"Taboo 'Four of a Kind'!"
"Taboo 'Lävatein'!"
Reimu swung her freshly made gohei to hold off the onslaught. "Playing the villain, and you're still shouting victory slogans straight out of a manga? Fine—since you started it, don't blame me for what comes next..."
Flandre Scarlet possessed the ability to destroy absolutely anything. She could shift the weak point of whatever she named an "eye" into the palm of her hand—and crush it.
Across all of Gensokyo, her destructive power stood in a class of its own. Even Reimu ranked her near the top of the headache scale.
And as a girl not yet five hundred years old, she lacked any mature sense of restraint. Toys, living things—anything in her hands could wind up shattered to pieces.
Which was precisely why, before Remilia unleashed the Scarlet Mist Incident and got smacked down by Reimu, Flandre had been locked in her room and forbidden from leaving. Her sister had loosened the house arrest since then, but the damage was done: she'd already become a homebody who never wanted to step outside.
Reimu recited aloud as if narrating a script: "Even so, deep in Flandre's heart, she truly yearned for the world beyond. 'Once I win this fight, I'll walk outside with my head held high. All my friends are waiting for me—with everyone by my side, there's nothing left to be afraid of.' That's what she was thinking."
?
"Who's thinking that?" Flandre stared at Reimu in bewilderment, then raised her blade. "But Flan IS going to win. You got that part right!"
What she didn't realize was that Reimu's setup was already complete.
"Good—I can see a death flag on your forehead. Divine Spirit 'Fantasy Seal -Blink-'!"
A barrage of danmaku too dense for the mansion corridors to contain erupted, tearing a gaping hole through the structure faster than anyone could react.
"Useless. Taboo—"
"Fantasy Nature."
"'Type O blood ice cream—I really want another bite.' That's what Flandre was thinking as she faced the power in Reimu's hands." Reimu kept narrating.
"Flan was NOT thinking that!"
They crossed paths. The doomsday sword in Flandre's grip—named for the burning of the world—warped the air into a shimmering arc. The catnip that had crept indoors couldn't survive even a moment under the heat.
Before Flandre even closed the distance, the searing heat deformed Reimu's clothes. Yet she neither dodged nor flinched—charging head-on.
A Yin-Yang Orb brimming with massive spiritual power pressed flat against Flandre's chest. Behind her erupted a black-and-white sphere the size of a full moon, blanketing half the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"Now it's just you." Reimu aimed her gohei at Yimi.
Some brat who'd skimmed maybe two pages of manga—how could she compare to a seasoned veteran who'd mooched food, drinks, and comics at Kourindou since forever?
Yimi counted on her fingers. Flandre made number five.
"Hateful Reimu—you're so mean even to your own daughter."
"That's what I'm saying, the daughter isn't you—BAH! The daughter in the rumors isn't you, is she?!" Reimu spun her gohei.
The kitten scampered over to the fallen Flandre, gently turned her over, and stared at her swirling, spiral-eyed face. She wanted to say something, but the right words wouldn't come.
"System."
System: "Matching contextually appropriate lines for the current scene..."
Yimi placed her hand softly on Flandre's forehead and recited the System's suggestion: "God will bless you."
"You are a little dim-witted, kid." Reimu deadpanned.
She glanced down. The catnip that had been completely incinerated during the clash moments ago was already sprouting back around her feet.
Reimu tapped her gohei against the ground. "You're only about one year old, right? Hurry up and clean this mess. Admittedly it's a bit early even for a human kid, but I think it's time to give you a proper childhood lesson. Come lay across my lap now and I'll go easier on you."
Yimi rose slowly to her feet. She didn't draw the Spear of Longinus. Instead—a gohei materialized in her hand.
Hit Reimu gently.
"I KNEW you stole it—and you actually dare pull it out in front of me?!" Reimu's temper flared.
"Enough talk!" Yimi swung forward. Famine's gaunt frame threw a punch.
"Weird thing." Reimu barely blocked it with her own spiritually reinforced gohei—which happened to be exactly what Yimi needed to complete Red Light's sampling.
Yimi settled into a stance and challenged: "Why do you want to get rid of the cat grass?"
"You started an incident and you're asking why? Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused? I should be asking YOU what possessed you to pull this stunt as payback." Reimu shook her ankle, freshly re-tangled in catnip.
"Who'd be troubled? Cats love this stuff." Yimi genuinely didn't understand. "Doesn't Reimu like it?"
For cats, catnip was essentially a stimulant with zero side effects.
"You know what, I think your comprehension might be defective. Don't tell me you think everyone's a cat?" Reimu folded her arms, gradually syncing with Yimi's wavelength.
"You need a proper education. But before that, let me give you a taste of what happens to naughty kids." Reimu skipped the Spell Cards entirely. She just gripped her gohei and swung.
Yimi wanted to retort, but the words wouldn't come. She turned to the System for help again.
"Searching for contextually appropriate lines..."
The kitten recited what the System listed: "I just wanna cre... create a world where everyone can laugh and smile!"
She was very satisfied. Not a single hard word in that whole sentence.
Reimu's charge stuttered mid-stride. It wasn't that she was suddenly moved—she was picturing the kitten treating everyone as a cat, then reconsidering the havoc she'd caused through that lens...
Reimu looked down at the vast carpet of catnip. The corner of her mouth twitched.
"What kind of laughter are you going for here?!"
A spiritually charged swing cracked down, clashing against the gohei that had once been hers.
But what Reimu hadn't expected was the near-infinite torrent of mana erupting from that tiny body—launching half the Scarlet Devil Mansion clean into the sky.
Down on the half that remained standing, Remilia clutched her chest as her headache finally subsided. She collapsed into her throne-like chair, both skinny arms stretched out just to reach the armrests.
Why was this mother-daughter pair tearing apart her home with their family squabble? She'd even rushed over a jar of premium Fourteenth Night sake the moment she heard Reimu was dying! Even if you can't drink the stuff, selling it would've fetched a pretty penny!
"Sakuya, put this on Reimu's tab."
"My Lady, Miss Reimu won't pay damages..."
In the aftermath, Yimi felt the spiritual power radiating from Reimu. She extended her small hand, gathered a layer of mana, and used Adaptive Power to try converting it into the same source through Miracle.
Because Reimu was the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. So if she copied Reimu, she should be able to become one too.
Reimu raised her hand and examined the gohei—a section snapped clean off the end. Her expression hardened. "Seems I really did underestimate you, kid."