The day was starting off too perfect: the sun was shining, birds were singing, and a gentle breeze kept the air from being too muggy or unseasonably warm. The fairies seemed to be just enjoying the weather rather than being annoying children to any passers-by. Naturally, to anyone remotely used to how Gensokyo worked, it felt like the calm before the storm... something would have to happen.

Of course, the more people that arrived at this conclusion and went out of their way to look around today, the higher the chance that something was going to happen. Especially once nightfall came and even the most nocturnal youkai decided to start going around...

The wind whipped around the blonde-haired girl as she cruised low above the ground. It was really pretty nice out today... it was the perfect day to go around and just have fun! And one way to have fun involved seeking out her friends... in this case, Alice Margatroid. The Perfectly Ordinary Witch grinned as she scanned the forest below her. Alice hadn't been at home, so she'd gone out to search for the youaki magician after a thorough investigation of her house for anything to steal borrow. After all, Kirisame Marisa was an enterprising girl who took every opportunity to take in new information and knowledge! Besides, what Alice didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

And so, the girl cruised down lower, vanishing beneath the treeline and darting through branches. Today started off pretty strong, too. Plenty of mushrooms, now all ground up and divided into separate containers. Then she'd had some pretty tasty ramen for lunch before heading off to have some fun!

And in this case, fun definitely meant finding Alice! But where WAS the dollmaker? She wasn't at home, after all... and really, that was usually where Alice was.

"Oiiii, Ari-chaaaaaan!"

---

Alright, the food had been purchased. She'd needed some cabbage, some pork... a few other various ingredients as well. Yuyuko went through food on such a massive scale that she frequently had to make these trips to the human village. Besides, Youmu had wanted to try out some new recipes. That meant taking a trip to the human village in order to get ingredients. Next, Youmu wanted to get that one outside world magazine. It was all about people versed in sword techniques in the outside world! Every once in a while, an issue showed up in Gensokyo, it was just too interesting to ignore! Some of them were similar to hers, though obviously there was no way that they could match her speed. The outside world was mostly regular humans insofar as the half-phantom could tell.

As she walked past a few of the residents of the human village, her phantom half drifted along behind her. "I wonder what kind of meal I should try cooking tonight..."

Making food for Yuyuko was a lot of work... but in a way it was kind of fun. Though there were more serious matters to attend to(well, a different kind of serious. Yuyuko's food demands were plenty serious), as well. Youmu felt she was still not good enough. Not yet. She had to keep training. And so, when she got home, she'd finish up her duties and then train. Hakugyokuro's gardens were a location she spent a lot of time in, but they never stopped being peaceful, serene, and an excellent place to train.

Ah, and today was so nice, surely nothing could go wrong.

---

Ah jeez...

The human village could be really annoying sometimes. Oh, Wriggle didn't exactly try to go doing anything stupid(thankfully Rumia wasn't there to botch that) but every once in a while somebody would take her presence badly or something and things just got really annoying. All she was going to do was buy some beef. That was it. She just wanted some beef. She'd bought food there before, and everything. But now, well... the firefly youkai was concerned about some people thinking she was there to cause panic or something stupid like that.

But there wasn't exactly anywhere else she could go for beef, now, was there? Given she wanted to have it by evening, waiting until the night didn't work out in this case, either. Wriggle Nightbug's options were kind of limited... as was her cash flow. She didn't exactly have a job, after all.

Stealing would be stupid on a monumental level, however, which is why the option didn't even cross Wriggle's mind. Instead, she continued her trek towards the human village, sighing a little as she did.

"If anyone acts stupid I'm not going to be able to take it," she complained to herself.

"What's wrong~? Has someone given you trouble?"

The sweet, uplifting voice, belonging to someone that was no doubt the very embodiment of kindness, came from behind the firefly-youkai, a shadow casting over the smaller girl as Yuuka Kazami thoughtfully shared her parasol, protecting Wriggle from the sun's rays. She directed a kind, almost motherly smile at the smaller youkai as she walked alongside her. For a woman known to take her sweet time moving from A to B, Yuuka had a strange habit of showing up inexplicably, sometimes.

"Do I need to set an example for someone? It pains me to see a cute girl wronged for no reason..." Yuuka sighed in mock sadness.

