! According to certain countries, i can buy whatever i want. But not child porn! NO! IT IS THE EMEMY WHO WILL TASTE DEATH AND DEFEAT! I HAVE NOT FEHLED! SPESSSSSSS MEHRENS!

FASTER HARDER MEANER BETTER!

Vale:ahahaha...he has been playing too much warhammer 40k.

NO I HAVE NOT! FOR THE EMPRAH!

Vale:*sighs* SMACK!

Whoo...stars...

Vale:*smiles angelically* Enjoy.

Moriya shrine

Afternoon

Dutch had had his fair share of arguments. Some were simple ones, trivial day to day matters. Others were of far greater importance, lives hanging in the balance on the words spoken. Thankfully, he as of yet continued to remain undefeated.

So right now, as he sat on the floor trading barbs with Renko, he wondered why it was so hard to convince her.

"What's wrong with protecting you?" He fumed.

"It's wrong when you have to put yourself in danger!" Renko returned.

"The very definition of 'protecting' is to save you from harm often by defending you, which puts the protector in harm's way! I see no point in your grievance!" Dutch answered, frustrated by his pretty companion's mulish stubbornness.

Renko opened her mouth to shoot back. Maribel placed a gentle hand on her friend's and gave her a calming smile, which quietened the fiery brunette. Her friend calmed, Maribel turned to their male companion.

"What Renko is trying to convey is that we find your tendency to be in dangerous or even life threatening situations very upsetting. We both hope you could be safe." Maribel said, her calm voice defusing the tension.

"Well, it can't be helped if I'm the only one who knows how to fight among us." Dutch answered acidly, none to pleased by their reaction to his honourable actions.

Slap!

Dutch turned his head back, his cheek red. A hint of surprise graced his expressions, he could have sworn he had seen a very indignant Vale shaking her head at her father. Renko stood up and stalked out of the room, her hand mirroring the color on Dutch face. Maribel remained seated, her expression dripping with disapproval.

"Yep, I probably deserved that." Dutch muttered as he felt his tender cheek. Other then a slight burning and the obvious red, he was fine.

"She has always been the more headstrong of us. The pioneer of our group. She hated being sheltered. That's why she acted this way. However, that does not exempt you. Your statement, true as it is, is uncalled for." Maribel sniffed.

Dutch sighed as he read the logic behind her statement. "Very well then, I'll go apologize."

He got up and left the room heavily. Maribel sat back and took a sip from the rather cold cups of tea Sanae had left for them.

"Ummmm...May I enter?" Sanae asked as she peeked her head over the side of the sliding door.

"Yes you may." Maribel answered, smiling brightly.

Mountain shrine grounds

Lake Suwa

Renko stared out at the water, the surface danced ceaselessly, the afternoon sun glinting off the rippling surface. A colony of frogs swam past, ignoring the human intruder in their territory. The human in turn ignored them. Frogs were nothing compared to what she had experienced for the past few days.

Behind her, Dutch sauntered out from the trees. He stopped behind Renko, the woman making no impression that she had noticed him.

"It was a normal day. Like any other. I was on a train going to meet her. That bastard followed me." Renko said, eyes focussed on the azure waters. Dutch kept silent.

"It was not the first time he had appeared to us. I always thought that he was a stalker for her. Her blonde hair always drew men. But I didn't know that he was not as particular to blondes as I had thought." Her eyes glinting with moisture.

"He followed me after I got off the train. Waited until we were alone and then dragged me into an alley. I tried to fight back. I tried." She spoke, her voice now a ghost of a whisper as she turned to Dutch.

"He was too strong. He held me down, went for my clothing." She described, tears flowing uncontrollably down her face.

"Bastard." Dutch muttered quietly to himself, his hands clenched tightly.

"What happened?"

"I managed to hit him. He fell off. I got up and ran." Renko finished.

Dutch nodded, silent. He could not give an answer to her statement.

"At that time, I felt so helpless. So powerless. I hated that feeling. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to be able to decide what I wanted, not be some other's plaything. I learned how to fight back, to use that move." She said even as tears curtained her face in a sheen of emotion.

