A/N: Hey there! This is my first ever fanfiction, so it's really scary publishing this! Hopefully you like it.
I was inspired to write this by another Touhou fanfic writer, but she's not on this website :( Anyway, they were the one to introduce me to the whole Marisa x Seija pairing through their fic, called Heretic on AO3 (their name is Hungry Bookworm).
Writing Seija is hard. Dang pathological liars be messing up my writing.
Seija grumbled to herself as she forced herself up from her latest unexpected nap. Again, she had been dreaming about that magician. Again, she woke up gripping onto herself like she was wearing a straightjacket, her breath ragged. It had been too long since Seija had seen that feisty human witch. Two months too long, to be exact. Their last meeting had been quick and brutal, back when she had every spell card fighter in Gensokyo gunning for her. The confrontation had involved the maid from before and a pair of sort-of humans, all working together in a vain attempt to bring the amanojaku down.
It had been amazing.
It was fights like that one that made her feel alive. Seija loved seeing their glaring faces, the looks of pure hatred and disgust, the cold and calculated approach they had when fighting her. Well, except for that witch. Marisa, she recalled the name from their prior meeting in the Forest of Magic. It had been the evening after her attempt to conquer Gensokyo with the inchling's help had failed, and she had decided to visit the witch to try to convince her to join her revolution. That Marisa was a fun one to play with. Shinmyoumaru had been a wonderful plaything, the best Seija could wish for in a place like Gensokyo, but the black-white was something else. She had the witch all ready to join her cause, to become her ultimate weapon in her quest to turn Gensokyo on its head, but she had rejected her. Why? Why did she even care?
That had been turning her own head around for some months, and their fight hadn't been the right place to sort it out. She hated herself for admitting that some stupid human girl was interesting her as much as she was, but it was true; she was obsessed with her. Even after narrowly avoiding being captured by everyone from fairies to oni to gods, she still couldn't get the magician out of her mind. She wanted to stop this fixation, and she could only think of one way to do that. The one thing she dreaded: she had to talk to Marisa. The realisation came after a particularly long brooding period in her hideout, a small cave by the Garden of the Sun, obscured by dense foliage and invisible to all. The amanojaku growled in frustration as she rearranged her dress, grabbed the magic cloth she'd relied on during the hunt against her, and began to fly towards the magician's house, making sure to stay low and away from clearings.
Marisa was having a hard time studying; for a couple of weeks now, she had been struggling to focus on her research. She had begun to update her grimoire to contain the spell cards she had encountered since the arrival of the Buddhists and Taoists in Gensokyo, but she had hit a writer's block in the form of Seija Kijin. Just thinking of the youkai drove her mad, be it from curiosity, frustration or a perverse combination of the two. When they had fought during the incident Seija caused, the amanojaku had been almost seductive, talking about how, with her tainted mini-hakkero, Marisa would be a valuable part of her rebellion. It had been tempting too. In the end, a mix of common sense and bloodlust had caused her to declare a drawn-out spell card battle. However, the day after Marisa had been disturbed by Seija, who had come to her house just to try and rally her to her cause again. This time however, she had been more persuasive.
"Join me," the youkai had whispered into her ear as they sat on an upturned tree trunk near Marisa's home, "and together we could take over Gensokyo. You'd want that, right miss witch?" She still remembered Seija's lips brushing against her ear, her hand tenderly holding the human's shoulder. "Just me, you, and chaos."
Even thinking of that moment was enough to make the witch want to curl up in her bed and not leave until the morning. Since the day she'd tried to write about her spell cards, she'd began to think of Seija non-stop. Her dreams were filled with the youkai's attractive lies and rough hands, her waking hours spent thinking of how she'd confront her if they crossed paths again. She knew she had developed an unhealthy habit, and she needed to kick it, but the black-haired girl was like an infection; she was just making Marisa worse. What had started as a simple fascination was now full-blown desire, or so she had come to think.
