Disclaimer: I don't own Touhou!
Only two weeks gaps this time. Hence the power of reviews. I'm so thankful for the amount of reviews I receive for the previous chapter. It really motivated me to do better.
Anyway, I was gonna do a chapter with Aya and a certain article regarding the main character, but I decided against it as I think it's still too early for another Bunbumaru article. So after changing my plans slightly, I present to you, the next chapter!
Please enjoy. I think I did a particularly good job with this one.
Day 21- A House Where the Devils Resides!
"Okay... carefully now..." Lifting the kettle from the fire, I slowly tilted it to the side with shaky hands. I hold my breath as I keep watch of the steaming liquid as it filled the cup underneath. When the cup is nearly full, I quickly tiled the kettle back to an upright position and place it on the stone surface of the stove.
Peering into the cup, I saw a clear liquid lightly tinted brown staring back at me. Lifting the cup to my mouth, I blew on it a few times before I take a small sip.
"Ah..."
It's not bad... I wouldn't call it good, but at least it tasted like tea, albeit a bitter one...
Having nothing planned for today, I decide to finally make a good use of the kitchen in my house for the first time. In the days I've been here, not even once I've tried cooking by myself, always choosing to eat out all the time. By doing that, I've spent my whole money faster than expected, and so a few days ago I was forced to go back to Rinnosuke's store for another session of trash handling.
Not wanting a repeat of the past, I brought some groceries from the village store and decided to cook by myself. I did plenty of kitchen time back home, so it shouldn't be that hard... Or so I thought...
I severely underestimate the task of cooking in this place. Lacking the convenience of modern technology, it took a lot of preparations just to get the stove working. First I need to light some firewood under the stove. I manage this task easily thanks to a well planned purchase at Kourindou. With a flick of my wrist, I lighted a matchstick and that started a small fire going.
With that done, I decided to try making something simple first, just to test out the stove. Boiling water comes to mind, but because it's too easy, I tried making tea instead.
And thus, an hour after I started, I am now able to enjoy a barely passable tea.
Well, at least I learned how to make the stove hot, so now I got some ideas on how to cook, provided it's just grilling or boiling. So as long I keep it simple, I should be able to cook up something in the future.
I lightly shake the cup in my hand; half hoping doing this would make the taste better. I considered just dumping this away, but I was brought up under the belief that we shouldn't waste food. Then again, this is just tea... so it's not that big of a waste right?
Suddenly Reimu's angry face appeared in mind.
"... Haah... fine" I sighed in resignation as I raise the cup and quickly gulp it down.
And suddenly my front door swings open."Oi Shirou!"
"Pwah!" Surprised at the intrusion, I accidently spit out a mouthful of the tea. Turning around as I wipe my mouth, I saw a familiar black and white witch standing at my front door. "M-Marisa? What are you doing here? Can't you knock first?"
"Eh, don't worry about it. Anyway, I need a favour, so come with me"
"Huh?"
"I can't believe you manage to make me ride this thing again!" I loudly complained as I squirmed around to find a good position on Marisa's broom.
"A magician always has her way" She proudly stated.
I grunted in annoyance. Snatching me up without permission is just you having you way with me. And she did it so suddenly I didn't even get a chance to grab my sword before I got abducted. Thankfully I still got my spell cards in my pocket, so I'm not completely defenceless if shit happens.
"So where are you taking me?" I asked as I peered down.
We're currently flying over what the locals called the Misty Lake. It's very aptly named as the whole lake is covered in thick mist that can be seen even from the village. I've thought about taking a closer look at the lake, but I decided against it as it could be dangerous. Now that I've got a bird eye's view of the place, I discovered that... well, I got nothing actually, the damn mist is just too thick. I could barely see the lake's water and the area is so cold it felt like it's almost winter.
"You should be able to see it by now, see that big place up ahead?"
I shifted my gaze forward and I quickly spotted the place she's talking about. Hiding behind the mist, a large shadow of a building is looming over in the distance. "Wow that's big..." I muttered in awe. "Who lives there?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"I don't know... do I want to?"
"I'd say no"
"Oh..." I thought about pressing her for more details, but I decided not to. That way I won't be frozen in terror if I run into whoever lives there.
Ignorance is bliss, and I'd rather go in blindly than finding out that I'll be soon facing an entity of destruction that could wipe me out of existence in a blink of an eye. I shake my head to clear the bad thought away. I'm worrying too much; Marisa doesn't seem like the type of girl to intentionally put someone in a dangerous situation.
... I better stop thinking about this. It's really unhealthy for my nerves.
Anyway, just where the hell is she taking me?
The mist slowly dissipates as we left the lake behind. Now that there's nothing hindering my sight, I manage to get my first good look at our destination. It is a large mansion, very European style, fancy and posh, with a bright red rooftop decorated with a clock tower. There's also a garden in front of the mansion, with colourful flowers a plenty, giving it a warm and serene touch to contrast the mansion's cold splendour. All of this is blocked from the rest of the Gensokyo by a tall wall that surrounds the whole place.
"Ready your spell card" Marisa's order interrupted me from admiring the place.
"Huh? Why would I need it?" I asked though I already took out a card from my pocket, holding it firmly in my hand so it won't flies off.
"You'll need it in a bit" The magician girl gave me a cryptic answer. "Now hang on!"
"Wh-Hwaaah!" I am nearly thrown off the broomstick as Marisa makes a sudden turn in mid air. The cause is obviously the storm of bullets that are coming from below.
Marisa stabilized her broom a small distance away. "On time as expected..." She muttered before she glances towards me. "Okay, here's the plan. You see that girl below us?"
Carefully peering downward, I quickly spotted a mop of red hair that is quickly closing the distance between us two. "Yeah? And?"
"Distract her!" The magician has a large grin on her face as she said that.
"Huh?"
"OI CHINAAAA! CATCH!"
I wasn't prepared for when the broom make a sudden vertical flip, hence, I am unable to stop myself from being sent flying off it. "WAAHHH!" I screamed as I was sent hurtling toward the red haired girl.
In the face of the incoming human missile, namely me, the red haired girl is clearly taken a back as she stopped in mid-air. "Wha...?" She muttered, unable to understand the situation.
It seems she'd need a little push to act, one that I am too happy to provide. "HEEEELP!"
"!" It seems my plea for help only serves to confuse the girl even more as she glided to the side, away from my current trajectory.
"Aw, fricking hell!" I cursed out loud as the girl make no move to catch me at all. Well, I guess there's only one thing to do now. "Shattered Boundary Afakerealityinadelusion—Hwaa!" I rushed out the spell card name before I flew past the girl and manage to say the last syllable a split second before I pass her.
I think it's working since I can feel the familiar tingly sensation running through my body, but then again, I might've mistaken it to cold fear running through my spine since now I'm free falling straight towards the hard ground. Regardless of whether it works or not, I slipped the spell card back into my pocket. Don't want it to get blown away; Reimu would kill me if I lost it, provided that I manage to survive this ordeal first.
Speaking of current ordeal, the ground is fast closing on me and I'm still haven't manage to escape from the clutches of gravity. In the case that my spell card doesn't work, I will be die, and in the case that it works, it's gonna hurt a lot and I might still die! Neither option is looking promising.
"Seriously! HEEELP!" I yelled out in desperation one more time, hoping that red haired girl would help me before I went splat on the ground.
