Mugen no Mangekyou: The Eastern Wonderland

I do not own the Touhou Project series. OCs, however, are mine.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
~ Abraham Lincoln

CHAPTER I: The Meeting of Fate

The alarm clock rings.

As much as I want to continue sleeping, the shrill noise is never going to stop unless I woke up and deactivate it. So I widen my eyes despite their protests and stumble over to where the clock is located on the small desk nearby the bed. As the blissful silence returns once more to the room, I wipe my eyes awake and stare around, waiting for my thoughts to catch up.

Ah, right, I just remember. I just completed my sophomore year at my high school.

Sighing and rubbing the back of my head, I stumble to the bathroom and fix up my messy appearance before returning back to my room in order to change into the appropriate attire for the beginning of the summer vacation. I wore my favorite pair of jeans that has a dark strip on the right leg that has a Union Jack correspondent to the knee, a trio of chains connecting my wallet to the left cuffs of my jeans, and a white T-shirt with black short sleeves. After applying my glasses to fix my already impaired eyesight and brushing my once messy black hair into a right fringe with occasional spikes erupting from the sides of my head, I complete my look with a wide sweatband with a black-and-white chessboard design on my wrist

I ate through breakfast trying to ignore the chatter of my parents who repeatedly ask me what my schedule for the day is. After making up excuses and half-hearted remarks to their questions, I avoided my parents and returned into my study room, the place where I do all of my work. As I plop myself onto the chair, I spoke aloud, "Now, what should my plans for the day be?"

As if some higher being felt kind enough to answer my question, my phone that is recharging on my desk nearby gave out a series of beeps, indicating a phone call. I reach over and flip open the lid, answering with a "Hello?"

"Hello, Nanashi." A deep, cheerful feminine voice rang out of the speakers. I blink in surprise. Who is this? I never let any girls at my school know my phone number, partially due to the fact that neither I nor any girls made any attempt to approach each other. And besides, what's up with calling others "No Name" in Japanese?

"I think that you got the wrong phone number," I bluntly reply, and hurried to hang up. Until then I heard the voice continue just when I was close to tapping the END CALL button as if not afraid:

"I don't think so. Time is running out, Nanashi. Meet me at Kinokuniya Book Store at twelve-o-clock. If you're late, I'll hunt you down."

Wow, someone's ready to spill some of my blood. "And if you do know me as you claim, then why call me, 'No Name'? Why not stick to addressing me with my real name?"

"Oh come on, Nanashi! You dislike your real name, so consider it a blessing that I'm giving you a nickname, fufu~."

When did I ever say that? Although some parts of it are true… for now. "You better explain things clearly when we meet, or else things aren't going to end pretty," I made an attempt to threaten, though it still sounds shaky.

The mysterious caller only laughs cheerfully. "All right, then. Meet you there on time and I'll let you play twenty questions as long as possible." With that, the call ends, leaving me with no choice but to sigh and place away my phone.

I lean back on my seat, pondering over my next set of actions for the day. Since I just completed school, I have the AP U.S. History summer assignment to work on, but my vacation just started. I could start playing the piano, but what's the fun in that when I want to relax? "Guess I have no choice," I finally said, "but for me to get out and moving."

After explaining my plans to my parents of me going out to the Japanese book store so early in the morning by making up the excuse to meet up with a friend, I picked up a red object lying in the middle of my desk. Smiling, I observe the limited edition red Beats by Dr. Dre High Performance Professional Monster Headphones. To me, this was one of my most prized gifts in the world. Designed by audio professionals, it was built from a strong yet lightweight aluminum for rugged use on-the-go. It also had flip-up ear cups that let the user monitor places on the go without taking the headphones off. The thing that made it so unique, however, was that it was also a portable MP3 player, not requiring an iPod, wires, or anything of that sort to play music. As one of my favorite items of use, I hardly went anywhere out of the house without my favorite pair of headphones.