"And then you came along. Everything you met, you took head on. When we needed help, you were there. It was such a strange feeling. To know that at a moment's notice, someone else would put himself on the line for me. I never ever felt so protected in my life. I hated that feeling, knowing that someone else was defending me. I wanted to replace that someone with me, to lead the charge against whatever life threw at us." Renko said.

"But every time some thing dangerous came up, I could not fight back. You took on that role, without complaint. Asking nothing in return, you risked everything. Why?" Renko asked, her tears still flowing.

"Because its what I live for. No matter the cost, a life is a life. You may not win all the time but you try your hardest to win." Dutch said.

Renko smiled at his statement. "Then can you show me your hardest?" She asked as she wiped away her tears and summoned her hour hands.

Dutch chuckled gently. "I would love to."

Moriya shrine

The sound of battle filled the air. Sanae looked out to see black dots rising in the sky and shooting back down. It occurred to her that they were coming from lake Suwa.

"Shouldn't we go find out what's going on?" She asked as the unmistakable bark of a rifle echoed unseen beyond the wall of nearby trees.

Maribel sipped her tea demurely and smiled back at her. "And interrupt their match? That would be rude. Please, why don't you rather tell me about your time before you came here."

Lake Suwa

Dutch ducked behind a rock as another volley of hour hands struck the position he had vacated mere seconds ago.

Seconds later, the rock shook as hour hands struck against it's surface. Chips blew off in the face of the repeated assault but the cover stayed true to its name, holding fast.

Dutch phased in another magazine and reloaded his carbine. He threw the empty magazine away. Its chatter brought hour hands that peppered the area around the magazine.

'She's getting smart. Using her ability to pinpoint any suspicious objects that I throw away.' He thought as he got ready to run. He made a frenzied dash for the trees, leaving cover. Renko loosed a veritable storm of both minute and hour hands at him, the ground around him quickly became a roiling mass of jumping soil and grass as the blasts of energy from the dammaku blew them flying.

Dutch dived behind a tree. The shower of hour hands stopped as their wielder lost contact with her target. Dutch reviewed what had happened so far.

Renko was definitely getting smarter with her danmaku. Before, she just threw them at Dutch in her anger. Now, she tried more often to herd him into killzones where he was boxed in by the rain of hour hands and unable to escape the next volley. He also spotted hour hands that she had stopped in midair, waiting for when Dutch stopped to aim at her before firing them off at him. Combined with the minute hands that she fired if she could see him, he was at a disadvantage here.

Dutch smiled grimly. He had his own trump card ready for fire. It was time to test his latest weapon.

Renko stood ready. She fired at any sound she heard, her ability automatically processing the sound and giving her the approximate location. It was a simple matter of launching a few hour hands at that area.

She smiled wickedly to herself. It was just matter of wearing down Dutch until he made a mistake. And then she would pounce and finish him.

A rustle of leaves brought a series of numbers to her eye. She used the numbers to pinpoint the location on a mental grid of the area that her ability gave her and send a couple of hour hands to strike the right place.

That brought a clamour of sounds as the hour hands blast through the forest on their way to their target. Branches shattered under the danmaku assault and dropped. Renko face contorted at the commotion. The sounds drowned out any other noises around her.

A burst of fire from the trees made her instinctively move aside. The bolts shot past her, inches from hitting her. Renko launched off another volley of hour hands. Her actions brought another cacophony of breaking branches as the bolts again blasted through the tree canopy on their way down. The harsh din again drowned out all noise.

Renko huffed in frustration.

Dutch grinned as he watched his opponent scan the tree line for him. She was learning fast but not fast enough. He gestured and the crystal on his arm flared.

Renko turned, constantly looking for a sign of Dutch. An explosion in the forest caught her attention. As the sound faded, the sound of a tree falling punctured the air. It crashed onto the ground, the sounds echoing through out the dense grove. The noises overwhelmed her ability's capability to locate via sound as well as her sense of hearing.

Renko frowned. Why would Dutch cut down a tree. As she pondered his actions, the sound of boots on grass registered too late. She turned to see Dutch sprinting towards her, almost within touching distance. She quickly backtracked, launching hour hands and firing minute hands at her oncoming opponent.

