Sakuya's POV, upon entering the netherworld (PCB Stage 5)

...

Cherry petals, countless of them, drifting into the heavens, into this strange world... if I wasn't here on behalf of my mistress I would be tempted to simply watch this scenery in front of my eyes. And if it wasn't for these discourteous ghosts.

The dead are supposed to be quiet, but this is not the first time that I had to fight ghosts. Though I didn't do it with these knives before. They seem to be effective against these lesser ones, but it is almost certain that they are not the cause of this incident.

No, there has to be something else here. I can almost sense it...

"You're a human. I see. Just what I needed. I shall drain every drop of the spring from you!" I was already expecting something like this. She seems to be rather strong, with two swords, a long one in her right hand and a short one in her left hand.

Though she isn't exactly using them. Well, Gensokyo is such a world, I guess. So many powerful beings, so little use their powers. Probably for the best, even my mistress and myself wouldn't be able to compete with some of them.

She is fighting quite agressively, but I don't have much trouble avoiding her danmaku. She seems to be getting rather frustrated as she uses her first spell card. Most of the time I can barely see her, just a flash of green and grey... I wonder just how serious she is about defeating me.

I didn't even have to use my 'special' abilities on this journey, except for retrieving my knives. All these annoying fairies weren't worth my time or my knives. The other enemies I encountered so far were no real challenge either. I wouldn't even have to use my knives, probably...

She is definitely not that weak, but her patterns are rather obvious. Though she seems to slow down time as well, probably because of her speed... Not to her advantage, that makes dodging even easier. I really don't have to use my knives at all, she will probably tire herself out before long.

My expectations seem to be coming true, since she is retreating. For now, she will probably be back after a short while. In the meantime I just have to take care of these ghosts...

They weren't much of a challenge, all things considered. A few of my knives were more than enough for them. But I will probably have to face that girl again rather soon. I couldn't exactly get a good view on her, she was very fast and I had her danmaku to worry about as well.

This time she won't be able to surprise me. How rude, attacking someone without even introducing herself first... I should probably teach her some manners. Well, I don't have to worry about that until I meet her again.

I wonder for what reason she is stealing the spring from Gensokyo in the first place... not that there is any room for negotiations, my orders were absolute. "Return the spring as soon as possible and by any means necessary." That was all my mistress told me.

*Crack* Ah, she seems to be waiting for me behind those cherry trees. If she was trying to prepare an ambush or something like that she didn't do a good job... She made a lot of noise. Probably a tree branch or something...

"Come on out." She does so. I guess she was just waiting, after all. Now I can see her properly. She is wearing a dark green dress with a white belt and a white shirt, on her back are her two swords, the longer one a black katana and the shorter one looks like a Japanese short sword. Those might also have their own names, but I'm not very familiar with Japanese weapons.

She seems to be rather young. Her short hair is of a light silver, much lighter than my own, almost white, and held back with a black ribbon. The most prominent feature of her face are her dark red eyes, a strong contrast to her pale skin and hair. Next to her is a white spirit. It looks rather fluffy, I almost feel tempted to touch it...

"So this is why all the ghosts were so noisy... It's because a living human has come." She seems to be rather young, though that doesn't mean much in Genyokyo. But she is pretty calm, considering her previous retreat. She was probably just testing me...

"We may be opponents, but we should still maintain a certain degree of courtesy, shouldn't we? Let me introduce myself. You may call me Izayoi Sakuya." I drop a small curtsey. Just because we are enemies doesn't mean we have to treat each other as barbarians would treat one another, though she seems to be surprised by this gesture.

"K-Konpaku Youmu..." She also tries it and does surprisingly well, for her first time. She is a little bit deficient in ellegance, but I guess that is kind of cute. Well, that shouldn't matter right now...

"I presume you to be the source of this incident. It took me a whole day to get here." And what a day... All those annoying fairies, my other opponents and the snow... I will definitely have to take a bath and change my clothes before I clean up the mansion. It will probably be in a horrible shape...

"In coming here, you have exercised great composure. This is Hakugyokurou. The deceased live on in this place. Acting on the common sense of the living will land you in a mess." As long as gravity and time don't follow different rules I see no problem. Besides...

"The dead are supposed to rest, not speak. Now return the spring you stole." It doesn't matter what her reason might be, I will return the spring to Gensokyo, with or without her consent.

