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Winter comes upon Gensokyo. All across the land, humans, youkai, and fairies alike were adjusting to the changes brought by the snow. All except for a certain pair residing in their underground laboratory…
Tokage was awoken by a hustle and bustle outside of her room. The typical activities of her friend Kotonaru, she presumed. She checked her clock. It read 7:38. Reasonable time to get out of bed.
Yawning, Tokage stretched and got out of bed. She quickly changed out of her pajamas and into her typical dress. Exiting her room, she found Kotonaru hard at work on one of her projects. The inventor was singing to herself happily as she worked, but she stopped upon noticing Tokage.
“Good morning,” Tokage said, waving to her friend.
“Sorry,” Kotonaru said softly, squeezing her cords. “I woke you again.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tokage says, smiling. “I was about to get up anyways.”
Kotonaru returned to the machine she was working on. “So what are you doing today, Tokage?” she asked as she got back to work.
Tokage sat down at a nearby table as one of Kotonaru’s robots brought her some tea. She began talking in between sips. “Our food supply is a bit low, so I’m going to go out today and get more food for us. As well, ever since our little excursion on the mountain together, I’ve been getting more and more interested in the surface. I even found out about a place called the ‘Outside World,’ such a flat name for such an interesting place.”
“Oh! You know about the Outside World?” Kotonaru asked excitedly. “I’ve been researching it too in my free time! It’s really neat! Do you know about Kourindou?”
“I was just about to talk about Kourindou!” Tokage said energetically. “I hear the shopkeeper there knows everything there is to know about the Outside World! So I wanna go check it out while I’m out today. I can’t wait to show you all the cool stuff I’ll find! We’ll have so much fun talking about it!”
“Yeah! That’s awesome!” Kotonaru responded.
“I’ll be right back,” Tokage said. “Gotta bundle up for the snow.”
Tokage returned to her room. She grabbed her long winter coat. It was orange and fuzzy, and it went all the way down to her feet. Then she grabbed her green scarf and wrapped it around her neck.
“Alright, Koto. I’m heading out now,” Tokage said as she exited her room.
Kotoaru was singing again.
“Y’know, Koto,” Tokage said. “You’ve been singing like that a lot lately. Did you perhaps pick up music as another one of your side hobbies?”
“Oh, sorry,” Kotonaru said. “It’s an Outside World thing. They call it ‘doujin music.’ My favorites are the instrumental ones, because lyrics distract me while I work.”
“Doe-jean?” Tokage asked. “That’s a new word for me. What is that?”
“Groups that do stuff together,” Kotonaru answered. “They work together to create all sorts of cool stuff, but my favorite ones are the ones that make music!”
“Interesting,” Tokage replied. “I’ll have to ask the shopkeeper about that when I see him.” Then she paused for a second. “Dou-jin?”
“Yes, doujin,” Kotonaru said.
“Alright, cool,” Tokage said, heading for the laboratory’s exit. “Well now I’m heading out for real. See you soon!”
Kotonaru smiled and waved. “Bye Tokage!”
Tokage stepped outside into the cave that led to the surface. A quiet and solitary walk to the mountain outlook. Upon reaching it, she stopped to take in the view. A light gray overcast sky from above, snow falling down to the leafless trees below. The waterfall to the right was frozen, creating unique shapes in the ice that formed it. Tokage rested at the outlook and took in the view, when a snowball hit her from above.
“Ow!” she yelled. “What the--?!”
Tokage looked up, and she saw Cirno and Daiyousei flying above her and holding snowballs. Cirno pointed at Daiyousei and said nothing.
“Hey! No!” Daiyousei said sternly. “That was your snowball!”
“OK, fine!” Cirno retorted. “So what if it was my snowball? If anything it’s her fault for being in the middle of our snowball fight!”
Tokage rubbed her head where the snowball had hit her. “So, it was an accident? We’re all good here?”
“Yeah, sorry!” Daiyousei called out. “Cirno, let’s move somewhere else.”
“No way!” Cirno said. “The best snow is high up on the mountain right here!”
“I’ve got places to be anyways,” Tokage told the fairies. “I’ll be out of your way now.”
She waved to the two fairies and started down the path to the left. Down the path she went, to the gates of the tengu village.
The guard greeted her with a smile. “Hello Tokage! What brings you here today?”
Tokage grinned. “Transportation.”
The guard laughed. “I think I already know who you’re here to see!” He went to open the gate for Tokage.
“Thanks!” she said as she walked into the village.
