't really have time to stay at the shrine long. Especially, as she informed Yuyuko, she had 'homework' plus she also had to study for her exams. And lately, she had even less time at the shrine because she was taking a course at a cram school in Gekido City to make up in areas of study where she was weak.

The other shrine maiden was Chibi IA and she was strictly a part timer. She tended only to be there for festive and special occasions, but on the plus side, when she did come, Yuyuko would be the first 'person' she sought out and upon finding her, would fill Yuyuko on all the latest happenings in voluminous detail. In fact, as far as Yuyuko was concerned their 'conversations' tended to be one sided affairs. Not that she minded, after all there was a big age difference between the two of them and Chibi IA was much younger than Yuyuko and not only in age.

But Chibi IA did on occasions bring Chibi Gumi with her. And of all the people who came into contact with Yuyuko, Chibi Gumi seemed to be the only one that had a genuine interest in Yuyuko, or rather what Yuyuko was - a ghost. But then again, it was rare for Chibi Gumi to come to the shrine, and when she did, it was always in the company of Chibi IA and the two of them were usually soon engrossed in their own affairs.

To compound matters, most people could neither detect her nor see her. Certainly, Chibi IA's sister, whom Yuyuko found to be interesting, could not detect her presence inspite of her younger sibling's insistance that, 'she's right there standing next to you'! Nor could for that matter, Chibi Gumi's older sister, Gumi. Gumi only comes to the shrine with someone who could see Yuyuko, Alice the Gate Opener. But the two of them only come when they're running away from Officer Yuki, and when they do, the last thing that Alice wants to do is to have a discourse with Yuyuko. Not that they got along at all either. Yuyuko found Alice to be 'dangerous', but not in a manner that she could quantify.

There was of course Miku, but Miku never comes to this shrine. Yuyuko did like Miku finding her amusing in many ways, but that was a moot point as she was hardly ever around. And then there was Neru. Neru was the most level headed of the people that comes around to the shrine that could see her, other than Wasabi. In fact, Neru was the only person that Yuyuko could have a sensible conversation with; both of them being of about the same age. But, like Miku, she hardly ever comes around either, and in fact, it had been months since she had last seen Neru.

There was another advantage to Neru. Neru by some concession from Yuyuko's previous warden, the kami that was Ditzy's mother, could take Yuyuko outside of the temple grounds. She could do this at will and seemingly, she also had the ability to banish or send her back to her confinement at the temple at will and from any location. Thus, it was Neru who took Yuyuko with her back to Okinawa when they went to recover the pirate's treasure the second time around. And for a short time after that, Neru did take Yuyuko around with her occasionally when she dropped by Kerorin Town on errands. But, it's been awhile since that last happened and she had not seen Neru since.

Recently though, Yuyuko did sense the presence of another entity around Kerorin Town. It turned out that this was a shimigami who used the train station at Kerorin Town as a collection point for souls that she collected. But being a shimigami, she paid no attentions to a mere ghost and besides which she seemed to prefer her own company. But at least during the night hours when the shimigami was on duty, Yuyuko could watch her walk by with her 'collections' in toll. And occasionally, the shimigami did acknowledge her presence if only with a cursory nod. But neither of them ever spoke with each other.

And then there were cats. Some did wander into the temple grounds during their nightly jaunts. Many were terrified by Yuyuko. Those never came around again. The handful that were not - well they were just cats and cats don't make good conversationalist.

Yuyuko thought to herself, that both Ditzy and Chibi IA, being shrine maidens at this temple did have the power to take her outside of the temple grounds with them. But as it turned out, it required the permission of the priest Wasabi in order for this to be possible. And neither one of them, for whatever reason, ever bothered to seek permission nor did Yuyuko press on the point for reasons that she herself could not fathom.

And so Yuyuko was bored. Especially now with the summer break. Chibi IA had informed her that she wouldn't be around much as she was going to the country side with her friends to stay at relatives and that she would also be accompanying her big sister on her concert tours. Chibi Gumi was likewise engaged. Ditzy was busy with work, cram school and she too, had also decided to take a retreat to the country side - she went off to stay at her mother's shrine.

And so now Yuyuko was not only bored, she was totally alone. It was enough to drive her crazy, but then ghosts it seemed, couldn't 'go crazy' anymore than they could get sick. Well, perhaps there were some minor advantages to being dead. She did try to badger Wasabi into at least talking to her, but he wasn't having any of that. But he did occasionally bring her 'food' to eat. Treats that were specially blessed so that she could actually 'consume' them. Other than that, it seemed he had too many other concerns on his mind to pay much heed to her. However, he didn't seem to mind her presence when he was sweeping up and no one was around. But even then, he seldom said anything to her, being more content to listen to her moans about her current predicament.

But this evening, there wasn't a soul around. In fact, other than one elderly petitioner that came around in the morning and who only stayed briefly, no one came around. Not even Wasabi. But then, Yuyuko remembered, he did mention to her that he did need to be out of town for a couple of days to visit his family. And the irony of it was that he left her 'in charge' of the shrine. How that would work, she did not know as she, being a ghost, could hardly affect anything.