"Hold on a bit." I would, if it wasn't for the orders of my mistress. And I have to get back as soon as I can, the Scarlet Devil Mansion is completely lost without me taking care of the household...

"That's a little bit too long." I just want this to be over with already...

"Soon, the Saigyou Ayakashi will reach full bloom. That could never happen with a normal spring." It doesn't concern me.

"I said I don't care." Besides, who knows what happens to the spring if it's used up by that Saigyou Ayakashi.

"The trace of spring you brought here can bring the Saigyou Ayakashi to full bloom." She is just going on and on about her Saigyou Ayakashi... I think I heard Patchouli-sama talking about that tree once. It was some sort of seal, wasn't it...?

"Are you even listening to me? I've traveled through the cold, only to find such a selfish idea." A nice cherry tree for her and her mistress and an overly long winter for the rest of Gensokyo...

"But it's warm here, isn't it?" I wouldn't mind it so much if my mistress was here... On the other hand, how should the roses in our mansion blossom in winter? No, I have to take care of this.

"That's enough already. Let us end this." I don't think there is any way around a fight, so I might as well get it over with...

"Indeed. I will consume the warmth of your spring." Heh, I wonder how she wants to do that...

"I wonder, can my knives even cut ghosts?" Hm, I should have thought about that beforehand... Well, if they don't I will figure something else out. It's not as if I could have known I would be facing ghosts...

"The things which cannot be cut by my Roukan Blade, forged by youkai... Are close to none!" Well, we will see about that. I am sure that it can't cut through time. And if she's going to use nothing but danmaku that won't help her in any way.

It seems as if she would be a lot stonger if she would attack me with her swords. But that would be against the rules of Gensokyo. We aren't supposed to kill our opponents in combat. Strange rules, but my mistress asked me to abide by them.

"Is that all you have to offer?" It isn't very difficult to avoid her attacks. Compared to my other opponents today her attacks are rather strong, but they are still just danmaku. She doesn't have any special techniques either, from what I can tell, other than her speed.

"Of course not. I'm only getting started." Hm, danmaku, danmaku and more danmaku... I hate such fights, so boring and meaningless... I will just go on avoiding her attacks, I don't even need my knives for this, much less my ability to manipulate time. I will just wait until they are over, that way I at least have some kind of a challenge...

"You are almost done, aren't you?" I can tell. She might act tough, but she already used most of her spell cards. Soon I will be able to meet her mistress. Then I will just have to defeat her and everything will return to normal. And I can return to my mistress, though I wouldn't mind some tea before returning...

"Not yet. I will defeat you!" Great words for someone who is about to lose...

...

I have to admit, this spell card was rather challenging, but I still didn't have much trouble. It was rather random, or so it seems to me. Still, there was more than enough room for me to dodge. Maybe I just got lucky... Now that the time is up I can just go ahead.

"Wait, I can't let you through..." She is rather persistent, isn't she?

"And what do you want to do to stop me?" She could still attack me directly with her swords, but that would be against the rules. And even she shouldn't be stupid enough to attack me like that, she had no chance when it came to danmaku. Though that doesn't mean much, I suppose.

"I... I will..." She is still thinking about what she will do. I have no time for this. I will just follow the cherry petals and leave her behind. She isn't wounded at all, so there's no problem in leaving her behind.

"You have no chance against me without using your swords. No, even with you swords you couldn't stop me, Konpaku-san. You should just wait until this is over." With these words I take off. I just hope she takes heed of these words.

I don't want to kill her because of such a meaningless conflict. She is still young and has most of her life ahead of herself... She also reminds me of someone I once knew, a long, a very long time ago...

...

Youmu's POV, meeting Sakuya for the first time

...

Even this many cherry petals aren't enough to make the Saigyou Ayakashi blossom... There isn't much spring missing, it is almost there, but I already gathered most of the spring of Gensokyou here, so where should I find the missing spring?

*Sigh* But this is quite a scenery... Never before was this place so full of cherry petals... I wish it could stay like this forever. But the ghosts are very restless. There might be someone from Gensokyo, trying to get back their spring...

Probably some youkai. Well, if they show up I will just defeat them. They might even carry some spring in them. That way I could fulfill the wish of Yuyuko-sama...

