Entry 2 - Marisa:

Crow plushie with an enormous hat. Technically a recolored eagle, but our little miko insisted it was a crow. She didn't really explain why after remembering her past life, just said that it fit.

Anyway, where Genjii was the first plushie period, this one was the first in a series of four. Marisa, Akyuu, Youmu, and Kosuzu. Our miko remembered all four around the same time, and asked for them in relatively quick succession. Considering Akyuu's been confirmed to be one of the Immaterial Children, and that the old man said Youmu would fit as the name of his missing granddaughter, the odds of Marisa being one are higher than our miko spotting Asami's attempts to drug her. (What was it again? Six tries foiled in quick succession?)

Regardless, Marisa's the only Immaterial Child that's still missing, which is interesting, since she takes center stage in our miko's playtime. When she was young, Marisa was the plushie she was most likely to "duel", and even after her attacks tore it apart one-too-many times, she still loves pitting it in battles against other plushies.

Interestingly, Marisa also features in the more peaceful playtime sessions as well. Our miko pretty much always includes her for tea-time, drinking, hanging out, shopping, walks... if it's not an action scene, then Marisa's at her side for it.

There's one constant to the whole thing, though. Whether it's sneaking books out from under the nose of a red bat, or winning shiny "magical" jewelry after a fight, our miko always has Marisa making off with some sort of prize after each adventure. I think that's probably why she picked a crow, seems like the whole hoarding behavior thing.

Makes me think our miko and Marisa were close. Friends close to be sure, but maybe a bit of rivalry in there as well. This closeness does mean we've got the best sense of Marisa's personality. She seems to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder; friendly, outgoing, and shameless to the point of being a compulsive liar. Apparently strong though. Maybe that's just bias from being the miko's friend, but she tends to win unless she's fighting the miko herself, and even then the miko will take a few pretend hits here and there. Another point to the rival idea.

All this is supported by the miko's memories, of course. There's some gaps, but what she's related lines up with the above, and indicates a friendly teasing/pushing relationship.

Speaking of which, the most important takeaway from this whole thing? If you desperately need to distract the miko from something, ask her point blank what Marisa would think of her plushies. She'll be reduced to a red-faced sputtering mess, and completely lose her train of thought. Though you then need to start running fast, or she'll reduce you to a green mist.

Still bloody hilarious though. Even Asami had to hide a laugh.

Entry 3 - Youmu:

Otter plushie with two swords. This choice officially means Youmu is the most noble and benevolent of Immaterial Children short of our own little princess, accept no substitutes!

What? Come on, princess was a figure of speech, not a slip, nobody would connect-

Fine, I'll edit it out later. (I swear, Asami needs to take the miko stick out of his ass.)

Youmu's another frequent combatant among the plushies. Our miko fights against her somewhat less often (and when she did, she'd pretend it was snowing about half the time), but she's presented as a capable combatant. In particular, her swords are apparently very dangerous. When Genjii came into the fray, our miko would declare him able to tank anything else, but then Youmu would appear and she'd cry "Oh no, Genjii! Her swords can cut through almost anything! Dodge it!". I got tired of hearing how those swords can cut through almost anything. When she first got Youmu she said it over, and over, and over.

But seriously, before Yachie made a pair of fake swords, the miko had outfitted Youmu with kitchen knives. And slashed up her bed with them. Plus the carpet, the curtains, and most of the other plushies. Genjii lived, though.

But yeah. Outside of combat, Youmu is apparently the perfect straight otter. Polite, straightforwards, diligent, no sense of humor, and frequently bewildered. (It's part of why I was so skeptical of the plushie project, I was sure this one was just Asami plus swords.) The other plushies kinda run rings around her, up until the point where she decides to start slashing. But yeah, she'll be gardening, or cooking, and then Marisa will steal food the moment her back's turned, and she never notices.

... though apparently part of the reason for that is Youmu cooks ridiculously large amounts of food? Any time the Youmu plushie is hosting one of the miko's tea parties, they last for like a dozen-plus courses. She doesn't treat the otter plush like a glutton, so maybe she's responsible for a large household.

Anyway, as of this writing... talking? Youmu hasn't been found yet, but the old guy said it would be a fitting name for his granddaughter. Our miko had also named the plushie's swords, and while one of them doesn't match, one of them does. And Hakurouken is apparently even a bloodline weapon, which would explain why the other sword (Rou-something) is different. It's a point in favor of the plushie intel project, then.

I told our miko exactly that, by the way. She was not happy, but couldn't do anything to me because I'm acting under the boss's orders! It's not teasing, it's subtly encouraging her to develop refinement!

...

Wait, she can't do that! Can she do that? Asami, you've gotta countermand this, please!

...

Apparently our plushie princess can in fact choose who gets stationed on the front lines. I'm so dead.

Oh, shove off, Asami! What more are you gonna do, eat me yourself?

Koji had no plans of ending up as goat bait. Sure, Yachie might have put her down for now, but the hellgoat would be back. She always came back. The only reason the convoy job didn't give him a heart attack was that as an otter spirit, he couldn't technically have one of those any more. And while he had no intentions of ever admitting it to anyone, a part of him had been relieved when Yuuma had chased after Reimu's actual hiding spot instead of tearing through the central convoy he was guarding. Not that getting charged by Kurokoma was a restful experience, but getting splattered by the meathead was better than getting eaten!

For crying out loud, all he did was tease her a little! He didn't deserve this!

And... that meant he needed someone to countermand Reimu's pettiness. The problem was, the three higher-ups who actually cancel the order were Reimu, Asami, and Yachie. And... well, Reimu was stubborn. She could be talked down, but you'd generally need someone to talk her down. Someone like Asami, who was right there, approving the punishment, with his smug little smirk. No, there'd be no help from that quarter.

