Little Princess
An era known for the current Demon King successor, dubbed the Little Princess. After the sixth Demon King, Gi, passed on after he had chosen a girl from Japan, Miki Kurusu, as his successor the world was wreathed in turmoil. Demons in the demon realm had split into two factions: Kayblis, an ambitious 20-foot tall Demon Lord aiming for the throne of the Demon King, and Hornet, the gorgeous and peaceful daughter of the previous Demon King in a constant battle for Human Coexistence.
Hornet's faction were one of trust and bonds. Honoring her father, the previous Demon King Gi's, wish for human-demon coexistence, she mobilized her faction forces to aid the Little Princess herself and live peacefully with humanity from her area north of the Monster Realm. On the other hand, the Kayblis' faction, one of power and discord, were actively persecuting humanities and delighting themselves in chaos and destructions, sometimes their carnal desires, from the area south of the Monster Realm. At the center of the realm, a battle between the two factions raged still.
In this tumultuous era, at a town located at the east of the continent, lived a man of passion, a man of conquest, and a man of libido. A savage man from the Free Cities Alliance's town named Ice. He will soon be crowned as a king, a conqueror, and hailed as a hero of humanity.
His name, is Rance.
But that story will be told at a later time.
"And so, we'll agree to pardon your indecent behaviors as requested by your companions, but only if you succeed in routing off the fairies near the human villages," it was a long sermon, but now it was finally over. To the sound of a lifeless yawn, the purple-haired girl peeked from above the rolled down scrolls. "Where's my reply, shark-teeth?"
It was the earliest time in the morning, and Akyuu never asked to have to wake up earlier than what she and the village chief agreed on. Old man Kanabata could be such a nuisance sometime, though she thought it was with the best intentions. The eastern gate of the Human Village was still devoid of life.
This would be a nice outing for her to break her normal schedule, but the brute of course made it all impossible for her to enjoy the moment.
A girl suddenly raised her hand.
"If I may, Akyuu-san."
"Honestly, you'd think the master of a harem you're a part of would be more willing to take things seriously. What is it, Kenshin-san?" Akyuu turned her head toward the Bishamonten of the battlefield. "Are you suggesting some strategy that even this useless dirt-rag can use?" the small finger of the chronicler fell toward a man in green and steel armor. "Maybe something that can cure this man's unchecked libido and his bad sense of fashion?"
"No, it's not about that."
"Then what it is about? Make it quick, I'm busy."
She lied.
She just wanted to go home.
"I'd appreciate it if you call him by his name properly."
"Utter Dirt-stain?"
"No!" Kenshin raised her voice. "My Lord's name is Rance and I would prefer it if you refrain from teasing him too much, Lady Akyuu."
"I would, but I'm not teasing him. I'm harassing him. I can't exactly call someone who sexually harassed twenty women in one night because he's drunk off of his butt anything but derogatory terms." Her hatred seeped out to the intonation of her voice as she glared daggers toward the green-armored man. "Why do you fell for this useless scum of a brain cells again?" Akyuu placed her fists on her hips. A large frown adorned her face. "I can see this leech falling for you, but a beautiful, dignified, strong, and graceful women falling for him is still a lot to take in. What is so good about him anyway?"
"Well, for one my Lord is totally reliable in certain areas," a maid brought up a topic with a smirk on her face. It was smug and full of confidence. Her silver-lime hair stood out more amongst the rest of the otherworldly-troupe than her maid outfit. Inside a group of six including Rance, his entourages were as mixed in appearance as the grand fashion reject that is green-armor-man. "I'm talking about his dick."
"Alright, I get it he's good at shagging you perverts in bed, so what?" Akyuu scratched the back of her head in frustration. "A man should be able to do more than that. He needs to have the power, the position, and the good looks! That's an ideal man every girl should strive for. Not this..." Akyuu circled her hands at everything that was Rance, "whatever this shark-rapist hybrid is supposed to be called."
"Akyuu," Rance called. His toned body rose up slightly to have his face looking straight inside Akyuu's eyes. "Are you by any chance that?"
"That?"
"A virgin."
Akyuu recoiled back, her face slightly flushed. "Why should I tell you?"
In the previous life, she isn't.
Now though?
"How droll." The nine-tailed fox covered her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono and let out a small giggle. "That is the mark of a virgin. I'm sorry Child of Miare, but your previous lifetime doesn't count. That knowledge is not yours to claim as your own." The brown-haired man leaning on the sitting fox-girl looked at her funny. "Ah, you see my Lord, this girl has the ability to reincarnate while retaining her previous memories. She is the Child of Miare, or so one of my familiar had told me last night."
"Don't get smart on me, fox-girl," Akyuu curtly snapped at the blonde-fox girl, whose breasts were currently used as head cushion for the brown-haired no-good man. "Just do your job and we'll make this never happen, or we'll make you never happen in here," she then raised her eyes toward the fox-girl. She needs to keep an active record on her familiars. "And you, we have strict rules on information gathering. Especially with familiars."
"No need to worry and rest yourself assured, Chronicler," she giggled. "I will only look for things that interests me, or for my Lord's own interests. But mostly things that interests me and my Lord."
"You're not smoothing this out one bit, Omachi." Teru clicked her tongue and shook her head tiredly while returning her eyes toward Akyuu. "Just ignore this naughty big-boobed fox. She's an avid prankster and a total temptress. Just leave her be and she will be as harmless as a fly."
Omachi coldly giggled back as a reply. "Jealous, Maid?"
Teru kept herself silent and avoided eye contact.
"Duly noted," Akyuu wrote something inside her journal. "Thank you, Maid."
"My name is Teru. Mouri Teru, my lady."
Thus everything went silent again. It would be the right time for Akyuu to leave, but the purple-haired girl sat on one of the stair-step. Her eyes were glued into the far-off plains that stretched into a thick lush forest. A road was set up for people to go from the village to where the road would split into two. One would lead to the eastern mountain while the other would let to a forest to the mountain's south.
"I wonder how surprised Akyuu will be when she found out that my lord Rance filled all the criteria that made a man perfect in her eyes," Omachi giggled, breaking the silence altogether. Teru could feel her forehead pulsing painfully and sighed. "Not only is he the ruler of JAPAN, he has the power to unify a warring nation, and he has the dashing look of a knight. Don't you agree, Kenshin-chan?"
Kenshin nodded in silence.
Akyuu ignored Omachi's advance, not even bothering to react or look her way. Teru gave the chronicler a silent thumbs up and leered at Omachi, who clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Prude Maid."
"Slutty Fox."
Both of them huffed and looked their other ways in unison.
Then something appeared from its horizon.
"Excuse me, Akyuu-sama," a girl in orange armor called out from afar, a bow in hand with a few arrows spent from her reserve. "I have scouted the targets as you asked. They were waiting at the split-road that leads to the... what was it, Shrine on top of a steep hill? They are little girls in form, they had wings, and they were busily playing tag with each other. Is my assessment so far correct?"
"Yes, what was it... Isoroku-san, right?" Isoroku nodded first before Akyuu did the same. "That's correct. They're constantly being real troublemakers, but even more so now after they didn't realize the conquest war had been completed already. They still think we were still playing the Warring States game."
"Is that so," the otherworld archer nodded. "But if I may, Akyuu-sama. Could I give you my suggestion on life?"
"You may, but what is it?" Akyuu thought that it was very sudden of a question.