The ground is less than a meter away from me when something rammed me from the side and caught me. I don't know whether she realized this is not a joke or the fact that I'm just a few seconds away from going splat, a combination of both, or maybe even divine intervention, but the red haired girl has finally decided to save me.
The law of physics still applies though; calculating my falling momentum, her movement trajectory when she chases after my falling body, and the remaining distance from the ground, my saviour did not have the time to right herself and we both crashed down quite violently on the grassed dirt.
I closed my eyes as pain racked my body while everything started spinning violently as we tumbled and rolled in the hard dirt before finally coming to a stop with me laying on my back. "Ow..." I groaned. That's a bit on the painful side, but I'm alive. With nothing broken and a few bruises, I think I can be generous and give that landing 3 out of 10.
"Ow..."
Hm? That wasn't me. It came from above me
I open my eyes.
"Uwah, that was really close..." The red haired girl was right above me as she's pushing herself off the ground... or maybe off me considering our current position. At this short range, she seemed extremely human, though her ability to fly earlier shows that she's nothing but normal. "Are you okay?" She asked. Our proximity didn't faze her as she makes no move to get away from me.
I am feeling a bit self conscious with her face hovering near mine, but I can't do much since she's the one on top. "Y-yeah..." I answered while trying not to stare at her too much.
"Good, in that case..."
She grabs hold on both my shoulders before she deftly flipped backward with me still in her grip.
"Whoa!" I'm not sure how, but she just threw me while both me and her are still on the ground. My body sailed for a few seconds in the air before I painfully landed a small distance away from where I was launched.
"Gh! What was that for?" I spit out a few grass strand that manages to enter my mouth.
The girl is already standing, hands and feet spreads out in what I can easily identify as some sort of a martial arts stance. "Who are you? What is your intention for coming here?" She's nowhere close to me when she asked the question, but damn, I can feel danger rolling off her in waves. Not the 'I'm going to eat you' danger, more like 'I'm going to beat you up' danger.
"I... honestly has no intention at all"
Her eyes narrowed in distrust. "I find that hard to believe. Not only that black-white magician is involved, you also feel... off somehow..."
Ugh... Marisa must've had a pretty bad rep in this place if this girl completely distrusts me just because she saw me with her. And that feeling off part, it must be because I copied her in my panic. This is a bit complicated. Now how to explain this... "Right, uh...Miss China, if you can just let me..."
An aura of dread suddenly assaulted me as the girl takes a step toward me. "What did you just say...?" She said between gritted teeth.
Ack, she's pissed off! I think I stepped on a land mine somewhere. Got to tread carefully here..."I was... going to ask if I can just walk away"
"WHY... did you call me china?"
"Well... um..."So that's what's bothering her? It seems stupid in my opinion, but I still better treat this carefully. Now how should I answer her? Cause Marisa called you China? And the fact that you're wearing a Chinese dress? And I think that fighting stance you're currently in looks like something I once saw in an old Chinese flick.
All of the above pretty much. "... For a few reason... I thought your name was China? Yeep!" I quickly ducked and rolled when a glowing energy surge out of the girl's first.
It exploded rather loudly behind me.
"My name..."
Another giant bullet flew past me courtesy of this girl... who I think I just pissed off completely.
"... is not..."
Another punch, another bullet, and another explosion.
"CHINA!"
An even bigger bullet from her fist comes barrelling towards me. I manage to dodge it, but the force of the explosion makes me stumble in my steps.
Then I saw the girl brought both her hands to her side, and holds them there as she glares hatefully towards me.
"I'm really sorry. Can you please stop shooting at me?"
She replied by throwing both hands forward, unleashing a huge torrent of energy towards me.
The girl in purple looks up from her reading as a series of explosions coming from the outside. A normal person would panic or wonder about a possible danger, but this girl just let out a tired sigh before she returns to her books.
It's probably just that overzealous magician again. So that means she'll be soon having an uninvited company. Not in the mood to deal with said magician, the girl began weaving her hands in front of her, intending to reactivate the magical sigils that serve as her library's security measure.
Unfortunately for her, said intruder is already inside her library. "Hellooo! Patchy! You there? Not that I was expecting you not to be here!" Her loud voice echoed across the library.
Her hands halted in their gesture. Now that she's already inside, it's useless to activate the sigils now. The girl in purple does wonder on how the intruder manages to bypass the mansion's security so quickly, but she didn't let it shown as she greeted her regular intruder.
"... What do you want...?" She asked, not even bother turning her chair around to look at the intruder.
"Just need to borrow a few things. You got anything good?"
"... Are you ever going to return the ones you 'borrowed' already?" She asked though she already knows the answer.
"Sure, you can have them back as soon as I'm dead" The same excuse. How many times has she heard that?
She swivelled her chair around in annoyance. Really, the gall of this one. Just what will it take for her to stop annoying her? Times and times have she driven her away, and yet she always came back, like a pesky bug asking to be squished. Unfortunately, this particular bug has a rather painful bite, and she is not keen to be bitten by it.
"What's with the look?"
"... You need something better than that before I'll let you..."
Another loud explosion, this one manages to shake the room a tiny bit. Unfortunately for the girl in purple, that tiny bit is enough to send the stacked book next to her crashing down on top of her.
"Whoa, Patchy, you okay there?"
"... Mukyu..."
"Hold on, I'll dig you out. Oh, hey! This is a good one. I'm borrowing this okay?"
"You..."
Before she can finish her sentences, another explosion comes from the front of the mansion.
Her usually calm mind picked up speed a tiny fraction faster as she processes the contradiction in front of her. The intruder has already infiltrated the mansion, and yet there are sounds of combat are still coming from the gate? This is a weird phenomenon; the gatekeeper usually would intercept an intruder long before they approach the gate, and whether she's victorious or otherwise, the noises of combat rarely ever reaches the mansion.
Even stranger is that their usual intruder is already here in the library with her. Aside from this one, there are not many who would travel to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And in that short list, all of them minus one are on the guest list.
So who is this intruder that the gatekeeper is engaging?
"What is going on out there?"
"Eh, no worries, I'm sure he can handle himself"
"He?"
What did I get myself into this time?
"Look lady, I'm really sorry for calling you China, can we please let this go already?"
"Stop saying China!"
Uh-oh, hit the deck!
*Kaboom*
Seriously! Her punches pack some serious power. And I meant that literally and figuratively. For every punch thrown, a giant bullet is launched straight from her fist.
I thought about fighting back. I did copy her earlier before I 'landed'. But then again, I don't want to escalate this further... I did that against Reimu, and I ended up being blasted by her spell card. Not a fun memory.
So for once, let's see if I can settle this by talking it out. "I'm really sorry?"
"Let me just hit you once and I'll call it even"
*Kaboom*
I dodged once again.
Judging by the way she throws those bullets and the craters left behind when the bullets hits the ground, it would hurt a lot if I got hit by that.
I'm not even sure the way she fights counts as a danmaku, so getting hit is a big no-no
"... not gonna happen"
"Oh... but it will"
Her right fist flashed for a second before she punched the ground, hard.
*Boom*
With her punch, the ground shakes and a cloud of dirt filled my vision.
I instinctively shielded my eyes from the dust cloud, and when I lowered my hand, the girl has disappeared from my sight. I quickly scanned the area around me, but I see no traces of red hair at all. This is seriously not...