And while Yachie's authority was absolute, she hated being dragged into petty disputes. Without an actual strategic reason to object, she would consider this petty. Wasting her time was a good way for an otter spirit to end up on the front lines... and while he was already being sent there, pissing off the boss could always make things worse.

He needed an intermediary. A way to get in the good books, someone who would see that there was no point in sending a handsome, witty, and all-around useful otter spirit to his re-death in the Animal Realm's meat-grinder! He was destined for bigger things! Or at least safer ones, he'd settle for safer ones.

Well, as it so happens, they were hosting a VIP, were they not? Someone who was probably bored sick of receiving medical care, who was important enough for Yachie to care about his opinion, and most importantly, who would be grateful for any information about the granddaughter he was looking for, no matter what form it took!

And frankly, if Yachie thought this crap was good enough to keep a file on, other people should feel the same.

"What do you mean Youki's not here?!" Koji demanded.

"Exactly what I said," the doctor-otter said, leveling a disapproving glare his way.

"But... he was supposed to be here!" He had to be here!

"On that point I agree." the doctor scowled. "He was supposed to stick around for two more days of bed rest, but it would seem he snuck out an hour ago."

Koji could all but visualize the eagle spirits carrying him off to Yuuma, and he shuddered. "Do you know where he went? Please, doc, I need to find him! I have important information for him!"

"Oh?" The rise of the doctor's eyebrow was inversely proportional to how much he cared.

"Yes! It's from Reimu, about the immaterial children! About his granddaughter!" Koji pleaded. It was even true, minus the important part. He'd get down on his knees and beg, but that would only hurt his chances.

The doctor's face softened, and he sighed. "Regardless, I can't help you. He isn't here."

"Is it life and limb important?" a nurse chimed in.

Koji swallowed. "Very much so." It was his life, after all!

The female otter hesitated. "Well, I don't know if this will help you, but he was heading in the direction of Keiki's territory. You might be able to catch him by the reservoir."

Great. Just great.

Koji really, really didn't want to venture into haniwa territory. Those things were unnatural! A single haniwa could tear through dozens of animal spirits, what with their completely unfair advantage of having actual physical bodies! Which was really bad, because attacking animal spirits was like the only thing they did. Which was stupid! This was the animal realm! If they wanted their own place, they could find the hell of broken pottery or something!

Really though, if one of those stupid sculptures objected to his presence, he'd have no choice but to run. Which... meant running deeper into haniwa territory, because he had to find Youki.

Stupid Reimu. Stupid old man! Why couldn't he have just stayed put, and made Koji's life easier?! But no, the perimeter sentries confirmed that Youki had gone straight for the reservoir Keiki had seized.

There was nothing else for it. The only nice thing about Keiki setting up shop in the reservoir was that Koji could sneak closer to it in true Kiketsu fashion. Rather than the uncomfortably exposed streets, he could swim his way through the waterways nearby. He was swift, he was silent, he was practically invisible! A pale green shadow at the bottom of a deep canal. Dodging Keiki's own sentries was easy. All he needed to do was sneak through this checkpoint, and-

"That's an otter spirit! Kiketsu!"

Aw, hells.

Koji abandoned all thoughts of stealth and started swimming for his life. The haniwa chased along either side of the canal, firing arrows into the water, but the sheer depth of the water made that a pointless effort. That was the problem with their oh-so-precious physical bodies! They were wholly unsuitable to moving in water, and that meant there was nothing they could do to him!

A haniwa ahead pulled a sack and tipped it into the waterway. Which seemed really stupid to Koji. Even if it was some kind of spirit-trapping weapon, the water would dilute it to uselessness. There was nothing that-

Haniwa crabs?! The wicked god made HANIWA CRABS?! That wasn't fair! She couldn't do that! And rather than crawling along the bottom, like an real crab should, some propeller thing in the back of their shell started spinning and sent them rocketing towards him. And- oh dear Yachie those claws were huge!

Koji dodged down away from the first clay crab, touching bottom. For the next couple, he waited for them to charge before pushing off, springing away right before the crabs hit the stone with enough speed to crack the clay. He'd launched at an angle too, carrying him over to the side of the canal where he could leap again when the next one charged.

Right, this could work! There were only half a dozen of them, and they were all stupid! If he just kept alternating walls, he could let them shatter themselves to pieces, and continue on his way!

A splashing noise drew his attention, as three more sacks of clay crabs were tipped into the waterway.

That... two dozen. Two dozen of these giant-clawed crabs. He wouldn't even have the decency to get eaten by one person, the wicked god's crab swarm would tear him to pieces!

He had to get out. With the clay crabs in the water and haniwa lining the banks above, he needed somewhere they couldn't follow. Looking around desperately, he spied a narrow pipe sticking out of the wall he was clinging to. There was a grate covering it, but nothing better came to mind, so Koji made a beeline for it.

Crabs rocketed around him in every direction, narrowly missing as he swam and squirmed his way towards his only hope. Yelping as one of them got a tuft of fur, he made it to the pipe, grabbing the grate with both hands and pulled. The grate rattled and the pipe shook, but the damn thing was stuck, and more crabs were coming! He tried some of those fancy danmaku bullets that Reimu liked, sending a few green orbs smacking into the pipe, but the grate held! He’d need something stronger- and he was out of time. He had to dodge aside as another crab came rocketing at him, smashing into the side of the pipe and denting it.

Wait, denting it?

Koji swam over to the front of the pipe as the next one came, positioning himself so that the grate was to his back. The crab took the bait, striking forwards with a claw as Koji flipped himself up and over onto the top of the pipe. The claw smashed into the grate and broke from the sheer force of the blow, but Koji had lost track of the other monster, only to be reminded of its presence when it clamped down on his tail.