“No problem!” the guard called after her as he waved.
Tokage made her way through the village, waving to the other tengu as she passed them. It did not take her long to arrive at her destination. She walked up to the door of a certain building and knocked.
The door opened. A certain tengu greeted Tokage with open arms.
“Tokage!” Aya said happily. “What brings you to my residence this fine winter morning?”
“Aya!” Tokage returns her greeting. “Nice to see you outside of business exchanges again!”
The two high-fived.
“So, what brings you here?” Aya asked. “I doubt you’re here to buy a newspaper.”
“Yeah,” Tokage said. “I need a favor from you. I need to get up to the Moriya Shrine to get weekly rations for Koto and I from the Ropeway Market. As well, I want to go to Kourindou to check out some stuff from the outside world. Would you mind flying me over?”
Aya thought for a bit, then made her response. “I can spare a little time for you,” she said, smiling. “And speaking of the Moriya Shrine, Sanae’s back! I was working on my article on it when you knocked.”
“Wait, she’s back?!” Tokage asked, surprised.
“Yup!” Aya said. “She can create miracles, after all.”
“Oh, true,” Tokage said.
“Now, about that flight you asked for,” Aya said, wrapping her arms around Tokage. “Off we go!”
She took off with Tokage tightly in her grip. Seconds later, they landed at the Moriya Ropeway. Tokage took some time to find her footing, and then she was off to the market.
She made her way back to Aya a few minutes later. “OK, I got our stuff. I have coffee and sake, as well as ingredients for the robots to make our meals now.”
Aya nodded. “Kourindou next?”
“Correct,” Tokage assured her.
“Then over we go!” Aya yelled. She then took off with Tokage once again.
They landed right outside of Kourindou. Tokage made sure none of her food was damaged while she regained her senses, and then she went into the store.
“I’ll wait for you!” Aya said as Tokage walked through the door. Tokage gave a thumbs up in response.
She entered the store, and was greeted with…
“Hey, what’s all this green fuzzy stuff lying around?” Tokage asked.
“You mean the garland?” came a voice from the other side of the building.
Tokage jumped in surprise. She faced where the voice came from, and saw a man in a fluffy red and white suit and a hat not too different from Doremy Sweet’s. The shopkeeper.
“Hello,” Tokage said. “You own this place?”
“I sure do!” the shopkeeper said. “Welcome to Kourindou! I hope you like all the Christmas decorations I’ve found!”
“Christmas?” Tokage asked. “This is an Outside World thing too, isn’t it?”
“Indeed it is!” the shopkeeper replied. “The name’s Rinnosuke, by the way.”
Tokage stroked her chin and looked around. She took in all the colorful toys and decorations on the shelves. “What is Christmas?” she asked.
Rinnosuke wasted no time explaining. “Christmas is a lovely time of year for Outside World folk. Every December, they take a day to give each other gifts and presents. They often prepare for this day by decorating their homes with red and green decorations like the ones I have here in Kourindou, the most notable one being the ‘Christmas tree,’ like the one I have right here.” Rinnosuke pointed at the tree in his store.
“Whoa! How cool!” Tokage said. “And does your outfit have something to do with it too?”
“It sure does!” Rinnosuke responded. “The Outside World folk believe in ‘Santa Claus.’ Santa is a mysterious man who leaves presents in the houses of all the good boys and girls every Christmas. I’m dressed as him.”
“Santa, hm?” Tokage said to herself. “He must be a tengu. Nothing else is fast enough to hit every house in a single day.”
“Oh, no,” Rinnosuke said. “According to legend, he has a sleigh pulled by magical flying reindeer.”
“How interesting!” Tokage responded. “My friend and I have been getting curious about Outside World stuff and traditions, so I think I’ll get her a gift.”
“That would be really sweet!” Rinnosuke energetically replied. “Better make it quick though, Christmas is on the twenty-fifth.”
“Wait, what is today?” Tokage asked herself.
“The twenty-fourth,” Rinnosuke answered.
“Christmas is tomorrow?!” Tokage yelled. “Quick! Do you have any toe-jam--”
She slammed her head into the counter, embarrassed. “What did she call those things?”
“I don’t think you’re asking for what you sound like you’re asking for,” Rinnosuke said. “Can you try describing it?”
Tokage picked her head up. “Yeah, like a group of people that make stuff together or something like that.”
“Oh! You mean a doujin!” Rinnosuke said. “What type of doujin would you like to get your friend?”