Wait, there is something coming... it doesn't seem to be a youkai, that much is sure. Well, regardless of what it is, I have to stop it. It is alive, it doesn't belong here. And it is carrying a lot of spring with it... A human.

"You're a human. I see. Just what I needed. I shall drain every drop of the spring from you!" What a strange way of clothing... A uniform of some sorts, I guess. It seems to be very hard to move in, so she shouldn't be a very strong opponent. It must be my lucky day or something...

You can't judge a book by it's cover, or so it seems. Despite that strange dress she is moving ellegantly through the small gaps between my danmaku, it almost looks like a gracious dance... I have clearly underestimated her.

She doesn't even fight back... Is she... taunting me!? Grr, I have to retreat for now. I will just fight her once I calmed down a little and get my thoughts in order. I was just too distracted by her strange appearance. I rush away with my unmatched speed and land behind some trees in a distance.

She does seem to be strong though, I have to admit that. I have never seen anyone dodging like that, not even my previous master. Well, it is hard to compare them, grandfather was never seriously fighting me either. What is she doing here? She is probably here because of the spring I gathered...

I will face her again soon enough, until then the ghosts can take care of her. Though they won't be much of a match for her, I guess. She is rather fascinating for a human. I wonder how old she is? I didn't get to see her very well, but she seemed to be fairly young, even by human standards.

By the standards of my kin I myself am still fairly young, but probably much older than her. But her movements didn't seem like those of some young human. If she is this strong, without even using her weapons at all I can't imagjne what kind of training she must have been through...

I myself have received some harsh training when I was training with my grandfather, though we never completed it. Fastening, meditation, survival in general and the training of my sword techniques. But how can a human at a young age be so strong? *Crack* I stepped on a branch...

"Come on out." A calm voice, very brittle and confident. That wasn't a ghost, was it!? No, calm down. It was just that human. Now I feel embarrassed, but I can't show her that...

"So this is why all the ghosts were so noisy... It's because a living human has come." Hm, she is wearing a really strange uniform, a long dark blue dress with long sleeves and a white apron over it. More than just a white apron, other white things as well.

Rather frilly. That's a very strange outfit for a fight, but she seems to have no disadvantages because of it... Around her neck is a long red scarf. She wears her silver hair in two long braids with green ribbons to keep them that way while most of her hair is held back by a white headband.

"We may be opponents, but we should still maintain a certain degree of courtesy, shouldn't we? Let me introduce myself. You may call me Izayoi Sakuya." What a strange gesture... She bends her knees a little, lifts her dress slightly and bows her head... It's probably some sort of courtesy.

"K-Konpaku Youmu..." Hm, that looked rather simple. I will give it a try as well. Judging by her modest smile I didn't do too bad, but not very good either... Why did I even do that? Now I probably embarrassed myself... I never saw such a gesture, so that was to be expected...

"I take it that you are the source of this incident. It took me a whole day to get here." Hm, that's probably a rather difficult journey for a human. She certainly isn't a normal human, otherwise she wouldn't even arrive here alive, much less have any fight left in herself.

"In coming here, you have exercised great composure. This is Hakugyokurou. The deceased live on in this place. Acting on the common sense of the living will land you in a mess." Considering this and her fighting abilities I have to show her respect, she deserves it.

"The dead are supposed to rest, not speak. Now return the spring you stole." I suppose it would look like that for someone from the outside. The wish of Yuyuko-sama is rather selfish from their perspective, but maybe I can convince her...

"Hold on a bit." She doesn't seem to be willing to listen to anything I have to say about this...

"That's a little bit too long." Still, I will try it.

"Soon, the Saigyou Ayakashi will reach full bloom. That could never happen with a normal spring." Now she seems to be openly annoyed...

"I said I don't care." She doesn't have to say it like that. Though that is probably true... She is still rather composed, despite her annoyance, and states it more matter-of-factly than anything else, with such cold grey eyes...

"The trace of spring you brought here can bring the Saigyou Ayakashi to full bloom." But how should I drain that spring of hers? I don't exactly want to kill her, for some reason... Well, it would also be against the rules, that has to be it.

"Are you even listening to me? I've traveled through the cold only to find such a selfish idea." Hm, that's true, but... I still have to do it. No matter what, I have to fulfill Yuyuko-sama's wish.

