The next few weeks passed peacefully… or as peacefully as life ever allowed Reimu Hakurei.
The newspaper, of course, made everything worse.
Aya had somehow spun the entire Scarlet Mist incident into a dramatic, overblown conspiracy involving "celestial chains," "mysterious foreign spirits," and "the Hakurei Shrine adopting an extraterrestrial child."
Reimu crumpled the paper so hard it nearly caught fire.
At least Chris was doing well.
Reimu continued taking care of him—Marisa tagging along whenever she felt like stealing snacks. His Japanese had improved a lot; he still mixed up words sometimes, but he could hold a full conversation now.
Progress. Good progress.
When Marisa taught him a few curse words, Reimu learned something too:
Never trust Marisa Kirisame with children.
Especially not when you own a cast-iron frying pan.
Chris also started visiting the Human Village with Reimu. The villagers stared every time—they weren't sure if Reimu had adopted a child or kidnapped one. The blue eyes confused them; the floating Grimoire terrified them. But Rinnosuke was kind. He gave Chris a lollipop and explained its entire 247-year history while Reimu slowly died inside.
On weekends, Reimu visited the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Partly to make sure Remilia didn't start another incident—and partly because Chris and Cassidy enjoyed spending time together.
Strangely, everyone eventually realized something:
Cassidy's memetic energy had bonded with the Mansion.
She belonged there.
That was something Reimu kept reminding herself of whenever she caught herself worrying over the girl too much.
Chris stays here, Reimu told herself. In Gensokyo. Not just in my shrine.
---
One evening, after dropping Chris off at the pavilion behind the shrine, Reimu stretched and let her eyes drift to the sunset.
Everything felt… almost normal.
Then the sky split open.
A soft tear in reality—like a curtain being peeled back. Purple light shimmered at the edge of the gap.
Reimu's eyelid twitched.
"Oh no. No. No, not now—"
Something long and snake-like slithered out from the gap. A ribbon? No, a boundary. A boundary shaped into the form of—
A hat.
A gap fully opened, and a familiar blonde woman leaned out, reclining on thin air as if gravity only applied to mortals.
Yukari Yakumo smiled.
"My, my… Reimu~ You've been busy, haven't you?"
Reimu groaned like someone who just found out their taxes doubled.
Chris blinked up at the floating woman, clutching his Grimoire.
Yukari's smile softened the moment she saw him.
"Oh? And who might you be, little star-spirit?"
Chris hid behind Reimu, whispering in Japanese, slightly mixed with English.
"Reimu… strange lady… gap."
Reimu patted his head. "Yeah. She does that."
Yukari floated closer.
"Patchouli's report reached even me. A child with a half-memetic soul… and a Fragment tucked under his arm." Her eyes narrowed with curiosity. "How nostalgic."
Reimu crossed her arms. "Nostalgic how?"
Yukari chuckled lightly, all elegance and mystery.
"Oh, I've met a being like him once. Long ago."
Reimu tensed. "Please tell me this isn't another ancient catastrophe."
Yukari smiled.
A dangerously smug smile.
"Oh, it was quite the memorable experience."
Reimu swallowed hard. "Memorable like… dangerous?"
Yukari paused.
Then looked away.
"…Memorable like I fell into a pond and dragged Kanako with me."
Reimu stared.
Chris stared.
The Grimoire blinked.
"DON'T—" Yukari snapped. "—repeat that."
Somewhere far away, Kanako suddenly sneezed and felt the urge to strangle someone.
Reimu sighed. "Great. Just what I needed. Another walking disaster."
Yukari winked. "Don't worry~ I'm here to help."
Reimu's face fell into her hands.
Chris whispered, "Reimu… help?"
"No," Reimu answered immediately. "Not from her."
But Yukari only smiled wider.
Because trouble—real trouble—had finally noticed the boy.
And Yukari Yakumo never appeared without a reason.
Yukari tilted her head, smile bright and deceptively sweet.
"Aww, little cutie, why don't you come here?"
Her voice dripped with honey—and every instinct in Gensokyo screamed danger.
A gap opened behind her, space twisting as if embarrassed to be involved. Something long and void-like reached in and placed a chocolate bar delicately in her hand.
She wiggled it enticingly.
"See? Candy~"
Chris stared at the chocolate.
Then at Yukari.
Then at the chocolate again.
Then he bolted behind Reimu so fast even Marisa blinked. He hugged Reimu's back tightly, trembling.
"Stranger," he said firmly, in clear and absolute Japanese.
Reimu froze.
Then slowly… very slowly… she turned her head toward Yukari.
"Yukari," she said, voice dangerously calm, "did you just get called a stranger danger by a six-year-old?"
Marisa absolutely lost it—she fell backward laughing, broom slipping from her hand.
Yukari's smile twitched as if she'd just been stabbed in her pride.
"I—excuse me? Stranger? Stranger?"
