Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A wandering phoenix generally didn’t have much to do, it was in her job title after all. She was immortal, but immortality doesn’t generally come with many commitments. She had a home, friends and a food stand she opened whenever she felt like it. A simple life, sure, but it was one she grew to appreciate more and more with time. It wasn’t like she was entirely glad about her past, but she had other things to dwell on now, so it was fine.

Like perhaps the fact her ears picked up on a song, and her eyesight was slightly dimming. “That’s…” She pondered for a second, before putting the pieces together rather effortlessly. “Right, there’s only one person who can do that. The singing must mean she’s up to something.” With that, she flew off without much hassle. Weaving through the forest maze wasn’t hard when you had been there for a long time and had a goal to reach, so sooner rather than later, she landed right in front of the songstress. “Hey, you wanna explain why you’re singing or is this a lure for humans?”

The pink haired bird giggled, smugly turning halfway to the immortal. “Well, I suppose you could say it’s somewhat of a lure~” She said, with a devious tone and a wicked grin. When said immortal quite literally flared up, the night sparrow panicked. “Wait-Wait, I meant I wanted to lure you here, Mokou! Nobody else! Honest!” She flapped both her arms and wings around in a panic, hoping to de-escalate the situation.

Mokou raised an eyebrow, but indeed cooled down, her flames going away for now. “Alright, Lorelei. I’ll bite, what do you want.”

This got the night sparrow to return to her smug self once again. “Hehe, excellent. But you can call me Mystia, we’re friends~” She sang in a singsong tone, as Mokou just rolled her eyes. “Well, what I’m asking is, would it be okay for you to be able to work as a host for a bit?” She flew up ever so slightly, so then she could get the height advantage on Mokou.

In compression, Mokou just leaned on a bamboo pole, folding her arms. She generally didn’t try for the ‘cool kid’ approach, it just kind of happened. “Host? What am I hosting you for, if you want my stand, I sell Yakitori. (Aka Grilled Bird!!!) I know birds eat other birds, but do you really want that in your conscience?”

Mystia pouted, crossing her arms. “Well, of course not! I’ll be giving you food that you CAN make for us. Besides, I just want to celebrate the second anniversary of Choujuu Gigaku getting together! Nothing major!”

Mokou’s eyes lit up at that. They weren’t her favourite band, sure, but in a way it would be a big honour. Though she looked a bit confused. “Wouldn’t it be better to advertise it then? Be like ‘Choujuu Gigaku’s second anniversary concert!’. You’d get more sales, I’ve seen it done… I don’t know, a couple of hundred times?”

Mystia paused, and was now twiddling her thumbs sheepishly. “W-Well, technically we didn’t do our first performance the day we got together…” Mokou didn’t seem to understand, just tilting her head in confusion. Mystia didn’t seem to want to say it out of pride, but eventually her childish impatience won out. “Okay, listen I just wanna have a date with Kyouko for our anniversary and you’re the only one I can rely on!”

Mokou relented and rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. As long as you give me the recipes to your dishes, because I sure as hell don’t know how to make them, I can do whatever. Just give me a date.” She stood up without leaning now, as Mystia looked very smug.

“Hehe, alright. A week today! I’ll get you the recipes in a few days, I’m busy as well!” Mystia proudly stated, but Mokou’s face turned into one of more worry than anything else.

“A week today? You mean on the night of a full moon?” She crosses her arms now, clearly more unsure.

“Is it? I don’t keep track of that.”

Mokou sighed, shaking her head at the relaxed night sparrow. “Sorry, can you do any other day? Full-Moons are off-limits.”

“W-Wah?” Mystia’s eyes popped out in shock, a sudden 180 like that was hard to swallow. “Y-You can’t be serious, right?”

“Sorry kid, full-moons are off-limits. That’s my rule. If you’ve got any other day, that can work fine for me.” Mokou said, but she was still casual about it.

Mystia pouted, folding her arms angrily. “Oh come on. I can’t Kyouko’s gonna be busy training, or I have to work-”

“You mean scam nightwalkers?”

“Work.” Mokou interrupted Mystia to get a jab in, as Mystia just decided to rebut that before it got out of hand. “Anyway, outside of that date, we’re booked! The next free day will be our anniversary concert! You know when we played our first one, right?”

“Why do you expect me to know?” Mokou said, in a state of shock more than anything else, taking a step back to process the situation.

“Because I saw you there~” Mystia happily winked, causing Mokou into silence. “Honestly, it was so nice to play for someone so handsome you know. I’d be glad to play again if you do me a favour~” Mystia teased, floating closer and closer with a grin, as Mokou simply shook her head.

She then sighed and looked apologetic. “Listen, it’s personal. I mean, nothing personal with you, but personal with me. Full-Moons I’m just busy. I’ll admit seeing you play again would be a treat, but…” Mokou turned to Mystia and saw she was… doing something. Now she was low on the ground and looking up, with wide eyes. “W-What are you doing?”

“I’m using the technique Cirno told me about!” She said, with a sad tone in her voice. Mokou could actually see the night-sparrow tearing up!

The longer Mystia gave those eyes, the closer and closer she got to actually crying! Eventually, Mokou angrily sighed, but relented. “Fine, fine, I’ll see what I can do. It won’t be a PRIVATE date, but you won’t see the other person, I’ll make sure of that.”

Mystia beamed in delight. “Well, that works with me!” She then jumped at Mokou, hugging her… causing both of them to back off in shock. “Sorry, you’re too handsome.”

“Please stop calling me handsome…” Mokou groaned, she already had enough to deal with in that aspect, as she raised an eyebrow at Mystia anyway. “So, how did Cirno tell you about that move?”

“Oh, well she was just upfront about it.” Mystia said, grinning. “I just asked her ‘Hey, how do I get Mokou to agree?’ and she was like ‘Well, whenever I’m sad, she usually lets me hang around!’ with a big oblivious smile!”

Mokou put her hands in her pockets. “So she didn’t even realise she gave you what you wanted and was just trying to help?” Mystia nodded. “Great, hope that doesn’t reach anyone else. Cirno’s innocent, don’t want that to actually get me into hot water.”

“Wouldn’t you be fine if you were in hot water?”

“Do you want me to actually do this or not?” Mystia shut up, nodding at this. “Alright, great. Well, I’ll see what I can do. Try not to scam anyone for the rest of the week, okay?” Mystia giggled, and floated away. “I doubt that she’ll actually listen to me… but it’s worth a shot.”

After that, Mokou relaxed a little, a bit annoyed but she can work around it. She walked off, satisfied with herself at least. She could plan around this.

After a while, she heard a voice calling for her, as Mokou saw a wicked black and white witch and a bushy tailed woman approach, which gave the immortal a very happy grin. “Hey, Mokou! How have ya been?” The pair dropped off the broom, as the witch ran over and gave her a hug. This time, unlike Mystia, it wasn’t awkward, though Mokou wasn’t the type to hug back. She just gave Marisa a pat on the back with a smile. “Heh, at this rate you might be the dad, and Mamizou might be the mum!”

“Me, with her?” Mamizou spoke up, rolling her eyes confidently. “Please, as if I’d have such low standards.”

“She’s right Marisa. I’m just too tough for this blue-blood. She wouldn’t last a day married to me.” Mokou said, walking up to Mamziou as the two traded shoulder punches and a fist pump.

“Don’t get too confident now, remember who was the slave?”

“Yeah, and when you lost me, you couldn’t beat the Yorigami Sisters! Clearly that must mean I was the piece keeping us together!”

“Oh please, at least I tried to fight back, you were just a puppet on a string. Reminds me of Marisa’s friend, maybe you should pay her a visit, it’d give you some proper manners being a mindless little puppet for her!” Mamizou and Mokou happily argued.

“Mum, Dad, please stop fighting.” Marisa deadpanned, causing the trio of them to happily laugh.

“So, what about Futo and Sumi-ko? Are they not here right now?” Mokou asked, as she sat down, with the two others doing so as well.

“Nah, Futo’s got stuff to do with Miko and Sumireko is going through test-season, remember? Poor girl is drowning out there!” Marisa happily laughed, drinking some juice she brought with her.

“I still think Futo’s just saying that so she can get the rivalry date. I mean, Miko and Byakuren, Futo and Ichirin? It’s impossible to make up!”

“I suppose it’s harder for it to be made up rather than them making out.” Mokou snarked, causing more chuckles from the group.

“Anyway, yeah. That’s what’s happening for now. Futo’s free next week, and Sumireko is free on that day as well. Remember, we planned it last week!” Marisa said happily, as Mokou’s jaw dropped.

“Consarn it, are you kidding. Next week?” Mokou barked, causing Marisa to laugh at the word, while Mamizou looked a bit more concerned.

“Is it a busy day, I doubt it’ll be the last day of Sumireko’s life and Marisa sure as hell wouldn’t be killed that easily.” Mamizou said, getting back to a smug expression rather quickly.

“No, no, it’s fine. I can make it work, promise!” Mokou said, shaking her hands in somewhat of a panic, as she then tried to lighten the mood. “Listen, we’ll have a great day to celebrate things, I mean it’s only fair, right?”

Both of them were a little suspicious about Mokou’s mood swings, but chose not to question it. Marisa smiled and let herself lean into Mokou, who just raised an eyebrow. “How old are you supposed to be anyway?”

“Not too old to enjoy a nice hot water bottle.”

“And now you’re starting to sound like a certain princess I know.” Mokou snarked and pushed a now pouting witch off her.

“Sheesh, I ain’t fancy or an indoors person. Alice, Narumi and Patche feel more like a couple of princess to me.” Marisa chuckled, as Mamizou raised an eyebrow, causing Marisa to pause. “I ain’t saying anything else you’re gonna use it as ammo for me.”

“Smart girl. How about we leave Mokou to it, then?” The tanuki winked, as Marisa hopped back on her broom. Mamizou doing so as well, waving Mokou so, as Marisa zoomed away.

Mokou chuckled, putting her hands in her pockets and letting out a sigh of relief. “Okay, guess I’m working overtime. Alright, time to see if I can nip one problem in the bud.” As such, she walked off… though she really should have waved the duo off, as only a witch was seen on her broom as it exited the forest…

Regardless, the human phoenix walked up to a building lost within the many trees of staggering bamboo. With a relaxed knock on the door, she wasn’t surprised to hear a familiar voice and look open the door. “Oh, hello… Mokou?” Reisen “Udonge” Inaba was a former moon rabbit turned Earth Rabbit living in Eientei, but a quick scan from the rabbit's eyes allowed her to get a surprisingly clear image that Mokou wasn’t planning an attack. Odd. “What are you doing here?”

With a smug grin, Mokou let out a calm response. “Hey, Reirei, care to take me to your master?”

Reisen looked extremely confused at the nickname, unaware Mokou first gave it (or at least a similar one) to her dream self, as she barked back. “Seriously. How would you like it if I gave you a nickname like, I don’t know, ‘Mo-cutie’?”

Mokou cracked her neck confidently. “Honestly, it’d get me pumped up to fight you if you’d think you could get away with a cutesy nickname like that.”

“Alright then, what about ‘Merryberry’? Makes about as much sense as Reirei. I could just give you a long hard look into my eyes and you wouldn’t be able to call me anything but whatever I desire to be called.” While she did have an air of confidence that was distorted via the fact she was sweating a bit.

“Like as if I wouldn’t enjoy the challenge, Renko.” Mokou grinned wickedly… until she began to laugh warmly. “Sorry, sorry. Shouldn’t start picking fights.” Mokou slid along to Reisen’s side, who was surprised at the sudden mood swings. “Seriously though, you’re a fun fighter when you let loose. Different from the princess, but exhilarating all the same. Since I don’t want to be on anyone’s bad side, I might as well be honest and say that’s why I try to tease. Guess I picked it up from your master.”

Reisen looked at Mokou in shock, unable to really comprehend what she was saying. “Oh… thanks. I doubt I could take you away from the Princess, and honestly I don’t want to.” Reisen said, leading Mokou to said Princess. “So, you’ll just have to settle with the endless rivalry instead.”

“Heh, it was worth a shot.” Mokou replied, as Reisen knocked on Kaguya’s door… who instantly burst out, her black hair all made and her dress perfect as usual. The two immortals locked eyes and grinned. “Wow, how did ya know it was me?”

Kaguya gave a smug laugh, fitting for someone of her power. “Oh, the scent you pour out of you… it’s so easy to tell when you even set foot in my home.” She then hugged Reisen, causing the rabbit to blush a bit. “Besides, I see what you’re trying to do with my rabbit, taking her away from me to make me jealous. Maybe I should take away that outsider girl, get you jealous too?”

Mokou corpsed at that, the thought of keeping Reisen as a jealousy tool? What did Kaguya take her for? After taking a few moments to laugh, she stood up straight, with a grin, holding her hands up in a surrender pose. “Wow, so clever, Kags. Yep, I just don’t think our battles have had enough stakes in them recently, you know.” Kaguya beamed at her assumption, placing down Reisen gently, and she was more ready to charge, as Mokou spoke up once more. “Anyway, sorry to burst your bubble, but I can’t battle for a week. A week from tomorrow, I’m good. But not this week. Sorry.” Mokou said, not really expecting much of a response, but Kaguya had other plans as her face turned out to be genuine shock.

“What?” She floated closer to Mokou, trying to gauge the situation. “Why not, what could be so important that you’d skip out on a week!”

The phoenix had to take a step back, looking rather shocked at the Princess’s accusations. She hadn’t expected this, which made her rather worried. “I-It’s just that I’m overbooked, is all.”

“OVERBOOKED?” Kaguya yelled, rather annoyed, clearly. “What, with Reisen? Reisen, are you with Mokou?” Kaguya’s voice softened a lot when she acknowledged Reisen, who shook her head in a panic, as Kaguya petted her. Then she went back to Mokou. “Who else have you got to be overbooked with?”

It was rare for Mokou to outright sweat around Kaguya when not in a fight these days and she had no idea what to say. Despite Mystia’s cheek, she wasn’t willing to throw the night sparrow under the bus and her friends dealing with Kaguya like this wouldn’t be fun… “I-I have a festival coming up.” Kaguya was about to interrupt, but Mokou yelled out. “A-A Full Moon celebration festival! Nothing too major, just a sign of respect for it and stuff, yeah.” Mokou lied. She was a terrible liar. Kaguya was clearly not convinced, crossing her arms.

“Oh, a full moon celebration.” She then rolled her eyes. “Wow, you’re so original, there’s no other collection of people that would be fitting for. None.” She was about to continue… but then paused. “You know what, you go do your festival.”

“H-Huh?”

“Yep, you have my full permission. Make it the greatest festival ever. If I’m not impressed… I’ll keep you as my stool for the next 2 months. A rather light punishment if I do think. Good luck~” Kaguya said, waving Mokou out of the building, and before Mokou could respond… She was outside of the building.

“P-Princess? What’s going on?” Reisen timidly asked, not used to Kaguya being like this, as Kaguya smiled, beaming in fact.

“Reisen, I do not think her teasing you was a coincidence, clearly. Her festival is a cover-up, I wouldn’t be surprised if she made it on the spot to cover something else up. If Mokou is to invoke my jealousy, then I only feel it is fair to have a bit of fun of my own. We’ll make that festival the greatest event for us. To celebrate the Earth and Moon, and how important they are to me. For now, let us wait and see her plan of action, and then we can plan ours. I’m gonna discuss something with Eirin soon enough.” She said proudly, as she relaxed in posture, ready to set her game up.

“My, my. You’ve gotten yourself into a mighty fine incident, haven’t you?” Mokou turned to see a familiar face, one of a black haired pink rabbit. “Seriously, upsetting the princess like that is sure to come back to bite you.”

Mokou took a closer look, and she sighed. “Mamizou, I know that’s you. What do you want?”

The rabbit laughed, quite quickly turning into the woman of the day, smoking a bit as she walked with Mokou. “Seriously though, a festival? Have you even planned out a festival before? I doubt it because you’re such a loner but it’s good to ask before asking if you need my help.”

“I haven’t…” Mokou didn’t put up much of a fight, almost slumping in shame because of her actions. “I just came up with it on the spot, multiple different things coming together at once.”

Mamizou put an arm around her, with her same smug grin. “Honey, you really do know you can say no to us, right? Sumireko can handle not being around you for five minutes, you know. The girl’s someone who needs to experience new things anyway. I can just let her know you were overbooked and she won’t mind.”

“No, no! I mean, it’s tempting, sure. But the issue is now Kaguya’s gotten herself involved and I don’t exactly know what I did but now I’m kind of in a hard place anyway.” Mokou replied, looking sincere and confused.

“Hmm. Take me to where you plan to open up this festival. I’ll help advertise it and help you with construction, no strings attached. I mean, it might be nice to make some profit from this, but I can just use it to make my good name even better.” Mamizou pondered, until she winked happily at Mokou.

Though saying Mokou was entirely convinced wasn’t entirely true either. She still took Mamizou to an open field that she knew nobody really owned, but as she did so, she couldn’t help but speak up. “Mamizou, are you sure you’re just willing to help out with no strings attached? I mean, I know you’re not as bad as the Kappa-”

“If you said I was, I think I would have socked you in the face.”

“But even so, what kind of motivation would you have for doing this?”

“Didn’t I just give you a reason, or would you believe me if I said it was honestly because I value our friendship, our friendship group and time spent battling together?” Mokou didn’t say anything in response to that. “Well, believe what you want. I’m helping you, whether you like it or not. Either by giving you an out to explain to Kaguya and get something off your belt, or by making the best damn festival this place has ever seen. Your choice.” Mamizou was now standing, using her tail to stop Mokou from moving forward.

Without anywhere else to really look, Mokou sighed. “Alright. Do what you need to do. If the princess wants a festival, I’ll give her one to remember.” A fiery determination flared in her eyes. She wasn’t as enthusiastic as she usually was for this, but that was mainly because she was tired.

“Excellent. I’ll start tomorrow. Got to prepare a few things first. I’ll make it all snazzy and cool, so then people actually turn up!” She proudly said, letting Mokou do her thing. “Farewell!” Mokou waved Mamizou off, and simply began to make some benches for the time being.

It wasn’t much, but getting a few seats would help with both comfort and planning. She had made a few basic benches before, and she could make the wood nice and smooth with a bit of chopping with her arms… though it did hurt a bit thanks to splinters, she could always grow new arms. Eventually, she made about three, each with three smooth logs so they could be used as chairs, at least until Mamizou showed up and made them better.

Mokou sighed, slumping on one of the newly made benches. It took her this long to make three of them. She put her shoulders on the table and rested her head in her hands. Sure, it wasn’t that it was going to kill her, but all nighters were still a challenge despite that. She closed her eyes, deciding to take a small nap…

She didn’t notice the fact the table had newcomers, but there was a voice that made her wake up instantly. “My, my, what a conundrum you’ve got yourself in.” That voice. There weren’t many people who could fill Mokou with such dread, she could pretty much count them on her fingers. Sure, beating her in a fight could happen, but if there were things worse than death, Yukari Yakumo could certainly grant the immortal that.

“W-Wha?” She stumbled awake, not trying to make herself too presentable, but it was enough. She indeed saw the purple and blonde woman, looking as refined as always. The act she wanted to keep up as herself, she supposed. All the big shots in Gensokyo had an act about them, didn’t they. She was sitting with a pink, white and blue ghost, both of them holding their fans to their faces to make themselves seem more… mysterious? Mokou yawned, not caring about her own appearance, raising an eyebrow. “What’s gotten you two so interested? I can’t make you food if that’s what you want.”

“Oh, no, I plan to eat as much as I want on the ‘Night of the Eternal Full Moon Festival!’ Such a strange name for an event, but NEEF.MF is a funny acronym!” The ghost giggled proudly, as Mokou tilted her head in confusion.

“NEEF.MF? What kind of…” She got passed a newspaper by Yukari… seems like Mamizou did what she wanted after all, as the title said ‘Night of the Eternal Full Moon Festival Coming Up SOON!’ Mokou just stared at it in horror. How did it come to this!

“You’ve got some big shoes to fill, Mokou~” Yukari proudly stated. Then she did a noblewoman's laugh, because of course she did. “Anyway, we’ve come to ask for a deal~”

“A… deal?” Mokou said, with a worried tone for sure. Her eyebrow raised, and she almost gulped at that.

“Yep, see a little purple birdie told me you were a fan of a certain band that just so happens to be under my employ~” Yuyuko said, which caused the phoenix to glow pink instantly.

“YOU TOLD HER?” Mokou jolted to Yukari, who just grinned proudly. “That was supposed to be a secret, gah!”

“But it was so wholesome, she told me all about that talk and how important it was to you! It honestly made me so happy to see them having that impact. So, I’ll let you have the Prismrivers with H perform for you, without any cost! In exchange, I have free-reign over the food! Or at least my own food cart.” Yuyuko happily giggled.

“I mean, do they actually work under you, I don’t think you can just force them to do so…” Mokou said, looking away in a very worried tone…

“Sure, but when our goals align, we’re more than happy to have her take a bit of control!” Mokou’s heart both fluttered and sank. She turned to see another familiar face, the keyboardist of the Prismriver Sisters. Lyrica Prismriver. It took everything Mokou had to not fangirl right then and there. “We want to spread music across the land, and a huge night festival like the one stated in the newspaper is the perfect place! Celebrating the night away, music is perfect for that!”

Sweat came down Mokou’s face as this happened, as she turned away to look at Yuyuko. “L-Listen, this was only supposed to be a small thing, I don’t know where the NEEF.MF came from. I mean if I was making an acronym, why would I have a pointless dot in there? I don’t even have a stage or more than a few benches…” Mokou said, waving her hands around in a panic, as Yuyuko just smiled and plopped Lyrica on her lap.

Lyrica now looked very sad. Which was not characteristic of the poltergeist but it wasn’t like Mokou had the pleasure of knowing her personally. Her head was slightly tilted downwards with her seemingly larger than usual eyes taking the stage. “Oh… we were getting some new song ideas and we wanted to theme them around things that the you in the newspaper said… but if you can’t do it, I understand.”

Mokou stopped, it felt like time froze. She knew what was happening, the same tactic had been the cause of all this! At the same time, she was disappointing one of her idols! Everything the Prismrivers and H did gave her so much emotion, so much passion! Could she really live with herself if she didn’t do this, at least for them? Eventually, she sighed… “Alright… where’s the contract.” Mokou sighed, as now Lyrica beamed in delight.

“Wow, really?” She said, totally knowing it would work. She floated over to sit next to Mokou, smiling. “So, it is true that you don’t have a stage… but I did manage to grab one of these from the kappas when they weren’t looking, so here’s a stage plan!” She put a pile of papers on the table, next to the newly seen contract. Truthfully, the contract wasn’t much. It was a basic signed paper, saying ‘In exchange for allowing the Prismrivers with H to perform at the show, Yuyuko and the band will gain their own private food buffet. Fujiwara no Mokou will get a stage plan owned by the Prismrivers in return to help build the stage and extra supplies to build said stage.’ Mokou relented and signed. “Huzzah! Looks like we’ve got this in the bag!” The 'Huzzah' sounded strangely familiar, but otherwise Lyrica quickly bounced back!

“Hope I don’t regret this…” She chuckled softly, but once it was done, Yukari snapped her fingers and indeed, a bunch of supplies were dropped near a plot of land. In addition, it was put within a shed so if bad weather was a factor, it would be able to be spared.

“Alright, we’ll go and finish up the songs and make your festival the best one ever! All for a superfan! I'll be back soon, we have most of the playlist planned anyway!” Lyrica proudly stated, as the other two just smiled and the trio went home.

Mokou just slumped back on the bench and sighed. “Well… at least if this goes well, there’ll be something good coming from the day…”

Chapter Text

Mokou did keep sleeping for a while, but she was also extremely good at detecting footsteps, deciding to open an eye as she turned and smirked. “So, is this a part of your plan?” Mokou gestured at the newspaper that was left on the table to the newcomer.

“Correct. See how it says I was a part of development? What they’ll see is a kindly old woman helping a loner make her dreams of a festival come true. Which in a way, is what’s happening, right? It’s always good to have PR on your side, no matter what way the tengus tries to phrase it.” Mamizou chuckled, as Mokou rolled her eyes. Mamizou also looked to the side, chuckling a bit in… embarrassment, her? "Besides, I really do think getting a lot of food is important, because I may have gotten a new omnivore friend…"

“Well, whatever. Might as well make this place look a bit more presentable, huh. There’s a giant shed over there, could use it for storage at least. For now it has everything needed for a stage.” Mokou said, as she got out the instructions for the stage… and just stared at it.

Mamizou wasn’t much better. “What the hell am I reading? How do the kappas even read this handwriting, and do they use accents when they write?”

“We have to get Nitori or someone to help us tomorrow.” Mokou said, Mamizou just blankly nodded. They just stood for a while, until Mokou turned. “Well, anything you and your tanuki CAN do?”

“We can make some stalls and a planning area for the whole event~” Mamizou winked, as she snapped her fingers and suddenly tanukis got to work! “Besides, today isn’t gonna be too heavy on the physical workfront. This is just planning for tomorrow, where I’ve gotten more help, and we’ll have to contact… Nitori.” Mamziou sighed as she said this.

Mokou meanwhile, just worked on more benches as Mamizou was clearly dreading that. “Well, you’re the business tycoon of us. You deal with her.”

“Just throwing me out to the wolves, huh? Not that I don’t blame you though, but I do think she’d want to see you anyway. You’d be easier to trick, so we should tackle Nitori and her Kappas together.”

“Yeah, I can agree with that. Let’s just make some tools and sheds for now, so then tomorrow can be the day we really get down to business.” Mokou said, Mamizou nodding, happy that the phoenix got the idea rather quickly actually. She kept making a few more benches, as Mamizou basically just commanded her tanuki. Mokou didn’t really judge her for that, she was pretty old. (Not that Mamizou would want to hear that from HER.)

Eventually, it got dark and there were quite a few stalls, sheds and plans made up, with Mamizou nodding for them to go get some rest. She then turned to Mokou. “Hey, just because you’re immortal doesn’t mean you can overwork yourself. Come on now.” She said, trying to drag Mokou away, who didn’t really want to budge, but relented after her body decided to give out.

“Gah…” The phoenix just said as Mamizou took her home and placed her in her own bed and went to bed, though it wasn’t a good sleep. Instead she woke up groggy and tired, but still forced herself to move out to the site of the festival, where she was the first to arrive, so she just sat at a table and then fell right back to sleep.

“Forsooth, she be a sleeping beauty!” A very familiar and loud voice woke up, as she saw a girl with a grey ponytail, a tall blue hat, white robe and blue skirt. She slammed her hands on the table which caused Mokou to be launched up into the air, as she chuckled confidently. “Thee art no longer of the past!”

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know~" Another familiar chuckle came out, just watching the situation go down.

“Wha?” Mokou said, looking at the table, where there were three more figures on the table. Marisa, Mamziou and the new gal, who Mokou immediately identified as Mononobe no Futo, an hermit even older than her! “Futo, you made it!” She got some energy back and threw her arm around the hermit, who was happy to recuperate.

“Truth spoken! The kind saint that be Miko graciously allowed me to train here!” Futo cheered happily, though the training part seemed to be less important to her at this moment. There was a bit of fighting sparks between the two, but Futo pushed herself away. “Well, it will be time for us to get begun!”

“Haha, yeah. Mamizou filled us in on the details, so while you deal with ‘Tori, me and Futo are just gonna have some fun! By fun, I mean helping out on buildings. Obviously!” Marisa said, as she and Futo got to work, as Mokou looked somewhat worried about all this.

Mamizou just decided to place a hand on her shoulder, with a sympathetic smile. “Well, looks like it’ll be just you and me. For now. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if others came along to try and help or hinder us.” Mokou just rolled her eyes at that.

“What exactly did you put in the newspaper?” Mokou said, turning and looking rather worried, as Mamizou just had a cat-like grin, forcing Mokou to just accept it. Instead, she pointed one finger up and fired a small fire bullet, to be used as some kind of flare. If others were coming in and out as they pleased, might as well let everyone know where exactly they needed to go!

This act actually turned out to be pretty useful, as a Kappa floated on down in a strange looking mech. “Finally, some direction. Seriously, did you have to pick the most generic looking planes you could find, everything looks the same around here!” The kappa had an annoyed look on her face, as she climbed out of said mech, and landed herself at the opposite side of Mokou and Mamizou. “Alright ladies, let’s get down to business.” She now grinned, holding her hands together and got out a contract. “So, I hear you want a stage built, right? Not sure how that Poltergeist actually got hold of our plans, but thankfully for us, we’re still the only ones that can read it, so all you fine ladies need to do is to read this and sign it.” She handed the pair a contract that Mokou could read, but didn’t understand.

Mamizou on the other hand, did understand and she looked annoyed. “This contract is a scam, I hope you realise that, right?” Mokou tilted her head, as Mamizou continued. “This is like a 50% income for every profit made, outside of the musical ones where they get a 75%, while still making us pay for everything in terms of construction and other costs. Basically, way too much.”

Nitori looked somewhat annoyed, but decided to play it off. “So what if my deals are a bit harsher than usual. This is my design that’s been taken and repurposed without my permission! Frankly, you should be happy you’re not getting sued over this, because it’d be really easy to sue you over this. I mean, the girl in the woods surely doesn’t have access to lawyers, right? So, why don’t we just make it simple. Sign the deal and it’s all water in the stream.”

Mokou looked confused, as something seemed to click. She grinned lightly at Mamizou, who chuckled. “You’re thinking about what I’m thinking, right, Fujiwara?” Both of them began to snicker, as Nitori tilted her head.

“Hey, what’s the snickering about, like a pack of Yamawaro wanting to be jerks.” Nitori crossed her arms, before eventually trying to knock on the table to get her way.

“Oh, yes. Don’t worry. It’s just that the only power you really have is the fact we can’t read it.”

“H-Huh, but the stage-”

“Is owned by the Prismrivers.” Mokou grinned, putting out proof of their contract. “Truthfully, on here, they outright admit that the only reason they put me in a contract is for food. Which I don’t mind truthfully, otherwise people only need to ask them for the design.”

“Truthfully she was more suckered in because she wanted to have an event where Prismriver with H played.” Mokou blushed but continued after Mamizou’s joke.

“Basically, you wouldn’t say that they breached your contract, right Nitori?”

“Umm… well… what about the Kappa language…” She said with a worried tone… as she looked at Mamizou who also looked rather confident at her plan paying off.

“Simple, ever heard of Suzunaan?” Mamizou said, as Nitori took a second, trying to peace it together… “Well, there’s some rumours about-”

“Ah! Wait!” Nitori quickly barged back into the conversation, looking rather nervous. “W-Well, you’ve made your point, so, umm…” She quickly took back the contract and stuffed it back into her mech, trying to rummage out something else. “W-Well, luckily for you, that was just a test. You passed, meaning you get to save money! C-Cool, right!” The kappa said, until she got out another piece of paper, seemingly for emergencies. “Well, here you go!”

Mamizou and Mokou looked over it and while Mokou couldn’t really understand it, Mamizou seemed impressed. “See, kappa? Should have done that from the start. Now we can all be friends!” She proudly said, as Mokou took that as the cue to sign, as Mamizou did as well. Handing it back to Nitori, who was sweating bullets.

“Heh, well… gotta keep friends on their toes, right?” She went into her mech, pressed a few buttons and sighed as a pole came out of it, emitting a red light. “Well, the kappa will be here any moment now, so ready to work on that stage! Thanks for the business!” She said with a smile, but as soon as she turned around, it clearly became a groan and a frown. She was thankful she got anything at all, but that tanuki was tricky, how of all people was she friends with that flaming brute!

Mokou sighed, but Mamizou gave a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re tired after just her, right?” Mokou turned to give Mamizou a look of horror. “Yep, she won’t be the only one wanting her thumb in the pie, hoping to pull out a plum. Have a look around for a bit, of course. But I’ll call you over once the next gal arrives.”

Eventually, a bunch of kappas came down and landed, ready to work on the stage as Nitori gave the signal, and just oversaw the kappas. Seems about right. She also worked with Marisa and Futo, while Futo was somewhat of a challenge to work with, Futo did actually listen to Marisa whenever she needed to.

Despite the success in control, it still was a decent challenge, mostly because while the kappas were able to work on the wood floor, albeit slowly, the hard part was the elevation part of it. Some logs kept falling over, sometimes the ground just made it so it slumped ever so slightly, which forced Nitori and some kappas to try and even the ground a bit…

“Why can I noth just burn this to crisp!” Futo yelled out, clearly getting annoyed at all the sliding. Marisa was trying to keep her calm, but she was also getting annoyed.

“Don’t you have any support beams or anything, ‘Tori?” Marisa said, the kappa shaking her head.

“These ARE the support beams. The problem is that this type of ground is… weird. Not normal. Plus without a chance to pre-survey it beforehand, we’re working at a disadvantage.” To be honest, she considered herself the brains of this operation and the duo she was with the brawn, much dumber than her.

"I see…" Marisa said, as she stepped on the ground, a bit confused. "I mean, the small stalls are going up fine, it's only this big thing."

"I blame the fact that Mamizou has insider knowledge."

"Ha! If thou needth to be inside Mokou to obtain her knowledge, you must beat her in a fight!" Marisa and Nitori paused, looking at Futo who seemed cheerful enough.

“How can you control that madwoman?” Nitori said, pointing at Futo with a fearful look.

“We’re in Gensokyo, who exactly is truly normal here, ‘Tori!” Marisa happily chuckled, as she also followed instructions. “Besides, she’s technically training under Miko.”

“What does thou mean by “technically”, thine her prime numbered student!” Marisa and Nitori just blankly stared at her as the world group remained silent. “Hmphth. With friends like these, who needs any enemy.”

“I mean, don’t you date your enemies?” Marisa teased, going back to helping Futo, who didn’t seem to get the point. “I mean Ichirin.” The witch tried to make herself more clear.

Futo just seemed cheerful. “Oh, her? Of course, keep thine friends close, but thee enemies closer? If she wants to be so close she sleeps with me, there is nothing that canth go wrong!” Marisa stumbled at that, but suddenly the heavy beam just floated out of her hands.

“Hey, seems like you might need some help there.” A small red Prismriver was back, looking rather confident, simply using her poltergeist powers to effortlessly lift it up and place it directly on a spot where it didn't sink into the ground at all. “Phew, I’m beat.” She winked at the two, smiling. “Well, glad to help, you’ve got it from here, right? If you need grub, I can provide, but don’t talk too much about dates on the job. Chao~” She said, floating away as Mokou, who had just walked over, looked rather dumbfounded.

“When did she get back?” Mokou said, with the others just shrugging as the phoenix sighed. “Well, I suppose I don’t think I need to see how you guys are going. Might as well see if I can get Lyrica to do that a few more times. It would really help out.”

“Oh please, as if you need that lazy keyboardist to do your work!” Everyone looked up to see what seemed to be a boulder crashing down onto the ground, revealing a short blue haired woman that the whole cast was pretty horrified to see. Blue dress, white blouse and apron and a peach on the hat meant it could only be the celestial, Tenshi Hinanawi! “Sure, she can just float things over, but that’s not how you move earth! So let me show you how it’s done!” She said, taking over the operation much to the rest’s dismay. Mokou wisely decided to walk away before that happened.

Instead, she decided to wander over to the keyboardist herself, who was now at a stall. “Hey, that picking up ability was pretty useful, you know.” She said, giving Lyrica a wave, who waved back. Mokou didn’t get a response right away, so she decided to keep pressing. “Wouldn’t it be better if you helped out there?” Lyrica’s keyboard was also making some relaxing music, maybe this was more of a break zone for those tired?

“Hmm?” Lyrica said with a smile, focusing on her stand. “Nah, not really. Everyone’s working so hard you know, it’d be a shame to stop this team-building exercise. When one person does everything, things are boring, you know. Besides, I’ve got a barbecue going on, everyone needs food to keep on working and I’m here to provide.” The worst part about the keyboardist’s claims was that the food really did smell nice, which Lyrica picked up on, passing her a round warm sandwich. “They call this a hamburger in the outside world! It’s quite popular overseas, which while isn’t our target audience, it’s good to take inspiration from outside sources.”

Mokou looked at the hamburger and just ate it, it was strangely, really nice. A bit unhealthy, but a simple to eat meal that could be decorated with salad and sauces. “Hmm, so…” She swallowed her bite, being a bit curious. “Why did you look into outside music and also take up… barbecuing I guess?”

“Simple, because like everything, culture is not limited to one world. The earliest version of the keyboard was Greek. The power of music transcends boundaries, as music is a part of the soul. In order to understand other music, it is important to understand other cultures and to take part in them, therefore learning about outside world customs is very important and it also allows me to take things slower, focus on the sounds the grill makes.”

Lyrica’s response was surprisingly wordy, Mokou actually believing it and absorbing it all, not too dissimilar to how she was totally engrossed in her music… then she realised something. “Wait, do you guys even need to eat?”

“Err… it’s fun!” She said with a smile, as Mokou sighed, but let her keep doing her thing. Which was a good thing because a line was starting to form, and Lyrica had some work to do. (Or not, she seemed to just be relaxing and letting some sort of phantoms do all the flipping. How much work was she actually putting in right now?)

Meanwhile a very familiar song began to be sung, as Mokou found another food stand being prepared, though this one was less of a stand and more of a mini-restaurant! “Oh, hey Mokou! Don’t mind me, I’ve done this song before, but if you’re gonna make this a festival, I may as well promote myself! Unless you’ve forgotten about our part of the deal~” She sang in a mocking tone. Cirno meanwhile, was also there, eating some food happily.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Mokou sighed with annoyance, taking a look around. “So, are we using this as a compromise that I would be on hand throughout the whole night? I’ll still make your meal of course, but-”

“Yeah, yeah. Just give us a VIP table, and I’ll be fine with some scraps.” She casually responded, putting some branding up, and some more seats and benches. “I won’t have time to open this week anyway, so no reason not to just place these here.” She whistled, just kind of enjoying herself.

“And how do you expect to get it all back to wherever you usually stay.” Mystia paused and blushed in embarrassment, as Mokou sighed. “Alright, if I can, I’ll help you out again.” Mystia smiled at that, she didn’t even have to guilt trip her this time! Still, she took the time to look inside and was a little surprised at everything she had brought. “How much are you planning on doing! How does one cook with all this while having a date?”

Mystia didn’t think about that, so she just chuckled… “Heh… outside of you, I… need to think about that.” Mokou facepalmed, but Mystia flapped her wings in indignation. “Hey, it’s not like I don’t have any plans! I might just use some money I’ve saved up to hire someone for the night, or get some kind of magic user to help out. I’m not completely hopeless!” Mokou didn’t respond to that, and then they both sighed at the same time. “Cirno, you can help, right?”

“Of course!” The ice fairy said confidently… before she tilted her head in confusion. “Wait, what am I helping you with?” The other sigh from Mystia caused Mokou to laugh.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re excited about this. I’ll make sure your date goes well. Also, keep on your best behaviour, and you’ll get your ‘special treat’, Cirno.” Mokou said, causing Mystia to smile and the hair ruffle made Cirno smile brightly, as a cocky voice from another small character came from behind, causing both phoenix and sparrow to turn in curiosity.

“I see that you haven’t fully prepared for the night, funny considering that’s when you’re active, right?” Mystia instantly pouted at the youngest Prismriver, as she just floated on by, seemingly curious more than anything. “You’ve got an impressive looking stand, though I have to wonder if the tables here were a bit overkill, since we’ve got some already made via logs.”

“If you’re fine with having poor customer service and long lines while standing, be my guest. But at Mystia’s Izakaya, we only have the highest quality in both wait times and food!” She said, as she stepped on one on her fancy tables, using it to get a leg up on the short Prismriver. “Cirno, you’d rather sit on a nice seat, right?” The bright nod from Cirno caused Mystia to smile.

“Oh please, you need this to do well, don’t you. Heavy Metal is a great source for songs, don’t get me wrong, but the heaviest thing about yours is the emptiness of your piggy bank from what you’re able to make in your concert.” Lyrica said, parading her band over Mystia’s. “Seriously, I’d be impressed if you were able to get a present for your banddate.” She said smugly, before quickly turning to an honest smile. “Congrats on the anniversary by the way, hope it’s a good one.” Then quickly turning smug. “I mean, I wouldn't want her getting smitten by someone else, right? It’s a wonder how she became your banddate."

"Oh, that's ironic coming from someone who's recycling the same tunes from me. Becoming a food stand, guilt tripping Mokou and doing this to impress your band-"

"Hey, I never mentioned anything about her!"

"But you just did~" Mystia said, for once getting the edge on Lyrica, stunning both her and Mokou. Cirno just nodded in confidence at her friend. "Really, Lyrica, the fact that you are trying to constantly beat Raiko in the relationship game is why your main weakness is teasing! Having a banddate is cool, just own it!" Now it was Mystia's turn to turn down the snark, as the two looked at each other, then grinned. "Hey, why don't we settle things. We hold a contest between bands, and if I win, you have to publicly kiss Raiko, and if you win, I do the same with Kyouko."

"Didn't know you wanted to kiss her that badly, but I'd be more than down." Lyrica said, turning to Mokou. "Alright, looks like your concert is going to the next level, Mokou!" She then saw that she was finishing up Mystia's place for her, which caused the sparrow to chuckle. “Seriously, already picking sides?”

“N-No.” Mokou said, not out of denial, but embarrassment. “She’s just one of the people I’m trying to help out, and if that involves me helping set-up, I can do that… Not much else I can do.” Mokou said, placing down another table, as Lyrica just tilted her head at the human.

“I mean, you’ve already got enough people here helping out, right? That’s not something everyone can do. You’ve already taken the time to organise the event, plan the date and everything. Best not to overwork yourself!” Lyrica gave Mokou a sly wink, before flying off, back to her own stand, where she seemed to be looking at some sort of book.

Mystia just tilted her head in her own confusion, before getting a few tables out herself. They were actually made so that she could do it by herself, but it was a lot slower than Mokou, who could get double out. Still, if she didn’t have to pull out the innocent eyes, then that made her life easier. Eventually, it was done, a cheerful yell took her off-guard. “Hey, Misty! What’s going on!”

“K-Kyouko?” Mystia leapt up in shock, suddenly blushing. She very quickly tried to regain her dignity. “I-I thought you were at training, what changed?” It didn’t work.

“Oh, I read the paper, so Lady Byakuren let me go and check it out!” She said, her tail wagging… but Mokou couldn’t help but start giggling, which she smirked at Mokou when Mystia wasn’t looking. “Well, I suppose your shock must be pretty funny, but I’m sorry for not letting you know!”

“It-It’s fine.” Mystia said, instead just getting out some paper. “Do you want me to take your order?” She seemed eager to please, as Kyouko just smiled, though not as innocent as usual.

“Yep, I’ll take my usual. And for Mokou, give her a 15 and a half.” Mystia proudly nodded, heading into the diner, as Kyouko placed some money on the table right away, as she transformed back into Mamizou. “Heh, for someone that enjoys tricking others, she sure does have a pretty open weakness. Sit, we’ll have to go through other deals, so you’re with me.” Cirno began to giggle over the fact that Mystia was so easily tricked, she’d never be tricked by that! “Hey, Cirno! Wanna play?”

“Aunn?” Cirno turned in shock, but then pouted at the fact it was only Mamizou, but she couldn’t help herself giggling anyway. Mamizou had quickly switched back to her normal self, only winking at the ice fairy to keep it a secret.

Mokou took her up on that offer, though she sighed in annoyance. At least she had a good view of the stage and the preparations that were going on with it. “Great, while I could be doing something productive, instead I’m just sitting here reading all these.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll be doing most of the reading for you.” Mamizou chuckled, but also had some tanuki transform into a chain and ball. “Besides that, you need rest. You would likely give out if you tried to lift anything too heavy, let them do it.” Mokou wriggled the foot the tanuki was on, and quickly realised it wasn’t tough but didn’t have the heart to disappoint.