"But it's warm here, isn't it?" Maybe we could just be here for a while, enjoying this scenery and the warmth of spring. We could probably have some tea while we just watch the cherry petals together... That would be very nice... Wait, what am I even thinking!?

"That's enough already. Let us end this." Of course she wouldn't...

"Indeed. I will consume the warmth of your spring." She doesn't leave me with any other choice. I have to do it somehow. So do I have to kill her or is there another way...? I could probably extract it if she was unconscious, so I just have to knock her out.

"I wonder, can my knives even cut ghosts?" I think they can. At least myself, since only one half of me is a ghost to begin with. However, there is something I know for sure...

"The things which cannot be cut by my Roukan Blade, forged by youkai... Are close to none!" With this our battle begins... She is still not even trying to attack me back, just dodging and dodging... *Growl* This is so frustrating!

"Is that all you have to offer?" She is still so calm and almost monotone... I somewhat admire that, but at the same time it irritates me! She is somewhat unsettling, so calm in the middle of all those danmaku...

"Of course not. I'm only getting started." More and more and more danmaku, faster and faster and faster... Does none of this impress her at all!? Is she taunting me!?

"You are almost done, aren't you?" The worst about all these taunts she is uttering is that she is right... I am almost out of spell cards and she is still grazing the bullets as if it was nothing... I haven't even got one hit on her!

"Not yet. I will defeat you!" She may be superior to me, but I didn't lose yet! I saved my last spell card for the end, I will just use that now. She seems to be having more trouble dodging, but still, it's as if she could predict my every move...

...

I... lost. She didn't use her knives or anything else, she defeated me without even attacking me. What a disgrace, for myself, for my grandfather and for Yuyuko-sama... I can't just leave it at that! But what else can I do...?

"Wait, I can't let you through..." Just what should I do...? If I attack her yet again I would violate the spell card rules... Especially if I did kill her. The rules state that youkai aren't allowed to kill humans, but I have to do something...

"And what do you want to do to stop me?" She almost seems to be mocking me with the way she says it, cold, with a certain expectation in her voice. Is she trying to make me attack her? But she has to know these rules as well...

"I... I will..." What exactly will I do...?

"You have no chance against me without using your swords. No, even with you swords you couldn't stop me, Konpaku-san. You should just wait until this is over." Just like that she is flying towards Yuyuko-sama's location.

That last sentence was a challenge I can't turn down. I have to defend my honour as a swordswoman and a as descendant of the Konpaku family, I can't just let that rest. I will defeat her, no matter what! Even if I will become an outcast or die...

But I can't attack her from behind, I will have to warn her before I fight her again. With my speed it will pose no problem to catch up to her. This time I am serious, I will kill her, if I have to. For the honour of my family and for Yuyuko-sama...

It makes me feel somewhat sad, killing such a young human. Their lives are very short to begin with... She is also very strong and she seemed to be a little bit concerned about me, but...

Well, I can think about that once I have defeated her. For now I should focus on the goal ahead of myself, Izayoi Sakuya. Izayoi-san? Since she called me Konpaku-san? Not that it matters, I still have to take care of her.

Here I go! I come at her with all my speed, with my Hakurouken I aim for her right cheek while rushing by. It was a hit and she is bleeding a little bit, but she didn't even flinch in the moment when I cut her... She did notice it, so she can surpress her pain surprisingly well, for a human.

"This is... a challenge, correct?" Without paying much attention to the wound she takes out a white handkerchief and wipes the blood away, as if she was cleaning up spilled tea instead of blood... I am starting to doubt this was a very good idea... But I can't take it back now!

"It is. In order to reclaim the honour of my family and to fulfill the wish of my mistress I will defeat you with these swords of mine!" She is still not very impressed, apparently, but this time she takes out her knives, one in each hand.

"Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared be hunted down by others for violating the laws?" I don't want to die. I don't want to be cast out. But I don't want to disappoint Yuyuko-sama or my grandfather. Wherever he may be, I'm sure he is watching over me, as he promised once.

"I am prepared for any consequences." She doesn't seem to be convinced, but she doesn't have much of a choice other than taking my challenge. If she doesn't defend herself I will kill her, even if I don't want to.

"Have you ever even killed someone?" What is she trying to accomplish by this? Is she trying to talk me out of it? I will not let her pass, no matter what.

