Heir to the Konpaku
"Ah-"
Youmu blinked, taking a step back, her phantom half wavering behind her. Someone hadn't seen her? Surely she wasn't unnoticeable, it wasn't as if she was trying to be sneaky!
Not that the young half-phantom was particularly talented in the ways of stealth even when she was doing her best.
Regardless, she quickly took a step back and had to quickly catch herself at least until the woman's hand came to rest on her shoulder. No small amount of indignation rose in her heart when the woman mentioned her height, a scowl crossing her face. Her height... her height didn't matter at all. To bump into her and disparage her height...
However, all of that took a backseat in her mind when Youmu realized what kind of person had just walked into her.
To begin with, it was clear to anyone trained in any sort of battle that the way she carried herself, the way she reacted, was just slightly different. A quicker response, even if she hadn't been watching where she was going. That alone might not have confirmed it in Youmu's eyes, but the way her stance shifted when she took note of the Roukanken and Hakurouken on Youmu's back and hip---
She didn't need to see that she was armed to know that this was a swordswoman.
But that wasn't all. Youmu hadn't seen anyone in any familiar styles of dress in this world, until she met this woman. Her features, too, marked her as from somewhere like Gensokyo, or the nation outside the barrier, at the very least. Of course, Youmu only had the absolute faintest awareness of that world.
But she felt fairly confident this woman wasn't from this one.
"It's fine," she began, "She's just rec-C-cute?"
Youmu's cheeks colored almost immediately. It wasn't exactly common for her to be called cute by a random stranger, or even those she knew. With one exception, at least. To say it was unexpected would be an understatement, and for a few moments the half-phantom found her composure shaken.
"E-er, well, th-that's besides the point..." she half-mumbled as she averted her eyes, before clearing her throat and trying to push aside and residual embarrassment, "It's simple. Those who are trained in how to wield a blade can recognize one another, can't they?"
Putting aside the obvious fact they were both carrying a pair of katana to begin with.
"I don't think either of you are from this world, are you?" she asked, "... Er, at least, I'm pretty sure you're not..."
She inclined her head towards the swordswoman after a moment's pause, realizing there wasn't exactly anything marking the little blonde girl as foreign when compared to the other people in the streets.
"Because I'm not, either," she continued, "My name is Konpaku Youmu, heir to the Konpaku school of swordplay and servant to Saigyouji Yuyuko-sama."
---Ah.
They almost certainly weren't from Gensokyo, even if the swordswoman was definitely from another world. Would her introduction even give either of them the slightest flash of recognition?
She couldn't worry about that now!
There was something more important to discuss, after all.
"---And if you want to challenge me, I'll accept."
It was only natural for a Konpaku to take the opportunity to display their training. But more importantly than that, she also wanted to try and regain use of her phantom half. While allowing the spiritual wound that had been inflicted on her to heal was important, so was stretching her muscles, so to speak.
Facing new opponents would also help her grow more experience. Grandfather had told her as much very clearly.
And, perhaps most importantly of all, meeting and interacting with more people from different worlds would maybe make her path back to Yuyuko-sama's side just that much closer.
@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze