Iced Fairy's Random Shorts

[Iced Fairy]

Momiji knew something was amiss as soon as she cleared the rise between her home and the armory where the Black Wolves trained.  Normally Crow tengu flitted around the building looking for a quick training story to put in their papers.  Today however there wasn't a single tengu lurking.  Instead crow familiars fluttered around the grounds like a cartload of bread had spilled.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she entered the door.  Normally the other Black Wolves would be meeting here to get assignments for the day.  Now only Saya, the eldest warrior, was sitting formally at the audience chamber.  She motioned Momiji over, and Momiji swiftly moved to sit before her leader.  She bowed deeply to Saya.  "Are we needed?"

Saya bowed slightly in return.  "Yes.  One of the crow tengu has violated the laws and broken our pact with the human village.  The Great Tengu has decreed the offender will be put to death by beheading."  Momiji froze at the news.  She had heard a man of high status had been killed by a youkai, but she'd never even considered that a tengu could be responsible.  Saya nodded in understanding.  "The arrest was made last night, as soon as the truth was found out.  Given the highly charged political issues, the execution will take place in two days."

The elder tengu's eyes hardened.  "As per ancient tradition, all executions ordered by the Great Tengu are carried out by our unit.  As the newest member, you are the first in line for this duty."  Momiji felt her throat dry.  "Do you have any bond with the Satomidake family that would cause you to break oath?"

Momiji slowly shook her head.  "No.  I have no bond other than to the tengu people and my own family."

Saya nodded.  "Then the day after tomorrow at one hour past noon you shall perform the duty.  You will be given a sword for the task.  Until then you are excused from your other duties to prepare."

"Thank you," Momiji replied with a bow.  She took a moment to make sure her legs were steady before slowly standing.

As she moved to leave Saya raised a hand.  "I suggest you take the hidden tunnels out.  It will make getting back to your house easier."

Momiji grimaced in understanding.  "I will do so then."  She moved to the armory, then shifted a set of armor to the side and headed down the trap door revealed.  Saya would seal the passage behind her.

The tunnels beneath the mountain were shallow, and didn't lead many places.  However they did have a straight route to the woods where Momiji and her fellows practiced their forestry skills.  Momiji trod down the rough dirt tunnel, her shuffling steps the only sign of life.

The trapdoor at the end of the tunnel creaked and groaned as Momiji pushed it through the layer of dirt that had formed above it.  She spent a moment letting her eyes adjust to the light and brushing the fallen dust off her uniform before hopping up and closing the door again.  She spent another moment to tighten her shield's buckles before starting to head home.  While no crow tengu would stake out the barracks directly, her house would be fair game.  And she didn't want reporters yelling questions at her.

As she reached the edge of the hamlet where her house was she realized she was too late.  A whole contingent of reporters was already outside.  Momiji snarled as she saw they'd even staked out the back entrance.

Seeing there was no escape she allowed her anger to show.  The bristling of her ears and tail was dangerously liberating, so she focused on her strides.

When she reached the back of the horde of reporters they instinctively parted, driven away by her killing spirit.  That bought her a precious few steps towards her doorway.  But it wasn't enough.  The pack of reporters quickly recovered and remembered that there was absolutely nothing Momiji could do to them.  Cameras flashed on every side as they started to call out questions.

"Ms Inubashiri, what are your thoughts on the execution?"  "Ms Inubashiri, is this the first time you've been called upon to kill a tengu?"  "Ms Inubashiri, what are your opinions on the spell card system?"  Momiji ground her teeth and desperately tried to push her way through the mob.  "Ms Inubashiri, is it true this will include a sword test?"  "Ms Inubashiri, is it true you were given the position due to your relationship with the wind priestess?"  "Ms Inubashiri, do you believe in the rumors that someone will attempt a jailbreak?"

"Momiji!  We need to talk!"

She looked up to see Hatate hovering over the crowd, furiously flipping her cell phone.  The other reporters were occasionally glaring at her for this horrible breach of protocol.

Momiji nodded.  "I have no comment at this time!  Hatate come in."

The declaration stunned the surrounding tengu long enough for Momiji to grab Hatate's hand and rush through the door.  She quickly slammed the portal shut then moved to shutter the windows.  Muted questions still slipped in through the cracks, but Momiji could at least hear herself think.

"Thanks," Hatate said moving to stand next to the table.  The young woman was still flipping her phone open and closed.  "I was afraid you'd consider me just another reporter."

"I'm somewhat surprised you aren't here as one," Momiji replied.
"This isn't your story," Hatate snapped, then flinched as Momiji glared at her.  "Look, sorry!  It's just she's only a kid!"

Momiji blinked.  "Who?"

Hatate took a deep breath.  "Mihoshi Satomidake.  The girl they're going to have you kill."

Momiji grabbed the teapot and poured two cups before sitting down.  Hatate eventually took the hint and sat down as well, though the tengu girl kept fiddling with her phone absentmindedly.  Momiji had no idea how she managed to not break the thing.  After Hatate managed to calm herself enough to take a sip of the tea Momiji said, "Explain."

"Alright.  I'll try.  Don't interrupt when I ramble though because I've gotten no sleep."  Hatate tossed several pictures and three newspapers onto the table.  The first picture she pushed forward was a tengu girl with long hair in a ponytail.  "Mihoshi Satomidake, all of fifty six and a half.  As low class as you can get while still being a tengu.  Still puts her articles in her parent's paper."

Hatate pushed forward the first paper.  It had an article circled in red.  "Three months ago she wrote an article about Kentaro Echigoya.  Second son of one of the biggest rice sellers in the village, pious Buddhist, noted philanthropist... and wife beater."  Hatate's voice dripped with scorn as she opened the paper and pointed to a picture.  Momiji's ears lay flat and she growled.  It seemed the evidence was fairly clear.

"Of course no one gave a shit."  Hatate sighed.  "It's not like the paper has much circulation, and it's a youkai paper so even the village wouldn't care.  Hell I bet the humans wouldn't care much even if it wasn't a youkai paper.  He was established, and his wife had no living family to watch after her.  But she wouldn't drop it."  Hatate pushed the second paper forward.  "Nice scandal expose on the human village's farce of a justice system.  Flew like a drunk tsuchinoko."  Hatate pushed forward the final paper.  "She gets one more piece in before mom and dad tell her to stop trying."  She slumped back.  "It was the last article she wrote."

Momiji looked down at the articles.  The first one was the usual lurid expose, with the sharp language of an angry teen who was certain they were bringing someone to justice.  The second was just pure scathing rhetoric.  The third...

She shook her head slowly as a familiar melancholy slipped over her.  "So did she kill him?"

Hatate looked down.  "Yes."  Her wings slumped as she pushed forward another picture, one taken with her spirit photography.  The image was blurry, but it still captured the moment of the murder in enough detail to fill in the blanks.  "She snapped his neck with her hands.  Stupid kid didn't even realize only the strongest humans can do that without a lot of skill.  They picked up her scent within the day."

Momiji closed her eyes.  She knew where this was going.  "And so the Great Tengu had her arrested, to avoid having a youkai hunt on the mountain."

"Within a minute of learning the truth."  Hatate began to pace.

"So, Hatate," Momiji said.  "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know," Hatate wailed.  She spun around and slammed her hands on the desk.  "But there has to be something right?  We can take this evidence to the miko, or maybe...."

Momiji sighed.  "Or maybe have her escape to the old hell?"  Momiji began collecting the photos Hatate had thrown down.  "You know that won't work.  And on some level you know why too."

"She's fifty six, Momiji!  She's a little girl!  Gods..."  Hatate had tears in her eyes now.  "A girl who saved a human from a lifetime of misery at that!"

"Hatate..."  Momiji took a deep breath, forcing herself to keep her composure.  "She's a woman.  A young woman, but a woman.  One who murdered one of the most important members of the village in his very house.  And sure he was filth, but the village apparently didn't care."

Momiji stared into her tea.  "If the tengu protect her, Gensokyo will rise against us.  If someone else intervenes, we will be honor bound to attack them.  The rules are simple.  Kill a human in the village, get exterminated.  If not by the shrine maiden, then by other youkai."

"What?  That's it?"  Hatate leaned forward.  "You aren't going to do anything?!"

"What am I supposed to do, Hatate?"  Momiji sighed.  "I'm just a sword.  You should have gone to Aya."

Momiji jumped in surprise as Hatate slammed down on the table.  "Bullshit!  I'm not stupid!"  She jabbed a finger at Momiji.  "Maybe you can fool the people outside with that, but I know you Momiji.  You might have bought in to all that samurai stuff, but deep down inside you want a happy ending.  You want justice to win out, and you're willing to go off on your own to make sure it happens!"

Momiji felt her whole body trembling.  She clenched her teeth so hard they hurt and forced herself to take deep breaths.

After several moments she managed to regain her voice.  "Hatate."  She stared the crow tengu right in the eyes.  "Never, ever, use that against me again."

Hatate looked down at the ground and let her hands fall to her lap.  "I'm sorry."

Momiji closed her eyes and tried to keep her breathing even.  "Your best bet is still to talk to Aya.  Aya knows Ran.  And Yukari's the only one who can do anything."

"But she won't," Hatate said.

"No," Momiji agreed.

Hatate slumped down on the table.  "Damn."

Momiji refilled their teacups.  Not that they'd drank much.

"I wish I had been paying attention," Hatate whispered.  "I should have taught her how to be a reporter.  She understood, at the end."

Momiji stared at her tea, then sighed.  "Fine.  Give me your cell phone."

"Huh?!"  Hatate clutched the phone close.  "Why do you need my camera?"

Momiji said.  "I need to make a call.  I can't do much.  But I can do this."

----

Momiji knelt down next to the heavy door, then pulled out the tape recorder Hatate had given her for this and set it down on the ground.  A single button press caused it to beep, then start recording.

From within the cell she heard the rustling of wings.  "I thought the wolf tengu would at least keep me from having to answer stupid questions before I'm killed."  Momiji's ears flicked at the bitterness and pain in the words.

She forced her own voice to be calm and free of judgement.  "I have no questions.  I am here because someone wanted to know your story."

"My story?"  Mihoshi laughed bitterly.  "I don't have a story.  I can't even tell someone else's story."

There was a long silence.  Momiji did her best to meditate as she sat in the quiet.  Only as the light began to dim did she hear the woman slide next to the door.

"Did you read my articles?"

Momiji hesitated, then replied, "Yes."

"I see."  There was another shuffling on the other side of the door.  "That makes me happy."

Another long pause passed.  "What did you think?"

"The first two were terrible."  Momiji said.  She closed her eyes.  "The third was better than anything in the Great Tengu's paper."

"Thanks."

"You know... it was hard to get Chou to open up.  Even when I had the pictures."  Mihoshi sniffed.  "It wasn't just the fear of youkai.  No, it ran deeper than that.  She knew what would happen when the truth came out.  Better than me."

"I didn't listen though.  I thought I was going to be a big hit."  Momiji heard a thump against the door.  "I was such an ass.  I didn't even think about Chou's feelings."

"It was after the second article, I finally saw.  Chou had always known what would happen.  But that fat asshole didn't.  Just like she'd always held out hope that someone would care, he'd always secretly feared that.  When the truth came out, and the village looked the other way, he became even worse."

Momiji closed her eyes as she heard the young woman wiping tears.  "And yet, when I came to talk to her that evening, she thanked me.  Thanked me for listening to her story.  For trying to help.  But I hadn't listened to her story.  I'd only tried to help myself.  And I'd made her life so much worse..."

"That was why I wrote that article.  I wanted to listen to her.  I wanted to be the person she said I was.  To write her story.  About her parents work in printing.  Her childhood on the farms.  Her wood block paintings.  To hear about her, instead of about a headline."

Mihoshi sniffed again, but her voice grew stronger.  "And then, after that article... I decided I was going to kill Chou's husband.  Kill him for what he'd done to her."

"We're youkai aren't we?  That's our purpose.  To bring fear and terror to those humans who have nothing to fear."  Momiji heard Mihoshi stand.  "I couldn't help her.  I still can't help her.  I know it didn't do anything but leave her stuck with parents who hate her instead of a husband who hated her.  But I could hurt someone.  To remind them what it means to fear."

"And I won't admit it's wrong.  Even if it gives me a more honorable death.  He deserved it."  The woman's footsteps moved away from the door.

Momiji turned off the recorder, then stood and left.  She had to clear her heart now.

----

The sun was weak, but the white gravel of the grounds reflected the light, making the summer courtyard bright.  It added to how surreal the event felt. 

There weren't many spectators.  Momiji's grandmother and father.  Some of the younger wolf tengu.  A few political leaders, making sure they were around if the Great Tengu made any proclamations.  Aya, Hatate, and the bravest reporters.  Hatate had been crying.  Aya looked somber, if detached.

The Great Tengu himself sat at the far end, with Saya standing guard behind him.  To Momiji's surprise Kanako was sitting towards the left entrance.  She hadn't expected the goddess to show.  To the right sat the family, along with Sanae.  The wind priestess was sitting between the older couple and a young woman in black that must have been the widow, Chou.  Momiji wasn't surprised Sanae had come, though she had hoped in vain the priestess would stay away.

The parents looked like they'd been crying.  On the other hand the young widow simply looked like an empty shell.  Sanae was trying to comfort her, or at least shield her from the angry glares from her in laws, but the woman showed no reaction.

Momiji's attention was torn away as someone walked into the chamber where she was waiting.  One of the Saburo family entered and presented her with a sword.  "This is the blade to be used."

"Thank you."  Momiji accepted the blade with a bow then placed it in her obi.  The blade was the only thing that seemed to have any weight.

The rustling of feathers caused her to turn back.  The condemned had arrived.

They had given Mihoshi a plain white robe and put her hair up.  Her hands and wings were bound magically, a simple slip of rope the only sign of her confinement.  She blinked around the bright square for a moment, then froze as her eyes fell upon Chou.  Chou's eyes finally seemed to focus.  She looked up and across the way at Mihoshi and leaned forward, as if she was trying to somehow reach the tengu woman.

The two young women stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.  Then Chou's eyes fell.  Mihoshi looked down as well, then walked forward to the execution grounds.  The wolf tengu leading her offered a paper blindfold, but Mihoshi simple shook her head.

A signal from Saya caused Momiji to walk onto the field.  She kept her stride even, the rhythmic crunch of the gravel becoming a hypnotic mantra.

And then she was there, standing next to the woman she was going to kill.

The sword whispered lightly as it was drawn from the sheath.  It had a good heft.  It seemed thicker than a normal katana, designed to break through armor rather than just cut, but given the purpose set for it, that was a benefit.  The blade reflected the light as it approached the sky.

The cut was perfect.

Momiji ritually flicked the blood from the blade, then handed the sword to the tengu assistant to be properly cleaned and given back to its owner.  Then she took a deep breath and broke from the terrible script they had all been forced to play.

Leaning down she picked up the head.  It had fallen onto the sheet below properly, so there was no dirt or excess blood.  As the onlookers gasped she stepped forward and presented it to the widow, as if she was a general presenting the head of an enemy to her lord.  Chou blinked as she stared at the grisly trophy.  "Justice was done," Momiji said simply.

Chou nodded slowly.  Tears began to form in the woman's eyes, but she smiled weakly.  "Thank you."

Momiji bowed, then turned away and began to walk to the back of the courtyard.  She'd done what she could.

----

Momiji poured Aya a drink, then filled her own glass.  "What brings you here?"

"Figured I should check up on you," Aya replied.  "Especially since Hatate went down to the old hell to sulk."

"I'm fine," Momiji replied.  And she mostly meant it.  "The other Black Wolves and I stayed up telling war stories."

Aya nodded.  "That's good.  I know you wolves like being in groups."  She sipped her sake.  "Didn't realize you knew the old rituals though.  You're younger than that right?"

"I'm not that young," Momiji replied.  She didn't point out that Aya should have known that.  The older tengu was already detached enough from tengu society.  "Are you going to go chat with Ran again?"

"Nah."  Aya shook her head.  "Probably go see if the fairies are doing anything fun.  We could use some fun after all."


"I see."  Momiji lifted the glass but Aya waved it off.  "Well good luck on finding your story."

Aya smiled.  "Thanks."  The crow tengu stood.  "You take it easy as well Momiji."

The wolf tengu sniffed.  "I'll try."

Aya waved and headed for the door.  The crow tengu opened it then jumped back in surprise when she found Kanako Yasaka standing there.  "Wha-?!"

"Good evening."  Kanako gave her trademark smirk and stepped aside.  "I'm here to visit Inubashiri.  Don't let me keep you."

Aya shook her head.  "Sure," she remarked before flying off.

Momiji glared at the goddess as Kanako walked in and shut the door.  "Why are you here?"

"Hm.  That's a question with a number of different answers."  Kanako wandered along the wall looking over Momiji's keepsakes.  Momiji just stood and continued to stare.  After a few moments Kanako chuckled.  "Ah.  I see how you managed to catch the eye of our little Sanae."  Momiji's frown twisted into a snarl.  "I suppose it's partially because I was impressed."

"Impressed?  Why?"  Momiji pulled out a chair for her uninvited guest then sat down.  "I failed to do anything of merit.  A girl is still dead.  Nothing changed."

Kanako sat down quietly.  "Something did change.  One girl is dead.  Another girl is alive."

Momiji drained her glass.  "Is that so?"

"It is."  Kanako refilled the cup.  "And that's why you broke the promise you made to yourself and called Sanae.  Because you knew it could make a difference."

Momiji stared at the sake.  "Was it enough of a difference, in the end?"

"Who can say?  Even gods don't know the answer to that."  Kanako looked towards the shogi board sitting on a side table.  "I can say though that the young woman is receiving reparations from the tengu, via the Moriya shrine.  She won't be dependant on that family anymore."

"I... see."  Momiji blinked a few times, then reached out and poured some sake for Kanako.  The goddess accepted it with a nod of thanks.

They sat in silence for a while then.  Finally Kanako drained her cup.  "You didn't have to break all contact with Sanae just because she got married you know.  I don't really mind.  In fact it might be healthier for her if you talked some."

"No."  Momiji drained her own glass.  "It wouldn't.  Not until she decides for herself."  Momiji filled both cups.  "And she won't want to hear that from you either."

"Maybe not."  Kanako sighed.  She gave an exaggerated sigh.  "I suppose we'll have to get by without your donations."

Momiji accepted the offer to switch subjects.  "It's not like I'd donate anyway.  Even if I needed help from a god, I'd only offer real aid in return."

Kanako laughed, then smiled and stared out the window.  "Hm...  You remind me of one of my generals.  Always troublesome that one.  Maybe I should have listened to Suwako."

There was obviously something she was missing, but Momiji let the goddess keep her secrets.  Instead she asked.  "Was there anything else you wanted to say to me?  Or did you just want to drink a bit?"

"Ah."  Kanako turned back to her.  "I have no issue with drinking.  But there was something I wanted to give you."

The goddess held out her hand and a sword appeared in it.  Momiji studied the blade a bit before starting in surprise.  "That sword?  Why do you have it?!"