Tokage went through everything Kotonaru had told her in her head, then she spoke. “Instrumental doujin music.”
“Music, you say?” Rinnosuke asked. “I have a few CDs that meet what you just described.” He pulls out the CDs and places them on the counter. “Will that be all?”
Tokage took some time to look around at all the decorations in the store. She returned a few minutes later. “I’ll buy some decorations too.”
“Alright,” Rinnosuke said. “How much?”
Tokage struggled to answer.
A few minutes later, and the pair had successfully moved Tokage’s purchases to the outside of the store.
“Goodness gracious!” Aya screamed upon seeing the two decently sized boxes. “What all did you buy?!”
Tokage smiled. “I’ll explain later,” she said. “Thanks, Rinnosuke!”
Rinnoskue smiled. “Not a problem! Have a merry Christmas!” He then returned to the inside of the store.
Aya grabbed Tokage by the scarf. “What is all this?! I have to carry it all back now, y’know?!”
“Koto’s always working hard to make things convenient for us,” Tokage explained. “Every new robot, every new gadget, makes something easier. I just wanted to give something back.”
Aya let go of the scarf. “So, what did you get for her?”
“Rinnosuke told me about ‘Christmas,’” Tokage said. “In the Outside World, that’s a day where people give gifts to the people that mean the most to them, and apparently it’s tomorrow, so I got some decorations.”
“Some?” Aya asked.
“OK, a lot,” Tokage corrected herself. “But I can tip you to carry it!”
“Oh! Say no more!” Aya immediately said. “But, where do you get all the money for this stuff?”
“Koto started to sell some of her inventions and we share the profits,” Tokage explained. “You’d be surprised by how much people are willing to pay for her stuff. I’m so glad she finally started opening up to the surface.”
“Interesting,” Aya said, sweating. “Well now I guess I have to get you and your stuff back to my place.”
“You can take more than one trip, y’know?” Tokage suggested.
“True,” Aya said, taking the boxes under her arms. “Well, I’ll be back before you can say Keine’s full name!”
Tokage chuckled as Aya flew the box back to her house. “Keine Kamishirasaw--”
“Told ya!” Aya said, wiping sweat from her face as she landed. “Alright, one more trip. You ready, Tokage?”
“Ready to go!” Tokage responded as Aya held her tight.
Aya and Tokage took flight one last time. Moments later, they landed outside of Aya’s house, the boxes safe and sound right by the door. Aya leaned against the wall, exhausted and panting. Tokage handed Aya her payment.
“So, what’s your plan for all this stuff?” Aya asked in between breaths. “You’re carrying it back to your place, by the way. I’ve done my part.”
Tokage cracked a smile. “I want to give Koto a Christmas surprise, so I’m going to leave the boxes here until tonight when I come back.”
Aya looked confused. “When you come back?”
“Yes,” Tokage assured her. “I want to surprise Koto, so I’ll do all the decorating while she’s sleeping. She’ll wake up tomorrow on the twenty-fifth, and I’ll give her the gift.”
“You want to surprise her?” Aya asked. “You can’t surprise a satori.”
“Oh right, she’d see right through me, I’ve gotten too used to living with her third eye inactive,” Tokage said dejectedly. “But she’s been getting interested in the Outside World too, and this would be a good way to introduce her to Outside World traditions regardless.”
Aya shrugged. “So, are you taking the boxes with you now?”
“Koto and I will get them shortly,” Tokage said.
Aya nodded. “Noted.” Then she yawned. “Ooh, I could use a little nap, and I still have an article to write.”
“Oh! I forgot you were busy!” Tokage said as Aya began to head inside. “Let me get the door for you.”
Tokage ran to the door to open it. Aya walked in sluggishly.
“Goodbye, Tokage,” she said, yawning softly. “I enjoyed our outing.”
“Same,” Tokage responded. “Bye, Aya.”
She closed Aya’s door, and returned home with the food she had bought from earlier.
Tokage’s walk back to the lab was a peaceful and uneventful one. The gatekeeper bot let her into the lab, where Kotonaru was still working and singing to her heart’s content.
“Hi Koto, I’m back!” Tokage announced as she entered.
“Hello Tokage,” Kotonaru said in response. “So, what all did you get?”
“Well,” Tokage started. “I learned about a special day in the Outside World called Christmas. I got a bunch of decorations and I was gonna surprise you, but you see right through that kinda stuff.”
“Well, it’s the thought that counts,” Kotonaru responds. “So, where are the decorations?”