And so out of sheer frustration, she just sat on top of the donation box, an antic she knew that Wasabi would frown on. In Wasabi's view it was an action that is highly disrespectful to the deity of the shrine which in theory at least, was her host. Not that that kami paid her the slightest attentions either, although if he had chosen to do so, Yuyuko thought, he could have. At least that would be an entity that she could at least have some interactions with, but given the current circumstances, that wasn't happening either.

And to make matters worse, there were no cats around this evening either. So she just sat there, feeling thoroughly dejected and despairing of her predicament. Remaining there for what, she thought was for hours. That was the other strange thing she thought. Time for the dead wasn't the same as time for the living. The living counted time by the hours as dictated by clocks and the demands of life, but for the dead, time was without measure. Morning blended into night. Days into weeks. Weeks into years. All seemingly to be but just a blur of transitions. No new memories, nor achievements, nor joy, just old memories of a life that had past. And in her case, she thought, rather ironically, a rather short life. If only she didn't - but it was too painful to think about 'that', and she changed her train of thoughts to other things as she habitually did whenever her thoughts led her towards recollections of her own passing.

"You'll be moaning next, if you could", a voice broke through into her train of thoughts. She looked up to see someone that she hadn't seen for months. It was Neru.

"As if ...", Yuyuko retorted. "What are you doing here anyway"?

[ Neru ]: "To see you actually. Wasabi called. He said that he would be out of town for a couple of days and wanted someone to at least check in on the place; and you".
[ Yuyuko ]: "I'm doing fine".
[ Neru ]: "Not from where I'm looking"

Neru put down a large bag. It had a large logo on the side and the words: 'Japan Airlines'.

[ Neru ]: "Curious"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Only if it was food".
[ Neru ]: "Like ghosts can starve"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "We could if we choose to ..."
[ Neru ]: "Yeah, really".
[ Yuyuko ]: "So, it's not food"?
[ Neru ]: "Nope, eh ... well there are some leftovers from the dinner that I couldn't finish. I was going to save it for lunch tomorrow, but if you really want it ...".
[ Yuyuko ]: "What is it"?
[ Neru ]: "Pizza - have you ever had any"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Actually, no. I don't even know what it is".
[ Neru ]: "Well in that case ..."

Neru took one slice out of three from out of the napkin in which they were wrapped. She said a little chant over it and handed the 'offering' to Yuyuko.

[ Neru ]: "Like it"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Well ... it's different ..."
[ Neru ]: "That's your problem Yuyuko, you're never honest with anything. That's probably why you still haven't passed on".

Yuyuko didn't respond. In fact there was an awkward silence.

[ Neru ]: "You really should pay some thoughts to your predicament, Yuyuko. Things don't have to be this way. You've been dead for, what is it now? Over 100 years"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Not sure, I've never really counted. It's hard for ghosts to keep track of time".
[ Neru ]: "Want a coke to wash that down"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Sure"!

Neru grabbed two cans from out of the bag. She said the same chant over one of the cans and pulled the ring knowing that for some reason, although Yuyuko could manipulate physical objects to a point, she never seemed to be able to pull the rings off cans of sodas. She then handed the can to Yuyuko and popped the other can for herself.

[ Neru ]: "Nasty stuff this, rots your teeth if you're not careful, although in your case that's not likely to happen since all that's left of you is in that urn of yours".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Why do you have to be so blunt about things"?
[ Neru ]: "Probably because I'm pragmatic by nature".

Yuyuko takes a sip from her can. And Neru watches her closely, curious as to where the liquid that Yuyuko consumed actually goes. She thought to herself that if she couldn't see Yuyuko, all that she could see would be a can floating in the air and the liquid, like the pizza slice that Yuyuko consumed with relish, disappears to only the gods would know where.

[ Yuyuko]: "What are you looking at"?
[ Neru ]: "You".
[ Yuyuko ]: "It's rude to stare at people".
[ Neru ]: "You're not exactly 'people'".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Am too"!
[ Neru ]: "No you're not, you're the ghost of a dead girl who should have 'passed on' a long time ago".

Yuyuko was taken aback by Neru's forwardness. Although, she was used to Neru's abrasive manners, her current thrust took her completely off guard. She didn't know exactly how to respond and yet she was also beginning to feel offended, but Neru was unrelenting.

[ Neru ]: "I did look into your history a little more you know. Even talked to Ditzy's mom when I drove Ditzy and Miku up there. Even she felt, you should be moving on".
[ Yuyuko ]: "I don't see whether or not if I 'pass on' or not as being any of your business"!
[ Neru ]: "It isn't, except that I'm making it so".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Why"?

Neru looked hard at Yuyuko for a moment before responding. She had a determined look on her face that Yuyuko had only seen once before.

[ Neru ]: "How old are you really, Yuyuko"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "How would I know"?
[ Neru ]: "Discounting the years that you've been dead, you and I are actually the same age and ..."
[' Yuyuko ]: "Well I'll be ..."
[ Neru ]: "Don't interupt, I'm not done! But there is one difference. I'm going to get older and you're not. Which means that I have the rest of my life ahead of me and you'll have nothing".

Neru pauses for a moment to allow the thought to sink into Yuyuko.

