Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode

by SKOOLATOON

Reimu's mother was lost some time ago. Familial partings aren't uncommon, after all. Over a decade after her passing, Tsukiko Hakurei again awakens. Stacked against the mystery of her death and new life, and the immense change of the past years under her daughter's reign, she endeavors to reclaim the life she once lived, and more.

25. Rule of Beasts

Sendai browsed past the Hakurei hot spring, to where she was told he'd be hanging out.

'I'm not letting it slip my mind again.'

Genjii, her pet flying turtle, would be somewhere back here, amidst the ponds and the peaceful woods.

She'd known him for years, even if they spoke together somewhat seldom at time. 'I've known him since I was twenty-something. I still remember how we met…'

Before she'd go to the lake to kill time with Suika, she wanted to close a loose end of coming back to life. Meeting with Genjii again, and touching base.

She wanted to thank him. For keeping her daughter alive, and remaining faithful to the shrine despite her own departure, and Reimu's youth.

'He could've just beaten her up or done something scummy… but, he became a lot more mature than when I first met him. Never thought I'd be thanking a flying turtle for anything.'

That being said, it was hard to find him at the moment.

'Where could he-... ah, of course.'

Somewhat adjacent to the fencing that held the Hakurei hot spring, there was another shallow pond. This crystal-tinted pond was what Sendai remembered.

Ahead of it, there was a slightly sizable reservoir of water, but past the shallows on the edge closest to the shrine was a true pond.

'Did the reservoir dry up some? I never knew how this shit worked. The pond's just right, at least.'

"Oh?" That's when Sendai heard him. That was Genjii's voice. "You…"

'I hadn't really considered it, but… what exactly will I say to him? Mmh.'

She decided to just act natural. It worked to degrees with everyone else she'd met. "Hey. Genjii. Still kickin'?"

splash. Genjii had poked his somewhat camouflaged head from the surface of the pond. With it, the rest of his earthy, green and brown shell emerged from the crystalline water, revealing the liquid to be more deceptive than it had seemed.

He was a big turtle, Sendai had to admit. 'Did he get even bigger, while I was gone? Probably.'

His four stout legs carried him as he crawled from the clear water. In terms of size, his shell was now twice as wide as the shrine's kotatsu, if not nearly thrice.

"My-..." Genjii blinked up at her. He had a long, white beard, and a fluffy, bushy tail of similar color. "My eyes don't play tricks on me, do they?"

Smiling gladly, Sendai took Genjii's form in. "Not this time, they don't. Not that I'd know."

"Mmm…" His weathered eyes slowly blinked. "It's been quite some time, since I've dreamt of you again. I suppose your presence is quite unforgettable."

Sendai shifted her weight onto one leg, putting an arm on her own hips. "You're not dreaming. Unless I'm dreaming, which would really be something."

"Heh…" He forced a chuckle at that. "True. I'm awake, it would seem. This is all too real to be a dream. Then, I don't really know what to call you. A hallucination, maybe? An illusion…?"

Her posture returning to a neutral one, Sendai tilted her head back. "How would you like me to convince you, then?"

One of Genji's brows raised. "Mmm. The first time I've heard something like that, from one of you. Let's have you do something only she could do. It'll be multiple tests in one. If you're as I remember her, but immaterial, you won't be able to do it. If you're not her, well, you also won't be able to do it."

"Do what?" Sendai didn't quite follow.

"You'll know." He smiled.

Splash. Then, amidst the shore of the pond, his legs and head retracted into the huge shell.

Splash! It floated into the air.

WOOWOOWOOWOOWOOSH! Suddenly, it spun blindingly fast. Water, dirt and mossy growths shed from his shell in a rain of clumps.

That's when Sendai remembered.

'It's the first- and only- attack he used against me, when we first met.'

-+- Vs. Genjii, Earth Turtle -+-

WOOSH! The shell flew straight at Sendai at blinding speed.

'Even like this, repeating history should be easy.'

Crouching down, Sendai got under the oncoming shell strike. Dark energy fed into her arms, within the yellow-black sleeves, and she plunged them straight up.

CLA- CLACK! She grabbed hard onto the underside of his shell, onto the holes where his limbs would come out of.

WHISH! When she latched on, the entire shell was thrown off balance, and Sendai was pulled into a backflip as it flipped forward. 'Wh- woa~h…!'

It still spun blindingly fast, the world around Sendai a blur of brown and green as Genji's shell continued to whirl with amazing power. She was upside-down, her senses momentarily lost and confused-

shoo~f. Then, the back of Genjii's shell met the soft, pondside soil below, driven down by Sendai's weight and Genjii's new lack of balance.

Rapidly slowing, the shell dug into the dirt, planting Genjii in a crater, stuck on his back.

thu- thud. Sendai fell off Genjii, onto her side, completely dizzy. 'Ho- holy shit… fo- forgot how stupid that whole exchange was…'

Sendai obtained pocket lint.

"...I don't know if I can believe it." Genjii spoke from the crater, still stuck on his back. "That… that was almost exactly the same thing you did, twenty or thirty years ago."

"Yeah. I-... I remember." Getting off the floor, Sendai adjusted her hair, parting her bangs from her eyes. "Smart idea."

"I'm really not sure what to think." Genjii expressed his disbelief vaguely. "To think, that such a minute detail may have been catered to by a doppelganger… or, to believe that you've just, genuinely come back to life. Unless, I'm finally truly going senile…"

"...Either way, I'm here now." Sendai wasn't going to go out of her way to prove herself. "Reimu's told me about how you've helped her. I've wanted to thank you. And-..."

Leaning down, she grabbed onto Genjii's shell as he wiggled helplessly in place, and pulled.

shoof. She plucked Genjii from the earth, and rotated him back around. 'God, he's heavy now.'

Placing him back on his feet, she dusted his shell off slightly. "There."

"I suppose yer right…" Genjii adjusted his mouth, or something similar. "Thank me, huh? Not chastise?"

Sendai snorted. "Fo- for what? If anything, I ought to apologize to you. You shouldn't have had to play babysitter at all."

"It was really the least I could have done." Genjii slowly shook his own head. "I tried to impart wisdom onto her. But… I knew it also wasn't my place, and eventually, she outgrew me. One day, maybe, she'll be interested in keeping an old turtle like me company."

'Sounds like she started to ignore him, after a certain point. Or maybe, he just decided to sit out on his own, once she was of a certain age. Considering how relaxed she is… he did at least an okay job. I'm not looking at a rerun of myself, definitely.'

"You did great." Sendai wasn't sure how soft to be with him, at this point. He was much more sedate now. It wasn't a complete surprise, because he'd acted somewhat old when she first met him, but now he was especially softer. More mild-mannered, less bitter.

"...Mmh. Thank you." Genjii nodded slowly. "I'm glad I did you some justice."

'...How somber, somehow. I wonder if he feels as though he's imagined similar conversations before. Surely he's not really that old yet? I don't know how youkai turtles work.'

"I hope you're doing fine." Sendai worried about him. "You're not that old yet, are you?"

"Mmh? Well…" He shuffled in place, a little. "I've just been inactive. Were I up an' doing things again, I'd probably be less… lavish. More cognizant."

'Maybe, at some point, I can have something done about that. But… until then…'

"When I get my life sorted more, I'll see what I can do to get you out of this rut." Sendai told him. "You were more active. I mean… you're nicer now, but it's just kind of… sad, to see you so… I guess, devoid of life."

"Mmh? Well, if you insist." Genjii didn't really think it was so bad. "That would be nice, I think."

'When I'm running around, I'll think of something. I'm sure when I see him again in like, a week, or more, I'll have some kind of idea. Just-...' She glared at herself. 'Don't forget, now.'

SENDAI HAKUREI NO MIKO MODE

25

Rule of Beasts

-+- Tsuruko Aoyama's Perspective -+-

'As I ordained.'

"Kh- hh-" A man squirmed on the floor before her. His nose was bloody, red splattered across his face.

'Tatsuako will find me today, catalyzed by Tsukiko's path.'

CRUNCH. Tsuruko pounded her sandal down onto the man's face, blood jetting out across the dirt of the village alley.

This particular act of violence was one of her daily chores. Sometimes, she took jobs off the job board, to build rapport with the villagers. Today, she was teaching a lesson to someone that a client of hers didn't like.

The short of it: a wealthy villager girl was annoyed by this man. She paid Tsuruko to make sure something bad happened to him.

"You offend the Hakurei." Tsuruko recited her excuse for this violence. "With your lechery, and your greed. Grovel and pray, and I may just spare your life."

The villager girl who hired her had been annoyed by the way he treated her. The neutral tone he used with everyone, and the time he wasted amidst the dirty commons of the village when she went on and on about how he 'so obviously loved her'.

Or, at least, those were her excuses. Tsuruko never really paid close attention to the excuse people gave her for their service. Money was money, and she'd do any job, if they had a good moral reason or not.

'It was cute how she thought she had to justify it. In this world, everyone already knows where the paradigm is. Those who don't...'

"Wh-" The youthful, brown-haired man looked up at Tsuruko with crying eyes. "Wha' I dho?"

WHA- CRUNCH! Tsuruko kicked him in the jaw, and he slid along the floor. "Khk!" Blood rocketed into the air from his mouth, as he'd accidentally had his tongue cut into deep by his own teeth.

'Where was I? Ah. Those who don't know the blunt reality of our situation, they're either ignorant or deluded. Everyone with any inkling of sense already knows the status quo.'

"Pray." Tsuruko demanded of him. "Pray to god!"

"I- I di' dho- aa-"

BAM- CRUNCH! She stomped down on his ribs.

"Kaa- hua- gh…!" His body shook, ribs convulsing in pain. "Nngh…!"

"Pray!" Tsuruko demanded. "If you do not pray, I will kill you!" She'd done it before. "Pray to the sky! To the Hakurei! To me!"

"I- aa-" He couldn't speak. Laying amidst the dirt and uneven snow, he cried openly. His face was caked in blood, and his head felt vague.

Tsuruko looked to her right.

Clap. Picking up a beam of lumber, she held it over head with both arms like a club. "If you do not pray…"

THUNK! She rammed it against the floor next to him. The strike was so powerful, dirt billowed a meter into the air off her impact, and red energy flared off of her arm sleeves.

The young man shut his eyes.

Tsuruko felt it.

Vuum. The canisters in her chest. The faith catalyzer reacted.

The villager man was praying. He was praying to her.

She couldn't hide the satisfied smile. Letting her mouth hang open, she felt her body absorb his belief.

Spiralling blue, red, pink and orange light traced up her body. The elements of a human, and their belief. Instinct, joy, anger, and hope.

These were the extremes human people lived by. If she could be a master of all, Tsuruko knew, she would become a human god. Master of all, undefiable.

Cla- clack. As the magic caked her body, three neon lights shone from inside her chest, inside the red apron and her new black leotard. Tsuruko cast the long lumber aside.

Kneeling down, she dug through the man's pockets, and took out his wallet.

Slipping it away quickly, she stood tall again. Like this, the cold of the day was meaningless. The energy of human faith was just so good.

"Nhn…" She stifled a chuckle. "Remember. Don't piss people off, in this town. Not unless you're looking for a fight."

"Nn-..." The young man's face was caked in tears, too. "Wh- whyh…? Wh' do this…"

Tsuruko had already begun to walk away. She got what she came for.

'Today's going to be good. I can feel it.'

The breeze, the faith, the magic. The rites to her greatness. It was like Gensokyo called her name.

From the alley, she practically glided on her sandals on her way to the main road. She loved the feeling of fall's winds. Of her ascent to power, of the world that felt practically at her fingertips.

If she was jumped now, she could turn anyone who opposed her into bloody mush. Half of the village was at her beck and call. The Artificial Hakurei Project was coming to a kneel, and a close.

'After all… their chosen has already climbed the ranks. Ascended from the destruction and chaos. I am the symbol of their torture, and they are the mere ingredients. None of them hold a candle to my light. For I now burn, with a light of my own.'

Last evening, Tsuruko had spent the evening in a bed at the Golden Grin. After she'd seen Kugo Koin off, having treated him to her body- and herself to him- she found a different man to relax with. She had posed as a hostess there, under a different name.

'I hope Tsukiko doesn't mind me using her name. That man thought he was lucky.'

She couldn't go home. Not with Tatsuako there. Not with the guard looking for her. The village was chasing after her coattails.

Right now, she was a ghost that roamed the village alleys. Until her coronation, she would make her way through the lanes and rooftops, moving undetected.

'Speaking of Tsukiko… she isn't in the village right now.'

As such, Tsuruko had some free time to tie up loose ends. First, she'd turn in this job, and then she'd see about Tatsuako's current escapades.

There was a lot she had to be doing. Tsukiko was cleaning up the unneeded ranks of the Artificial Hakurei Project, to the point that not much left of worth remained of it. Eventually, there would be nowhere for Tsuruko to hide, to continue fostering her own growth.

'It's a race to the top.'

Whi~sh. Piercing, pink light billowed from Tsuruko's chest, from the left of it. She felt her heart forced to pump faster, and she smiled.

Woosh! She leapt off the dirt alley floor.

Running up the ramp of a blue shingle roof, Tsuruko bounded from the apex of the two story house.

Wind whipped through her hair, as she left a trail of pink in the air. She'd caught a breeze in the direction she wished to go, and her body was so light in this instance, she practically flew along it.

Crossing over south main street, Tsuruko aimed her sandals as she prepared to land-

CLACK- clack- clack- clack! Her heels hit the ground running, and she continued to sprint along the breeze to her destination. By almost the mere act of thinking, Tsuruko had changed the quadrant of the village she was in entirely.

WOOSH! She turned ninety-degrees into an alley, off the stone road of the wealthy part of the village-

WOO- WHI- WOO- WOOSH, WOOSH! Air exploded off of each jagged turn, as she bounced off of the wind precisely down the village's vein-like alley network.

Scree~ch! She slowed before the small mansion of her client. "Ha~h." And, she exhaled.

'What a great day to be alive.'

The mansion was two stories tall, like most houses at this point, but it was fairly wide. It occupied one of the more cluttered sectors of the wealthy quadrant.

Grazing past the expensive-yet-common white metal lawn furniture, Tsuruko came up to the tiny manor's double doors.

Knock, knock. She rapped her knuckles on the door.

...Crea~k. It opened slowly, before panning open quicker. Her client smiled at her. "Ooh, hey!" She was a woman with hair dyed platinum, and her blue eyes held unique irises. "Tsuruko-chan! Back already…?"

"It is done." Tsuruko announced. "I taught him a lesson."

The dress-clad aristocrat girl blinked. Then, she parted her bangs unnecessarily, her bobby hair swaying. "Mmh. I think I'll be the judge of that… he's- you know, if I don't look out for the village myself, who would? Hahaha…!"

Tsuruko held out her left hand. "I'll have my payment now."

"...What part of 'I'll be the judge of that' don't you understand?" The girl smiled, and narrowed her eyes some. "Come back in a week. I don't need you here."

Tsuruko snorted. "You'd be so cruel?"

...The girl blinked, and licked her own lips. "Why... yes, I would. Especially to you whatever-maidens. Word down the street's that like, a lot of you are actually criminals. Isn't that something?"

"Nonsense." Tsuruko ignored what she already knew. "Especially coming from you. I know you harbor youkai."

Blinking rapidly, the girl glared at her. "Wh-... what? I do not-"

"It doesn't matter what you do or don't do." Tsuruko's face remained stoic throughout the conversation. "I will inform the guard, and your family will lose the prestige it accumulated over generations. That is, unless you show your kindness, and give me the payment I deserve."

...Then, the girl beamed. "Inform the guard? You?"

Tsuruko didn't do anything more than blink plainly.

"You know… Tsuruko." The bobby-haired girl began to smirk. "There's a warrant for your arrest out. Kamishirasawa decided it so."

Tsuruko snorted. "That so…?"

...Body tensing up, the well-endowed, bobby-haired girl darted back inside. "Guards!"

Cla- clack, clack. Before her, two guardsmen with live blades stepped out of the obscured areas of the house to defend her.

