GENSOKYOBOUND

by SKOOLATOON

Hikari Hakurei is Reimu's own daughter of eighteen years. Her quiet demeanor's brought by social inexperience and natural introversion. Night of Gensokyian New Year party, Hikari wakes to a strange meteorite falling from the sky. While many of Gensokyo's finest are in drunken comas in the shrine, Hikari takes it upon herself to investigate. It'd be a long time before she gets home.

2. One Small Step for Hakurei

Hikari Hakurei saw a suspiciously out of place figure amongst the marketplace of the village.

'...For whatever reason, I don't think such attire is terribly fitting with today's weather…'

Hikari takes a moment to look at her exposed shoulders, but shakes it off.

It was a maid clad in blue, dressed in what Hikari recognized as a western manner. Afterall, one of her favorite books had a western maid in it.

Then again, when you live in the far, far east, everything's technically 'western'.

The maid stumbled about, clutching her head, going to and fro the stalls.

Hikari walked up to her. "...You."

'Good start.'

The maid sighed, and turned towards her. "...Yes?"

She then paused. "...Hikari? Hikari Hakurei?"

'She knows who I am?' "...That's me."

The maid nods. "Hmm… I don't think we've met before. Regardless, now's not the best time, you see-"

Hikari interrupts her. "I'm trying to locate… a troublemaker."

'Real smooth, me. Again.'

...She blinks. "...I just got here. I don't know anything. I have a hell of a hangover, so please… just leave me to my devices."

Hikari's face lit up in realization. 'She was at that party last night, wasn't she? Along with that vampire…'

That vampire seemed very similar to something she read in a novel, too. The one in the novel had a sister, though, and as far as Hikari was aware, Remilia didn't.

'Hmm. Food for thought.'

"A-alright…" Hikari quietly replied, as the maid went about her business at the stalls.

She was right when she said she hadn't met Hikari before then. The vampire didn't often stop around the shrine, and when she did Hikari wasn't around to meet her.

At least, not in recent years did the vampire stop around often.

'I don't really remember…'

Regardless, she didn't know anything about the latest incident at the village.

Wandering the village square, Hikari found herself at a stand still.

'It doesn't seem like most of these regular villagers know anything about what's going on…'

Hikari considered her options.

'I could visit Akyuu and see if she knows what's going on… or I could wander around aimlessly until I find someone suspicious...'

…

'I already kinda did the last one, so I think I'll just go find Akyuu.'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Approaching the home of the Child of Miare, Hikari observed the state it was in.

Graffiti was present on most of the walls of the manor-esque structure that Hikari could see.

'...I should probably investigate. Just maybe.'

She knocked on the door.

A servant slowly creaked it open. "...Who is this?"

Hikari thought of what to say for a moment. "...H-Hikari. Hakurei…"

The servant gasped, then swung the door open. "Hakurei!? Come in, come in!"

The servant was some old, balding man.

Stepping inside, Hikari took a cautious look around. Some servants were clad in pots and pans, and a few were graffitied themselves.

"Lady Hieda has been expecting you, Hakurei." The man warmly stated, moving through the manor with precision. Hikari followed him.

'Akyuu's place was always quite grand. I wouldn't mind servants myself...'

"You see, we've had quite a… predicament, as of late."

'I can see that.'

Eventually, they stopped before a rather decorated door.

"Continue as you see fit, Lady Hakurei." The man bowed.

'...Never got that kind of treatment here, before.'

Hikari opened the door to Akyuu's room.

Akyuu was seated at her fancy arm chair, facing the door already.

"...Hikari?" Akyuu tilted her head.

"...H-hey."

'I expect Akyuu to already be familiar with my inability to form words.'

Akyuu stood up from her chair, moving to greet Hikari. "...Quite a day to be doing errands in the village, isn't it?"

Hikari nodded. "...I'd say so."

Akyuu was always a rather strange fellow, Hikari noticed. It was only after a conversation with her mother that she found out that Akyuu's mind was far, far older than her physical appearance.

'It makes her strangely easy to relate to sometimes, though. I suppose that's what living through childhood ten times does to you.'

"Is your mother in the village today?" Akyuu questions, moving towards the dresser next to the room's doorway.

"Not as far as I'm aware…"

'She's probably home nursing her inevitable hangover… and seeing to the many, many others either still in comas or waking up to hangovers.'

Hikari was glad she wasn't home at the moment.

Akyuu looked over to her. "...I know I've said this way too many times, but you really do look almost exactly like your mother did."

'It's not just you, lady.' Hikari was a little tired of being constantly compared to her mother.

"...You're probably tired of hearing that by now, aren't you?" Akyuu smiled.

'I still don't know how she does that sometimes.' Akyuu may have not been psychic, but she was probably the next best thing.

"...So, what brings you here? I doubt you've come this way just to chat up an old soul like me, especially with the village in such a state."

'Nah, I came to talk about the weather.'

"...Do you know who's behind the current incident?"

Akyuu nodded. "...To be honest, I was expecting your mother to be here to ask that question, but I suppose you're old enough to give it an attempt yourself."

'...What's that supposed to mean?' Hikari was certain she didn't have that much trouble with the hooligans, except for the time that she did.

"...From what my servants have reported back to me, the harbinger of these disturbances has been a rabbit youkai of some form. No one actually placed who it was specifically, however."

'...Well, it's something to work with.'

"If I were you, I'd check… hmm…" Akyuu paused. "...I'd try the school, if I were you."

"...The school?" Hikari questions. 'I was already there, and it looked pretty deserted…'

"Yes. It was one of the other locations targeted, wasn't it? The only places being targeted currently are places with abundances of books, and in that case, the highest priority for them would be a place of education."

'I guess that makes sense.'

Akyuu nods, satisfied. "...I'll just be here. It'd do me no good to leave my servants alone, you know?"

Hikari stared at Akyuu. "I wasn't going to take you with me, you know."

Akyuu laughed. "Hahahah… Just as I would expect. Don't try too hard out there."

Rolling her eyes, Hikari left Akyuu's room and made her way out of the mansion.

'...Smart ass.'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Hikari approached the school again.

'Still looks pretty empty to me…'

She walked up to the front door, and upon pushing it, she found it to be locked.

'...How am I supposed to- oh…'

Looking to the right, she noticed a window was busted open. There was no light inside the building, aside from that which made it through the windows.

'...Let me just…'

Using her gohei, she cleared out some of the glass in the window through percussive maintenance.

Whap!

Krr~ack!

