Disclaimer: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona belongs to ATLUS. Touhou Project belongs to Zun. I have no ownership of the copyrights of either series in any way.

Chapter 14: Burning Spark

It's become bright, very much so. Opening my eyes, I could see that the room had been flooded to the brim with sunlight from the window. Today's the day; the duel. I get off the bed, and head off to the bathroom to do my usual thing. Coming back, I get ready to for the day. My clothes, MP3, evoker; Beijing, Minerva, and my other dolls that I hadn't named yet, were tucked away safely. Now to check in my head… okay I have Orpheus Telos, Thanatos, Alice, Cybele, Daisoujou, Helel, Satan, Metatron, Lucifer, Mada… and pixie… and Jack Frost. Those two were sort of from a shuffle time during one of my other excursions in Tartarus after the one with Sakuya and Mokou. Though I'm sure Jack Frost was not supposed to come so early… Oh well.

"I guess that's it." Time to see Alice.

Walking out of my room, the smell of breakfast began to flood in. Once I get to the dining room, I see the dolls finishing up preparations for eating.

"Ah, you're up. I was afraid I was going to have to go out of my way to wake you up." I turn my head to see Alice who was as prickly as usual. "Go ahead and have some. I'll join up later." I take her suggestion to heart and take a seat. I notice that the doll that was setting the plates was holding one out for me. I take it in hand.

"Thanks." I know that it's a useless gesture to reply to a doll, but I still can't help it despite that fact. She bows in response and flies back into the kitchen, most likely to set the rest of the table. I begin grabbing things to eat. A typical breakfast like the ones I've had over the course of my tenure under Alice. I'm going to miss this. It's not as good as Youmu's cooking or Shinji's, but it was still pretty damn good to be sure. Alice was also pretty nice company. She may not have talked much, but it was still interesting to talk to her to be sure. Only a few more dolls ran around as I was eating. Soon after they stopped going about, Alice walked out of the kitchen and took her own seat and plate.

"Don't eat too much, you have a duel you have to win after all," Alice said as she began to eat into the assorted fruit that she had.

"You've told me that all week."

"It's truer today, than before. Beside that though, be sure to relax. Marisa is a simpleton. Just keep on your toes and you'll be fine." I guess this was Alice's attempt at a pep talk. 'A' for effort.

"I guess that's something."

"I've seen you grow over the week. Trust me when I say that right now, you're at the very least stage 5 boss material, maybe even extra stage mid-boss." More 'A's but still only for effort.

"Thanks…"

"You'll be fine. I have confidence, and trust me when I say that, that is a rare occurrence." Alice was trying her hardest. It's a bit nice to hear that from her, especially since we spent most of this week not really talking outside of training; well small talk that is. Breakfast was pretty much silent after that save for the obvious 'I'm finished' and other things of that nature. After the cleanup, Alice and I got ready to leave for the duel.

"It's time we get going," Alice said as she opened the door.

"Let's go then." It's time…

Break

"Oh… this is where the clearing is." This place is… the exact same clearing Tartarus appeared in… And it's not that far off from the village… that's a bit on the dangerous side…

"It seems that word of mouth has spread on your duel," Alice noted as she and I looked to find that a multitude of individuals had come. Most of them had beer. It was probably not off to say that pretty much everyone who was at the Hakurei Flower viewing was here as well. It was practically a party in and of itself… this seems a bit inappropriate for a duel.

"Just how did everyone hear of this?" I asked as I started to pinch my nose. I know that it spread considering that Sakuya knew of it when I met her, but still… I didn't realize just how much it actually did spread.

"Oh that would be us." I turned around to see a *Snap*… a flash of light from a camera… Okay I'm not dazed any more… and in front of me was standing Aya… I think. It's been a while since I'd seen her. The Tengu reporter I had met from when I was still heading over to that first party at the Hakurei Shrine was standing confidently with camera at the ready. She looked the same as she did before. Still something was off, oh wait she wasn't alone.

"Aya… and who are you? I'm Minato Arisato." I asked the other person that as standing next to Aya, my hand extended.

"I am Hieda no Akyuu, author of the Gensokyo Chronicle. A pleasure." The young looking girl took my hand in hers and after a shake, let go and took a small bow. After standing back up, I could take the girl fully in view. She definitely was young. At most I would say that she was perhaps 14 or 15. No way was she older than 20. She had purple "Hime cut" hair that was shoulder length and was decorated with a single pink flower on the side. She wore an elaborate and very expensive looking kimono which had yellow sleeves decorated with more flowers, a green inner wrapping, as well as a red maroon skirt. What struck me oddest however, were the eyes. Those eyes, while young looking, seemed to hide wisdom far greater than her youth suggested… "And please refer to me as Akyuu-san."

"Sure, but… Um… Gensokyo Chronicle?" Sounds… comprehensive.

"An anthology I write. It is a chronicle of the history of Gensokyo and its notable denizens," Akyuu stated with a dash of pride noted in her voice.

"And what pray tell is your business here? It's rare for you to be out of your lavish home," Alice cut in.

"I'm here to chronicle first hand a Spell Card duel," Akyuu rebutted. "Spell Card Duels are normally sporadic things, and it's very hard for me to get to them when they do happen so randomly. This Duel is a rare opportunity for me to see one in person."

"Well I guess that's something." I suppose that means that duels can happen for the most arbitrary of reasons, huh?

"I am also going to be referee for this duel," Akyuu added.

"Akyuu here was really giddy for this. Couldn't sleep all that much." Aya started to pat the head of the diminutive girl.

"Perhaps if a certain crow would stop cawing, then maybe I would have been able to take proper rest." Akyuu batted Aya's hand away and coughed into her hand before returning to facing me. "By the way. You're the first to arrive. Marisa has yet to show herself." Oh… I was wondering where she was.

"Do you know if she's running late?" I asked. That just makes all of this even more nerve racking… oh crap I'm dueling in front of a lot of people…

"Wouldn't be the first time," Alice's voice rasped in annoyance.

"Minato-kun!" Everyone turned to –

"Oomph!" I let out as I was apparently just bombarded by what I can only assume to be a new biological weapon made of the squishiest of materials known to man… or made of man… specifically woman.

"Yuyuko-sama!" I opened my eyes to find that indeed, Yuyuko had apparently just tackled me to the ground and was currently nuzzling her head into my chest. I took a glance upward to find Youmu and Myon not far behind.

"Minato-kun! I've missed you." Yuyuko's speech was somewhat intelligible, but was difficult to make out from all the nuzzling. "Mou! You're so mean; leaving all of a sudden without telling me! Who was I supposed to have tea time with when you were gone?" Youmu perhaps?

"Yeah, I missed you too, Yuyuko-san." I patted her on the head… So much for the dignity of a princess. I then turned to Youmu and Myon who had just caught up to us. "Hey, Youmu. How's everything been?"

"He-Hello Minato-san!" Youmu bowed. "Everything has been the usual back home." Right. My home is in Hakugyokurou. "Well, actually-" Whatever Youmu was about to say was cut off right there by the second attack that day; this time of the mechanical nature.

"Master!" Suddenly Ruukoto. The maid had, from out of the blue, latched on to me and was bolstering Yuyuko's onslaught on my body. Being hugged and nuzzled by two women. This would be pretty cool if it were not for the fact that I have something very important to do today.

"Hello, Ruukoto," I let out. There is a distinct decrease in my oxygen intake.

"I see you're having fun." A voice that was filled with malice rang out from the wood work. I took my gaze from the maid upwards to find Reimu standing with her arms crossed looking just crossed herself.

"Well I'd probably enjoy it more once the duel is over." I can't deny that.

"Enjoy what, Minato?" Behind Reimu, an obscured figure walked out and revealed herself to be Sanae… Oh crap. I don't like that look on her face. It looks like it's all smiles, but there is an undeniable Asura like rage just steaming beneath.

"Um… Say you think Marisa is here yet?" Divert the subject. Divert the subject. DIVERT THE SUBJECT!

"Oh I think we still have enough time for an explanation…" Reimu stated as she and Sanae began to close in. Reimu's face one of obvious contempt and Sanae's with hidden. Behind them however, dolls all of a sudden grabbed them from behind.

"Hey!"

"What's going on!?" Sanae and Reimu were subdued… thank god.

