A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable objects and characters belong to their respective owners. Mainly Team Shanghai Alice for Touhou Project or, as per usual, my own characters belonging to me.

Note 2:

("Common Language [Japanese in this case]/Speech")

(‘Foreign Languages’)

("Thoughts (In their own native tongue)")

(Attacks/Weapon names)

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Written, Titles)

(Actions/POV)

(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)

(Narration & Everything else)

(“Demonic Speech”)

(‘Demonic Thoughts’)

A Retired Officer’s Shop In The Eastern Wonderland Chapter 19

Hakugyokurou

May 19th, 2004: 2300

With an explosion, a blur of white, indigo, and yellow smack down into the ground with quite a bit of force. The fox could only groan in pain, while danmaku battles did not kill, it could still be painful… especially with more esoteric bullet types, like actual bullets or scathing winds. It was considerably later than when they were originally fighting Ran.

“Damn it Yukari-Sama…” Ran was quite annoyed at this situation, to be beaten twice and have Chen be beaten up was not fun. It is not her fault that the seasons were this messed up. And she knew that Youmu probably felt the same. But at least Youmu fought Desmond, it was probably a far gentler treatment when compared to being beaten around by three brats.

“Well, there we go, two errant shikigami dealt with,” Reimu says while dusting her hands, defeating Ran a second time in order to try and find the mistress. Satisfied with her work and knowing that she would be seeing the resolution to the incident soon enough. Ran almost cried, she was missing out on precious sleep now that they had decided to try and fight her mistress.

“Yeah, why does she only come out this late at night…” Marisa grumbles out, reversing her mood with Reimu quite quickly. Despite staying up late with magical experiments, whenever she was not doing something that interested her, she slept for quite a long time… And she just ruined the sleep schedule for a fo as well.

“I should be preparing dinner for my mistress right now, if it weren’t for those errant souls I would have not come anyway… Especially since you two were already investigating the incident.” Sakuya just crosses her arms as she spoke, her eyes still red, ready for the fight that would be happening soon enough.

“Well, you three got here faster than expected… I almost didn’t have time to get dressed.” A womanly voice called out to the darkness. The trio of problem solvers turned to face the direction that the vocalizations came from, only to find inky black in the supposed mistress’s place.

“But thankfully the barrier between enough time and not enough time was there.” The trio turned once more, spotting a woman sitting atop something. A violet dress borders the darkened sky, almost casting a ghastly sight of floating limbs. But the faint line between inky black and darkened violet was still visible to all of them… though it probably shouldn’t have been with just how dark it was during the midst of the night.

Violet eyes gazed at the three in amusement and exhaustion, a playful glint in her eyes as she found her entertainment for the evening. Long blonde hair splayed out from her pale pink mobcap that was styled with a red ribbon. In her right hand, a parasol was held, a very pastel pink that one could be fooled into think was a white canopy that was decorated with red ribbons. In her opposite hand was a folding fan, splayed open as she covered the bottom of her face. It was also of pastel pink, but with a pale violet pattern. Both of her hands were clad with arm-length white opera gloves.

Somehow, the… thing held her lets up also, having her crossing them and revealing her shins and footwear, pink slippers with red ribbons and white socks under. It also showcased a pastel pink inner lining. It looked more like loungewear than anything else. But trio’s instincts told them not to underestimate the underdressed youkai.

But the thing that would have disturbed the minds of any normal human that witnessed it was what exactly she was sitting on. In fact, it would have probably broken their minds as they tried to comprehend it. When cut down to basics, it was a cut… no a gap in the universe, boundary forcefully split apart by the youkai sitting atop it like a chair.

Even without its natural mind-breaking properties as a gap, in reality, the grotesque features within its borders were quite a sight to see. Hands grasping the edges, trying and failing to pull themselves out of the slim gap, disembodied red eyes stared straight through, lifeless yet still holding life at the same time. Behind and surrounding these eyes was a strange red substance, it mimicked faces but could not get it quite right. The edges were tied by something strangely mundane when compared to the supernatural gap, two red ribbons fastened it closed.

The Mastermind Behind the Spiriting Away, Yukari Yakumo had arrived in full, though she certainly didn’t look ready for battle, In fact, she looked more sleep-deprived than anything looking to be at the border of going back to sleep as she lazily floated on her gap.