"I would have thought it obvious.  I was the one who wanted a sword tested."  Kanako offered it again, and Momiji hesitantly took the blade.  "It cost a fair amount of money, especially since I added the bequest to the widow on top of the bid, but the Moriya shrine is not a poor one."

Momiji instinctively bowed to the blade, before drawing it.  In the artificial light of her house the shine of the blade was more distinct, revealing more of its design.  It was obviously a battle sword, designed in the human style, though it was tengu forged.  The blade felt reflective, but peaceful.  An odd soul for a sword of its type.

Then again, Momiji understood why that was.

"Its name is Oniboucho," Kanako said.  "I have a fondness for forgotten blades so I collect them.  This one sadly was broken in its final battle, but your tengu smiths are excellent at reforging swords."

Momiji slowly sheathed the blade.  "Why?"

Kanako shrugged.  "The original owner of the blade was an executioner for the Tokugawa.  He often looked into the pasts of those he was forced to kill, and always did his best to bring what justice he could in that era.  I think his sword will fit well in your hands."

"Thank you."  Momiji moved towards the her sword rack, then hesitated.  After a moment's consideration she swapped the sword at her hip for Onibouchou and placed her old sword on the stand.  The tengu souled blade seemed natural by her side.

Kanako stood.  "I should be reminding you what a blessing this is, but that doesn't fit you.  Instead I'll simply hope it serves you well."

"I'm sure it will," Momiji replied.  The goddess nodded, then vanished.

Now that she was alone, Momiji again carefully drew the blade.  The glow of the blade in the light was nothing she'd ever seen before.  Darkness and light intermingling without any malice.  Acceptance of death, without abandoning life.  She bowed to the blade once more, before returning it to its scabbard.

This wasn't her story.  The story of Mihoshi and Chou was over, and no one would ever see it in full.  But she would carry a piece with her.

That was something like justice for a youkai, right?

[Iced Fairy]

Note : This story is slightly more mature then most of my others though still "R" rated.

----

Kokoro looked down at her masks as they swirled around her.  They were part of her, yet not all of her, not anymore.  She was still a menreiki, but as she'd learned the emotions, allowed them to carve themselves into her youkai face, the masks had one by one become symbols of her emotion, instead of containers.  In that first summer she'd learned joy, frustration, sorrow, anger, and finally hope.

Over the years since she'd learned many more emotions.  From surprise to boredom.  But there were so many more she had yet to master.  The mask she was looking at now was one of them.  The bright smile of a young woman looked back at her.  This was supposed to be the mask of Love.

And yet whenever she held it and let it fill her, the masks of anger and lust awoke as well.  She didn't understand why.

"Maybe it's broken," she muttered, flipping over the mask and looking at it from the inside.  Kokoro pored over the mask from every angle, looking for smudges or cracks.

In the end she found nothing.

With a sigh she released the mask, allowing it to join the others circling around her.  The mask had been surfacing more regularly, and it never made any sense.

Finally she stood up.  She had an idea on how to master the mask.  Now she just had to convince the person to help her.

----

Koishi skipped along the path.  She wasn't sure where she wanted to go today, so she was just going places.  Eventually she'd find a place she wanted to be.

"Hey!"

Koishi turned to see Kokoro pointing at her.  Koishi blinked at the menreiki and then hopped into the air.  "Oh, did you want to fight again?  You'll just lose you know."  Koishi found taunting the other woman fun.

Kokoro summoned a spear.  "You won't be so confident after I-"  The woman paused then shook her head.  "Wait, no.  I'm not here for a fight this time."  She put away her spear and casually floated closer.  "I want your help with something."

"Hm?  What?"  Koishi shifted back and forth.  She was curious now.

"I'll let you borrow this mask," Kokoro said holding up a mask of a young woman, "and in return I get to follow you for the rest of the day."

Koishi looked at the mask.  It was simple, but something about it drew her in.  She moved closer to look more closely at the artifact.  "I might not give it back," Koishi said as she poked the mask.  It felt warm, and made her heart beat a little faster.  She definitely wasn't going to give this back!

"I'll just take it back if you try," Kokoro said.  "Anyway will you let me follow you today?"

Koishi dismissed the threat and considered the offer.  She wasn't really big on having to stick near people.  She liked being able to do her own thing whenever she wanted.  But the mask was really nice.  And now that she was holding it she felt like it might be fun to spend some time with Kokoro.  "Okay.  It's a deal!"

"Good."  Kokoro released the mask into Koishi's hand.  Koishi smiled and slipped the mask into her sleeve.  Her heartbeat slowed, but she felt happy now.  And since she wanted to spend time with Kokoro, it was a really good bargain!

Kokoro on the other hand looked confused.  Koishi briefly wondered if she'd done something wrong.  Or had her rival made a mistake?

A spark of hunger drove that thought from Koishi's mind.  "Okay.  Let's get some food."  She grabbed Kokoro's hand and started skipping through the air, dragging the menreiki behind her.  "There's a good place underground."

"Okay.  But why are you holding my hand?"  Kokoro asked.  "I can follow you."  The other woman seemed embarrassed for some reason.

"Because I feel like it," Koishi replied simply.  And since she felt like teasing the other woman she added, "Besides if I didn't you might get lost in Hell.  The big scary oni might eat you."

Kokoro glared at her as they skipped along.  "I'm not afraid of oni, and you live in the old hell.  You won't scare me like that."

"I'll just have to find a better way to scare you then," Koishi said as they started down into the darkness.  "So how do you feel about spiders?"

"I've met Yamame and I know she's a nice person," Kokoro countered.

"Drat," Koishi started to consider other pranks. "Hrm then let's see..."

Sadly Koishi only managed to scare Kokoro once, with the lava waterfall.  Still it had been fun trying.  And Kokoro had tried to scare her in return using her masks, which was funny.

Finally they arrived in the old hell.  Koishi skipped up to a restaurant she liked and waved for the attendant.  "Table for two please."

The lesser oni jumped in surprise like she always did, then pulled out a menu.  "Oh.  The other satori.  Well I suppose we do have a table for you and your guest."  The oni shook her head, probably wondering who would be crazy enough to travel with a satori.

Kokoro looked around the crowded bar as the server lead them towards the back.  "It looks crowded.  How did you get a place so easily?"

"Because they're afraid of letting me drive off the customers by waiting."  The server flinched at the blunt explanation.  "After all everyone hates satori for our powers.  And they hate a satori like me even though I don't have those powers."

Kokoro frowned and looked up at the serving woman.  "Which is why we're being hidden away in the back."

"Yeah, it's great!  I can get in anywhere like this," Koishi replied.  Sure it was unfair, but she could use the unfairness to her advantage.

"Your table," the oni woman said as she opened up the back room.  Koishi was a little impressed that the woman had ignored their causal dissection of her bigotry.  Then again the woman was a oni, and they didn't lie, even when they should.

Koishi sat down, with Kokoro taking the seat opposite her.  The server handed them both menus, and Koishi let her eyes flicker over it before deciding on one.  "The kassha style ramen with an extra egg please."  She then turned her gaze onto Kokoro and smiled.

The menreiki looked startled at the sudden attention.  Kokoro scanned the menu desperately before sighing and saying "The same, and a bottle of Meifumado sake."

"Good choice," the oni said sincerely before collecting the payment and scurrying out.

"How do you know about the underground sake?" Koishi asked.

Kokoro waved her hand and her masks spun a bit.  "That tanuki lady who occasionally bothers me knows a lot about sake.  And tobacco."

Koishi grimaced.  She hated the smell of tobacco.

The two sat in silence for a bit.  As time passed Koishi noticed her companion seemed lost in thought, angry and confused masks spinning around her head.  "Hm?  What are you thinking?"

"It seems wrong.  Don't people want to communicate with each other?  They go through all this trouble to communicate their emotions," Kokoro held up one of her masks.  "They create things like me, and then when they find someone who knows what they want to say, they get angry."

Koishi laughed.  "They used you to communicate, but then they threw you away right?  Humans and youkai do all sorts of things they regret later."  She shrugged.  "But that's fine.  I don't want to hear them anymore anyway."

"Oh."  Kokoro considered the thought.

The oni server came back with a bottle and two bowls of steaming soup.  "Two kassha style ramen, with extra egg.  The human's stock is a little fresher than usual, so I hope you enjoy it."

"Thanks," Koishi said automatically as the woman quickly put down the plates before running away.  The ramen smelled very good.  Koishi started blowing on the soup to cool it.

Kokoro opened the bottle, then hesitated before pouring Koishi's cup first.  It was funny how the menreiki girl was having a harder and harder time remembering they were enemies.  Koishi wanted to see the girl more flustered.

That thought on her mind, she picked up some of the hot peppers the oni had started stocking.  "Here.  You should add some of these to the meal.  It'll really give it a kick!"

"Ah!"  Kokoro hastily put down the sake bottle and covered her ramen.  "Human meat shouldn't be spiced so heavily!  Besides that thing isn't a real spice.  Just burning."

"Don't be such a baby," Koishi replied as she waved her hands over Kokoro's soup.  "It's the newest thing!  You should try it!"

Kokoro did her best to shield her meal from the fiery destruction in Koishi's hands.  "No!  Not a chance!"

"Too late~" Koishi said before opening her hands wide.  "Sploosh!"

"Ah!"  Kokoro looked in shock at her soup, then the angry fox mask spun up as she realized Koishi hadn't dropped the peppers at all.  "You're mean."

"You're funny," Koishi replied as she put down the offending spices.  She pulled out her chopsticks and started on the noodles, now that they'd cooled a bit.  The freshness actually did help the ramen.  "The sake you picked is nice too."

Kokoro's anger flickered back to confusion at that.  "Oh.  Thank you."  The menreiki began eating her own ramen.  "Ah, this is better than most surface places."

"Yeah the oni can be great cooks when they try.  Most just don't," Koishi said.

They ate together sharing the sake as the noise from the bar outside rose and fell.  Occasionally the servers poked a head back, but they left quickly when they saw food still present.

As the meal wound down, Koishi noticed Kokoro giving her odd looks again.  "What?"

Kokoro shook her head.  "I was just wondering if you wanted to go meet someone else?"

"Hm?"  Koishi considered the idea.  "No."  Kokoro seemed relieved at her statement.  "I think I want to go to the gardens."

"Why the gardens?" Kokoro asked.

"Because I feel like it," Koishi replied.  She drained the last bit of broth then stood.  "Come on."

Kokoro finished off the sake.  "Alright."

Koishi grabbed Kokoro's hand, smiling at the other girl's continued confusion and skipped out the back.  The gardens were only a short distance away from the restaurant, around a few more bars, and through a tunnel.

She could tell Kokoro was beginning to wonder if this was another trick when they finally entered into the cavern.  The oni village was lit with thousands of lanterns.  Here things were different.  Brilliant lichens, glowing pools and floating souls of the damned filled this closed cavern with light, and painted the millions of stalactites and stalagmites in a dazzling array of light and shadows.

"It's pretty," Kokoro said quietly.

"I know, I know!" Koishi replied as she gestured around.  "Orin showed it to me!  A lot of people get scared off by the dead souls, but we're immune to evil spirits so we can enjoy it!"  Koishi started down the path further in, keeping a firm grip on Kokoro's hand.  "Come on, come on.  The view's even better in the next cavern."

"Don't rush," Kokoro chastised her.  "I don't want to miss this part, even if it's 'better' later."

Koishi slowed her pace.  "Alright."  She really wanted Kokoro to see the inner cavern, but it wouldn't be any fun if the menreiki was sulking.

Besides Koishi had to admit, the view here was still very nice.  Their own shadows joined the mix of light and dark as they slowly walked through through the cavern.

"Ah, that pool is bubbling," Kokoro said, pointing to a roiling greenish puddle.  "Are these geysers?"

"Just hot springs," Koishi replied.  "The whole area has a lot of water.  That's how all these formations are made.  If you listen quietly you can hear it dripping."

Kokoro nodded and quieted down.  Slowly the drop of water became louder, drowning the murmur of their hearts.  It was arrhythmic and originless, but it was mesmerizing all in its own.

After listening for a while Kokoro finally murmured, "It reminds me of the crowd when I'm dancing.  It fits the scene despite just being background noise."

"Hm, you like dancing a lot," Koishi said.  "But I don't understand how you can enjoy the kind of dancing you do.  It's all formal and ritualized."  Koishi tried to ape some of the motions while Kokoro muttered about how she was doing it wrong.  "Why don't you perform more natural dances?"

"Those dances are natural to me," Kokoro said as they started down the path again.  "I was born knowing them."  The menreiki stretched.  "But they're also my relaxation dances.  I know other dance styles too.  I even know outside world dances."

"Really?"  Koishi spun to look at the other woman.  "That's so cool!  You'll have to show me sometime."

Kokoro blushed and looked away.  "Well maybe some of them."  Apparently some of her dances weren't something she wanted leaking out to the general public.  Koishi resolved to trick Kokoro into showing them later.

But right now they were entering the second chamber.  Koishi turned around to make sure she saw Kokoro's face when she entered.

It was everything Koishi had hoped for.  Kokoro's mouth opened every so slightly and her eyes went wide.  The surprised mask that appeared just served to crown Koishi's success.  She could hear the menreiki's unspoken words.

"It's like being inside a gemstone."

"It kind of is," Koishi replied as she looked out over the cavern.  This part of the cavern was like a giant geode.  Amethyst, quartz, and citrine lined the walls, while lines of gold snaked through the crystals.  And all of it gleamed in the light of the glowing pools and spirits.

Kokoro slowly hovered into the air, peering all around as the changing shadows altered the faces of the jeweled walls.  "This would be a good stage to dance on."

"Hm, but you wouldn't be able to bring an audience in here," Koishi mused.  "Even if we could get youkai who weren't afraid, they'd mess up the lighting."

"I'd just have to pick a small group then," Kokoro said.  "One or two people should be fine."

Koishi smiled.  "Oh?"  She sat down in the air.  "So why don't you dance for me?"

"Wha?"  Kokoro backpedaled before thrusting a fan at her.  "You're still my nemesis you know!  Just because we're working together today doesn't mean I want to perform for you!"  Even if it might be fun.

"You suuuure?"  Koishi's smirk widened.  "I mean I'm the only person other than Orin and Okuu who ever comes here.  I suppose you could dance all by yourself, but that defeats the purpose of a stage doesn't it?"

Kokoro hesitated, then nodded.  "Fine, you're right."  The mercurial youkai pulled out her fans.  "But it will be a traditional dance."

"That's fine~ that's fine~."  Koishi moved a bit back to get a better view of the cavern.  "Do whatever you want."

"Very well."  Kokoro thought for a moment, then put away the fans and pulled out her naginata.  This dance would be best.

The menreiki took a few cautious steps, her mind summoning up a song, then slowly moving to the inaudible beats.  It started slow, gems slowly dulling as her blade covered the light, but as the menreiki slowly relaxed she started to move faster.

Soon Koishi was the one watching in stunned silence as the other woman danced.  The cavern really was the perfect stage.  Kokoro's movements were so quick the flicker of shadow and light across the walls created shimmering ripples.  The naginata and her pink hair swirled around her body, and Koishi could tell that Kokoro was completely absorbed in her dance.  The only sound from the woman, conscious or unconscious was the music in her heart.

All too soon though the music ended, and with it Kokoro's movements.  After a pause, the menreiki unsummoned her naginata.  "That was everything I'd hoped for."  I wonder if I will have a performance like that again?  Probably not.

"Hm.  It was beautiful," Koishi said.  "I'd like to see it again some day."

Kokoro blushed very faintly.  Why does hearing that make me happy?  "I'll consider it."

Koishi felt the mask she'd put in her sleeve tug a little, so she stuffed it back.  "Hm...  why don't we go look at my pets?"

"Why?" Kokoro asked.

"Because that's what I want to do," Koishi replied.  She grabbed Kokoro's hand.  "Come on, let's go!"

Kokoro's confused mask hung around her head as they flew out of the glittering cavern towards the palace of the earth spirits.  I don't understand.  Her or myself.

"What's to understand?" Koishi said as she slipped in through a window.  "Emotions are about experiencing them right?"

"I know.  But I don't understand the experience.  I don't know what makes me feel things," Kokoro said.  And I don't understand what you're feeling either.

"What I'm feeling?"  Koishi pulled out the mask and looked at it.  It didn't seem to give her the same feel as the mask of hope had.  "What do you mean by that?  Were you trying to understand the emotion by watching me?"

"Yes," Kokoro admitted. "I wanted to give you the mask to see how it affected you."  Like with the mask of hope.

"Hrm?"  Koishi frowned at that.  For some reason that annoyed her.  The good feelings from the mask seemed to dim as well.  "Why me?  And what mask is this anyway?"

Kokoro shook her head.  "I... don't know why I picked you."  It was because you appeared in my mind every time that mask activated. "And that mask is... the mask of Love."

Koishi blinked, then laughed and continued down the corridor.  "Mask of love?  Well that was a mistake.  I can't love.  My heart is closed after all."

Oh.  That's right.  Kokoro's sad face hovered around her head.  "I guess this was all a waste of time then."  Thought it's kind of sad that you can't feel that emotion.

"I suppose I miss love a bit," Koishi admitted.  "But I couldn't stand all those other emotions.  Best to just stick with the fun emotions that live in your subconscious!  Those emotions can do all the work!"

Koishi stopped as Kokoro put a hand on her shoulder.  "Wait.  Koishi."

Koishi turned around.  "What?"

Kokoro looked down at Koishi's chest.  Your eye is open.

For a moment all Koishi could hear was her own heartbeat.  Panic seized her.  She turned and ran through the corridors, past her pet's room to her own small bedroom.  She slammed open the door, then moved to her mirror.  Her reflection faced her, heaving for breath and trembling, but Koishi managed to pull herself together and really look.

Three eyes looked back at her.  The one on her chest was barely open, but she could see the pupil moving around.

"Koishi!  What happened?" Kokoro asked as the she glided into the room.  You're worrying me.  Why am I worried about you?

Koishi whirled to face the menreiki.  "I DON'T WANT THIS!"  She hurled the mask of love back towards Kokoro, who caught it with shaky hands.  "Take it back!  The deal is off!"

Kokoro's masks whirled around her, the returned mask of love joining the frenzy.  Did she refuse my love?  No wait that's not it.  But it hurts.  "Why don't you want this mask?"  Is it because you don't want to be hurt by the words from other people's hearts?

"Because I chose this!" Koishi shouted.  She took a few breaths to recover.  "I hate the voices, yes.  But more than that I hate the weakness.  My closed eye gives me power.  The power to ignore others, to take care of myself.  The power to hurt those who hate me.  The power to do what I want when I want.  I won't give that up!"

Koishi took a shaky step forward, reached up and grabbed one of the swirling masks.  It looked like a drunken man with bulging eyes and his tongue sticking out.  Heat filled her body from the inside as she looked at it.  "I want this mask."

