Chapter Text
Two days after their escapades at the dango festival, Seija and Shinmyoumaru aimlessly wander the woods that lie somewhere between the human village and the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The temperature is pleasant, not too cold as winter is still nearly two months away. The trees’ leaves are beautiful shades of orange, brown, and red, some beginning to fall. Just enough have come down that scattered sunlight pierces the treetops, creating many bright and dark spots on the surroundings.
Shin, human size, stretches her arms over her head and says, “It feels good to get out and walk around. Home’s huge but a change of scenery is good every once in a while.”
“It’s not like we were cooped up for a long time, y’know,” says Seija, resting her hands behind her head.
“True, but the last time we went on a walk like this was before all that Former Hell business.”
“Fair enough.”
I have to remember that she isn’t quite like me, I’m perfectly satisfied not moving around or going near anyone for long stretches of time. But she lived on her own in that castle for a good while before I ever met her… For someone who isn’t an amanojaku, I can imagine that got lonely.
The two’s idle chatter soon turns to brainstorming their next plan, something they have yet to decide on.
“-no, making a mess of Kourindou might be too risky with how often Reimu and Marisa stop by,” Seija says with a sigh. “Plus it doesn’t serve a greater goal very well, I don’t wanna exclusively do small jobs. Our mission is to overturn Gensokyo itself.”
Shin nods as she places a hand on her chin. “Fair point. The dango festival was more us getting our groove back, but now we need to think bigger. Although, if we cause a full blown incident for the third time, we’ll have to be ready for the consequences.”
“That’s never stopped me before,” Seija says adamantly. “But, while I hate to say it, we have too many strong enemies in Gensokyo for only the two of us to handle, especially without my cheating tools. We can be as discreet as possible but the moment someone catches wind of us we'll instantly have some human or half-phantom or whatever else on our backs.” The frustrated amanojaku runs a hand through her messy hair and scratches her head.
“So you’re saying our only option is gathering allies? I fear your reputation will make that difficult.”
“I like it that way! …But you’re right. Even if we come up with a large-scale plan of attack, it’ll be hard to convince any youkai to help us.”
“Hm, we can try stealing your tools back.”
“Sure, if we can locate and get the drop on Yukari, which is easier said than done. Not to mention that’d immediately alert her to the fact we’re up to something.”
But those things would up our chances of success immensely…
The two stand with their arms crossed and eyes closed, thinking. After a few moments, they hear a rustle in the bushes to their right.
“Who’s there?” Seija calls out, getting into a defensive stance. There is no response.
Shin puts a hand on her partner’s shoulder. “Calm down, it was probably a rabbit or squirrel.”
“What are you-” Seija stops speaking when she turns to face Shin and sees the inchling putting a finger over her mouth. “Yeah, my mistake. Let’s move on.”
I see what she’s doing.
Both begin walking away from the bushes and continue conversing as normal. But the moment they hear the faintest noise behind them, Seija rapidly flips the perception of anything that could be within twenty meters of her, barring Shin, to discombobulate any potential aggressors. Following this, both shoot a dozen bullets at the source of the sound.
“AGH!” yells a voice nearby.
The duo quickly splits up and advances on either flank of the voice, converging at its origin. They find someone’s head sticking out of the bushes, still dazed. This person is a girl with red hair and eyes, a blue bow on the back of her head.
Seija looks at her confused, not expecting this to be the stalker. “You’re, what was it… Sekibanki! Come here, you’re gonna tell us why-” As she goes to drag Sekibanki out of the bush, all that comes out is her head. “Whoa!”
Shin’s eyes go wide. “Oh no, did we- wait, I forgot, she’s a rokurokubi. Her head comes off and she can spawn multiple copies of it.”
“Is, uh, the rest of her in the bush? Or is this one of the copies?” Seija asks while holding out the head by the hair.
“I don’t see a body in here, so it’s probably safe to assume that’s a copy you’ve got.”
“But how did a head without a body scream? I’m no doctor but I thought that was an important component. Or does her species have some kind of magical workaround?”
“Don’t know. She was apparently one of the youkai affected by the Miracle Mallet back when that incident happened but we didn’t really meet until the fireworks festival. Even then, all she showed off was the weird long neck thing.”
“Hmm, she was also among the hoard that tried to capture me while I was on the run. I saw her do some weird multiple head stuff, but she didn’t speak. If anything she seemed pretty taciturn.”
