Standing in the middle of the mansion's lobby, Sendai took in the sights.

Beneath her sat a deep red carpet, brown wooden trim connecting it to the room's walls. The walls all had scarlet wallpaper.

'...How colorful.'

Dim candles illuminated the lobby; however, their glow was currently overpowered by the sunlight's strength from the open door.

As such, once Sendai took enough steps in, the problem remedied itself...

The door slammed behind her. She took a glance back at it, but brushed the event off.

...

Promptly, she was peered at by a myriad of fairies clad in nearly formal maid outfits, who stood ahead of her in every forward direction.

"O~h…! Look at her hair!"

"She looks kinda like that shrine maiden…"

"Maybe she's her mom!"

"No- she's her sister. I saw her before…"

"Look at those tits!"

Sendai stared back dryly. 'What hell did I just walk into?'

SENDAI HAKUREI NO MIKO MODE

STAGE 2 - Timeless Halls

Ignoring the fairies, the miko took a few steps forward-

"Visiting does not begin for another four hours."

A maid was standing ten feet away from her, whose presence was nowhere to be seen previously. Her costume was noticeably different from the other maids, including an assortment of knives along her thighs.

Sendai blinked.

"I must ask you to leave." The silver-haired maid informed her. "You may come back later, if the mistress is so inclined."

Fairies spoke in hushed whispers, quickly filing out of the lobby to allow the lone, non-fairy maid to have her space.

Nodding slowly, Sendai stared forward somewhat disinterestedly… "Right. And… you are?"

"The chief maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion." She informed the miko, giving a curtsy. "Sakuya Izayoi. Unfortunately, I must ask you to leave, since you are currently intruding."

'...One of those formal types.'

Waving her hand, Sendai gave a carefree smile. "...You see, I'm here to inspect this place. Your gatekeeper let me in. I'm simply curious as to the nature of this… structure, which has erected itself, here."

Though she faulted at the mention of the gatekeeper, Sakuya quickly regained her composure. "...I will have to speak with our gatekeeper later, then. You may ask the mistress about this 'inspection' business in four hours."

'I don't have time for that.'

"Sorry." Ignoring the maid, Sendai began to move around her-

The maid repositioned herself in an instant, holding knives inches from the miko's face. "You do not have a choice in this matter."

…

Sendai's face became neutral, examining the shiny blades. "I know."

…

"Five cards." Intent on a spell card dual, Sakuya floated into the air, away from the miko. "My victory means you leave. You may proceed if you beat me."

This simply baffled Sendai, though… 'Cards!? Again!? Why does everyone know danmaku!? Further… why do they all treat it as the go-to offense?'

...Sakuya's face hardened at Sendai's slowly growing grin. "Of course, if you prove unruly, I can simply punish you like another feral youkai. Perhaps the young mistresses would take a likening to your flavor."

Such language piqued the miko's curiosity. "...Flavor? They eat people?"

Slightly put off by the lack of knowledge her opponent had, Sakuya elaborated. "Vampires. The mistresses are vampires who dine on the blood of humans. Are you shocked?"

Sendai suddenly tensed up.

'This is a youkai stronghold, through and through, then. And, if it's still standing...'

She glared at the maid before her.

'Reimu must have had trouble here. Damn it… why did I die when I did?'

Sakuya allowed herself a subtle smile. "You seem bothered. Does the prospect disturb you? To avoid it only requires you abide by the spell card rules."

'To hell with whatever these 'spell card rules' are.'

Stepping forward, towards the maid, Sendai cracked her knuckles.

Sakuya narrowed her eyes, brandishing her knives before her own face. "I see. How unfortunate. I suppose it would do well to inform you that one of the mistresses is a light eater."

...

Before any fighting could commence, the maid paused. "Oh. My sincerest apologies, but I will need a moment." Then, she disappeared.

'What?' Sendai watched the maid vanish before her very eyes. '...Wait, what?'

…

Looking around, Sendai furrowed her brows. 'Why would she want me to wait?'

In the next moment, the maid was before her again, hovering in the air. "It is done."

Watching her, Sendai's curiosity was piqued, but she didn't ask the maid anything. 'I wouldn't get an answer worth listening to, I'm sure.'

"In any case, I'll have to dispose of you." Sakuya tilted her head back and forth. "Where was I? Oh, right, right. The elder mistress is a light eater."

Reaching into her pocket, the miko slipped out a yin-yang orb… 'Right.'

"The other, however…" Intent on getting a rise from the miko, the maid continued with an expression of faux sympathy. "Well. We'll only hope you've enough blood to accent her pastries. She hasn't nearly the level of restraint her sister does."

The yin-yang orb maximized while the maid spoke, the miko holding it in her left hand as it grew to the size of half a person.

Sakuya immediately furrowed her brows, examining it.

'Got your attention now, did I?'