“Oh please, is that all you losers can do?” Tenshi meanwhile, was pridefully moving it all without a hassle, but the issue was the fact that it clearly did not make sense to the eye. “Hey, I just moved that one!” She said to a poor kappa in a machine, knocking the mech down!

A tap on the table caught Mokou’s attention, as a pair of rabbits were… more so eying each other up, rather than the duo of old folks. “So, what are you doing here?” The one currently munching on some sweets it seemed like spoke up first, with the slightest toxin of anger in her tone. Not enough to make her voice sound angry, but more than enough to convey the emotion.

Her partner slammed her hammer in frustration, causing the table to shake from the shock, as she was more visually annoyed. “Oh, come on! I had this planned out from the start and you overheard me! Do I look like I need any more competition.”

“Trust me, I don’t either. Unlike you though, I don’t have a mafia pal that I can use to run the town like the slums back at the capital.” She stuck a pin from the dango, slamming it into the wood, while only staring at the blue rabbit.

That rabbit looked rather hurt by that, before slamming her hammer down again! “Oh, yeah. Because I’ve at least tried to go out on my own adventure so we could have a home where people don’t look at us like we’re freaks. So what if the person nice to me was a mafia boss, you think I want to rely on that. Plus, it’s always with the slums and the rundown areas with you. You hate the moon, so why bother celebrating it!”

Mokou sighed, looking at Mamizou, who nodded. “Slam that hammer down and I’m sending both of you home.” To prove her point, Mokou fired an effortless spire of flame above her hand. It was both entracing and terrifying to the rabbits, who timidly nodded.

“Alright, now that you’re listening. Serian, Ringo?” Both of them turned, looking at Mamizou with some interest. “I’m not going to go around saying I know what your experience with the moon is, or why you left. What I am going to say is, you’re both valid for wanting to do advertising here, and who knows. Maybe there’s a part of you that misses your old home. Let this be a night where you can celebrate any good there, or to let out your frustrations at always pounding dango. Even if you’re competing, you’d surely get more rewards down here than you would up there.”

“Are you sure it wouldn’t be wasted space?” Ringo munched, looking somewhat calmer now. “Sorry for yelling at you, Serian, just was worried that I wouldn’t get a chance to… you know.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Seiran sighed, Mamizou and Mokou both surprised at how quickly they were making up. “Ever since I told you what happened, you’ve always looked worried about your store. Trust me, as tempting as it is to sic the wolves on you sometimes, we’re still partners you know. Even if that’s just because they forced us to be.”

“If you did sic those wolves on her, we’d protect her and the village.” Mamizou chuckled, winking confidently, causing Ringo to look a bit more smug and Seiran to just worriedly bow at the pair. “Anyway, no need to worry about space. Trust me, Mokou found a bigger field than any of us could have expected. But I would advise if you’re going with food to also have a slight niche, there’s a lot of competition for food this year. Who knows, with first hand experience, you may be able to come up with things nobody else could!”

Both of them looked at each other, and grinned. “Alright, here’s the deal, Ringo, we’ll work together. Just this once.”

“The person with the better ideas gets to have their name come first.” Both of them nodded, and now began working on signing the paperwork and working out the deals. Well, that and Ringo was trying to hide her dango away from a drooling Cirno.

As that was going on, Mokou leaned over and looked back at the stage crew. It wasn’t exactly a pretty sight, Tenshi still bossing everyone else about. “This ground won’t work for that pillar! Seriously, do you all just fly ever-so-slightly above it and never touch it or the grass?”

“That’s why these are support pillars!” Now Nitori was barking back, and she felt the ground and got out a sheet of paper. “Yeah, this ground ain’t what I wanted either, but I’ve done the calculations and doing it like this will give the same structural integrity as the one where those money stealing idiots ransacked the Prismrivers.”

A loud, fearsome stomp made an earthquake all over the area, Marisa and Futo scrambling to make sure it all wasn’t tumbling down. “Witch, we need to-”

“Yeah, I know Futo! Just make sure your side doesn’t fall!” Futo was grabbing the left side pillars, and Marisa had gotten the right, with Lyrica sighing and using spirits to make sure that the rest of the stage wasn’t falling down.

“Oh, look at that.” Tenshi smirked, folding her arms confidently. “An unlucky earthquake just hit the scene and your stage can barely handle it. If I stepped any stronger, this whole place would go under.”

Mokou was about to hop over and help, but Mamizou tugged on her before she did, realising they had another client. “Damn. No offence, but…”

The red-haired gatekeeper looked sympathetic, nodding. “It’s fine, if you need to, I can wa-ack!” She was poked in the head by a lance from a floating doll, rubbing her head in pain. “Hey, come on, this is a pretty serious situation-” Another jab caused the gatekeeper to cover her face so it wouldn’t get stabbed.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll be fine.” Mamizou winked, then turned to see that Marisa and Futo had managed to get it under some control. “Once we’re done with people wanting stores, we’ll head out for the day and just come back with more reinforcements.”

“Fine, fine. So, what do you need, Gatekeeper?” Mokou asked, crossing her arms and trying not to look too upset at her.

“My name’s Hong Meiling but-” Another stab from the doll, and now she was rubbing the area in pain. “At least let us have a conversation! Okay, so Ms. Patchouli, Ms. Alice and Ms. Marisa all wanted to set up a store, but plans changed when Marisa decided to invite another friend so now they had to get someone else to do it… I was the only option apparently.” The gatekeeper seemed a bit saddened near the end, being saddled with a job she had no pleasure or idea how to do effectively.

Mamizou, on her part, seemed rather willing to use that with a sly grin. “Well, I can make this quick for you, just sign this and you’ll get a fair deal.” Mokou was going to say something, but Mamizou put her hand over Mokou’s mouth, looking overly confident.

“Oh, okay.” Meiling said, before pausing and looking at the doll. “Yeah, you’re right, I should read this before agreeing to anything.” Mamizou rolled her eyes at that, but the gatekeeper didn’t notice. “So it seems we get 50%, I mean, that’s not bad-” The doll pointed at some more details, which caused Meiling to look closer. “Oh. Oh, I see. That’s a pretty steep cost, you know.” Meiling said, as Mokou simply looked confused, so the gatekeeper continued. “Well, what this contract says is that everyone who made the products here will have to pay a tax as well as the 50% that goes to the event.” The doll nodded, as Mokou turned to Mamizou, looking confused.

“Shame that the doll seems to know what it’s doing. Okay, fine then. Since there’s four of you at the store, you can have 60% and no taxes. Split it up between yourselves, but in turn I want at least one of you to host a magic show.” The doll nodded proudly, as Mamizou sighed. “Great, can’t believe I’m talking to a doll about this.”

“Ow!” The doll decided to poke Meiling again, as she just got on with the signing. “Why is your master so much nicer than you…” The gatekeeper put her hand over her head to prevent the stab, which didn’t come. She was surprised at that, so turned to see it and was promptly stabbed in the cheek instead!

“Sheesh, that girl is more resistant to stabs than an immortal.” Mokou said, crossing her arms and feeling sympathetic towards the girl. Mamizou just chuckled, but decided to just let the Gatekeeper get stabbed a bit more, with a smug grin on her face.

“Okay, okay, I’ll take you home!” Meiling replied, as she quickly ran off with her side of the completed paperwork.

“Bye Miss. Gatekeeper!” Cirno waved, as Meiling waved back while running, before the fairy ran to get some more food from the kitchen.

“I forgot to tell her where her land is… ah well.” Mamizou looked rather cheerful at that, Mokou just turned to the stage once more, trying to see if they were any more successful.

Nitori yelling so loudly, even Mamizou reacted was not a great sign. “Finally, this ground was STABLE until you came along. Muddy and annoying to work with, yeah, but Kappas can make anything wet work for them!”

“You want me to whip you up in a tsunami? I can do that for ya, you know.” Tenshi just looked confident, before flicking the kappa on the nose. “Besides, if anything wet wants to work with you, the only way you’d get employees would be by drowning them.”

“Oh my, did we come at a bad time?” Mokou turned, looking annoyed, until she saw two people not sitting at the table. It was that monk girl, purple and yellow hair? Along with her blue haired friend with a cloud assistant.

“Actually, even better than expected. I know the stage seems like a more pressing matter, but a lot of the shops kind of got rumbled thanks to a recent Earthquake. Mind making sure they’re fine?”

“Got it!” A more upbeat tone came from the blue haired girl, who was most well known for being friends with Unzan. Mokou gave a smile to Unzan, who despite his shy nature, seemed to appreciate it. “Alright, Unzan. Let’s make sure that all these plots of land are safe!” As such, the trio went off to sort those out.

“How did you get those guys to come?”

“I asked and told them that Miko and Futo were also taking part. That got them both excited, they both already have stalls planned, we worked out the details last night.” Mokou nodded at Mamizou’s explanation, as she then suddenly jumped back in surprise.

“Hmm, I suppose you remember that dream, tanuki? I can’t get to someone who doesn’t dream that well, but you on the other hand…” A girl wearing a bit of a fluffy hat suddenly appeared, as Mamizou sighed and gave her a contract of her own. “Yep, this all checks out, hopefully you’ll both have good dreams, I like eating them~” The blue haired baku then just disappeared! Mokou noticed that Cirno just looked like she’d seen a ghost, dropping some food. Five second rule was still in play though, so she quickly gobbled it up.

“What was that about?” Mokou asked, but Mamizou just yawned, which gave her all the answers she needed. After that pair of distractions, Mokou finally was able to look back for just a bit longer. Marisa and Futo looked rather exhausted from all of it, but Ichirin’s arrival made it so the Taoist was not wanting to give up.

“Futo, just sit down for two minutes. It’s not like we can get anything done.” Nitori said, folding her arms with her mech, and tapping her foot impatiently. She didn’t look at the girl as she said this, her focus entirely on Tenshi.

“Nay, you think I will be sitting peacefully when I could be training!” Her confident tone was directly contrasted by Marisa, who let herself plop on the ground. The girl was only human after all, she needed to make sure she didn’t push herself.

“Exactly, why not let her, and me, have some fun? You make the Earth and its movements seem boring, nerd. All these plans and stuff, why not just throw things at the wall, always works for me!”

“That may be how it works in your fancy little heaven, but I don’t believe in that. The only way up in the world is by cold hard cash- I mean hard work.” Nitori said, now Marisa was side-eying her. The kappa was not one for subtlety.

Tenshi, for her part, just stretched. “Yeah, well “hard work” makes everyone’s life a pain. If you just let hard work become easier, then everyone wins. You’re not grouchy, they’re not shambling corpses and you’ll get more of the green stuff.” Tenshi made a mock money pose, but it looked like it came from someone who had never seen money before… so it looked more like she was sprinkling salt upside down than anything else.

“Whatever, Marisa, Futo? Can you two get the next piece of wood over here, my mech has been working over time to keep that pile all stable.” Futo looked like she was about to just start crying right there and then, while Marisa just sighed out her woes.

“No need, they just so happened to be here.” A pianist came along, and offered Marisa and Futo some food, and didn’t even complain when Tenshi pocketed some, as she ate some kind of hot dog.

“Just give me some sounds you can only hear in heaven.” Lyrica said, and Tenshi nodded. Nitori just seemed dumbfounded at it all, before getting some work done on the building with her mech, eating some food of her own.

“Oh, it seems like we’ve got a feast going on.” Mokou turned to see a more worried Mamizou, and a short sheep looking eagerly at the pair, holding a giant (compared to her, but even in general most sporks aren’t that comically oversized) spork. “Sheesh, Mami. I invite you to my gang, and you won’t even bother to invite me to your events? Almost seems as if you want me gone or something?”

Mamizou, for her part, seemed to regain her confidence rather quickly, pulling up her glasses with one finger. Mokou had sworn she saw someone do that in one of Sumireko’s weird shows. Or maybe Sumireko herself did it? “Well, let’s assume that I did let you in on this. How do you think that would go for my reputation, up here we can’t just let loose and take over whatever we don’t like.”

“Nah, you’ve got to outsmart the competition, sneak into their ranks and take power slowly from the inside, right? See, that’s why I like you and why I’m willing to put up with that attitude of yours. It’s smart, someone that smart would be a great asset, better than the failure of the dragon or the meathead of the pegasus.” She leaned back, as Mokou just tilted her head in confusion, to which the sheep noticed. “Oh, you must be the real ringleader here, or maybe just a hired bodyguard? Either way, Yuuma Toutetsu, leader of the Gouyoku Alliance.” She held out a handshake, with a sharp grin. Mokou, though, just shook back.

“I suppose that’s why you still keep that chupacabra around, despite the fact that she’s clearly stabbed you in the back for that Nippaku?” Mamizou sipped some tea. “Because if so, then clearly you don’t have great taste in allies, at least compared to me. If you want to keep it that way, I’d advise you to steer clear from trouble.”

“Eh, knives in the back are hardly an inconvenience to me. Keep friends close, but enemies closer, right?” Mokou could feel the grip of Yuuma getting tighter with every word, but still didn’t seem to mind. “Besides, why do you think I’ve called my gang an “Alliance.” We all have our own goals at the end of the day, everyone’s out for themselves. If I were to say, make this into a kingdom forcefully, I’d get a lot of hate. Nobody could beat me, especially since I’ve got plenty of alliances myself, but there’s more to life than just raw power.”

“So that’s your plan? Get an ear out everywhere for a big attack, or so you could plant eagle spirits wherever you desire? Or maybe just make enough friends so then you can one day suggest that we tip the scales of your war into your favour?”

“Perhaps. Though I can respect saying out of people’s way when they don’t really need me. That said, Tanuki in particular are pretty… inconvenient.” Yuuma said, then pointing at Mamizou. Thankfully for Mokou, she couldn’t feel the handshake anymore.

Mokou turned to Mamizou at that point, who looked rather shocked, her eyes darting to where Mokou’s arm should be. Cirno had a panicked ‘Eep!’ sound as she realised what had just happened, while Mokou casually looked at it, and found there wasn’t one there anymore. “Huh, you really enjoyed that handshake.”

“So, now do we understand Takuni? Let’s keep being friends, otherwise what happens to that girl’s hand will happen to your heart.” Yuuma said proudly, taking a bite of Mokou's now lost arm. Mokou, as she looked at it, couldn't help but wonder what she'd taste like. Guess one of the perks of being immortal is that you can find that answer without it being very bad for you. Evidently, Cirno was just a bit curious, as she looked at the arm… to which Yuuma threw her a finger. Mokou didn’t object to this

“Why specifically the heart?” Mamizou said, since she assumed that Yuuma could just eat every part of her, to which the sheep looked rather… distant. Not even the sound of Cirno coughing up the finger in disgust seemed to help her snap out of it.

“I know what you’re about, you just steal the hearts of the village, right?” Yuuma said, in her more downtrot voice, there was a smile there, but it was wide and unnerving.

This allowed Mamizou to regain the advantage really quick, even if she didn’t have all the answers. “Oh, stealing the hearts of the village? No, that would make me a thief, a kind old lady wouldn’t take from the powerless. Someone big and strong though, I’d take their heart and show it to the village to keep them safe~”

Yuuma paused, she knew that Mamizou knew that she knew that Mamziou didn’t know what exactly she was upset about. Maybe she still had a chance to bounce back! She took a big bite out of Mokou’s arm, gulping. “Hmm, it tastes like chicken. Just like the chicken I’m sure you are when a threat comes you can’t handle. Honestly though, I don’t know who can handle me, the brat, maybe. If you wanted, I could drink up some oil, and come crash your place for a while.”

“Maybe, but drinking your woes away, isn’t that kind of something you do when you’re trying to get over a bad breakup?” Yuuma flinched at that, with Mamizou picking up on it perfectly. “Listen, I could go around asking anyone who seems like they’d know who that mysterious lover is, then spread it all across the demon realm, animal realm, heck I could even make the rumour interstellar if I wanted to!”

Yuuma angrily gritted her teeth, but seemed to relent. “Fine, let’s just get this over with…” She said, her anger quickly fading away back to a more calm and professional look. Well, professional as she could muster anyway.

Mokou also looked rather distant as Yuuma was once before, as after the break, Tenshi was right back to being a menace! “You can’t just put that piece of slab there, it won’t work! It’d cause the stage to be all tilted, which would be dangerous to the performers!”

“It’s better than being stuck in mud!” Tenshi countered Nitori’s point, but considering how Futo had been sitting in it and didn’t seem to be messed up, outside of some grass, it didn’t seem to be that muddy.

“Why are you so obsessed with the idea that this place is muddy? It’s not like we plan to have this stage up forever, you know! This is just for a few weeks then we take it down! Plus, that ice fairy could just be a support with her freezing if we had no other choice!” Cirno perked up at hearing her own name, ignoring the chaos up to this point.

“Forgive me, but since when have you cared about the safety of others, isn’t this world just a game to you? At least, that’s what I’ve heard from some others who've interacted with you.” Nitori tried to counter in vain, but Ichirin came in and made Tenshi pause. This allowed Ichirin to get closer, trying to gauge the situation. “If you want a decent battlefield, a stage isn’t the best bet, people could get hurt. Granted, that did happen when the Yorigami sisters tried to scam everyone, but that’s why this event will be safeguarded so no incidents can happen! So if you’re worried about people being safe, they’ll be fi-” Ichirin tried to keep talking, but she suddenly found herself at a loss for words as an attack from Tenshi took her breath away and it was only thanks to Unzan that she wasn’t chopped liver!

Mokou then looked at her arm, and sighed. “Well, if I’m gonna need to regrow this arm, I might as well go out with a bang.” She quickly leapt off the table, and used some fire to boost her flying to even faster speeds before grabbing Tenshi and launching to the sky, much to Tenshi’s screams… and then blew herself up as well, causing a huge explosion that thankfully didn’t hurt anyone (apart from Tenshi.) and soon reformed herself, dropping gracefully back to the ground. Tenshi proceeded to faceplant right next to her, as Mokou stood on the tired Tenshi with an annoyed look on her face. “Okay, I’m the ringleader around here, not the kappa, not the tanuki, and especially not you. So either explain why you’re here, or I’m going to personally see to it that you will not ruin the festival and ban you from it.”

Tenshi looked rather smug, seeming to enjoy the feeling of the explosion, but at the same time she was clearly stressed and tired so decided to quit while she was ahead, letting her arm fall down. “Fine. I wanted to try and make up for misgivings.”

“Misgivings? You haven’t done anything to me, outside of being annoying to my crew.” Mokou said, leaning down and looking at Tenshi more. She wasn’t willing to let her back up, not yet anyway.

“No, not mine. Shion’s.” Mokou paused, trying to remember who Tenshi was talking about, as Tenshi sighed and rolled her eyes. “Shion Yorigami, The Most-Despicable and Disastrous Elder Twin Sister?”

“Aka the ones that cheated us out of that victory during perfect possession.” Mamizou chuckled, as she walked over and winked.

“Right, the sister of Jo’on. Why would you be so worried about her getting in?” Marisa walked on over, looking at the downed girl. A quick glance to a puzzled Lyrica answered that question. “Oh, right.” Marisa had enough tact to not blab.

“Oh, that cons'rt those folk ladies trash'd? You’d think those holdeth a grudge?” Futo, did not. Even through her broken language, everyone could see that. Regardless, Tenshi just nodded.

“Yeah, okay? I just want her to have a nice day, let her listen to music, but she can’t do that if she’s banned instantly from sight!” Tenshi sounded annoyed, not really wanting to explain further.

“So, you wanted to work extra hard so we’d forgive her? Listen, I ain’t the Prismrivers with H, I haven’t banned anyone. Heck, Seija could come for all I care, if she tried something, she’d be an upside down roast but that’s beside the point. As long as nobody tries anything, they’re welcome to come.” Mokou kept her foot down, but Tenshi wasn’t resisting either so it was a moot point.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, but that’s a lamer sales pitch than anything that kappa would give.”

“Hey!” Nitori seemed rather upset at Tenshi’s snarky comment, but nobody else really seemed to be willing to defend the kappa. Even Cirno knew better than that!

Especially so since Tenshi just let herself keep talking, lifting herself slightly off the ground, though Mokou’s foot meant she couldn’t get far. “Listen, I don’t care about my reputation, really. It’s not fun being liked all the time, nobody lets you let loose if you’re liked. But being disliked means you get to do it without caring about others complaining.”

“But you’re worried that you and Shion will be judged and you’ll be unable to enjoy this night?”

“Sheesh, what, do you steal the memories of those you transform into as well?” Tenshi snarked at Mamizou’s point, but didn’t refute it.

Instead, it was Mokou who got the rebuttal. “This is just… confusing to me. Since when have you been worried about people judging you? I’ve heard plenty of stories about you from people, you do what you want, when you want because you’re a bored child.”

“A bored child? Hmph, you wouldn’t understand.” Mokou chose to stay silent about that, being so bored of being insane that you looped around to being sane again wasn’t the stellar counterargument that she needed right now. “I’m doing this for Shion, not myself. Everything in her life is out to get her, hell everytime she goes back to Joon, they both relapse and get worse. I don’t know what those damn buddhists are doing, but it’s not the greatest job.”

A pair of knuckle cracks were heard in the background, as Byakuren’s smile didn’t seem to go away… but Futo waddling closer to Marisa for protection was a good sign that somebody was in danger. “Oh, has she now? Is there anything else you’d like to explain to me about her?”

“Hell if I know. Or is it Makai if I know, with you people? I’ve only heard rumours, and I got those from the human village. So, try asking Kogasa. She may know something.” Byakuren nodded, accepting that fact. Ichirin was trying to keep a confident look, but everyone knew that she was terrified for Jo’on’s sake. Cirno had a very confident look, or was it foolishness? Tenshi just grinned at that, but decided to continue. “Everything in her life is just out to get her and she’ll never be accepted by the common people. I’d say it’s because they hate things that are different from them, they’re afraid of new experiences and just want the same old things. They don’t accept others for who she is, so why should she conform to others?”

Marisa looked rather bored throughout this and sighed. “Just go annoy Iku or something then, isn’t it her job to be annoyed by you?”

