Author's Note:

"Wait, that's a sooner update than usual" I hear some of you say. You would be correct! This is not the next new chapter. … Wait wait, don't leave yet—

I'm sure you read the nice big "EXTRA" at the top of this by now when you clicked this, and that's not just for show. These are basically bonus chapters meant to expand upon this version of Gensokyo and the cast in this world in various ways. I was actually contemplating for a while on whether I wanted to do this approach or squeeze these into the main story, but I felt that doing this would give me more flexibility in my overall outline. Their relevance to the main plot will end up varying, but not everything has to be meaningful in this world. Sometimes it's nice to just watch the lives of others in motion, or to learn more about someone.

You shouldn't necessarily have to read these if you don't want to, but I'm hoping if you've dug this deep you're interested in doing so. If only to more fully immerse yourself in this version of Gensokyo I've got in my mind.

As a side note, if you're wondering why I chose "EXTRA" as the title… Well, I already chose "STAGE" for central plot stuff to fit in with the series, since Touhou is mainly a bullet hell game. Extra stages already exist in the series as essentially bonus stages, and the naming also fits with the meaning as they're "EXTRA" chapters…So, yeah.

Anyways! Onwards!

~ EXTRA 1: The Violet-colored Ronin ~

[START]

Meira spent most of her life alone.

She didn't have much interest in sharing the story with anyone who asked. What was there to share? She had parents once, when she was very little. Then she didn't. What was the cause? She couldn't remember. Maybe it was an illness. Maybe it was a youkai attack. Whatever it was, her little brain didn't want to remember it; didn't want to remember them, maybe to keep herself sane.

The only thing she could recall was how sudden it was. And how villagers then began to talk. Hushed whispers whenever she walked by, whether they were children or so-called 'adults'. Talk of a 'youkai-like' child. How her eyes were 'filled with a dark light', 'her hair an unnatural shade of purple', 'her very demeanor unsettling'. It was stupid. Her eyes weren't that special, her hair was her hair, and she acted just like any other child. How was anything that had happened her fault? She was still human. Not some demon child.

Eventually, if anything bad happened at all near her, it suddenly became her fault. Superstition and fear became guiding principles for how to judge her. Other kids would run from her whenever she walked by. Some would scream or call her names. A few were even bold enough to try attacking her. She naturally tried to defend herself, and while desperation was a good teacher, it was hardly the best. She would often get hurt. Sometimes lose entirely.

On days like that, she had few comforts in the village. There was a teacher in the village, a woman with white hair and a blue dress, who would often give her books to read. Most of them were historical and kind of boring, but a few caught her eye. Stories of swordsmen, samurai of old. Tales of a man who leapt eight boats at Dan-no-Ura; stories of another who learned to cut swallows mid-flight, only for that same one to be struck down by another legend wielding nothing more than the remnants of a boat oar. The words celebrated them, marveled at their achievements. Could she also have that? Could she become that? She allowed herself to be consumed by the stories, and eventually, she began emulating the legends she read with a wooden sword.

As ridiculous as it seemed, fate seemed to finally give her a break in that one place. The wooden blade seemed to naturally become an extension of her. Swinging it became as natural as breathing. When other kids tried to attack her, now she would beat them with ease. As long as a 'sword' was in her hands, her body seemed to naturally move on its own. Even when the other kids tried the same, they somehow couldn't emulate her own movements. They weren't driven by the same passions as her, and so they fell, bruised and beaten just as she was before.

Then everyone started running from her. Kids no longer tried to attack her, but adults also started hiding from her. Judgemental and superstitious glances became fearful gazes. Their eyes only regarded her even more as a monster, something to flee from. Nothing changed.

Fine. She didn't need them. That was what she told herself, but every time that wordless glare struck her… Every time she had to look into their eyes, and watched them run away…

It hurt. Something hurt. She didn't know how to make it stop. Trying only made her angrier. Colder. Make it stop. But how? Just make it stop. Stop staring at her. Stop treating her like a demon. Stop running away!