In the end, Marisa had decided to go for a long walk around the Forest of Magic to clear her head. She avoided Alice's house almost unconsciously, knowing she had way too many of the puppeteer's books to make a visit to her house even remotely innocent; she'd either borrow something again, or be made to fight in a spell card duel for the right to keep her current stash a bit longer. The two magicians usually got along great, it was just that she had been a bit too casual with her habit for borrowing things. It was the same reason why she now avoided the Scarlet Devil Mansion outside of visiting Flandre. Instead, Marisa made a wide arc around the west side of the Forest, along her typical mushroom-collecting route.
By the time Marisa was nearing her own house again, she had become acutely aware of a presence in the area. Being human, she couldn't sense more than the fact there was someone there, by her home, but that was all she needed to know right now. Hakkero in hand, she rounded the tight clump of trees to the right of her house to find...Seija. Suddenly getting her out of her head seemed like a really bad idea. The youkai noticed her immediately, and gave her a cruel smirk as greeting.
"About time you showed up," she snarled, "thought you'd kicked the bucket or something."
"Humans ain't bugs, Kijin." Marisa retorted, painting on her own trademark smirk. "We don't kick it so quick. And anyway, what're you doin' here? Thought you'd left Gensokyo after we all kicked your ass."
Seija chuckled to that. "If I remember right, I kicked everyone's butt, not the other way around. But to answer you, I wanted to eat a decent sized human, and you fit the bill." The blonde saw the lie immediately, and barked a laugh in response.
"Wouldn't recommend it, I'm toxic to you youkai lot, and besides, I'm not like to come to slaughter easy." Marisa straightened her face a bit. "Now gimme the truth. Amanojaku don't knock on my door everyday, y'know." The youkai raised an eyebrow at the demand for honesty, but shrugged and answered anyway.
"What if I said I wanted to talk to you?" She sounded like she was mocking the witch.
"I could believe that," she admitted, "but why? Unless ya want a spell card duel, I ain't got much to offer, Kijin." The small lie came easily to her; part of Marisa wanted to offer the other girl something other than a fight.
"Pfft, like I'd bother beating you up again, miss witch. You only beat me the first time because I didn't know who I was up against!" She grinned and took a step closer, head high. "If I wanted to beat you up, one bullet would be all I'd need."
"In your dreams," the witch laughed and took a step closer too. "You only win if ya cheat, and I ain't in the cheatin' mood." Now she was closer, Marisa could smell last night's rain and burnt wood on Seija; she'd been living a rough life these past few months, no doubt. "But tell me true, if ya came here to talk, what did ya come all this way to talk about?"
"About you." Seija's face turned serious. "You never told me exactly why you didn't want to join me. Or you didn't tell the truth. So spill it, miss witch."
"Marisa. You know my name, Kijin, so use it." Marisa's glanced around and tried to get her thoughts in order. "Guess I should start callin' ya Seija, too." She paused. "But why I didn't join you? Didn't want to, really. Pissed off Reimu before, ain't daring to piss her off again."
Seija laughed. "You're not being serious?"
"It's true, trust me. First time I met her, I was the bad guy, and got my ass beat hard for it." She gave the amanojaku a knowing smirk. "Least you fought her under spell card rules. Before she brought 'em in, fights were brutal. She busted my nose after our first fight. Second one, she broke my arm so bad my master had to magically fix it." That lie seemed to catch Seija off-guard; the surprise on her face was genuine enough to made Marisa chuckle. She came closer to the lanky youkai, pulling up her shirt to expose her left side, where a faint scar ran along part of her waist. "See that? We had our third fight in some mansion. Both wanted to solve the incident first. She threw me at a wall with some of her amulets, got my side all cut up by some smashed mirror I hit. This one left me outta the game for a week."
