Hilly Forest Trail, Saniwa Grounds, ~6:08 AM, Day 5Participants: Teams Drillkumo, Silent Sinner, and Ghostbuster: E-mouse, Theorist, and Xan (OOC: Triple copost oh man
Dialog co-written, consolidation and extra detail by E-mouse.) Two Lunarian princesses, their master, and their pet froze in their hiding place for the third time, to escape the curious look of a catgirl miko. After a moment, she turned away again to follow her own masters.
By some miracle, Team Silent Sinner had yet to be detected, despite the shimmering green of their most noticeable member.
"I still don't like this,"
Yori Lunablade grumbled, fingering the hilt of her blade, "Wouldn't it be faster if we just attacked her shikigami?"
Toyohime put a hand on her shoulder. "I told you, sister." She whispered, "We'll need to surprise Yukari if we're going to have any chance of defeating her, in our condition."
"Obviously it's all part of some sinister plot..." Nathanial muttered from next to her, "I'm not sure why it involves so many mikos, but I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this soon."
Lunablade agreed. "It's that shrine maiden's fault, I'm sure of it. Yukari must have brainwashed her into giving away her powers..."
Reisen had a quiet question. "Umm... wouldn't that mean it's Yukari's fault?"
"Of course it's Yukari's fault!" Lunablade snapped back. "She's obviously--"
Toyohime cut her off with a sharp nudge. "Next spot." she whispered, pointing at another large tree farther along the trail. "That one. Quietly."
Lunablade grumbled. The group broke cover to sneak over to the next tree, peeking at their stalking victims through the underbrush.
They waited a second or two before talking again, after their earlier experiences with provoking suspicious miko glances.
Reisen had another question. "Who are those other girls? Toyohime-sama explained the kitsune, but..."
"I can tell one of them's human." Nate provided, with certainty. "But aside from that..."
Reisen was a little surprised. "Human? Which one? I know the girl with cat ears has to be a youkai, but the others... is it the little girl, or the one giving her a piggyback ride?"
Speaking of which, the piggyride-ee let out a loud sigh as her charge started chewing on a lock of blonde hair. She said something else, not quite loud enough to be heard over the noise of the waterfall.
The younger girl reached around to grab at her ride's breasts.
Nate was rather dumbfounded at this development. "... is she doing that on purpose?"
In retaliation, the older girl let go of the younger's legs in a bid to end their piggyback ride arrangement. Unfortunately, she forgot that her rider's other arm was still around her neck. The two toppled backwards onto the dirt trail with small cries of surprise.
After a moment, the older one had another comment to add.
"Damnit, Yukari!"
No sooner had the name "Yukari" been uttered, Lunablade ran full sprint towards her, drawing her katana as she charged towards the little girl. "YUUUUUUKAAAAARIIIIIIIIIII! PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
The reactions of Yukari's group were varied. The catgirl following them simply shrieked in fright. Yukari herself just tilted her head back to look at Lunablade, curious. Her shikigami darted in front of her protectively, incidentally giving Yukari an excellent view of her bloomers. Inexplicably, the human girl cried out in pain.
And, from out of nowhere, a blurringly fast figure ran into Lunablade's path, pushing her blade aside with one of its own, and momentarily knocking her off-balance.
"Wh..."
Youmu skidded to a stop on the dirt past Lunablade, and turned to glare up at her, looking unusually serious and angry for a lolita. Her arms shook slightly, struggling even under the weight of a smaller wakizashi blade.
('Wakizashi' are basically smaller katanas - such as Youmu's Hakurouken.) She took a deep breath, and her expression softened. Slightly. "Could you not attack Yukari-sama, please? Yuyuko-sama would be really irritated if her best friend got injured."
Lunablade stared at her in disbelief for a moment, and laughed. "What?! Are you kidding?! After all she's done to us?!"
"Wh... what..." the green-clad miko stammered, as Yukari crawled out from underneath her.
"I'm sorry, Midori-san, but it's an emergency." Ran answered her, tersely.
"R... right..."
Ran began walking towards Lunablade, flexing her fingers, a hint of fear on her face.
Lunablade glanced between Youmu and her newly approaching opponent for a moment.
There was a loud "hrmhrmhrmhrm!" of someone clearing their throat.
Toyohime waited for a moment to allow the others to look at her, and produced... a large paper fan.
She smiled.
"Sister, please restrain yourself."
Ran's eyes widened, and she quickly backed off. Midori struggled up on one elbow beside her and got a proper look at the scene.
"... oh, shit."
Youmu simply gave Toyohime a blank stare, nonplussed. "Uh... thanks?"
Lunablade stared at her sister in disbelief for a moment. She threw back her head and laughed. "Ahaha! Toyo, you really think that's going to stop me?! Even if I wasn't your sister, that--"
Toyohime cut her off by clearing her throat again, more loudly this time.
"Um... what's going on...?" Youmu asked, increasingly confused.
Nate had an answer about what he thought SHOULD be happening. "Stop it, Lunablade!" he cried, "I told you that we weren't coming here to fight!"
The gaudily-clad lunar princess just grinned at him. It wasn't a friendly grin.
"Maybe
you didn't."
Toyohime was starting to lose her temper. "Yori! Stop acting like a petulant child! I know it's Yukari, but this isn't the time for that!"
"It's LUNABLADE!!" her sister cried back.
Speaking of Yukari.
"Yori-chan dresses so silly~"
Everyone turned to stare.
Lunablade looked back at her sister, eyes pleading. "
Please?"
Jeremidori, in the meantime, had collapsed back to the ground in exasperation. "Yukari
please don't be a fucking moron!"
Youmu was equally exasperated. "Could someone
please explain to me what is going on here?!"
"Moon princess out for revenge," Midori grunted, painfully getting up on her knees again.
"That's right!" Lunablade cried, spinning around to face the Yakumos again. She pulled herself up to her full height. "I shall not stand down!"
She glared down at the loli-Yukari giving her an overconfident smile, flourished with her blade, and brought it down to point at her nemesis.
"Listen here, Yukari Yakumo! What you have done to me and my people is UNFORGIVABLE! The souls of those who died during your war cry out for VENGEANCE, and I am that vengeance given form!"
"Dramatic." Jeremidori muttered. The gap-loli next to her giggled.
