#THANKS LARA FOR HELPING PROOFREAD AHHHHH

[twinfoxtails]

Petals of the Wild

“And so, the boy finally found his place in the world… With his friends.”

The head maid then closed the book as she looked over to her child, giving off a warm smile. Never mind that the story was not the same as the book she was holding, it was still an enjoyable story for the child to read.

“Wow! That’s a really nice story, Mama! But… do you have to go back to work now?”

… How long has it been since the both of them had been together like this, the maid thought? A month? Two, maybe?...

… She could spend a bit more time with her daughter, right?

“Well actually, I thought of spending some time with you instead. We haven’t been together for a while, have we?”

“N-No, it’s okay, I understand… You and Mother are always so busy, so it’s fine, really!”

“Well, your Mama has time now, doesn’t she?”

Giving a gentle pat towards the child, Miyuki gave a giggle, and hugged Sakuya tightly, with the maid returning her embrace.

“Ehe, thanks!... Say, Mama?”

“Hm? What is it, Miyuki?”

“When are the three of us going to be together again?...”

“I…”

Sakuya didn’t know how to answer her at all. There’s just so many things going on in her head, which even she doesn’t know how to answer her.

“... I’ll talk about it with Mother, alright? We’ll have time together someday, I promise.”

“Okay, it’s a promise then!”

And with a pinky swear, the dhampyr let out a cheerful smile, and her mother in turn.

“Oh, say… Mama?”

“Is there something else, Miyuki?”

“I was wondering… when can I go outside?”

Sakuya gave a sigh in response, as she let go off the hug, and looked at Miyuki in the eye, holding her shoulders tightly with both of her hands.

“Miyuki, we talked about this before. We as residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion are hated by so many people, and Mother wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“B-But there’s really nice people too, like… like Violet! And Chen too!”

“That’s true, but those are exceptions, Miyuki. There are people out there who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you if they saw you. Just… imagine how Mother and I would feel if anything bad would happen to you, tokay?”

“Okay…”

Miyuki let out a sigh as she turned her head towards her room’s window. The window was of course, closed, with the moonlight shining through and illuminating the room.

As the room fell into silence, an idea came into the child’s head!

“I know! Mama, how about we go out right now? Just for a moment, I promise!”

“Miyuki, you know very well that I won’t accept tha-”

“It’s fine if you came along, right? You could protect me if anything bad happens!”

“I…”

Well, she had a point. There was not many people stupid enough to challenge Sakuya Izayoi, Head Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Those who do end up challenging her ends up becoming the vampire’s next meal… or so they say.

Besides, how could she say no to Miyuki’s gleaming expression?

“... Alright, but only for a few minutes. We don’t want anything bad happening to you. Just keep it a secret from Mother, okay? This will be between the two of us.”

“R-Really?! I never thought I’d get that answer! Hooray, thank you so much, Mama!”

Quickly giving Sakuya a big hug one last time, the child quickly got out of bed and dashed towards the window, opening it with an uncontrollable smile on her face. She couldn’t believe it! She’s finally going outside!

Sakuya couldn’t help but give a chuckle and walk towards her, holding her hand gently.

“Ready, Miyuki?” “Ready!”

Gently holding her hand, both the maid and the dhampyr flew towards the sky, under the bright moonlight…

---

“Wow, the smell here is really different from the mansion, Mama…” “It really is, isn’t it?”

Flying and letting the smell of nature envelop their senses, both of them landed on Misty Lake, walking at the sides of the lake where there’s dry land.

“Everything looks so beautiful, Mama! There’s so many different kinds of insects here, and also all these fairies… The only fairies I’ve seen are the fairy maids, but over here…”

It’s only natural that there's lots of fairies in Misty Lake. That’s because this was most of the fairies’ home. There were different kinds of fairies, from the water fairies, to different ones, each element of fairy represented through the color of their clothes.

But instead of conflict, the fairies were playing around, some throwing danmaku, while others teasing each other with laughs and giggles.

“Well, most of them are nice, but there are a few fairy exceptions…”

Notably Cirno and Clownpiece… Especially Clownpiece.

“Mama! I… I can go play with them, right? Do you think they’ll welcome me?”

“Of course they would, Miyuki. Just be careful.”

“R-Really? Thank you!”

And so, Miyuki flew off to play with the fairies at the center of the lake, with Sakuya watching afar with a smile. She couldn’t tell what the fairies and her child were talking about, but it wasn’t a few minutes later until the dhampyr and the fairies started chasing each other with bright smiles in their faces.

Hmm. Most likely a game of tag.

“Sigh… What am I going to do with her?”

Looking at Miyuki, Sakuya went deep into her own thoughts.

She started wondering about Remilia, and especially Miyuki’s future.

