Tentative title: "Battles Without Danmaku or Logic."

'Reimu...'

The dark haired girl floated in darkness. Her expression was that of peace and serenity as her body, slim as it barely was budding into womanhood, moved across an endless void.

'Reimu Hakurei...'

Within this void, all worries drifted away. Thoughts of where to get her next meal or having to attend to her duties just weren't important right now.

'It's time for you to serve the world...'

The darkness parted. Countless eyes, sharp and judging, opened to gaze upon the girl. The feel of their gazes made the calm girl gasp and come aware.

"Miss Hakurei, wake up!" The booming voice of Keine Kamishirasawa jerked Reimu back to the land of the conscious. Harsh light filled her eyes, illuminating the packed classroom that Keine ran out of her home. The purple haired schoolgirl winced as she saw all the eager looks that were being directed towards her – the jerks were all waiting on Keine to start chewing Reimu's head off.

The young schoolteacher, who had recently been promoted to the position of town Guardian due to the death of her mother, looked incredibly intimidating at the moment. Even her hat – that boxy, multilayered, and feathered blue pagoda of hers – looked frightening as the woman loomed over the fourteen year old.

"Rika drugged me, I swear!" Reimu immediately tried to deflect the scary look away from herself. "She said she'd give me something so I could rest better!"

"Hey! You said you wouldn't take it until you were back at the shrine!" Rika turned around from her seat in the front of the class to scowl at Reimu. Her forehead scrunched down towards her glasses in displeasure as she shook her fist at Reimu. "My clinical research is ruined!"

Around them, several children chortled openly at the Reimu's weak attempt at getting Rika Asakura - the second of the school's two weirdos, in trouble with the blue haired teacher.

"Both of you, buckets!" Keine ordered, pointing towards the two metal buckets. Both girls groaned, but did as instructed. After filling up them up with a spigot in the back of the classroom, Reimu and Rika plodded out of the classroom to the muted murmurings of their classmates.

'You're going to have to shape up soon, Reimu...' Keine forlornly thought as she gazed at Reimu's stiff back as she left the classroom. With a sigh of annoyance, she smoothed down her dress, turned towards the other children, and offered them a shaky smile before she continued teaching classes for the day.

Rika and Reimu both stood out towards the middle of the yard that served as the playground to the school. The two of them were almost matching mirrors of once another with their long purple hair and eyes. However, subtle differences were present in both. Their outfits were the only thing that set them apart from each from a casual glance. Once they were in the middle of the schoolyard, they both silently stood and gazed out towards the streets of the Human Village just on the other end of the yard.

"Smooth move, idiot!" Rika shouted at Reimu. Her expression, which looked perpetually gloomy to Reimu, worsened as she was forced to hold up two metal buckets with her arms. A bit of water splashed her pinkish white dress shirt and long slacks.

"What? Don't you like western stuff?" Reimu innocently questioned. She casually shifted, long red skirt swaying as she moved in place. Unlike Rika, she patiently held up her own buckets. It wasn't worth it to splash her outfit – a white blouse and red vest.

"While I like the clothes and some of their ideas," Rika began, shaking the buckets slightly at Reimu's direction, "the Outsiders' tortures are peerless!"

Reimu snorted. "Yeah, yeah." She distractedly mumbled.

Rika, having noticed Reimu's odd hesitance, quirked her head. "What's wrong?" She awkwardly lifted her left foot and lightly bumped it against Reimu's right leg. "Is it that dream again?"

"Yeah..."

Rika offered Reimu a hesitant smile. "Well, it can't be that bad, right? Aren't the Hakurei maidens supposed to be the best at their job?"

"Good enough to get themselves killed." Reimu muttered. Her hooded eyes gazed out on the streets, where countless adults were preparing for the festival of succession. "Not that it matters to them."

"That's not fair to Miss Kamishirasawa."

Reimu grimaced.

Large splashes of fire began to appear in the horizon. Once they rose high enough, they scattered about like rose petals in the winds. The sight was so enchanting that both of the girls' eyes were immediately drawn to the display up in the sky.

The adults that had been walking out in front of the school paused as well. Occasionally one of them would point up at the sky as well.

"Reimu, isn't that the direction of the shrine...?" Rika trailed off. Both girl's eyes widened as they heard a shout of surprise behind them. They dropped their buckets and spun to face the loud clamor that had gone up from their classroom.