I finally state my farewells to my parents who were observing the news program on the television. They were a kind bunch, a bit on the strict-and-serious side. But there wasn't much to say about them though. Just like how I am a typical student one would see at high school, my parents were like stereotypical Asian parents. They wouldn't mind seeing me go off somewhere, thinking that a walk would do my health good compared to last year when I was practically a shut-in. Worried if I got attacked by muggers? My expertise in taekwondo, a Korean martial arts; and kendo, Japanese sword training, can make me a dangerous opponent despite my rather normal appearance. Not to mention about that incident back then already gave me some reputation that warned those who seek mischief…

Finally after spending several minutes walking all the way across several streets I reached the Japanese book store known as Kinokuniya. Not much to say on this store – no, a library with books and other accessories on sale – except it's pretty popular for all the franchises it sells ranging from simple textbooks to specially designed pencils and interesting manga, Japanese comic book series.

When I enter the store, I see that the time was only ten minutes before twelve, so I merely let out a breath, place headphones over my ears, and play the next music on my playlist before returning my interest on the current art books of one of my favorite anime series.

Hmm, seems like the mysterious caller doesn't seem to one who arrives early. So be it; I'll have to wait until I get this whole situation over with. With my conviction finally resolved, I brought the art book over to an empty chair nearby, sat down, and began to read.

After thirty minutes of waiting and getting hungry for lunch, I couldn't wait any longer. "I can't stand it!" I yell out in frustration, flinging my headphones off my ears and rapidly placing them around my neck as I suddenly stood up. The caller never even made an appearance during my wait. "Guess I was tricked easily," I murmur to myself. I must have been a fool to believe something from a stranger so easily.

As I bow apologetically towards the people who responded to my sudden outburst with suspicious glances, I pull out my cell phone to see what time it was. Now that I look closer at my screen, I notice that the mysterious caller had left behind a call-back number.

"Let's see if she will pick up," I impatiently state to myself, before pressing the CALL button and placing the phone near my ear. I could hear the phone dialing, but just what was that noise that I hear behind me in the background?

*Ring-ring-ring~*

I jerk my head back in surprise, almost falling down due to my sudden movement. Behind me was the mysterious caller, whose smile that would have rivaled Mona Lisa's while holding a phone that was ringing repeatedly.

She had a unique appearance that made her stand out against the crowd. Her long blond hair that went past her white mob cap tied by a red ribbon and her whitish-pink and purple dress that showed both Victorian and Chinese origins made her stand out against the crowd, but that only made her seem more unique. Her golden eyes that seemed to stare into my soul held a mischievous glint as she ended my phone call and placed her communication device into a pocket to trade with a paper fan. At her side was a pink or white folded parasol with frills.

"Ara~, sorry for being so late," she apologizes lightheartedly, yawning for a moment before lightly smiling at me. All I could do was gape at this unknown beauty that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Now, then," she continues, flicking her paper fan open and concealing half of her face, "Shall we get a move on, Nanashi? I'm hungry."

Moments later, my left eye twitch with annoyance as I observe this woman helping herself to the katsudon, breaded deep-fried pork cutlets, onion, and egg on rice, that I bought with my money. With MY Money, of all things. What did she want from me, a date? Besides, by the way she appears to be laughing at my discomfort inside made her appear rather irritating despite her beauty.

"Now now, Nanashi," this woman infuriatingly smiled again at me as she pauses from devouring her meal, "why aren't you eating your lunch? After all, I did find the time for us to meet properly face to face."

"Stop insinuating as if we met before," I stiffly reply as I set my serving of udon, thick noodles in a mildly flavored broth along with other toppings, aside. I looked around the restaurant, which was luckily located close to Kinokuniya so we didn't have to walk far. "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

"Hm~, straight to the point," she absently notes, nodding as if in confirmation. "I like that. I am Yakumo Yukari, or Yukari Yakumo according to your western customs. As for the latter question…" She pauses, causing the tension to swell up as I lean in closer in apprehension…

"I simply wanted the pleasure of observing this section of the world with another individual~." … and I end up smacking myself on the forehead out of frustration. Why can't this girl actually take my words seriously? I want no trouble, but why does trouble such as the elegantly dressed Yakumo Yukari find me today?