Tenshi actually had a good laugh at that, but shook her head. “Nah, I just think she deserves one night of acceptance, one night to be… normal. Without worrying about who she is…” Mokou paused, but Mamizou took Mokou off, and took Tenshi to the side.

“Alright, well, I think I’ve got a plan that can help her there, but we… no, I need a favour.” She said that part out loud, and whispered the rest to her, with Tenshi giving a look.

“Really, you can just make it so that we can have a night out?”

“Yep, and since I have the feeling Mokou will want a fight anyway, I’ll also personally lay out a battle arena. So if you need to punt someone for being rude to your girlfriend, take them there~” Mamizou said as Nitori chuckled at that.

Tenshi grinned, taking a piece of earth and floating above the ground… before saluting off and heading off in a new direction.

Ichirin noticeably walked up to Mamizou, looking concerned. “A fighting arena? Wouldn’t that get in the way of the festival and the people who want to relax?”

“Oh, relax you old hag.” Mamizou chuckled, Ichirin chose to ignore that, if only for Unzan’s sake. “Listen, the leader of this event lives for battles. Real musclehead she is, that’s how we all became friends. So, just let it happen. I’ll make a damn fine arena for people to fight in.”

“I mean, if you want me to make two, that’s fine. But we’ve already been paid to make a fighting arena for this.” Everyone turned in confusion, as Nitori looked very confused at their confusion. “Eh, you didn’t know? Maybe that’s why the person who told me had a non-disclosure clause. Truthfully, I’d love to make you pay for another one, but we just don’t have the time or manpower to make more than one, so I’ll stick with my original contract, thanks.”

Mokou crossed her arms, but also didn’t say anything. She seemed to want to protest that, but at the same time, didn’t want to give away a potential weakness. “Hmm, all this melodrama is tiring me out. Not even any cool sounds to get from it all!” A keyboardist came around and turned to Mokou, giving her a quick wink of understanding. “Listen, this is a one time performance, so I expect some wonderful cheers!” Cirno cheered, but just a bit early! Lyrica gave a light but confused chuckle at that. Seems fairies were just happy all the time. (Merlin would like this one)

Then, she began to play a solo melody. She was normally the one to balance out the mania and the depression. Being the glue that held everything together. This also meant that she happened to be somewhat ignored because she wasn’t exaggerated like that. Just the way she liked it, having a smaller section of loyal fans was much more effective than countless fans she couldn’t be bothered to recognise. That said, those fans had always eagerly waited for a Lyrica Live solo, how could they not? But stringing them along, getting them more and more excited until the big day where it’d be unforgettable? That’d be the performance of a lifetime. So the fact that she was doing this… earlier than planned would have annoyed her.

But despite that, she always had a smile on her face, as earth and wood moved on her command. Phantoms controlled, just like the music she balanced, all dancing and performing on their own. The stage that was only half built now almost looked complete, with Nitori and the kappas screwing it together at record speed to make sure this golden opportunity didn’t fail! Soon, it began to slow, the notes never slipping, but the song was clearly ending, as her keyboard taps grew tired and tireder, as the phantoms slowed… until she took a bow. She then wobbled on over to Mokou, before putting a hand over her eyes and falling into her arms, causing the phoenix to pause and… “Are thou blushing!” Futo said in a shock, Mokou could feel Lyrica slightly snicker at that and Mokou’s extremely shocked sound she made, but Mokou decided to keep that to herself.

“Impressive, one little Poltergeist, able to control so much with a song.” Byakuren said, admiring the work. Ichirin meanwhile… remained silent, completely starstruck. Futo took the most of the situation and tried to tease her, but both Unzan and Byakuren quickly made her reconsider.

Marisa though, rather calmly chuckled. “Well, I know who to contact if I want something done.”

“Wouldn’t advise it, doesn’t seem she’d want to do that again.” Mamizou said, pointing out how she had seemed to faint from all that.

“Can’t even pay those gals for nowt.” Nitori said with an annoyed tone. “You could offer them so much money, but that band is so over confident that they don’t bother! We were lucky to be able to at least get money from making the stage. Whatever, it’s all done now. I’ll get that battle arena drafted up, if we’re lucky, us kappas can get it up before the day.” Nitori said, before using her mech to fly off back to home base.

“I think I should take Ichirin home too. I think she’s had enough for the day.” Byakuren happily chuckled, bridal carrying her to safety from her naughty girlfriend. “I must say though, I am very much looking forward to this. I do hope it all goes well.”

Mystia, who had been quiet for a while, also trotted up. “I guess I should be heading off as well. Don’t want to stay much longer, can’t let that showboat outshine me forever.” She flew off, seemingly in a huff.

“W-Wait, Mystia! We were gonna have a sleepover!” Cirno said… before hugging Mokou, and then chasing after her pouting friend. Lyrica was picked up by a gap, picking her out of Mokou’s hands. Marisa just sighed at that.

“Well, it seems to be just us four now. It’s been a long day, so let’s go relax a bit.”

“I should stay here, I mean I’ve got to plan out for the battle arena, right?” She got three unamused looks. Mamizou was the one to step out in front first.

“No, you’re gonna sleep.” She got out a pocket watch, and began to swing it. “I’m gonna make you do so, easily~”

“What, are you trying to hypnotise me or something dumb like that? You do realise I have to give my consent, right?”

“Oh, sure! But, unfortunately, being knocked out isn’t something you have to give your consent to!”

“Wait, wh-” Before Mokou could respond further, she was whacked in the back of the head by a Mini-Hakkero! She didn’t expect it to come, and truthfully she was so exhausted from everything anyway that the knock on the head seemed to let sleep come quickly.

“I has't best'd the imm'rtal! The bonk is might'r than the flame!” Futo proudly laughed, as Marisa took back her device and rubbed it in a panic. Mamizou, though, lifted the unconscious girl in her arms.

“Sorry about this, Mokou. Hopefully that baku holds up her end of the deal…” She threw a pillow to Marisa, and then Mokou, and the witch blasted off at lighting speed. “So, do you think we’ll see Miko soon?”

“The lady shall beest coming to holp with the colosseum on the morrow.” Futo said pridefully, as Mamizou just stared at her. Mokou had some very weird friends.

Chapter Text

Tired footsteps roamed a forest of bamboo. Anyone who saw the woman would have many questions, how did she get here, why was she in a bamboo forest alone? None of those really mattered to Fujiwara no Mokou. Nothing did, really. Her grudge with Kaguya Houraisan had basically been forgotten. Sure, it was still there, but thousands of years to fester on that, you were bound to push something to the back of your mind.

Despite that, she heard what sounded to be sobbing. Quiet, sure, but the sound of a sobbing child could never be too quiet. Mokou could easily just walk away, let whatever fool who wandered into her path met their end, naturally or by burning. So why was the sobbing getting louder. Oh, wait, that was just her walking towards the sobs. She didn’t know why she was doing this, but she did it anyway.

“S-Stay away!” She peeked over and saw that little girl, curled up into a small ball. She had little horns, green hair and a fluffy tail. So, it was a young youkai. Mokou shrugged, figuring it was just starving since it couldn’t have any food. It was a pity, but that was the life of youkai sometimes. Even so, she didn’t feel entirely right leaving her to her fate. She took another step forward as the girl cried out again. “P-Please! I don’t wanna be a youkai!” Mokou paused at that. That was highly unusual, so this girl was a human?

She sat down, crossing her legs. She wasn’t really sure on how to fix this situation, but she figured she may as well start. “You don’t want to be a youkai?” Mokou almost facepalmed herself hard for that terrible opening line.

“Of course I don’t!” The girl snapped back, turning her head. Her face was very wet from tears, looking exhausted with both bags and red eyes. “All youkai do is hurt people, they eat people who are bad and don’t go to sleep in time and they enjoy the suffering of others!”

Mokou tilted her head. Is that what a youkai was to this girl? Regardless, she just shrugged. “Well, just don’t hurt people then. Then you shouldn’t be a youkai.”

That didn’t seem to be the correct answer, as the girl shook her head, her mouth opening slightly to show that she had small fangs. The look in her eyes showed that the girl was starved… “I want to be a good girl… but my body is begging me to eat people… just leave me alone…” She almost lunged at Mokou, but held herself back.

Mokou sighed. She wasn’t experienced at this, and she knew it. “So, why not just eat meat? Like cows, fish or chickens?” Mokou just used the first three animals she could think of, she didn’t know what they ate at the human village. Never stuck around.

She began to gnaw at her arm restlessly, shaking her head as she did so. “I… stole some fish from the market. I tried eating it and it didn’t work, so I ran away. So you should just go away.” The defeat in her voice was something alright.

“How long has this been going on for?”

“Third month in a row. Only happens on a full moon. The first month, I locked myself in my room, but my mother assumed I was being naughty and grounded me afterwards. Second month, I tried running away, and people couldn’t find me for a whole day. People thought I had been eaten by youkai.” She gave a dry laugh at that. “Third month, there was a market, so I took some fish. It didn’t work, so now, I’m just gonna stay here in this forest. Where nobody will be hurt and nobody can find me.” She turned her back on Mokou, once again.

The immortal wanderer just paused. This was a child who needed help, and she just couldn’t turn them away. She of all people knew how much kindness to children meant, even if those children were monsters. This was a bit more literal than the example she knew of, but she also knew the child wasn’t a monster deep down, so it worked out fine for her. “If some human meat just showed up, or if it was on a corpse. Would you eat it to survive? You didn’t kill it, afterall.”

She perked up and paused. It took a while for a response, but the horned girl sighed. “I think I would. It’s not right but, at least nobody’s hurt, you know…”

“That’s all I needed to hear, I think someone else got lost in the forest and didn’t quite live to tell the tale.” The little girl didn’t respond, just assuming that it was a nice way for her to just be left alone. Still, Mokou bit onto her arm, and using the arm she was biting… she ripped off her other arm! She wanted to let out a cry of pain, but thankfully for her, it was muffled under the arm. She then slid the fresh arm out to the girl. “Eat up, let me know if that satisfies your hunger.”

Sniffing was heard, as she slowly turned and saw the arm… which caused her to gasp. “M-Miss, why would you rip off your own arm!”

“H-Huh, no I-”

“You’re bleeding… heavily and you look like you’re in deep pain…” She said, looking more fearful, but the hunger and free food kept her locked in place. Her morals being the only thing holding her back at this point.

“I… it’s gonna be easier if I just show you. It isn’t gonna be a pretty sight, but I promise you, I’ll be okay. Stand back.” She scuttled back, Mokou just kicking the arm to her. “Wouldn’t want your food to get burnt… but who knows, maybe you want to cook it first?” She said with a smirk, before flying up and letting herself explode! She had been practising fire magic at some point, mostly as an attempt to end her suffering. Never really worked, but it did allow her to come back in a flame of glory. The heat was immense, and soon the big ball of fire disappeared, but in its place Mokou reappeared. At least, that’s how it looked to the girl, and both arms were back as she waved them at the girl. “See, just fine. Eat up, you’re not starving today.”

She looked nervous still, but decided to do so for her and the girl did seem to enjoy her meal. Once it was done, she looked more relaxed. “T-Thank you… I don’t feel as hungry anymore.” She paused before blushing a bit. “Oh, sorry, I never gave my name! That’s impolite of me. Kamishirasawa, Keine. Keine is my given name, and Kamishirasawa is my family name. What’s your name, miss?”

Mokou sat down on the ground, a lot more casually now. “Me, that’s not important. Just someone who lives in the forest.”

“It’s rude not to give out your name!” Keine pouted, as Mokou just laughed.

“Alright, alright. Name’s Fujiwara no Mokou. Listen, do you think you can handle the rest of the next on that arm? Not gonna be a risk for anyone else?” As Mokou asked the question, Keine was still at it, enjoying it like how one would enjoy a steak… without a knife and fork. She didn’t think to pack those.

She did pause in her hunger to feast, thinking for a second, before nodding. “I think so… but what’ll happen next full moon. I’m fine with this being my last meal.” The phoenix paused at that, if this did happen every full moon, then this one time would only delay the inevitable.

She decided to just pick up the girl, and made sure she was able to eat that arm. “Well, guess you’ll just have to come to me every month to get fed.”

“H-Huh? How would I find you! This place is said to be magical and changes its paths every time you come here!” Mokou did know Keine was right about that too…

She thought about it as she carried her. “I’ll set up a stall every full moon. I’m looking up at the sky a lot anyway. I’ll come out, sell most people real food, and you’ll get to eat an arm. Don’t even have to pay me for it!”

“Y-You’d do that for me? Why?” Mokou actually didn’t have an answer prepared for Keine, why did she do all this? It felt nice, of course. But really, there wasn’t much else to it. A small tinge in an endless void of nothingness.

“It’ll give me some… structure in life. It’s hard to even move my body sometimes, so being forced to do something is nice. I mean, it ain’t gonna be easy, but it’ll give me something to do during the endless nothingness.” She turned to peek at a building in the forest… she hadn’t seen that before. “Give me a sec, I want to do something.” Keine nodded, hopping down from the girl. She then fired a blast in the sky, to just stay there for a while. “Alright, I’ll lose this place if I don’t get you out quickly, so hope you don’t mind the quick flight.” Keine didn’t have much time to stop Mokou, as she was flown out of the forest, with them both landing just outside.

“T-Thank you…”

Mokou paused, before nodding. “Don’t mention it. Just, get home quickly, okay.”

“Same to you.” She responded, Mokou’s split second of confusion shocked the girl. “Wait, you don’t have one? What about that house we saw!”

“Don’t know who it could be. Listen, don’t worry about me, I’ll make a house…eventually. I’ll just stay in the food cart I’m gonna make for you.” Keine pouted, bonking her with her own arm.

“Well, when I get big and strong, I’ll make you a house, even if you don’t want me too!” She then paused, realising that she shouldn’t exactly anger the person who’s gonna make life not hell for her. “Umm, well, even if you can’t die, you can get hurt or sick, right? So, I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry about that someday, hopefully I won’t have to though.” She turned to see that the light Mokou had made was getting dimmer. “Well, I’ll be going! Don’t want to interrupt you exploring that house! Thank you so much!” She hugged Mokou’s leg, as Mokou just… petted her awkwardly. How had this girl even become a youkai on nights… even so, she ran off waving, and a big smile.

Mokou didn’t stay too long to wave, as she quickly blasted off to find out what was in said house. The house seemed old, it had to have been here for a thousand years, the architecture reminded her of when she was a kid, classical Japanese buildings. Of course, it could just be nothing, but who would be crazy enough to make their home in a forest where nobody can return. She did lightly chuckle as she knocked on the door though. Who knows, maybe the people here simply didn’t want to be found. As a panicked yelp came from inside the house though, maybe she was more right on the money than she realised.

But, it seemed to not be the case as a tall and dignified white haired woman came out of the house, looking rather stern. “Hello, what brings you here?” She said, rather matter of factly, eying up the girl. Scanning for any threatening things on Mokou’s person.

“Oh, I just saw this house and figured I’d check it out. Been around these woods for a while and I’ve never seen anything like it…” She shrugged, not intimated at all by the woman.

The red and blue wearing nurse simply nodded after a while, and then opened the door wider. “Very well, come on in. You must be thirsty, so let me sit you down.” She didn’t force Mokou to go in, but Mokou went in anyway. Mokou wasn’t thirsty, just curious. Mokou didn’t see the look of disgust that the nurse had on her face. She quickly made her a cup and placed it down, drinking one she had made for herself as well.

“Thanks.” Mokou wasn’t much for conversation, and this nurse wasn’t either. So she drank up and it tasted quite nice… until it didn’t. “W-What did-” She coughed out some blood, struggling to breathe or focus. “YOU CORSARN DAS-” She was being poisoned. Honestly, it was more annoying than anything else.

“Hmph, you were either a lost soul, a fool, or a threat. I’m glad it was the second one, though for your own sake, you’d prefer the first one. We won’t let you make our pure lands a joke.” She looked down on Mokou, as the phoenix tried to throw a fireball, but she was more focused on… dying.

A tired but regal yawn came into the room, as a long black haired girl with a splendid pink dress came into the room. Mokou saw that, and it felt like something was… clicking. Something was rushing back, but what? “Eirin, why are you up so late?”

Eirin took a polite bow to the girl, treating her with the highest respect. “Oh, nothing. Just executing a fool is all. You should go back to bed, Princess.”

“We’re friends, you can call me Kaguya, you know.” Princess… Kaguya. Even in the pain, everything came back to her. That smug attitude, the way she didn’t care for people who were lower than her? That damned hair, and the way she sent her father to his death.

Mokou, in her pain, laughed and coughed blood loudly. Interrupting Eirin and Kaguya’s conversation. “Hahaha… after all these years… a reason to live again…” She then promptly fell out of her chair and died due to the poison. Her eyes were shot with blood, and her face purple…

“Do you… recognise her?” Kaguya asked, pointing to the dead body. She was admittedly a bit freaked out. She hadn’t seen that much death while on Earth, and she hadn’t died much either.

“I do not. I was just planning on taking the trash out now.” Eirin said, approaching the body. She put on some gloves, so as to not get her hands dirty.

The princess paused, looking with a bored expression. “Shame. If you had kept her around a bit longer, she may have been an interesting playmate.”

“Princess, I know you have some sort of connection to humans, but you must understand, I am doing this to protect you.” Eirin said, leaning down, however touching the body burnt her hand pretty badly! “Hmm?” She reacted in shock more so than pain. She’d been through worse. The body was not supposed to heat up like that. Nor was it supposed to explode on the ground. “Princess, get back!”

A fireball floated up, once again regenerating life. A loud booming voice came out, she had no idea how she was able to do this, but Mokou loved it. That princess would get what’s coming to her. “I am Fujiwara no Mokou. Your selfish quests led to my father taking his life, you caused me to be immortal and now you have your lap dog trying to kill an innocent guest. Kaguya Houraisan, I will make you feel the wrath of a thousand suns, your pride and ego will be the fuel to the fire and I’ll make sure you send you to your throne in your own personal afterlife, where you can rule over nothing!”

Eirin was panicking, but Kaguya? She was smiling, excited. “Wow, did you… prepare that speech for me? That’s almost as corny as those hopeless suitors.” She paused, and grinned, after remembering something. “Wow, you’re here after all these years because of your dad? He was a pathetic man, and deserved it. There are so many wonderful humans and you chose to avenge him? Well, I sure hope you’re not as sad.”

“Princess, what are you doing?”

Much to Eirin’s shock, Kaguya was in a fighting pose of her own. “Eirin. Stand back, I’ve been so bored being cooped up all these years. Let me have this. That is a command from your Princess-” She could barely finish that sentence before Mokou tackled her through the hallway! Eirin stood there, sighing. Kaguya had hardly ever given her commands like that…

“Shut up! Or do I have to burn your face off?” She took Kaguya’s face and slammed it against the wall, and dashed even faster! Kaguya reacted with a mixture of screaming and laughing! “You’re not allowed to enjoy my revenge!” Unfortunately, Mokou was a bit too caught up in her own anger and didn’t notice that the princess had stabbed her side with a plant!

“Well then, if I’m not allowed to enjoy your revenge, I’ll enjoy my first of many kills.” She taunted Mokou to come closer, which the girl obliged. The two got into a close ranged brawl. Mokou’s hits were more powerful, using some kind of fiery claw technique! They hurt like hell, and Kaguya knew this, which is why she simply parried them and fought back. Her hits were less powerful, but more precise! “Wow, you’re like a raging bull! Maybe I should get a red robe, would you run right through?” She sounded more curious, was this normal for humans now?

“I’ll run right through you!” That wasn’t the snappiest comeback, but it did mean her attacks were faster and less predictable. Kaguya was still rusty on her hand to hand training, meaning Mokou got more and more hits in, and soon she stabbed Kaguya by punching her fist into her so hard it went through her body and held her close. “Let’s see how becoming a sun feels to you.” Kaguya knew she was in danger now, and tried to push herself out, but knew it was too late as Mokou let herself explode, with Kaguya right in the blast radius…

It was truly a beautiful explosion, a fiery sun with the colours of the rainbow around it, and it was the most powerful explosion Mokou ever did. She came back first, grinning. “Heh, I did it… I did it! I… did it.” Shock, happiness, then… regret. She had accomplished her life’s work, getting revenge. But it felt so anti-climatic. Empty! No, this was supposed to be the day she was living for, the day she had… “DAMN IT! You were just as pathetic as I knew you were… I… I killed… for…” She was barely able to contain herself, tears welling up in her eyes. She was tired, alone and purposeless once again…

“Do you even remember his face?” Mokou’s face turned to one of shock and terror, seeing that princess once again. “Oh, of course I had the Hourai Elixir. It’s why I was banished to Earth in the first place, and the only way someone like you could survive this long. Now that I’ve answered your question, answer mine.”

“Of… of course I do. He was the kindest man, his face stern yet merciful… Someone that had a family, someone that saved me…”

Kaguya paused. That was not the man she was talking about. “You misunderstood my question. Think about the innocent you killed. Do you remember the man who you killed that innocent for?” She floated away, as Mokou paused in horror. She couldn’t. Did she really care about that man? No, she had to, just look deeper, it had to be there, somewhere! “I thought not. I would say you’re better off not remembering, but honestly, this has been the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. So I thank you, Fujiwara no Mokou. But know this, until you have a purpose in life, you’ll never beat me. But please, keep throwing yourself into my loving arms, I’ll be sure to return the favour!” Mokou was too exhausted to dodge the countless orbs and rainbows coming her way, only closing her eyes and bracing for impact…

Kaguya smiled, going over to pick up her prize. “Princess, please, allow me to dispose of the body.” Eirin was behind her, but Kaguya simply shook her head.

“Nope, sorry Eirin. This girl’s given me more fun than I could ever imagine. That pain, the fast movements. That true thrill of a brawl…”

“If you want a brawl, why not fight-”

“Because you and Reisen will hold back. Even if I tell you not to. Fujiwara no Mokou, though? She won’t. Of course, you’re more than willing to train me, but you’re not taking her away from me. Got it?” Eirin paused, but sighed.