While its captor is speaking, the disembodied head takes the opportunity to free itself from Seija’s grasp and ram into the amanojaku’s face before fleeing.
“Ow!” Seija yelps, rubbing her nose. After recovering, she looks around and says, “Dang it, I don’t see her anywhere.”
“Neither do I,” says Shin. “Why was she watching us?”
“Let’s find out, she couldn’t have gotten far.”
They fan out and quickly scan their environment as they fly around, being careful not to lose sight of each other. The leaves might have already begun falling, but the forest they are in is still very thick; it is hard for them to see too far in any direction. However, they are able to occasionally hear rustling ahead, which they follow. While Seija weaves between the trees, she encounters an especially dense set of woods she must force her way through.
Ugh, I love dealing with branches.
She covers her face with her arms and begins pushing through, gaining a few scratches for her trouble. Right when she is about to get out, she bumps into something that does not feel like a branch.
Huh?
“Flying Neck - Extreme Long Neck,” says a familiar voice some meters away. The dubious object Seija ran into begins elongating further and wraps around her multiple times before she can react, restraining her.
“What the- Shin!” Seija calls out. “It’s an ambush! Sekibanki has me in her neck!”
From the other side of the trees, Shin’s voice shouts, “Got it, I’ll get you out!”
“No you won’t,” the voice from before says. The absurdly long neck holding Seija ascends over the forest, revealing Sekibanki’s head on one end. Her body is still unaccounted for. The entire top of the forest is visible in all its vibrant colors. About four hundred meters away in the direction Seija faces is the Misty Lake, its water glistening under the Sun. Even further past that is the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Soon Shin also rises above the trees and, armored by her bowl, holds both the Miracle Mallet and her needle at the ready.
“Let her go, Sekibanki!” Shin commands.
The rokurokubi’s voice, which is not coming from the head attached to the exceedingly long neck, responds, “You’re in no position to be making demands, inchling.”
What’s this girl’s game? Everything about this reeks of a premeditated ambush.
“Why are you… doing this?” asks Seija, her voice strained due to Sekibanki’s tight hold.
“You seem to forget that I live in the village, so I was in the splash zone of your stunt a few days ago. Mamizou took the fall but after some digging and a talk with the moon rabbits it wasn’t hard to figure out you two were behind it.”
“You’re this… mad at us… for raining some… dango on people?”
“I don’t care about that. What I do care about is what you two becoming active again means. Your nonsense with the ‘revolution’ and using the Miracle Mallet had an adverse effect on me and others. The fireworks festival was my first indication you two weren’t through yet, but that was also your only move for a while so I hoped that would be the end of it. But then, three months ago, I saw you near the village. I reported it to Reimu and soon after rumors leaked about trouble brewing underground that you two were tangled up in.”
“And our most recent excursion was the last straw?” Shin asks.
“Yes. You two were caught and punished in Former Hell yet almost immediately continued your nonsensical plans the moment you were cut loose. Make no mistake: I care little for humans and most other youkai, but I’m not gonna sit by and be swept up in whatever it is you’re trying to do again.”
“Hmph,” Seija grunts, “I recall you having fun… at the fireworks festival… after Shin and I shook it up. Maybe you… enjoy cutting loose… more than you let on?”
Sekibanki further tightens her neck’s grip, causing Seija to wince. “You really need to learn when to stop speaking.”
She’s very no-nonsense, huh? Great. I can barely move a muscle now.
Shin continues her questioning. “Why tell us all this?”
“I guess you aren’t quite as wary as Seija after all if you still don’t know a distraction when you see one,” Sekibanki answers. Another head with a ludicrously lengthy neck shoots out of the forest, however Shin dodges with grace and forces it back with bullets of her own. She finishes it off with a slam on the head using her Miracle Mallet.
That was too telegraphed, I don’t think someone as seemingly level headed as Sekibanki would do something so obvious. But that means-!
Seija attempts to shout a warning but cannot physically get the words out with the neck still so firmly encasing her.
“If that’s your idea of a surprise attack, maybe next time don’t warn-” Shin’s taunt is cut off as a previously unseen and near silent figure jumps from a tree top and pounces on her, sending both hurtling into the woods. Seija catches a flash of red, white, and brown but is unable to make out any details.
Shin!
Mustering every last ounce of strength in her body, Seija pushes against the neck with all her might and gets the slightest wiggle room to catch her breath, move her limbs, and yell, “Reverse Sign - Overturning All Under Heaven!"