Lunablade continued, voice rising as she got into her speech. "I am the Sword of Lunaria! The Moon Princess Possessed by Divine Spirits!"
"Isn't that her sword, not her?" Midori muttered. Ran shrugged.
"Defender of love, justice, and the Lunarian way!" Yori - sorry, Luna - went on, "hear my name and tremble, for I am..."
She raised an open hand to the sky. "MAGICAL! ..."
Luna pulled the arm back down, extended the other to her side, and brought them back in with an odd cross, an odd selection of fingers extended. "WARRIOR!..."
Her bizarre gesticulations continued, proceeding through a brief wide-legged pose, twisting her body away from Yukari as she continued glaring over her shoulder, a final round of strange gestures...
"
LUNABLAAAAAAADE!"
Before ending with a rather distinctive pose with her pointing at Yukari over one elbow.
The whole sequence was
eerily familiar.
Nate, Toyohime, and Reisen buried their faces in their hands for a moment.
"Oh, that's who she's imitating." Jeremy quipped, "I didn't recognize it over the clashing gaudiness."
"What?" Ran asked, dumbfounded at the ludicrous display.
Yukari just giggled again and pointed up at Lunahime. "Your hands look funny!"
Lunablade's eyebrow twitched.
And Youmu... stared at her in stunned silence. She slowly brought one hand to her face as well, shaking.
"Okay."
Her calm was... fragile.
"I don't really know what's going on here, but let me make sure I've got this straight."
Youmu's tone gave the others pause. Everyone looked at her.
She gave them a strained grin. "Okay, Yukari did something bad to you in the past, right?"
Yukarin clasped her hands behind her back and failed to look innocent.
Yoriblade, at least, took it seriously. Hysterically, even. "'Something bad'!? She tried to invade my home and... And caused the deaths of a lot of people I cared about!"
"The First Lunar War..." Midori muttered. She started trying to bore holes through the back of Yukari's head with her eyes.
Youmu nodded slowly at Lunablade. "Okay... I've got that so far. So, you come down here and decide to kill her?"
"... I doubt they'd do that on their own..." Midori muttered, frowning. "Which would mean..."
Lunablade scoffed at the half-ghost's objection. "Of course! She deserves nothing less!"
Midori glared at the back of Yukari's head again.
Youmu developed a nasty, dead-eyed smile. "... while she's basically depowered and has been reduced to a loli."
Yorihime wasn't too intimidated. "What better chance will I have against her?" she shot back, "I'd be stupid NOT to do this now!"
"She has a point." Midori mumbled to herself.
Yukarin kept smiling.
Youmu started shaking again. Even her voice was uneven. "... and yet you give this huge speech involving justice?"
A brief silence. Now Midori giggled.
"Somehow, killing defenseless people doesn't seem at all just." the half-ghost added, with a growl.
"Yukari? Defenceless!?" Lunablade shrieked back at her, "She's a diabolical fiend, an enemy of all that is just! The right thing to do would be to strike her down before she regains her power!!"
"Right for who?" Midori asked, loudly.
Lunahime's head snapped around to glare at her, and she opened her mouth to reply, but Youmu cut her off.
"And another thing? Am I supposed to be worried about that fan?" she had also turned away, to glare at the other moon princess. "I mean, Yuyuko-sama uses fans in combat, but come on..." she raised her blade a little, with a nasty little grin. "... there are
swords involved here. And it's made out of
paper..."
Lunablade scoffed, and put her hands on her hips. "HAH! Don't flaunt your ignorance! If my sister uses the power of that fan, everything you can see will be purified at the atomic level!"
Jeremy snorted.
Youmu gave her opponent a blank stare. Then another disturbing smile. "... Okay. Ignoring the whole subject of Yukari for now, did you say that everything -
EVERYTHING. I. See. - would be purified by that if you used it?"
"'Disintegrated' may be a better term." Ran added, nervously. Beads of sweat rolled down her face.
Lunablade grinned. "YES!" she crowed, "To the atomic level!"
"Everything?" Youmu repeated.
Yoriblade glared at her. "I just said--"
Youmu turned her gaze up to the top of the waterfall. "Including all those people up there?"
"... um..."
Lunablade cringed back a little under Youmu's glare.
"Yes. Or. No."
"Ah, ah, well, um, maybe..." Yorihime mumbled, sweatdropping nervously.
Youmu began shaking again. "And you...
you..."
The volcano erupted.
"
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!" Youmu roared, at the top of her lungs. The trees nearby shed their collection of birds in a panic. "
SWEET MERCIFUL SHIKIEIKI, I THOUGHT I HAD TO DEAL WITH LOADS OF ILLOGIC ALLREADY, BUT THIS JUST DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!"
Nate and Reisen nodded sagely, arms crossed.
Midori disagreed. "Actually, it makes perfect sense, just--"
Youmu cared for none of this, boiled over in confusion and anger. She shot a finger out towards Yukari.
"
THIS IS YUKARI YAKUMO. SHE ENJOYS TAKING NAPS LASTING BETWEEN A DECADE TO A CENTURY, NICE CHATS WITH YUYUKO-SAMA, AND TROLLING REIMU."
"It's very fun~" Yukarin sang. Midori sighed.
"
SHE IS CURRENTLY ENTIRELY LACKING IN MANA, AND IS PHYSICALLY A SMALL, PRETEEN GIRL.
I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND HOW ANY OF THAT LIST OF THINGS QUALIFIES HER AS A DIABOLICAL FIEND. NOT EVEN THE IRRITATING REIMU PART."
Midori didn't get too far with her objection. "Well, actu--"
"SHE TRIED TO INVADE THE MOON!" Lunablade shot back, nearly screaming. "SHE... SHE KILLED THE ONLY PERSON I'VE EVER LOVED!
"WHAT?!"
Yukarin actually started to sweat a little under Jeremidori's glare.
"Did you seriously..."
Still, none of this stopped little Youmu's Unlimited Flipout Works. She snapped her sword over to point at Lunablade, shaking wildly. "
A-AND YOU! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DRESSED IN THAT SILLY OUTFIT?!?!"
"Silly?!" the Sword of Lunaria gasped, "
THIS OUTFIT'S NOT SILLY, IT'S THE TRUE UNIFORM OF A DEFENDER OF JUSTICE!!"
Youmu ignoring this was not surprising, but somewhat more understandable. "
I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS ANYMORE![/i] URGE... TO... STAB... PEOPLE... RISING!!!!"