...Then, the miko leapt-

Crack! The wooden floor splintered and broke beneath her sandals.

Soaring into the air, Sendai let go of the orb and smacked it down with her hand. It spiraled to the floor-

Bam! It bounced, cracking the floor.

In the next moment, the maid was behind the miko. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

Holding two knives in each hand, Sakuya lunged forward with the intent to grace the miko with superficial cuts, to intimidate.

Woosh. Instead of staying airborne, as Sakuya expected, the miko kicked towards the floor-

Bam! The room's chandelier, vases, and paintings all shook when the miko landed.

Cra~ck! Still bouncing around, the yin-yang orb annihilated a vase.

Sakuya cringed visibly. "Such a mess…"

Sendai smirked. 'So she doesn't like it when I- hnh!?'

Shi-shink! Suddenly, the miko found three knives in her side.

'Move!'

Propelling herself into the air quickly, the miko felt her hakama get pierced by more knives, though they failed to strike flesh.

Dark power flowed up Sendai's head, and one of her arms. Then, she performed an uppercut as she ascended-

Cra-Boom! Uppercutting straight through the chandelier and the ceiling, Sendai landed on her sandals in an unoccupied guest room…

'That felt weird. I'm surprised the chandelier didn't light me on fire.'

The room was comfy looking, furnished and lit, if unnatural due to the lack of windows.

Appearing before the room's door after a few seconds, the maid grinned. "What's wrong?" Three more knives flew towards the miko, their movements a blur-

Due to their spread style, Sendai caught two of the three knives, the last one being lodged in her armsleeve.

Noticing the maid was gone again, the miko turned one-eighty degrees on her heel-

The maid was there, her arms crossed and prepared to chuck two waves of knives. Her eyes widened when she noticed the miko's anticipation.

Sendai flung the two knives she obtained-

-and the maid was gone, the knives sticking into the scarlet wall behind where she used to be.

'I can't read her movements…!'

Two knives suddenly were held before the miko's neck, crossing eachother.

"If you give up now," the maid speaks into her left ear, "I can arrange it so that you will only be held for a few months. Simply so that you may break less furniture before your inevitable apprehension."

...Sendai let her legs build up dark energy, glaring daggers at the wall ahead. "Is that so?"

"Very much so." Sakuya began speaking into her right ear. "Truth be told, we've already plenty of blood, and it wouldn't be a big issue to-"

Sendai stomps both legs into the floor.

Boom!

The entire room's floor drops. Sakuya stares down, slack jawed, as the miko and the entire room's furniture drop out under her. "Wh-what!?"

Grinning, Sendai kicks in the air to suspend her falling momentum, just so she can latch onto Sakuya's leg.

Sakuya's eyes widen, and she brings an arm back. "Get off." Knives shoot toward the miko at a fling of her arm.

They barely miss, due to Sendai jerking herself forward with her own legs, causing Sakuya to jerk in the air.

'She shouldn't be able to-'

The maid was gone, leaving the miko in the air clutching nothing.

'Oh.'

Bambambam-bam, bam, bam! Wood, shelves, end tables, and a bed all struck the floor and shattered below.

Then-

"Guh!?"

Bam!

Sendai felt herself slam against a wall, five knives powerfully slamming into her back, inflicting high knockback as they slammed into her.

As she fell from the wall, she let herself roll backwards, looking straight up…

She saw the maid behind her, floating leisurely with her arms crossed.

'If I allow myself to drop a little more…'

Falling a little, Sendai pounded her legs against the wall. A dark shockwave spread across it, ripping up the wallpaper-

Fwoom! She rocketed towards the maid.

Not believing she could be grappled by the miko, the maid simply used this moment to draw more daggers-

She was caught by her shoes. Believing she could take this opportunity to stab the miko, she tried to turn-

In one quick, fluid motion, the miko used her arms and momentum to rotate herself and pull on Sakuya's heels at the same time. As a result, she was able to reposition herself above Sakuya, her legs in prime position to kick into her back and send her stomach-first towards the floor.

Wham! "A-ah…!?" Sakuya gasped, as Sendai did just that.

With wide eyes, and an aching body, Sakuya watched the rapidly approaching ground, the miko still positioned atop her back-

Then, the maid was gone.

Boom…

Touching down, Sendai's impact cracked the lobby floor once again, the scarlet carpet tearing.

'Her reflexes are too good sometimes to be dropped so foolishly at others. Almost as if they weren't reflexes at all…'

Abruptly, as the miko was getting back up, Sakuya was before her. She moved to stab her in the gut, but the miko sidestepped-

Shink. Sakuya was now aside her as if she had approached from a totally different angle, leaving another knife in the miko's side. 'Really...'

Annoyed, the miko threw her arm to the left and back with great force, somewhat hoping but also expecting the maid would be there...

Shink- bam! "Augh!?"

Sakuya was sent rolling, but not without leaving another blade in Sendai's back.