Hikari winced. 'I didn't expect that little glass to be that loud…'

Observing the gap, she saw it was more suited for living beings to pass through it.

'Now… all I need is to…'

...Hikari found some boxes around the building's side, and pushed them up against the window.

'There.'

With the box in place, Hikari climbed onto it and crawled through. On the other side, there wasn't a level surface waiting for her, unfortunately.

'...I'll just have to chance it.'

Hikari pushed against the edge of the box, and focused on using the wind enchantments she typically used for running to propel herself inwards.

Woosh!

Hikari shoots herself through the window and into a support pillar.

Thud.

"A-aah!"

…

She slowly slid off the pillar and onto the floor.

...

'...Not my best idea.'

On the upside, no one saw her do that, so she could just brush it off.

Hikari stood from the floor…

"Hey, bro… What was that?"

Her grip on her gohei tightened. 'I'm not alone, it seems.'

"I dunno, dude. The air?"

"Bro, bro, bro, you heard that right!?"

Hikari slowly crept around the cylindrical pillar, and made her way near some desks.

"What, the glass? Dude, we break glass all the time. Who cares?"

Looking under the desks, Hikari saw two gimp-suited goons with skateboards walk into the classroom.

"No, it sounded like a girl, bro. Like a girl."

His friend turned towards him. "...Dude. You need to, like, get out more…"

The other gimp jerked his head back. "Bro! I ain't playin'!"

"Don't even try it, dude. Just stop."

The other gimp sighed.

Hikari slowly made her way near the exit of the room, taking care in not producing any sudden or noticeable noises.

The gimps were about to turn around towards the exit.

Hikari tossed an ofuda under the desks, striking the locked door's bottom.

Thunk!

One of them whirled around. "Bro! Didn't you hear that!?"

His friend turned around. "U~gh, du~de… This place is old!"

Hikari stood and cautiously stepped towards them.

Only then did she notice the fact her sandals were made of wood.

Clack… clack… clack…

…

One of the gimps whirled around. Jumping back, he pointed at Hikari. "Duhuhuu~de!"

His friend shook his head. "Alright, quit screwing around, what the hell are you-"

Clack clack clack…!

SMAAAA~SH!

Hikari ran up behind the unaware gimp and smashed him across the back of the head.

He fell to the floor like a rock.

The other goon was startled by how fast his friend went down. "Dude, no!"

He brought up his board to defend himself. "I told them! I told them the village had tougher guards! Freakin' assassins! No one listened!"

'Assassin, huh. I kinda like the sound of that…'

Hikari smirked at the skateboard gimp. "Lay down the board… or lay down your life."

'The only reason I got that to come out well was because it's a quiet room.'

He shook his fist at Hikari. "N-no way! You're crusin' for a brusin', girl!"

Hikari sighed. 'It was fun while it lasted. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to make much more noise...'

She focused on the skateboard punk.

'...If only I could make him fall asleep as easily as I did with that child…'

Maybe she could, if she put her mind to it.

Hikari squinted at the gimp.

'...Fall asleep!'

Hikari tried Hypnosis α!

…

The skateboard gimp stumbled around, but remained standing.

"Whah… whazah…"

Hikari blinked. '...I felt something. Apparently it worked… kinda…'

…

While the gimp was trying to become alert again, Hikari brought her gohei up like a baseball bat.

She grinned at the blissfully unaware gimp.

"...Sorry."

SMAAAA~SH!

Thud.

The body dissipated into smoke, another unconscious kid left behind.

Hikari looked to where the body of the other gimp should have been, and saw another unconscious kid.

'...That takes care of that.'

Hikari moved towards the school's exit. She pulled the handle and opened the door.

Looking around, she saw the outdoors.

'Figures it'd be unlocked on the inside.'

Hikari closed the door, then went across the room to the classroom's exit into the rest of the school.

Opening the door, she found herself in an empty hallway.

'...I guess I'll go right.'

Going right, she found another door to the outside.

'Nevermind, then. Left it is.'

The hallway went a short distance before it lead to the school's front lobby. There were numerous doors to classrooms on the sides of the halls, but most of them either had unwanted attention or nothing of value in them.

'Best to ignore anything that'd risk more encounters. I'm looking for a rabbit youkai, here…'

Hikari heard a voice coming from the front lobby, one that wasn't a typical gimp's voice.

"Is everyone here yet!?"

Murmuring followed.

...Hikari rounded the corner to the hall segment that led to the front lobby, and she saw someone at the front desk of the main lobby.

There was a girl with rabbit ears.

'There we are!'

Hikari ducked back behind the corner, not wanting to risk being seen.

"I said… is everyone here yet!?" The rabbit girl barked at her audience.

'I'm going to need to find a way to get near her discreetly…'

Hikari backtracked to a broom closet she saw.

'...This will do.'

Opening it up, she dug around inside for something she could use to conceal herself. Unfortunately, she was too big for most of the carts and objects in it to be of much, if any, use.

'...This might be harder than I thought…'

There were some maintenance carts in the broom closet, but they weren't anything that would be useful. There was also a clothes rack with janitor uniforms hung up, but Hikari was pretty sure they wouldn't buy a janitor cleaning a school under siege.

'Come on…'

Hikari eyes saw a small, flat board. It wasn't as obnoxious as the skateboards the other gimps had used, and it was not an actual skateboard; it was a creeper board.

'As far as I'm aware, this school doesn't have any large machinery, nor do the students have any luggage that would justify something like this…'

She takes the board, and then examines the broom.

'...I've got an idea…'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Using the janitor's suit, the end of a mop, and some dark colored construction paper from a classroom, Hikari had constructed herself a very lackluster gimp suit. She had even made sure to scribble profanities on the creeper board.

'There's no way this should work, but it'll be funny anyway.' Hikari nodded to herself. If the situation got hairy, she could just run down the way she came and exit the school the way she came in.

'I doubt the skateboarders could handle doors well, anyway.'

Taking one last moment to make sure everything was set and ready to go, Hikari walked out the door. Most of the classroom doors in the hallway were open now, other gimps having gone to converge in the front lobby that weren't before.

"For the love of… Is this everyone yet!? It's been an hour, already!"

Hikari power-walked towards the lobby.

'...Should I say something?...I don't think so…'

Clack, clack, clack, clack…

As it turns out, there were no boots supplied for janitors, so Hikari was still in sandals. Truly the most punk getup.

The rabbit girl turned to Hikari.

"Wha- you! You're… late…?"