Dutch blocked a burst with his newest weapon. It wrapped around his right hand over his glove, a hybrid fusion of armor and weapon.

A layer of armor, made out of a night-black weave coated his hand and forearm. It moved fluidly, responding to its wielder's every movement instantaneously. Over his hand, two dagger-sized blades, each a mirror image of the other, glinted in the morning sun. They were of a metal-blue hue with a pitch-black core. Royal blue lapis crystals lined the inner edge of the wrist blades. Joining the blades at the base to the armor, the vault crystal itself mirrored the color of the weave.

The minute hands struck the carapace armor and exploded in small bursts of energy. The armor did its job, protecting its owner from the blasts of energy. Dutch phased away the blades and raised his fist for a strike to end the battle.

Renko raised her arms in a futile attempt to block the blow.

Clang!

A long sword-sized second hand seemed to weave itself out of thin air and blocked Dutch's fist. Both were surprised by the sudden appearance. The sword broke off from the attack and went for a downward slash.

Dutch cursed as he phased in his wrist blades and countered. The two met with a clash of metal, one physical, the other magical. Both refused to budge.

Renko watched as the magical blade broke off and floated to her. She dumbly grabbed the handle of the blade and looked at it. Then realizing what she had to do, she gripped the sword tightly and charged Dutch.

Dutch parried the attack with his wrist blades. As he changed his fighting strategies to suit the new situation, he was very surprised by this sudden change of attack. He countered with a slash with the wrist blades. Renko blocked it with her sword and the fight was on.

As Renko pressed on with her advantage, she felt slightly giddy with a variety of emotions. As she wielded the blade, she realized that her body instinctively knew what to do. She was trying to understand how she could wield a sword with such skill, seeing that she had never held a sword in her life.

As he went for a quick stab, he analyzed the style of his opponent. The movements of Renko were very...mathematical. It was as if the blade was wielded by a robot with a very advanced processor. Dutch also noted that while her strikes lacked power, her moves were solid, having few flaws of any kind. Hardly the random swinging one would expect of a person holding a sword for the first time.

A stab parried by the flat edge of the sword. A counter slash blocked. Edge against edge. Both sides meeting the other with equivalent force.

Dutch tsked. While the fight was interesting, he wanted to end it as quickly as possible. He jumped away from Renko, preparing to fire his trump card.

Renko grinned. Dutch was retreating. 'I might actually win this fight.' She thought cockily as she stood ready for whatever Dutch threw at her.

Dutch grinned in kind. He gestured with his armored hand and the vault crystal responded by flaring to life. It glowed red as the lapis crystals lining the wrist blades mirrored the color. He aimed the wrist blades at Renko.

For the second time in a day, Renko blanched.

Flash!

The modified scarlet strike shot out in a flash of red laser. It struck Renko instantaneously, sending her flying in a blast of energy. She landed in the water with a loud splash, skipping along the surface sending the frogs into a frenzy as they hopped to avoid the sudden commotion in the lake.

Dutch phased away his armor and breathed in deep. It was an enjoyable fight. Full of surprises. He had managed to stop Renko's attack, her attempt to dissuade him from his sacrifice routine had met with failure. He had won, in his view.

"Can I get some help please?" Renko asked as she tried.. unsuccessfully, to fish herself out of the water. Dutch turned to her... and quickly averted his eyes. The wet, white cloth of her shirt clung to her and showed off her lithe body. The water also managed to diminish the light blocking capabilities of the shirt.

Meaning that not only Dutch could see clearly see Renko's body shape, he also could see through her shirt. He quickly stared at something else.

He could remember the color of her bra. So easily...

*Insert painful head clearing moral reasserting self-inflicted injury here*

Smack!

Morals. They hurt.

Moriya shrine

The resident gods watched as the boy moved to help his female companion, plainly trying avoid looking at his companion.

"What do you think?" Kanako asked her fellow god. Her usual red shirt adorning her upper body. White were the sleeves that covered her arms and a small mirror nestled comfortably on her bosom drawing the eyes of any gazer to those very impressive assets supporting it. A long black skirt with red flower print covered her lower body. Blue hair framed her face and a pair of rose red eyes flush with godly power, stared out. Her signature rope circle shimenawa stood out behind her.