"That's the mask of lust," Kokoro said quietly.  Do you think it will help you close your eye?

"It will help me ignore my eye until it closes on its own."  Koishi took another step towards Kokoro, her heart tendrils unwrapping and moving to encircle the other woman.  "Will you let me have it?"

Kokoro sighed slowly then stepped forward and reached to unbutton Koishi's shirt.  I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but it's what we both want.  "We'll share it."

"Okay." 

Koishi embraced Kokoro, kissing the menreiki girl.  She ran her hands over Kokoro's back and hair while her heart tendrils slipped under the other woman's clothes.  Kokoro shivered at the touch, then began unbuttoning both of their shirts.

As Kokoro finally peeled off their clothes Koishi pulled her onto the bed.  Why did I fall in love with her? Kokoro's heart asked.

Koishi felt pain ripple through her own heart.  "Because I'm your nemesis.  The one person you can't overcome.  And you're mine."  Koishi rested her head on Kokoro's shoulder.

Kokoro placed a hand on Koishi's chest.  "Would you love me if you could love?"

"I do," Koishi admitted.

And then she let the power of Kokoro's mask take control of her.

The feelings were powerful.  Almost overwhelming.  Her lips brushed against Kokoro's neck while her hands explored the other woman's body.  Koishi's tendrils rubbed against Kokoro's entrance and she wanted to jam them in right now.  But her fading consciousness held her back.

Kokoro gasped and pawed at Koishi's chest as the passion flowed over her.  Ah!  Her eye is closing.  She managed to regain enough control to catch Koishi in a kiss.  Koishi I-

And then the only sound was only the beating of their real hearts, the rustling of sheets and the murmurs of passion.  The bliss Koishi had hoped for.

The next morning she awoke and carefully slipped out of the covers before quietly putting on her clothes.  She pretended not to see Kokoro's masks shift as she pulled on her shoes and headed for the doorway.  However when she reached the door she paused.  She wasn't sure what she wanted to do.

Finally she said, "Thank you.  I hope you understand."

And with that she skipped out of the room.  She wasn't sure where she wanted to go today, but she didn't want to be here.  So she'd go places until she found one she wanted to be.

-----

Kokoro looked down at the mask of love.  It was unblemished, but the masks of anger and lust no longer awoke when she held it.  Now sorrow and confusion were its friends.

There was no use lingering on it though.  She left the now empty room behind, aimlessly walking the halls looking for an exit.

"Kokoro."

She froze at the voice.  Turning she found Satori Komeiji waving her over from what looked to be a kitchen and dining area.  Kokoro hesitated, then nodded and walked in.

Surprise and irritation hit her when she saw Mamizou was in the room as well, reading paper and drinking tea.  "What are you doing here?!"

Mamizou smiled and waved.  "Well I figure this is one of those times you need an adult mentor to talk with.  And since that Buddhist witch and Taoist prince are too busy being important leader types the job falls to crazy aunt Mami."

"I don't need you following me," Kokoro snapped.  "And I don't-"

Satori sighed and put a plate with omelette rice in front of Kokoro.  "Don't worry about it.  Here have some breakfast."

The food seemed like a much better option than arguing with a tanuki.  Kokoro took the place and sat down.  "Thank you."  Satori followed suit.

"So you remember," Satori stated.

Kokoro let her mask of embarrassment hide her face.  "Should I not?"

"Well your next partner's going to have a hard time living up to it, if the rumors about satori are true," Mamizou chuckled.

"Shut up."  Kokoro sighed then started in on breakfast.

Satori shook her head, then looked at Kokoro.  "If she had fully closed her heart again you would have forgotten.  If she had sealed her heart back to the way it was before, then your memory would be fuzzy.  That means you hurt her.  Gave her heart a wound she didn't close."

Kokoro flinched.  "I'm sorry."

"Don't be kid," Mamizou said.  "Love is a lot of things, as you're learning.  But the one truth about love, is that it's vulnerability.  If you can't give enough of yourself that they can hurt you, then it isn't much of a relationship."

Kokoro gave the tanuki a look but Satori nodded.  "It's true.  Especially with satori romances.  Our race tends to have short and painful relationships."

"Is that so?"  Kokoro stirred at her breakfast, taking occasional bites.  Finally she looked up at Mamizou.  "So what's your advice?"

Mamizou smirked.  "Be young, make mistakes, get hurt, complain to crazy aunt Mamizou about it.  Or better yet keep bothering Miko so I can have a laugh."

"But..." Kokoro looked down at the plate, remembering the fear in Koishi's eyes.

"If my sister didn't want some kind of connection, she wouldn't have let you keep a link to her heart," Satori said softly.  "I admit, I don't understand my sister's choices.  But I at least know she made that choice of her own will."  Satori looked up at Kokoro.  "She'll hurt you again and again if you try.  And if you walk away that will be fine.  But so long as you let her make her choices, I won't judge you for the outcomes."

Kokoro looked down at the plate, her emotions roiling again.  What did she want?  What did Koishi want?  What did love even mean?

Finally she stood.  "Thank you for the meal."  She bowed to Satori and then turned to walk away.  Kokoro didn't understand her emotions, but she understood one thing.  Koishi had opened her heart to her, just a little.

"Kokoro, what does it mean when you don't have a mask?" Satori asked quietly.

Kokoro turned to face the two other women again and pointed to her face.  "This is my strongest mask.  Hope."

Mamizou nodded.  "It's a good mask.  Suits you well."

"Thank you," Kokoro said, before turning and walking out the door.

She wasn't sure about the details.  But she was going to figure out her own emotions.  And then she was going to face her nemesis again.  With that thought she boldly strode out into the palace.

A moment later she turned back.  "Um, which way is out?"

"I'll help," Mamizou said with a chuckle.

[DNAbc]

So, I am actually a big lurking fan of your works. I've stalked your forum game when I first joined and liked mostly everything you've writed. Particularly I was really closely following marisas summer camp like a year ago and was really sad it got terminated

As always, I loved the koishi/kokoro cp, and definitely hope you will keep on writing more great stories in the future!

[Iced Fairy]

I had an idea.  I'm never gonna finish it, because I've got better things to write but the start was fun so I made that!

------------------------------------------

"Eirin!"  Rabbits scattered out of Kaguya's way as she stormed towards the elder Lunarian's workshop.  "What have you done?!"

There was a rustling from within, and Eirin poked her head out.  "I'm just helping you with your latest project princess."

"Helping?"  Kaguya thrust out a leaflet.  In strong print it stated 'To All Magicians.  A Once In A Lifetime Chance : Claim The Holy Grail.'  "You started this nonsense without informing me!"  She waved the paper in Eirin's face.  "I spent years collecting the notes on that Holy Grail in order to add it to my collection!"

"I know," Eirin replied.  "But if you had used your original plan based on the notes Reisen uncovered you'd have summoned that half baked grail.  I've fixed the spell to avoid the impurities the humans added.  Also, I'm certain you would have entered the contest yourself.  That just wouldn't do."

Kaguya stomped her foot.  "That's the point!  If I wanted my servants to gather artifacts I'd just throw money at it."

Eirin frowned.  "The Grail War is a bit different than your previous artifact hunts, Princess.  The summoners are sometimes in just as much danger as their summons."  The woman's expression softened.  "Besides, I enjoy doing favors for you."

The lunar princess sniffed in annoyance, but her rage seemed to cool.  "Fine then.  I suppose you've already plotted out how you're going to win."

"Plan?"  Eirin chuckled.  "I've already summoned my servant."  Eirin opened the door completely.  Within the room was a complex magical circle, and sitting on a cushion in the middle was a chinese man in fine robes.  Kaguya could sense the divinity of man, but strangely he seemed to have only a rusty iron bar as a weapon.  "Behold, Servant Saber.  The strongest servant."

Kaguya nodded, then her eyes opened wide as she recognized the man.  "Ah!  You were the one chosen by heaven to replace the Qin.  I remember that."

The regal man nodded his head.  "Indeed.  I created the Han.  Acquiring a simple cup should be a simple matter."

"Hm.  Well," Kaguya turned and walked away.  "I suppose I can let you handle this one Eirin.  I'll go talk to the shrine maiden about the details."

"I suppose that would be best," Eirin said.

----

Miko had years upon years of practice concentrating while other people's conversations happened around her, so she casually listened to Tojiko and Fuuto chat behind her, while completing her ritual.

"Why do we need some Christian cup anyway?" Futo asked.  "The power to grant a wish is nice, but the Crown Prince surely can do that on her own?"

"Not any wish," Tojiko snapped.  "Besides, do you want someone other than Miko gaining the power of the Grail?  You had to deal with the monkey's paw after all.  Not to mention that fallen Buddhist nun is almost certain to be after the grail as well."

"Ah!  That would be a terrible thing!"  Miko smiled to herself at Futo's panic.  Trust the fearful woman to only understand the threat instead of the potential.

Miko felt the spell slowly fall into place and turned her full attention to her incantation.  "Accept my will and appear before me!"

The room exploded with light as Miko completed her spell.  Futo cried out in surprise as she shielded her eyes.  Miko also was forced to look away, but the sudden flood of desires brought joy to her heart.  The summoning had been successful!

As her vision cleared a samurai in gleaming armor with a daikyuu knelt before her.  "I am servant Archer.  I look forward to battling by your side, Crown Prince."

"And I look forward to working with you, Heroic Spirit Archer," Miko replied.  She wanted to show her Servant respect.  After all he was one of the reasons her family was the imperial family.

"Great work, Crown Prince!" Futo cheered.  "With Tawara Toda as your Servant we are sure to be victorious!"

Tojiko elbowed Futo in the ribs.  "Stop giving away Archer's name."

Miko his her smile behind her rod.  "Don't worry too much about it Tojiko.  After all, many of our competitors have seen Archer here in action.  And the rest will understand after the first arrow strikes true."

"Though that may be the last thing they realize," the Heroic Servant added calmly.

---

Remilia slammed open the door to the library.  "Patchouli!"

The young vampire strode through the library looking around.  Eventually she found where her friend was currently lairing.  "Patchouli!  Aren't you going to summon your Servant?!  You'd better hurry!"

Patchouli looked over at her old friend.  "Hm?  Why are you so worried about that?  I'm the one competing.  From the preliminary rules Reimu's putting together you won't even be able to help.  Other than giving me supplies."

"The reputation of the Scarlet Devil Mansion is still riding on your performance!" Remilia snapped.  "What will people think if you get a lame Servant?  I'm sure everyone's rushing to snap up the knight classes!"

"Oh, Eirin probably grabbed the Saber class before announcing the contest.  She'd cheat like that," Patchouli said.  "But in any case you don't need to worry Remilia.  I've already summoned my Servant."

Remilia blinked.  "Huh?"

The young vampire spun around as she suddenly noticed a presence behind her.  A plain looking man in a modern military uniform was leaning against the bookcases.  Now that he wasn't concealing his presence, Remilia could feel the strange life force of a summoned Heroic Spirit.  The man raised a hand in greeting.  "Paivaa."

Remilia turned back to Patchouli.  "Who is he?  Didn't you use the artifact I gave you?"

"He is Servant Assassin," Patchouli replied.  "And no I didn't.  Firstly because he is my servant.  Secondly because this is my fight.  And thirdly, because Marisa stole the artifact the day you gave it to me."

"What?!"  Remilia fumed for a second before slumping down in a chair.  "Ugh.  Fine Patchouli."  She snapped her fingers and Sakuya appeared with tea.  "Explain why you decided to summon the weakest Servant in a ritual where killing the other summoners is at best frowned upon and at worst useless."

Patchouli nodded in thanks as she took a teacup.  "I summoned Assassin here to prove a point.  Remember, our group is the youngest in the mess by several centuries, baring Marisa.  And I am the youngest member of our mansion."

"Thank you," Assassin said as Sakuya handed him a cup as well.

Patchouli continued.  "And so I want to remind these people of the power of those of us who have advanced.  Who have learned from the outside world."  Patchouli's eyes narrowed.  "Which is why I've summoned a modern heroic spirit, with the weakest class.  We're going to cut a bloody swath through those great heroes using only my magical power, and his skill."

"It will be an interesting time," Assassin said.

"Hm..."  Remilia considered it for a minute, then shrugged.  "Well that sounds fine then.  What do you need?"

"A Pystykorva would be nice," Assassin said.  Sakuya appeared holding a rifle.  "Many thanks."

Patchouli nodded.  "Also I'm going to make it snow around the mansion for a bit."

"I'm fine so long as it isn't rain, but why do you need snow?" Remilia asked.

"The White Death needs a proper battlefield," Patchouli replied with a smirk.

------------

Marisa smiled as she looked down at the bloodstained cloth.  It looked like a washrag, but given how much effort Remilia had taken hiding the thing it had to be so much more than that.

She'd had a few second thoughts about this whole mess.  This was a dangerous ritual, one with a lot of big name players.  And the rules of Gensoukyo were getting bent, if not outright broken for it.  But the rewards were big.  Fame, fortune, and a wish granted by an actual artifact.  Most of all it was a contest that Reimu couldn't even enter.

Which meant it was up to her to represent the old guard right?

"So if you wanna help me, come on out!" she yelled as the spell finished.

There was a crack in the air, then a thump as a girl in a frilly dress landed in the middle of Marisa's circle.

Marisa looked at the girl.  She seemed like a youkai.  "Uh, did I screw this up?"

"What?  Don't you recognize your own Servant?"  The woman hopped to her feet and pointed angrily at Marisa.  "I'm Servant Lancer!  You summoned me using my washcloth, right?"

"Wait, this is a washcloth?"  Marisa stared down at the bloody rag.  "Did you get murdered in the bathtub or something?"

Lancer glared at her.  "Of course not!  I used it to bathe."  The girl's eyes narrowed.  "You did know you were summoning me, right?  The great Elizabeth Bathory?"

Marisa choked at the name.  "Of course I didn't!"

"Then why did you use my washcloth for the summoning?"  Elizabeth snapped.

"I stole it from Remilia.  Figured it had to be good."  Marisa sighed.  "Ah man, what a mistake.  I wanna do over."

"You pathetic excuse for a master!"  Elizabeth summoned a oddly shaped lance and jabbed it at her.  "I'm gonna show you what I can do, and then I'm going to take the Grail and become an idol, with or without you!"

Marisa hopped towards the door and pulled out her Hakkero.  "Alright then.  We'll do the usual greeting.  If you can make it through three cards we'll talk."

---

Seija looked down at her Servant.  Stealing the magical items required to pull this off had earned her quite a few bruises.  But in the end it was all worth it.

"You're bigger than I thought you'd be, though the fashion's at least right," she said.

Her Servant just growled at her.  To be expected really.  After all he was a Berserker class.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun together," Seija said.  "Starting fights, sowing chaos.  Maybe even get a bit of betrayal in there.  And finally if we're lucky, we're gonna overthrow the whole order of Gensoukyo.  How does that sound?"

The tall man growled again, and slammed his spear against the ground.

Seija chuckled.  "I'm glad you approve, Lu Bu."

----

Sanae looked at the ritual circle uncomfortably.  She had faith it would work out in the end, but this was more magician magic.  It was strange to her.  She was worried she might miscast the spell and summon the wrong person.

"I know you're worried Sanae, but waiting will only make it more difficult," Kanako said quietly.  "Eirin's sure to have already summoned Saber, and the other contestants will be aiming for the more powerful classes as well.  I think Byakuren Hijiri will summon a Caster, but the others will not be so accommodating to our plans."

"Right."  Sanae took a deep breath and started the ritual.  At least she could trust in the authenticity of the sword she was using for the ritual.

As her power reached its height, Sanae called out, "Spirit of old, the gods request your service again!"

Wind whipped through the summoning grounds.  Sanae stared in amazement at the warrior standing before her.

Then her heart fell as the warrior took off their helmet.  "I am servant Rider, here to serve," the woman in the armor said.  "Together, may both our wishes come to pass."

"Kanako... I..."  Sanae looked back at her goddess with tear in her eyes.  She'd screwed up!

"You did just fine," Kanako replied.

"But I was supposed to summon Minamoto no Yoshitsune!" Sanae cried.

Rider looked surprised, then laughed.  "Ah, my apologies.  You seem to be confused by my appearance.  Rest assured you have not failed.  I am the one you sought.  The swordsman trained by the tengu, who defeated and befriended the warrior monk Benkei, and who fought many battles to bring this country to a better era."

"But-" Sanae blinked then rubbed her temples.  This was all so confusing.

"Come now Sanae," Kanako said with a smile.  "Summoning a tengu trained warrior on Tengu mountain with their sword has got to be fairly easy right?"

Sanae just raised her hands to the sky in exasperation.  "Was ANYONE in Japanese history actually a guy?!?!"

------

Byakuren focused on her breathing.  She couldn't allow distractions.  Not since she was altering the spell.

When she'd first seen the fliers she'd had her doubts about entering.  Everyone else at the temple had been excited, but this seemed like magic she really shouldn't be trifling with.

However the 'reward' was too dangerous to ignore.  A wish without limitations was a recipe for disaster, which meant someone had to take the Grail into safekeeping.  The realization that the Taoists were sure to enter only made her decision easier.

The only problem was she had no item with which to summon a Heroic Spirit.  Then again perhaps that was an opportunity.  Without an item she wouldn't be blinded by the obvious choices.  The universe could give her the Servant she needed.

Thus she was being extra careful with the ritual.  She had to make sure everything was in harmony.

When she felt perfectly in tune with her meditations, she began the ritual.

She did not remember the words she used.  Words were illusion.  But she knew she was performing the ritual correctly.  Indeed it felt like her very blood was calling out.  She was completely confident in her summoning.

And then her Servant was there.

"I am Servant Caster and-" the man froze. "Byakuren?"

Byakuren stared at the apparition before her, more shaken than she had ever been in her life.

"Brother..."

-----

In order to maintain the balance of Gensoukyo, incidents must be allowed.  However the Holy Grail War is an incident with rules of its own.  To handle the conflict between these two rituals, the Hakurei Shrine will be observing the contest.  In addition the following rules will be obeyed.

Servants will follow spell card rules for all battles against non Servants.  All non Servants must follow spell card rules against Servants, except as below.  Servants may kill each other without repercussion.

Masters cannot be targeted directly by Servants.  A Master who chooses to battle alongside their Servant loses this protection.  A Servant or Master will not be condemned for killing a Master who fights directly.

To allow fair battle, Servants must remain in corporeal forms at all times, barring summons from their Master or Noble Phantasm use.  This should not cause undue strain due to the magical nature of Gensoukyo.  Any magician unable to provide that level of magic is unfit to participate.

The Holy Grail War is a ritual just like the Spellcard Duel.  Anyone, youkai or human, who interferes with the ritual for their own gain will be treated the same as if they broke the Spellcard rules.

Lastly, remember win or lose, you will have to deal with these people and their friends.

Hakurei Reimu.

[Iced Fairy]

Alice frowned at the knock on her door.  She hadn't been expecting visitors, and while she hadn't been busy right now, there was always time for more doll work.  Still she composed herself and headed to the front door.  It was possible this visitor had something to offer.