Behind Tsuruko, more men came from the nearby allies, some with bows, and others with swords.

"Fufufufu~!" Beaming, the girl cast an arm out, as if commanding them. "Thank yo~u, men! Get her!"

-+- Vs. Tsuruko Aoyama * Momentum Style -+-

'Something like this was going to happen eventually.'

"Hands in the air!" The guards directly before Tsuruko yelled at her. They were all only lightly armored, with just pants pieces on, and not fully protected. After all, for a human-tier opponent, they normally shouldn't have a need for the bigger tools.

Standing there, Tsuruko slowly held up her arms, making fists with each.

Vhir. The pink light in her chest beat along to her heart, shining through her left breast, and through all her clothing.

The rightmost guardsman when to grab onto her. "Look- calm down, we're not going to-"

Tsuruko brushed past him, before he could even raise his blade.

WHAP. Her right palm met the left guard's face, and he flinched back-

WHAM! Tsuruko was crouched in the air, her left arm's low punch meeting his nose-

THOOM! A shockwave of wind billowed out from Tsuruko, when her sandals met the wood floor. Her right arm made a palm, as all her weight went into touching it against the man's side.

THU- THUD! He was flipped one-eighty in an instant, his shoulders meeting the floor. "Rhk- aa-"

The other man's eyes were wide, as was the bobby-haired girl's. They beheld the dragon of amethyst energy that coiled around Tsuruko's right arm, bright and vibrant amidst the house entryway.

Woosh! That's when the second guard swung his katana wide, his blood starting to pump.

fwish. Tsuruko slipped back a step, doing a jig in place that was similar to the one Aina practiced. She advanced, her left leg hooking in to sweep away his. This was the attack Aina tripped her with, when they'd fought.

"Nn-" The guard's right ankle was caught by her left, for a brief instant-

WHA- WHAM- WHAM- WHAM! He hadn't known what happened. Tsuruko met his gut with two fists, then his cheeks with the same hooks-

BAM! His back met the wood frame of an open doorway, inside the house.

"Hraa~h!" Tsuruko roared, her voice echoing, the lights inside her chest pumping with energy.

WHAWHAMTHUNKBAMWHAMTHUNKBAMWHAMWHACK! Her string of hooks, jabs, facial smashes, slaps, and strikes to his waist and thighs was impossible to follow.

He wasn't standing anymore, the mere force of her string of attacks keeping him crunched against the wall independent of whatever he could do.

"Horya~h!" Tsuruko slid back, and kicked-

KRACK. Her left sandal met his gut, slowly and surely.

KRA- KRAKRAKRACK! The wooden doorframe gained a kink, the force translated through the man's gut.

He slid onto his ass, after rebounding from the wall.

"Uuh-" Then, he vomited blood. "Uuh- haa~!"

Spla- spla- splack. As the puddle of blood shot across the floor, Tsuruko lumbered up to the aristocrat girl.

Her eyes were wide, mouth ajar. "Wh-... aa-..."

"I have invoked-" Tsuruko's voice echoed, "the spirits of the wind."

Cla- clack, clack, clack. The bowman, and the other men, all clattered into the room, their armored pants identifying them. There were four.

Tsuruko turned halfway towards them, and snorted. "...I see you don't know who you're dealing with, yet."

-+- Vs. Tsuruko Aoyama * Destroyer Style -+-

The three lights on her chest all pulsed. Then, the orange one, hidden under her right breast, began to glow piercingly bright.

WOOSH. The floorboards bent and creaked as Tsuruko spun three-sixty to the striped, green-white couch along the room's flank.

CRA- CRACK. The upholstery crunched under the might of Tsuruko's hands as they gripped it. A holy shell materialized around her body, pulsing with her heart, mighty and bright.

WOO~SH. Slowly, holding the entire couch up, Tsuruko spun around. "Di~e!"

She let go of it after one revolution, and it flew for the four men.

BOOM! Two swordsmen were crushed against either side of the open doorway, destroyed by the couch. "Uuhu- aa-"

The bowman undid his drawn arrow, lowering his bow as he distanced himself from the absolute might of the thrown couch. "Ho- holy-"

The last village samurai ran up to Tsuruko. "You- fuckin' monster-"

swish. He cast his katana down.

Tsuruko grabbed it with her hand. The blade dug deep into her palm.

...He blinked. He tried to draw it back-

KRI~NG! Tsuruko crushed it, gripping the blade so hard it shattered.

As her hand bled, she lurched down. "Hruu~h- yaa~h!"

BAM. She lurched down, and checked his gut with her shoulder.

BOOM! He bounced off the wall ahead, absolutely destroyed by the sheer, unstoppable power.

BAM! He landed against the couch, whole body limp. "Nn-... nhn-..."

cla- clack. The bowman dropped his bow, and held his arms in the air. "I-... I- I surrender!"

"You-..." The bobby-haired aristocrat girl came to a realization.

...Standing up, Tsuruko idly looked back at her.

The girl ran at Tsuruko. "What'd you do to my boyfriend!?"

Tsuruko began to grin. "...Boyfriend? Who?"

pap. The girl threw her all into a massive, overhead punch, throwing her entire body into it. "The guy- you must've beat up! Idio~t!"

...The mighty Tsundere punch hadn't done more than make Tsuruko tilt, by an immeasurably small measure.

"Let me show you how it's done."

Tsuruko began to copy the motion, reeling her whole right arm back. Slow, delayed afterimages of violent orange began to trace her movements, even them having trouble keeping up with the absolute magnitude of her building force.

Then, the young aristocrat girl saw it. Tsuruko's afterimages were so mighty, so seismic, they lagged forward to strike her face before Tsuruko herself even attacked; and they were to land dead-center, driven into her core.

The bobby-haired girl held her own mouth open. "Wh-... aa- please- hold on-" She shielded herself with her arms, frozen by the deadly prospect-

WOOO~SH. Tsuruko threw the slow, all-body encompassing overhead punch forward. Her fist glowed golden.

CRUNCH. It effortlessly brushed past the well-endowed girl's arms, crushing her ribs.

BOOM! The girl hit the wall behind herself. A crater was made in it, the wood all yielding to the might of the copied Tsundere punch.

WOOSH. Tsuruko lurched down, and spun around. As she did so, the floorboards beneath her shuddered, and she drew her left leg out behind herself. Mesmerizing afterimages trailed and preceded her leg's path.

CRUNCH. Before the girl could collapse, Tsuruko's sandal hooked backwards into her gut, and slammed her back into the yielding wood wall. "Uhn- gu- aah..."

With this huge, immeasurably wasteful spinning motion, Tsuruko was back into standing. "O~ne, mo~re!" The whole clumsy spin was simply to reel up another punch, with this time magnified ferocity.

Her knuckles met the aristocrat's gut.

CREAK- KRAK- BOOM- BAM- CRACK- BAM! Tsuruko cast the girl straight through a wall. The whole left wall of the room gave in, destroyed by the force. Rubble collapsed atop the crumpled form of the wealthy, platinum-haired girl.

Reeling back, staggering away from the collapsing wall, Tsuruko roared. "Yeaa~h!"

Her chest heaved. The pulsing light from her chest briefly betrayed her senses, her heart beating so hard it was physically painful.

"Pray!" Tsuruko yelled, into the now partially broken house. "Pray to me!"

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Tsuruko browsed down the main street of the village.

'That went better than anticipated.' She stole everything that was money inside the house. Gems and yen, essentially. 'I am a ruler.'

...She briefly thought of actual rulers used for measuring, and had to fight a smile. 'Perhaps I'll need a better line than that…'

As much as she hated to step around in plain day, she had to make sure the guardsmen and maidens who did still obey her were setting up what she needed in the village square.

Tsuruko took a breath, as she came up to the edge of main street, from south main. On the left, was her favorite stall to steal sweets and baked goods from. Not that she ate sweets, but a lot of other people did, which made them useful.

Somewhere behind that stall, and behind others, was a metal pillar of a sort.

She had some of the smartest- or at least, most knowledgeable- women and men she knew contribute to the building of these metal devices.

They begun with a solid metal base. Four spokes extended into the air, ending in sharp spikes. Small, shinto torii were arranged around the bases, and tiny marble altars between them and the metal base itself.

Tsuruko looked around the square. Three other metal constructs of this sort were at each corner.

'Good. Seems I've finally found trustworthy enough people to get this done.' She'd tried setting them up ever since she knew Tsukiko first revived. Some weeks ago, however, she didn't have the rapport or influence necessary. She was scammed left and right, deceived and conned with such frequency she was beginning to wonder if there was a problem with herself.

But, after much effort, it seemed like things were almost in place.

'All I need now are four Hakurei yin-yang orbs. They should be easy to get, but…'

She was also procrastinating, in part. Because she figured it'd be easy to get them. Now that they were soon to be the most crucial parts of the procedure, she had a suspicion they'd also become the hardest parts to obtain all of a sudden.

Tsuruko slowly walked to check on each pillar, to make sure not one had been skimped out on.

Then, something she anticipated occured.

Tatsuako, Aina and Rinnosuke stood in the square, near the fountain there. Aina was spinning around for some reason, while Tatsuako and Rinnosuke stared at her vaguely…

"Tada~!" Stopping, Aina held her arms out, her big brown ponytail floofing out. "I ain't-... di- dizzy-..."

Lunging forward, Rinnosuke caught her before she slipped and fell. "Wh- woah!" She blinked, eyes wide. Then, she beamed. "I- I coulda recovered…! I didn't need ya ta-"

"Not if your head hit the edge of the fountain, you wouldn't have." He gestured to the fountain's jagged edge.

"...Oo- oh." Aina looked awkward. "Shit. Yer right."

...As Tatsuako stared at them, her expression still vague, her gaze crossed Tsuruko's.

They stood on either end of Aina and Rinnosuke; Tsuruko on the left, and Tatsuako on the right.

Tatsuako's eyes slowly lit up, recognizing her sibling-in-practice.

Now, unlike last time Tsuruko saw her, Tatsuako had her hair down. Instead of her maid outfit, she had a loose, white t-shirt that did little to contain her healthy chest, and a black hakama.

...She apparently still had a bandolier of lollipops along one leg, but the condom bandolier was replaced with various objects. Knuckle dusters, a switchblade, nail clippers, a wrench, a hammer, some pliers; all of these random utilities were there and handy.

'Oh. She still has a ribbon of three condoms.' Tsuruko thought this was unbecoming of her. 'I'm glad she'll at least never let go of the pleasure I've shown her.'

...Despite this, Tsuruko had a ribbon of condoms in her own pockets. She didn't just let it hang out, at least.

'She's even letting hers hang out, like an invitation. How lewd.'

Plainly, Tsuruko moved to walk past them. 'I don't quite have a quarrel with them, regardless.'

"Aa-" But, Tatsuako wasn't going to let the first time she'd met her familial sister in some time go. "Hey! Hey!"

She ran up to Tsuruko, who simply kept walking.

"Where do you think you're going, bitch!?" Tatsuako yelled at her. "I've been lookin' fucking everywhere for you! Cleaning up your shit! You can't even look at me right now!"

So, Tsuruko looked at her. "Do you mind?"

Smirking, Tatsuako sped up and walked around her, to get in her way. "Wh- yes, I mind. Of course I mind. You wasted two years of my life! An' you're wasting even more with all this-... artificial whatever bullshit! I- I mean… I haven't run outta people to fight, which is good, but still!"

"Can you truly call them a waste?" Tsuruko's question was plain, her voice as collected as it usually was. "Especially when you enjoyed them, so much?"

"You lied to me." Tatsuako reiterated. "You told me it was the only way I could become an adult. The only way I could make money in this world."

"I wasn't lying." Tsuruko remarked. "In the world I will author, it's the best fate for you."

"The- what?" It's the first time Tatsuako had heard something like that coming from her.

Tsuruko stepped closer. "Endless pleasure, day after day, from men, women, and even youkai who'd help you hit a high, over and over again? It's even physical and artful. Would you not appreciate such a life?"

"Nn- no!" Tatsuako glared back. "It's not fighting. It's not anything I- I originally wanted to do. You decided for me. You-... you don't know me that well, if you just-"

"Don't I?" Tsuruko smiled. "Did you not enjoy it? Not even a little?"

Tatsuako paused. Then, she found her resolve, tightening her fists. "That doesn't matter."

"In the village I will create, it does." Tsuruko decided. "No more will life be dictated by the youkai, or by this complacent organization. The village will be a place where the powerful succeed. It has pretended otherwise, but the truth is simple. Once it fully embraces such a culture, it will then see my blooming power. Gensokyo will see my blooming power."

"Bullshit." Tatsuako grinned back. "You might've been working on your skills… but I have, too! You just didn't want anyone to get in your way."

...Tsuruko thought on that. "You're right, in that I didn't want you to surpass me. But… I also wanted to avoid having to do something worse to you. You may think a life of sexual pleasure is degrading. But, myself, I'd rather that than death, were I as simple a person as you."

"I'd probably be less pissed if you fuckin' killed me!" Tatsuako got louder.

"...If that's eventually what you wish." Tsuruko nodded. "Actually. No. When I control the world, I will refuse you permission to die. Once you submit, you will understand pleasure. You'll understand my power."

Tatsuako's glare was deepening. "If two years a' suckin' dick wasn't enough to make me a bimbo- after this, I don't think anything will!"

"If you have even some compatibility with that life, I insist you follow that path." Tsuruko tried to guide her sister even now. "You no longer want to get in my way."

Tatsuako beamed back. "...When I make my version a' the village, your place will be six feet underground!"

"Nn- hehehe…" Tsuruko giggled. "I know. It doesn't seem like I love you. But, I really do. I want what's best for you."

"Shut the fuck up." Tatsuako wasn't having that anymore. "I don't think you've ever said that and meant it. It's always when we have these fuckin'-... stupid talks. Guess what? I'm not your little bitch anymore. I'm not gonna let you live my life for me."

"Mmm. That's a shame." Tsuruko shook her head. "Then, you'll feel only pain throughout your life. Would you like that? I can make it so. I don't want to-"

"Bring it, bitch!" Tatsuako dared her, beaming again.

They stared one another down, both at an impasse.

Aina glared at Tsuruko from the sidelines, and Rinnosuke held his breath.

"Let me give you an example." Tsuruko's tired eyes bored into Tatsuako's fiery ones.

"Yo-" Aina began to get closer-

"No!" Tatusako held her arm out at her. "...This is my fight."

Fwi- fwish, fwish. Orange energy sparked within Tatsuako's body, and rose-colored gauntlets encased her fists. A plate of red crystal protected her abs.

'Let's see how far I've come.' Tsuruko's tired eyes slowly blinked.

-+- Vs. Tsuruko Aoyama * Momentum Style -+-

...Tatsuako had her guard up. She'd already been defeated by this style of Tsuruko's before. But, this was before she'd gotten warmed up again. Now, with more days of fighting under her belt, she wondered-

Pap! Tsuruko's left fist met the right of Tatsuako's gut, past her ruby-colored plate.

Whap! Jumping in surprise, Tatsuako blocked a dual-fisted thrust of Tsuruko's arms with her own elbows.

If she did any meaningful attack, Tsuruko would just dodge it. Any reeled-back, overhead haymaker or kick or gut punch would just meet air.

Then, she vaguely remembered her fight with Tsukiko. The way Tsukiko, even while weaving, had marginal trouble with some of her hooks, and her own evasive actions.

Swallowing her nerves, Tatsuako moved to slide aside Tsuruko-

fwish. Then, Tsuruko slid back from her entirely instead. She shuffled in place, before sweeping her left leg for Tatsuako's right heel.

From the sidelines, Aina recognized this shuffle; it was something she herself did in skirmishes. She knew Tatsuako wouldn't be tripped up by it- or tripped in the literal sense, either.

But, the hooking leg sweep was the mere onset of the new attack Tsuruko had invented from it.

"Rrh-" Receiving the sweep, Tatsuako's right leg slipped only an inch or two to the right. She grinned too, recognizing the dirty and only mildly effective attack-

WHAPAPWHACKPAPWHAP! Instantly, Tsuruko jabbed and hooked Tatsuako's thighs with surprisingly velocity. The way Tatsuako staggered from the leg sweep kept her stuck in the momentum of the five strikes to her thighs.