"Uh, Youmu..." Midori said, hesitantly.
Youmu's head snapped over to glare at her. The motion made her shaky grip on her wakizashi falter, the blade scraping on her fingers enough to draw blood.
She quickly fixed her grip on the blade and stared down at the blood on her hand.
Suddenly, Youmu was calm.
Thoughts among the others met a general consensus of 'Uh-oh.'
"Yes, that's right..." Youmu said to herself, dreamily, "Why do I even bother attempting to inject sanity into these things anymore?"
She looked up at Yorihime, a distant smile on her face. "Yes, just flow with the insanity... it seems to work just fine for everyone else..."
"I prefer insanities that don't involve copious violence." Midori whimpered, shuffling backwards.
Lunablade frowned at her opponent. "If you don't act with a calm heart, you'll never be able to control your sword properly! What makes you think you can challenge me?!"
Youmu brought her sword to the ready, still smiling silently.
"Will you two stop it?" begged Nate, "We only came here to get some answers, damn it..."
"Yori... Lunablade-sama, please..." Reisen added.
No such luck.
Lunablade staggered back under the ferocity of Youmu's first assault, a little alarmed at the perfectly calm, vacant smile on her face whist essentially flying into a berserker fury. But Lunablade wasn't the Sword of Lunaria for nothing! She managed to recover quickly enough, and the two traded blows evenly, Youmu circling around her constantly to little avail.
After a few rotations, a nasty grin passed over Youmu's face.
"Guh!"
"To...Toyohime-sama!!"
A second Youmu stood behind Toyohime, the blade of 'her' sword lightly pressing against the moon princess' throat.
The first Youmu continued smiling at Lunablade, positioned precisely between her and her sister. "Hehehe."
Reisen and Nate made their counterpoint to the en-formed Myon that had appeared out of nowhere. A handful of gemstones and a shaky rifle bayonet leveled themselves at the back of her head.
"B... back off!" Nathanial stammered, "Unless you w-want to get hurt!"
Neither Youmu really cared about this threat. Nate and his rabbit-eared squeeze realized the reason when Myon flickered a little.
"Nooow then." Youmu went on, smirking at Lunablade a little, "I think I have a
nice little hostage situation set up here."
"Just put away all the weapons," Myon added, breath brushing Toyohime's ear, "We'll discuss this calmly, and noooooo one needs to get hurt."
The two Youmus grinned nastily again. "
Yet."
"This... this includes your weapons, Youmu." Midori managed to say.
"After them."
Nate took the most reasonable course of action. "Lunablade, drop it. Now."
"But..."
Lunablade glanced nervously between the Youmu in front of her, and the sister past her.
She squeezed her katana's hilt for a moment...
"... fine, then."
... and sheathed it.
Real-Youmu's smile turned a little less dead. "See, that was easy." She sheathed her own blade, the two sword holders looking rather awkward on her lolified form.
"Nice sword, I might add. Not as good as Hakurouken-" Youmu patted said weapon's hilt affectionately, "But a good quality sword."
Myon returned to its normal, near-transparent form and resumed floating above Youmu's shoulder.
"Um." Midori stammered.
"Now, can we speak calmly?" Youmu asked, finally returning to her usual level-headedness.
Nate sighed in relief. "Finally! That's what I originally inten--" He blinked. "Wait, what did you say your sword was called?"
"Hakurouken." Youmu answered. "Normally, I'd be using it in conjunction with Roukanken," she tapped the other sheathe with a finger, "But in my current state..."
"Hakurouken... And Roukanken!? The... The White Tower Sword and the Lookout-Tower Sword!?" Nate's face spread into an eager, fanboyish grin. "B-b-but those were supposed to have been lost centuries ago!"
Youmu blinked. "Eh? Hakurouken here has been my family's property since... well, a very, very, very long time ago."
"They disappeared along with the last master of Konpaku-style kendo!" Nate went on.
Youmu blinked again. Laughed softly. "Ahahaha. Yes, I suppose we did disappear."
Nate's eyes widened. "W-wait... You don't mean..."
Youmu smiled again, sincerely. "My name is Youmu Konpaku. That should answer your questions."
"Konpaku..." Nate echoed, dreamily.
Midori rubbed her chin, now sitting crosslegged alongside a tense Ran, with a Yukarin lounging in her lap and a Chen hiding behind her. "This reminds me, I should probably explain Gensokyo to the newcomers that aren't familiar with it..."
Nate gasped, attention thoroughly diverted. "G-g-g-g-Gensokyo?!" he stammered, "What do you know about Gensokyo?!"
"I'm FROM there." Youmu answered, a little testily. Nate affixed her with a fanboyish stare. "... and dear merciful Yama, stop staring at me like that. It reminds me of how Yuyuko-sama looks at her food at dinner..."
"Most of us are." Jeremy added, "If only as immigrants..."
Nate's staggered back a step or two. "Y-y-you're from Gensokyo!?" He gasped. Stared into space for a moment. "Just like that Letty woman Anthony met..." A grin. "Eheheh, this is getting interesting indeed~"
Youmu looked Nate over for a moment. "Mmm, I'm somewhat surprised you've heard of it."
Jeremidori snorted back a laugh.
"Though I guess having heard of my blades is rather more surprising..."
"Of course I've heard of it!" Nate cried, "It's been my lifelong dream to enter Gensokyo!"
A nasty silence.
Youmu's face fell. "I'm... afraid you're a bit late for that. We're kinda refugees at the moment. It's... vanished."
"Damn Kikuri..." Jeremy muttered.
Nate nodded. "Yes, I heard... if it's anything like what happened to the Moon, then..."
"So the Capital DID go down?" Midori asked. "Well, I guess it's the only possible reason for those two to be here..."
"Watazuki-chan never comes to visit~" Yukarin whined, from her lap. Midori rolled her eyes.
Lunablade jumped back into the conversation at this. "Why would we ever visit YOU?!" she cried, a hand on her katana's hilt, "After all you've done to us, why the hell would--"
"I'd appreciate it if you could put that somewhere out of reach." Midori cut in.
Myon silently floated back over near Toyohime.
"Please, can we discuss the like... intelligent people?" Youmu pleaded.
Yukarin was in a whiney mood. "But that's booooooring!"