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

"...Hot..."

Shielding her eyes from the sun, Shujiko's flight came to a stop, lowering towards the ground, just outside the forest of magic. The will youkai had hoped to explore a bit more today, maybe even visit that mansion poking through the treetops. Some sort of devil lived there, apparently. Devils had to be strong, so with any luck, Shujiko's fated opponent lay in wait there. But the sun was annoyingly hot today, making even a youkai like herself feel uncomfortable.

Well, the trees would provide enough shade, and if she walked in one direction, there was no way she'd end up lost or something. Worst-case scenario, she could just fly up! She highly doubted there was anything that dangerous for her in the forest anyway. The villagers said there was a witch, a bunch of wild youkai, and shady mushrooms, so... not much to fear, probably.

The brunette took her first steps into the cool, shaded forest.

"Honestly, people today are too carefree. You'd think that whatsherface girl popping into this place every half a day would've caused a few waves already, but it seems like business is still as usual. Though that Kasen person seems to be running herself ragged because of that..."

With her hands in her pockets as she lazily strolled through the Human Village, Mokou glanced around as she watched the villagers mill about, each handling their own business. of course, she couldn't fault them for that; for her, whose life could not end, all their worry about the next day, week, or even month was something she had long forgotten.

Even so, the village was a lot less chaotic than that city that was outside the Border.
That... Was a city... Right?

"Ah, seriously, though... That place was absurd. Interesting, for sure, but seriously..." the immortal continued to muse before accidentally bumping into someone...

Or something.

"Shoot, my bad... Ah?"

Realizing that she had bumped into what seemed to be a floating white semi-transparent white ball, Mokou took the object in her hands and applied a bit of pressure before remembering that little... Test of courage, to put it lightly.

"Oh, it's you. Shopping for your mistress or something? Actually, speaking of which... I'm not allowed there in the first place, now am I? Your home, I mean," she laughed a bit, letting go of the ghostly ball in her hands and turning to its owner: one Youmu Konpaku, carrying a set of groceries for... Reasons.

"Ah...?"

That voice... Wriggle quickly turned around upon hearing it and her green eyes fell on the speaker. Oh, certainly, it wasn't as if the girl hadn't seen that individual before. The green hair, red eyes, pale skin, mature appearance... Wriggle was relatively familiar with the youkai called Kazami Yuuka. But, well... still, given her reputation and all, the presence of such a person was... well, surprising to say the least. For a few moments, Wriggle shifted a little bit awkwardly. Yeah... pretty surprising. After a few more moments of hesitation, the firefly girl spoke.

"N... nobody in particular, just..." she shifted from one foot to the other. "Sometimes some of the humans freak out when I go to the human village. I'm not some idiot who thinks eating people is a good idea."

She waved her hand dismissively on that note. Naturally, thoughts of Rumia flashed in her mind, but, well... Rumia was about as successful at eating people as a pillow was. Possibly less so. Wriggle wasn't sure how that could be true, but somehow she felt that even a harmless peace of furniture had a better chance of eating someone then Rumia did.

"And I'm just there to buy food," she continued her complaint, "So... so I don't know why some of them panic and act like morons!"

---

"Wha?" Youmu turned. She'd felt something bump into her... and then she froze, early dropping the bag she was carrying and going scarlet.

"Hiii!" she yelped, as she felt fingers press into her sides... before suddenly vanishing as... as... the hourai immortal? Not the Princess, the white-haired fire-wielder, Fujiwara, released her phantom half. Swiftly, Youmu attempted to collect herself. She didn't want to let on just how embarrassing an experience that had been for her. Her cheeks were still rather pink, however, when she attempted to speak to the immortal girl.

"Y-yes," Youmu said swiftly, swallowing her embarrassment as best she could. Her phantom half swiftly moved away and drifted behind her. Shared sensation with the floating ghostly apparition was one of the less advantageous things about her nature as a half-phantom... It didn't help that the short, pale girl's sides were rather ticklish. "Y-Yuyuko-sama required more food. I've been considering trying new recipes tonight."

There. Focus on her duties. Youmu, confidence returned, nodded firmly.

