CHAPTER 13 + 1
SUBVERSION
The magical slaves were ablaze with the fury of danmaku, like glowing judges who handed out a quick and swift verdict to those who it finds unworthy of mercy. It strikes without warning, and without remorse, leaving only a trail of point and power items taken from its victims.
Aww, who am I kidding? I'm no poet. Poet-izing events just isn't my style. And if I'm a judge, then Reimu is my lazy shinigami.
"Whoops~" I jumped over a table, moments before it splintered into this winter's firewood. Flandre and the others were nowhere in sight, which made me a little lonely. Aww, I miss NOT dodging my own spell card already.
Oishi, or was it Koishi, or whoever she is, staggered to regain her footing. She looked terrible, like someone after fighting the monster miko back home. Despite her injuries, and clothing damage which would probably give any tailor a heart attack, she wore a creepy benign smile which reminded me of Alice during her fouler moods.
"My you look like you're in trouble," she remarked as she saw me dodge a laser seconds before it turned me into roasted long pork.
I swear I'm going to make some major modifications on this spell when I get back to my nice, comfy home. I mean, sure, I liked the challenges, but give me a break! The entire revolving plot which probably involves me dying in one grisly way or another is getting old real fast.
Okay, time to run, run, RUN!
RU - wait, where is Koishi going? Koishi, staggered in a half-walk, half-limp fashion towards the cafe's exit.
...
Oh, right. Flandre.
Damn, I hate being ignored. I can't let her escape and get Flandre either.
I jumped through the barrage of bullets, and easily caught up with Koishi, blocking her path. The slaves kept up their barrage, raining destruction on whatever path I step on. Instead of stopping, I ran around Koishi, knowing that the bullets trailed moments behind me. Koishi stopped cold as the bullets crashed down on her path.
"Tch."
Koishi jumped away, and I immediately strafed across her path to the entrance, running around in a wide oval path while dodging the bullets which always landed moments behind me.
"Annoying, isn't it?" I asked amidst the tumult of the magical barrage.
"Quite so," Koishi admitted, still with her nonchalant smile. "You intend to keep me here and let your friends escape, yes?"
"They're not really my friends," I replied, puffing from the effort as I ran around, and the bullets chased after me. I suddenly turned towards Koishi, who frowned as she guessed my intent.
"I just don't like kidnappers," I said smugly.
"Huh, is that right?" Suddenly, she vanished and within a blink, she appeared in front of me, mid-lunge. She threw a solid punch aimed at my jaw, and I barely had time to block it before it hit -
- and the floor around me exploded as the bullets caught up with my position. The explosion threw both of us down on the floor. I immediately rolled sideways, knowing that the barrage would be followed by another wave of bullets. Koishi didn't, and was rewarded by a bunch of magic bullets. Jackpot prize.
I scrambled to regain my footing, only to see Koishi staggering back to her feet. Sheesh, what a persistent girl! Not like Muscles back at Letty's inn.
Huh. Wait a minute. Let me go back a few paragraphs for a moment.
This is the second time Koishi got hit by my spell. But my Starlight Typhoon isn't acting spell card~ish, destroying walls and furniture like a delinquent vandal that could've been helpful for distracting Alice whenever I needed more mushrooms, or Patchouli whenever I needed more reference books. She couldn't possibly be standing after that, unless she's some hulking berserker who can withstand tonnes of damage before going down, and she doesn't strike me as someone with that amount of constitution. So does that means my Starlight Typhoon isn't that deadly?...eh.
Well, at least I won't accidentally give somebody a surprise permanent vacation to the Sanzu River, especially myself. But that doesn't solve my more immediate problem. But if it *only* hurts, then...
"Eh~? What are you grinning about?"
I kicked a fancy chair into the air hitting a star-shaped bullet as it whizzed by. It splintered into a countless pieces of wood, generally worth less than a fraction of the chair's original price.
Am I grinning? I guess I am, though I don't really know why. Am I enjoying this? Probably not. At least, I hope not. I don't want to end up like someone weird, with a taste for losing battles and such. Or pain.
Heh, what's happening to me? Since when did I've become so introspective? I'll become a hermit if I keep it up.