"Unfortunately your 'explanation' will have to wait. Minato cannot afford injury until afterwards." Reimu and Sanae seemed to be about to complain about Alice's intervention before she cut the off with- "After the duel however, well, the party's on." Reimu and Sanae seemed to be a bit surprised by that before turning to each other and nodding after looking at one another for a second. I don't like the looks of that.

"So yeah…" I started. "Just where is Marisa?" I asked as I just managed to get out of the double vice grips I was in.

"Well I hope it's soon. I'm missing a lot of potential Scoops for this," Aya said, letting her antsy nature show. On that note, I hope she's here soon as well.

Break

"Is she here yet?" I asked.

"Minato, it's only been 5 minutes." Sanae was the one to respond.

"Right." I better get my MP3 then. It seems that Yuyuko, Youmu, and Ruukoto went off to get seats among the gathered crowd. Only Sanae, Reimu, Aya, and Akyuu were still up here. Now what should I listen to…

Break

"Hey I think that's… oh wait no. That's just a bird," Akyuu was a bit disappointed. I would be too if I weren't listening to some tunes.

Break

"How long has it been?" Reimu asked this time.

"30 minutes," Aya replied.

"Dammit." My thoughts exactly Reimu.

Break

"Minato, just when were you supposed to meet up?" Sanae asked, a bit tired from all the standing.

"I don't remember." Did I even ask? It seems like so long ago now.

"Well whatever the case is. She's late. No doubt about that." Reimu was also similarly tired.

Break

"I think I'm about to leave if she doesn't show up now," Aya said with a nod from Akyuu as well.

"Agreed," Akyuu stated with an apparent lag in her voice. This is turning out to be pretty bad… a lot of the spectators are also getting pretty antsy too. Well it's not like I wanted them around to begin with, but might as well keep them if they're here.

"Hey wait!" Reimu stood up and pointed upwards. "She's here!" I looked up see a black figure in the distance slowly growing in size as it approached us from above. As the seconds passed, the figure became clearer and clearer until it was obvious that it was the Blonde Magician Thief was the one who was coming.

"YOOOOOOOOO!" Marisa yelled from the distance just as she landed in the same way as before. A dramatic stop just right above the ground, the wind dancing around her as her momentum came to a halt. She hopped off just as the wind died and made a huge bow. "Sorry I'm late! I was held up a bit."

"A bit!? Marisa, it's been almost hour!" Reimu chided her companion. "That's not a bit!" No kidding. It's like two bits.

"Glad to see you show up." My voice caught Marisa's attention just as she was scratching the back of her head in embarrassment from Reimu's ranting. "You're looking a bit fancier than usual today. Are you going on a date or something?" Marisa's bow was frillier than usual and her attire was also a bit more risqué showing a bit of the top of her chest.

"Oh? You noticed? It took me a while to find this." I have to admit, Marisa does clean up nicely. It was sort of cute how she was curling her braid around her finger so coyly like that.

"Okay, okay you two. Break it up. We've wasted enough time already so let's just get this duel started," Akyuu told us as she pushed Marisa and me apart.

"Hey! I was in the middle of something," Marisa indignantly replied.

"Well then consider it punishment for being late. Now, before we lose any more time. Please get into positions." Akyuu then began to push Marisa over to one of the sides of the clearing. "I trust you will get into position yourself?" Akyuu asked after turning around to face me.

"No need to push me. I can get there myself." I said as I put my hands up in front of me to indicate a no.

"Good. Now let's finally get this started." Akyuu proceeded to push a still complaining Marisa.

"Well this is it," I said to no one in particular.

"Good luck Minato." I nodded thanks to Sanae.

"Just do your best," Reimu said, though I suppose considering Marisa's win history, that was probably the most I would get from her. At least it's nice to know that I'll still have Reimu's approval, even if I lose.

"I will." I don't really want to give anything less either.

"Well I'll be heading up. I got to get a good angle for the shot." And without a word more, Aya rocketed upwards, a trail of white following behind her like a jet.

"Well I guess it's time." I walked over to where I was supposed to be and turned back around to find Marisa in position as well, though a bit downcast. Regardless though, I'm ready.

Break

"This Spell Card Duel will consist of Seven Hits and Seven Cards to both sides. The Duel will conclude when either side has lost their entire reserve of hits or 100 seconds pass after their final Card has been played." Akyuu's opening speech was far more elaborate than Reimu's was when I first dueled. She stood at the side of what was relatively in the middle between Marisa and me. From that position she would be able to survey the most of the battle field. "Now, if both sides can confirm their willingness now." She turned to Marisa first.

"I've been ready since the day I challenged him, ze!" Marisa shouted confidently from her side. Her broom swung up behind her in a somewhat intimidating fashion. Akyuu simply nodded and then turned to me for my confirmation.

"Ready…" as I'll ever be.

"Then I, the referee Akyuu, declare this duel to begin in 3… 2… 1… Start!"

"Deploy…" I said under my breath as I threw my dolls out all at once, creating a wall of them in front of me. "Fire…" I commanded them as they then began to unleash a barrage of bullets that flew right towards Marisa.

"Woah!" Marisa took to the skies to avoid the storm, holding on to her hat as she ascended. "Coming out full force right out the gate, ze? You'll tire yourself out at that rate." We'll see about that. Holding Beijing and Minerva back, I sent the other dolls out to both her right and her left, three for each side. Okay, Beijing, Minerva you go… here! Once my unnamed dolls got within distance, they fired once more, and as expected Marisa dodged downward, spinning as she descended, to get closer to me to retaliate.

"Gotcha!" I yelled as I brought Minerva and Beijing from behind her to close off her escape while I myself flew forward, activating Lucifer's Blade to stand ready and strike.

"Magic Sign 'Stardust Reverie'!" Marisa yelled, her first spell card of the duel shining. At her word, a shower of stars began to spiral out with her as the center, almost like a kaleidoscope. The stars however, ripped through my own bullets and proceeded to mow through the battlefield. "How's that? Are you seeing stars yet, ze?" Crap! I immediately retract my dolls back into my ring, and begin to run as far back as I could to gain some distance. Grr, I can't find an easy opening to squeeze through. Looks like I'm just going to have to push back just as hard then. [Change]

"Cybele!" I yelled, firing a round into my head while still flying back from the stardust. "Magarudyne!" Cybele began to charge up the magic. Okay and… here it is! "Fantasy Magarudyne!" I yelled, anticipating the change in the cards name from Fantasy Agidyne. Through my experiments I found out that I could change an already fused card, and now's the time to put it to use. The card flashed and the image changed from rainbow fireballs to rainbow hurricanes. As if on cue, the wind in the clearing began to spin furiously, throwing the stars heading my way off course. The spots where the wind was spinning the fastest began to almost solidify until a number of them had appeared, each a different color. It had become a forest of rainbow tornados.

"Ooooh… not bad!" Marisa yelled, trying to be heard over the roaring winds.

"Yeah, it's worse." The multicolored mini hurricanes then started to let out danmaku shots like rain, the shots being the same color as the tornado they spawned from while flying in a spinning trajectory that was counter to Marisa's card. Whatever stars that were still flying from her card were now either completely blown away or were colliding with the bullets being shot out from my own. In response, Marisa began to dodge the oncoming onslaught with about as much grace as you'd expect a girl on a broom to have. She still, however, managed to dodge every single bullet with ease even though some of them were just only by a small graze. She continued to pass by even the smallest of gaps in the curtain, some of which I didn't even know were gaps. Near the end of the card however, she seemed to be wobbling her hand a little more than usual. Perhaps a sign of fatigue, she then pointed out her hand almost as if she was trying to balance something as she pointed it towards the ground. The moment she retracted her hand however-

*Pichun!* "Marisa, 6 hits remaining!" Akyuu yelled from the ground, a safe distance away from the rain of bullets. It looks like the first hit's mine.

*Pichun!* "Minato, 6 hits remaining!" Akyuu yelled as I all of a sudden felt a strange heat hit me from the back. I immediately turned around to see a magic circle fade from existence, a circle with a star motif.

"You can't afford any distractions, Minato; even by your own card, ze!" Marisa chided in a mocking, but playful, tone. I see, so that was why she was pointing at me. She wasn't balancing herself out. She was setting up a trap. She isn't the number two in Gensokyo for nothing. "Now it's my turn to make it rain!" Marisa held her hands out in front of her and a flash of light emerged from her palms. From that light, more star shaped bullets began to spew forth towards where I was standing. I guess this is where I take flight.

