Chapter 4
The Touhou franchise is owned by ZUN, and as such I own nothing in this story other than my own original creations.
"What?!" That scream came from Reimu, who had just heard the whole of Marisa's story, and was utterly baffled at how someone could take a Master Spark point-blank and walk out completely unscathed. She wasn't the only one either, as Alice, Reisen and even Yukari were shocked to hear the extent of Xhi's durability.
That wasn't their only revelation however, as Marisa had also found out her ability, which, while it raised more questions at first about what she was doing with Alice, Yukari managed to give valid explanations as to why they worked that way, or at least, the whole punch that hit while not hitting thing. Apparently, Xhi can't just create blood, but also manipulate it from inside the bloodstream. Thus, by attacking that blood, she essentially has a ranged punch. That can't be blocked.
Reisen's reaction soon after Reimu's scream summed up the situation best. "So... does anyone have a plan to defeat this woman? Because we're going to need one." Yukari tried to keep a composed face, though it was clear even she was worried by the situation. "I'll try to think of whatever I can. I could manipulate a boundary, of course, but it's going to be difficult to pull it off behind Xhi's back." Reimu gave a heavy sigh. "Well while you're doing that, I'm gonna try and stop her. At the very least, I'll be able to measure her capabilities. Grab another healing potion in case I get injured too." And with that Reimu flew into the Bamboo Forest.
Reimu was flying over Xhi's shack at the moment, trying to collect her thoughts. She knew at this point the ensuing battle wasn't going to be an ordinary danmaku fight. As soon as she stepped on the lawn, she would have to fight very carefully. One wrong move, and she could end up heavily injured, or possibly even killed.
This house was definitely diffucult to find, though she had the foresight to relay the location to Yukari. That way people don't have to keep scrounging to find it.
With one final deep breath, she steps on the lawn, and just as with everyone else, Xhi opens the door as soon as she does. Why does her face seem so familiar? Where has she seen it before?
"Ah, I felt like this one would come pretty soon, though to be honest, you're a bit later on the punch than normal, Hakurei shrine maiden." Xhi said in a somewhat ambiguous tone. Reimu couldn't pinpoint whether the woman was just pointing something out, or if she was actively mocking her.
"You actually are human. I was starting to doubt that claim." Xhi walks towards Reimu, smirking. "Why yes, does that bother you?" Okay Xhi was definitely mocking her at this point. "Why are you spreading this killer instinct? What are you..." Xhi cuts her off by wagging her finger. "Ah ah ah. Don't think I'm going to say my reasoning just yet. What do you think I am, stupid. You'll find out in due time. And besides, you and I both know how these things go. So let's cut the formalities here and let our fisticuffs do the talking!"
With that sentence, Xhi suddenly vanished from her sight. Reimu proceeded to turn around, thinking Xhi was directly behind her, only to be met with dozens of the blood grenades Marisa encountered. Reimu immediately started moving in between whatever openings she could find in the massive barrage, while at the same time flying upwards, only to find nothing where the barrage had originated. 'Let me guess. Now Xhi is behind me.' She turned around and sure enough, her opponent was right there, about to launch what would no doubt be a devastating right hook. Reimu only dodges it by the literal skin of her teeth. 'That was too close.' Reimu knew if she wanted to win this fight, she would need to attack as soon as possible, and so she swings her gohei, to which in response, Xhi grabs her sword with her left hand and swings the blunt edge at the stick, easily overwhelming Reimu's strike with her strength. Reimu saw this coming however, and grabbed the senbon in her sandal before throwing them at Xhi in an attempted counterstrike. Key word being attempted, as Xhi grabbed all the senbon she threw with her pointer and middle fingers, then used those two fingers to split them all in half with practical ease. In the time it took for her to do this however, Reimu managed to get behind Xhi and was preparing to throw an ofuda at her. Xhi saw this coming though, and proceeded to slightly move her hand down, which caused Reimu to fall to the ground, revealing a form of telekinesis.
Reimu knew that if she hit the ground head-on, Xhi would more than likely use that as an opening to deliver a painful strike, and so with a bit of quick thinking, went into a streamlined position, put her right hand directly in front of her, and used her revved up ofuda to launch herself skyward while extending her left leg into a kicking position. And just as Reimu thought, Xhi was descending downwards with a kick of her own, and soon the two kicks collided, releasing a massive shockwave. Xhi's abnormal strength quickly proved too much though, and she soon thrust her leg backwards and started transferring that momentum into a punch. This time, Reimu knew she couldn't dodge it, and so cast a barrier to hopefully block the attack. It did succeed, however the punch not only shattered the barrier, but also sent Reimu flying backwards from the force of it. Once she landed however, Reimu reversed the momentum that was generated, turning it into a powerful jump, before unleashing a Fantasy Seal, hoping to keep distace. In response, Xhi made several rounded tentacles of blood to deflect the projectiles, before sharpening them into spikes, with Reimu only having a split-second to dodge them, barely avoiding impalement.