"How can I help?" she asked coolly as she opened the door.  Then she froze mouth gaping.

Patchouli Knowledge was standing there on her front porch, wearing only a very large bath towel and her hat.  If that weren't strange enough the elder magicians body seemed to be lightly dusted with scales, there were fins behind her ears, and she'd acquired a lizard tail from somewhere.

Alice quickly recovered and threw out a few probing spells with a flick of her fingers.  There were a lot of shapechangers in Gensoukyo.  But that theory quickly evaporated.  No shapechanger would have the layers of wards that Patchouli habitually carried around.

"A reasonable assumption, but this is me," Patchouli said in her normal dry tone.  "Could you let me in?  Remilia's towels are big enough for something resembling modesty, but it's still drafty."

Alice shook her head to clear it.  "Very well.  If you promise to explain what's going on of course."

"Acceptable."  Patchouli nodded as she carefully walked in.  The purple haired magician sat down in the kitchen, doing  her best to keep the amount of leg that inevitably showed to something decent.

Alice caught Shanghai bringing over a camera and redirected the doll to get tea instead before sitting down opposite Patchouli.  "So how did Koakuma talk you into this?"

"Why do believe Koakuma is involved?" asked Patchouli as she fiddled with the towel.

"She's normally the person to blame when you appear half naked at my doorstep.  Her attempts at playing matchmaker are rather obvious."  Shanghai set the tea down on the table and Alice began to pour.  "Or perhaps in this case I should say harem maker."

Patchouli nodded.  "I suppose that is obvious, yes.  However this time it isn't Koakuma's fault.  It's partially mine, and partially my other familiar's."

Alice frowned for a moment.  "Other familiar?  Ah!  You mean Elle?  I thought you transferred her over to Yuki and Mai already."

"Mai has rather cleverly figured out a way to share contract status with a demon.  While I don't think we're friends per se, our research sharing has turned out profitable."  Patchouli slowly picked up her teacup and sipped.  Alice noticed Patchouli's clawed hands didn't seem to mind the heat of the cup.

"I still haven't gotten a reason why you're a here as a dragon girl, showing off your legs," Alice noted.

Alice allowed herself a slight smile as Patchouli blushed a little.  "I assure you this was the best I could do on short notice."  She coughed then continued.  "You may have noticed I don't have the best of health."

"That's one way of stating it," Alice replied.  Patchouli existed on a diet of Remilia's desserts and whatever food or diet she was studying for magical reasons.  In addition she prefered not to move unless someone was shooting at her.  That happened fairly often in Gensoukyo, so Patchouli was much stronger now than she was when they'd first met, but the purple haired woman was still incredibly frail without her spells.  "So how does this lead to you being covered in scales?"

Patchouli sighed.  "I'm sure we've spent enough time together for you to know my magical style.  I'm an alchemist, kabbalist, and elementalist first.  Personal shapeshifting is not my forte."  She waggled her clawed fingers.  "However Yuki is a transmutational master, and Mai is a studied demonologist.  Using some of their research I was able to learn about demons who have strong elemental ties."

The pieces all lined up in Alice's head.  "And since that matches your strengths you tried shapeshifting into one of those."  Alice sipped her tea.  "However I'm still wondering why it requires you to brave the tengu reporters to visit me in your current state of dress."

Patchouli blinked, then smirked.  "Ah, I don't worry about tengu reporters.  Tengu are actually weaker than humans against curses.  And they just give away fetishes with which to target them in their newspapers.  After the first dozen tengu to cross a line with me got piles for a month they've learned their lesson."

"I see!"  Alice slowly smiled as she considered that new information.  She had a few old debts to repay.  However, Patchouli tugging the towel back into place refocused her on the current incident.  "Still, that doesn't answer my question."

"Right."  Patchouli sighed and set her teacup down carefully before looking at Alice's wall for a bit.  "I need you to make me clothes for these forms."

Alice stared at Patchouli.  "What."

Patchouli grimaced.  "The spells work surprisingly well.  However there are three issues.  One the spell damages any clothing worn when it is cast.  Two my body goes through physical alterations.  For example in this form I'm gained about four centimeters in all my dimensions in addition to this tail.  Three these forms are suited to extreme environments.  For example in this form I find myself warm despite the spring chill.  Normal clothing wouldn't survive longer than a week."

Patchouli's face returned to her normal placid expression.  "You're the best in Gensoukyo at creating magical clothes.  Thus I turn to you."

Alice sighed.  "Well that explains why you can't just have Sakuya do it."  She leveled her gaze at Patchouli.  "It doesn't explain why you're just in a towel."

Patchouli flushed again.  "It was this or attempting to squeeze into one of my outfits.  I thought this would be the lesser of two evils."

"Why not ask Sakuya to make you some temporary clothes first?"  Patchouli blinked at Alice's suggestion, then pretended to become interested in the wall again.  Alice just smirked and shook her head.  "I'll pretend that's Koakuma's fault.  In any case, you have to understand I won't do this for free."

That caused Patchouli to sober up.  "I'm aware.  After all I'm taking your precious time.  I'm willing to pay double your materials expenses, and a tome or spell of your choosing."

Alice considered the offer.  It was an interesting project, even if it wasn't directly benefiting her.  If it hadn't been something she'd enjoy she'd have dumped it out of hand.  "One tome and one spell, in addition to the polymorph spell you're using or something similar."  Alice replied.

"One tome, a copy of the tome I used to construct this spell and the polymorph spells for each variant," Patchouli counter offered.

"Ah.  I should have expected you'd have one spell for each element."  Alice noded then traced a rune in the air.  "Done.  I swear on the throne of Makai to abide by this deal."

"So I swear, by the Word and my true name," Patchouli said tracing her own symbol.

Alice nodded as she felt the pact take effect.  In all honesty she trusted Patchouli to keep her word, but the older magician liked the rituals.  Alice had to admit she was fond of them too.  "So do you have designs, or are you letting me play dress up?"

Patchouli pulled some notes out of her hat.  "I left most of the fine details to your discretion.  However I fear I have strict requirements for the materials and attributes."

"I see."  Alice looked over the figures while sending Shanghai and a few other dolls to collect her sewing kit and tape measurer.

It was surprising how used to Patchouli's notes she'd become over the years.  While the scribblings and lines weren't any neater, the magical theories they contained made more and more sense to Alice's mind.  The three of them had stolen and traded so many spells from each other that their schools had almost blended.  Patchouli's assumptions, power sources and limitations were almost second nature to her now.

Unfortunately their spell masteries still were different.  Some things required a lot of prior knowledge and skill to work with.  Alice sighed and shook her head.  "I'm afraid I can't do it by myself.  There's no way I can make the clothes like you specified."

"Really?"  Patchouli seemed more surprised than disappointed.  "But you're a master at enchanting clothing."

"Yes.  I'm a master enchanter.  NOT a master elementalist."  Alice pointed out the offending formulas.  "I can make a spell to do what you want, and enchant the clothes with that spell, but I can't make the clothing passively have these magical properties.  It'll always be an active spell.  You'll need an elemental alchemist who's also an artificer to do what you want."

"Damn," Patchouli muttered.  "I can't have those attributes messing with my other spells."  She tapped the table a few times before deflating slightly.  "I suppose I'll have to call Marisa."

"She's the best for this," Alice agreed.  "She has more experience binding power to items than either of us, and she's less likely to gouge you price wise than anyone else who can do it."

"I know.  I just hate being shown up in my own fields," Patchouli muttered softly.  Alice could understand the disappointment.  Marisa was, for all her impressive skill, a hedge magician at heart.  To come in second to her in an entire field of magic was grating for an academic like Patchouli, even if it was a field that most youkai magicians didn't use.  Alice knew as an artisan she'd be incensed if either Patchouli or Marisa came close to her in doll work, even though she respected the other two magicians.

Finally Patchouli flopped down on the table.  Alice turned to the side and focused on her tea as the purple haired woman's towel loosened.  "Well I suppose organic alchemical enchantments really is her field.  I'll have Koakuma drop by and bring her over along with your payment."

Alice took a long sip before replying.  "Very Good.  I suppose I should do the measurements while we wait for them to arrive.  After all your knot's come undone."

Alice closed her eyes as Patchouli started.  Sure enough she heard the sound of a chair falling backwards, followed by the *thwump* of the towel hitting the floor.   She let Shanghai hand her a tape measurer as she carefully stood.  "Now turn around and raise your arms."

She heard Patchouli shuffle around and she opened her eyes.  The woman was blushing furiously, but she'd followed Alice's orders.  The woman's spine was more heavily scaled, and more importantly the robe had been hiding a pair of decently sized wings.  "Well.  I see we've got another challenge to work around," Alice remarked as she pulled out her measuring tape.  "You'll need to extend your wings as well so I know how big the hole in your shirt will need to be."

"Remilia has this so much easier," Patchouli muttered as she stretched her wings.  "Maybe I should look how those animal youkai do it..."

"I think most of them just materialize the clothes, barring a few items," Alice said as she checked the distance between the wings, then the arm length.  "Alright, relax the wings please."  Patchouli complied and Alice checked the woman's bust, stomach, and hip sizes with little issue other then more blushing.  "Now, lower your arms please."  She did a check of neck and shoulder, then height.

Alice took the list from the doll she'd had scribbling down her measurements and shook her head.  "You really did just grow four inches proportionally.  That's somewhat impressive."

"Dragons are supposed to be big, so that comes through."  Patchouli recovered her towel and began the impossible task of tying the knot properly and still having enough towel to cover herself.  "So what do we do while we wait for Marisa and Koakuma to show up and shame me for the rest of my life?"

"I'm going to design something that will last until we finish your new clothes.  You sit here and think of all the suggestions Koakuma will have for you so I can enjoy your blush more," Alice replied as she pulled out some fabric.

Patchouli's face turned even darker.  "You've spent too much time around my familiar.  She's corrupting you."

Alice shrugged.  "She makes taunting you look like so much fun.  And since you and Marisa both seem to insist on being flustered and glaring at each other instead of making a move on me I have to find my enjoyment elsewhere."  Alice smirked as Patchouli buried her face in the table.  "Try not to light the upholstery with your sighs by the way.  My fireproofing isn't designed for dragon breath."  Patchouli glared at her as she started sewing the makeshift skirt.  It was going to be a rough work, but hopefully serviceable.

About ten minutes later Alice tossed over the skirt and a makeshift top.  "It's not much but it should keep you decent while we work."

Patchouli looked at the work.  "It looks like something Koakuma would ask me to wear, but I guess this is quick notice."

"The wings make things difficult," Alice said with a grimace.  "You can grab a blanket as well if you want."

"Best to just live with it," Patchouli sighed as she moved to the closet to change.  Alice took the time to reinforce her wards against scrying and people peering into her windows.

Patchouli walked out a little later, and Alice nodded at her handiwork.  It was crude, but actually looked like clothing.  "Does it fit well?"

Patchouli nodded and stretched her arms and wings out again.  "Very well.  My compliments on your technique.  I knew you were skilled with sewing, but I didn't realized you were so accomplished as a tailor.  Dolls rarely complain if a dress is too tight after all."

Both women started in surprise as the door banged open.  "Heya," Marisa called out as she started walking in.  "Koa's told me you two have an interesting project you need my help wi-..."  The younger mage froze at the scene she'd barged into, while Patchouli quickly folded her arms and wings and turned away from the open door.

Alice glared at Marisa.  "Will you ever learn to knock?"

Koakuma's eye glimmered as she spun happily behind the black white magician.  "Oh no!  Patchouli's made her move Marisa!  You'll need to stri-Ah!"  Koakuma stopped as Shanghai hit the little devil with a pan.

Marisa pulled the stunned familiar in behind her and shut the door before locking it.  "Right.  My bad.  You were looking into clothing.  Sorry."  Marisa looked over Patchouli then shook her head.  "Still I'm kinda impressed.  I knew you have a book horde but still being able to transform into a dragon's gotta be tough."

"And has a large number of side benefits," Patchouli said as she grabbed Koakuma and dropped the devil into a seat.  "Which I assume you'll be stealing within the week."

"Well, might not go dragon, but pretty much!" Marisa said as she flopped down on the couch.  "And I was hoping to have the spell done today.  After all Alice is going to have to take my measurements as well.  I'm not going to run around naked after learning this spell."

"Drat," Koakuma muttered.

Alice blinked.  "Well, you're actually thinking ahead for once.  I'm surprised."  She didn't mention she'd forgotten those details herself.  "Of course if you want me to make clothes for you, you'll have to enchant my clothing as well.  And give me some notes to help me with Patchy's spell."

Marisa nodded.  "Done."

"And what will you be stealing from me?" Patchouli asked.

"Your spell, your clothing notes, and that ritual of yours that makes peridot," Marisa replied.

Patchouli grimaced then nodded.  "Well, let's start with the clothing notes.  What can you do with this?" she said as she handed over the list she'd given to Alice before.

Marisa looked over the notes for a while as Alice picked out another set of fabric.  "Hrm.  Doable, but difficult.  It would be easier if Alice just sewed the spell runes into the clothing directly.  It'd also be better to put some of these enchantments on the caster themselves, but I'm not interested in tattoos."

"There might be a workaround for that, since we're already using transformation magic.  But we can look into it later," Alice said.  "What patterns should I be using on the clothes?"

"Let me sketch them out," Marisa said as she grabbed a piece of paper.  "Patchy double check me will ya?"  Patchouli nodded, then walked over to look over Marisa's shoulder.

Alice looked over at Koakuma as she began pulling out cloth for another makeshift outfit.  "So did you forget to warn Patchouli about this part of transformation magics?"

Koakuma sighed.  "I wish I was so devious.  I kinda forgot myself.  Back when I was hiding my true nature I had to transform in private."  Koakuma shrugged.  "I usually used glamors.  Easier on the wardrobe, and my back."

"Fair enough."  Alice began stitching based on Marisa's old size.  She'd use her size changing magics to alter it to fit, so to speak.  "So, have you two agreed on the runes?  Or will I be designing clothing based on random guesses?"

Patchouli looked up.  "No, but we've agreed on the base design.  The clothing should be plain other than the runic enhancement.  Pleating should be avoided obviously, except on the fringes and accessories."

Marisa nodded.  "We'll want to enchant the base fabric first, before putting on the runes, so you can make the outfits before we start throwing all the expensive stuff at it."

"I'll still need to know the rune placements and sizes to know what to make," Alice pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Marisa said.  "We'll need to figure out the placement as well.  Like this damage protection rune here should probably be on an armband or something," Marisa said tapping a ornate squid like rune.  "That way we can tweak it if needed."

Patchouli rolled her eyes.  "Tweak it with what?  We know what element it will need to resist.  I think you are being overly cautious here."

"Marisa the conservative one?  That's a rarity," Alice said. 

"Yeah, well I'm thinking ahead for myself," Marisa said.  "Patchy here might be a dragon, but I'll bet we'll end up as different hybrids.  Locking ourselves into a generic spell is a bad plan."

Koakuma stretched.  "Why not do your transformation then, Marisa?  Alice can make Patchouli's outfit, while you see what you'll transform into, then you can design your own rune set."

"Hrm, while I still think it's unnecessary, that sounds like a good plan," Patchouli mused.  "Let's get together the runes I'll need, then I'll help you through the spell."

Alice moved to look over as Marisa sketched out several runes.  "These two sets need to be separate, so it'll have to be a two piece outfit."

"Right," Alice pulled out a sheet of paper for herself.  "I'll make a few designs then.  You can pick the one you like Patchouli."

As she began creating the outlines for a few outfits, she listened in on Marisa and Patchouli as the elder mage showed Marisa the transformation spell. 

"Alright this looks like Mai's stuff, but where's the demon name?" Marisa asked as she tapped on the parchment.

Patchouli tapped another part of the paper lightly with her claws.  "This part of the ritual matches the demonic form closest suited to your personality and desires."

"And what if that changes?  People aren't exactly consistent you know," Marisa asked.

Patchouli shrugged.  "Unless you really despise the form, it will become part of your self image, meaning even if you change, you'll still transform into that entity.  Even assuming you change a lot you should get a good fifty years out of the clothing."

"I'm more interested in what demon Marisa will become," Koakuma said.  It seemed the familiar had recovered from being stunned earlier.  "That spell's fire based so it won't be the really interesting transformations, but there's still so many fun options!"

Marisa gave the devil a look, before turning back to Patchouli.  "Koakuma didn't help with this rune that reads what you want right?"

"No," Patchouli said.  "It's an old spell that the Norse developed.  So you don't need to worry about ending up a succubus yourself due to an 'accident'."

"Unfortunately," Koakuma sighed.

Alice finished her first design and grabbed another piece of paper.  "As hilarious as your efforts to get Marisa and Patchouli to turn red are Koakuma, is there something I can do to keep you occupied while we work?"

"Ah!  That's right!"  Alice started as Koakuma rushed over to her.  "Do you have grey ash berries?!"

"Of course.  They're the best component for boosting the explosions of gunpowder-" Alice's eyes grew wide.  "Wait!  Ash berry pie!" 

Koakuma grabbed her hands and pumped them up and down while Shanghai spun around the two sprinkling confetti.  "Exactly!  I knew you'd understand, Alice!  Let's make some!"

"Pie?"  Patchouli blinked in confusion.

Marisa shook her head in confusion.  "The way they're acting it's the secret to eternal bliss instead of a dessert."

"Not eternal bliss, but temporary bliss," Alice replied.  Shanghai put on some glasses as she continued.  "While ash berries are on their own woody and bitter, when properly heated they gain a sweet and sour taste, with a creamy texture.  It's one of the greatest delicacies of Makai, and is traditionally eaten during the creation day ceremonies."

Koakuma nodded happily along.  "It keeps well too, so there's usually enough even for lesser devils like me and my sisters."

"While interesting, I fail to see what this pie has to do with our current endeavors," Patchouli said.

"Because properly heating them requires dragon breath," Alice replied.  Shanghai pointed at Patchouli as three more dolls brought in a bowl of the berries.  "And you are a dragon."

Patchouli looked at the bowl.  "Well, I suppose I can help."

"Anything that makes both Alice and Koakuma that excited has to be pretty interesting," Marisa said peering at the berries.

"I can think of something else that would excite us both," Koakuma purred.

Shanghai whacked the devil with a book.  "It really is a unique experience," Alice said.

Patchouli shrugged, then breathed on the bowl.  Alice's dolls moved back as blue white flames engulfed the ash berries.  Alice winced as the cheap pottery deformed, but that was the reason she chose the bowl.  More importantly the small round grey berries turned gold and grew small bumps.

"Thank you," Alice said as she had her dolls cart the delicacy over to the kitchen.  "Koakuma do you know where the flour is?"

"Yes you showed me last time.  And the eggs as well."  Koakuma stepped into the kitchen to begin cooking.  Alice sent a few helper dolls over to make sure the devil didn't get in over her head, then started the next design.