And then I feel it, a strong feeling from the back of my head saying that something is rapidly closing in from my right. I turned to face the attacker, but nothing's there once again. And yet, without seeing, I can 'feel' that she has already move once again, this time circling around to the left as she evades my line of sight.
Confused at the mixed signal I'm getting, I accidently tripped backward, and the moment I do, I can feel a bullet is coming my way from behind.
Acting in line with my instinct, I used my right arm to quickly propel myself away as I fall. With my enhanced strength, I pushed myself a metre away, just in time to miss the incoming bullet.
And then I quickly ducked low to avoid a high kick that was aimed at my head.
Said kick manage to graze my hair, but failed to hit any solid body parts. The red haired girl, now back in my vision, landed in a low crouch as she recovers from her failed attack.
"..."
"..."
We both didn't say anything as we stare at each other. And while she was in sight, I use the opportunity to quickly think about what just happened.
What was that just now? I've listened to my guts before, but that was on a completely different level. I can feel her as she moves, as she breathes, as she spins around in for a hard kick... Wait! That last one is happening right now—Gwah!
Using my lack of attention to the fight, the girl manages to land a direct hit on me.
A spinning kick aimed directly at my face. I manage to block it before it connects with its intended target, but the force behind the attack is still going strong as it rattle the bone in my arm, and sends me hurtling away.
This is not as bad as it sounded though. My arms are only slightly numbed and I'm still retaining full awareness on my surrounding, so I can easily recover from this attack the moment I hit the ground. But unfortunately for me, my newfound ability is telling me that my head is on a collision course with solid brick wall!
I could probably survive from this none the worse since I'm currently copying a rather powerful girl, but I would rather avoid this head on collision situation if I can help it. With that said, I can only think of one solution to this problem...
Closing my eyes, I focus completely on this new sense of mine. I can feel the distance between me and the wall rapidly closing. I can feel the thickness of the wall along with its height. I can also feel a vast store of power from the girl I was fighting with, the same power that I currently also have! Untapped and raring to be unleashed!
I can feel... no, I can SEE it! The way that power moves as my body reacted. The way it flows into my hand as I reared my right arm backward. The way it surged outward the moment I punched the wall with my fist. And the way that energy slammed into the solid wall, exploding outward and turning a section of the wall into rubble.
And just like that, I burst through the wall in a shower of debris and stone.
... Might look damn awesome in a movie, but I'm not using a stunt man here... and going through a rain of dirt and stone is no fun and game. Dozens of debris pelted my body, and all I can do is endure it and try to keep any from hitting my eyes.
It only lasted a few arduous seconds before I landed quite roughly on the soft grass.
Ouch... that was kind of painful... let's never do that ever again.
"Hey! You're not supposed to go in there!"
My eyes are still closed but I can sense her as she followed me through that hole I made. I can also sense one loose brick which is falling on to her, before she smashes it to dust without even looking.
Huh, so this 'sixth sense' thing I've got is something I copied off her? How cool is this.
"You're not giving me much choice in the matter you know..." She's already set for another attack, so I quickly get back up on my feet.
Hm? She loosened her stance. Did she finally calms down?
"You're bleeding"
Am I? I tried tracing my head bit by bit, and I have to suppress a wince when I touched a rather sore spot on my forehead. Looking at the finger that touched that spot, I saw traces of blood on it. "Ah... yeah... probably when I go through the wall just now"
"You're bleeding from just that? What kind of youkai are you?"
"I'm not a youkai, I'm a human"
The girl's eyes widened as she completely drop her guard. "A human? But you don't feel like one"
"It's complicated, but I know for a fact that I'm human"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really"
"Hm..."
Can't say I blame her for not believing me. I have been pushing myself to beyond human norm while I was fighting her, and the fact that I just punched through a solid brick wall... Yeah, sometimes even I can't believe I'm still human.
Still, I get my ass kicked in danmaku all the time... I think that's a pretty good reminder of my humanity.
"So... Uh... since we're not fighting anymore... can I go now?"
"Wait. Stay there. Just let me think for a second"
"Okay... take as long as you need..."
To my amazement, the girl actually starts thinking. Eyes closed, arms crossed and a hand holding her chin up, the standard thinking postures.
Anyway, while she was deep in thought, I take the temporary lull in the fighting to take a look around the garden. It's quite a nice garden. Whoever took care of has done a nice job; the plants are vibrant and lively, even the grass is nicely trimmed.
... My matron also has been growing a garden for the past years. Me and the other kids used to help her water the flowers and doing the weeding all the time. Wonder how's that garden's doing? Just before I left I remember that...
"Oh! I know!" The girl's sudden exclamation broke me out of my past recollection.
"That was a bit too fast... Did you really think it through?"
"I'll just settle this in a danmaku. Yeah, it's so simple. Colourful Sign: Extreme Colour Typhoon"
She tossed the card up in the air where it got covered by a... very colourful fog... Beneath the fog I can barely see the card still spinning in mid air.
That's an interesting way to use a spell card... but back to the problem at hand.
"You call that problem solving?"
"Why not? I can beat you up and you won't die" She sounded very pleased with herself. And I must grudgingly admit that her solution, while simple, is actually very efficient.
"All right then, here we go!" At her words, the spinning card she throws up earlier started shooting colourful bullets upward... which then fall backward and started raining down on the ground. From where I was standing, it looks like there's a rainbow falling down from the sky.
I quickly snapped out of my reverie when a particular bullet strayed rather close to my location. I shamefully let out an indignant yelp before I turn around and quickly run from the area, which soon after is bather in colourful bullets.
My newfound senses is quick to point out that the bullet bombardment only occurs in one area, so with that, I manage to pinpoint a safe area and escape there. Unfortunately for me, in my rush to escape, I failed to notice the presence of my opponent, whom already waiting for me with a full round house kick. It's only by luck that I spotted her in the last second and throw myself into a slide to dodge her attack.
"Guh" I grunted as I quickly get back up to face her. That was dangerous. If I get hit by her kick just now, she would've sent me back into the bullet bombardment. So even with her spell card she will still actively attack me directly... This would be tricky, but I can handle this as long I stay clear from the bombardment area.
But then things suddenly went harder, as the girl's spell card started swaying around, sending bullets all over the place like a spinning garden sprinkler. It's only thanks to my borrowed senses that I managed to detect and evade the ones coming from my back.
My opponent also falls under fire, but she just weaved between the bullets with barely any efforts.
Hm...Got to even the odds...
Before the spinning bullet curtain makes another pass at us, I let my fingers brushed the second card on my other pocket. "Shattered boundary: The ever changing illusion of reality..."I muttered quietly.
Another weird tingly feeling. This time they are focused more on my arm and legs. Looking at my hands, they're emitting a soft glow, similar to the glow on her hands back when she's trying to blast me with those bullet punches.
... This is gonna be fun.
"Did you say something just now?"
"It's nothing important. Now let's do this!" I punched forward with my right first, and a bullet the size of a bowling ball burst straight at my opponent.
"Patchouly-sama. Here's your tea" The girl in purple watched as the maid placed the usual steaming cup of tea on her desk.
"...Thank you" She said before lightly blowing on the tea and then slowly drink it down. The tea is brewed exquisitely as usual, something she has come to appreciate and looked forward to enjoy in the solitary of her library.