The thoughts and feelings became unbearable, and she took to locking them away. Avoid being noticed. Avoid their gazes. That was where she intended to end it.

Then, one day, she saw the eyes of the villagers turning towards the sky. And she too turned.

A girl, roughly the same age as her, flying high above the village on a turtle. She was fighting something—a youkai? The villagers watched in awe, a few cheering as the fight raged on.

"Look! The Hakurei Shrine Maiden has come to exterminate the youkai!"

Paper talismans flew, and an oversized yin-yang orb orbited the girl.

"The new heir's rather talented, isn't she?"

No matter how the opposition fought, nothing seemed to touch her. It was as if she was from another world entirely.

"Oho! Look at her go!"

Amidst their annoying cheering, the girl won. The youkai she battled was slain. The villagers showered her with admiration and adoration. She heard murmurs that some would even visit the girl's shrine to bring forth offerings and donations.

… Something tugged at the very core of Meira's being. She didn't know what it was.

All she could remember thinking at the time was how unfair it all was. Why was everyone praising her? She wanted to be praised. She wanted people to come visit her, too.

Something stirred in her. The flood of emotions she'd locked away boiled, then began to burn. They called her an 'heir'. So she was simply born into it? Born into that admiration? What had she done to earn it? She wanted what that girl had. She would have the respect they gave her, the love they showered her with.

Her power. The Hakurei's power. That must have been it. That must have been the source of their admiration.

She'd take it from her. All of it.

Reason and logic had all but vanished from Meira's small, childish mind. How could she possibly fathom what she was doing at that age? Far too smart for her age, yet too foolish to think that far ahead, she concocted a plan. Whenever there was a commotion, the shrine maiden would rush out to face the problem. She would cut her off then, she decided.

The day came when she heard murmurs of ghosts and youkai swarming the girl's shrine, and that the girl was headed out to deal with the source of it. A village blacksmith would notice that a single sword he'd crafted was suddenly missing, but wouldn't be able to find it.

With every step, she seemed to lose focus. Her mind was a blur. All she could think about was taking what was 'rightfully hers'. Under cover of midnight, in a great storm, Meira confronted her.

"I am Meira." The moonlight shone maliciously against her sword. "I've come to take the Hakurei."

The girl looked at her in a brief moment of shock. "W-Whoa, whoa, slow down!" At first, Meira thought her reaction was that of a fearful fool valuing their life. It took Meira a moment to notice the girl's cheeks were red. "Well, I guess I don't mind, but…"

?

"A-Anyway," Meira wouldn't become distracted by her antics. "If I win, the power of the Hakurei will be mine!" Soon. Soon it would all be hers.

The shrine maiden's cheeks only reddened further. "Oh my…" She shuffled about bashfully on the turtle's back (who merely sighed to himself). What? What was she going on about now? "There's no need to fight with me, you know~."

… What?

… … … Oh heavenly gods—

"It isn't YOU that I want, fool!" Before Meira realized it, her entire face was warm. "It's your power!"

The girl stopped unceremoniously. "Really?"

"YES! WHY WOULD I BE INTERESTED IN YOU!?" And don't look so disappointed!

The shrine maiden hummed to herself. "Hm~. Well then, if I win, then…"

"Are you even paying attention?! HEY!"

Meira's vision turned red. She remembered charging the girl in a rage.

The rest was too humiliating to recount.

Calling it a fight would have been too generous. To put it simply, she didn't even stand a chance. If she compared the girl's prowess with her earlier display above the village, the gap was astoundingly wide. Had she improved? Or was she just not fighting as seriously back then? No, even now she didn't even seem to try. With each swing of her sword, Meira could only imagine that she was trying to cut a leaf dancing on the wind. Even a swallow could hardly compare; not a single strike even came close to hitting her.

In the end, the best she could do was flee with her life.