… Speak of the devil; more trouble arrives in the form a newcomer. The chubby figure of a teenager walks over to where Yukari and I were sitting, his mouth gaping wide open out of shock or amazement, I don't know. He stood there, pointing at me and then to Yukari while sputtering and stammering out nonsense.

"Y-y-you got a g-g-girlfriend?" He finally spat out properly. I sigh, facepalming once again as Yukari giggles out of amusement.

"Based on how I appear to be frustrated at this woman's attitude, how did you get to that decision, Jasmit Kakkar? And why are you even here in the first place!" I retort, irked at the sudden comment. Jasmit, an overweight Indian teen recently addicted to the Japanese culture, was a certain friend of mine. As one could easily see, he has a history of making outrageous decisions as well as deluding himself that he was a handsome boy capable of wooing many women's hearts.

Unfortunately, he is a friend. An annoying one, but still a friend.

"No no no~! You two are so going out!" Jasmit insists with his Indian accent as he wags his fat finger at me. As my stare gradually turned into a sharp glare, he continues on, unaware of the danger he began to place himself in. "I mean, look at that! You two are so shooting each other goo-goo looks and a lovers' quarrel! Sooner or later, that woman's going to ask you to share a night underneath the covers!"

The next moment wasn't me taking action, but rather Yukari herself.

She manages to sling her parasol like a javelin straight into Jasmit's face while still sitting properly, the impact throwing him back across the air and onto the ground several feet away. Yukari keeps her enigmatic smile on, though her presence is a lot more threatening. The killing intent emitting from her seemed as if it could wipe Jasmit out from existence. Both he and I were shooting bullets of perspiration, now completely terrified of this mysterious identity known as Yakumo Yukari.

She stands up, continuously smiling and smothering us with her intent to kill. "Now now, little human," she says, leaning over and picking up her fallen parasol located nearby the place where Jasmit's fallen body sprawls out. I immediately note how she stressed on the word human. "I am to be addressed as Yakumo Yukari, not as 'that woman.' Now then, boya, my escort and I need to be on our way." With that, she grasped my wrist and dragged me out of the food court, leaving Jasmit to only gape at our backs helplessly. Yukari did, in fact, leave Jasmit a parting sentence:

"Enjoy the taste of the floor, boya~."

But what about my meal of udon? Don't tell me it's for Jasmit to sink his thick teeth into! And since when did I become your escort?

Yukari pulled me into the supermarket known as Mitsuwa. As I kneeled over, panting from the strength that she displays when dragging me all over the place, she whips her paper fan closed with a *Snap!* and gently pokes my nose with it. I flinch from the sudden contact. "Now then, Nanashi," she said, returning back to her lazy attitude and smiling as if nothing serious ever happened, "I would like to know about what you do in your free time."

"Why me, of all people?" I ask her wearily. "In fact, how did you even get my phone number in the first place? You want a date? Well, forget it. Because I make a point not to go out with women who appear to stalk me and then threaten me straight out from the blue while injuring a friend (no matter how annoying that Jasmit was)!"

She smiles at me amusingly. "Date somebody whose soul is as young as yours? Please, I'm not even that desperate." A pause, then she continued.

"For the first question, I was merely wandering around this area when I noticed how you managed to lift up one of those… vending machines, were they called…. and fling it straight at those gang members. You certainly caught my attention for that act alone."

I wince from shame. That certainly was not one of my greatest achievements. The mentioned gang members were harassing a small kid, attempting to extort some money. Seeing how I couldn't stand how they were treating that unfortunate five-year old kid as the pedestrians had the gall to try not to get involved, I rushed in and pushed the kid away to safety. That got the gang to try to attack me, and in defense I hurried over to a nearby vending machine, uprooted the entire machine, and threw it at the gang like a certain overpowered bartender who hates violence.

