Most people would surely express surprise when they found out that the Hakurei Shrine houses one of, if not the biggest and intentional weak points in the Hakurei Barrier. The point in which you'd end climbing the stairs leading to it from the direction of the human village and stand on top of them, underneath the Torii gate, was precisely the point in which the Great Hakurei Barrier was possibly at it's weakest. Of course, she wasn't one of the people who'd be surprised at the location of it. To someone like her, sensing such a thing would be child's play, however she'd admit not even she knows why the barrier was weak here. She couldn't imagine the Hakurei maiden who created the barrier wouldn't fix such a glaring mistake the moment she noticed it, nor that the hag wouldn't do anything about it.

So she simply accepted it as intentional design even if she couldn't fathom any possible reason for such a thing.

For now though it was going to be a very helpful design flaw, so she wasn't about to complain.

The sun has already dipped below the horizon and she was left to examine her tactical repositioning spot in near complete darkness. Reimu wasn't at the shrine and she wouldn't dare light the lamps in or outside.

The lack of light wasn't that much a bother, really. Since this was more a matter of magical rather than physical, visual representation wasn't required. Not like normal human eyes could see unformed, ambient magic. And she could always conjure up a small magical light or cast a night vision spell. Not that she needed light for this.

But the small reassurance of still being, at least mostly human, helped.

She continued walking blindly around the metaphorical crack in the barrier. It was hard to describe it, though to her magical sense, it was so obvious and clear. Infuriating.

She slowly came to a stop and started to raise her hand before hesitating. How should she go about this? She would have used her ability for this, as it was easier for her to use and fix if needed but she's either lost it forever or it's off limits for now. Sure, she could use what magic she's got left to force the way open, but she wasn't so sure she could fix the results of that. And she sure as hell didn't want to be left dry. She spent as little as she could on the blonde puppeteer and it was still too much for her to feel comfortable with.

And leaving a part of the Hakurei Barrier with an unpatched hole was just begging for trouble to invite itself into or out of Gensokyo. And Yukari would be definitely more persistent in her chase after her should that happen.

She let out a deep sigh. This was quite the predicament she found herself in. Should she leave and hope the consequences of her actions don't catch up to her? Or try to find an another way? Maybe… there was something more to this anomaly? The placement of it was entirely too specific. Personally, she's never given it much thought, as she was too busy with other matters, like teaching the kids, protecting the village and drawing the ire of more and more progressively powerful people.

She closed her eyes and put a minuscule amount of magic into them, casting a night vision spell. The issue was magical but maybe there was a clue in the physical surroundings.

When she opened her eyes again it was bright as day. She let out a hiss and covered her eyes. Right, how could she forget that sudden light straight into retinas will temporarily blind a person? Maybe because it wasn't really relevant when she didn't exist. Being a weird kind of spirit-memory-thing apparently let you see under all conditions except for when physical objects obstructed your line of sight.

…It probably wasn't a very good indication of her mental health that she could be so flippant about it at this point. Well, it's not like Gensokyo isn't a place that festers all kinds of mental problems and disorders in all of it's denizens. Everyone was crazy in their own way. After all they lived in a land where common sense only holds you back.

She shook her head.

The gate itself didn't seem to be anything special. It was, in fact, the most standard kind of Torii gate there was. Which only made it more suspicious. The Hakurei Shrine was, perhaps, the most important place in Gensokyo. While it's occupants had history of facing financial struggles, at it's beginning the Hakurei clan was wealthy. No one quite knows what happened with their fortune and no one still alive really cares, because at this point it's more of a myth than something that once had support in historical facts. The Torii was there since the shrine was built and the shrine was built back when they still had the money. So that begged the question.

Why go for something so common and worse when you could afford something much better? Was the shrine maiden who had it built humble enough not to flaunt her clan's wealth? Was it simply a whim of some stingy Hakurei matriarch? The second would explain the fallout with the Hakurei God the descendants of the clan would eventually experience which lead to their budget catastrophe in the first place. It was never a good idea to anger one's patron, especially if they were the God responsible for your success.

She absentmindedly began tracing the left wooden pillar with her hand.