She trailed off, staring at Hikari's state of dress. Hikari's entire torso was covered in a very clumsy tarp made of taped together black and blue construction paper, and she had the end of a mop on her hair. She was holding a board that had 'fuk school' written on it with red crayon.

Hikari grinned sheepishly. "U-uh… I-I'm kinda new here, so…"

"Look, I don't care anymore. You the last one?" The rabbit girl pointed at her.

Hikari nodded.

"Good. Sit down, and shut up."

Walking in, Hikari turned to see a crowd of gimps as the audience.

Murmurs broke out amongst the crowd.

"Dude, when'd we get a girl!?"

"Sweet board, toots!"

"What brand of suit is that!?"

A loud bang was heard at the front desk.

"I said shut up!"

Everyone quickly did as commanded.

Hikari made her way to the crowd. No one was sitting down, because chairs are an academic thing.

She stood next to a pogo punk, who was leaning on his pogo stick.

He turned to Hikari. "...Hey there, baby. After this, wanna go grab a bite to eat?"

Hikari shrugged.

'No.'

"Wicked…"

The rabbit girl was fuming.

"What did I just say…"

The pogo punk suddenly stood at attention.

"...Good. Great. Alright, now… let's get down to business."

Everyone's eyes were on the rabbit youkai. Well, a few were on Hikari, but most were on the rabbit.

"It's come to my attention that a miko has showed her face in the village, as expected. Do you all remember what I told you to do to her when you find her?"

All the gimps looked around, as if expecting each other to answer.

"Uhm… boss lady, what's a miko?"

"Are they hot?"

"It's a her!? Du~de, sweet!"

The rabbit girl's head hit the desk.

…

"Um… boss la-"

"Shut up."

She lifted her head up. "Look. There's a girl with red crap on… and white crap on…"

Everyone except Hikari nodded. Hikari got the memo, and nodded a little late.

"...If you see her, kill her."

One of the gimps raised his hand.

"...Yes?"

"Uh… so, she'll be covered in crap, right?"

The gimp next to him nodded. "Yeah, that part kinda confused me too…"

The girl sighed. "...You guys suck. Okay, look, if you see someone wearing red and white, just…"

"Kill them?" The same gimp who answered the question replied.

"Yes. Kill them." She nodded slowly. "...Aside from that, you are free to do whatever you want as long as you attract attention. Do I make myself clear?"

A hula hoop gimp raised his hand.

"...Yes?"

"Excuse me, miss Inaba?" The gimp began.

"I just gave you the go ahead."

"...Ahem, right…" He composed himself. "...I understand the whole 'down with the authority figures' stance we are taking within the village, but I would also like to know why you request that I sound like I failed elementary language courses."

…

A few gimps turned to him.

"...The hell's this dude saying?"

"Dude, I do not even know what you just said."

"What a weirdo…"

'Miss Inaba' sighed. "Just… yeah. Just be painfully stupid like the other idiots, okay? It makes it easier for the both of us."

Her gaze shifted to Hikari. "...And you."

Hikari looked around at the gimps around her. '...Me?'

"Yeah, you. What's with that getup?"

Suddenly, the other gimps spoke out.

"Dude, lay off her, man! She's cool!"

"C'mon, don't pick on the girl just 'cause you're not hot!"

"Don't be a lamer, bro. Don't be a lamer…"

'Miss Inaba' scowled. "You… idiots…"

All the gimps quieted down.

"...I gave you life. I can take it away, too."

…

"...Allow me to demonstrate."

She raises her palm to face Hikari.

"Die."

…

Hikari blinked.

…

"...I said die!"

…

The gimps grinned at her.

She suddenly jerked her palm to a random gimp. "Die!"

Poof.

The gimp she pointed at went up in a puff of smoke, the child inside freed.

Thus, everyone was confused… but 'miss Inaba' knew exactly what was going on, now.

'Uh oh. I think the jig is up…'

Suddenly, the rabbit girl leaped onto the counter. Despite being clad in a business suit, she was actually surprisingly short in stature. She was about as short as one of the eight year olds who attended the school.

The gimps backed away from her as she leaped down from the counter and stomped towards Hikari.

Hikari didn't move back with them, though. She braced herself for conflict.

'...Surely, this couldn't be an overwhelmingly difficult fight…'

Hikari knew, though, that when it comes to youkai, size doesn't mean everything.

Suddenly, the rabbit girl jerked forward, and ripped the construction paper gown from Hikari.

The gimps gasped. Underneath that cool suit… was a red and white outfit!

The mop top slid off of Hikari. She slid her gohei out of her shrine maiden outfit. '...This situation's a little more enclosed than I'd like it to be, though…!'

"Who the hell did you think you were fooling!?" roared the bunny girl.

"...You." Hikari said on impulse.

"Wooaaa~h!" The peanut gallery cheered.

"Shots fired, shots fired!"

"Oh, sna~p!"

"Sick burn!"

Gritting her teeth, the bunny girl finally reached the breaking point.

"...Die!"

Poof.

"Die, die, die, die, die!"

Quickly, the gimps were all getting wiped out. A few tried to lash out at the rabbit, but vanished before they even got close to her.

Before long, all the gimps were returned to children. A few children were awake, and upon seeing the rabbit girl, fled without another word.

Hikari blinked.

'...I didn't even have to do anything. That just kinda happened.'

...The rabbit girl pointed at Hikari, panting.

"Hakurei…"

…

"They call me Tewi. My gang calls me Terror Tewi… and I… am undefeatable!"

'...When she had a gang, that is.'

Hikari brings up her gohei in a combat stance.

Tewi brings out a small knife and a large mallet from seemingly nowhere.

'...I wonder if I can put her to sleep like-'

Hikari is forced to throw herself to the side as Tewi abruptly slides towards her, jabbing her knife at her.

"Hah!" Tewi laughs, jumping away just as fast. "You can't even hit me!"

Tewi strafes to the side, almost as if she was dancing with the way she was moving her arms.

Hikari readies her gohei like a bat, strafing herself.

Suddenly, Tewi slides towards her again for another jab, but Hikari makes sure to get out of the way and swing.

Thunk!

"Gah!"

Tewi ran forward, flailing her mallet behind her and ducking to avoid more hits.

Hikari smirked. '...This fight shouldn't be so hard after all.'

Tewi whirled back around to face Hikari. "Get this!"

She began spinning around rapidly, using the momentum to make a deadly weapon out of her mallet.

'N-not good!'

Hikari ran towards the counter, and ran to the other side of it.

Tewi was forced to stop spinning. "Oh, come on! That's not fair!"