But unfortunately, her private sanctum is currently being disturbed by the presence of a trespasser.
"Where's mine?" The black and white magician brazenly asked the maid.
The maid calmly regarded the magician before she lowered her head in apology. "... I'm sorry, but I was not aware that we have a guest in the mansion" She said to the magician.
"Aren't I?" The magician asked, neither unaware nor caring about the fact that her status as a guest is a subject for debate. The maid's eyes drifted to the girl in purple, asking whether she should serve this 'guest', and the girl in purple replied with a shake of her head, a negative response.
And then before any more words can be spoken, the library is once again shaken by a rather loud explosion, this one is closer than the previous bout. "Oh, they're going at it again" The magician said with barely restrained curiosity and a hint of excitement. "I'm actually surprised that they're still going at it"
"Sakuya, can you please?"
Having served in the mansion for no small amount of time, the maid is quick to notice and respond to what the mansion's denizen needed. Thus, even with such a vague order from the girl in purple, the maid already understood what she has to do. "Certainly" She said as she takes out her prized pocket watch.
But before she can do anything else, she was interrupted by the magician. "Wait, let's watch them a bit" The magician excitedly suggested.
The girl in purple did not act nor say anything in respond to the magician's suggestion. But the maid notices that her delicate eyebrow raised ever the slightest, which means that she's considering it. Knowing the magician's persistence, the maid quickly surmises that the girl in purple will soon enough crumble and do as the magician wanted. With that, she quietly slipped away to prepare the second floor balcony for when they decided to leave the library. It has a clear view of the garden and should serve as a good spot for keeping an eye on whatever is causing the disturbance outside.
... Not to mention that having some fresh air once in a while would be good for the girl in purple, something that her mistress would agree.
For a danmaku, this felt more like a back alley brawl if I set aside the fact that my opponent is a master of the Chinese martial arts (presumably of course) who can use energy attacks. The way we traded blow back and forth, though at the moment it's mostly me ducking out of her attacks is quite the reminiscence of my days as a club's bouncer. Back then, with my smaller stature compared to my opponents, I would resort to many dirty fighting tactics, from using improvised weapons to dirty blows. But unfortunately for me at the moment, there is no way I can bring myself to use those cheap attacks against a girl.
Said girl on the other hand, has no need to stop herself from lashing out at me with whatever she got. Even after I used my second spell card, she's still holding a distinct advantage over the match. Even though I have the same strengths as her, this girl have a lot more experience as a fighter. She has yet landed a solid blow on me, but all it takes is one slip up, and I'll be in a world of pain.
Fortunately for me, ever since I used my second spell card on her, the sixth sense thing I copied off her seems to have been super charged. With it, I'm always aware of her actions AND the bullets rain coming from her spell card. Every time a bullet swarm approaches, I can sense them and quickly move out of the way or even weave my way between them. This new senses confuses me once in a while, but so far I've managed just fine with it.
Another effect of my second spell card is the bullet punch ability. Every time I let out a punch, I can let loose a burst of energy through my fist, sending out a bullet that could travel for a few metres before dissipating. It's a similar ability as hers, though I notice that her bullets travel slightly faster than mine.
The two of us has traded bullets for quite some time now, and so far neither of us has hit the other yet. Guess that's what happens when both combatant have the ability to sense the each other, I can't catch her off guard and neither can she catch me slacking. Of course that does not stop me from trying.
"Hey! Watch the flowers" The girl scolded me after one of my bullets nearly hit a flower patch.
"My bad" I answered before hastily jumped backward to avoid a painful looking heel drop. Said attack crushed the stone tile where I was standing previously with relative ease.
Landing in a small crouch, I started twisting and turning to evade the rain of bullets as the spell card started bombarding the area. The shower lasted for a good 5 seconds before it began to move to another area again.
No sooner I cleared off the bullet rain; I quickly raised my arm to block a straight punch aiming at my face. The moment I do so, my sense screamed out that the blocked fist is gathering a large amount of energy. So acting in accordance to the warning, I quickly pushed said fist to the side while spinning my body away, just in time to avoid a bullet that was aimed at my face from point blank range.
Quickly moving to the counter attack, I use the momentum from the dodge to punch out with my right.
The girl easily caught attacking hand by the wrist, but then her eyes widened before she quickly moves my fist aside, just a split second faster before I let out my own bullet from my fist.
Dammit, so that doesn't work either. "...Damn you're good" I muttered in no small amount of amazement.
Responding to my praise, the girl smiled an honest smile with no hints of deception. "And you're not doing too bad yourself, especially if you really are a human"
I nodded before I try pulling my hand free from the girl, who still got a solid grip on my right wrist. "So... can you let go of my hand now? Your bullet rains are coming closer..." I tried asking nicely, though I can already guess her reply.
"Nope" The girl says no as expected. "What's stoping me from using you as an umbrella?"
"That's... hey look! A panda!"
To my great amazement, the girl actually looked away. "Where?"
Distraction worked! Now to capitalize! Normally I'd head butt my opponent in this kind of situation... but I can't head butt a girl! That's just wrong... so I'll improvise. "Sorry about this..." I quickly grab her left arm, pull hard on it, steady my legs, and then ram her with my shoulder.
"!" She most certainly did not expect that, so my attack hits her head on. And now that she's stunned, I yanked my hands free of her, and I quickly moved away from the incoming bullet rain. The girl on the other hand is caught unprepared by her own spell card. She's quick to recover as she starts evading the bullets, but one lucky bullet manages to graze her shoulder.
When the bullet rain finally moves on again, the girl is carefully rubbing her left shoulder, the one that was clipped by the bullet just now. "You... Did you really expect me to fall for my own attacks? And you lied about the panda! That's just evil"
She's angry again, and this time, I know I was at the wrong. "Wasn't really expecting the panda thing to work, I'm sorry?"
"..." And just like that, the number of bullets falling from the sky just multiplied by at least five. It's no longer a light sprinkle; it's now more into a full blown storm.
At least it still releases the bullets in a garden sprinkler like manner, so there are still a few dry zones here and there. But still...
"For calling me names... and lying about the panda...stand still and accept your punishment"
"Oh boy..."
After multiple persuasion attempts by the black and white magician, the girl in purple finally relented and decided to leave her library to take a look at the cause of the commotion. The moment she exited her library, she found the maid already waiting for her, who then proceeds to escort them to a balcony on the second floor.
No sooner that they stepped into the balcony, she quickly spots a fresh cup of tea on the table there, along with a cushioned chair, which she promptly sat on.
Now that she has made herself comfortable in this nicely shaded balcony, she turned her attention to the ensuing danmaku at the garden. After observing the ensuing match for a few seconds, she turns to the magician and asked one simple question. "...Who is that idiot?"
The magician turns her gaze from the match toward her. "The latest newcomer to Gensokyo. Yukari brought him here a while ago" She quickly answered before turning back to her match. She seems excited about something as she observe the match with great interest, but the things that excited her seems to have eluded the girl in purple.
"He seems to have suffered some injuries already. Should we not stop them?" The maid pointed out.
"Why? He doesn't seem to be giving up just yet" The magician casually answered. And as if to agree with her, the boy chooses that moment to once again move forward toward the gatekeeper. Amidst the flurry that ensues, the boy and the gatekeeper traded in a few blows before he was send hurtling backward by a rather strong punch from the gatekeeper. Even then the boy is quick to spring back to his feet. "See, he's still raring to go. There's really no need to stop them"
"Oh? For once I must agree with you" A voice called out from behind them.