All I ever heard after that was that the rest of the gang members escaped, but one unfortunate guy was hit. Even though I avoided jail time due to staying strictly on self-defense, I sprained my muscles from the ordeal of suddenly holding an item several times my weight, resulting in me getting several days of rest in order to recover. That may not have been a pretty moment, but let's not reminisce about the past.

"Ever since then, I've been keeping tabs on how you are." Yukari continues, her smile growing ever wider as she notices my rising discomfort. "After seeing you leap across the rooftops through… freerunning, I believe it was called… I then decided that we certainly must have a meeting! So I acquired your phone number with my manipulation of the boundaries, which then led us to today's events."

Huh. People certainly did see me using parkour that day when I was trying to reach a certain pizza restaurant for my order. Though that one term that Yukari just said somehow seemed to irk me the most.

Manipulation of boundaries, huh… She must be playing a joke on me, probably meaning that she got my number by asking my friends like Jasmit. There isn't any explanation on what that is, except that she was kind enough to not give away the name of the person who gave my phone number to a mysterious stranger like her. Once I find out who it is, though, I'll teach him a lesson on how to keep personal stuff to himself.

Personally. And that which involved certain types of… convincing methods.

"You certainly didn't fail my expectations," Yukari adds on as if she's assuring me. Somehow, that calms my rising anger down. "Parkour, break dancing, and martial arts. Stubborn and distant, but kind towards others. You would certainly get around well if you simply associated with others more often."

As she continues to list off things that somehow described who I was, we took a stroll out of the Japanese shopping district and into the nearby neighborhood when the sun is beginning to set. I'm a bit surprised by the fact that time seemed to fly by so fast, but maybe the presence of somebody interesting as Yukari to talk to may be the case. To my left were mere buildings where old citizens resided, and on my right was an alleyway, where rumors of a new gang were beginning to originate. At this moment, the area seems somehow more suspicious and dangerous by the somewhat lack of people, but I ignore that for now and focus on my conversation partner.

I turn and face her. "Thanks for the comments," I grudgingly admit. Despite trolling and teasing me with her mysterious attitude when we first met, I had to agree that she is in a way, assuring me that she didn't hate me despite the fact that this is the first time we met while she did indeed know some of the various incidents that I got involved in. "I'm still not sure why in the world you wanted to meet me of all people, but can you not call me Nanashi? It feels a bit weird to call others 'No Name,' and I actually do have identification, you know."

As I was about to tell her my name, I stopped myself when I noticed what she was doing. She thought hard for a moment, her face pondering over something that I couldn't discern and probably shouldn't ask. It wasn't another nickname, was it?

She lit up. "Sure," Yukari agreed, looking directly at me as her long unique dress fluttered against the wind. She points her paper fan at me and says, "From now on, you shall be addressed as Rain!"

Another facepalm for me, but in the end I smile at her antics.

"Fine, I'll accept that; at least it's better than 'No Name.' Though I would like to be addressed by my name–"

"You bastard!"

Yukari and I whip our heads around to face the sudden interruption. There, coming out of the alleyway, are eleven suspicious gang members. Though some of them looked rather familiar…

"Hey! It's that son of a bitch that stopped us from getting our goods from that kid several months ago!" A certain African American man with numerous tattoos covering his face yells out, pointing at me. Oh, now I remember. It's the same gang that I stopped back then from extorting the weak. My eyes focus as he continues on to say "You think that you can get away simply by throwing a large thing like that again?"

"Yeah!" Another gang member, who wore mirrored sunglasses on his thick nose, adds on. "We now are beefed up! Prepare to see some blood, brat!"

I then knew, that if I stay here surrounded either Yukari or I would be bound to get in serious trouble. Only option for me to do in order to ensure our safety? I rush over to where Yukari was carefully observing the gang, and quickly lift her up.

"Hey! What are you doing to me! Let me down now!" Yukari objects, her face gradually turning red either from frustration or embarrassment, I don't know. I held her bridal-style, and began to flee.

The gang member with tattoos rushed in onto me. I evade him by quickly leaning down, then using his back as a footstep to leap over him when he bent down to catch me. Luckily he is about my height, so I manage to leap over without any problems.