Yelping in pain, Koji yanked the loosened grate free and smacked it into the monster grabbing him. The flat side of the grate bounced off the shell, doing basically nothing as the crab pulled him away from the pipe, and the other twenty-some monsters closed in. Desperately, he rotated the grate, swinging the edge this time and aiming for where the crab's arm connected to the body. This one was aimed true, shattering the thin arm. With the detached claw still latched on, he scrambled to the pipe’s opening and started squeezing into it, tail-first.

The haniwa-crabs kept snapping at him, but he managed to bat them away with the grate as he backed into the pipe. Finally, he was far enough in to replacing the grate in front of him, and Keiki’s monsters were left with their claws bouncing uselessly off the metal.

He was safe! Of course, it was a really tight squeeze, and he couldn't get out, or turn around, and the only way 'forwards' was to back down a pipe he couldn't see into the unknown deep into Keiki's territory, and why did he think this was a good idea again?!

Then he heard a clunk and the whirring of motors. That couldn't be good. Some other trick of the haniwa? He had just enough time to shake nervously before he started getting sucked down the pipe! Frantically he scrabbled at the walls, but the pipe's sides were smooth and offered no leverage, and the grate was just out of reach!! Despite his best efforts clawing at the walls, the pipe's suction was dragging him away from the waterway, into whatever torments Keiki had prepared!!! He was doomed!!!! DOOMED!!!!!

This went on for quite some time, the otter being roughly dragged through a number of sections of plumbing, up until the point where the pipe narrowed and Koji got stuck. At which point his hysteria switched to being trapped forever in a random pipe. Which in turn lasted until the pipe started banging and rattling again, which switched back to sheer terror of whatever was coming to get him.

With the panicked frenzy that Koji had worked himself into, his reaction to the Haniwa guards that had come to retrieve him and unclog the pipe can perhaps be understood.

"Please don't eat me!" he screamed.

After his close brush with Keiki's demon crabs, pipe of doom, and the psychological torture that one of the Haniwa referred to as "plumbing", Koji felt he was remarkably put together, all things considered. It had only taken a few minutes for him to stop gibbering in terror, and a few more to make the haniwa understand that he had important information for Youki! Vital, top secret, not-for-their-eyes information! They'd believed him, proving his mastery of persuasion, and even given him an escort deep into Keiki's fortress! Which... you know, put him even further from safety than before, but he had to get here to talk to Youki anyway, so maybe it was progress!

And as the haniwa dumped him in a chair, Koji saw the target of his quest. The old man! He even seemed to be in a decent mood, looking amused about something... perhaps the blue-haired demon-goddess next to him, who looked supremely unimpressed about it.

"I've been woken up for this?!" Keiki demanded, rubbing her eyes. "This had better be good."

"That- I don't- you weren't-" Koji sputtered.

One of the haniwa next to him leaned in, eyes sparkling maliciously. "You'd better tell Lady Keiki what she wants to know. Or she'll make you into a new haniwa."

"Plushies!" Koji screamed, bringing the entire room to a dead stop. "Reimu has a plushie of Youmu I wanted to tell Youki about! She's got plushies of all the Immaterial Children, and memories about what they were like, and I wanted to tell the old guy about his granddaughter! That way he could put in a good word for me and I wouldn't get sent to the front lines, and I just don't wanna die!"

Youki started chuckling as Keiki stared at him. "A plushie. I got woken up because one otter spirit, scared of his own shadow, managed to breach multiple lines of defense in his quest to tell Youki about a child's toy."

"To be fair, it's a very important toy," Youki cut in.

Keiki glared at him, doing nothing to stop the old man's mirth.

"I've got proof!" Koji squealed. "I couldn't bring the plushie, Reimu'd kill me, but the drawing..." he reached down to the little waterproof satchel he'd carried it in, then stopped, finding it missing. "Where'd it go?!"

One of the haniwa interrupted. "The operative's bag was taken to a mined-out section of the quarry, to safely examine it."

"To be fair, it could be a very dangerous drawing," Youki said again.

"Oh, shut up!" Keiki snapped, before turning to the haniwa. "I'm going to have coffee. And by the time I'm done, I want a detailed report on how a single otter spirit managed to get far enough into my defenses to trigger a security alarm!"

The enraged goddess turned to Koji. "And as for you! You're going to make this interruption worth my while. I want to know every last detail about these Immaterial Children plushies."

"Starting with Youmu," Youki interrupted.

Keiki rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, your granddaughter first."

"I'll tell you everything!" Koji pleaded.

He told them everything.

And so! After a harrowing adventure, Koji, first of his name, succeeded in his quest to regale Youki with Reimu's memory of his grandduaghter! Such were his persuasive efforts that he managed (after coffee) to make a positive impression on Keiki, causing her to extend for the Reimu safe passage agreement to some of the otters! Between his bravery in storming Keiki's stronghold, the strategic coup in paving the way for otters to sneak through her territory, and the good word Youki was putting in for him, Yachie was surely going to be impressed enough to admit that being another soul on the front lines would be a waste of Koji's talent, and promote him to a far more fitting position!

Except... the more Youki said, the more Yachie was giving off smoke. With a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"You don't need to worry," Yachie told Youki, using that calm voice that implied someone was about to die. "I'll be sure to reward this brave spirit appropriately."

"Yes, well, I really do appreciate hearing more of my granddaughter," Youki replied. "I figured it was worth the trip to thank you for it."

"And I'm sure he told you and Keiki a lot," Yachie said, sending Koji a smoldering glare. "But if you'd like to hear more, I believe Reimu's doing nothing of importance. I'm sure she'd love to go over what Koji told you."