[ Neru ]: "Not many people can see you can they? And those few of us, including the chibis are going to grow up and move on to other things. Even Ditzy won't be around forever. Wasabi isn't going to be around forever either. He's going to grow old and retire and the next priest might not even be able to see you. So who are you going to talk with then? It's not like as if you were still at Ditzy's mother's temple which interfaces with the spiritual plane so there are others that you can interact with. You're stuck here now, but this situation can't last, now can it? And if you're really honest with yourself, deep down inside you know that what I'm saying is all true.

But it gets worse, and Ditzy's mom confirmed it. If you don't 'pass on', you can't remain being a ghost forever either. Two things can happen and neither are good options. The first is that you'll go completely bonkers and turn into a mindless wailing spirit, and the only cure for that is an exorcism and you know what that means? You'll won't move on, you'll just be 'undone', whatever that's suppose to mean I'm not sure but Ditzy's mom had no illusions as to it being a terminal state of affairs.

Or ... you'll simply fade away. Cease to be. Not even a memory of you left."

[ Yuyuko ]: "Nothing ..."?
[ Neru ]: "Yep, nothing".
[ Yuyuko ]:"But as long as you remember me ..."
[ Neru ]: "Doesn't work that way, Yuyuko. First off, I'll grow old and eventually die too. Secondly, should you 'fade away' before I die, my memory of you vanishes along with you. Point being is that you don't have 'forever' as a ghost. You will have to move on."
[ Yuyuko ]: "I DON'T KNOW HOW"!
[ Neru ]: "Actually, you do. You're just still not ready to are you"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "..."

And then, for some reason that Yuyuko could not understand, she begins to cry. Neru watches her for a moment; watching her without betraying any emotions of her own. But then she softens, approaches Yuyuko, hesitates for a moment and then grabs on to Yuyuko and pulls her into a hard embrace. Yuyuko cries her heart out on Neru's shoulders and Neru could actually feel Yuyuko's tears penetrating her clothing and wetting her skin.

[ Neru ]: "Feeling better"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Yeah ... I guess".
[ Neru ]: "I figured this would happen, also that you're going to need some help 'passing on'. But I discussed it with Ditzy's mother and we're going to try something different".
[ Yuyuko ]: "..."?
[ Neru ]: "You're going to need to remember what it was to be alive. And to fix that, arggh, how do I get myself into these situations? Well anyway, you're going to need to hang around me more. But before that can happen, I have to re-arrange my own life to accomodate your needs. So, we have an interim solution".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Interim solution"?

Neru picks up her bag, puts it on her shoulders and grabs hold of Yuyuko's hands. She then looks around the shrine and then heads off to a storage room located to one side. She takes a key to unlock the door and turns on the light.

[ Neru ]: "Help me clean up this mess ..."
[ Yuyuko ]: "Do I look like the maid service"?
[ Neru ]: "Actually, you do. Anyway, this isn't for me, this is for you. We need to make you some space".
[ Yuyuko ]: "There's plenty of space outside and I'm a ghost remember? I don't need to occupy 'space'".
[ Neru ]: "You will for what I have in the bag".
[ Yuyuko ]: "What do you have in the bag"?
[ Neru ]: "Help me clean up and you'll find out now won't you"?

And so the two of them set out about re-arranging the storage room until there was a corner for Neru to set up the contents of her bag.

[ Yuyuko ]: "What is it"?
[ Neru ]: "There's more on the way, I just have to wait till Gumi and Alice gets here with it. Whilst we're waiting, let me tell you how you can 'pass on'. Don't start crying on me again! It won't be that hard. According to Ditzy's mom, all you have to do is to face your past as well as to remember the joys of living. I can't help you with the first part, that's something you'll have to deal with when you're ready to deal with it. But I'm not worried about that, you'll will deal with it because of the second part".
[ Yuyuko ]: "What's the second part"?
[ Neru ]: "Your problem is that you've been a ghost for too long. And if you want dates, you died during the Meiji Restoration - that's over 150 years ago! You forgot what it was like to be 'living' and to fix that, well there's this that we're setting up here, plus you need to spend more time with me outside of here. So I'll need to let you spend time at my apartment as I can't have you wandering around freely as that's prohibited by certain 'rules'".
[ Yuyuko ]: "I like your apartment, you have a, what did you call that box again"?
[ Neru ]: "A television and you're getting one too. Well not a TV as such".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Is that what's in your bag"?
[ Neru ]: "Nope ... oh good, Alice and Gumi are here"!

As they head out to meet Alice and Gumi, Yuyuko sees them come in with a hand cart with some large packages.

[ Neru ]: "Did you get it all"?
[ Gumi ]: "Yeah, I had to dig through Miku's garage to get all of this. No wonder she has no room to park her car! So you want us to pull the wire to where?"
[ Neru ]: "In there ..."
[ Gumi ]: "And all of this for a ghost"?
[ Neru ]: "Yep".
[ Gumi ]: "Is she here"?
[ Neru ]: "Yes, she's standing right next to me, or rather behind me".
[ Alice ]: "I don't see why you're bothering with all this nonsense. She's just a ghost. I can just exorcise her and we will be done with this ..."
[ Neru ]: "... except you won't as she's my 'friend' - so you leave her alone Alice".
[ Alice ]: "Hehe ... don't worry, I don't do exorcisms for free anyway. But honestly, Neru, an Internet connection and a PS2 for a ghost? Whoever, heard of that"?
[ Neru ]: "I know what I'm doing, Alice".
[ Alice ]: "If you say so. So you want me to set up the PC in there?"
[ Neru ]: "Yes, and thanks for doing this".