The magician, the maid, and the girl in purple quickly turned toward the balcony door in surprise. There, leaning on the doorway, is the mistress of the mansion herself.
"Milady!" The maid failed to hide her surprise. She quickly pulled out another chair for her mistress to sit on, which the mistress did whilst letting out a rather wide yawn.
"Remy, so you're awake" The girl in purple calmly regarded the mistress of the mansion.
Said mistress has a palm on her chin as she gave an annoyed look toward the girl. "Did you really expect me to sleep with all this commotion?" She grumbled before she turns toward the source of the commotion. "So, who is he?" She didn't specify to whom the question was asked, but that was a rather moot point since there's only one person in the balcony with answers to said question.
"I just answered that question don't I?" The magician retorted.
"You expect me to believe that's all you know about him?"
Unwilling to disclose the information, the magician is quick to shift the responsibly to others. "Try asking Reimu, she knows more than me" She drops her friend's name, fully aware on the fact that the mistress holds a small amount of interest for the shrine maiden.
And just as she expected, the mistress relented. "Hm... perhaps I shall..."
"Milady, your tea" Turning to her side, the mistress notices her maid offering her a warm cup of tea.
Taking the offered tea by the saucer, the mistress gently blew on it before taking a few sips. She sighed in contend as the tea warmed her body. The slight taste of copper in the tea is just right, as expected of her maid. "Thank you Sakuya" She thanked her for the job well done. While setting down the half empty tea cup on the table, she also notices that a plate of freshly baked cookies has been set on the table. Not one to refuse a treat, she casually grabbed one and gently chewed on it.
She was reaching for a second cookie when the magician asked her a question. "By the way, since you're awake, is she..." The magician sounded nervous, but she can't exactly blame her, for the subject in question is 'her'.
"Like I said, do you really expect anyone to sleep with this commotion? Worry not, I told her to stay in her room"
Her words seems to have dissuaded the magician as she lets out a relieved sigh before turning back to watch the match in the garden.
Following the magician's example, the mistress once again watches over this new subject of interest. The boy has spirit, that much she admits. Most people would admit defeat at the hands of someone that is clearly beyond their level, yet this boy keep persisting even though there's already a clear difference of ability between him and her gatekeeper.
Maybe she should have a closer look at this boy.
"Sakuya, can you get my parasol?"
"Certainly Milady"
Dammit!
That panda joke is biting me back in the worst way possible. It completely provoked the girl in a bad way and now she's attacking me rather relentlessly.
The copied 'sixth sense' thing been working non-stop for a while now; it really helps a lot, though I'm worried that I might be getting a migraine after this is over. Incoming spin kick, jump back to avoid a spin kick, her hands are gathering energy, incoming energy blast, probably aimed at where I'm landing, jump left not right else I'll get pelted by bullets.
Close the distance, wait for her attack, parry it, and go for a point blank bullet punch, and just-Whoa!
The girl grabbed my arm and executed a perfect shoulder throw, and instead of slamming me into the hard tile, she throws me away, right into the bullet storm.
Instantly I felt like a dozen punches just rained down onto me. Enduring the pain as best I can, I manage to do backward flip put of the bullet storm. But the damage has been done, and I fall down to my knees, unable to stands up amidst the pain.
"Are you okay?" The girl asked.
"I felt like I just get trampled by a horde of angry pandas... Ahaha..." I answered through clenched teeth.
"Sorry, I guess I got carried away" The girl nervously laughs. Now that her spell card has done its job, she recalled it back and put it away. Instantly the bullet storm ceded and the sky is now bullet free.
"Wait a second... I'm not done yet...' I grunted as I push myself up. The pain still lingers, but I can stand back up now, albeit a bit shakily.
"You still want to go?" The girl sounded surprised.
"Don't count me out that fast" I once again settle into my old brawling stance.
The girl seems unsure on how to proceeds, but she slowly slips back to her fighting stance. "Your eyes still burns with fighting spirit. Very well then. Until you had enough, I'll be your opponent"
Hearing the girl's word, I can't help but let out a few chuckles. "Heheh, how can you say that kind of line with a straight face?" It really sounded like it came from an old Chinese martial art flicks.
"S-shut up! Now are we doing this or not?"
"Yeah sure, though I would appreciate it if you stop holding back a bit"
"You want me to go all out?"
"Uh, not all out, just maybe show off a bit more? I feel like the more you show me the more I can improve myself"
The girl is tensed for a second before her eyes narrowed down on me. "Oh? I thought your style is familiar. All this time you've been copying me?"
More than you've known... "You could say that"
"And now you want me to show off more of my abilities so you can copy them too?"
"When you put it that way that does sounded kinda bad..."
"Okay, sure"
"Huh? You really don't mind?"
"Yeah. What I do is not exactly easy to imitate, so if you can actually manage to do it, then by all means, go for it"
Wow, this girl is very nice when she's not actively aiming to hurt me. I think I could grow to like her. "Okay then. After you" I tensed up in preparations for the resuming match.
The girl too has entered her fighting stance once more. "Watch and learn" And with that, she performs a perfect high kick, and right after that, my vision is filled with flashing rainbows.
Wait, rainbows doesn't spin like that...
The thought barely left my mind when the rainbow make contact with my chin and send me sprawling backward. "Gah!" I felt like I just got kicked in the face. That spinning rainbow thing is painful!
"Head's up!"
Everything is a bit blurry considering I just get hit in the face, but I know for a fact that the swirling colour in my vision is not because of that hit in the head.
Giving a wide berth to the spinning rainbow, I watched in no small amazement as it left a deep wide gash when it hit the hard tile.
The pot of gold underneath the rainbow is a lie... there's only pain...
"What do you think?"
"... That hurts" I complained as I analyse that attack. Thanks to the copied senses, I can see her flow of energy when she performs the attack, so I notices how the energy on her legs flared just before she released the attack. I'm guessing that she focused her energy on her feet before releasing it in one burst with a snap kick.
Simple and effective, now let's give it a try...
I pushed a surge of energy onto my right leg, and when my senses tells me that its 'glowy' enough, I kick out as hard as I can. Almost instantly, I lost all energy from my legs and I fall backward.
Though I mess up the execution, but I did manage to unleash a bluish energy whiplash from my leg. It's not a rainbow colour, it's not swirling, and it didn't very fast, but it's good enough in my opinion.
"Hah, you actually did it" The girl shows no anger at how I just copied her skill. In fact she seemed amused as she jumped up to evade it. "But you're not going to beat me with just that!" At the peak of her jump, she suddenly accelerates downward towards me. Her feet would've collided with my face had I not rolled aside.
Landing in a crouch from her attack, she suddenly blurred forward again, going from a full stop to full motion in the blink of an eye. Her first, glowing like a rainbow nearly hit me in the face had I not closed my eyes and relied on the copied 6th sense to see pass it's blinding colour and parry it aside.
The girl didn't end just there though. Now that we're in a close range, she began attacking in earnest with a series of body blows and kicks. Once again, thanks to the copied senses, I manage to evades and parry all her attacks, though it is clear that she's pushing me back step by step.
Trying to break free from the pressure, I attempted to attack her with a close range bullet. But as if she's reading my attack, she easily evades my attacking arm before leaning on it and using it as a pivot to turn spin around me and then going for a hand chop toward the back of my neck.