For his part, Koji sent Youki a pleading glance. The boss was going to kill him!

"I may just do that." Youki replied, not noticing his plight. "You have my thanks, Yachie."

The moment the swordsman was out of sight, Yachie yanked the otter into a private room.

"Boss, I-" he tried.

"You had no reason to be in Keiki's territory, and even less to tell that god anything." Yachie snarled. "Explain. And leave nothing out,"

Yachie's use of her ability was unnecessary. The glare would have been enough.

By the time Koji finished his tale, Mt. Yachie had quit smoking, at least. Which wasn't to say she was happy with him.

"I find myself at something of a loss," she admitted. "Your actions were idiotic. The idea was wrong, the execution was worse, and your actions were insubordination bordering on treason... and yet your hairbrained scheme worked out."

He said nothing. It seemed like the safest bet.

"The details you leaked are strategically unimportant, but yielded measurable gains. Reinforcing Youki's gratitude and Keiki's concession on otters moving through her territory, are in fact relevant." Yachie mused. "I'd call your 'plan' worthy of the Keiga... but with recent events, perhaps there's some value to that. On rare occasions."

"Does this mean I'm not being sent to the front lines?" Koji asked.

"Of course not, that would clearly be a waste of your unique talents." Yachie grinned. It wasn't a pleasant smile. "You will be the first member of the Kiketsu Special Forces."

"The what?!" he blurted out.

"A new branch, for those dangerous missions that require a unique touch." the boss sentenced him. "Such as scouting out Gouyoku territory to see how Yuuma's recovering."

Entry 4 - Kosuzu

Hey! Komori here! As Koji's poor decisions have gotten him in trouble (Really, he should have known better!), Asami has reassigned this whole audio logs business to me. Which is great! Rei-Rei, there won't be any more teasing, I promise. No, I have to use the nickname, I’m not supposed to call you your full one, it’s a rule, remember? But really, I think it's great that you have all those plushies, and not just because of the informational advantage! It's adorable, and entirely appropriate for a child your age.

(Ah, she's blushing! So cute!)

Anyway, Kosuzu's a red wolf puppy with a bell on her collar. I know, I know, wolves are supposed to be the Keiga thing, but she really does act like a puppy! When Rei-Rei was playing with her, Kosuzu was always cute and harmless, always happy to be included, to watch others play danmaku, and nosing her way into any business she could just to be part of the group. This apparently got her into trouble a lot! She's one of the two main plushies (Akyuu was the other one) who never actually played danmaku herself, and she'd always be wandering off looking for a book, or for her friends, and then youkai would attack or she'd get lost, or she'd fall into some scheme, and Rei-Rei would have to save her! She was Rei-Rei's own little damsel in distress!

The other way Kosuzu's cute and puppy-like is how happy she is! She is basically irrepressible. Even right as she's being captured, or some wicked youkai has her claws in her, she might get scared, but she'd still be like "It's okay, Rei-Rei will save me!" And of course, Rei-Rei would save her, she'd drive off the bad guys with Genjii, and Kosuzu would instantly be super cheerful again, getting a hug from Rei-Rei, and she'd be safe and happy again, right up until the next time she got herself into trouble. And of course Rei-Rei would save her again, then Kosuzu would get a hug, and some pets, and Rei-Rei and I would set all the plushies up for whatever the next incident was going to be!

No, Rei-Rei, it's not embarrassing! It was perfect for a child your age! It still is! We haven’t played in ages!

Anyway, Kosuzu also really loved hanging out with her friends when she wasn't getting into trouble. Akyuu was the one she'd hang out with the most - she was the other non-combatant, but they were close friends too - but she was also happy to hang out with Rei-Rei, or Marisa, or anyone else, really! Again, she was always friendly, always happy, there was basically nobody she disliked... it's another way she really was the cutest puppy! Ahh....

Ahem. Anyway, we don't have much information about Kosuzu as an Immaterial Child. The most likely source is the Mootori’s with their bookstore, considering the plushie's notable love of books, but the real thing hasn't shown up yet. Maybe if we can scrape together enough stories from Rei-Rei's memory, we could spread a book that would draw her attention?

Don't worry Rei-Rei, your name wouldn't be included. There's nothing wrong with a child playing, but you're a secret, after all!

Oh, that reminds me! To better establish Kosuzu's character, I figured we could re-enact a typical scene with the plushies! Now, I've got Kosuzu and Akyuu here, I think we can let Youmu be the villain, and you've already got Genjii, so-

Wait, Rei-Rei! Where are you going? Come back!

Entry 5 - Akyuu

Komori here again! And this time our focus is going to be on the last of the IC plushies, Akyuu! Learning more about the youkai in Gensokyo people already know about doesn't seem as important. I'll have to ask Asami, but that... might make this the last entry?

What are you thanking God for, Rei-Rei? Oh wait, is this a miko thing? Is it practice? You're always so diligent about this stuff!

But getting back to plushie-Akyuu, she's adorable! Forget the color scheme, she's an otter plush, with a flower motif! (Although, I'll admit, purple looks better on an otter than I thought it would. Stupid eagles ruining a perfectly good color.) And like a flower, her job is to just stand there and look pretty.

Okay, that's a bit of a stretch. The thing is, like Kosuzu, Akyuu's not a fighter. She stays back, drinks tea, and watches everyone else having wacky adventures. The thing is, unlike Kosuzu, Akyuu's basically never getting into trouble. The bad guys don't target her, and she doesn't wander out after dark or crack open suspicious books marked "DUn'T READ ME, iM KURSEd!!!!" (Yes, Rei-Rei wrote it out that way! I saved the warning sign, it was too good to throw away!) Every once in a while, maybe she's in a group that comes under attack or something, but by and large, she just gets to chill.

