First Words:

somemadao - I've been reading about people's takes on the sages' different functions a lot, and yours is also interesting! Particularly the way you see Okina's power; do you mean that Okina's like the Gensokyo administrator, which is why she can do things like mess around with life force and energy? And Yukari, rather than being able to manipulate this flow like Okina does, she instead has the power to bypass it, apply a few changes or tear through it, something like that? Because that makes a lot of sense to me. Conversely, I'm not very sure about Kasen. Well, I like the hypothesis regarding that she might have something to do with security, but I'm pretty sure Okina's profile stated that Okina is the one who takes care of the problems nobody can see before they publicly manifest, so I think Kasen's angle is or was more straightforward if it was related to security. Regardless, it's food for thought to me. Thank you very much for reviewing!

Since the last chapter, this story got 3 followers and 1 favorite, all of which have my gratitude! Really, these first chapters are shorter and serve more to establish things than anything, so it's truthfully awesome to see it's caught some interest regardless! I mean, I've been trying to make the chapters interesting, but you get the idea. Anyway, as a preemptive warning which I removed from the Author's Notes because I thought it was important enough to be more noticed here, there will be OCs involved with the plotline. However, their presence will solely be there out of necessity just as you've been seeing so far, since I want the world to seem as expansive as it is and don't want to force canon characters to be OOC to fit my plot needs. Hopefully I can have your understanding on this.

Whatever the case, enjoy!

Chapter 3: Those Worthy of the Celestial Tower

"Reimu sure isn't pulling any punches this time around," Marisa remarked as she gazed at an entirely open Hakurei Shrine, tilting her head to the side so as to confirm that Reimu was not in her line of sight through the gap provided by an open door. "She even forgot to lock her door." She then quickly surveyed the shrine's exterior, almost as if accouting for the possibility that Reimu would be hiding near the premises, but the only inidividual she could spot was Kasen, who had been following Marisa since the early morning she had awoken her at in order to check on her wellbeing. I don't need anybody watchin' over me, though, Marisa bitterly thought with narrowed eyes cast on Kasen. I hope she'll give it up by tomorrow 'cause if she doesn't I'll really get no sleep...

"I would have commended her dedication to her duties right about now, but she could have at least been more careful with maintaining the shrine." Kasen frowned, troubled with her surroundings instead of Marisa. She had failed to notice Marisa's subtle resentment due to that, and instead crossed her arms before directing her gaze to a bamboo broom leaning on a tree near the shrine, likely left abandoned by its owner. "The door being unlocked is already bad enough, but there are still cherry blossom petals everywhere. Couldn't she have finished sweeping them before heading out?" Kasen sighed almost in resignation for Reimu's apparent carelessness. "It's not like Gensokyo will collapse in a day..."

"I thought I'd catch her leaving to go solve the incident right around this time, but she really must've been in a hurry," Marisa added with a shrug, entirely unfazed by the state of the shrine in contrast to Kasen. "Maybe she found a lead."

"Maybe..." Kasen absent-mindedly muttered, though she was inwardly unconvinced. "Either way, just standing on this desolate shrine won't do us any good if the shrine maiden is nowhere to be found. But, speaking of, you were going to tell Reimu about your attacker, weren't you?"

"Yup," Marisa responded, "She really wanted to know about that before, but I never got the chance to tell her about it with this whole broken arm thing." Kasen's gaze naturally fell towards Marisa's arm, incarcerated with a type of pristine, white cast Kasen had never before witnessed; she assumed it was Lunarian technology, as casts from Gensokyo were considerably more rudimentary in design. "I told a few things to Eirin and Reisen, though. What, you wanna know, too?"

Was that what went on when they made me look for medicine in the storage...? Kasen thought while suppressing her urge to laugh, but she was unable to resist faintly smiling, much to Marisa's momentary confusion. Seeing said confusion arise in Marisa through her inquisitive gaze, Kasen closed her eyes so as to recompose herself, only to pensively hum when she had finally decided to truly ponder on Marisa's offer. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt having that kind of information with me..."

Marisa grimaced. "You could've at least pretended you cared," she retorted. "But whatever. So, I'm pretty sure the guy was from the Human Village; he came right out of it just to talk to me. He looked like he was around my age, had black hair in a ponytail, a beard on the short side; nothing much to note about his looks. If anything, what he told me before our duel was more interesting."

Curious, Kasen asked, "What did he say?"

"He wasn't willing to go into detail about it, but because I was so skeptical of his fighting ability, he blurted out somethin' about the weird power," Marisa explained, "Apparently, he could use it to enhance parts of his body and speed up the healing process of wounds. If my hat's any reference, he was shooting out heat magic of some sort, too. But most of all, he said enhancement wasn't all it could do: he talked about manipulating people and objects, creating them yourself, you name it. It was like he was on his way to becoming a magician."

Kasen ominously frowned. "That does remind me of magic..."

"Right? But he denied it when I asked," Marisa said with increasing enthusiasm, as even she had started getting wrapped up into her own narrative, "Kept telling me it was all about 'controlling aura'. According to him, youkai can't use it, either; you gotta be human to do it. It's supposedly why the village is making a big deal out of it: it's a power any human can use, and it's effective against youkai, to boot. The guy was raring to go exterminate youkai, so he wanted to test his powers out on me." Then, upon recalling the final parts of the encounter, Marisa could not help but pause. While initially, she had meant to briefly consider how to best and most engagingly phrase her impression of the occurrence, the somber remembrance of throbbing pain and her racing heart, combined with her desperate flight for the very shrine she was standing on left her frowning, almost wistfully so. "To be honest, I thought I was gonna die back then, but he wasn't even tryin' to kill me."