Perhaps the God's patience was already depleted at the time of it's construction and it was built as to not remind them of their failure? Or maybe, so in the future no one would be interested in the lucrative gate, instead met with a typical one? A poor clan's humble Torii wouldn't attract much attention. It was therefore, a perfect place for hiding something in plain sight. Potential daredevil robbers wouldn't give it second thought alongside the rest of Gensokyo's populace, human or not.

Her fingers slid over something carved into the wood.

She turned her head and lifted her fingers. There was the offender, a small kanji for "door" carved into the wood. She stared at it for a few seconds. This was definitely some kind of clue but it couldn't have been the only one left here. Alone it was too vague. She started dragging her hands all over the kanji's surroundings, turning her head and looking for any other kanji carved into the gate. It took a few seconds but she noticed kanji for "orb" and "key" carved into the wooden beam above her and the one on the right pillar for "Haku-

Reimu just entered the arena covered by her magical sense. And she was closing in on her, fast.

Her breath hitched. Out of all people she didn't want to fight in a life or death situation or fight at all, Reimu was the number one on the list. She was incredibly big on family and different timeline or whatever this shit may be, she had no desire to strike at one she considered her daughter in all but blood.

Which was of course why she didn't do jack shit when said girl materialized in front of her half a second later with a kick aimed square at her face.

"So incredibly predictable" She thought fondly even as she flied across the courtyard and tumbled for a good few meters before ending up as an undignified heap before the stairs to the shrine. "She always goes for the teleport kick first. A pretty big chance to instantly end the fight so she can leave and have her peace and quiet again. A brief windup anyone with half a decent sense of magic can sense and you can so easily tell which direction she's coming from." It would have been trivial to grab her leg the moment she appeared and smash her into the ground and knock her out, using her momentum against her. But she just couldn't bring herself to it.

"These children will be the death of me." She smiled warmly as she stood up and dusted herself off. Her face hurt like hell and her nose was definitely broken and bleeding. Her eyes flickered briefly at the black and white clad witch, flying towards them on her broom. The puppeteer was sitting on it as well, behind her and holding on feebly, shaking a fair amount. She couldn't help but look away upon seeing the seriousness on Marisa's features. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line, her left hand was clutching the broom in a death grip, the right one was holding a sparking Hakkero and she was just a tiny bit pale. She was glad she left the blonde alive now. Hurting her anymore would result in no chances for reconciliation at a later date. There seemed to be someone else hanging out by the edge of her sense but she clearly didn't know the person enough to recognize their magical signature right away.

Still she reached with her hand to her nose and bent it the right way, ignoring the pain. She figured it all out now. Now she just needed to put the chess pieces in their place. Or rather, the red and white clad king standing in front of her.

She waited- politely smiling the entire time, much to Reimu's apparent frustration if she judged the subtle twitches on her face right. A few seconds later, Marisa touched down next to her would-have-been sister and put her hands on her hips still determined on giving her that grim look. She gave them a while and when nobody did anything she willed a small light into existence beside her, illuminating the courtyard. Didn't want the children to strain their eyes so young after all. Though Marisa might be a lost cause already...

"I thought you were supposed to start fights with Danmaku and Spell Cards?" She politely asked, without any of her usual heat. She couldn't bring out her usual aggression against the kids.

"Don't make me vaporize ya on the spot, ya hear?!" Marisa shouted in response, pointing the Hakkero at her.

"Marisa!" Reimu berated her sharply, not taking her eyes of off her. She gave the girl an unnoticeable nod of approval. She was treating an unknown like her with immense wariness and suspicion. Her little girl was smart as always, even without her help.

"No, no I understand." She moved her hands in a placating manner, as if she was calming down an angry child, which to be fair, she has done a lot of times in her life and was kind of doing right now. "After all I nearly killed her friend. Or maybe something more..?" It would be great to know where the two stood. If they were in fact, in a relationship, apologies would be in order. She would gladly swallow her pride for family. It was the only thing she would do it for.

"Shut yer mouth..." Marisa growled, not seeing the girl behind her blush as Reimu gave her a flat look and threateningly raised her gohei. She didn't even notice her taking it out! Oh, she was making her so proud!

"You're walking on thin ice. Why did you attack Alice?" Reimu was focusing intently on her. Definitely looking for any tells for lying. Which was fine since she could just tell the truth. Unless they asked the wrong questions but she'd work around that.