Youmu glared at her, sighed, and turned away. "Well fine, I'll just back off and let this nice lady introduce you to the sharp end of her sword."
"Raaaaan~ Make with the clawies~" Yukarin sang, standing up on Midori's lap.
"Yukari-sama, I really don't think this is wise..." Ran stammered, sweating profusely.
Loligap started tearing up. "Buh-buh Ran-oneechan, how cooooould you?! If my shikigami doesn't like me, then... then..."
"Yukari."
Yukarin turned to find Midori glaring at her. Ran dabbed at a nosebleed around a set of unnaturally long nails.
"Is there anything I could
possibly do to make you actually take this seriously?"
Yukari's face twisted into a cute, pouty frown. "Mmmmrrrnnnnn..."
Jeremy stubbornly refused to wipe the blood off her lip while it would interrupt her glaring.
Suddenly, Yukarin recovered, and stabbed a finger into Midori's cheek.
"Let me massage your boobs up to size!"
Silence.
"What."
Yukari hopped out of her battery's lap and waved excitedly at the moon princesses in the area. "Ne, ne, Watazuki-chan, Watazuki-chan!
Do you know what the English-speaking Touhou fanboys call you?"
Midori's eyes widened in alarm.
Yukarin shifted into flawless English. "
The moonbi----"
"
OKAY!" Midori shrieked, "OKAY! If you're that eager to molest me, then fine! Just don't get us all killed!!"
Nate blinked. "...English speaking eastern fanboys? Huh?"
Yukarin sat down next to Midori, smirking, but actually pretending to have some shred of dignity. Although she kept eyeing her battery's chest.
"No, Western." Jeremidori replied, heavily, "I expect Yukari's kept track of events from both sides of the pond."
Yukarin nodded vigorously.
This only confused Nate further. "But... I'm sure she said 'touhou'... I thought that meant 'eastern...?'" He frowned. "Or am I getting touhou and seihou mixed up again? Japanese isn't my first language, I must admit, and I do make the occasional mistake."
Midori blinked. "Oh... man, I keep taking that for granted." She shook her head. "Yukari, I don't know HOW you set up that everyone-knows-Japanese thing for Gensokyo, but I'm well overdue on thanking you for it."
Yukari flapped a hand dismissively. "Oh, the foreign kids being unable to talk to anyone got boring fast. It's nothing big."
"I'm glad it stuck, though..." Midori trailed off for a moment, then shook her head. "To answer your question, you're right, but I'm actually referring to a game series that pretty accurately depicts Gensokyo."
She stared into space for a moment. "... wonder where ZUN is..."
"Back to the matter at hand, please..." Youmu pleaded. You KNOW it's bad when the most serious person around gets off topic.
She got back on it quickly, though. "Right, right. You were here for... what was it, answers?"
"And to--"
"
No, Lunablade."
"I just want to know what's going on," said Nate. "A lot of strange things have happened recently, and the only leads I have are Gensokyo and Saniwa Shrine."
Midori eyed Lunablade. "And them?"
"...I have a mana contract with them." Nate said, "I couldn't just leave them at home, could I?"
"I figured that much," Jeremy replied, a little annoyed, "But what have THEY already told you?" He frowned at Toyohime and Reisen. "I take it they've already told you about what they've seen of Gensokyo, so I don't have to worry about
that being a security problem, but..."
"Well, yes..." Nate admitted, "But they have no idea what happened to Gensokyo and the Lunar Capital."
Lunablade gave Yukari a nasty smile. "Nonsense, Nathanial, the culprit is right here!"
"If Kikuri were here, I'd be drilling her through the throat." Midori growled.
"Kikuri? Who would that be?" Nate asked.
Midori blinked. "Damnit, I need to be less sloppy." she muttered.
"Does she have something to do with all of this?"
"We're not entirely sure who it is, other than that she is responsible for what happened to Gensokyo." Youmu answered. She paused. "Or at least involved in it."
"AND a good bit of crap outside Gensokyo." Midori growled. "Honestly, the past few days..."
"I take it this goes much further than that basketball game the other night, doesn't it?" Nate asked.
Jeremy laughed bitterly. "That might match it if the ball was an atomic bomb." She quipped. Considered for a moment. "Though I think Sho said that was the yakuza...?"
A realization. "Wait, that means you've met the Gensokyo group already?!"
Nate nodded. "In passing, yes."
Jeremidori's eyes narrowed. "Then I'm hoping you've spoken with Satori...?"
"Satori?" Nate replied, puzzled. "Can't say the name rings a bell..."
... his eyes widened. "...Wait, by 'satori,' you don't mean the mind-reading youkai, right? They... they actually exist?"
"If it's a youkai, it probably exists." Youmu answered, "We even have a couple of western vampires."
Midori smirked. "There's a kitsune and nekomata right in front of you, if you haven't noticed."
"Ah..." Nate's gaze turned over to Ran, looking her over carefully. Ran glared back at him, one ear twitching.
"With all that's been going on, I didn't really realize it..." Nate muttered. He trailed off for a moment, then frowned. "Wait... If she's a kitsune, and she's a nekomata..." Chen ducked behind Jeremidori as he pointed at her, "Then... what are Yukari and Konpaku-san? They're definitely not human..."
He hesitated, and shifted uncomfortably. "Um... If it's, uh, not rude of me to ask, of course...?"
Youmu didn't particularly mind. "I am half ghost." She grimaced for a moment. "Don't ask how that works. And please, refer to me as Youmu."
Lunablade cut in on the other half of the question, growling. "And Yukari is the Youkai of Boundaries, no doubt seeking sympathy after destroying the Lunar Capital!"
Yukari just stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Oh, Yori, Yori, Yori, you can't be serious."
"Who else would want to ruin us?! Luna shot back, hotly, "Let alone be able to!!"
Yukarin tilted her head and smiled sadly. "I already failed at that once." she said, quietly.
"And you expect me to believe you haven't been planning this for the past thousand years?!" Yorihime snapped, "You'll stop at nothing, I know it!"
Yukari's eyes narrowed.
"Wouldn't it make more sense for whatever happened to the Lunar Capital to have the same cause as what happened to Gensokyo?" Youmu pointed out.
Yukari was unamused by Lunablade's accusation. "Do you honestly believe I would sacrifice Gensokyo simply to spite you?" Her voice was cold and quiet. Eerily intimidating for an about-seven-year-old.