Hikari and Tewi race each other around the counter, with Tewi stopping to point her knife at Hikari every now and then.

The front door to the school bursts open.

"Put your hands in the air!"

Keine rushes onto the scene!

...She stops to watch the interaction infront of her.

"Get back here! Hey, hey! I'm gonna getcha!" Tewi yelled, sliding a little as she ran around the counter after Hikari.

'...This is going to take a while, isn't it?'

Tewi leaped up onto the counter. "Ha~h!"

She jumped off it, mallet in the air. "Raa~gh!"

Hikari moved out of the way.

Bam! The mallet hit the floor.

Hikari awkwardly swung the gohei at Tewi, not expecting to have a moment to do so.

Thwack!

"You-!" Tewi flailed her knife in Hikari's general direction.

"Ah!" Hikari accidently let herself get nicked on the ankle. In a fit of retaliation, Hikari kicked Tewi.

"Agh!" Tewi was jerked to the side. She quickly got back to her feet, using the counter to do so.

"..." Keine wasn't quite sure what to do at this point. She then saw the unconscious children, and moved to help them.

Tewi was panting. "Y-you're going down…!"

She slowly swung both her knife and mallet forward at once, and Hikari took the opportunity to hit her back.

SMAAAA~SH!

Tewi flew onto her back.

"Augh! Damn it…!"

Hikari pointed her gohei at her.

"Tch…" Tewi glared up at her.

…

"You think you've… won?" Tewi smirked. "...You'll see why everyone calls me… Terrifying Tewi!"

'Didn't she say it was Terror Tewi a few moments ago?'

Tewi ripped open the side of her business suit, and then slammed down on a button that was on the inside.

…

Hikari blinked. 'What was that all-'

Boom!

Hikari jumped as the wall behind the counter was blown open, a large machine lurching out through the newly created hole.

"Meet the Tewinator! Mach two!" Tewi's eyes went manic. "You'll never make it out alive!"

The machine was a large, steampunk contraption that ran on two treads. Both 'arms' of the machine ended in two mallet ends. The face was in the likeliness of Tewi, with a large pipe coming from the neck to let out steam.

'What the hell!?'

Hikari backed away from Tewi, who began crawling away towards one of the diverging hallways.

...Fwooosh! A large puff of steam was emitted from the machine. It moved forward and destroyed the front desk.

Hikari looked behind her, but Keine and the children were already gone. 'No way… I'll have to do this myself…'

She contemplated running, but then considered the idea of a large metal machine running loose in the human village.

'...I'll just have to face it, then.' Hikari put on her best brave face, readying her gohei.

...Fwooo! Fwoooo!

The steam pipe whistled, and the machine's treads began spinning unrealistically fast, tearing up the wooden floor.

"Wa~h!"

Hikari pumped wind into her sandals as she leapt away, but the machine clipped her legs as it charged, sending her sprawling.

Thud!

"Aa~gh!"

Hikari quickly scrambled from the floor as the machine turned itself around to face Hikari.

'W-what am I supposed to do about this!?'

Hikari briefly considered her repertoire of skills.

'...Will this work?'

She tossed an ofuda at it.

Tink!

'...Apparently not…'

...Fwoooo~!

The machine's steam pipe sounded off, indicating it was preparing itself for another attack.

'T-there has to be something…'

She couldn't put it to sleep; it wasn't alive in the first place.

She couldn't just throw ofuda at it; it wasn't alive.

'...W-what else…'

Fwooo-Fwooo~!

The machine's torso spun around on its base, and realigned itself to face Hikari.

Fwoosh!

The mallet head on one of the arms shot out on a chain. Hikari felt it pass her arm.

Fwoosh!

Hikari didn't react in time as the other mallet shot out and clipped the arm of hers that held ofuda.

"Aaa~h!"

She flew back into the wall, dropping her ofuda and gohei to clutch her arm. "Ow-ow-ow-ow…!"

ChinkChinkChinkChinkChink…

The mallets were slowly being pulled back into the machine as it lurched along.

"...Ugh…" Hikari stood up with a groan. She picked up her gohei and abandoned the ofuda.

She ran along the side of the machine, and swiped at the side of it.

SMAAAA~SH!

…

Nothing happened.

'That wouldn't work, would it?'

The machine slowly turned to face her.

'I never thought I'd end up in a battle like this.'

Fwoooo~!

The machine was building up steam…

'Stuff like this only happens in novels, doesn't it?'

The torso spun around to realign itself, before eventually facing Hikari properly.

'Things like these… are the stuff of fantasy.'

Hikari focused on the metal machine before her.

'Fantasy…'

Hikari tried PK Fantasy α!

Technicolor particles phased in from the room's ceiling, striking the broad surface of the machine before her.

Fizzle!

Once more, the particles phased in from nowhere and struck the machine. Each blow let an echo of colors rebound outward, shaking the entire machine.

Fizzle!

Finally, Hikari focused her entire mind on the machine before her.

Blam!

A colorful psychic wave shot outward, rocking the machine. The torso was forced to spin around from the power that struck it.

'...So that's... how you do that…' Hikari panted, her vision blurring.

Fwoooo~!...

The machine was still active.

'...Even after that…!?'

…

'I-I can't stop here!'

Hikari tried PK Fantasy α!

The rainbow barrage began again.

Fizzle!

Fizzle!

Hikari used the last of her concentration to focus on the machine.

Blam!

The torso spun around farther this time.

Boom! Boom!

Parts of the machine began exploding. One of the arms fell off, and the mallet of another arm slowly drooped out of it, its chain giving way.

'I-I think… I did it…'

Hikari weakly tossed her gohei at the machine.

Tink!

Kaboom!

The machine exploded, metal parts going everywhere.

"Gufuh!"

A large metal part clipped Hikari, sending her sprawling.

'I-I… did it…'

Hikari smiled, staring up at the school's ceiling. She was lying flat on the floor.

Blam!

The machine kept exploding, but Hikari wasn't paying attention to it.

'I'm… happy…'

…

'...'

Hikari was fast asleep.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

…

'...We meet again, Keine's guest bed…'

Hikari sat up, looking around.

'I'm not entirely surprised that happened again.' Spamming that powerful attack pretty much took everything Hikari had.

She climbed out of bed. '...Oh. That was not, infact, Keine's guest bed.'

Looking around, she determined her location…

'The school?'

Hikari took in the sterile white walls of the school's infirmary.

Walking around, Hikari confirmed she had all her belongings on her, sans the ofuda she dropped during the last battle.

Walking outside, she turned to see that rabbit girl from earlier.