"I haven't, but there's a first time for everything." She doesn't seem to be satisfied by this, but it doesn't matter what she wants. I have to do it...

"Are you prepared to take this life of mine? Take it, if you are." She isn't going to defend herself again? She just dropped her arms with the knives... I will force her to defend herself! I put Hakurouken back to the sheath and grip my Roukan Blade with both hands, a little bit tighter than before... and try to cut through her stomach. There seems to be no resistance at all...

Humans aren't as durable as youkai... does that mean...? Did I just cut her in half?! I... I didn't want that... I wanted to make her fight back, I didn't want to kill her... but it's too late for regret now, isn't it? I will just collect the remaining spring of hers and bring it to Yuyuko-sama... But there is a bitter aftertaste...

"I am sorry, Izayoi-san... I am sorry..." I can feel the tears burning in my eyes. She is still standing there. Her upper half will probably fall down any second now, just like the trees I cut down to get firewoods... Just like that...and I can't hold my tears back...

"Hmhm, did you think you could kill me just like that? If you are aiming for my life you have to try harder. You aren't prepared to kill someone, after all..." I will have to bury her la- What!? I quickly wipe away my tears. She is still standing there, in one piece... How is she still alive?! Or is she... don't tell me... a ghost!? She sounds as if she was full of joy, but empty at the same time...

"You shouldn't be..." Her smile seems to be sadistic this time, not a hint of fear or the like...

"...alive? If you hadn't missed I would be breathing my last breath by now. But closing your eyes before the last strike... How cute, just like a child in a war." Is she still playing with me? I didn't feel contact, but I thought my Roukanken was just that sharp. How could she...

"But you couldn't get away from that attack! It was too fast, even for a human that is faster than the average ones!" Yet again she chuckles, not really amused, rather empty...

"If you expect me to be human you are wrong. I may be a human, that is correct, but I am far from human. In terms of ability. Or morale, for that matter." I still have no clue how she could do that, but I underestimated her yet again. If I don't do something I might really die...

"I won't make that mistake again! Prepare yourself!" This time I will get her, no matter how fast she is. I quickly draw my second sword again and lunge out, but she is just as fast to parry both of my swords... I can't compare this to anything I ever experienced, then again I don't have much experience to begin with...

"You should know when to give up. Like this you could easily die. If you give up now I might even spare your life so that you can learn from your mistakes." Her eyes are so red... weren't they grey a minute ago?

"I can't give up! Even if I die... I can't give up!" How can she be this fast!? Now she is pushing me back with swift strikes I can barely parry. I have to get some distance, she has a clear advantage at this range, so I jump backwards. However...

"The distance won't help you. These are throwing knives, after all..." Yet again she sounds so apathetic, as if this didn't concern her at all. In the same moment a piercing pain shoots through my arms and legs...

"Argh! Damn you... Damn you!" She didn't hurt me that much, just some scratches, but it still hurts... If I don't kill her she might really kill me...

"Give it up, in the end you are just a child. You should be a good little girl and go to sleep now." Before I can even react she lands a strong punch in my stomach, with the handle of the knive in her right hand. The air is pressed out of my lungs...

"*Cough* *Cough* Ne-... ver!" I have to kill her now! I pull myself together once more and strike at her with all my strength. She might be strong, but even she can't block such an attack with just her knives. They are whipped out of her hands, they fall to the ground with a metallic sound and I strike her with the handle of Roukanken.

Now she is the one on her knees... If I cut her neck now she won't be able to avoid the attack and she certainly wouldn't recover from such a blow... but she still doesn't seem to be very concerned. Does she have another trick up her sleeve? I won't give her the time she needs and aim for her neck.

...

"I have warned you more than enough times by now, haven't I?" This time I cut through something... a bunch of cards that seemed to have replaced Izayoi-san... and she is whispering this into my ear as I can feel cold metal against my throat...

"Will you... kill me now?" This is the only question running through my mind... There are so many things I still want to do... I want to spend more time with Yuyuko-sama... I want to take care of the garden and this place... I want to get to know that woman, for some reason... I must be going delirious...

"Who knows? It would make sure that you won't bother me again... But there are still so many things you have to do and learn before death, aren't there? Do not expect anyone else to show you mercy like this. That includes me, if you attack me again..." It sounded almost gentle, but with a certain element of threat mixed in...