The guy with the mirrored lenses then follows up, swinging his arms wildly. I take a quick step back, leaving the guy hanging as I jerk around and swiftly run past him with Yukari still voicing out her objections towards me carrying her.

I take a quick glance around. There weren't escape routes due to the remaining nine men blocking every path except… the alleyway entrance. I grit my teeth and began to rush towards it with all my strength. It might be a bad idea to enter their home turf, but if it means a safer approach at the situation, then I got no choice but to take it.

After all, life is nothing without any risks.

I continue to twist my movements around; confusing some of the gang members with my erratic movements as I finally entered the alley. It is a straight and narrow path, so I continue sprinting down, panting my breath while still carrying Yukari. For a girl wearing what appears to be heavy formal clothing like her, she's surprisingly light, but I took no notice of that.

'There he is! Get him and that bitch!" A gang member shouts out. Oh shit. I hurry on my path, seeing another route available for me to take. I hasten in, turning to face myself with… a dead end in the form of a wide are

"Shit!" I curse out, carefully placing Yukari back down onto the ground. She shot me with an irritated expression at my harsh language or from the fact that I just carried her without her permission, but I ignore it at the moment and turn to steel myself for the oncoming battle.

Looks like there's no way out except to fight. I took a stance, lightly shuffling my feet to prepare myself. I lift my headphone up from my neck and over my ears, clicking on several buttons until I found the music that I want. "I'm placing my life on the line," I slowly utter to myself like a mantra, before letting out a wild grin. "Let's have some fun!" With that, I pressed PLAY on my headphones.

Song - Combichrist: "Never Surrender"

Right at the moment the man with mirrored glasses runs in, hollering out obscene words. I lash my right foot out, catching the man in the face and sending him flying into a side of a wall. He immediately fell unconscious as his sunglasses clatters to the ground with the lenses broken. The man with tattoos then enters the fray, charging at me like a football player with his arms spread out to intercept me. I quickly step out of his reach when he came close, then did a roundhouse with a spinning back-turning roundhouse following close. The man's out cold from the two kicks before he landed on the floor with a thud.

I heard movements behind me, so I duck and land at the ground as two fists whips past where my head was. Behind me were two men, one appearing to be Mexican while the other was Caucasian. From my position on the floor I spin my legs around, coincidently performing a windmill breakdance move and knocking the two gang members onto the floor. When they attempt to stand up again, I'm already on top of both of them. "Hah!" I shout out as I slam my two fists onto their temples. They were going to have a migraine when they wake up several hours later.

I glance upward and see three Asian men with absurd hair styles holding lead pipes. They jeered at me at due to my rough appearance. I mentally groan. They got weapons now while I got nothing. Do they have any form of honor at all?

Of course not! I correct to myself in my mind. They're trash. Judging from their appearance they ruined their chance at life by drugs, crimes, and stupid mistakes. Well, they're surely going to regret being so stupid after I deal with them.

As I glare at them, one of them ran up to me, swinging the pipe at my head. I rolled backwards and pushed off the ground, placing myself back onto my feet. My opponent swung again, but this time I ducked down in time and grasped his wrist as it passed by. I pulled on it, making my opponent lose his balance for a moment. It was enough for me to swing him around just in time to be a meat shield against another man who managed to sneak up behind me. The now unconscious body that I held let his grip on his weapon go, sending the lead pipe flying toward the third gangster standing in the background, hitting him in the forehead and also efficiently knocking him out as well.

What an amazing coincidence! It looks like they're truly amateurs at fighting and other forms of combat. I guess that I got some time to kill by enjoying their screams of pain for trying to ruin my day!

"Come on," I taunt, feeling more arrogant and cocky as I saw the stunned expression on the man who moments ago just knocked his partner out. "You got a jacked up notion of fair play, pal, and it's beginning to piss me off!" I yell out, tightening my grip and swinging the unconscious body with all my strength despite my groaning muscles, using the unfortunate gangster as a makeshift club at my opponent. The two skulls collide hard with a *Crack!*, and now the number of bodies that littered the floor adds up to seven.