Sensing what she's doing, I quickly bend forward to dodge that knock out attack. Not stopping there, I go even lower and sweep my leg around, trying to knock her off balance.
The girl jumped backward to avoid it. Flipping a few times in the air, she suddenly lets out two spinning rainbows aimed downwards towards me.
Having seen the attacks previously, it no longer caught me off guard and I easily jumped away from the impact zone. Unfortunately, this is exactly what the girl wanted me to do. The moment I left the ground, the girl throw out both her hands forward, shooting out a massive energy bullet. The bullet is not aimed directly at me; instead it's heading toward the area when I'm going to land.
Helpless in the air, I'm very grateful that the giant bullet won't directly hit me as it missed me by a few inches. Unfortunately for me, I was caught in the force of the explosion that follows, sending me staggering forward, where the girl is already waiting for me.
Not giving me any time to react, the girl quickly moves to exploit my moment of weakness. With her feet once again covered in rainbow coloured energy, she shot forward and kicks at me.
Her attack hits me, though I still manage to block the kick with my arm. It hurts, but it's better than getting kicked in the chest. But the girl still going; kicking away from my arm, the girl spins around in the spot and lash out with another attack, this time a high kick from a low angle.
This one nearly hits me square in the jaw, but I just barely put my hands under my jaw to soften the impact. But even blocked, the kick still carries a lot of centrifugal forces, strong enough to knock me off my feet, sending me a few metres upward.
My vision is filled with spots after taking such a powerful blow. But even then the copied senses are still working unhindered, hence why I am not taken by surprise when the girl suddenly appeared right above me with her leg glowing in rainbow colour dropping down on me for a heel drop kick.
"Hrk!" Grunting in pain, I forcefully bend my body backward and raised my right leg at the dropping heel. Though I have no balance whatsoever considering that I'm falling in mid air, I still somehow manage to block her heel drop with the bottom of my foot. I probably would've crushed all the bones in my leg if I tried this when my back is against the ground, but since there's only air below me, I manage to get away unscathed.
The girl looks surprised with my persistence. That's good... because I'm not done yet!
Using the force from blocking her heel drop, I let my body shifted backward even more. And as I do that, I quickly lowered my right leg and lashed out with my left! In soccer this is called a bicycle kick. For this situation, this is called a desperate last attack. With everything I got left! Full power energy kick slasher! ... Or whatever the name is...
The gatekeeper is honestly surprised at how this self proclaimed human manage to persist for this long. Granted that she's holding back quite a lot, there are multiple occasions where she could've ended it, but she didn't do it in favour of assessing the skill level of this unknown boy. Of course if her mistress were here, she would just describe what she's doing as toying with her prey.
But she can't help it as her curiosity took hold of her. For the first time in years, she has found a fighter who can utilize chi based techniques like her. She did notices some strange oddities in the boy, as there were times that he seemed confused on what he's doing, but that's probably because of the difference in technique.
As she traded blows with him, it becomes clear to her that the boy is no stranger to a fight. While his technique is sloppy and unrefined, all of his moves are focused and his reflexes are sharp, and his eyes are sharp, always looking for a weakness to exploit.
And through that persistence, she was now caught in a rather embarrassing predicament. Feeling sure that she could deliver a knockout blow to the boy, she was caught unprepared when the boy suddenly lashed out with the same technique that he mimicked off her.
She quickly moves to nullify the technique, catching the unleashed energy with practiced movement, redirecting the energy between her hands, slowly moulding it into her will.
But the boy put quite a large amount of energy into this attack. And since he released it at nearly point blank range, she's unable to contain all of the chi attacks as a fraction of the energy manages to penetrate her guard, landing a solid hit on her right shoulder.
It stings quite a bit, but if there's one thing she's most proud of herself, is her durability. This kind of pain is nothing; she definitely has taken much worse before, for she is the gate keeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
No fricking way...
I thought that would nail her, but the girl somehow manages to caught my energy kick slasher thing with her hands!
And now she's bringing her hands down on to me once again, with the energy from my kick still violently glowing between her hands! Dammit! This is going to hurt a lot...
My body is feeling weak from discharging that many energy, so there's not much I can do but to take the hammer blow directly. "Ghah!" My lungs are emptied of air and I was sent hurtling down to the ground.
I unceremoniously crashed onto the ground.
"Ow..." I groaned as I pick myself from a small indentation on the ground. Thankfully I didn't land on the hard tiles, that would hurt a lot more.
The girl landed a few steps away from me, her hand lightly rubbing her right shoulder. "Do you yield?" She asked.
I manage to get up again, but my body is sore all over and my legs are feeling particularly weak. I'm in no shape to fight anything until I recover. "Yeah, that's it for today..." I let myself plop back to the ground. "Now that I think about it, I feel stupid for wanting to keep going after you beat me up the first time"
"There's no one to blame for that beside yourself"
"True... but then again, this while mess started because you attacked me didn't it?"
"Oops, I guess we both get a bit carried away huh?"
"A bit?" I look around the garden. There are multiple craters all over the place, and the stone pathway has cracks in many different locations. Plus there's now an imprint of myself on this spot of the garden when I crashed just now. "You want me to help you clean up?"
"Ah... no, it's okay, I can do this by myself. I appreciate the offer, but the garden is part of my respon...sibi..li...ty..." She trailed off when she saw the large hole in the wall. "Waaah! You're in the garden! You're inside!" She suddenly yells out while pointing at me.
"W-what? Is that bad?"
"It's bad! You're not a guest here! You're not supposed to be in here! Aahh... Sakuya-san is going to get angry at me again for not doing my job!" She's on the verge of crying now. I feel kinda bad for her.
"I... I'll just leave then...'
I tiredly stand back up, fully intending to leave the place when a voice stopped me. "No, stay. For the moment you are a guest"
Hm? An unfamiliar voice.
Turning around toward the mansion, I saw a little girl underneath a parasol walking towards us. Eyes bright red, a pair of bat like wing on her back... Yeah, this little girl cannot be human... She's quite classy though, I mean, not many people wear a pink mob cap these days.
"Milady! You're... D-Did we wake you?"
This little girl is the owner of this mansion? Really?
"You most certainly did"
The red haired girl instantly bowed down low toward the little girl. "I'm very sorry!"
"I'll excuse it this one time. After all, I did manage to see something interesting"
The little girl turns to address me.
"You, human, you're the one that tengu mentioned in her newspaper are you not? I thought she was just making up stories as usual, but to think the one most improbable is true... come closer"
"Okay?"
I step closer to her.
"... You're too tall, bend down"
She sounded agitated. Better do what she says... who am I to say no to the mistress of a very large mansion who is probably strong enough to kill me before I can blink.
Bad thought stay away... anyway, I lower myself so I don't have to look down on her anymore.
... Maybe I should go a bit lower so she's the one that's looking down on me. The kids back in the orphanage likes it better if I speak to them like that.
With her height... that means I have to kneel down...
"Hm~"Yeah, she seemed much happier... or probably just amused as I kneeled down before her. "So, tell me. Why have you intruded upon my home?"
"I was... apparently used as a distraction by an acquaintance of mine. I'm really sorry for the commotion I caused"
"A distraction you say?"