The world appears to flip upside down as danmaku spawn from all sides to pelt the neck into submission, freeing Seija at last. With the sky below her, she flies up into the forest to see Shin, who has a few cuts and bruises on her after being tackled through the thicket. Seija grits her teeth at the sight.
If she’s hurt-!
The inchling is struggling to escape the grip of a youkai with brown hair, wolf ears, and hands with long red nails; her dress is half red and half white, the border between them curved, with a black trim and a red amulet at the chest. Shin’s bowl, still intact, lies nearby next to her dropped needle and mallet.
“W-what’s going on?” asks the youkai, confused by her flipped perception. However, that is not the only thing disturbing her. “Is Seija doing this? But this aggressive intent I feel doesn’t-”
Not giving her a chance, Seija unleashes a vicious flurry of bullets that knocks the wolf-like youkai to the ground above and proceeds to immediately check on Shin.
“You okay?” Seija asks, her tone betraying her worry.
“A little banged up but nothing that won’t be gone in a day or two. Thanks,” says Shin.
That wolf is lucky.
“I need to get my weapons back.”
“I won’t allow it!” shouts Sekibanki, whose body and attached head make their first appearance as she rushes to collect Shin’s possessions, even the bowl. “Kagerou, let’s retreat to the Misty Lake!”
“Alright!” the other youkai responds. Though slowed by Seija’s spell card, they manage to keep moving.
Shin turns to Seija and yells, “We have to stop them!”
“One second,” says Seija, ending her spell card. “Sekibanki has been manipulating us since before we started fighting. I bet she knows that she loses a straight fight even with help, which is why she set the ambush and tricked you with that Kagerou stunt.”
“Yeah, but we can’t let them escape with the Miracle Mallet!”
“We won’t let her, but I can recognize when every last word someone says is meant to manipulate. She could have just run away with Kagerou and we’d have a harder time finding them, but she specified they were retreating to the lake. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“It’s another trap."
“Exactly. Sekibanki already has Kagerou helping her. So let’s rack our brains for a second: who else would side with them?”
After a moment of thinking, Shin says, “I believe Kagerou was also a youkai affected by the Miracle Mallet back then, though I’ve never had any real personal interaction with her. It’s likely that anyone else helping them would fall under the same umbrella. And if this youkai lives at Misty Lake… got it! It must be Wakasagihime, the mermaid. She and I won a white-water rafting championship once!”
That last statement takes a moment for Seija to process. “Uh, you can tell me the rest of that story later.” From there, they form their plan of attack. Once done, Seija indulges in an evil grin.
Let’s flip these fools’ surprise and ‘enlighten’ them as to what a mistake they’ve made by targeting us.
The Sun is directly overhead when Seija and Shin arrive at Misty Lake. They tread carefully, waiting for a potential assault from any side. The shore of the lake is only five or so meters away.
Shin’s at least still big, but without her weapons she’s handicapped; that said she can still use danmaku so she’s not helpless. If Sekibanki is in league with the mermaid, either Shin or me getting knocked into the water is a potential lose condition for us. Their main advantages are numbers and surprise, but both are delicate and easily overturned if we can get even one opportunity.
With no warning, danmaku bullets emerge from two parts of the forest; one where Seija and Shin are, the other a bit to their left. The duo dodges to the right.
That was no miss, they’re funneling us somewhere. Sekibanki has been very careful this whole time, attacking without warning and attempting to catch us unaware. No doubt she’s the ringleader behind this whole alliance.
Another wave of bullets shoots out of the bushes, forcing them right even further. When they try to fly up to avoid, a second salvo from the treetops keeps them close to the ground. The terrain as they move has less and less land between the forest and water.
So that’s their play, keep us grounded and force us closer to the water’s edge.
The duo continues losing ground from the repeated onslaughts; any attempts to return fire prove fruitless.
Make them think their plan is working just a little longer…!
Soon Seija and Shin’s backs are to the lake, at which point Kagerou emerges from the woods to face them directly. Above them are Sekibanki and her multiple circling heads.
“You really derailed our relaxing day, y’know,” Shin complains.
“After how many people’s days you have derailed,” Sekibanki counters, “you’ve no room to talk.”
Seija chimes in, “And what about you, wolfy?”
“Don’t call me that,” says Kagerou.
“Whatever you say, wolfy. You the airhead’s lapdog now?”