I launch off the ground to avoid the initial assault. Marisa, without losing a beat, fired even more bullets, tracing my flight path. I continued to fly up and about to avoid getting tagged even once by her shots until the volleys stopped. I oriented myself to see what Marisa was up to, to find that she was charging up an even bigger volley to fire at me this time. I can use this. [Change] Marisa, as expected, fired the barrage of bullets right at me and I in turn readied my counter.

"Orpheus Telos!" I summoned. I then swung my own arm out, and as I did so, Orpheus mimicked my motions and swung his harp to destroy the incoming fire. Orpheus, his job done, had then faded back into my mind. I began to focus on my control ring. Okay, now's the chance to redeploy- What is-!?

"BANZAI!" Marisa yelled as she rocketed towards me at maximum velocity. Before I could raise my sword to defend- wait is she flying backwards?

*Pichun!* "Minato, 5 hits remaining!" I- wuh- huh? The world went black for a second there, and not because I was just hit. Ouch… I think she hit my head with whatever she did… I think I also spun out for just a moment too. Whatever she hit me with I have to admit… it was… soft. I reopened my eyes to find that I was diagonally oriented with the ground as well as upside down; an awkward orientation to be sure. I then quickly righted myself and spun around to find Marisa behind me, laughing.

"Hahaha! How do you like that one?" Marisa let out as she continued her mirthful release.

"Did you just… " hit me ass first? "Never mind!" I blurted out, trying to contain my embarrassment at getting hit with her soft butt, and shaking my head to get rid of that adjective noun association.

"You're getting sloppy. I didn't think that would work at all, ze!" Marisa told me as her laughing was beginning to die down. I'll show you sloppy! Okay, steady now just raise it to my head and-

*Pichun!* "Minato, 4 hits remaining!" Did I just-!? No way… I just…

"You just shot yourself in the head!? Oh man! I think I'm gonna lose a hit from just laughing, ze! Are you nervous or something? " Marisa then started to lean back hard on her broom as she began to let out another tirade of laughter. No way… nervous? Well, I mean, yeah this is a lot to deal with at once, what with all the bullets, but… no way… I can't dwell on this right now. NO MISTAKES THIS TIME! [Change]

"Messiah!" I called out followed with the command of- "God's hand!" This time for sure. I grabbed the card that I had gotten a few nights ago from the letter I got; the one from Mima. "Evil Field!" And at that moment, the card lit up like a Christmas tree morphed itself, a giant fist now slamming itself through the middle. "Evil God's Hand Field!" I shouted, the new name of the spell card showing itself through the glow.

"What?" Marisa asked, surprised… while flying perfectly still. The battlefield seemed to snap instantly as a jagged white 'X' like shape suddenly flashed into place where Marisa was, blinding her completely before a rain of mini God's Hands flew down to strike her. Perhaps as a testament to her skill, she managed to regain her sight right before the attack got close to her and immediately flew into an evasive maneuver to dodge the incoming punches. However, unexpectedly, the 'X' flash came once again, robbing Marisa of her sight a second time. While still trying to fly, she accidently ran into one of the falling fists and-

*Pichun* "Marisa, 5 hits remaining!" The card ended soon after, Marisa's grace period lasting the rest of the cards run time. She began to rub her eyes for a few moments before setting her sights back on me the moment she finished. She was giving a mischievous smirk.

"Well didn't you just shut me up?" Marisa raised her left index finger and energy seemed to flow to her fingertip before a charge of magical energy and stars formed itself just above the tip. "Well…" She then fired the charge, while the finger was still pointing up. Marisa seemed to look at her own hand with a look of surprise. I guess that was a misfire. "Oops. Guess that shook me up a bit. Let's try that again, ze." Not a chance. [Change]

"Nope…" I raised the evoker to my head all the while summoning my dolls to the battlefield again. No suicides. "Daisoujou! Masukukaja!" A green glow enveloped my body as well as the bodies of my dolls and once the glow died, my dolls all of a sudden began to move even faster to the position I wanted them in. In this case that was right in Marisa's face.

"Hey!" Marisa yelled in reaction to my attacking her while distracted. She then began to fire some shots to try and divert the dolls, and as expected, her shots were hitting their marks as my dolls' fly patterns were diverting horribly, but then again they're not meant to attack. "Huh!?" Marisa yelped as she noticed me flying from below, evoker aimed, to try and attack her with my own shots. "No free looks!" Marisa yelled at me in a somewhat playful manner. She then got off her broom and began to fall downwards with her broom at the ready to swing. Unfortunately, Marisa had gravity on her side and so met up with me before I could properly take a shot, or even get a good angle.

She swung her broom in a wide arc that almost hit me at the tip of my nose as I completely reversed my acceleration to downwards so as to match hers to get away. The momentum of the wide swing caused Marisa to make a single flip; a flip that she used to place the broom on her shoulder like a bazooka.

"FIRE!" She shouted with an almost manic glee as a single huge blast of magical energy erupted from the tip of the broom's shaft. Unfortunately I had gravity bolstering my acceleration downwards. Dammit! I can't change it fast enough! It's going to-

*Pichun!* "Minato, 3 hits remaining!" The kinetic force from the hit accelerated me downwards even more so until-

"Arrah!" I hit the ground, my grace period preventing it from counting as a hit. I struggled to open my eyes, my muscles aching a bit from the impact as I tried to get back up. As I finally raised my torso up and opened my eyes I saw Marisa aiming right at me with an object too small for me to make out from where I was. I could see a shining light.

"Time for the showstopper! MAAAASTEEER SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!" A beam of energy completely engulfed my sight as the attack came at me at light speed before I could even move. If my grace period could just out last it… 2… 1… No!

*Pichun!* "Minato, 2 hits remaining!" This… searing heat! Urgh… Got to… move! My other grace period is ending! ARRAGH!

"RAAH" I yelled as I pulled with all my strength to move under the extreme pressure and force from the Master Spark. Forcing my legs to jump out, I managed to just get out before the second grace period ended, tumbling as I got out of the attack. I take a few breaths before getting up to my feet and reasserting control over my dolls which had fallen to the ground from my loss of concentration. I then turned my attention to a disappointed looking Marisa.

"Man… I was hoping to end it there," Marisa said while pouting a smidge. Damn, I think that Master Spark's… I think its nature is naturally Almighty, I didn't need to use Megido to change it. Actually most of her shots seem to be almighty… my adding Megido probably only changed what the card did after the big laser beam.

"Too bad," I let out, still trying to catch my breath, which I luckily finished right there. I raised my evoker to my head. My dolls still rising one by one- *Bang!*

*Pichun!* "Minato, 1 hit remaining!" Dammit, I was distracted trying to get my dolls back in place. I mixed up firing a bullet and firing at my head again. This just isn't going my way… Before Marisa could let out another tirade of laughter, I immediately let out another shot. I can't give up now!

"Daisoujou! Sukunda!" Daisoujou reappeared above me and rang his bell. At the sound, a green aura now began to close in on Marisa who noticed and tried to fly away from it. No matter how much she moved however, the green aura did eventually close in on her completely, while at the same time she closed her eyes in anticipation for a hit… a hit that never came as she opened her eyes in a bit shock.

"I thought that was an attack? Did you get so nervous that you forgot to actually put some power in your hits?" Marisa taunted, a bit of sweat still visible on her though.

" Bounded Field 'Boundary of Life and Death'!" I yelled as I raised the card above. Out of my cards I got to this one last and couldn't come up with a good combo for it, so it's still vanilla.

"That's just boring. I've already beat this one, ze!" Marisa said, letting out a tired yawn as she casually surveyed the oncoming bullets flying at her.

"I figured as much," I said in response to her despondency.

"Well if you'll excuse me…" Marisa then began to fly, and as she did, her eyes widened. "Wait, why am I going so slowly?" Marisa asked as panic began to rise from her once bored demeanor.

"Sukunda," I began to explain, "It's not supposed to actually deal damage, as you can now no doubt tell." It might distract for a second to actually think of what it's supposed to do, which is to rob one of their agility.

