Chapter 3
?Well, this is different.? I mused out loud. ?I think the three of us are the only things with colour in Gensokyo.?
?You sure are stating the obvious today.? Yuka commented.
?Apparently I am.? I dryly replied. ?So, do you have a plan on what to do??
Yuka turned to look at me. ?No. I don?t. But I?m sure a lead will appear soon enough. They always do.?
I shrugged. ?If you insist.? Turning at Kikuri, it was obvious she had nothing to contribute since she was more preoccupied with poking a black and white sunflower.
?I wonder if other people in Gensokyo are in colour or if it?s just us since we weren?t technically in Gensokyo?? I queried out loud.
Yuka looked at me for a few seconds before shrugging. ?Does it really matter??
?Well, yes. If we?re the only ones in colour then it means we?ll be a prime target for any other vigilantes trying to solve things.? I explained my concerns to Yuka.
Yuka chuckled menacingly. ?You make that sound like it?s a bad thing.?
Oh yeah, of course. Should have expected that.
I looked around, still rather amused at the lack of colour. There was a sense of irony that the Scarlet Devil Mansion was currently the Gray Devil Mansion. Judging by the appearance of things, it certainly wasn?t a repeat offender behind the incident since there?s no one who has the ability that could do something like this; not that I could think of anyway.
A few minutes passed where the three of us did very little but stand around waiting for something to happen to no success.
?So about that lead, Yuka?? I dryly remarked. ?I?ve not seen it yet.?
Yuka turned to look at me. ?If you know what?s best for you, you?ll shut up.?
?Yes, Miss.? I mumbled, enjoying my almost-exclusive ability to be able to wind up Yuka and remain alive.
?Maybe? maybe we should go to the shrine or something...?? Kikuri quietly suggested.
?Why should we do that?? Yuka queried, turning to face her former murderer.
Kikuri quickly stepped back in a panic and shrugged. ?I don?t know! I was just an idea? I thought we might find someone else there who had some information.?
?Stop acting so pitiful, I?m not going to hurt you. Have some confidence.? Yuka nagged.
?Yes Miss Kazam- Miss Yuka.? Kikuri stammered causing Yuka to turn around with a frustrated sigh.
?Surely it can?t hurt to just fly around a bit anyway?? I considered it my turn to put forward an idea. ?If we?re the only people in colour then everyone is going to see us standing out and like you said, they?re going to attack us. You can beat them up and then we?ll get some leads on who could be behind it.?
Thirty two years experience says she?ll go for the idea.
Yuka rubbed her chin with her free hand. ?I suppose of all the options we?re faced with right now, this would be the best option.?
Ding ding ding, success!
?Shall we head towards the shrine like Kikuri suggested then?? I asked.
Yuka took to the air and turned around. ?I believe that might be for the best, we cover a lot of distance and we?ll go past a good number of places where we might be spotted. Now hurry up.?
Making sure Kikuri was following Yuka; I hovered up and followed the two on whatever journey Yuka had planned.
Not only to Yuka?s disapproval but also mine, the trip was amazingly uneventful. The highlight of the journey was when we spotted a black and white Keine leading her group of students through the village. Though we stayed at a distance, she noticed us and waved. Soon afterwards she shrugged, signalling her idea of what was going on. Yuka was more annoyed in the fact that Keine didn?t seem to care that we were in colour and that she went back to her work.
?This has to be one of the most boring disasters to have even occurred in Gensokyo.? I commented out loud.
?It must be bad if you?re moaning about it being uneventful.? Yuka sneered. ?Anyway, it?s not as bad as you think.?
?What do you mean?? I asked, noticing Kikuri gain some interest too.
Yuka didn?t bother turning around to explain, she only continued to fly forward.?We?re being followed. Don?t bother turning to look, let them follow. It was only that Night Sparrow and insect at first, but there are a fair number of them following us now, even that irritating Tengu.?
?What? Really?? Kikuri was quick to speak up. ?I don?t want them to surprise me??
?Relax. If they have half a brain cell then they?ll follow us to see what we?re doing first.? Yuka spoke out with an air of superiority.
I sighed. ?Ever thought that everyone might not be? a tactical genius like you??
?Well, they also know better than to try and sneak up on me. They?ll know what will happen to them.? Yuka giggled slightly as she finished.