“I left them at Aya’s place, she was my transportation today,” Tokage explained. “Since it’s a short walk, we can go grab them, and I’ll tell you all about Christmas on the way.”
Kotonaru thought to herself for a while. Then she gave her answer. “Sure! I’d love that! The project is at a decent pausing point too, so let’s go!” Then she powered her machinery down and stepped away from her project. “Just give me a second.”
Tokage waited as Kotonaru quickly ran to her room, and returned moments later in a white winter coat and blue scarf of her own.
“You look nice!” Tokage said. “I’ve never seen you in your winter wear before.”
“Yeah,” Kotonaru said as she pulled her scarf. “I’ve never really had a chance to use it. But it feels really comfy.”
“Awesome!” Tokage responds. “Now let’s go grab the boxes.”
The pair of friends set out into the winter wonderland together. As they made their way back to Aya’s house, Tokage explained Christmas to Kotonaru.
“So, you don’t know about Christmas?" she asked.
Kotonaru shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
“Well,” Tokage said, “I’m going to need you to not use your third eye for a little. There’s a lot of surprises!”
Kotonaru thought to herself. “Sure. I won’t use it.”
“OK,” Tokage responded. “So, Christmas is an Outside World holiday that happens every winter, on the 25th of December. On this day, friends and family take it easy and give each other gifts.”
“Is that all?” Kotonaru asked as the pair reached the cave exit.
“Well, I haven’t gotten to the decorations yet,” Tokage said.
Kotonaru made no response. She was too busy looking out upon the winter landscape.
Tokage paused. “Koto?”
“It’s so pretty…” Kotonaru said.
“Oh, the view!” Tokage realized what was holding Kotonaru up. “It’s amazing as always. Every season brings something new! Take your time.”
Tokage walked back to where Kotonaru was standing, and they silently watched the snowflakes fall for a few minutes. “So nice…” Kotonaru broke the silence. “I could stay here for hours…”
“I would too, if I was warm-blooded,” Tokage said.
“Oh, sorry,” Kotonaru quickly said, and began walking again.
“I wasn’t rushing!” Tokage called after her as she started down the path. “I was just saying!”
“It’s fine,” Kotonaru said as Tokage caught back up. “We have places to be anyways.”
They quickly made their way to the tengu village. The guard let them in, and they made their way to Aya’s house, where the boxes still were.
“Koto, these boxes contain the Christmas decorations,” Tokage explained. “I’ll take one, you take the other.”
“Gotcha,” Kotonaru said as she took one of the boxes. Tokage took the other and they began their journey back to the lab.
“So, what are Christmas decorations like?” Kotonaru asked.
“Very green and red,” Tokage answered. “And fuzzy too.”
“Hm…” Kotonaru thought to herself. “It seems like they’re meant to be comforting when you describe them like that.”
“I believe you’re right,” Tokage replied. “I only got a few decorations for us to put up in the lab so it isn’t too much change at once for you. And I also got you a gift, but that’s for later. That’s also specifically why I don’t want you using your third eye.”
“Oh, I see,” Kotonaru said. “Well, thank you Tokage!”
The pair entered the cave. “Not a problem in the slightest,” Tokage said.
They were silent until they arrived back at their laboratory. They set their boxes down and opened them.
“Ooh! Pretty!” Kotonaru said with excitement as she opened her box. As she pulled out the garland, ribbons, and ornaments, Tokage discreetly hid the gift in her room to wrap later.
“You got it all out?” Tokage asked as she returned to the main labspace.
Kotonaru had neatly sorted all of the decorations from the boxes into categories. “I do!” she responded. “They feel really nice.”
“OK Koto,” Tokage said, “we’ll start by putting up the garlands. Rinnosuke, the shopkeeper, directed me to these ones that come with little suction cups, so we can stick them to the wall without having to hang them from anything.”
“Sounds good, Tokage,” Kotonaru replied. Then she ran over to her computer and started typing.
Tokage looked confused. “What are you doing?”
“We’ll need help getting them up, so I’m telling the robots to provide some assistance if we so need it,” Kotonaru replied as she finished up her typing. “Done.”
Tokage picked up one of the garland strands and handed the other end to Kotonaru. “So how exactly will they be helping?”
As if on command, two of the robots grabbed Kotonaru and Tokage and lifted them up closer to the ceiling. “Whoa!” Tokage yelled, surprised.
“There we go,” Kotonaru said. “Now we can reach the top.”