There were multiple questions, such as whether it was right for the child to be trapped in the mansion this way, and not to mention Remilia was hiding many things from her.

Sakuya knew Remilia was a smart girl, and knows her mother is hiding multiple things. But the biggest question was… when will Remilia tell her?

Just as she was thinking, a cold wind brushed through her, crawling up her spine…

“?!”

SLASH!

A swipe similar to that of a wolf almost struck Sakuya from behind, and the maid just managed to get out of the way, tumbling to the side…!

“What…”

She managed to avoid the surprise attack, but her sleeve of her maid uniform was torn up a little, with the attack scratching the surface of her skin, forming a light scar on top.

It was a small injury, which could easily be shrugged off.

“Oh?... I missed.”

Sakuya’s eyes looked at the direction of her attacker, which was right in front of her.

It was… a man. He may look human, but with those fangs and claws, along with the thick hair coming out from his arms, it’s highly likely that he was a werewolf.

“The head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion… You’re as beautiful as ever.”

“I take it that I do not need to give you my name then. Answer me, what do you want?”

“Not even asking for my own name? How rude, are all females in Gensokyo like this?”

Pointing his finger towards Sakuya with a confident smirk, with a tone which the maid was sure that he was mocking her.

“I’m Kaito, the fastest wolf in the Eastern Wolf Tribe in Gensokyo! And you, Missy… are my prey!”

SWIPE!

Another slash, and this time, Sakuya managed to dodge it completely by backing away and flying up towards one of the nearby trees and standing on it’s branch.

Unsheathing one of her knives from her right leg’s garter, she gripped it tightly, watching for any sudden movements by the werewolf.

“... What do you think you’re doing? All natives in Gensokyo know very well that duels should be solved with Spell Card Duels and danmaku.”

“Rules… rules, rules! How so very aggravating! If you’re dead just a few moments ago, we wouldn’t need to bother with the… Ahem, ‘Girls play-fight’. ‘Sides, I’m not gonna play by anyone else’s hands! I’m gonna get what I want out of ya!” “What you want…?”

As the enemy made a quick leap towards the maid, Sakuya gritted her teeth as she did her best to block it’s attacks! With the both of them jumping from tree to tree, the maid has yet to find an opening to perform her counter-attack…!

“Isn’t it obvious, head maid?! For too long, we men had been sidelined and forgotten! Being looked down upon, not being considered a threat, and most of all, not being able to experience the pleasure of a woman’s body!”

“What?!”

The beast’s agility dramatically increased, dissolving into a blur as his attacks became faster! Sakuya’s eyes could barely keep up as she attempted to deflect every single blow with her knife!

CLANG! CLANG!

It didn’t take long before Sakuya found herself deflected all the way to the Forest of Magic. At this rate, if this keeps up, the maid’s going to run out of stamina, and if that happens...

“Too slow, too slow…! What’s wrong, Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion?! Are the rumors about you exaggerated?!”

“What… exactly did you mean… my body?”

“Your perfect thighs, your smooth hair, your firm breasts… I’ll be sure to violate your corpse thoroughly until I’m satisfied!”

As he let out an insane laugh, Sakuya’s expression changed to that of anger.

This… was exactly the kind of people she hated. It reminded her of some other women in Gensokyo who does nothing but thirst for others through lust, triyng to get their way regardless of protests.

But this one… this one was different. Not only was he rude, but also violent. Extremely violent.

“... You’ll never get what you want, wolf.”

“Oh? We’ll see about that, because you don’t have a choice in this!”

“Mama!”

“Mi… Miyuki?!”

As a familiar voice called out from afar, the dhampyr emerged, running towards the both of them into the forest battleground.

She was the last person Sakuya wanted to see…! And for the werewolf, it was perfect.

“Miyuki! RUN!”

“Wh-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the man leapt towards Miyuki, stretching out his hand towards her, and grabbed the dhampyr by the throat!

“A-Ah!” “Miss Miyuki…!”

Walking towards Sakuya with his right hand tightly clenched around Miyuki’s throat, the maid couldn’t help but watch in horror as the werewolf before him strangled her.

“Let… go of her!”

“Tut tut. Her neck is like a cute little stick, just apply a bit of pressure, and…-”

“Gkh…!”

She couldn’t move from her spot. How could she…? Just what else could she do?

“Good, good! It’s just so refreshing to see when women know their place. Now, drop that weapon, and come closer.” “...”

And with the sound of metal meeting the neatly trimmed grass, Sakuya approached the werewolf holding the child, with fire burning in her eyes.

Needless to say, the man enjoyed every bit of her expression.

“Nice for you to know who’s in control here. Now… give me a kiss. On the lips.”

“... Pardon?”

“Do it, maid.”

The sound of him tightening his grip on Miyuki’s neck was made even more obvious, as the child’s cries echoed throughout the entire forest.

