It was strange, really.

Other people would dismiss it as a dusty old building, a relic of the past (a really ancient past), the remnants of something that they can't even figure out. Something which should by all means have been gone by now, washed away in the cruel waves of human advancement and structural instability.

And they would be absolutely right. The very fact that it was a miracle that she was even able to find the damn thing in the middle of the dense forest atop a mountain spoke volumes about how out of style it was, as they say.

But Usami Sumireko knew that there was more to this shrine than meets the eye. Or rather, there was more behind it.

After marveling at how the shrine still retained its ability to function as a building, if a shoddy one - she wouldn't pay rent for it, even if it was half the price of her college dorm - she walked behind it, and waved her hand at the area she knew existed, even as her sense of sight and touch proved otherwise. If it weren't for the innate ability she had, she would have been fooled by the existence of nothing else but the dark forest, and accidentally walked right into the huge, impossibly complex array of magical energy, that threatened to either tear her asunder into the depths of reality, or bring her through the barrier the permanent way.

And to think she had destroyed part of it one year ago.

Okay, so maybe it was partly her fault for panicking and almost bringing the equivalent of Armageddon upon Gensokyo, and she had inadvertently caused the incident right after, but honestly, can anyone begrudge her for thinking that some man-eating youkai would eventually overpower and either eat, kill, or rape her? And she can't be blamed for bringing something she didn't know even existed, can she?

She was disappointed to know that the answer was a resounding NO from everyone who wasn't busy enough shooting stuff at her to even answer. At least Mokou understood. Somewhat.

Sumireko sighed. Recalling the events was taxing to her mental health, and she did come here only as a detour. There was a family waiting back home, and she was planning to enjoy every second of her break, even getting to meet her own niece. Now that was a question she was going to get, whether her older sister wanted to or?

Hm?

As she was about to head back to the human road, she stopped to glance back at?was that a person there? She blinked, just for a second, then?

Huh.

She could have sworn there was some sort of silhouette of?someone? Something? And if her iconic memory served right, whatever it was standing way behind where the barrier was. But due to how little she knew about the barrier that would mean?

Meh, she was thinking too hard already. She decided to ask the shrine maiden later evening if anything weird got in there. If not, then that's that.

As she descended the mountain, she realized.

Yeah, that was a person. Too bad she couldn't tell if ti was man or woman?




What is the protagonist's gender?

[ ] Male
[ ] Female

Depending on how many responses I get and my responsive writing time, I may or may not update during this week.