"Thank you. I suggest that you lower your standards for an ideal man. You won't know how great a person is by their look. Despite being a man with next to no redeeming quality especially from how he looked," Isoroku swore she was hearing a distinctly male coughs from behind her. "Not only is Rance-sama a very distinguished lord who've conquered and unified all of JAPAN, he had done all of that in less than two years. Not to mention he was skilled enough to defeat he Demon King Oda Nobunaga with his strength and made all of the strong women in JAPAN his. I will tolerate any verbal or physical assaults directed toward me, but I will never let you mock My Lord without speaking up."
"Hey, Green Fart."
"There you go again!" Isoroku cried out in protest. "At least call him by his name!"
"That's never going to happen."
Isoroku pouted and was ready to lift her bow, before Kenshin placed her hand on Isoroku's and shook her head in protest. Isoroku clicked her tongue before settling herself far away with a loud "hmph!"
Rance ignored Isoroku's outburst and looked at the purple-haired girl's eyes, grinning from ear to ear and showing his shark-like teeth. "Finally fell for me, Akyuu?"
"Yeah, in your dreams," Akyuu sighed. "You better cherish these people who were willing enough to put up with your childish behaviors. Especially that girl Isoroku. She could hear you being insulted from miles away. You'll only know the pain of losing them when they're gone."
"Don't worry. I don't plan on ever losing anyone I hold dear again." The brown-haired man paused. Suddenly, Rance glared at the purple-haired girl with eyes as sharp and dangerous as a beast. It recoiled the purple-haired girl's head back for a second before the brown-haired man laughed loudly. "Are you worried about me, Akyuu? Maybe you'll reconsider on that dining invitation—"
"No."
"It was worth a shot," Rance stood up from his impromptu cushioned rock and walked toward the purple-haired girl and patted her head. "You have bags under your eyes. That can't be healthy at all."
She slapped Rance's hand away in an instant and stomped Rance's foot with her heel. "Don't touch me!"
"Youch!"
"Bottom line!" Akyuu shouted to get the last word in. "Defeat the stray fairies around the Human Village. Don't stray too far from the village or else you'll get into some real fine trouble. You won't know and don't know what lies behind those field of grass and inside the forests or the mountains surrounding the Human Village. You might be able to fend them off for a while, but once you encounter named individuals, some of them stronger than the others by a large-large margins, you will be extremely sorry. You got that, Caramel-Head?"
"Yeah, sure."
"You sound so nonchalant. Is there anything that can faze you?"
"I'm the Great Rance," the man in green chuckled boastingly. "I'll sooner die than let anything faze me... well, maybe if you show me your panties now Akyuu it'll faze me. Gahahahaha!"
"Or you'll be met with broken shellfishes straight from your collection My Lord," the maid snickered as the brown-haired man grumbled at her. Akyuu took note of this fact with a light nod. "It was just a joke Lord Rance, a joke! I'd never dare to break a piece of your prized shellfish collections... at least not me." With a smirk, she was swiftly hit on the head with a karate chop. It didn't hurt at all, but Teru was annoyed by it. She quickly kneed Rance's ass in a blurry impact. With a loud yelp from her Lord, Teru remarked with a bright smile. "Bastard! What if I become stupid!?"
"What kind of a smart maid would knee her Lord's back?"
"A maid that isn't loyally braindead, that's who!"
"Don't worry," a female in armor smiled at the girl, ignoring the chaos happening behind her. "We'll swiftly deal with these fairies. Back in JAPAN we don't exactly have fairies roaming around, but some of the Youkais in Sado attacked the villages near it and caused quite a problem. Kenshin and I will defeat them efficiently." The forehead of said girl sparkled, especially when she looked toward the chronicler. "Until then, Miss Hieda," the tone of her voice changed into something sharper, like it could cut Akyuu mercilessly if the girl were not careful on threading the lines afterward. "I expect you to just obediently watch."
"Cheeky girl," Akyuu replied while baring her fangs. "You do know that we can get better alternatives than you folks... but for now I will leave everything in your care. Break a leg and be careful, alright?"
"Thank you very much. I will not disappoint you."
Akyuu bowed and was met with another bow. The two strategists looked at each other with various emotions swirling and clashing before them before Akyuu turned around and left the East Human Village Gate. From afar, she looked behind her. Seeing the merry gang flirting with their Lord, walked back to her home with the scroll of their death sentences in her hands.
If it were any other person, they would be immediately executed for groping so many women in a single night and without their consents, but Akyuu thought otherwise. She knew that whatever Rance was supposed to be, he was in every way useful. He carried in himself an air of experience, though his behavior and action were devoid of such properties. It was evidenced by the presence of his retainers, all of them strong girls, they were varied in strengths and lineages. A man without influence couldn't possibly unite strong women like them under a single banner. It was just outright impossible without tricks and shenanigans, and Akyuu's keen eyes knew that what the girls felt for Rance were the real thing from all of them: Love. An abundant amount of it too.
Uesugi Kenshin, thought to be a male in history was actually a female, just like a certain prince the chronicler had covered before, in a different dimension at least. At first glance, she seemed to be the weakest out of all of them, but that was Gensokyo's perspective-flip of power coming into play. That sword of her, aside from being longer than the chronicler's own full height, could cleave almost everything in two. Before one could think of sniping her from afar, the Goddess of Bishamonten could close the distance in an instant, as shown by her ability to achieve near flash-step level of footwork. For a human and a girl with no nonsensical or semantical ability to speak of, she was cut above everyone else physically. It was really unfair that not only did she attain her grace, she was also build to be a powerful ally. She would love to have a retainer like Kenshin at her beck and call.
Speaking of a retainer that she would scout, the girl with a talent for archery, Yamamoto Isoroku, would be her immediate second pick. Not only were she calm and collected, she had the air of politeness in her that made her even more humbling than before. The girl was the only archer in the team, but from how toned her arms and shoulders were, she could instantly pinch out a snipe with her arrows with utmost precisions. Akyuu knew many arts of war and conquest, but the usage of archery as practiced by Isoroku she felt would be different than what the textbooks would detail. She, along with another two of Rance's girls, were the top of the list to be constantly monitored and researched or else it would bite her later on. The shortages of information was one of the greatest worry for Akyuu right now.
Suzunaan Book Renter was going through its peaceful transition from morning to afternoon. Renters entered and left at almost on-the-clock schedule. Some of them the elderlies, some of them youkais disguised as humans, and some of them their proxies. The store clerk's regular, Kosuzu Motoori, still hadn't shown herself and it made her serve her other patron instead: Akyuu.
After making the chronicler's favorite tea, she placed cookies on a plate before continuing with her work. The stacks of books needed to be returned to their shelves and the list of books needed to be taken from the shelves were more or less equal that day and it created a big stack every time Kosuzu did so.
"Uesugi Kenshin. A Vindicated History... Warring States of Japan – Complete Chronological Guide... and Fox Demons throughout Legends?" she couldn't believe her eyes at the book titles she had to pull out from her repertoire. "Bishamonten and the Art of War... The Crusade of the Christian... Archery for Those who Wanted Salvation... The House Chore, A Maid's Heart, 100 Simple and Easy Cleaning Technique, and... Kublai Khan?"
"Yeah, bring them all in, Kosuzu," Akyuu called from the reading area. "It'll take me a while, but this will be faster than you'd think."
