When you get right down to it, time travel in the Haruhi verse is pretty inconsistent. You had Mikuru explain it with the frame theory, that even if you add in a drawing into a picture, it won't effect the rest of the frames. Yet... there was an attempt on the life of the inventor of time travel. You have people like the Antis' Fujiwara attempting to change history.

You have to remember something about Mikuru - she was hard wired to think and perform a certain way. She is unable to give classified information, and she puts up with so much. So... as Koizumi once told Kyon in a way, can you really trust what she says?

Of course, that may be a writer's excuse to justify the break away from the restricted rules of time travel that appear to be in Haruhi's story. But whatever.

As we've seen, a lot of rules can be broken - almost everything can be cheated. I mean, the rules of gravity were broken for poor Kyon, for crying out loud. Flipped on its head. You got girls flying in the air, magic spell cards, portals, time control, distance control, fate control, and so much more through Gensokyo itself.

Again, this is probably a writer's excuse.

Right?

=The following was originally written up by user Smooglii. This arc is a collaboration between Supperdude9 & Smooglii, and been brought into ICB with their permission.=

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is owned by Nagaru Tanigawa. Touhou Project is owned by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I own neither. This is a fan fiction of those works.

Beta Readers:

Another Duck

Smooglii

Supperdude9

When I came to, I was back with Rumia, but the darkness was gone. We were at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the shrine. Rumia, Wriggle, Daiyousei, Mystia, Cirno, and a legion of fairies were protecting the area from Lyrica, Merlin, Lunasa, Youmu, Yatsuhashi, and two other youkai that I assumed were tsukumogami as well. One was sitting on a large taiko drum and had what looked like an electronic drum set around her, and the other was holding a biwa with glowing red strings. They were staring down Seija, who was rising, surrounded by fairies, in the center, the Miracle Mallet in hand. I must not have been out for long that time. Maybe I'm finally getting used to time traveling.

Hold on... what?

I hadn't noticed them, but Yuka Kazami, Alice Margatroid, Mima, and Komachi Onozuka were there. When the Hakurei shrine defenders had shown themselves, I didn't see those four. Yet there they were.

Wait a second, the ghosts have...

Together with Youmu and the two Prismrivers, seven people had appeared out of nowhere as if they had always been there.

What happened? What just happened?

Seija's eyes were fixed on Yuka in particular. "What the hell? She's back, too?" I thought I detected a hint of panic, but she appeared to regain her composure after a few seconds. "No, that's fine. I can work with that. In fact, that makes this better."

What she said made my blood run cold. I stared at Seija. Did you do something? You-

I may have been out a while. We may have made a stop. I realized it. She did something. She changed something in the timeline.

This wasn't supposed to be possible, was it? Time is like a sequence of still frames, and if you scribble on one, it won't change the others, or something like that? Only Haruhi had been able to change the flow of time altogether. Well, and Nagato, but that was using Haruhi's power.

Haruhi, Nagato, and... the nuclear youkai. The thing imposing a nuclear apocalypse on a timeline that had already been set in stone.

Can the Miracle Mallet do something like that?

How does any of this work?

Seriously, I want know how this works. Time travel is too wonky, even when I had someone explain it to me.

Somehow, Seija did something. She changed something in the past to protect her future.

It was just like she had told me: "You will not undo what I have planned and done."

What did Seija do?!

Possible Spell Card

Episode 5

["Fighting Fair"]

"If I beat these guys, I'll have nothing more to fear.

I will become the new ruler!"

–Seija Kijin, Touhou 14.3, Impossible Spell Card – Last Day

We were in a brand new future. She may have just given herself paradox insurance when I was blacked out. If I were to somehow go back and keep her from doing any of this in the first place, I'd risk a time paradox of some sort. Not that it was any part of the plan, but still... for her to go this far? Dammit, someone is going to have to figure out what she changed.

A gap appeared in the air in front of the fairy column, and Yuyuko popped out, her hand outstretched towards Seija. She held that pose for a few seconds, then tilted her head in confusion. "Yukari," she spoke into the gap, "something is wrong."

Yukari came through the gap. Her face turned wooden as she looked upon Seija. "But how..."

"What? Didja lose your power to cheat all of a sudden?" Seija mocked them, leaning back in the air and twirling the Mallet in her hand. "What're you gonna do when the rules don't bend your way, I wonder?"

"You've cheated death, amanojaku," announced Yukari, "but you won't survive this battle. All the leaders of Gensokyo now stand before you." Yukari and Yuyuko were joined by Remilia, Kaguya, Yuka, Mima, and another person I didn't recognize who had bright blue hair and an orange sword.

Seija grinned like she couldn't be happier. She counted the people in front of her. "Are you sure that's all of 'em? If you want to get the snake and the frog, I'll wait."

Yukari paused and raised an eyebrow at Seija. "They're down." She inclined her head towards the south side of the hill.

Seija looked in the direction Yukari was indicating, where two new people were. It was difficult to see, but one looked like a woman with blue hair, and there was a little girl with blonde hair. That was all I could describe of them in the dark of night.

"That's unexpected," she muttered to herself. "Well, whatever."

You really did do something. If I were so inclined to prevent any of this from happening, I couldn't go back and stop her, at least not until I understood what she changed while I was out.

I noticed that Byakuren wasn't there, either. I looked to the left, where the Taoists and Buddhists were supposed to be fighting. The only person there was Yoshika, who was floating aimlessly back and forth wearing Miko's cape.

Where are the others? Don't tell me Seija created a future where Yoshika is the "Crown Prince."

"Oh, I'm going to love tearing the smile off your face," said Remilia. "How about we skip the banter and go straight to the mauling?"

"I agree," said Yuyuko, "and since I am in front, I suppose I will be the one to go first." She produced a Taboo card. I ran for a tree to the left, knowing that I was wide open where I was.

[SpElL cArD: cHeRrY bLoSsOm "lOvElY cHeRrY bLoSsOm BlIzZaRd"]

Pink shots, shaped like cherry blossoms of course, emanated from Yuyuko in all directions, many rings flying in alternating circles. Round shots also flew at Seija, and the fairies around her scattered. Seija lifted the Miracle Mallet and swung it as the waves reached her. All of the danmaku in front of her was transformed, falling to the ground as... koban? A shower of gold coins fell upon the fairies and youkai beneath Seija. The transformation effect chained along nearby danmaku, eliminating entire waves of shots at once. Seija then launched through Yuyuko's spell card, clearing away danmaku with the Mallet, and before Yuyuko could get over her shock, Seija smashed her in the torso. Yuyuko fell to the ground.

"What?!" cried Remilia.

Expressions of shock rose from the enemies' side. Cheers went up from Seija's side.

I really felt guilty over having a hand in that.

Yukari's body tensed up as she stared at her downed friend. "The Miracle Mallet didn't have that kind of power!" She glared at Seija. "What in the world did you do?!"

Seija, not interested in answering that question, raised the mallet and proclaimed to the battlefield, "I have made a wish upon the Miracle Mallet! The strong will become weak, and the weak will become strong!" She pointed the Mallet right at Yukari. "It's time for you to taste the floor like you always deserved to."

The cheers intensified, all of the youkai and fairies grabbing for the koban that was raining on them. I'm not sure that fairies even use money, but they let themselves get swept up in the mania as Seija held the glowing Mallet aloft.

Youmu raced to catch Yuyuko as she fell. Yuyuko was completely knocked out, which was weird, considering she was a ghost. I'm not sure if that happens to them normally or what, but after Youmu laid her down gently on the side of the hill, she turned to Seija with eyes filled with rage, drawing Roukanken from its sheath.

"You will pay for that!"

Youmu launched into Seija, who met Youmu's sword with the Mallet. I was half expecting it to be shorn straight through; didn't Youmu say Roukanken could cut nearly anything? Gold isn't exactly a durable material, either. However, the Mallet held, and Youmu began slashing and slashing at Seija in a rage, her hands and sword a blur. Strangely, Seija was doing the same, matching Youmu's strikes tit for tat.

Just how much power did Nagato put in that thing?!

The worst part was that Youmu began to slow down, while Seija seemed to get faster. The Mallet was somehow stealing Youmu's strength and giving it to Seija. Youmu was struck dead on through the blur of steel and gold, and she fell down as well.

Is Seija taking their power for herself?! Is that what's happening?!

Seija laughed, and beckoned the other leaders to come and get some. "Come on! Who's next? Step right up, step right up! Win the prize of tasting the dirt with the rest of your fellow worms!"

"I see," said Yukari. I could tell she was steaming, but she hid the bottom half of her face behind an open fan. "So it does that now, does it? Unfortunately for you, if that's all, you're going to have some trouble dealing with the rest of us." Yukari, Kaguya, Remilia, Yuka, Mima, and the blue-haired woman all drew spell cards. I pulled out a vial.

[SpElL cArD: "iMpOsSiBlE dAnMaKu BaRrIeR"]

[SpElL cArD: nEw ImPoSsIbLe ReQuEsT "rEd StOnE oF aJa"]

[SpElL cArD: "fItFuL nIgHtMaRe"]

[SpElL cArD: "tHe EmPeRoR's FlOwErS"]

[SpElL cArD: "uNlImItEd TwIlIgHt SpArK"]

[SpElL cArD: "sKy Of ScArLeT pErCePtIoN oF aLl YoUkAi"]

Now it had really begun. Danmaku was going everywhere, and Seija was swinging like crazy. Just as I thought, it would be impossible to reach the shrine via the stairs now; there were simply too many shots, and gold was raining down everywhere. I downed my vial and started to climb up the hill to the left of the shrine. I was almost immediately struck in the back, ending my barrier. I reached for another vial and chugged it, but right after I did so, another shot struck me, and then another. Pain seized my body, and I doubled over, trying to will myself to keep going. Shoot. I underestimated how far those shots would go. I thought I'd have plenty of cover in the trees, too. I drank another vial, and some of the pain went away. Not sure how many I have left. No time to count. Gotta keep moving. Gotta get Reimu's attention quietly.

I noticed Alice fall from battle, her dolls going limp with her. I didn't see Shanghai or Hourai anywhere. What happened to those two? Heck, what happened to Alice in the first place? Why wasn't she here earlier?

Questions for another time. I had other objectives. If only I could talk to Reimu, or maybe steal Seija's parasol, I could escape to the outside world and track down Asahina or someone if Nagato relayed my message. Yukari would work as well, but I had no way of getting to her, and she probably wouldn't help me. Seija had told me when she went to kill my parents; if I could somehow stop her from doing it... I know how that sounds. Seija had already met herself, or didn't. There's no way I could talk her out of it or take her out. I just hoped an answer would present itself.

They usually did, right? Maybe I could fake their deaths or something. It was the best I had at that moment. I couldn't help with the battle, not until I knew that my family was okay. Not until I was certain that I had won the first, most important part of my gamble.

Yeah. I was being selfish, just like Miko said.

I heard something, and I saw Mima fall out of the sky. Damn it. Weren't you supposed to be a great evil or something? Marisa's former master? You barely lasted a minute!

Not that it wasn't expected; Seija's newfound power aside, there were six Taboo spell cards going until Mima's got removed, and there was no "friendly fire" rule protecting allies from each others' danmaku. In spite of how spaced out they were to avoid getting close to each other and Seija, I don't think any normal person could avoid it all.

They're strong. Those six are unbelievably strong.

No time for that. I kept moving through the trees, avoiding the danmaku that slipped through the canopy. I saw Reimu taking cover behind a tree next to the shrine. I had just left the forest and started towards her when I was hit again; Remilia's spell card threw off an incredible amount of knives in every direction around her like a swirling, slicing supernova, practically clearing the whole battlefield in front of the shrine by itself. The other four spell cards didn't stop, though. Had Kaguya, Yukari, Yuka, and the blue-haired woman really managed to dodge through that? Of course, I wasn't thinking this as I fell to the ground. I was thinking about how far away Reimu looked, even though I was so close to the shrine. I fought to stay conscious, even as I was conscious of the fact that I could be hit again at any second. As I fixated on Reimu, however, something blocked my vision.

"Kyon!" I heard Marisa shout above me. "Hey, Kyon, is that you?!"

"Mari... sa?" I groped blindly in the air above me, and my hand was seized. Marisa pulled me towards her, trying to get me on her broomstick. "You can't be out here, ze. We gotta get you - whoa!" Marisa veered back, dragging me along the ground as some of Kaguya's red laser shots impacted where I just was. "C'mon, I'm getting you out of here!"

"No," I gasped. "Reimu... I need to talk to Reimu."

Yukari would be faster, but she was in the middle of an impenetrable field of danmaku, and I doubt she would have agreed to my plan. Reimu was safer. I would be time traveling anyway, so it didn't matter if I was a little slow.

The space between us and Reimu was filled with stray shots from the battle. I had to hand it to the five up there; they knew how to dodge, and they knew how to avoid getting smashed by that hammer, even though it looked like they weren't getting anywhere trying to hit Seija. It looked like it was turning into an endurance contest.

"Reimu, huh?" Marisa took a look at me with concern on her face.

I stopped, looking into her eyes. "Please, Marisa. I have to do something, okay? It's important. Please."

Marisa stared into my eyes for a few seconds, like she hadn't seen me in a while. There was almost... a sadness to it. She eventually nodded. "All right, ze. Hold on tight!"

We lifted off, veering through the danmaku. It was getting more intense, but before we got halfway, two fifths of the shots suddenly vanished. I looked at the battlefield.

I saw Seija, swinging her mallet. I saw Yukari colliding with Yuka, a trail of gold behind her. Seija had launched one into the other and eliminated them both.

Seija just took out Yukari and Yuka at the same time.

I was so in shock that I almost let go of Marisa. I barely registered when Reimu spoke to me.

"Kyon? Is that you?"

I was relieved to see her, and doubly relieved that I wouldn't be going up against her like I had feared all day. That was on my mind throughout that entire incident, and I was so glad it didn't have to happen.

We were there, huddled with Reimu behind her tree. I spotted Komachi nearby; she had also taken cover at a neighboring tree. Practically everyone was hiding from the big fight in front of the hill now.

Seija launched in Kaguya's direction next, and Kaguya backpedaled as Remilia and the blue-haired woman positioned themselves behind Seija.

"What now?" asked Marisa, staring at the carnage of the fight. "Yukari just..."

"I don't know," said Reimu, "but I'm going to have to join the battle soon. Kyon, what happened? Why were you on the enemy's side?"

I took a deep breath. "She came to me out of nowhere. She said she'd kill my family if I didn't help her, but then she said she already did, kind of, and that I could only save them if she won and she stopped herself by going back in time to do it. I'm kind of in a pinch here." Which is saying it lightly.

I could see a flash of rage in Reimu's eyes. "She..." She spoke quietly. "She took away your family..." She glared up at Seija for a few intense seconds - I thought she would just go after the amanojaku right then and there. Taking a deep breath, she calmed down. "Tell me you have something planned to take this bitch down."

"I thought... I thought I could get to Asahina, and..."

I told them my stupid plan, and the circumstances surrounding it, as they took me behind the shrine. Eirin left her post on top of the shrine to join Kaguya, who was calling for help as Seija drew closer to her, leaving Tewi to guard the rear. Reimu stroked her chin. "Well, it's a fair enough plan."

"Lucky you thought ahead, ze." Marisa was already getting ready. "So, you just need Reimu to open a hole in the Barrier, right? It won't keep you in like it used to?"

"Hold on," said Reimu. "The Mallet is now incredibly powerful, and in a way, this is your fault. Do you expect me to do that for you while this is going on? You have to help us first."

"Hey, don't beat him up more, ze."

"She's right," I said. "This is my fault. But I can't help you. Not while she has my family. There is no way I'm risking it."

Reimu crossed her arms. "We have to think cooly here. If we beat her, we can just go back later. It doesn't have to be done now."

I shook my head at Reimu. "That's a big if, and it's not about when I do it, it's about if it can be done at all. I don't know how to fake their deaths, or get Seija to back off, or anything. If I help you, I'm... basically killing them. I just can't do that." I approached her. "Reimu, please. I don't... I can't lose them. I don't want to lose my family. I'm not strong enough like you-" I stopped, realizing something.

There was some slight sympathy in her eyes, a look I've never seen on her face before.

I felt so horrible. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm not using your... never mind."

She lowered her head. "No. No, it's okay. You don't want to lose your family to a youkai." She looked up to me. "I completely understand. I don't want that for you either."

Thank you, Reimu.

"Y'know," said Marisa. "If Nagato powered it up, she can power it down again, right? I'm pretty sure we both need to get outside. I don't think we can stop her if we don't, ze. Look at how strong she is now. If Kyon helps us ask Nagato for help, we can help him save his family, ze."

Reimu considered Marisa's words. She nodded. "Fine. Help us, and we'll do what we can to help you after we get outside. Is that acceptable?"

"How else can you help me, though? I don't even have a real plan. I'm just winging it by now."

Reimu rolled her eyes. "What time are you from?"

"2004, right after the extra night with Mokou."

She scoffed. "That's got to be jarring for you, then, to show up this many years in the future. But if you're really from after the Endless Night Incident, then you've had your back to the wall like this several times already. You used what you had those times, and what you had was an Easy spell card and some vials." Reimu gestured to herself and Marisa. "Now you have us. So let's figure out a way to solve this before Seija defeats Tenshi, Kaguya, and Remilia."

These girls were prepared to help me during this battle, even though we were running out of time - Seija didn't show any signs of stopping. She only appeared to get stronger and stronger with every passing second.

Even though I had betrayed the girls and caused this situation; I had been so disloyal to them, but they were still loyal to me.

I really had to help stop Seija, not just for me, but definitely for them.

"We've got plenty of people here, ze," said Marisa. "They can hold off Seija without us for a little while!"

It was true; the youkai on the side of the Hakurei Shrine who could still fight were literally lining up to battle Seija, while only a few of the attackers were still trying to assault the place. Fatigue and interest in Seija's newfound abilities trumped their ability to keep going, and Seija didn't seem to care. She was dead set on battling the entire world.

"Thank you, guys," I said to them. "This means a lot."

"Stop thanking and start thinking," said Reimu. "What do we have to work with?"

"I need to get to the outside world and back," I said.

"Obviously. Then what?"

"After that, I need to get where I'm going as fast as possible. I can't fly." I looked at Marisa, who grinned.

"Oh, okay. I grew up and you want to cop a feel on me, huh? I'm completely fine with that."

Marisa, now is not the time.

...

Maybe it would be. Like I said, she was a beautiful woman. She had... really grown up and out. In fact, seeing both Reimu and Marisa this close, I could have fallen for them right then and there under different circumstances. Both adult Reimu and Marisa could easily catch any guy's hearts.

"We'll need to get there quick, so I'm thinking maybe Sakuya for a couple of reasons, and..." I glanced out at the front of the shrine. "Actually, to get there quicker without using Sakuya's powers too much, we should see if we can use Komachi and her distance stuff." I looked back at Reimu. "Uh, Komachi can control distances, right?"

Reimu nodded. "Yes." She paused and made a face like she was trying to remember something. "Right. You came from the night Ran told us I'd fight her. Yeah, she was a pain in the ass."

I gotta tread lightly here. I'm hearing information I shouldn't be hearing.

"It'd be bad if people saw us flying, but I think I know how to solve that," I said. "The hard part is dealing with Seija. I guess fighting her would cause some kind of paradox, right?"

Or it might just not change anything, I guess. This might be easier if I knew for sure how time travel works.

"Those fairies used a doll that looked like them to make us think we'd hit them," offered Reimu. "Maybe you could fake their deaths with that?"

"Or just skip it and go straight to illusions," said Marisa. "Maybe we could get Reisen to hypnotize her."

I thought about that. "That seems like kind of a stretch. She'll probably check the bodies, and we don't know how she's going to do it."

Under no circumstances did I want to find out how though.

"Also, Reisen's still out cold," said Reimu. "We shouldn't rely on being able to raise her."

Dammit.

I thought about who else we had. Nitori? I'm sure she could have come up with an ingenious solution, but we didn't have time to look for her. I didn't know what kind of powers the Taoists had, and...

The Buddhists. The bake-danuki. What if...

I had a thought.

Seija had to stop herself from killing my family.

...But who says it had to be really her?

"Maybe we should try a different approach," I said. Then, just to be certain, I asked, "Mamizou Futatsuiwa. That's her name, right? How does her power work? Can she change her clothes and her voice and stuff, too?"

"She can transform anything," said Reimu, "not just herself. She's the boss of the tanuki, so if she hides her tail and ears, it's a perfect disguise."

I almost forgot to breathe. Can it be? Is this going to work?

Understanding appeared on Reimu's and Marisa's faces as they got the same idea. I ran through the plan in my head, and then out loud. It was good. It was possible in this impossible situation.

"I think we can do this," I said. I nodded at the two of them, and turned to Reimu.

Reimu thought about it, and agreed. "Okay, you two can collect the fairies and Komachi. Seija's probably expecting the other her to have the Mallet - the fairies left a fake behind when they stole the real one, so see if you can find that, too. I'll head to the Myouren folks and see if Mamizou will help us. And if any of us see Sakuya, we bring her back, okay?"

Marisa and I nodded at Reimu, who took off in Yoshika's direction. I made a beeline for Komachi's tree as Marisa swooped around the shrine grounds, picking up the prone bodies of Luna and Star.

"Hey, it's me." I approached Komachi carefully, not wanting to startle her after my last near-Death experience. "Um, I look kind of different, but I'm-"

"Kyon, right?" Komachi's eyes turned to me, but she didn't move her head, which was resting against the trunk of the tree. "Yeah, I know."

"We have a plan to stop Seija," I said, "but we need your help. Can you close a distance for us so we can get somewhere quickly?"

Komachi shrugged. "Sure, I guess." She turned her eyes back to the battle and pretended like I wasn't there anymore.

That was... easy? I hope she was listening to me.

As I told her the details, making sure that she heard me, Marisa brought Star and Luna over. I applied my barrier to them and hoped they would awaken soon. But they were still out cold. They had to have gotten hit hard.

"That's them, but the one we really need is Sunny." I scanned the area. Most of the fairies were hiding behind trees at that point, but at least I didn't see her at the bottom of the hill, which was good. If she got knocked out, that might have been a problem.

I turned to Komachi. "Don't go anywhere, okay?"

She just gave a sleepy nod in response. I was right. She was lazy.

I continued my search, trying to see if Sunny was around, to no avail. I did, however, see Seija knock Kaguya and Eirin out of the sky with a single swing.

Damn. Eientei is down.

Seija turned on Remilia, who screamed in frustration.

"Screw this! Why should I fight a danmaku battle against a cheater? No one's gonna care if I do this!" Remilia lifted Gungnir into the air and hurled it at Seija, dead-on.

That's right. Gungnir always hits its target, doesn't it? Is she going to take out Seija with that?

Of course she didn't. However, not because of the Mallet; before the spear reached Seija, it abruptly turned around and sailed straight through Remilia's chest beneath her collarbone. She hovered, wide-eyed with shock, as her spell card ended and blood dripped from the spot where it had impaled her.

Holy hell.

"Milady!" cried Meiling from the edge of the hill as she flew forward. She soared in front of Seija, ready to fight.

"I'm not..." choked Remilia. Blood leaked from her mouth. "...going to die... to my own weapon!" She grabbed the handle of Gungnir and forced it all the way through her body, pulling it out her back. Blood poured from the wound, but she stayed upright, glaring at Seija with newfound hatred.

"Too bad," chuckled Seija. "If you start cheating to that degree, then I can use my powers, too."

She flipped its target. Is that her power, or the Mallet's?

I had also heard Sakuya cry out when she saw that - she was behind yet another tree on the south side of the grounds, which was covered in what I thought were the unconscious bodies of especially tiny fairies, but turned out to be the unconscious bodies of Suika. There were tons of them everywhere, and a faint mist hung over the area, giving it a creepy feeling in the moonlight. Sakuya's maid dress was singed from a lot of danmaku scarring, and she looked exhausted. I carefully walked through the field of Suikas, keeping an eye out for the fake Mallet Reimu had mentioned, and tagged her from behind.

Sakuya whipped around, raising a sword to me, but stopped when she realized the barrier was around her. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she stared. She was obviously confused by my appearance. "Kyon?! Kyon, is that really you?!"

"It's been a while, Sakuya. Well, for you. I just saw you yesterday."

I told her that I needed her help, and to meet at the shrine when she was able.

She nodded. "Okay. And... Kyon?"

"Yeah?"

Sakuya forced a smile. "...it really is great to see you again." She then disappeared.

I can't get used to her popping in and out with her time stops.

Also, I started to get a bad feeling about something. Just the way Sakuya said that, the way Reimu and Marisa had looked at me...

They looked at me like they missed me. There was a sadness.

A very bad thought began to creep into my mind.

...What happened five years ago?

No. No. Now isn't the time for that. Even if something happened, I can obviously look around and see that Gensokyo made it. But that thought in my mind started to gain traction as I made my way back to the shrine, and it took all my concentration to push it out, lest I be distracted.

...Do I even make it out of the Underground Incident?

I made my way back to the middle of the grounds, keeping my mind and my eyes on the ground around me. As luck would have it, I found what I was looking for on the way back; a yellow object clumsily tied to a small wooden cage. As I picked it up, I immediately knew that this wouldn't fool anyone, much less Seija. It was just a cheap wooden mallet. Even the design on it was different; a red leaf instead of a tree.

Well, Reimu said Mamizou can transform objects, didn't she? Maybe this is all right. Heck, maybe we could have just used a stick or something.

"Ah-ha!" said Marisa, reaching up and plucking Sunny Milk out of thin air. That brought me out of my thought. "I knew you wouldn't leave your friends behind, ze!"

Sunny struggled to get free as Marisa brought her down to the ground. "Leave me alone! I'm not fighting! It was just a prank!"

I walked up to Sunny and showed her my face, hoping that it hadn't changed for her. "Sunny, I need your help. There's something only you can do. Can you help me with another special mission?"

"Another one?" Sunny's face fell as she went slack in Marisa's hands. "What's even going on anymore?"

It wasn't long before Reimu returned, but she was alone. She shook her head.

"The Taoists and the Buddhists are all knocked out. I don't know what happened, but only the zombie is left, and I can't find Mamizou. We can't use her to fool Seija."

I stomped my foot and swore. I was too frustrated to think. Just when I have a good idea, it's taken from me before I can put it into practice. Why can't I get a break right now?

"What?" Marisa walked up to Reimu. "Keep looking! She's probably just hiding somewhere trying to pull some kinda trick, ze! We can't give up that easy!"

"How long do you think it takes to find a tanuki in the woods?" Reimu crossed her arms. "Maybe if there wasn't a battle going on we could do it, but this is going to get messier the longer we wait." She looked at me with a hard expression. "I don't have any more ideas. We need you to convince Nagato to help us, though. If you won't go outside..."

No. No, this isn't happening. I can't be out of options again, can I? It was perfect. Seija would have backed off if only we could have used Mamizou. She wouldn't be able to see through it if she saw her disguised as herself. She's expecting to win. If only...

I looked at Seija. There she was, swinging the Miracle Mallet against huge waves of danmaku from all directions. You'd think her arms would get tired, or that she would try coordinating with her army or even using the parasol more, but she was just smashing away straightforwardly, as if she had it all under control. She was drunk on power. She was fighting this way because she fully expected to win. No, she kept throwing herself in harm's way because she had expected to win from the very beginning.

She's expecting to win because she met herself. She had to.

...

It came to me.

She's expecting to win.

She's expecting herself.

My eyes went down to the object wrapped around my neck.

You've got to be kidding me.

She was able to keep my identity hidden - she cheated my identity away from my friends.

Nobody could recognize me.

Not even her.

Not even her, because she was expecting someone else and saw me as someone different.

...She's expecting... herself.

...

...She can't recognize me with this thing on.

It couldn't be that easy.

...But it was able to fool even her.

I am such an idiot. It just might be this easy.

Oh, the irony.

It was a stretch, and I had no idea if it would work. I was relying on luck again. Or maybe it was my intuition? I looked at Reimu.

She said I would make a good youkai hunter. Even though I was afraid, I followed my gut and I countered them with their weakness. Did I believe that? Maybe, maybe not. Miko told me to follow my intuition. That's what followers of Taoism do, right? That seemed good enough for them, right?

There's no more time to debate. If I'm right, then my family gets to live. If I'm wrong... I don't know.

"Take me out," I said. "We'll find another way."

Reimu opened up the Barrier and told us to go quickly. I went up with Marisa on her broom, and Sakuya held on to the fairy. Luna and Star still didn't wake up, so we had to make do without them. Promising Reimu that we'd return as soon as possible, we went up out of Gensokyo, with Komachi following us up to the sky.

"Better squeeze tight," said the witch, "'Cause if you don't, you're going to fall straight off, ze!" She shot a glance back at me. "I've gotten a lot faster since your time."

I thought she was telling me to grope her again, but it turned out that what she said was probably true.

Marisa grinned at Sakuya. "I'm gonna go real fast, ze. Think you can keep up?"

Sakuya gave a small smile. "Not a problem."

Komachi stretched her hands above her head like she was waking up from a nap. "Tell me what direction. I'll close the distance for you."

Marisa brought out a compass. "I think... there." She pointed out to the distance.

I had an idea of the direction from the Nagano prefecture to Nishinomiya, but I couldn't tell you the exact direction. I was grateful Marisa carried so much with her.

Though I wonder if that's hers or something she's "borrowed."

"It's Nishinomiya," I said to the shinigami. "We're going to Nishinomiya."

Komachi's eyebrows rose a bit. "Oh, yeah, I know where that is. Right next to Kobe, ain't it?" She waved her hand in roughly the same direction as Marisa had pointed. "Done. Ready?"

A round of nods. Sunny's looked apprehensive.

"Okay, ze! Let's do this!"

One moment we were just outside Gensokyo, and the next we were soaring invisibly (or so Sunny assured us) across Japan's night sky, looking down on cities and towns, seeing patterns in the lights on the ground. Wind was blasting us, and I was sure that Marisa's hat was going to fly off. She must have had it secured somehow, although I didn't see any string. I held on to Marisa - and the replica Mallet - for dear life.

"Man, I wish I could come out here more often!" yelled Marisa. I barely heard it over the wind. She looked longingly at the lights below us.

I guess she really likes the outside world. Did that happen because of the time she got to visit, or did she always fancy it, I wonder?

Sakuya was keeping up with us perfectly, but when I looked at her, I saw her and Sunny's hair and clothing flapping at least three times as quickly as ours in the wind. Their heads were darting at high speed around as they watched their surroundings, and every small movement they made was instantaneous. It was like watching a time lapse. They had a small conversation in high speed, and at one point Sunny tried to yell something to us, but I couldn't understand her because of the wind, the ridiculously high pitch of her voice, and the rate at which she was speaking.

Wow. That's like Sunny's invisibility bubble, except she's speeding up time. Could she always do that?

I guess that was Sakuya's way of keeping up with Marisa. Maybe if it was just Sunny, Marisa, and I, we could have all fit on Marisa's broom, but I thought I might need Sakuya.

It was interesting to see that not much had changed in nine years in my hometown. Made it feel dependable. I removed the seed - we were invisible anyway. I directed us around the town, and thankfully everything appeared to be where it should have been.

When I removed the seed, however, Sunny's eyes widened. "You?!" She stammered. "But... you... you... d-"

Sakuya covered her mouth, and told her to let it go.

What were you going to say? My body got a jolt of goosebumps as I stared at the fairy. What were you going to say?!

"Died?" Is that what you wanted to say?

Not the time. Focus.

I had to bottle that up. I just had to.

No. Remember what Asahina said; the end of the world isn't set in stone, which means this future isn't, either. It's just one of an uncountable number of possibilities...

Right?

I had to calm down. I was already dealing with so much stress. I had to focus on the well-being of my family - that was the immediate concern.

Asahina was the number one priority, so we quickly checked where she lived, just in case. It ended up being where she used to live.

I should have expected this. After all, the adult Asahina would have had to return to her own time in order for her to send her younger self back. It was pure hope that she had stayed, but she had to go back so the young version could pop up in my life.

We then went to the park, with its familiar bench. Landing right in front of it, and still invisible, we looked around.

Sunny was awestruck with where we were. I'm guessing she lived her whole life in Gensokyo.

"First time out?"

She nodded. "This is amazing! But... so little nature. It's sad."

That's right - fairies are nature.

I asked the four girls to back up, letting me be seen. When they disappeared, I kept looking around, expecting Asahina to show up.

Damn it, please tell me you got the message out, Nagato.

Well, I told her the date, not the exact time. How could I give an exact time? I myself didn't even know what time it was. While I knew that Nagato was prone to sit there waiting all day for me, I didn't think the adult Asahina would do such a thing, especially this late in the evening. Still, she should be "watching" this area.

I gestured for the girls to come back, and when I was back in the invisibility bubble, I sighed. "Okay, Sakuya, you're up."

She had her arms crossed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Time travelers should be capable of investigating time anomalies." I retained my vigil, still expecting Asahina to appear. "If anything, such a thing would be noticed by the time travelers. They noticed the time quake caused by Haruhi after all, so it would be logical to assume that-"

"So that's why you brought me."

I looked to her, giving her a smile. "I need you to mess around with time. It just might act as a signal flare for the time travelers. If Nagato passed on the message, then Asahina will know it's me. Are you able to do it?"

A huge grin appeared on Sakuya's face. "You're supposed to be from the past, so you don't know what's been going on with me these past couple of years. I've been growing more powerful, you see." She raised a hand, her eyes glowing slightly red, and I could see gray spots start appearing around us. They were localized time freezes. "Time is my plaything."

I grinned back. "Go wild, Sakuya."

Her eyes went completely red, she spread her arms, and the whole world went gray. Then various things began to pop into color, some went soft gray, and I could see that some things began to age quickly, or go back to a bud state. Small things, like various flowers in the flower beds of the park. Sakuya was speeding up or reversing time in pockets.

This is so awesome! Sakuya has gotten so powerful.

She was breathing heavily, but it looked like she was enjoying herself. "Oh it feels so good to let loose like this!"

I kept looking around. "Man, if this doesn't get the time travelers' attention, I don't know what will."

"Would you please stop that?!"

Adult Asahina had shown up down one of the pathways, and she looked angry. She quickly made her way to the bench, and looked around.

"I got the date from Nagato, and I guess this is your signal? But you have to stop this!"

Thank you again, Nagato. Of course, I wouldn't be done with depending on the interface.

Sakuya stopped her magic and set everything back in order. Sunny ended the invisibility, at which Asahina jumped back in surprise with a yelp.

"Oh! Kyon! Don't do that!" She took a few breaths, then just glared at the maid. "That was dangerous what you just did, Miss Izayoi."

"We needed you, and you weren't around."

"I need your help," I told her. "I have to get to a certain time. Will you help me?"

We quickly explained the situation, and she agreed to send us back under the provision that we would only do what we planned on doing. Then she spent the next few minutes admonishing us on what we did, especially Sakuya. The maid didn't care - she had fun. I thanked her, and after a minute of preparation, she told us to close our eyes. I braced myself for the blackout.

We would have to leave Sakuya. Her job was done, and she had to recharge her magic. She looked like she was about to pass out, but she was completely satisfied with it.

August 13th, 2004

The world came into focus. It was early morning, according to Asahina, and the sun had not yet risen. We were beside my house, hidden by Sunny as we kept an eye out for Seija.

This fairy was useful.

Sunny went in, invisible of course, and confirmed that my family was still alive and my past self wasn't in there, but Seija hadn't shown up yet.

Okay, so she already dropped me off in my upside down bed in a week from now. So... she'll be showing up to... Well, kill my family or get confirmation.

This is what I was banking on, and it was the only piece of information I had. Seija did so much to stop anyone from preventing all this from happening. But this was the only opening I could have seen - when she tells herself that she succeeded. She had her past selves meet up, but from what she said, only one meetup from the future - the instance I was in. I know I shouldn't have taken her word, but her word was all I had. If this didn't work, I was out of luck, and my family was dead. Or, worst case scenario, she paradoxes this world and ends it.

This... plan, if you could call it that, was that tiny gap I was hoping for.

I decided to test something before she arrived. I took out the seed of non-identification and wrapped it around both my hand and the replica Mallet. I tapped Marisa on the shoulder and showed it to her.

"What do you see?"

The one thing that it won't show is the object's true form. If that's the case...

"Whoa," Marisa gasped. Her eyes went wide. "It's the real Mallet!"

A feeling of excitement passed through me. Things were actually coming together for me. No stupid problems. Oh, please, please see the same thing, Seija. I showed it to the others. Sunny saw a gohei like Reimu's, while Asahina saw Haruhi's acoustic megaphone. Interestingly, she also saw me as Haruhi herself, whereas the others saw me as a nondescript girl. I wasn't exactly sure what to make of that, but at least I had good odds Seija would see what I wanted her to.

It didn't take too long for the amanojaku to show up. I thought she might come at night and we would have to wait out there the whole day, but she came just as the sun was starting to light up the horizon. She wasn't making any attempt to hide herself; she had her arrow-patterned dress and her horns on full display. She was looking around her, as if expecting something.

Seeing her so full of herself, so sure of herself... This is the threat to Gensokyo? Someone who just flaunts her being a youkai out in our world? It was so irresponsible. I mean, imagine if Haruhi had chosen this morning to walk down this street. Not that I know what Haruhi would be doing here at this time, but just... imagine the damage.

Seija didn't care about the consequences.

Still, she was waiting. I decided to give her what she expected. I stepped out of Sunny's area of influence while her back was turned.

If this didn't work, chances were that this youkai would kill me right there and then, and then my family.

Let's do this.

"Hey," I said. I didn't try to disguise my voice or anything. Since no one mentioned it to me before, I assumed that the seed also altered that.

Seija turned around and, upon seeing me, grinned. That was a good sign.

"So?" she said, walking up to me. "How's it go? Spoil me."

She sees herself. This is happening. It's actually working!

I matched her grin, trying to look as natural as possible. "Golden," I said. "The Mallet works better than I expected. Seeing the looks on all their faces as they went down was totally worth it all."

The outcome of this is going to rely on my acting skills. I wish I had taken a course or something.

If Seija suspected anything, she didn't show it. Her grin got even wider as she stared at the replica Mallet. She looked giddy, like she had just won something, which I guess she thought she did. What was it she told me earlier? "Just say what they want to hear, and make them think they're doing the right thing. If it's what they want to believe, they'll believe it."

I honestly don't know if Seija really believed in anything. She seemed to think that her actions were in the right, and she seemed to truly hate the strong, but she also knew that no good was going to come of it, or so she told me. She said that she had tried to stop caring. Whether it was a consequence of her nature that she fought against the status quo, or if it was simply her nature to be contrarian to the extreme, I'm really not sure. It was almost like she was trapped inside the role of the enemy, unable to even enjoy victory for long before the next revolution began. In that light, her existence was kind of sad. I wonder how many youkai can't help who they are.

But do I feel sorry for her? Hell no.

Find me another amanojaku like her, and I'll feel sorry for them instead.

"Then everything's set!" She spun cheerfully. "A revolution in a day! I can't wait to see it all!"

I nodded in agreement. "We'd better hold up our end," I said. Our? My? I don't know what terminology I should be using. "We made a promise and all."

This is where it gets delicate.

"Yeah, yeah." Seija smiled, looking up at my house, obviously feeling good about herself.

She just kept staring.

Come on. Believe me. Come on. Leave.

"You'll want to get right to it." I could feel my heart beating. Why isn't she leaving?! "Reimu's not gonna fall by herself, you know."

She then looked right into my eyes. "How was Kyon?"

It took everything I had to not start shaking. My nerves were almost getting the best of me at that point. "He complies. It didn't take much. Even though he screwed up a few times, he proved useful. Like, he brings in some strong allies, actually." I forced a laugh. "But the dumb bastard got headbutted by the schoolteacher and fell on his ass, even."

Oh God, I don't know if she even saw that. Why did I let that slip?

Seija got the biggest grin on her face after hearing that. "Oh I can't wait to see that!" She looked up to the house again. "Killing's not my style, anyway. Guess it's time to go wait for him to wake up." Seija raised both arms into the air. "This is gonna be awesome!"

I nodded. Seija turned on the front of her sandal and started down the street.

She didn't stop.

She didn't turn back.

...

And she was gone.

All I could do was stare.

...Did that just work? Did that seriously just work right now?! Oh, thank you. Thank you, gods or Buddhas or whatever else out there might be watching. Thank you so much.

I had dodged a bullet. I didn't move a muscle, unable to believe that I had pulled that off.

That was so stressful.

I stood in front of my house for a whole minute, staring at it, and couldn't help but think of my family sleeping peacefully inside of it.

I began to shake.

I had done it. I had freed myself from Seija. Fooled her - no, it wasn't me that fooled her. She fooled herself. The seed of non-identification had showed her exactly what she expected to see. She projected her own victory on to me.

"Did we do it?" asked Marisa from behind me. She, Sunny, and Asahina had approached, and I guessed that I was invisible now.

"Yeah." I gulped, my throat suddenly becoming dry. "It's almost over."

The realization that I had prevented the death of my family made me weak in the knees. Knowing what almost happened became too much to bear. It all came down on me at that instant. I almost fell, and Marisa was the one who caught me.

"They almost... I almost..." I was trying not to lose it.

"They're safe. You did it, ze. Your family is safe."

"I could have lost them."

Asahina was there too. "They're safe now, Kyon."

"Oh, thank you..."

Marisa hugged me. It wasn't a romantic hug; she was happy for me. Asahina joined in, seeing that I had just been through a lot.

In that moment, I felt at peace. These two girls in my life... and what they just did for me. What they just helped me do... I could never begin to repay them.

Another set of arms also joined in.

"Aw, hugs are nice." We broke the embrace, and stared at the fairy. She gave a confused smile. "What?"

Way to ruin the mood.

It was a while before I could actually do anything. I was so close to hyperventilating. I didn't even realize that I was crying. My hand started to hurt from being bound to the replica Mallet, so I unwrapped it and put the seed back around my neck. I could have put it in my pocket or something since I didn't need it anymore, but wearing it was easier on account of its size.

"Reimu's gonna like this, ze."

I stared up at Marisa, confused.

She gave a sad smile and a shrug. "She gave you the gift of what she couldn't have."

I don't know how I didn't completely lose it right there. All I could do was stare up at Marisa.

"Thank you girls." I said again. "Thank you so much. I owe you so much for this." I took the time to wipe away the tears, and I gave one last look at my home, where my family peacefully slept. I'm going to give my family a big hug when I get back. "This couldn't have happened without your help."

"It's not over yet, ze," said Marisa, grinning. "Remember? We gotta de-power that hammer."

Right.

I need to see Seija fail. I need to see her lose.

Seija had crossed a line that nobody I had encountered before was dumb enough to cross.

You don't mess with my family, you bitch.

I nodded. "Come on. Let's visit Nagato before we go back."

Nagato let us into her apartment, which looked as empty and lifeless as it ever did. I almost expected her to have decorated the place now that she had started to evolve or whatever, but if she was going to, she hadn't done so yet.

The shoes were still there, though.

We sat down at her table and I explained to her what had happened to me, this time in more detail since we weren't running the clock in the past. I kept my promise to her and explained my reasons for asking her that favor. Then I asked her for one more.

"Seija is using that Mallet to defeat all of the powerful youkai in Gensokyo," I said. "We need a way to stop her and return the Mallet to normal."

Asahina nodded. "It's dangerous to leave her with such an item. If what I hear about this creature is true, I do not believe that she would be satisfied with just conquering Gensokyo. This can easily become a world-threatening situation, Miss Nagato. Can you undo the power you gave it?"

Nagato nodded once. "I can do that." Then she held out her hand to Marisa. "You took a coin from the battle."

Marisa's expression turned flustered for a moment as she was put on the spot. "Well, they were flyin' everywhere, y'know? You can't blame me for that."

I don't think anyone is blaming you. I probably would have. How much would those be worth in the outside world? In fact, maybe I should have been taking stuff back with me to sell this whole time. Something tells me Yukari would have something to say about that, but I deserve some compensation for everything I've been through, don't I?

"Why koban, anyway?" I asked. "I guess making her allies rich is a way of making them strong, but it seems like kind of a random thing regardless." I figured that since Nagato powered up the Mallet, she could probably give us some needlessly complicated explanation that basically just assured me that there was some reason for it.

"The Miracle Mallet contains magic-type data that is difficult to interface with on account of its inherent subjectivity. As it is difficult to isolate any specific properties, removing undesirable functions of the artifact necessitates turning those functions to other purposes. In this case, the price that is imposed upon the user of the artifact is a natural result of power leakage combined with the inclination of magical elements to reverse when unlimited and unopposed. Therefore, to curtail the effect, I injected the artifact with additional data that would convert the excess energy into a stable form. The form itself was not strictly defined and is purely symbolic due to being magical in nature. The conversion into koban is likely representative of the volume and purity of the energy."

Yeah, kind of like that. The headache from earlier came roaring back from its sleep.

Nagato was still holding out her hand. "The koban, please." Marisa looked like she was more or less following Nagato's explanation, while Sunny didn't understand a word of it - the utter blank stare on the face of the fairy told the tale. I feel you, little fairy. Asahina... I couldn't actually tell. She was just smiling politely as she listened. She told me a long time ago that she still felt nervous around Nagato, even in the future. Maybe she was trying not to let her feelings show. Marisa reached into her pocket and pulled out a koban. Nagato took it in her hands for a moment, recited one of her "spells," and then gave it back.

"That koban now contains a data catalyst that will interact with other transmuted energy forms created by the Miracle Mallet. Such objects will convert back into energy, and the additional data embedded in the artifact will be nullified."

More blank stares.

"In other words, make it come into contact with the other koban. It will cause a chain reaction that dissolves them, and it'll infect the data of the Miracle Mallet like a computer virus, undoing my alterations and causing its power to start leaking out again. The energy from the koban can then be collected and used."

Okay, if it turns the Mallet back to normal, I'm fine with that, but-

"However," she continued, "There is one alteration I cannot undo remotely: The change to make it usable by youkai. The Miracle Mallet actively resists data manipulation while it is wielded by asserting its own existence through its user's wishes. This means that I cannot alter its original properties unless I hold it."

"So it'll be more complicated than just turning it off?" I had hoped it would be that easy. Maybe Nagato could have done something to it if she came with us, but I didn't want to put her in mortal danger from all of the danmaku flying around back at the shrine.

Nagato nodded. "You must use the energy collected from the converted koban."

"Collected, huh..." Marisa crossed her arms in thought.

"How is that going to help?" I said. "Collect energy from koban? I don't get it."

Marisa pulled out her mini-Hakkero and activated it. It began to spurt flame from its center, reaching up a good thirty centimeters. I felt an aura of excitement from it, like it wanted to go wild on whatever was nearby.

Yikes. What's going on with that thing?

"This thing started acting up during the last incident." She turned to me. "You know, the one with Seija and the inchling. Apparently, it turned into a tsukumogami because of the Mallet's power, ze."

Nagato leaned towards Marisa and studied the mini-reactor. After a second, she nodded. "That item will be able to collect and store the excess energy. If properly fused, danmaku produced via such a tool should resist destruction by similar energies. They'll become effective at nullifying the Mallet's influences."

Ah, I get it. So basically, we use this coin, and we can power up Marisa's danmaku? That will stop Seija from blowing it away?

"Kickass," said Marisa. "So it's all up to me then, huh?" She wore an unconcealed smile, eagerness printed on her face.

"If there are other objects tainted by the artifact, then these too can absorb the excess energy," said Nagato. "Given the volume of energy that would be output while countering a spell card, it is likely that there is enough to charge multiple objects to effective levels."

Marisa turned to me, a tint of excitement in her eyes. "In the incident that involved Seija, it was me, Reimu, and Sakuya, ze. Our weapons started acting funny before it went down. If what Nagato says is true, then all three of us should be able to take her on now with the stuff she did to us!"

A prime example of poetic justice. Add to that, it was going to be the original three when I came into Gensokyo at the beginning. How fitting.

Marisa gave a grin. "Just like old times, eh?"

"I was just about to say that."

"Older for me though, ze."

I couldn't help but chuckle.

There was nothing else to be done, so we thanked Nagato for her help and bid her farewell. I still feel guilty, thinking about it. I told her to cause a problem, and then came asking her solve it not long after. I really hope this doesn't stress her out. It would drive me crazy. At very least, I'd complain about the pitiful earthlings who can't go one incident without screwing something up.

After exiting the building, we readied ourselves for what was to come, thanked Asahina for her help, and traveled back to the future.

September 19th, 2013

On the way back, and after leaving Asahina, Marisa explained to Sakuya what was going on. The sword she was carrying was going to be her counter to the Miracle Mallet.

The look in her eyes... she wanted to take down Seija.

Get in line.

"Just like old times, right Kyon?"

"Marisa already said that."

We came back to Gensokyo through the hole in the Barrier, which Reimu closed behind us. By this point, she had managed to get a number of people to hold off Seija, including Yoshika, who was being smashed repeatedly against the side of the hill with the Mallet because she wouldn't stay down. The blue-haired lady to whom Reimu had referred as Tenshi was still up, as was Remilia, who had three more holes in her.

Did you try Gungnir again? Why? Why would you do that to yourself?

Flandre had joined the battle alongside her sister, and... three other Flandres. The four of a kind! Seija was actually having some trouble with this one; every time she thought Yoshika was knocked out, she would fly up to one of the Flandres and hit it, but the Mallet would go straight through, and the Flandres would mix up their positions again as they fired more shots. Eventually, Yoshika would rise again and Seija would have to waste more time on her. Meanwhile, a mountain of gold had formed at the bottom of the shrine, no longer being pillaged on account of all the danmaku in the area. It was almost sad to think that we would have to feed it to Marisa's mini-Hakkero and the other weapons. Soon, all of that wealth would disappear.

"Did you do it?" said Reimu as soon as we reached her.

Marisa held up her modified koban. "We just gotta chuck this thing at the gold pile, then absorb it with our weapons when it turns into magic, ze."

Reimu looked at me. "And your family?"

"Safe," I said. "All that's left is to stop her for good." I gave her a nod. "Knock her the hell out, Reimu. Knock out her teeth so she can't give that stupid grin, even."

It's all on you now, Reimu.

She smiled. "Oh, I've been looking forward to it. Get the downed people up if you can, but tell them not to interfere."

Reimu looked at Sakuya and Marisa.

She was just about to say it-

"I know." I said. "Just like old times."

The three girls gave each other a nod, and then launched into battle. I turned my focus to the shrine grounds. There was a pile of fainted Suikas on the ground far to my left, with Kagerou laying out cold on top. Nitori was supposed to be on that front, but she was nowhere to be seen. I couldn't find anybody on the ground who was awake, so I decided to tag the ones that were unconscious.

I noticed Komachi sitting on the front porch of the shrine, looking out at the fighting. She didn't say much during the whole thing. I decided to thank her.

"Hey, don't thank me. I'm not supposed to interfere with the affairs of the living, but uh, we needed to keep tabs on what was happening." She yawned. "We being the Yama and shinigami and stuff."

"But you helped us."

She shrugged. "I didn't interfere in the fighting." She smiled. "Besides, I like Gensokyo. It has its peaceful times, which makes it a good place to nap, but she starts up way too much trouble, you know?"

Yeah I hear you. But again, thank you.

I left the replica Mallet on the porch with her since I wouldn't be needing it anymore, and waded through the pile of Suikas towards Kagerou. I felt a crunch underfoot, and my blood ran cold as I realized that I had stepped on one of the Suikas; the tiny body collapsed into mist around my foot. I hoped that that didn't hurt her somehow, but I watched the mist, and it went to another Suika, this one getting a bit bigger.

She controls density, doesn't she? So, what, she "spreads herself out" into a bunch of tiny versions of herself? That's pretty crazy.

I tagged Kagerou and as many Suikas as I could reach just in case, and I made my way back towards the other side of the grounds. As I did so, I saw Seija find the real Flandre and smack her into the hill with the Mallet before chasing after Tenshi. Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya, weapons in hand, dove through the spell cards around Seija until they reached the mountain of gold. Marisa pulled out her koban, gave it a kiss, and flicked it at the pile.

There was a flash of golden light. The koban melted into the light as it seemed to wash over the three of them, focusing into the weapons in their hands. They glowed gold, and I saw them react in other ways; Reimu's gohei began to rattle like it was trying to wriggle free from her grasp, Marisa's mini-Hakkero activated by itself and started spitting fire everywhere, and Sakuya's sword emitted a vaporous magical aura. Seija looked at what was happening, but kept smashing the danmaku around her. Instead of turning into more koban, the shots released golden light that dissipated into the air when they burst.

It was just like Nagato said - a chain reaction.

Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya spread out around Seija as Remilia, Tenshi, and the other youkai backed off. Yoshika had to be told to leave, after which she floated off to where the Taoists had been fighting.

"So, she finally has the guts to face me herself," said Seija, grinning. She tapped the Mallet in her hand. "If you're planning on sealing me or stopping time to kill me, go ahead and try. You can't rule-bend out of this."

"There will be no more cheating," said Reimu, "least of all by you. This is going to be a fair and straightforward naming duel. Four spell cards at Lunatic level. With the Mallet's power, you should be able to use at least that many."

Seija burst out laughing. "You think you can say that and expect me to believe it? You're the cheater, Hakurei - you cheated when you invented the system, and you cheat when you use spell cards that would be Taboo for anyone else." Seija gave Reimu her trademark upside down sneer. "Your rules are dead, you sad excuse for a shrine maiden. Long live whoever replaces you!"

Seija charged at Reimu, who stuck her arms out to her sides.

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "FANTASY SEAL -CONCENTRATE-"]

Bright, multicolored balls flurried from Reimu as I had seen before, except this time, they came out of her gohei. Seija struck them head-on with the Miracle Mallet, but instead of being destroyed, the balls turned gold and quivered in the air for a moment before resuming their trajectory.

"What the f-"

As Seija flipped out of the way, Reimu canceled her spell card and threw a barrage of amulets, taking advantage of Seija's confusion. Seija was grazed by them, and these too were only momentarily stalled as she tried to swat them away.

Seija's eyes went wide and started to twitch. "What the hell? What the hell?!" She glared at the Mallet. "Did this stupid thing run out of power already?!"

"No," said Reimu. She was smirking over this new situation. "We just leveled the playing field. Now you have to fight fair."

"And how exactly is three on one fair?"

Wakasagihime flew in beside Seija from above and hovered next to her. She looked pretty beat up herself, like she had taken a hit or two during the battle. Cirno also flew in from somewhere, apparently emboldened by the mermaid's appearance. I noticed Daiyousei, Rumia, Mystia, and Wriggle hovering on the edge of the battlefield, watching her.

"Yeah!" she shouted at Reimu. "We're not gonna just let you say whatever you want! You have to listen to us, too!"

Oh, please, no. You guys don't know what you're doing. Don't you know she's just telling you what you want to hear? Don't you know she'll eventually turn on you even if you win?

I could make out the fabric hanging from Wakasagihime's waist. It looked dull, which meant she wouldn't be able to use it. Cirno didn't have the Jizo statue with her, which must have meant that it was out of power as well. They couldn't cheat anymore, although Seija still had an edge since she still had the parasol and could stop Reimu's shots for a moment by hitting them.

"Fine by me," said Reimu. "We were going to do this one by one, but if you want a three on three match, then that works, too." She held up a finger. "But remember the limit. We have three spell cards left, and you collectively have four."

Right. This. I never really went over this. Basically you're supposed to declare how many spell cards you're going to use at the beginning of a match, according to Sakuya's explanation of the rules. I just never got around to it, as I kind of forgot it. Also, during the incidents I was a part of, they didn't really do that. For all they talked about Seija's rule-breaking, Gensokyo had always been pretty lax with the rules in the first place, huh?

For a second, I could see that the amanojaku considered running, as she was slowly backing away from this. I could see doubt written on her face, and I wondered if she was questioning her predestined victory. She stopped and scoffed. "Whatever. You can't beat me. Long as my friends stand by me, I can win, right guys?"

Wakasagihime nodded. She and Cirno each drew a spell card, clumping together so they wouldn't have to dodge one another's shots as Marisa and Sakuya formed up around Reimu.

[SPELL CARD: SCALE SIGN "GREAT RAGING WAVES OF THE REVERSED SCALE"]

[SPELL CARD: ICE SIGN "ULTIMATE BLIZZARD"]

Cirno's rigid homing shots pierced through chaotic danmaku that attempted to overwhelm Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya, but the three of them never lost their cool, weaving through the spell card and leading the shots in a way that made it look downright easy. For them, maybe it was; I was looking at Gensokyo's three premier incident resolvers fighting against a fairy and two weak youkai.

Seija told me that danmaku was meant to promote intelligence and grace, rather than pure strength. I could see how, of course. Danmaku, apart from being beautiful, was all about keeping your cool and working your way through patterns that reflected your opponent's heart. In a way, understanding the patterns was like understanding your opponent, or something like that. I never really understood the concept of learning about someone through fighting them, but at least with danmaku, it kind of made sense. Everyone had their own style, and no one else in Gensokyo used the exact same methods of attack. Well, unless you used someone else's spell cards, like Marisa. Her Master Spark was something she took from Yuka, wasn't it? I guess I had also appropriated Cirno's Icicle Fall, but even then, I had grown attached to it, so didn't it count as a reflection of me, as well? A weak spell card with an obvious flaw that had nonetheless saved Gensokyo twice? That sounds like me, all right.

Aw, man. I don't think I'm going to get to use the Icicle Fall this time. Shame to end my streak like this.

I'm not sure if my other spell card reflected anything, though.

Anyway, the thing I was trying to say before I went on a tangent is that I also saw where she was coming from in terms of power deciding a spell card's difficulty. These two spell cards were impressive, sure, and I probably couldn't dodge them even if I could fly, but how could I compare them to Yukari's? Yuyuko's? Kaguya's? There were plenty of spell cards that seemed more powerful than others of the same level. Was it that way because the people who made them were better at designing them within the rules, or was it really just because they had more power? I tried asking Reimu once about the process of creating a spell card, but I didn't understand a word of it. It bothered me that Koizumi seemed to grasp it so easily.

It wasn't just the spell card rules being unbalanced that Seija had a problem with, either. It was the use of strength to oppress the weak. Reimu didn't have the raw power of Yukari or whatever, but... she was good at danmaku, and she used those skills to enforce her will. No matter how much I hated Seija, I couldn't deny everything she said. For how much I might want to turn away from thinking about it, the question was still there: Was Reimu what Seija said she was?

I didn't know the answer. I didn't know if Reimu really was stacking the deck in her favor, or abusing her position, or whatever. Reimu told me before she only looks like she's cheating. I was more inclined to believe her than Seija on the matter, even though the rational part of me was saying that such blind trust in the people you call your friends is precisely what makes those kinds of schemes work.

I'll admit it. I'm not the most insightful person in the world. Can you blame me, though? This kind of abstract social philosophy was more Koizumi's thing.

As I pondered the question of trust, I noticed someone watching the battle from the gate at the end of the shrine path, taking cover in its shadow: The inchling princess, Shinmyoumaru Sukuna. She looked like she had been roughed up, so I walked up behind her, knelt down, and tapped her with a barrier. She was spooked for a moment, but I told her that I wasn't going to hurt her and she dropped her guard.

"Do you like Seija?" I asked her.

She seemed surprised at my question, and then seriously considered it. "Why?" she asked. She looked up at me with doubtful eyes, as if something was stopping her from thinking about the answer.

I shrugged. "She's made a lot of friends today. That's what she calls them, anyway. But they're more like allies, really. Usually, people are friends because they like each other."

That had been bugging me. She called me her friend, which was a lie, and called Cirno and Wakasagihime her friends, but she treated them more like her underlings, and they treated her like a means to an end. It was nothing like Reimu and Marisa, who clearly enjoyed one another's company. Then again, Seija's allies had only known each other for about a day. Haruhi used to treat the Brigade, and especially me, the same way, and now I was dating her.

What am I doing, talking like this? Am I trying to look for some good in her? Am I expecting Shinmyoumaru to tell me that she's really sweet if you get to know her?

Shinmyoumaru thought for a moment. "Seija... She was the best thing that happened to me. I was so happy when I met her and she told me that I had something to give." She looked back out at the battle happening in front of us. "I had something to fight for, and someone who believed in it as much as I did. She was right about a lot of things, but... I don't know. After Reimu defeated us... Something happened to her. She stopped talking like she used to, and became obsessed." Shinmyoumaru scrunched up her face, and then shook her head. "No, that's not quite right. She wasn't different. I think it was just that I..." She hesitated, trying to find the words.

"Like you realized you didn't know her as well as you thought?" I stared down at her. "Or something like that?"

Shinmyoumaru hesitated, and then nodded. She looked resigned. "I think I was the only one who thought of us as friends."

I looked back at the battle, and our surroundings. All of Seija's forces had stopped fighting by this point. Fairies and youkai were watching the battle, but only Cirno and Wakasagihime had bothered to come and defend her.

Here she was, using those two as her weapons and shields. Two people who didn't really care for her, and who she didn't care about, fighting for the sake of what she represented to them.

She had cleared every challenge so far; that was something she could boast about. But as a consequence, she lost all of her allies.

She didn't care. She could never really make friends in the first place.

After all, she would just end up turning against them, wouldn't she? She was an empty creature wearing the skin of someone else.

An amanojaku.

Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya captured the two spell cards that Cirno and Wakasagihime had thrown at them. I think even Seija thought they had an easy time of it, because she looked annoyed at her companions.

"My turn!" said Marisa, diving in front of Reimu with a spell card in her hand.

[SPELL CARD: MAGICANNON "FINAL MASTER SPARK"]

I had seen this one once before, sort of. Actually, I couldn't see very much the last time, since it was during our final attack on the Saigyou Ayakashi that my brain just couldn't comprehend due to the amount of danmaku we were putting off, so this was my first time properly witnessing it. Marisa fired her usual giant laser, which looked larger and, for some reason, darker than usual, but this time she actually followed Seija with it, sweeping the laser to try and catch her. As she did so, a sphere of large star-shaped danmaku formed around Marisa and spiraled outwards. The shots were large and fast, with the gaps between them small, and the added pressure of the laser was too much for Wakasagihime, who was knocked to the ground when she flew into a star.

One down, two to go.

Marisa kept moving during all of this, often zooming to the other side of the field between shots. Seija and Cirno couldn't land a hit. Cirno, who had very nearly lasted the entire spell card, got caught when Marisa suddenly swung her laser at her after having targeted Seija the whole time.

That was quick. Now it really is three on one.

The knockout cost Marisa, as Seija took advantage of the momentary reprieve to land a hit on her.

"Son of a..." Marisa grunted. She clutched her arm, gritting her teeth. She shook the arm to get some feeling back into it. "Hey, if you're that good at danmaku, maybe you should try fighting fair, huh?"

In spite of Marisa's compliment, Seija was struggling. She had needed to use the Mallet to dodge through Marisa's stars, and I could see that she was losing confidence. Since everyone's eyes were now square on her, she couldn't use the parasol very effectively, either. It might be that without even the option to cheat, she actually got worse at danmaku. Or maybe it was the price of using the Mallet. One thing I understood about Nagato's explanation was that removing the Mallet's koban creation effect would also lead to the Mallet inflicting its "price" upon whosoever used it. I wasn't sure what exactly that "price" was supposed to be, so I pictured it like an accumulation of bad luck.

Sakuya came forward, sword in hand, and went straight for Seija while throwing knives ahead of her. Seija remained where she was, dodging with small movements.

[SPELL CARD: DECEIT SIGN "REVERSE NEEDLE ATTACK"]

Seija activated the spell card just as Sakuya reached her, surrounding herself in a danmaku orb that forced Sakuya to back up. Danmaku spikes shot out of Seija's back, heading off into the distance. Sakuya watched them, expecting them to turn around, but...

"Sakuya, behind you!"

Sakuya turned in response to Marisa's shout. The spikes had warped behind her and had spread out. Sakuya was hit right away, but-

[SPELL CARD: BEWITCHED WEAPON "SILVER ANOTHER DIMENSION"]

Sakuya used a spell card in the split second in which she was hit, and a silver aura flowed from her sword that surrounded her and washed away the surrounding danmaku. She was perfectly fine; she crackled with energy, but showed no other signs of having been hit.

Nagato later told me that this was a little-used quirk of the spell card mechanics that she had discovered on her own. The so-called "Deathbomb" technique. It was an advanced danmaku technique, using a spell card at the moment of being hit to cancel the hit. It required perfect timing, and obviously a degree of skill.

Sakuya resumed her charge while the aura was still up, forcing Seija to run away as fast as she could. The spell card was still coming at Sakuya from behind, but Sakuya now being aware of it, it never got as close to hitting her as before.

Seija shot Marisa a dirty look as she passed by. Marisa just shrugged.

For a battle within the rules, both sides sure are playing loose with them.

I looked at Reimu. She was watching the battle with a look of complete focus on her face. I could tell that she was waiting for something.

Not having any luck with her current spell card, Seija waited until Sakuya's aura disappeared, then canceled her spell and brought out a different one.

[SPELL CARD: TURNABOUT "CHANGE AIR BRAVE"]

Much had been made today about how weak Seija was. She couldn't take a danmaku hit, her power to flip things wasn't that useful, and she clearly wasn't as good as these three at dodging without cheating. That said, this spell card was what put me in serious doubt about her claim that victory in danmaku was awarded through power. It started out simple enough, with long streams of danmaku shooting out in a wheel that stayed angled with Sakuya, as well as several large spread shots that went out continuously. After a few seconds, though, Sakuya was hit. It wasn't bad luck; she had been flipped upside down, and then a moment later, she was right side up again. The spell card kept up its simple pattern, constantly flipping Sakuya, which disoriented her just long enough to take another hit, this one downing her. Seija had just defeated Sakuya in a fair fight with a spell card.

"Holy cow, ze," said Marisa, subbing in for Sakuya as the spell card targeted her. "Y'know, you used that one last time, and I'm still afraid of it. Go easy on me, 'kay?"

Seija didn't answer her. She kept flipping Marisa, who veered close enough to Seija's shots to shear off parts of her hat and sleeves as she zoomed through the spell, aiming at Seija with her mini-Hakkero, which spewed a long stream of flame in her direction. Seija had to keep moving to avoid it, but couldn't quite keep out of Marisa's reach. The fire kept grazing her, and the strain on her body was building up.

"This is it," said Shinmyoumaru beside me. I looked at her. "This is where Seija is going to lose."

"Yeah," I agreed. "She can't avoid Marisa forever, and that graze is going to make her faint. She doesn't have any spell cards left, either."

"That's not it. Seija's not bad at danmaku. She might have won if she wasn't so obsessed with breaking the rules. Now, she's backed into a corner."

I watched Seija. She really was. Marisa was fast, and using an attack that was hard to avoid. I can't really see Seija as that weak anymore, not after seeing how far she managed to get, but winning against Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya? That was never going to happen. Sakuya probably only went down because she had been fighting non-stop during this whole assault, and I guess she didn't fully recover from her use of her powers in the park. I could see Seija getting desperate, moving closer to Marisa while getting burned by the flame. Marisa outlasted the entire spell card, and now Seija wouldn't be able to keep her away. She was dipping low in the air, and it appeared that she was even getting too tired to fly. Marisa charged forward, training her mini-Hakkero on Seija.

I almost thought Seija was about to bite it, when...

[SPELL CARD: REVERSE SIGN "EVIL IN THE MIRROR"]

Oh, you idiot.

You had to do it, didn't you? Even knowing the position you're in, you just had to go over Reimu's limit. You had to defy the rules one last time.

Purple shots appeared all around Marisa and she started to fly funny, but I wasn't looking at her. I was looking at Reimu. Reimu was angry. She already had a spell card in her hand, trailing darkness behind it. If this were soccer, it would be a red card.

[SpElL cArD: oMiKuJi "RuLe ViOlAtIoN bArRiEr"]

Reimu zoomed towards Seija as Marisa backed off, and unleashed wave after wave of amulets that spread out in a giant cube shape and hung in the air around the two of them after reaching a certain distance, creating an impenetrable barrier around them that got smaller and smaller. Seija couldn't swap the Mallet for the parasol in time. She managed to dodge between the amulets, but as soon as the box was filled in, Reimu strafed her retaliatory shots and unleashed a torrent of danmaku that Seija had absolutely no hope of dodging. She was hit, and then hit again, and again, no longer flying under her own power but being juggled through the air by the constant barrage of bright red shots. One shot formed high above her, and when she was at the apex of the juggle, it rushed down to her. Seija took the hit, and plummeted to the ground in the middle of the road in front of the hill.

"Hmph." Reimu scoffed, cracking her knuckles. "Pitiful creature."

It was silent, everything and everyone stopped when she hit the ground - it kicked up a cloud of dust surrounding her. Seija didn't move for a while, and I wondered if she broke her neck, what with the way she landed.

She let out a gasp.

Shaking, she slowly got to her knees.

"After taking that, she's still getting up?" asked Marisa, rubbing her arm. "That Mallet's gotta still be giving her power, ze."

Not for long. I decided I didn't want the streak to end.

Besides, it would be fitting.

"Girls."

They all looked to me, then to what I had in my hand. They understood instantly, and backed away. As I was further away from the fight, I walked down the shrine steps to get closer. Everyone was clearing out when they saw what I had.

I was kind of owed this, after all. Thank you girls for being understanding.

Seija let out another gasp, struggling to get up from her knees, still clutching the Mallet. She was red in the face with her effort. It was a pretty pitiful sight.

You thought you could have it all. Now look at you.

Then she noticed me. She noticed what I had, and how far I was when I stopped.

She stared at what I had for a long moment.

She scoffed, blinking. She finally understood the situation. It was dawning on her what had happened. "That's right... I never saw the headbutt."

I really did dodge a bullet there. And I did outsmart you. Well, no. That's not entirely true. She outsmarted herself.

Her face was awash in disbelief over the situation. She eventually forced a grin. "Heh... Really? That was you?" Her shoulders sagged, her head lowering. She knew the situation. She kept her eyes on the object in my hand. "Really? You see me up there enough to use that? I'm... I'm that much of a threat that you gotta use that?" She began to chuckle. "I-I'm that much of a threat, am I? I'm on par with Yuyuko and Suou? I get to be in your rogue's gallery? And I get to be spoken in your folklore?'

I didn't respond.

Seija kept laughing for several seconds, until it turned to tears. They began to pour down her face. "That's not... This isn't fair. I had all the tools. I planned everything. I even time traveled. I set up everything. All that work. I was supposed to win for once, dammit. This isn't fair."

If the natural order of things is to always be flipping, then you never could win. You are unable to truly win. Unable to have any kind of meaningful, long lasting victory.

You are a loser.

I had no sympathy for this creature after what she put me through. Zero.

I began reading the spell card I had.

She immediately became angry. "Really? After what I went and did for you? And haven't you learned anything?! After everything I had shown you, after seeing the hypocrisy of these people with your own eyes, you still want to help them oppress the weak?! That the oppressed-"

"No, I did learn. I listened to you - how could I not? You talk as much as Yukari. But really, you should be proud of me."

Seija gave me a glare that was equal parts confusion and rage, her mouth hanging open as she tried to understand what I said.

"That's what this is." I shrugged as the spell card was activating. "I'm exactly what you groomed me to be. 'When the people I fight with seize that power, I know that I'll eventually fight against them, too.' After all - you made yourself the strongest in Gensokyo with that Mallet."

[SPELL CARD: ICE SIGN "ICICLE FALL ~ EASY"]

I gave her a smile. "I'm the weakest person here, and I'm taking down the strongest."

Oh, you have no idea how good that felt.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened when I said that. I could see it it in her eyes - how dare I say that to her. How dare I use her own words against her.

Despite all her trickery, all her cheating, all her speeches, everything she said... she didn't even believe in her own mantras. She never believed in herself or her own power. She lost her confidence in that battle too quickly when the playing field was leveled, because, as Shinmyoumaru said, she was obsessed with fighting unfairly.

Now she would have to face this humiliation in front of everybody. Her allies, and her foes, would see this. The humiliation of going down to one of the most flawed spell cards from the very system she sought to bring down.

In that instant, I could see that the situation ate her up.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE PRICK! AFTER WHAT I-"

The icicles shut her up.

She took all of it. She was still on her knees as the icicles hit her body. Her eyes were still on me the entire time, almost pleading, "Why?" The card finished, leaving Seija still up.

She kept staring at me, her eyes filled with betrayal. "...After... after what... I did for you... you..."

The amanojaku grunted.

"...This... isn't... fair..."

Letting out one final choking gasp, and with her eyes rolling to the back of her head, Seija fell face first to the dirt. The Mallet finally left her grasp, sliding to the ground.

It was over. That was so satisfying.

"Get dunked on."

I paused after saying that, instantly regretting it. I mean, I could have said any good one-liner, but that came out of my mouth? Really? I don't even watch basketball. Everyone was staring at me with a quizzical look over it.

Ah well. Bad choice of words aside, I felt accomplished as I stared down at the unconscious girl. That's what you get. And now... Now you'll get what's coming to you.

Reimu was the first to go up to the rebel, making sure she was down for the count and kicking the Mallet away so Seija couldn't make another grab for it.

Marisa put her hands behind her head and let out a whistle. "She put up more of a fight than I thought, ze. Pretty dangerous, giving her a fair chance at winning like that."

"She was never going to win," Reimu said. Her eyes were hard and her voice firm. "She doesn't know how to fight without cheating. I wanted everyone to see what happens to people who break the rules."

I wonder if Yukari has been rubbing off on Reimu. I guess she has to make an example of rule-breakers.

"Why...?" I heard Wakasagihime's voice from my left. She was lying on the side of the hill, totally beaten in body and spirit. She was looking straight at me. "Why, Miss Smith?"

At the end of the day, everyone had been backstabbed because of me. Well, I had this coming. I don't know if she knows what I did exactly, but it's obvious that I betrayed them now.

I pulled out a vial. I figured she wouldn't try to fight or run away now. I tagged Cirno and Sakuya with my border since they were closer and then walked over to Wakasagihime.

"I don't know your situation," I said as I touched her shoulder, "but this can't be the way."

"You betrayed us." Her shoulders were slack, her eyes misted, and her mouth hanging open from fatigue and shock. She recoiled as I came near, but didn't run away.

Please don't look at me like that - it's heartbreaking. I shook my head. "Actually," I said, "Seija was probably going to betray you, too. She told me that, though I can't prove it to you. I'm just someone she coerced into helping her. Based on what she told me, I don't think she had a plan for after this at all." I turned around. "Hey, Reimu. Can you come here for a second?"

After making sure that Sakuya, who had gotten back up, would watch over the knocked out rebel, Reimu walked up to us. She was clutching her gohei tightly in both hands, as it was still shaking. I could feel its desire to jump out and attack the nearby youkai just by looking at it. Seeing Wakasagihime, she said, "I hope you're not expecting to be forgiven for what you tried to do."

Huh. So not just the yin-yang orb I saw earlier. Her gohei, too.

"Hang on, Reimu," I said, raising my hand slightly. "Seija used a lot of people today. That doesn't excuse it, exactly, but I think you should listen to Wakasagihime. Out of everyone, I think she had the best reasons for doing this."

Reimu raised an eyebrow at me, and then looked down at Wakasagihime, who shrank under her gaze. "If you think it's that important, then I'll listen to what she has to say, but I'm not going to promise anything. I can't just give these people what they want after they kidnapped you and tried to throw off the balance."

I shook my head. "Kidnapping me was all Seija. Nobody else had anything to do with it. It was all her. Only the Taoists know who I am, and only because Yukari told them." I didn't want to see the mermaid have to suffer any more than she did.

Reimu shrugged. As she began to question Wakasagihime, I looked at the rest of the area below the shrine. Danmaku scarring was everywhere. Marisa was holding the Miracle Mallet, inspecting it all over as if trying to find a way to make it work. Shinmyoumaru flew down the hill to ask for it back. Meanwhile, Cirno had woken up, and her friends were gathered around her, asking her if she was all right. Cirno jumped to her feet, looking like she was holding back tears, and pointed her finger at Marisa.

"Eye want a rematch!" she cried. Marisa just looked back at her with a confused expression.

She recovers quickly. Most of the other youkai aren't up yet.

"Cirno," said Daiyousei, grabbing Cirno and holding her back - the fairy looked like she was ready to go again - "you don't have to fight anymore. It's okay."

"No, it's not! Eye'm gonna fight for you guys until we're taken seriously, even if everyone else quits!"

"Huh? I don't remember asking you to do that," said Wriggle, putting her hands behind her head and rocking back and forth.

"Yeah," said Mystia. "Even if people don't like us, we get by just fine."

Rumia didn't say anything. She stood next to Cirno and patted her head. Cirno sat down as her face started to flush.

Despite the cold, though, they're all gathered around her, assuring her they have each other. It's kind of sweet. Cirno didn't have to fight for them, but the fact that she was willing to, for their sake, is what makes her their friend.

This is what Seija tried to take advantage of. She had to, because she didn't have it herself. I still don't know if she even wanted it. She was so focused on the fight, she never took too long a look at the people behind them. Maybe because she couldn't bear to look into their hearts?

No. I don't think she ever had a power like that. She's not a mind-reader or Miko; all she can do is flip stuff. I don't think even a real mind-reader could understand someone else just like that. She just pretended to know people so that she could justify her own hatred and the actions that she took. She projected that evil on Reimu and Yukari. Regardless of what they really looked like on the inside, Seija's problem was herself. She never needed to change the world; she needed to find her own balance.

I decided to talk to Cirno. Why not? I don't think I had a real conversation with her the whole day. We were all just following Seija, doing what she told us to.

I walked up to her. "Hey, Cirno," I said. I wasn't totally sure how to say what I felt like saying. "For what it's worth, I think you did accomplish something today. You got Gensokyo to sit up and take notice. They've all seen how strong you are now. That counts for something, doesn't it?"

Cirno looked up at me. She didn't reply. Frankly, I didn't know what else to say to her. I had started to like her a little, but it's not like we had anything in common that would make us friends. All we shared was a spell card.

"Who are you?" she asked, a dumbfounded look on her face.

Oh, right. I still have this thing on. I guess there's no point in wearing it any longer. Part of me wanted to keep it. An instant disguise. A high school boy could do some serious damage with this thing. Man, imagine if Taniguchi had it. Too bad Yukari wouldn't let me keep it.

I removed the seed of non-identification. Cirno's eyes went wide, and she pointed at me, standing up and taking a few steps back. "It's you!" she cried at the top of her lungs.

Well now. My Gensokyo infamy is certainly gaining more stock.

"Kyon?" said Mystia in amazement. Wriggle's jaw dropped, and the look on her face made me wish I had a camera on me. I contemplated stealing hers. Rumia looked more fascinated than surprised. Everyone else was staring in my direction, and I could hear the murmurs of everyone present. Exclamations of "It's him!" and "No way!" could be heard. Fairies and youkai alike were backing away when they saw the real me.

Me. The normal human who helped solve two different incidents. Well... now it was three. From my perspective, anyway.

Miko had said that my exploits were legend. I don't know how, but whatever. It was working in my favor.

Speaking of the Taoist, Miko landed near us. She had bruises, dirt, and danmaku scarring across her entire front, her hair was a mess, and I think her earmuffs were falling apart; the middle part of one muff was hanging loose by a spring. She had taken her cape back from Yoshika, and Futo was busily dusting her off with her own sleeves. In spite of her appearance, she was brimming with more genuine pride and excitement than I had yet seen from her. She was happy for my victory, and I figured she must have had a victory of her own against Byakuren.

"So, it's finally over," said Miko. "You achieved the ending you desired. Well done."

"I did," I said. Then, just because I felt like I should, I bowed to her. "Thank you for your help, Miko. I'm grateful to you for deciding to assist me."

Miko waved it off. "It was all for my own benefit." She gave a tired, yet satisfied sigh. "That I helped someone in need is a nice bonus."

"Disappointed your plan didn't go through?'

She giggled. "Who says it didn't? I never intended to rule Gensokyo; I know from experience how tedious that can be. To me, this is a far more preferable outcome."

Your brutal honesty is a breath of fresh air, really. I'm not sure what you think you gained from this, though.

"You were our enemy too, ze," Marisa approached us, resting her broom on her shoulder. "I don't think Reimu's gonna let you off that easy."

Miko clasped her hands over her shaku and closed her eyes. She didn't drop her smile. "I have no intention of letting Reimu scold me," she said. "We were on Kyon's side from the beginning. In fact, she should reward us for protecting him, no?"

Yeah, you totally should be rewarded for taking me in. Where is that bounty, by the way?

It seemed like the other youkai and fairies were in the process of waking and licking their wounds. Several people were scattered about the hill, and I saw Youmu tending to Yuyuko, who looked out of sorts.

I wonder how those two turned out. It's kind of hard to tell from here. Youmu's still as serious as ever when it comes to her.

Still... where was she before?

"With that matter settled, it is time for Kyon to be returning home."

I turned around. Yukari was standing where Seija had fallen. She looked as though she had calmed down considerably, but the smile on her face was dry and without its usual mischief. Ran and Chen were loading Seija's unconscious body into a gap. Chen took something from Seija, stared at it for a few moments, and then tried to walk away with it before Ran seized her by the collar and booted her in my direction. I frowned at what she was holding as she walked up to me.

My cell phone. I had totally forgotten that Seija had taken it. It felt so long since I woke up in my upside down bed. I took it from her with a slightly sarcastic word of thanks.

I had a moment of panic as I realized that Seija had fallen into water earlier that day. I tried to turn the phone on to see if it still worked, and by some stroke of luck (about time I had one of those), it did. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

"What are you going to do with her?" I asked as I put it in my back pocket.

"Execute her, I hope." Remilia had arrived, still dripping with blood. Meiling, Patchouli, and Koakuma were with her. I went for a vial, but she held her hand up to me. "I'm fine. But I'm willing to fight for the right to tear that amanojaku apart personally."

"She did invite disaster," said Reimu, who had come over. Wakasagihime was trailing behind her, her eyes on the ground. "She has to be punished, and we were planning to have Yuyuko kill her anyway."

Yukari shook her head. "The time for that has passed." She waved a hand at the gap that Seija was in. "Death was an emergency measure, one we pulled out perhaps too rashly for someone like her. The spell card rules were invented to stop the escalation of violence, and they have done so."

Reimu frowned. "I thought your top priority was balance, not sparing lives. Why should we let her go with a slap on the wrist when she nearly destroyed everything we - you - everyone, have tried so hard to protect all these years? That'll just invite more people to try, won't it?"

"On the contrary," said Yukari, "killing her will cause more problems than it solves. Seija has killed no one and unbalanced nothing. She failed in front of everyone. She has proven that such a rebellion against the spell card rules, even when cheating to this extent, even when she essentially made herself the strongest being in Gensokyo, is a waste of time and will all only lead to a complete and utter failure." Yukari flicked her hair, satisfied with that. "If anything, her actions have had some positive effects, one being that she has shown the superiority of the spell card duel over all else." She looked around. "Think about it. The weak ones tasted success with danmaku tonight, and the strongest person fell to it right in front of their eyes, to the weakest card."

And you're welcome for that. How ironic. Seija just helped cement the spell card rules in Gensokyo. I almost wanted to be there to rub her face in it when she woke up.

Although, I don't know if anyone is going to count my attack as what felled her. She was pretty much beaten already, and I wasn't part of the duel.

"This failed rebellion will have served to strengthen the demand to keep danmaku as the way of Gensokyo. Support for the spell card rules has been waning lately, but this will silence detractors once and for all. It will be known as an unbeatable system, even when people cheat." Yukari gave a devilish grin. "She shall suffer a severe punishment, I will make sure that all of the power that she has stolen is returned, and I will personally ensure that she never gains the power to cause another incident, but the cycle of justice must not be allowed to escalate. There are still those who would avenge her, not because they care for her, but because they agree with her. Such a high-profile killing would also set an unpleasant precedent that others may attempt to follow. For the sake of Gensokyo's balance, we must do all we can to prevent feelings of resentment from arising in its non-human population, and to downplay the idea of killing as a means of accomplishing one's goals."

They're trying to achieve balance. Equality. Exactly what Seija said could never exist.

I hope she was wrong about that, for everyone's sake. Or is that too naïve?

As loose as Gensokyo is with its rules and regulations, there really is a lot going on behind the scenes with the powerful to keep it going. So many different beings, creatures, religions, all gathering together in such a place, and they are somehow making it work... at least, for the most part. Obviously, some people didn't think so, and Seija had pulled on that thread of discontent.

"Kyon? Are you okay with this?" Reimu glared at me.

Everyone turned to me, awaiting my answer, and putting me on the spot yet again.

Am I okay with all of this?

After everything she did, I couldn't forgive Seija, but I don't think I would jump straight to capital punishment, especially since I got my own measure of personal vengeance and my family was still alive. After all, my sensibilities are those of the outside world. Well, no. That's not entirely true. Maybe it's Remilia's influence, maybe it's Gensokyo, but I'd found myself becoming more... I don't know. Involved? More likely to take actions that will end up hurting someone. I'd fought for my life several times, and assisted in many other battles. I'd seen youkai and aliens die in front of me, and I knew that they had to. It wasn't good that they died, and I can't say honestly say it was always bad. It was just a fact.

But then there was the one I killed. That Sky Canopy Dominion member who had surrendered, and who was sacrificed by Suou so that she could escape. She had made me hate myself for giving in to my anger.

And what had I done about that anger? Nothing. Only a month later, I wished from the bottom of my heart for Wriggle to die. Whether she deserved it or not, that was a fact. What if I had gotten my wish? What if I had been strong enough to attack her? Would I have done it?

That's the question, isn't it? The one everyone was asking during the Endless Night itself. "Would you have hit her?" Except this time, it was: "Will you let her die?"

Would I let Seija die? I mean, was the decision really mine to make there? Would it have consequences?

It might have. Considering my role, what I said would have had some weight. If I said to do it, there was a chance that Yukari might have actually gone through with it.

My words had the power to take a life at that moment.

It was frightening.

...

...I can't.

I just can't.

One death on my conscience is one too many.

I looked at the gap through which Seija had disappeared. Ran and Chen stood by, waiting for Yukari. I took a deep breath.

"Personally, I don't think she deserves sympathy, but all the same, I'd rather not have her death on my conscience."

Such a lame answer. But it's true; I still feel guilty about the life I ended. I don't want the people of Gensokyo to start thinking that killing is the answer, either. What Remilia did to that German youkai during the Endless Night... Now that I know what was going on at the time, it's downright horrifying to think about. The thing legitimately didn't know why he did what he did and he was torn to pieces for it. I don't think I want anyone to die who doesn't have to. Or rather, I don't want to be responsible for it. Even if it's someone as despicable as Seija.

Was it selfish of me to pass on it just to avoid guilt? Probably. In the first place, these things really shouldn't be decided by high schoolers. Since when does great weakness come with great responsibility?

Reimu didn't seem to share my opinion, but she said, "Whatever." She turned to Yukari. "Just make sure she doesn't cause any more trouble." She paused for a moment, and added, "Oh, and I'd like that bounty. I'm the one who caught her, after all."

Nagato, Sakuya, and Marisa had nothing to do with it, I'm sure.

Yukari tilted her head at Reimu's request. "Oh? I thought you were the one who put out the bounty on her. After all, it came with an order to use Taboo cards."

"What?" Reimu put her hands on her hips. "I wouldn't put out an order like that. It defeats the point of the spell card rules. I can't afford to pay out bounties, either."

Reimu and Yukari looked at each other. They both seemed genuinely surprised.

"So..." I felt awkward. "Neither of you put out a bounty? Who else could have done it?"

"No... no one?" said Reimu, looking out to the crowd. Nobody said anything. "No one." She was realizing the situation.

It didn't take me long to realize it, too.

Oh, you have got to be kidding.

It was a rumor. A silly rumor started by a bad, unresearched newspaper article. We figured it out after asking everyone and discovering that they had all heard about it from the Bunbunmaru Newspaper. Aya had heard that Seija was on the run and had written things like "substantial reward" and "any means necessary." She hadn't bothered fact-checking at all.

The whole situation was overblown by a sub-par journalist seeking attention for their article to pass more of their product. Considering how many youkai showed up at the human village, it fooled a lot of people. The residents had become victims of bad journalism.

I felt like screaming right there.

Suffice to say, if Aya was there, she would have tasted a Fantasy Seal. If I had anything to say about it, I would have added in an Icicle Fall, if not outright smacking her. I was that angry.

"Geez," said Reimu, suddenly looking defeated. Her shoulders went into a slump and her head rolled forward. "No koban, no bounty, and now that I've gathered so many youkai at the shrine, no one's going to be coming from the village for a while either."

Poor Reimu. How much money just vanished before her eyes?

After collecting herself, Reimu turned back to Yukari.

"Are you going to take Kyon home now?"

Yukari nodded. "Yes. I cannot allow him to stay for the night or any additional days this time. He is not supposed to be here right now, and I mean that more than I ever have."

Yeah, yeah. Always dropping in at the worst times, aren't I?

Reimu nodded to Yukari and turned to me. "I'm sorry it had to be like this, but I'm glad to see you again. Thanks for what you did." Then she hugged me.

I wondered how long it had been since she had seen me last. Would the incident in four years be the last time, or would I keep coming back? Would I survive it? Would Yukari keep allowing visits? I wondered where the me of this time was. The Gensokyo of nine years in the future felt so familiar, and yet so many things were different. For one, the number of different factions seemed to have increased big time. For a land filled with unaging beings that was at a strange but largely regressive level of technological advancement, it wasn't exactly stagnant. Things always seemed to be in motion, barely contained by the efforts of Reimu and Yukari to a level that wouldn't threaten the overall image of the place. A world where something is always happening, and some fresh incident is just around the corner. The kind of world that Haruhi so desperately wanted to live in.

It's a shame. I feel sorry that she can't come and visit Gensokyo. Her own specialness is undermining the specialness of her life, and if it weren't for that specialness, then the possibility wouldn't exist in the first place.

She has unimaginable power, and yet because of the circumstances, I'm the one who really wields it. The power of the weak to use the strong for their benefit. It's too bad that the world has to be this way. I don't want to take advantage of anybody like Seija did. Maybe someday Haruhi will be mature enough to use that power responsibly, and she can be allowed to awaken to it without destroying the world. Who knows; maybe in this world of nine years in the future, she already has.

I could only pray that that was the case.

"You're going to do something, right?" I asked Reimu as I jerked my head towards Wakasagihime. "Just because Seija was bad doesn't mean she didn't make some good points. The youkai followed her because they saw that."

It kills me to admit that, but it's not like this was ever really Seija's cause; Wakasagihime was the one who believed in it.

"Yeah, yeah," Reimu waved her hand. "You know, I'm supposed to be a youkai exterminator. This is Byakuren's job, not mine."

"You can't just have two people pushing back and forth from opposite ends. That's not balance. That's just... a cycle, really."

"You're too idealistic, Kyon." Reimu shrugged. "Like I said, no promises, but I'll at least look into the problem spots. It'd be bad if the youkai started rebelling every full moon."

I think that's the first time someone's ever called me that. Am I really? I don't think it suits me.

I decided to ask her one last thing that had been on my mind. "Is it true that power is a big factor in danmaku?"

"It's a factor," said Reimu. She put her hands behind her head and looked up at the sky. "I don't know if it's a big one. Spell cards can be complicated, and balance is hard. It's not the be-all end-all, though." She lowered her arms and raised a finger at me. "Skill is the biggest factor. If raw magical power made victory certain, I'd have never beaten the Yama - her power was beyond anything you can comprehend."

So you do actually win against her. That's amazing.

"What're ya talking about?" Marisa walked up and butted in with a grin on her face. "Danmaku's all about power. Don't listen to her, Kyon; she's the only one who can take down people like Kanako and Shinki with nothing but a bunch of paper seals." Marisa waved her hand as if to dismiss everything Reimu had just said.

Kanako? Shinki? I have no idea who those people are.

Marisa continued, holding up her mini-Hakkero. "If you wanna get good at magic, you gotta be smart, ze. Research other peoples' spells and reference the strongest ones so you can make your own. That's how I perfected my Master Spark." She winked at me. "The strongest always wins, which means the smartest and the hardest-working. Reimu's just an outlier."

Reimu started to laugh. It was such an abrupt, genuine laugh that it surprised me to hear coming from her. "What, does that mean Cirno is smarter than you?"

Marisa grimaced. "I was goin' easy on her, ze," she muttered.

Wait, what? Marisa lost to Cirno?! When did that happen?!

Reimu crossed her arms with a smug expression on her face, but then uncrossed them in order to keep both hands on her gohei. Marisa leaned in to me and whispered, "I think Reimu's gohei took over her mind, ze. Don't listen to her possessed rambling."

I started to laugh, but I could see Yukari growing impatient, so I decided to cut our conversation short. "It was really good to see you again, Marisa. I mean it."

Marisa inhaled and looked reticent all of a sudden. "Yeah, ze. I'm real glad, y'know... This all happened. I mean, I'm not, but it's good to see ya anyway." She opened her arms to me, and we shared a stiff hug. It was kind of awkward, truth be told, and it brought my mind back to what had been worrying me about this future world.

Is she holding back because she realized what my last interaction was with her was, or... is it because of her last interaction with me?

I found the answer on Reimu's face - she was looking at me the exact same way.

Pushing the thought down for the time being, I exchanged belated greetings, goodbyes, and hugs with everyone else (including Remilia, to my surprise and horror as she bled on my blazer). I gave Patchouli back my vial pack, still with three vials left, and handed the seed of non-identification over to Yukari, who had forbidden me from interacting with Byakuren or the rest of her temple. The others from Seija's army were made to cough up their tsukumogami, as well. I wish I could have spoken with them more, and to the Taoists, as Futo seemed to want to have conversations with me, but again, Yukari wouldn't have it.

"I dearly hope I shall behold thee anon," said Futo, bowing as I passed her. "Most likely it shall be nearer for I than for thee, but pray, rememberest our meeting," she winked, "and if thou shouldst choose to walk the Tao, then more may we rejoice and share upon the next."

I smiled at her invitation. "I think I'll pass, but thanks. I hope we meet again, too."

Not that becoming immortal and having instant access to Senkai isn't tempting. If I could get some of those hermit powers within four years, I'd consider it.

I paused to give a deep bow to Miko. "Thank you so much for sheltering me and being there. Today was just so crazy that I needed someone like you to help me out."

Miko smiled and bowed as well. "It was my pleasure." She cupped her hands. "May all the divines, ancestors, and spirits guide you from here on out."

With the goodbyes out of the way, and after telling Yukari exactly when I was from, I took one last look at the Gensokyo of the future; at Wakasagihime, the mermaid who fought for the rights of the weak; at Cirno, the ice fairy who was so dedicated to her friends that she went to war for their sake; at the Three Fairies of Light, who were more instrumental today than they would ever know; at Shinmyoumaru, who I had never gotten to know, and whose pain at losing her friend I couldn't understand; at my old allies, who seemed just slightly different from how they used to be, but at the same time exactly the same; and I walked inside of Yukari's gap.

As it closed behind me, Yukari watched me with a stern face.

"There's something important you must remember, Kyon. What you experienced today might still never happen."

Ah, here it is.

"You're talking about the incident in four years? So, did it happen 'normally' for you?"

"I cannot tell you that. You must not think for a second that just because you saw this world, you will succeed. So much rides on what you will do, and if you let your guard down..."

"I got it. Don't make the same mistake Seija did."

It's not over until it's over.

Yukari didn't seem to understand what I meant by that. Another first; she probably knew less about the incident that just happened than I did. What a strange thought. I then remembered something from earlier.

"How exactly did Seija steal your time travel device? Isn't it supposed to be impossible to lose or something?"

That one surprised her, and she hesitated before answering.

"The details of the TPDD are... complicated," she said. She didn't continue.

"It's complicated." That's all you have to say? I stared at her. She had her stern mask on again, but just for a moment, I could see something like... guilt? It wasn't like the guilt of having caused an incident - more like the guilt from putting your hand in the cookie jar. The moment when you realize that you've been caught doing something naughty.

Something came to me. A small realization, as if from nowhere. My intuition?

"You didn't mess with it somehow, did you?"

She lowered her eyes. "I... It's not the same kind of device as Asahina's. It is a physical object, rather than something that exists in my head. I also had to... modify it."

So this is your fault!

"It involved the incident that you are concerned about. It was necessary." Yukari looked really frustrated, but then stopped, and closed her eyes. She appeared to calm down. "Okay. What Seija did was something I did not anticipate. She cheated it away from me, and now that I know how she did so, I will make absolutely sure it doesn't happen again." She opened her eyes. "The details are not for you to know."

Yeah, right. I have a pretty good idea of what went down now.

I wondered for a moment if this counted as blackmail material. I could tell Asahina, right? Not that I had any reason to blackmail Yukari. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work if I tried, either.

Wait a second. I told Asahina that Seija had a time travel device, and she isn't stupid; she probably knows that Yukari slipped up now. I'm guessing she's about to get in trouble with the time travelers. I can't imagine that they gave her one of those devices lightly.

"You should also not do anything to prevent this incident. All things considered, it turned out as well as it could have, and time is not something you want to play with. For the same reason, you should keep whatever information you have collected about the future to yourself where possible."

I paused, thinking about something. Something that hadn't registered in the heat of the moment. Seija had kept saying it.

"Yukari..."

"Hmm?"

I let out a sigh. What I had bottled up was starting to come out. I could feel the tightness in my chest begin to take hold. I almost didn't want to ask, but I had to.

I just had to.

"About that. Seija kept saying 'after what I did for you' to me. She was saying that when we came back here after she got the Miracle Mallet charged up." I pursed my lips for a second. "One other thing. After we came back, things were different. Yuka, Alice, Mima, Youmu, Merlin, Lunasa, and Komachi were there fighting on your side. There were more people, in fact. They weren't there at all when we began fighting, you see, but there they were when we came back."

Yukari turned pale.

I stared into her eyes, and I knew what she was thinking, because I was thinking the same thing. "You don't think..."

Yukari did not appear to want to answer me. I don't know if I wanted an answer.

Seija had to have gone and created a paradox insurance. She ensured that her revolution has to happen. If we did something about it, we'd be risking the very fabric of our reality. You little slippery, tricky bastard.

The implications of that were mind-boggling and dangerous, but it meant that they weren't available for the fight, and whatever she did made them available.

My thoughts could only go to one event.

What did you do? What exactly did you do?

It pissed me off, too. It meant we couldn't prevent this from happening, that I would have to go through this, that Gensokyo would have to go through this.

Yukari sighed. It seemed like she wanted to say something else, but all she said was, "I'll deal with it, or see if it can be altered. If it can't, I'll plan on how I can minimize whatever damage she's done. For now, I'll take you back to your time."

"I don't make it, do I?"

She paused, her eyes widening a bit, and she pursed her lips. "What do you mean?"

You'd think I'd be taking this really hard. But... I don't know. I was just kind of serene with it. Just a cold realization.

I understood it.

I gulped. "The way everyone has been acting. I've seen them look at me with sadness." I blinked, as I suddenly got blurry vision from too much moisture. I had sort of realized the situation before, but now that I was saying it out loud, it felt real. "I die, don't I?"

"Kyon-"

"Don't BS me, Yukari."

She avoided my gaze. "Close your eyes. I'm taking you home."

"Yukari."

"Kyon, close your eyes."

"I don't make it out of the incident with the nuclear youkai, do I?"

"Don't do this."

I could see that this was getting frustrating for her.

I saw it in her, too.

That same sadness.

"Kyon... don't. Just don't. Just let me take you back."

That finally broke my heart.

...I don't make it...

Even in this new future that Seija made, they still looked at me with sadness.

Am I fated to die there? Even if she went back and changed things...

I die?

...

...But the world survived.

Even if I did die, it wouldn't be for nothing. Gensokyo survived, and in this new timeline, even more people did than before, apparently. I can take some comfort in that, can't I? That something good came out of this.

But what's the point if-

No.

"No." I clenched my fist. "No, Yukari. I refuse to believe that."

She finally looked up at me.

"It's an impossible situation for me, right?"

She appeared to think it over, but she didn't answer me.

I took a deep breath. "I refuse to die. I refuse to not come out of an impossible situation." I gave a shaky smile. "After all, the folklore that surrounds me here says as such, right? That I can pull off the impossible?"

Yukari began to smile. "Yes."

I slowly nodded. "Then I'll survive it. I don't know what happens, but I won't fail." I took a step forward, and I could feel the courage rise in my chest. "I promise you - I'll survive. I'll stop that youkai, and I'll walk out of that incident. You have my word on that."

And how about that. It really is like Dragon Ball Z. Vegeta's son came back from the future, warned them that they would all die. And now I have such a warning as well.

I was surprisingly okay with this. As bad as the news of your oncoming death is, I had an idea of when it was going to happen. And from what I've seen, time and fate appear to be flexible enough for changes. I might be able to defy the fate of my own death, because I know it's going to happen.

Any smart person would avoid going through an incident if they knew it would lead to their deaths, but at what cost? Going back to the Endless Night, Sakuya wouldn't have survived if I wasn't there to heal her. If I didn't go underground, would the damage to the future be even worse than it had been before Seija did whatever it was she did?

Man. This was so complicated.

I closed my eyes.

I saw some amazing things today, and for once, it wasn't because I was in a land of the impossible made possible. Rather, it was because of what happened inside of those impossible situations. The strength of the weak, the drive of those who had something or someone to fight for, and a revolution against impossible odds that very nearly succeeded. The compassion felt by youkai, creatures born of human fear and evil thoughts, towards both the people they knew and the people they didn't.

I still hate Seija. She's as manipulative as Yukari, but without any concern for the consequences. She claimed to know everything about other people, but all that she saw in them was what she expected to see. She pretended to fight for others, but instead of empowering the weak with the Mallet like she said she did, she gave power only to herself. She questioned Reimu's fidelity to Gensokyo's people, but she planned on betraying them in the future.

She did all that she did by pretending to be powerless, when the whole time, she was in complete control. Despite what she complained about at the end, I think that that control was all that mattered to her, that there was no possible way for her to lose.

I can't forgive her, but if there's one good thing she did, it was show me the power of the weak. The power that I have, even though I already knew I had power, and the power of those with little to show. She ran into impossible situations and made them possible. That's what I'll have to do in four years, as I run towards the end of the world. No matter what, I will win.

Unlike her, I can't afford to go into that thinking that I'll win. I'll make sure I survive to see this Gensokyo of the future. I have the advantage in that I know there is a real chance of failure on my part. I'm not guaranteed a win, and apparently, the girls aren't guaranteed to survive either. I still don't know what Seija did, but my gut is telling me that it has to do with the Underground Incident. There is a real chance that people like Youmu won't make it, if that's how she disappeared from that initial timeline. All I have to do is be ready for it, help them, and not make any mistakes during that incident.

If not just for my own sake, then so I can go into the future hand in hand with Haruhi and the Brigade. And for Gensokyo too.

I will not lie down and die. I will not allow it. I will do anything to make sure I survive.

...Even if it means that there is a chance that I haven't seen the last of Seija.

If that's what it takes to save this wonderful world, and my own life, then so be it.

I was selfish here. I'll be selfish again and get both endings.

Even if I have to cheat.

Oh I'll cheat the hell out of that incident if I have to. Maliciously.

Sometime during all those thoughts, I found myself in my room. I didn't even realize that I was back. And yes, a quick look at the calendar said it was August again.

I went out there and hugged my family.

I almost lost them. I'll make sure they don't lose me.

One more thing.

After returning from my vacation with my family, I discovered that my bed was still on the ceiling.

Nobody had bothered to place it back.

I just stood there, staring at it, and desperately tried not to scream.

I hate her so much.

A message from Smooglii:

"I wrote Possible Spell Card for two reasons. The first, of course, was love for Imperfect Cherry Blossom and Perishable Night. I went into the former expecting little, and found a story that excellently combined the Haruhi Suzumiya series and the hidden world of Gensokyo. There is not much to say; if you have read this far, you probably agree.

The second was to illustrate the breadth and depth of Touhou's world. For a series of vertical shooters with minimal dialogue that delivers its lore through character profiles, endings, and books published on the side, there is an incredible amount of it, and some of it is even thought-provoking. People say that the Touhou experience is 90% fan content, which is true; it would not be what it is today without having such dedicated followings in Asia, the West, and everywhere else. However, the core of the series has always been ZUN's creations, and these by themselves are strong and varied. Fifteen main series games, a handful of spinoffs, and a multitude of books, manga, and music, all of which expand upon the world of Gensokyo in different directions and styles while being entertaining in their own right, are too often overshadowed by their derivatives, and many Touhou fans have never even touched them. It is easy to misunderstand the world of Gensokyo when one has never looked directly at it.

If you are reading this story and have never played a Touhou game or read one of the official manga, such as Forbidden Scrollery, Wild and Horned Hermit, or the various series starring the Three Fairies of Light, I urge you to do so. I personally recommend Forbidden Scrollery and, among the games, Double Dealing Character, which can be purchased digitally from Playism.

Congratulations to I Before A Except After K for correctly guessing Kyon's (second) plan. Also, I take no responsibility for Kyon's 'get dunked on' line in this episode. That belongs entirely to Supperdude9."

READ, REVIEW, AND GET DUNKED ON! Lady Yukari demands it! And show some love to Smooglii!