"I see..." Kasen's right hand rested on her chin as she cast her eyes to the ground, only lightly noting the few cherry blossom petals in sight since they could not compare with the information she had been provided with. Could the mastermind be a magician trying to make more people become magicians, or something of the sort? No, that doesn't make any sense. Even if the properties seem similar to magic, the difference in energy between them is uncanny. Besides, what could a magician gain from getting more people to use magic? "Then, if it isn't magic, what is it even called?"

Marisa wryly smiled. "He called it 'Nen'."

"Nen?" I've never heard of something like that. "That's definitely simpler than I thought for a foreign power, but..." Uncertain of her next course of action, especially when facing Marisa's current state, Kasen took a brief moment to re-assess what would be best for the situation. Meanwhile, Marisa stared at Kasen expectantly, though she had truthfully planned on adding to her short statement if not for Kasen's clear lack of an ending to her own sentence. Afterwards, Marisa's eyebrows rose at the same time Kasen had locked eyes with her. Her gaze was alarmingly convicted, and her stance tense to the point Marisa was starting to feel slight concern over the change in mood. "I wouldn't trust the attacker's information, if I were you."

"Huh?" Marisa frowned, troubled, and scratched her head as she mulled over Kasen's words. "Wait, is it because he attacked me? I mean, it was really freakin' dangerous, but he was only testing out his powers so—"

"That man was lying to you, Marisa."

Kasen's voice had been cold, perhaps too cold, and it had stunned Marisa into silence mid-sentence. Marisa processed her words with wide eyes, unable to lose sight of Kasen's overwhelmingly serious expression. "And what makes you say that?" Marisa cautiously asked.

Reasoning that she had perhaps phrased herself in a needlessly harsh manner, Kasen sighed. "Believe it or not..." Regardless, her expression still conveyed a significant sense of urgency, even if she had released most of the tension she had pent up when thinking of what the mysterious man had told Marisa. "The reason why I knew Nen was real beforehand was because I was attacked by a youkai who happened to wield the exact same type of energy. That youkai was shrouded with Nen."

Stricken with shock, Marisa had within her nothing more than the frightening mental image of a youkai well-versed in Nen, and a single, straightforward word that encapsulated her current state of mind to disconcerting lengths: "What...?"

. . .

Reimu yawned, unwilling to take note of her surroundings now that she was sure little danger was going to befall her. While varying people stared her way because of her strange appearance and visibly displeased expression, Reimu ignored them for her present goal, which was only steps away. With drowsy eyes, Reimu looked up so as to take sight of the top of the tower, though even then, it could only barely be seen from her position. What a flashy place, she neutrally remarked, Is the top supposed to be where the strongest people are? Despite not looking forward while walking, Reimu had taken to reflexively dodging any pedestrian in her way, while said pedestrians could only find themselves in brief awe at her subconscious prowess. Getting to the bottom floors from there just looks like a pain to me.

Then, when she looked back down at her surroundings, a dense assortment of people was before her. Reimu tried to spot the tower's entrance, knowing she was close by, but the amount of people lined up obstructed it. Having assumed people were lining up to enter the tower, Reimu decided to instead find the end of the line and walk over, but the amount of people intending to enter was so great that Reimu could not help sighing from the sight. She stepped towards the end of the line, which was far from the tower itself, and watched as most of the people glanced her way when she casually placed herself behind the exceedingly long queue of tall, robust men. Her slender physique and easygoing stance had drawn the attention of many, including the man in front of her, who turned around as if to confirm she was, indeed, part of the line.

"Hey," Reimu uttered the moment she noted his presence. "Is it true this tower is where really strong people gather?" Taken aback by her straightforward attitude, the middle-aged man blinked successively for a few seconds before frowning, seemingly troubled. He was silent for a few seconds, leading Reimu to almost impatiently glare at him, but her tapping foot was proof enough that Reimu was absolutely serious about the question and waiting for it more than eagerly, something he had not initially understood from the sudden stranger.

"... That's right," the man said, "Heaven's Arena is the go-to place for anyone who enjoys fighting. The higher the floors, the stronger the opponent." He stared at Reimu, as if to scrutinize her strength, and his eyebrows creased while he gestured towards the tower considerably far from them. "Do you, uh... Think you're up to the challenge, miss?" Hearing snickering from behind him, the man's frown only deepened out of concern for Reimu, even though Reimu herself appeared unfazed; she had not even noticed the people in line. "Anybody can participate, but this might be a little tough for a girl like you. If you're not serious about this, I'd recommend giving up."

Reimu crossed her arms as she pondered on the man's words. "If anybody can participate, I don't see how this can only be for serious fighters. In my view, none of the people in line seemed to be anything special, so I was starting to doubt I would find what I'm looking for here," she plainly stated in a voice that was neither loud nor quiet. It had been enough for the snickering people behind the man to hear her, but, despite taking offence, they had only scowled before deciding to ignore Reimu.

The man, meanwhile, nervously chuckled. "You've sure got some high standards, miss," he commented, "But I get where you're coming from. A lot of the people standing in line are just desperate for money while being somewhat confident of their strength, so they don't compare to the fighters in the higher floors. Did you come here to fight them?"

"You could say that," Reimu absent-mindedly responded before she processed all of the man's explanation. Then, in a mix of confusion and surprise, Reimu's eyes widened. "Wait, can you get money from fighting in here? Is that why this place is so popular?"