"Your hobbies are just the worst, Hieda-san," the worker laid down a pile of books to the table and pressed her hands onto the open journal of the chronicler. "This makes you looked like a really creepy stalker."
"Shush, Kosuzu. Did you learn those words from another outside world novels again?" Akyuu of Hieda recline on the sofa and let the tune of jazz enter her ears. "You cannot be too careful with outsiders regardless of their origins. Someone who went to Gensokyo either dies, found their way to become monsters of their own volition or worse... they were monsters from the start disguised as humans. Not the first time that ever happened here," she turned her head to the side and sighed. "You may think that I am dealing with humans, but these people are monsters in their own regards. Whether they be magicians, maids, or shrine maidens. Especially that Rance."
"Ah, the one with the Death Sentence edict on his head, right?" Kosuzu's face became a little flushed. "That man named Rance. What was he thinking?"
"Though it's a good thing you weren't there when it happened. Twenty women groped in their sexual parts without their consent. Who does he think he is?" Akyuu placed her right hand on Kosuzu's cheek and pulled them. "Hmm... I think you've gained some weight here. Mind explaining it so I can update my journal?"
"Here we go again. Since when did you pick up this kind of habit, Akyuu."
"Since somebody here is trying to become a youkai. And that somebody here I prefer not to be named," Akyuu smirked as Kosuzu struggled to break away from her friend's pinch. "I think it starts with a K and ends with a U. I wonder if her name is Kosuzu!?"
"Have mercy on me," Kosuzu looked down after breaking away from the pinch. "I'll bring some tea. Just take your time and do go easy on them. I mean it. You know the drill when an outsider came!"
"I'll be sure to ask if they have a book with them the next chance I get."
Kosuzu's eyes brightened hearing that, but Akyuu weren't able to observe them. "Thank you so much Akyuu-san!"
"It's the least I could do," smiled the purple-haired girl. With a yawn escaping the chronicler, she turned to her manuscript once more and wrote down the next girls on the list. "It's better than having a defenseless girl like you asking him," Akyuu mumbled through her silent breathings. "Alright, back to work."
The pen that was resting on the table was picked up once more, and inside the journal book the chronicler wrote again.
"My Lord."
"What is it Omachi?"
"Wouldn't it be faster if we just summon my familiars to end this job? We need not bother to even step out of the village border."
"Yup, you're right Omachi," Rance nodded. "That's why, you go do what you do, and we'll all sit back here while you do what you do."
"That won't do, Lord Rance," Isoroku shook her head. "I fear that we shouldn't give away all of our moves and secrets to this land. I don't know why, but there is always this fearsome presence watching us from the distance." The archer in armor turned her head from the edge of her left, a big tree inside the forest, to the edge of her right, stopping at a fork on the road. "I don't know where it is watching from, but it is everywhere and yet at the same time its presence is nowhere to be found. Be very careful, Lord Rance."
"What do you have to say, Chaos?"
"Now you're talking to me?" Chaos eyed his master with scorn. "I'll have you know that I don't deserve to be treated like this. Calling me only when it suits your need! And not to mention how you did those girls last night and didn't get me involved!"
"And back to the sheathe you go," He began covering Chaos with a sloppy mess of cloth wrappings. "If you want to sulk then just sulk. I'll be right here using a normal sword. It cuts better anyway."
"Yeah, yeah, you'll use me again in no time anyway so just do what you want."
"Setting that aside," Teru motioned her hand, returning the discussion back on track. "I think what Miss Yamamoto said holds a grain of truth. I can feel something like bloodlust, but this time it's more... sinisterly pure? Purely sinister? Anyway. It's bad. Really bad." Teru eyed Kenshin and the samurai returned a nod. "I advise we do not be hasty on revealing all of our sleighs of hands."
"Isoroku, what's the distance between us and our targets?"
"From here to there... around one kilometers. Should we ambush them?"
"No, Miss Hieda said that we should give them a lesson using their own method: The territory war," Ai opened up a scroll containing the full set of rules from the last territory game. Most of them drawing parallel from JAPAN's own warring states battles. Instead of six participants, however, the participants were shrunk into five. "This makes things easier, actually. I'll sit this one out and our Lord will join you guys in attacking them. Good call on wrapping Chaos, Rance. We don't want anyone to know what it can do just yet."
"Yep, yep, I knew I am a genius."
"That's a load of bull," Rance slammed Chaos onto the ground. "You know I feel nothing from that, right?"
"Well then. Let's teach those... uh... flying ladies a little lesson in war and strategy, shall we?" Ai smiled. "But hold it back, okay. We don't want to clean up too much. Dealing with Rance's stupidity was exhausting enough."
"Oi," He retorted.
As the hyped up warriors rushed toward their target, Ai couldn't help but thought of the targets. Their wings that are distinct to a fairy's own flapped in the air rapidly as they stayed in their group.
Silence filling the atmosphere, the strategist began watching from afar.
Fairies were the force of nature in Gensokyo. They took the form of children, specifically girls in their adolescence to their pre-teen self. Most of the fairies in Gensokyo was given a small part of elements into them, but some of them were given special abilities that no other fairies had attained before. Those leading members of their society, were given special treatment or chose to isolate themselves because of their special powers.
"We're the best!"
"The best!"
Of course, some fairies prefer to stay in the limelight and revel in their glory and achievement. Coming back from the previous war a victor, some fairies gathered toward the strongest fairy that had won the war. Yes, the fairies, even after the previous war was done and completed, they still fought on their own secret war against the other fairies faction. She, among the five factions created among the fairy-kind, was still the most supported.
"I'm the best!"
"You're the best!"
Cirno placed her hands on her hips and puffed forward her chest proudly. She huffed a good huff and smiled a good smug, her eyes open to find her fairy followers cheering for her name. They numbered to ten followers and each of them having the wings befitting how a fairy would look like: slender, small, with slightly transparent with glitters. One of them, a green-haired girl with wings bigger and more adorned cheerfully replied with glee.
"Yes, that's right! I am the best." The blue-haired girl crossed her arms and flowing higher above the rest. Rubbing her nose, she continued with a massive grin on her face. "We have made this area ours through our sheer firepower! When you guys fought the people wandering around and pranked them along the road and they ran, means that we are the bigger man. We are the better fighters. We are the strongest!" The followers nodded to their leader and said leader in turn, with confidence higher than the sun replied. "And it is I, Cirno, who is the strongest!"
"Cirno! Cirno! Cirno! Cirno!"
"That's so cool, Cirno!"
"You rock, Cirno!"
"Cirno, don't ever leave us!"
"You're really great, Cirno-chan!"
Cirno nodded.
The tenth generals in her employment cheered.
Her empire was growing further and bigger. Fairies were usually independent and keeping it to themselves. A few fairies would optimally form a group together, but those were not kingdom for the blue-haired fairy but a collective. From when the Game of Conquest's end, Cirno had struggled to replicate the wisdom that she had observed from the previous winner. Defeating other factions and subjugating the crew to work for you. That alone had carried the strongest fairy in Gensokyo into acquiring her own Kingdom of ten fairies strong.
Cirno and her fairy subordinates could probably launch attacks on the Shrine Maiden now and win magnificently. Such is the law of the strong invoked onto the weak, the weak ones perish while the strong enjoy the spoils. This land of wealth along the trail to the Hakurei Shrine and the Forest of Magic is her spoils. She reaped from everyone walking or travelling out of the Human Village to tend their farm or gather materials in the woods, even non-humans weren't exempt from their attacks (harassments). Youkais and fairies alike weren't exempt from their assault and they quickly climbed up the ranks and became known throughout Gensokyo in a steady and lasting pace.