Children raced screaming away from the building. Nipping at their heels were large, round white lumps that were hovering in the air after them. The ghosts, for lack of a better term, possessed comically large and expressive eyes and massive mouths. Their long tongues, sinuous and moist, lashed out at their backs like whips.

It was the most ridiculous things that Rika or Reimu had ever seen.

One of the walls of the school exploded into small splinters as a trio of those things were launched away in pieces out into the yard by Keine. The school teacher herself exited out of the hole she had created in the school building moments later. She looked furious as a trio of paper scrolls, writhing about her body like snakes, hovered above her. A set of magatama, deep blue gemstones, rested along her neck. Her hands were wielding a yellow and green sword and grasping a small round mirror with a red and gold back.

The ghosts immediately broke their attack off. Their expressions were fearful as they gazed on the mirror that Keine was now pointing in their direction. It was fair to say they didn't notice that they were heading straight at Reimu and Rika.

Both girls locked up in shock for a few moments, but Reimu grasped Rika around the shoulders. With an incredibly display of force, she jumped three feet to the right with her friend in her arms. The girls tumbled in mid-air for a few moments before Reimu righted them and let them land smoothly on the yard.

"Hwah!" Keine's mirror caught the rays of the sun, magnified them, and sent them in a pulse of screaming crimson light. The grass beneath the beam ignited with flame as it slammed into them. The ghosts let out a wail as their bodies vanished within the stream of energy before it cut off.

"Are you two alright?" Keine called out towards the two girls as she casually approached.

Rika shook slightly, pale and gaze vaguely traumatized as she gave her teacher an astonished look.

"What the hell, Miss Keine?" Reimu blurted, face red with slight indignation as she cradled Rika in her arms. "You nearly killed us with that spell!"

Keine shook her head. "No, it's a banishing. It would not have hurt either of you." Her gaze narrowed slightly at Reimu. The girl nervously gulped at the chiding look in Keine's eyes. "If someone paid attention to me after school, she'd know that."

"Ehee..." Reimu winced.

Moments later, another flash of flame erupted high in the skies above the shrine again. Seconds later, more of the ghosts immediately appeared around the trio. They let out deranged giggles as they attempted to charge on the three, but a flash of light from the magatama formed a dome of energy that shoved them away.

"Reimu! Get the Hakurei Orb!" Keine demanded as one of the scrolls wrapped around the school teacher fluttered and twitched before moving towards Reimu.

"Wait! I'm not ready!"

Rika let out a shriek of surprise. "Reimu, I'm scared!" She yelped as she tightened her hold around the other girl's shoulders. The stunned girl could only hold onto Rika as more of the ghosts appeared and began to head in the direction of the Human Village.

The ghosts around the barrier let out peals of laughter. Energy gathered within their mouths and they launched it into the dome, pelting it with explosive force. Reimu's eyes widened as she saw the way that Keine winced and twitched as each sphere of energy smashed into the protective shield.

"We don't have anymore time!" Keine coldly replied. Internally, she felt her insides curdle at the look of fear on Reimu's face.

Reimu's decision was made for her when another bolt of flame rose high over the shrine. The girl let go of Rika and lashed out towards the scroll. The surface of the paper rippled like water, allowing Reimu to sink her arms up to its elbow within it. Seconds later, she felt cold metal roll into her hands.

With a grunt, Reimu pulled out the Hakurei Orb into her hands. The heavy sphere was colored in black and white in the pattern of a yin yang symbol. The teenager glanced over at Keine, who gave her a single nod.

"Protect Miss Asakura!" The school teacher's command came as the barrier around them dropped. Keine threw herself straight at one of the ghosts, and with a swing of her sword, launched small fragments of magic at the creature, banishing it as it tore into it.

The cold sphere in Reimu's hands didn't feel light at all. The sensation of pulsing warmth she was told she should be feeling in the spiritual artifact was nowhere to be felt. Reimu immediately turned towards the three ghosts that were charging towards her and Rika.

"Reimu!"

'Ah...fuck it. I'll worry about that later.' Reimu let the sphere drop and her leg pull back. The last Hakurei smashed her foot into the sphere. Like a cannon shot being fired, it tore straight into and through the closest ghost's face before smashing into the upper corner of a building and caving it in.

Both ghosts and Rika were briefly stunned as they stared at Reimu in shock.

"...what?" Reimu bluntly replied. "I was never good with my sutras."

A/N: An idea for attempting to bridge the PC-98 era Touhou to the Windows Era Touhou by following Reimu through the first games in the series to the transition point. I'll probably pick this one up once I'm done with my current fics first.