The newcomers are interesting, she had to admit but one particular one unnerved her. Dutch's slaughter of the mountain youkai, justified in self-defence, was reminiscent of the assassins that she herself had once dispatched on missions in a time long ago, but that did not unnerve her as much as his actions after the battle. The casualness of his walk, the calmness of his speech. They were more akin to a person going through his normal life than one that had just wiped out twelve youkai and sent the rest running in fear.

Suwako grinned. The loli frog goddess wore a simple purple-blue dress with frog print and white large sleeves. Medium length blonde hair flowed down Her head and grey eyes glinted with the characteristic mischievousness that was the reputation of the partner god of the Moriya shrine. Her glorious legs, the only part of her body she could really boast about, were adorned with white knee-highs and ended in a pair of grey shoes. On top of her head a brown straw hat perched jauntily its two frog eyes blinking periodically. Many people theorized that the hat was a physical manifestation of her power but few would dare try to confirm it for themselves. Her curse goddess reputation tended to dissuade people.

"Kero~ These people are connected to Yukari. That's good enough to prove that they are special. Why worry about them kero~" Suwako returned. Unlike Kanako, she was impressed by the actions of the male human. In fact, she for a while juggled thoughts of sending opponents against him. That train of thought was quickly vanquished by the appearance of Yukari who reminded her of the agreement between Mayohiga and Moriya.

Kanako growled at her fellow goddess sentiment. "I worry because Yukari just left a very dangerous killer at Moriya with Sanae in there. Don't you worry for her as well?"

Suwako laughed out loud. "Do you actually think that Yukari would let an dangerous person into Moriya that would harm any of us? Kero~ she wants allies, not enemies. And I don't think Sanae would fall so easily. You should have more faith in your own shrine maiden."

Kanako grumbled. Suwako's speech made sense. Yukari wanted allies. Or at least people that she could use if there was a emergency. Otherwise she wouldn't have even let them into Gensokyo in the first place.

"If you are wrong, it's your fault." She finally growled. Suwako grinned like a frog.

Evening

Moriya shrine

Dutch looked out as the dipping sun slowly entered the horizon. Unlike its morning incantation, it left a red hue across the land. The ground aglow with lively red and the waters offering a mirror image of the great orb of fire in the sky.

As he watched, a presence behind him made him pause. Radiating power, the presence simply stayed there, neither bothering or ignoring him. Dutch steadfastly continued to look out. Let the other make the first step.

"The sight is beautiful, is it not?" The presence spoke with a powerful woman's voice, awash with power.

"It would be foolish to say no, Ma'am." Dutch answered. He turned around to see Kanako standing behind him, looking down upon him. She smiled to his speech.

"Ma'am? A strange way to address an elder being." Kanako answered. She had been warned by Yukari that Dutch tended to treat people differently than even the standard outsider but to be addressed with a ma'am? That was very different indeed.

Dutch shrugged. "I don't like using honorifics and using your name would be plain rude. This is the best way I came up to address you. If you don't approve, I can't help you."

Kanako eyes sharpened. She started radiating pure raw power. The air turned cold and the clouds, once scattered, now condensed together into a single mass, growling with lightning power. The sky rolled in turmoil and a howl of wind filled the air.

Dutch stood steadfast in this display of godly power. Even as the wind howled around him and the sky rumbled above him, he was an oasis of composure, calm and unmoving.

After a minute of display, Kanako finally ceased her power. The winds returned to normal and the clouds spread back to their scattered formations. Her eyes returned to their original look.

"It's sufficient." She said before leaving.

Dutch blinked and let out the breath he was holding. Dear god, even through he was not afraid of the rain goddess, that display was slightly unnerving. At least he managed to retain a calm exterior.

"kero~ Scary isn't she?" Suwako asked from his side, squatting frog-like next to Dutch.

Dutch snapped his head around. When had she appeared there?

Suwako smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. If she does that then she has accepted you. You will be fine here Kero~."