"You didn't know?!" the man incredulously questioned. "If you fight in the first floor, you get money whether you win or lose, but the amount's nothing compared to what you get past the fiftieth floor when you win." Seeing Reimu's genuinely pensive expression, the man bitterly smiled. "I've got to admit, I didn't expect to see a young girl like you come over to Heaven's Arena just to fight... Are you stronger than you look?"

Reimu grimaced. "I look plenty strong already," she snapped, "It's not my fault you can't see it." However, in face of her current goals, she had then waved away the topic while staring at the man expectantly. "But anyway, you sound like you know a lot about this tower place. Can you tell me how these stronger people fight?"

"Knowing that won't give you any advantages," the man warned in a low and calm, perhaps condescending voice, almost as an accusation were implied with his words. Regardless, he continued to speak: "Besides, some of people in the higher floors are a complete enigma. They fight with techniques so out there you'd think they're magicians, not the fighting machines they really are. I'm hoping to get past the fiftieth floor, but I'm not stupid enough to think I'd ever win against someone who's past two hundred floors. If you're planning to get to the top, you better be careful."

"So you're saying these people can use magic?" Reimu casually questioned, much to the man's dismay considering the great contrast between her mood and his.

Reimu's expression reflected nothing but curiosity and drowsiness, which was more than enough as a basis for the man's concerns. After a moment of saring at her, almost hoping she would change her mind, the man sighed. "You've got guts, at least, but I'm hoping that's not all you have..."

"Just answer my question," Reimu demanded, displeased. "This is really important to me, you know?"

"Alright, alright..." the man tiredly said, if only to stop Reimu from speaking further. "You might be thinking I know everything about Heaven's Arena, but I was only a spectator before I decided to give it a try. I only know as much as any ordinary person does."

"And right now, I don't know anything an ordinary person does, so I've got to get information from somewhere," Reimu promptly shot back, her stance assertive. "I'm trying to see if coming to this tower is going to be a waste of my time or not. I could use some description of what these strong people do. For example, can they increase their physical strength beyond a human's limits or manipulate people?"

"I don't know about manipulating people, but..." The man paused with a grimace as he considered Reimu's words. "They can control a lot of things, that's for sure. Some of them have weapons that look harmless, but are as sharp as a knife. Others are so strong they could punch through a boulder unscathed. It's not rare seeing new fighters losing limbs or even dying past two hundred floors; you'd have to be as crazy as them to get by."

"And they're human?"

"What else could they be? Magical beasts?" the man sourly questioned.

"Maybe," Reimu responded in a vacant fashion. She was looking up at the tower, towards the top. However, even despite the slightly somber mood of the conversation, the man saw in Reimu no signs of fear or caution.

Unable to look past it any longer, he scowled. "I'm sorry, miss, but I think you're underestimating Heaven's Arena. Didn't you hear what I said? You could die," he claimed in a voice belying a sense of urgency, "Their fighting ability is nothing to joke about."

Reimu faced the man again, her gaze clear of weakness, unwavering. "I'm not joking around," Reimu asserted, "I told you this was important. And from the looks of it, I came to the right place. If their powers are just like you told me, then I've got to get to the upper floors, no matter what." Then, she rose her right arm, which was currently wielding her Purification Rod. The movement attracted some attention, as some thought she could be brandishing the weapon, but she was instead releasing overwhelming conviction through her gesture, which came across as exceedingly passionate for someone who had appeared so casual before. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this and nobody's stopping me!"

The man glanced in every direction, knowing Reimu's exclamation had been loud enough for anyone nearby to hear her: some had turned away again with condescending huffs, while others glared at her from the side, but it was clear no one wanted to be involved with her, to the man's relief. But then again, he reasoned, Reimu herself seemed free of concern; as such, was there truly any need for him to feel that way for her? "You're really one of a kind, you know that? It's no wonder you're entering Heaven's Arena," the man remarked, his voice calmer than before, calm and resigned enough to make some of the motivation in Reimu subside as she took in his words.

Even so, Reimu's face scrunched up in the sheer displeasure after processing the meaning of his comment. "I don't want to be lumped together with a bunch of suspicious magicians in a tower, you know?" She shot a glare the man's way, and, verifying a complete lack of malice from it, he could not help but soundly chuckle.

"Once you get there, you won't have a choice," he retorted, "so I guess you've gotta suck it up, miss!" He wholeheartedly smiled, while Reimu's eyes widened slightly out of faint confusion. The man noted that, but found that it was an improvement from her loud self since she was much more relaxed and, strangely enough, simultaneously more attentive to what he was saying. "By the way, what's your name? I'm Resso. I don't know how strong you really are, but if you're this confident, that better count for something."

He's suddenly friendly, Reimu thought, but smiled regardless. "Now you think I can do it? It took you long enough. Anyway, I'm Reimu Hakurei. My... Uh.." Reimu paused as she mulled over what to say next, especially as she realized that she was probably in the Outside World. "My home is really far from here, so I don't know much about how this society works."

"I figured you were a foreigner. Well, what can I say? It's nice meeting you, Reimu!" The man stretched his arm out for a handshake, an action that Reimu was initially taken aback by.

She blinked, only to return the gesture. "Sure," she said while flashing an awkward smile, as if Reimu were not entirely sure of how to take the situation. Regardless, her handshake was firm. "Nice to meet you. Though, now that you mentioned me being a foreigner, I am curious about this country. Can't you also tell me about it while we wait? It looks like it'll be a while before I start fighting anyone."

"That's nothing compared to what we'll face on Heaven's Arena," he said, "so I don't mind. A lot of tourists come for the arena when they're on this side of the country, but beyond that, there's also..."

