She opened her eyes.

"..."

Sitting up, the six foot tall miko found herself lying in a grassy field. Wind softly blew through her long black hair, and passed through her clothes.

She wore a black leotard underneath a thick red cloth apron, and a hakama. Two long Hakurei arm sleeves hung off each arm, attached by mysterious means which were most likely strings.

...

Springing into a standing position with her arms, she took a good look around the surrounding area. Before her was a lake, and to the right of that was a peculiar looking manor, complete with a clock tower.

The miko who came before cracked her knuckles.

"...I might as well. I have promises to keep."

SENDAI HAKUREI NO MIKO MODE

ARC 1 - Scarlet Bloodlines

STAGE 1 - Bond of Scarlet

'What even happened…?'

Using her arm, Sendai Hakurei no Miko- the miko who came before- shielded her eyes from the day's sun. Scanning her surroundings, she spotted a familiar lake… and an unfamiliar mansion.

Narrowing her eyes at the structure, she spoke aloud. "...Just what the hell is that?"

'The village doesn't have that kind of manpower or resources…' She furrowed her brows. 'Besides, I've only been dead for…'

…

She sighed. 'I don't know how long I've been dead, but I'm alive now. Not usually a thing you wonder about yourself.'

Bringing her arms behind her head, she stretches. "Hn~h…"

'Yakumo doesn't strike me as the type who'd revive a Hakurei on a whim, either. I suppose the answer will come to me in time.'

...

Finished stretching, Sendai runs her hands through her small pockets…

'Ah. I still have my things…'

Bringing her hand out, she took out a Hakurei talisman, and threw it forward-

Woosh. It left a glowing trail of light as it flew off like a bullet, soaring into the distance of the plains…

Reaching into her pocket, she took out a small yin-yang orb this time…

Holding it up, she made it maximize to about the size of her upper body in diameter.

"Hup!" Jumping into the air, she brought her other arm back-

Smack! The orb arced into the air after she smacked it, before succumbing to gravity-

Bam! Moments after she landed, the orb also landed, bouncing in the dirt.

'Everything seems to work. I don't even have any cramps...' Reaching her hands into her sleeve, Sendai muddled about-

'...Oh.'

She takes out a handful of holy salt, freshly generated by magical means. 'Useful.'

Idly, she tossed the handful forward. The thick salt clumps fell to the ground lazily.

Returning her gaze to the lake in the distance, Sendai took a deep breath… and began running-

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

Her sandals thundered against the dirt, kicking up grass and soil in her wake as she barreled towards the misty lake, a goal that was well over two thousand feet in distance from where she first stood.

'I might as well check out that mansion I saw...'

Within moments, she skidded to a halt before the lake. Moving slower, she progressed to the water before staring into it.

She saw her reflection in the shallows. '...This is all too surreal.'

...Looking up at the sky over the lake, she saw an ice fairy and a greater fairy approaching her.

She snorted. 'A greater fairy following a generic fairy…'

"Heya, Reimu!" The blue-haired one waved at the miko. When she got closer, she gaped. "Woaa~h! Your hair got super long!"

The miko's gaze hardened. '...Reimu?'

"U-uhm, Cirno-chan…" Floating up behind her friend, the green-haired greater fairy stuttered. "I don't think... that's the shrine maiden you're looking for…"

...Floating closer to the miko, Cirno narrowed her eyes. "...Well, then she can get outta my way! Eye wanted to talk to Reimu!"

Abruptly, a barrage of icicles whirred out to meet the miko.

'What…!?' Tensing up, she braced for the impact.

…

'...They're not as lethal as I thought.' Looking at her arms in the midst of the icicle barrage, she noticed the projectiles dissipate against her skin. 'Danmaku. Where'd a fairy learn this…?'

"Hahaha~! Eye hit her, Eye hit her!" Cirno ceased firing danmaku, taking time to mock her as she floated higher into the air. "Stupid fake shrine maiden!"

...Breaking her guarding posture, the miko simply began to continue around the lakeside, indifferent.

"Cirn-Cirno-chan…" Again, the great fairy spoke up. "She's leaving."