"I just SAID you'd stop at nothing!" Lunablade cried. She had to stop her hand from grabbing at the hilt of her sword again. "You had no qualms about sacrificing an army of youkai trying to invade us!!"
Midori turned to look at Yukarin, frowning.
"No, sister." Toyohime cut in. Yoriblade spun around to glare at her. "When I captured her trying to sneak to the moon..."
"I still can't believe you didn't kill her when you had the chance." Lunablade snarled.
"I don't think I could have." her sister replied, "But... I DO know she could have fought back, and probably even snuck past me. But as soon as I threatened Gensokyo..."
Yukari gave Lunablade a smug smirk. "I think your sister understands better than you do." she said.
"Then again, your plans weren't exactly grandiose..." Jeremidori muttered, still eyeing Yukari.
"Well, no." Yukarin admitted. Smiled. "But they weren't malicious, either."
"It was a decoy!" Lunablade cried, "A distraction! N... no, a test!! To show that you could infiltrate the moon! You must have destroyed us from the inside out!!"
Yukari glared at her again. "... Yorihime, I am rather surprised you have not matured over the past millennium."
"WHAT?!"
Youmu's hand slipped down to the hilt of her sword again. Despite the threat, Lunablade kept her grip - but didn?t move to attack.
"I am not the impulsive, greedy girl I was then." Yukari went on, clearly irritated, "I did indeed intend to conquer the moon, but I have learned since then. It was not worth it." A bitter smile. "... despite what noble intentions I would like to think I had."
"
WHAT?!" Lunablade repeated, shrieking in disbelief.
Midori raised an eyebrow. "Noble intentions?"
"Yes," Yukari said. "I selected my allies for that invasion... carefully. Even then, I had a certain respect for humans... but as you can guess, many other youkai did not."
"... so, it was both a genuine invasion
and the 'Yukarin can do no wrong' fanon interpretation of teaching the other youkai a lesson?" Midori asked. She laughed. "Oh, clever."
"A lesson?" Yukarin asked. She laughed as well, bitterly. "Oh, no. I tried to recruit my rivals, and those that were... particularly hostile towards humans." A dark grin. "I knew there would be many casualties."
"And for us, as well?" Toyohime asked, eyes narrowed.
Yukari was silent for a moment. "... that was my last-ditch effort to remove you two from the battle." she said, quietly. A sad smile. "Unfortunately, it only motivated you."
Midori was curious. "What was?"
Lunablade flashed her sword out, to point at Yukari. "That bitch killed our husbands."
Silence.
Youmu sighed, and drew her own sword again. "Come on, let's not start this again... It will just end the same way, and we'll be in the same situation."
Lunablade turned back to glare at her for a moment... and reluctantly sheathed her katana again. Very reluctantly. "I'll warn you, you're only delaying my revenge..."
Nate managed to recover from his surprise a little. "She... she was married?" He turned to the bunnygirl next to him. "D-did you know this, Reisen?"
Reisen shook her head, slowly. "It's as surprising to me as it is to you... Although now I think I see why Lunablade-sama hates Yukari so much."
Nate nodded slowly. "Yeah, things make a LOT more sense now..."
"Is revenge even a good idea?" Midori piped up. She glared at the cosplaying(?) moon princess. "I mean, I understand being angry as hell about what she's done, but... after a thousand years...?"
"You expect me to just let her go for what she's done?!" Lunahime cried, "Do you know how many people she's killed?!"
"Not really," Jeremidori replied, "But killing
her for that is rather... spiteful."
Yukarin gave her a sideways smile. "My, my. Talking so casually about killing me?"
"The situation rather demands it."
A small chuckle. "Perhaps."
"Spiteful?!" Lunablade spat, "What
else do you expect me to do?! Forgive her for
mass murder?!"
"Pretty much."
"
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!"
Smile. "Pretty much."
Lunablade started sputtering wordlessly, unable to express just how absurd this proposal was.
Youmu sighed heavily. "Look, now is NO time to be killing each other. We've already established that the destruction of Gensokyo and the Lunar Capitol are likely linked. Under the circumstances, wouldn't working together be a better solution?"
Yorihime spun around to face the half-ghost, and managed to get her voice working again. "Work
together?! With
HER?!"
"Quite frankly, I'd rather have the power of a thousand gods AND the demigoddess of boundaries on our side than one or the other." Midori added. Smirked. "'Both' is a wonderful third option to take."
A strangely cheerful expression slowly spread on Lunablade's face. "Oh, of course... you just want to use us for our powers, don't you?!" A short bark of a laugh. "HAH! Don't take me for a fool!"
Midori crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "So you want to restore the Lunar Capital all on your own?"
Lunablade snorted. "Like I need your help..." she turned to her companions. "We'd be better off on our own, right?"
They didn't seem to agree.
"Lunablade, I don't think we could do that on our own," said Nate, propping back his glasses. "We need to work together, just like, um..." he trailed off for a moment, frowning at Midori. Shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name, but like what you said."
"Jere--"
"Midori-chan." Yukari cut her off.
Jeremy sighed heavily.
Youmu nodded. "Yes, that's Midori-san."
"Did Yuyuko order you to call me that?" the girl in question asked.
Youmu twitched. "... no, why would she do that?"
"To aggravate me?"
Youmu laughed bitterly.
Nate paused at the odd exchange, but shook his head and continued with his rebuttal to Yorihime. "... right, just like Midori said. Um... Let's see..." He trailed off for a moment, looking over Lunablade's ridiculous outfit. And her flamboyant manner from earlier...
Nate cleared his throat. "Ahem..." Gave Lunablade a wide grin. "We shall pierce tomorrow with yesterday's foes and carve a path with our two hands!"
Lunablade flinched at the mention of hands, and glared at her Master Battery. "Nathanial, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." she scoffed, "Only an idiot would say that, let alone believe it."
"Hear that, Midori-chan~" Yukarin sang.
"Am I supposed to care?" Midori shot back, grouchily.
"Yori, stop being so stubborn." Toyohime said, a tiny hint of annoyance to her invariably-calm voice. "At this point in time, this is... probably the best course of action." A grim smile. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're pretty weak right now, and need... all the help we can get." She sighed. "I mean seriously,
Reisen's stronger than you right now!"
"I
thought you were bluffing about the fan thing." Jeremy quipped.