"Aa-" Tatsuako began to slip back.

WHACK- WHAPAP- WHAPWHAPWHAP! With a hook to Tatsuako's chin, then jabs and slaps to her midsection that wasn't protected by her ab guard, Tsuruko kept Tatsuako standing.

She pummeled with such ferocity that Tatsuako had absolutely no momentum of her own; her ab guard bounced around in almost perfect sway to allow Tsuruko access to her gut with each precise blow.

WHAPAPAPAP! Five slaps met Tatsuako's face, whipping her head around-

Pap! Tsuruko's hand slapped up along the underside of Tatsuako's chin, tilting her whole body back. "Gh-"

"Hor- yea~h!" Tsuruko leapt back, and kicked her left leg up.

CLACK. Her sandal met the ruby-colored, crystal ab guard.

CR- CRACK. Damage spider-webbed along it.

WOO~SH! Tatsuako was sent flying away, spiraling through the air. "Wh- ghee~h…!"

Thu- thud! She rolled along the floor, bouncing with cartoonish ferocity, her skin and clothing cut in multiple places as they rammed hard against the stone of the village square.

Slowly, the pink hue coming from Tsuruko's chest dimmed again.

"Are we done?" Tsuruko had already confirmed the metal pillars of the square were in good shape.

"Nn-" Lying on her back, Tatsuako began to fight back into standing. "Li- like hell…! That- was nothin'!"

...Yellow light began to emanate from Tsuruko's chest. She was annoyed by her sister's persistence.

Getting up, Tatsuako's now-ruby boots clicked against the stone of the square floor.

She sprinted up for Tsuruko again. "I'm not stoppin' 'till I've fucked you up, bitch!"

Tsuruko simply stood there, as Tatsuako reeled an arm back; to open with an ultimate overhead punch she could transition into some hooks to get started.

"Toka~!" Tatsuako leapt off the floor. "Meteor-"

PAP. When Tatsuako descended on Tsuruko's form, Tsuruko lurched an arm up, and grabbed her by the collar.

"Wh-" The sudden amount of force and stopping power in the one-handed grapple made Tatsuako's body freeze. "Wh- what the-"

Tsuruko crouched down, and wrapped both arms around Tatsuako's thighs.

"Hrr~h…" Lifting Tatsuako into the air, Tsuruko slung Tatsuako over her shoulders.

Hefted overhead, now upside-down, Tatsuako blinked at Tsuruko's underthigh, and struggled. "What- wha- aa- fh- fuck-"

WOOSH. Tsuruko plainly leapt into a sitting position.

BOOM- CR- CRUNCH- CRACK! She used her back and whole body to drive Tatsuako's skull straight down into the stone. The stone struck broke under her own weight, and the impact of Tatsuako's head.

Like this, Tatsuako's skull met the floor almost back-first, and her jaw was crushed by Tsuruko's ass.

Tsuruko let go, feeling the jolt of electricity through Tatsuako. It was done.

thu- thud. After that, Tatsuako's limp body flopped onto its side. She was now crying, her eyes vacant from the pain, head twisted in an unhealthy way.

"Aa-" Rinnosuke ran up. "Tatsuako!"

"You fucking-" Aina ran up, too. "Whore!"

Standing up, exhaling, Tsuruko collected her breath.

'They won't let her die. If they were smart, they wouldn't treat this injury. If Tatsuako was left like this, she'd die.'

Dispelling the heavy holy energy that billowed from within her whole body before it could really get going, Tsuruko began to sprint down the road, calling the wind instead.

Cla- cla- clack! Aina sprinted after her, but after some seconds, Tsuruko was clearly faster.

WOOSH! Tsuruko leapt, and along the wind, she was gone. She'd seemingly skidded along the air, down the whole northern road ahead in just a moment.

"Aa-" Aina's mouth hung open, for a moment. "Fuck! Fuck you!"

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Tsuruko lingered around the walls of Keine's school.

'Now that I have a moment…'

Kamishirasawa's influence was always a thorn in her side. And, for good reason; dealing with Keine herself wasn't ever a good idea. Fujiwara no Mokou was, at this stage, also incomprehensible to fight.

Even the meek human magician who frequented Kamishirasawa's residence had effortlessly shut her down and made a joke of her on more than one occasion. She thought she could teach him a lesson in obedience, but instead she was simply embarrassed repeatedly.

'Perhaps I could beat up Kamishirasawa at this point. But, what would that get me? If she wasn't killed, she'd be furious, and even if she was, beings far more powerful than either of us would come to be rid of me.'

'...I'll have to consider it. This status quo of smarmy peace she spreads can only be undone if she herself is usurped. Until then, I'll have to take it one step at a time. As I follow my passage to rulership.'

Having had enough thinking, her heart beat harder, and she stared up the perimeter wall of the village.

Woosh! Bounding from the floor outside, Tsuruko seemingly floated down upon the roof of the school.

'For now, I'll send her a message. This should produce the mildly frenzied result I expect. When Tsukiko returns to town… I'll give her a reason to keep hunting me.'

CLACK- clack, clack, clack! Tsuruko sprinted across the school rooftop.

"Hup!" Leaping, she slowed her forward speed, to come down into a courtyard in the midst of the school's architecture.

"Nnh." Landing here, she looked around. She knew the school had after-school activities for the children. The question is, where they'd currently be.

Slower now, she came up to a metal door, and whipped it open- but with care not to let it slam against a wall.

Once she was inside, she panned her gaze around.

"Aa-" But, she was spotted instantly. "Tsu-... Tsukiko?"

Tsuruko panned her head, to look at a young man. He had plain, semi-messy brown hair, and on his back was a huge broadsword he definitely couldn't use.

'...Is this a student?' Tsuruko was actually confused.

"Wha- what's up?" He stepped closer, smiling. "I didn't know you came here, today. Aa-... are you looking for Keine?"

...Tsuruko smiled at him. "No, actually. I'm looking for an afterschool club. Curiosity, you see."

Akihito paused. He felt something was off about her voice, and the way she spoke.

"Su- sure." But, he didn't want to assume anything weird, either. Tsukiko was a good friend of Keine's, and basically a hero, as well as a legend. He was self-conscious of blunders he'd made in the past, so he resolved not to make trouble now.

'This is perfect, actually. I may be able to stir the nest… as well as come out unscathed. A good mystery would definitely destroy any emotional traction from anyone other than Tsukiko, or Kamishirasawa.'

"What kinda club, um, would you like to see?" Akihito wondered, as he lead her. "We got, like, um… crafts. Aa- arts. Safety… wa- water."

'Water club.' Tsuruko remembered that club. She still didn't know why it exists.

"What's your favorite?" Tsuruko asked him. "Did you attend any?"

"...Ye- yeah." Akihito nodded. "Before I went- and became… a youkai hunter, I was part of the safety club. Most people from here go there 'cause their parents are guardsmen, and they wanna follow in their footsteps."

'Not that the middle-skill guards do much of anything. Most grassroots-level, easily deployable men are delinquents, or idiots not good for much else. The middle-skill ones do chores or serve in emergencies, and the high-performing ones actually get important work done.'

"You're a youkai hunter?" Tsuruko smiled. "Cute."

"...You- you forgot, huh." Akihito smiled, too. "I guess I don't blame you…"

'Oh, Tsukiko knows him on some level, then.'

"Anyway, um." Akihito gestured to a door. "It's in here. This um, kinda dojo-like room…"

Click. Akihito pushed the door to the room open, and Tsuruko followed.

'Ah. Yes…' Her smile widened. 'This room.' She'd attended the safety club herself. 'I always wanted to use it, when I was in the Artificial Hakurei Project, and just climbing the ranks. It's too bad Keine saw through the whole thing, even when it was getting started. She didn't allow us true use of her school grounds.'

Eventually, they'd found a workaround. In here, some young maidens in red and white stood around the right of the room, doing their best to look like Reimu, and very few remotely succeeding.

"It's so cold…"

"Reimu has ta be a youkai. No human could wear something like this in the winter!"

"Danmaku-... is- really hard…"

ti- tick, tick. Some of the girls made messy, inaccurate spreads of multi-colored talismans in the air in response.

"Man. You guys." A teenage-looking maiden in red-white shook her head. "I'm not even part of this artie-Hakurei doohickey thing, and I'm way better at this than you!"

The girls around her frowned back. "That's probably 'cause you're a mage."

"You~kai. Youkai!"

"You smell!"

...The western-looking girl grinned and glared back at them. "Maybe this is why you guys suck at this."

Tsuruko ignored their semi-random pondering. '...I wish I could go back to that time.' Still, its presence filled her with nostalgia.

She turned her attention to the stone-headed boys who were on the left side of the large dojo room. They had some tiny metal plates that emulated the older model of guard armor, which was probably because no one needed that model at all after the guard became better at metalworking.

It was just a metal plate, below their pecs but above their abs. They were similar to Tatsuako's ruby ab guard, except worse.

"Um…" They were being guided by a teenage boy. Most of them were pre-teens, but the teenage boy seemed to lead this club activity. "Oo- oh! Hey, Akihito!"

"Hey, guys." Akihito greeted them plainly. "I'm showing Tsukiko around the school. I- I think."

The girls looked over at her. The boys looked up at her, and the responses were instant.

"Wo~w! She's so pretty…!"

"It's-...!" The Artificial Hakurei Projects girls tensed up. Tsukiko was their enemy, but these girls were so young that they stood absolutely no chance. Not if Rio wasn't good enough. Not if whole leagues of them weren't good enough.

"Who?" The western girl in Reimu's outfit smiled obliviously.

Tsuruko snorted, meeting her gaze.

"Wow…" The boys continued to marvel at her.

"Her-... her- dude, her boobs are so big…"

"She- she's looking at me!"

"Um…"

Smiling peacefully, Tsuruko panned her gaze to Akihito. "Hey. Cutie. Give me your sword."

"Aa-" Akihito paused. "...Cu- cutie?"

"Please?" Tsuruko leaned towards him. "I hope you don't mind."

"If- if you re- really want- it-" Akihito swallowed, and began to draw his sword from his back. "Aa- am I really-... cute?"

"Very." Tsuruko confirmed. "Young men like you… you make my heart flutter, when I look at you."

He handed his sword over right away, hand on the hilt and on the midsection. "...I-... I didn't know- y- you found me-... aa- attractive…"

Tsuruko took it by the tip, and gripped further up the midsection than he did. "Thank you."

Then, she stepped up to the boys.

'Now…' She played reaper. 'Who will be unlucky today? Or, lucky, depending on how one views life.'

Bringing the broadsword around her back, over her shoulder, she decided to begin her game. "What are all of your names?" She'd pick the one she liked the least.

"Takashi?"

"Hi- Hiroya…"

"Kenjiro."

"Hayato!"

"Teika…"

"ShinriKiyaru!"

"Mo- Moto-... ki."

'...Bland, okay, elegant and unfitting, somewhat cute, really cute, outlandish, and cute. Hmm.'

"Jin." A boy with a bowl-cut and brown hair beamed up. He was slightly chubby.

'...Yeah, he looks like he's going to be a fat asshole when he grows up.' Tsuruko's target was decided.

"Jin?" Tsuruko echoed. "What a lovely name."

"I know, right?" Jin beamed back, his cheeks chubbier than he was, which was only moderately.

"Hehehe…" Tsuruko stepped into the midst of the dojo room. "Jin. Come over here. Only you."

He stood up quickly, while the other boys watched him go in vague animosity…

Akihito blinked unsurely.

"...So!" Jin beamed up at her. "What's up?"

"Close your eyes." Tsuruko smiled wider.

...He did, smiling harder himself. "Okay!"

Tsuruko took a step back.

She held the broadsword by the blade, as if the hilt part was a hammer.

woosh. Reeling her arms up, she spun around, and whipped the hilt of the broadsword into the side of his head.

THUNK. The sound was sickening, and without making even a grunt, the boy fell over, practically thrown onto his side.

"Aa-" Akihito's jaw dropped.

The kids around them yelled in surprise. Tsuruko lifted the broadsword overhead by the blade again.

WHUNK. She cleaved it down into his head, when he rolled onto his back. "Nnh-" His face was teary, as the blood splayed from his face.

Reeling it overhead again, she took a breath.

WHUNK. She clubbed it down on his face so hard it rebounded.

"Stop!"

"No! Jin! No!"

"Tsukiko!" Akihito held up a hand, stumbling closer. "St- stop-"

"Ho- holy... shit…?" The western shrine maiden behind Tsuruko blinked owlishly.

WHU- CRUNCH. Tsuruko swung it down one last time, and the boy's skull gave in.

Red dotted Tsuruko's smiling face.

Akihito stopped before them, the blood meeting his own face. He was too slow to intervene.

Cla- clack. Tsuruko had tossed the sword at him, and he let go of it in a heartbeat, but not after touching the bloody hilt with his hand.

When he looked up from the dead child, Tsuruko was gone on the wind. The shoji out of the room was open, and in the now overcast day outside, Tsuruko leapt straight over the perimeter wall.

Akihito was left there, with fifteen-to-twenty frightened children, and a bloody sword.

-+- Tsukiko Hakurei's Perspective -+-

"So." Sendai's expression by the lakeside was vague. "...What the hell's this supposed, 'funny cone ball game thing'?"

...Suika gave her a big, cute smile. Big ice chunks in the Misty Lake ahead clicked and clacked amongst one another, amidst the silence.

Sendai was in her black-gold outfit, which made her seem even bigger than she already was. 'I feel like I'm twice Suika's height.'

"It's that thing!" Suika pointed across the lake shore.

There was a cone of cones. More accurately, it was a triangle arrangement of icy cones placed on their flats on the grass ahead.

Actually, it wasn't just grass. Beneath the pink cones was a teal sheet of ice on the grass, which stretched up the lakeside to Sendai.

'Looks like they decided to level it out.' Sendai noted how even the ice looked; if only because the ground it was perched upon very much wasn't by nature. 'I'll bet-... actually, I have no idea who did that. I don't trust Suika to level out a platform, and the fairies wouldn't care either way.'

But, she could tell it was levelled. Experimentally, she placed one leg on it, and it slid around atop the ice with terrifying ease. 'That's some slick ice, alright.'

"So!" Suika spoke up. "Ya take li', the biggest thing ya can find, and ya clobber the cones wit' 'em!"

"What!?" Suddenly, the ice fairy Sendai met previously floated up. "No! You gotta like-..." She took pause. "Actually- what if we did play it like that?"

The green-haired fairy from the other day floated up, too. "Um. I-... that'd ruin the point of the game. If you guys just wanna smash things, you can do that, but if you wanna bowl, then listen to me…!"

'Bowl…?' Sendai furrowed her brows. 'What a funny word. Bowl. Probably because it shouldn't be a verb.'

"I'm gonna bowl you." Sendai threatened Daiyousei.

"Actually!" Cirno quickly realized something. "...You're the fake Reimu from the other day!"

'Awfully perceptive of her. I guess she doesn't see that many girls with long black hair.'

"Wh-..." Daiyousei quickly realized as well. "Cirno-chan! We gotta-...!"

"Yeah!" Cirno floated down, into Sendai's face. "We're gonna prank her super hard! She's a super idiot-"

Sendai flourished an arm into the air. "Not again!"

FWISH! A starburst of candy flew out from her sleeve, exploding straight up into the air.

Confectionary of various colors scattered across the lakeside. The water nearby rippled, small treats making their impact and vaguely polluting the water. It was like rain, for only a couple seconds.

It was a truly remarkable burst of candy. "Aa-" Cirno was immediately distracted, eyes wide at the spectacle. "S'that-... aa- Dai! Look! Skittles!"

"Wh- Cirno, no!" Daiyousei flew after her, as Cirno began to run along the floor, surveying the scattered sweets. "You're-... um…" Daiyousei saw a green lollipop on the floor, and scooped down to pick it up. "Do- don't let her distract you…"

'...I didn't think that'd just unleash the candy all over the floor, but apparently fairies are fine with that. I don't think they can even get sick, so… it doesn't really matter.'