Alice just strugs and heads off with the hand cart to the storage room as Gumi starts pulling wires to connect up the system.

[ Yuyuko ]: "Internet, PS2 ..."?
[ Neru ]: "Yep, they're not new. Just stuff that Miku doesn't use anymore. The first connects you with the outside world the second is just for fun. That's the stuff in that bag. You got to keep 'busy' otherwise you'll go nuts on us and end up, well you know ... oh BTW, you're not getting a credit card as I can't afford to maintain that kind of 'life style' for you; so don't even think you'll be making any online purchases".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Online purchases"?
[ Neru ]: "Don't worry, Gumi will explain everything to you".
[ Yuyuko ]: "But she can't even see me ..."
[ Neru ]: "Only because she thinks she can't. Plus all she really needs to do to see you is to put on those goggles of hers".
[ Yuyuko ]: "But what about you"?
[ Neru ]: "Do you know what time it is"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Actually, no ..."
[ Neru ]: "It's almost morning and I need to get some sleep. I'll see you later this week, Yuyuko".

Yuyuko watches as Neru turn and head towards the entrance of the temple then decides to follow her. She intercepted Neru effortlessly since she could 'float' faster than Neru could walk. She gives Neru a big hug and a kiss.

[ Alice ]: "Hey Yuyuko, get over here. We need to teach you how to use all this junk. Well Gumi will anyway".
[ Gumi ]: "I still don't see anyone ...".
[ Alice ]: "Put on your goggles".
[ Gumi ]: "Nope, not working. I still don't see anything"!
[ Alice ]: "Oh, you will, just talk to her as if she's there. She'll be visible eventually. Well I'll go get us some breakfast ..."
[ Gumi ]: "AND LEAVE ME ALL ALONE WITH A GHOST"!?
[ Alice ]: "Yep ..."
[ Gumi ]: "BUT I'M SCARED OF GHOSTS"!
[ Alice ]: "But you can't see her right"?
[ Gumi ]: "... well no I can't see her".
[ Alice ]: "So if you can't see her, how can you be scared of her"?
[ Gumi ]: "IT'S BECAUSE I CAN'T SEE HER THAT I'M SCARED OF HER"!
[ Alice ]: "Do you know how stupid that sounds? I won't be gone long anyway. Besides she won't harm you. She's more interested in the PS2 at the moment anyway".

Gumi looks up to see PS2 game packages floating out of Neru's airline bag and faints. Alice takes a deep sigh.

[ Alice ]: "Why do I always end up having to do everything myself? Oh well, Yuyuko, come here. This is a PS2 and ..."
[ Yuyuko ]: "You're not going to exorcise me are you"?
[ Alice ]: "Now do I look like someone who would do something like that ..."?

Meanwhile, outside the temple, Neru finally caught her bus and manages to secure a window seat. She noticed that her shoulders were still wet from where Yuyuko had been crying earlier. It was only then that she noticed the smell of Yuyuko's tears - it smelled of sakura blossoms.

Author's Notes:

The Yuyuko character was first introduced in the 'Chronicles of the Dragon Princess' manga I did several months back, but I never revisited the character since. That was a bit of a pity I felt as the character had potentials for further development and the models of her by Zakoneko are just too nice to pass up. So I did this one evening and fleshed her out in more depth. Trying to fit a ghost into 'the gang' is a bit of a challenge and I wanted to avoid a cliche approach. It also gives me an opportunity to explore her particular 'predicament' and raison d'etre in more depth, which as a writer is an interesting area to explore.

Cheers.

Credits:
Saigyouji Yuyuko - Zakoneko (C) Zun / Touhou Franchise
This interpretation of the Yuyuko character departs from the 'normal' interpretation of her.

Temple - part of the Kerorin Town model by BTA Kerorin Jo.

Picture: MMD 9.10 + various MME effects / Photoshop 7

Description
Yuyuko was bored and that's probably an understatement. She had been this way for awhile now. Well, at least ever since school was out for the summer. It's not that she had to go to school, in point of fact she didn't. After all, ghosts don't go to school, now do they? But as she saw it, when school was in session she actually had some company. But right now, especially since it was late in the night, there was not a soul around the shrine; with the exception of her's that is.

She was bound to the temple grounds. It was just the way it worked. And as shrines went, this one wasn't particularly big nor did it have much of a view. In fact, the only view she had of the world beyond her confines was at the entrance to the temple. But situated as the shrine was, there was not much to see.

Even during the day time, there wasn't much for her to do. The priest of the shrine, Wasabi, was there daily, but he came only to empty the contents of the donation box and to clean up a bit. Not that he paid her much attention anyway, and if he did talk to anyone, it would be to one of the few regular worshippers that came to the shrine. None of these, however, could even see, let alone detect the presence of Yuyuko. And try as she might to spook them, if only for her own amusement, nothing seemed to perturb them. Each one seemed too pre-occupied with their own issues than to pay any attention to any of the minor physical antics that Yuyuko could pull off.