Ran and Youmu blinked. "Wait, they were bluffing?" Youmu asked. She stared at Lunablade for a moment. "But she didn't seem like she was... GAH! It's all too confusing! I can't take much more of this!!"
"About the FAN, Youmu..." Midori repeated.
Toyohime half-grimaced, half-smiled. "I know we've had our... Differences in the past, but we need to put that aside for now." She sighed. "This might be the only way we'll be able to restore the Capital, Yori. Don't be so blinded by your hate that you'd refuse an opportunity to restore our civilization."
Lunablade gaped at her sister in disbelief. "Wh... even... even you're..."
"Hey! Youmu-san!" a new voice cried, from up in the trees.
The others looked up in time to see a girl in a blue dress drop from the trees, landing gracefully beneath a dark purple umbrella. She smiled at the crowd. "Boo~"
Youmu was surprised, either by her arrival or her actions. "Gah! Kogasa, what are you doing here?!"
The umbrella youkai stuck her tongue out at Youmu. "Yuyuko-san wants you~"
The half-ghost twitched. "Not..." Twitched again. "Not now." Twitching continued. "I'm BUSY! I AM NOT GOING TO DEAL WITH YUYUKO AND HER INANE DEMANDS RIGHT NOW!!"
"Hey, hey, Midori-chan, since they're busy..."
"Can it wait until we're sure Lunawhatever won't slice us up?"
"Aww, fine."
Kogasa cringed in fright under Youmu's glare, before ducking behind Yorihime's leg to hide.
"I SWEAR!" the little samurai cried, "EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE TRYING TO MAKE MY LIFE HELL! IT'S NOT FAIR!" She slouched forward, and fell to her knees. "It's not faiiiiiiiiir."
She started sobbing.
The group fell silent.
Lunablade took a step towards Yukari's group.
"Don't." Midori, Ran, Nate, and Toyohime's voices echoed. Ran flexed her fingers for a moment.
Lunablade stopped, face twisting in rage and confusion.
Reisen was, somewhat surprisingly, more concerned with the sobbing Youmu between her and Yorihime. "Um... h-hey, it can't be th-that bad, right?" she stammered, trying to sound comforting, "I m-mean, uh..."
"It's not that bad." Youmu moaned, "It's wooorse..."
Reisen kept trying. "W-well, it, uh c-could be even worse, r-right?"
Yukarin grinned.
Youmu considered this statement for a moment.
She promptly dropped to her side and curled up into a fetal position, whimpering.
This was not a good sign. "Ah!" Reisen cried, "Um... oh dear, d-d-did I say something wrong...?"
Youmu just sobbed.
Reisen... hesitantly approached the crying half-ghost, reached out a hand, and... hesitated. ""Um... uh..." She gathered her courage, and took the enormous risk of patting her on the head. "Th... there, there... There's n-no need to cry, r-right?"
Lunablade stared at Youmu, half in disgust, half in pity. "What... What happened to you!? Have you no pride? No passion!? A true warrior wouldn't let such things reduce them to this state!"
She struck a pose. "Strike down your demons with the blade of justice! Stand tall, with a heart full of hope and love! And in the name of the moon..." she adopted that... particular pointing pose once again. "...STOP ACTING LIKE A WUSS!"
Midori snorted back a laugh.
Youmu's sobs faded. She pulled her head up enough to look at Lunablade's rather encouraging smirk. Blinked through the tears. "A-ah... Thank you, um..." a small sweatdrop. "... what was your name, again?"
"I told you before..." Lunahime began, and moved into her highly referential posing sequence again. "I am the Sword of Lunaria! The Moon Princess Possessed by Divine Spirits!" The Point. "Magical Warrior Lunablade!"
Nate buried his face in his hands.
Youmu nodded slowly. "A-ah. Thank you, Lunablade-san."
Lunablade puffed out her chest, modestly sized despite the motion's potential as an immodest gesture. "A Hero of Justice needs no thanks! Thank me by living a life dedicated to the ideals of love, justice and the Lunarian Way!!"
Yukarin giggled, earning her a brief glare.
Youmu stared. "Er... W-well, I'll try the first two, certainly..." She took a deep breath. "Anyhow, I... kinda feel I owe you for that. A matter of honour, you understand."
"Well, if it's a matter of honour..." A sly grin crossed Lunablade's face. "Hmmm... Your skill with the blade is most impressive for one of your age. Yes, I think this would work out perfectly..."
Midori's jaw dropped. "Oh, god, don't tell me..."
Yukari broke into giggles again.
"E-eh?" Youmu stammered, blinking.
Lunablade pointed at Youmu. "Alright, it's decided! A magical girl can't work alone, so from now on you'll be my partner!!"
"What?! B-but... Well..." the half-ghost trailed off, and gave an off-key, high-pitched laugh. "Heeheeee! Oh, why am I even bothering with this sanity thing any more?!"
"Yes!" Lunablade crowed, "From this day forth, we'll be a team!" She paused, and rubbed her chin in thought. "But... But you need a name... A name fitting for a magical warrior... AHA!"
Lunablade snapped her fingers and pointed dramatically at Youmu. "Alright! From now on, you shall be known as... Mystical Hantsuki Girl Crescensoul!"
Youmu saluted, a mad grin on her face. "Hai! Understood, Lunablade-san!"
"Hmmm... But that outfit is SO wrong..." Lunablade wrinkled her nose at
Youmu's Crescensoul's apparel. "It just won't do for a defender of justice!"
"Why is this happening..." Midori moaned into her palm.
Yukarin made the situation worse. "Me too! Me too!"
"For the love of--"
"Legendary Sukima Maiden Violet!" she cried, before giving Jeremy an innocent look. "Did... you say something about for my love...?"
"Not exactly."
Nate facepalmed even harder than before. "Oh god, they're multiplying..."
Youmu gave him an eerie smile. "Is there something wrong with that~?"
"Yes." Midori answered, darkly, "Magical girls attract more attention than we can afford at the moment."
Youmu's gaze snapped back around towards her, still... smiling. "Oh, really..."
"And you're going to end up looking goddamn ridiculous..." Nate added.
Crescensoul apparently found this complaint irrelevant, and unsteadily approached Jeremy. She leaned in a little too close for comfort.
Midori leaned back and swallowed hard. "I... I know it must be tempting to have some f-fun with that, but i-if Kikuri finds us..." A trickle of sweat traced down her forehead.