“We’re both part of the Grassroots Youkai Network!”
The name alone gives Seija legitimate pause. “…The what?”
Kagerou perks up and, looking proud, says, “It’s an organization we less renowned youkai use to exchange information and generally stay in the know.”
She’s enthusiastic. She also doesn’t have Shin’s stuff on her from what I can tell, so Sekibanki has it under her cloak most likely. Unless that’s what she wants us to think.
“That’s enough, Kagerou. Let’s finish this,” says Sekibanki.
“Dang, you’re a barrel of laughs,” Seija says with a hand on her hip. “No back and forth? No banter?”
Not saying a word, their opponents both get ready to use spell cards, but their movements are ever so slightly delayed. Instead of responding in kind, Seija and Shin stand still, listening to their surroundings intently.
Time to see if our bet pays off!
A splash sounds behind them, exactly what Seija is waiting for. She instantly reacts by reversing her and Shin’s positions with Sekibanki and Kagerou. The latter two are subsequently grabbed and dragged underwater by a blue-haired mermaid in a green kimono: Wakasagihime.
“It worked!” Shin cheers.
Seija responds, “We don’t have long until she realizes the switch, move!”
Shin flies up high and looks down over the lake, the Sun to her back. Meanwhile, Seija hides among the trees similar to how her foes did moments ago. Only a few seconds later do the trio of submerged youkai surface.
Gasping for breath, Kagerou asks, “How… how did… she know?”
“I-I guess she figured out our plan,” says a flustered Sekibanki.
Wakasagihime, her concern apparent, says, “I'm so sorry! You said to keep them under until they passed out and-”
Wow, that’s ruthless. Though the mermaid seems very out of her element. In fact, despite the genuine cleverness of this whole plan, none of the three seem particularly ill-natured. Gutless idiots. Makes me wonder how much danger we were really in. Now for some payback!
With devious glee, Seija summons hundreds of bullets as she flies through the forest to vary their starting points, creating a huge fan of danmaku to rain down on the hapless trio. Sekibanki breaks away up and left, Kagerou up and right, and Wakasagihime dives into the water.
“Hey,” Shin shouts, “where do you think you’re going?!”
“Where-” Sekibanki is cut off when she looks up to where she hears Shin’s voice, blinded by the Sun behind the inchling. “Urgh…”
Kagerou growls, rubbing her eyes after doing the same thing. “Stupid Sun!”
The moment both are stunned, Shin calls out, “Small Bullet - Inchling’s Thorny Path!” Wave after wave of bullets fall upon the rokurokubi and werewolf, their blind attempts at dodging thwarted by Seija reversing their momentum to further confuse them. “Taste all of this overwhelming power! The trump card of the small!” Both Kagerou and Sekibanki scream before the danmaku knocks them out entirely.
Wakasagihime, apparently having seen their bodies go limp from below, surfaces and says, “We surrender! We surrender!” She ferries her allies back to the shore and lays them down as Seija and Shin go to meet her.
Shin is the first to speak. “Before anything else, where are my things?”
“Seki had me hide them underwater in case you managed to beat her,” the mermaid answers.
“Go get them,” Seija commands. “Now.”
Wakasagihime complies and returns with Shin’s needle, bowl, and Miracle Mallet in less than a minute.
“Good to have them back!” says Shin cheerfully.
As this happens, Sekibanki and Kagerou begin to stir. “Ugh, what happened…?” asks the latter, still groggy.
Seija answers, “You bit off more than you can chew.”
“A-are you gonna hurt us?” asks a somewhat fearful Wakasagihime.
“I can think of no better use of time, really,” says Seija with a sarcastic smirk. “You lot have hopefully learned your lesson about messing with Shin and me. Not like you were ever threats to begin with.”
“Tch,” Sekibanki scoffs, staring into the sky. “You, of all people, showing mercy now?”
“Heh, if you really want me to hurt you-”
Shin grabs Seija’s arm. “C’mon, they’re not worth it. Like you said, they can’t threaten us as they are.”
Seija looks back at Shin’s serious expression, eventually relenting. “Fine. But,” she says, turning back to her defeated adversaries, “you three aren’t getting off that easy. Tell us exactly why you did all this.”
“It is as I said before, we came together to prevent you from causing us low profile youkai more trouble,” says Sekibanki.
“And you just so happened to know we were going on a walk today?”