"What!?" Roaring towards the shrine maiden, Cirno moved past her and into her way. Positioning herself in the middle of the path, she put her arms on her hips. "Haha~! You can't run from me, fake-"

Pi~chun!

"Ci-Cirno-chan!?" The great fairy flinched back, surprised.

With just one punch, the miko had obliterated the ice fairy entirely. She moved so fast that the great fairy didn't even see the exchange, but the dark shockwave that had spread from where Cirno was told her all she needed to know.

...Quickly, the green-haired fairy flew away.

'Annoying as always…' Surveying the path ahead, Sendai sighed. 'They never did learn.'

==== Sendai Hakurei No Miko Mode: Hong Meiling ====

As she approached the mansion gates, the sun began to set.

"...Gorgeous."

Facing the setting sun, Sendai took a deep breath of fresh air. Her eyes scanned the horizon, taking in the contours of distant mountains bathed in the horizon's azure fog. 'Mountains past the barrier, that no one will ever reach.'

...All except for one mountain, but that was close enough as it was. It didn't hold the allure the horizon did, for her.

"Is that so~?"

'...Hmm?'

Turning around, Sendai spotted a ball of darkness slowly drifting closer to her…

"Hi!" It greeted her.

"..." Sendai stared into it.

"You smell delicio~us…" The ball of darkness drifted closer.

'Just some youkai.'

Reaching into her sleeve, the miko drew a small, bulbous bottle filled with blue liquid.

'Replicable mana molotovs.' Her eyes ran over the mana-generated glass and liquid with vague appreciation, and nostalgia. 'Just like old times.'

Before the dark ball could make any more moves, Sendai tossed the pseudo-molotov in.

Crack! It exploded into a small splash of a holy concoction on impact-

"Aa-aaa~h!" The darkness dissipated, holy flames licking the clothes of the young, blonde girl inside. She erratically darted back into the woods, slamming against trees as she does so, stifling some of the flames in the process.

…

Sendai smiled. 'Didn't Marcus try to use those as seasoning one time? Hmhm. Being alive again… is a unique feeling.'

…

Stepping forward, she took the time to examine the way the setting sun's rays splay across the path ahead. 'I feel like I've seen that youkai before. It's just barely eluding me...'

...Eventually, she came up to the manor's gate. Her eyes ran along the thick brick walls on either side. 'How welcoming. Especially the gothic architecture.' ...She rubbed the back of her neck. 'It's a little early to start talking about gothic architecture…'

Glancing at the sleeping woman beside the gate, Sendai continued towards it…

"Reimu?" As it turned out, the green-clad woman was not sleeping at all.

Sendai stopped before the gate, turning to face the woman.

'...They may know my daughter here, it seems…'

"You're… not Reimu." The green-clad woman, who also had long, orange hair, began to tense up.

"Observant." Sendai's eyes flicker across the form of the opposite woman, before resting on her eyes.

…

"Who are you?" Parting from her wall, the orange-haired woman stands to face the miko, her posture rigid but not yet aggressive. "I am Hong Meiling, gate guard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion." Her voice was formal.

...Turning to face Meiling, Sendai's own posture betrays rigidity. "I am the Hakurei miko."

Meiling narrowed her eyes. "...Is that so?"

…

"Forgive me, but… there is already a Hakurei miko. You may resemble her, but…" Looking into Sendai's eyes, Meiling refused to drop her fixed posture. "This hasn't been the first time we've been visited by a Reimu knockoff, you know. Doppelgangers like you aren't typically very good at their jobs."

'Hah. Doppelgangers. She's got a good head on, at least for a guard.'

Suddenly, Meiling relaxed, giving her a thumbs up. "You're doing a good job so far, though! Just… make yourself a bit shorter, and work on the hair. I guess not talking a lot works… but Reimu's a little more chatty than that."

...Allowing herself to smirk a little, Sendai denied her claim. "...Your sense is good. However, I am not claiming to be Reimu Hakurei."

Meiling rose a brow. "Oo~h? Who're you cosplaying as, then…?"