"Thank you, Sakuya-san..." So I will live... And my honour? I was pretty stupid for doing this. I was blind, wasn't I? Grandfather always taught me that there is more honour in admitting defeat if you lose than in denying it... How could I forget that...?

"Do not thank me ahead of time..." *THUD*

...

Sakuya's POV, after beating Youmu at danmaku

...

Maybe she will take my words to heart and not do something reckless. Then again, she seemed to be rather childish, didn't she? I will just have to hope that reason is stronger in her than stupidity...

Suddenly something very fast rushes past me. It is that child again... Didn't I warn her not to get in my way? Judging by the way she attacked me it was more of a challenge than anything else. Just a small scratch, but still the first wound I received in a while.

"This is... a challenge, isn't it?" I take out one of my handkerchiefs and wipe the blood away. Not very much, but she seems to be serious about this. Well, I am used to greater wounds and much more pain, this is not even worth mentioning in comparisson, so I rather focus on Konpaku-san.

"It is. In order to reclaim the honour of my family and to fulfill the wish of my mistress I will defeat you with these swords of mine!" Ah, so I hurt her honour. That would explain her behaviour. She doesn't seem to let this one go, does she? What a shame. I wonder how far she will go...?

"Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared be hunted down by others for violating the laws?" I doubt she would know what such a life feels like, but the words still seem to hit her somewhere. She doesn't want to die or to be cast out. Well, who would want that...

"I am prepared for any consequences." Prepared for consequences she doesn't even know? It seems as if she's rather trying to convince herself than me.

"Have you ever even killed someone?" I would doubt it, at least it doesn't look that way. She wouldn't be so hesitant if she had any experience with it. Just like a child which is ordered to kill a rabbit in order to have something to eat. The first time is hard, the second time not so much, the third time is not hard at all...

"I haven't, but there's a first time for everything." Hm, so I was right. It seems as if she'd be prepared to follow through with her words, but if she actually did it she would probably regret it later. She might even cry. Well, we will see...

"Are you prepared to take this life of mine? Take it, if you are." I drop my arms and stand there, without any signs of resistance. Of course she doesn't know about my ability to stop time yet... She is very fast, but I can read her stance like a book. A fraction of a second before she rushes past me I stop time and avoid the attack without any trouble at all.

"I am sorry, Izayoi-san... I am sorry..." I am still standing here, but she doesn't seem to regard me as living any longer. She does indeed cry. For someone like me, someone she didn't even know. Well, I shouldn't play with her like that, it was pretty cruel.

"Hmhm, did you think you could kill me just like that? If you are aiming for my life you have to try harder. You aren't prepared to kill someone, after all..." There were stronger ones who tried to kill me. And ones who were prepared to kill me. She on the other hand...

"You shouldn't be..." Well, she looks at me as if I was a ghost... I suppose that is only natural after trying to cut someone in half, being sure you got her and then seeing her unharmed. I love those expressions, I missed them a lot over these past few years in Gensokyo...

"...alive? If you hadn't missed I would be breathing my last breath by now. But closing your eyes before the last strike... How cute, just like a child in a war." She shouldn't attack someone like that if she is so unexperienced. She really might have died if she fought against a youkai this way.

"But you couldn't get away from that attack! It was too fast, even for a human that is faster than the average ones!" She is right about that, if I was a normal human I would be lying on the ground, bleeding out and dying. However...

"If you expect me to be an ordinary human you are wrong. My body may be that a human, that is correct, yet I am far from human. In terms of ability. Or morals, for that matter." I have abandoned my humanity... or what was left of it... when I swore my loyality to my mistress.

"I won't make that mistake again! Prepare yourself!" *Sigh* She just doesn't learn from her past mistakes, does she? Perhaps it would be better to end this now, for future references... No, I can pass my judgement once this fight is truly over.

Her attacks are fierce and fast, but if I manipulate time I can move much faster than she could in her dreams. Velocity is meassured by movement in proportion to time. If I stop time and move my speed is higher than the speed of light itself, which is the highest natural speed, according to the knowledge of Patchouli-sama, at least in theory...

