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[X] Slowly sweep through each room as you retreat. The other fairy maids may need help.

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"We have barricaded the front door as you instructed, Master Grey. They won't be able to break in from this side."

"Good work," Grey says, "but don't call me Master. Just Grey will do."

"O-of course, Ma-er, Grey," the fairy says, blushing.

Grey turns to the fairy maids.

"Alright, we're going to sweep through every room as we clear the mansion of this vermin. No one gets left behind."

The fairies cheer as Grey leads them forward. In the next few minutes, they systematically clear the rooms in the west wing of the mansion. They manage to rescue several more fairy maids, increasing their own ranks, but in some rooms, they find only bloody corpses. The youkai hornets can't fight well in enclosed spaces, and they prove to be easy to exterminate indoors. For some reason, they don't seem to be as organized as during the initial attack.

"This doesn't feel right," Grey says.

It almost seems like they are acting as some sort of diversion. Grey continues leading the fairy maids, but sweeping the rooms is time-consuming. He can't afford to rush them forward, as they might get confused. He sighs as they approach the east wing; this the most he can do, for now.

As they near a corner, they stop as a sudden flash of red light fills the room, blinding them. This is followed by a deep rumbling that seems to shake the foundations of the mansion. Grey strains his eyes as they readjust to normal light. A small winged figure is walking toward them, her eyes burning a fiery crimson.

"Flandre?"

Grey grunts as something red quickly knocks him to the ground. His head spins as he tries to sit up. As his vision clears, he sees Flandre clinging to him in an embrace. She is shaking uncontrollably. Grey waits for her to calm down, stroking her silky blonde hair gently. He never thought that this girl would be so vulnerable. He senses a foreign, but not entirely unpleasant odor coming from her, like some kind of perfume. He shakes his head to quickly prevent that line of thought from going any further.

"B-big sis, where is big sis?" she whispers finally.

"Sakuya and Lady Remilia are at the Hakurei Shrine, don't worry. And I'm sure Patchouli and the others can take care of themselves." he says.

Flandre sighs in relief. She stops shaking, but stays a few more moments in Grey's arms before standing up. She smiles brightly at Grey, with no trace of sadness, nor hesitation in her voice.

"I'm in charge then!" she says. "Now tell me what's going on? I went up to see if big sis was having some loud party again, and all I find are these dirty bugs. Their bites really itch, so I roasted them. They probably don't taste as good as roast potatoes though."

"Nothing that the little sister should worry about, we are just taking care of some pests," Grey says as he reloads his pistol. "Perhaps you would like to join us? You can think of this as a kind of game. I expect these bugs are good for danmaku practice."

Flandre's eyes light up. The fairy maids shudder at this, as if they've seen that expression before.

"Try to hold back though. I'd hate for your sister to come home to a mess we can't clean up."

"Of course! The other one taught me a lot of things about that," Flandre says. "Some important things can easily break, and I don't know how to unbreak them. So I've been practicing how to play without breaking them. Did you know that if you play carefully, you can play with things more than once? Not like strawberries though, when you eat them you can't eat them again."

Grey looks at her thoughtfully. With her help, they can fend the attack off completely. He probably can't afford to leave her alone though. If they could meet up with either Meiling, Patchouli or Koakuma, he can probably split the group into two groups. But before he can decide, a familiar figure in green flies toward them. Flandre perks up and waves at it.

"It's China! It's China!" she says.

Meiling smiles weakly at Flandre as she approaches. She doesn't look hurt, but she looks tired.

"Grey said I can join for danmaku practice!" Flandre says.

Meiling looks at Grey with puzzled expression. He just gives her a shrug and a polite smile.

"I see you've organized the fairies. We should split into two groups to clear the area faster. I can probably go with the maids or with Flandre," Meiling says.

Grey nods. Flandre can't be left alone with the maids, that is certain.

[ ] Go with the fairy maids. Meiling goes with Flandre.
[ ] Go with Flandre. Meiling goes with the fairy maids.