3 years later
"Hailey!"
Hailey woke with a start as something slapped the table.
Ran shook her head. "Hailey please pay attention, history is important, as is having a well rounded education."
Hailey shook her head to get rid of the mental cobwebs. "But… But why is she allowed to sleep!" Hailey wined pointing at Chen, who was comfortably dozing in a puddle of her own drool.
"Because I know how to pick my battles." said Ran simply. "She's just going to have it rough when I test you on this next week."
Hailey squeaked. "A test?"
"Don't worry, I'm making it easy." Ran said going back to the blackboard. "At least for those who pay attention."
Hailey looks down at Chen, and wonders if she should help her prepare.
"And don't even think of helping her, it will invalidate the whole point of the test." Ran said.
'Welp, sorry Chen, I tried.' Thought Hailey sympathetically.
Despite her usually calm and caring demeanor, Ran was a totally merciless teacher, especially with Chen. Yukari always said it was because of her caring nature, as she wants those she teaches to succeed, but it was hard to take comfort in that when staring down all those names, places and dates. It was enough to make Haileys little head spin.
As if sensing Haileys distress, Ran's face softened. She walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know history is a poor subject for you, but you are a clever girl. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think you could."
"I guess…" Hailey said, but Ran could see her coming around. Ran knew from experience that Hailey responded well to positive reinforcement and poorly to negative. So Ran made sure to set her consistent, achievable milestones in her learning, compliment her when she did well, and build her up when she was having difficulty. As opposed to Chen. With her, too much positive reinforcement made her complacent and lazy, so she occasionally needed to mix a stick in with the carrot every now and then, like a surprise test for example. Chen needed to be kept on her toes. Teaching both of them was quite a challenge, especially when they are on different levels for different subjects, but Ran believed it to be a rewarding experience.
Ran decided to give her a little extra push. "Also, I believe Yukari-sama might be dropping in later today. Why don't you try to impress her with how hard you are working."
Hailey sat upright, and looked to the blackboard, the model of the perfect student. Another easily exploitable character trait she had developed was an almost worrying devotion to Yukari. It's understandable considering how terrible her life was before Yukari, but sometimes Ran worries that if Yukari told her to jump off a cliff, she would with a smile.
Not that Ran wouldn't, but it's the principle of the thing.
"Good girl, lets get this over with, and I promise, the next history lesson will be some youkai Biographies."
"Oh oh! Can we do Meiling next?" hailey said, suddenly genuinely engaged.
"I'll have to ask her, but we will see." Ran said. chuckling, before resuming her lesson.
"Yukari-sama!" said Hailey, immediately launching herself at the Youkai sage the minute she gapped in.
"Well hello to you too." Yukari said, chuckling and returning the embrace. She turned to Ran. "Not interrupting anything am I?"
"No, we were just finishing." Ran said, wiping the Chalkboard. "Hailey has been working hard today."
"Is that a fact," Yukari said, ruffling Haileys hair. "Good girl."
"Hehe~" Hailey cooed happily.
"I was just on my way out, Chen and I have some business to take care of, how long will you be Visiting?" Ran said, gently shaking Chen awake.
"Maybe an hour or two," Yukari said, putting Hailey down, "I need to see to reimu's training today, I think the girls been slacking again."
"Reimu again?" Hailey pouted. "You're always seeing to her training!"
"Thats because Reimu is hopelessly slack." Yukari said. "You are reliable enough that you don't need as much oversight."
"But… But I want oversight!" Hailey whined, It really wasn't fair in Hailey's mind, just because she worked hard, she got less attention. But if she didn't work hard she wouldn't get praised. A tricky dilemma for the attention loving nine year old.
"My my, such a needy child." Yukari titered. "What ever will I do with you?"
Hailey pondered the rhetorical question, before coming up with her own solution. "Why don't you take me with you?"
"Now Hailey we've been over this…" Yukari lightly scolded, bopping Haily on the head with a fan.
"I know, I can't go live in Gensokyo until I'm ready." Hailey said, downcast. But she rallied. "But Can't I at least visit? Please? I'll be good, and I'll do exactly as I'm told. Just for a bit? Pretty please?"
"Well I don't know…" said Yukari, feigning reluctance. But she was smiling behind her fan.
"Please!~" Hailey said, giving the biggest puppy dog eyes she could imagine.
"Oh very well then. Let's go introduce you to Reimu." Yukari said.
"Yay!" Hailey cheered.
To be honest, Yukari had been planning to introduce Hailey to Reimu for a long time… But Hailey was just so cute when she thought she had accomplished something.
Hailey followed Yukari out of the gap and onto a stone path leading up to a shinto shrine. The shrine stood in the middle of a large clearing, on what appeared to be the top of a large hill, if the long steps behind her were anything to go by. It had a serene sense of peace and natural beauty that made Hailey, a born Londoner, feel out of place.
But the most overwhelming part was the magic that lay thick in the air. It was like a sound she had been hearing all her life, to the point where she no longer noticed it, had suddenly gotten louder and gained a string accompaniment. It almost overloaded poor Hailey's magic deprived senses.
She clutched onto the back of Yukari's dress, taking comfort in her familiar magic, as she was lead down the path towards the shrine.
"Reimu, I hope you are presentable. I have company~" Yukari said, having switched to Japanese. Lucky Yukari had made Hailey fluent before arriving.
The paper door of the shrine opened a smidgeon, and a small girl poked her head around it, before opening it all the way.
Reimu… wasn't really what Hailey had been expecting. Yukari had always built her up as something larger than life, someone who held the future of Gensokyo in her hands. As it happens, what confronted her was a girl probably not that much older than her, in an ill fitting Miko dress and a giant red ribbon in her hair that was probably bigger than her head. She looked kinda scruffy, like she didn't pay too much attention to her appearance. Her expression was that of grumpy indifference.
"I didn't know you were coming today Yukari." the girl said accusingly.
"If I told you when I was coming you'd never be here." Yukari said cheerily.
"I have plans today." she said, looking at the door longingly, as if wishing she could just close it on Yukari's face.
"And what plans might that be?" Yukari said.
"Yo Reimu who's there?" Came a voice from behind her, and another girl of roughly the same age came into view.
If Reimu was what Hailey considered scruffy, this girl went way beyond that. With multicoulored stains running down the frilly apron she wore, a black dress that seemed to be decorated by patches of soot, several bandaids adorning her face and hands, and her mess of blond hair was crowned by an oversized witches hat. But what overshadowed all of that was her massive grin. It was clear that nothing got this girl down no matter how hard you might try.
She stopped behind Reimu and looked Yukari up and down, before recognition dawned. "Oh you're the gap Youkai that Reimu is always complaining about. Hi, I'm Marisa, nice-ta-meetcha."
"Ahh, Marisa, I have heard of you." Yukari said.
And indeed she had, for Marisa was an oddity even in the world of Gensokyo. She had run away from the human village a few years ago, with the aspiration of becoming a magician, and had taken up in an abandoned shack in the forest of magic. With nothing but a few stolen books and no background or natural talent in magic, or even an ability for that matter, most people considered that would be where the story ended. But little Marisa had not only survived, but thrived. What she lacked in natural talent she made up for in tenacity and hard work. Her magic, while crude, had managed to protect her from even the most rowdy of the forests Youkai. She practically lived off the various strange mushrooms that the forest offered, carefully cataloging their effects, and using them to her advantage. Indeed, her survival had been so impressive that she had attracted the attention of a local vengeful spirit and powerful magician, who had offered her an apprenticeship, and since then her magical skill had exploded. Indeed, she had through sheer hard work and determination brought her to a level nearing Reimu, one of the most powerful of her bloodline, and Marisa was still only a human. To say Yukari was impressed would have been an understatement. She hadn't known her and Reimu were friends though, a rather interesting development to be sure.
"But Gap Youkai? I have a name, I'll have you know." Yukari said teasingly. "Or doesn't Reimu use it when I'm not around?"
Marisa was unmoved, "Hey it's better than what Mema-sensei calls you, she calls you a gap ha-"
"Finish that sentence and I will end you." Yukari said, all traces of humour gone.
"Alright alright, calm down, it's only a joke." Marisa said, waving dismissively, seemingly not the least bit threatened.
"Who's the squirt?" Reimu cut in. having noticed Hailey peering from around Yukari.
"I'm not a squirt, I'm nine years old!" Hailey said defensively.
"Nine or not, you are still short." Reimu said flatly.
This unfortunately was true, Hailey's growth had been severely stunted by her treatment as a child, and her transformation into a youkai from such a young age may be slowing it down further… Not that Hailey will admit it.
"I'm not short! You're just tall!" she shot back angrily.
"Now now settle down." Yukari said soothingly.
Hailey pouted and looked at the ground angrily.
Yukari patted her on the head. "This is Hailey potter, a Youkai from England I have been looking after for a few years. She wanted to accompany me on this excursion. Be nice Reimu, this is her first time in Gensokyo, and she might live here one day."
"No way! From the outside, from Europe?" Marisa exclaimed, getting right in Hailey's face. "That's so neat! I didn't think there were that many Youkai out there."
"Umm…" said Hailey, leaning back. Her almost total lack of socialisation up until now biting her in the arse.
Luckily Yukari was there to pick up the slack. "They are a rare breed for sure, but it can happen, although they tend not to last long on their own."
"What kind is she?" Marisa asked.
"I'm… a Youkai of grudge, I think." Hailey offered. There had been much debate among the Yakumo's about what exactly Hailey was, she shared some passing resemblance to a magician Youkai, with her enhanced magic and her lack of reliance of food and sleep, until you got to her flesh cravings and sharp teeth, which Magicians don't have. She also seems to react strongly to negative emotions, especially when directed at others. It has been generally agreed that she is an uncategorized Youkai with some power over negative interpersonal relationships, or simplified, a Youkai of grudge.
"Youkai of Grudge huh? Not to disagree but you look a bit too friendly for that." Marisa said.
Hailey lifted her fringe to show off her scar, and smiled to show her teeth.
"Definitely more convincing." Marisa said.
"What's the scar all about?" Reimu said. "Were you born with that?"
"Yukari said I got it when my parents were murdered." Hailey said. She didn't notice but she had been steadily moving out from behind Yukari, being slowly affected by the pairs bizarre charisma.
"You were told?" Reimu said, "I'm pretty sure you'd remember something like that, I sure did."
"I was only one at the time." Hailey said, shrugging.
"Well if your parents were murdered, I can certainly understand why you might be a Youkai of grudge." Reimu said.
Hailey shook her head. "No, that guys dead apparently. Somehow I killed him as an infant."
"That's pretty metal." Marisa said
"...I think it had a bit more to do with who I ended up with afterwards. My Uncle and aunt hated my guts, and treated me like garbage, keeping me in a cupboard under the stairs, half starving me. Stuff like that."
"Yikes." Marisa said.
"I know right?" Hailey said, "That's why I've been basically haunting them since I became a youkai. I'm trying to see if I can drive any of them to an early grave or the madhouse through stress and fear."
There was a small silence.
"I take back what I said, you are definitely a youkai of grudge." Marisa said.
"Thankyou." Hailey said, giggling.
"Now that introductions are done, I believe you and I have some business to attend to." Yukari said, giving a meaningful look at Reimu, before leading her away from Hailey and Marisa, who had begun their own conversation. "I have been told you have been shirking practice."
"I've been busy." Reimu said, sulking.
"And what could be more important than learning your proper duties as a Hakurei shrine maiden?" Yukari said.
"Because what has all this stuff got to do with anything. What have all the dances and ceremonies got to do with protecting people!" said Reimu, defiantly.
"Everything. Those ceremonies are about honouring the gods of this land and your shrine. You may have a lot of spiritual power and a powerful ability, but you need the gods tools and blessings in order to channel them, thats how its always been for the Hakurei's, and you are no different."
"But I can already do my job, I've already done my first extermination!" Reimu said, still defiant.
Yukari paused. "You have? Well you shouldn't, I haven't even taught you propper sealing or exercising techniques, how do you know they are properly-"
"I didn't need any of that," Reimu said making a face, "I just beat her up until she said she was sorry."
"...She said she was sorry?" Yukari said, raising her eyebrow.
"Yeah," Reimu said, obviously proud of herself "I just beat her up a bunch and then she said she wouldn't harass the guys rice field anymore, I got a whole bag of rice for my trouble."
So it wasn't a proper extermination at all, it seems a farmer was just trying to take advantage of the young and naive shrine maiden to get rid of a bothersome Youkai. But still…
"Reimu, in this job, there are Youkai who ignore the rules of Gensokyo and threaten its balance, there are times when you might have to deal with a problem… terminally."
"Why?" said Reimu, "Just because they are bad I gotta be bad too? No way, I'm not going to be a murderer, I'll just make them really sorry."
Yukari stared down at the tiny shrine maiden. It seems the death of Reimu's mother had affected her more than Yukari initially thought. She seems to have developed a strong aversion to killing, even Youkai, which many humans are perfectly willing to treat as subhuman. Such youkai empathy would often be discouraged in the Hakurei clan. They are meant as the equaliser in Gensokyo after all, something to protect the weak humans from the powerful Youkai. She really should curb this kind of thinking…
'But on the other hand,' Yukari thought privately, 'the old way wasn't really working anyway, perhaps it's time to try a new way, perhaps one with less dead shrine maidens.' Yukari smirked.
"You know what, you should just forge your own path." Yukari said, "I suppose it's not really in the place of a Youkai to tell a shrine maiden her job."
"I was doing that anyway." Reimu said, crossing her arms, "I don't need your permission."
"Of course you don't." said Yukari, "But that still doesn't mean you can get away with shirking your training."
"But I have Plans today!" Reimu exclaimed angrily.
"You still haven't told me what these plans are yet." Yukari said. " I fail to see what could be more important-"
"Hey Reimu!" Marisa said, running up, dragging Hailey by the hand, "Are you done talking about boring stuff? Hai… He… Hee…" Marisa seemed to struggle with Hailey's name for a minute before settling on: "Hai-chan wants to see danmaku."
"Danmaku?" Yukari said. She turned to Reimu, who was now avoiding eye contact.
"Yeah! It's a new game me and Reimu made up!" Marisa said, "You basically fire off as many projectiles as possible to try and hit your opponent, while avoiding your opponents projectiles as they try and do the same thing. It's really fun, and Mema-sensei says its good training for evasion, split focus and battle control. We were just getting ready for a game when you showed up."
"Is that so?" said Yukari, giving Reimu a sideways glance.
Reimu was trying and failing to whistle nonchalantly.
"Please Yukari-sama!" Hailey pleaded.
Yukari thought about it. She is a little curious after all, and it would be interesting to see how Reimu spends her time.
"You know what? I think I might like to see as well."
Marisa and Reimu stood some distance apart in the area behind the main shrine building, both staring each other down confidently. While Yukari and Hailey stood on the back steps of the shrine watching.
SWR Hakurei Shrine Theme: The Ground's Colour is Yellow
"Okay… onetwothreeGO!" Marisa shouted, sweeping her hands in front of her, creating an arc of multicoloured stars that shot towards Reimu.
Reimu with almost effortless grace, sidestepped the first one and squeezed between another two. She then conjured a hand full of square papers, and sent them flying with a flick of her wrist. They flew up in an arc before coming down to target Marisa
Marisa jumped back and the first one landed at her feet, and was forced to start cartwheeling backwards, as they homed into her position. Halfway through a cartwheel she dropped a bunch of small bottles out of her apron that exploded into more colorful projectiles, that honed into Reimu's position, making her dive sideways to avoid them.
From that point the battle escalated, with more and more projectiles flying in strange patterns and behaviours, with the two combatants darting around, ducking jumping and dancing through the sea of bullets that flew in every direction. Hailey was mesmerised by the colour and movement.
Yukari on the other hand, was mesmerised for an entirely different reason. To another observer one might assume it to be a random and chaotic mess, but she could see the underlying purpose. The strange patterns, varying bullet speeds, homing projectiles herding them into other positions to be exposed to more projectiles, misleading aimed attacks to create more room to maneuver and counter attack. There was a hundred subtle mind games being played between the two girls. This was a game of pure strategy and skill, there was power here, but it was tame, controlled. What's more, there wasn't a drop of killing intent in either combatants.
It was beautiful.
Back in the fight however, Reimu was in a pinch, she had been caught in between two streams of bullets, and Marisa was grinning.
"Gotcha!" Marisa cried, before levelling a small octagonal block at Reimu. And a large multicoloured laser* erupted from it.
Then Reimu jumped it, and she didn't come down either.
"Hey!" Marisa shouted, "no fair!"
"I don't remember ever agreeing not to fly." Reimu said defiantly, "And what's with you bringing out the Hakkero? Last time you burned a great big hole in my skirt!"
"I've got in under control this time!" Marisa said defensively, "but you know I can't fly that well yet!"
"Well tough luck, I'm through playing nice. If you wanna bring out the big guns then so will I!" Reimu said, and two large red and white yin-yang pattened spheres appeared by her side, spinning on the spot. "Dodge this!"
Marisa yelped and jumped into the air, as some similarly patterned blue and white sheres, cannoned into the ground where she stood, sending up dust.
From there the battle continued in the air, although Marisa seemed to be having more difficulty than Reimu. Having gone defensive in order to focus on dodging
'It seems that it's still a work in progress.' Yukari thought, both slightly disappointed and mildly amused.
Hailey on the other hand, was awed. "They're… flying."
Yukari cast her a glance, observing her wonder filled expression, "Indeed they are."
"It's amazing, they are actually flying." Hailey said.
"You could do that too you know." Yukari said.
Hailey's head turned to Yukari with a snap, her attention stolen from the airborne battle.
"I have a feeling I might be starting your magic tuition soon, it seems Reimu needs me less than I thought." Yukari said, watching the young shrine maiden float through the sky. 'She's already managed to summon the Yin-Yang Orbs, her power and ability are growing quickly, even without my intervention. Maybe it would be safe to start taking a backseat.'
"Really!" Hailey was beside herself with joy. Yukari would be teaching her magic soon, and more importantly Yukari would be paying her more attention.
"Of course, but not now, I am quite interested to see how this ends, I advise you watch too."
Hailey did as she was told, just in time too she Marisa barely avoiding one of Reimu's large orb attacks, the air ruffling her skirt as it passed. "Woah!"
"Ready to give up yet?" Reimu taunted.
"Not on your life. I still got one trick up my sleeve!" Marisa said rummaging in her pocket. "They aren't perfect yet, but allow me to unveil my latest invention."
She held aloft a small rectangular piece of card. "The spell card! Take this!"
"Magic sign ~ Starbomb!"
There was a loud booming noise, and stars of every shape size and speed shot out in an expanding chaotic dome. Reimu backed off in surprise before desperately dodging the storm of stars. She wasn't quick enough however and after a minute of weathering the attack a fist sized star smacked her in the face, sending her careening into the ground.
"Yes, I win!" said Marisa cutting off the attack, and slowly lowering to the ground. When she arrived she was met with an utterly livid Reimu.
"What the hell was that!" Reimu shouted in her face.
"Indeed I am quite curious myself." said Yukari, walking over, Hailey trailing behind, "that was quite a complex spell to unleash in such a short time."
"I already said," said Marisa, holding out another card. "These are my spell cards, they basically allow you to quickly use a preprepaired spell at a moment's notice. They a kind of a work in progress, and there is a limit to how much magic I can cram into a single card. But the results speak for themselves, wouldn't you agree Reimu?"
"How is anyone supposed to avoid that attack, I couldn't even see you through the stars!" Reimu said angrily.
"Girls, may I have a moment?" Yukari said. Both bickering girls turned to look at her.
"I must say, I'm quite taken by this little game of yours, but may I make a few suggestions on how it must be improved. Perhaps some observations from the perspective of a spectator?"
She took their silence as consent. "First, from observing, I believe that it is probably best fought in the air, as it creates both more opportunities for attack and evasion, and is far more pleasing to the eye."
Reimu looked rather smug at that, while Marisa looked kinda annoyed.
"But I also quite like the idea of these spell cards, I believe that they might be an opportunity for further beauty."
Reimu looked angry again, and looked like she was going to retort. But Yukari cut her off. "Provided that they can be used by everybody, and as Reimu pointed out, that spell card was practically impossible to avoid. Some effort should be made to ensure fair play, by making sure the cards can be avoided with sufficient skill, perhaps a time limit as well."
Marisa rubbed the back of her neck. "Well it is a prototype, but I get what you mean."
"Good, you should make an effort to have your spell cards both meaningful, and beautiful, rather than just spamming projectiles. This will make the battle satisfying to all involved."
"Question." Reimu said, "Why are you insisting on beauty? It's just a game, not a performance."
"It might not be a performance," said Yukari, smiling, "but it was probably the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long, long time."
Marisa puffed out her chest proudly, while Reimu rubbed the back of her neck, clearly embarrassed.
"Umm…" said Hailey, drawing everyone's attention. "I think that was really pretty too, and, I mean, I haven't started my magic training yet, but… could I maybe learn how to play?"
Marisa and Reimu looked at each other before shrugging. "Sure, why not?" Reimu said.
"I mean, I've been teaching some of my youkai friends in the forest, so I don't see why not." Marisa said.
Hailey beamed and bowed quickly "Thankyou thankyou thankyou!"
"Alright settle down!" Marisa said, laughing, "first things first, let's see if you can conjure a bullet…"
Yukari watched Hailey and her two new friends. And considered the future of Gensokyo. A human magician who considers youkai her friends and a shrine maiden who treats youkai just like she treats everyone else. Within the two, she saw a very interesting future indeed.
She could hardly wait.
*A precursor to Marisas Master Spark, she hasn't quite got to the genuine article yet. In this cannon she didn't steal the master spark from Yuuka, but she may have been inspired by it.
And here we have Gensokyos future protectors, two scruffy kids who accidentally invented Gensokyos future method of conflict resolution and favourite pastime.
In case you are wondering, Reimu is the same age as Hailey, but is senior to her by about five months, and Marisa is older by about two years.