"Well that was interesting."  Marisa said as she stood up and walked towards the back room.  "Anyway, let's give this spell a shot.  You have a spare towel Alice?"

"I do, but if you've improved your size alteration magics you can use this," Alice said as she tossed the makeshift top and skirt she'd sewn up.

"Hrm," Marisa considered the matter a bit before picking up the clothing.  "A foot or less shouldn't be a problem."

Koakuma poked her head out.  "I can help with the fitting!"

"Weren't you baking?" Marisa said, causing the devil to pout and retreat.  "Anyway I'll be transformed and out in a bit."  She walked into the side room and shut the door.

Alice looked over at her designs then at Patchouli.  "Actually... how much do you care about clothing Patchouli?"

Patchouli looked surprised by the question.  "What do you mean?  Obviously it's useful for keeping me covered."

"Yes.  I've noticed you prefer to just a pull on nightgown normally.  Which is good for being covered, but hardly the pinnacle of fashion or function," Alice pointed out.  "What I'm asking is, do you want clothing that looks good or provides function but requires some time to put on, or just something you can throw on so you aren't walking around naked?  There's no point to me designing something intricate if you're just going to wear it once then give up on the spell because you're too lazy to deal with all the laces and buckles."

Patchouli frowned at the comment, but actually seemed to consider the matter.  "While I admit I don't pay much attention to dressing up normally, I do recognize the importance of proper clothing in some situations.  So long as there's a functional reasoning I'll just consider the dress part of the spell ritual."

"Right."  Alice made some notes.  "I'll try to keep it easy to put on or take off.  And on that note, what level of exposure are you willing to accept?  Nineteenth century prude, modern makai, beachwear or something Koakuma might suggest."

Koakuma popped her head out again.  "I'm willing to help with that!"

Patchouli flicked a harmless firebolt into her familiar's forehead.  "Nothing worse then the third, unless the perversity of the universe demands it."

Alice smirked.  "I doubt it, but I needed to make sure you were paying attention.  I'll do my best to keep it reasonable."

"What the hell?!"  Everyone jumped at Marisa's outburst.  Shanghai moved to peer at the door, while Koakuma looked out from the kitchen.

"What's happened Marisa?" Alice asked.  She hoped nothing had gone wrong with the spell.

There was a creak as Marisa poked her head out, revealing her hair had gained a crimson tint.  Her skin also seemed a little more ruddy, and had a sheen to it.  She'd also gotten some fins behind her ears but they looked different then Patchouli's.  "This spell of yours is a mess, Patchy!  What the heck did you end up turning me into?  This isn't even a fire form!"

Patchouli blinked at the accusation.  "What are you talking about.  It looks like you received a similar transformation to me."

"Similar my ass.  I'm covered in slime!"  Marisa pushed open the door.  While her transformation looked similar to Patchouli's there was a soft look to the red and yellow scale patches, and her skin shimmered with the liquid that had soaked through the clothes Alice had given her.  The witch woman did her best to gesture angrily at Patchouli while covering her chest.  "What nonsense did you hand me?"

"My spell isn't nonsense," Patchouli huffed.  "It worked perfectly.  You just seem to have turned into a Salamander."  Her mouth twitched into a smile.  "A perfect form for a slimy thief like you."

"How is an amphibian a fire creature?" Marisa snapped.

Alice shook her head in exasperation while Marisa fumed.  "Westerners assumed that Salamanders were creatures of fire for a variety of weird reasons.  I'm guessing that because you don't see a need to produce fire, you wanted a form that was immune to fire and had a number of other abilities.  That mucus covering you can probably swap between healing properties, poison and a number of other abilities."

Marisa picked up a spare towel and draped it over her chest.  "Well isn't that wonderful.  Too bad it also means I'm covered in slime."

"Very useful and expensive slime," Patchouli said.  "You've found a form you can use to make money without waiting for your scales to fall of.  Very Marisa."

"If the stuff is so wonderful, I'm sure you won't mind a hug," Marisa shot back.

"You can hug me~!" Koakuma called from the kitchen.  All the magicians shook their head at that.

Alice handed over a sheaf of papers.  "Either way, you'll want waterproofing runes."

"I guess so."  Marisa started scribbling notes down.  "Hope you can live with slime on your seats."

Alice pointed to the door.  "It looks like the mucus mostly sticks to you.  Cleaning should be easy.  Just don't think poisonous."

"I suppose it will have some uses," Marisa mused as she continued work.

"Uses I'll regret you figuring out later," Patchouli sighed.  "Since this form is the one you'll want the most.  Eventually."

"Seems more like the form Koakuma would want the most," Marisa muttered.  But the initial annoyance was gone.

Seeing that problem was dealt with Alice looked back towards the kitchen.  "How's the pie coming Koakuma?"

"Almost ready to start baking," Koakuma replied.  "Just need to finish getting the crust ready."

"So another half hour then?" Alice asked.

Marisa looked up from her notes.  "An hour?  Is that with cooling?"

"Five seconds to cook, the rest to cool," Koakuma said.  "The berries were heated with dragon's breath, remember."

"I'm not sure if I should give the recipe to Sakuya or use it as a way to keep Koakuma busy," Patchouli muttered.

Alice stifled a laugh, then stood.  "Well while you two play with runes, I should practice the spell myself.  Marisa can I see your runework?"

"I'm not done with...."  Marisa frowned then nodded in understanding.  "Oh you mean the notes for the spell itself.  Sure here you are."

"Thank you."  Alice looked down at the scrawl.  It worried her that Marisa's messy notes made almost as much sense as Patchouli's, but given the number of spells the trio had shared it was almost inevitable.  "I guess we really are a coven," she muttered to herself.

"Hm?" Patchouli looked over.  "Did you say something?"

Shanghai ducked down behind her.  "Nothing.  Just figuring out this spell."  She stood.  "I suppose it's time for my transformation."

"So quickly?" Patchouli asked.

Alice nodded.  "Between you and Marisa it's easy to pick out the spell from the insanity.  Now I just need to roll the dice for what form I get."

"Try for succubus!" yelled Koakuma from the kitchen.  Alice rolled her eyes while Shanghai waved a golf club menacingly. 

"Hope you get something better then me," Marisa said.  "I'm done with my runes, so we can move on to picking designs when we get your runes together.  Maybe even get to making the cloth."

Koakuma walked in from the kitchen.  "The pie's baking, so I'll just sit here and draw my own designs for the clothes you should wear.  Maybe watch Miss Patchouli and Marisa gawk at your new and improved body."

"Of course.  Well I'd best transform quickly so they can recover by the time the pie cools," Alice smirked and walked into her room as the other two magicians sputtered.

The door safely closed, she took off her clothes before looking over the notes again.  The spell was complex, but she'd learned most of its components already.  She focused on the intricate runework of the unfamiliar parts for a bit, then began the incantation.

The spell took a bit of time to form, but it snapped together nicely halfway through.  There was a moment of disorientation, and a darkness over her eyes as it completed, but that was normal with transmutations.  As Alice's sight recovered she saw herself in the dressing room mirror, but there wasn't any huge changes to her visible form.

Alice blinked and stretched, then froze as she realized there was a lot of stretch there.  Slowly she looked down.  She was bigger, but more obviously her legs had fused together into a snake tail with red scales and a white underbelly.  She followed her new body back around one, then two loops.  Her snake half was at least twenty feet long, and only slightly slimmer than her hips for most of it.

"Well then," Alice muttered.  "I guess it'll be a dress for me." 

She magically increased the size of the skirt and top she'd brought in and put them on.  Her frown deepened as she realized her new clothing did nothing to keep her warm.  "Stupid cold blood."  Shanghai picked up a cardigan, but Alice waved her away.  She didn't want to damage the expensive sweater.

With a sigh she slithered out of the room.  "Well.  I think I've got some designs to rework."

Alice took some comfort in how the entire room just stopped and stared.  She took advantage of their stunned silence to slither over to the table and put aside her chair.  "So, apparently naga are fire related."

Marisa blinked.  "Uh.  Wow.  Yeah."

Patchouli shook her head, then smirked.  "Well.  It seems I'm not the only one who gained a few pounds."

Alice's tail lashed out and lightly tapped Patchouli on the back of the head.  "Ha ha ha.  Keep that up and I'll take Koakuma's design for your outfit."

"Oh!  Oh!"  Koakuma waved a sheaf of papers over her head.  "I've already got some great ones!  Especially since Marisa reminded me that you can add magic tattoos during transformations!"

"I'll be good," Patchouli replied with a glare at her familiar.

Marisa gave the devil a sidelong glance.  "This is all part of your plan to have Makai rule the magical world isn't it?"

Koakuma pouted.  "Marisa, please.  I'm doing this because it's fun!"

All three magicians sighed.  "Devils."

Alice coiled up to preserve her heat, and was pleased at how natural the movement was.  She had been a little worried about acclimating to the new form's movements, though that meant there might be some problems with instinctual reactions.  She'd have to keep an eye out for that.  "So now that we've all transformed, what do we need to start on?  Other than finding a kotatsu?"

Marisa started scribbling out runes.  "Your form shouldn't require anything too different from what Patchy and I need, so we can work off the old material plans.  Just need a few heating runes on it."

Patchouli looked over the pages of calculations.  "Very well then.  The first thing we'll need is silk."

"You mean spider silk," Marisa pointed out.

"Spider silk?"  Patchouli glared at the other magician.  "That seems like an extravagance worthy of Remilia.  Why would we need spider silk?"


Alice grimaced.  "It would be costly."

"Yeah but if you want some heating on your clothing you're gonna need it," Marisa said.  "And I want some water proofing so I'm not in sopping wet rags all the time."

Patchouli glared at Marisa, "There's no way that spell needs spider silk instead of regular silk!"

"Well we could use regular silk, but then you'd have to use powdered diamond for the runes, which means we might as well ask Koakuma to design the outfits, since we won't be able to afford anything larger," Marisa snapped.

Alice sighed as Patchouli snatched Marisa's notes.  "Let me see those calculations!  There's no way that's right!"

Marisa slammed the notes in front of the other witch.  "Well if you find a way past the bad reaction between cyclical runes and normal silk I'll-"

As the two magicians fought, Koakuma wandered over behind Alice.  "They're at it again," the devil said.

"Hm?  What are you acting so serious about?" Alice replied.  "This is them getting along rather well.  You know Patchouli loves fighting over magical minutia, and Marisa enjoys showing up Patchouli when she's right.  It's good to see them having fun together."

"I guess that's true," Koakuma gave the fight a long look.  Currently they were pulling out books to cite their arguments.  Alice gave them about fifteen more minutes of that before they started trying to attack each other's sources.  The little devil cheered up.  "I guess that's step one of my grand plan finished!  One third of the way there!"

Alice reached out with her tail and grabbed Koakuma.  As the little devil yelped Alice drew her in close.  "I'd say you're almost halfway there.  Though I'm a little hurt you forgot that you needed to convince me."

Koakuma stared at her, then over at where Patchouli and Marisa were still arguing.  Neither of the two magicians had noticed.  A smile slowly grew on Koakuma's face.  "Does that mean I can fondle your boobs then, Alice?"

"Later," Alice said, looked down at the devil.  "Right now I need you to be a good devil for once, and do something that isn't trying to embarrass and arouse one of us magicians.  Also provide me with heat so I stop being so lethargic."

Alice could see Koakuma's mind racing over all the things she wanted to say, but finally she decided to actually listen to Alice's unspoken advice.  The little devil was far more clever than she sometimes seemed.  "What can I help with?"

"I want your assistance with designs," Alice said.  "Legitimate designs that Marisa and Patchouli would feel comfortable wearing all the time.  We both know you're capable of making something that looks good without cutting chunks out for blatant sex appeal.  Prove it to Marisa.  She might have forgotten."

Koakuma took the paper and pencil Shanghai handed her.  "Alice, are you trying to manipulate a demon?"

Alice smirked.  "I've been manipulating demons since I was five."

"Sorry, princess," Koakuma replied, but for once there wasn't any reverence attached to the title.  Alice was pleased.

It helped that the little devil was pretty warm.  Alice really did need the body heat.

The two worked together while Patchouli and Marisa argued the merits of various spells, reagents and clothes, occasionally diverging into rants about the basics of magic or attacks on the character of dead wizards.

Finally the complaints got serious.  "Damn it Patchy, if we don't use ruby dust there's no point in making the clothes at all!"

"Cinnabar should work just as well, if not better," Patchouli snapped.

Marisa jabbed her finger at Patchouli.  "You might not care about your body getting weaker but I-!"

Alice let go of Koakuma and reached out with her tail to grab the two other magicians.  The two yelped in surprise as they were pulled together.  "Alright you two, play nice.  What have you agreed on?"

The two women squirmed a bit in Alice's grasp as Shanghai waved around a paper fan.  Patchouli spoke first.  "We agree on everything except the primary ingredient of the dye."

"I want super expensive ruby dust, Patchy wants cheap deadly poison," Marisa said.

"I have access to cheap rubies," Alice admitted.  "Let's go with that."

"Very well," Patchouli said.  "Now will you let us go before Marisa's slime soaks through my clothes?"

Alice smirked.  "Kiss and make up first."

The two turned bright red.  Patchouli seemed to be considering it, but Marisa squirmed in her coils.  "Alice...."

"Sorry."  Alice pulled her tail back over to her side of the table.  Maybe she had been hanging around Koakuma too much.

"The pie's done!" Koakuma said, saving everyone from awkward silence.

Shanghai spun in excitement, as Alice sent dolls to grab plates.  "Thank you Koakuma.  Shall we have tea as well?"

Marisa resettled into her seat.  "Sure."

"Me as well," Patchouli said.

Alice got a nod from Koakuma, so she sent her dolls to grab four cups of tea.  As they set about the task, Alice organized her papers so they wouldn't get too damaged from eating.  "Here's the designs we have.  Look them over to see if Koakuma and I missed any required runes."

"Wait Koakuma actually made some of these?!"  Marisa looked at the sketches nervously.

"I'm sure one of my cousins could have done better, but I think you'll like the designs," Koakuma said as she handed out slices of pie.

As Marisa stared at the sketches, Alice took a bite from her pie.  Memories of home surfaced as the creamy sweet and sour mix hit her tongue.  She'd really missed this pie.  And surprisingly it was every bit as good as she remembered it.  "Good work, Koakuma."

Koakuma looked like she'd been selected for the Makai founding day ball.  "Ah~.  It's even better fresh."  She spun around then latched onto Patchouli's shoulder.  "What do you think?"

"More sour than Remilia's dishes," Patchouli said as she finished a bite.  "But still sweet.  I wouldn't mind using this transformation to make more."

Marisa shook her head after taking a big bite of the pie.  "Alright, 'fess up you two.  When did you switch bodies?"

Alice felt her tail twitch at that.  "What?"

Marisa jabbed her fork at Alice.  "Koakuma's been playing happy homemaker and drawing fairly reasonable outfits, while you've been flirting shamelessly and have given Patchouli something that looks like one of the outfits from Sanae's seinen manga.  And looking at the second outfit you made for me, the anti dampness charm will fail leaving me in a wet shirt and shorts."  Marisa looked suspiciously between the two.  "The only explanation that makes sense is you and Koakuma switched bodies."

Alice and Koakuma looked at each other.  Then Alice folded her hands beside her head.  "Kyaa~, Marisa found out!  The gig is up!"

Koakuma rolled her eyes while Alice had Shanghai shrug next to her.  "Ha ha ha.  You've had your fun, Alice. Marisa I'm not that out of character am I?"

Now both of the other women were staring at them.  Patchouli narrowed her eyes.  "That is terrifying.  Please stop."

Both Koakuma and Alice burst into giggles.  The expressions on their faces were too good.  Even Alice couldn't keep her composure.  Patchouli and Marisa glowering with surprisingly similar faces was something inherently ridiculous.

Finally Marisa sighed and went back to the pie.  "We're doomed."

"Yes," Patchouli agreed with a resigned shake of her head.  "You should just confess to both of them so we can get on with our eternal suffering."

Marisa turned bright crimson, but managed not to choke on her tea.  "Maybe when I'm not covered in slime."

Alice felt warmth filling her own cheeks and she turned back to her pie.  The magician froze though as Koakuma sidled up next to her and whispered into her ear.  "Too bad.  That slime might be fun.  Maybe next time~"

She burst out coughing at that while Koakuma grinned happily.  Alice considered using her tail to enact some revenge on the familiar, but it seemed a bad long term plan.  Instead she ignored the other two magicians' glances and grabbed the design Marisa had called out.

Sure enough she'd made a simple mistake.  She mentally kicked herself before noticing her penmanship was faltering as well.  "This cold is getting to me," she muttered.

There was a clatter as Marisa placed her hakkero on the table, and then the air began to warm.  "Should have handled that earlier.  You know new spells can be dangerous."

"It's hard to tell.  This body just seems to treat it as normal." Alice replied.  She held her hands out towards the warmth and she swore she could feel her mind speeding up.  "I wonder if it was trying to get me to hibernate?"

Marisa and Patchouli looked at each other then both sidled around the table to sit next to her.  "Well, we can't have that," Patchouli said.

"It'd be bad if you were sleeping on the job," Marisa muttered.

Koakuma hopped on her back.  "Ooh!  Can I strip down and snuggle too~?"

Alice had Shanghai whap her with a paper fan while sending some of her other dolls for a blanket.  "Finish your pie."  She followed her own advice, savoring the treat.  It really was better than her memories.  "We should get together again on Founding Day to make this."

"Maybe in the Mansion?" Patchouli said.  "It sounds like one of the few holidays Remilia wouldn't complain about.  We might be able to get Sakuya to cater a larger meal."

Marisa leaned a little more against her.  "I kinda like the homey feel.  The mansion's a little big."

Koakuma poked the short witch with a wing.  "Oooh, you prefer a more intimate meeting place~?  Someplace where you can sneakily rest on cute girls' shoulders without anyone else noticing~?"

"Alright.  Fine.  Enough of this," Alice started as Marisa dispelled her transformation.  She felt Marisa's arms circle around her, then her mouth was caught in a fierce kiss.

For such a huge tsundere, Marisa was an accomplished kisser.  She pressed her body fully against Alice, allowing Alice to feel the smaller woman's body, while at the same time distracting Alice with her tongue.  Alice had to fight down the urge to wrap around her and keep squeezing Marisa close.

When they finally broke apart Alice smiled.  "About time."  She squeezed Marisa close to her for a long second before letting go and letting her eyes flicker over to where Koakuma was staring open mouthed.  "Well, finish the job."

Marisa's blush deepened, but she nodded before flinging herself onto the succubus girl.  Koakuma let off a happy "Mpmh~!" as Marisa claimed her lips in a kiss.

Alice turned from the two to lean towards Patchouli who was radiating heat like Marisa's hakkero at this point.  "So, ready for your own confession?"

Patchouli hesitated a moment before leaning forward.  "I'll stay transformed so my clothes stay on," she murmured before closing her eyes.

"Yes.  We can fix that later tonight," Alice whispered before finishing the kiss.