“Understood. At least let me take her outside, your clothes have been…”

Kaguya paused and looked at herself, before giggling and handing her off. “Very well, don’t take her from me, alright? She’ll be fine wherever.” Kaguya said, as Eirin smiled and went off.

After a while, she just sat by herself, stroking a small bunny on her lap. “Fujiwara no Mokou… a shame she’s focused so much on her father, she’s much more bearable than him. Still, it’s nice to think that there’s someone like me. So please, come and battle me again soon, Mokou…”

Mokou herself remained in silence, floating in a purple world. As the strange bubble that was transmitting her memories faded, the phoenix just let herself float, spinning endlessly yet never moving. She pondered many things… “Whatever you’re thinking, I can answer it easily~” She… well didn’t jump back, but floated back in shock at the sudden appearance of Doremy Sweet once again, the big red hat wearing dream ruler.

“Y-You again? Why am I here? I need to go back to the festival!”

Dormey didn’t seem to be as worried as Mokou, as she floated upside down and back around like a floating smug cat. “Sorry, I don’t think I can do that, it’d break my contract.” As she said this, she took off her hat to reveal long blue flowing hair, as she pulled it out like one of those weird tricks Sumireko did. Mokou skimmed the contract once more, and as she saw the words, the ruler knew exactly what she was looking at. “‘I, Doremy Sweet, will keep Fujiwara no Mokou trapped within a dream until the day of the festival.’ See, therefore you can’t leave.”

“What? But, ho-” She paused, realising exactly how it happened. “Damnit, Mamizou…”

“She did have good intentions. You’ve been overworking yourself and not dreaming enough. Immortality does not equal infinite stamina, nor infinite strength. It is a fool's errand to think once you’re immortal, you’ll beat any task set out for you. You are here to rest, and it is my job to make sure you do so. But on the bright side, do you want to go visit Sumireko?”

“Sumireko? She’s here? Wait, no, that makes sense. How else would she get to Gensokyo?” The immortal chuckled to herself, but nodded. “Alright, sure. Can’t be any more boring than just floating about here.”

The Dream World ruler smiled, and with a snap of her fingers, Mokou felt herself being launched at high speeds, until she landed at a decently sized room. It was mostly purple and blue, thankfully having lights (although there weren’t any windows to speak off). There were refreshments, a big version of that tablet thing Sumireko had and a big couch. As it turns out, Sumireko was there too, as was Doremy. “Oh, Moko-tan! What brings you here?”

“What brings you here! I thought you were still under exam season!”

“She is! But she also has overworked herself in studying so I’ve also trapped her in the dream world for a bit. Both the area you were in, and this area are safe from any danger, so feel free to relax. I figured I’d give Sumireko her own space, she practically lives in a dream at this point.” Doremy snarked a bit, but Sumireko was more than happy to give Mokou some food!

“Come on, it’s kinda boring to lounge around here, let’s play!” She pushed the unaware Mokou onto the couch, and began to lounge about as she got out a controller.

A controller also appeared in Mokou’s hands, as she started to fumble it within her hands, trying to understand the hyperactive Sumireko’s explanations. It wasn’t easy of course, there were so many things flying about on the screen, but hearing how excited it made her high schooler friend, it made it rather easy for her to smile at it too. Plus, if she was talking so much, it meant that she didn’t have to spoil the surprise!

“So, what have you been busy with? I know Doremy kept me here because I was overworking for exams, but you don’t seem to have those responsibilities.” Sumireko’s question seemed to take Mokou off-guard, as it came in from out of the blue and she had only just begun to understand the game she was playing.

Regardless, she knew she had to think of an answer. “W-Well, I’ve been rather tired out lately, and Mamizou didn’t think I would get enough sleep so she made a deal with Doremy to trap me here.” It was mostly true, just didn’t include the reason, but Sumireko was quick on the uptake.

“Oh, so Kaguya, right?”

“Yeah! That damn princess, ever since I said we needed to take a slight break from fighting, she’s been on me like a vulture. She’s quite the obsessive one.” Mokou said, just waving off the rest of the subject. Mokou heard giggles from both sides, and decided just to focus on the game, if she lost because of that, she’d never hear the end of it.

Eventually though, Mokou just seemed like she was struggling with the game, as Sumireko sighed. “Listen, we can do something else if you’re not having fun.”

“I mean, you’re right I’m not having fun. Is this what you do all the time? It seems like a sad life.”

Sumireko was horrified at Mokou’s response, but made up for it by getting out her gun. “Well, I think it’s sadder that a 1300 year old girl can’t beat a simple high schooler in a one on one fight!”

“Oh, are you finally speaking my language? Can I finally understand what you’re saying under all those weird… slang, as you called it?” Mokou was fired up, flames coming out of her making her hair stand on it’s end like a fox. “Are you getting overconfident, Sumi-ko?”

“Oh, finally using a nickname for me, Moko-tan? I’ll be glad to put you in your place once more, the power of the eternal high-school girl will overcome the patheticness of the eternal loser!” Sumireko made a pose, as she got plenty of cards and chaos out, just the way Mokou liked fighting her.

“Be careful with those taunts. I’m like a bull, if I see red, I’m going for blood.” Mokou let herself get into it, waggling her finger and leaning forward a bit… which would work better if Sumireko wasn’t freakishly tall for a high-school girl. Sure she wasn’t that much taller than her, but she was closer to someone like the Scarlet Devil’s Gatekeeper than, say, herself in height.

“Then I’ll just make you bleed and run yourself ragged trying to chase your own red!” As such, they began to fight! Sumireko was never a fast brawler, preferring to keep others out of her personal space. Which made her the perfect match for Mokou, who was always trying to get into that personal space!

The phoenix had to slash her way through all sorts of signs, slabs of earth and even a panda car? She never really questioned it. Trying to wriggle and make sure she wasn’t overwhelmed was always tough, as it felt like she was in a danmaku battle, only with fewer options of escape. It was hard to squeeze through some of them without any grazes and some of them were just impossible that she had to tank! Sumireko wasn’t letting up either, just firing more and more signs and slabs, from the top and the bottom of her, meaning she was dodging from more angles than she could count!

She decided to use a self-exploding technique, to blast all of the junk away! The entire room heated up, a bright orange light coming from Mokou as the flames just kept expanding and expanding only to fall into the trap of the high schooler as she had snapped her fingers, and sent a flash of white light beaming onto the phoenix, dealing major damage!

But, being an over confident highschooler, she decided to charge on in, wanting to end it with a hip check she learned from Marisa! She leapt forward, only to see that Mokou, while badly injured and panting, was coming in for a aerial axe kick! That was easily enough to catch Sumireko off guard and send her into a meteor smash! Only for Mokou to combo into that Mokou again, and again! She did throw in some bamboo shoots, and soon went for a slamming kick into the ground!

Still, Sumireko had one escape plan! While under Mokou’s foot, she got out her smartphone and tapped a button, causing a whole load of junk to surround her! That was enough to force Mokou off her in an uncomfortable situation. Being combo’d by literal trash never felt great, but Sumireko was also rather exhausted from the multiple kicks, as a whistle came out from there!

“I’m calling a halt to this battle!” Doremy said, before pushing the pair of them into beanie bags, which was very easy to get relaxed into, as she just sighed. “No moving now, until I ring this bell. Just… play on these small consoles. They’re meant to relax you.” She got out two handhelds with more casual puzzle games, Sumireko enjoyed it, and Mokou just let herself listen to music. The pair were too tired to talk, but the company they shared they really enjoyed…

Eventually though, Doremy just smiled and rang a small bell. “Well, for now, Sumireko, you’ve got a test to take, so…” Doremy began to do the most over the top finger snaps, which Sumireko just happily turned to Mokou.

“Well, guess I’ll see you tonight. Don’t have too much fun without me!” She waved happily and soon was snapped away by the baku. The phoenix just waved back. She didn’t say much, mostly listening to Sumireko blather on about her games.

“Why didn’t you ask about her exams?”

“Do you really need me to answer that?” A shake of the head from Doremy, but her still looking rather expectantly at Mokou meant that they both knew the answer, she just wanted Mokou to say it. “She just needed time to focus on what she’s studying for, rather than the studying itself. Can I leave now after learning my lesson?”

Doremy though, chuckled. “Haha, that’s funny, I wasn’t supposed to give you a lesson, but now I actually want to try. Still, do you really think you can do everything yourself?” A pause, but Mokou shook her head. “Good, but why do you overwork yourself to do that then? Nobody else is working nights, so why should you?”

“Because I was the one who started this, therefore it’s my burden to bear.”

“Yes, in some situations, it is your burden to bear. No one can share your true immortality with you, and your own friendships are up to you. But you can share that immortality with Kaguya, and you should lean on your friends to support you. That’s what friends are for, you know. You help them, they help you and you all enjoy each other’s companionship. Not that complex really.” Mokou just rolled her eyes at the cliche message, but Doremy didn’t seem to mind. “Am I not the first person to say that to you? That’s a shame, I should have been the first because I’d get to see the wonder on your face.” Doremy happily chuckled, but then tapped her watch. “Well, anyway, I am technically supposed to keep you here for a little longer, but I also do have to set up my store there, so I’ll let you off easy. Go and have fun.” With a snap of Doremy’s fingers, Mokou found herself back in her bed, dazed and confused, but very well rested. Sure, she still needed a bit of time to actually reset her body back to her peak and some self-cleaning was in order, but once she did all the necessary chores to make herself somewhat presentable for the night, she heard a knock at the door.

“Hey, I’m comin’ in, like it or not!” That was definitely Marisa. Considering that she didn’t break in and just opened the door was considered a mercy. Sure, it wasn’t the kindest opening the door had ever been given, but you had to take blessings whenever and wherever they came from. “Hey, looks like I came at the perfect time, either that or you rushed for little old me~” Marisa chuckled, as Mokou rolled her eyes.

“If you’re considered old, what does that make me, ancient?” Marisa’s smug look instantly made Mokou sigh, but she did relent. “Listen, that’s all that being immortal is you know, just-”

“Growing old and seeing everyone you love die.” Marisa said, putting a finger over Mokou’s mouth. “Yeah, I get it, you’ve told me this a thousand times before, but I ain’t budging. Besides, the type of immortality I want ain’t got anything to do with that, I want an easy way out if I get bored.” She got out her broom, and tapped on it, Mokou just blankly staring, dumbfounded at the suggestion. “Listen, I’ve heard who you’ve got to cook for, you’re cooking for many people and in addition to that, TWO BLACK HOLES. TWO. You need to have as much energy as possible for this, get on the broom.”

Soon, it seems that Mokou relented, just sitting on the side of Marisa’s broom, not really wanting to hold her from behind. Still, it was more comfy than Mokou expected, even if Marisa felt she was sitting on it wrong. Still, Mokou was still somewhat down trotten, as Marisa tilted her head. “Listen, are you still hung up about me trying to be immortal?”

“Of course I am, don’t you see what’s happened to me? I don’t like being personal about my feelings, but you are going to see everyone you love and care about die. It weighs on you.”

“Not as much as me being the ones to put my friends through that pain. I’m lucky, I get that, but sometimes, I wonder if I’m too social y’know? There’s so much I wanna do, so I’ve gotta spend my life making sure I can do it!” Marisa beamed, but Mokou still looked worried.

“You spend your time trying to prove you're better than Reimu, trying to get immortality, and being a social butterfly? Aren’t you exhausted?”

“Nah. Sure, it’s a lot to do, but it gets easier if you split it into three tasks. Beating Reimu is my day job, immortality is my hobby, and I just so happen to have a social life. See, when I put it like that, it sounds way less silly, right?”

“I thought Kirisame’s Magic Shop was your day job?” The phoenix sounded confused, but still did have a retort for the witch, but Marisa laughed it off.

“That’s just combined with my hobby, I do my immortal things at home!” Marisa chuckles, as this didn’t seem to deter Mokou much.

“Even so, you’ll be leaving Reimu. You’ll have to watch her die, or if you become a youkai.” She turned, looking concerned. “Mamizou told me…”

“‘In Gensokyo, a human villager becoming a youkai is the greatest sin there is.’” Marisa said, looking outward, seeming to not change in her facial expression, but her tone showcased that was a lie. “I’ll just have to beat her again. Or maybe just run away, or just don’t become a youkai! There’s plenty of other options, you know! Besides, once I croak, I’m gonna get Eiki to put me right near Reimu, and I’ll be sure to find her once more!”

Mokou smiled, Marisa herself came back very quickly, the optimistic chaos maker she'd considered a friend. “Heh, then when you do finally croak, I’ll be sure to travel the earth to find you, I’ll even bring Mamizou along. I’ve got a few billion years, and there’s more than enough humans, so we’ll meet again. So don’t worry too much about immortality and have fun, you’re too young to worry about that!” She punched Marisa on the shoulder, which caused Mokou and the broom to start going down to the ground at a worryingly fast speed. The witch had barely enough time to save one of them.

“What do you mean Eientei was closed!” Mamizou asked in shock, as it turns out, Marisa wanted to save both anyway. This meant that while her broom and Mokou were both fine, she was now being bridal carried by the phoenix and unconscious at that, (Cirno carrying her broom as the two had run into each other during the trip) much to Mamizou, and now Reimu’s dismay. (She was a red and white shrine maiden, with a big red bow and brown longish hair.)

“I’m honestly more annoyed that she tried to save the immortal girl, rather than anything else. I’ll have a word when they show up.” Mokou raised an eyebrow, but that made Reimu look confused right back. “Isn’t this a moon festival? My gut tells me that they’d want in on something like this.” Mokou could have sworn that she looked shocked for a split second, but just played it off. She had a hard time grasping when people didn’t have the same cards as her sometimes.

Mamizou laughed at this, but that laugh didn’t seem to make Reimu more joyful. She was in her human disguise now, as people from the human village were coming to set up stalls. Sure, there were some kappa and tengu, but they blended in well enough to be fine. “I mean, she’s got a point. No wonder the princess was so upset at you.” Mokou just rolled her eyes, and then looked rather worried. Kaguya hadn’t tried anything yet, and it’s been a week. She didn’t even prank her while she was asleep!

“Relax, that’s why I’ve been hired. I’ll make sure nobody gets hurt or pranked. You go make food, give me some freebies and try not to spread anymore rumours about people. Oh, and by the way, good thinking with the battle stadium. Festivals have a habit of getting a bit of danmaku involved.” The maiden wandered off, as Mamizou just smiled.

“No pranks, huh. That’s boring… but then again, Misty hired me to work so I guess I won’t have time to play…” Cirno said with a slight sadness to her voice, but quickly got happy. “Oh wait, I got free tickets. Yay!”

“Huh, ‘hired’. Guess Yukari’s really into making sure this event goes off without a hitch. Meanwhile I wonder what a fairy could do to help Mystia. Well, do you wanna take a look around, or just head right for your store?” Mamizou asked, as Cirno pouted and Mokou turned and looked at the stage which seemed to look even bigger! Outside of that, there were some stores getting ready, so Mokou decided to take a look around, without saying a word. Mamizou just walked with her, with Cirno just deciding to wander off to Mystia’s joint. (After leaving the broom with Marisa)

Mokou noticed Nitori as well, who was also wearing a disguise, Mamizou stuck her tongue at her, to which she did so back. Considering that the kappa used to be at her hip, and was now near her shoulders, it was a rather impressive feat of size. Her twintails were now in front of her rather than behind, wearing similar overalls to Mokou and a rather snazzy looking scarf, all still in the stereotypical kappa colours of blue and slightly greenish blue. “Also, by the way, Fujiwara.” Nitori called out, looking rather annoyed. “Don’t let Marisa die on me, she still owes me money for that time she took a bunch of my inventory!” She said, but there was a twinge of genuine worry in her voice. Marisa had the habit of making some strange friendships.

After walking into the stalls area though, they were quick to get noticed. “Oh, hey, Miss. Futatsuiwa!” The cheerful voice caught both the attention of Mokou and Mamizou, then turning to the young bookstore keeper.

“Ah, Kosuzu Motoori. How do you do, I assume you’ve got some books you’re selling?” Kosuzu was a small girl, with orange hair and bells, a yellow apron with her own name in a weird language called ‘English’ and a green dress.

“Yeah! Though, I was actually asked to give you a book, Mokou. I was paid for it and everything, so here you go!” She handed the phoenix girl a book called ‘Jelly Filled Donuts and you! How a donut keeps the phoenix away!’ written by ‘The Moon Born.’ Kosuzu looked so happy at Mokou, that even throughout her clear annoyance, Mokou nodded.

“Thanks. I’ll… keep it close.” Mamizou could barely contain her giggles, which Kosuzu looked confused about, but she just smiled.

“You’re welcome! Honestly, I’ve been getting a lot of customers lately so it’s nice to just be alone. That rumour that was spread around town really helped out my sales.” She chuckled, but also let out a sigh of relief, before she remembered something else. “Oh, Sanae and Meiling also recommended me to tell you that a new chapter of ‘The tea drink-’”

“I’ll pick up later thank you!” Mokou said, cutting her off, and while it seemed rude… there was just something so funny about her blush, as Mamizou’s curled smile just creeping up on the girl to find her secret. Yeah, that was worth a laugh. “Anyway, I’ll be gone for now!” She waved, wanting to quickly waddle off before the universe could play a prank on her again.

Sadly for her, she recognised the next voice to come around. “Ah, so this is where you were. I apologise for being a bit late with this month’s issue, we got caught up in a bit of extra practice.” That was the one and only voice of Lunasa Prismriver! She wasn’t too much of a talker on stage, but Mokou had heard her voice from fan meet ups before! She turned around swiftly, seeing the blond Prismriver!

She was wearing an outfit similar to Lyrica, but replaced Lyrica’s red with black and her star with a moon. Maybe to reflect her more dim nature, at least that was a joke within the fandom. Mokou saw that Lunasa was handing off a few piles of books, which she was levitating, with some struggle. Likely some possession shenanigans, but regardless, Mokou instantly got some money out from her pocket, to which Mamizou was surprised at the sudden switch of events. “H-Hey, can I quickly buy one? I know I shouldn’t ask but I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time to get one during the event.”

Lunasa thought about it for a bit, but eventually nodded. “I should not really be doing this, but since you are the host of this event, I can understand your plight. Managing a big concert can be rather challenging work that leaves little time for enjoyment.” She got one off the top and handed it to Mokou, but not before signing it. “Here you go. It is our way of thanking you for letting us partake in this event of yours, a moonlit festival feels rather fitting for an event. Plus, I also consider it a thank you for all the messages you send me about this, it really helps motivate me to work on this. Of course, all fanmail does, it really means something to show I’m making people’s day better. It is rather hard to do that by myself otherwise.” She seemed a little downtrot at that, but Mokou understood, bowing respectfully as she took it.

“O-Of course. Even so, I think your music is wonderful and your work is also lovely to read.” Lunasa grew a small smile at that, she wasn’t much of a smiler, her usual mood made her look sadder than she actually was, but whenever she was smiling you could tell it was genuine. Still, Mokou made sure to pay the duo, as the orange haired girl just took the money and brought a book herself and also got it signed! Was that how book stores worked? She then smiled, turning and giving a little wave. “Well, I’ve got food to prepare, so I won’t take up more of your time. Thank you again!” Lunasa gave a little wave, she quite liked that girl. She could see herself in there, as Kosuzu got back into a conversation with her and Mamizou decided to keep this in mind for future teasing opportunities.

It didn’t take much walking for Mokou to encounter someone else who was interested in seeing her though! “Oh! Miss. Superfan!” Mokou paused and turned to see the universe deciding to pull another prank on her. This was a small little shop held up by a pastel coloured prismriver. Her hair was light blue and she had a floating trumpet nearby. This was the one and only Merlin Prismriver. “Hey, thanks for letting us perform here tonight, we’ll be sure to make the festival as great as possible!” She seemed rather unaware of how Lyrica got her to do it, just purity and innocence in this trumpet.

“Indeed, hearing more of Merlin’s music would be wonderful. Plus, I’ve noticed that some other people also struggle with showing their emotions, so I thought I’d give them new masks to show that off. I think it’ll make them happy, and everyone likes being happy.” The pink haired girl, with a mask of a young woman, a pumpkin dress and a blue chequered top was Hata no Kokoro. Seems the two had kept up their relationship since the cake festival, which Mokou smiled at.

Merlin gave out a little doot at that, and then Mokou saw some mask being played with, as a giggle from a green girl who just appeared! Actually, wait, Mokou recognised her… “You’re… Koishi, right? That girl who just shows, fights and then disappears?” It was weird, she recognised her but it also felt like it was the first time seeing her.

“Oh yeah, you’re the woman that goes ‘BOOM!’. Yeah, I recognise you! You should totally buy a mask, maybe it’d keep your ageing face in check! Aren’t you like, over a thousand or something?” Mamizou broke out into a fit of laughter, as Merlin looked more concerned with trying not to laugh, a mixture of shock and laughter. Kokoro though, just turned to stare at her with a new Hannya mask.

“Koishi, you are only allowed here because I allow you to be here. Do not insult our guests, it’ll hurt their feelings.”

“That was an insult?” Koishi tilted her head, looking like a small confused child. She always gave a bit of a weird vibe like that. “So… what would be a nice way of saying that?” Kokoro just looked at her with a monkey mask, as her arms went and did a mock thinking pose.

“Oh, something like this! ‘Miss. Mokou, I think a mask would help make you look cool! It’d allow you to come out of a fire like a hero coming out of a burning building!’ That’d make Mokou happy for sure!” All of them seemed to agree with that, as Mokou relented and put down some money.

“Alright, give me a mask you think would fit me.” Kokoro instantly got out a fox mask, with Mokou raising an eyebrow, but the other two seeming to agree with it did put Mokou at somewhat of ease. “Heh, okay. I’ll be sure to use this in the future. Thanks.” She smiled, as the three seemed to beam, in their own special way, as Mokou and Mamizou just kept on walking.