"Crap!" She yelled as she began to frantically fly between the bullets as fast as she could. The effort of trying to fly at a reduced maximum speed was apparent as she began to barely weave between the multicolored, variably sized, bullets. All I could do as I held the card was watch and pray. Apparently though, the praying part didn't work. Marisa managed to get through without even a single shot hitting her, but exhaustion was clearly written on her. This works too. My dolls… perfect. I kick off the ground right to where she was as she began to descend to catch her breath. She looked up, fight still in her eyes. She then began to fly up and backwards to keep her distance. I aimed my evoker. [Change]

"Messiah! Primal Force!" I then raised a card with my other hand. "Lance Sign 'Cutie Phalanx'!" Messiah sent the energy for his attack straight into my dolls as my card began to shift again. "Cutie Force!" An embarrassing name, but no time to think about it. Marisa seemed confused for a second, most likely expecting the assault to come from the front. In a savvy move, she then looked in the direction that her momentum was carrying her to find a wall of dolls behind her, all the while moving too fast to change it in time. The dolls moved in, each striking with a lance many times their sizes and each one attacking with a Primal Force of their own. An onslaught of one of my most powerful physical moves began to attack Marisa, still addled by the sukunda. In no time at all-

*Pichun!* "Marisa, 4 hits remaining!" Akyuu yelled as Marisa began flying from the hit; flying right back to me while still dazed and trying to open her eyes. My dolls' assault ended quickly since the spell card doesn't last very long to begin with, and I quickly raised my hand to grab another card, my unique card. Marisa forced her eyes open to find me standing, ready to fire my card off. She placed her arms over face to brace for the impact. Now for my sho- Suddenly flashes of light fell from the sky, flashes in the shape of stars.

*Pichun!* "Minato, 0 hits remaining! Marisa Wins!" Where did that come from!? I looked up to find that there was nothing there. Marisa meanwhile was still flying at me. Because she was still anticipating my attack, she barreled right into me, and we began to roll over the ground together until the friction from the ground put us to a stop. Marisa began to slowly rise from the ground.

"Ow ow ow ow…" Marisa muttered. "Wait… did I win?" she asked in a confused state.

"Stars suddenly fell from the sky for some reason." I told her as I rubbed my head a bit to try and numb the pain. I was still on my knees trying to grasp what had happened.

"Stars? Wait you mean that misfire I had…"

"Gravity," I said to give the most likely reason… Her shot got pulled back down by gravity, and by some horrible luck, I was in the firing zone.

At that moment, the crowd began to close in. With the battle over with, they began to crowd Marisa to try and get a comment on the battle. I myself was left out of it, save for a few people that were apparently coming over to me if the footsteps were anything to go by.

"Minato… are you okay?" Sanae asked in a cautious manner.

"He just lost. I guess that's what happens when you go up against Marisa as your second opponent ever." That was Reimu who said that. "You still did well though…" Thanks… but I still lost…

… I lost. It's just hit me now. I… lost. I've never lost a battle before… granted those battles were life and death and this one isn't… but… I still lost. I could feel my teeth gritting. Dammit… Dammit! I lost, and after all my training…

"Minato, are you okay?" Sanae asked again in more concerned way… No. I'm not. I'm okay with losing. That's life, c'est la vie Mitsuru taught me. What I'm not okay with, was losing because of something stupid on my part. If only I didn't shoot myself in the head, twice! I was so nervous, so distracted that I didn't properly think about what I wanted to do. All that practice to be able to shoot a bullet without really having to think about it… it backfired on me.

"Well if anything you did back Marisa in a corner a few times, more than I can say for most of the other opponents she and I face." Reimu once again spoke, trying to comfort me, though in my frame of mind, I couldn't fully appreciate it. Backed into a corner? I was too… When was the last time that happened? Well there was Cirno, since that was my first game… and Nyx… and now that I think about it, my duel with Elizabeth as well.

Duel… more like a desperate battle between a mouse and a lion, and I was not the lion. But I still won that, if only because I wasn't literally shooting myself that time… I was able to summon my persona with no problems… unlike now. Guess Sanae is right. Maybe I do need to find a different way to summon my power. But the method of distributing my personas to my dolls isn't going to work well enough as a replacement if I can't keep concentration on the summoning while trying to direct my dolls in that sort of situation. So then what do I have left? Actually, how was Elizabeth able to summon hers?

"I also have to admit that what you did with my card was also pretty cool…" Reimu said in a seemingly begrudging way. "Not that I'm praising you for changing my card or anything." Wait…

… Card. Right, Elizabeth attacked me with cards! Everything she did, she did with cards… even summoning her personas. It looked like all she did was… was will it into existence. Can I do the same… summon it through a card.

"What the!?" Reimu all of a sudden exclaimed in surprise.

"Minato, what's that!?" Now Sanae was excited about something. I then looked up to find… a card wreathed in flames, descending slowly. A door with a Skull was visible as it continued to spin in place, XIII visible at its bottom. It's just out of reach from where I am… but if Elizabeth's example is anything to go bye, I probably don't need to reach it. I raise my evoker upward and aim it point blank right on the card… I guess I don't have to think about whether or not to fire an actual shot anymore.

"Sanae, Reimu… step back a bit." The two did as I asked of them, perhaps taking my advice out of a lack of information of what to do in the situation… I've got nothing to lose.

*Bang!* My energy shot ripped through the card, shattering it like glass, just like what would happen if I shot myself. The sound caught the attention of some of the spectators that had crowded Marisa. Blue flames now engulfed my own body as I stood up, energy flowing through me, the rush of the new summoning method filling me. The flames then died as a morbid figure arose from above me.

"ARRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" It let out, its inhuman roar echoing across the entire clearing. Its cry caught the attention of everyone now as some cowered in fear of the and those who didn't saw a ghastly visage. Above me was a towering human like creature. Its body was completely covered in a black suit, including its head. Instead, a mask shaped like a monster's jaw acted as its face. Its white coloring helped to liken it to the image of a skull. At its waist was a sheath that held a simple sword, but next to that sheath, and wrapped around its waist, was a chain. Unmistakably, this chain was connected to an article that wreathed itself behind the creature. What the chains connected to, were a series of coffins floating in the air, their placement evoking the image of a cape… but far more morbid. Every inch of this monster seemed to scream death… as it should. Thanatos wasn't exactly one to play nice. After letting out its roar, Thanatos receded back into my mind, and as it did, a card fell once again, but this time faded out of existence before I could grab it.

"We-well… I barely avoided needing to change my underwear." Marisa's voice caught my attention as I turned to see the Ordinary Magician a bit shaken, as with the rest of the crowd.

"Um… sorry about that. It just sort of slipped." Though I have to admit it was a bit cathartic to see everyone frightened out of their wits. Well most everyone apparently since some were more amused… like that one green haired girl in the plaid… But back to more important things… I can do this. "I demand a rematch, right now!" Marisa visibly perked up.

"Oooh; using a continue?" There we go with that gaming terminology again. This isn't a bullet hell game… since its real life. "Eh… sure! I'm not too hot on how it ended just now. I'll play, ze!" Marisa broke through the crowd which began to disperse back to the clearings outer edges. "But since I'm the one being challenged and it's sort of a continuation, let's set some special rules."

"Like what?" I asked incredulously.

"Since you lost, we have to give you a bit of a handicap… how about, you only get 3 hits and 2 spell cards, while I get to keep my 4 hits and spell card count from the previous duel. Is that okay?" Marisa asked me.

"Sure, I'm not going to lose this time," I told her.

"I don't know about that, but I'll take that as a challenge to win twice in a row, ze!" Marisa pumped her fist. We both then turned our gaze to the referee, Akyuu.

"Well it's not every day that I get to judge a duel, let alone two. I'll referee again." Akyuu was visibly tired but more visibly excited at the prospect of judging another duel. She must not get out a lot. "Well then, if the two combatants will take their places for the rematch."

Break

All was still once more as Marisa and I faced each other again. I had picked up my dolls and sword that I had left from last time. Apparently I had lost my sword sometime during the Master Spark. Perhaps as a testament to the fact that it's a rare and powerful artifact, it wasn't damaged in the slightest, and neither were my dolls for that matter. Beijing, Minerva, and the rest were just fine even after having been dropped thanks to my lapse in keeping tabs and sending my will through them. I won't lose them this time though.

"The rematch between Marisa and Minato; I declare to commence in 3…2…1… Start!" Akyuu threw her hand down to start the match. [Change] I pointed my evoker towards the front of me. Marisa looked to be about to try and get out of the way, but hesitated when a blue card began to float down. She did however take flight once I shot it with a bullet with my evoker as the firing medium.