"I am the miko who came before." Sendai revealed, slightly shifting her posture to be more comfortable.

…

"Is that…" Meiling looked skeptical. "Is that even a thing? I don't really know how the Hakurei work."

'...Really, now. I somehow doubt this ignorance, especially for such a structure in the middle of what was once a plain. This gate guard is a youkai, too.'

Equally skeptical, though not showing it, Sendai nodded. "The Hakurei are a bloodline."

...Meiling made an 'o' shape with her mouth. "Oo~h. So that'd make you Reimu's mom, then. In that case, that disguise looks fine. You're gonna have to explain that to people a lot..."

'For such an organized youkai stronghold, it shouldn't be possible for them to be so unaware of the Hakurei. If random, nameless, unassociated youkai were able to believe they could use what they knew against me, surely an entire manor fortress like this would assume just as much.'

"I would like to inspect this manor." The miko stepped up to the gate, and put her hand on it. "I do not recognize it."

'If this youkai stronghold is here to resist my daughter and let the youkai stake an organized foothold against the village…'

'...I'll tear it down with my bare hands.' Sendai exhaled.

"Well, that's where I'll have to stop ya." Meiling spoke up, tensing up again. "...Also, take your hand off the gate, please."

Sendai did not.

...Meiling furrowed her brows, beginning to take a hostile stance. "Seriously, you're not getting in. It's not visiting hours, and you're not going in disguised, I can tell you that much. Come back at night, and I'll reconsider."

'Quite an obvious trap setup. Were it not a trap, those reasons would still be insufficient.'

…

"I'm afraid I cannot put off this inspection." Looking over the gate, then back at Meiling, the miko's expression remained neutral.

For a moment, the two continued to stare into eachother's eyes levelly.

"...Then, you leave me no choice." Adopting a full-on aggressive stance, Meiling glared at the miko. "How many cards?"

'Cards?'

…

Taking her silence as uncertainty, Meiling decided for her. "Three, I guess, then. Unless you don't have that many."

"Cards?" Sendai vocalized her uncertainty, keeping her expression unrevealing.

Meiling blinked. "...You know, danmaku?"

'Danmaku…? Again?' Sendai involuntarily grinned. 'What is this…?'

The miko's amusement invoked a dry stare from the gatekeeper. "...What's that face for? Look, we could use danmaku, or I could just remove you the hard way. I'm bein' nice, here."

Her words sparked interest in Sendai's eyes. "...Let's do this the hard way."

...Blinking, Meiling dismissed her surprise at the blunt response. Quietly, she postures herself in preparation against any unexpected retaliation… then she struck, herself.

Fwoom.

In a quick instant, Meiling is next to the miko. A loud smack echoed across the front of the manor.

Meiling's fist was caught in the palm of the miko's free hand.

"Wha…" Her eyes widened. She brought up her own palm-

Fwoom.

Wind spiralled around the two, dissipating once they were still. Meiling caught the miko's fist in her palm, wincing at the pressure.

"What the hell…?" With wide eyes, she searched the miko's posture again. "...Not bad. But it'll take more than that."

Kicking a shoe into the soil, Meiling launched herself away from the miko. Dirt was kicked up in the latter's face, though she didn't acknowledge it.

...Once Meiling landed, she held up a hand, gesturing for the miko to come.

'She's expecting a frontal assault. I might as well humor her.'

…

Bringing her feet together, Sendai slowly brought her arms together in a grand motion, before clasping them together.

Meiling furrowed her brows at the motions, taking a defensive stance.

...Gradually, Sendai brought one hand out of the stance, keeping the other flat in the air. With her free hand, she formed a fist.

Meiling watched that hand closely-

Bam! The miko went from many feet away to directly in front of Meiling in an instant. A dark shockwave spread vertically in the air as a result of her strike.

"Geh!?" Meiling slid back from the strike, the palm she used to block it pushed back to her stomach.

Woosh! Sendai is before her again, giving her no time to recover. However, Meiling had launched herself into the air again to avoid more contact.

'You're already fighting a losing battle.'

Meiling searched for the miko below, keeping herself in the air with her flight abilities, but couldn't find her.