"...H-hey."

'My voice's incapability knows no bounds. I did just wake up, though.'

Tewi jumped, turning to Hikari. "A-ah!"

…

"O-oh, hey…" Tewi sighed. "...Look, I don't know what the hell came over me. Hell, I don't even know why I'm in the human village, of all places. I haven't been here since that one party!"

'That one party. Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?'

For all Hikari knew, she was referencing a kid's birthday party. Tewi looked pretty young, after all…

"...I gotta build more robots like those, though. I don't know how I thought it up, but I'll be damned if I don't unleash one of those on Reisen."

'...Is she talking about that salesbunny who comes to the village every now and again?' Hikari remembered her. That rabbit woman came to the village square every week or so to sell expensive medicines. They talked a few times, for vendor purposes.

"...Hello? You alive?" Tewi waved her hand in front of Hikari's face.

Hikari blinks, coming back to reality. "Y-yeah…"

"...You're a weird kid, y'know that?" Tewi grins. "Weird, but ya got guts."

'...Thanks, I guess?' Hikari was conflicted on how to feel about that comment.

"...I know I told you earlier, but I wanna do it properly, this time. The name's Tewi Inaba!" Tewi sticks her arm out and gives a thumbs-up. "Prankster extraordinaire!..."

Tewi looked down to the business suit. "...and I hate this suit! How does Reisen wear these all the time!?"

'Suits are strange.' Hikari never saw a reason or purpose to wearing them. 'Apparently they're a formality in the outside world, but If that's the case, I can't see why they're still worn here sometimes.' She always heard weird things about the people from the clinic.

"...Anyway, you're a Hakurei, right? Must be the daughter of Reimu, by the looks of it…" Tewi leans back. "...I wouldn't have guessed it by how you act, though… or by how you fight." She giggles.

Hikari raises a brow. "...What?"

Tewi stops laughing. "...Whadda ya mean, what?"

"What's wrong with the way I fight?" Hikari stared at Tewi.

"Well, if it weren't for those ofuda, I don't think you'd be any good against youkai…" She brought a hand to her chin. "...and last time I checked, whacking things with your gohei only works if you're fighting little kids and idiots!"

Hikari was a little troubled by the truth of these comments. '...I-I did do those other things though, and I guess she doesn't really remember much from when she was acting strange…'

"I-I'm still in training…" Hikari defends herself.

Tewi blinks. "Wha~? Really? You're, like, as old as your mother was when she went around cracking skulls!"

'Heard it before.'

"...Well, whatever. I'm sure you'll turn out fine, kid." Tewi added nonchalantly. "If you're even half like your mother, I'm sure you've got some sort of completely broken ability in your sleeve somewhere."

'...She's probably not going to be wrong about that.' Hikari agreed with her. 'Still, I can't just take whatever I'm developing for granted. I'm still obviously very incapable of combat…' Ofuda only gets a miko so far, if her mother's proven anything.

Hikari begins to walk off, sensing that the resulting silence meant the end of the conversation.

As she walks off, she feels Tewi's hand rest on her shoulder and stop her.

"Ah?" Hikari turns around.

"...Are you looking for Giant Step?" Tewi asks suddenly.

'Looking for what, now?' Hikari tilts her head.

"...There's like, three things I remember from when I was going insano. One: kill the Hakurei, you. Two: that sweet robot, and three: stop the Hakurei from reaching Giant Step. I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say the real source of the incident here is at Giant Step." Tewi explains.

'...Someone's seriously out to ruin my day, apparently.' Hikari determines.

"...Now uh, here's the kicker." Tewi giggles sheepishly. "I dunno where Giant Step even is."

'Oh. Well, great. Thanks.'

Hikari now at least knew the name of… some place.

'What do I care about that place again?' Hikari searched her memory…

…

'...Wasn't there eight places I had to find, or something?' Hikari furrowed her brows. '...Hmm.'

Hikari took out her sound stone, and Tewi stared at it with her.

"...Nice rock. Good luck on finding Giant Step, and all that." Tewi began to walk off.

Hikari stopped to consider saying thanks, but then thought against it. 'Probably would be awkward, all things considered.'

Hikari began to backtrack through the school, making her way to the outside.

Opening the door, she walked out into the bright, sunny, day.

The wind blew in her hair, prompting her to take a deep breath.

'...Time to ask around, then.'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Hikari's first stop was, of course, Keine. Both because it wouldn't be entirely awkward, and also because if anyone knew of anything magical around the village's perimeter, it was Keine.

'As it turns out, it became entirely awkward.'

Hikari and Keine were in the latter's house, having a meet and greet.

"Are you hurt? I couldn't find you in the school after that explosion- is everything alright?" Keine asked, already examining Hikari like a worried mother.

'Yeah, I was hurt. Mostly exhaustion, though. Not that I'll tell her that, any-'

Keine lifted the side of Hikari's shirt, and saw a big bruise. She gasped. "What? W-where did you get this?"

Hikari sighed. "The one injury you find, and it's the one time that giant robot hit me."

Keine raised a brow. "Giant robot? Wait… you fought that thing!?" Keine's worry levels were intensifying…!

'Crap.' Hikari scratched the back of her head. "It, uh… wasn't a big deal. It was unstable anyway."

'Yeah. Unstable.'

Keine put her hands on her hips. "I don't know…"

Hikari stared tiredly at Keine.

"...I'll take your word for it, then. At least you came out okay." Keine answered, not entirely convinced.

"Look," Hikari began. "I came here to ask you something."

"...What, now?" Worrying was not good for Keine's health.

"...Do you know of a place called Giant Step?" Hikari popped the question.

Keine paused. Then, she furrowed her brows. "...Giant Step, Giant Step… I can't say it rings any bells." She shakes her head.

"It should be a magical site near the village, or something." Hikari elaborates.

"Magical site near the village…?" Keine blinks, then moves towards a shelf. "...I have some documentation on nearby magical sites. You see, there are many things that can be classified as magical sites near the village. This is Gensokyo, after all, so it's only natural."

She flips through some folders in one drawer before moving onto a different one.

"...Well, there's nothing named Giant Step specifically, bu~t…" Keine pulls out a folder. "It's something that fits the name."

She spreads the folder out onto the counter. There's a bunch of complicated documents inside.

"You see, the village did do some documentation on nearby magical anomalies. It stopped when the board that managed it started defining everything as a magical anomaly… like a giant footprint in the ground that, for all we know, was left by Suika or something…" Keine sighed. "Here's the document on 'a large magically dubious footprint in the dirt', as the board had dubbed it. It's about as magical as a normal sized one."

