"I get it now. I wrongly blamed Mokou this time— I'll apologize to her properly later."
"It's good that the misunderstanding is cleared up. Don't dwell on it too much. After all, it was all that innately evil little bat brat's fault."
Rin smiled reassuringly, then glanced at Mokou, who was crouched behind the sofa, trying to stealthily relocate while staying out of sight.
After exchanging a look with Marisa, the latter instantly caught on and called out—
"I'll go grab some snacks for you guys. Hang on a sec!"
"Thanks."
"Heh, no problem."
Marisa grinned, scratching her head, then casually strolled past the sofa.
At that moment, Mokou swiftly ducked behind her, using expert line-of-sight manipulation to gradually distance herself from the living room.
"Where's the bathroom again?"
"Straight ahead to the end. Make sure to wet your hair a bit—don't let the act slip."
"There's spare employee uniforms over there. You can just throw one on for now."
"Got it. Thanks."
After a quick word of thanks, Mokou hurried off toward her destination.
Meanwhile, Marisa vaulted over the courtyard wall, circled around, and re-entered through the shop's front door.
Reimu stared blankly at Marisa returning from outside, her walnut-cracking hand freezing mid-motion.
"Why'd you go out?"
"Special circumstances. Let's get our stories straight first so we don't blow our cover later."
Marisa hastily recounted the situation in the living room, leaving Reimu with a subtly complicated expression.
After a moment of silence, Reimu couldn't help but ask—
"Aren't you guys afraid Remilia will go berserk?"
"It's an emergency this time! We'll make it up to her later with toys and snacks or something." Marisa shrugged helplessly. In a pinch, Remilia was the best human shield.
Otherwise, if things escalated further with Mokou, she'd have to sleep with one eye open.
After a pause, Reimu stretched out her hand—
"Two thousand."
"You're seriously profiting off this?!"
"The opportunity's right in front of me. How could I pass it up?" Reimu grinned, her earlier frustration dissipating.
Sure, the empathy link had been torture, but at least there was unexpected income to soften the blow!
Marisa's face darkened, but remembering she now had Rin's backing, she suddenly felt emboldened.
"No!"
"If you don't cooperate, I'll go tattle to the boss, y'know?"
"Given the boss's terrifying methods, heh..." Reimu's pupils shrank. Her gaze at Marisa turned incredulous.
'Marisa… have you finally abandoned your last shred of dignity?!'
'On one side: two thousand yen. On the other: the risk of being "impacted" into oblivion tonight.'
After a brief internal struggle, Reimu finally gritted her teeth and nodded—
"Go ahead and report me. Worst case, I'll just get knocked out. But if the info leaks, you're the one who'll suffer."
"You wrote that assignment. Once Mokou, Keine, and Remi liacome for you—hell, even the boss might settle accounts!"
"???" Marisa froze. Imagining that scenario, her eyelid began twitching uncontrollably.
With no other choice, she grumbled and dug into her pockets—
"Fine, two thousand..."
"It's three thousand now. You threatened me just now—that's emotional damages."
"YOU—!!!" Marisa nearly kicked her on the spot. Since when is extortion part of a shrine maiden's job?!
'What kind of shady traditions does the Hakurei Shrine even teach?!'
Suppressing the urge to commit murder, she slammed the money onto the table, then snatched a few snack bags and stormed toward the courtyard.
Reimu's cheerful voice trailed after her—
"Thanks for your patronage! We hope you come again~"
"..." Marisa's fists clenched audibly.
But upon returning to the living room, she forced a friendly smile and piled the snacks in front of Keine.
"Wasn't sure what you'd like, so I grabbed a bit of everything. Help yourself."
"You've gone to too much trouble."
"Not at all, not at all."
After retreating to Rin's side, Marisa immediately whispered under her breath—
"Boss, Reimu's acting kinda treasonous. Pretty sure she's plotting to usurp you."
"..."
'What the hell happened in the five minutes you were gone?' Rin gave her a sidelong glance but didn't press further.
Right now, pacifying Keine took priority.
As for Reimu… well, she had a long week ahead of her.
As the living room settled back into harmony, Mokou strode in, toweling her damp hair.
The instant her eyes met Keine's, she dropped into a full dogeza.
"I'm sorry! I was wrong, and I'll never do it again!"
Guilt nearly drowned Keine as she hurried to pull Mokou up.
"It's my fault for blaming you unfairly. I won't repeat this mistake."
"Did I hurt you earlier? Are you in pain?"
"Nah, nah, I dodged in time."
"Don't worry—if we ever run into that evil-incarnate little vampire gremlin again, I'll settle the score for you."
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! Safety first—let's just drop it, okay?" Mokou waved her hands frantically. If this group actually confronted Remilia, they'd all be toast.
"It was just a misunderstanding, right? All cleared up now. Here, have some tea, and the snacks are great too!"
"Mokou, sit here. I'll dry your hair."
"'Kay~"
With everything resolved, they achieved the perfect outcome—where Remi was the only casualty.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen...
"Mmgh!! Mmmph—mmf mmph!!!" Aya writhed and muffledly screamed, desperate to rush into the living room and expose this villainous fraud ring.
'This was prime news material!' But some voices were too quiet—she couldn't catch every detail.
'Let me get closer so I can hear everything clearly, damn it!!!'
Yet she dangled from the ceiling like a trussed-up sticky rice dumpling, tightly bound by Yukari's ribbons. No amount of wriggling freed her.
"Quit squirming. We're observing here."
"Mmmph—mmf! Mmmgh!!!" Aya's eyes burned with the unyielding resolve of a journalist. Even if it killed her, she'd secure this scoop!
Yukari sighed, then patted Ran's fox tail beside her.
Ran's eye twitched, but she obediently picked up a kitchen knife and began sharpening it.
Screeeeech—
"..." Aya instantly froze. Suddenly, the scoop didn't seem that important.
Maybe she could just… fill in the blanks creatively later.