Dutch nodded, his mouth either incapable or unwilling to function properly. The frog goddess hopped on to the ground and started to sink into it. Her hat, the last to be absorbed into the soil, gave him a blink before finally disappearing.

Weird.

Dutch sat on the porch, processing what had just happened. Unable to find some resemblance of sense in what just happened, he decided to return back to the setting sun. At least that did not do logic breaking actions.

An hour later, when the sky had darkened and the stars shone brightly, Maribel went out to find her companion. She had swapped her clothing for a green blouse that Sanae had lend her. She found Dutch, still sitting on the porch, looking out at the starry night sky.

"Dutch, dinner is ready. You want to come in?" She asked him. Dutch nodded and got up. As he took one last look, a trio of falling stars caught his eyes. Strangely enough, they fell in a rough triangle shape, blazing though the night sky. His eyes narrowed as he watched them on their journey earthward.

"Is something wrong?" Maribel asked as she caught Dutch staring at the falling stars. Dutch turned his attention away from the stars and gave Maribel a smile.

"No." He answered as he entered the shrine. Maribel gave the stars, still engaged in their one way trip to the ground one last look before following Dutch.

Tengu village

Tengu palace

Tenma clutched the letter with thinly veiled eagerness.

She wondered why she awaited this particular letter with so much anticipation. Was it because it was written by a human to a youkai? Or perhaps it was for a different reason?

No, she told herself. It was simply because it held advice for herself. Yes, that was it, she answered herself, and nothing else. The self doubting part of her felt appeased...for now, by the answer and quietened down.

She sat down on her bed and opened the letter. The crinkle of paper filled the air as she shakily unfolded the letter.

I find this letter highly irregular myself. Such an event would never happen in the outside world. I have gone through what you ask and have decided to answer it frankly. If it has survived for a thousand years under your leadership, it can definitely survive for a few weeks without it. Every leader has the right to take a break once in a while and I believe yours is long overdue. Tell your advisers to manage the village while you are gone, that is after all their job. I recommend that you go in disguise to avoid suspicion. You wouldn't want to draw attention to yourself. Just leave for a while and relax. You could find that the benefits will outweigh leaving for a few days. I expect when I see you again, that you, your beautiful self will be more relaxed and in much higher spirits.

Ps: I am currently involved in the stages for planning for a dwelling for me to settle down in. Would you know of any way that can make this endeavor easier?

Tenma blushed as she read the ending of the main portion once, then twice and finally one more time just to be certain that the ending had said what she thought it had said. Beautiful self? That flattering human, she screamed into her pillow in ecstacy and flailed her feet like a fledgeling in love. When she read the second part, she was half tempted to write back that he could stay at the palace. Before she knew it, her hand was reaching for a writing brush to write the offer down.

What was she doing?

With aching restraint,Tenma stopped herself. Such actions were unbecoming of the Tengu Boss. It spoke of impulsiveness. She growled in frustration. Right now,for once, she hated her position. It meant that she had to choose her answer carefully to reflect her reputation and right now, she could not choose any answer that would be a good reflection of that position.

As she threw herself back onto her bed, she wondered about Dutch. What was the human doing? Was he safe?

Now she felt like sending a squad of white wolf tengu to guard him.

What was she thinking now?

Tenma hit herself with a pillow to refresh her thoughts. At the same time, she cursed Dutch for plaguing her thoughts.

Damn him!

Gensokyo mountain ridges

The trio of assassin drones landed earth side.

They chattered in their clicking manner, each passing information to the other until they were fully briefed on their mission. As they spoke, a clatter of rocks made them jerk up their arms, wrist shooters humming.

From the shadows cast by the stones, a man rose out. Decked in onyx armor, with flowing cloth that helped to break his shape, he looked at the trio of golems with red glowing slit pupils.

"Do you have a message from our mutual benefactor?" A cultured and dark voice asked.

The lead golem nodded. The man grinned inside his armor. In a flurry of wispy cloth, the man slashed the ground with a sword of black fire. The ground split open into a portal and the man entered. The drones followed him, their magic assisted legs making no noise on the rocky ground.