"Always a loser, I see." Seija smiled wickedly at the magician and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "If you ever fight me without spell cards, a deep cut's the least of your problems." Marisa caught her breath at the sudden closeness, and looked Seija straight in the eyes. The amanojaku had a teasing look, clearly playing with her. But Marisa didn't care. She was inches away from Seija, she could feel her breath down her ear and neck. Her mind was quickly going blank. Seija seemed to notice the reaction she was getting, though she didn't appear to know which action was the cause. She was getting satisfaction out of seeing Marisa squirming, that much was obvious. She stroked a long nail up the witch's arm, smiling wider upon seeing Marisa shiver, then continuing upwards, letting her fingers rest of her neck. Marisa's breath hitched again, but she stood frozen in place.
Seija's mind began spinning. The witch was acting like this because of the proximity and physical contact, not by her threats. Part of the amanojaku wanted to attack her and see how she'd react to that, another part wanted to see how far the human would go, willing or not, and part of her wanted to run. They stood in place for what seemed like hours, looking at each other, Seija's hand drifting around Marisa's neck, her mouth close to the other's ear, eyes locked. By the time one chose to react, Marisa slowly turning to face the youkai, Seija tensed and twisted her head to look towards the least dense part of the forest directly in front of Marisa's house.
"Someone's coming" she hissed into Marisa's ear. The person was a youkai, given the presence, and was only half a moment's walk away. Marisa sensed her alarm and began to rush them both into her house. Within seconds, the amanojaku was hurled into a cluttered bedroom with the door half closed behind her. Marisa rushed back to the front door and opened it again to find Alice staring her down.
"Marisa, we need to talk." Oh boy. The human witch could feel the coldness coming from her voice. Alice was usually stoic to people, but Marisa had become more used to her warmer side. The black-white braced herself for the inevitable lecture.
"I ain't in the mood for this, Alice. I'll give ya the damn books later, 'kay? I ain't feeling so hot, so lemme be."
"You've used that excuse before, and you know I'm not the kind of person to be fooled twice. Give me my tomes and I'll leave you alone, Marisa. You've stolen them long enough."
"Borrowed," Marisa cleared her throat, "I borrowed 'em. I ain't a thief, y'know!" Alice simply laughed in response, a musical sound that bounced off the walls.
"And I'm not a youkai. But you do need to stop with it, please. One day you'll steal from the wrong person and being beaten up will be the least of your worries."
"Yeah, yeah, you told me this before, Al. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."
"Really now? Because when you say that, you saying I'll get my stuff back when you die doesn't seem like such a distant thought." The puppeteer sighed. "Look, I don't want to fight you again over this, so just let me have the tomes back that I need now, and I'll leave you alone."
"Fine, but I get to take 'em back when you're with 'em. I need them too!" Marisa grinned and led Alice on a hunt for the required books, being sure to avoid her bedroom, where Seija lay in wait. Soon enough, the magicians had finished squabbling, and Alice left with a small pile of grimoires and research books. Some minutes later, the black-white returned to her room to find Seija sprawled on her bed with that crude smirk again.
"Lovers' tiff?" she gloated, kicking her legs in the air idly. "Shame, took you for the heroic loner type myself, hah!"
"You talkin' about me or you?" Marisa retorted, mocking Seija's tone. Something was up with the youkai's attitude that made her feel odd. Being an amanojaku, Seija was a constant opposite to everything, perhaps even herself. Her being in Marisa's house, lounging around and being generally cheerful, meant something was up. "Why'd ya even agree to come in here? Coulda ran when you heard Alice comin'."
"I couldn't be bothered running again," Seija lied, "wanted to get a proper look of your place too." She quickly scanned the bedroom, keeping her focus on a pile of scrolls and books delicately bound and carelessly dumped. "And I thought I was a hoarder! Was this a quickly built collection or have you been doing this thing for years?" She didn't want Marisa to know anything about her obsession with the witch. Said witch let out an exasperated sigh.
