One Random Sukima 2

Momiji sits in meditation close to the waterfall that leads to the tengu's mountain. With her legs crossed under her skirt, her eyes closed and her mind drifting into old memories, she immediately opens her eyes when she senses a presence. A human silhouette stands a few feet away, staring at her. While she continues to stare at her opponent, she stands up and unsheathes her sword. In her mind, she speaks to herself. "My name is Momiji Inubashiri. I live in the Tengu Mountain, which is hidden from others, as it should be. Due to a failure to my part, I am now a subordinate to the loner, yet quite friendly crow tengu, Aya Shameimaru." Momiji remembers images of her battle against Reimu and how easily Reimu took her out using a bomb spell. A Simple spell that even Momiji herself lacks. She continues thinking "recently, I took an apprentice of my own called Kaizo Yumeda, who prefers to be called 'Kyo', and for some reason hates it when someone calls him by his full name. The reason he became my apprentice? The apprentice of such a weak tengu like me? I defeated him before, even after he boasted about beating an oni." Momiji remembers her battle against Kyo and how she used her shield as a weapon to easily defeat him. Then she remembers helping him train as she continues thinking "I trained him, taught him humility and respect to others, as any self-respected swordsman or woman should. I didn't really teach him much about swordplay or techniques, but about reading your opponent, measuring his or her strength and to respect his opponent, even if he or she is weaker than himself." Momiji finishes remembering and continues to face her opponent. While she does, she thinks "just like that, roughly one month after we were done training, he is able to use a spell card. How is that possible!? I trained myself for years, I've endured HELL and more." Momiji remembers herself training under very rough weather, be it cold, heat, rain or snow. She remembers training to the point of physical exhaustion, and quickly returning to her training after undergoing painful recovery. She continues thinking "even after all that training I still lack the strength needed to use a spell card. Am I really this weak? Am I just aiming for a goal I can never reach? And why, if I trained that human, is he able to attain a spell card so easily!? What do I lack that HE has. And that is why I have summoned him here today." Momiji looks on as Kyo stares at her and asks "are we going to do this?" Momiji nods and says "please, do not hold back. If you feel the need to use that spell card of yours, then please do." Kyo shrugs and calmly says "alright then. Any deals?" Momiji shakes her head lightly and says "no. I just want to see your strength and measure my own. Now come at me!" As Momiji and Kyo clash swords, she thinks "today I will learn something. Depending on that knowledge I attain here today, I will or will not continue to live here with the other tengu. I am Momiji Inubashiri, and I am proud to be a tengu."

A few hours earlier, Kyo and Luna embrace each other while in front of their house, looking into each others eyes. Luna says "well, we best be off. Don't wanna be late, do we?" Kyo smiles and replies "I wish I could come watch... but this request from Momiji seems very important." Luna smiles back and says "don't worry. Besides, this is something we have to do on our own. Call it a sort of 'code'." They let go of each other and head toward different directions, but before getting too far away from each other, both turn their necks around and while looking at each other through the corner of their eyes, at the same time they say "come back in one piece." Afterward, both smile, then continue their way.

Luna, who is currently wearing her usual dark-blue dress, the brown belt with her two small gun-blades, her black hair-clips, and her red tengu slippers, calmly walks toward the Forest of Magic, thinking of her time with Aya, thinking "heh... for some reason, I am reminded of those long days with that crazy tengu. At first I though she was a pervert and just a thorn in my side, but now..." Luna remembers being inside a house with small windows high above the ground that prevented her from seeing outside. She also remembers hearing a rumbling sound of water falling hard, however, the sound was quite distant. She remembers Aya saying to her "if you'd like to know, we've been here for 3 weeks now. Kyo tried to infiltrate the tengu's mountain... he misses you a lot; isn't that sweet?" Luna looks back with fury at Aya who replies "more rage? Don't you like him? He seems to like you a lot." Luna replies "he is JUST a guy! He can take care of himself. The only reason I'm with him is because he defeated me! Once I kill him, that will all be over." Aya smiles mischievously and says "o-ho ho~ I see. So he's just a toy to you." Luna's rage escalates and she tries to tackle Aya, who side-steps at the last moment, then pushes Luna toward the floor. She waves her finger and says "tsk, tsk. Apprentices must ALWAYS respect their masters." Luna clenches her teeth hard while on the floor, shedding tears of rage, unable to get that tengu, who keeps taunting her so. Luna stops remembering and stands next to the entrance of the forest and says "I know you're there... Shameimaru." Aya says "I see you're as perceptive as ever." as she jumps from one of the trees and lands next to Luna, smiling and accepting Luna's greeting hug.