The shrine did have two shrine maidens. The first was Ditzy-chan, and she was the daughter of the Kami of the Shrine. She was half-human; her mother formerly being a priestess at the same shrine. Despite her less than human features, she had totally assimulated into the surrounding community. Not a soul seemed bothered at all that she had a tail and reptilian eyes. Plus she had friends outside of the temple whom she regularly hung out with. She even had a cellphone - she called it an I-Phone as Yuyuko recollected and was on it constantly even in the course of her duties at the shrine. 'Texting' as she termed it, with her classmates and especially, Miku. Yet, she did talk to Yuyuko and kept her updated as to her activities at the highschool she was attending. But, Ditzy also worked at night and during the weekends at Wasabi's ramen restaurant so she didn't really have time to stay at the shrine long. Especially, as she informed Yuyuko, she had 'homework' plus she also had to study for her exams. And lately, she had even less time at the shrine because she was taking a course at a cram school in Gekido City to make up in areas of study where she was weak.

The other shrine maiden was Chibi IA and she was strictly a part timer. She tended only to be there for festive and special occasions, but on the plus side, when she did come, Yuyuko would be the first 'person' she sought out and upon finding her, would fill Yuyuko on all the latest happenings in voluminous detail. In fact, as far as Yuyuko was concerned their 'conversations' tended to be one sided affairs. Not that she minded, after all there was a big age difference between the two of them and Chibi IA was much younger than Yuyuko and not only in age.

But Chibi IA did on occasions bring Chibi Gumi with her. And of all the people who came into contact with Yuyuko, Chibi Gumi seemed to be the only one that had a genuine interest in Yuyuko, or rather what Yuyuko was - a ghost. But then again, it was rare for Chibi Gumi to come to the shrine, and when she did, it was always in the company of Chibi IA and the two of them were usually soon engrossed in their own affairs.

To compound matters, most people could neither detect her nor see her. Certainly, Chibi IA's sister, whom Yuyuko found to be interesting, could not detect her presence inspite of her younger sibling's insistance that, 'she's right there standing next to you'! Nor could for that matter, Chibi Gumi's older sister, Gumi. Gumi only comes to the shrine with someone who could see Yuyuko, Alice the Gate Opener. But the two of them only come when they're running away from Officer Yuki, and when they do, the last thing that Alice wants to do is to have a discourse with Yuyuko. Not that they got along at all either. Yuyuko found Alice to be 'dangerous', but not in a manner that she could quantify.

There was of course Miku, but Miku never comes to this shrine. Yuyuko did like Miku finding her amusing in many ways, but that was a moot point as she was hardly ever around. And then there was Neru. Neru was the most level headed of the people that comes around to the shrine that could see her, other than Wasabi. In fact, Neru was the only person that Yuyuko could have a sensible conversation with; both of them being of about the same age. But, like Miku, she hardly ever comes around either, and in fact, it had been months since she had last seen Neru.

There was another advantage to Neru. Neru by some concession from Yuyuko's previous warden, the kami that was Ditzy's mother, could take Yuyuko outside of the temple grounds. She could do this at will and seemingly, she also had the ability to banish or send her back to her confinement at the temple at will and from any location. Thus, it was Neru who took Yuyuko with her back to Okinawa when they went to recover the pirate's treasure the second time around. And for a short time after that, Neru did take Yuyuko around with her occasionally when she dropped by Kerorin Town on errands. But, it's been awhile since that last happened and she had not seen Neru since.

Recently though, Yuyuko did sense the presence of another entity around Kerorin Town. It turned out that this was a shimigami who used the train station at Kerorin Town as a collection point for souls that she collected. But being a shimigami, she paid no attentions to a mere ghost and besides which she seemed to prefer her own company. But at least during the night hours when the shimigami was on duty, Yuyuko could watch her walk by with her 'collections' in toll. And occasionally, the shimigami did acknowledge her presence if only with a cursory nod. But neither of them ever spoke with each other.

And then there were cats. Some did wander into the temple grounds during their nightly jaunts. Many were terrified by Yuyuko. Those never came around again. The handful that were not - well they were just cats and cats don't make good conversationalist.

Yuyuko thought to herself, that both Ditzy and Chibi IA, being shrine maidens at this temple did have the power to take her outside of the temple grounds with them. But as it turned out, it required the permission of the priest Wasabi in order for this to be possible. And neither one of them, for whatever reason, ever bothered to seek permission nor did Yuyuko press on the point for reasons that she herself could not fathom.

And so Yuyuko was bored. Especially now with the summer break. Chibi IA had informed her that she wouldn't be around much as she was going to the country side with her friends to stay at relatives and that she would also be accompanying her big sister on her concert tours. Chibi Gumi was likewise engaged. Ditzy was busy with work, cram school and she too, had also decided to take a retreat to the country side - she went off to stay at her mother's shrine.