"Yes. She used me as a human projectile to divert your gatekeeper. It nearly didn't worked" I shivered as I recalled the memory from earlier.
"Is that so... then I suppose it would be improper of me to punish you for a sin that is not of your decision" She intentionally drawled out her words. I sensed a 'but' coming soon here.
"But... since you're standing on my property, I believe it is within my right to extract some sort of payment from you, am I correct?"
"I guess so?" I don't know where she's going with this, but I just know something bad is going to happen soon.
"In that case" She snapped her finger. "Sakuya"
A girl in maid clothing suddenly appeared beside me. "Yes Milady"
"I believe he just volunteer to provide me with some refreshments"
The maid turns to regards me before she nodded. "As you wish Milady" A knife suddenly appears on her hand. "Shirou-san is it? Just be still for a moment and I promise you it'll be over quick"
Well... since she ask nicely with a knife on her hand, of course I'll RUN AWAY! Or at least I tried to, but before I can do anything the maid had already grabbed my arm and swiftly makes a cut on my palm.
"HRNKT!" It takes all my willpower not to scream bloody murder.
"There's no need to be concerned. Just bear with it quietly and I promise that you'll survive through this" The maid quietly said to me. Her tone is different from when she was talking to the little girl. Her completely cool behaviour almost makes me believe her. Keyword: 'almost'.
"R-right... though a little warning would be appreciated" I'm seriously worried at the moment, but there's nothing I can do but to trust this maid.
"My apologies. Now if you would kindly press your fingers together right here..." The maid holds my bleeding hand with both hands as she cupped my fingers together, letting a small pool of blood to form in my palm.
"Oh~~ such a strong smell" The little girl dipped her index finger on the pool of blood on my hand and gave it a quick lick. "Surprisingly clean for the blood of an outsider, but still retaining the strong flavour. Not bad at all..." She commented.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it Milady" Before I realize it, the maid is now holding a tea cup on her left hand, which is slowly being filled by the blood leaking from my hand. "Would this be enough or should I acquire some more?" She asked when the tea cup is nearly full of my blood.
"That is fine" The little girl said as she takes the cup away from the maid. She spins the tea cup three times in her hand before she take a sip of the blood; my blood! "It's good. You have my praise for having such an exquisite blood flowing through your veins" She gave me a somewhat questionable compliment before she downed the rest of my blood.
"T-thanks?" I ignore the way my heart is hammering on my chest. This girl... she just drank my blood. I'm not one to jump to conclusion, but I'm pretty sure that this little girl is... "Not to be rude, but are you a vampire?"
The little girl looks at me in the eyes before she lets out an amused laugh. "I see your feeble human mind is still struggling to accept the reality before your very eyes. Very well then, allow me to be a gracious host and introduce myself" The girl handed back the now empty cup to the maid before she turns fully towards me. "I am Remilia Scarlet, mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And just as you say, I am a vampire" Her bat like wings spread open for extra dramatization.
My mind screeched to a halt at the admittance. "Wow... that's..." Not knowing what to say, my mouth quickly spoke for itself. "Please don't kill me" I said the first thing that popped into my head.
The vampire, Remilia, grinned widely. Her sharp fangs become visible under the thin line of her mouth.
As I start freaking out, I didn't notice until much later that my bleeding hand has now been wrapped in bandages.
"Remi is really enjoying herself" The girl in purple said as she observed the proceedings back in the balcony.
"That's so mean of her. Taking advantage of the guy's unfamiliarity with Gensokyo and using it for amusement" The magician next to her said.
The girl in purple let out a sigh at the magician's choice of words. Both of them have been listening onto the conversation using her spell, and thus they both heard how the boy describes how he gets here in the first place.
Sometimes she wonder if her acquaintance over here ever thinks about what she just said or she's just being selective with her memory recognition process.
"Anyway, I'm going back to my Library" She said as she stands up. Now that the commotion is over, she can finally do some more reading in peace. There's no more reason for her to be staying outside for any longer.
"Then I'll..."
"Follow me and I'll burn you"
"Okay"
It took a while before the vampire admits that she's just having fun with me, but even then I still cannot be calm as her choke of words to console me is anything but reassuring.
"Though I enjoyed your reaction, there's no need for you to be submissive towards me. As long that you never give me any reason to, I will stay my hand from exterminating your fragile life"
With such reassurance, how can I not be worried?
"Anyway, as much as I enjoyed your company..." I can't help but to shiver at the dangerous glint on her blood red eyes. "I believe it's time for you to go. I'll be taking a quick walk outside my mansion and it is considered rude to be in someone's house while they're not around. Unless of course you're a thief, in which case you are an intruder that needs to be eliminated"
"R-right. "
"I'm glad that we're seeing eye to eye. Well then, I'll be taking my leave first, I trust you can show yourself out"
"Y-yeah, no problem" Considering I'm still outside the mansion, and the gate is just behind me. Speaking of which, I should apologize for destroying part of the wall and other damages to the garden. "Um... I'm sorry for the mess..."
"It's all been taken care of"
Turning around, I saw the maid walking toward me and the vampire. Behind her, is a completely repaired wall; the hole which I punched through earlier somehow has been patched without me ever noticing it. And not only that, the holes in the grounds has also been refilled and the cracked tiles replaced with new one. If one takes a look at the garden now, there's not a single piece of evidence that a fight just broke out a short time ago.
"Wow... that was... quick"
"It is my job; though please refrain from causing too much mess next time"
Though she got a neutral face as she said that, I can feel waves of annoyance rolling off her. "Sorry..."
"That goes to you too Meiling"
The red haired girl, the gate keeper who was quietly standing on the side all this time bowed her head in apology. "I'm sorry..."
Having said her piece, the maid moved to her mistress' side. With practiced ease, she takes hold of her mistress' parasol and holds it up for her mistress.
"Let's go Sakuya"
"Of course Milady"
And they both fly off. Destination, I don't know and I don't care. Why can everyone I meet outside of the human village fly? It's so not fair to the one who have to walk all over the place. Anyway, I better leave also. Don't want to overstay my welcome here.
I start moving towards the gate, but I tripped and stumbled down the moment I tried walking.
The gatekeeper quickly moves beside me and grabbed me to stop my fall. "Are you okay?" She asked as she tries to keep me from falling.
"Ahaha... Your mistress is scary..." I must've been so tense while I was talking to the vampire earlier that I did not realize my legs have been paralysed by fear until now. "Can you help me go out? I don't want to be here by the time she comes back"
The gatekeeper didn't complain as I leaned on her and we both walked outside of the gate. After that, she put me down near the wall and sits down herself next to me.
"So... you're new in Gensokyo?"
"Yeah..."
"When did you arrive?"
"About 3 week ago, give or take a few days"
"Oh..."
There's an awkward silence after that. I have nothing against this girl, but just what am I suppose to talk about?
"So uh... You're not mad that I tried to copy your technique?"
"No, should I?
"I guess not" She answered with a shrug. "So what are you really? You said you're human, but you're nothing like a human. Even now I still find it hard to think of you as a human"
I quietly ponder her words before I answered. "Am I still giving off a non human vibes?"