Cirno, looking at the road, suddenly found herself with the view of two people rushing toward her underlings. Grinning, the girl in white-blue floated above and that caught the two figures' attention. As they stopped and conversed between the two they pulled close their weapon and readying themselves. The white-blue samurai and the maid with silver-green hair quietly focused their sword and halberd respectfully toward the fairy in the sky.
With a sway of her hand, the ten fairies lifted off onto the sky and scattered in arcs that made a big dome in the sky. The different-winged fairy nested herself behind Cirno, her green hair peeking from behind the leader's soldier. Smirking, the ice fairy pointed her hand toward the two attackers and laughed. "Attack these fools!"
Instantly, spheres of various shapes and colors of light launched forward from the palms of the fairies' hands. Transforming and contorting their shapes into spheres, cubes, and trapeziums and every single one of them homed toward Kenshin and Teru. The array of lights from various angles were quickly deflected, dodged, and returned back by the two warrior's weapons. When the two stopped their movement and glared at the fairies, the array of lights have disappeared completely.
"Impossible!" Cirno gasped.
"Hey, Kenshin," Teru looked to where Kenshin stood. "This should be easy."
"Don't get cocky," Kenshin pulled her katana close to her head. "Flash-Step!"
In a single cut, Kenshin's blade made three fairies fell with a loud ringing sound.
"Show off!" Teru jumped without provocation and sliced the air where two fairies are. As she landed on the ground from her lunge, the fairies were cut in two and exploded with the same sound accompanying their demise. "Five fairies left!"
"Four!" Kenshin replied as she spun on her heel and launched a wind scar above and defeated a red-haired fairy. The fairies shrieked as loud as she beeped out of existence.
"Three!" Teru said as she stabbed a purple-haired fairy through her stomach and she disappeared in a familiarizing sound. From there, the maid spun in the air and threw her naginata toward the fleeing white-haired fairy. The spear pierced the girl through the head and brightly vanished and leaving a reverberating sound across the plains. "And that's two more."
Cirno and the green-haired fairy quaked on the spot. Even an idiot like her knew when the power is tipping the other force's scale.
"Cirno-chan, let's surrender," the girl behind her said meekly. "If we stop now, you won't get hurt, Cirno-chan!"
"She's right you know," The maid pulled out her spear and took a deep breath. "I can sense that you guys are not just children, but even so you're still no match for me and Kenshin. And I'm pretty sure her Bishamonten's Spirit is eroding your fighting spirit too, right?"
"Bishamonten..."
"Spirit?"
"This is your call, Leader of the Fairies." Kenshin lifted her katana and pointed it at Cirno. "Surrender now or your head will roll on the ground. Now which one?"
"Dai, run away. I'll handle this one myself."
"No," Dai shook her head. "If you're going to fight, then I'll fight too!"
"Bring it on!" Teru screamed as she dashed forward and leaped toward the two. As she swing her spear overhead, Cirno raised her hands palms wide open. The spear was suddenly suspended in the air and Teru's biorhythm went awry and distorted. It was like being stopped mid-air with an unrelenting and overpowering force. She knew that the only choice is to let the spear go and fall down. She looked toward the blue-haired fairy, whose hands emitted frozen properties that made the maid gasp. "What the hell!?"
"Freezing something as fast as a frog is easy for me!"
"Then I'll have to cut like a hawk!" Kenshin blasted herself off of the ground and went straight for the two's throat, but the two fairies dodged the mortal blow with ease. Kenshin spun mid-air in the hope to catch the fairies off-guard, but the fairies were able to dodge that slash too. When Kenshin stared at the fairies, she saw not the Blue Fairy who was watching her movements, but the green-haired fairy with the special wings. She was tucking her arms on the blue fairy and pulled her back with every strike. Landing on the ground, Kenshin smiled. "You're pretty good, green hair. Tell me your name!"
"My name is Daiyousei, but my friends called me Dai-chan!"
"Uesugi Kenshin," the swordswoman replied. "But my Lord calls me Kenshin."
"W-Who cares!?" Dai shouted with all her might. "Cirno-chan, let's do Perfect Freeze!"
"I'll trust you, Dai!" Cirno pulled out something from her skirt pocket, and the two attackers' head were focused onto what appeared to be an engraved paper. "Freeze Sign – "Perfect Freeze!""
Balls of light appeared from the area where Teru and Kenshin were and they actively dodged the ball of lights that appeared before them. The grasses they were on whitened overtime as it quickly froze from the low temperature. The limpness of the grass, after just a few seconds, was gone and stiffness settled in. Kenshin kicked the frozen grass and Teru tried her best as to not let the grass scratch her shoes. Before long, the balls stopped in mid-air and that startled the two warriors into a halt. At that instant, everything sparked a flashing white at them and everything turned frozen solid, along with the two warriors before her.
Or so Cirno had thought.
A big whirlwind flew past the sea of white and landed straight through Cirno's chest. Instantly, the spellcard was canceled. Daiyousei looked at the place where Cirno was pierced, but it thankfully had turned into a non-issue. Deathblows during spellcards were always annulled, no matter how severe those were. Cirno, however, was tipped off of her game and fell from the sky.
"Cirno-chan!"
Daiyousei flew down, outstretching her hand, and grabbed her friend's arm just in time. With a sigh of relieve, she pulled her friend up. Cirno's head was quietly resting on Daiyousei's shoulder. She was unconscious. Daiyousei looked around into her perimeters, and found no one that could've been able to shoot an arrow. All the time, they had their situation under control. She and Cirno was dancing in the palm of their hands.
"We concede," Daiyousei said. She knew escape was impossible, and fighting back was pointless at this point. "You won. You can grill me, boil me, whatever you'd like. Just don't do anything to my friends!"
"I'm not into kids, send them away."
The two warriors looked behind them and smiled.
"Who are you?" Daiyousei said, still clutching her friend in her arms. "You seemed to be the leader of these strong people." To the mention of their feat, Kenshin nodded gracefully and Teru rubbed her nose with her index finger. Quietly, two of Rance's harem, Omachi and Isoroku, closed their distance. Isoroku however, was shocked that her target wasn't left with any wound. Normally something like a wound from her arrow would leave a man crippled. "Your armor is also really cool. I'm sure Cirno would love to have that."
"Thank you little girl. And the name is Rance," the man said. "My name is Rance the Great. My armor is great, my face is great, and my skills are great too. Gahahahaha!"
"Nobody asked about your ugly face and lame skills," Rance smacked the sheathed blade onto the ground. "Like I said, I don't feel anything from that."
"Rance, huh? What do you want with us now?"
"I was checking if there was a cute girl, but all I found was a bunch of kids instead. That's to be expected from fairies though," he remembered what the books said about fairies back home. "Totally lost my mood now," he sighed. "So, did you also instruct the fairies in the forest to watch us or are they not a part of your force?"
"Fairies in the... forest?" she paused for a moment before her head picked up from the information. She quickly turned toward the forest a mile away from the grassland and saw a few fairies lying in wait for them. "No way. That's impossible! Are they a rebel force?"
"Sheesh, I thought you fairies were playing a game, but this is just outright rude, To think the first chance they'll get to do a coup they'll do a coup. Your boss seemed to be likeable at first, but in actuality, she's just a big wuss." Rance laughed as he unsheathed his sword. "Stand back alright. I'll fight this one for you. Because I am the ally of justice!"