Chris peeked out from behind Reimu and pointed at her with pure, unfiltered childhood instinct.
"You have… creepy hole."
The gap behind Yukari blinked like it was offended.
Reimu swallowed a laugh so hard she nearly choked. Marisa rolled on the ground.
Yukari put a hand to her chest, deeply wounded.
"Reimu… control your child."
"He's not my—!" Reimu started, then gave up. "Whatever. He's right."
Yukari dramatically wiped an imaginary tear.
"Children these days… no respect for their elders…"
Chris ducked back behind Reimu, gripping her sleeve like a safety rope.
"Reimu… don't let creepy hole lady take me."
Reimu patted his head, huffing. "Don't worry. She's not taking you anywhere."
Yukari sighed, shoulders lowering.
"So this is what it feels like to be feared by toddlers. How humiliating."
The gap behind her snickered.
She kicked it.
Yukari vanished into a gap with a swish of parasol.
Reimu sighed. "Good. Maybe she'll—"
Gap sound.
Yukari immediately popped back out, absolutely beaming, holding a squirming Chen by the collar like she was presenting a prize fish.
[Insert image of Chen]
Chen dangled helplessly, kicking the air.
"Miss Yukari—! Put me down! I wasn't even doing anything this time!"
Yukari ignored her completely as she held the bakeneko forward like an offering.
"Look, little boy," she said proudly, "Friend."
Chris blinked.
Chen blinked.
Reimu blinked.
Marisa choked on her own spit.
Chen's tails puffed out to maximum volume.
"I—I'm not a friend, I'm a youkai!! Please stop holding me like a grocery bag!!"
Yukari jiggled Chen like she was demonstrating a toy.
"Look. Soft. Cute. Perfect for children."
"STOP SAYING THAT!" Chen yowled.
Chris stared at the cat youkai for five long seconds.
Then he pointed at Yukari again.
"No. Stranger."
Chen dropped her head in defeat.
"…I don't even know him but I agree."
Yukari's eye twitched.
"Why," she asked the universe, "is every child in Gensokyo defective today?"
Chris peeked around Reimu's side and studied Chen again.
He tilted his head.
"…Kitty?"
Chen froze, ears stiff.
Slowly… painfully… she nodded.
"…Yes. Kitty."
Chris stepped forward cautiously, placed a gentle hand on Chen's head, and pet her.
Chen's soul left her body.
Her pupils became sparkles.
Her tails fluffed into clouds.
She made a tiny involuntary—
"mrrp."
Reimu and Marisa stared in disbelief.
Yukari smugly folded her arms.
"See?" she said, absolutely triumphant. "Friend."
Chris paused petting, pointed at Yukari, and declared with even more determination:
"No. Stranger."
Yukari dropped to her knees.
"I WAS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THE CAT…"
Yukari's gaze drifted lazily across the shrine grounds—
Then froze.
Her eyes widened.
Not theatrically.
Not teasingly.
Genuinely.
"…Is that," she said slowly, pointing her fan at the floating Grimoire behind Chris,
"a Fragment of Nidhogg?"
Reimu nearly dropped her gohei.
"You— you know what it is!?"
Yukari didn't even answer.
She stepped toward the Grimoire, parasol tapping the ground lightly as space rippled around her ankles.
The Grimoire turned its single eye toward her.
And blinked.
Almost like it recognized her.
Yukari gave a nostalgic little sigh.
"My, my… I haven't seen one of these since the Saint vs. Witch War."
Marisa snapped her head around.
"The what now?"
Yukari snorted with a small laugh.
"Ahh, nothing you need to worry about. Just… a rather messy conflict I got dragged into."
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, more like three conflicts, depending on which timeline you follow, but—"
"Nope." Reimu cut her off. "No time travel stories."
Yukari huffed dramatically.
Still, her eyes returned to the Grimoire — serious again, observing every twitch of its pages.
"That fragment…" she murmured, voice lowering, "isn't something that should exist freely. Whoever it bonds to is either incredibly lucky—"
She glanced at Chris.
"—or catastrophically not."
The Grimoire fluttered its pages at her, like it was mocking her.
Yukari clicked her tongue.
"Oh, hush. I remember what your kind did during the war. Don't pretend to be cute."
Chris peeked out from behind Reimu with wide eyes.
"Is… bad?" he asked in careful Japanese.
Yukari shook her head.
"No, no, dear. Not bad. Just… hungry."
The Grimoire let out a pleased little rumble.
Marisa stepped back.
"Okay, that's unsettling."
Reimu massaged her temples.
"Why does every new week come with a new crisis?"
Yukari smirked.
"Because you live in Gensokyo, dear."
Then a piller of fire comes in the middle of the group, as Chen went behind Chris.
As coming out of it, was a woman, she has short blonde hair, yellow eyes, and nine fox tails. She wears a pink, two-tailed hat with amulets that hides her fox ears, and a blue and white outfit consisting of a white dress with purple cuffs and an indigo tabard.