...When the miko turned, to her surprise, the maid was still lying on the floor, on her back.

'Probably a trap.' ...Noticing the previous yin-yang orb had stopped bouncing, somewhere, she pulled out another magically-generated one, maximized it, and gave it a simple serve from where she stood.

It soared into the air, over the maid. As it lowered towards her, the maid appeared next to where it would land, no longer in a position to be crushed.

Bam! A myriad of knives met the orb, but did nothing to stop it from ruining the carpet again.

Sakuya was now glaring at the miko.

...The miko threw her arm outward-

Slapslapslap!

Three talismans met Sakuya's form, making her jump. "Ah…!?"

'...They're not glowing very brightly.' The miko was perplexed. 'Is she not a youkai?'

The maid vanished again. Sendai brought a leg up, and kicked behind herself.

Sakuya leapt out of the way this time, expecting this anticipation. She threw a two-armed barrage of knives down, but the miko simply leapt forward to evade them.

Loudly, the knives clattered against the carpet as they rebounded upward, prompting Sendai to duck to avoid them again.

Sakuya appeared in the air above her, ready to throw straight down-

"Evil Sealing Circle!"

Casting her arm above herself, the miko who came before sent eight streams of magical stones from her hand into the air. They went up in a U-shaped cone, drawing a broad shaft in the air above herself.

Cli-cli-clink. They clattered against the ceiling, lines in the air glowing in their wake.

Sakuya paused, glancing at these newly drawn lines. "Hmm?"

Fwaa~sh! Light briefly but fiercely pulsed through the shaft, before it spread and dissipated throughout the whole room.

"Nnh…" A grunt came from above Sendai, prompting her to break her casting pose.

'...That was satis- ah!?'

Sendai cringed, as the maid's body landed on her and rolled down her back, unceremoniously splaying out on the floor behind herself.

…

Bam. The rogue yin-yang orb came to rest in the midst of the central stairs, ruining their pristine condition.

Turning around, examining the maid's body, Sendai met her gaze. White electricity ran up Sakuya's limbs, betraying her current bound status.

"Really, now…" Sendai scowled down at her, knowing she was still conscious. "You were no fun to fight. That teleporting you did was annoying, and those knives…"

Redirecting her darkness to stop the bleeding, she-...

'What? My darkness…'

Examining the blades around one of her sides, Sendai noticed how it interacted with her dark aura…

'Wait…' She grabbed the handle, and yanked the blade out. Shink! 'Ow.'

Once it was out, she was able to force the bleeding to stop with her darkness manipulation, the energy rushing to get in the way of the small wound.

Holding the knife close, Sendai examined it. 'Silver. The knife is silver. Why? For what reason would a youkai be carrying...'

She looked back down at Sakuya. Kneeling next to her, she interrogated her. "Blink once for yes, twice for no. Are you a youkai?"

Sakuya blinked twice.

…

Sendai gazed at her dryly. "...Why did you attack me, then?"

Sakuya blinked rapidly in defiance, since she was given a question she couldn't answer.

'...Oh, right. Yes or no only.'

...With that, Sendai stood. "Well, you get to live, then. I'm coming back for you later, though."

Sakuya could do little, her ability to move and act sealed completely, as she watched the miko walk away, leaving her stranded on the lobby floor.

…

Shink. The miko hissed as she tore out another knife, casting it away.

STAGE COMPLETE

Sendai Hakurei No Miko, the Shrine Maiden who Beats People Up

==o==

WEAPON: Unarmed.

==o==

INVENTORY: Assessment in two chapters!

==o==

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

sakuya fight

not a lot of stuff inbetween the fighting because i basically didn't set out to do that but i did add that filler section where it's implied sakuya went out to tattle to the whole mansion, probably by leaving a note going like "yo gurlz we gotta reimu-not-reimu lookin' chick all up in here who don't know how the spellcards do".

also something important to note is that action is also in and of itself character; you do watcha do, yeah?

oh yeah, funfact: i had a first draft of this fic in first person but redid it because it made sendai more comedic and brad-ish than i wanted and it contrasted with her fighting

that and she just kinda blew past meiling and i was like "nah man meiling's ripped" so now she actually fights meiling now but it's still in her favor because she's a FILTHY CHEATER *cough* well she's also pretty stupid fit and also a HAKUREI so her genes are like fine as fuck but she does have those dark limb enhancement hacks

although meiling has them too except she tastes the rainbow so maybe fair's fair

oh yeah, that reminds me!

this sendai fan character's base concept comes from the sendai hakurei no miko character created for the M.U.G.E.N fighting engine game thing. basically people wanted a reimu-alike but more suited for punching the fuck outta big burly street fighter dudes, therefore this interpretation of reimu's mom was born

ever since she's blown the fuck up on various fansites, you can google "sendai hakurei no miko" and you'll see some fun stuff

rip me

as always, see you next time!