What she couldn't see was that the miko was under her, on the ground. Realizing this, Meiling looked down-

Bam! The miko rocketed up from under Meiling.

"Gekh!?" Receiving an uppercut to the jaw, the gate guard soared further up into the air…

Determined to turn this around, Meiling let the knockback help her execute a backflip, before she performed a kick back towards the ground.

The miko- who was now higher up than her due to her uppercut from earlier- also kicked down towards the ground, intent on surprising Meiling with a similar move.

Thoom! Meiling landed on the floor, crouching. She held her arms over her head-

Bam! A ring of dark energy bloomed out from where Sendai's kick landed on Meiling's arms. Promptly, the miko leapt away, leaving Meiling's arms bruised from the impact.

'She's more experienced than I gave her credit for.'

"You're…" Meiling looked up, watching the miko land thirty feet away. "You're not just some doppelganger, are you?"

"Observant." The miko grinned. "You're not just some youkai, either. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

...Standing fully, Meiling took some heavy breaths. "Let's just say I had a lot of time to practice. I come from the west."

At that, Sendai nodded, interest piqued. "I see. Show me more."

Smirking, Meiling intended to do just that. "Heh. Alright, then…!"

As the miko adopted a defensive stance, the gate keeper moved to engage her.

==== Sendai Hakurei No Miko Mode: Hong Meiling ====

"Ha~h… ha~h…"

Sweat caked the gatekeeper's face and clothing…

"Just… what're you made of…?"

Rather than attack her opponent, the miko who came before decided to take this opportunity to survey the westerner's fighting technique by defending relentlessly.

'I can't say it's familiar.' Gradually ending her defensive stance, she stood up straight. 'On that note, she's equal with me when it comes to martial arts, I'd guess. Only thing is that none of us will actually get anywhere if we strike the right balance of technique and strength at all times...'

Sendai sighed. 'I'm not sure how much she's holding back, either. I don't really want to go all out, myself.'

Meiling still had an aggressive stance, despite her apparent exhaustion. "...What kind of youkai are you?"

The miko smiled. "I'm a human."

…

Her blunt statement vaguely annoyed Meiling. "No, really… I'm half-dragon, you know. It's not every day even a skilled youkai can keep up with my strength and my skill…"

This caused Sendai to tilt her head. "Oh? Were you… going all out?"

"Well, almost." Tilting her head back and forth, Meiling relaxed slightly, composing herself better. "I could be exerting more power if I wanted… but it doesn't really help my body out. Burns a lot of mana, yeah?"

'...Oh.'

A soft wind blew across the gate's front, pushing the girl's hair gently.

"Now, I want you to show me what you've got…" Reinforcing her aggressive stance, Meiling gave her a confident grin. "...I'm getting tuckered out a little, though, so don't blame me if I try to end this, okay?"

'...She really needs to do more endurance training.' Sendai herself had only begun sweating, after Meiling's last series of kicks. Then, she looked at the sky…

The sun had, for all intents and purposes, set. A pink glow sat in the horizon, but most of the land was already dark.

'...Ah. I wasted more time out here than I thought…'

Bam!

Sendai slid back, a rainbow-powered punch from Meiling slamming into her crossed arms.

'Rainbow energy…?' Eying her arms, Sendai observed the crackling, danmaku energy left in her arms from the punch. 'That's a new way to use danmaku...'

"Eyes on me!" Meiling barked. "That's a rookie mistake! You're better than-"

Ba-bam, bam!

Sendai was on Meiling in an instant. Bringing up both her arms, Meiling blocked the three basic punches.

Taking the initiative, Meiling then began to perform a wide, sweeping kick-

The miko leaped, and kicked Meiling in the face.

"Guh…" Meiling stumbled back, before following up with an aggressive uppercut. It fell blatantly short, which Meiling planned on, using it as a vehicle to get herself into the air instead.

Anticipating her opponent would follow up with something aerial, the miko put her arms up above herself. Dark energy traveled along the length of her limbs…

Bam! Meiling's downward kick did nothing. Following up with her other leg, Meiling tried to go for a facial blow, but the miko's arms shifted to block that as well.