The next shop put some worry in Mokou’s mind, as there were all sorts of small objects that looked like they should be bigger. A doll sided table, cup, clothing. The fact it was a doll shop for some silly little plushies wasn’t the issue. “H-Hey, what are you staring at me for? You’re looking at me like I’m a bug to be squashed!” A small little inchling, who tried to act confident by folding her arms, but the sweat and shivering clearly made it out that she was a little more than frightened by the taller woman.

“Hmm, oh, I… wasn’t staring at you. Not exactly. I was just wondering if you being here means that Seija is also gonna show up.”

“Of course she will.” The inchling followed Mokou's words, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mokou must have had a clear face of apprehension, as she quickly followed up. “Listen, I know that we had some fun at the fireworks festival a while ago, but aside from the fact it wasn’t just us two, you’re just letting the Yorigami sisters waltz in here.”

Mokou looked confused, as Mamizou realised what was going on. “So you’re upset we’re giving the Yorigami’s a free pass then?”

“Well, wouldn’t it be possible to ban both the Yorigamis and Seija then? Both of them have proven to be a major problem when it comes to hosting events, and I can’t risk anyone getting hurt.”

“Nobody got hurt last time!”

While the inchling yelled out, Mamizou shook her head in agreement with her. “Shinmyoumaru is right. Outside of that, I’ve already made a rather important deal, and she’s already done what I need her to do, something that only she can do. Well, Reimu could too, but I don’t think she’d care too much.”

“Dang. Right, okay. Well, it’s gonna be the same with those two, but if anyone acts out and risks hurting any humans, I’ll sort them out.”

Shinmyoumaru just nodded in response. “Fine by me. I get that Seija is hated, but honestly, I think the Yorigamis are worse. Sure, she ‘used’ me, but I’m not an idiot. Even if I believed her, it was for a noble goal, at least I thought it was. Those two though, they’d use people as slaves if they could. They’re the type of people I hate, those with overwhelming power that use it to get their way. I heard that they once tried to use Tsukumogami as slaves by buying them out! Tenshi does make Shion better, and the temple does keep Joon in check, but if I had it my way, they’d be gone.”

Mokou and Mamizou just looked at each other, a bit uncomfortable and not really sure what to say. “Well, we’ll keep them in check then, but don’t expect Seija to be let off the hook.”

“Honestly, I think she’d be disappointed if you did.” She giggled, but sighed, sounding so dreamy. “She’s so cool, the way that she tips the tables on everyone despite it all. The fact that she’s able to have real fun and mess with others, including myself. The fact I can insult her all she wants and she likes it… I said once that I don’t believe in my goal to overthrow this society. I think I just said that because I wanna be with her more, but in a way, she and I could make anything into a wonderful anarchy…” She then turned and looked confused, as it seems she was just talking to herself. “Hey! I wasn’t done talking yet! Kaguya wouldn’t ditch me like this.”

After ditching the inchling, the duo were just walking across the streets, tengu and kappa were getting all their things ready. Security, tech, all that stuff. Even on a moonlit night, things wouldn’t be easy for them. Mamizou went to talk about some more rambles with Nitori. While it certainly wasn’t polite for the girl to ignore the duo like that, she felt something that just made her freeze. An aura of pure hatred, glaring right into her very being. She could hear footsteps, nothing else. It was like she had been teleported to a world where only her and this entity existed. “Earthling cursed by Lunarians. Why would you create a festival all about the moon, after they put a curse on you?” A hand was placed on her shoulder, slender and not even holding it tight. Yet, it was enough for Mokou to turn in defence, as if her entire body was trying to get away.

She had long flowing blonde hair, with a red and yellow tabard and a black dress, all outfitted by a chinese crown, full of pure blackness. The seven tails of flame that surrounded her made her look like an animal, yet the way that she carried herself was doll-like. A tiny tilt here, a simple yet joyless smile and eyes that looked lifeless yet burning. Yet, Mokou could also feel them gazing deep into her soul, and it was impossible to say anything other than the absolute truth. “Look. I was just overbooked and it just all boiled over. It was just for my friend, she’s got a curse to do with the moon and I just wanted to let her have a night where she isn’t shunned for who she is!”

The lady looked through Mokou, but soon she began turning around. “I’ll look into this further, but I believe you. Those Lunarians are protective of what they believe is theirs. I believe they’ll attack your event, and I’ll be sure to use that to my advantage. So, best of luck, human.” She then walked off, as it seemed like Mokou was returned to the real world, but the fearful look on Nitori and even Mamizou showed that it wasn’t some kind of horrific vision.

“I-I… you know what, I’m gonna head back to work.” Nitori said, scuttling off back to whatever she was doing, Mamizou decided to not acknowledge it. Someone who could invoke that much fear by just talking to Mokou was someone pushed to the back of her mind.

The two just decided to walk to Mokou’s stand, where she’d be needed for a few hours. Once they got in, Mokou was pretty much glomped on by Futo. “Ah, the maiden of phoenix finally reawakens! Now thou knows how I have been once, and therefore we can become closer friends!” She got herself back up and looked confident, which was a nice breath of fresh air.

“Heh, I suppose it’s a bit like that. Still, what are you doing here, you’re taking a few days off from training for sure.” Mokou seemed confused, as Futo just laughed.

“Oh, did thee’s friend not let herself in? Foolish buddhists and their collaborators!” Mamizou just rolled her eyes at this, Mokou figured she was making things awkward, but considering that Futo and Ichirin were close, maybe their relationship could be slightly improved. “Anyway, mine Divine Prince hath allowed me to seek extra training with you, as I am also the cook of the palace!”

“Wait, you’re the cook? I thought you were doing this for moral support!” Mamizou looked rather concerned, as Futo just remained smug.

“Of course, a master of what we call ‘Arson’ must also know how to not cause them! Besides, making food is a most enjoyable experience, so let us split the task in two!” Futo got her arm out, for Mokou to shake, who just decided to go with it. Yuuma and Yuyuko were a dangerous combo to leave hungry anyway. “Excellent, I sure hope my Italian consumables training will help out with this!”

Mamizou grinned, simply whispering in Mokou’s ear. “Good luck, you’ll need it.” She then slinked off, deciding to leave Mokou with the girl. Futo got to work, and Mokou saw that the recipe book she kept in her little stall was on the table. Guess Futo was reading it while she was gone. Regardless, Mokou got to work.

“Try not to overheat things, okay?” Mokou said, somewhat sternly, as Futo groaned, but seemed to comply. “What, did you only become friends with me because we burn things together?” Mokou and Futo had a good laugh at that, as they prepared some of the ingredients, Mokou doing it.

“Hmm, nah. To tell thee the truth, I was envious of you. Of your immortality. Of course, I, too, have been alive for thousands of years. But your method of it, I craved, never dying even without what keeps me alive.”

“Heh, where’s the honesty coming from? I mean, if we are, I guess I envy you. You can turn it off! I can’t. What would you do if you got bored of living.”

“I’d sleep, like a princess awaiting her prince once more~” She sang, almost in a daydream-like manner, not exactly watching what she was doing, which worried Mokou a bit.

“Who was that prince, Miko or Ichirin?”

“Ichirin is not a prince, why would I wake for her?” It was a little hard to get into that taoist’s head. Soon though, Futo did speak up again. “Warrior of the name Fujiwara.” Mokou turned, she was formal, but this felt a bit too formal. “I know thou are lonely, and I know that at some point I will have to leave you. But know this, so long as my desire for flames exists, I will not leave your side. Of course, I won’t be leaving my Prince’s side or anything, but I had desire to inform thee.”

“Why the sudden seriousness?”

“I know what it is like to lose friends from a long sleep. Of course, I killed many, as did you.” The phoenix’s eyes widened, but Futo just chuckled. “We are not so dissimilar, you and I. You fight as if you are constantly at a battle for your life, yet when you deal the final blow, it is not a trump, just another fact of the matter. Plus, you can detect sneaky movements, can’t you?” Mokou’s eyes widened, as it seemed like Futo was getting something out, quickly she caught her arm. Only for Futo to reveal she was just getting out a talisman. “Hehe, outsmarted, bird of immortality. Anyway, if thee ever feel sad or frightened, know that I will be there to give thee fun arson.”

“... Thanks.” It was clear to both of them that Mokou wasn’t entirely sure on what to say, but she did feel a bit more comfortable.

“Still, my friend. If thou are so worried about being sad, I’ll give you tips to sleep for a while! That way, you can go ahead and make new friends, it’s worked for me!”

Mokou smiled, but simply shook her head, getting more and more work done. Futo was surprisingly keeping up the pace, maybe she was trained. Though, Mokou noticed some non-Japanese skills in there, where and how was she able to learn that? If there was something to remember, it was that Futo was full of surprises. “Well, at least thee has no worries of kishin coming to assassinate you.”

“The first thing Marisa did was try to assassinate me. Does that make Marisa a kishin.” Futo paused in horror, thinking over it. While holding a very hot plate in her hand, she didn’t seem to notice the burns. “T-Twas a joke, Futo!” Mokou quickly stopped the hermit from burning herself, as she placed the plates down. “Don’t you think if Marisa was a type of oni, she’d hang out with Suika and that gang more often?”

“Verily, you make a point of goodness. Even so, she drinks quite a lot for a non-oni. Someone who is searching for immortality shouldn’t drink quite that eagerly.” This gave the pair a nice laugh, as they were just barely able to get the cooking ready and sorted (able to be kept warm thanks to powerful inventions by some kappa and a orb goddess) and they were both rather tired by the end of it.

Mamizou came into the room, and looked rather impressed with all the food storages full. “Wow, seems I came at a good time, or you two both managed to do things perfectly for once. Maybe it’s a mix of both, haha.” Futo and Mokou both rolled their eyes at that, Mamizou taking it in stride. “Anyway you two, come outside with me. You’re gonna take a break before the event. Well, Futo can still train if she wants to, but Mokou, you have to rest a bit more.” Futo was more than willing to take her up on that offer, if only to push Mokou out of the cart they were cooking in.

Regardless, somehow, the sun was beginning to set, and the stalls were beginning to open. “Hmm, seems everyone’s gonna be coming at night. You sure the kids will be okay?” Mokou said, drinking some juice that was handed to her.

“We’ve put tengu wolves around the perimeter of the event, and Momiji is leading them. Trust me, most of them aren’t that impressive, but Momiji can do it fine.” Nitori said with the utmost confidence, as she took some payment from the phoenix.

“Hmm, Momiji, huh. Yeah, she’ll spot anything around, so nobody can get in and out… unless they are teleported out~” Both of them were shocked by Yukari’s appearance, as Mamizou came to see what was going on.

The tanuki snagged herself up a beer with her table, placing down payments herself and began to drink up. “So, you’ve finally shown up again. I didn’t know you were so invested in the event’s safety.”

“Children are the lifeblood of the future, not just the humans, but youkai’s as well. Without young impressionable minds to implant fear into, we’re all gonna disappear… though maybe having one unlucky child running off to show youkai are truly something to be feared would be nice. Then again, I see that your ability to make up falsehoods that spread throughout the village, the legends of the horned-” Mamizou gestured for Yukari to shut up, as she pointed at Mokou.

Mokou shot a rather serious death glare, but the sweat she had on her brow showed that she really couldn’t do anything about the gap youkai’s words. Mamizou though, after trying to stop Yukari from saying something, didn’t seem to care, neither did Nitori, but Mamizou was the one to slice through the tension. “Despite that, you hired Reimu, who’s reputation would be ruined if something went wrong here?”

There was a short silence, as Yukari took a sip of her drink. Of course, she had started it while Mamizou was talking, but Mokou noticed the single eye opening for a split second. Still, she didn’t seem to react that much, before placing down the cup. “Haha, well I don’t think our friend would want to host another wonderful event like this if someone did go missing.” Yukari placed an arm around Mokou, who looked even more uncomfortable now. “There’s still a tiny bit of humanity in you after all~”

Yukari gave a hearty laugh after that, which while Mamizou knew to pick up on, Mokou and Nitori were left staring in a bit of confusion. Ran thankfully came to save the day. “Mistress, do you need me to do anything else?”

“Hmm, was my order of ‘enjoy yourself’ a bit too vague? I’ll take care of Chen, so you can have some fun.” Ran could only raise an eyebrow, as did Mokou. Mamizou though, just looked at Ran, and Ran began to look at Mamizou… it was hard to tell what was in the air, as Mokou and Nitori wisely decided to back away slowly. Once they got out of range, Yukari proudly chuckled. “Oh, messing with Ran is going to be so much fun. It’d be worth having to keep an eye on Chen~” Both of them lept back in shock as Nitori stomped angrily!

“Hey, I don't want to have to use any of the profits I make from this event on therapy, you know! So stop creeping up behind me!” Yukari just looked smug, and handed her a contract, with which Nitori took one look at and scoffed. “No, you can’t use that as an excuse to hire me exclusively. That’d only lead to more of you appearing behind me.”

“I feel like a supporting character at this point.” Mokou snarked, as she just walked away from this as well. Nitori tried to tag along, but Yukari’s hand on her shoulder caused her to freeze. Even if Nitori had the guts to say no right in front of her face, she didn’t have the guts to fight back when she was in direct command!

She thought about what to do, but she was strangely uncomfortable with the idea of going out by herself. Maybe it was because she still felt she had some food to make, or maybe she just didn’t want to be hounded by others she didn’t really know. Whatever it was, she got back to Mystia’s stand and began looking over those recipes and just practised. Cirno was there for moral support mostly, but she was in charge of the desserts! Of course, her practice sessions were usually longer, but even so she had a habit of just completely zoning out until she was called out when in this situation.

“Hey, you finally made it.”

Chapter Text

Thankfully enough, she was eventually called out to, by the duo of Lyrica and Mystia. Both of them looked at each other, trying to gauge each other. It was already night, and that caught the phoenix off-guard. “Hey, just a snack for now, and something cold to drink. I don’t want to fill up too much.” Mystia called over, then turned to Lyrica. “Listen, Keyboardist, you can simply back out of the deal you know. I’m not entirely sure why you’re entering this contest if you’re not in it to win it.”

“If I’m not in it to win it? Did I beat you too many times at Danmaku? When it comes to music, us Prismrivers have always gotta be at the top of our game!” She said with pride, with the night sparrow letting her eyes roll.

“Sure you are, so is that why you haven’t been totally honest as to why you’re really invested in this festival?” The pair of Mokou and Cirno, deciding not to interrupt, both of them unsure what to say about these two small bickering girls. Emphasis on small.

“I mean, I’ve kind of given it away, haven’t I? Plus, free food and a way for one of our biggest fans and regulars to give back, how can we in good faith say no to that!” She smirked, as she got her meal from Mokou at the same time as Mystia did, who dug in like she hadn’t eaten all day.

After swallowing, Mystia continued. “Have you told her the real reason why though, because I have. Sure, I may be sly and a trickster, but at least I’m not insecure about the fact I’m dating the greatest banddate in the world.”

“Insecure?” Lyrica couldn’t help but giggle at that, as she smiled but shook her head. “Also, if I’m not mistaken, you must have done it while in private, right? I’ve not had a single chance to have a private conversation with Mokou.”

“Sure, sure. But meeting with a fan like this privately? That could be some interesting news to pass onto Aya, don’t you think?” Mystia grinned, as Lyrica looked somewhat uncomfortable with that. “Listen, if you want, I’ll cook for a bit so you can pretend I’m not here. Sit with Mokou, and just explain what you’ve wanted to explain. Since I’ll be here too, it’s not like you can say you were meeting up with a new potential banddate~” Mystia hopped over the counter, as Lyrica just looked annoyed. Mokou found herself pushed out, while Cirno got to stay in.

“She talks big, but she’s really annoying when she does so.” Lyrica said, Mystia’s little hum showed how much she cared about that. She instead began to drink herself, sighing but smiling and being pleasantly surprised by the quality of drink from the ice fairy. “You don’t mind if I ramble a bit, right? Feel free to interrupt if you need to, but I’m more used to speaking to a crowd, rather than just one on one, outside of the band and family.” Mokou simply nodded, as Lyrica nodded back, allowing her to keep on talking like she was a radio host. “Great, so first let me apologise again for tricking you. It’s not that I feel shame in letting others do things for me, but I also don’t want to take advantage of our fans like that. There’s a special connection between fans and creators, of any media type really. Of course, it’s not like I don’t want to have fans that are friends, I just don’t want to muddy the waters? Friends should be on equal footing, you know, give and take? It’s why me and my sisters, or my banddate, work so well together. We all can stand on the same ground, same footing! It’s more awkward with fans, because they want to help but at the same time they can feel like they’re obligated to help someone. I feel like I made that mistake with you, I talked with you like how I’d talk with my band and I wonder if I, unintentionally, gave you less of a choice to say no.” She said, she didn’t sound to beat up over this, moreso just stating a matter of fact.

“I mean, I still did it out of my own will and it’s not like it was a serious problem. The event was happening anyway, with or without you. There’s others who could take that blame.” Mokou said, Mystia just gave a little song of pride as she worked. “So really, it wasn’t any extra trouble.”

“That’s not entirely the truth though, isn’t it?” Mokou paused as Lyrica’s accusation. “Sure, there was the chance you were simply too starstruck to answer, but the fact that you were struggling to decide if you wanted to let us have some time at the event shows that it was an inconvenience. While yes, that could just be because feeding 5 more people at least, and one of those being Yuyuko isn’t entirely what anyone would truly want… that’s not the full story. You don’t have to tell me the truth of course, I’d be a hypocrite if I wanted that, just curious is all.”

Mokou just looked at her for a second, before sighing. “Fine, I’ll admit it. It was kind of a problem. I never really wanted to do this event, you know and I didn’t have a stage. Everything just came down on me at once and I just didn’t say no. I mean, I could have, should have in retrospect. Just hard at the moment, sure the fact that the stage was basically made for me helped a lot but I don’t think I earned it.”

“Earn it?” Lyrica said, almost giggling a bit, patting the girl on her back. “Listen, you’ve gotta let others do things for you. Sure, I can cook some food, but Japanese food? I couldn’t cook that to save my life, believe me, I’ve tried. You likely couldn’t play an instrument on short notice, right? I’ve heard you’re immortal but that’s just stretching yourself too thin. Have you ever heard of ‘jack of all trades, master of none’? Sure, the full quote goes ‘but oftentimes better than a master of one’, but being a 5/10 at everything isn’t that great either. Focusing on the things you’re good at and letting your friends do things they’re good at leaves more time for you to be able to do what you want. If you wanna learn new things, then you’ll have more time if you work as a team rather than by yourself.” Lyrica paused as she got some food, Mokou not really saying anything, as Lyrica just sighed. “You’re doing a good thing here, a lot of people are gonna have a really nice night, and everyone is willing to help you.”

“But I’ve barely done anything myself, that’s the problem! I caused this problem and I’ve been bailed out by Mamizou mostly! She’s advertised it, she got people to help and she’s the one who’s made all the deals.” Mokou slumped onto the food stand, which felt weird to be on this side of it for once. “I like having friends but… after being alone for so long…”

“Honestly, I can't relate.” Lyrica’s bluntness caused Mokou to stumble in shock. She was expecting some sympathy there. “I’ve lived with two sisters my whole life who are willing to do anything for me. Really, you’ve been given a free ticket out of the ‘problem city’ and you’re gagging at it. If you’re that desperate to do something though, make the event special, something only Fujiwara no Mokou can do. Don’t give me something like “I’m only good for yakitori” though.” Mokou was taken aback from hearing her voice, as Lyrica chuckled. “Sure, maybe you haven’t said the whole sentence, but a bit of remixing your voice and it’s as good as new. Seriously though, just get on stage and announce it. Be the woman who introduces the band, thank everyone! It’s not much, but if people can see that you care about what they’re doing for you, that’d make them happy. Besides, if nothing else, you can just cook food for everyone that wants it! Have a big happy meal with friends, after all, everyone’s happy when there’s good food to be had in my view. Just do what you feel right, and I’m gonna do what I think feels right.” Lyrica put out a hand, which confused Mokou once more. “Do you wanna be friends? Listen, I don’t wanna feel bad about things and using fans for my own gain, and I don’t want you feeling like you’re being useless. So, I think us being friends is the best thing for both of us. I can help you whenever you require, hopefully not a lot, and you can help me whenever I ask. Plus, we’re on equal levels here. Friends are allowed to refuse other friends after all, no hard feelings on that front.”

Mystia’s long speech finally had an answer, but it was from Mystia instead. “Ooo~ so now instead of wanting to spend time alone with a fan, she wants to befriend that fan to do her bidding instead? Sheesh, if I wasn’t so worried about my competition, I’d be giving this to Aya right now!”

“Put a grenade in it, you third-grade birdbrain.” Mokou and Mystia both paused from the absurd backtalk, as Lyrica shrugged and Cirno laughed just a bit too hard at it. “Anyway, you don’t have to accept being my friend, but as I look at my sisters, they’ve both got things outside of music. Raiko does too, but both of those seem too high of an effort for me, a hobby should chill me out, you know.”

Mokou paused, but eventually gave her hand out. “Alright, and as an extra bonus, I’ll keep it a secret that you didn’t actually faint after doing all that work with the phantoms.” Lyrica chuckled, as she decided to shake Mokou’s hand. “You’re not the best actor out there.”

“I’m good enough for what I have to do. Sometimes that’s all you need.” The poltergeist smirked, before getting up and bowing to Mokou. “Well, thanks for the talk, it helped me get a lot of my chest.”

“Did you ever tell her that the main reason you tricked her was because you wanted to have a date with Raiko?” Mystia called out, as Lyrica looked annoyed.

“You’d know the answer to that if you were listening. But, fine. Yeah, I wanted to do something for my banddate, too, sorry about that.” Mokou just laughed, as Lyrica let herself walk away and Mystia turned whatever tools she could see to fly away herself. Mokou had to make sure she didn’t turn off anything that wasn’t supposed to be turned off, before deciding to enjoy her evening, as it was starting to become night.