Ran brought a hand between them. "Youmu-san, please..."
"
Oh. Really."
The kitsune's fingers curled back a little, uncertain.
"Don't listen to them, Crescensoul!" Lunablade cried, "No-one will recognise you in your new outfit, anyway! No-one ever recognised the Sailor Senshi, anyway..."
Jeremy persisted in her objection, despite shaking like a leaf. "Th... that's because anime civilians are inept. I-I'm not going to assume Ki-Kikuri and her goons are i-idiots."
"I think the fact that they haven't ALREADY found us shows that they're pretty inept." Youmu replied, actually deadpan.
Midori fully regained her courage, if only for a moment. "No, she already did." she said, darkly, "But then we 'died.'"
"In which case she's less likely to believe any reports that we're still alive." Cresensoul countered, "And besides, she apparently wasn't too interested in Lunablade here." A childish chuckle. "And I certainly don't look like how I usually do."
"You say that as if she's only looking for people from Gensokyo."
"I think they're beyond all reason at this point, Midori..." Nate said, propping back his glasses. He sighed loudly.
"Besides, if they DID find us," Lunablade cried, before briefly switching to a stage whisper, "(not that that's ever going to happen)," And back to enthusiasm, "We'd just defeat them with the power of love and justice!"
"Oh for..."
"Indeed!" Cresensoul shouted. She leapt back into the open space between the two groups, and adopted the oft-abused Point Pose. "For, um..." her confidence wavered, "... puppies!..."
She trailed off, lamely. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Yukarin giggled again.
"Um... We're going to have to work on your delivery a little, Crescensoul..." Lunablade said, a bit deflated at her apprentice's failure.
Youmu blushed furiously. "Uh, uhm... yeah..." she glanced around at the half-dozen people staring at her, then at the underbrush off to the side. "P-perhaps we'd better go confer over there..."
"Hmmm, alright then..." Lunablade said. She gave Yukari one last deathglare (received with a smile), and the two snuck into the bushes, whispering to one another.
Jeremy glared after them, still angry. "Do those idiots have any idea what we're..."
"Jere--" Yukari stopped, and corrected herself, "Midori-chan, we're not public yet, remember?"
Midori frowned at the gaploli sitting next to her. "Yeah, but antics like those are just..."
Yukarin put one of her hands on top of Midori's. "We'll talk to them later." she said, softly.
Jeremidori stared at her for a moment before blushing and looking away. "F... fine."
"I'm, uh, sorry about that," said Nate, as he approached Midori. "Lunablade's... Suffering from culture shock, I suppose."
Midori frowned. "... I didn't think of that. From what I've heard, the Lunarians wouldn't take too kindly to being stuck on Earth..."
The boy smiled nervously. "It doesn't help that she, um, got a little bit too into that Sailor Moon marathon..."
Midori gave him a deadpan look for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah, that'd explain it."
"Could've been worse, I suppose..." Nate mused. "Could've been something like, um, Gurren Lagann or something like that." He shook his head. "I'd hate to see her act like someone from
that..."
Silence.
Yukari started laughing loudly.
Jeremidori just tried to avert her eyes from everyone else involved. "Ah, well..."
She was not fortunate enough to escape from her freshly-lolita'd charge, who reached through the neck of her miko-suit top --
"HEY!"
-- and pulled out a vaguely conical rock on a necklace chain.
"Too late!" Yukari cried, "Midori-chan already took that one~"
Nate stared. "Um... Should I even ask?"
Midori grimaced for a moment or two, thinking. Sighed. "Yes, you should, and I should explain now rather than later."
She put one hand under the one Yukari was holding the rock in and waited for a moment.
"... um? Yukari?"
"Midori-chaaan, I remembered something~"
A pause. "... yes?"
"Welllll, now that Luna-silly isn't threatening us..." she grinned at the girl sitting next to her. "I think Midori-chan needs to make good on her promise!"
Midori turned
Akai bright red. "Wh... what?!"
Yukarin planted her hands on Midori's breasts through the outfit and sarashi. "You know, this!"
Ran sighed heavily.
Nate... could only stare. "... so this is the great and powerful Yukari... You're, uh, a lot different than..." He trailed off. "Could you please stop doing that? It's... distracting. And I don't think Midori likes it too much, either."
Yukarin gasped, and looked up into Midori's face, eyes watering. "Mi-Mi-Midori-oneechan, th, that can't be true, I know you really..." She squeezed on the little bulges that remained on the sarashi, clinging like a frightened child.
Then again, it's doubtful she was actually frightened.
"Uh, I..."
Another squeeze.
"S... stop that, please."
Yukari's lip quivered, and she burst into tears. "WAAAAAA! Midori-chan doesn't love me!!"
Ran sighed again, ears drooping.
"Wh-wh..."
Everything Nate knew was a lie. "I... I refuse to believe that this is the same woman Lunablade's been going on about." He rubbed his forehead with a palm. "I mean, this is just... I don't know what this is..."
"THIS! IS! GENSOKYO!" Kogasa cried, from the hem of Toyohime's skirt. She was rewarded with several shrieks of fright and a stray heel to the gut.
In a well-hidden, undisclosed location nearby, a small figure brought her palm to her face.
'I KNEW I should never have introduced her to that meme...' "D-d-don't do that, damn it!" Reisen cried at the umbrellagirl, shaking like a leaf.
"Eee! I scared you guys again!" Kogasa cried, ecstatic, "I'll have to thank onee-san for her advice on scaring people~"
Midori drowned out Kogasa's fright show with a shout. "WHAT THE HELL, YUKARI?!" She dropped to a quieter voice, but still loud enough to be heard over Yukarin's (almost certainly false) tears. "I thought I asked you to be serious?!"
"Buh... buh... but now Luna-silly's away, so Yukarin thought... Yukarin thought..."
Jeremidori looked up at the underbrush Lunablade and Crescensoul had retreated into, and frowned. "... you're sure she won't attack us?"
Toyohime giggled. "Somehow, I doubt it. She seemed a little...
too eager to turn the Konpaku girl into her prot?g?e~ I think she'll be gone for a while."
"..." Midori was silent for a moment. Sighed, and looked at Yukari. "... I don't suppose I could ask for it to wait until we're in private?"