And so now Yuyuko was not only bored, she was totally alone. It was enough to drive her crazy, but then ghosts it seemed, couldn't 'go crazy' anymore than they could get sick. Well, perhaps there were some minor advantages to being dead. She did try to badger Wasabi into at least talking to her, but he wasn't having any of that. But he did occasionally bring her 'food' to eat. Treats that were specially blessed so that she could actually 'consume' them. Other than that, it seemed he had too many other concerns on his mind to pay much heed to her. However, he didn't seem to mind her presence when he was sweeping up and no one was around. But even then, he seldom said anything to her, being more content to listen to her moans about her current predicament.

But this evening, there wasn't a soul around. In fact, other than one elderly petitioner that came around in the morning and who only stayed briefly, no one came around. Not even Wasabi. But then, Yuyuko remembered, he did mention to her that he did need to be out of town for a couple of days to visit his family. And the irony of it was that he left her 'in charge' of the shrine. How that would work, she did not know as she, being a ghost, could hardly affect anything.

And so out of sheer frustration, she just sat on top of the donation box, an antic she knew that Wasabi would frown on. In Wasabi's view it was an action that is highly disrespectful to the deity of the shrine which in theory at least, was her host. Not that that kami paid her the slightest attentions either, although if he had chosen to do so, Yuyuko thought, he could have. At least that would be an entity that she could at least have some interactions with, but given the current circumstances, that wasn't happening either.

And to make matters worse, there were no cats around this evening either. So she just sat there, feeling thoroughly dejected and despairing of her predicament. Remaining there for what, she thought was for hours. That was the other strange thing she thought. Time for the dead wasn't the same as time for the living. The living counted time by the hours as dictated by clocks and the demands of life, but for the dead, time was without measure. Morning blended into night. Days into weeks. Weeks into years. All seemingly to be but just a blur of transitions. No new memories, nor achievements, nor joy, just old memories of a life that had past. And in her case, she thought, rather ironically, a rather short life. If only she didn't - but it was too painful to think about 'that', and she changed her train of thoughts to other things as she habitually did whenever her thoughts led her towards recollections of her own passing.

"You'll be moaning next, if you could", a voice broke through into her train of thoughts. She looked up to see someone that she hadn't seen for months. It was Neru.

"As if ...", Yuyuko retorted. "What are you doing here anyway"?

[ Neru ]: "To see you actually. Wasabi called. He said that he would be out of town for a couple of days and wanted someone to at least check in on the place; and you".
[ Yuyuko ]: "I'm doing fine".
[ Neru ]: "Not from where I'm looking"

Neru put down a large bag. It had a large logo on the side and the words: 'Japan Airlines'.

[ Neru ]: "Curious"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Only if it was food".
[ Neru ]: "Like ghosts can starve"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "We could if we choose to ..."
[ Neru ]: "Yeah, really".
[ Yuyuko ]: "So, it's not food"?
[ Neru ]: "Nope, eh ... well there are some leftovers from the dinner that I couldn't finish. I was going to save it for lunch tomorrow, but if you really want it ...".
[ Yuyuko ]: "What is it"?
[ Neru ]: "Pizza - have you ever had any"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Actually, no. I don't even know what it is".
[ Neru ]: "Well in that case ..."

Neru took one slice out of three from out of the napkin in which they were wrapped. She said a little chant over it and handed the 'offering' to Yuyuko.

[ Neru ]: "Like it"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Well ... it's different ..."
[ Neru ]: "That's your problem Yuyuko, you're never honest with anything. That's probably why you still haven't passed on".

Yuyuko didn't respond. In fact there was an awkward silence.

[ Neru ]: "You really should pay some thoughts to your predicament, Yuyuko. Things don't have to be this way. You've been dead for, what is it now? Over 100 years"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Not sure, I've never really counted. It's hard for ghosts to keep track of time".
[ Neru ]: "Want a coke to wash that down"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Sure"!

Neru grabbed two cans from out of the bag. She said the same chant over one of the cans and pulled the ring knowing that for some reason, although Yuyuko could manipulate physical objects to a point, she never seemed to be able to pull the rings off cans of sodas. She then handed the can to Yuyuko and popped the other can for herself.

[ Neru ]: "Nasty stuff this, rots your teeth if you're not careful, although in your case that's not likely to happen since all that's left of you is in that urn of yours".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Why do you have to be so blunt about things"?
[ Neru ]: "Probably because I'm pragmatic by nature".

Yuyuko takes a sip from her can. And Neru watches her closely, curious as to where the liquid that Yuyuko consumed actually goes. She thought to herself that if she couldn't see Yuyuko, all that she could see would be a can floating in the air and the liquid, like the pizza slice that Yuyuko consumed with relish, disappears to only the gods would know where.

[ Yuyuko]: "What are you looking at"?
[ Neru ]: "You".
[ Yuyuko ]: "It's rude to stare at people".
[ Neru ]: "You're not exactly 'people'".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Am too"!
[ Neru ]: "No you're not, you're the ghost of a dead girl who should have 'passed on' a long time ago".

Yuyuko was taken aback by Neru's forwardness. Although, she was used to Neru's abrasive manners, her current thrust took her completely off guard. She didn't know exactly how to respond and yet she was also beginning to feel offended, but Neru was unrelenting.