"Look, you got somethin' to say, say it! I ain't somethin' to play around with, Seija, so just spill it already!" Marisa was on edge. She sat by Seija on the bed, letting the youkai size her up from where she lay. She desperately wanted to grab onto her, but had no courage to do it. Seija, meanwhile, was finding it all hilarious. Marisa's face was a picture that spoke a thousand words, and despite the strange yearning sensation she felt, she simply wanted to see how frustrated she could make the blonde.
"You're a cute one, aren't you? Getting all flustered over a single youkai," she chuckled in response, pinching Marisa's arm as she spoke.
That hit a nerve. the magician swerved around to be face-to-face with Seija, her own hovering just inches above. She could make out the bags under the fugitive's eyes, the dry smear of blood along the right side of her jaw. Her crimson eyes looked brighter up close and had dark brown flecks. Marisa caught her breath, unsure of what to do. As if she sensed her uncertainty, Seija began to quietly laugh.
"Ahh, humans. Getting all freaked out over something so simple. No wonder you're bottom of the Gensokyo food chain." Another bark of laughter. "Moron."
"Oh shut it freakazoid!" Marisa was growing more frustrated by the second.
"Or what? You'll 'exterminate' me? Hah!" She propped herself up on her elbows, closing the gap between the two further. Her smirk had transitioned into a teasing smile. Marisa snapped. She grabbed the amanojaku by the front of her dress and dragged her into a kiss. Seija immediately reacted by clinging onto the witch, with her left hand holding her neck and the other on her shoulder. The youkai's chapped lips clashed against Marisa's own, fighting for dominance. Seija won, pulling Marisa down onto the bed with her and getting on top of her; the witch tried to resist, but was pinned down by the other's hands holding her arms in place. The taller girl asserted her dominance further by biting Marisa's lip until she opened to mouth to deepen the kiss; the latter quickly submitted, arching her back slightly as Seija's tongue pushed into her mouth. They remained like that for some minutes, passionately kissing whilst Seija ran her hands across Marisa's body, clawing and groping where she could, forcing moans from the blonde. She then broke the kiss and began trailing her lips down the human's neck and collarbone, kissing and biting as she went, pausing at her left collarbone to bite down hard, causing the other to moan between ragged breaths, and sucking until she created a large enough mark.
Smirking to herself, Seija began to make her way further down Marisa's body, but a loud knock startled the pair. They stared at each other in a mixture of horror and desire, the magician signalling for Seija to continue with a dismissive look shot in the direction of her front door. The amanojaku complied, shoving her hands under Marisa's shirt and groping her, eliciting another, louder moan, but a voice stopped her short.
"Marisa, are you awake in there?" Reimu. Marisa cursed under her breath and pushed Seija off of her to stand.
"You gotta go. If Reimu catches ya here, we're both screwed!" she whispered urgently. The youkai quietly chuckled and grabbed the witch by the hips, pulling her close again.
"How about you just pretend you're asleep? I came all the way for you, I'm not leaving now." Marisa knew she was exaggerating, but still felt swayed to do as the black-haired girl said. Another knock came, this time louder and more pronounced.
"Nah, she wants to see me, sleepin' or not. I'll figure somethin' out, just get goin'!" Seija took the hint at that, and made a run for the back door, which Marisa opened with a word in some ancient magic language. She continued running, transitioning into flight as she reached the end of the magician's back garden. Meanwhile, Marisa made a deliberately sluggish walk towards the door, being sure to cover the rather large love bite as she went. Opening the door, she found Reimu leaning against the door frame, gohei in hand. Hovering next to her was a glowing purple orb, identical to one Marisa had recently acquired.
"Finally. Marisa, we have a problem." The witch sighed and straightened up, adopting her usual one-sided grin.
"Yeah, you got one o' those balls. I got one too. Care to gimme it?" Might as well get straight to the point. Marisa knew Seija would be far away by now, and allowed herself a second to relax and put her thoughts in order. She now had some sort of incident on her hands, and, being Marisa, she wasn't going to let her best friend solve it first. Mentally organsing her spell cards, the witch stepped outside.
This day was about to get even more eventful.