I turn around, facing three more people behind me. Two of them held lead pipes, but the guy in the middle held a knife. One of them blurted out, "I'm going to take a leak on your dead body and pleasure myself with that bitch of yours!"

…This bastard just has a death wish. And I am more than willing to carry it out for him. I sighed before grinning maniacally. "When will you ever learn?" I ask them, their faced beginning to get confused by my apparent lack of worry, "That threatening people whom I'm close with will ensure your death, scum!"

I then made my first offensive move by rushing at them with all my might. I scoop up one lead pipe lying around on the ground nearby, and then swiftly swing it up to intercept one guy's weapon. I then spin around, my left foot out to back-kick the opponent in the face. His head lands on the side of a wall, ensuring another knock-out for me. I then combat-roll forward, dodging another swing of a lead pipe over me in the process.

I swing my pipe into a reverse grip on my left hand and face the attacker. "Haaah!" I roar out as I sprinted forward, then suddenly leaping while swinging both of my feet out and into the shocked guy's face in a perfect dropkick as perspiration shot out of our sweating bodies when we made contact.

Eat shoe soles, bastard.

The guy takes a few steps back, stunned, until I attack with my pipe and dig it into the gangster's nose. That made the gang member finally collapse with a bloody disfigured nose. When he wakes up, he's going to lose a lot of admirers.

The last guy holding the knife is now on shaking knees. Can't blame him, I just took out nine of his guys. He gasped as he caught me staring at him. I knew that I was being sadistic, but I couldn't stop myself from smirking and saying, "Glad I got your attention. Now, is that all of you bastards? I was beginning to feel ignored~."

He lost all of his senses, running up to me with his knife held out while screaming unrecognizable words. All I simply had to do is get ready, dodge to the side with swift speed, and then lashing the pipe out and striking him across the face like a baseball bat. "And it's a homerun!" I yelled out, watching the man spin around for several seconds before dropping onto the floor with the knife embedded onto the wall in front of him.

End Song

As the music from my headphones finally ended, I whistle as I took off my music player. If a knife that sharp actually struck me, I would be bleeding out to death.

"Now then," I state, turning back to face Yukari and dropping the pipe. I was beginning to feel some of my former bloodlust fade away as the echo from the lead pipe gradually stopped. But… why? Why was she was beginning to look shocked? Didn't I just defeat all of them? "What's the matter?" I ask her, beginning to step towards her. "I managed to stop them from–."

*SHLLLINK* *SPLATTER*

I didn't know what is going on at first as I pause. I certainly didn't feel anything. I glance down at my right side, noticing something roll across the ground. The thing that tumbles onto the cold concrete floor looked out of place; it even looked like a cheap toy. Its image burned into my mind, but my head still couldn't figure out what it was.

But the answer slowly dawns on me.

My right arm is gone.

The sensation finally registering, unimaginable pain took its place. But it isn't the only thing I feel – it's hot, it's hot… It's burning.

"AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGHH! MY ARM! AAAGGHHHH!"

"Oh man, it looks like you're in a bit of pain there, brat! Does it hurt? Does it? Of course it does, BRAT! Look at all that blood squirting out from your side!" A distorted masculine voice rang out, but I couldn't even hear a single damn thing.

As I collapse to my knees grasping my bleeding side that still squirts out blood, my glasses slides off my sweaty face and hits the hard pavement of the ground. The lenses shatter into thousands of broken shards as I finally remember that there were ELEVEN people who were there after me, not the current ten that currently lay on the ground unconscious.

But it's too late; I could not do a single thing about it, especially not when I am like this: on the ground, bleeding, missing an arm, and slowly…

… Dying.