[ Neru ]: "I did look into your history a little more you know. Even talked to Ditzy's mom when I drove Ditzy and Miku up there. Even she felt, you should be moving on".
[ Yuyuko ]: "I don't see whether or not if I 'pass on' or not as being any of your business"!
[ Neru ]: "It isn't, except that I'm making it so".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Why"?

Neru looked hard at Yuyuko for a moment before responding. She had a determined look on her face that Yuyuko had only seen once before.

[ Neru ]: "How old are you really, Yuyuko"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "How would I know"?
[ Neru ]: "Discounting the years that you've been dead, you and I are actually the same age and ..."
[' Yuyuko ]: "Well I'll be ..."
[ Neru ]: "Don't interupt, I'm not done! But there is one difference. I'm going to get older and you're not. Which means that I have the rest of my life ahead of me and you'll have nothing".

Neru pauses for a moment to allow the thought to sink into Yuyuko.

[ Neru ]: "Not many people can see you can they? And those few of us, including the chibis are going to grow up and move on to other things. Even Ditzy won't be around forever. Wasabi isn't going to be around forever either. He's going to grow old and retire and the next priest might not even be able to see you. So who are you going to talk with then? It's not like as if you were still at Ditzy's mother's temple which interfaces with the spiritual plane so there are others that you can interact with. You're stuck here now, but this situation can't last, now can it? And if you're really honest with yourself, deep down inside you know that what I'm saying is all true.

But it gets worse, and Ditzy's mom confirmed it. If you don't 'pass on', you can't remain being a ghost forever either. Two things can happen and neither are good options. The first is that you'll go completely bonkers and turn into a mindless wailing spirit, and the only cure for that is an exorcism and you know what that means? You'll won't move on, you'll just be 'undone', whatever that's suppose to mean I'm not sure but Ditzy's mom had no illusions as to it being a terminal state of affairs.

Or ... you'll simply fade away. Cease to be. Not even a memory of you left."

[ Yuyuko ]: "Nothing ..."?
[ Neru ]: "Yep, nothing".
[ Yuyuko ]:"But as long as you remember me ..."
[ Neru ]: "Doesn't work that way, Yuyuko. First off, I'll grow old and eventually die too. Secondly, should you 'fade away' before I die, my memory of you vanishes along with you. Point being is that you don't have 'forever' as a ghost. You will have to move on."
[ Yuyuko ]: "I DON'T KNOW HOW"!
[ Neru ]: "Actually, you do. You're just still not ready to are you"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "..."

And then, for some reason that Yuyuko could not understand, she begins to cry. Neru watches her for a moment; watching her without betraying any emotions of her own. But then she softens, approaches Yuyuko, hesitates for a moment and then grabs on to Yuyuko and pulls her into a hard embrace. Yuyuko cries her heart out on Neru's shoulders and Neru could actually feel Yuyuko's tears penetrating her clothing and wetting her skin.

[ Neru ]: "Feeling better"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Yeah ... I guess".
[ Neru ]: "I figured this would happen, also that you're going to need some help 'passing on'. But I discussed it with Ditzy's mother and we're going to try something different".
[ Yuyuko ]: "..."?
[ Neru ]: "You're going to need to remember what it was to be alive. And to fix that, arggh, how do I get myself into these situations? Well anyway, you're going to need to hang around me more. But before that can happen, I have to re-arrange my own life to accomodate your needs. So, we have an interim solution".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Interim solution"?

Neru picks up her bag, puts it on her shoulders and grabs hold of Yuyuko's hands. She then looks around the shrine and then heads off to a storage room located to one side. She takes a key to unlock the door and turns on the light.

[ Neru ]: "Help me clean up this mess ..."
[ Yuyuko ]: "Do I look like the maid service"?
[ Neru ]: "Actually, you do. Anyway, this isn't for me, this is for you. We need to make you some space".
[ Yuyuko ]: "There's plenty of space outside and I'm a ghost remember? I don't need to occupy 'space'".
[ Neru ]: "You will for what I have in the bag".
[ Yuyuko ]: "What do you have in the bag"?
[ Neru ]: "Help me clean up and you'll find out now won't you"?

And so the two of them set out about re-arranging the storage room until there was a corner for Neru to set up the contents of her bag.

[ Yuyuko ]: "What is it"?
[ Neru ]: "There's more on the way, I just have to wait till Gumi and Alice gets here with it. Whilst we're waiting, let me tell you how you can 'pass on'. Don't start crying on me again! It won't be that hard. According to Ditzy's mom, all you have to do is to face your past as well as to remember the joys of living. I can't help you with the first part, that's something you'll have to deal with when you're ready to deal with it. But I'm not worried about that, you'll will deal with it because of the second part".
[ Yuyuko ]: "What's the second part"?
[ Neru ]: "Your problem is that you've been a ghost for too long. And if you want dates, you died during the Meiji Restoration - that's over 150 years ago! You forgot what it was like to be 'living' and to fix that, well there's this that we're setting up here, plus you need to spend more time with me outside of here. So I'll need to let you spend time at my apartment as I can't have you wandering around freely as that's prohibited by certain 'rules'".
[ Yuyuko ]: "I like your apartment, you have a, what did you call that box again"?
[ Neru ]: "A television and you're getting one too. Well not a TV as such".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Is that what's in your bag"?
[ Neru ]: "Nope ... oh good, Alice and Gumi are here"!