"She attacked me first." An honest answer it may have been, but it didn't appear to satisfy the duo in the slightest.

"Ya were rummaging through my house!"

"I was merely hungry." She admitted shamelessly and watched as Marisa's grim expression turned into a scowl and her cheeks turned red from anger.

"I will add that your bread was a bit stale, so you probably shouldn't keep it for much longer, lest something grows on it." Her not-quite-teasing comment was met with a thin rainbow laser burning the ground between her feet.

"I swear if ya don't take this seriously I'll kil-"

"Marisa!" Reimu was clearly getting fed up her as well.

"I apologize if I've angered you. However your friend initiated our fight regardless. I had no intentions of harming her if she were to leave me alone." A half truth. If she didn't come straight to her, she would have been content with waiting her out. But if she came across her, which she did... well, that was already history. She didn't want anyone to know about her being here but it was too late for her to concern herself with that.

"Why didn't you initiate a Spell Card duel in response?" Reimu was giving her a judging look. She realized that depending on the way this conversation goes, this might turn into a full blown death match. Reimu was not above killing youkai and that was probably what they thought she was at this point. Sadly she wouldn't be correcting that mistake. She needed Reimu to attack her- just not right now. But soon.

"Truth be told, I came into existence quite recently-" It wasn't a lie, since a few hours ago she did in fact, do that. "-and I don't really know how this works quite yet. As such I have no Spell Cards and my knowledge of the rules of Danmaku is limited."

Reimu grunted in response. The two blondes next to her were listening intently each with wildly differing expressions.

"That means you're the one who messed up the Garden of the Sun then? Yuuka would like to have a word with you, but that's for later-" Oh joy. "-What do you want to do?"

"Reimu!-" The shrine maiden raised her hand to silence the witch.

"I would like to leave Gensokyo. Instantaneously if possible." Reimu frowned.

"I can't just let a youkai like you wander out into the Outside World. Who knows what trouble you'll cause?" She closed her eyes.

"It comes down to this." She thought. "Sorry my dear child but-" She opened her eyes. "-I won't take no for an answer."

Reimu narrowed her eyes, Marisa's grip on the Hakkero tightened and Alice took a hesitant step back.

"So be it-""-Showtime."

Reimu was gone.

She ducked, reaching upwards and grabbing the girl's leg as she came in with the kick, spinning around and throwing her far into the treeline, before sidestepping the laser shot by Marisa and watching it smash into the shrine. She took in a deep breath, extinguished the magical light plunging the courtyard into darkness and ran towards the witch.

"Alice!" The puppeteer nodded, paling further and flied up into the skies far away from them. Marisa sat down on her broom and blasted up into the air before starting to bombard her with multi-colored star-shaped projectiles.

"Not going for the Master Spark straight away? Interesting." She mused as she gathered the wind around her before jumping and commanding it to carry her further into the air. A few of the stars slammed against her body exploding in bright flashes and she hissed as they burned her body. It still didn't stop her from reaching Marisa though. She caught her left hand and tore her of the broom, throwing her into the ground below. The magician screamed as she plummeted towards the ground before going silent as she impacted the ground below.

She gently floated down near her and threw her a look. She was breathing heavily and groaning in pain. The girl would definitely be out of the fight for a while.

"Marisa!" Ah, it seemed the puppeteer gathered up enough courage to make a move of her own. She didn't bother with looking as she formed a wind shield in the direction the voice came from. Straining her ears she could hear tiny muskets firing and their bullets bouncing of the solid air. She nodded in satisfaction and dismissed it.

That was the moment Reimu walked out from between the trees she tossed her into. Her shrine maiden costume was torn in several place and she had tiny cuts all over her body. She held talismans between the fingers of her left hand and she twitched her right arm, causing needles to fall out of her sleeve into her right hand's grip. But the most important was the look of rage on her face.

"I haven't exterminated a troublesome youkai in a good while." She cracked her neck. "Please. Do resist harder."

She hummed in agreement, despite the stinging comment.

"If you insist."

Reimu threw her needles before sprinting at her. She formed a wind shield again- and watched as the needles embedded themselves in thin air, before releasing it. She really was going in for the kill, huh?