"And, ah..." she paused for a moment. That was right, wasn't it? Immortals couldn't enter Hakugyokuro. At least, not the kind that couldn't be killed by any means. "If I'm not mistaken, you're right."

She hummed as she walked down the path, her bunny ears bobbing slightly with each step she took.

It was a great day. Reisen had finally managed to get her hands on one of those jars of sweets. There wasn't many that bought anything from her in the human village, but then again, if business was good, that meant there was a lot of hurt people. So that would actually be bad? In any case, she was in a good mood, and not even Tewi's shennanigans could dampen her mood.

Just as she was thinking about Tewi, a loud crack came from beneath her feet, dropping her down a deep pit.

Both the medicine box and her jar of sweets was unharmed, but one white rabbit that may have planted this trap and could be heard giggling just a ways off may soon find itself in hot water. Reisen's eyes were glowing visibly red even in the daylight, a slightly strained smile on her face as she floated out of the hole. She was wrong, it did dampen her mood. But she was fairly certain it would return once she get her hands on Tewi.



"I'm home." she spoke as she opened Eientei's door.

Dumping the slightly scorched unconscious Tewi on the floor, she took off her shoes. Reisen opened the jar, picking out a piece of candy before popping it into her mouth. Maybe she'd share with Tewi if she apologizes when she wakes up.

"Ara ara."

Yang sighed as he looked down at his cart's broken wheel. This is what he gets for slacking. He always took the same way to the village, over the same bridge, over the same crack, over the same rock, and he knew one day the axle would break from the strain. He saw signs, he knew there were cracks, but he always felt his craftsmenship was next to none. But it wasn't as if he was an oni or something; mortal things are bound to break. Worse still, Yang's cart had his recent harvest of sugar cane. How was he suppose to bring all of it to the market now? He could carry some, but not everything in his cart. Who knows what yoakai or even a selfish human would do to his goods if he left it here. If Yang's telekinesis was stronger he wound have been able to just carry the cart, but then again he could just carry the sugar cane too... That's when he had an idea.

Soon the rice hat warrior arrived to the human village, with bundles of sugar cane floating near him. As long as they were within arms reach, he could use his full telekinetic power on them, even if he wasn't touching them! All he needed to do now was sell the sugar cane and use the money to buy some tools and supplies to fix his cart. Or maybe just buy a new cart. But first, to business...

"FRESH SUGAR CANE FOR SALE! FRESH SUGAR CANE, THE SWEETEST IN ALL OF GENSOKYO! SO SWEET THAT YOUR IMAGINATION WILL KNOW NO OTHER THAN MY SUGAR CANES!"

"Oh dear, that's a shame~" Yuuka replied sympathetically, seemingly taking no notice of Wriggle's awkwardness. She walked at the firefly's pace, kindly shielding her from the sunlight. It was no surprise that Wriggle was surprised at her presence - after all, it was relatively rare for Yuuka to visit the village directly (She had a perfectly willing Elly for shopping trips), and even when she did, it was almost always a direct trip to the flower shop, or maybe even a surprise visit to the Hieda household. Heh, seeing little Akyuu's face the last time was priceless.

"Shall I accompany you, then?" Yuuka offered with a cheerful tone, "I daresay you wouldn't be troubled if you're accompanied by an adult," her ever-present smile, for just a second, appeared to take on a sinister edge as the flower youkai added, "besides, I haven't had a good meal fr a while, myself~"

One of Yuuka's more troubling traits: You never could tell when she was joking or not.

For a few moments, Wriggle was silent. Yuuka wanted to go along with her, to keep people from freaking out? On one hand, well... Wriggle was thankful! Really! Kazami Yuuka coming with her to make sure no-one panics when she just wants some beef... but on the other hand, going with Kazami would be a bit... well... awkward in some ways, wouldn't it... and on this inexplicably-present third hand, there was the fact that among some humans, Kazami Yuuka had something of a reputation. Well, not just something of one, a pretty major one. What if her presence made them act stupid even more then they already would?

And what was with that last comment? And that somewhat sinister look... Did Kazami want to share her meal? That meant that Wriggle would have to get extra... well, if it was for this reason, Wriggle was okay with that. She at least hoped that's what Kazmai meant. Sure, she didn't exactly have a lot of money, but affording a bit more beef wouldn't be too hard, right? At least, the firefly girl hoped it wouldn't be.