Patchouli's kiss was light and breathless, lips and tongue reaching for each other.  Not as passionate as Marisa's, but surprisingly romantic for the bookish magician.  Alice made a note to switch styles between the two girls later.

When they finished Marisa had managed to extract herself from Koakuma's grabby arms.  Patchouli moved to pin the familiar again, while Marisa slipped back to Alice's side, still blushing bright red.  Alice put an arm around the other woman's shoulder.  "Well now.  That wasn't too hard was it?"

"I'm going to catch fire and die of embarrassment," Marisa muttered.

Alice caught Shanghai bringing over a glass of water to dump on Marisa and had the doll set it down on the table instead.  "I thought you did just fine.  You did well enough that Patchouli is trying to one up you with Koakuma at least," she said, tapping the purple haired magician's back to make the point.  "You don't have any regrets right?"

"No," Marisa said quickly and clearly.  She rested on Alice's arm.  "None at all."

Patchouli and Koakuma pulled themselves upright and moved to let Koakuma place a wing around Marisa and her master.  As Koakuma sat there beaming, Patchouli coughed and said, "So should we finish the clothing discussion tomorrow?"

"Of course," Alice replied.  "You can all stay the night."

[DNAbc]

For a moment there I thought Alice's form was a monster musume reference

[Iced Fairy]

The teacher slowly wrote a character on the board, making sure to separate out each stroke. "This is the kanji for alliance or oaths, mei. Here are a few example words."

Izuna carefully wrote down everything as the teacher continued. Learning the human language was becoming easier and easier. Ever since she'd started getting those notebooks from Suzunaan she'd been able to learn all about the human's culture. It was a treasure trove of valuable knowledge for a no name two tailed kitsune like her. In fact once she'd passed the language barrier, she'd started outpacing all the humans in the class. She'd had to start deliberately making mistakes to not stand out. Still she was comfortably 6th in the class.

The bell rang as the teacher was halfway through another kanji. "Ah. It seems that's it for today." He finished the kanji and wrote the reading next to it. "We'll start here tomorrow. After all, we have another ten to master in the next month." The man smiled. "Soon you'll be graduating into fine adults, so study hard while you can."

"Graduation." Izuna's heart sank a little at that.

She'd learned that in the outside world, children went to school until they were eighteen, or sometimes twenty two in human years. Not long for a fox, but a massive amount of a human's lifespan.

Here in Gensoukyo though children were needed to help work the farms and run stores. School went until children were thirteen or fourteen, and even then most dropped out at twelve. The rich got private tutors after that, while the poor had their own jobs.

This was Izuna's last year. The last year of learning with the humans.

"Hey, Izuna!"

She looked up to see the smiling face of Sumire. The violet eyed girl was smiling down at her like always. "You were spacing out. Is something wrong?"

Izuna put away her notebook quickly. "No. I'm fine." She quickly changed the subject. "You have the afternoon off?"

Sumire nodded. "Yeah. Father's out hunting so there's nothing to do really." The girl offered Izuna a hand up. "So can you stay a bit?"

"Well..." Izuna hesitated. She really shouldn't stay too long with the students. She'd become a master at deflecting questions about where her house was, and her parents, but eventually she'd get caught in a lie if she talked too much. "I don't really have anything, but it is a long walk home..."

"Please?" Sumire leaned over and whispered, "Matsu's spreading that stupid rumor about me being his girlfriend. I need someone to help me snub him without making it look like I'm snubbing him. I'll bring you some tofu tomorrow if you help!"

Izuna felt her scalp itch as her hidden ears tried to twitch. "Well... I suppose I could stay for an hour."

"Thanks! You're the best!" Sumire clapped her hands together in excitement. "Let's go grab one of the benches next to the camellias."

Izuna followed the young girl out into the school courtyard, mentally kicking her weakness for fried tofu.

----------

Fortunately Sumire was happy to just chat about her home life, and about the other villagers. Izuna returned with slightly edited stories about her own family, which Sumire always seemed to love for some reason. The one hour she'd planned on staying quickly turned to two.

"Hey Izuna? What are you going to do after you graduate?" Sumire asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Izuna blinked at the question. "Probably go back to helping my family."

Sumire nodded. "Yeah..." The girl sighed. "Wouldn't it be nice if our school was like the outside world's?"

Izuna looked at the other girl. "Hm?"

"Don't you think it would be fun?" Sumire looked into Izuna's eyes. "Getting to meet all sorts of different people. Growing up with your friends. All the clubs and activities. Doesn't it sound grand?"

"Hm..." Izuna considered it for a moment and internally shuddered. Even without trying to keep her disguise that seemed like it would get stifling fast. Perhaps the growing up with friends... but that seemed like a fairy tale. "I would have thought you'd enjoy the learning more. You're top of the class after all." Izuna shook her head. "It seems like a waste to just become a maid or fisher with your talents."

Sumire looked surprised, then laughed. "I'm not that good Izuna. Besides I think you enjoy the lessons more than anyone else. You're the only one who can stay awake through Ms Kamishirasawa's class."

"That's not the joy of learning, that's fear." Izuna shuddered at the thought of the were hakutaku's headbutt breaking her disguise.

Sumire giggled again. "Fair enough!" The girl looked up at the sky again and sighed. "Oh, it's this late?"

Izuna looked up and saw the beginnings of dusk as well. "Ah! I have to hurry back." She jumped up and bowed in apology to Sumire. "Sorry! I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you, Izuna." Sumire waved as Izuna dashed off.

As soon as she was far enough away Izuna slipped into an alley and transformed into a farmer. That way no one could track her back to her lair nearby. She adjusted her basket, then headed out into the field.

Still as she walked her mind went over that conversation. It really was a waste, that people like Sumire would end up just graduating and going into simple labor.

The idea gnawed at her a bit until she put it aside. It didn't matter. Soon she'd graduate herself. And then there would be nothing for her to learn in the human village anymore.

It was sad, but life was about changes, right?

------------

Izuna closed her notebook as the bell for the end of classes rang. She'd filled this one. This would be the last notebook she'd fill as well. Her last trip to Suzunaan. Well unless she wanted to buy a youkai book.

"Hey, Izuna." She looked up to see Sumire standing there. "Can you stay today?"

"Sorry," Izuna said. "I've got an errand to run." Sumire's face fell, so she added, "Maybe I can swing by on the way back?"

"It would be nice if you did," Sumire said.

Izuna hopped up. "I'll see what I can do. Later Sumire." She rushed out towards the bookstore.

Suzunaan was as strange as always, a heart of youkai energy in the rich quarters of the city. It had been easy to find, even when she'd been younger. She was surprised something terrible hadn't happened here, but perhaps the fact that it was a bastion of youkai energy protected it. The shrine maiden, the witch, and powerful youkai were often around. Which meant any trouble was quickly found, and quickly stamped out.

Fortunately none of them were here when she entered. Only the proprietor herself, sitting reading another youma book.

Izuna walked up and placed her notebook on the table. "Thank you for the notebook."

Kosuzu looked up from her reading and adjusted her glasses. "Ah! Is it time for a new book already? Let me grab one..."

"I won't need a new one," Izuna said. "It's only the last tests now. I'm graduating soon."

"Really?!" Kosuzu blinked and took off her glasses. "I'm growing old," she muttered before picking up the notebook and looking it over. "Our last notebook, huh? I'm going to miss your visits."

Izuna bowed low. "Thank you again for helping me with my studies. I'm very grateful for your services."

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Kosuzu said. The bookseller hesitated then asked, "So what's your plan after graduating?"

"I'll probably return to the foxes," Izuna said. "I know enough to be more than a child to them."

"I see." Kosuzu's face fell a bit. "You don't feel any connection to the village?"

Izuna hesitated. She'd guessed Kosuzu's intentions for a while now, but never said anything. But now that their business was concluded, she felt like she should explain. "Miss Kosuzu, what would you say if you heard someone was trying to turn you into a youkai?"

Kosuzu blanched and looked around in alarm. "What?! Again?!"

"Um, that was a hypothetical!" Izuna said quickly.

"Oh. Uh," Kosuzu chuckled. "Well it'd be a problem."

Izuna bowed. "That's what a youkai feels like when someone tries to make them a human."

"Ah." Kosuzu looked surprised, then sad. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I know you meant well," Izuna said. "And I know you won't betray me. That's why I'm willing to tell you that."

Kosuzu nodded. "Thank you." Her expression became more cheerful. "And if you need any books, or if you want to sell any, come by please!"

"Sure," Izuna said as she left.

Izuna began walking down the streets. She'd gone several blocks before she realized she was heading towards the school instead of the city gates. She frowned then shrugged. "I'll be leaving forever soon. It won't matter." With that affirmation she started heading to the schoolhouse.

The distant crash of wood and screams made her freeze for a moment. Her ears, weakened as they were by human form still could pick out where they were coming from.

Straight ahead.

Izuna put on a burst of speed and leaped onto the roof before zipping as fast as she could across the line of houses. Her glamour burnt away, revealing her silver ears and two tails as she dashed through the air.

As she flew across the last street to the school she saw students running away. There was a hole in the middle of the courtyard, and the side of the school building had been shattered by huge claws. Then the smell hit her.

Badger.

Her instincts told her to flee. She was a two tailed kitsune, and a badger youkai was more than a match for her. But at the same time something pushed her forward as well.

There was another crash and a scream. A familiar voice's scream.

Sumire.

Izuna rushed forward, flying through the broken hole in the school building. She saw the wiry form of the badger youkai. The smashed desks and torn cushions. And a young girl with red hair and purple eyes, lying in a pool of her own blood.

With a high pitched howl she rushed at the badger, letting her jaw extend as she let more of her fox form come through. The badger started to turn, but she was too fast. She latched onto his neck and bit down hard, while her claws dug into his sides and belly.

The badger youkai roared in rage and fell backwards onto her slamming her hard against the tatami. "Kill! Kill those that stole my future! Kill their future! Kill you too!" The badger twisted and turned, trying to break Izuna's hold while slashing at her with his own claws. She felt pain as he tore at her sides, but she didn't let up her own attack.

They fought for what seemed like ages. Thrashing and slamming against the walls and floors while scrabbling at each other, searching for a deadly blow. And all the while more blood seeped into Izuna's mouth from the bite.

Then there was a snap. The resistance in her mouth lessened and blood gushed into her throat. She coughed instinctually and the badger threw her aside.

Izuna rushed to her feet, but the badger didn't attack. The man thrashed and staggered about holding his neck. The carotid. She'd pierced his artery. And her magic enhanced fangs would make the wound lethal.

But badgers were tough, and even with all the other blood he'd lost the youkai managed to stagger about for another half a minute before falling down.

When Izuna was certain he wasn't faking she rushed to Sumire's side. There was blood. A lot of blood. But the girl was breathing. Izuna reached over and summoned what little healing magic she could. If she could keep Sumire from bleeding to death the village doctors should be able to save her.

Izuna breathed a sigh of relief as the wounds slowly stopped leaking. Then she froze as Sumire's eyes opened. The purple irises flickered over her ears, then tail...

Then Sumire's eyes closed again and Izuna nearly fainted in relief. If she'd was seen here she'd be in trouble. A youkai had just attacked the school! Merely the threat of that had brought in the shrine maiden. Now that someone was hurt, the hunters would be out for blood.

She shivered. That meant she needed to leave. Now. Anyone coming here wouldn't wait to hear her explanation.

Izuna grabbed the corpse and took to the skies. She'd speak with the fox elders. They'd know what to do.

-------

Izuna shivered beneath the glare of Tamamo no Rei. The kitsune matriarch's gaze was cold and pitiless. The hours of waiting before she'd been sent into the room didn't help at all.

After a moment Tamamo no Rei's gaze softened a bit, and the nine tailed fox sighed. "Don't cower so much. I'm not angry with you. You were Izuna yes? No family yet."

"Yes," Izuna replied.

"Well Izuna, as I said I'm not angry with you. You did not act outside the boundaries of the law. While abandoning the humans might have been a smarter course of action, I can't reprimand you for saving the lives of children." Rei's tails twitched. "In fact considering your own age, your actions were surprisingly brave. You're lucky to have won."

Rei's eyes narrowed again. "However, the humans are unlikely to believe your actions were benign. Merely infiltrating their school might cost you your life."

Izuna felt a pit in her stomach, but she nodded in understanding. That had always been the risk. She'd never actually believed she'd get caught, but she'd known what would happen if she was.

"Fortunately," Rei continued, "you brought the corpse back to us. We can use this. The human girl you saved didn't see you, which means they're searching for the killer instead of a kitsune infiltrator. That means we can hide your involvement in the matter." Izuna's ears perked up, but Rei raised a hand in warning. "Still it will be costly."

Rei looked down at her. "So Izuna, are you willing to accept responsibility for your actions? Will you pay the price needed to soothe the humans' fears? Even if that price is your life?"

Izuna was trembling again, but in the end she managed to nod. After all what choice did she really have?

"Good." Tamamo no Rei turned her attention away from her. "Well such drastic measures are likely unnecessary. Let's see if we can't handle matters a different way." She turned to one of her retainers. "Have we contacted the witch?"

"She's on her way," the seven tailed fox replied.

"Very well." Rei signaled a servant. "Bring some food for our young supplicant would you? Children need to eat more often after all."

Izuna bowed in thanks as the servant ran off. She didn't feel hungry, but refusing would be poor manners. When the simple meal appeared in front of her however she managed to eat the whole set.

She'd finished and the remnants had been taken away when a retainer walked in leading a small woman in a strange witch's outfit. Tamamo no Rai bowed her head slightly. "Helena, the Witch of Thebes. It is an honor to have you visit."

Izuna peered more closely at the witch. She'd seen the three visiting magicians from the western realms before, but she'd always made herself scarce quickly before they found her out. Aside from the woman's strange dress, she looked not too different from some of the other magicians.

The young witch shrugged. "I couldn't exactly refuse the offer. Besides you said you knew something about the attack that's ruining my summer vacation. Every youkai hunter is hunting for the bastard who attacked the school. In fact half the youkai are looking too from what I heard."

"Not surprising," Rei said with a smile. "The civilized youkai would love to prove they are loyal to the spirit of Gensoukyo." The woman's countenance darkened. "I do in fact know about what happened. Unfortunately, the situation is more complicated." Tamamo no Rei looked at Izuna. "Why don't you explain?"

Izuna swallowed the lump in her throat as everyone's gaze fell on her, and she did her best to explain what happened. She stumbled over the first bits, but as the witch looked more and more impressed, she found it easier to continue. When she finally got to the end when she fled she felt confident that things would turn out okay.

Helena turned to Rei. "Do you know why he was attacking the school?"

"It seemed he had several failed romances behind him," Rei said. "He was carrying items stolen from the family of his last obsession, possibly in an attempt to implicate them." Rei waved her fan dismissively. "We've already handled that matter."

"What's the rest of your plan?" the witch asked.

"Simple," Rei pointed to the body. "You act as if you caught the thief, and turn in the body as proof."

Helena nodded. Izuna shifted uneasily as the witch summoned a curse to her hand then slammed it into the corpse, causing wounds to appear all over the body. "Done. But you have to know Marisa and Reimu will know I'm lying."

"True, but Marisa's a youkai now, and the shrine maiden is far more reasonable than most," Rei replied.

Helena summoned a mystical disk to carry the body before turning back to Rei. "You know that there's no real chance of the village asking for her head."

Rei folded her hands into her sleeves. "The probability of that happening is two percent. But while that's lower than any time in history, when you have lived as long as I have you stop being surprised when the odds betray you." The fox matriarch smiled. "With you handling it, the probability of something bad happening to my foxes drops to a number mathematically indistinguishable from zero."

"You foxes and your math." Helena shook her head. "Well I'd better hurry. Anything to get my 'teacher' to calm down and let us start some proper research. I'll send a note later Lady Tamamo."

"We will be glad to receive it," Rei said. The witch waved then walked out the door.

Izuna sat up straight as Rei looked back at her. The kitsune matriarch nodded. "With that you should be safe to return to the village as your fake self. In fact I suggest it. People will notice if a second child is missing."

"I will!" Izuna replied happily.

"As for your service, well, normally I wouldn't have real work for a two tailed child," Rei said. "But you're about to get your third tail aren't you? And more importantly you've been visiting Suzunaan without drawing the attention of that damned tanuki woman." Rei's expression darkened for a bit before she smiled. "So, do you think you can continue being our eyes and ears there?"

"Gladly!"

--------

The joy that her escape had brought was all gone when she returned to the village a day later. The attack, and the short hunt afterwards, was the talk of the town. Classes had been canceled of course, and the graduation ceremony delayed.

The delay in the graduation ceremony was a good thing though. It would be wrong to hold it when the best student in the class couldn't attend.

Sumire's house was outside the village walls. Not into the farms, but definitely not a rich home. Still it looked sturdy, and it had two rooms it seemed. Izuna walked to the side and called out, "Excuse me. Is Sumire seeing people?"

The door opened revealing Sumire's father. "Ah. You were... Izuna? Yes, she's awake. She's been resting all morning so seeing someone might do her good. Come in."

"Thank you." Izuna let him lead her into the side room.

Sumire was there sitting on a futon, bandages covering her many wounds. When they walked into the room however the purple eyed girl perked up immediately. "Izuna! You came to see me!"

Izuna smiled weakly. "Of course. After... well... that mess, I had to see if you were okay in person."

"Well," Sumire's father stepped back. "I should do some of my work. Call out if you need anything."

The two girls waited until he left before Izuna said, "Well... um, how are your injuries?"

"They aren't actually that bad," Sumire said with a smile. "Someone healed me before I lost too much blood. And then one of the new doctors saw me. They said I won't even have many scars."

Izuna sighed in relief. "That's good!" She relaxed a bit, then said, "So who else has been by?"

"About half the village," Sumire said with a laugh. "Ms Kamishirasawa even came by in Hakutaku form!"

"Really!" Izuna shivered in both fear and eagerness. "Tell me, tell me!"

The two chatted happily for a bit, recounting Sumire's meetings and misadventures since the incident. Izuna talked about the big meetup of all the youkai hunters after Helena had dropped off the culprit as well. After that they sat in silence for a bit.

Then Sumire looked hesitantly over at Izuna. "Hey, Izuna?"

"Yes?" Izuna asked.

The purple eyed girl took a deep breath. "I remember. I remember what really happened at the school."

Izuna froze. She felt goosebumps all over her body.

"I didn't tell anyone!" Sumire quickly said. "No one else knows!"

It was still too much. A human knew about her. A human who had lived with her normally for a long while. Izuna started to stand. "I should go."

As she started out the door Sumire lunged out to grab at her and whimpered in pain.

Izuna froze again, then found herself leaning down to help the girl back onto the futon. "You're hurt!" Izuna said. "Don't push yourself."

Sumire squirmed a bit then relaxed as Izuna helped her get comfortable. The girl took a few moments to recover then forced a smile. "Your real form is pretty."

"I..." Izuna closed her eyes. "Thank you."

There was a silence, then Sumire asked quietly, "Are you going to leave still?"