She dashed towards the Torii gate and stopped only once she stood between the two pillars. She didn't have to wait long- the moment she came to a stop was the moment in which Reimu lunged for her with her right fist aiming for her stomach. It was easy to intercept and redirect, given her familiarity with Reimu's fighting style- but she wouldn't dare to try and block the strike. The girl hit harder than most youkai despite her slim build. So she swiftly sidestepped her punch, took hold of her arm and spun around yet again. But this time she just smashed Reimu as hard as she could against the Torii.

"You've over committed. Be more careful next time." She critiqued, watching the girl slowly get up, gasping desperately for breath.

"Not too shabby for someone who's a few hours old." Reimu responded, watching her carefully, supporting herself against the pillar. She only shrugged in response.

"I'm good at exploiting weaknesses."

"Wouldn't happen to be your ability?" Reimu managed to ask casually, despite struggling to control her own breathing.

"I'm afraid not. Still don't know what it is." Maybe this rebirth thing really did bring changed her ability to break things into something else? She'd need to dedicate some time to finding out what it is.

"Right."

She just needed Reimu to start tossing her Yin-Yang orbs around. Preferably with her under the gate. She paused her thoughts as Reimu took a few shaky steps down the stairs.

"I have to admit, I won't beat you without going all out. Which will be considerably harder to do, given how I have trouble breathing normally and how tired I am currently. I'll probably need to go to Eirin after this. But!" She raised the index finger of her right hand slightly turning to her and giving her a glance over her shoulder.

She smirked, rising to the bait. "But?"

Reimu smirked as well.

"I won't have to."

"MASTER SPAAAAAAAAARK!"

And there it was. Oh dear.

She turned just in time to get a face full of rainbow laser. It burned her face, arms, legs just about every uncovered part of her body and she didn't dare open her mouth to scream in agony. She forced herself to endure, channeling what little magic she had left to reinforce her body and prevent any actually serious wounds. It seemed to last forever, this technicolor hell, though she knew it must have been shorter than that.

And then, as abruptly as it begun, it ended.

She swayed in place seeing Marisa on her knees and left arm holding out the Hakkero with a triumphant grin on her face. But the blonde wasn't looking at her.

The witch was looking up into the air behind her.

She slowly turned her head.

Reimu was floating a good distance from her, holding out her hands and channeling her magic into the huge Yin-Yang orb in front of her.

She was so proud of them.

"Prepare to be exterminated!" Reimu shouted before pushing the ball in her direction. She didn't move as it slowly neared her.

Twenty meters.

Fifteen meters.

Ten meters. The corners of her lips twitched upwards.

Five meters. She could feel the crack in the barrier writhing, twitching, shying away from the attack. But no, it wasn't really a crack. She smiled.

It was a door.

"The door into and out of Gensokyo, located in plain sight, that could only be opened by those who held the key. The Hakurei clan and their Yin-Yang orbs."

Genius.

She summoned the last remnants, no scraps of her power left and used them to stabilize the door, holding the lock in place and let the orb hit it.

There was a flash of blinding white light, the sudden feeling of nausea as for a moment there was no gravity or anything to stand on before she was standing under a the carbon copy of the same Torii if only it was not taken care of for a few decades. She looked around and saw an abandoned version of Reimu's shrine, taken over by plants. The heavily overgrown nature surrounded her, even if she could hear some strange noises from distance.

She smirked.

"Piece of cake."


Author's Note

Finally finished! This one took a lot more time because school is back to being a thing and as much as I don't want to I have to give it my time of the day. Still I managed to write it within a month so not so bad I'd say.

On another note this story hit 11 Follows, 5 Favorites and has 2 Reviews (Granted by the same guy but still- Shout out to Tall-Gothic-Guy for that by the way).

And I don't know how much it'll take me to write and post the next chapter since I'm actually trying to write a Fairy Tail and Touhou crossover right now, work-in-progress title Fairy Tail's Celestial (3 guesses as to who's the protagonist). It's highly likely that the next thing I'll do is post first chapter of that, a prologue probably but it's not a guarantee just yet. I need to refresh my memory of Fairy Tail a bit since it's faltered over the years.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time! Ciao~

-Whiskas