'...Well, I got my answer.'

Keine glanced at Hikari, and smiled. "Oh, look at me rambling on, again. Giant Step is actually in the forests near the Hakurei Shrine… leading me to believe that Suika did create it, or something."

Hikari nodded. "Thanks."

"By the way…" Keine began, before Hikari could even begin to walk away. "Where did you hear of it from? If I could hardly find documentation on it, then…"

Hikari shrugged. "Reasons."

Keine glared at her.

"...I stand by my reasons." Hikari reasserted herself.

"...Alright, go on, then. I won't stop you." Keine sighed again.

Hikari quickly made herself scarce.

"...I can't decide whether she is or isn't like her mother, at this point…" Keine rubs her forehead.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

"Be safe, out there!" The guard sees Hikari off as she marches down the path.

'...My mother's shrine is to the right somewhere, so…' Hikari promptly marches into the brush and stuff. It was significantly easier than in the summer because it was fall right now, and all the leaves were gone already.

The guard furrowed his brows.

"...The hell?" He shook his head. Did that miko just walk off into the forest for seemingly no reason? Hakurei sure were weird…

…

Meanwhile, Hikari was still exploring.

'...There's not a lot interesting going on out here…' she noted.

Hikari decided she was far enough from the village, and began sprinting, letting the wind guide her.

Fwoo~sh!

She quickly covered more ground, uncaring of the fact some of the brush scraped her legs here or there.

Woosh! Hikari dodged to the left, avoiding a tree.

She just had to make sure to avoid trees, since those you kinda can't run through and just ignore.

Woosh!

…

After awhile of doing that, she was deep into the forest behind her home. She had passed the side of the Hakurei hill, as she dubbed it, and had passed the meteorite from earlier.

'...Thanks for the help, Keine. 'near the shrine' helps a lot when there's a lot of forest I could call 'near the shrine'.'

…Hikari stopped running to rest for a bit.

"Hahh… hahh… hahh…"

...As she was resting, her eyes were drawn to some not-so-subtle ants marching out of the brush. They were bigger than normal ants, and looked like they were made of candy instead of anything biological. They were probably the size of a small chicken.

'...That's interesting.' Hikari noted.

"Ebadebadabe!" Ant A exclaimed in a tinny voice.

"Ebadababeba!" Ant B was angry.

They slowly marched towards Hikari.

'...What?'

"Eeeee!"

Ant A shot a very slow, solid laser in Hikari's direction. She quickly looked up at it, and stepped aside.

"Eeebaah!"

Ant B wiggled its antennas around.

Ant B tried PSI Lifeup α!

…

Ant A's health was already in perfect condition.

'Must be some form of lesser youkai…' Hikari figured. She reached for her ofuda…

'...What!?'

She had forgotten her ofuda at the school!

Stepping back, she readied her gohei. 'Guess I'll have to do this the hard way, then…'

She runs up to Ant A with her gohei, and slams down with it as if she were hitting a mouse with a broom.

Thunk!

"Eeyyaah!"

The ant sat on the floor, half-squashed and sad.

"Eeeee!"

Hikari began strafing as a slow, solid laser made its way towards her.

"Hah!" Hikari lept forward and slammed her gohei down on the second ant.

Thunk!

"Eueuugh…"

…

Hikari rose from the floor, dusting herself off.

'I don't think I needed to use that much force…'

She stretched. "...Hnnngh…"

'...I may have accidentally killed those youkai.' Hikari looked at the obliterated ants. One was blatantly annihilated, but the first one was just sad.

'Oops.' ...She didn't think anyone would notice. Or care.

She walked off, leaving the sad ant to its devices, and went further into the back woods.

'If I go any further, I'll probably just end up in the plains leading to the other woods.' There was a large, uninteresting plain behind the Hakurei woods, and behind that was the Youkai Forest which lead up to Youkai Mountain.

Y'know, home of youkai.

'The youkai better call it something different themselves, or they suck at names.'

…

Hikari scrunched her face when she realized 'Hakurei Woods' is an equally unimaginative name.

…

Before long, she reached the edge between the forest and the plains.

'Time to turn back around.'

Hikari turned around and decided to trail along the edge of the woods for a good entry point.

'...This is taking awhile…'

Hikari then saw a light somewhere in the woods.

'...?'

It vanished quickly, but Hikari's eyes locked on where it was.

'I don't need Hakurei intuition to help me, now.'

She continued in the direction the light was, in the woods.

…

Hikari eventually came to the hot springs set up behind the shrine.

'...I've just come full circle, haven't I?'

Technically, Hikari was back home, even if the hot springs were pretty disconnected from the main shrine.

She heard sloshing in the hot spring.

"Aaaa~h…"

Peeking out from behind a tree, Hikari saw her mother.

…

'New objective: find a way to go without being seen, or it might be awkward.'

"Cowabunga, ze~!"

Splash!

"...Maa~risa~!" Reimu yelled.

'...Well, there we go.'

Directly next to the hotspring was a cave from which part of the water emerged from, flowing into it. Hikari quickly power walked towards it, and went inside, making sure she was just quiet enough to not be heard.

'...I was undetected!' Hikari smiled happily. 'Now I don't have to explain everything that happened so far!'

Hikari continued into the cave…

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

'...Now where am I?'

Hikari wandered through the cave, and aside from a few of the extremely inept ant youkai, there wasn't much for Hikari to be worried about.

The cave wasn't expansive, but it still felt big. There were numerous diversions and offshoots that lead nowhere.

She trudged up an incline in the cave, and as she reached the top, she saw what looked like a path out of the cave, except it only lead to more black.

"This is your first 'Your Sanctuary' location." a flat voice stated from somewhere.

'W-what the hell…?'

Hikari looked around, looking for the source of the voice.

"But it's mine now." it continues, smugly.

'Okay…?'

"Come and take it from me… if you dare." The voice got nasally near the end, and suddenly a flash of light blinded Hikari…

'W-woah!'

…

Once the light faded, Hikari blinked as her vision readjusted.

Before her was a really big ant, for some reason. It was bigger than her, and walking on its hindlegs.

'...Okay. Sure.'

"I… am the guardian… of Giant Step." the large ant announced. "I am your first obstacle, Hakurei, right in your own home."

'I don't necessarily consider an oversized ant an obstacle of any sort. What will he do, fire a larger laser?' Hikari was not very intimidated by the Titanic Ant.

Hikari aimed her gohei at it. "Look, just stand down. I've ki- uh, beat up a few other ants on the way here."