Izuna nodded slowly. "Yes. We're graduating after all."

"Ah." Sumire sniffed, then sighed. "That's right isn't it? Graduation."

"Yeah." Izuna stood.

"Izuna."

"Yes?"

"I'm glad I saw the real you."

Izuna wiped her eyes, then turned to the door. "I'll see you at the ceremony."

-----

Izuna was glad the tanuki smoked. It was a foul stench, but it made tracking the woman easy. She wasn't sure how the other kitsune hadn't managed to figure out that trick. But the fact that they hadn't meant she'd been able to keep her job as a spy on Suzunaan for years now. It'd been eight years since she'd graduated, and Mamizou still hadn't caught her.

Today though she was on personal business. She slipped into the store and waved to the owner. "Kosuzu. I have something for you."

"Oh, Izuna!" Kosuzu smiled. "Great timing! We've had a number of purchases and need to restock. What did you bring?"

"Some books written in the oni language, by Eureka Heart herself," Izuna said placing the tomes on the counter.

Kosuzu snatched the books up. "That's the famous novelist, right?! The one who's written a bestseller in every literary field! I thought she was a tengu?"

"Apparently her books appear in the underground at the same time as they do up above," Izuna said. "There are rumors she's an oni, or even one of the Komeiji sisters' pets."

"Wow!" Kosuzu was flipping through them eyes already looking over the writings. "I'll take them! Your usual fee?"

Izuna nodded. "Though I'll be visiting Kourindou for some of his math books, so anything he'd like will do as well."

"We've got the money so I'll save us all the haggling," Kosuzu said, pulling out several coins. "Thank you again! This will be a great addition to my collection."

"And it won't try to kill you or eat you," Izuna said with a smile.

Kosuzu pouted at her. "That doesn't happen that often!"

"I make a koban off you each year you don't turn into a youkai," Izuna said. "My odds are that good."

"At least you're betting on me," Kosuzu muttered.

"I suppose that's true," Izuna said. "I'll bring by more books when I find them."

Kosuzu smiled. "See that you do!"

Izuna pocketed the money and walked out into the village. She was actually doing pretty well for herself after that haul. Maybe she could go get some inarizushi as a treat before heading off to Kourindou.

"Izuna?!"

Izuna looked up into two violet eyes. The woman before her had grown considerably in the last eight years, and her bright red hair was in a orderly braid instead of just hanging loose, but Izuna knew her immediately. "Sumire?"

"It's been so long!" Sumire stepped close to Izuna and clasped her hands. "I haven't seen you since school! Oh, we simply must have lunch together and catch up!"

"Well..." Izuna looked for an escape route. "I did have some errands to get to..."

"I know a place that has wonderful fried tofu," Sumire said.

Izuna bit her lip. Well it wasn't a problem if she talked with Sumire, right? After all the woman already knew her secret. "Alright. I suppose my errands can wait. Books don't spoil."

Sumire started leading her towards the north market. "So you're still studying? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You liked learning the most of all of us. You were holding back all the time in school weren't you?"

"I was," Izuna admitted. "But only a little. It's hard to make deliberate mistakes and not get caught." She looked over at Sumire. "So what are you doing these days?"

"I fish," Sumire said. "It's not the most exciting work, but it's the best way for an unmarried woman to make a living."

Izuna nodded slowly. "True. I didn't expect you to go that route though. You liked being around people..."

"Oh you remembered?" Sumire grinned. "But it's okay. I've become friends with all the people at the market now. I've got plenty of people to talk with."

"That's good," Izuna said. She was glad her old friend was doing well.

Sumire paused thinking for a moment. "I suppose there is one thing that worries me though."

"Oh?" Izuna looked at the other woman. "What is it?"

"Well, my house is a good ways from the village," Sumire said. "It's helpful as a fisherwoman, but there are youkai about. It can get a little scary at times."

Izuna's eyes flashed to the woman's scars, faded but still visible on the back of her left hand. "I've heard there are youkai in the village as well," she said quietly.

Sumire laughed. "I suppose there are!" She looked up at Izuna. "But those are mostly good youkai I feel. Youkai that would protect humans. I'd feel safe if one of those youkai was with me."

"I see." Izuna felt slightly embarrassed at the woman's praise. "I don't know what they'd think about you calling them good youkai though. After all even good youkai are tricksters."

"They can't be worse than the fairies," Sumire replied. A gleam appeared in the woman's eyes. "Well, I can't ask for a youkai to help me, but if you needed a place to stay Izuna I'd be happy to make some room for you. It's not too close to the village, but if you're running to the forest of magic it might be a good location for you. And we can switch off cooking and cleaning."

Izuna felt her tails trying to twitch. It was a terrible idea. An idea sure to get her in trouble. But on the other hand, Sumire did already know her secret. And two women living at the edge of town would draw less suspicion than a woman whose address wasn't known.

The help cooking and cleaning sounded nice too. Even maintaining a simple den for her fox form was a fair amount of effort.

"I'll think about it over lunch," she said.

Sumire took her hand. "Sure. Now, why don't you tell me all the grand things you've learned while I've been scooping ayu out of the rivers?"

------

Izuna banished her foxfire as the sun came out from behind the clouds. The rain was still falling, but it was light enough to read without magical aid. But at the light footsteps behind her she set down her book.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you," Sumire said as she placed down a tray with tea.

"It's fine," Izuna said. "I was only rereading it because there's no point in going outside."

"Is that so?" Sumire sat down next to her.

The two looked out over their small yard, out into the border of the forest. It was a pretty view, one that they'd enjoyed working on together in between their jobs and keeping the house in order.

After a bit of silence Sumire chuckled. "So, who's getting married?"

"Eh?" Izuna frowned at the random comment, before finally getting the connection. "Ah, of course. Sunshowers. A fox's wedding." Izuna smiled. "Well if someone is getting married they're eloping."

"My! How scandalously romantic," Sumire cooed, before sidling up to Izuna. "So I take it things are going well in your mysterious kitsune court?"

Izuna sniffed. "I wouldn't know. I'm just a messenger." Izuna grinned. "Besides they wouldn't trust me with important secrets anyway. They know you might bribe me with some fried tofu."

"A terrifying weak point." Sumire giggled. "Though that puts some of our conversations when we were children in a different light. People might think I'd been planning this from the start."

"You mean you weren't?" Izuna asked.

Sumire pouted. "Do you really think I'm that cunning, Izuna?"

"You hide all the pens in the house when I get a math book you want to read so I can't write answers in the margins," Izuna pointed out.

"That's a required survival skill," Sumire retorted. "You're too good at the problems."

Izuna stretched. "I'd get scratch paper, but then you wouldn't have any competition."

"Hmph." Sumire turned back to her tea.

Izuna chuckled and sipped her own cup. "It's good."

"Thank you."

The two sat, side by side, watching the rain fall through sunny skies.

"Hey..." Izuna hesitated.

"Yes?" Sumire looked at her.

Izuna paused to gather her thoughts. This question had been burning inside her, but she didn't quite know how to ask it.

Finally she simply asked, "Were you planning this all from the start?"

"Hm?" Izuna felt warm as Sumire rested her head on Izuna's shoulder. "I don't know. We were both just foolish girls at the time. But I can't say I'm unhappy."

Izuna let her ears and tail appear. "Even though I'm a fox?"

Sumire wrapped an arm around her. "I told you didn't I?" Sumire moved up and whispered in Izuna's ear, "Your true form is beautiful."

Slowly, Izuna turned to face Sumire. The woman's beautiful violet eyes met hers, and she had her answer. She let her tails wrap around the other woman's waist, and they both leaned forward and kissed.

When they both broke apart for air, Sumire breathlessly said, "Izuna... do you want to be the fox that elopes today?"

Izuna answered with another kiss.

------

Izuna handed over the scroll she'd tricked Kosuzu out of to the retainer. Tamamo no Rei took it, checked it briefly, then nodded. "Thank you, Izuna. This will save us a great deal of trouble later on." The kitsune matriarch handed it off to another retainer for storage.

"Is there anything else you need?" Izuna asked.

Rei paused for a moment, tapping her chin. "While there are a few things I need, I fear I will have to find someone else to handle them. You've paid your debt to the Tamamo family in full." Rei smiled. "An auspicious start to your next century, three tailed fox Izuna. Congratulations by the way."

Izuna smiled and absentmindedly stroked her new tail. "Thank you."

"Tell me Izuna," Tamamo no Rei said, "what are your plans now? Do you plan on joining a family? Or perhaps taking up service to the gods?" Rei looked down at her. "Perhaps you'd like to keep working for the kitsune court?"

"Thank you again, but I think I want to work for myself for a little bit," Izuna replied. "I've made a fair amount of money on my own."

Rei sighed and tapped her fan against her palm. "And I suppose that human woman you're seeing has nothing to do with it?"

Izuna felt her face heating up at the matriarch's statement. "Maybe."

"It's always the bright ones," Rei muttered to herself. She sighed then sat up straight. "I have a gift for you Izuna. As head of the Tamamo family, I grant you the name Kuzu. From henceforth you shall be known as Kuzu no Izuna."

"Kuzu..." Izuna let the name sink in. The surname of the fox that had married into the Abe family. The fox that had followed her love into death. She bowed her head. "It is an honor."

------

Izuna slowly combed Sumire's ash grey hair. The years had faded its brilliant colors, but the woman's violet eyes had stayed bright.

But soon even that would change.

Izuna finished the braid then moved to sit beside Sumire. The two women clasped hands, one smooth, the other wrinkled and trembling. Sumire gave a light squeeze. "You should go out today."

"It's fine," Izuna replied. "I want to be here."

Sumire sighed. "You're holding on to me too much you know. I'm worried you might do something foolish and follow me."

Izuna closed her eyes. "You don't want me to?"

"Of course not." Sumire rested back. "I fell in love with a fox. A beautiful noble fox. I knew you would outlive me." She slowly grinned. "But I'm selfish so I decided to take what time from you I could."

"Hm." Izuna managed her own smile. "Then you shouldn't be trying to send me out so often. Time is something you should be rationing."

Sumire patted Izuna's hand. "Time in this life yes. But you've forgotten Izuna, we humans have our own powers. I'll reincarnate. And I'll find you again for sure."

Izuna leaned down and kissed Sumire's cheek. "Promise?"

"I promise."

-----

There was a legend in the human village. "In the rainy months a fox spirit would appear, and leave a single bouquet of violets on a timeworn grave." No one knows why the fox does so, or who the grave belonged to, but children would occasionally dare each other to try to get a peek at the fox as she went about her business.

Honestly, it was starting to become a pain for Izuna. She'd had to drive off at least five fools looking for her in the last ten years, and one of those times she'd had to save the child from angry spirits. That wasn't how she wanted to be spending her time.

Still at least this boy was young. Getting him out of the way would be easy. She transformed, put on her best scowl, and boldly stomped down the path towards the boy's hiding place. "Just what are you doing here?!"

The boy leaped nearly a foot in the air before whirling around to cower before her. "I- I was just trying to see the fox, Ms Kamishirasawa."

"And what were you going to do if you did see her? Kitsune can be dangerous youkai, especially if you spy on them." Izuna glared down at the child with the stare that had cowed many a rebellious student. "I'm taking you back to the village right this instant. Come along now."

She grabbed the boy by the shoulder and began hurrying him back down the path to the village. He squawked in protest, but he didn't complain too much. He was probably dreading the headbutt the often followed one of Keine's lectures. Today he'd get lucky, but the fear would make Izuna's job easier.

"Masahara!"

The boy looked over towards the source of the voice. "Mother?"

A dark haired woman wearing the rough clothes of a farmer was running down the path, a mixture of worry and annoyance on her face. "I told you not to go to the graveyard at night! Kogasa isn't the only youkai about!"

The woman looked up and Izuna froze.

Violet eyes.

Masahara used her surprise to flee to the relative safety of his mother's arms. "But moooom! I wanted to see the woman who puts the flowers across from dad's grave."

That's right. There had been another grave the last time she'd visited. She had paid little attention to it.

The woman firmly grabbed the young boy's arm. "That doesn't give you the right to disturb them. You're lucky they're so reasonable." She then bowed to Izuna. "I'm sorry honorable youkai for disturbing you this night. We'll get out of your way."

Izuna blinked. She considered lying, but she could tell from the woman's expression that her disguise had failed. "How did you know?"

The woman gave a familiar giggle. "It's a full moon, miss youkai."

A quick look at the sky showed that the woman had spoken true. Izuna smacked her forehead. Such an amateur mistake. She was tired apparently. "It seems I'm caught Miss...?"

"Kiriko," the woman replied.

Izuna nodded then banished her own glamor. She took some satisfaction that Kiriko seemed just as speechless as she had been before. She carefully pulled a single violet from the bundle she'd hidden, then presented it to Kiriko. "Kuzu no Izuna. Perhaps we could both visit those who've gone on before us?"

The violet eyed woman hesitated a moment, then took the flower. "Thank you miss."

The young boy tugged on Kiriko's arm. "Mom, she's the kitsune!" he hissed.

Both Inzuna and Kiriko chuckled at the obvious observation. "Yes," Kiriko said. "And since she said it was alright, we can follow her."

As they walked along the stone path, Izuna turned to Kiriko. "So, you're raising the boy alone?"

The other woman nodded solemnly. "His father passed away in the plague two years ago. Along with his parents."

"It must be hard," Izuna said.

"We still have some money," Kiriko said. "And the farm is paid off. We'll manage."

Izuna gave the woman a smile. "Well, I'm sure the heavens will look favorably on a clever woman who does her best for her family."

"Are you a messenger of the gods?" Masahara asked with wide eyes.

"No," Izuna replied. "But I know a few kitsune who are." She leaned down and whispered loudly, "And they said an outsider might stumble onto your farm to help you and your mother out. As long as you're a good boy that is."

Masahara nodded eagerly. "I will be!"

"But-" Kiriko looked shocked at the offer, but Izuna just winked. Sometimes youkai unpredictability helped.

"We're here," she said as they reached the section of the graveyard.

Kiriko nodded. "Come, Masahara." She led the boy to the plot across the way.

Izuna turned to Sumire's grave, and knelt down beside it. "Well, you kept your promise. But you haven't made it easy for me," she whispered as she placed the violets on the grave. Financially supporting a farm was simple, but she hadn't the slightest idea how to help with a child.

She turned back to Kiriko and Masahara as they stepped away from the grave opposite. "I'll see you safely back home tonight."

"Thank you," Kiriko replied. Then the woman smiled. "And if an outsider were to appear tomorrow, there might be fried tofu for lunch."

----

And so we test how few Touhou characters we can put in a Touhou fanfiction while still having it be Touhou. Izuna is the unnamed fox spirit that torments Reimu in the Suzunaan manga, Kosuzu is of course herself, and the rest are all my own creation.

I used the Tamamo name for the leader of Gensoukyo's foxes because Tamamo no Mae is considered the "Ur-kitsune" as it were. She's supposedly the origin of all fox demons from China to Japan. However since she's slightly dead I have another family member taking the position.

----

Kuzu no Ha is the name of Abe no Seimei's mother. I chose to use Kuzu as the name instead of Kuzunoha because Raidou's got that name taken.

Omake:

As Izuna waited in the lobby she pulled out her phone and texted Kosuzu, "Did you find the books I needed?"

After a moment Kosuzu replied, "Yes. They should be there in two days."

"I'm still surprised you're leaving Gensoukyo though. Even with the world opened up," Kosuzu added.

Izuna snorted. "You have it easy. You know where the Child of Miare will appear. I have to be more proactive."

"They're both due to show up soon, aren't they?" Kosuzu said. "Well good luck! And good luck with the job too."

"Thanks." Izuna sent the last message then pocketed her phone. Admittedly, she didn't need luck for this job. She was vastly overqualified for it, but even in the new Shogunate "Years of experience as a youkai" wasn't acceptable on a resume, so she was starting at the bottom.

A woman walked out and bowed to her. "Izuna Kuzu? I'm Mai Watanabe."

Izuna bowed in return. "A pleasure."

"We're really excited to have you join our faculty," Mai said. "I'm sure you already know this, but with the Shogunate working to restore Tokyo quickly, the number of students has skyrocketed. Having a youkai like yourself as a teacher will help them learn both basic knowledge, and proper etiquette between species."

"How the tables have turned," Izuna said. When Mai glanced at her curiously she explained. "When I was just a two tailed fox I went to school in the village for much the same reasons."

"Oh? That sounds like an interesting story. You'll have to tell it to the rest of the staff some day." Mai led her up the stairs. "Speaking of, I'm sure it was mentioned before, but we haven't quite finished constructing all the staff rooms. You'll have to share for a bit."

"Yes. The director mentioned that when he hired me," Izuna replied.

Mai motioned to an open door. "Well here we are."

The area was a bit small for two people, but not too cramped. There was a red haired woman working behind the far desk. Izuna politely rapped on the door to announce her entrance. "Hello. I'm Izuna Kuzu, the new math and youkai language teacher."

The woman stood up from behind the desk and bowed. "Ah, you must be my new roommate. I'm Chihiro Taotaka, history."

As Chihiro stood up again Izuna froze. Familiar violet eyes met hers again.

Finally Izuna sighed. "It's not fair if you keep matching my age when we meet."

"Hm? What did you say?" Chihiro asked.

Izuna laughed. "Nothing. A pleasure to meet you Chihiro. I'm sure we'll get along perfectly."

[Hideki]

Oh hey Helena's here.  Now I'm wondering if this is the same summer vacation as the first or if she's made a habit of visiting Gensokyo over time.

[Iced Fairy]

Oh hey Helena's here.  Now I'm wondering if this is the same summer vacation as the first or if she's made a habit of visiting Gensokyo over time.

This is a later vacation, when she's grown up a bit and learned to stop worrying and enjoy causing damage in Gensoukyo.

[Iced Fairy]

Ellen Fuwafuwaatama Aureus smiled happily as she dusted her store.  Or maybe this was her house.  She forgot sometimes which was which.  Fortunately her store was also her house so if she forgot one she was still right!

Today was another slow day though.  Not many people came to her shop.  She wasn't quite sure why.  She'd asked Marisa once and got told it was because of her location.  But she couldn't move or she'd forget where her house was.  Being a store owner was really tough.

A scratchy meow told Ellen her pet cat Socrates wanted to go outside.  A quick look out the window told her the weather was nice, so she decided to go out for a small walk.  "Alright Socrates.  But remember to stay close.  And no bothering the birds."  Socrates replied with another bored meow, which Ellen took as agreement.  Of course Socrates was a terrible liar, but if he knew Ellen was watching he was usually good.

She grabbed a money pouch just in case she ran across a food cart, then opened the door and stepped out into the world, Socrates at her heels.  It really was a nice day outside.  The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and there was a corpse on her front porch.

Ellen blinked.  That last part didn't seem to fit.  She frowned at the corpse.  "You are ruining the atmosphere."

The grim reality hit her a second later.  There was a body on her porch.  Ellen yelped and leaped into the air, looking around for the youkai that might have done this.  Instead all she saw was her garden, like usual.