After she escaped, the sensible part of her mind finally caught up with her and the gravity of her situation began to sink in. What was she doing? She'd just attacked the Hakurei Shrine maiden. Meira had. Once word spread out, the entire village would want her head. They already hated her. But with proper justification for their hatred? She'd be killed for sure if she returned. Her own desperate logic suddenly seemed so far-gone, so senseless, and yet she couldn't take it back. This was her life now.

It went without saying that Meira didn't return to the village. She wandered Gensokyo for a time. As expected, youkai would attack her. She was a wandering human who had left the village, after all. It should've been the death of her, but some part of her refused to accept it. Even with a normal stolen sword she struck down the creatures which went after her. Each swordstroke became a blur, moving faster and faster and beyond her conscious thought. Perhaps her will to survive gave her attacks some greater 'meaning'. Or maybe her technique had simply transcended her humanity. Either way, even the youkai soon learned to steer clear of her.

She often thought about what people called her before. A 'youkai-like' child. She wondered what they called her now. Even still, as she fought with inhuman skill and a desire to survive, Meira clung to the idea of being 'human'. It was one of the few things that held her together, kept her from falling deeper into despair.

She would bathe in rivers and sleep in the woods. Her food was whatever she could hunt with a sword. She got quite good at running. At times, she would move so fast she lost track of the process—as though she'd simply 'jumped' from one place to another. She could never do it consistently, but it became a useful trick.

Meira wasn't sure how much time passed. She just remembered while she was sleeping one day, something happened to land on her face. A sheet of paper—a pamphlet? When she pried it loose and read it…

"(The 'Fantasy Ruins'...?)"

Some sort of 'Grand Opening' was happening. To those who visited, they would be granted whatever wish they desired ('within reason'). Below was a map with directions, as well a disclaimer:

"'WARNING: Only one (1) guest may enter the ruins. This capacity must be strictly observed. If this capacity is exceeded…'"

So only one person would be granted their wish, was what they were saying. It seemed too good to be true. A single wish, to do whatever she wanted with. Perhaps she could wish for everyone to forget everything that she'd done, forget her reputation. Or at the very least, she could wish for a house to sleep in. Regardless, it was a chance. She decided to take it.

Of course, she wasn't the only one who'd found that flier. She faced and overcame a variety of strange opponents on her way there, all of them chasing after the same wish she was. From one of them, she'd even heard that the shrine maiden had gotten involved. So eventually, they would have to fight again. That was the fate she'd prepared herself for.

But, before that fate could greet her, someone else found her first.

"Oh my, a samurai?" A girl, perhaps a year or two older than her, regarded her oddly. Red hair and a strange, purple kimono—some sort of princess? "Or would that be a ronin?"

"Oh my, a princess." Meira scoffed. "Or would that be a spoiled brat?"

"I prefer 'police officer'." She laughed mildly and held her hand in front of her. Suddenly, a small metallic object popped into her palm. Some sort of emblem—a badge? Or some kind of toy? "Officer Hijikata Kotohime of the Human Village. Mind if I see your license for that sword?"

Hijikata. Meira recognized that name. Why did it sound so familiar?

"That won't be necessary. I'll just give you a demonstration instead!"

Meira was anticipating an easy opponent when she looked at her. She was anything but. The summoning trick she'd done earlier wasn't just for show—it became a regular habit throughout their fight. Every time Meira thought she'd cornered her, she called some new bizarre object to herself. Her sword strikes were blocked with a strange clay tablet. When she went on the defensive, an unusual hammer's head encased in stone struck her. Even retreating to gain distance did nothing, as crystal skulls suddenly started flying around and gnawing at her.

Her unusual collection proved to be too much for even her newly improved techniques. Eventually, she dodged poorly and took a bad hit, and she went down.

"Rgh… What are these weird things you keep throwing around…?" She struggled and failed to get to her feet. Again. Again she lost so thoroughly.

"They're all 'OOPArts'." Hijikata beamed. She looked like she hardly broke a sweat. "Aren't they cool?"