“I had one of my heads do reconnaissance at the Shining Needle Castle after figuring out you were behind the mess at the dango festival. Your noticing and catching it earlier was all planned to lure you into our trap.”
We were spied on that easily?
“What were you intending on doing after capturing us?”
“Turn you into Reimu with my story; hopefully she would put you on a permanently shorter leash afterwards. With Mamizou, for whatever reason, lying to cover for you, my word alone wouldn’t be enough to convince her.”
“Wow,” says Shin. “You’d sell out your fellow youkai just like that? Do you not realize we were trying to give the weak power to rule over the strong? Wouldn’t that benefit you?”
Kagerou pouts. “All you accomplished was making us more aggressive to the point of being thrashed by that shrine maiden and her friends. And even you two don’t stand a chance against them.”
“You say that, but aren’t you just a pathetic pile who wants to wallow in self-pity over how irrelevant you are? We made you someone worth fighting!” Seija says, her twisted smile unnerving the werewolf.
Sitting up, Sekibanki looks Seija dead in the eye and responds, “Some youkai only want peaceful existences! Not everyone has some vague and asinine desire to ‘overturn Gensokyo’! What are you trying to accomplish, really? Are you just a contrarian without a cause? All you do is cause problems for others.”
The amanojaku floats into the air, rotating her body 180 degrees, and puts her upside down face a few centimeters from Sekibanki’s. “Do you even realize who you’re talking to, airhead?”
“Now, now,” says Wakasagihime, doing her best to diffuse the situation despite her nervousness. “You beat us and we apologize for causing you two trouble. It won’t happen again, so I humbly ask you to let us go.”
“Pft, hahahahahahaha!” Seija cannot contain her laughter at the request. “So polite! I guess this is why they keep you around despite how useless you are in any fight without water!”
“I-is that a yes?”
“You wish. Honestly, having the gall to say that after what you just pulled? Almost admirable! But the way I see it, none of you are in a position to refuse the little favor I wanna ask for."
Everyone else present, including Shin, looks at Seija in surprise.
“You want them to do something for us?” asks the inchling.
“Not yet I don’t,” says Seija, wagging her finger. “But they owe us for sparing them. And one day I’m gonna call that in. When that day comes, I expect these three extras to be standing at attention. Or flopping, as the case may be.”
“And if we aren’t?” asks Kagerou.
“Oh, in that case, I’ll let you off with a slap on the wrist and a firm ‘Now don’t do this again, dearie.’”
With a grin and shrug, Shin says, “Of course, taking everything an amanojaku says at face value is something you do at your own risk.”
“Urgh…” Kagerou groans.
“You all brought this on yourselves by antagonizing us.”
“You two antagonize everyone,” says an incredulous Sekibanki.
“Which you take issue with yet don’t expect to be punished yourself?” says Seija, feigning shock. “You attacked two poor, innocent youkai while they were taking a nice stroll! Talk about hypocrisy.”
“But you two-! That’s not even-!” Sekibanki stammers.
Seija makes a face that mockingly mimics a researcher examining a novel artifact. “And so the reserved girl finally loses her head, though I bet that happens all the time anyway.” Seeing the utterly flabbergasted rokurokubi’s face, she lets out a victorious maniacal laugh.
“Oh my gosh, Seija. That was bad even for you,” says Shin. Despite this, she also cannot hide her amusement and soon joins in. The partners’ audience is speechless.
“Anywho,” Seija says after she finishes basking in her own joke, “you idiots can think about what you’ve done while waiting for when we call you. Could be next week, could be next year, who knows! That’s part of the fun. Really, thanks for such a pathetic attempt at an ambush, I got a kick out of it. It completely makes up for interrupting our walk.” In a flash, Seija gets next to Sekibanki’s ear and whispers, “‘Completely.’ See ya!”
The beaten youkai watch with mouths agape as the amanojaku offers a two-finger salute before flying off, followed by Shin waving goodbye and joining her.
“Kagerou, Waka, I’m truly sorry for dragging you into this awful mistake I’ve made,” says Sekibanki apologetically.
The mermaid shakes her head. “Don’t be, I have a feeling everyone’s going to be caught up in their schemes at some point or another.”
“They’re such headaches, Seija especially. And we were so close to beating them at first, I don’t know how Seija managed to overpower my neck.”
“That was right after I attacked Shinmyoumaru, right?” Kagerou asks.
“Yeah, why?”