“You are finally up then!” Yelled out, the words Marisa exclaimed caused Yukari to just place her fan infront of her face, though the eyes that were uncovered were closed, giving off a sinister eye smile to the trio. Despite all the advancements her magic that winter could assist with, Marisa still hated winter. Snowblindness while flying around was not fun, so she had to spend a majority of her time cooped up inside her home/shop.

“Well, you were making quite a ruckus fighting my shikigami that it was hard not to wake up and see the dangerous trio that my Ran talked about,” Yukari spoke, keeping a teasingly relaxed tone as she spoke, her fan doing nothing to muffle her voice.

“Well if someone didn’t help a certain ghost with taking away spring, we wouldn’t be in this situation would we?” Reimu cut a scathing remark, with the other two nodding along, though Sakuya was noticeably slower as she was messing around with her knives, bord of this conversation and slightly impatient since she wanted to finish up for her mistress already.

“My my, who could that be? Making accusations is quite the bad thing to do… miss shrine maiden.” Yukari was fully carefree, her lackadaisical attitude getting on the nerves of the three exorcists that decided to come and deal with the incident.

“Enough of this, let’s get to defeating you and getting spring back in order.” Sakuya decided that enough was enough, if they were to talk any more then the night would pass before their very eyes. Yukari just smiled, her relaxed posture signaling that she had no worry.

“Well then, shall we play with bullets?” The snap of closing her fan signified the start of the battle of bullets. Instantly, magenta and violet kunai manifested and fired, encircling her as they spread in a sphere. In the split second it took for the trio to start maneuvering, Yukari was already altering her speed masterfully, slowing to get closer, speeding up to get away, and moving about the plane that was infront of the trio.

Flurys of lasers, knives, and slips of ofuda raced forth, with only the ofuda tracing their opponent. All of their shots were empowered by the remnant traces of errant spring. With every shot, the payload was released, even when they hit nothing but the nether world’s air. Though some bullets decided to hit the ground with no collateral damage besides some knife-shaped holes and soot marking Marisa’s explosives.

They were fighting during the first lull, a basic series of shots with only a little bit of personality within them. Though it might be more prompt to just spam Spell Cards till the aggressors drop from the battle, the spell card rules were instated for a human from the Human Village to be able to fight against a youkai in one last desperate fight.

Despite how this little necessity was unneeded for these three, there were technically 2 humans that were fighting an absurdly powerful youkai. It was a good warmup to them, instead of the first obstacle that one would face when trying to fight off the gap Youkai.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Boundry “Curse of Dreams And Reality”” A spell circle developed around her, with the provision of white outlines of cubes freely moving around her at great speeds. Two lavender spheres manifested and split off, stopping around the mid-point between the two factions. The card in her hand spun freely, full of color.

For all but a few seconds of calm, they both exploded with a flare of orange, releasing their payloads of danamku. For one, a green pattern of shots arrived. Splitting into flowers that only turned into a grid as they unfolded. The other shot blue danmaku in four directions, before having the briefest moment of holding still that led to all of the homing in on one of the three and firing straight.

They flew out in increments of a scant few seconds, the heroines’ surroundings had been filled before they knew it, blue and green surrounded them, with them constantly moving to avoid the blue while slipping through the gaps that the green girds left behind. Yukari constantly moved, also avoiding the regular shots of the three.

The spell card cracked before it broke into shards of glass-like magic, the shattering sounds signaled the end of the first survival. Not even pausing for a moment, Yukari was already reverting to her standard fire, but the barrier between each volley grew less defined, shortening the time between them. The items that had not offensive propose disappeared, the spell circle behind her and the white, empty cubes.

It was simple for Reimu to weave through them, it was almost like she was dancing through them. A slight movement of her arm, a slight readjust of her core, a tilt of her head, a small roll to the right, slowing down just a smidge, all of these small things, spread intermittently throughout the bullets left her with not even a scratch.

“Boundry “Balance of Silence and Motion”” Once more the cubes and the spell circle appeared as the spell card spun, filling with color as every word left her lips. When it was finally saturated, it began. Three indigo spheres split off infront of her. Several undefined spheres suddenly had their borders sharpened, revealing smaller and much faster danmaku firing off behind her.