Xhi slowly started descending to the ground, finally giving Reimu a moment to catch her breath. Now she was seeing first-hand why Alice and Marisa had so much trouble. Every attack Reimu launched was countered by Xhi with ease, and could quickly lead into a nasty punish if she wasn't careful. Reimu knew she really only had one option at this point.
The ultimate expression of her ability to float, Fantasy Heaven. However, even it was risky, as while it did cause her to float out of reality, her ability to attack her bloodstream could still bypass it if it went that far. That was really the biggest problem with this fight. She could try and dodge all she wants, but when her opponent starts attacking her bloodstream, she was going to get hit regardlessly of what she did. If she was to use Fantasy Heaven, she couldn't give her the opening to do that, and with Xhi's reaction speed being as fast as it was, she doubted she could do that.
'Still though,' Reimu's breathing calms. 'It's my only shot.' Her muscles begin to slacken. 'I have to try it.' Reimu slowly closes her eyes, and utters those two words under her breath. "Fantasy Heaven." With that she takes to the skies and floats out of reality, before bombarding Xhi with projectile after projectile. Waves of amulets, ofuda, senbon and yin-yang orbs flew straight in her direction. She even threw in a couple of Fantasy Seals for good measure. Xhi looks up at the barrage with slight awe on her face, before smirking once more and snapping her fingers. Reimu did feel a breif, but sharp pain, but by then she knew her onslaught was too big to dodge. When all the projectiles finally hit their target, a massive explosion was generated right in front of Xhi's house, which ended up creating a small ravine.
Reimu finally calms herself, thinking the fight was finally over. 'Wait, what's that to my right?' She looks in said direction... and promptly kicks herself for how foolish she was. To her right was Xhi, winding up a powerful roundhouse kick. The fact she was unscathed plus Reimu herself didn't have any outside injuries from unpinpointable sources unlike Alice and Marisa, suggested to Reimu that Xhi somehow dodged that entire bombardment, which even Reimu silently gave props for. However, as Reimu now realized, her bloodstream interaction wasn't limited to just attacking it, but she could manually disengage abilities as well. Which is exactly what she did with her Fantasy Heaven. With her opponent right next to her, Reimu had no time to dodge. With all her magic having been focused on that barrage, she didn't have enough left to cast another barrier. And with Fantasy Heaven disengaged, she couldn't phase through it. There was only one outcome here.
'This is gonna bite.' And it certainly did as Xhi landed that kick straight into her temple, getting incredibly close to breaking her spinal cord, before said kick launched her into the treetops. Reimu groaned, but managed to get up despite her injuries. She knew she had zero chance of winning at this point, so without giving it a second thought, she decided to cut her losses and leave the vicinity before she got injured any further.
Xhi looked at Reimu, not with her normal contempt, but with genuine curiosity. She seemed more aware of her tactics than the other two so far, and knew when it was time to leave. Did she perhaps know something?
Xhi shook her head. Her house was in the deepest part of the Bamboo Forest, and wasn't discovered till this incident. There's no way she could know what she was planning. With that reassurance, she went back inside waiting for her next victim.
Yukari had snagged the potential healing potion for Reimu, and was now looking around the shrine. Looking at Reisen, she noticed a somewhat irritated expression on her face. 'What could be causing that kind of mood?' Of course, Yukari herself was very worried, and she couldn't hide it this time. This was clearly a ruthless opponent who could take a lot and dish it right back out, and despite Fantasy Heaven she didn't have high hopes for Reimu winning this fight.
Soon the door opens up, with no knocking this time, and Yukari immediately grabs the healing potion and tosses it in its general direction. Reimu manages to catch it and garners a surpised look on her face. "Did you know this was going to happen? Reimu questioned. Yukari turned her head. "No, but it was a safe guess."
I think I went a bit overboard on the fight scene. I had skipped out on any extra exposition this chapter because everyone both knows Xhi exists and are at the same place, that being the Hakurei Shrine, so I felt there was no need. I hope you guys don't mind me doing that. You probably will though.