The silhouette of a disfigured THING steps into view. He was… disfigured. He somehow resembled a mix between a clay doll, a scarecrow, and a zombie. Patches of skin and porcelain parts made up its body. His left hand is a thick rectangular blade similar to that of an oversized rectangular butcher knife. The blade was bloody, clearly marking it as the weapon that sliced off my right arm. Its right leg is a wooden peg, making its steps irregular. Its face was blank like a doll, but its left side is missing a few pieces, revealing a black squirming organic mass of something underneath. But the thing that made it stand out was its right arm. It was constantly glowing where some azure stripes were, and resembled reptilian and humanoid while appearing to be made out of hardened minerals like diamond. Overall, that limb seemed out of place compared the rest of its messed-up appearance.

The… thing continued, his voice distorted and echoing. "Now you see what you had done, you bastard? Ever since that vending machine of yours crushed me, I looked like a total freak! But with some guy who gave me this power as a demon to kill, I finally waited for the chance to kill you!"

From my side I notice Yukari, who steps up with a stern expression in her face. Run, I try to tell her, but no words came out of my mouth except for whimpers and groans due to the excruciating pain. Escape while you can. Unfortunately, she ignores my attempts to warn her, to get her away from this hellhole.

"So you are the resident youkai of the outside world that had been causing the trouble in this town, correct?" She speaks, spreading her paper fan apart and covering the bottom half of her face. Jeez, how in the world can she remain calm like this, especially when a monstrosity like this THING here is facing her ready to kill?

And what are they even talking about? Outside world? Youkai, monsters in Japanese terms? They don't exist! Although, I have to grudgingly admit, that THING over there would fit the description…

"INCORRECT!" the thing roars. "I am not like those weak and puny youkai, who fled off to their eastern wonderland to hide from the pathetic humans! I am a DEMON. The species that reigns above the rest! Now go die in a shithole with this bastard over there!"

All I could do is look on in shock as the thing leaped up into the air, swinging its bladed left up and down towards Yukari. I knew I had to do something despite my pain, just to save Yukari. She had nothing to do with this entire event, only getting involved due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. But what could I do? I was missing an arm and literally squirting my life away. But as the blade inches closer and closer toward Yukari, something inside me snaps as darkness began to veil my eyes.

If I could save her life by giving my humanity, I thought, slowly giving in to the darkness. Then so be it.

~o~o~[Interlude]~o~o~

Yakumo Yukari, the being who held mysteriously origins, only smiles as the demon fell closer and closer. What did a novice self-proclaimed demon such as this have as a chance to defeat her, the infamous Youkai of Boundaries? Absolutely nothing.

But when she was about to retaliate, she heard a yell that expressed all the pent-up frustration and power. Both she and the demon glance at the teenager boy, shocked, as he suddenly staggers to his unstable feet. As if defying the entire world that want him dead, he stood up and ran like there's no tomorrow towards the falling demon.

Yukari widened her eyes in shock. The boy is erupting a visible blue aura that flares all around him, especially around his missing right arm. The boy grasps the knife that had been embedded into the wall and suddenly, appears directly behind the demon with a burst of speed like a flash. The demon lands on the ground, shocked, but begins to laugh.

"What was that supposed to do, eh!" He taunted. But Yukari knew better. The black liquid that functioned as demonic blood continuously drips on the edge of the knife held by the teenager boy. When the demon glances at his side, and for the first time ever saw that his glowing demon right arm was gone, similar to the condition of the boy.

As the demon began to scream in pain, the teenager straightens his position, turning around to reveal that he discarded the bloodied knife onto the floor while his left arm held the demonic right limb. The glow on the demon arm is pulsing, and the aura around the boy began to center on both the missing joint and the detached demon arm. The teenager then readies his left arm.

And jabs the demon limb straight into the missing joint.

Both Yukari and the demon, who still screeched out obscenities from pain, cover their eyes as another flash of azure blinds the area. When the light settled down, Yukari opens her eyes to see that the demon arm fused with boy.

It's as if the arm originally belonged to him, and not to the demon crying pathetically over there in the background.

The boy looked directly at them. Although Yukari could see how the boy's eyes were glazed, the teenager was still focused on his objective to eradicate the enemy. The boy flexed his new arm, seeing how it responded to the messages from the brain via the nervous system, and then sprinted toward the demon with sudden enhanced speed. The visible azure aura pulses once more and a larger, spectral arm of the demon right forms, trailing along the same path. It swings toward the demon, gasping it in its clutches.