“Call it an animal’s intuition, but usually, whenever I encounter a human or youkai, I can get a feel for their intent. Be it normally or in a danmaku battle, everyone exudes a kind of aura that reflects their state of mind. When that aura says they’re intending to harm and they have the power to back it up, I stay away.”
“Where are you going with this?”
“Normally, Seija doesn’t make me feel like I’m in legitimate danger; rather, she comes across as though she’s playing a game. A game that could result in a lot of annoyances for everyone involved, mind, but a game all the same. But when she used her spell card and freed Shinmyoumaru… my instincts were screaming at me to run away.”
Once again small, Shin reclines in her bowl while Seija holds it close as they fly home. “The gods are smiling on us today,” says the inchling, looking straight up at her partner. “Just as we wonder how we’ll acquire extra help, those three serve themselves up on a silver platter. The timing couldn’t have been better.”
“Eh, we’ve met some of those gods, and I don’t think many of them particularly care about us one way or the other. Though I suppose from where you’re sitting, life must feel real nice,” Seija responds.
“Hey, I like being big, but having you do the flying for me lets me kick back and enjoy the breeze; the view is nice too.”
You can fly just fine even when you’re small, but…
Seija looks down at her relaxed companion, who offers a reassuring smile. Despite none of the wounds being remotely serious, Shin’s numerous nicks from the ambush cause Seija immense discomfort.
I’ll let you have this.
A few silent minutes pass.
“So, white-water rafting? You’re a fan of that?” Seija asks.
“Yeah, I was actually thinking of participating in the next competition this winter since I missed the annual summer one.”
“Tell me the story of how you won with the mermaid before.”
“For reference, this was slightly under two years before we met again prior to the fireworks festival, so about four years ago altogether. There were two separate brackets: singles and doubles. The singles tournament was done first and, since I was small at the time, the water had way more influence on me than any of the other racers. However!” Shin exclaims, standing up in her bowl, closing her eyes, and holding up her fist in performative dramatics. “The story of an inchling doing her best against the cruel, callous waves of the rapids endeared me to the crowd. I might have lost the race, but I won everyone’s hearts.”
Seija raises an eyebrow at the explanation but lets it be. “And the doubles tournament?”
“That was the one where I asked Waka to team up with me. My lightweight was my bane in the singles bracket, but it sealed our victory in doubles! Waka was entirely unencumbered carrying me through the waves.”
“So she did all the work?”
“Seeing my rise to success after such adversity only bolstered the crowd’s support! I was an irreplaceable member of the team.”
“Heh, whatever you say.” The amanojaku takes a moment to consider before adding, “How about we enter together at the next one? People might dislike us but there isn’t a rule saying we can’t compete as long as they think we’re playing above board.”
Narrowing her eyes, Shin asks, “Care to explain what you mean by ‘they think’?”
“Hey now, I would never consider messing with the other racers to ensure our victory! That would be unfair,” says Seija, her face as innocent as a thief caught in a vault.
Shin shrugs slyly. “Who can define ‘unfair’ in a race among youkai, anyway? Sure, we can enter. The next one's been delayed until after the new year, though, so we’ll be waiting a little while yet. What makes you interested?”
“Just a feeling I get. It sounds super boring, after all.”
“Oh really? If you’re saying that, I’m getting fired up!”
“This is all a long ways off, though, so we should continue trying to hash out a larger scale plan like we were doing before getting derailed by Sekibanki.”
Though, thanks to that ambush, not only did we gain potentially useful tools, I also learned more about Shin. We’ve been working together consistently for a good two years now yet there’s probably still a lot we don’t know about each other; that’s definitely more on me than her, though.
“At the risk of further distracting from that topic,” says Shin, “we’ve only talked about my various escapades between our tenures working together. I’m curious, what did you do during those years?”
It’s like she read my mind.
“After we fought each other when you tried to capture me, and once I evaded every other dang youkai and incident solver in Gensokyo for that matter, I laid low. With the cheating tools, no one could catch me. I was universally hated and ostracized and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
“All alone versus a world that despises you. The ideal life for an amanojaku, right?”
“You could say that, yeah.”
Pausing as though she is building up courage, Shin asks, “Then why stay with me after the fireworks festival?”
“Huh?” Seija is caught off guard by the question. “Well, you impressed me with everything you accomplished that day; life’s more interesting with you around. Plus the Shining Needle Castle is a good base of operations and we never have to want for any material needs thanks to it and the Miracle Mallet. Having an ally in my corner also helps me in my plans.”