As such, Mokou leapt onto the stage, without really caring if people were shocked at her flying or not. “Alright, first of all. Thank you all for coming to this event. I know it’s not a weekend, so it may be hard to really justify bringing kids, but seeing them happy and enjoying themselves really does put a smile on my face. The moon is something we all share, and I think the fact we all share it is important. We should share ourselves with others, to help each other out… or something like that. Just, don’t get lost and don’t exhaust yourself, I can’t save all of you from the bamboo forest and my terrible idea.” Mokou gave a chuckle, putting her hands in her pockets. “Anyway, for our first performance, we’ve got… Tsukumos with C and H!” She looked at the plans that Mamizou had left her, as she called up the four Tsukumogami, though one of them was having a bit of a discussion and the newest member still looked a bit nervous at all this.

“Raiko what are you doing?” Lyrica was tugging at the very much taller girl, almost with a pleading look in her eye, though this was more out of sheer confusion and panic.

“Just spending some time with the gals, you know. I mean, of course Prismrivers With H is my top priority, but Chinaru needs just a bit of extra support, and I think as a fellow newcomer, you’ll need support of your own!” She smiled, floating up with Lyrica still holding on.

“Wait, why am I a newcomer, and why didn’t you let me know!” She landed on stage with Raiko, as Raiko placed the poltergeist in Mokou’s arms. “Umm, hi, Mokou.” Lyrica said, as both her and the phoenix seemed a little awkward for their own reasons.

Raiko smiled, giving Mokou a nod. “Well, I figured since you’ve been bothering Mokou a lot recently, that you’d want to become friends with her. Thanks to a little birdie, it seems you’ve followed up on that. Or were you plotting some other kind of scheme with her?” Lyrica didn’t have time to respond, as Raiko just ruffled her hair. “So, you’re gonna hang out with Mokou and her friends, if only for a little while. It’d be awfully rude to not at least give them a shot, right?” Chinaru looked at them, and smiled happily, the teapot tsukumogami understanding how nervous Lyrica must be feeling, at least she thought she did. It helped calm her nerves just that little bit. “Come on girls, let’s get this revolternary concert underway!” She called over the band she was supporting, as Mokou just decided to carry out a completely shocked Lyrica off-stage. A few cheerful toots from the teapot were more than enough to get the crowd excited for the new band!

“I can’t believe it…” Lyrica said, as she was eventually placed onto the ground. “D-Don’t get the wrong idea…”

“You wanted to have a date with someone and then the date decides you should hang out with others. Honestly, I would be shocked as well. Well, if you’re not in the mood to come along, do you just want me to-”

“No, I’ll go. Sure, I’ll be a complete outcast, but honestly… This is a nice way to get the sounds of a festival, without having to focus on performing. Down in the middle of it, it sounds nice. There’s so little time for artists such as myself to really explore these so it’s a nice change of pace. I’ll let you take the lead though.” Lyrica didn’t really feel like walking, so she hopped on Mokou’s back. She had no idea how to process this, but a laugh from Mamizou quickly got her to reality.

“Honestly, it looks like you’re babysitting a lost child.” That instantly got Lyrica to hop down and walk by herself. “Well, for now, it seems we don’t have much to do. So why don’t we have a merry old time.” She was quickly joined by Marisa and Futo.

“Mine prince has allowth me to explore! Come, let us have merry-ments!” Futo said, keeping things short. The sparkle in her eyes was a clear sign that she was very giddy about this.

“Yeah, let’s keep the movement up! Patche is still with the ‘Scarlet Crew’, Narumi is being lectured by the yama, poor thing, and Alice is fashionably late, so I’ve got some time to spare.”

“Hold on, what about Sumireko?” Mokou quickly interjected, as Marisa just smiled, waving it off.

“Reimu gave me an update. She’s here, just that someone else wanted to see her. Knowing her, she’s gonna make quite the entrance for us.” That was enough to quickly calm down their worries, as the group of five wandered the festival.

There were things you’d expect to see at a big festival, so many things that Mokou was in awe! She hadn’t expected all this to come out of a misunderstanding of all things. First, they all went and tried hooking a duck or few each. Well, they were actually chickens that floated, according to the goddess who was running the stand. Futo was terrible at it, not that she didn’t have skill, it was patience she didn’t have. As soon as one got close, she tried yanking it up, just causing the rest to go everywhere. Mamizou just took it nice and steady, sometimes she won, sometimes she didn’t. She wasn’t trying at all, just looking at the other members of the group. Marisa was heavily invested, almost like the rest of the world was tuned out. It took her a lot of effort to win, but it somehow made each win matter all the more. Especially in comparison to Lyrica who just cheated. Cheated to win one plush prize and then left it at that. To be fair to her, it was a very subtle cheat, only Mokou and Mamizou noticed (Mamizou decided to tip the stall, more as a “if you know, you know” type of deal.) Mokou also didn’t seem that bothered, being a bit too old to understand it all, not winning but not worrying about it either.

This extended to another game, run by a pegasus looking girl, who was stationed right next to the chicken goddess. This one focused on shooting. Marisa got into it very quickly, much to the praise of the pegasus girl, wanting the witch to join her gang (Marisa seemed to be casually waving it off which concerned Mokou more than anything.) Mamizou was a natural, winning with only a tiny bit to adjust. Lyrica, Mokou and Futo were having a tough time about it, the latter two not really grasping why they couldn’t just knock down the pegs with their own firepower, while Lyrica couldn’t use her powers effectively here. Regardless they won some more prizes.

The last game they decided to play was just plain old gambling in Mokou’s eyes. It was a horse race and while there was a little skill involved, it just wasn’t enough for Mokou, who had rage quit very quickly. Lyrica was turning the luck in her favour as it were, and everyone else seemed quite so frustrated, with some apologises from Mamizou about Mokou’s behaviour.

“Hmph, I think these are ripoffs!” Futo yelled out in annoyance, as she ended up being convinced by Mamizou to carry her things… which extended to Lyrica placing them on Futo as well.

Marisa though had to carry her very few prizes in her hands. “Eh, I think they’re rigged as well, but honestly it just makes it better when I wipe the confident look on those cheaters faces!” This was despite the fact that the chicken game was entirely legit, she was too honest to lie about that.

Mamizou, though, looked rather happy about it all. “Oh, I think you’re just upset that you’re not winning that much. I mean, I’m not complaining and I haven’t won that many prizes.”

“Are you saying that because you want to keep good relations with your customers? I mean, I get it but the fact you can’t even be honest with friends is pretty shallow.”

“You aren’t one to talk about being with friends, newbie.” Mamizou snarked back at the newcomer, as Mokou just let them argue. “Besides, I’m just a kindly old woman, have you seen any old folks who would outright say they hate something?”

“Rinnosuke would.” Marisa spoke up casually, and then laughed to herself. She realised nobody else was laughing and sighed. “Sumi-ko would laugh too, you know.”

“Yeah, and you’re the only one who’s even close in age to her.” Which led to a shocked gasp from Mamizou and Lyrica. “ Since when have you both cared about your age?”

“Listen, we’re not blessed like you to be immortal and look so wonderful.” Mamizou said, stroking Mokou’s soft cheek, which freaked her out enough to leap back in shock.

“I thinkth she just has good skin care routine!” Mamizou was now the one to burst out laughing at Futo’s statement, as Futo just tilted her head. “What, the divine prince has an excellent health care routine to keep thy healthy!” Futo spoke back in the argument.

“I mean, sure. But it’s not as great as Byakuren’s magically made body and Miko has had the advantage of having it remade, the power of magic has allowed the Buddhists to win out even being in Makai for thousands of years.” Marisa chuckled back, as Futo turned to give a glare that didn’t really make Marisa worried.

Lyrica looked more concerned at the group, but decided to interject. “Isn’t having the perfect body kind of like… the opposite of what Buddhism is about?”

“Exactly! Therefore, she isth terrible at being a Buddhists!” Futo agreed proudly, as Mamizou just rolled her eyes.

“If that was the case, why haven’t you tried that argument before?”

“Umm, well, it was so perfect that I didn’t think it would be fair.” She said rather confidently.

“Yeah, and it’d stop me from seeing your cute pout.” A voice came in from behind Futo, as the girl suddenly flushed. As it turned out, the Buddhists had arrived, though it seemed Ichirin had chosen to break away from the pack. There was a sea captain who was loving the games, a rat who seemed more interested in trying to get some good deals, a… whatever the rat’s master was, she never bothered to ask, Byakuren Hiriji, a Nue named Nue (that took some getting used to, mostly in that Mokou had to stop herself from insulting Nue five ways to sunday) and the other sister of the Yorigamis, who was looking rather terrified, seems Tenshi’s statement did in fact get Joon back into training.

Still, Ichirin was the main focus here, as Futo seemed rather off balance. “W-What are thou doing here, I be assuming that…”

“What, we wouldn’t be allowed to come or something? Byakuren is strict, but she’s kind. I don’t really want to intrude, so if you just wanna hang out with your friends, I can… umm…” She suddenly got a bit sheepish, as she looked at Lyrica, who tilted her head. “W-Well, I can just grab a-”

“No, no, it will be fine! It’s be fine, right?” Futo said, looking to the rest for confirmation, and everyone pretty much nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be able to actually understand words for a bit.” Mokou snarked, punching her on her shoulder. “Go on and have your rivalry date, don’t hold yourself back because my rival is too much of a wuss to show up.”

“Indeed, maybe Ichirin can actually give you some good lessons in… anything really.” Mamizou also snarked, with Futo simply grumbling. With friends like these, enemies were simply a downgrade.

“Let us be going off to doing stuff then.” Futo said, trying to play it cool despite how everyone had just shamed her, but despite that her quick agreement put Ichirin into a slight bind.

“W-Well, actually, I quickly wanted to grab an autograph on this book about the Prismrivers.” She said, quickly wobbling over to Lyrica! It was impressive at this point that Unzan looked like the less shy one! Supporting his friend as he placed a hand on Ichirin’s shoulder to help her calm down just a bit. She then took a breath, as she handed it over to Lyrica, who let it float by her as she nicked a pen from Mamizou and had it all floating to make her signature and she let the book float back to the girl. “T-Thank you. Not usually this nervous, but the way you can use your abilities, it reminds me of Unzan. It’s nice to have kindred spirits, haha.”

Lyrica thought about it, but chuckled. “Heh, they really are useful, aren’t they? Someone like Unzan would be a great pal for anyone to have, useful and friendly. Shame he’s not much of a singer though, I’d imagine he’d do a great opera voice? What about you, do you have those chops?”

Now both of the duo were a bit timid. “Haha, no. I’m nowhere near good enough, unlike Kyouko. I’m content hearing her sing, and I’ll be sure to visit any shows of yours I can as well.”

Futo meanwhile, decided to have a bit of fun. “Ohoho, seems like the buddhist now has another worldly desire, seems you’re slipping up.”

“Oh please, it’s not like you’re the perfect Taoist either. Aren’t they supposed to have ‘Respect for the world’, or something like that?” She said, as Ichirin and Futo began to walk off. Still, this conversation was a bit too interesting for Mokou to truly pass up.

“What, I doth respect thine world!” Futo sounded extremely defensive over that one.

“You’ve attempted to burn down 6 temples in the last month, and when you got to the Hakurei, you were passed out for three days! EACH TIME!”

“I am just believing that those other religions respect thine world less, therefore I am correcting them.” She said, more confidently like it was the most accurate thing in the world. Mokou couldn’t quite hear what was going on after that, but chuckled to herself, letting her group continue onwards.

They then decided to head towards the most bustling place of the event, the food stalls. There was pretty much everything someone could ask for, and a lot of hard workers too. Marisa quickly spoke up. “Oh, I think my group is here. I’ll catch y’all later.”

“See ya.” Mokou gave a small wave, as she turned to see Marisa flying over to a patchouli coloured librarian and a blonde puppeteer, wearing a blue and white dress. She guessed those were magicians, so no need to worry.

She was more surprised to see Raiko waiting in line for food, as Lyrica called out in a huff. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

“Getting us seats in what could possibly be the biggest collection of couples we’ve ever seen. You just seemed to be having so much fun, you didn’t notice my song was ending? Maybe that’s a sign I’m not really valued in the band.” She joked, much to Lyrica’s annoyance but motioned for her to look around, as did Mokou. She was not kidding, there was that green gatekeeper and a maid (the former eating chinese, the other eating what looked to be steak), the flower master treating a Yamanba and a Yuki-onna well, an ice fairy and a komainu of all things? Wait, Cirno was off work? “Seriously, superfan, you’ve done good work, you and your band.” Mokou turned in confusion back to Raiko, as she chuckled. “I’m not apologising for that. But it wasn’t just you, right? You’re not someone that hides their emotions well, but there’s a lot that went into this, and a lot of people are coming out happy. I think that’s something to be proud of. Anyway, why don’t you grab us some seats, Lyrica. I know what you’ll want to eat.” Lyrica wanted to protest but couldn’t, so she just got seats before they ran out.

“Catch you later, Mokou.” Lyrica said, figuring that Mokou was going to do other things, which she did. Waiting in line, she found those winners of the cake competition (a Rokurokubi and a Karakasa obake! Though they had human disguises to help keep them under wraps.) were hard at work making a lot of things, and with no pranks as well. The wolf tengu was keeping an eye on them and Cirno as well, who Mokou guessed was on a food break. After ordering, she wandered to see the other side, which had a few more couples.

“Oh!” A very loud yell caught everyone off hard, as Mokou turned to see Mystia’s partner waving for her happily. “Hey, Miss. Mokou! Thank you for doing all of this for us! I mean, it wasn’t all for us, but you know it’s a very wonderful night.”

Mokou chuckled, rubbing her head a bit. From what she understood, this was Kyouko Kasodani, a trainee at Myouren Temple and the other half of Choujuu Gigaku. A lot friendlier than Mystia, was always a wonder how these two even got together. It was rather hard to not try to be nice to her. “Well, you know. It’s no big deal really.”

“So you can make us some dinner later?” She said, with brimming enthusiasm, wagging her tail. Hard to say no to this one, as Mamizou just chuckled at Mokou’s new problem.

“As long as it’s not a full moon, I can likely make it work.” She said nodding, before realising what she had gotten herself into. Groaning a bit, but accepting her fate.

“More than okay with me!” She seemed more than happy to accept the offer. “My routine’s a bit strict when I can spoil myself but hopefully I can get something we’re all happy with! Wow, you weren’t kidding Misty, Mokou’s quite a softie, isn’t she?” Mokou’s quick glance to Mystia and the bird’s chirp of fear was enough to confirm Mystia’s guilt.

The human phoenix had a grin, as she placed a hand on Mystia’s shoulder, who could feel it heating up, not enough to hurt her… but to send a message across. “Hey, I don’t need weird rumours going around about me, got it?” Mystia nodded, as Mokou smiled, and gave her a pat on her head. “Great. Well, you are indirectly the cause of this event, so have some fun. Just, enjoy yourself okay, I’d rather not break my back only for you two to break up because of it.” Kyouko laughed at that, which got Mystia to lighten up a bit as well, as Mokou left to get her own table.

Mamizou at this point took a quick seat down, mostly looking for someone, as the two waited for their food. Mamizou was busy, and Mokou was unsure of what to say, so she just said “Thanks.” Mamizou simply smiled. She then saw the other disaster goddess come into the area, along with Tenshi and that hermit, and she smiled.

“I’m gonna mess with Ibaraki. Don’t worry, I’ve pulled a few strings. See ya.” Before Mokou could get any more out of Mamizou, she transformed herself and snuck away… sounds about right. She strangely didn’t go to the hermit though, who had gotten herself dressed up in a lovely dress, but rather Ran Yakumo… as were Yuuma, a tube fox and even a werewolf and mermaid combo (though they were also there for their friend). Ran looked like she was very embarrassed, which felt rare for the Kistune. So, she just sat there, watched as a girl had her arms ripped off by her white haired girlfriend, the blonde didn’t seem too worried about herself but more so worried about her date, who was horribly drunk and with nobody to control her. Well, almost nobody, but she wasn’t harming anyone yet so Mokou just thought it would be funny to watch the girl struggle. Not because it was mean but because the blonde (somehow not bleeding) girl seemed to be taking it all in stride.

Still, she found herself approached by Kasen and Tenshi. Kasen nugged Tenshi’s arm, as the celestial sighed. “Right, yeah, fine. This just means you get to owe me another one.” Kasen gave a look that told Tenshi she should just keep talking. “W-Well, anyway. Thanks. For letting Shion come, it took a lot of work and convincing, but now we’ve done our end of the deal.” Tenshi’s rather dismissive thanks was given as a response of Mokou pointing to the Tanuki.

“Your end of the deal? What are you talking about, you were doing something for Mamizou, not me.”

Kasen smiled, shaking her head. “I suppose she wanted to keep it a surprise, but truthfully… helping to spread a rumour wasn’t something entirely fun. But, truthfully, I think I made a new friend recently and I suppose that’s given me more of an appreciation for you, Fujiwara no Mokou. You’re as every bit as wonderful as she said you were. I wish more immortals and hermits were like you. Serious when they need to be, but deep down, someone who helps others rather than being selfish.”

“You’re making it sound like I’m a good person, which I think you’re very mistaken. At least that Shrine Maiden you coddle helps people, I’m just someone who cleans up people’s mistakes.”

Kasen was surprised at this, as Tenshi had already wandered off to go back to Shion. “Seriously… then again, your self-loathing is something that she did warn me about. Mind if I take a quick seat, I won’t be long.” Mokou let her sit down, and she let herself take that seat. “There’s many people who have done much worse things than you ever could, but you don’t see them hating themselves.”

“Youkai have to eat, spell card rules weren’t a thing until recently. Who knows how many people have died to one of those hands for food. Would your eagle hate itself for eating a mouse? Mice are innocent, but also food.”

“Food and luxury are two different things. I’m not saying you’re innocent, but I am saying you’re a better person than most because you’re aware. You have the self-consciousness to reflect on your actions, to worry about things like that. Besides, would a bad person really get so many friends?” Mokou chuckled at Kasen’s question. “I know I’m not really providing any real input, but it is a hermit’s job to help others in my view. To lead and guide them, and in a way, you do that. Sure, it’s only something small, but you’ve saved more than you’ve hurt. Some of us may never get over that hill.” Kasen had a slightly distraught tone to her voice as she said that, something that Mokou picked up on, but Kasen realised quickly that she was slipping up, therefore quickly course corrected. “Even so, you’re quite the fool!” Mokou now had to deal with the complete one 180. “How does an immortal person who’s lived for over one thousand years not know how to say no. You’ve put so much stress on yourself because you’ve ripped out your backbone and used it as a weapon against yourself! That is what’s caused your friends to work themselves as well and instead of thanking them, you mope at how useless you think you are! I’m no judge, but don’t try to take everything on at once, and focus on the upsides rather than self-pity! That’s what you’ve been doing for the past thousands of years!” She said, now getting some looks as it looked like there was a romantic dispute between lovers… which to her credit she swiftly realised, standing up and sighing. “Just don’t make her worry so much, okay? Have a wonderful evening, protector of the bamboo forest.” She then left to queue up for food.

Mokou sighed, unsure of if she could handle another nag, but then she realised who she did this for and sighed again. Even so, on a whim, she decided to see who was next to walk into the area and she almost laughed at the irony. Indeed, even though she wore a butterfly mask over her eyes, her clothing was unrecognisable. While her clothing was normally one of an ordinary teacher that kept an basic shape, this white dress hid nothing of her half-youkai nature. Her horns were standing tall, putting an oni’s to shame, green hair flowing in the very light wind as did her surprisingly bushy tail.

Even when she was dining, she never wore something so… revealing. Of her youkai nature, that is, Keine wouldn’t want to set a bad example for any children who saw her. She sat near Mokou, as the Rokurokubi came and got them both some food, as if she knew she was coming. “Your meal has already been paid for… so please don’t think of this as weird. I’d rather keep my head in the game.” She quickly darted off, as if she was afraid of one of the two. (or maybe both.) They both were given a wonderful looking well done steak and Keine got right to work making it disappear! “Cirno, your break’s over by the way!” She called out, as Cirno pouted, but got back to work, as her friend waved her off.

“Hey, so what’s your name?” Mokou said, figuring that Keine was under some kind of new identity.

The sigh that the teacher gave was telling, as she simply said, “The White Beast.” The two simply stared at each other, as she sighed. “It was Kasen, she told me to do this, I never really planned to come here but it was all just a whirl.” Mokou just chuckled at that, as she let Keine continue. “I had heard about the rumour in the newspaper, but paid it no mind, unfortunately I should have read it closer when it was talking about…” She handed over the newspaper, with one line underlined ‘said to come out on celebrations of the moon.’

“So… you’re just walking about like a regular youkai now? I mean… how are people treating ya?” Keine motioned for Mokou to look around and there were a lot of people looking at Keine in awe. Maybe it was her beauty, or maybe it was because of that rumour Mokou had just learnt about. Either way, it wasn’t a negative awe, but an embarrassing one. “Look at you, the star of prom night.” She reached over and pinched her cheek, giggling like an old mother. “Now, dearie, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“H-Hey! Stoppp!” She yelled out, which Mokou did, as Keine just rubbed her cheek lightly for a short period of time. “Well, you’ve just ruined my plans, so I’m gonna go home!” She pouted, as Mokou looked at her in shock, as Keine chuckled. “Well, you’re never gonna ask your love out on a date, but I sure am!” She flipped up a box, and caught it, with grace. “If they’re letting me cut loose, then I may as well. Show them all why they should fear youkai with my own example!”

“W-What are you gonna do to your ‘date’?” Mokou sounded very concerned, both at the fact that Keine had now almost finished her steak, and her dangerous looking eyes.

“Nothing she won’t be able to handle…” She got back to her calm self once she had finished eating, and smiled warmly. “Thanks for caring too much, but I’m not the most important person in the world to you, you know that right?”

Mokou turned away, but sighed. “Kei- I mean White Beast, we’ve been doing this for over 300 months straight. It’s gonna be hard to break a pattern and what will you do, you need to go somewhere right, I mean-?”

Keine chuckled at her friend’s worry, but she simply placed a finger over her lips. “It’s okay. Really, I’m not a self-loathing child anymore. I’m a self-loathing adult, I can handle myself now.” The joke didn’t seem to work, as Keine chuckled. “Next time you get overbooked, let me know, you can always say no to me.”