As Luna and Aya continue walking deeper into the forest, they talk about their time together. Aya rests her head on her arms as she links her hands right behind her head. She smiles and says "remember the second month? You know, I still can't believe what you told me that day." Luna blushes a little and says "y-you promised you wouldn't tell-" Aya immediately says "I gave you my word. Beside, something like that isn't really news." Luna smiles and remembers panting while on the floor of that house, exhausted after attempting to fly using Aya's own method. Aya smiles at her and says "that's enough for today. I must say, you sure have changed... but you are still ways to go." Luna sits on her knees and taking a deep breath, she says "it's all been thanks to your guidance, miss Aya." Aya smiles and says "don't go thanking me yet. Now, there's something I want to ask you. I want to know... why did you kill so many? Why did you turn into such a person in the first place?" Luna chokes at the question. Aya looks worried and prepares herself for any sudden attacks. Luna sheds a few tears, closes her eyes an says "it's because..." Aya quietly waits for Luna's answer, still keeping an eye for any sudden movements. Luna sheds more tears as she says "because I wanted revenge!" Aya casually asks "revenge?" Luna nods and says "I will not tell you my real name, please respect this, but before, I had another name... the name my parents gave me. I changed my name when I was 17 years old... after my parents were brutally murdered right before my eyes, by a gang of cowardly thugs." Aya opens her eyes widely and notices fury and pain in Luna's eyes, then says "if you wish to stop-" Luna quickly continues "they were planning on using me, then kill me. They taunted me, using my own parent's blood for their own sport! I was furious... I wanted noting more than to kill them all. That's when..." Aya stands back, but Luna continues to kneel, even though she furiously punches on the ground. Luna then continues "the cage they had me in was against an old wall, and inside I found those gun-blades. They even had some bullets in them, so without hesitation, I shot the lock and one-by-one I killed them all. I used up all the bullets by the time I reached their cowardly leader, who begged for mercy, just like my parents did. I smiled and felt satisfaction of this irony." Aya asks "so you killed him?" Luna smiles and says "I cut off his arms, then his legs... I had my fun with him, making him scream in agony..." Luna starts to cry and says "and then, I finally granted his wish and killed him." Aya worriedly gets closer to Luna, who can't control her tears and cautiously placer her arm around her. Immediately, Luna grabs Aya and hugs her while crying on her shoulder. Aya then asks "but how can someone so young have killed so many?" After crying for some time, Luna finally calms down, wipes her tears and then says "please, miss Aya, don't tell this to anyone. Specially not Kyo, please... PLEASE PROMISE!" Aya nods as she looks worriedly at Luna. Luna gets up and steps at least 5 feet away from Aya and says "I am ---- years old." A loud wind gust mutes the sound from outside, making sure nobody else hears Luna's confession. Aya's eyes show a mixture of shock and surprise, then asks "but... wait a minute. Are you human?" Luna looks at her hands and says "I have died many times, miss Aya, and by all rights I should be in hell... but here I am. I don't know WHAT I am... all I know is, for whatever reason, I have been sent back every time I have died. All 37 times."

Luna stops remembering and realizes she's at the clearing in the forest she wanted to be in. Aya asks "are you sure you want to go through with this?" Luna nods and says "of course. It's the only way those like us can end such foolish rivalries." Aya asks "well, are you sure you can control yourself? Remember, if you can't control yourself, I won't be able to help you." Luna chuckles and says "miss Aya, after our time together, all I learned from you, all that's happened, I believe those days are far behind me." Aya tries to hide her worry with a smile, but her eyes reveal too much worry in her as she says "alright then... please take care... and don't do anything stupid... please." Luna smiles and flips her thumb up. Aya's worry seems to vanish after looking into Luna's eyes, then flips her thumb up, nods, then flies away. Luna looks around and says "wow... she's late. Never expected her to be late." In an instant, from behind her comes an elegant voice that says "sorry about that. The mistress went to bed late today, but here I am." Luna turns around, startled, but immediately smiles after seeing it's Sakuya, who elegantly bows her body a little while placing her right hand on her chest. Luna continues to smile and asks "well, that's alright. Ready to get this out of the way?" Sakuya smiles and says "I already told you..." she takes three knives in her hand and continues "...the sooner we finish this, the sooner we can see each other eye-to-eye." Luna smiles and unsheathes her right blade and says "well, since I'm the one who asked you to come, I'll let you have the first move." Both girls stance, ready to strike at any time as Sakuya replies "that's really nice of you. Now remember, I won't hold back, so come to me with all you got."