"T-Then I'll fight with you. For Cirno's sake too!" At that time, Daiyousei thought: "This man... is not so bad afterall."
At that time, Rance thought: "Maybe those girls can introduce me to fine chicks later. Uheuhe."
During that time, his harem members thought: "Rance, your desire is as clear as glass." Except Kenshin, who was thinking about what she will be eating tonight. Preferably, she'd like fishes with a lot of rice on the bowl.
Thus, the battle between the rebellion force and Rance's force, begun.
"Mouri Teru." Akyuu's finger slid into a book title "Two Million Ways to clean your House" and landed itself on the four hundredth page. It was a new chapter, one where the writer gave examples about the various tools that a maid should have. She skimmed the next one hundred pages and mumbled name of swords, knifes, pails, and the biggest eye-catcher of them all: rat poison. Akyuu quietly sighed. "What a troublesome woman."
"You're talking about that maid with the green hair, right?" Kosuzu placed another stacks of books before Akyuu. The musty smell of old books defeated the sweet fragrance of her special tea and cookies. "I don't know why you're so fearful of a maid, Akyuu."
"Have you seen what maids could do in this place?"
"...Fair point," Kosuzu's hand was on her chin and her eyes at the books laid open on the table. The book renter sighed. "But aren't your research this time too excessive? They're just a ragtag bunch of misfits, aren't they?"
"Tsk, tsk tsk. That's where you're wrong, Kosuzu." Her waggling hand ticked off the book renter as her arrogant and show-off tone of voice reared their heads on Akyuu again. Exposition dump will soon follow her in three, two, "Among the girls that Rance was associating with, all of them are top-tier fighters. A good rule of thumb is, if one is associated with a nine-tailed fox, then they are not to be taken lightly. Furthermore, during my research I found that most of them had their family names etched in the warring states period of Japan, but their historical canon differed too much from ours. I asked Naoe-san about what separated JAPAN from the rest of their world, as they both are closed-off to some regard, and guess what her answer was?"
"The sea?"
"No. A giant bridge that linked JAPAN and Portugal."
"...Are you pulling my leg?" Akyuu was stared back with an eye of utmost disbelief. "I know I'm not that good with all of these things that you do, but at least try to tell a believable lie. As far as I know, the island of Japan is separated by a large body of water called the ocean. Pacific Ocean to be exact. If I remember correctly, there's not even a bridge that connects Japan to any other part of the Asia continent, let alone somewhere as far as Portugal."
"Yes, but I did not sense any lying intention from Naoe-san. Which is interesting, to say the least. Don't you think so too? What if all we know about the outside world is completely wrong? What if the thing that sage is telling were all lies? It could make great contributions to the Gensokyo Chronicle!"
"I don't know Akyuu. Something's fishy about all of this. Just who are these people anyway? They're from the warring states period, but from a completely different world that is similar to the world Yukari Yakumo mentioned before?" the skeptic scratched her cheek. "That's a little too much for a stretch, right?"
"Well, that may be so." Nodding, Akyuu moved to the next book in her sight: Colors of hair and how it affects a personality. "But I'm willing to bet my assets on them being from a totally different and radical world than wherever the Youkais of Gensokyo came from." The girl could use an information like that as something she could use later on, provided her guessing was right in the first place, however. "Can I ask for another batch of cookies though? Thank you."
Sighing, Kosuzu returned to the kitchen. "Fine, fine."
The next thing that was in Akyuu's mind was the presence of the Nine-Tailed Fox that accompanied Rance. She would be more believing if someone like a Shrine Maiden or a Magician had subdued a Nine-Tailed Fox, but a vulgar man like Rance with something as powerful as the strongest shikigami was unheard of. Could he be as strong as that gap demon? As Akyuu bit her lip, she could only respect the brute man. Omachi was indeed a genuine Kyuubi, a cold but reformed one from the outside world at that.
Then there was that maid in question: Mori Teru, or Teru-san as in Teru-Teru Bouzu. Though Akyuu suspected that she was human and had nothing to do with youkais or aberrations. The maid wielded a naginata she called the Dragonfly Cutter. If she was not wrong about it, then it would be the same Dragonfly Cutter that could cut a still Dragonfly that perched itself on the tip of its blade without moving. It was a legendary spear said to be mystical in property, but the legends surrounding it was obscure at best. It could have something to do with the Spear of the Jade Emperor, or it could probably be the eluding spear of the "dog" she had heard so much before. Safe to say, however, that the spear itself is dangerous, but the wielder that could wield said spear effectively is even more dangerous.
At this point, judging objectively about all of the man's retainer she knew was a fighter, it showed just how much raw power the man had at his disposal. Not to mention how each of them are competent fighters in their own right. Kenshin, Teru, and Isoroku could be on-par with the stronger humans of Gensokyo such as Marisa or Sakuya, while Omachi would steam-roll any youkai that has no stupid gimmick of their own like that damned Oni or someone as powerful as that flower bud of raw power. It was a good thing that Akyuu could persuade the village chief to not outright killing him. If all went well after this, she could then persuade the Shrine Maiden to open up a portal back to Rance's world and be done with them forever. Beings like them do not belong in Gensokyo, and she firmly believed in that notion.
Kosuzu walked out of the kitchen with another tray of cookies and tea, and as she stopped before the table she couldn't help but gasp at Akyuu's sudden shift of expression. "Whoa, you looked really serious there, Akyuu."
"I can't help it, Kosuzu," a smirk appeared on Akyuu's face. "These people are dangerous. Interestingly dangerous."
"Are they?"
"They are," she nodded. "I won't joke around regarding something like this. We must do our act first before things go out of control really fast. Kosuzu, we're leaving for the gate after you cleaned these books and I've calmed down with these cookies and tea. I need you to accompany me on their safe return."
"Wait, what? Safe return? That fast? They've only been gone for an hour, right? You'd expect a Youkai Busting to last at least three hours at minimum, especially to a bunch of fairies that had formed brigades with one another." Kosuzu's reasoning was sound, but the facts gave Akyuu more wiggle room. Hurriedly, Akyuu wolfed down the content of the tray and took care not to choke herself by drinking a lot while eating the tasty, cracking cookies. "Slow down!"
"Lightning!" Omachi called out toward the black clouds forming in the sky. The instant she brought her hand down, towering light stroke through the fairies unlucky enough or slow enough to disappear in a loud jingle and leaving the ground unscathed. Omachi's eyes widened slightly as she saw that anomaly and smirked. Her kimono's sleeve hiding her grin as she chuckled. "Interesting. Very, very interesting."
Rance smacked away the fairies with the side of his second blade easily. With every hit, it felt like he was pummeling birds with a frying pan. The sword in question was not a joke weapon either. It was the Demon Blade Sword Muramasa, which, despite it being demonic in nature doesn't really have any demonic ability at all. It just gave Rance a slight boost in his attack power. "Dang, how many fairies are there? They just keep on coming non-stop!"