“Alright…” Mokou said quietly, but also rather sadly. Keine was a grown woman now, but she also saw the eyes of a child there.

Keine went over and gave her a hug. “There, there. It’s okay, be a big girl for Little Keine, okay?” She was both mocking and comforting her. It was frustrating and comfy. “Anyway, I figured I’d give you a gift as well, so I’ll put it here and I’ll let you be. For one night, I don’t have to… completely hide myself from the village, only mostly hide myself.” She smiled, placing a small bag on the table, and it smelt like Yakitori. Keine looked disappointed when Mokou sniffed and her face lit up. “Seriously? You can’t wait until you get home or until I leave to spoil the surprise?”

“Do you want me to rip off my nose and feed it to you?”

“No!” Keine said in horror to Mokou’s joke. “You keep slipping me fingers without letting me know, you’re not as slick as you think you are!” She bonked Mokou on the head, as Mokou just took the punishment. Maybe she deserved some of it at least, but Mokou wasn’t someone to take such an attack without a tiny bit of payback!

“I like to think that I can at least hide them, it’s the taste that gets you, right?” Keine pouted, but the lack of a no was a clear sign of a yes! “See, that’s the skill of a ‘Yakitori Saleswoman’ and nothing else.” Mokou folded her arms with a confident grin, as she then held up Keine’s bow from her horn! Keine pouted even harder somehow and took the bow back, tying it up just like how it was supposed to be.

“Hmph, maybe I should just let you get back to fighting Kaguya over and over…” Mokou actually didn’t have a comeback for that which caused Keine to look concerned, whatever expression Mokou had on her face implied that it wasn’t exactly a happy topic. “Have you two gotten into a fight? I mean, a falling out?”

Before Mokou could respond, Kaguya’s voice radiated throughout the air, with the princess laugh Mokou knew and dreaded (truly she didn’t look forward to it.) “Fufufu, oh finally, someone noticed! Yes, my dear Mokou has done something terrible to me, so I must do something terrible to her. If you go to the stadium that I so lovingly commissioned myself, I’ll be more than glad to show you!” Mokou and Keine both looked shocked, but Mokou then quickly regained her normal self, just eye rolling.

“Alright, let’s head on over there, she’s likely just playing it up to try and annoy me.” The phoenix flew off, with Keine quickly pulling her back down, pointing to all of the regular humans. “Right, right.” So they walked on over to the new stadium, a rabbit guard saw the pair of them and called out.

“Hey, you two, get into the battlegrounds, the princess asked for you two.”

“Wow, me too?” Keine said, chuckling proudly. “Finally, I can go on with my life long dreams of admitting my crush on her.” Mokou looked rather horrified at that, as Keine refused to go on further, just going into the arena.

When they got there, a few faces could be seen, Reimu and Marisa were there, the Shrine Maiden looking rather relaxed, while Marisa was looking around in confusion. Mamizou was also there, though she had her human disguise up, not wanting her tanukiness to be shown off. As was that haniwa girl and half-phantom, though it was more likely that the haniwa was still trying to chase her very drunk friend and less they were summoned. The last two people Mokou noticed were two blondes, one with flaming tails and the other being… Yukari.

“What, why wasn’t I beth invited to the stage!” Futo’s voice rained out, as she landed in a huff, folding her arms, as even Lyrica seem to walk onto the stage with permission. “All of the other ‘Arson Club’ members are here!” Keine shot Futo a glare for that, who quickly got timid.

“It is rather a strange cast though… those two I get.” Lyrica said, pointing to Reimu and Marisa… “Plus, I’ve got the Princess’ voice saved from a private performance she had us do, so I get why you’re there if the rumours are true. But everyone else confuses me… especially me, can’t I get a few minutes with my banddate?” Lyrica groaned out, barely hiding her intentions anymore, being dragged around…

“Well, at least the six people we invited showed up, but it seems we have some other visitors too?” Kaguya’s voice called out, as she proudly floated high in the air, on another platform designed especially for her! “That’s fine, the new set of ‘Impossible Tasks’ will suit them just fine!”

Mokou just sighed hearing that. “Seriously, Princess? What’s up with you, crashing the event like this? Are you really that obsessed with me that you can’t handle a week of me being busy?” She put her hands in her pockets, acting like she didn’t care… but everyone (maybe apart from Futo and potentially Junko if she cared) knew that it was more than that.

She did her signature ‘hime’ laugh at that! “Oh, obsessed, me? When you’re the one to make an entire event about my previous life? Really, if I was obsessed with hijacking your event about my past life, what would that make you?” Mokou really had no answers, as the crowd had so many ‘Ooo’s coming from them. This was prime gossip material that the tengu were sure to jot down in their newspaper and she couldn’t stop it. “Ohohoho, already she remains silent, unable to answer. That’s a shame, I got her a rather nice gift.” Kaguya snapped her fingers, as then one high school girl, wrapped up in ropes and unconsciously plopped into the Princess’ arms.

“Sumireko!” Marisa called out, quickly getting rather furious and was about to launch herself at top speed to the duo, but Reimu placed a hand on her, shaking her head. This action only served to get Marisa upset. “Oh, don’t you dare do this. What, have you been bribed? Is money more important than a friend’s life to you?”

“Alright, so, let’s say I’ve been bribed. Is it really a good idea to rush the person who’s holding the hostage, who could drop them, or throw them into space or worse?” Reimu said, rather matter of factly, as there was a mix of non-caring, shocked and horrified mummers from the crowd.

“Now that’s the reaction I want to see! Now, what I want to showcase is just how great the moon’s battles are! If you don’t give me that glorious battle, this high-schooler gets it! So, what’ll it be, Mokou!” She said, proudly, but turned to Mokou who was a lot more relaxed than everyone there. “Umm… hello, got a hostage you care about here.”

“Oh, I do care about her, I’m just not convinced she’s a hostage.” Mokou said, putting her arms in her pockets, Keine turned to Mokou in that shocked state, as did quite a few other friends.

“W-What, why not?”

“Unlike me, you love life and living for eternity. The world has many new experiences for someone like you and someone as interesting as Sumireko would be a shame to let go so easily, plus I don’t think you’ve got the heart to kill an innocent.”

“Well, I’ve killed-”

“Me?” Kaguya couldn’t get a sentence in, as Mokou smirked. “Plus, I really don’t think Sumireko is a good actor, third rate honestly.” A slight twitch of annoyance came from the girl, which Mokou noticed and smiled. “But hey, if she wants to stay in the Dream World, where she can get her wounds treated by Doremy like the coward she is, that’s more than fine with me.”

“Hey!” Sumireko got up, without much fuzz… as both her’s and Kaguya’s faces went blank with shock. “Oh… sorry about that.”

“Honestly I’m more disappointed with myself, I’m supposed to be charismatic.” Kaguya responded to the high-schooler. “Listen, can we do the fight anyway, just without the hostage situation, I worked really hard on all this.” She pouted out like a disappointed child.

Mokou got in a fighting stance, grinning proudly. “Heh, you’ve got it, Princess. All this busybody work has made me itching for some real fun.” Marisa, Futo and Lyrica looked rather sad at that, (though Mokou guessed Lyrica was doing it as a joke) “I-I mean outside of you guys. Seriously, guilt tripping feels like your favourite pastime.” Lyrica laughed at that, as Marisa pouted while Futo just looked confused.

“Well, alright! But first… Miss Junko… why haven’t you attacked me yet?” Kaguya said, turning to the blonde in confusion.

“You are simply not my target, Lunarian tainted with the Hourai Elixir. Besides, I know you’re hiding some really fun prey for me.” Junko laughed like a doll, and laughed a bit more. Was it funny, insanity or stress? Either way, it creeped some people out.

“Alright, well… let’s hope things will turn out fine! Let’s show them why the Moon is still great!” Kaguya said, as Sumireko was let free… and many people showed up all at once! A pink, black and blue haired bunny, a one-winged, white-haired goddess, a white haired bows woman, a pink princess shrine maiden and a blonde peach eating princess.

“W-What? You never said you’d be bringing her!” Both the pink haired princess and Reimu said at the same time, Reimu looking concerned and panicked while the princess was blushing!

“Ohoho, did I forget to mention that, Yorihime, sorry about that? But now you’ll get your second dance, while I’ve wanted mine for a while.” The blonde princess replied, with her own hime laugh… before eating more peaches.

Yorihime looked and sounded almost defeated before she set foot on the battle. “Sister, please stop munching on peaches…”

Meanwhile, Kaguya felt a little tug, as Reisen whispered. “C-Can I be excused…”

The Princess turned and looked confused, as Reisen pointed down at the half phantom, and the poor haniwa girl who was still trying to chase her down! “Udoalggggg, I hic missssssss youughhhhhhh Mayuuum is meannnnnnn to meeeeee!” Her speech was horrifically slurred, and enraged sounding!

“You have tried to attack half of the patrons to the host’s restaurant, what else was I supposed to do!”

“Meannineeeeeeeeee, everyone’s gonna be meannn so I’ll be mean back!” She said, slashing at the fighters, as Kaguya quickly nodded her head.

“Yes, you are excused, anyone else needing to go?” Kaguya quickly nodded, as Reisen assisted Mayumi with… Youmu service.

Nobody else was going to respond, as Keine stomped her foot in anger now! “Eirin Yagokoro!” She flew up right in front of the nurse. “I spend all this time trying to prepare a gift for you, and instead you’re here fighting in this pointless brawl?” Her tail was swiping with furious energy.

“Forgive me… White Beast? I am simply doing as my princess wants me to.”

“If your princess is anything like me, she’ll want you to have a good time tonight and I know my friend wants me to have the night of my life!” Keine turned to Mokou, who had a look of pure happiness and joy on her face.

“Woo! That’s my girl, enjoy your night!” Mokou was cheering her on, waving at her, which shocked everyone else at just how happy she was!

“See, she did this all for me. Took time out of her week, ran around and even decided to rely on others for once in her damn life. Now… I think you Lunarians should do something for me, especially since otherwise you’d ruin all of her hard work!”

“My loyalty is to the Princess first and foremost.” Eirin said, with a stoic tone.

Kaguya, though, looked shocked and as if she was piecing everything together. Her face turned into a soft smile in understanding. “You’re free to take her.” Eirin, Toyohime and Yorihime looked shocked at the Princess, as Keine’s mouth turned very much like a hungry wolf’s.

“P-Princess?” Eirin suddenly became worried at all this, but Keine shot a look of thanks at both Kaguya and Mokou, giving them both a thumbs up and a wink… before launching Eirin off at very high speeds.

“Master Eirin!” Both Yorihime and Toyohime said in shock, but Kaguya just chuckled.

“Do you really think that Eirin wouldn’t already be back if she didn’t want this?” Reisen nodded at that, as the Princesses just nodded in acceptance. The smaller blue rabbit just hid behind the group, in a very timid fashion, while the black haired one was already plotting some tricks, clearly.

The winged goddess, though, only said one thing. “This battle will be dangerous.”

“By that, she means it won’t be dangerous at all!” Kaguya said, with a beam of positive energy about her! Sagume just nodded, in confidence.

Both Junko and Yukari scoffed at this. “Hate that I’m agreeing with you on this.” Yukari said, but Junko just let herself float on upwards.

“It won’t be dangerous… but I plan to make you suffer anyway, you vile goddess.” Junko said, eying her up… as a small fairy popped out of her hat.

“Hehe! Do you remember me, you life hater! This time, you’ve got no bodybags to protect you!”

“Clownpiece?” Reimu said in shock, looking very confused, as Junko smiled.

“This’ll be good bonding, won’t it?” Clownpiece happily went ‘Kya ha ha!’ at Junko’s matter of fact statement.

“Lyrica Prismriver, do you mind getting your band together, I think a moment like this could use some fitting music.”

Lyrica, though, only put her hands in her pockets at the Princess’ request. “Heh, I don’t need to ask them to get together for a musical number, especially in a situation like this.” Lyrica said, as the blue haired trumpet, blonde violinist and red drummer all came down, and right on the stage. “Let’s hit it! For the immortal rivalry of the Moon and Earth! I’m calling this piece, ‘Honeymoon from the Stars Eternal!’” Lyrica said, and she even called Mystia and Kyouko’s band down too! “Hey, you two still need to play with us at least once or twice! What better time than a truly amazing battle?”

“Sheesh, you’re trying to sucker up to us, I don’t believe it.” Mystia said, but her excitement was clear as she rushed down to the stage getting in her gear right away. “Anyway, err, Cirno… why don’t you play with us.”

“Huh, but I wanna battle to prove I’m the strongest! Clownpiece is fighting!” Cirno yelled out, looking annoyed. “I can’t be a coward while she’s not fighting!”

“Yes, but the strongest shouldn’t need to fight, right?” Lyrica smugly said, using some phantoms to nudge her to the stage. “Sure, you both can fight, but wouldn’t it be better to show that the strongest can also play music?” Cirno paused at that, as Mystia handed her a pair of bongos!

“Oh, so this is where it went!” Mystia was shocked at Cirno’s statement, as Cirno smiled and hopped onto the stage. “Okay, you see that, ‘Piece, I’m gonna prove I’m better than you!”

“Kya-ha-ha! As soon as I’m done with this, I’m learning the harp to prove you wrong!” Clownpiece yelled back, preparing for her fight!

“Wonderful meals are great, but sometimes you just can’t beat the classics when it comes to dating!” Kyouko said, as Lyrica proudly nodded her head at that.

“Hit it, girls! Let this rare chaotic force turn things up to eleven!” Raiko said, letting herself be the ring leader here! That’s when the Tsukumos and Chinaru also stormed the stage!

“Heh, normally I’d like to beat you guys in a musical contest, but having us showcase how awesome we are in front of everyone is also great!” The koto tsukumogami said, while the Biwa happily hummed to herself, seeming to practise the song, to which Chinaru tooted along to.

“Come, Shrine Maiden Hakurei, I believe we should teach this moonling what it truly means to be a maiden of shrines!” Futo said proudly, as she got into a fighting pose of her own, as that seemed to summon a green haired one as well…

“What.” Yorihime and Reimu both blankly said.

Mamizou gave out a little chuckle, as she stared at the black haired rabbit. “I think I may as well use some of my tricky tools, to at least make sure the battle is fair, have fun, Fujiwara…” She snuck off, in order to catch a bunny like the predator she was.

Yukari, though, grinned. “Ran, don’t bother coming down for this brawl. I’ve got…”

“I hate you.” Kasen said, as she was brought out by Yukari’s gap, and was seemingly enjoying some really nice food by the look on her face. Ran though, was trapped between a tube fox, a werewolf and a sheep. Too much fluff, and unable to speak about her objections. In contrast, Yuyuko was more than fine to keep eating on the sidelines, keeping her side of the story secret from those Lunarians.

Sumireko was just happy to play with the small shy rabbit, as Marisa felt rather… left out. She was technically on Kaguya’s side, so she didn’t want to betray her, so she may as well make the shy one more comfortable. “S-Sorry Marisa, I would have made you fight with Reisen…” Kaguya said rather sympathetically, but unsure of what she could do to make up for it.

“I’ll give you a challenge!” Nitori said, running up with a new invention. “Alright, this is gonna make some sick fireworks, but only someone with amazing firepower could make them good!” She said, egging Marisa on… which worked.

“You’re on, shorty!”

“SHORTY? I’M TALLER THAN YOU!” Nitori yelled out, which while it was true… was only barely true right now. (That was only counting the disguise.)

“Well, it seems everyone else is ready for their battle… What do you say, Mokou? Shall we have another dance, to prove how wonderful this is?” Kaguya decided to ignore Nitori’s anger, but Nitori decided wisely to get out of dodge. Before it turned into a complete battlefield…

“Your wish is my command, Princess.” Mokou said, with a confident smirk on her face, as all the Earthling challengers charged at their Lunarian counterpart with a prideful roar, fireworks blasting and music blasting even more to make it a night to remember for both sides (for better or for worse.)

Chapter Text

Before all the fighting went down, on the day of the festival, the PSI using teenager made a grand entrance. “Power, overflowing, this world has had its rest. Now I, Sumireko Usami, will show the true meaning of power!” A manic laugh came out of the girl, almost falling over thanks to it.

“Yeah, if you’re done acting, get inside. There’s something I need to do before you can go out.” Reimu said, sweeping up some leaves that Sumireko had rudely knocked about.

“H-Huh, but why?” Before she could answer, Reimu had already flown off… leaving her in the care of a small blonde fairy and a green komainu. “Well this sucks… I could just leave, but then Reimers would be really worried… Well, it’s okay. ‘Piece and Auu, you two will stay with me, right?”

Aunn looked very confused at the nickname, but just nodded. “Sure, it’s not like I have much else to do today, I’ll get you tea, Miss. Sumireko!” She hopped inside, while Clownpiece just looked rather bored.

“Fine, fine. Just don’t go into instantly too quickly, I like playing with friends for a little while longer, Kya-ha-ha!” She proudly laughed, also going inside… which meant Sumireko was going inside as well, though with a bit of worry.

It was pretty easy to get cosy under a futon, especially with Aunn getting Sumireko a nice hot drink to relax her. It was always an impressive futon, despite the shrine’s lack of funds. The blanket is just thick enough to keep out the cold, but never enough to overheat someone. Honestly it made getting out of the futon almost painful, she could never be quite sure as to how anyone could leave it as soon as they got in, like a venus fly trap of sorts.

Which was why she was surprised to see Reimu come back, with Kaguya. “Alright, she’s here. Now, for the down payment for part 2.” The shrine maiden taking bribes was something that should be condemned, but at this point it really wouldn’t be the shrine maiden if she didn’t partake in actions such as that so Sumireko just laughed at it.

The eternal sinner of Hourai, for her part, did pay up right away. “Just be careful you’re confident in this deal.” She had a teasing voice for her, but Reimu just looked annoyed.

“Right, right. Well, I’ve gotta check out the festival, so just do whatever you want.” Reimu quickly flew off, as Clownpiece scuttled away for some reason. Sumireko wasn’t sure what that was about, but the fact that Aunn had chosen to snuggle up to her made her forget any worries. It was Aunn!

Kaguya let herself sit down, as she also got comfy in the futon, though she didn’t get an Aunn to rest by her sadly. “So, unless I’ve been scammed by a miko, you must be Sumireko Usami. A pleasure to meet you! I am Kaguya Houraisan, also known as that Kaguya, from ‘The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter’.” She let herself have a nice pose, with her hair flowing confidently as she did so.

Sumireko wasn’t that impressed with the flowing hair, but even she knew about the legend of Kaguya. Truthfully, she got a mixture of Mokou’s point of view, and the point of view told in schools. In a way, that meant she knew more than anyone in the outside world, which was cool! Kaguya was almost like a celebrity! “Well, yeah! I’m not sure if there’s a Japanese student that doesn’t learn about the legend! From movies, to books and everything in between?”

“Legend, huh? That’s one way to get immortality.” Kaguya gave out a ‘hime’ laugh at Sumireko’s statement. But while she had a sleeve to her mouth, her eyes narrowed just a tiny bit. “Though, maybe hanging out in the outside world may have bolstered that legend, just a tiny bit.”

Sumireko’s eyes went as wide as plates, as she then looked away from the princess to make sure she didn’t spell the tea, but this seemed like the more interesting tea. “You have? Since when, there’s been no reports on that and I’m sure someone would had figured it out!”

“You think? I may just blend in honestly, a black haired girl doesn’t sound that unusual. Less unusual than a big yellow bird, or that cheese obsessed inventor and his dog who went to the moon in a home built rocket. I wonder how those two didn’t get caught by the Lunarians.” Kaguya said, wistfully taking out some pictures she had, of herself making friends. It seemed so real, but those two different things were just fiction, right? Then again, maybe Sumireko should keep her expectations in check.

“W-Why tell me this?”

“Simple really. I just want to gain your trust. I don’t know if there’s a reputation of Lunarians in the outside world, but I really do love Earth, despite how far behind some of the technology can be sometimes. Also I just wanted to see you shocked.” Kaguya said, chuckling. If she wanted a shocked Sumireko, well, she got it.

“Well, from what ‘Naes has told me, it’s likely that NASA covered up the fact that Lunarians are on the moon. So most of the outside world doesn’t believe in aliens, or anything interesting really. The lack of imagination or belief will be the end of the world, trust me.” Sumireko said, as Kaguya just smiled at her.

“Well, belief is what makes Gensokyo live, and therefore I thank you for having it. This world would be a lot worse off without it.” But then, Kaguya slid off a newspaper that had Mokou on the cover. “See, my dear rival has decided to make something celebrating the moon, but she didn’t ask me about it. That must be rather cruel, right? She has told you about me?” Kaguya’s eyes began to water, as Sumireko was scanning the newspaper.

“Yes. All the time. She’s obsessed.” Sumireko said, which caused Kaguya to immediately stop her eye watering to pump her fist.

“I knew it! That girl just can’t stop thinking about me! A-Anyway, do you want to help me with a prank? On the day that you get back from your studies, she hosts a festival and doesn’t tell you about it so you can get excited? What kind of friend does that?”

Kaguya’s attempt to regain confidence worked, and Sumireko just looked at the newspaper… “Well, it’s possible that Mokou-tan just forgot, or wanted it to be a surprise…” But then she looked right back up at Kaguya, with a grin. “But a prank, now that sounds fun. Besides, she’s friends with Mami-Mami, she’s used to pranks. So let’s do it!” She happily said, as Kaguya smiled, giving her a hug. Aunn leapt out of the way at the last second from her glomping. “W-Wah?”

Kaguya then used her power of eternity to put herself back in a more presentable position. “T-Thank you. Anyway, come on. Let’s sneak around, and get you ready for your role.” She grinned, as the two walked away, like school girls talking about a crush and ready to enact their plan…

Aunn just looked at them, rather worried. “Maybe I should try to stop her…” But a quick look at the leaves, being even more scattered made her mind up quickly. “I’ll clean these up, then I’ll enjoy myself.” As such, she just let herself sweep and sweep, to make Reimu’s return all the sweeter…