Back with Kyo, he's walking by Byakuren's temple, when he is called by someone from the temple itself. "Oy~! Big brother~!" Kyo stops in his tracks as he slowly turns around while looking slightly annoyed. A girl with light-purple wavy hair, dark purple eyes, carrying a golden medium-sized ring on her right hand, wearing a white dress with a blue trim at the bottom and a headdress that makes her look like a nun and simple black shoes comes running to him, then stops just before crashing on him. She smiles and asks "where are you going with that ugly face today?" Kyo clenches his teeth, faking a disfigured smile tying to hide his annoyance and saying "that's... none of your business now, is it, Ichirin Kumoi!?" Ichirin looks at him disappointed and says "aww you don't have to get so mad. I'm just curious." Kyo sighs and asks "and where is Unzan? He's usually hanging around you all the time." Ichirin giggles and says "come on big brother, are you sill asleep or something? You know this is his private time." High above them, a reddish-pink cloud with an old man's face with a beard flies around, getting closer to other smaller white clouds that seem to punch him away after some time. Back on the ground, Kyo shakes with anger as he asks "why do you keep calling me that?" Ichirin looks at him neutrally and asks "what? You mean 'big brother'? Well, you beat me in that battle, which I STILL believe you cheated, and it annoys you, so it makes me quite happy." Kyo's left eye twitches as he smiles dangerously and says "oh, that's great to know." Kyo clenches his fist while still smiling dangerously, so Ichirin waves her hands nervously as she says "now, now, calm down." Ichirin calms down and looks seriously at Kyo and asks "but really, where are you going?" Kyo sighs, calms down and says "I was summoned by my friend, Momiji. I don't like this, but it seems she wants us to have a match... I don't really want to, but I can't deny a request form her." Ichirin opens her eyes wide and says ooh, a fight. Can I come?" Kyo looks at her in disbelief, but then sighs and shrugs and says "why do you even ask? You'll just do whatever you want anyway." Ichirin pouts and says "geez, you're just like Unzan. Ah, but I guess that's why I like you both so much. So, let's go big brother!" As Kyo and Ichirin walk toward their destination, Kyo slouches and says "please, stop calling me that."

Arriving near the tengu mountain, Kyo spots Momiji meditating on the the ground, but she quickly gets up as soon as he arrives. He looks at her and asks "are we going to do this?" Momiji nods and says "please, do not hold back. If you feel the need to use that spell card of yours, then please do." Kyo shrugs and calmly says "alright then. Any deals?" Momiji shakes her head lightly and says "no. I just want to see your strength and measure my own. Now come at me!" Kyo closes his eyes for a moment, and just as he opens his eyes, he unleashes both shield and sword, and immediately blocks Momiji's direct attack, both swords clashing fiercely. Kyo looks into Momiji's eyes and sees her determination and will to prove herself. Both push hard against each other, then swing their swords, matching each other and blocking attacks. Momiji backs away and spins as she raises her blade and heads toward Kyo. She swings the blade downward, hoping to catch Kyo off-guard, but he manages to swing his sword in an arc toward hers, blocking the attack, then he counters by pushing back her sword and tries to swing toward her waist, but Momiji uses the momentum of the push to spin in place and position her shield to protect herself. Both battlers back away from each other and stare. Ichirin, who is sitting on a near-by tree shouts "got big brother, you can do it!!" To her left, Hina sits next to her and says "oh my, how exciting." Just under them, Nitori sits on a metallic chair that extends to the height of the tree branch, quickly offering some cucumbers to Hina and Ichirin. Both accept the offer, then Ichirin continues to cheer, then says "this is very exciting!" Kyo and Momiji rush toward each other, both raising their weapons above their heads and furiously trying to strike one-another, but both blades clash above them, sending some sparks to the ground. Again, both back away, then almost immediately rush at each other. When in range, both of them thrust their swords so fast, the blades look like a couple of blurs, however both battlers continue to fight, matching each others moves like it's nothing to them. Kyo thinks "she's leaving herself open, but why?" Momiji thinks "he's been matching my every move like it was nothing to him. I better turn things up." Both battlers back away again, but this time, Momiji raises her shield and uses it to generate knots of danmaku in all sizes possible. Kyo seems overwhelmed by the heavy amount of danmaku headed his way, however, he takes a deep breath and concentrates, then moves with grace around the bullets, avoiding some, blocking others with his shield and cutting the last of the wave with his sword and turning them into his own, then pushes them back to Momiji, who stops firing danmaku just as the returned bullets reach her. Unable to block, Momiji jumps high into the air, and using her strength, she falls toward Kyo, holding her sword right in front of her. Kyo jumps back just as Momiji strikes the ground right under him, making a crater at the point of impact. Ichirin and Hina open their eyes wide, admiring the battler's power. Nitori munches on her cucumber and says "they are even." Both Ichirin and Hina look at Nitori curiously, but shrug and continue to watch the battle.