The three spheres went after each individual of the trio, though they were quite slow, making it easy to dodge them. But before any of them could comment on the spell being easy, the spell circle hidden within a sphere revealed itself, spiraling out of control with spirals of indigo danmaku emerging from it.

There was a moment of pause before she shot forth another two volleys in quick succession. By the time the next two circles developed enough to fire, the first had only just reached its halfway point of release. The danmaku released from the circles were also slow, not at all dissipating and thus filling the perimeter around the girls quickly.

Marisa sped through them, she did not have the many small movements that Reimu instinctually used. No, she was a daredevil that had just enough guile, luck, and speed to fit through the gaps. She rode her broom flashily, adding quick flares that somehow made it easier to graze past the indigo shots.

May 20th, 2004: 0530

The fight lasted for quite a while, yet, somehow the night still fought on, though it was nowhere near-endless just yet. Yukari had quite a few spell cards in her arsenal, far more than even the shrine maiden herself at this point in time.

“Bounded Field “Boundry of Life and Death”” The silence between the former spell card and the one she just voiced outlasted for but a scant few seconds. But that fragile inaction was interrupted with a spiral of indigo danmaku manifesting around her. It was simple at first, only one set of things to worry about since they were going in the same direction and hard the same gaps between them. That lasted for only four cycles as she added a special violet danmaku counter to the indigo set.

Upon the third revolution of her violet set, another spiral of danmaku showed itself. She moved towards them while going at an angle. When she stopped, the origin of large red discs started. This state marked the starting of her movement around the front of the trio.

Upon the seventh revolution of the red discs, another spiral faded in. They were a small bullet with a darker indigo coloration. Though it did not even make a full rotation as yellow spheres spiraled out as it reached its quarter turn. And only three more rotations gave the girls cyan spheres, just the size as the previous yellow ones.

The cyan spheres had a much faster cycle, but only after another three rotations, she decided to shoot a blanket of small navy danmaku instead of going for another rotation. There was always a lull in the cycles, giving the girls some breathing room, but with each iteration of another layer of danmaku, the gap between the breathing room and the tense air grew smaller until it was non-existent.

Sakuya was swift in her movements, though nowhere near as reckless as Marisa, especially now that the spell cards were at this level of difficulty to avoid. All of her was at such a precision that only a scalpel could match. Though at some points, that precision was a bit dulled, thought only lasted for a fraction of a second every time.

“Well, that is almost enough play… Shall we have one last card then? Yukari’s Arcanum “Danmaku Bounded Field”” From the shards of Bounded Field “Boundry of Life and Death” she immediately spun the final card of this game.

Yukari moved forwards, centering herself in an imaginary field before sending out spell circles, almost as if Reimu’s spell card did nothing to her. When they finally reached a fair amount away they spat out two sets of danmaku. One firing off away from Yukari and the other in a position to shoot at her. A pairing of indigo and violet showed itself.

They created an iris around Yukari, stood frozen through the spell card’s duration. In an instant, they bloomed, while not the fasted danmaku around, they were at the right speed to be annoying to dodge. When they finally moved past Yukari, they swirled, becoming several spheres when reaching the boundary of her spell circle.

And then another two spell circles spun out, leading the second storm of bullets into the world. Though Sakuya decided that they did not need to go through another of the same pattern.

“Illusion Sign “Killing Doll”” Sakuya sent out knives, throwing them around her as they twisted and turned. Once they locked in on a certain direction, they left her presence, slicing danmaku as they went.

“My, you three are trying to finish this last card quickly huh… but this isn’t the time for an ending quite yet,” Yukari commented as she sent out 4 spell circles instead of 2. They went out danmaku in smaller groups, only about 3 of them per shot. They swirled and spiraled about the center of their battlefield.

Just as the final shots left the screen, she sent out 6 more circles. Groups of three danmaku each filled the surroundings, each of their points denoting their movement as they froze, waiting for the rest of their sisters to get into position.

Only some of them decided to move at first, they were the ones who had a trajectory that led them through or close to the center of their position, but in the end, all of them ended up traveling their paths, turning into a blooming flower for a scant few seconds.

Once more, two spell circles spun around the trio as they felt it pertinent to move to the center of the formation. But they constantly sent out a steady stream of bullets. Both the bullets and the circles were swift, spinning about many times, sounding them with a curtain of loss. Interlinking circles had made up the curtains, paused until the spell circles flew off, fading into obscurity as they had to face a more pressing threat.