"Daisoujou!" I called forth, but unlike last time, Marisa didn't hesitate to fire a volley of stars to rain on me. I immediately rolled out of the way, dodging it as a red sheen gleamed around me for only a second. Good, it's set up. Now to deploy… I threw my hand out to summon my dolls and once they were out, they each began to fire a constant stream of covering fire to distract Marisa. She did as I thought she would and began to concentrate most of her efforts on trying to dodge eight different lines of fire.

All of this was happening as I set myself up more. "Masukukaja! Matarukaja!" My dolls, including myself, were enveloped by pillars of green and orange. As soon as the lights died down, my dolls suddenly began to fire at a faster rate while at the same time tracking Marisa even better than before. This all the while the shots all of a sudden expanded in size to about double. Though the expansion wasn't much, its combination with the buffed up speed and homing put the pressure on Marisa even further, preventing her from getting any breathing room to return fire.

Marisa however was still simply untouchable here. Like last time, she weaved through the curtain with unparalleled skill, which was amazing considering how clunky she looks riding on that broom. Despite that, she was sliding past even the smallest of gaps in the onslaught and grazing by every single bullet without fail. I tried to throw her off by intentionally randomizing some of the firing patterns, but she adapted quickly and used those lapses to get even closer to me. I have to do something different or this will end up like last time!

"I'm getting some Déjà vu, Minato. I think I might just use another card at this rate, ze!" Marisa shouted from within the bullet storm, almost casually for that matter if it weren't for the shouts preventing it from sounding to lax. Okay… just feel the pull I can do this. Just let them take it. There! I clenched my fist that had the control ring on it as I used all my concentration to summon my personas through my dolls. Orpheus Telos, Thanatos, Messiah, Cybele, Daisoujou, Alice, Mada, Pixie and Jack Frost emerged from behind my dolls and me, with Jack Frost taking up my summoning. The mass summoning however caused the firing to stop.

"Huh?" Marisa let out as she looked a bit confused. The pause was only temporary as the attack resumed, this time with the bullets I was firing taking on properties of the skills that my personas had. Fist shaped ones from the doll possessed by Messiah, ones shaped like swords from the Thanatos possessed one, arrows from Cybele, and so on. The variety in bullets as opposed to the sea of the same one over and over visibly put Marisa on edge as she returned to dodging, only with more panic. It all however came to a predictable head.

*Pichun!* "Marisa, 3 hits remaining!" Marisa let out a grunt in response to having been shot, specifically by a flame bullet made by Mada.

"You're getting sloppy, Marisa. I thought you'd dodge all of it." Okay not really. Marisa's grace period started up, but I continued my onslaught, the result being that she was still pressured to dodge, even while immune so as to prevent her attention from lapsing.

"I'll… admit… that… you're… doing better… this time…ze!" Marisa let out in clusters as she tried to dodge the unending storm. "But I still have my own Cards!" Marisa quickly grabbed a card from her person and prepared her object that she used to fire the Master Spark. Oh crap. I stop my attack and send my doll out of the way in various places so as not to get in the line of fire, a few shots were still flying about though. Marisa seemed to notice my distractedness from concentrating on moving my dolls and immediately shouted, "Perversion 'SURE FIRE MASTER SPAAAAAAAARK'!"

A thin beam of energy shot out, much smaller than I had anticipated and seemed to miss me altogether for that matter. I stared at the rainbow beam for only a second to face Marisa, only to find her smiling at me and-

*Pichun!* "Minato, 2 hits remaining!" The only managed to escape getting caught in the blast, but the sudden expansion of the beam to something even wider than the original Master Spark completely caught me off guard and hit my trailing foot. Egh… that smarts… I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been directly hit. Still…

*Pichun!* "Marisa, 2 hits remaining!" Akyuu let out as Marisa let out a subsequent-

"Ow!"- from having been hit in the head by a lance that one of my dolls was wielding. It was one that I was sending behind Marisa as she fired the card. She then rubbed her head where she was struck, her eyes closed from the pain. I let out a smile of my own, an amused one, almost happy.

"You know, your card's a bit too flashy. Perhaps you should tone it down a notch so that you don't get distracted." Marisa then responded, with her eyes still closed-

"Says the guy who got hit by it, ze!" Marisa then opened her eyes to face me, "And another… thing…" Marisa's sentence trailed off as she continued to stare at me for some reason, her face getting a little flushed. I let my smile go to see what was wrong.

"Marisa? You okay?" I guess I shouldn't have done that in the middle of a duel, smiling that is.

"Huh? Right! What I meant to say was-" Okay, now's my chance! I instantly retracted my dolls to my position and once again poured energy into my dolls and summoned the same Personas again. They each silently prepared an elemental spell as I prepared the spell card to match. All the while Marisa was saying something about… well something.

"Instinct 'Release of the Id'!" I shouted, deciding to use Koishi's card. The card did as the others before it and glowed, its image and name twisting before finally settling in. "Release of the Dynes!" My shout alerted Marisa to what was going on.

"What the?" She said as she saw hundreds of heart shaped bullets emanating from my body, each one powered a dyne level elemental spell, baring the most likely banned Mudo and Hama lines. The hearts began to spin faster and faster outward as more and more of them spawned and were shaped by whatever doll they were closest to and by extension, the Persona they were nearest. "I like that, if you're gonna shoot, shoot! Don't talk! So I will too, ze!" Marisa said as she prepared her own card to meet mine head on. "Star Sign 'Meteonic Shower'!" In that instance, from Marisa's palms, a shower of stars began to erupt and clash with the dyne powered hearts, canceling each other out upon impact in spectacular fashion as they exploded into mini hearts and stars that fell to the ground, fading before making impact with the earth. This occurred a countless number of times, however Marisa and could both see that it was going to end soon.

*Pichun!* "Minato, 1 hit remaining!" Marisa's attack slipped through the wall of hearts and hit me dead center, knocking me around a bit for just a second from the impact. I was a sitting duck, the Hearts were rotating at a relatively slow place all the while being somewhat random, and Marisa's attack was a concentrated firing at one point. It was a bit stupid to continue the spell card after she used hers in retrospect. After getting my bearings and retracting my dolls back into the ring, Marisa began to speak.

"It's been a fun ride, and I'll make it up to you after the duel, but I'm winning this right NOW!" Marisa declared as she rushed over to me in a startling burst of speed. "This is gonna hurt!" She let out as she got off her broom to try and upper cut me with it. In response I flew upwards, high into the sky to avoid the impact, but apparently that was a seemingly bad idea. "Thanks, saves me the trouble of getting you up there!" Marisa yelled as the far end of the broom suddenly lit up in blue sparks and launched her over to me even faster than she did earlier! At about ten to twenty meters before impact, Marisa hopped on her broom like a surfboard and let out one final shout. "SUUUUN GRAAAAZER!" she yelled just at the moment of contact. It's over…

*Pichun!* "Ma-Marisa? I mean, yes Marisa; 1 hit remaining!" Akyuu let out confusedly as she watched the exchange that occurred while flabbergasted. At the point of contact a red shield like veil appeared for a split second. In that split second however, Marisa was hit by an invisible force, and was launched backwards at amazing speed. A speed that matched the one she was planning on hitting me with. Due to what was perhaps a combination of shock, surprise and just the force from impact, Marisa hit the ground faster than terminal velocity would normally take a person; the grace period and spell card duel contract power also shielding her from the full damage. From up high I lowered myself down to get within speaking distance of her. I saw that she was exhausted and looked to be unable to move.

"You interrupted me earlier when I was casting a spell at the beginning of this duel, so I guess I'll say it now: Tetrakarn." It had no meaning to her, which was clear by the confusion on her face in conjunction with a multitude of other emotions from having her ultimate attack reflected, but that was the name of the spell that creates a special barrier that reflects all physical attacks, though not magical. Time to finish this… if I don't need to use almighty… fire will do. [Change] I grab a spell card from within my coat while at the same time aiming at the now falling Tarot card in front of me. I guess I'll name it after one of my favorite songs.

"Dread Sign 'BURNING SPAAAAAAAAAAARK'!" I yelled as Metatron burst forth, casting an Agidyne to merge with Master Spark to form this new card. The result: A giant pillar of pure rainbow flame burst forth, searing the world with its heat as it flew towards the ground to hit its target, the person who gave me the base card to begin with. A large crash resounded throughout the world it seemed like, but after that, the world seemed to almost be silent before a torrent of sound erupted to make up for it.