So, if she's not a fighter, and she's not a damsel in distress (except very occasionally), how does Akyuu get to play? Well, there's all those tea parties and innocent scenes. In fact, it's how I know Rei-Rei's listening when the boss is going on about refinement! Akyuu's manners are immaculate. She drinks tea with her pinky out, never confuses the salad fork with the dessert fork, remembers everyone's names and titles, and generally does all those proper young lady things! (You'll get good at them too, Rei-Rei, I know you will!) She'll even lecture Kosuzu over some of them, brushing crumbs off her and telling her how to be a proper guest. Kosuzu kinda gets annoyed at that, which is pretty much the only time Kosuzu ever gets frustrated, but never for long, and they're always friends again by the end of the tea party.

(Though I wonder... perhaps the red puppy should have been a red and white puppy? At least for those play sessions.)

But that's not to say Akyuu doesn't come out for more serious quests too! She might not be involved in combat, but she's really good at figuring out what's wrong and telling the others where to go. Sure, sometimes it's obvious, like Marisa stealing Youmu's swords, but other times, especially if Yukari the axolotl is involved, it gets sneaky. And Akyuu has an amazing eye for detail. She keeps picking up the smallest little hints, and Rei-Rei was pretty creative with them! My favorite was when she pointed out the Suika plushie was a little bit smaller right before the sake got mysteriously stolen, which meant she split part of her off to go and nab it! She's also got a teeny bit of a mischievous streak; every once in a while she'll play a small joke on the others, like swapping the covers on Kosuzu's books. She pretty much never gets caught. Rei-Rei had a running gag for a while where Akyuu kept blaming it on Marisa, and it kept working! (Though Marisa did get her back in the end.)

And as far as the real thing goes... well, she's been found. Akyuu Inaba is the Child of Miare, and is living as a moon rabbit at Eientei. The first publicly known Immaterial Child. I'm not really sure where things will go from here... whether she'll stay at Eientei, or go back to the Hieda household. I hope she stays. Being a cool animal youkai has to be way better than being human, even if it's not an otter. Supposedly she’s got a sister named Reisen, so hopefully that's enough reason for her to stick around?

That got a little heavy... I guess that's it, huh?

...

Rei-Rei? You don't have to, but... do you want to play? One more time? I'll turn the recorder off.

...

Really? You're the best!

*click*

((Spoiler warning: This omake contains moderate spoilers for the plot of Urban Student in Limbo.))

Kudamaki Kiiro froze as the mirror turned and a youkai stepped off of it.

Maribel.

All at once, memories from his past life flooded down on him, carrying him away on their currents. Memories of a different name, a different life, a different world. Of being Greg, not Kiiro. A human, not a tube fox. Living in Japan, not Gensokyo.

He remembered Sumireko, his first friend, the one who'd brought him out of darkness. He remembered Satori, her mind reading, her gentleness, a kind soul stranded by an unfair reputation. He remembered his magic, the illusions, the enchantment, and all the other odds and ends he'd tried in the process of discovering where his skills lay. He remembered his trip to Gensokyo, the danmaku, being injured, being kidnapped... even finding love, or at least the possibility of it.

Try as he might, he couldn't quite remember how it ended. Had Satori felt that way for him, or was it just his own wishful thinking? And for that matter, why were his two lives so different? He looked much the same, age and foxy features aside, but name, background, species, family… all of those were completely different. He had no explanation for those differences… nor why he’d woken up in the past at all, really. (He was pretty sure it was the past, at least. His knowledge of Gensokyo’s history wasn’t great, but it was enough to compare dates.)

But most of all, in this moment? He remembered her. Whether she called herself Maribel or Yukari, Greg would never forget what she did to him, in any lifetime.

Which made it all the more distressing that Yukari was here now. And he didn't have Sumireko, or Satori around to help. Heck, he'd take Sakuya or Patchouli right now. And he wasn't in his body- or well, he sort of was, but he should be older, taller. The ears and the tail felt wrong, for all they also felt right. He'd lived as a human, not a kitsu- kuda-gitsune. He'd dealt with worse, he just needed a few minutes to get used to it - but he didn't have a few minutes. Yukari was here now.

He put a hand to his chest, trying to slow his breathing. It's fine, it's fine, she was probably here for Reimu... wait. He glanced over. Wasn't Reimu supposed to be the name of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden? And human as well? Wait, the disguise ring was meant to let her pretend to be human. If she was wearing it all the time, it's conceivable that she could have pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, especially if she had Yukari backing her.

Was that why he and Sumi had gotten such a vicious reaction for bothering youkai? Gensokyo had been rigged against the humans from the start.

"But I have to say, young Kiiro, I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to have such a firm grasp of coding languages."

He startled at Yukari's voice, and barely managed to keep his own level. "It's the same concept as magic, really. The rules might be intuitive, but they're consistent once established, and it's a matter of knowing what pieces to black box and which ones you need to dive into. It also helps significantly that the program was well made. Commenting and well-named variables increase the readability of a program significantly."

"Oh? A firm understanding of magic as well? That's commendable in one so young."

He looked down, heat rushing to his face. If she would just talk to anyone else! "Nothing worth speaking of, just a few odds and ends from books," he managed. "I'm just a tube fox, after all."

"Now, now. My dear Ran is one of the most talented magicians around. For you to keep up with her work at all is quite commendable, little Kiiro. And for that, you've caught my interest."

Oh no.

Yachie exhaled, smoke leaking through her nose. "So I finally find a candidate who might fit, who Reimu doesn't reject on sight, and you're already trying to compromise him?"

"That's right!" he said, jumping into the conversation. "I'm sorry, but this job is really important to me and Mom, so I can't do anything to risk it."