. . .

Simply standing and talking to someone was admittedly not Reimu's favored pastime when her priorities lay on solving an incident, but she had reasoned it was much better than simply standing on queue while counting the many minutes she was wasting away when the mastermind was still running free. Resso, however, proved to be more talkative and friendly than expected, leaving Reimu with more information than she could possibly remember, especially as some of it was wholly irrelevant to her goals.

Despite that, Reimu noted that he came in handy when she had finally reached the counter the queue was lining up for. The young woman behind it had handed her a form to write in, but Reimu was unable to even fathom what the letters on it meant. Both the young woman and Resso had been struck with awe by Reimu's ignorance, and many men waiting on Reimu had been understandably frustrated at the time she was taking to finish her form, but Reimu herself had focused only on the situation at hand, uncaring of people's reactions.

Currently, she was past the counter and treading through a wide corridor leading to what she assumed to be the 'arena', with Resso by her side. "It's only natural they don't allow weapons until the 200th floor. You're supposed to be physically strong enough to get through them all with your fists. After the 200th floor, though, it's like a different world, so people will be watching out for you as a well-rounded fighter. Otherwise, you can't get through it in one piece."

"Huh..." Reimu vacantly uttered, choosing to give priority to taking in her surroundings rather than the entirety of what Resso was telling her. Other men were advancing, but none of them seemed particularly tough, in Reimu's eyes. Then, she processed the varying shouts coming from the room she was about to enter. "Well, this is it."

She had stepped forward first, and saw before her flights of stairs and a multitude of seats, many of which occupied by men of different sizes. In the very center of the area were men in pairs, made to fight each other on top of tall platforms; at the edge of these rings, people in uniforms were stationed in order to oversee the occurring matches. "Number 1425, Number 1380, please enter Ring B," a female voice rang out through speakers on the high walls, loud enough for the entire crowd to hear. Reimu had looked around, searching for the origin of the voice, but she saw no young girl in the vicinity.

"We're not any of those," Resso reassured, having assumed that to be the reason for Reimu's confusion. She paid little mind to Resso's statement but, assuming it was Outside World technology she did not understand, Reimu shrugged before following Resso down the stairs. "Let's go closer to the rings. Then, when they call us, we'll be right there."

Reimu nodded. "That does sound convenient," she remarked as she looked over the seats. The men who met her gaze would return it with confusion or amusement, though Reimu herself was unfazed. None of these people look any different from normal humans. I suppose I'll only find the big fish upstairs. One of them's got to wield that weird power.

Resso and Reimu sat on the edge of a row of seats and watched the fights take place. Reimu stared at Ring B, as she remembered a pair had recently been called there. Another couple of fighters had been called afterwards, but Reimu's attention was fixated on the large, burly man on Ring B kicking a shorter man out of the ring, marking his own victory. Reimu pensively hummed as she took in the sight. "Do you think any of these people could get to the 200th floor?" Reimu asked.

Meanwhile, Resso, pondering on Reimu's inquiry, could not help but grimace. "Probably not," he bitterly answered, "And if they do, they might regret it."

Reimu's eyes narrowed in on the muscular man who was stepping away from Ring B. "That's what I thought," she muttered before facing Resso. "If the upper floors are like you say they are, you're also better off sticking to the lower floors."

"I know that much," Resso countered, "I just want to make some money and pay off my debt. After that, I'm out of here." Seemingly confused, he frowned apprehensively. "But even though you're saying that, you don't look like you're going to quit."

"That's because I won't." Reimu smiled as she set her eyes on the ongoing match at Ring C. "Compared to what I've dealt with before, this is nothing." Men nearby glanced her way when she said that, but Reimu's proud stance remained intact seeing as she did not take note of the stares. "I wouldn't be able to do my job if I couldn't get past this."

"Huh?" Resso's eyes widened in shock. "Does your job involve fighting? What kind of job would that be?"

Reimu flinched as she alarmingly processed that she had revealed too much about herself. "W-well, I'm just a shrine maiden, but I also take care of... Problems, yes. If someone's being too rowdy, I..." Reimu attempted to summarize her sentence through various gestures, but Resso's confusion was evident enough that she put a stop to her efforts with an apprehensive smile. "You know?"

"I don't really know what you're getting at, but..." Resso locked eyes with Reimu and grimly frowned in light of his own thoughts. "Could you be a Hunter? Because if you are, your attitude makes a lot of sense to me now."

"A Hunter?" Are they strong? Before Reimu could openly ask that, however, the female voice resounded through the area once more.

"... 1736, Number 1986, please enter Ring E."

"That's my number," Reimu immediately stated while standing from her seat. "I'll get going now. I don't think we'll be seeing each other again, so this is goodbye. Thanks for the information." Reimu spared Resso a casual glance as she walked out of the row of seats and descended the stairs.

"Good luck out there!" Reimu heard Resso shout that to her and smiled, but felt no need to give him a response. Instead, she looked around in search of her opponent, having assumed he would be moving down any set of stairs nearby.

In only a moment, she laid eyes on a tall, but slender man walking for Ring E, who Reimu immediately noted as her opponent. With her smile intact, she headed for Ring E as well, though she had only now finished moving down the stairs. He must be eager, Reimu lightly thought. She gazed deep into the tall man, but found herself completely unaffected by his unpleasant sneer.