"Er, thanks, Kazami-san!" she managed to say, finally. Even with the potential negatives, rejecting Kazami's offer seemed... wrong and also a little scary. The flower youkai could get upset or something... "Um... I'll try and buy enough beef for both of us, then..."

With that, she continued on, still feeling a bit awkward and nervous, now. The human village wasn't too much further, Wriggle could see things clearing out.

---

Marisa cruised lower and lower, sinking through the air, towards the ground, as she attempted to locate Alice. Jeez, where was she? The short blond hugged her broom closely to avoid being hit in the face by a few branches as she went. She just wanted to hang out with her friend, spend some time with the dollcrafting youkai magician. But... aaah, had she gone on errands or something? Was she looking in the wrong place?

It was about them that some brunette girl seemed to appear from no-where, directly in the speeding witch's path. With little to no time to swerve, Marisa pulled her broom back, managing to slow down to a halt, leaving the girl to be blasted with a rush of air from her approach almost immediately.

"... Oiii," she asked, "Have you seen a blonde girl? Lotsa dolls?"

The short blonde girl didn't recognize the brunette, but hey, it was worth asking.

"New recipes, huh...?" Mokou mused to herself, nodding her head in understanding. "I can understand that. But you know, it's not as if learning that sort of thing is particularly easy, either. Hope you've got enough ingredients in stock if that's the route you're going to take."

Youmu's confirmation of her status of being implicitly banned from entering her home was a tad bitter, but it just meant that there was one less place that she could check out. Of course, there was the option to have the residents exit instead of her entering, but... Well, that was a rude thing to ask, if her centuries of life had taught her anything.

"In any case... Have you checked out the Kourindou recently? I hear that ever since that incident with the Occult Balls, a lot more stuff from the Outside World has been popping up left and right. Maybe you'll find some books about cooking there. Who knows?"

Of course, her time wandering outside of Gensokyo that time was spent leisurely strolling about, anyhow. Her clothing really didn't fit, but in the end it seemed as if people didn't care as much as she had expected. But honestly, though, that place was seriously strange now...

"New cookbooks at Kourindou?" Youmu asked, tilting her head slightly to one side. Some new ones might have been fun... after all, Youmu had to admit she'd been getting a bit more stale when it came to cooking. It didn't really help that she hadn't been training as a cook. She'd been trained in the blade, it's just that gardening was a bit less complicated and varied then cooking. However, she'd learned quite well to make a few different recipes. But she wanted to make, well, more. More variety. Yuyuko had complimented her cooking, as well, and that had been a rather nice feeling.

"I haven't been to Kourindou recently," the small, white-haired girl replied, shaking her head slightly. "If there's a chance that there's anything like that around, though, I think I might have to."

She gave the immortal a pleasant, polite smile. After all, she didn't have any bad feelings towards the immortal, and forgetting the embarrassing reaction she'd had to the attention to her phantom half earlier was practically paramount in this situation. Youmu wanted to make sure that things went well. "Thank you, Fujiwara-san."

With that she began to head towards Kourindou.

"Hm."
A mysterious figure muttered, not in sight of anyone.

"Is Mamizou still stirring trouble by herself again?
Jeez."
A puzzling enigma.
Youkai of all things unknown.
This is Nue.

"How many times have I told her to bring me along?"
As it had always been, Nue enjoyed stirring up a little trouble among humans.
In turn, she could watch their fright from afar and listen to all sorts of strange things they would say.
Such is life.

For the past days, Nue had decided to reside within Myouren.
She had no choice but to accept to be in the company of the monk, despite having meddled in her revival.
A friend, meanwhile, had reportedly meddled in more recent incidents.
Mamizou had involved herself in disputes with Occult Balls, of which she owned one that had been her key through the border.
The mischievous tanuki even had a run-in with an unusually powerful outsider.
Outsiders don't even have powers...?

Nonetheless, Nue cannot accept having been sitting back.
She better find something to interfere with.
Of course, not having to get the shrine maiden to intervene should be one big consideration.

_{The Unidentified Flying Fantastic Girl}