She attached her end of the strand to the wall and Tokage followed suit. The robots then put them down and Tokage grabbed more garland strands. They happily repeated putting the strands up with the assistance of the robots until they had covered the perimeter of the room.
“So, that’s up,” Kotonaru said, inspecting their work. “Now what?”
Tokage wasted no time explaining. “Usually, people in the Outside World have Christmas trees, which are like the garland, but they’re trees. Rinnosuke only had one, and it was too big to get out of the store, so I figured we could put ribbons and ornaments on the garland as if it were a tree.”
“Alright,” Kotonaru said as she grabbed some ribbon. The robots hoisted them up again, and they progressively wrapped the ribbons around the garland in spirals all the way across. They then did the same with the ornaments, progressively moving along the perimeter and hanging them on the garland.
After they finished, they looked around at the top of the wall, admiring their handiwork.
“Looks good, don’t you think?” Tokage asked.
Kotonaru thought to herself. “It does, it feels very comforting.” Then she thought some more. “I feel like something’s missing though.”
Tokage was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Kotonaru ran back over to her computer and input some commands. When she was finished, a subtle red and green glow fell upon the room.
“The lights can change colors?!” Tokage asked, flummoxed.
“Well, they flash red for emergencies,” Kotonaru responded. “I can change them for other reasons too. I just remembered what you said about red and green and all.”
Tokage smiled. “So, I take it you like Christmas?”
Kotonaru smiled. “It’s really nice. I love what they have going in the Outside World. I bet it’s so much prettier there, where people actually know what they’re doing.”
“True,” Tokage said. “But we tried our best, and I think our little Gensokian Christmas turned out absolutely amazing!”
Kotonaru sighed, more than satisfied with Tokage’s efforts to do something special for her. The two friends gave each other a quick hug.
“Should I get your gift now? Or would you rather wait until tomorrow, when Christmas actually is?” Tokage asked.
“I kinda thought this was the gift,” Kotonaru said, gesturing to the decorated lab. “But you did say something about a present, and I’m getting tired of suppressing my third eye, so you can bring it out now.”
“Cool,” Tokage said, rushing to her room. “Give me one second!”
Kotonaru paced around the room as Tokage wrapped her gift in the other room. It wasn’t long before she returned with a small box wrapped in red and green paper.
“Here you go,” Tokage said as she placed it on the table. “Open it!”
Kotonaru carefully removed the paper from the box and opened it, revealing the CDs inside.
She carefully pulled them out and studied them. “What are these?”
“You were talking about those…” Tokage paused as she tried to remember the word. “Those doujin music groups you liked.”
Kotonaru flipped one of the CDs to the back of the case, where she found the tracklist. “Oh! You got me doujin CDs!”
She put the CDs down on the table next to her. She wiped a tear from her eyes. She gave Tokage a big hug and squeezed.
“Thank you, Tokage.”
Tokage accepted Kotonaru’s sudden hug. “Well, you seem to be really passionate in your singing, so I did my best to get you the real thing. I don’t know how they work, I just asked Rinnosuke for doujin music.”
“You did great,” Kotonaru said, sniffling. “I mean, I need something to play them to actually hear them, but I can figure out how to make one myself.” She rested her face on Tokage’s shoulder, careful not to damage her glasses. “It’ll be fun.”
Tokage was at a loss for words. “Well, I guess I should ask again. I assume you like Christmas?”
“I do,” Kotonaru said. “I can’t wait to celebrate it again for years to come. I love the decorations, the presents, the, just, special time with special people.”
“Yeah, it’s nice,” Tokage said. “Would you be open to trying other Outside World traditions when the time comes around for those?”
“That would be very nice,” Kotonaru replied. “And, I can still make a gift for you or something too.”
“You don’t have to worry about it this year,” Tokage said. “This year was about the surprise. The new experience for you.”
Kotonaru sniffled again. “I don’t know what to say! Thank you for doing all this, just for me.”
“It was the least I could do, Koto,” Tokage said, patting her friend on the back. “You work so hard on your projects, I had to give something back.”
Kotonaru lifted her head up. “Well, you really did give something back.” She wiped her eyes. “And I truly love and appreciate all that you’ve done for me, from the bottom of my heart and my third eye.”
“Thank you, Koto,” Tokage said as they came out of their hug. “So, how would you like to continue our Christmas?”
“Well, I was going to get started on figuring out how to make something to play the CDs,” Kotonaru started. “But right now, I just want to sit with you under all the pretty decorations.”
Tokage smiled. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”