Meira thought back to that name, 'Hijikata'. That's right. She remembered. There was family back in the village named Hijikata. In some of the books she'd read, she heard that they used to have a great deal of power back in the years shortly before Gensokyo was created. Even in the current day, they still held some degree of authority in the village. She'd lost to yet another affluent heir.

"It's not fair…" Meira's despair gave way to her innermost complaints, and they slowly leaked through. "It's not…"

"Hm?" Hijikata tilted her head. "Bemoaning your defeat? For a samurai, that's not very honorable."

"What would you know?!" She shouted. "You treat this like a game… What wish do you even need granted?! You and the shrine maiden, you have everything, and yet, and yet—!"

"Whoa! Let's calm down a little and clarify a few things." Hijikata raised her hands defensively. It didn't calm her down, but she just didn't have any strength left to keep yelling. "Firstly, that nonsense about a wish. I don't need anything like that. That advertisement was obviously fraudulent, and now it's gotten everyone running around in a fuss. I'm just trying to make sure that things don't get out of hand, especially with everyone fighting over that dumb 'wish'." Hijikata frowned. "Secondly… I thought your appearance seemed familiar. So you were that swordsman that attacked Reimu a while back?"

Meira felt her blood run cold. So this was it.

"... Yes." She answered. "What of it?"

Hijikata hummed thoughtfully. "I see. You seem like you have some issues. Want to talk about them?"

Meira's entire brain shut down for a moment. "... Huh?" She thought it was a joke at first. "You're not… going to kill me?"

"Why would I do that?" Hijikata raised a brow. "... I mean, I do call myself an officer of the law, but there actually isn't any law here. Plus, that would just make me a ruthless brute abusing her authority either way. It's much nicer to just talk down people having a clear crisis rather than to execute them."

Meira felt like she would forget the girl wasn't that much older than her when she spoke. Her voice felt comforting. Like she could lower her guard around her.

The moment she felt that, something in her cracked. The dam of emotions she'd been holding in, that had been straining since the day she left the village, poured out. Thinking back on it, it was utterly humiliating. She must've looked so stupid, sobbing her little kid eyes out as she bawled out her entire life story. Every emotion, every memory, every bruise and cut and tear shed. The whole while, Hijikata listened silently until she at last finished.

"I see…" She frowned. "That must have been hard."

What reply could she have given to that? An undignified sob was the best she could remember.

Hijikata hummed to herself again, contemplation written across her face. "Okay. Tell you what."

She held her hand out to Meira. In it was a small paper slip with some writing scribbled on it, along with a sketch of a misshapen oni with whiskers. A bold name sat at the top: 'Little Rabbit Detective Agency'.

"What's… this?" Meira sniffled. "Why's there an oni on it…?"

"I-It's a rabbit! Why does no one recognize it?!" Hijikata sighed. "It's a little place I'm putting together. Right now, it's just a little shack in the village, but you can stay there. We even have a futon you can sleep in!"

"But…" Meira thought back to her earlier actions. "The villagers… won't they—?"

"Don't worry~" She smiled. It somehow made her anxiety melt away. "I'll handle that. You're homeless right now, yes? Just consider it!" Before Meira could interject, she was already up and running off. "I've still got some work to do, but I'll see you there if you decide you want to join! Just consider it!"

Meira wasn't sure if she was serious. She didn't seem to be joking. Looking down at the slip of paper, it hardly seemed real.

Of course, what she saw when she arrived the next day felt even less real.

"Hey, come on! Lemme outta here already!"

"Sure, once I get tired of this."

In the room, there was a somewhat hastily set-up jail cell, with a familiar shrine maiden locked up inside of it. On the outside was a smiling Hijikata, who'd changed into some strange Western uniform. At the sound of the door opening, they both turned.

"Ah," Hijikata grinned brightly. "You're early! As you can see, I got you a gift."

"H-Huh?" Hakurei turned in shock. "Wait, who is this?! What's going on?"