"No," the demon whimpers out pathetically, "Spare me, let me live, I don't want to die, I don't want to–."

"Shut up," the teenager spits out, silencing the futile begs for mercy. Like the cowering demon, his voice was now also distorted and echoing. "Die like a worm that you are!" He flings his recently attached demon arm down when he got close enough, the spectral arm copying the movement. Yukari winced as the demon yelps out in pain as it got slammed repeatedly onto the ground with such brutality that cracks formed in the pavement. After repeating the action for three more times the teenager with a yell flings the demon up into the air.

"Begone from my sight!" the boy bellows, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust!" As the final word passes through his cracked bleeding lips, he thrusts his human left palm out in the direction of the demon. Yukari notices that his aura condensed into an orb of pure spiraling energy before flying from the palm of his hand towards the creature in the air. It's like danmaku, Yukari notes, referencing to the types of long-ranged attacks she had seen back where she originally existed.

The only difference between the two attacks was that this one here is meant to kill.

The sphere of aura struck the demon in the air, exploding at the end. The demon's screams gradually faded away, it's now dead body completely eradicated into ashes. The boy stands there, panting from all the effort he manages to display even when unconscious before crumpling towards the ground.

Yukari manages to catch him before the teenager hit the floor. Sighing, Yukari rubs his head, noting how his once black hair rapidly lost its black pigments until it was silvery white.

"Nanashi Rain," she said, standing up to lift him onto her shoulder as if he is a ragdoll. "You managed to make me even more curious about you than ever. You didn't have to carry me away and attempt to save me, though. It was completely unnecessary." She pouts when she mentioned how the teen frantically rushed to pick her up just to save her, but at the last sentence she returns back to smiling. It was hardly noticeable, but there's a slight pinkish tint in her cheeks. "… It was still rather sweet of you to risk your life for somebody you barely even know about."

"Still," the mysterious Youkai of Boundaries continues, returning to her serious attitude from before. "A normal human shouldn't be able to kill a demon just like that. Based on what I saw, you clearly are something special. That aura powers, the usage of the demon arm as if you knew already what it was… Maybe that limb truly does belong to you.

But with all this chaos that occurred today, it looks like you cannot stay here in the human world any longer. Chaos is already breaking out, and by now people would deem you dead. I'll take you to my sanctuary, the area of land that I oversee," Yukari finishes, pointing her paper fan directly in front of her. The air distorts, then the space in front of the paper fan splits open to reveal a gap. The ends were tied by red ribbons similar to the one on Yukari's pinkish-white mob hat. The insides of the gap appears to be made out of purple mass full of eyes that occasionally blinked as they gazed at who knows what.

"Do you know why I chose the name 'Rain' for you, despite your insistence to be addressed by your actual name?" Yukari asks to the unconscious teen she is carrying. "Like the number of raindrops, you have abundant blessings from above. Now, now, don't you even think about how unfortunate you were in the past, or of how you seemed to be chained up by fate. How else could you successfully manage to protect me, let alone yourself, from these thugs?"

The teenager's closed eye twitched.

"See~? Even though only one revealed his monstrous form, they were all youkai, or demons, as they want to be called. With their augmented strength a normal human would be dead. But you managed to stop all eleven of them single-handedly."

"You managed to catch my attention, Rain," Yukari added on, peering inside the gap as if determining where to enter. "No other human beings in my entire existence ever caught my attention like you. Well, it looks like you need medical attention, so I'll being you to Eientei to heal up. Eirin is, after all, the best medic the world has to offer."

As she steps into the gap, the entrance began to zip together by the ribbons. Taking a last glance at the world she called the Outside, she utters her final sentence softly with sincerity:

"Rain, welcome to Gensokyo."

All that is left of the scene was ten unconscious bodies of gangsters and a grotesque arm lying around in the alley with police sirens echoing across the air.