"You should know when to give up. Like this you could easily die. If you give up now I might even spare your life so that you can learn from your mistakes." I would hope that she realises that I could end her life whenever I wish to, in this fight, now that the spell card rules are no longer in effect.

I would just have to stop time and cut through her throat or pierce her heart, she wouldn't even realise it until it would be too late, if she would realise it at all... But she doesn't know that yet, does she? I think I will be patient and spare her life. I don't kill without orders or necessity, and it certainly isn't necessary. My orders... Well, I suppose my mistress will forgive me, even if this battle draws on for a while.

"I can't give up! Even if I die... I can't give up!" So persistent... I wish she would listen to reason already... Instead she attacks me yet again. But our positions change rather fast and now she is on the defensive. A jump backwards? Well, aren't you clever...

"The distance won't help you. These are throwing knives, after all..." She should have paid more attention when I was occupied with the ghosts. Doesn't she know the most basic rules of battle? Know your opponent and yourself. She seems to know neither... Well, my knives should teach her some manners. Her body should be able to bear with it, as long as I don't hit her organs or veins.

"Argh! Damn you... Damn you!" The realisation seems to get through to her, ever so slowly... I just hit her arms and legs, some small scratches, nothing serious.

"Give it up, in the end you are just a child. You should be a good little girl and go to sleep now." A swift strike to her stomach with the handle of my knive. I should have used more force, her body seems to be stronger than that of a regular human...

"*Cough* *Cough* Ne-... ver!" So she surprised me a little, after all. With a quick strike she disarmed me and used the moment to hit me with the handle of her sword. She doesn't seem to know how much force she should apply, does she? I am forced to my knees, but it was hardly enough to kill me...

She should have gone for my neck before I caught my breath. This way I had more than enough time to think of a better plan than to simply stop time. I stop time, leave some cards in my place to confuse her and get behind her. Now she will see how easy one can die in a real battle.

"I have warned you more than enough times already, haven't I?" I put one of my knives to her throat and whisper that into her ear. She seems to tremble a little bit. Now she should realise what could happen to her in a situation like this...

"Will you... kill me now?" Hm, she is almost cute when she is this resigned to her apparent end. I think this will be a good lesson for her. I will have her struggle for a little while longer and let her off the hook after that. I shouldn't go too far, after all...

"Who knows? It would make sure that you won't bother me again... But there are still so many things you have to do and learn before death, aren't there? Do not expect anyone else to show you mercy like this. That includes me, if you attack me again..." I think I finally got through to her...

"Thank you, Sakuya-san..." Hm, a little bit too familiar for my taste, but I think I can disregard this for now. She just escaped death, though she was never in any real danger. Well, she doesn't have to know the last part, does she? However...

"Do not thank me ahead of time..." I strike her neck with the handle of my knive. This was sufficient force, she goes limp. Well, this should take care of her. Though I can't exactly leave her like this, can I?

'Sigh' I stop time and take out some of my handkerchiefs. I will clean her wounds, just in case. I pull up her sleeves and inspect the cuts at her arms and legs. Well, there isn't much to clean, so I just dress the cuts with handkerchiefs. Well, they are clean and I could probably use them for surgical operations, so it should prevent any infections.

I suppose I can just carry her with me, her mistress should take care of her. Great, a piggyback ride... Well, I don't want to leave her here, so there is no way around it, is there? Off we go...

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Author's note: Well, first of all some things for people who may not be familiar with Touhou or Japanese customs.

Danmaku: What Touhou basically revolves around. You should look it up, the games are a lot of fun. Basically avoiding bullets while collecting power-ups and shooting enemies on the screen.

-sama honorific: A honorific that indicates respect for the adressed person.

-san honorific: A honorific that is commonly used between two indiviuals who see each other as equals, can be both formal and informal.

First name: It isn't common to call someone who you don't know by their first name, hence Sakuya's comment about that.

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If there are other questions, just ask. The characters are not really in character, Sakuya for example is much colder in this fanfiction and Youmu is a little more childish, I guess. If you want to know more about the characters, just play the games or look them up on some wiki-page about Touhou.

Later on there will also be things about Sakuya's past which will probably get quite bloody. Many of these details will not be compatible with canon, as well as other things which may be added. The next chapters will deviate from the original story lines of the games.

So, hope ya'll enjoyed this one!

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Edit: Just corrected some errors and fixed repetitive words and so on.