"You needn't worry about that," Yukari smiled, sending chills down his spine. "I'd just like to see your skills flourish, so I brought you a gift."

He gulped, glancing over at Reimu - was she really just looking at herself in the mirror?! "You really don't need to-"

"I insist." She brought out what was clearly a spellbook, its yellow cover embossed with gold, and all but radiating magic. "This is... an instructional book penned by Yakumo Ran herself. It contains detailed descriptions of many of the spells her fox magic can cast, as well as numerous applications and optimisations of each. And even further, it includes a bunch of reference material on all things fox-related."

It was remarkably good bait. He'd been struggling with the kuda-gitsune tricks in this life, so anything that could help with that, some way to make him more useful to Mom would be good. There was probably some trick in there, some unexpected 'feature' of a certain spell, or maybe even all of them that would bind him to her... but his understanding of magical theory was far better than the gap youkai knew. As long as he didn't cast anything directly from the book, if he just reverse engineered the spells within and took care to cast his own variations, ones he'd designed from the ground up and fully understood, surely that would be worth the risk? He could be a magician again.

He hesitated, reaching his hand out when Reimu spoke. “Really, Yukari? Even for you, having something that convenient strains credibility.”

Yukari shook her head. “I understand your confusion, but it’s misplaced. There was a time when I was looking at creating another kitsune shikigami, after the first worked so well - but I’ve found shikigami work best when recruited and trained from a young age. So this book was intended to be reference material for said young kitsune to learn from, before formal training began.”

His hand shot back as if stung. Recruiting and training shikigami from a young age? Grooming some poor child to be her personal slave? Had he forgotten who he was dealing with?!

There's always a choice, Greg. In fact, you get to make one right now! I didn't come here just to reminisce, I have an offer for you. What do you know about shikigami?

She wasn't just here for Reimu! She wanted her hooks in him. Again!

Yachie sighed. “Does that mean you hope to make Kiiro a shikigami? I imagine his mother would have some rather strong objections.”

Yukari hummed. “Doubtless, but that's a concern for later. I do believe he has strong potential as one... but any plan to do as such would be well into the future. Like I said, this book’s more of a well-detailed primer than anything else.”

He looked at her, frozen in disbelief. She was openly planning his future enslavement right in front of him, not even trying to make a secret of it! And the others were barely reacting to it! Admittedly, the youkai present were essentially a mafia crime family, but still!

...wait. They were a mafia crime family. And regardless of what Tsukasa could provide, that paled to the power and influence of Yakumo Yukari. Maybe they didn't care. And if that was the case, Yukari could take him right now, and he could do little more than scream. He was surrounded by youkai far stronger than him, literally in the middle of their stronghold. Those were impossible odds for a stupid tube fox. Even if he had all the magic he remembered, if he could cast a veil, he had no illusions of being able to hide from Yukari. If she tried to take him, he was doomed. Simple as that.

His breathing quickened as Yukari approached, holding the book low in front of the Kuda-gitsune. “Little Kiiro. Would you like to borrow it, for a time?”

She must not think he knew. It was the only explanation; Yukari seemed to be going for a soft sell, and flaunting an atrocity made no sense alongside that. That was a potential opening; he just had to take the book, pretend he didn't know, and never touch it or its magic.

[ } Take the-

Reimu blinked. The book sailed through the air, crashing to the floor and skidding to a stop against a wall. Her gaze shot back over towards Yukari, frozen with her empty hand and blank look of shock, and the fox backing away from her. Pale and trembling, breathing in shallow gasps as he retreated, horror and determination mixed on his face.

"N-never." He swallowed, hands shaking. "It doesn't m-matter what you offer. Never."

((To be clear, the setup for this omake series is that the USiL protagonist, Greg spawns in in Kosuzu's place. His memories extend roughly to the current point of USiL's story, perhaps slightly further. He has no idea what IC's are, or why he woke up in a different body, and nobody else is expecting him at all. The other IC's are in their canon positions, with the exception of Kosuzu who is just somewhere else, well out of the way of this story.

I'm not going to tell the full arc from beginning to end, but I think I'll hit a few highlight scenes here and there. Depending on how this goes, I may do omakes for other crossover IC's in the future. We'll see.

Oh, and while this hasn't come up in USiL proper yet... Kiiro is in fact Greg's birth name. He is currently unaware of this.

Finally, thanks to Kosu for the art! Mini-Tsukasa-Greg came out really well.))

Chen reacted first, scrambling over to pick up the book. Yachie and Reimu were both watching him, their eyes wide. And Yukari... Yukari had gone completely still, frozen in what was doubtless calculation.

"Kiiro..." Yukari hesitated, looked back at the book, "why-"

He started laughing, a shrill, frantic sound. "Did you think I was ignorant? I know what shikigami are! How did you think I would react to that enslavement ritual?!"

Yachie frowned, a puff of smoke escaping her. "Is that how Tsukasa described it?"

"Mom has nothing to do with this! This was from my research, something I studied." He had to convince them how bad this was. He had to. "Magic's a passion of mine, even if- even if I can't cast much as a tube fox. But this isn't something anyone sane should ever touch."

He put his hand to his chest, trying to calm his breathing, trying to sound authoritative. "It was from an old journal I found about mental magic. There were a number of interesting tricks in there, a couple of which I could even use... and then an entire section warning against the shikigami ritual that Tamamo-no-mae created. Declaring it in no certain terms to be an abomination and a war crime."

"Shikigami aren't like that!" Chen cried out, cradling the book to her chest. "Lady Ran and Lady Yukari would never do such a thing!"

He almost snapped at Chen before he placed the name. "Oh. Oh right, you're Ran's shikigami, aren't you." He winced, shaking his head. "I-I'm sorry. Your life must be- I’m so sorry."