Lacking in fear or anxiety, Reimu jumped onto the Ring and locked determined eyes with the man. By the time she had been standing on the ring, another man wearing a red uniform had been nearby, his expression calm but unassuming. "On the first floor, we evaluate each participant's level," he stoicly explained, "In order to do so, you will have three minutes to demonstrate your strength. Are we clear?" Reimu and the tall man nodded at the same time. "Now, then..." Reimu assumed a fighting stance, but the tall man only regarded that in amusement and loosely mimicked it in response. "Begin!"

Reimu charged at the tall man. "Feisty, aren't ya, little miss?" When she was mere centimeters from him, she heard the man huff before swiftly sidestepping his kick. While her opponent's leg was lowering to the floor and he was starting to turn to his left in an attempt to intercept Reimu, she ducked and swung her leg towards the back of his own with as much strength as she could muster. The force of the kick was enough for the tall man to lose his balance as his leg throbbed in pain and his foot slid through the sweat-filled, flat ring from the impact. Reimu stood from her position just as quickly, hearing the man wince, and grabbed him by his left arm. Though tall man had aimed to throw a punch at Reimu with his right arm even while he almost seemed to be falling, Reimu pulled him to her right, throwing him to the floor while taking advantage of his lack of balance.

The man groaned in pain, while his head already hung from outside the ring. Though he attempted to stand up as quickly as possible, when he was only halfway into the action, Reimu rushed for him. In the blink of an eye, almost as if she had teleported to the position, Reimu was precisely in front of the tall man, aiming a kick at his stomach. The referee of the match and those who were attentively watching it blinked in shock at her blinding speed, albeit Reimu herself had not noticed it. Her kick soundly connected with the man's body, and the collision caused the man to briefly gasp as he flew out of the ring before he had even been able to recompose himself from Reimu's previous attack.

The tall man landed on his back, and lay on the floor with an expression of shock. Reimu pondered on whether to pursue him outside of the ring or not, but from the pain of the blow to his stomach, her opponent was seemingly struggling to stand as fast as he could have before, taking up precious seconds that Reimu saw as only advantageous in order to end the fight as quickly as possible. As such, she waited for him on the ring, staring as he pressed his hand against the ground to support his weight.

However, at that point, it had been too late; Reimu frowned down at the man, almost as though pitying him from afar. The man had glared at her in return, and groaned from the continuous pain caused by Reimu's attacks. It was clear to Reimu herself that he was not especially well-versed in battle, and that fact lingered on her mind as another reason not to follow after the man. "That's enough!" Upon hearing that from the referee, The tall man merely let himself fall back down in resignation, covering his face with both of his hands. Meanwhile, varying voices of astonishment flooded the arena.

"Who's that woman?! She beat that guy in no time!"

"Did you see her speed?! I could barely keep up!"

"That's the first time I've even seen a woman around here!"

Paying no mind to the voices (though she was inwardly proud of the recognition), Reimu took a deep breath before turning to the referee. He had stepped towards her while fidgeting with an object Reimu could not recognize, and it only confused her further when a piece of paper came out of it. "Your agility and technique are superb," he remarked as he took the paper out of the machine; Reimu could not help but confidently smile. "You're free to go to the 50th floor, but don't hold back the next time you fight."

"Alright," she loosely responded as took the paper that had been stretched out before her. Afterwards, she jumped from the ring and looked for Resso within the area, hoping to know his reaction for a last time before leaving him behind completely, especially as he had been underestimating her before.

When her eyes stopped on Resso's familiar figure, Reimu frowned. He was passed out on ring A, battered from the blows of a younger, but muscular man. The man triumphantly rose his fists up in the air and fished for reactions, though most of the crowd had been focused on Reimu's supposedly unlikely victory, and shot her glare when he realized that. Her priorities elsewhere, however, Reimu's gaze simply rested on Resso for a single moment, as her frowned began to assume a somber edge. I suppose you weren't ready for the arena, either.

Reimu turned away from Resso and proceeded towards the exit, vowing to reach the upper floors no matter what.

. . .

The late evening approached Heaven's Arena, but the towering building showed no signs of calming down with time. Even now, crowds loudly cheered for a panting Reimu, who happened to be facing a man much larger than her. Admittedly enough, she had started to get exhausted after the many matches she had to go through. The differences in skill between the man on the first floor and the man she was currently facing was considerable, and Reimu was not only sleepy, but handling the fatigue of fighting rows of robbers along with 4 other fighters.

Despite that, Reimu remained unscathed if not for a stinging pain in her legs from an unnatural amount of kicks laid down on her opponents so far. Due to Reimu's incessant dodging, her opponent, too, was panting in exhaustion, but he was able to notice Reimu's fatigue, as well. Seeing it as his chance, he went for one last charge and dashed for Reimu, who tensed at the speed. "Oh! It looks like Dist is the first to move! Will he finally be able to land a hit on a tired Reimu, or will Reimu put an end to the fight with another clean hit?!" the female announcer shouted enthusiastically, perhaps overly so as her high-pitched voice lingered somewhat unpleasantly in her ears, but Reimu had long but learned to ignore that for the arena.

Her tired eyes sharply gained complete awareness of the surroundings, and with impeccable timing, she had moved to the side and distanced herself from the large man. Unbeknownst to the large man and the audience, Reimu's feet were off of the floor by a very short distance, and Reimu was floating in the air; she flew to the side before heading for her opponent's back. "Reimu effortlessly moves away from Dist, once again!" She made it seem as though she jumped, but she had also flown for the back of his neck so her fist could specifically collide with that area. While the blow had connected, the man only flinched slightly, almost unaffected since Reimu had missed the specific area for what appeared to be overwhelming muscle mass.