Fortunately, the one advantage of having an eventless journey was that we were already approaching the shrine, although after discreetly looking back a few times I noticed that there was a number, at least ten, of people following us. Extra trouble was really the last thing we needed.
The shrine was clearly abandoned as we approached, a large lock was sitting on the main door into the shrine, all the lights were out and there was no one sitting at the front drinking tea. The fact there was no movement at all made me suspect that our initial plan was wrong, there was no one else here trying to solve the incident to get information from.
?Hey, Yuka. There?s no one here to talk to. Not wanting to rush you but shouldn?t we keep moving, we don?t really what that crowd bothering us.? I queried the youkai.
?You?re getting worried as well?? Yuka sighed. ?I thought I brought you up to be a bit braver??
What.... Am I a kid now?
Landing near the building?s donation box, Yuka walked up to the shrine itself. ?Let?s have a break now. I?m sure there?ll be some tea around here somewhere.?
?I believe the shrine is locked to state ?No entry?.? I commented.
Yuka grabbed the lock and ripped it clean off the floor, turning around she gave an apathetic noise before carelessly discarding the broken object.
?Well well, ?Colourful Culprits try to ambush Shrine Maiden!? Well you?re too late, she?s not here!? A new voice called out causing the three of us to look at its source.
Oh great, her.
Standing on top of a nearby tree was Aya Shameimaru, rogue journalist of Gensokyo. Well known for her newspaper, the Bunbunmaru, and her fabrications, she lives her life annoying Gensokyo?s residents while seeking something new to write about.
?We know she?s not here, they went on holiday.? I shouted back.
?Colourful Culprits attempt to loot abandoned shrine!? Obviously the Tengu had misinterpreted the facts as usual and was trying to get her latest scoop.
?If you?re looking for the ones who have taken all of the colour, we?re not the ones you?re after; we?re looking for them too.? I shouted back.
Aya laughed. ?A likely story! You still have colour, not only does it incriminate you as the cause but it also removes the main reason for you to want to get involved.?
?Or it could just be that I?m with Yuka and she?ll take any excuse to fight anyone.? I countered.
Aya paused for a moment. ?I?ll give you that one however it?s still most likely you?re the cause, so give me one good reason I shouldn?t take you down right now!?
Why does she care that much? She was mostly black and white anyway.
?We don?t have to tell you anything, crow.? Yuka snapped out.
?I beg to differ. There are a good number of us here that want Gensokyo back in colour, and we?ll happily walk over all three of you if there?s the chance we can get it back.? Aya laughed somewhat as a few more youkai revealed themselves such as Rumia, Nitori and even Cirno and her friend Daiyousei.
Yuka grinned menacingly. ?Small fry, huh? Bring it.?
?Strength in numbers, Miss Kazami, strength in numbers?? Aya mocked.
Yuka quickly grabbed my shoulder and leap high into the air, giving us a good vantage of how many there really were. Guessing there was at least forty youkai and other various magical creatures hidden amongst the trees and behind various objects, I began to feel a little overwhelmed. Fine, Yuka was one of the single most powerful beings in existence, but she lost all of that when she was reborn, and thirty years of power isn?t much compared to the one and a half millennia worth of power she once had. I was even worse than that, Yuka had a much better head for fighting and my offensive power was really rather useless. Fortunately, my ability to manipulate light helps to supplement Yuka?s manipulation of flowers, and the fact I?ve lived with her since I became a youkai has unintentionally allowed me to dodge projectiles rather well.
?A forty versus two battle, huh?? I mumbled. ?This really isn?t going to go well, you know??
?Stop being so pessimistic, we can do this.? Yuka lightly hit me.
I was surprised to see that Kikuri was flying up to us with a worried expression. ?Can we not fight for once??? She asked quietly.
?Sorry Kikuri, but none of these are going to take the peaceful approach.?
Kikuri nervously muttered and began looking around whilst Yuka threw her parasol into the air. As the object left her hand, she threw her arms forward and summoned a torrent of large sunflowers that spiralled down to the ground, accompanied by a large amount of petals, effectively creating a smoke screen between us and everyone on the ground.