"It's going to be fine!" Naoe said as she whacked her steel war-fan onto a fairies' head and threw knifes one at a time toward the other fairies charging at her. Naoe carried with her tweny-five knifes and she found herself lacking in fire-power. If the worst comes, she needs to double-wield her knifes and attack straight-on, though she will be severely open for the fairies to strike. Her first priority now would be to find a higher ground, and even a little elevation would suffice. As she ran around the troops dodging bullets left and right, she leaped above and stabbed a knife through one fairy's forehead and it blew up in a loud jingle. Rolling on the ground, she looked behind her and side-stepped just in time to avoid the hit. "Sorry girls, you cannot beat me without a clear-cut strategy!"
"What a human!" One of the girls fighting Rance screamed. This purple-haired girl earned her the name Violet by her peers. She was known to be an avid prankster to humans and youkais alike. What she didn't know was that all she pranked were weaker than her. Before a large opposition, she had no choice but to cave in into pressure. "I'd bet even if we all gang up on one of them we'll still be done for!"
"Shut up and shoot! Less talking more shooting!" The red-headed girl flying beside Violet was named Akako. She was the weakest of the fairy bunch, but her guts were second to none. "The less you talk and the more you shoot the faster the enemy will trip up and make a mistake!"
"That's a good strategy," Naoe nodded, now at a slightly higher elevation and had a perfect view of the battlefield. Before her was nothing but a vast forest where the remaining fairies were nowhere in sight. "Remember this: A good plan should be backed by good power. Your strategy lacked the power! Rance, Kenshin, this one's on you!"
"Yeah, yeah," Rance replied with no enthusiasm. He jumped forward and swung his arms overhead and let his sword touched the ground. "Rance Slash!" shouted the swordsman as he slammed the demonic blade. As it knocked the ground, from the ruptured earth launched a gigantic wind scar toward Violet and Akako, defeating them in an instant. "Hmph, weaklings."
"Bishamonten : War God Slash!" There were no sound nor were there echo, yet the form of Kenshin's blade were simultaneously named in everyone's mind. A single strike that shot a large wind that pushed all the fairies airborne and in its range into spontaneous jingling combustion. Kenshin stopped mid-fight. Her right was frozen after slashing a twenty yards away with the other holding he katana's sheathe. One eye peeked out of her helmet, and her waist-long black hair flowed beautifully against the wind. In her mind, the swordswoman thought:
"I'm hungry."
"Tch, she's getting all the good parts." Dodging fairies' bullets by using her naginata as a make-shift pole, she twirled to the fairies' rear and began decimating them from the back. One fairy turned around in the nick of time and in desperation shot a bullet straight toward Teru's face. In an instant it was shot by an arrow, in which the fairy knew was a hundred yards away from her. Clicking her tongue, Teru smiled and sliced the last fairy into two diagonally. "Thanks for the assist, Show-off!"
"It wasn't my plan to help," Smirking, Isoroku stood. "My arrows just so happened to pass by. That's all." Teru who was far away, couldn't possibly hear her remark, but she said it anyway. "My, my, we sure worked faster than I thought. The fairies rebellion wasn't much at all. See Dai-chan, we're strong."
"Yeah, you're like monsters," Daiyousei, who was sitting behind Isoroku, shivered. She was nursing Cirno back to consciousness by laying her on the ground and swatting anyone trying to snipe Cirno or Isoroku. That was the plan made by Naoe, which Daiyousei began to respect from how good she was in her line of work. "Though I am grateful, I can't help but be scared. Are you going to conquer Gensokyo next?"
"Nah, too much of a hassle," Calmingly, Isoroku shook her head. "We'll probably go home after this. It was a nice distraction though."
"I see," Dai nodded. "If you're ever here again, we'll be sure to welcome you with open arms."
Isoroku nodded.
"Dai-chan," Weakly, Cirno sat on the grass and rubbed her eyes. Yawning, she continued, making her voice sound blubbering. "What happened? Did I win? Did we lost?"
"We lost, Cirno-chan, but look," the green-haired fairy pointed her hand toward the battlefield to her right. The scene of carnage had dissipated into a silent remainder on how the fairies are still the weakest bunches in Gensokyo. 'We're getting help from these nice people. A few fairies from the other factions were trying to fight us when we're down. Thankfully, there are still good people that were willing to fight for us."
"They helped us did they?" Cirno stood up. Her pint-size created a broad back for the green-haired fairy to stare in awe. The ice fairy crossed her arms and looked behind her. "Then it's only right for us to join their fight, Dai-chan! Can you fight?"
Dai's eyes lit up as she floated excitedly. "Of course I can! Wherever you go, Cirno, I'll follow!"
And so the fairy duo flew past Isoroku and went straight into the fray. Cirno blasted one unfortunate fairy with ice shotgun while Dai covered Cirno by spreading out her shots toward the fairies that pulled back in a hurry. Some of them were hit by the stray red and green pellets she shot, and the rest that were stunned in place were quickly shot by sniped from point blank by Cirno's ice needles.
From the higher elevation, Naoe looked across the battlefield and found that a measly number of six people (and two late-reinforcement fairies) had defeated an army at least fifty to sixty personnel strong. All she could mutter was astonishment, to herself and to her comrade in arms. "That's a wrap."
The eight-man crew went back to the Human Village a victor. They brought with them Cirno and Daiyousei as ptoof that they had won the battle. The returning convicts were of course viewed in awe by the villagers. Some of the man on the side of the street were busy ogling Rance's girls. Mostly, their eyes were set on Omachi with the rest spread out. Some of the girls began to view Rance in another light, but most of them were busy ogling the girls too. Kenshin and Isoroku had the most fawning over them, while a single silver-haired girl eyed Teru, nodding and taking notes as she went past her. Naoe waved at the kids that were waving at them, even took her time to accept the flowers that they brought for them. On such a short notice, and Naoe knew who incited their festive atmosphere, it was a pretty impressive publicity stunt.
"This is some parade to welcome us, huh?" Cirno nodded, satisfied. "That's it people, cheer and congratulate me, Cirno! I am the strongest fairy in Gensokyo!"
The townspeople ignored her with kids being the sole exception, but she didn't mind and started waving around in the air. Dai-chan, who was behind her for each and every motion she made, smiled brightly from ear to ear. "Cirno, don't get too excited. That's not what we're here for!"
"Yes, Cirno. We're here to eat!" Kenshin said as she used her armguard to wipe her drool. "If you want a bigger portion, you need to behave! Ai-chan's cooking is the best! Especially how she made my riceballs!"
"Oh come on, you're complimenting me too much," The strategist scratched her cheek. "I can do much more than riceballs you know."
"Oh really?" The eyes of the two fairies lit up as they zoomed in on Kenshin's and Naoe's face. Their wings began flapping on a faster pace. "I want to make riceballs too! I'll make the best frozen riceballs in the entire Gensokyo!"
"That'll be the best of its kind alright," Chuckling, Teru ended with a big heave.
Giggling, Omachi covered her mouth with her sleeve. Maybe if she were to have kids, they would be as playful as the fairies? Who really knows, but she would like to try the experience.
"Girls, I don't think that's quite right," Chaos didn't show it, but he was grimacing from hilt to hilt. From hearing his voice, Cirno and Dai-chan hovered around Rance's waist and began poking at the sheathed blade. Rance covered the swords, saying that it's dangerous to be played by little kids. Understandably, Cirno protested, but Dai quickly held her back and consoled her. With that, Chaos sighed. "Thank goodness those kids didn't cut themselves."
"You're being useless so far, Chaos."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Done with everything, Chaos muttered. "You need me anyway."
"Nope, not at all."
"That's mean."