Paying no mind to the announcer commenting on the lacking effectiveness of her hit, Reimu watched as the large man turned towards her and swung his fist in her direction. Reimu ducked, only to stretch herself upwards and raise her right arm, aiming for an uppercut. Her ability to fly propelled her forward at great speeds, and Reimu had only wished to end the match as quickly as possible. Even so, from the corner of her eye, she spotted the man's other fist heading for Reimu's stomach; her eyes widened in shock. She could not physically dodge that hit now that she had been midair conducting the uppercut. While she would undoubtedly punch the man on his jaw with all of her might, Reimu was alarmed at the fact that she also had no means to avoid his punch.

In desperation, Reimu conjured a barrier; a barely visible barrier. "What's this?!" It pushed the man's left arm away from Reimu as she swiftly hit him from below his jaw without suffering any injury. "While it looked as though Dist was preparing to dish out his first clean hit, he retracted his punch at the very last minute, allowing Reimu to safely land her final attack on him!" Meanwhile, the man had been forcefully rendered unable to breathe for the slightest of seconds, and the strength behind the punch combined with the sensitive area Reimu had attacked caused the large man to flinch and fall to the floor almost instantly.

Reimu landed on the floor simultaneously to her opponent and stared at him, knowing he was unconscious. "Clean hit and knockdown!" the referee shouted while lifting his arm, exposing the amount of points earned by Reimu by raising three fingers.

"And Reimu secures yet another consecutive victory with 11 points!" Reimu glanced to her left and right, loosely inspecting the crowds. Their expressions of awe and glee, while normally something to proudly smile for, were nothing important to note now that Reimu only wanted to leave the ring. "She's been gracefully dodging her opponents' every attack so far, but will she reach the top unharmed, or will her reflexes finally be matched?!"

Reimu merely walked out of the ring, mentally remarking on her fatigue. She wondered where she could rest, but was not particularly concerned about it from the money she had been receiving after each match. Afterwards, her thoughts drifted to the barrier she had to conjure in order to defeat her opponent. She was unsure if it counted as a weapon, but she was glad no one had noticed it, nonetheless.

. . .

The Human Village at night had little human activity, though some shops had remained open. Certain figures, while humanoid, could be identifiable as youkai, and they were momentarily welcome to shop. However, most human villagers had already secluded themselves in their own homes, fast asleep to welcome a new, safer morning.

Suzunaan, on the other hand, had recently become one of such youkai-welcoming establishments. It held an assortment of ominous books, all of which youkai would find interest in due to the spiritual power contained in them, but some were not for rent, surprisingly enough, and were meant only for personal use. Due to that, the shop had yet to truly garner the attention of most youkai who dwelled in the village, so its schedule had suffered little to no changes, with only an increase in opening hours by two. As such, Kosuzu Motoori, active worker for Suzunaan, was currently fast asleep in her own bedroom, located in the same building as the store.

It was then that ominous eyes glinted in the darkness within a tear in space. From it came, at first, a single gloved hand. It stretched and stretched, revealing then the upper arm and clothed chest of a well-known youkai. When her legs finally showed, they did not land on the floor, and merely hung from the gap formed. Laying recently-appearing eyes on a sleeping Kosuzu, Yukari Yakumo found herself smiling. Now was the time.

"Hey," Yukari called while lightly shaking Kosuzu with a single hand, though the strength lodged in just a youkai's hand was powerful enough to have Kosuzu's body sway considerably. "Wake up; this is important."

With the sudden, surprisingly strong movement forced on Kosuzu, she groggily groaned as she partially regained her consciousness. "Wha..." Kosuzu's eyes opened slightly, but her vision was still blurry. "Who's..." Regardless, she had noticed someone's presence next to her, from the corner of her left eye. Hints of purple and white clashed with the normal clothing worn by her family members, and the realization that something foreign was nearby dawned on her in but a moment. "There?" Kosuzu blinked and rubbed her eyes, but the sound of an elegantly chuckling Yukari had immediately alerted her to the presence of someone who certainly should not have been there. Kosuzu's eyes widened in shock, and she gasped. "Y-you...!" She pointed at Yukari with a trembling arm, though her missing glasses did not spot Yukari's features in full detail.

Yukari carried a raised index finger over her mouth. "Do be quiet," Yukari softly ordered, her voice almost like a whisper. "We wouldn't want to wake anyone up now, would we? Even if the dawn is almost upon us, this still is the middle of the night, after all."

"Uh..." Kosuzu had struggled to comprehend Yukari's words in the middle of her great shock, but she figured Yukari was more than serious about wanting her quiet. As much as she was still exceedingly nervous about the sudden intrusion, Kosuzu gulped and attempted to face the situation in a calm, albeit awkward manner. "M-ms. Yukari... Just why exactly are you in my room all of a sudden?"

"To visit you, of course," Yukari quickly and contently responded. "I would have picked a better time and place, but I'm in quite a bit of a pickle, you see. If I appear in the daytime, I may end up being noticed by a few pesky people who may or may not know of my presence already." Due to her vaguely lighthearted tone in what seemed to be entirely serious sentences, Kosuzu had a hard time understanding Yukari's perspective, though her smile had faded while explaining herself. Yukari's expression was pensive, if not slightly absent-minded; her gaze was directed to the side.

Kosuzu confusedly frowned. "So, you do have something important to talk to me about, right?" she questioned, half of her hoping she had not been woken up for little reason. It won't be related to Ms. Reimu again, will it? Another part of her feared that she was going to be warned by Yukari again, as much as she knew that was highly unlikely when Reimu had already acknowledged her. Regardless, in her apprehension, Kosuzu gripped the chest area of her pajamas.