"('W-Who'?! I tried to kill you not too long ago! And I want to know that too!)" Meira restrained herself from saying aloud. Instead, "Erm. What do you mean by 'gift'?"

Hijikata smirked. "I figured it'd probably be pretty cathartic to see her get locked up in jail for a bit. What do you think? Does it make for a good housewarming present?"

Meira stared at the scene. Such a small, shoddy space. There was barely any furniture, apart from a desk in the corner of the room with a chair behind it. Her eyes kept looking between the exasperated Hakurei Shrine maiden and the far-too-proud-of-herself 'police officer'.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a futon. Neatly and tidily prepared, as if waiting for her.

"... Haha… ahaha…" It was so ridiculous, she couldn't help but laugh. It just slipped out. Before she knew it, a chuckle turned into a gut laugh, and she just kept going. It was funny. It really was funny. "Hijikata, you really are strange."

"Hm~ I don't mind being called strange. But if you could, call me Kotohime, hm?"

She didn't remember crying, but she wiped away a tear. "Very well… Kotohime."

The two girls shared a smile. For the first time in a long time, the painful feeling that followed Meira around finally seemed to vanish from her.

"Uh, hello!? Let me out of here alreadyyy! What did I doooooo?!"

Even back in the present, she found herself cracking a smile as she stood at the gate of the village.

It was such a strange series of events, a miracle beyond words. From that day forward, she worked under Kotohime as both an employee and a friend. That brought her to a variety of places she never expected to go, to face countless new foes and adventures. A duel against a half-ghost gardener amidst half-bloom cherry blossoms. A crushing defeat by a party-happy oni. A rematch against the shrine maiden under an eternal night. She'd seen so much she never dreamed to see, all with her new and first friend at her side. Her skills grew with time, and after a fateful encounter with a certain crow tengu, she would find her 'running' ability was actually much more. An accidental discovery of a technique the tengu had invented first, and one that she merely needed to see in-action to fully imitate: Shukuchi (縮地).

But all of that together felt like a footnote in the end. Above all of the adventure, she'd found what she desired most of all. A home. A place to belong. Far more precious than any power or deeds, and it was hers. Even if the newest member was a little too suffocatingly nice and kept describing her ability in the stupidest way imaginable—

Speaking of. She wondered what the shrine maiden was up to, coming by with that new outsider. She would have to question Hiro about that later.

"Achoo!"

That was sudden. Meira rubbed at her nose. Hm, someone must have been picking a fight with her somewhere.

Author's Note:

So that was Meira's story, something I wanted to explore in the main plot but couldn't really find a way to squeeze in. Meira's a character who didn't really have much backstory in the games, and her only personality trait was basically "tried to kill Reimu one time". After that she faded from relevancy like a number of PC-98 characters. I thought that was a bit of a shame. I'll admit it's mostly because I like her design; I'm kind of a sucker for swordsmen in fiction. I always wondered why she seemed so obsessed with taking the Hakurei clan's power for herself, and what kind of a person she was. This character came about as a result of that pondering.

The Human Village is a place that needs to thrive off of fear and superstition in order for youkai to continue existing, but superstition can be a dangerous thing. Sometimes it leads people to making conclusions, for example thinking something's evil when it's really just young and traumatized. Sadly, Gensokyo's not a perfect place, and not everyone gets happy endings. At least Meira managed to find one (in this timeline).

As a person, she acts tough and stoic, but it's mostly because she's had an unpleasant life and puts up a defensive front. As such, she's not used to people being kind or grateful to her, and it's hard for her to reconcile with it. Still, she's become a gentler person for it, and cares a lot about the people she lets in. Kotohime in particular has her complete loyalty. Also… As scary as she is, she's still got those dashing good looks that briefly attracted Reimu in the past. She's probably got lots of admirers in the village, particularly from young daydreaming women.

Maybe someday she'll work up the courage to take up dating… Oh well.