Finally, they went inside the Hieda household, a big far-eastern mansion with a big yard, wall, and gate complimenting the huge wood and stone mansion inside them. At the entrance of the house, a purple-haired girl greeted them with a bow. "You've done well. I take it these two are the proof of your success."
"We couldn't exactly bring back one of their heads," Naoe smirked. "Afterall, before they can be killed, they exploded in a poof and jingle. Are you hiding something from us, Child of Miare?"
"Like I said, Naoe," smirking, the boss of the human village turned around. "Best not to get cocky, or else you'd make an enemy out of the whole village." From her sleeve, Akyuu pulled out a book. She turned the cover toward Naoe and the strategist's eyes widen. "This book held the secret on how to get back into your world you know? We don't want anything to happen to it by some unfortunate circumstances, right? Especially when only I know what's contained inside."
"Alright, Akyuu, don't be stubborn," Rance interjected between them. "You're going to be one of my girls soon, so you two girls' best behave with each other, okay?" The sharp-toothed man laughed excitedly. "Woo, I cannot wait for tonight. This warrant a full course from you, right Akyuu?"
"Of course not," Akyuu hissed. "Now you all come with me. Someone is waiting to see you. I suggest you don't pull anything before this dear guest of mine." The girl and her servants walked on the long winding hall that connected one roof to another. This one was much smaller, and only containing around four rooms of equal size. The girl stopped before a sliding door patterned in blossoming cherry petals. Its paper was well-kept and the wood partition were given a touch of carving of the Hieda family crest. "Behave yourselves."
Siliding the door open, inside it was a room devoid of life.
The tatami flooring was green in color, mimicking the feel and illusion of grasses. A single square-shaped chair stood in the middle of the room surrounded by black-leather cushions. The wall Rance and his girls (plus two fairies) were looking at were filled with wall scrolls telling proverbs that Akyuu regularly changed and a few antiques placed as decorations on various marble stands close to the walls. Drawers of various contents and materials were placed on the left and right side of the room. Of course, various vanities were placed on top of them, such as mirrors, flower vases, and bowls containing brand new fruits on them. What secrets were hidden inside this room? Even Naoe couldn't find anything suspicious about it.
Rance turned to Akyuu, but her only gesture from her was a nod.
One by one, the convicts (and two fairies), walked inside the empty room and made themselves comfortable. Rance went straight for the fruits and started eating them with Kenshin after seating themselves comfortably. Teru and Isoroku leaned on the walls opposite to one another and surveyed the room. The two fairies began floating around the room. Cirno was busy admiring the wall scrolls while Dai translated what the kanjis were to the ice fairy, and Omachi helped giving the context to the two of them. Naoe, however, stayed behind the door and stared at Akyuu.
Akyuu of course, stared back.
Naoe's eyes drilled her sight into Akyuu's.
"You're not deceiving us, are you?"
"When she appears, you'll know," sighing, Akyuu shook her head with her palm holding her temple as if it was aching. "Look, Naoe, as much as I hate your guts let me say a piece of advice for you: Do not fight her." She handed Naoe the book with the way to return to her world. "I'll give you this as an insurance. Open it when the time is appropriate. Now go inside." Akyuu walked back through the same winding hall with her servants behind her. The tapping of her heels gradually disappear with each steps further ahead. At the end of the hall, Akyuu waved back toward her enemy.
"Good luck, huh?" Naoe waved back. Turning around, she entered the room. "She's not bad at all."
The door was then closed from the inside.
Appearing from behind Naoe to close the door, was a cat. A brown-haired cat-like human with two tails moved in a speed undiscernible by the common eye. From the exit of the room to opposite where Rance was sitting. Jumping from surprise, the strategist fell down and was caught in Teru's arm. Her other hand pointed her spear toward where the little cat had moved herself to and she herself was shocked at the sight of two other people suddenly there when there were nobody there.
She was short, about a third of Kenshin's height. She wore a white long-sleeve vest under a red one-piece dress. A bloomer was under the dress, portraying innocence to her already child-like self. Her two-tails swayed with each and every motion she had. Her ears, one of them pierced with golden earrings, perked up when she grinned at Teru. She was undeniably cat-like in nature, as her cheek had the few thin lines where a cat whisker would be coming out of if a cat had a human form.
Isoroku and Kenshin was about to grab their weapons and attack the one in the middle, and Omachi was about to claw the head of the nine-tailed fox beside the center-blonde, but Naoe stood up and shouted, "Stop! That's an order!"
Each of the warriors stopped, while Rance didn't care and kept munching on the fruits. He did so until the bananas were left on the bowl and he hand it to the blonde opposite of his. Her daunting eyes inspected the bowl of bananas, and trailed upward until her eyes met with Rance's. "Want a banana?"
The female was undeniably in a form of a woman in her late twenties. Her wavy, waist-long blonde hair was covered by a white cap adorned with purple motifs: strings, flowers, and hued fabric. Her face was angular, her cheek was thin and sleek, but there was an undeniable softness to them that connect to a triangular and shapely chin. Her dress was of a western nobility colored in deep violet, as if sucking in everything that laid eyes upon them. Her arms were covered in arm-long white gloves. She was sitting like a prim and proper lady that Rance weren't able to glance the white stockings that she wore under her clothes.
"Oh," the woman was shocked, like finding a kid was offering her their candy. "Oh my, oh my, don't mind if I do young man," her giggling echoed through the awkward silence in the room. Ai's judgement on Rance heightened significantly as he wasn't affected by the intense pressure that woman exuded toward everyone. "When was the last time I ate a banana? Ran, do you know when I last ate a banana?"
"Ah, Chen knows!" the twin-tailed cat-girl spoke out of turn as she jumped around and laughing with joy. "I think it was last June! You were eating something called... the King's Banana! Yeah, that was it, right?"
"Boo! That's wrong, Chen!" the blonde in violet dress giggled. "Now, Ran. Do you know the last time I ate a banana? Your shikigami's answer should make things easier, yes?" With each claps of the girl's hands, the room's atmosphere became even more awkward. "Come on, Ran. I'll even give you ten seconds early start to think!"
"No need," When the fox-girl beside her smile, she nailed the smile. It was fox-like, but genuine, like a well-mannered daughter answering her mother. "The last time you ate a banana, was around September. You were trying to pull a prank on the Hakurei Shrine Maiden by making her sleep. Instead of slipping and hitting the floor, the result was... more amusing than that, wasn't it? The shock that she had at the time was priceless." The fox wagged her nine-tails as she covered her giggle with her hand. "Wasn't that funny, Chen?"
"Yes, Ran-sama! Especially how Reimu fell—"
Before the cat could continue, her master's master interjected. "Now, now Chen. Laughing on other people's tragedy is not nice. Okay?"
"Okay, Yukari-sama!" Chen giggled, "But you did it all the time though."
"I did, didn't I?" Yukari chuckled. "Oh well, old habits die hard."
"Um..." Naoe raised her hand. "What do you want with us? Can you return us back to our world? What will happen to us from now on?" Eyeing the blonde-girl in her late twenties (or at least she looked that age), she continued. "You are Hieda-sama's guest, right? May we know the name of someone we're about to grace?"
"Her name is Yu—" Cirno was about to speak but Dai-chan stopped her before she could. A big hushing gesture was given to Cirno, and she quietly nodded when the fox, Ran, glared a thousand daggers at her.
A teasing sound escaped from the blond girl's mouth.