As they head out to meet Alice and Gumi, Yuyuko sees them come in with a hand cart with some large packages.

[ Neru ]: "Did you get it all"?
[ Gumi ]: "Yeah, I had to dig through Miku's garage to get all of this. No wonder she has no room to park her car! So you want us to pull the wire to where?"
[ Neru ]: "In there ..."
[ Gumi ]: "And all of this for a ghost"?
[ Neru ]: "Yep".
[ Gumi ]: "Is she here"?
[ Neru ]: "Yes, she's standing right next to me, or rather behind me".
[ Alice ]: "I don't see why you're bothering with all this nonsense. She's just a ghost. I can just exorcise her and we will be done with this ..."
[ Neru ]: "... except you won't as she's my 'friend' - so you leave her alone Alice".
[ Alice ]: "Hehe ... don't worry, I don't do exorcisms for free anyway. But honestly, Neru, an Internet connection and a PS2 for a ghost? Whoever, heard of that"?
[ Neru ]: "I know what I'm doing, Alice".
[ Alice ]: "If you say so. So you want me to set up the PC in there?"
[ Neru ]: "Yes, and thanks for doing this".

Alice just strugs and heads off with the hand cart to the storage room as Gumi starts pulling wires to connect up the system.

[ Yuyuko ]: "Internet, PS2 ..."?
[ Neru ]: "Yep, they're not new. Just stuff that Miku doesn't use anymore. The first connects you with the outside world the second is just for fun. That's the stuff in that bag. You got to keep 'busy' otherwise you'll go nuts on us and end up, well you know ... oh BTW, you're not getting a credit card as I can't afford to maintain that kind of 'life style' for you; so don't even think you'll be making any online purchases".
[ Yuyuko ]: "Online purchases"?
[ Neru ]: "Don't worry, Gumi will explain everything to you".
[ Yuyuko ]: "But she can't even see me ..."
[ Neru ]: "Only because she thinks she can't. Plus all she really needs to do to see you is to put on those goggles of hers".
[ Yuyuko ]: "But what about you"?
[ Neru ]: "Do you know what time it is"?
[ Yuyuko ]: "Actually, no ..."
[ Neru ]: "It's almost morning and I need to get some sleep. I'll see you later this week, Yuyuko".

Yuyuko watches as Neru turn and head towards the entrance of the temple then decides to follow her. She intercepted Neru effortlessly since she could 'float' faster than Neru could walk. She gives Neru a big hug and a kiss.

[ Alice ]: "Hey Yuyuko, get over here. We need to teach you how to use all this junk. Well Gumi will anyway".
[ Gumi ]: "I still don't see anyone ...".
[ Alice ]: "Put on your goggles".
[ Gumi ]: "Nope, not working. I still don't see anything"!
[ Alice ]: "Oh, you will, just talk to her as if she's there. She'll be visible eventually. Well I'll go get us some breakfast ..."
[ Gumi ]: "AND LEAVE ME ALL ALONE WITH A GHOST"!?
[ Alice ]: "Yep ..."
[ Gumi ]: "BUT I'M SCARED OF GHOSTS"!
[ Alice ]: "But you can't see her right"?
[ Gumi ]: "... well no I can't see her".
[ Alice ]: "So if you can't see her, how can you be scared of her"?
[ Gumi ]: "IT'S BECAUSE I CAN'T SEE HER THAT I'M SCARED OF HER"!
[ Alice ]: "Do you know how stupid that sounds? I won't be gone long anyway. Besides she won't harm you. She's more interested in the PS2 at the moment anyway".

Gumi looks up to see PS2 game packages floating out of Neru's airline bag and faints. Alice takes a deep sigh.

[ Alice ]: "Why do I always end up having to do everything myself? Oh well, Yuyuko, come here. This is a PS2 and ..."
[ Yuyuko ]: "You're not going to exorcise me are you"?
[ Alice ]: "Now do I look like someone who would do something like that ..."?

Meanwhile, outside the temple, Neru finally caught her bus and manages to secure a window seat. She noticed that her shoulders were still wet from where Yuyuko had been crying earlier. It was only then that she noticed the smell of Yuyuko's tears - it smelled of sakura blossoms.

Author's Notes:

The Yuyuko character was first introduced in the 'Chronicles of the Dragon Princess' manga I did several months back, but I never revisited the character since. That was a bit of a pity I felt as the character had potentials for further development and the models of her by Zakoneko are just too nice to pass up. So I did this one evening and fleshed her out in more depth. Trying to fit a ghost into 'the gang' is a bit of a challenge and I wanted to avoid a cliche approach. It also gives me an opportunity to explore her particular 'predicament' and raison d'etre in more depth, which as a writer is an interesting area to explore.

Cheers.

Credits:
Saigyouji Yuyuko - Zakoneko (C) Zun / Touhou Franchise
This interpretation of the Yuyuko character departs from the 'normal' interpretation of her.

Temple - part of the Kerorin Town model by BTA Kerorin Jo.

Picture: MMD 9.10 + various MME effects / Photoshop 7