Both battlers back away from each other, then, while staring at each other, Momiji shouts "I told you not to hold back! And use that spell card! I'm not afraid of it!" Kyo stares back at her and says "Momiji, what's the matter? You sword tells me something... as if you've lost all faith in yourself, or something." Momiji can't believe what Kyo's just said. A tear escapes her left eye as she clenches her teeth and thinks "dammit... he's sensed that already?" but shouts "tha-that's not true! I have the outmost faith in myself! Now come at me with all you've GOT!" Kyo sighs and thinks "I'll end this quick... I'll use that spell card." For some time, either one does nothing, so Momiji angrily shouts "if you're not taking this seriously, then I'll have to-!" Momiji stops shouting the moment she notices Kyo concentrating energy into himself. Slowly, his power rises, the amplifier around his waist glowing red. On his left hand, he holds a spell card. Momiji smiles in an almost wicked way when she notices this and thinks "finally. I get to prove myself. I'll BEAT his spell card!" Kyo opens his eyes and shouts "Gales of the Bouncing Orb!!" Momiji opens her eyes wide and shouts "WHAT!? ANOTHER!?" The spectators at the tree present themselves to each other, complementing each other on their dresses and their jobs, but quickly turn their attention back to the battle after Momiji shouts. Nitori sweats a little and says "I see. She wasn't expecting that... oh?" Above them, at the Moriya Shrine, a storm begins to swirl just above the shrine itself, and the plants up there start to look sickly. Hina says "oh my... that's a powerful curse... I wonder what's going on up there?" As of not noticing at all, Momiji prepares to take on Kyo's second spell card. She clenches her teeth as she watches Kyo raise his shield, which turns white and glows bright. Kyo launches his shield toward her with great strength, so Momiji prepares herself and dodges it at the last second. She thinks "that was way too simple... wait, what's...?" Momiji realizes that the shield is moving around, bouncing off at certain points and heading to another direction. She quickly realizes the shield has generated a heptagon, and she is trapped inside it. Soon after, five small tornadoes form inside the heptagon, all shooting small white orbs that scatter randomly. Momiji has a hard time dodging both the small orbs and the tornadoes, but manages to do so, jumping, twirling and spinning as she quickly moves around, being careful not to let the orbs or tornadoes touch her. She smiles as she gets close to Kyo and thinks "this is it! I'll finish this in one sweep!" She concentrates on Kyo and forgets the tornado to her left and by the time she notices it, she has it and it's barrage of orbs upon her. She screams in agony as the wind in the tornado feel like blades to her, and the danmaku orbs continue to explode on contact. Hina gasps in horror, covering her mouth and saying "oh, poor girl. That has to hurt so much." Ichirin says "wow, I've never seen big brother using that spell card before... Ooh, looks painful."

Finally, the attack stops and Momiji falls hard on her face, down to the ground below. Kyo panics and shouts "Momiji! Dammit, did I overdo it!? Momiji, get up!" He calms down the moment Momiji struggles to get back up and says to her "ah, you're alright. Look, let's-" Using her will power, she shouts "don't you... DARE... Kaizo Yumeda! I... I'm... not... done!" Kyo, who is really worried, asks "but... aren't you hurt? ...Momiji?" Momiji thinks "so this is it... this is the extent of my strength? No, it's not strength... it's heart. I see... I understand now. I've been training my strength and power, but never my own heart... that's... In the end, that is why I fail. That is why I can't use spell cards. My heart is weak." Momiji finally gets up on her feet, but falls on her knees. Kyo keeps looking at her worriedly, but keeps his sword and shield ready. To their surprise, Momiji lifts her head with a bright smile on her face, gets back up and happily says "I understand now... I understand why I fail! And it's all thank to you, Kyo... thank you." Kyo stares at Momiji, feeling very confused as she continues to smile at him. Momiji closes her eyes and says "alright, Kyo, one more round. Are you up to it?" Kyo, still feeling confused, nods and says "er, sure, why not?" Momiji smiles and arcs her sword arm until her sword is just above her head. She closes her eyes as the tip of her sword starts glowing yellow and she continues to smile as she says "I finally understand." Kyo looks with awe when he realizes the light on Momiji's sword is a spell card. Hina and Nitori both clap their hands and excitedly shout "she did it" then Hina adds "she finally got her own spell card. *sniffle* I'm so proud of her." Ichirin looks on and says "ooh~! So she didn't have a spell card before, huh?"

Momiji opens her eyes, looking quite refreshed and shouts "Howl - Distant Link" Immediately after declaring her spell card, Momiji howls, her howl echoing all over the mountain. Using her ability to see far away, Momiji prepares a massive amount of danmaku orbs and small bullets that once done accumulating, they slowly head toward the battlefield. Meanwhile, Momiji uses her shield to unleash a barrage of medium white danmaku orbs in a circular pattern, keeping Kyo distracted, dodging the bullets in front, and not realizing he has bullets coming from behind. Kyo shouts "hey, not bad for a spell card." Momiji smiles proudly and says "you haven't seen anything yet." When Kyo looks behind him, the huge barrage of bullets is already upon him. As a last resort, Kyo expands his shield and tries to block the bullets from behind, while dodging the ones in front, however, the frontal ones bounce against his shield back to him. With just seconds to spare, Kyo retracts his shield and sends it straight at Momiji, who wasn't expecting that and got blasted at the same time as Kyo gets blasted by the heavy barrage of danmaku. All three spectators put on some sunglasses and "ooh~!" as they watch the many explosions set off. Ichirin says "oh my. I think big brother's gonna be sore for a while." Hina smiles and removes her sunglasses as she says "come on, let's see who won." Ichirin and Hina quickly jump off the tree while Nitori's chair malfunctions and sends her flying and screaming toward the battlefield. After arriving there, Hina helps Nitori up and all three spectators stare at the fallen battlers. Momiji struggles to get back up, manages to hold herself up with her arms, smiles and asks "was it... good?" Nitori smiles with narrow eyes, flips her thumb up and says "it's was really good." Momiji smiles and says "good..." then lets herself fall on to the ground next to Kyo, who is completely out cold with swirling eyes. Hina stares at the scene for a moment, chuckles and happily says "so unfortunate, isn't it?" Ichirin and Nitori look at each other and quietly shrug.

Back at the Forest of Magic, while Kyo and Momiji begin their fight at the Youkai Forest, Luna and Sakuya stare at each other, when Sakuya disappears and appears next to Luna, who reacts immediately and swings her blade, blocking Sakuya's direct knife attack. Both jump away just in time, then Luna takes advantage and uses her flight to push herself while in the air, lands on a tree branch and use it to bounce back toward Sakuya with force. Sakuya is caught off guard, but manages to grab Luna's blade by it's broad side by clapping her hands, then struggles for a moment, and finally manages to push Luna back. Luna lands on her feet, smiles, then says "not bad. You still got some moves." Sakuya smiles back, scoffs and says "maybe it's because I am still younger than you... Katalina." Sakuya smiles wickedly after saying this and waits for Luna's reaction. Luna frowns, closes her eyes, and as if holding herself back, she trembles as she says "p-please... don't call me that. My name is Luna. Luna Rivers." Sakuya looks at her impressed and says "wow... you really have changed after all. If I had called you that before, you'd be trying to throttle me." Luna smiles and says "thanks... Yes, I have changed quite a lot." Sakuya chuckles and says "well, just don't go soft on me now." Luna smiles back, stances with her sword close to her right cheek, and says "oh, don't you worry about that." Luna and Sakuya rush toward each other and clash their weapons, Luna using only one of her gun-blades, while Sakuya holds three knives in each hand. While clashing weapons, Sakuya asks "why... did you... choose an... american... name?" Luna replies "surprised... that you... noticed." The girls back away again and Luna smiles and says "I just wanted to get as far away from my former past as possible. Let's leave it at that." Sakuya looks at Luna with a neutral face, nods, then jumps back a little farther away from Luna, then says "alright then. I suggest we stop fooling around now and get serious. I would like to finish here soon." Luna slowly unsheathes her second gun-blade and says "agreed. No more holding back, then."