'I don't think telling it I accidentally killed its brethren would do well for its mood.'

"You think you can squish me?" The ant grinned.

'You said it, not me.'

"Hakurei, I'll break you first!"

The ant stomped towards Hikari in an endearingly unrealistic manner.

'What.'

Hikari stepped back deeper into the cave as the ant marched after her.

"You're not escaping from me, Hakurei!"

It lunged forward for a biting attack, forcing Hikari to flinch away, flailing her arms in surprise.

"Wha-!?" Hikari was taken by surprise by the ant's ferocity!

The ant reeled its head back, and continued cartoonishly stomping towards Hikari.

'Not letting it do that again…!'

Whack!

Hikari took the moment to whack it in the shin.

"Ebeba!" It yelped akin to its ant brethren. "You are as strong as the generals said, Hakurei!"

'Generals? Ants have generals?'

Then again, these were youkai ants. Petrifying.

"However, your strength will prove useless against my titanic might!"

Titanic Ant tried Shield α!

The Titanic Ant was protected by a shield of light!

"Recognize it? It is the power of the Hakurei!" The Titanic Ant gloats. "My prolonged life and newfound powers on these holy grounds have granted me power similar to the Hakurei mikos of present and old!"

…

Hikari moved towards it and whacked it again.

Whack!

"Eeehh…" The ant still flinches, but noticeably less than before. "...Your efforts are futile, Hakurei!"

The ant walks forward slowly, lunging at Hikari repeatedly as it did so. Hikari tried to whack it back, but one of the lunges surprised her and it sunk two pincers into her stomach.

"Aa-aaauugh!" Hikari wailed at the sudden stinging sensation the impalement brought.

The ant quickly retracted its pincers. Blood flowed from Hikari's new wounds.

"Hehahaha!" The ant laughed. "You will be defeated right here, Hakurei!"

Hikari focused on her wounds.

'T-that was bad…It hurts...'

Hikari tried PSI Lifeup α!

…

The wounds on Hikari's stomach healed slowly!

The ant jerked its head back. "What!? That was no power of the Hakurei! You are but a fraud!"

'Can this thing just shut up?'

"Allow me to end this!"

Titanic Ant tried PSI Magnet α!

A wave of purple rectangles travel along the floor and ceiling towards Hikari. Reaching her, they overlay her form.

'W-what… is this…?' Hikari felt her stamina draining.

The attack ended.

"Hahahah! Now you cannot use any more psychic attacks, human child!" The ant gloated. "Now you must allow me to consume you!"

'Only in fantasy would villains be this cheesy…' Hikari grinned at the ant's cringe worthy manner of speaking. Her eyes shut abruptly.

Hikari tried PK Fantasy α!

Drops of technicolor energy phase into the cave's walls, striking the Titanic Ant.

Fizzle!

"Ebabada~gh!"

The process repeats, and the ant shields against the previous barrage's direction. The new barrage comes from the opposite direction. The drop's impacts echo off the ant and the cave's surfaces, as if flowing like water.

Fizzle!

"Ebaahaa~h!"

Hikari snapped her eyes open.

Boom!

A wave of power rocked the Titanic Ant to its core, sending it sprawling.

"Ebada!"

…

The ant slowly got up, its figure shaking.

The shield of light disappeared!

"...H-human…" The ant began lowly.

Hikari, drowsy and shaking, readied her gohei.

'I-I can't stop now…'

In truth, her use of that move took her entirely by surprise. She hadn't even thought of using it, she just did, and it felt right.

'...I don't know why that happened. It wasn't very strategically viable at that moment…'

"I now realize that you… are the one I need to destroy." The ant stated.

'Do you, now? Did the clothes give it away?' Hikari deadpanned to herself.

"Prepare… to die!"

The ant lethargically stumbles towards Hikari, who brings up a lazy, half-guarded guard.

"Hrragh!" The ant lunges forward.

Hikari stumbles out of the way as the ant slowly snaps forward towards her.

"N-no!" Hikari protests, her voice strained. She brings her gohei down on the ant's head.

Bonk!

The ant was only annoyed by the weak strike. "Come… on…!"

It slowly turns around, and Hikari takes the moment to hit it in the shin.

Bonk!

"Ebaa~!" It yelped, stumbling back. It suddenly lost its balance and headbutted Hikari as it went down.

"Guh!"

Thud, thud.

The two fell to the floor.

…

"Like this… I'll finish you!" The ant now crawled around like an ant normally should, except it did so drowsily. If Hikari were standing up and watching it, she'd call the ant drunk.

Titanic Ant tried Defense Down α!

A wave of blue light washed over Hikari.

Hikari's defense dropped!

'I-I feel so weak…'

Hikari rolled onto her side, facing the oncoming ant.

'I-I want to go to bed…'

Hikari tried PSI Hypnosis α!

…

A wave of energy flowed outward from the Titanic Ant. It stopped crawling towards Hikari…

It fell asleep!

…

"T-that... works." Hikari said aloud, and allowed herself to release a breath she didn't know she was holding.

...Sitting still for a few moments, she slowly got up. Her legs and arms trembled uncontrollably.

'I feel so defenseless…'

"Ebebebe…" The ant slowly stirred.

Hikari turned to the ant as it slowly woke up. 'N-no! I can't! I can't fight anymore!'

Panicking, she runs up to the Titanic Ant and starts flailing wildly at it.

Thwack! Whack! Bap!

The ant started frantically scrabbling forward, alarmed by the sudden barrages of attacks as it was just waking up.

'Get down! Stay down!'

...If one were to stumble upon this sight, they'd see a dirtied and cut up miko chasing around a large, metallic ant and weakly beating it with a stick.

The ant continued scrambling forward until it reached a wall with which to support itself as it stood again.

"H-human…"

Whack!

"Ebeh…"

Hikari panted loudly. "Haa~h… Haa~h…"

"Y-you are at your… Human limit…"

'I-I could really use a bottle of water right now… Anything, r-really…'

"T-the Hakurei always… looked down… on youkai like, a-ah… I…" The ant struggled to get out its words.

'Probably for good reason…'

"...A-and here I am, on the brink from some… Human child…"

Whack!

It flinched violently. "...W-would you cut that out!?"

Hikari glared as hard as she could at the youkai.

"Tell me… Is every human child this strong?"

'Yeah. Totally.'

…

Hikari stopped to contemplate how odd her unexplained powers were, but she shook it off.

'Now's not the time for that…'

Hikari looked up at the ant.