Still, a grin is a grin, and it means someone just had a brilliant idea. And that someone is none other than the renowned (or soon to be) Kirisame Marisa!
A bullet whizzed towards me, spinning merrily in its own axis while it flew towards me. I took a deep breath as I braced myself...
...with a graceful flick of my wrist, I caught the bullet in my hand. The bullet's momentum spun me around, and I relaxed my arm as I let the momentum flow into my center of gravity. I spun on my feet like a ballerina, and then released the bullet towards Koishi.
Who, by the way, was too amazed at what I just accomplished or too dazed from her injuries to properly dodge.
"Eek!" Hah! She took a bullet right in the kisser! And...
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooTTTTTTTT!" Hot, hot, hot, the damn bullet was hot! "Damn it!"
I can't stop now! I'm not a flimsy fairy who goes pi~chuun after a single bullet! Gritting my teeth, I caught two bullets, spun around like earlier, and threw the bullets at Koishi before she could recover.
"Kya!" Koishi shrieked as she suddenly found herself in the middle of a danmaku barrage. She tried jumping backwards but the barrage threw her off-balance, and knocked her down on the floor for the third time. I continued catching the bullets as they whizzed near and then threw them towards Koishi.
The spell card soon died down as it reached its time limit,and it vanished into thin air as suddenly as it appeared. I stood still for a few moments, trying to catch my breath, then walked over Koishi to check if she's still conscious.
"Ahhh..." Damn, my whole body was sore. My injured shoulder also felt like it wanted to fall off. I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath. Damn, I need a drink.
"...cough, cough..." I walked over to the sputtering, prostate girl, who was still smiling benignly like a fool. "...that was something more than I expected..."
"I thought you got knocked out," I said smugly. "You're pretty tough."
"I can't feel my legs, actually," she replied in resignation. "Ah, my boss is going to be mad."
"Your boss?"
Koishi gave a big sigh that could've put an old man to shame. "If I were you, I'd start running. Sakuya will be here in a few minutes, you know."
Ugh. Not her again. "Then, I'll be taking my leave then," I said with a bow then started to walk away.
"By the way, tell your friend that Morichika Rinnosuke is safe," Koishi called out. "After all, Flandre wouldn't want him to be harmed."
"Huh, how nice of you."
"Is that so? We'll still use him as a bargaining chip to get Flandre, you know."
"Whatever," was my only reply, as I pushed the cafe's door open. It fell to the ground with a loud clang. There was already a crowd of people who gave me puzzled looks, but I ignored them and started to walk.
Ping-pong: Surprise question, everyone! Where the heck should I go next? Well, far from here, naturally. Alice and NoName would've probably brought Flandre to a safe place...
...so where would that be? The mayor's place?
As if I knew where that was. I left my city guide back at the inn. I swear, I *really* need to remember to always bring it with me. Guess I'll head back to the inn and get the map -
*growl*
- and something to eat. I haven't had a proper lunch yet. Damn.
...
Letty turned a corner and arrived at the Central Plaza for her afternoon appointment with Kourin. She immediately noticed the crowd of people in front of the inn, and knew that something wrong has happened. She squeezed through the crowd and saw that the cafe was thoroughly thrashed.
"What in the world?"
However, she was startled out of her thoughts by a gentle tap on her shoulder.
"Good afternoon, Miss Whiterock."
Letty turned around and saw Sakuya with a cruel, twisted smile. Letty's eyes widened in shock.
"Would you mind taking a walk with me for a moment?" Sakuya asked innocently.
...
"Hey, Letty, are you there?"
That's strange, the inn is deserted. Could she have gone out? Her packed belongings were at the corner of the room.
Well, the inn wasn't locked so she wouldn't be gone too long, I guess.
I'm hungry. I wonder if Letty left something to eat in the kitchen or pantry...
"Hmm, and who might you be?"
A door upstairs creaked open. A familiar figure started to walk down the stairs and gave me a curious look.
And I returned the look, because she looked exactly like Remilia Scarlet.
END CHAPTER 0xE
...
♪♫♬♩
あなたの名前 呼んだらそこで
突然目が覚めそう
こんなにうまく行きっこない
また偶然 逢えるなんて
♪♫♬♩