"My, you say that as though I have a habit of telling people irrelevant things in the middle of the night," Yukari remarked without a single trace of malice or negativity, seemingly amused. "Have I not been helpful to you before? Then, consider this to be your chance to pay me back and listen carefully." Kosuzu's frown deepened, but from her silence and tense stance, it was clear that she was willing to listen. "You live an ordinary life in the Human Village, but ultimately, you are on Reimu's side; of Reimu's ilk, if you must, even if only slightly. This means you currently enjoy the best of both worlds, while standing out in none as a significant threat. Wouldn't you say this makes you the perfect candidate to become my undercover agent?"

"Huh? What does that—"

Yukari gently shushed Kosuzu, who bitterly pouted in reaction. "I imagine you're confused, but I have to admit I don't have much time to explain it to you right now. Let's schedule a secret meeting, shall we?" Yukari's smile widened. "If you're curious about what I'm proposing to you, I'll give you the lengthy continuation to it tomorrow, at the Hakurei Shrine. Make sure to come alone in the afternoon; I'll be waiting." With a cheerful parting wave of her arm, Yukari gracefully sunk into her own gap.

"What? Wait!" However, even Yukari's outstretched arm had been within the gap by the time Kosuzu had loudly protested against it, and the gap itself was swiftly closing. "Ms. Yukari!" Kosuzu had reached out for the gap, but felt nothing, as if it had never been there in the first place. Distraught, and mostly confused by the nature of Yukari's visit, Kosuzu lay still for moments in silence, pondering on what she had been told.

An undercover agent? Why would she suddenly think I could be something like that? As it stood, Kosuzu could at least assume Yukari needed her for some purpose, even if Kosuzu did not properly understand it. I don't really get any of this, but if she wanted my help she could've just asked. Besides, I do owe her one. Kosuzu yawned as her body reminded her of her own drowsiness now that Yukari was no longer present. However, in light of the many possibilities inherent from Yukari's vague phrasing, Kosuzu could not help but smile. And now that she left it hanging like that, I can't not go to the shrine tomorrow. She's expecting me to come and everything...

Kosuzu vacantly looked up at the ceiling while completely lying down, the curious glint in her gaze unwavering. "I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow; I hope it's nothing too dangerous..." While she loosely worried over her own safety, deep down, Kosuzu had long but made her decision.

She firmly closed her eyes, aiming to sleep and gain enough energy to traverse the path to the shrine on the next day.

Author's Notes:

To be honest, if I had to tell you the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of this chapter, I'd say 'The Tragic Story of Resso's Arena Exploits' XD Ressooooo, you named OC, you...! You just wanted to pay off your crippling debt and fix things with your wife, and yet! He had such convenient exposition, and such a good combination of awkwardness and friendliness! I'll never forget you, Resso, even if you're a minor OC who probably won't show up again! I had a bunch of plans for the arena, but I mostly just needed Reimu to have someone who could help her out when it came to explaining how things work, or whether it's really worth it for Reimu to be in the arena or not, etc... Leading to me to create Resso so Reimu had somebody to talk to in good terms about these things. In my first conceptions of Resso, he was going to be much more outgoing and friendly, finding amusement in Reimu's attitude right away and chat with her without any hesitation. However, when I sat down to write Resso, I felt like I could use a more flawed character to be a sort of foil to Reimu's optimism and straightforward nature. Because of that, he became much more self-conscious and unassuming, but he's really just reserved. When you get to know him and he starts taking a liking to you, he's much more open and talkative; he's also overbearing. He's middle-aged in narration, but he's more like in his forties? I didn't want him to be very young, and he had to be a man, so he's like that.

A few things I noticed upon research: it's not entirely clear if Heaven's Arena is in Padokea, or if it's in a place near Padokea according to the world map of Hunter x Hunter; because of his, I ended up not revealing which country Reimu was at. Another thing is the lack of women in Heaven's Arena. Hunter x Hunter itself has strong women; I'm pretty sure Machi was pretty high up on the list of strongest at arm wrestling and there are a bunch of women who do fight well. But Heaven's Arena has... No female participants shown ever? If you notice the shots in the anime and manga, there are only guys in queue and only guys are up against Gon and Killua; even in the original anime movie, the Floor Masters are all men. The only women you see are in the audience, the announcer and employees who aren't referees, which, speaking of, are all men. However, anyone can enter Heaven's Arena, as stated by Killua, so I imagine it isn't that there isn't a rule against women participating, but that women are usually not qualified to fight. Sounds sexist, but I guess it's more likely that there would be only men fighting with their muscles in the arena...? I don't know, but in light of that, I assumed women in Heaven's Arena are so rare that you'd stand out if you were in queue and actually winning against men. So, Reimu got a lot of attention.

Then there's also the fact that everybody in the 200th floor of the arena openly use Nen, but Nen is supposed to be an obscure matter. I'm guessing it's shown, but never explained what it is and everybody assumes it's just random tricks and fighting abilities that they'll never understand. It's just odd to me that there would be such a public place in which Nen can be used and forcefully taught to non-Hunters when Nen is something Hunters strive to keep a secret from examiners in the Hunter Exam, for example (edit: I swore I'd corrected these Author's Notes when I received a review saying they were wrong but somehow, I hadn't before; I'm so sorry! I did it now, though!). Also, in the first floor, Gon completely owns this guy in one hit but somehow the referee thought he was only good enough for the 50th floor. Is the 50th floor just the automatic start for anybody with an excellent performance? The referee says he's judging the fighters' skills so they're assigned to their appropriate floors, implying that the referee could send you over to the 200th floor if he verified Nen in you, but Gon was just put in the 50th floor, and we only see Killua getting sent to the 180th because he's gotten to the 200th before. What sucks is that I also don't understand if the losers of a match are just not put in any floor or put in a lower set of floors, or told to try again later. We never see what happens to the losers, or even get any confirmation as to whether there are losers. The referee says he's looking at the performance of both, but every guy we see losing is unconscious; what are they going to do with those guys?