Suika gave the fairies an uneven look, scratching the back of her head. "Eeh. They got an even shorter memory than mhe. Not tha' ish very short- but like-... I'm drunk!"

Sendai snorted. "Yeah. Like you wouldn't just drink sake off the floor if I spilled some here."

...Suika gave her a grin, and a stink-eye. "Pft-... I meant- I eased 'em over wit' booze earlier- but 'parently they forgot! Guess candy worksh. An' also, ih dependsh on the kinda sake!"

'Wa- wait, you'd do it at all?'

"...Yo!" Suika yelled. "Get yer tight li'l cunts back here!"

'Do- you really want to be saying that...' Even for Sendai, that was a profane call-out.

Daiyousei came back quickly, looking putoff. "Oo- our whats?"

"Nn…" Suika grinned. "The hell were the rules a' thish- bowling thing again?"

"Oh…" Daiyousei paused, and beheld Sendai for a moment. "We- well, um… let me just-" She drew a notebook from her dress pockets. "Keine told me…"

'Oh? This fairy knows Keine?'

"You gotta roll a ball." Daiyousei focused, and recounted her notes… "You roll it twice, and you get a certain number of points depending on the pins you knock down. The pins get reset after a person does their two rolls, unless they get a strike. A strike is when you knock down all the pins. In the event of a strike, the person who got it gets a super amount of points, and the next person's turn begins right away."

She pensively looked up at Sendai. "...We-... I think we forgot the balls."

Sendai held up a hand, and maximized a yin-yang orb some.

"Oh." Daiyousei blinked. "Um. They've gotta be a certain size."

Cirno came up, her mouth full of assorted sweets. "Mm- nngh- nmh- nmhmh!" She held up a ball of ice, three of her fingers inserted into three odd holes on it…

Even without words, Sendai vaguely understood. That was the size of a ball.

She made her yin-yang orb about as big.

"I wonda…" Suika grinned. "Tsuki, try rollin' the orb inta the-... the pins." Suika felt weird calling them pins, when they were obviously cones…

...Sendai came up to the edge of the icy lane. "Any rules on how we throw it? Or…?"

"Aa- yeah." Daiyousei nodded. "You gotta stand on the far end from the pins. And, you gotta roll it underhand, along the lane. Don't just, um, toss it."

'...I think I'm seeing the idea.'

Reeling her arm back, Sendai took a breath, stepped up to the lane, and lobbed the yin-yang underhand, from her right arm.

Clack! The ice clicked, the yin-yang accelerating faster. Spiritual, white-blue light lit up along it as it actively gained speed on the ice-

KRA- CLA~CK! The jagged cones all rocketed off the end of the lane. Their jagged bases made them all move as a unit, sliding well onto the plain before parting. The only reason some of them tipped over was because of the mystic force of the yin-yang orb.

Woosh! The yin-yang orb continued to barrel across the plains ahead, rolling off into the great beyond. It left a trail of airy blue light as it went.

'...Um. Hmm.'

"That's- probably cheating." Even Daiyousei was able to tell something was off.

"It totally is!" Cirno glared at Sendai. "You gotta use the ice balls, too!"

"...Ain't, uhh…" Suika saw something wrong here. "Ain't the bowlin' pins supposed ta be like-... bowlin' pin shaped? Not thah I ever knew shit 'bout bowlin', but like… y'know, issa shape people throw around. Phrases like 'pin head'. Like- when ya deshcribe shomeone as- bowlin' pin shaped."

Not wanting to admit even the probability of being wrong here, Cirno furrowed her brows and tried to look thoughtful. "But-... I like these cones."

'I figured something was wrong. Actually, yeah, those sure as hell aren't bowling pins. I've seen a few in Kourin's junk pile, back when it was a junk pile, and not a-... a housed junk pile.'

...Cirno frowned hard, at everyone's stares. "Well- if you're all so smart, tell me what a bowling pin looks like!"

'Oh, gods.'

Suika grinned, and held up a finger. Then, she faltered. "Aah-... bowlin' pin shaped?"

'Nice job.'

Cirno smiled at that. "I- but, I-... ee- even I'm not that dumb, I don't know what that is. Don't try to trick me."

Daiyousei shook her head. "I- I should've sketched it out. I don't think anyone can just tell you… it's um, an awfully specific shape."

"Wh- I mean, it can't be that bad!" Cirno contested. "It's just- what, squares and triangles?"

'It's hopeless.' Sendai was losing faith in the fairies fast…

"You know what?" Sendai had a better idea. "How about I find you a bowling pin? So you can make ice copies of it?"

...Cirno's eyes lit up at that. "Oh, yeah!? I'll race you to it!"

"No, don't." Sendai was sure she'd get lost and not come back. "I don't even know where you'd find one."

"Ooh?" Cirno leaned towards Sendai, smiling with sudden and copious levels of smug. "Are you scared?"

"Scared you'd get lost, yes." Sendai clarified. "But, you know what? Yeah. You terrify me. Please, don't race me. Just accept that you'd win anyway."

"Ha!" Cirno planted her arms on her own hips. "...That felt super con-... condensation. So I'm just gonna stop!"

"Co- condescending." Daiyousei supplied.

Beaming, Cirno folded her own arms. "Yeah- what she said!"

'Holy shit, she can think.'

"...Good." Sendai looked in the vague direction of Kourindou. "I'll be back soon. I know where one would be, somewhat nearby. Gimme thirty minutes."

Cirno nodded twice. "Okay!"

"Thi- thirty minutes…" Daiyousei narrowed her eyes slightly. "That's-... that could be awhile…"

"Aah, quit yer belly-achin'." Suika swung her gourd into the air. "Ya be patient, and I'll give ya some beer, yeah?"

Focusing on the gourd, Cirno's eyes lit up for a moment. "...Think of it, Dai. Beer and sweets."

"...That helps, yeah." Daiyousei admitted.

With that, Sendai stalked off. 'I can't believe I have to go find a fuckin' bowling pin.'

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Standing outside Kourindou, Sendai sized up the locked-up exterior.

'There's gotta be somewhere in here without breaking Kourin's shit. But…'

The overcast day shone plainly down upon where she stood. The magic forest's gloom didn't quite spread to Rinnosuke's residence, as it was just on the edge of the woods.

'If he's buckled up to oppose other, more assholeish youkai, then… there shouldn't be a way in that one could just access.'

'If only I had my magical know-how back. With my spiritual affinity, I could detect magical traps. Both my own, and those set by youkai and magi.'

She knew she used to project some kind of magic of her own out, to do the detection. It wasn't anything magnetic like Marcus's magic, nor was it as simple as just splaying out her own mana; acts like that could result in her being punished by the traps, depending on how well they're set.

'I haven't really intentionally tried to recover that skill yet. I-... wonder.'

Crack, crack. Cracking her neck, then her knuckles, Sendai got ready to scope out the perimeter of the Kourindou.

'Kourin can consider this a security check. If I can break in without using ungodly strength, so can someone else.'

Considering the past, she remembered she had to have used some form of holy magic. 'After all, holy is the antithesis to most youkai spellweaving…'

Coming around the side of the Kourindou, Sendai took in the awkward way the ground and grass met the stone foundation. Some of the ground around the foundation itself wasn't the most even, nor the nicest looking.

Not that it particularly mattered. 'I feel like I recognize some of this groundwork… wait.'

She paused. Along the house's left flank, she stared off into the woods.

There was a particular clearing between some trees she recognized. Blinking idly, she came up to it.

'This is where me, Marcus, Keine and Kourin all got buzzed. Minus the fire, and the logs. I sat on this stump here.'

The stump in question was now quite rotted, and very dead. The grass their fire pit used to be was now immensely plain, but some stones still remained, outlining where it used to be. But, only a few.

'Wow…'

There was something really cool, about this. Yet, it made her yearn for the past, and even though it was just a few months ago, she felt intense nostalgia, in a way she wouldn't normally feel.

'...Is this all bad after all?' She kind of liked the feeling. It was melancholic, but definitive, and final. It made her feel at peace. 'I wouldn't feel this way, if my life wasn't… changed, so fiercely.'

In a way, it did more to dull the pain of losing her loved one than two years of idility did. If only because the previous life she lived, one vacant and fleeting of his love, was now essentially gone.

This new life had a new status quo. Her daughter was grown up, and survived her youth. She was powerful in her own right.

Sendai's own somewhat loose, ragtag friends were now mature adults. Even the one that was an adult before- Marcus- was now quite wiser.

'I don't-... I don't think I've quite realized, the freedom I have now.'

Sendai felt her body calm. The holy overcast that shone from above filled her with an odd, still comfort.

'These grounds. The shrine, the land before it…'

'Somehow, it all feels like home.'

Fwish. Once more, white heat began to burn from within herself, the ominously peaceful aura bending the light in the air over herself.

On the note of home, her mind followed a train of thought.

'The night I died. Before I went to sleep with Reimu… I climbed a rafter of the shrine, and-'

Sendai remembered Third Maiden's Secret * Eye of Truth.

Sendai learned Youkai Mastery (Insight).

She stalked back up to the left flank of the Kourindou, and crouched down near the wall.

Closing her eyes, she felt the peaceful stillness inside herself. 'This feeling…'

Bwoo~p. Her white aura flourished, shining bright enough to light up the grass and wood near herself. She let out a sonar-like beep, and had to fight a grin. 'Ah…'

All across the Kourindou, lights lit up. White energy traced up windows, and along various sections of walling. From those windows, Sendai could see inside; and see exactly where magic had been laced.

But, like this, she couldn't see all of it. She could only see what was in eyesight. Even though her holy magic coated all of the Kourindou, she couldn't see through the walls.

A moment of clarity. 'My dark magic…' She'd never sought to touch it excessively again after escaping her youth, in her previous life. But, now…

fwish. Her white aura flickered, polluted by more fruity blue light.

Deep black crept across her temples, tickling her skin. Then, she fed the dark magic into her own eyes.

She was blinded, her eyes cast in shade. Nothing was visible.

But, after a second, she saw it. All the surfaces in the Kourindou that were even slightly magical were then traced in holy light, becoming visible.

It was all she could see. Even like this, a pale, translucent model of the whole store was made clear to her; the trace amounts of her holy energy revealing every surface, and the brightest lights outlining clumps of magic.

'...It's as I thought. The magic pierces my own blindfold.'

Now, she'd just have to decide a point of entry.

whish. Wind wrapped up her form. "Nnn." She crouched down, and leapt.

She found herself floating in the black over the Kourindou; the translucent, crystal-like form of its exterior seemingly hovering below her.

With her eyes shut, beholding only her magic, the world seemed like a fragmented wasteland of broad, prismatic panes, and a void of black.

She could see the Hakurei barrier above, making a huge rim in the sky around all of Gensokyo. It was a void of color and rainbow light, mixed with shade only the vast nothing of grand space and void could imitate.

'I can see the Hakurei shrine in the distance; a beacon of dizzying colors and detail in a luminescent, fragile world. That damn mansion's alive with color too; as are a few other places…'

Landing on the shingled roof, she looked over the bright, crystal structure that was the Kourindou. 'Oh, right. I need to get inside…' Sendai remembered what she was doing.

She examined the upper level. 'Ah. The attic windows aren't quite reinforced, but they're so damn tiny.'

'The shingles up here, however, are reinforced. Willing to bet that this place is wired to lock down tighter if force is used.'

The doors themselves weren't an option. The windows weren't an option either. 'Hmm. If I was Kourin, how would I lock a door, so that only myself could access it?'

She walked off the edge of the roof, and landed slowly on her sandals behind the Kourindou.

'Nnh. First, he'd use the back door. Front seems obvious, even if criminals are liable to try both.'

The backdoor was particularly bright itself, awash with magical signatures. This didn't mean Sendai knew what they were, precisely.

'Hold on. Idea.'

Staring down the back door of the Kourindou again, Sendai put her hand on the knob.

'Since my magic's holy, and holy energy doesn't quite cooperate with the affinities of some elements, particularly those youkai would use… then perhaps I can simply...'

Her white aura fed into it. Eventually, there was so much light in the door, that it was spreading out to herself, taking up more space than the door's material.

Click. The door unlocked, when Sendai jiggled the handle with just a little force.

Crea~k. She cautiously pushed it open. Once inside, she turned around, and shut the door quickly.

...After she ceased feeding her magic to it so fiercely, the light began to dim-

Click! The door locked itself, once the magic had faded.

'Did I just- overload it with holy, or was that the way it was meant to be opened? No youkai would typically use holy on anything, so…'

'Whatever. Question for Kourin later. Right now, I need a bowling pin.'

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Sendai obtained Blue Bowling Ball.

Sendai obtained Bowling Pin.

Inside, she found a bowling pin, and an actual, blue bowling ball. '...I'll pay you back for this crap later, Kourin. I need it now.'

She'd claimed it from the midst of a junk pile in the front of the store. Slipping both into her sleeves, she looked around the shop. She had dispelled her dark-holy vision some time ago.

'Kourin has so much crap in here. I don't even know what half of it is. Same went for the pile he used to own such-and-such years ago. Build a storage house, already-'

'Ah.'

She froze. Someone was there, staring at her from behind. She'd turned to face the stranger, and spotted them there.

"Oh-" A blue-haired woman. She drifted straight into the floor, something held in her hands.

Even though she'd only seen them for a second, Sendai was confident someone was there. "Who are you?" She raised her voice, and called out. "I saw you. Come out."

Nothing.

"Come on." Sendai got louder.

Still nothing.

'...Guess Kourin's defenses don't protect him from fucking ghosts, or whatever that was. I ought to look into how to bless structures.'

She didn't really have the time to just sentry the place, however. 'It'd be awfully coincidental if I just happened to spook a burglar. I doubt this was that lucky.'

Since she probably wouldn't see anything else happen, she began to leave. Moving into Kourindou's back room, she proceeded to the exit.

Click. After flooding the door out with light again, Sendai pushed it open, slipped outside, and gently shut it behind herself.

Moving around the front of Kourindou, she took another breath. She'd just have to trek back to the lake, which was only a minute or two from here. Or five.

Regardless, she wouldn't have too much difficulty. '...For some reason, the easy overcast seems ominous when I feel like there's a burglar around.'

Before she could mull over the thought too long, she spotted the would-be burglar to the left of the Kourindou.

They eyed one another along the path laid before the store.

The blue-haired, well-endowed woman floated in the air, waving a smoking stick around, which had a gold-accented pipe on the end of it. "Mmh… oh. There it is." Her blue eyes conveyed a smarmy mirth that Sendai instinctually resented. It was one of these kinds of youkai.

'Gods, damn it. I just wanted to find a fucking bowling pin. Kourin, you need holy defenses, this shit's stupid.'

She pointed at Sendai. The young adult of a man next to her turned to survey Sendai himself…

He was either barely legal, or a teenager. His navy blue hair shimmered as he righted his head, to glare ahead at Sendai.

From his back, he drew a rusty, clumsy-looking sword. "Stop right there!"

Brows furrowed, Sendai scanned the floating, blue-haired woman, and the navy-haired man.

He had some kind of cloth jacket on, which Sendai vaguely recognized. 'That's an outsider-style outfit.' He also wore jeans, and had strange shoes of some sort on.

"I saw you! Through the windows!" He held his clunky, blunt sword rigid with two hands. "You were stealing!"

'...Really.'

A multitude of explanations crossed Sendai's mind, but she quickly knew none of them would mean anything.

The woman behind him nodded, waving her smoking stick around as she smiled. "Mmm. It's not unoften, that youkai steal from the Kourindou when presented the opportunity. In fact, a doppelganger of this particular person makes perfect sense for the job."

The teenage-looking man met her gaze, partially turning away from Sendai. "...Seiga- this's what a doppelganger looks like?"

Seiga's face faltered slightly. "Well... no, because they're always disguised. You know. Because they're a doppelganger."

"Ooh-..." The navy-haired man beamed. "Right! How do I fight it?"

"I'm no enemy of yours." Sendai tried to talk it over, anyway.