Yukarin dried her tears in a flash. "Nope!"
Loligap let go of the drill-rock-thing in her hands, and promptly stuck both of her arms into Midori's top. For some reason, they migrated around towards the back, groping around for something.
"... um, Yukari...?"
"The sarashi just gets in the way!" Yukarin cried, still searching for the end 'tab' of Jeremy's undergarment.
Nate sighed heavily. "I think you've gone just far enough for now, Yukari." He grabbed the mischievous little sukima from behind and tried to pull her off of Midori.
Yukarin held onto her victim for dear life. Jeremidori flinched as gapnails dug into her back.
And Yukari started crying again.
"Uwa-wa-wa-WAAAA~~"
Ran facepalmed, and mumbled, "Why does she always act like this..."
"Because she knows how to abuse the Border of Moe, I expect." Jeremy grunted.
"Midori-oneechan, your knight in shining armor is a meanie! A meanie!! Make him let go! Make him let gooo!!"
"
What?!" Nate and Midori shouted, simultaneously.
"J-just be quiet, y-you!" The (current) boy continued, blushing slightly as he pulled fruitlessly on Yukari. He was met only with a loud wail.
"Yukari, stop it!" Jeremy demanded, red-faced, "Could you possibly be reasonable about this?!"
"Midori-oneechan promised I could play with her if I stayed serious about Luna-silly!" Yukarin whined, "Now I wanna plaaaay!"
Midori tried to plead with her. "Then could it possibly wait?! Or at least have s-something still covering me?!"
"But Yukarin was serious!!"
"... even about the 'Magical Gap Whatever' bit?"
Yukari's wails stopped suddenly. Nate managed to yank her off of Midori, at the cost of a small yelp from fairly deep scratches on her back.
Nate sighed at the squirming child in his hands. He carefully lifted Yukari up and offered her to Ran. "Could you look after her for a moment, Miss Kitsune?"
Ran gave her master a rather... grim look. "... certainly."
Nathanial nodded as mini-sukima changed hands. "Thanks. Now maybe we could have a serious conversation."
"But Yukarin wants to play with Midori-chan!!"
Nate sighed, and shook his head. He looked at Midori again. "Ah... I'm sorry if that hurt. I just... couldn't put up with her treating you like that for much longer."
Jeremidori snorted. "Thanks. She's gotten a little... touchy."
The two fell silent for a moment, ears ringing with Yukarin's wails.
"I wanna play with Midori-chan! She promised!!"
"Shh, Yukari-sama, shh, I'm sure you can... get to her later." Ran said, trying to soothe her. "Ow!"
"Yu-Yukari-sama, please don't pull on Ran-sama's tails..." Chen pleaded, softly.
"... but I'm not sure how far we'll get with 'serious conversation' with her acting like that." Midori pointed out.
Yukari's whining suddenly stopped. "Yukarin will be serious if Midori-oneechan lets me play!"
Nate glared at her for a long moment, and sighed. "... maybe we should go somewhere else, then. Somewhere away from the perverted youkai."
"Buh, buh, buh..."
A watching shadow in the forest giggled.
Midori looked at Yukarin for a long moment, and sighed as well. "... no... let me try something first. Hey, Ran, think she'd stick to it if we struck a deal on this?"
"... most likely, yes." Ran replied. Yukarin nodded vigorously in her arms. "Yukari-sama is... true to her word if pressed on it."
Jeremy nodded. "Well, then, if it's alright...?"
Ran shrugged. Yukarin squirmed in her grip and put on her best eager face.
"Midori-oneechan, Midori-oneechan, can we play?"
"If you're reasonable about it." Midori answered. "You goofed, so you aren't getting the full... package." She shifted uncomfortably. "Figuratively." Took a deep breath. "Sarashi stays on. I get to face away from the others. And no untoward shenanigans from you, or the deal's off."
Yukarin screwed up her face in thought for a few seconds, then nodded. "... okay, Midori-oneechan."
"Well!" Nate said, "Now that THAT'S sorted out..." he reached down and offered a hand to Midori to help her get to her feet. "Let's go, then."
Surprisingly, she only gave the offered hand a blank stare.
"What?!" Yukari cried, "I thought it was going to be NOW!!"
"And that's what I meant." Midori said, reluctantly. She sighed, and nodded at the stunned look on Nate's face. "Sorry, we're both a bit too practical about the whole mana battery business."
The boy shook his head in disbelief. "... I have no idea how you can put up with her."
"She wasn't nearly this bad before she got lolified." Jeremy replied, deadpan. Yukarin hopped off the ground a little after being released by her shikigami, and eyed her battery's chest greedily.
Nate sighed. "... very well then..." He averted his eyes. "Just... Make it quick. I hate to even think about someone doing something like that to a girl."
"Q... quick?" Yukarin asked, "I thought..."
"Until I'm done talking or something important comes up." Jeremidori answered, before another nuance to the argument sprung up. She spun around on the dirt to face away from the others, took a deep breath, and let the top of her miko suit fall to her waist.
"Brr. Chilly."
"Hmhm, so that means--"
"No shenanigans, Yukari."
"... sowwy, Midori-oneechan."
There was an uncomfortable silence as Yukarin got into position on Midori's lap and began her... massages. Most of the others turned their back to the two, a bit disturbed by the scene. Jeremidori herself kept her eyes closed to avoid the look on Yukari's face.
"S, so, um..." Nate stammered, looking off into the trees, "L-let's j-just start with that basketball game. What was that about?"
"No idea." Jeremy replied, deadpan. "Unfortunately, I was out cold until... a few hours ago, when Reimu started with her... shrine maiden recruitment. All I've heard was it involving the local yakuza." A blind smirk. "I don't suppose you could tell ME more?"
Nate shook his head. "If I knew more, I wouldn't be asking. I'm almost as confused about the whole thing as you are. Anyway..." He trailed off, and sighed.
After a moment, he came up with else to ask. "Um... So, uh, what's with that necklace you have? Is it, um, a relic of Gensokyo or something?"
"Ah, well..." Midori was a little uncomfortable about this question. "... yes, and no. It's... a magical relic I got in Gensokyo, but I don't think it originated from there."
"I see... So, um, if it's a magical relic, does it have any powers?" Nate asked, "I'm, uh, quite knowledgeable when it comes to the occult... I might be able to help you identify it and its origins, if you'd like."