*Pichun!* "Marisa, 0 hits remaining. Minato is the Winner! Please stop!" I think Akyuu said in a bit of a panic as I could only barely hear her. I still dispelled the card prematurely. I don't want to kill her. I like Marisa too much for that. She's just fun. I then flew down to the smoldering clearing, Marisa still staring up at the sky in a daze, though much of her clothes were in tatters or slightly burnt. That protection stuff really does wonders.

"Marisa, you okay?" I asked her as she seemed to snap out of it, looking at me before making a wry smile.

"I'm not dead, so it's all well, ze." Marisa seemed to struggle on the ground for a bit. I walked over to her and picked her up while having Beijing pick up her broom. It's my fault that she's hurt, so I guess I'll look after her. "Woah!" She exclaimed, surprised by the sudden bridal carry. "I'm not ready for this! My heart's not ready!" She yelled her face flushing as she struggled futilely to get out. I wasn't letting her go, if only because dropping her would cause her to hurt herself even more.

"Hold still!" I told her as I began to surge a Persona through Beijing. "Messiah, Salvation!" I commanded. A veil of light rose up to wrap us in its glow, and our wounds, and there were wounds despite the safeties, vanished. Now I let her go, and she seemed to anticipate it as she hopped right out at the same time, and landed on her feet without trouble.

"Wow! It's like I wasn't even fighting at all, ze!" Marisa gushed, nonplussed about the loss. I'll ask later but for now-

"So what now?" I asked her.

"Now? Well I'm honestly still a bit tired and I can see you are too, so" she drawled.

"So what?"

"Now we Party!" Marisa excitedly shouted.

"Joy…"

Break

"Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy…" I let out in exasperation as the party was still underway at the Hakurei Shrine where nearly all the spectators had gathered to talk about the recent duel, the various going-ons, and drinking booze. Actually I think the booze was what everyone was looking forward to the most as Reimu, Ruukoto and I were having some trouble keeping up with the demand. It may be a party with me at the center piece, but it was still a party at the Hakurei Shrine, which means I'm on the clock. Reimu had decided to do a restaurant like approach to serving the guests, if only because she now has the staff to do it instead of previous times where she'd have to just bring all the booze out all at once and watch it dwindle away. This time the order was for… Alice.

"I was wondering where you were," she said as I handed her the sake that she asked for. "Shouldn't you be relaxing right now?" She asked as she began to enjoy her drink.

"I'm on the clock." Not really much more to say other than, "No breaks from work."

"I see," Alice said dreamily. "You know your duel was quite something."

"Really?"

"Yes, it was fun seeing Marisa beaten for once." Alice giggled a bit before reassuming her stoic demeanor. "Though your doll work was sloppy, you barely utilized them outside of straightforward attacks. Your tactics in deployment were more like suicide trips for the poor things. You didn't pay attention or focus like I told you to two days ago, and lastly you needed a 'continue' to beat her." Ouch… Alice doesn't hold back does she? "And despite all of that, I'm still proud of you." A smile crept onto her face as she gave me an aside glance from her seat. "You'll come to visit right?"

"I still have a lot to learn right?"

"I always did like your ability to be quick on the uptake," She said as she took another sip. "Now go on, you still have orders, yes?" She shooed me away as she then placed her focus solely on her drink.

"Yeah, see ya." I said to her as she gave me lazy wave of good-bye. I better get back to the main shrine to pick up another order. However on the way there-

"Huh? Oh, it's you," Mokou said, a bit distant.

"That's not much of a greeting," I told her a bit hurriedly.

"Sorry. I'm just a bit exhausted from this entire thing." Mokou let out a long sigh.

"What thing? The Duel or the party?"

"Both," Mokou said in monotone, most likely because trying to put inflection might have been too much effort. "I'm leaving to go home and sleep." Mokou's yawn right after pretty much corroborated her claim. "Oh, right. Congrats on the victory. You flubbed the first fight, but the second round was pretty cool." I think this is the nicest I've seen Mokou ever. "Hey! I can be nice. I know what that face you're making means. It's just that those shadows were really ticking me off. Stop looking at me like that." A flustered Mokou is good too I suppose. "Meh, whatever. Though I guess it was lucky running into you today so… here!" She grabbed a slip of paper from her pants and handed it over. Reading it, it said-

"One free stick from Mokou's Yakitori Stand. Good only once." Ah, a coupon.

"It's thanks for looking out for me that time. Don't be afraid to come by okay? I need the business." That's a strange reason considering you just gave me a free one, but oh well.

"Thanks. Well I've got orders to run."

"Yeah, and I've got sleep to catch. Bye." Mokou then sluggishly took off from the ground and started to fly towards the village, probable where her home was. I gave her a wave before she got too far out sight. That was nice of her. I guess she's nicer than I thought.

*CRACK*

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou hast tempered your bond…

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooses

To create a Persona of the Adjustment Arcana…

You know I'm starting to remember something. I found that voice in my head extremely annoying. This is not going to be good for my peace and quiet. Regardless I head over to find another order waiting and find that it's for a Remilia Scarlet and company. Under company was listed a Patchouli Knowledge, and Sakuya… Izayoi… I look around the place to find Sakuya sitting underneath one of the bigger trees that had ample shade. She was also with who I presumed were the others on the list for the order of alcohol. Well it's a job. I make my way over to the tree where the first one to spot me was a familiar looking vampire… I think it was a vampire.

"Oh? My, my look who it is; if it isn't today's star?" The young looking girl from my dream noted in amusement, her tone and inflection implying a status of royalty.

"I'm here for your order." I said as I gave the bottles of wine to Sakuya.

"It's nice to see you again," Sakuya stated with her usual maid smile.

"Yeah…" I said, unsure of just how to really respond well here.

"Good job beating Marisa, it felt like payback for all the books she's stolen from me." I turned my head to see that the speaker was a long purple haired girl in what could only be pajamas. Her cap was adorned with a crescent and her sleepy eyes seemed to be glued to the book she had with her sitting in front of her. "I'm Patchouli Knowledge. Book keeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's Library," she stated, all the while keeping her eyes on the book. It seemed that talking to her any further would be a futile effort right now.

"And I'm Remilia Scarlet, Master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"It's nice to meet you two." I took a small bow. Patchouli's only response was to flip to a new page in her book. Remilia on the other hand, wished to keep the conversation going.

"Our gatekeeper was eager to come, but that would make her a bad gatekeeper so she wasn't allowed to," Remilia said so suddenly.

"That's a shame." Somewhat …

"Quite." Remilia looked about the party for a while before refocusing her attention on me. "I'd love to chat with you more, but it looks like I'll just have to settle for later. We can talk about the Dark Hour some other time."

"You know of it!?" Actually that's not all that surprising in retrospect.

"I do. Perhaps we could discuss this more over some lunch tomorrow at… my place?" Remilia bared her fangs in a smile, perhaps to just tease me or something.

"I'll bite." I need see just how much they know. I need to convince this girl to stop her maid from exploring the tower.

"Oh how funny. I always did like a bit of wordplay. Well if you're coming, then our mansion is the one located next to the big lake. You can't miss it," Remilia responded in a delighted tone.

"We look forward to the visit," Sakuya added. Lake… Mansion… yeah, I've seen them before. It won't be hard to find them.

"I'm ecstatic." The both smiled a bit, probably from the fact that I don't sound even the least bit elated. "Well I'm busy so I've got to get going."

"Don't be late tomorrow," Remilia reminded me.

"I won't!" I shouted as I ran back to the shrine to pick up another order. I'm a bit late now thanks to all this talking! "Oomph!" Not again! I ran into someone. At least we didn't fall down. Unfortunately whoever it was didn't stick around and was simply gone by the time I turned to try and find who it was. It was impossible to tell who it was, what with the crowd being so thick and diverse to begin with… My pocket feels funny, like a newspaper's in it… I look down at my left pocket to find that somebody, most likely the person I bumped into, left a rather big note behind. Taking it out and opening it up I read aloud what it said.

"Meet me in the Palace of Earth Spirits tomorrow," was all that it said before showing a map to where apparently this palace was supposed to be… I guess the only thing to do is to go there tomorrow morning so that I can surprise them. I know I shouldn't do this so eagerly, but this is actually pretty interesting. I want to see where this goes.

*Flash* A camera went off… Aya…

"Yo! Just getting a shot of today's star!" the Tengu proceeded to zip around me taking more pictures without my consent. I can see why Youmu didn't like her.