"...Yeah."

It shook its head. "...I-I really stood no chance… did… I?"

Hikari shook her head.

…

The ant attempted to lunge forward at her, but fell onto its side.

'...Well. That's sad.'

"...I'd kill you if I had the chance." It spoke from the floor.

'Nevermind.'

Hikari stood over it, readying her gohei…

The ant silently resigned itself to its fate.

SMAAAA~SH!

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Hikari lethargically stumbled her way out the door of the cave she worked her way up to. It was open now, light pouring into the cave from it.

Coming out into the clearing, she looked around. She was on the top of the more minor hill next to the Hakurei Shrine's hill, this one accompanying the hot spring.

This portion of the hill, however, was an indent. A few scattered trees stood on the upper walls, all of which were too steep to climb, making this place seem like a bad idea to go for most people.

...Unless you could fly, like the majority of Gensokyo's populace.

'It's times like these I-...'

She was cut off as she looked into the center of the clearing.

'...!?'

Hikari sees a vision of a small, snuggable turtle.

'...Huh. That's nice.'

Walking forward, her eyes lock on the imprint in the Earth in front of her, as the image of the turtle fades away.

'...It's a large foot print…'

She had found Giant Step.

…

'...Now what?'

She stared at the footprint in the ground for awhile.

'...I still feel like crap, and… there's nothing obviously magical about this place from just looking at it…'

Her head twitched as she realized something.

'What did that crazy bee want me to do with this…?'

Hikari took out the Sound Stone.

'...Still looks like some cheesy antique from a gift shop.'

...She held it up to her ear.

'Why did I think this would work?'

She brushed it by her forehead when changing ears.

Hikari swore she heard a noise.

'...?'

She brought it back to her forehead, and stopped it there.

"H-huh…?"

She heard a melody play.

A gentle breeze rolled through Giant Step, caressing the indent in the hill…

…

…

...

A beat continued to play after the first few notes, but no more actual music continued to be produced by the stone.

'It… feels like the world's heartbeat…'

Hikari felt the breeze wash over her face, and through her hair.

She blinked.

'...I feel fine, now.'

...Sitting down on the grass, Hikari made herself at home.

'It's like I never left home. What… is this place?'

Maybe that bee wasn't as crazy as she thought.

Hikari walked along the sides of the walling that boxed in this small section of plain. She felt nostalgic as she did so, even though she had no recollection of ever coming up here before. She'd explored the Hakurei Woods with her mother before, plenty of times, but seldom did they ever explore caves… or climb this hill, for that matter.

'...I can't stay here for too long, though…'

She had to leave home, earlier. Leaving this place wouldn't be any different.

…

Hikari exited through the cave she came in.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Reimu stared at the cave's entrance as rainbow light flashed out of it.

"...What the hell's going on in there?"

Marisa looked up at the flashing cave entrance. The flashing stopped soon after.

"...I dunno, ze. I don't really feel like getting out to check it out."

Reimu had to agree. "Yeah. It can wait."

…

"Miss me?" Alice slipped into the hot spring.

"Ohio, Alice!" Marisa enthusiastically greets her.

Reimu sighed, waiting for either a lover's quarrel to soon erupt, or for them to get lovey-dovey and make everything awkward.

"He~y!"

Reimu sighed again, in relief. If Sanae was here, those two would be less likely to molest each other in front of her…

Sanae walked in, and quickly slid into the hot spring. "Aa~h!... That's great…"

…

Suddenly, a bunch of large ants fled from one of the caves where water flowed from.

"Ebadebaebada!"

"Ariba! Ariba!"

They all fled in the opposite direction of the shrine, apparently running from the hills.

"...Okay." Reimu decided to ignore that.

"Yeah. I agree." Marisa knew her well…

"What was that all about…?" Alice furrowed her brows at the cave's entrance.

"Did you hear those sounds? So cute!" Sanae cheered.

…

Hikari stepped from the cave, walking through the shallow stream of warm water.

'Those ants had better be scared. They're literally incapable of stopping me as I am now.' Hikari smiled, proud of herself.

'...How many more of those supposed 'magical sites' did I need to visit again?' Hikari cursed herself for not taking notes.

"H-Hikari?"

"There she is! Toldja she'd show up sooner or later, Reimu-ze!"

'...Crap.' Hikari froze. She was spotted!

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

END OF CHAPTER 1

Protagonist: Hikari Hakurei, Disciple of Paradise

-Inventory-

Weapon: Hand-me-down Gohei - Ability to whack stuff really hard. Critical hits enabled.

Arms: Iconic Hakurei Arm Sleeves - Keeps arms warm. A Hakurei tradition. How they stay on is a Hakurei family secret.

Body: Nothing

Misc: Nothing

-Skills-

Attack: Quickly! Swing your gohei at them for massive damage!

PK Fantasy α - Bombards the enemy with pain in the form of flashing colors. Deals magical damage.

PK Hypnosis α - Puts weak enemies to sleep for a short time. Works better on tired or exhausted foes.

PSI Lifeup α - Heals target a little.

Ofuda Toss - Throw a holy ofuda that does massive holy elemental damage to youkai and dark elemental foes. Effect lessens the more holy the thing you're attacking is, to the point of healing holy things. Only works if you actually have ofuda, though!

α-α-α-α

Author's Note:

huhuheey

welcome to die, part 2

srsly thou welcome friends

we got HIKARI IN THE HOUSE YO castin' PK FANTIZZLE- okay i'll stop

that's GIANT STEP done, and it only took me like a week to write it… (cough i work slow cough)

anyhow, fun times friend ahead

… it'll take a lot longer for the other places, i'm sure

if i haven't mentioned it yet, my normal proof reader's not interested in this fic, so i've got a other fella doin' some proofreading and idea suggestin' / checkin' on it.

yeah i've got me some connections

...i've also got me some enemies! yeah, there's that review up there that's a carbon copy of the same reviews from FREAKIN GENSOKYO that bashed me for seemingly no constructive reason

which is normally fine by me but i now know it's some guy who actually knows me and is all butthurt about some childish disagreement, which makes it a different story from mindless internet flame wars

no one needs the details on that; anyone with the mind to understand my work has the mind to see truth from deception

also, is the action okay? does it seem too ex-machina-y, or too "oh but at the last second HIKARI DID DIS HOH HOH HOH"-ish? that's kinda hard to avoid considering earthbound's narrative was just cheesy like that; it was never meant to be taken too seriously in the first place

grains of salt, everyone, grains of salt

...that's enough running my mouth

see you all next time!