Sakuya elegantly crosses her arms across her chest and almost immediately, groups of 6 knives, 3 on each side, fly non-stop from Sakuya, spin in the air, then quickly head toward Luna, their sharp tips pointing straight at her. Luna twirls and swings her swords with such grace and skill that not one knife reaches her. Sakuya disappears as soon as the knives stop flying. Luna looks around, and is only able to see flashes around her. Sakuya has stopped time around her, yet Luna is able to keep up. Sakuya notices this and thinks "this can't be. Is she able to see me? Is she not affected by the Luna Dial?" As Luna continues to follow Sakuya's blur, she is quickly distracted by the many knives popping up out of thin air, all headed her way. She deflects all the knives with her own swords, but misses two of them, both stabbing her on her calf. She yelps in pain and falls, kneeling on the ground. Sakuya stands right where she was before, looking neutrally at Luna, and asks "is that all you have to give? And I thought this would take at least 10 minutes. How disappointing." Luna keeps her face hidden as she smiles and says "you should know better than to lower your defenses so quickly." Luna stands up and runs around Sakuya, unleashing a heavy barrage of blue knife danmaku all around her. Sakuya sees a blind spot in Luna's attack and tries to take advantage of it, but Luna is already waiting for Sakuya at the end of that large gap between the danmaku, and slashes her arm. Although the cut isn't deep, some blood spills from Sakuya's arm, the short sleeve over he shoulder sliced open. Sakuya yelps and holds her arm in pain. Luna backs away as her danmaku strikes Sakuya. When the dust clears, Luna notices Sakuya manages to block a few of the bullets, and is kneeling at the center of the attack. Sakuya stands up, still holding her left arm, and says "n-not bad. I guess I'm getting sloppy." Sakuya pulls out a spell card and says "I'm sorry for underestimating you like that. It won't happen again." Luna looks neutrally at Sakuya and says "apology accepted. Just don't let it happen again. You, of all opponents I've faced, should know to never underestimate anyone." Sakuya smiles and bows her head, then lets go of her arm and pulls a spell card from her apron and says "this should slow you down a bit."

Sakuya lifts her spell card above her head and shouts "Illusion Image - Luna Dial" Sakuya stops time as she unleashes various blue blue danmaku shards around her in a straight line. Luna already stances, ready to defend herself. After Sakuya stops time, she unleashes countless daggers that point straight at Luna, then countless more that aim randomly around. Luna is able to keep up while Sakuya prepares her attack, and as soon as Sakuya releases time, all the daggers and danmaku start moving rapidly. She manages to easily dodge the daggers that are facing her, and the danmaku too, but some of the scattered daggers manage to break her defenses, lightly cutting her in various areas around her legs and arms. Sakuya smiles as she prepares the attack once more. Again, the straight-lined danmaku, followed by the aimed daggers, then followed by the scattered ones. Luna manages to fire a large barrage of danmaku of her own, and manages to hit Sakuya, right where she reappears as soon as she releases time again. Sakuya yelps in surprise as her attack launches toward Luna. This time, Luna uses her blades to deflect the scattered daggers, just as she manages to avoid the aimed ones and the danmaku. Sakuya angrily looks at Luna, then prepares her attack once more. Luna smiles and turns both blades with their blunt side against her arms and smiles. Sakuya re-appears once more, unleashing her attack, but Luna is already waiting for her, and starts spinning around, extending her arms and using her blades to deflect even the danmaku. This catches Sakuya by surprise, and by the time she grabs some knives to defend herself, Luna strikes her on the back of her head with the hilt of her right blade. Sakuya falls to the ground, holding the back of her head with both hands. Luna looks at her neutrally and says "now, for the finisher."