[Insert image of Ran Yukamo]
Ran stepped fully out of the pillar of fire, tails fanned behind her like a living sunburst.
The ground crackled beneath her geta as the flames dissipated.
Chen immediately bolted behind Chris, clutching the back of his shirt and peeking around him like he was a portable fort.
"Yukari," Ran said sharply, narrowing her golden eyes,
"what have you done to my dau— I mean, my shikigami?"
Yukari smiled behind her fan.
"Ran, dear, I haven't done anything. She just fell out of a gap, I caught her, and now she's traumatized. Perfectly normal."
Chen hissed at her from behind Chris.
Ran exhaled in exasperation… then finally noticed him.
The tiny spirit boy.
His soft blue eyes.
His single white wing twitching nervously.
The Grimoire floating loyally at his side.
And the awkward little way he stood half behind Reimu like a shy kitten.
Ran froze.
Then her entire posture changed.
Her ears twitched under the hat.
Her tails fluffed out to maximum volume.
Her eyes sparkled.
Must–Pinch–Cheeks.exe has been Activated.
Reimu saw the shift instantly.
"Oh no."
Marisa: "Aw hell, she's loaded up the Mother Protocol."
Ran stepped forward—slowly, reverently—like she was approaching a holy relic.
Chris blinked up at her.
Ran leaned down.
Hands trembling.
"Yukari…" she whispered, voice cracking under barely contained emotion.
"Why… why is he so adorable?"
She lunged.
Reimu snatched Chris up like a quarterback saving a football.
"NO PINCHING!"
Ran froze mid-pounce, tails stiff like nine arrows.
Yukari laughed behind her fan.
"My, my. Even I didn't react that strongly when I first saw him."
Ran took a deep breath, recomposing herself.
She straightened her hat, cleared her throat, and attempted adult dignity again.
"Ahem. Yes. I am calm. Perfectly calm."
Her tails, however, betrayed her by wagging like nine delighted dogs.
Chen whispered to Chris:
"She does that to me every morning…"
Chris patted her head sympathetically.
Ran melted on the spot.
Like a nine-tailed fox puddle.
Yukari leaned down to Reimu and whispered:
"He's not even trying, and he's already breaking my shikigami."
Reimu sighed.
"…This is my life now."
Ran waved her hands rapidly, tails twitching behind her like a panicked fan.
"No—well—technically—absolutely not—but also kind of—listen, it's complicated!"
Reimu just stared. "...So that's a yes?"
"No!" Ran yelped, cheeks pink. "I'm her shikigami, not her sister!"
Marisa leaned toward Reimu and whispered loudly,
"Sounds like a sister to me."
Reimu, deadpan added,
"Given the typical behavior patterns of shikigami and masters in high-level youkai hierarchies, the distinction is… semantically thin."
Ran's ears—hidden under her hat—were definitely burning now.
"T-That's not how it works at all!"
Yukari floated lazily, smirking like the cat who stole the sun.
"Oh, Ran~ it's adorable how you get every time someone says that."
Chen peeked from behind Chris and nodded enthusiastically.
"Ran really acts like Yukari's mom! I mean sister! I mean—"
"CHEN!" Ran squeaked, face now fully red.
Chris, clutching his little Grimoire, whispered to Cassidy,
"Grown-ups are weird."
Ran cleared her throat, trying to regain control of the situation.
"Right, well—now that introductions are… over, we shall be leaving and—"
Her voice froze.
Because Chris was currently sitting on the ground, both arms wrapped tightly around Chen like a toddler hugging a giant plushie.
Chen, who was very much not a plushie, was struggling like a frantic housecat.
"L-Let me goooo!" Chen whined, her tails swishing in panic.
Chris just hugged tighter, patting her head with all the solemn gentleness of someone comforting a scared puppy.
"Soft."
Marisa nodded in agreement. "Very soft."
Ran's eye twitched.
"Oh no. No, no, no— I need to take back my shikigami!"
She marched over in full mom-mode, tails flaring like an angered peacock.
"Chris, sweetie," Ran said through a strained smile, "that is not a toy. That is my shikigami. My responsibility. My—"
Yukari cheerfully cut in:
"Her daughter."
Ran almost tripped. "YUKARI!"
Chen, still trapped in Chris's hug, reached a hand toward Ran dramatically.
"Mooooom, help!"
Chris blinked up at Ran with wide, innocent eyes.
"Borrow?"
"No!" Ran practically squeaked.
Reimu crossed her arms. "Ran, I think the kids' energy signature is starting to rub off on you."
Marisa snorted. "She's been flustered since she got here."
Ran was too busy trying to carefully pry Chen out of Chris's iron grip to argue.
"Why is he so strong?! Yukari what did you DO?!"
Yukari just smiled behind her fan.
"Nothing… yet."
To be continued
Hope people like this ch and give me power stones and enjoy