"Marisa also won. In fact she won the first time," I pointed out to her to try and get her to stop.

"Ah, but Marisa usually wins so that's not newsworthy. Her getting beaten however, is." Okay she's got a point there but-

"Aya, stop that. I think you've got enough material to go on." I turned to see whoever it was that stopped Aya. Apparently it was Akyuu.

"Alright, Alright. I've got to get these developed and a story to write anyway. Look out for the article when comes out, okay?" She made a peace sign over her head while sticking her tongue out before flying off at high speeds towards the mountains… well that just happened. Anyways-

"Hello Akyuu-san," I greeted her.

"Good day Minato-san," She said in return. "Minato-san, you remember that I chronicle the history of Gensokyo as well as its most prominent residents, right?" Akyuu asked, though I think I know where this is going.

"You want to interview me or something?"

"How did you know? Well that makes things easier. If you can, would you please come to my household in the human village it will be the old gaudy looking house that's a bit big. Please come over within the next year or so." That's strange… though that's a lot more leeway than the other invitations I've been getting. I'll go next week. Akyuu then took a bow and said, "Good-bye, and I hope to see you soon," before leaving me to my lonesome. I've got a lot to do…

Break

"Done! Finally Done!" Reimu yelled as the last of the orders was fulfilled.

"I don't think I've seen so many people with so much booze since my activation." Ruukoto's comment somewhat mirrored my own, minus the robotic aesthetics.

"Well the parties at least a hit." It's still going on strong even after three hours of non-stop drinking.

"That's normal so don't worry about it," Reimu said as she grabbed a bottle for herself. "Now if you'll excuse it's my turn to unwind." Reimu began to walk over to one of the vacant trees to sit under.

"Ruukoto," I called as she then turned to me, a look of anticipation on her face. "Can you please stay here and wait in case more orders show up?"

"I'll do my best, Master!" Ruukoto's cheer somewhat mitigated the awkwardness that was still around from being called master… noticeably this time the Social Link thing didn't happen this time despite me giving her an order… Well I guess I can figure that out later, because right now I feel a tug on my sleeve which, as I turn around, I find Reimu to be the cause… while looking pretty blitzed with a quarter empty bottle of sake.

"Um… thanks for the help by the way," She said as some drawl was noticeable on some syllables in her sentence.

"I work here. It's what I'm supposed to do." This is interesting: A drunk Reimu. I guess the laws pertaining to alcohol consumption for minors are probably either very lenient or non-existent. Considering the time period Gensokyo is trapped in I'd wager on the latter.

"But you don't have to. I mean sure I can beat you up, but nothing's stopping you from leaving, except me beating you up. But I don't want to beat you up." Please tell me this is the Alcohol talking and not a case of In Vino Veritas. "Cause then you really will leave."

"I'm coming back tomorrow for work." Granted I'll be taking some extended breaks, but I'll be back.

"That's a relief," Reimu drawled while putting much emphasis on relief. A smile had somehow formed on her face. She then, in her drunken clumsiness, lost her balance and began to lean on me.

"Hey, just what is your limit anyways?" I asked her holding her back upright.

"The sky's the limit!" She yelled out. Reimu is a terrible drunk. And it's sad to say that this isn't the first time I've seen a religious individual indulge in alcohol a bit too much.

"Miiiinaaaatooooo!" I turned my head to the side to spot Sanae staggering over to where I was and also that was some weird emphasis placement in my name. Please tell me I do not have to deal with two drunken Shrine Maidens. "Fouuund youuuuuu…" Somebody out there hates me, I just know it. I just have to find them and Armageddon that ho'. "Come hereee." Contrary to what she had just said, it was she who came over to where I was and began clinging to my arm… Soft…

"Um… Sanae?"

"Mhmm?" She seemed really sleepy.

"How much did you drink?"

"Enough!" Well at least that means she's stopped I guess.

"Hey… I was here first." Reimu had returned to the conversation in spectacular fashion and by that I mean the punch line is that she's drunk. Reimu, not content with simply looking at Sanae cling to me, decided that imitation was the best course of action to take… Okay make that a double helping of Armageddon… also soft… like pudding.

"Soooo?" Sanae let out. "He and I have kissed already." I won't ever forget that day… I genuinely mean that in the most positive way possible, unlike this moment which I'd rather leave and forget.

"He took my first kiss and pushed me down!" Reimu I thought that was something you didn't want people to know about! The two then began to stare at each other intently for a few seconds. You could practically see the sparks between them, the lagging, limp, somewhat slow, and inaccurate sparks; just glorious… The two however did agree on one thing though.

"I challenge you to a spell car duel!" They yelled at each other in better sync then they're metaphorical sparks. They also forgot the d in card, unless that was intentional, but I'm going to just assume that it wasn't for the sake of keeping sane in a Cirque du drunk. The two seemed as shocked as one would think a person under heavy depressants could be, and let go of my arms to walk over to… whatever would work for a battlefield… okay I guess in this case its shrine center as usual… I'm sort of scared that I thought that boring.

"Sorry about that, Sanae-chan is terrible when she has alcohol; any amount." Suwako hopped over to my side, explaining what I had already figured out, though it's nice to have confirmation.

"Well at least we'll some fireworks." And taking up the other side was Kanako, Sanae's other mother.

"Hello Kanako-san, Suwako-san. It's nice to see you two again." I said to the two of them as I tried to avoid paying attention to a stunning verbal exchange between two fine callipygian female specimens that contained the most verbose of vernacular that truly embodied sesquipedalian loquaciousness at its finest. The punch line is Sanae and Reimu trash talking each other while totally smashed.

"The feeling is mutual," Kanako replied with a hint of fondness present in her words. Suwako simply nodded as unlike me, she was completely engrossed in the scene unfolding before us which I will not validate with a description if only because it will make it harder to forget. It's just bad, and not even in the so bad it's funny kind of way.

"Sorry about not being able to come over and visit Kanako-san. I've been… a bit busy."

"Oh that's fine. With all you've done for my shrine, I can look the other way for things like this." She seems just as engrossed in the battle about to unfold as Suwako was. "I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, I think I have a Duel to judge. It was good seeing you again, Minato. Please be sure to visit. I'm sure Sanae would love your company, though perhaps not tomorrow morning." She then made a small wave as she walked away to mediate the duel between the shrine maidens… Suwako meanwhile had apparently hopped closer to get a better seat of whatever action was going to take place.

I don't care. I've had enough for today. I'm going to find Yuyuko, Youmu… and Myon, and go home.

"Minato…" I looked behind to find Marisa, her face also flushed as well… oh boy…

"Yes? What is it?" It's almost over, just don't blow up against Marisa and you'll be fine…

"…can I talk to you for a bit… in private?"

Break

"And so I want you to take care of her when she wakes up. Do you understand me Ruukoto?"

"Loud and clear, master. Take care of Reimu during her hangover; a basic thing for a maid to do."

"All right I'm counting on you." I gave one final nod as Ruukoto as she waved goodbye, Reimu passed out on the Shrine's steps behind her. I then turned to walk to where Youmu and Yuyuko were waiting.

"Well it's time to go home," Yuyuko said dreamily.

"Yes, Minato-san." It seemed like Youmu was waiting for som-

"Um… Youmu. I can fly now." There was a bit of an awkward inflection there that I couldn't help.

"Oh… I see… Yes, that's good. That's… great." Ah dammit, even Yuyuko is looking at me like that.

"You know I'm still a bit tired from my duel with Marisa. I don't think I'll be able to fly all that well anyways so would it be alright if I have you take me back like before tonight?"

"Of course!" I feel sort of bad being able to manipulate Youmu's emotions like this, but on the one hand I am making her happy, something that I think is apparent with how close Myon currently is to my person. We then take off as if nothing had happened. A flight into the night sky, silent yet the silence spoke volumes. I looked back at the slowly disappearing Hakurei Shrine…

Break

"So what was it that you wanted to call me out here for Marisa?" She led me to the very edge of the party next to a tree that still had some sakura petals left. The duel in the background was going off like fireworks.

"…" Marisa kept quiet as she leaned against the tree she chose for us to meet under, facing away from me to look at the forest beyond.

"Marisa?"

"What? Oh! Minato… sorry I was just thinking a bit." It seems she's not all there. I couldn't blame her though. Today has been quite hectic in many ways. She returned to looking at the forest.