Luna pulls a spell card from inside her dress' chest area, then says "Disturbance - Multicolored Death." Sakuya gets up, still holding her head, and looks with shock and surprise as Luna declares her spell card. Luna waves her arms in the form of a dance, creating the illusion of having 8 arms, then she dances and twirls around, unleashing so many multicolored knife danmaku, that Sakuya can't see her through the knives. Flying in unison, in groups of 5, the knives home in on Sakuya, moving at the rhythm of time. As Sakuya jumps and dodges as best as she can, Luna tries to strike her with her sword every 5 waves or so. Exhausted, Sakuya desperately tries to hide behind a tree, but in doing so, she relaxes too much and allows the last 3 waves to catch her, exploding on contact. Breathing heavily, lying on the ground behind the tree, Sakuya weakly says "I... I can't believe this." Luna looks for her and sees she is fine. She smiles, sheathes her swords and says "and so ends our rivalry, Sakuya Izayoi... what the-?" Without realizing it, Sakuya had prepared a trap that activated as soon as Luna let down her guard, and quite a few knives come flying from the trees and bushes around them, striking Luna hard. Luna runs around in circle after the last knife hits her on the butt. As she runs around, she pulls off all the daggers, leaving the last one for last. After pulling off that last dagger, a tear escapes her left eye as she angrily shouts "HEY, that's cheating! I beat you fair and square!" Sakuya struggles to sit with her back against the tree to enjoy the show, then replies "you let your guard down a little too early... besides, I didn't want you thinking I'd gone soft on you or anything." Luna pouts and says "I still won this match!" Sakuya weakly chuckles while holding her ribs and says "yeah... you did." then smiles. Both Luna and Sakuya stare at each other, then start chuckling lightly, progressing to a hearty laugh. While laughing, Sakuya says "you should have seen the look on your face when those knives got you. It was priceless!" Luna stops laughing and smiles as she says "well, it couldn't have been as great as YOUR face when you saw my spell card." The girls stop laughing, then Luna gets up, extends her hand to Sakuya, helping her get up, then wraps her arm around her and says "come, I'll treat you to some tea and sweets." Sakuya sighs and says "sure. Thanks." Both think at the same time "and now, we can be friends."

Arriving to her home, Luna spots Ichirin and Unzan leaving her house. She lets go of Sakuya, saying "please, head inside. Just need to ask something." Sakuya nods and heads inside Luna's house, then Luna goes to Ichirin. "Oy, Ichirin!" Ichirin and Unzan turn their attention to Luna. Ichirin smiles and says "Luna, how are ya? ... No, Unzan, that's NOT my style, dammit!" Luna sweats a little as she asks "er... did he say...? Never mind. What happened to Kyo?" Looking a little disappointed, Ichirin says "big brother got too cocky again and got completely owned." She face Unzan and says "Unzan, I swear, you're worse than my nanny... Yes I HAD a nanny before... What do you mean 'liar'!?" Luna gets a little annoyed and asks "is Kyo ok!?" Ichirin stops arguing with Unzan and says "oh, yeah, big brother's fine. He just needs to rest a little. Unzan had to carry him all the way back, you know." Luna giggles and says "I see. Then I guess I owe Unzan some thanks." Unzan bows his head, then Ichirin says "she says 'no thanks needed'. I must say, that wolf girl really caught him by surprise. She got her first spell card as they battled. Big brother almost beat her too... but that's when he got all cocky and all that." Luna looks toward the Youkai Mountain and says "you don't say? Heh, this is the second time Momiji beats Kyo. He's gonna be sore about it for some time." Ichirin laughs hard and says "hey, that's what I said too!" From inside the house, Medicine shouts "hey, Luna~! How did you make that tea again?" Luna panics, quickly waves at Ichirin, and runs to her house saying "wait, Medi, no, let ME handle that... MEDI~!

At the Youkai Forest, Nitori and Hina had made a makeshift lifter, and are carrying Momiji on it, handing her to the tengu as soon as they come for her. While happily resting on that lifter, Momiji thinks "today, I finally understood what I lacked for me to have a spell card, and finally, I managed to get one of my own. It wasn't power, strength... or anything of that sort after all, but doubt in my heart... in myself. I am so happy now. I want to thank Kyo for this. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably never have found out about the weakness of my heart. Heheh, he's probably gonna be sore for losing to me again... then again, maybe not." The tengu place Momiji on a soft bed, place her shield and sword beside the bed, and as another tengu applies some medicines on her wounds, she thinks "I am so glad that I won't have to leave my tengu brethren... if I had to... I don't know what I would have done. I am Momiji Inubashiri, and I am proud to be a tengu."

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards, and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Kyo and Luna were created by Wilie G.R.
Spell cards "Gales of the Bouncing Orb", "Howl - Distant Link", and "Disturbance - Multicolored Death" were created by Willie G.R. with assistance by snapshot2010

OCT 15 2009
written by
Willie G.R.