"Hm..."  She decided to inspect the corpse more clearly.  It was a man.  Middle aged and wearing fine silk clothes from the village.  However the clothes were muddy and torn.  There were a few wounds on his body, but nothing that should have killed him.  "A mystery," she muttered to herself.

"Alright."  She nodded.  "I'm on the case."  She'd hunt down the murderer responsible for this crime!  "Let's begin Socrates."

She looked down to see Socrates dragging the body towards the forest.  "Hey!  Stop that.  I need that evidence."  She tried to shoo Socrates away, but the red and black cat hopped back and forth, doing everything it could to keep slowly moving the corpse.

A meow from behind her caused her to look over.  Socrates was sitting on the porch, looking annoyed at everything.  "Ah."  As Ellen blinked at her cat, she remembered Socrates was white, and only had one tail.

Ellen quickly reached out and grabbed the corpse's ankle before the kassha could spirit it away.  "No you don't!  This body is vital evidence!  Also you shouldn't steal its soul."

The kassha ignored her and tried pulling the corpse a different way while shooting danmaku at her.  Ellen slapped the bullets aside and flicked one of her fluffy spells into the cat.  This wasn't a formal duel so she could cheat a bit.  The kassha was flung away, and while it hissed in annoyance it wasn't trying to steal the body anymore.

With that distraction handled Ellen went back to trying to figure out what had killed the man.  He was overweight, but other than an enlarged stomach there was nothing wrong with him internally.  His eyes bulged out, but there was no other sign of poison.

Ellen turned her attention to spiritual damage.  She cast a spell to see what had happened to the soul, then frowned.  There was nothing there, other than a few wispy traces of life energy.  Someone had blasted the man's soul right out of his body.  "Celtic magic," she said after a bit of checking.  "Very rare."

She turned to Socrates.  "The murderer is obviously a magician.  One trained in western magic."  She picked up her cat and pointed to the sky.  "Let's start the investigation!  To the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

The fluffy magician took to the air, off to determine who could have committed the crime.

Ten seconds after she left, the kassha grabbed the corpse and hauled it off.

---

Ellen skipped through the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, pausing to occasionally look at some of the books.  It was a very nice library.  And she was very glad she'd found it after getting lost a few times.  She'd started doing research here after the fun Walpurgisnacht a while back.

This time however she had an important mission.  She needed to find out what spell had killed the murder victim outside her home.  And for that... well she didn't really know what she needed for that but it was probably here.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Ellen turned to see the owner of the library hovering next to her.  "Ah!"  She turned then paused.  "Lilac?"

"Patchouli Knowledge," Patchouli replied.  The other magician sighed.  "So, do you remember why you're here?"

"I'm searching for a spell so I can catch a murderer," Ellen replied.

"Murderer?" Patchouli raised an eyebrow at that.  "Well that's interesting.  Explain."

Ellen nodded.  "Well Socrates wanted to go out," she lifted Socrates up as a visual aid, "and I opened the door, but there was a corpse there, and since corpses aren't naturally occuring I figured it was a murder.  So I checked and someone had shoved his soul out, so it was probably a witch who murdered them."

"I see."  Patchouli tapped the spine of the book she was carrying.  "That's remarkably easy to follow for you Ellen.  So, what type of spell was it?"

"It was a Celtic soul tearing curse.  One that mimicked a banshee's cry," Ellen thought for a moment.  "Oh!  I think it's from the 1300s."

Patchouli blinked for a few moments.  "If you know all that, why do you need my help?"

"That's..." Ellen looked at Socrates, who as always failed to offer an answer.  "Um, because you know what type of witches could cast it?"

There was a long silence as Patchouli stood there frowning.  Finally Patchouli said, "Ellen, as far as I know you are the only magician in Gensoukyo who could cast that spell."

Ellen blinked.  "But I don't know that spell."

"You described it perfectly Ellen," Patchouli said.  "And you apparently figured all that out just from looking at the body.  Only Marisa and myself would be knowledgeable enough about curses to reconstruct a spell like that, and both of us are decidedly more modern in our spellcasting styles.  You're the only one with the knowledge to even begin to develop that spell."

"Oh."  Ellen looked at Socrates.  "I didn't kill anyone right?"  Socrates meowed in reply.  She took that as a no.  She would remember murdering someone.  That was important after all.

"I'll go inspect the scene of the crime again," she said.  "Thanks Patchouli."  She waved and flew towards the exit.

----

Ellen returned to her home to think.  The body was gone, which was nice, but that meant clues were harder to find.  Worse yet there were dents on her door.  "Who did this?" she muttered.  It was going to take a lot of work to buff those out.

She tried looking around the area spiritually, but the occasional danmaku battle made it nearly impossible to figure out what spells had been used in the area.  "This is a real pickle."

A chill passed through Ellen and she looked to the sky.  There, rapidly descending, was the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.  Reimu had four yin yang orbs circling her, and was openly brandishing her gohei.  Ellen wondered why the woman was so well armed.  "Reimu!  What's happening?"

"Ellen Aureus, I'd like to talk to you about the murder of Yagi Imagawa," Reimu said quietly.

"Uh, who's that?" Ellen asked.

"The corpse that was here this morning, before Orin dragged it away," Reimu said.

Ellen didn't like the way Reimu sounded.  "Oh.  Well I found out he got killed by a magic spell.  A very old type of magic spell.  And um, I don't really know more then that."

"Your magic is all over the body, Ellen."  Reimu raised her gohei.  "Or are you even Ellen?  I suppose we're going to have to find out the hard way."

Reimu swooped forward and Ellen just barely had time to dodge away.  "But I didn't kill anyone!"  Socrates yowled as she ducked another swing.

Then there was a loud crack and smoke appeared all around her.  As Ellen stepped back from Reimu's cursing a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Follow," a woman said, and Ellen took that advice.  They flew out of the smoke cloud, the other magician quickly tossing a concealment spell on them.

As they flew away, Ellen looked over the woman.  Her rescuer was around her height with short dark blue hair and thick glasses for her grey eyes.  The woman's witch outfit was made of modern fabrics, and a light grey instead of the usual black, but otherwise very traditional.

"Have we met before?" she asked.

"Friends," the woman replied.  That was good enough for Ellen.  She was a little sad she didn't remember the woman's name though.

They flew close to the village before stopping.  This was probably far enough from Reimu that Ellen could figure out what was going on.

First things first.  She turned to the woman who had saved her.  "So, what's your name again?"

"Magdalena," the woman said while poking Ellen's nose.

In a flash Ellen remembered the woman.  Magdalena Nightshade.  A collegiate witch who had dueled her in the contest a while back.  Liked marshmallows and mice.  A few scenes of their following meetings flitted through her head as well.  "Wow!  That doesn't usually happen."

"Hypnotized," Magdalena said.

"Oh!  Clever."  Ellen nodded in approval.  Apparently her friend had hidden the memories away in Ellen's mind for later use.  It was even more helpful than Kirke's habit of dumping all the memories in Ellen's brain.  "So why'd you come here?"

Magdalena held up some tarot cards.  The Tower was prominent.  "Rescue."

"Thanks!"  Ellen hugged the woman, though she had to pull away before Socrates slipped over and started chasing Magdelena's mice.  The weight of her current problems quickly crashed back down on her.  "But I can't run forever.  I need to get back to my store.  And my house.  How am I going to figure out this mystery..."

"Investigation."  Magdalena pointed at the village.  Then she gestured to herself.  "Assistant."

Ellen beamed with happiness.  "An assistant?  I'm a real detective now!"  She smiled and looked down at the village.  "All right.  Let's crack this case."

"Lead," Magdalena said, gesturing towards the town.

----

The best place to search for clues was at the victim's house.  Ellen had to use a bit of fortune telling to find it, but soon they were standing inside the estate.  It was moderately sized, though only a rich person could afford an estate in the village to start.  The place was in mourning, with servants moving quietly to clean and prepare the place for their new owner.  Probably a brother or cousin.  Fortunately with the invisibility spell no one noticed Ellen or Magdalena.

Which was a problem.  "How am I going to interrogate people if I can't let them see me?" Ellen muttered.

She looked over to Magdalena but the other witch had buried her nose in a book again.  It looked like a mystery novel, but that probably wasn't going to help them in the short term.

So Ellen decided to just walk around.  Maybe she could learn something that way.

After ten minutes she learned several things:  The man had digestion problems.  The chrysanthemums had been recently pruned.  An uncle of the family had died two months prior.  The house had to drive out a non magical tanuki recently(she'd checked and the tanuki really was just an animal.)  The lady of the house had been trying lots of different recipes.  The futons needed dusting.  The lord had gone hunting the day before he died.

None of this really shed light on how he died though.  Ellen scratched behind Socrates' ears as she tried to figure out what to do next.

"Bedroom?" Magdalena asked from behind her book.

"No, there are too many people there," Ellen replied.  "Someone would bump into us."  The only places they hadn't searched yet were the larder and the lavatory.

Ellen decided to search the larder.

The place smelled of salt and spices, which reminded Ellen she hadn't eaten in awhile.  "I wonder if I could grab a sausage or something?" Ellen muttered.  Four lines of sausage were hanging among the salted fish and vegetables.  Surely they wouldn't miss one?

"Don't," Magdalena warned.

Ellen sighed and just stared at the sausages mournfully.  They looked really good, even if a few had bite marks.  Each one was a different meat too and-

And now that Ellen thought about it, this was really strange.  Why have so many different meats?  It would be very expensive to have that kind of variety just hanging around the larder.  Why have sausages at all?  Sausages were uncommon here in Gensoukyo.  And why were there little bites out of all of them?  Like someone had been sampling them.

She cast a spell at the offending food stuffs, trying to see if there was something supernatural there, but she got only a faint response.  The mark of death was in the area, but that was to be expected since someone had died.  Magdalena looked up from her book for a moment, then shrugged and shook her head.

"So you've returned to the scene of the crime."

"Ah-!"  Ellen whirled and Socrates hissed at the accusation from behind her. 

Standing at the rear entrance to the storehouse was a woman in a fabulous cape.  Her pose radiated confidence and command, though it was a little rehearsed.

It also didn't give the woman a good line of attack.  "Sorry you must be looking for someone else bye," Ellen said as she grabbed Magdalena's hand and ran out the front.

"Wait a moment!" the woman yelled as they dashed into the garden.  Ellen looked around to find a place to escape to, when a black clad figure landed right in front of them.

"I'm sorry Ellen, but I need you to stay and talk to me a bit," Byakuren said.  "I'm sure you had a reason for what you did, so if you just come with me we can hide you away for-"

"Trying to just hide away problems again?"  Ellen looked back to see the woman who had challenged them before was standing at the exit of the storehouse.  "You Buddhists just bury your problems instead of dealing with them.  Especially you Byakuren.  Even though it never works."

Byakuren turned her attention away from Ellen.  "As opposed to just murdering youkai for existing, Miko?  I won't let you hurt poor Ellen just because her youkai blood acted up."

Miko rolled her eyes.  "Ellen is a magician, not a hungry ghost.  She should be able to control herself.  Unless you're saying all magicians are a danger to humans in which case I'll be happy to stop you right here and now!"

"You're far more dangerous to humanity than I ever was," Byakuren snapped back.

Ellen looked between the two.  "Oh!  Is she your girlfriend Byakuren?"

Both of the women seemed stunned at that.  "WHAT?!"

"Well I mean normally if people complain that much without fighting," Ellen mused.

"Lovers," Magdalena said.

Miko choked then started jabbing her finger at Ellen.  "Now look here, even if I was interested I'd never cheat on Tojiko."

"As if I'd violate my vows for such a petty woman," Byakuren huffed.

"You said differently after the Kokoro incident."

"No that was entirely you imagining things."

Ellen watched the two argue back and forth until Magdalena tapped on her shoulder.  "Escape," the woman suggested.

"Right."  Ellen turned her back to the argument and took to the skies.

----

They flew to the nameless hill.  It seemed like a good hiding place.  Especially since the sunflowers were getting ready to bloom.

"I think we lost them," Ellen said as she floated down towards the ground.  Magdalena nodded behind her book.

There was a loud rustling, then a karakasa burst out of the brush.  "Urashimeya!"  Socrates scrambled behind Ellen's head.

Ellen looked over the girl as the karakasa stuck her tongue out.  "Cute!"  She rushed forward and hugged the umbrella close.  "Aww, you're trying to be scary."

The karakasa girl pouted, which was even cuter.  "Medicine... it didn't work..."

A doll youkai flew out of hiding, hands on her hips.  "It's because you drew too much attention before your entrance.  You need to yell as you jump out Kogasa!  Like this.  Urashimeya!"

Magdalena blinked, closed her book, then patted Medicine on the head.  "Cute."

"I know I know!"  Ellen swung Kogasa back and forth while Socrates complained.  "Let's take them home."

"Grr... Don't look down on me just because you're a youkai!" Medicine gnashed her teeth at Magdalena.  "And you can't take Kogasa!  She's part of the doll liberation front!"

"Aww."  Ellen released her newly found umbrella while Magdalena stepped back.

Medicine glared at them while pulling Kogasa to her side.  "What are you doing here anyway?"

Ellen considered that.  What were they doing here? "Well you see, I found someone who had been murdered, and then people thought I was the murderer, so I'm trying to find the real murderer but not in that order.  So I ran here because if people catch me I won't find the real murderer."

"Um... what?" Medicine said.

Kogasa recovered her footing and said, "Why don't you use magic to see who the real murderer is?"

There was a long pause.  Ellen looked at Magdalena who hid behind her book.  It was a very good question.  After all Ellen was really good at seeing the future, so seeing the past shouldn't be hard right?

"Okay!"  She pulled out a crystal ball and started casting a spell that would reveal the truth of the event.  The other girls all crowded around to get a look as well.

When the orb cleared it showed Ellen's front yard.  It was night, but lights were on inside.

A man stumbled into the crystal.  He was muddy and his eyes bulged out strangely.  He swayed for a bit, then stumbled over to the door and hammered on it.

"Hey, it's that guy the lazy shinigami took away a week ago," Medicine said.  Ellen blinked at that, but before she could connect the dots the scene in the orb moved on.  Within the crystal Ellen opened the door, Socrates in hand.

She couldn't hear what was said, but the man swung a fist at her past self.  In the vision Socrates scrambled away while her past self ducked.  Orb Ellen shot the man with a blast of danmaku, but it just pushed the man back.  Within seconds the man attacked again.

Then her past self seemed to stand up straight.  Orb Ellen raised her hand, and a wave of dark energy washed over the man.  The face twisted in a final grimace, then his soul was torn out killing him.

Ellen stared at the orb as the scene faded.  "Oh."  Ellen frowned.  "I guess I was the murderer after all."

"Well it was only a human," Medicine said with a shrug.

Kogasa was shivering.  "But doesn't that mean the shrine maiden will be looking for her?"

Magdalena shut her book.  "Objection."

"Huh?"  Ellen looked at her friend.  "What is it?"

"You did not kill Yagi Imagawa," Magdalena said.  "You killed someone else."

Ellen pondered this.  "Ooooh.  I think I get it!"  She paused.  "But this will be hard to explain if I'm getting shot."

Magdalena held up a finger.  "Marisa."

"Right!  Marisa will listen to me!"  Ellen nodded happily.  "Let's call her over!"

-----

Marisa wasn't as happy as usual, but fortunately she'd been willing to come over and listen to the explanation.  "Alright.  This better be good."  Kogasa and Medicine waited nearby, whispering between each other.

Ellen opened her mouth to explain, then paused.  "Um, I know why I'm not guilty, but I don't understand how he actually died.  Magdalena?"

"Elementary."  Magdalena closed her book again.  But this time she put it away.  "I'll explain.

"You saw the man's soul a week ago."  Magdalena pointed to Medicine and Kogasa who both nodded.  "So he was already dead.  How?  He had an uncle."

Marisa spun her broom absently.  "Yeah.  Total jerk.  Always was pissed he got passed up for inheritance."

"Jealousy."  Magdalena opened her arms.  "Jealous souls become gaki."

"Ah!"  Ellen clapped her hands.  "He was possessed by a gaki!  That's why there were so many sausages.  The gaki was trying to sate its cravings."

"By hunting," Magdalena said.

Marisa's eyes opened wide.  "Of course.  It must have needed something weird, but it didn't know what.  Either that or it was just in denial.  But it was smart enough to look for the food it needed outside the village.  Pretty strong spirit to be able to pull that off."

"Human flesh," Magdalena said.

"So that's why he attacked me," Ellen said.  "But then why don't I remember killing him?"

Her friend tapped her nose.  "Hypnosis."

Marisa chuckled grimly.  "So that's how you survive out in the woods.  Hypnotized yourself to be a brutal killer if you were in serious danger."

"Uh..."  Ellen wracked her memories.  Had she done that?  Her head spun and some memories returned.  "Oh.  I did do that.  Huh.  I should have a talk with past me."

Kogasa and Medicine's eyes were wide open.  "Whoa.  That's hardcore..."

"Still, that settles the incident," Marisa said.  "Or it will once I get Reimu to go hunt down the gaki responsible.  No way your spell finished it off there, Ellen."

"Well I suppose that's a good thing."  Ellen shook her head.  "Does that mean I can go back to my shop?"

"Yeah," Marisa nodded.  "Once Reimu's been handled the problem should go away.  Suppose I'll tell Sanae too just in case."  The other witch hopped on her broom.  "I should start now though.  Best to nip these mistakes in the bud.  Good seeing you again Magdalena.  I'll tell Patchy you were by so she can go on a rant about 'real witches.'"

Ellen waved as Marisa took off.  "Bye!"  Magdalena briefly held up a hand as well.

That handled she turned to the two youkai girls.  "Do you want to get tea with me?"

"I have to practice my surprises," Kogasa said.  "But thanks."

"Maybe we'll come by your shop for a tea party later," Medicine said.

"Okay!  Remind me when you do," Ellen replied.  She then turned to Magdalena.  "Thanks for helping me out.  I was a little confused there for a while.  Socrates was getting worried I think."  Socrates washed his paw, as if to deny any worry.

Magdalena shook her head.  "Don't worry."  She then held up a bag of marshmallows.  "Smores?"

"Sure thing!"  Ellen took her friends hands then started flying back home.  "The fire should be great for cooking them right now."

It looked like today was going to be a nice fluffy day.

[Kokopelli]

I love your stories and I'm certain that any stories I write are going to draw from your characterizations (I hope you don't mind). My favorite stories probably have to be "Walpurgisnacht", "Witches' Duel" and "Marisa's Summer Camp." (I hope any writer's block you might have resolves itself soon.)

 

Spoiler:

I personally think that the Lunarians would make perfect as Al-Hazardian Ancient Astronauts for the Lyrical Nanoha World. Along with the Lunar Capital being Al-Hazard. Yes, I am trying to merge Lyrical Nanoha and Touhou (why aren't there more Lyrical Nanoha/Touhou crossovers).