Seiga snorted, and a ring of smoke came from her lips. The air from her nose caused the smoke ring to curl into a heart shape. "Mmm? Do you hear her lies? Doppelgangers are despicable, and quite skilled liars."

The teenage man pointed his sword at Sendai from afar. "I'm not letting a thief get away! Especially not one who stole from Rinnosuke!"

He was distinctly American, Sendai noted. 'Not from around these parts. Outsider, through and through.'

She hadn't seen outsiders appear often, years ago. Despite that, there was still the occasional businessman from any number of nations or geographies, warriors, or just school kids. It was really a grab bag of any potential appearance and personality.

This teenager seemed to be the latter, albeit Sendai didn't quite recognize his clothing. 'Fashion probably evolved in some years. I see jeans still haven't gone out of style.'

"If-" The teen spoke up. "If you put back what you stole-"

"Don't bother." Seiga shook her head. "You don't know what it is she stole. She could say she put it back, and you would be none the wiser."

"...Damn." He began to glare at Sendai anew. "That's-..."

'Gimme a break.'

"What's your name?" Sendai raised her voice.

"Aa-..." The navy-haired teen beamed back at her. "The name's Wave. You better look out, 'cause I'm here to keep the peace. For the human village, and for everyone in Gensokyo."

'Are we joking. His voice is barely strong enough to be heard outdoors.'

"Since she's a doppelganger, you can probably just run at her." Seiga smiled, waving her smoking stick about. "Bu~t, be careful. Even the weakest kinds of youkai can have ferocious power, if underestimated."

"Got it!" Wave gave Seiga a confident smile, and a salute. "You start headin' back to the village, Seiga! I'll bring this youkai to justice, and then we can hit the bakery!"

Seiga snorted. "You do that." Then, she floated off.

Sendai got a glimpse of what was in Seiga's offhand. '...Something which shimmers. Is it a sword? Most of it's concealed by this rag she has over it. I ought to tell Kourin she's stealing a whatever-that-is. Her name's Seiga. Seiga...'

After committing the name to memory, Sendai nodded. 'Wonder what she wants with-'

"So!" Wave raised his voice. "If you aren't gonna let me search you... I'm just gonna have to bring you back to the village with me! What's your name?"

"I am the miko who came before." Sendai cracked her neck, then her knuckles.

"...Just- so you know, I really don't wanna do this." Wave tightened his grip on his rusted, battering sword. It was really more like a sword-shaped club. "You're really pretty. But, you youkai, sometimes you leave me no choice."

-+- Vs. Outsiders -+-

Kri- krack, krack. Sendai's face contorted into a fierce glare, her eyes flaring with amber light as she beheld Wave's young, eager and battle-hungry face.

'Push…' She reminded herself why she fought. 'To keep this idiot from destroying what is good. Imagine if I was so weak, as to fall to his whims, and be accused as a criminal. When I have a daughter to love, and people to protect…'

'I'll push back. This little shit's going to feel what it's like to get fucked by an oni. I'll take his stupidity- and punch it- smash it right back into him!'

THOOM! She stomped the floor so hard, the dirt on the path all around her plumed outward briefly, as a circle of dust. "Hmph!"

"You can't scare me!" Wave beamed, and drew his huge, rusty broadsword back. "Unleash! Red Raid!"

WOOSH! He tossed the blade ahead, and it came at Sendai like a disc of red light.

THUNK! Sendai tensed her whole body, and took it head-on. The broadsword's flat- not that it had sharpness- rebounded off her shoulder, flying off as her body leaned to the side slightly.

"Aa-" Wave blinked. "You're tough, for a doppelganger…"

She couldn't exchange words with someone this dense. Violence for violence was the way of beasts, and they were both about to be mutually guilty.

'Someone smarter might try and talk it out. Console him, tease him, try damn hard to talk him out of it. But, like that, he'll never learn. He'll never learn the absolute value, of what it means to threaten someone's life.'

'Life isn't some fucking game. Fighting isn't a game. This…'

Sendai looked to the right.

There was a bicycle chained to the front of the Kourindou.

Her mind told her not to do it. Her mind told her it probably wouldn't be a good idea.

However, her heart desperately, desperately, wanted to fulfill a new desire.

'This is reality!'

Hunched over, fuming, Sendai powered for the bike attached to a rail before Kourindou.

Fwish! Summoning his broadsword back, the boy ran for Sendai. "You aren't gonna break Rinnosuke's shop anymore!"

CLONG. Slowly, he met Sendai's gut with it as she walked along.

"Ghk-" Saliva spilled from her mouth, ejected from the absolute impact. Wimpy as he was, a blunt weapon to the gut was a blunt weapon to the gut.

'This fucker can't tell by the look on my face? This-... this is going to be good…'

She kept stomping along, reaching the bike rail.

'You…' She gave him a glare back, her emotions welling up. She wanted to find fuel for her anger.

Her eyes moist, she seethed out a question. "I- I have a daughter. You'd hit me- bludgeon me, impair me and cripple me- all on some fucking hearsay? From that whore?"

Wave frowned back. "Shut up. You don't lie about things like that. And Seiga isn't a wh- whore! And- you're a youkai. You'll get better!"

"And how do you know that?" Sendai demanded. "How do you know I'm a youkai?"

"Those clothes you wear- that look in your eyes, that anger…" He held his broadsword tight. "Your lies can't hide it!"

"So…" Sendai's face fell. "Since you're such an expert… my daughter doesn't deserve a mother anymore? My husband doesn't deserve a wife? Our years together, our love- you'd throw that all away? Just because you think I'm a youkai?"

Wave glared back, now angry himself. "Yes! I'd take it all away! You threw everything away when you decided to steal!"

'...That's crazy.'

He kept going, as Sendai glared. "Like anyone could ever love you. And if your daughter was like you- I'd take her to jail too! So- just shut up already..."

Now that… Sendai couldn't walk away from that.

'And so, violence for violence. So be it, then.'

Sendai hyped herself up. This was her love for her daughter, her family, and her painful climb to where she was now, versus this kid's sense of justice. Which was greater?

Sendai sure as hell wouldn't let it be the latter.

"HRAH!" She flailed both arms out, and roared to the sky. A geyser of orange light washed off her, holy energy blooming in a messy, chaotic twist around herself.

CLACK! She latched both arms onto the bike chained to the rail outside Kourindou.

WHAM! Wave slid up aside her, and rammed her in the small of her back with his broadsword. "Gotcha!"

Despite the spike of electric pain, Tsukiko clenched her teeth so hard her mouth flared with light, and pulled.

"Hrr~...!" Her muscles screamed, and her body shook, as she pulled, pulled, and pulled.

Wave had recoiled, his blunt blade having bounced of her spine. It was like her kimono was made of a shell, and her body itself made of rock.

He hefted the blade overhead, meant for her head. "Rock Cleave~r!"

Sendai imagined it landing- and imagined the worst possible outcome.

'I'm not about to let this fucking idiot get away with this! I'm not about to let him ruin anything!'

Krik. Her teeth clicked against each other, so rigidly locked together. Probably not good for them.

'PULL DAMN IT!'

CRACK- CRACK- CLINK- CRACK! The chains that bound the bike in place were losing.

KRAACK! Then, putting her whole body into it, Sendai snapped them. An explosion of orange and amber flared from her heart and body, washing across the ground all around herself.

CLACK! She parried his downward cleave- with an entire bicycle.

The broadsword flew from his hands. "Wh- aa-" His jaw dropped.

Sendai spun around, eyes at maximum dilation, arcing the bike around just as much as the bike arced her around.

Then, with one complete rotation, she smashed it into his gut.

KRACK! Thud! "Hhk- uu-" Wave crumpled to the floor, bested by the entire bicycle.

Fwish! Summoning his sword to his hands, he held it up to guard himself. "Pl- please! I-... Se- Seiga'll be sad- if I'm gone! Mo- mom… she'd-..."

Sendai briefly paused, holding to her right, slowly letting it droop.

He was someone's son. Another human, just like her.

'And it doesn't even matter.' She hefted the bike back into the air. 'You'd take my family away from me. I…'

Holding the bike entirely overhead, Sendai felt her muscles pulse into overdrive, her heart beating with unhealthy power.

'I deserve to show you despair.'

"HYAAAH!" Sendai's arms became solid white and gold, as she whipped the bike straight down like it was an oven tray.

BOOM- KLANKANK- CRUNCH! The bike bounced off of Wave, soaring meters into the air after crushing him into the floor.

"GHK-" Wave was almost entirely destroyed. He bounced off the floor, his sword doing jackshit to protect him, dirt blooming under his broken body as he ascended with the bike.

Landing, his mouth snapped into an incredulous beam-

"bwuu~h…!" Then, he spat out a fountain of blood from between his lips, eyes all screwy.

Sendai reeled herself back, and roared into the air. "Come o~n!"

Sendai obtained Shounen's Sword.

Sendai obtained 520 Yen.

Sendai obtained Secret Wallet.

Sendai learned Essence of Bicycle.

"That all…?" She was crouched down next to him, eyes narrowed at the couple yen bills he handed over.

"Khk- kaugh-" Wave had downed a potion he had on him, to save himself from demise. Still, he'd suffered such damage in an instant, he was still shocked into submission. "It-... it is…" He was crying, too.

"Fucking pathetic." Sendai leered down at him. "If I was really a youkai, I'd have killed you over this. When you talk to Seiga again, tell her the reason you're alive is because of me."

"Aa- oo-"

"Another thing." Sendai got onto her knees, and glared at him.

'This brings me back…' She was reminded of her teenage years, spooking villagers and fighting for her life.

"If you and I ever cross paths again…" She latched a hand onto his neck. "I will make you take responsibility for endangering my family. Next time you see me, you run away. Am I understood?"

'I'm not normally this cruel. Not after this sort of thing has become routine. But…'

'It's really bringing me back. And… it feels good. Sometimes, you have to set an example.'

Wave was shaking, nodding unsteadily up at her. "Oo- o- oka- okay…"

'After all… violence, sometimes, is the one and only justice. Logic, wisdom, care… these things are all important to justify it. With those things, you can find the strength to uphold them as well.'

'But, without true, raw, stupid, absolute, realistic force… even this fucking punk-ass kid can take it all away from you. He can become right, and you can become wrong.'

"Youkai in this land are unkind, wry, and smart." Sendai loomed over him as she stood. "As well as unspeakably powerful. Find yourself a girlfriend, put away your sword, and never step foot outside the village again. If I don't find you, something worse will. You don't walk around outside unless you're picking a fight."

With that, she turned away from him. 'If that Seiga hoe cares about him, she'll come by with a dust pan.'

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Cla- clack, clack! Sendai scored a strike on the pins, on her sixth attempt with an icy bowling ball.

"Aah…" She paused, refraining from sipping from the ice-forged bottle of sake she held. She specifically requested a bottle, and had Suika fill it up. She'd hardly gotten into it, as the sake itself was so fierce.

What little she did sip, helped dull the headache that sat in from earlier. 'Getting angry at assholes can be fun and all- but it really wears you down. These moments of unwinding between everything really are necessary.'

"Ah-" Suika shook her head. "Awh, dahmn…" Despite her force, she could hardly send the ball down the lane straight herself, and was more liable to take away chunks of pins at once than get a strike…

"Yh- ya'know… hic!" Cirno went along with Sendai's idea, and got a bottle of the same. Except, she was already halfway done with it, despite everything; mostly at Suika's behest. "Howh-... woa- how'd it take ya so long- t'come back?"

'Fairies love their booze. Can't imagine the joy of reviving from self-induced alcohol poisoning.'

"Eeh." Sendai thought of a believable story… "No real reason. Just took my time."

"Aawh." Cirno pouted, face flushed. "That'sh la~me…"

"Sh- Ci- hnn-" Daiyousei couldn't say Cirno's name right, as she spun around woozily in the air. "Be niche…"

'I'm the only one not dead drunk. This is a sad state of affairs indeed.'

"...Omh." Sendai reached into her sleeves, and drew some pretzels to snack on. She took them from the shrine at Reimu's insistence.

'They're even nice and fresh.'

Stepping back from the lane, Sendai allowed Suika to lumber up to it.

thump. Immediately, Suika stepped onto the ice, and faceplanted from slipping. "Mmn… sh'nice- an' cool…"

Sendai had never really thought of using the yin-yang orb other than as a giant object she could toss, or use as a platform.

'If I made the yin-yang orb bowling ball-sized however… I wonder.'

Sendai watched Suika stand back up. "Mmh…"

Letting her arm hang down, Sendai drew one of the icy bowling balls from a pile Cirno made nearby.

Now up, having slid off the ice and onto the grass again, Suika beamed. "Ey- s'not yer turn…"

Sendai nodded. "I know." Reeling her arm back, she prepared to roll the ball…

Black flared up her right arm, and she practically chucked the ball. "Hyah!"

Whunk! She rolled it right into Suika's ankle, the high-mass icy orb crushing into the leg's weakest part.

"Woo- ooh." Suika's leg shifted only slightly. "Hey! I ain't no pinhead! ...Pinhea~d…!"

'Huh. If... that made an oni budge, ever so slightly…'

Sendai looked thoughtful. 'I have to try that out on an enemy, sometime. Perhaps with a yin-yang orb instead.'

Sendai learned Essence of Bowling.

"Hey, Cirno." Sendai had a bad idea. "Stand in front of me."

"Huh?" Cirno's face looked uneven, as the alcohol melted her insides. "Aah… shure…"

Standing proud and tall before Sendai, Cirno beamed rowdily. "Hehehe! How… dho I look?"

Holding up an icy bowling ball, Sendai smiled. "Looking cool, Cirno." Then, she reeled the ball back as if she were going to roll it at Cirno.

"Aww~!" Cirno thought the motion was hilarious. "Hehahaha! Yeah- roll it!"

WOOSH! Sendai's arm flared with black again, when she hurled the icy ball along the floor, and into Cirno.

KRACK. It hit Cirno's ankle, where the weakest part of its bone would be along the front.

Cirno was instantly in a world of hurt. "Ogh- hu- aa-" The bowling ball had pushed her right leg back, in the same way someone would yank a leg from a table to make it collapse.

Thud- thud! Dropping onto her right knee, clutching it, Cirno started to roll around on her back. "Fhu~ck! Ow… oww~!"

"Ho- holy shit…" Sendai beamed, before hiding her smile with a hand.

"Hoo- hahaha!" Suika pointed at Cirno. "Tha'- tha' was fhuckin' abrupht!"

'...Maybe I shouldn't be bowling while buzzed.'

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

It was far into the afternoon, when Sendai and Reimu began their trek to the Human Village together.

"I want big meats." Reimu had nothing particular in mind, but… "A lot."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Sendai liked the sound of that. "You got any restaurants you frequent?"

"Well… a couple." Reimu admitted. "Usually it's Marisa who keeps track of that sort of thing. We often go chow down together, when we get the money… together." Reimu looked weirded out by her own wording.

Sendai snorted. "You two got the money together, or get enough money to put together?"

"Well-..." Reimu realized something. "They're both correct, really. Just, the first can be inconsistent. We compete to complete youkai hunts too. Then, when we're done, we feast."

"Feast." Sendai echoed.

'Reimu's too damn adorable.'

"Feast." Reimu confirmed. "While I can go without eating for awhile, sometimes I really just… go all in."

"We all need a good meal sometimes." Sendai agreed. "Be it in quality, or quantity."

'I know I'd treat myself to new types of foods after a while; more expensive, exotic ones. While I obviously would never default to them, they were enjoyable on occasions.'

As they walked along, Reimu had an idea. "I think I know a place we can visit… actually." She looked at her mother. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I was wondering if there's any places for outsider food, now." Sendai voiced a curiosity. "They were kind of uncommon, when I was alive."

Reimu nodded. "Ah, yeah. It's kind of a bigger fad now, I guess. Some of it can taste really good, but it's all… really different. The outside world's really, really huge, after all. I'm not sure if you'd like all of it."

"Do you eat a lot of it?" Sendai noticed she had a lot to say about it…

"...Marisa has a thing for it, so I tend to know it by proxy."

Sendai could understand. "Aah. Do you like it?"

