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Touhou 14,3: Impossible Spell Card

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

This fanfic couldn't have been written without the awesome games that Jun'ya "ZUN" Ota made alongside the hard work of Team Shanghai Alice (which is literally just him but hey, gotta give credit to the proper titles).

After the end of the Reversal Incident (Double Dealing Character), Seija Kijin the Counterattacking Amanojaku refused to surrender. Instead gathering other objects blessed by the Miracle's Mallet's influence. This discovery marked the beginning of the "Amanojaku Hunt" as the higher ups of Gensokyo put a bounty on the lone youkai alongside giving permission to anyone that pursues her to use Spellcards that are deemed Impossible. Will the many inhabitants of Gensokyo prove the better of the lone rebel? Or will she out-cheat them all with her own methods?

Above one of the many rivers in Gensokyo.

Day 1 of the Amanojaku Hunt.

0530 Hours.

The first light of dawn brought with it the promise of a storm and a shape that seemed to herald it.

It hurtled through cloud and air like a goddess of vengeance, perhaps like the one prophesied to bring divine retribution upon whole civilizations by the peoples who lived far higher.

This was no divinity, though, and certainly not one of weather. If anything, there was something slightly demonic about its appearance. Her to be more precise, as the one in flight is a woman.

The woman bore two stumplike white horns, each one the size of a small stone angling left or right on top of her skull. The hair atop was painted a natural black, with the occasional red flock here and there alongside a final highlight of greyish white at the front. None of it went further down than her shoulders. A blessing in disguise, for the white dress with gray, red and blade spade patterns she wears was scuffed, slightly burned and even frozen in some places. The sandals she once had were lost and even the upside down blue ribbon she usually wore at her waist was firmly attached to one arm in the form of an improvised bandage. Still her red eyes were filled with life and on her face was an ungainly smirk as she occasionally looked behind herself in order to dodge a projectile.

A projectile or one hundred that is, all the size of a small blue bullet and going almost as fast as one. The one responsible for shooting them being her pursuer, another girl with brown hair decorated with a magenta headband and clothes consisting of a white shirt with lilac accents, a purple bow on the back of her waist and finally a black skirt with purple zig zag patterns on which her fingers linger and strum in order to create more and more bullets that all fail to hit or singe their mark.

"Mou, stop moving and let me hit you!" Tsukumo Yatsuhashi shouted in frustration, having chased her mark for several hours by now. "Or are you just that scared of me?!"

"Scared you say? Some self awareness you have…" to her surprise, her mark turns around to face her but also keeps flying backwards still. Her posture set as if she's sitting on some cushion while she feigns a bored yawn. "If anything, why should a great amanojaku waste time on a weakling?"

"Great? Hah!" Yatsuhashi can't help but laugh at that, "You're nothing more than a limping rabbit! Set loose for the dogs to play and chase with. I hear there's even a nice bounty on you~"

"Be that as it may," The amanojaku replied, "It's also a good thing to me." at the tsukumogami's confused expression she continued, if only to provoke more out of her. "Imagine the frustration on everyone's faces as this so called rabbit jumps, hides, bites and makes a fool out of all those on her heel… that no matter the spell card or measure they throw, none of it will contain Seija Kijin!"

"We'll see!" her chaser snarled, her patience now run out. "Just try and dodge this spell card!"

"Koto Sign: The Amanojaku Falls Now!"

"What an unoriginal name…" Seija feigns another yawn as she faces a building storm of blue bullets, one set in a tight circular cascade that reaches everywhere and leaves no corner or wedge exposed between it to dodge. "That's an impossible spell card? Don't make me laugh!"

"Protect me at once! Nimble Fabric!" Not even a second after saying that, the waves of bullet rush through the space where Seija once was. And Yatsuhashi saw nothing after that, not the sight of her opponent covered in comical bruises nor the sound of them squealing as they fall powerlessly to the ground below. For a reason unknown to her, it was like Seija Kijin had never been here at all.

"What the? Where did you go!?" Her eyes widened in surprise, as she kept looking in every direction she could for a hint on where'd her target had gone. Call it a hunch but she knew the amanojaku couldn't be far, that girl wouldn't dissapear without one last laugh! Regaining her composure, she summoned her koto and played it with a natural expertise, the sound waves of which would allow her to detect even the tiniest insect in a considerable radius. She was a tsukumogami after all! And catching the amanojaku would give her race even more respect.

And instead of all that, she got a sudden burst of blue arrow shaped bullets in her way. Her eyes widened and with an undignified eep, she moved to dodge them all at the last possible moment.

Another burst made contact with her then, having predicted her movement. Yatsuhashi felt a hot rush strike though her body, knocking her off-balance. Her koto dropped to the ground, strength having left her hands. Another burst and her body felt like it was dipped in hot fire. But there was only colourful bullets. No fire, no smoke, but the heat and the burning sensation was there.

The pain was distracting and blinding. So she couldn't see the figure rising up from the water, a figure wielding a purple umbrella with both of her hands, like a massive cleaver or baseball bat.

Seija stayed low, flying carefully closer and closer like an owl. She watched the tsukumogami writhe in drunken pain and smiled at the mess she made. The girl's clothes were ruined and the little skin one could see through it was covered in blue bruises and other light injuries. Just because Danmaku is non-lethal doesn't mean it doesn't hurt a ton, it's a wonder she was still in the air.

Seija moved forward to rectify that, and Yatsuhashi saw her. She swung her hands up.

"You chea-"

Seija seized her umbrella and swung. She threw her own weight down as she smashed the object into the other girl's bulk, using her own ability to make the flip smoother and faster than it would be without. She brought the thing up and down again just as quickly, anything to down her opponent.

Yatsuhashi made despairing sounds, at first confused, then angry, then desperate. Seija raised her weapon again in one fluid movement. Yatsuhashi staggered back, desperate to shoot a bullet but Seija was quicker. She smashed the umbrella at an angle downwards and hit her face dead-on.

Umbrella Finish!

"Whatever the means, whoever survives wins." Seija states as she eyes her opponent's unconscious form take a plunge into the river below. She wasn't worried about her opponent's fate, not just because she genuinely didn't care for them. But also because youkais are just made of tougher stuff.

So something like drowning wouldn't affect them. Or at least not as badly as it would a human.

Satisfied with the humiliation she inflicted, Seija flies down so she can walk next to the river side in a leisurely way. Both to take a breather and avoid a surprise from any aquatic foe hiding below it.

"Looks like you all aren't useless after all," she spoke again as she fiddled with the umbrella, marginally making sure that it's still in good condition after the way she abused it. "Well, you better stay that way, because the moment you fail on me is the moment you'll become firewood."

The umbrella did not answer her, because items don't talk. Still, Seija knew that some items of powers had a slight will of her own and what kind of amanojaku would she be if she didn't show her gratitude? "I'll take that as a yes." She put the umbrella back behind her ribbon before throwing one final look at the river beside her, and she couldn't help feeling a tinge of wicked joy.

The tsukumogami was just some low level nobody, but still the battle had given her Nimble Fabric some of the energy needed to become even stronger. Having been infected by the Mallet's magic, each cheating item possesses the ability to convert any excess of magical energy into a fuel and it is with that fuel that they'll become stronger and stronger until their user can even challenge the gods.

Seija couldn't help the honest smile on her face. She was eager for the arrival of more challengers.