"Tch…" From there, Meiling springboarded away using the miko's arms, landing twenty feet away. She grinned back upon landing. "You just gonna block all day?"

Dark energy whirled around the miko's right arm. "...Maybe."

...At that, Meiling rolled her eyes. "...Not as good as I thought, then. Well…!" Rainbow energy began to run up Meiling's right arm. "Sorry, but this'll be it! It's been nice fighting you, though! We should do this again sometime!"

'Yeah. Let's.' Sendai smiled back at her.

…

The two bolted towards one another-

Bam. Bam.

…

Fwoo~sh!

Dark energy pulsed through the air in a perfect disc, perpendicular to Sendai's punch.

Meiling's rainbow energy flared out wildly, the violent magical energy flaring on Sendai's stomach momentarily.

…

Black mist began to dissipate from where Meiling punched.

The gatekeeper lurched over, falling to the ground beside the miko.

'You should've saved that rainbow energy for your real trump card.' Peacefully, Sendai approached the gate, leaving the gatekeeper to recover. 'Although, you probably didn't think I'd go all out like that. Maybe I'll apologize to her later.'

She rubbed the spot on her stomach Meiling punched for a moment. '...I wonder if she could've guarded with her chi and rainbow magic similarly. She saw me guard with my darkness more than once, too. Hmm.'

Sendai shook the gate. It was locked.

'...Really.'

Dryly, she gave the lock on the front a half-assed chop.

Cra~ck! It broke in two.

'If I can get past that gatekeeper, I don't think that lock would do much to stop me. It's probably got magic alarms, or something, then.'

Proceeding with veiled caution, the miko leisurely walked across the front path of the manor, towards the entrance to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

STAGE COMPLETE

Sendai Hakurei No Miko, the Shrine Maiden who Beats People Up

==o==

WEAPON: Unarmed.

==o==

INVENTORY:

Magic Replicable Mana Molotovs - A Marcus Kirisame invention. A simple prefabricated spell that allows the user to conjure holy/water elemental mana molotovs. The liquid creates a swath of holy flames on contact with any non-treated surface.

ITEM CRASH: Hydro Storm - Holy/water elemental rain, though it doesn't burn like the molotov's mixture. Basically a modified rain spell; it lasts a few seconds and can only be used outside. Deals holy damage to youkai.

Hakurei Yin-Yang Orb - It makes a mean pinball when maximized! When at terminal velocity, the orb also does magical damage.

ITEM CRASH: Fantasy Heaven - Tapping into her dark mastery, Sendai temporarily becomes more youkai-like at the expense of her sub-weapons and becoming more vulnerable to holy damage. Her attacks become partially darkness elemental.

Hakurei Talismans - Throwable projectiles. Also referred to as ofuda. Deals holy damage. Most effective on youkai or other greater dark/moon beings.

ITEM CRASH: Thousand Talismans - Sendai throws a lot of talismans at once straight ahead. Cheapest item crash for Sendai to cast, but leaves her vulnerable and is difficult to aim.

Hakurei Axe - An origami axe created from folded talismans and reinforced by holy magic. A heavy weapon that breaks easily, but can deal high physical holy damage when used well. Also able to be thrown as a makeshift heavy projectile.

ITEM CRASH: Thousand Blades - Sendai floats into the air and creates a revolving ring of Hakurei Axes.

Chronicle of Gensokyo - A copy of the Chronicle of Gensokyo, lended to Sendai by the Hieda family. Some magic work from Marcus let Sendai replicate it as a projectile to throw at enemies. Spins around and flails its pages everywhere, which deal holy damage when they cut foes.

ITEM CRASH: Holy Spark - Summons multiple copies of the Chronicle of Gensokyo, creates a magical circle in the air, and fires a huge, rainbow colored laser. Takes awhile to set up…

Rusty Stopwatch - It doesn't seem to work anymore.

ITEM CRASH: It's probably best not to experiment…

Dragon Palace's Flintlock - Shoots a weak stream of electricity which arcs into an enemy. More useful as a distraction or last resort accuracy weapon.