A few yells of pain had emerged already from a single attack, which gave me some relief since it means some of our opponents weren?t skilled at all but the fact a large barrage of various bullets including shards of ice began to narrowly miss us made sure that the fight was far from over.
?That?s the best you?ve got?? Aya shouted as a large tornado appeared below us, sucking all of the petals out of the air and wiping them from existence leaving us in plain sight.
Oh yeah, manipulation of wind. Not the best thing to be going against in these conditions.
As Yuka and the attackers traded another volley of projectiles, I looked around for Kikuri who was still dodging. I was quite surprised that Kikuri had flown up to join us; usually she avoids fighting at all costs despite potentially being one of the most powerful beings in Gensokyo. Her ability is the ability to manipulate others, which worked fine for her was she was in a disabled state and also when she as a spirit, but now she?s mobile and fit for fighting it can prove as a hindrance; she has to maintain physical contact to control them and she became even more traumatised by fighting after manipulating Mokou Fujiwara into using Fujiwara Volcano and taking herself out in the same explosion.
?Miss Yuka? Haru?? She said quietly after a few seconds.
?What is it, Kikuri? We?re kind of busy.? I replied, barely missing an extremely fast red projectile fired by Aya.
Kikuri continued to speak quietly and slowly, which was really the last thing I wanted. ?There?s? there?s colour in the side of that mountain over there.?
?There?s what!?? Yuka shouted.
?Look over there, in the side of the mountain there?s a cave or something, and the entrance around the cave is in colour.? Kikuri explained.
Diving backwards, Yuka risked a look. ?So there is. I wonder if that?s where they are then.?
?It-? I formed a barrier of light to temporarily block an unavoidable storm of bullets. ?It could well be. Shame we?re too busy.?
?But if everyone fights here, no one will be able to take care of the real villain?? Kikuri mumbled.
?Maybe so. That?s how it?s gonna be, I guess.?
?Hmm?? I heard Kikuri mumble something in thought. ?I know??
Whatever Kikuri was mumbling, I didn?t make out since Yuka and I had noticed Aya charging towards us at a ridiculous speed.
?Ready for this?! Wind God! Storm Day!? Aya yelled with a large grin as she drew a spell card.
Point blank? With other people attacking too? Not good.
What I hadn?t expected to happen however was for Kikuri to suddenly plummet down towards Aya.
I heard Yuka speak beside me. ?I knew she?d do it.?
Knew, or hoped?
Aya?s face obviously showed that she was taken by surprise by Kikuri?s sudden movement, who continued to calmly plummet down with her long sandy hair almost looking like a cape.
Unable to activate her card in time, Kikuri held her arm out to the side and made contact as she flew past.
There we go.
Of course, with Kikuri?s problems in combat, it came down to Yuka and I to find a solution to the problem. In the end, we discovered she could use her ability effectively manipulate them to ?lend? their powers. Effectively, she gains the same powers and skills they do, temporarily anyway.
?How?s this for a scoop? Reputed reporter blown away by her own magic?!? Kikuri?s voice yelled, sounding more arrogant that usual. That was the side-effect of her ability, when she borrows someone?s power she always seemed to have her personality affected too.
Aya quickly stopped her charge towards us to look down at the rapidly approaching Kikuri, unfortunately for the fastest Tengu in Gensokyo she wasn?t fast enough this time and as Kikuri blasted by once more, she was sent spinning out of control.
The suddenly-confident youkai stopped in front of Yuka and I and winked. "Looks like I?ve had to save you, you owe me one! I?ll take care of these; you get around to ending this incident!?
?Don?t be stupid, I?m fighting too.? Yuka nagged.
?Not this time, Yuka. You need to be ready to take down whoever is causing this!? Kikuri for once was telling Yuka what to do, which was amusing in its own way.
Kikuri began to spin faster and faster, visibly causing wind to appear around her and continuing to build up. Once the wind was practically roaring around her she suddenly stopped, facing us, she pointed her hand at us and suddenly we found ourselves being blown backwards at an unreal speed.
As we were flying backwards in the direction of the mountain there was a patch of colour at, we watched as Kikuri arrogantly dodged a few volleys of bullets before diving back into the fray, sure it was a good distraction move, but I wasn?t that confident on her chances to win. Regardless she had given us a chance to get things sorted so I was sure to make to most of it.