This is why I made it so the tall guy had 1) sustained some damage 2) taken a while to stand. Reimu was just too damn fast even for three minutes, but I didn't think she could have all that much to show off afterwards, so I wanted the fight to end there. Besides, Reimu probably has a mean kick: when a guy freaking flies off of the ring and collides with his back, he isn't suddenly alright, especially when he was kicked in the abdomen/stomach at full force while off-guard. I've pondered deeply on Reimu's strength, and thought that physical strength itself was not her forte, but she was, nonetheless, an experienced fighter. This is why her moves were all focused on throwing the physically strong opponent off-balance or taking advantage of weak spots to really do some damage. However, Reimu fights entities that are many times stronger than the regular human: people may argue none of it involves physical attacks, but you could also say they are allowed in the battle as long as they're non-lethal if you look at the fighting games. Furthermore, if we say the battles are exactly like in the main games, they'll be going against canon since all the complications talked about in Print Works regarding the Spellcard rules aren't explicitly shown in-game, like Reimu and her opponent announcing the number of cards they're going to use and whatnot. Another thing is that Yorihime (the Watatsuki princess from the Moon) was able to parry Marisa's projectiles or cut through them without consequence in Silent Sinner in Blue, the only case where we see a Spellcard battle in a straightforward narrative. It seems safer to assume the battles are more like the fighting games, but with the density in spellcards the main games have.

With that in mind, Reimu has probably used her fighting skills on youkai, and likely has to guard herself from attacks by strong youkai, and has to deal with slight physical combat when solving incidents and fighting in general. However, I don't think she's super physically strong or anything: I think she's fit, if anything, but not muscular or reliant in her physical strength, making her more suited for combat with weapons that damage youkai more critically. The youkai themselves likely go easy on her in physical combat, and Reimu is usually throwing paper charms around. Despite that, she's been fighting for years, and in her first years solving incidents, she was stuck using her own powers. I think that her fighting prowess is too good for her to realistically lose to regular human men, power level wise. How she fares with Hunters, however, we'll just have to see. Besides, Reimu is probably a dodging master in comparison to pretty much anyone and she's got spiritual and barrier powers, so... Also, Reimu was really fast over at her first match because of her powers unconsciously being at work. You know when she's moving around in Imperishable Night on her boss battle, almost like she's being super fast? Reimu herself apparently doesn't notice she does this (according to Marisa), but it's a thing. I thought this part of Reimu's side would be the most simple because the way Heaven's Arena works is explained alright, but I had to clarify A LOT of things, like the points system and referees, and in what situations the announcer said things. I was hesitant in writing the announcer, but it was actually really easy.

Marisa and Kasen were a thing. The scene served a very clear purpose, but it was also not particularly entertaining. I liked Marisa in it, but I had a bit of difficulty writing the scene since it was short and had to end on a sudden, 'plot twist...!' note that may or may not have been awkward instead. Still, I want to clarify things, and leave a bunch in the dark, so I didn't want it to drag. Anyway, the scene with Yukari, on the other hand, I had more fun with. Yukari in general is pretty fun to write. Yukari's dialogue always has meaning, so it's fun putting a lot of meaning into her words, or not putting meaning and wonder if people can exactly catch on. Yukari isn't that roundabout: well, she is, but isn't. So I don't actually make Yukari too enigmatic. I feel like usually, Yukari is dangling the solution so near people's faces that they can't quite grasp it, so, the answer is right there in plain sight, but in a way that you have a hard time catching on. Which is why I don't make Yukari too vague and complex in terms of dialogue: I feel like if I did so, I'd be trying too hard when the secret to writing Yukari, in my eyes, is relaxing and having fun; just knock yourself out. Besides, in a way, I think Yukari comes off more ominous and intelligent by not trying to be very vague, but just naturally being kind of vague.

If you've noticed, I do give Yukari a very distinct character voice. Very elegant, but not entirely polite. I'm not actually putting a lot of conscious effort into it: like I said, the key to Yukari, to me, is having fun, so I have a lot of fun making her talk. I struggled a little with Kosuzu, though. First off, I had no idea how she would refer to Yukari because there's no instance of Kosuzu referring to Yukari in Forbidden Scrollery. Second off, the situation was very different, and I had to deliberate a lot on what she'd think and say. However, in general, Kosuzu has a very simple, if not refreshing personality. She's not an idiot, in my eyes; just naive. I think she's got a good head on her shoulders, but it's hurt by Kosuzu's incessant curiosity, recklessness, naivete and interest in youkai and youma books. Emotionally, Kosuzu is pretty fun because she has all these extreme reactions, like being really shocked or being really scared, or being really happy. She's also more or less on the positive side, and seeks adventure. I think she's a bright character in every sense of the word, but flawed in varying ways, like all characters from Touhou; this is what makes her a good protagonist (that and her internal conflict in Forbidden Scrollery), in my opinion. ZUN is really a good writer.

Whatever the case, look forward to what's gonna happen in both Reimu's side and the Touhou side?