The cat was speechless at that, and he used the chance to regain some momentum. "Regardless, the book was very clear on this. Once created, the shikigami cannot disobey orders. The original personality fades away, bar whatever pieces of it are useful to the shikigami's programming. The original person is for all intents and purposes dead, replaced by a magical slave loyal only to their master."

"No!" Chen yelled. "It's not like that at all!"

"Of course you'd defend them, you can't do otherwise!" he pointed out. "The shikigami does what their master wants. They can't disobey, they can't fight back, they can barely even talk back. That's why it's slavery, that's the entire point!"

"But it isn't true!" Chen hesitated slightly, her knuckles going white around the book as she stared him down. "I-I've disobeyed Ran before. Even though it was important."

"Did you? Or does your programming make you think that because it didn't work out, because you weren't fast enough, strong enough, smart enough? And even if you did, even if some small piece of your soul resisted... that's your biggest regret." It was a shot in the dark, but from the way Chen flinched, it looked like it landed. Kiiro leaned in for the kill. "You'd give anything now to not have failed your master before. To have been the perfect little servant."

"Enough." Yukari stepped in between them, and he recoiled, falling back to the wall. Throwing this all in Yukari's face was a step too far. Was this where he died?

The gap youkai looked down at him, closing her eyes with a heavy sigh. "Chen... let's go."

"No!” Chen snarled, bristling. “We can't let him think-"

"Chen!" Yukari raised her voice, reaching out for the shikigami.

"No!" she shouted, lunging.

There was a flurry of movement, Yukari yelped, and suddenly Chen was right on top of him.

"There!" she said, her face inches from his. "Could one of your stupid slaves do that?!"

Kiiro looked past her to where Yukari was holding one of her hands with the other, framing a semicircle of tooth marks and a trickle of blood. Had Chen just-

"You bit her?"

"You see?” Chen rubbed at her mouth. “I don't have to obey!"

Had Yukari planned this ahead of time? No, unless he was completely misreading this, he'd surprised Yukari, and then Chen just had again. So was it because the cat was Ran's shikigami, not Yukari's directly? Or maybe an overriding order to convince him however necessary?

Kiiro stared at the catgirl on top of him, at a loss for words. The book was clutched to her chest in one hand, as her other gripped his shoulder hard enough for the claws to pinch. Her face was red, tears peeking out in the corner of her eyes. If he didn't know better, he'd conclude this really was important to her personally... but that shouldn't be possible.

"Enough!" Yachie said, her tail flicking. "I'm convinced you both believe you're telling the truth, but whether shikigami are slaves is too important a question for he-said, she-said."

Kiiro opened his mouth to object, but Chen beat him to the punch. "But it’s not true!"

"And you are sorely mistaken if you think yelling louder is going to convince me.” The Kiketsu leader shot her a glare and the cat flinched. “Regardless of your personal feelings on the matter, if you interrupt me again, you will regret it. Am I understood?”

Chen looked away. “... sorry.”

Yachie let out a deep breath, releasing a puff of smoke as she turned back to him and Chen. "Now. Clearly an amiable working relationship will be difficult with that accusation hanging overhead. And as such, the first priority needs to be establishing the truth about shikigami.”

But that was giving Yukari a chance! Kiiro grit his teeth, but nodded. What else could he do? Objecting here would make him look like he was the liar!

“And while I would prefer to handle this in-house, Keiki does own a substantial magical library of her own. One that neither Yukari nor Tsukasa should have had any reason to touch." Yachie blew out another puff of smoke as she looked over to the gap youkai. “Yukari. You are to stay here to ensure that remains the case. There are some matters that need revisiting.”

Yukari seemed to only half be paying attention to Yachie, despite the intensity of the jidiao’s glare. “Of course,” she said distractedly.

The Kiketsu leader once again returned her attention to him… but there was an extra force to it this time. "Kiiro. Chen. The two of you are to head to Keiki’s library and research what shikigami are. Then you are to return here and report exactly what you've found. Do I make myself clear?"

No, Kiiro wanted to scream. He wanted to argue more, to prove that shikigami were a terrible thing, no research necessary, but somehow he couldn’t find the words. There had to be something, some slip Yukari had made, some proof of the monster she was… but looking into Yachie’s slitted pupils, he couldn’t think of it. He could barely think of anything.

But maybe… if he found those books… that would be enough proof, right? A-and Chen would have to help, Y-Yachie's ability would stop her from doing anything else. He trembled as the order sunk in, seeing Chen do the same.

"Yes, of course!" he said at the same time Chen stammered her own affirmative.

He looked over to see how Yukari was taking this... but she was silent, raising no objection, not even looking at him. Did Yachie’s ability allow some sort of authority over her? Was he safe? No, it couldn’t be that easy; Yukari was too strong, and she wasn't the type to give up at the first setback. That realization snapped him out of his fugue, and Kiiro scrambled to his feet.

And he thought that would be it when Reimu finally spoke up. “Mama, may I go with them? If shikigami are a bad thing… I want to see for myself.”

Yachie’s gaze softened for a moment. “Very well. But as a neutral observer, understand? You are not to sway the results.”

Reimu nodded. “I understand.”

Yachie favored her daughter with a small smile before waving them off. "Then go. Reimu knows the way."

Kiiro couldn't get out of the room fast enough, pausing outside to catch his breath. He held a hand to his chest, trying to steady his heartbeat while Chen caught up.

The cat looked as flustered as he felt. "D-does it feel that way when Ran orders you to do something?" he asked her.

Chen shuddered. "No. It's not like that at all."

He looked at her in concern. "A-are you going to be alright? You attacked Yukari!"

"She’ll understand." Chen shrugged. "Worst comes to worst, she'll just put me in time out for a bit. I'll be fine."