They turned into two separate trials, each one counter one another, yet helping one another when it came to entrapping the trio. By that time, Marisa already had her spell card manifested.

“Well, since Reimu and the maid already used there, I may as well break through the rest of them. Love Sign “Master Spark”.” She manipulated her portable furnace, placing an assortment of materials within, setting it up with bursting energy. The furnace, the Mini-Hakkero, lit up, growing brighter with every addition. She grinned, already feeling the unrelenting firepower she wielded within her hands. Inbetween her palms, she pointed the face of the Mini-Hakkero forward, directing this spark of love.

Just as the last vestiges of the laser faded, the sound of the final spell card shattered. Signaling their victory against the youkai that spirited away spring. Yukari floated infront of them, legs crossed and the smile on her face teasing.

“Well, that was fun, but it is already time for me to sleep.” When the three landed on the ground, Yukari spoke, annoying all three of them. Reimu’s right eye twitched as Marisa just laughed it off with a scary glint in her eye. Sakuya just stared at the gap youkai.

“Fix, Barrier, NOW!” Raimu grumbled out, she had just barely missed a night of sleep, something that Desmond would lecture on later, citing that she was still recovering from malnutrition.

“Fine fine… and it is done. Well goodbye, you three. Have a good day.” She said cheerfully leaning back and disappearing into another gap before any of them could comment on it. The three blinked several times as Ran just walked away in the background. She was already beaten twice yesterday and this morning.

Number of Words: ~2900

Date Completed: 1/23/2022

Note: First chapter of the new year… this time the year of the tiger. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter… though I had to cut a majority of the Spell Card Battle. Might write it as a bonus chapter some time or something.

Comment Cove:

FFN:

Jackson G-MAN Dragneel: well I'm glad you came back, I already missed this story.

I have a doubt. Will Desmond be a father figure to Reimu? because I think no one has ever touched on the subject of peternity in Touhou, mostly it is because of maternity for the character of Sendai Hakurei and other girls. It would be interesting what you have planned to do.

and another question that I have. Will you adapt the stories of Kasen Ibaraki and the Watatsuki sisters and fighting games?

Response: Desmond is very much a father figure to Reimu... she just doesn’t realize it yet.

As for the side stories and such, I will cover them… especially since I want to utilize the characters within them. So Suika is up next some time.

Nixolas Zinn: Welcome back, I was starting to worry you disa-poofed. Glad nothing bad happened.

Response: Well I alwayse have been having large stretches between chapters lately.

Sonic245: So is there possible Desmond and Reimu have father/daughter relationship ?

Response: Indeed, they do have that kind of relationship. Reimu will become a daddy’s girl yet.

Steinfield: Ah, I've been waiting for this! Thanks for coming back author-san! And when can we get some fluff?

Response: Maybe not this time, but perhaps next chapter.

Guest (Chapter 1): What. Seriously, what even is this? A Gary Stu SI Touhou harem fic? A power trip fantasy? Both!? Please tell me, because I have no fucking clue. For one, the hell is this Magias Energy? You barely explained anything about it, where it came from, how it was discovered, what it really does other than be an energy source, etc. Two, he's freakin' immortal!? What!? How!? What makes him so much more special than everyone? Also, why is some immortal dude working at a police station in Colorado and now retiring!? What the actual fuck is this fic about? Guess I'm doomed to never know because I have zero intention of continuing to read more. Hell, the author probably won't even explain half the questions I have.

Response: Since I am answering just to spite them and give out my thought process.

Desmond is definitely not a SI, I would know since he has a full story behind him that I haven’t written down yet. And of course, Magias Energy is unexplained, he barely had any interaction with the magicians, no explanation until they get to him and ask. It is more fun that way.

Immortality is more of an obstacle to him since he did not start off as immortal. As for being an immortal in a police station… you try quitting your job when you suddenly become immortal due to one of your assignments.

Ao3:

Nothing sadly.

RoyalRoad: (Well this is certainly the new one)

Nixolas: Oh hey, didn't know you posted here. Cool cover...... yup all I gotta say

Response: Well of course you have nothing to say here, you already talked on FFN.