“A-Aaaaaahhh...!” “Stop!… I’ll… I’ll do it.”

Tip-toeing to reach the werewolf’s height, Sakuya slowly moved her lips closer to the man, and…

KCK!

“What…”

A sizable amount of red liquid started flowing towards the ground. One of them was watching in horror after what just happened.

“...”

The red liquid was none other than blood. But… it wasn’t Sakuya’s.

It was then the werewolf realized. A silver knife was inserted inside his stomach, as he started to bleed.

Sakuya had other knives in her garter as well, another two knives ready to be withdrawn.

“You… bitch…”

The man took a few steps back as he released his grip from Miyuki, with the dhampyr coughing and trying to catch her breath.

“I…”

Sakuya pulled out the silver knife, as she watched the werewolf kneel down in pain, bleeding.

“... Let’s go home, Miyuki. Can you walk?”

“Y-Yeah…”

The maid approached the child as she stretched out her hand, pulling her up in attempt to support her.

Miyuki still couldn’t walk after what happened, but at least everything has been solved.

“Don’t… look down on me!”

“!?”

Quickly looking to her side, the youkai made yet another quick dash with his fangs ready!

“Mama!”

Sakuya quickly pushed Miyuki aside, as she took a direct hit at the chest!

“Ah…!”

In result to this, her blouse ended up ripping, with clear signs of tear done by three fangs, with both her skin and silk bra revealed, along with signs of blood.

“You’re going to be mine, maid! You females always love having each other instead of people like us! I’m gonna fuck you so hard, you’ll die when you cum!”

“You…!”

Not relenting his assault, the man pushed Sakuya and pinned her into a nearby tree!

SLAM!

“Gkh!”

She couldn’t move her arms, and her knife dropped into the ground. Sakuya has been completely pinned…!

“Watch closely, kid! This is how a man does things!”

“Mama!”

“H-Help…!”

Sakuya cried for help as low as a whisper, closing her eyes in fear of what happens next…

…

KRK!

“What?!”

Sakuya slowly opened her eyes, as she saw something… peculiar.

Chains. Ominous chains which shot out from the ground has wrapped around all of the man’s body.

Those chains… Sakuya knew, that it could only belong to…

“Gungnir.”

STAB!

Before any of the trio’s eyes could follow, a large, pink spear made from pure energy pierced through the man’s head from the front to back.

There were no words he could mutter, for his life was cut off in a single instant.

…

The chains dissolved, and the werewolf’s corpse collapsed onto the floor, as if it was nothing.

Sakuya was breathing heavily, trying to digest what just happened.

“Mama… Mama!”

Before the woman could say anything, Miyuki ran towards her and gave a tight hug.

“Miss Miyuki… I... I...!”

“Miss… Miyuki? What do you mean?-...”

Sakuya gave her a tight hug, as tears started flowing down from her face.

“M-Mama?...”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I-I’m sorry…”

Apologizing over and over again, Sakuya buried her face on Miyuki’s shoulder.

Today was truly a long night…

- 1 year later -

“... She’s gone, isn’t she?”

A boy muttered to himself as he walked past the Scarlet Devil Mansion’s hallways.

Eri Philomele, twin-tailed kitsune boy, and part-time worker of the mansion.

The mansion has been such a mess. Cleaning has become much harder than it was a year ago. And with not many fairies present in the mansion, it was almost impossible to make the Scarlet Devil Mansion spotless.

Especially considering that Sakuya was missing.

“Miss Remilia was furious that day, and I almost lost my life because of it. If Miss Sakuya didn’t do what she did and interfered back then…”

With his near-perfect shapeshifting abilities, he had been impersonating as the head maid to take care of Miyuki, due to how busy she was.

While he does take on the identity of the other mother, Remilia Scarlet from time to time, it was Sakuya he mostly turned into, because she was the one busier than the vampire.

...

… Not that it matters anymore. With the head maid gone, there was almost no need to shapeshift into either one of them, especially given the circumstances.

But the one affected most by it was…

knock knock

“Miss Miyuki? It’s time for dinner...”

“...”

Eri opened her door and walked into her room.

The room from a year ago was much different than it was before. No longer was it clean and tidy, but things like clothes, photos, and drawings were all over the place, scattered around the floor.

The boy offered to clean it up before, but the dhampyr mentioned that she would do it instead.

… Guess she haven’t gotten to it.

“Miss Miyuki?”

“Eri… when will Mama come back?”

“... Someday, Miss Miyuki. Someday…”

The girl scoffed at the boy’s reply as she laid on her bed, covering herself with the blanket.

Eri couldn’t help but give a sigh towards that and leave the room without a word.

… Perhaps he’ll bring her dinner up for her soon.

…

He really wishes there was something he could do.

“But… what?”

END