"...Ki~nda?" Reimu smiled. "Some of it's really messy. Some require unique utensils, and some of it just sucks. And… there's a certain offness to some recipes. I can't name it myself. But, it's not there when I eat the kind Sakuya makes."

Sendai had to take a moment to think, before she remembered who Sakuya was. "Oh, right. You- let that mansion feed you? Did-... did they charge you?"

Reimu gave her a flat look. "Didn't we discuss this before? I mooched."

...Sendai wasn't sure what to say. "I'm proud you're frugal, but mooching from youkai seems…"

"You beat people up and take their lunch money." Reimu contested. "That's not exactly admirable either, is it?"

Sendai clicked her tongue. "Not when you frame it like that, it isn't. I'd like to think those people deserve it. When you mooch off youkai in a way that they offer to you, rather than you taking from them-... wouldn't you suppose it leaves you open? To traps, or-"

"No, mom." Reimu countered. "The mansion isn't gonna freakin'... lace my meal to explode. If they were gonna do that, they'd've done it already."

'I'm so confused.' Sendai didn't understand the dynamic between Reimu and the mansion at all.

"Well- nnh…" Sendai really wanted to contest that. "How are you alive, with such a lack of caution? I mean- you always attest to now being different than my time, but…"

Reimu flicked her gaze up. "If Sakuya didn't go nuts on you back then, we wouldn't be talking about this like this…"

"Yet, she did." Sendai insisted. "That succubus too. In fact…"

'The moment we became separated, the mansion felt laced with danger. ...Mmh. I want to say there's something more to that than 'they planned it', but I have nothing other than my intuition to go off of.'

"Regardless. I question how you've survived, again." Sendai's question was still unanswered.

...Reimu's face softened, and she pursed her lips. "Intuition?"

"Gods damn it." Sendai ran a hand through her own hair…

"Nn- hehehe…"

Slowly, they came up to the village's gates.

Sendai came up to him in an automatic motion. She'd had this exchange thousands of times by now. "Hey. Yeah?" The words, albeit incoherent when looked at objectively, were what she remembered just casually trading with the guards. They were more sound than words, at this point.

"Aa-" Like magic, the guard took pause, and said little more. He looked like he wanted to say something, but moved for the gate's reels. "Sure thing."

...Reimu had a mildly disturbed look, as the gate plainly reeled open amidst the overcast day.

Once they progressed inside, Reimu flicked her gaze to look at her mother. "How the heck'd you do that."

Sendai blinked. "Do what?"

Sendai remembered Village Guard's Secret * Clock-in, Clock-out.

Reimu and Sendai didn't want to spend all day window-shopping restaurants, so they picked a road and resolved to enter the first outsider-looking one they saw.

'We went south, where… there's more traditional shops than there are other types. Despite that… we still found one place.'

It was a very strange looking store. The outside had a white-painted brick wall, with red-painted bricks as trim along the floor and along the roof's edges.

'It's hilariously out of place. Not many buildings in the village use brick, either…' It certainly wasn't there when she was alive.

"...Huh." Reimu sized it up. "Comet Pizza, apparently."

"Hmh?" Sendai wasn't the most familiar with the latter term.

'I've heard of 'pizza', but… I'm far from familiar with what it is.'

"It's an attempt at establishing this outsider trend, of sorts…" Reimu explained. "On the outside, there's these pizza places- or, uh, places that serve pizza. They almost exclusively serve pizza. They got sides and drinks and other things, but the selling point is the pizza. They said that you could offer a message to them from afar, and they'd deliver the pizza to your home."

"...That sounds almost too convenient." Sendai shook her head. "I feel as though there would be a catch."

Reimu gave the faintest of shrugs. "Nh. Beats me. I've never done that, 'cause the pizza would definitely be cold when it gets to the shrine… and they charge to have it delivered."

'Oh. That's the catch. Crafty, though I feel as though… unless you are quite stocked up on employees, or have a-... wait...'

"How would the places receive those messages?" Sendai wasn't sure she caught that…

"Oh, right." Reimu realized something else. "That's the other reason I don't do that. They actually can't do that here. But, on the outside, they have this thing called a phone…"

"Oh." Sendai heard of those, vaguely. "I see what you're getting at. We don't have the technology, however…"

"Yeah."

'Not like we're missing out on much, in either case.'

"If you ask me, we're not missing out on much." Reimu accidentally spoke her mother's thoughts aloud. "It wouldn't be worth it to begin with… and, like, the idea of a phone is kinda useless in Gensokyo too. If I wanted to talk to someone, I could just fly to them. I feel like we'd have more to talk about in-person, too… and, if we didn't, wouldn't just… holding up a phone feel awkward?"

Sendai snorted, still sizing up the pizza shop ahead idly. "I couldn't say. But… it's definitely something I don't think I'd get too used to myself."

'Gensokyo really isn't that huge. On the outside, I could see phones being far more useful. If you lived over the span of… let's say, an expanse ten thousand times the size of Gensokyo, or the pacific ocean… calling each other would be infinitely more efficient than sailing or walking for days, or weeks.'

'...Are people really going to stay connected over such vast distances, however? With just their voice? ...I feel like they wouldn't.'

She shook her head. She probably wouldn't see the ramifications of crazy modern technology in her lifetime regardless. "We should probably stop waiting for the snow to come."

Reimu grinned. "Yeah. Just what I was thinking…"

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

'...I beat up people today.'

The thought came idly to Sendai as she stood at the front counter of the weirdly technicolor pizza parlor.

'It's so… strange, to consider. The act of hurting people is something I've thought about… a lot. Too damn much. About the good and the bad, the outcome, whether or not the effort and statement of it is worth it…'

'Provided, fighting comes to me like breathing, almost. By comparison to other humans, who struggle a lot with it, and are afraid- rightfully so- of getting hurt bad, or dying.'

Then, a tall, immensely pale girl clad in a red employee's shirt and black pants seemingly sprang up from behind the counter at her. "He~y! How're we doin'!?"

Her hair was messy, and her teeth- they were like a shark's, jagged fangs all interlocked together.

'Despite all that, this is somehow worse.' Sendai gave her a jaded stare the moment she arrived on the scene.

Adjusting her glasses, the fluffy-haired, tall and buxom girl leered Sendai over. "The name's Tips. Hey- if ya didn't know, we're hiring!"

"No." Sendai wanted no part in this.

"But we pay well!" Tips gave her a shark-toothed leer. "An' we know a lotta hot me~n…"

"That's a part of youth I've long abandoned." Sendai countered. "And I don't plan on revisiting it for any reason."

'Rather… while I was somewhat active when I was a wild girl, the first time I got fucked was Keisuke. I'm happy for it too, because… he was damn hot, and a good person too. I mean- he later went on to be my husband and partner for life, so… you know. But, we used to casually fuck even in the beginning months.'

'Honestly? He satisfied all of my curiosities.'

'...I'm really lucky to not get pregnant in those first months. It, um, took us some time to learn about condoms, and safe days. The one time we did it unprotected had… a pretty fortunate outcome. Gods, I can't imagine having been pregnant at like, twenty-something.'

'Look, everyone was retarded back then. I wasn't an exception. Don't have unprotected sex.'

"Not fer anythi~ng?" Smirking, Tips continued to press her. "Yer blushin', y'know…"

Sendai shook her head. "I- I was thinking of my husband. Shut up or we won't buy anything."

"Aw, phooey. Fine." Tips waved her off. "What'll it be~? Actually!" She pointed at Reimu. "You into gettin' laid!?"

"What the hell kind of pizza place is this…?" Reimu was innocently baffled. "And- no, I'm not!"

That's when a girl far, far shorter than Tips came from the sidelines, and began to push her out of the way. "Hey, hey, hey. Get back to waiting. You don't even do the registers…!"

"Aw, Boss…" Tips let herself get goaded out of the way. "I do registers for hotties...!"

'Boss' huffed, and stood before the register herself. "No, you don't. Shoo."

"Aawwh…"

...When she was a few registers down, 'boss' looked over Reimu and Sendai. "...Sorry. Your orders?"

"Uuh. Large pizza." Reimu wasn't exactly sure what to get. "...Any toppings in mind, mom?"

"A what?" Sendai had no idea.

"Nevermind." Reimu shook her head. "Uum. Half pepperoni, half cheese, I guess."

"Mmm." 'Boss' nodded, and punched some keys on the register. "Any drinks?"

"...Orange juice?" Reimu wondered.

"Nope." 'Boss' shook her head.

"Darn." Reimu supposed that figured. "I guess we'll take some juice, then. ...Wait. Root beer. Also, um, a candy bar, if you sell those."

'Boss' gave one last nod. "Totals out to thirteen hundred."

Sendai spoke up. "I'll pay."

Cli- clink. She placed some bills and coins on the counter. 'Boss' quickly counted them with a glance, before depositing them into the register. "Cool. It'll be ready soon."

'This girl's pleasantly straightforward.'

Reimu randomly picked a central booth to sit at, and Sendai followed her to it…

"Nnh." Sitting down, Sendai met her daughter's gaze across the booth. "...Strange place."

"Yeah." Reimu agreed. "I'm pretty sure that shark-toothed lady was a youkai."

"I got that feeling too." Sendai was pretty certain she was. "Should we do something about that?"

...Reimu tilted her head. "Why?"

Sendai blinked at her. "Wh- what do you mean, why. There's a youkai in the village. Surely she's at least wanted, or something."

Reimu shook her head. "I mean, when they're discovered, they can be kicked out, but the days of rewards for that sort of thing are over."

"What…?" Sendai could hardly believe that. "Re- really?"

"'Cause, y'know…" Reimu met Sendai's gaze dead-on. "You got exceptions like Keine, and religious figures. As long as they don't hurt anyone or cause alarm inside the village. And- personally, I think she's a half youkai, so… she might not be an important problem anyway."

Sendai could see the logic there. "That's fair…" She seemed to relax, too. "I'm not sure about the youkai presence as a whole… but, I'm sure a single half-youkai is the least of our concerns."

Reimu recalled her mother's words about the Golden Grin, and the assault it attempted. It really wasn't an issue she wanted to pry too deep into, being here in the village as it was. She just wanted to eat, go home, and sleep.

Sendai, conversely, was thinking again. 'Just how muddied has the populace become with youkai? Back in my time- all these youkai-affiliated complexes would be a huge deal. Some of them still are, but it's like the village itself selectively chooses whether or not to be alarmed.'

'In this particular scenario… villagers that go to a western food place probably wouldn't be inherently freaked out by one. That, and really, the only monstrous thing about her are those teeth. And, her height, kind of. And her demeanor, kind of. Also, those boobs.'

'...Alright, she kinda sticks out, but, whatever.'

"How can you handle screwing with this place?" Reimu wondered.

Sendai examined her plain expression. "...What do you mean?"

"Dealing with the people, and with the stuff here that worries you." Reimu considered… "How do you even start?"

"I've been dealing with people all my life." Sendai explained simply. "As for leads… intuition? Luck? With enough fucking around, you stumble into the glaring issues eventually."

Reimu snorted. "What do you consider done, then? When the youkai are gone?"

"If there are youkai peacefully getting along here, I won't care." Sendai supposed. "There are very clearly malicious ones, however. And, that Artificial Hakurei Project bullshit's turning out to be a bigger headache than I first thought."

'It's indicating a problem with the village. A problem where any single individual with half a brain cell, but a whole lot of heart, can climb to a state where they can just fuck over a bunch of people. The people here used to be more rigid. It's like time has withered away the social cohesion and solidarity the people here once had.'

'I'm not sure what to make of this. To my knowledge, most of my problems right now- if not all of them- are centered on this one, random ass chick who keeps doing confusing things.'

Most importantly, Sendai supposed the village had lost some of its former identity, from ten years ago.

'For better or for worse. Crazy how fast things can change.'

'Though, I suppose it's unfair for me to think that. 'Cause, you know…'

Their pizza was ready. The box was gently sat down before them, complete with a king-sized candy bar atop it, and one of those cardboard four-cup trays, with the two applicable root beers held.

Sendai panned to face their waiter. They were a big, burly man in only shorts.

"Is this some sort of western tradition I'm not aware of?" The more baffling part to her was that this man wasn't youkai, at all.

...He gave her a smirk, and a fragment of a shrug. "As far as I know, it is indeed!"

'I like some muscle on a guy, but… this is kind of ridiculous.' She had an array of preferences when it came to men, but from her time with Keisuke, she came to appreciate the semi-toned, petite types.

She could even see appreciating a larger, more rigid man in certain circumstances, but she found Keisuke's body type to be a happy medium.

Then, there was this clown. 'What the fuck is that hair. No, this isn't right at all.'

Reimu looked weirded out. "Maybe we shouldn't adopt every western tradition. Some of them… aren't uh, good ideas."

The man's brows curled up. "The ladies disagree."

"This lady thinks you ought to put a shirt on." Sendai refused to let him walk away feeling proud of his appearance. "Whoever's actually impressed… I don't know what to say."

Reimu had a dull look. "I think I can think of a few people…"

"Those aren't your friends anymore." Sendai jested. "I retroactively disown them."

Di- ding! That's when the shop's front door swung open.

"Aa-" Aina hurried inside, hustling. "...Ah! It's you!" She stopped suddenly before Sendai and Reimu, her hair fwoofing out in the process. "And-" She spotted the fairly unclothed waiter. "Ooh. Hey, handsome."

Sendai fluffed up. "Aina, I'm going to split your skull in half."

Aina beamed, fluffing up in turn. "Wh- what'd I do…!?"

As the male waiter sauntered off, Aina watched him leave, before focusing on Sendai again. "Just 'cause I'm datin' Kourin doesn't mean I can't call 'em like I see 'em!"

"Not the point." Sendai shook her head. "...What're-"

"Ooh!" Aina smiled down at the pizza. "What kind's this!?"

shoof. She folded open the box. "...Why's half just cheese? Which one of you's the boring one?"

Looking at Reimu, she grinned. "Was it you, shortstuff?"

...Reimu blinked vaguely. "Who're you callin' shortstuff."

"You, fluffy." Aina smiled aggressively. "What rank're you? You don't look like anyone special…"

Sendai began to grin. 'Know my pain.'

"It's me, Reimu." Reimu insisted. "The actual one, jackass."

"Oh, really…?" Aina slowly panned to Sendai, as if questioning.

...Sendai wasn't sure what to say. "I'd say you could ask her to show you, but if you fought in here, I don't think the shop would survive."

"If we fought on the street, the buildings wouldn't survive." Reimu contested. "...Well, they would, but danmaku and property damage have always been weird. It's not good for the maintenance, at any rate…"

"Wait…" Aina was just now getting it. "Are you sayin'... she's actually, uh…"

"Yes, this is my daughter." Sendai gestured to Reimu. "We weren't joking."

...Aina looked excited. "You guys actually like, talk together and stuff!?" She beamed at Sendai. "I thought she kicked you out, and that was why you were homeless! Like- like you were one a' them mountain sages, or something!"

"What the hell kinda person do you take me for…?" Reimu grinned in vague worry…

"What'm I?" Sendai had a similar grin. "An oni?"

"Also." Reimu pointed at her. "Your whole ranking system thing is stupid. What, were you gonna make fun of me?"

"...Yes?" Aina grinned. "I dunno. The real Reimu, at a pizza place…? I know momma there's sayin' you are her, but like-"

Reimu was gone from her seat.

"Wh- ow…!" Aina's head was pulled back, Reimu had her by her bushy ponytail.

"This prove it?" Reimu was behind her, having teleported there.

Aina spun to slap or push her-

Reimu was back in her own seat.

ti- ti- ti- tick! A stream of danmaku talismans flew from Reimu's eyes, flickering over Aina's whole body. On impact, they dissipated gently, leaving vague red hues in the air.

"Aa-" The danmaku's pain overwhelmed Aina. "Fff- fuck… wow- ow- ow…" She stumbled back, holding onto her own face. "Da- damn… that- hurts…"

Reimu smiled, looking playfully aggressive herself. "That's nothing. You're going around in a spin-off of my outfit, whining like that?"