“So that’s why. Have I succeeded in keeping you amused?”
“Ha! I can’t deny it.”
“Good. I say we continue entertaining and helping each other with our goals.” The inchling offers a thumbs-up. “Deal?”
The amanojaku returns the favor with a thumbs-down. “Deal.”
Many hours have passed since Seija and Shin returned home. They lay on their backs opposite each other under a kotatsu. No idea they discussed has yet to bear fruit and the frustration is getting to them.
“Okay, let’s systematically lay out every possible target we can think of one more time besides Hakurei Shrine, the human village, Kourindou, and anything underground,” declares Seija.
“Kirisame Magic Shop,” Shin answers.
“Few know about it and half of those who do expect Marisa to accidently blow it up anyway.”
“Scarlet Devil Mansion.”
“Owned by a bat with a big ego but most aren’t affected by it one way or the other.”
“Moriya Shrine.”
“…A possibility, but let’s consider our other options first. They’re especially wary of us after we almost nixed their power source.”
“Hmm… Eientei?”
“More Lunarians and rabbits, huh? What else?”
“How about Myouren Temple?”
“Another possibility.”
“Every other major location I know of is somewhere separate from Gensokyo that we’d need to travel to get to,” says Shin. “The Netherworld wouldn’t be hard to reach but there’s not really much there. Neither Heaven nor Hell are places we could feasibly impact if we even managed to survive the trip. Makai has a barrier, I can’t think of anyone besides Byakuren who’s even from there, and it gives me a bad vibe. Then there’s the Lunar Capital but that would be the hardest one of all to even reach, not to mention the high danger level.”
I… don’t want to go to the Netherworld. And she’s right that Heaven, Hell, and Makai aren’t viable picks. Getting to the Lunar Capital would be hard, though those rabbits weren’t much to deal with; if they’re the standard for the military’s rank and file, hmmm.
Seija responds, “Just how dangerous would it be?”
“Huh?”
“The Lunarians invaded Gensokyo only, what, five years ago? They were repelled, so they can’t be invincible.”
“We don’t know all the details of that incident,” says Shin, visibly concerned over Seija’s line of thought. “Plus that was Reimu and the others who fended them off.”
“You seem oddly worried.”
Shin sits up and leans forward a bit. “They might not be willing to play by our rules.”
“I’ve had to deal with people breaking the rules to try and stop me before, I’m not letting that deter me now.”
“But isn’t this different? Incident solvers here never go past subduing most youkai. Lunarians might go further. Why go after the Lunar Capital, anyway?”
“Think about it: overturning Gensokyo directly has grown more and more difficult as others become aware of our movements. Most in the Lunar Capital don’t know we exist. Plus there are stories of insane technology existing there we could steal and put to good use here. So many possibilities!”
“Look, I know I agreed with you before that we need to think bigger, but I also don’t want you to get hurt.”
Seija gets a weird feeling in her stomach hearing her partner’s words.
Shin, you…
“It’s not like we won’t be careful,” Seija reassures. “And I’m not stupid; going there half-cocked could be the end of us. We need to do a lot of research to prepare. But the idea of subverting a supposedly ‘pure’ society like that…” Her excitement is palpable as she says, “I can think of few things less interesting!”
Shin’s trepidation melts away, a gentler expression replacing it. “There it is.”
“Huh? What is?”
“Your inspiration, you’ve found it again. The desire and ability to rebel against the world itself. I was being genuine when questioning if going to the Moon was a good idea, but I also wanted to see if you could still flip my expectations.”
The amanojaku is speechless.
“Which is why, if we go through with this,” Shin continues, “I want you to promise me you won’t lose. Promise me that together, despite how we’re perceived as small nuisances, we’ll show everyone just how big we really are!”
“It’s a promise!” says Seija. She holds out her fist to the inchling, who meets her halfway. “Besides, losing isn’t possible for us.”
“Why do you say that?”
Rubbing her nose, Seija says, “Cause we already have a white-water rafting contest to win afterwards. No stupid Lunarian can stop us from doing that.”
That is not the response Shin expected. She puts a hand over her mouth, failing to entirely hold back the emotion she feels. “Seija, I- Thanks.”
“You’ve got nothing to thank me for. Let’s go do some investigating, we gotta find everyone we can with some sort of tie to the Lunar Capital.”
“Understood!”