"What are you...?" The gate keeper paused in mid words as she understood my meaning. "Yes, though it's weaker than before, I'm still sensing weird energy signature coming from you"
"Huh... is that so..." I muttered while slowly raising my right fist. I tried pushing my energy into it like before and my fist starts glowing again, albeit much dimmer than before. I tried using the sensing thing again, and at best I can only detect things 1 to 2 metres away from me, and even then I have to concentrate really hard to notice it. "Got not much left, I should go back to normal soon enough"
"Is that so... shame, I was kind of hoping we can have another match once in a while"
"Don't sweat it. I can un-normal myself anytime. Just tell me the time and day and I'll take you on anytime"
The girl smiled at that. "Hehe, you're a weird human"
"From my point of view, this place is the one's that weird. So excuse me for trying to fit in"
We both laugh at that. We spend some time talking after that. I noticed my legs have regained their strength at some point, but I decided to stay a bit longer. I admit I'm a bit worried if the vampire comes back while I'm still around, but I am not lingering inside the mansion gate and we were just talking, so I it should be fine.
Our talk is suddenly interrupted when a loud explosion rocked the mansion. We both jumped up and turned to face the mansion, just in time to see a slightly singed magician making her exit through a window.
Said magician quickly spotted me and flew down with a big smile on her face. "Hey there Shirou. Glad to see you're still alive" Marisa cheerfully greeted me.
"Marisa... what..."
"Hm? Oh this?" She gestured toward her singed clothing. "I was just finalizing a transaction so I can borrow some things"
"Right... so you're okay?"
"Yup. Thanks for worrying"
"No problem. It's good to see you're okay. That way I won't feel bad about doing this!" With what remaining energy I got left, I punched out a bullet toward the magician. The moment the bullet left me, I felt completely normal again, my spell card must've timed out or something.
"Hey wow!" Marisa yelled out at the surprise attack. It nearly hit her but she manages to dodge out of the way in the last second. "What was that for?"
"I think I'm entitled for a payback after you tossed me off your broom"
"Holding grudge is unhealthy you know. And besides, you're fine aren't you? China manages to catch you before you fall? Whoa!"
The magician once again finds herself under fire, this time from an irate gatekeeper. "Stop calling me China! My name is Hong Meiling!"
"Nah, China sounds about right" Marisa calls out after she dodges all her bullets.
"Marisa...!" My temper reached its peak; I angrily draw out my spell card from my pocket. "Meiling is it? I'm gonna un-normal myself right now. Mind if I use these on you?"
The gatekeeper, Meiling looks at the spell cards in surprise before she nodded. "Only if you help me deal with this intruder"
"It would be my genuine pleasure'
"Wait, ganging up is just unfair. What happened to a fair fight in a danmaku?"
"Sorry, I'm all bite at the moment" I replied hotly while raising my spell card at the gatekeeper once again.
A fair distance away, in the vicinity of the Hakurei Shrine, a certain vampire finds herself deep in thoughts. "Hm..."
Noticing her mistress' state of mind, the maid decided to pry into it. "Milady, is there something in your mind?"
At the question, the vampire hummed in thought before she turns to her trusted maid. "That human... If the tengu's was correct, then it was the gap youkai who brought him into Gensokyo"
"I am aware of that"
The vampire nodded at her maid's confirmation. "If that was a fact, then one must wonder for what purpose he was brought to Gensokyo. For all we know about that gap youkai, she never done anything on a whim. And the chances that she did it from the goodness of her heart is close to nil"
"Indeed"
"And then, in front of our very eyes, the human displayed the ability to persist through a full out fight with Meiling. I am fully aware that she's holding back significantly, but for him to display such non human qualities during the fight... It warrants some investigation"
"Is that not why we're on the way to see Reimu?"
"... I guess I'm over thinking it too much. Nonetheless, tell me; what is your opinion on the human"
The maid is taken aback for she is not expecting that question from her mistress. Closing her eyes, she recalls every fact and every detail from memory that she has involving the boy.
Remilia stopped moving when she notice that her maid is hovering in spot while lost in her thought. Wanting to know what her maid thinks of the boy, she patiently waited for her to speak again.
It took nearly a minute before the maid opens her mouth again, and the vampire is honestly shocked at what came out of her mouth. "If I may be honest, I see little reason to be wary of him" the maid stated with conviction.
Quickly reorganising her thoughts, the vampire pried further into her maid's assessment. "Oh? That's quite a strong word. What makes you think that?"
The maid closes her eyes once again as she recalls something from her memory. "Because I found that not a single flower was ruined in the garden" That's right. While she was fixing the garden, not once does she find the need to replant any of the flowers in the garden. "I'm sure Meiling also noticed his respect for the garden, and she most probably would agree with my assessment that the boy can be trusted. At the very least I'm sure that he has no ill intentions"
The vampire nodded at the maid's assessment. Her maid is quite a good judge of character, and there's little reason to doubt her words. "He could be just an idiot"
The maid smiled. "Patchouly-sama said the same thing"
"A keen observation, as expected of her" The vampire laughed before a stern look crosses her face. "Since you're that confident about him, I suppose I could give him the benefits of the doubt for now. But mark my words; if he ever... No, on the day that he proves to be a threat, on the day that he challenges a power greater than him. I WILL run him through with Gungnir"
"Milady, that's..."
The stern look on the vampire's face quickly disappears as a teasing grin takes it place. "Ah, don't worry about it, what are the chances of that actually happening anyway? Come now, it's been a while since I last saw the shrine maiden, and we have a lot of catching up to do" The vampire easily dismisses the heavy atmosphere with a laugh.
But unknown to even the manipulator of fate herself, her untimely joked has left its mark. At that very moment, the wheel of fate ceased turning for the human boy. The roads ahead are still bare open, but the final destination has now been set.
Day 21- A House where the Devils resides!-End
A dark ending just now isn't it? Let's hope that's enough bait for you all to keep reading the story. Mwahahaha!
Now a few clarification on possible questions. When Shirou used his spell card on Meiling, aside from copying her physical prowess and chi energy, he also gained her ability to sense energy in the surrounding, thus getting a passive sixth sense that he uses to predicts Meiling's attacks and keep track of the bullets during the 1st phase of the fight.
And then regarding the second spell card usage... It copied one of the spell card that Meiling uses in Touhou Hisoutensoku. I can't remember what's its name was, but I know it's the one that make swirly rainbow hadouken thingy. Since Shirou does not know how to utilize it to it's full potential, all he can do is use it to make bullets flies out of his fist. He also applies the same principles to unleash energy whiplashes from his feet.
So what do you all think? The danmaku (can it still be called a danmaku though?) against Meiling is written based on the Touhou Hisoutensoku (12.3). Special thanks to youtube username Furyenify for uploading a nice video exhibiting Meiling's attacks in Touhou Hisoutensoku.
Now can I have some reviews please? I'm happy that I got a handful from the previous chapter, but... I kinda want more... hehe...
Profile Update:
Hong Meiling
Colourful Rainbow Gatekeeper
Shirou's Note: She seems like a nice person, I think I can get along with her just fine. I honestly don't see what's wrong with that nickname since everything about her screamed China to me, but since she hate that nickname, I best to never use that word during our conversation. I never asked what kind of youkai she is, but I guess that's not really important for to know anyway, so I'm not gonna bother asking.
Remilia Scarlet
Eternally Young Scarlet Moon
Shirou's Note: I'm gonna stay away from her as much as possible. Vampires... It's not that I don't like her, but she left quite an impression when she have that maid cut my palm so she can drink my blood. Basically... She scares the hell out of me.