'She didn't use those when we fought. That's… danmaku.'

Her daughter's fixation on the play bullet formula made Sendai curious. 'Supposedly everyone's supposed to be fighting using them. I still don't get it…'

Sendai focused on the pizza. Since the side with the pepperoni was closer, she reached down and claimed a wedge of that.

"What's with the like…" Reimu focused on Aina more concisely now. "What's with the purple-white outfit?"

"Oh, this?" Aina beamed, looking down at her own chest. "They started makin' 'em in colors! And like, purple's my color. Y'know?"

"No, I don't know." Reimu shook her head. "Who's making these, now…?"

"The clothiers who work for the village guard!" Aina beamed. "It's practically slave labor, which means it's all real cheap!"

...She met Sendai's plain stare, as Sendai snacked on a pizza slice.

'This is… really tasty, actually. Doesn't taste good for me, or too terribly filling, but… it's alright. There's a difference between tasty and healthy- and this is a good example of that.'

"I- I mean, not that that's a good thing…" Aina retraced her thoughts. "But- I mean, I don't gotta pay for it, s'what I'm gettin' at here..."

'Good for you.'

"This village sucks." Reimu reiterated the premise.

"Mmh." Sendai hummed in vague agreement, as she chewed on her slice…

"...I-" Aina seemed to blush. "Y'know Reimu-... I- I kinda wanna know how we'd compare in a fight."

"Don't get mad." Reimu looked down at the pizza herself. "Lemme frame it this way. Have you ever fought an oni before?"

"...Sorry." Aina apologized. "It's just-... ugh. I'm too used to push-overs in your outfit runnin' around town, startin' shit with me. So, with you speakin' down to me, it's like-"

"Imagine how I feel." Reimu countered in monotone.

"...Damn." All the wind left Aina's sails. "Um. Well…"

Then, Aina shook her head around fluffily. "Wa- wait! I didn't come here ta start shit!"

Sitting down next to Sendai, Aina stole a pepperoni slice, and began to speak. "Dude- Tsukiko. It was Tsukiko, right? Aah- there's this bullshit goin' around, sayin' you offed some elementary schooler. The guards're on the lookout fer ya."

Sendai almost didn't think over the sentence, focusing on the food, before processing the thought. 'Wait.'

She furrowed her brows. "What?"

Reimu became attentive, eyes focusing on Aina.

"Yeah." Aina nodded hard, becoming invested. "Ya took a broadsword's hilt to the front of his head. Well- you're one suspect, anyway. Some people think this other kid did it, 'cause he was holding the sword. But you would've beat him up if he did it, right?"

"When did this happen?" Sendai chewed her pizza numbly, as she pressed for information.

'It's always something.'

"Um. Like, today." Aina searched Sendai's face… "And, uh… between you and me… did you do it?"

"She couldn't have." Reimu spoke up. "She was along the lake, and at my shrine. Nowhere near the village today."

"...Huh." Aina stared at the pizza. "...Oh, damn. I think I know who."

"Tsuruko?" Sendai guessed.

Aina gave her a flat look. "She that suspect?"

"I'm often mistaken for her." Sendai noted. "To think she'd murder a child, though..."

Sendai's gaze met Reimu's.

Reimu spoke up, swallowing a bite of the pizza she claimed herself. "Who's this, then? I've gotta talk to her."

"That's what we'd all like to know." Sendai noted. "She's some idiot associated with the Hakurei whoever project. I'm sick of it. She's remained elusive, and getting her to speak any sense is hard."

"Yeah, well, when I find her, she's gonna start speaking some sense." Reimu decided. "What's she doing, now? Just going around murdering people?"

"Well… not until now." Aina noted. "...I think."

"Especially one of Keine's kids…" Sendai was starting to brood. "Damn it. I really should've stuck around."

Reimu wasn't just going to let her sink into a somber state. "You couldn't have expected this. These sort of things just happen."

...Sendai shook her head. "You're right. Still…"

'If I hadn't left- maybe went with Keine to her school-... damn.'

"I mean…" Aina was mostly done with her pizza slice now. "It was just some kid."

Sendai glared at her. "Your child someday will be just some kid. If a murderer took them from you, how would you feel?"

Aina realized she was speaking to a mother. "Aa- alright, I get it. Still, you didn't even know them. Don't get too worked up..."

'Even the mere notion of this sort of thing…'

"I'm still not standing for it." Sendai glared down at her slice of pizza. "This shitty precedent needs to end, and this woman needs to be made an example of. It's funny, that she wishes to be a Hakurei maiden. Yet, she lacks empathy so severely."

'I'm tired. I'm tired of this shit.'

"Omh." Sendai scarfed down the crust of her slice. It was accented with garlic, the flavor of the pepperoni and cheese mixing explosively with it.

...Swallowing the bites, Sendai met Reimu's gaze.

Reimu had finished her own slice, rubbing the grease from her lips…

"Well?" Sendai beckoned her. "You see what I mean about the village now?"

Reimu half-smiled, eyes harder. "You might be surprised to find out that deaths are kinda rare, despite the… chaos. So, yeah. This shi-... this stuff- it's my problem now."

"Our problem, you mean." Sendai affirmed. "You plan to solve this with danmaku?"

Reimu snorted. "Ah? Nah. They broke the rules. Nothing can save them now. You see, it's the rules that give people a fighting chance."

Sendai furrowed her brows. "Really. You'd say that after losing to me?"

"I wanted to fight you." Reimu countered. "Not murder you."

'...What the hell does she mean?'

"I never got my Fantasy Heaven to activate, last time." Reimu reminded her. "I tried it too late. If I did it first thing- and especially on someone who broke the rules of Gensokyo, then…"

Sendai grinned. "The rules of Gensokyo, you say? Set by who?"

Reimu lifted a slice of pizza.

"Set by me."

Reimu was already a legend. She was the Shrine Maiden of Paradise, of the most recent, most peaceful era of Gensokyo.

...Sendai glanced at the overcast, displayed through the window ahead.

'That energy she's exuding…'

'She really is my daughter.'

Aina looked between the two wildly, her ponytail kicking around. "No- really, who got the just cheese half?"

Reimu pouted. "Let me explain my floaty powers."

"But I wanna know what bozo bought just cheese!"

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Creak. The door to Keine's house rocked open on its hinges.

Sendai sauntered inside. Reimu was behind her. ...Aina casually trailed behind them, trying not to look too close to them.

"...Ah." Rinnosuke was at the rightmost couch. "Have you heard?"

"Yep."

Coming up to the table there, she saw Keine had simply plopped school supplies down onto it. 'Disorganized by adult Keine's standards.'

Rinnosuke saw Reimu. Reimu saw him in turn.

"Oh. It's you." She regarded him simply.

Rinnosuke grinned. "What do you mean, 'it's you'? We've seen each other recently."

Reimu took pause, searching for some logic. "...Considering the strangeness of the past few days, I feel like I'd rather we hadn't."

"Be nice." Sendai jested. "...What's Keine like?"

"...Um?" Rinnosuke wasn't sure how to answer that. "She's not happy, if that's what you were wondering."

Promptly, Keine hurried into the room, from the rear door that lead to the all-in-one common room along the house's back.. "Aah. Tsukiko…" Her gaze was sharp.

Sendai focused on her. "Keine. What happened?" She'd start with the basics.

Keine recognized Sendai's investigative intent. "There was a murder afterschool. People are focusing their suspicion between you and Akihito, who was there at the time, since it was his sword that was used for the killing."

'...Considering everyone seems to know Tsuruko's name, why is mine suddenly on the radar? Have I really become so popular?'

"Who's pointing fingers?" Sendai wondered.

"The parents." Keine's reply was prompt. "I'm not in a good position either. The council's going to take awhile to say anything about this, but… it's not going to be good."

"Not unless we can clearly, concisely point out who did it." Rinnosuke decided. "We- as in, me, Kasen, Marcus- we've pretty much figured that the village will forgive this lapse in the school's security... if we can easily identify who caused the killing. Otherwise… this could lead to a pretty harsh narrative about the school's already strained safety."

"...Amazing." Sendai nodded idly. "All we have to do is find Tsuruko, right?"

"She'd be the best lead and suspect, yes." Keine figured. "I… don't want to point fingers, but…"

'Where the heck's the kid? In custody of the guard?' She was thinking of Akihito…

Reimu spoke up. "It was probably her, right?"

"It's, um, likely…" Keine deduced. "Unless she found a look-alike. I feel as though this was to frame Tsukiko, or at least attempt to. I think… these rumors of it being Tsukiko that are spreading around, they aren't coming from nowhere."

'Something feels off. It can't be so simple. Provided, we don't know where Tsuruko is right now, but… something else about the situation is weird.'

Sendai had an idea. But, before she'd confirm it, she needed to speak with Akihito. "Is the kid with the guards?"

Keine frowned. "Well… yes."

Reimu marauded for the door. "Let's go talk him down."

'How'd she- well, whatever.'

Sendai took after her daughter. "Do you know why we're going to do that, though?"

"He's the only other suspect." Reimu supposed. "We have nothing else to go on. It obviously couldn't have been you."

"...That's true." Sendai nodded.

"Wa- wait…" Keine held out an arm. "Before you two do anything rash-"

"No." Reimu simply began to leave. "We're gonna do something rash."

'...Yeah. I'm not gonna fuck around anymore either.'

Sendai followed out behind her daughter. Keine stood paused as they left, before exhaling.

"You two…" She wasn't quick enough to retort, before they were gone. "Ugh. They're so hard-headed together. What a dangerous team."

Rinnosuke snorted. "It's to be expected, isn't it?"

...Aina stood idly next to where they used to be, before grinning big at him. "Was like I wasn't even there…! Those two- they've got some energy to 'em..."

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Along the western road of the village, Reimu and Sendai browsed up to the main door of the village guard's headquarters.

"Getting chilly, isn't it?" Reimu mentioned casually, seeing her own breath in the air. "It's-... it's got me all shaky and energized…"

"That's called being cold." Sendai clarified. "...You should go bundle up. I've got this."

"What?" Reimu furrowed her brows. "I've been through worse."

Sendai figured she'd be like that. "They're not gonna want to see me, I'm sure. I don't know if you're outfitted to fight humans."

Reimu scoffed. "I really don't think they'll be a problem. I want to just get this over with, as quickly as possible. I was willing to ignore all this stupidity until today."

Sendai could sympathize. "Someone died today because of this. Remember that."

"I might not commit it to memory, but it pisses me off too." Reimu was again on the same page. "She better have a really good reason. I mean, it's not like random criminal happenings in the village are all my problem, but they're trying to frame you over it. There's obviously some kinda conflict going on, and they're resolving it by harassing you instead of confronting you."

In the dim winter lights, on the increasingly chilly overcast day, Reimu focused on her mother. "Do you know why this chick's really crazy about you?"

Sendai shook her head. "Beats me. Considering she dresses like me, I'm not entirely certain it's for a healthy reason."

"...Huh." Reimu looked back at the door of the guard headquarters. Through the small glass windows in the door, warm light filled the inside.

Creak. The door whined open, when Reimu kneed it.

Clerks looked up from the front desks, seeing the maidens enter.

'...Oh. You know, they might not recognize me in this black-yellow outfit. It's quite different from the red-white I usually wear. That, and my other outfits are typically white and some other color. This breaks format.'

"Oh…" The woman at the right of the front counter in the room's back smiled. "Hello, dears."

"I'm here to see the temporary prisoners." Reimu asserted herself immediately. "...If that's what they're called."

Sendai snorted. 'I believe they were just called 'prisoners', except held here instead of elsewhere.'

"Oh?" The aged clerk woman blinked drowsily… "Well, you'll be watched as you visit them, but go ahead. Do you know him?"

'Him. So, there's only one prisoner. Fitting, I guess.'

"...Um. Yes, I think?" Reimu lied. "He's… my friend." She lied again.

"Ooh." The woman nodded. "You two go on ahead, then."

Sendai's brows curled up. 'I don't get why this old lady's so receiving. I remember her from our previous visit. She's quite unlike the other, more serious clerks.'

...Nodding, Reimu faced Sendai plainly, before proceeding past the front desk and into the back of the main office area.

As they progressed, some guards across the room at the central counter island gave the two smiles, and spoke under their breath.

'When this place is more active, the guards typically get more active too. I've been hit on more than once here.'

The rear windows and doors were dull with overcast light. After gazing at the room's back in passing, Reimu casually came up to a little, contained segment of room separate from the main floor, on the room's right.

'There's four cubby holes of sorts in the sidewalls. Two are for equipment storage, one is another office desk for archives, and the last is the quick jail.'

This was the fourth segment, which Sendai called the 'quick jail'. There was a guard seated here before the bars, looking idle. "...Who're you?" He saw Reimu and Sendai approach.

Sendai looked past him, at a series of bars. Akihito stood inside alone, hands gripping the iron bars. "Aah… aah- hey!"

"Hakurei girls." Reimu was vague, because she could be. "We're here to talk to the guy."

The guard seemed to sink back into his wood chair, trying to stay comfy amidst the cold and the clunkiness of his armor.

'Guess we got the go-ahead.'

"Tsukiko…?" Akihito focused on Sendai. "Is- that actually you?"

"Yes, no." Reimu spoke in a way that would be intentionally confusing. "Shh." She pointed at the guard.

Sendai focused on him. He was shivering. 'I think he's got more on his mind than us.'

"...Reimu?" Akihito recognized her. "Are you guys here to help me?"

"That's to be decided." Reimu decided to mean business. "The girl who did it… she looked like my mom, didn't she?"

Akihito blinked, before exhaling, shivering himself. "Uu- um… she did. She said she was Tsukiko."

'I'm sure this was to one-up that time I pretended I was Tsuruko to that baker in the town square.' Sendai jeered to herself.

Tripping over his own words, Akihito explained the root of what happened. "After she killed him- she threw my sword at me, and- and she ran outside, and leapt off. She took it from me earlier- and hit him with it! I couldn't do anything. I-"

"Yeah- okay." Reimu stopped him from talking too much, if only because he was probably going to start rambling. "So, you think this girl did it, and not you?"

"What…" He frowned. "Ye- yeah! I didn't do anything! The guards're all looking for the wrong person, too." He focused on Sendai…

'...I don't think we'll actually learn anything new from him. He's likely as unable to find her as we are.'

Reimu seemed to be at an impasse, too. "Do um… do you know where she went?"

Akihito looked down. "We- well… no… but… I- I shouldn't have to. I'm innocent."

'Yeah. Well, it didn't hurt to check. ...Now that I think about it, would they have even suspected my in my normal outfit? Maybe. It's kind of a unique design. The only person who wears their clothes similarly- to my knowledge- is Tsuruko. Mmgh.'

"Reimu. Tsukiko…" Akihito spoke quietly. "I-... I wanna go home."

"Oh, don't go begging me now." Reimu folded her arms. "Sit tight. When we find the real criminal, they'll let you go. Keep yourself busy 'till then."

"...Oo- okay."

'That's that, then.' Sendai hadn't needed to say a single word. '...We're out of ideas, again.'

...Idly, Reimu panned to look at her mother again. "Mmh. See? This sort of thing's already more annoying than the usual Gensokyo-scale incidents I solve."

"Yeah. Criminal investigations tend to be shitty. That's why the guard does them, and not us." Sendai returned simply. "Youkai crimes are easy, because the youkai tend to like making it obvious that they did them. They're more acts of war than they are, you know, crimes."

Click. Click. Click. Suddenly, the loud shifting of a rotary phone caught Sendai's attention in the otherwise quiet and slow room.

There was someone new to their right, along a somewhat messy wall.

Along said wall was the rotary phone in question, but also a bench with cushions, and a thick- oddly plastic- tub of water lying on the floor. Some crates were just strewn about here in the walking area's midst, cluttering the floor.

Some of the crates were stacked onto the bench. A cyan-white maiden leaned onto them, gingerly holding the phone to the side of her head.

'That's...' Sendai recognized her appearance and face, but… 'Damn. Who is this?'

She was the cyan-white maiden with a penchant for trivia and knowing too much. She tiredly stared at the wall next to Sendai and Reimu, looking vacant as she waited for the receiver to pick up.