"Is everything okay? Spacing out usually isn't a good sign."

"Mostly, ze." Mostly? That's not exactly encouraging.

"So then not all of it is okay…" That's what it is if it's not all okay.

"…No I guess not," she said distantly as she scratched the back of her head.

"So what's wrong? Obviously you brought me here because you think I can help you out." That would be consistent with the way she asked me.

"Well… I… maybe…" Marisa was struggling to find the right words. Perhaps something is keeping her from just doing what she usually does, at least according to Alice.

"Marisa, it's okay to be straight forward. You don't have to put it in any fancy terms. Just come straight out with your feelings like you always do." Marisa seemed to suddenly stiffen at my words before slowly turning around. Once fully turned, I could see that Marisa seemed surprised, most likely over what I had said, but then she suddenly started to look downwards. Her shoulders started to heave up and down at odd rhythms. Ah shit.

"Um… sorry Marisa… I didn't mean to-"

"Pfft Hahahaha! Ah man, hahaha! I've been doing this all wrong, ze!" Marisa then started to laugh a hearty and full laughter, slapping her head and knee. But there was a slight hoarseness to it that suggested something: that it was forced.

"Marisa" I called out her name in worry.

"Ya know? It's nice hearing you say my name. Especially the way you say it. Marisa… Marisaaaa Maariisaa. It just doesn't sound the same when I say it." Marisa let out a little giggle as she began to twirl her braid around her finger.

"Where is this going?" I asked in a slow even tone.

"Oh right! I was laughing at an old memory of mine. It was where Alice just told me to just do what I 'always do. Bitch, get out of the way!'Haha… it just reminded me of what I should be doing here too."

"So what would that be then?" Marisa took a deep breath, and began to look straight at me with her golden eyes.

"I like you." What?

"What? Um… Marisa?"

"I know it's sudden. Actually I'm not even sure if what I'm feeling is even more than just some bad gas or something like that, or if it really isn't love I'm feeling, or if I'm just cut off from male contact or-"

"Marisa…" I said, catching her attention and stopping her from accidental self-inflicted asphyxiation. "This is still a bit sudden." Though I've seen romances get started on less.

"Yeah…" she said in a minor drawl, but unlike the others, this one was out of sadness rather than intoxication. She began to pull down on one side of her hat. "I'm sorry about that… I know I forgot to factor in your feelings… but I don't-" She then suddenly moved to get a closer look at me, placing her face only inches away from mine. "I don't know what else to do. I'm not good at that subtle stuff or being all super technical to get guys and all that…stuff…" her face fell a bit to her right and she began to pull back as she trailed off; her eyes shifting rapidly between my own and the tree trunk beside her during this time. "Y-You know how Spell Card Duels are supposed to be about patterns, and beauty, and femininity? Well I don't do that, ze! For me it's all about the straight forward: Power, Force, Speed, Overwhelming my opponent. That's what I'm good at! And since that's what I'm good at, that's what I'll do right now! I like you, ze!" She yelled with all her heart, her face completely blushed, and even though her eyes were closed, perhaps scared and afraid, she still shone a smile. A forced one, but force can still be something genuine as well.

"Um… I" I'm a bit tongue tied. Marisa was right when she said she was going to be straight forward. I've never been confessed to quite like this. "I-"

"Minato, I know you probably don't like me the way I like you, but you know what? Nothing I've ever gotten, I got with ease, or just doing nothing. Honestly I like it better this way; where to earn your love, I have to work for it. I'll do my best now and prepare. Please wait warmly until I'm ready, because when I am, I'll be bringing my all to win your affection, ze!"

Break

Finally Home, in Hakugyokurou. It's been so long since I'd been here… I just want to go to sleep what with everything that's happened today. I… I need time to process…

"Youmu, could you cook something nice to eat?"

"Yes, Yuyuko-sama." It would appear that Yuyuko is still hungry. I still can't match her, though I'm in the ball park. Youmu and Myon made a quick exit to fulfill her master's wishes, vanishing into the halls of the empty feeling building. Now where is my room?

"Minato-kun, please wait a moment." I stopped in my tracks to turn to Yuyuko who held a smile as always on her face that always makes me think of her as a kind older sister.

"What is it?" Even with my fatigue, just Yuyuko's smile is heartwarming enough to give me just enough energy to answer her.

"A few days ago we received a guest. I think it's time you go meet him now that you're finally here. He'll be staying in a nearby home in this realm so I believe you should at least say your greetings."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"Today, Minato-san." How do women always do that; Smiling while saying something non-threatening, while at the same time being absolutely terrifying? Well I guess it wouldn't hurt…

"Where is… he?" A guy? She definitely said he…

"He's in the guest hall. Take your time." Yuyuko then took my hands in hers and said, "Oh and Welcome home." Yuyuko's smile became even wider as she then let go and went to what I remember to be the dining hall… fitting. Anyways I make my way towards the guest hall to avoid incurring Yuyuko's wrath, and to get the first bit of male contact that I've had since I got here.

The room was still dark, though the moon's soft light was shining through the opened doors. The room was mostly empty at its edge, save for a lone figure that sat looking solemnly out into the garden that lay at the building's center. My breath stopped for a short while as I took in the sight of just who it was I was looking at. The man in question wore a dirt brown tuque that covered a matching mane of long hair that truly did look like mane, what with how ragged and unkempt it seemed. He wore a maroon coat which was worn in a way that emphasized a broad back, of which could be seen a tiny blue flame in the middle. The man turned his head only a small amount so that his left ear was facing me.

"What took you?" Was the only thing he said.

"Yo… Shinji." Was all I could say.

Author's Note: Well that took what seemed to be relatively forever. I would have posted this up earlier, but the sites ability to register functions pertaining to log ins and subsequently chapter postings was down. I blame this website. Its totally their fault. They Be Joshin Us!

Anyways folks, that's the end of the Training Arc, but because this was all that I had outlined and planned (or at least in subsequent order as I have a special chapter already planned out, but won't be posted until what I dub as Season1 is near over and that will be that last Chapter of that season), I might not be able to write the next chapter for a while. I may like to get sh*t done, but I like getting it done right even more. So you know what that means folks! RESEARCH TIME! Yay! (Deadpan)

As you can no doubt guess, one of the harder parts of this chapter to write was the confession portion. The battle was not as hard considering the fact that I've watched Dragon Ball Z ever since I was in kindergarten so thinking up battle scenes is actually pretty easy for me. Getting the mood right, the setting, the expressions, it's all such a taxing chore, but one that is worthwhile. The hardest part however, and I know this probably sounds stupid, was deciding whether or not to put Marisa's Trademark 'ze' at the end of her confession. This comes from the fact that 'ze' is a manly and assertive particle; feminine it is not. So the question came, if I leave out 'ze' it would show that she was trying hard to try and impress Minato by going against her verbal tic and be seen as more of a girl. However, if I took it out, then it would lose some of the boyish charm that Marisa has to begin with that makes her a favorite of mine. That tomboyish nature is something unique to her that I have found when compared to other characters in the series. Getting rid of it would essentially be getting rid of a core part of her character that sets her personality apart from the others. As you can no doubt remember though, I have her say it twice. The first time being her trying to make an impression, the second, an assertion and declaration, allowing me to use both scenarios where she tries her hardest to be seen as a girl, but still doesn't give up herself… or at least I hope that was how it came off.

Also you may be wondering why I had Marisa confess first as opposed to Sanae. Well Marisa may be smart, but as stated in the story, she's straightforward; a bruiser with no sense of subtlety, and jumps in without really thinking about things. Because of those traits, I thought that out of everyone, she'd be the first to attack, even if she's one of the most unsure of her own feelings amongst the girls. She'd just let the battle of trying to win love sort out everything; Just try to blow things up and attack and you'll get a good answer. This reasoning is the reason why I had her confess first, though if I'm going to spoil a bit, the next to confess will be… well will be at the end of the next arc.

Ultimately I know you can't please everyone all of the time, but please tell me what you can about what you thought of this chapter. What parts you didn't like, what you did, don't be shy come one come all! A review is pretty much the only way to let me know just what you think and in order to improve I do need to know.

And with that said, Merry Christmas Ladies and Gentlemen, and even you don't celebrate I wish you a happy new year and a wonderful day regardless because honestly that difference in opinion and the fact that we still haven't completely killed each other, I find that to be just something special in and of itself. Well, take care because I'm off to watch Frozen for a third time!