ITEM CRASH: Vol Fulger - Generates a ball of lightning around Sendai's form defensively.

Rebound Stone - A magically replicable stone that bounces off surfaces. Doesn't work well with soft surfaces or open spaces. After awhile, it breaks, too. Deals physical holy damage.

ITEM CRASH: Evil Sealing Circle - A series of rebound stones are cast into the air, creating a shaft above Sendai which is filled with powerful holy energy. Once the attack ends, the holy energy splashes through the entire room. May seal foes.

Holy Salt - It's holy salt. Deals holy damage when you throw it in someone's eyes.

ITEM CRASH: Sodium Geyser - Creates a geyser of holy salt. Sendai'll never run out of cooking salt again!

==o==

GROWTH ABILITIES:

Dark Uppercut - Sendai can uppercut to get to higher places, and also deal high dark damage on impact. Launches foes.

Tengu Rush - An old Tengu technique. It's a charge accompanied by two whirling wind blades, propelling the user forward ten feet.

Slide Leap - A sliding kick that Sendai can transition to if she's sliding on the floor. Only rarely useful…!

Flash Step - Unlike actual flash step techniques, this one simply lets Sendai move forward while being immaterial to intruding entities for a short time. She can only go at a set distance and speed when she does this, and she's vulnerable afterward. Does not let her pass through walls. Probably some mangled version of the regular Hakurei teleportation technique...

Dark Power - Sendai can reduce damage taken, boost damage dealt with unarmed attacks, as well as micro-manage her blood flow with her dark abilities. Grants fifty percent darkness resistance.

Sub-Weapons - Sendai's gathered a lot of stuff over the years that she can throw at people when she's out of ideas. Most of it is just prefabricated spells and basic Hakurei utilities.

Item Crash - Draining attacks that create stronger casts of Sendai's sub-weapons. Usable with any item in Sendai's inventory, although if she's not ironed it out it can be unpredictable...

==o==

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

intro and meiling fight

this fic was originally going to be one long oneshot but honestly splitting it into chapters is easier on everyone and allows more articulation

at the time of being split into chapters everything but the remilia fight's pretty much done here and i dunno how much i'm gonna go past the remi fight

experimenting with something that's not just BATSHIT INSANE COMEDY while still being presentable without relying on the excuse of being a bad self-insert story; sendai's technically an OC but i honestly don't consider her that much of one since she's supposed to fit into the setting and all that.

the main thing is that you can be very free with how she's customized since there's literally nothing to go off of other than "there was a hakurei before reimu, reimu set up the danmaku system". like, not even RELATIONSHIP HINTS...

- w -

also she gets richter belmont's stuff sans the whip 'cause WHY NOT (yes even the stupid salt geyser item crash)

tell me how this is, tell me if it's remotely interesting, tell me if i'm doing the combat coherently / interestingly / in a way that makes sense, and whatever you do yo don't hold back slap me silly yo slap me silly

if you expect this fic to have an overarching plot i dunno it might but my intent going in is that reimu's mom shows up and beats people up and finds a couple people she can't beat up so well alone and does some interesting things and yeah

anyway

this probably isn't the type of fic people expect from me but i plan to expand my horizons a bit yo and do lots and lots of new things (but also some old things with some new polish don't worry)

i try to entice people with every idea but some ideas just in and of themselves won't thematically line up key for key with other ideas, daz just how it is

also, the end-chapter inventory reel will only happen at the end of arcs if this continues and stuff, so you'll see one later but not next chapter, mostly 'cause these chapters are all short and it'd be weird if you saw them every couple thousand words

as always, see you all next ti-

-oh yeah, something to note: if you're expecting Osana Reimu-esque stuff, lolnoep

i have indeed seen that touhou video series and this is not it - w - although that's a fun interpretation of a previous miko and is an emotional roller coaster that should be looked into yo

that series is a sequel to something i still need to watch though at some point so honh

on that note this chapter reminded my proofreader of that video short series Burning Meiling on youtube. it's a fun action thing with meiling - w -

as always, see you all next time!