'I haven't seen this face in some time. She was that one maiden who gave us information on Dieter's circus. She… must have come in behind us, because she sure as hell wasn't there before. That, or she was hiding behind those boxes.'

"Hey…" The cyan-white maiden's voice was unsteady, as she held onto the phone with both hands. "Yeah. I think the stars're gonna be out tonight…"

'It's… overcast.'

Reimu gave the oddly smoothly-haired girl a weird look, before looking at Sendai again. "Well. What now? We just gonna run around?"

Sendai leaned towards her, and hushed her. "Shh."

"...Whaddaya mean, 'shh'." Reimu felt like sassing her.

"Yeah." The cyan-white girl ignored them, despite their presence. "Somebody wants me dead."

Reimu's shrine maiden senses began to tingle. "Who's that? Who wants you dead?"

"Yeah. The stars won't lie." The girl looked down at herself. "I think I need… a private-eye."

'I do remember that she was really weird.'

Sendai progressed up to her. '...If someone's replying to her, they're being really quiet.' Not even a ghost of noise came from the receiver.

Then, the cyan-white girl had it held up long enough for Sendai to hear it. It was a dead tone, meaning no one had picked up to begin with.

'Yep. Weird.'

"Hey." Sendai tried to get her attention. "...What's your name, again?"

The cyan-white girl met Sendai's gaze. Her black hair was as Sendai remembered; round and bobby, with a crescent-esque cut across her bangs.

She held her mouth open, but didn't want to make noise.

Reimu stomped closer. "You're suspicious."

...The girl smiled, and pointed at Reimu. "You're suspicious."

Reimu looked at Sendai. "Do you know this weirdo?"

The girl looked at Sendai. "Do you know this weirdo?" She had a glad smile, instead of Reimu's somewhat vexed gaze.

Reimu immediately met her stare again. "Alright. Is this how we're gonna do this…?"

"Alright." The cyan-white girl tilted her head back. "Is this how we're gonna-"

Fwap. Reimu tossed a seal into her mouth. "Mm- auh- nn?" The girl accidentally chewed on it some, before pulling it out. "Aah…"

Then, she shied back. "Nn- no…"

"I hate riddles." Reimu declared. "Stop being annoying or I'm gonna rough you up."

'...You know, that makes you sound antagonistic, Reimu.'

"I- I hate riddles." The girl found her voice again. Blushing, she confronted Reimu. "Stop being annoying, or I'm gonna-"

BAM! Sendai stomped the floor before her hard enough to jostle the nearby plastic water tub. She also lashed her limbs out superficially. "Boo!"

"Ee-" The girl almost jumped, before she froze in seeming horror. "Oo- oh… oh, gods."

Then, she looked around with wide eyes. "I'm going to die…"

She crouched before Reimu and Sendai, holding onto the top of her own head.

...Reimu now just looked worried. "We're not that bad. I think."

"Nn- not you." The cyan-white girl clarified. "I'm-"

BAM! Suddenly, there was a gunshot. Sendai jumped from the volume. 'What- the fuck!?'

The bullet hole struck a segment of plastered wall aside the cyan-white maiden's head, cracking it. "Aa-" She froze, and shut her eyes.

Reimu blinked. "Ca- Cautionary Barrier!"

Whish! A long, rectangular barrier erupted before herself, Sendai, and the cyan-white maiden. Talismans lined the air along its edges, billowing and fluttering.

BAM- BAM- BAM! Whoever fired their shots managed to riddle the gold-white magic barrier with bullet holes. Damage spiderwebbed across it, breaking it into fragments that still hung rigidly in the air.

Every shot was meant for the cyan-white girl, and they came from an open window across the room.

"Hey- what the fuck!?" Guardsmen were understandably alarmed.

"What's that chick doing casting magic!?"

"Someone's shooting!"

"What was that!?"

Slowly, the dotting of yelling men incited all fifteen other present men to ramble and murmur to one another, the headquarters coming alive with activity and alarm.

Behind the counter, the elderly clerks ducked down, hiding as the men moved to find their armor and weapons.

The man watching the jail before Sendai and Reimu got up. "Alright- what the fuck's the big idea?"

Reimu's gaze back at him was jaded. "A- a girl almost got-"

"What's this?" He gestured to the barrier she created. "No fighting in here!"

"Some- someone shot a gun at us!" Reimu yelled back at him. "Didn't you hear it!?"

"All I heard- were loud banging sounds!" As it turned out, this particular man wasn't very educated about guns. It wasn't like the village had the funds to make them at all common, especially among the lower-tier conscripts. "Even if it was- how do we know you didn't incite it? Especially in front of the prisoner!"

Leaning down, Sendai scooped the stunned cyan-white girl into her arms. "Reimu. Let's go. It isn't safe here."

Reimu took pause, and blinked at her. "...Aa- alright-"

The man grabbed onto Reimu's arm. "I'm not letting you leave without-"

Reimu leaned down, anticipating something from behind herself.

WHAM! A yin yang swung down from overhead, as if it phased through the roof at harrowing speeds just to plow the guard in the upper torso.

Thud. "Uuh- hnn-" The orb stopped after it struck him, and its weight helped carry him down to the floor on his back. "Nngh…"

Looking up, she saw her mother had already vacated the room. With that knowledge, Reimu chose to close her eyes and drift, her body phasing out from where she stood.

When the guard looked up, pushing the orb off himself, she was gone.

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

Across the road, Sendai ran into the alley towards Keine's house, carrying the cyan-white clad maiden in her arms.

"You okay?" Sendai spoke, looking over her.

"Aa-" She blinked unsurely, before shivering from the cold. "Nn… don't- make me talk-"

BAM! Another gunshot rang out, and Sendai felt herself flinch. 'What the fuck…'

TING! Reimu was behind her, a barrier flashing in the air behind Sendai, defending her.

Pausing, Sendai looked over the damage the pane of light took. 'That shot was meant for my chest- but it was level with this girl's body. Did they try to shoot her through me? How is the shot so straight?'

Down the alley, there was no one to take the shot.

...Amidst the cold overcast's quiet, Reimu hollered. "Show yourself!"

'I don't think that's going to work.'

Swallowing, the girl in Sendai's arms yelled too. "Show yourself!"

Sendai looked around idly, expected to see Reimu's annoyed stare in response to the mimicry.

While she did see that, she also saw what was perhaps their pursuer.

On the roof past Reimu, the hint of a cyan ribbon and black hair was visible, a girl looking very much like the one she held in her arms darting past the roof's edge.

'You know, sometimes I'm surprised by just how quickly everything goes wrong. This is some next level shit.'

'Like, you have common retarded criminals on one hand… but then you have moments like these, where it feels like the universe itself is conspiring to blow you away.'

"Reimu." Sendai spoke up, before Reimu could pester the cyan-white maiden more. "The gunman- they're on the roof over us."

Reimu's eyes widened, and she began to float up. 'Um. Reimu-...'

Despite this foolishly brave decision, Reimu managed to get meters above the rooftops without getting shot. She rotated around, looking for the culprit, but…

She drifted back down. "I didn't see anyone."

"I didn't see anyone." The girl in Sendai's arms mimicked her.

"Okay, what gives." Reimu was getting fed up. "This is getting… I don't even know."

"I do even know." The girl in Sendai's arms mimicked a corruption of what Reimu said. "This is getting-... what gives."

...Reimu looked done. She gave Sendai a wanting look…

"Let's get to Keine's first." Sendai decided. "This should be less daunting with more of us."

"...Yeah."

Keine's house was just up the alley, barely even a hundred meters away. Sendai began to hustle, jogging with the girl in her arms…

That's when Keine seemingly stepped out from one of the deviating paths between two buildings. She stopped before her idly, meeting Sendai's gaze.

"Aah…" Sendai immediately felt strange. "Keine? Did you hear the gunshots?"

The girl in Sendai's arms tensed up, hugging Sendai tightly. 'What's with her…'

"I- I did." Keine only now took on the alarm Sendai expected to see from the onset. "How is she? Is she alright?"

"...Yeah." Sendai replied plainly. "Do you know anything about her?"

"She keeps repeating everything I say!" Reimu propped her arms on her own hips. "...I'd be more annoyed, but we keep almost getting shot, which is really distracting."

'I'm not sure whether or not to be impressed or worried by how completely relaxed Reimu is with this whole situation.'

"Give her to me." Keine held out her arms. "I'll bring her somewhere safe."

...That weird feeling in Sendai's gut intensified. "I can carry her just fine."

"What's her name?" Reimu built on the question Sendai asked earlier…

"I insist." Keine smiled. "I know where she'll be safe."

'...Bullshit.'

Reimu had the same strange feeling. She flicked an arm forward-

Fwap! A talisman met between Keine's eyes.

ZAP- ZAP! It shot straight off her, but when it was rejected, the form of Keine was dispelled. A cyan-white clothed maiden, identical to the one in Sendai's arms, skidded back on her sandals. "Nngh- rgh…"

She had one hand on her face, where the talisman struck. In her other hand, she had a shiny revolver. Quickly, she flicked it up, aiming it at Sendai-

BAM! The reflex shot she took didn't come close to hitting, instead meeting the wall aside Sendai. The recoil from the revolver shot nearly disarmed the girl who shot it. "Nngh-"

Then, Reimu appeared before her.

WHUNK! Reimu thrust the fist that held her gohei into the girl's gut knuckles-first, with such force that the girl she struck flew off her feet. "Whgh-"

Woosh! A gale kicked up beneath her as she flew back, tossing her around in the air.

Reimu held her head high, frowning as the girl was tossed to the floor, sprawled out before her. "Stay down."

"Kgh- nngh-" Suddenly, the girl in Sendai's arms began to writhe and cough. "Oh- ow…"

'What the fuck is happening.'

...Slowly, as Reimu leered down at her, the cyan-white clothed maiden began to stand. "Nnn…"

Then, the girl threw her free arm to the side-

VRRR! She shot a laser into the wall to her right. Yin-yang-esque sigils emanated from the beam as it faded through the building's wood, leaving a big yin-yang mark on the wall.

VRRR! Then, the beam shot from the girl in Sendai's arms. 'Wh- woah!'

Reimu leaned back, her chin grazing the edge of the cyan-white yin-yang laser that came for her. "Uu- woah-"

WHAM! The girl chucked her now empty revolver at Reimu, clunking her in the face. "Fh- fuck- ow!"

Then, the girl was gone, as if she just fell through the floor.

"Get the fuck-... get back here!" Reimu mentally chastised herself for cursing. "Gods…" She rubbed the bridge of her nose, where the revolver met her face. "What a-... when I get my hands on her…"

Sendai plainly stared at Reimu as she stomped the floor, before looking back down at the girl in her arms.

'This is going to be a handful.'

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

'I learned her name was Kessho. I knew this before, but I'd forgotten it. We only met her for one evening, after all.'

Kessho, the cyan-white clad, black-haired maiden, sat in the chair Marcus usually claimed, sinking deep into it…

They were in Keine's house, fortifying themselves- in a vague sense.

"So…" The actual Keine was here, and she looked exhausted. "You met… an identical version of her, who… when they got hurt, Kessho herself also got hurt. And she was trying to shoot herself, in essence, whenever Kessho here spoke something that wasn't what someone else said."

"...Um. Yeah." Sendai wasn't able to make the situation any easier to comprehend. "It's some fable bullshit, alright."

"That's one way of describing it…" Keine closed her eyes for a good five seconds. "I'm… not sure if we can help her, at the moment. I have so many things to worry about…"

'Wasn't Kessho here nothing if not an informant? Actually…'

Sendai looked over at Kessho.

"Hey, hey, Kessho-chan…" Aina was next to her now, disturbing the peace. "Does that place on east main still stock gum? You know the kind."

...Kessho shook her head.

"Damn it." Aina was slightly crestfallen. "It was the best kind. Now I don't know who sells it…"

"Aina…" Keine spoke up. "Don't-... you know. Leave her alone, for now."

...Aina was tempted to talk back, but since Keine looked so tired, she refrained and pursed her lips instead. "Oka~y."

Sendai spoke up next. "Kessho. Do you know where Tsuruko is right now?"

Keine took pause at this line of questioning.

Kessho nodded.

'We're in business.'

"...Can you write answers?" Sendai wondered if they could get around the 'talking incites pain' business.

Kessho shook her head.

'The hell. It'd be too easy then, wouldn't it? Guess it's when she conveys unique information. How… inconvenient.'

"Then, we'll just have to risk it." Sendai decided. "We have nothing to fear if we keep her safe as we get answers."

"Wait-..." Reimu wasn't quite on the same page. "How's she know where this Tsuruko is? ...Who's Tsuruko?"

"The girl posing as me." Sendai explained promptly. "...However. I don't know how this girl knows what she knows. Supposedly, she used to ask a lot of people a lot of questions."

'She knew I would be alive, and who I was, pretty close to day one. I don't even know who she'd have asked to discover that information.'

Rinnosuke looked idle, on the couch to Sendai's right.

Since he'd been quiet for awhile, Sendai was curious. "Kourin. Do you have any ideas?"

"...You said her assailant favored guns, right?" He thought over the information they currently had. "Perhaps a bullet-proof vest would be valuable."

Reimu had a drained look. "Where would we find that. Unless you have one."

...He stroked his own chin. "Well. I've heard about it. It's probably the effect of some manner of magic…"

Keine snorted. "It's… not magic. They're vests with material properties that severely lessen the impact of bullets and mitigate the damage they do."

...After considering this idea, Rinnosuke plainly nodded. "That would make sense too. I bet magic could replicate it."

"I'll just- make barriers." Reimu didn't want the headache. "...When do we start?"

"I don't think- we should just-..." Keine wanted to object. "I don't think we should put her in danger just to find out what she knows."

Sendai didn't agree. "We should probably start right now."

"You- you can't just put her in danger like this." Keine continued to object. "We'll find out another way. The guard-"

"-is useless, so we'll be doing it this way." Reimu talked over her. "Look, Keine. I feel like, with all of us here… keeping her safe from herself should be easy enough. It's the only lead we have."

...With that, Kessho shifted in her seat.

"The clues-..." Kessho spoke quietly. "The clues, have lead us to a dead end. How dead, we'll soon see…"

Click. The front door locked. Sendai flicked her head around to look it over, but no one was there.

"The sound of the door, as it locked behind us. We were trapped."

Then, Kessho smiled. "And the Gemini… was anything but surprised."

-+- Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode -+-

NEW SKILLS:

Youkai Mastery (Insight) - Combining her holy and dark affinities, Sendai coats the world around herself in holy, and blinds herself. Like this, she can see through walls, and see only magical signatures.

Essence of Bicycles - Sendai slams a bicycle down onto a foe. Legendary physical damage.

Essence of Bowling - Sendai rolls a yin-yang orb or bowling ball into a foe's legs, demolishing an ankle and sending them straight onto their side.

NEW ITEMS:

Sword of Shounen - 30 uses - Rusty broadsword. Dispels magic it strikes, including one's buffs. Unwieldy and hard to use.

Secret Wallet - It's secret. Prevents 30% of Sendai's yen from being stolen when she loses to Joon Yorigami.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

burly sendai chapter

though sendai herself only does some things, the additional context involving tsuruko is fun

it's fun to show the perspective of the antagonists sometimes

it was a bit strange finding a place to cut the chapter 'cause of sequencing, but also because my sleep schedule's been fucky so my energy has been all over the place

that said i think it cuts off at a good point, might change some details in editing

it felt a little strange setting up a "oh man who framed sendai" plot but it's not really a mystery is it

s'more like an incitation or declaration of war - w -

anyway, i don't got a lot to say at the moment…

edit: after proofing and post, i remembered how neat the angry sendai part was; oni style's really given me some new perspective on how to evoke emotion out of sendai for each style, and i think i can find a way to make it feel more natural per each, too; plus integrating the emotions with skill progression will be really fun

man i gotta write more sendai, i've been kinda caught up with that freewrite on mima i started but i'm gonna make this a few chapters 'fore i go and try and finish that

as always, see you all next time!