"Such a silver tongue you have," giggling, the woman moved her sight from her large forehead toward the man with the brown hair. "You, why did you offer me this banana?" she asked as she showed a strand of banana pinched between her fingers. "Your answer might or might not influence what I'm going to do with your group."
"Because you're beautiful. Isn't that obvious?" Rance grinned. "If you're an ugly hag, I'd never give you anything, but a sexy and beautiful woman like you gets all of my free passes. Gahahaha!" His laugh echoed throughout the room. Teru from one side of the room huffed a big sigh. Her hand pinching the bridge of her nose, repressing the incoming pain as much as she could. "How about it? Would you like to be my woman?"
"My, my, straight to the point aren't you? Well I don't exactly dislike that." Opening a fan with a distinctive symbol on its paper, she leaned back on one arm and let the fan cover her mouth. Naoe couldn't help but feel like she was witnessing a high-class palace courtesan. "Unfortunately, I can't. Well not on normal circumstances anyway."
"What do you mean... normal circumstances?" Rance smirked. He leaned forward with his arm on the table. "What are you planning, woman?"
"The name is Yukari Yakumo, Rance the Great," she smirked, but her eyes were devoid of kindness. Instantly, Rance pulled up Chaos as he took a few distance back with one leg. "No need to be alarmed, Rance. And would you kindly put away that sharp Demon Blade? My skin is sensitive to permanent scars." A hand appeared from below Rance's arm and grabbed his wrist, making him jump and dropping Chaos to the floor. The hand then grabbed Chaos and pulled it into the portal to the sound of Chaos and Isoroku screaming. "Don't be so loud, I'm only going to inspect you, such a dramatic man."
Kenshin sat there without any expression, but she was ready to attack with her sword. Omachi who was still behind the woman named Yukari couldn't do anything as Ran was constantly marking her. Teru, Naoe, and Isoroku was, safe to say, unnerved by what had just transpired in-front of them.
Rance, too, was shocked.
"What the hell was that?" asked the confused man. "And give me back Chaos, lady!"
"Hmmm... yes, yes I see. Interesting," Inspecting Chaos from top to bottom and front to back, Yukari gleefully delighted herself in her new find. "So inside this sword hold the soul of a man named Chaos. My, my, you're much uglier in human form!"
"H-Hey! What do you know about my human form? I am one of the most dashing male of my time!" Chaos went silent for a while before realization hit him. "You can see my true form, can't you? Lady, what are you?"
"I'm just a woman who can manipulate borders," she giggled. "If you haven't caught my name, it's Yukari Yakumo."
"Kid," Chaos' eyes caught Rance's eyes. "You need to be careful with this lady. She's all sorts of bad news! If you're not careful, she'll gobble you up! And I don't mean it in a good way either. I meant it in the most painful of ways possible. This remind me of that time I met with that asshole again!"
"Alright, alright, hush," Yukari said as she threw Chaos back to Rance and landed on his lap. "I'm not so rude as to inspect every nook and cranny of your being, grandpa." Her eyes that were closed from her giggling slowly opened and the woman smirked once more. "Oh, right, you should not try anything funny while in this room, Kenshin-chan. I can snap this flimsy drying pole steel into two without batting an eye, you know?"
Kenshin, who was now behind Yukari, clicked her tongue and returned to her seat as if her action never happened. Looking at the obedience of Kenshin to her request, she laughed to the eyes that began to look at her funny. "Oh no, please don't mind me. I'm just trying to ascertain your strength just now. Let me just say that under a normal circumstance, you will never be able to beat me and go home by force. And to think I was expecting more from you people of The Continent. Such a shame."
"You know the continent, Lady Yukari?" Naoe asked, taking a kneeling stance before her. "Have you ever been there?"
"I have, but I was not welcomed to say the least. Too much competition."
Was there even someone as strong as Yukari in The Continent? The strategist thought to herself. Was it during a time from long ago? Was it recently? Or was she... no, that can't be right. She was a mere visitor, not its missing creator.
"Your thoughts just now were dangerous, you know that Naoe? Anyway, let me now tell you all about the way to go back home. Back to the floating island known as JAPAN! I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen up closely and pay attention to everything that I am about to say, do, and tell you to. We're good?"
Rance nodded voluntarily. He was too shocked to talk back to her. He may be brutish in action, but he was not stupid. He'd rather preserve his existence for another chance to have sex than die without having being able to bang anyone from this new realm he had stumbled upon.
"Good," Yukari nodded. "Ran, if you would."
The fox with the stoic expression stood up. She was clothed in a distinctive diviner outfit that Rance had seen worn by Houjou Souun and the rest of the Houjou Priest, except less on the sexy side and more on the prim and proper side. She undeniably exuded the air of chaste and respect, the opposite of her master who let out a constant aura of promiscuity and sultriness. She was tall. As tall as Omachi who was the tallest in Rance's group. Her nine-tails swayed as she stood up, and her fox-like ears perked up as she stared at everyone present before her. The hands holding the scroll had sharp fingernails that resembled claws. Her white socks made a soft sound as she stood up and walked close to Yukari to receive her scroll.
Ran rolled open a closed scroll, clearing her throat in haste, and began reading its content.
The Warring Area of Gensokyo was so popular of a past-time that we (as in the beautiful Yukari and co.) have decided to do another session of event once more. This time, with bigger reward, better fights, and greater stakes! Will you be able to conquer all of Gensokyo and come out the victor of the game?
Come and participate for a chance to win three wishes given by your lovable Sage of Gensokyo: Yukari Yakumo herself! Excitement abound!
Don't miss it!
(New rules and stuff applies. Seek Ran Yakumo for further instructions)
"What?" Naoe looked at the fox with the hat. "What the hell?"
"Short version: Beat up all of Gensokyo our way?" Teru cracked her knuckles. Her grin went from ear to ear and painted a face of a menace. "Is that so? Then fine by me! Let's get this show on the road then!"
"Yukari," Rance stood up and walked toward the woman in violet. When he had stood behind her, he extended his hand. "I don't know what you are, and I don't know what you're thinking. But," he grinned, showing his shark-like teeth toward her. "We might get along really well with one another. I can't wait to make you my woman."
"Oh, can you?" Yukari reached for his hand and shook it. "I'm looking forward to it. Being your woman that is."
Ran, bowing to her master, turned around and walked toward the screening door. She opened it and reveal in her hand to the open the same scroll that she had in her hand. Within seconds, something black swooped in from below and with her eyes, Kenshin swore she saw that something smiling giddily as she flew into the sky.
"You've given the tengu the scroll, Ran?"
"Yes, Yukari-sama."
"Good, then it'll only be a matter of time before everyone begin to get into the game," Yukari stood up. "Now, Rance. How about you and I move to a more comfortable place? Don't get your hopes up. It's still a long time before you'll get to have some alone time with me. For now, I'm going to show you a piece of land you can use as a territory. Sounds good?"
"Damn, I'd prefer if we fuck sooner."
Laughing loudly, Yukari exited the room as she said, "All in due time, oh Rance the Great. All in due time."
And thus, the most unlikely participant have joined the next Game of Warring Area. All of this of course, was to relieve the boredoms of various kinds of people in the mystical and illusionary land of myths and legends.
This is a tale of a man on conquest.
Of love, bravery, and sex.
Gensokyo Rance.
"Reimu! Reimu! This is bad!"
"What is it?"
"Look at this!"
"...Ugh. Damn it Yukari!"