Just put in time out... Kiiro's heart clenched at the thought. Chen was sad, alone, and under the control of someone who cared nothing for her. And she didn't even see it as anything wrong! She was a brave little thing (even if they were the same size), and he wanted to offer her some comfort; a hug, headpats, anything... but she didn't know him, and wouldn't welcome that sort of affection from him. But all the same, he’d be betraying his own memories if he didn't try to do something.

Greg paused to grab her hand and really looked at her, even as Yachie's order pulled him towards the library. "Don't worry, Chen. We'll find proof of what shikigami are, find the truth. And once we do... we'll take it to Yachie, Keiki, whoever we have to.” He hummed. “Considering Yachie brought us tube foxes in as outside experts… maybe I can talk her into getting Satori involved?"

Chen seemed taken aback and a little embarrassed. The cat had opened her mouth to reply when Reimu belatedly exited the room, the door squeaking on its hinges. Kiiro dropped Chen’s hand, silently cursing the jidiao’s timing. Getting someone to open up about a problem was so much harder with a third party. But there was nothing for it now.

“That was a bit of a delay,” he observed. “What took you so long?”

“Yukari just wanted to ask me something,” the miko said, not meeting his gaze.

“Like what?” he demanded.

“Just what I thought about something,” she said, trying (and failing) for casual. “Something that as a neutral observer I shouldn’t be talking about.”

That was another dodge, and he was about to press her on it when Chen interrupted, tapping his shoulder. “Hey Kiiro? Why’d you suggest bringing Satori in?”

The sudden switch caught him off guard, and he stumbled over his words. “W-well that’s because… her ability would be perfect here. Reading minds is an amazing way to verify whether someone is trustworthy, after all.”

Having regained his train of thought, he nodded, warming to the idea. Chen was basically a pet already, this would just be giving her a better home. “It’d be easy to get her to come, too. Simply mention there’s a cute animal youkai in distress and she’d be more than happy to help. She’s way more benevolent than people think.”

Reimu narrowed her eyes. “When did you run into her? There’s no way Tsukasa-”

“It’s a long story.” he said, deflecting. He’d forgotten; tube foxes and mind readers generally didn’t mix. “Point is, so long as we can get the truth out there, it’ll work out somehow. How’s that saying go? ‘You will know the truth and the truth will set you free’?”

Chen and Reimu both stared at him, for long enough that he was worried one of them was going to call him on it. Finally Reimu shook her head, incredulous. “The truth? Are you sure you’re a tube fox?”

He sighed, giving her a wry smile. “Mom always said I was no good at being a kuda-gitsune.”

For just a moment Chen seemed… almost relieved? She shook her head, eyeing him with a look of steely determination. “He could be right, though. If we can’t establish the truth beyond doubt… one of the Third Eyes might be exactly what we need.”

_______ Reimu had to admit that shame was not a… prominent part of her vocabulary as Kicchou Reimu walked through the library where she felt best, changing direction seemingly at random as she followed her instincts in search of the missing fox. She actually recalled that oni Hermit saying something to that effect during some barely remembered event, something about air tubes? Anyways, when your method for dealing with defeat in an incident is to show up the next morning for another go… maybe they had a point?

Though Reimu thought that might be why Kosuzu had kept catching her off guard throughout the few hours that they had since being reunited. Why Kosuzu’s reactions couldn’t tip off Kicchou Reimu that something was wrong, why the little fox’s sudden dash into the maze of bookshelves had caught both her and the kid by surprise. But really, even then Reimu couldn’t make sense of it.

Since the confrontation with Yuuma, Reimu had wondered how each of her friends would handle becoming a Youkai… and honestly she thought Kosuzu would have been the least of her worries.

Marisa? …Well that was a kettle of fish that she would worry about when Kosuzu wasn’t hiding from her. Youmu? She was half-phantom in the first place, and was the constant servant of a ghost princess. As long as there were swords involved she would be fine.

Akyuu had also been someone _______ had worried about. But when the letters from Akyuu began coming in, with an undercurrent of life and enjoyment between the information shared, with things like complaining about how she disliked the morning workouts she had been doing on the moon and yet from her words somehow had yet to drop the habit, now doing them with her sister, the worry had been eased on that front.

And Kosuzu? _______ had been very aware of how nearly blase the young girl had been to the risks of her reading hobby. So Reimu had been relaxed about how Kosuzu would take being a youkai, especially after the tea party, when she had asked Asami what had happened.

Less than five minutes.

There had been less than five {clam-sucking} minutes between when Kosuzu had left the sight of those in the lobby and the point in which the fox had planted herself in the middle of the Kiketsu Family’s most valuable secret… she had walked through the {Sheep-bait} defenses like they had never existed.

Then just a short time after being handed a tome of fox magic, (By Yukari! Because Kosuzu had caught her attention somehow, which _____ was not{not} jealous of, so stop thinking it kid!) she was slinging spells and ideas from it like she had always had it!

And then she had neutralized Yoshika without alerting the other guards, got the three of them into where Yumemi was being imprisoned, and to top it all off, faced down Seiga head on, and with Yumemi not just held her off (and the wolf spirits that were there as well!) but knocked her out!

And yet…

How many times so far had Reimu heard Kosuzu call herself a useless tube fox just this morning? How many times had Reimu seen her friend try to assume the blame fell on her if the slightest thing had gone wrong? How many times did the little fox try to deflect and push others away? (Heck, Kosuzu had even mentioned being told she was eating too much before the tea party, which bothered ______ for some reason that she was having problems recalling, something to do with Marisa…? Had Kasen given her and Marisa a lecture about tube-foxes for some reason? Maybe once Kosuzu had been found Reimu would borrow a book on Tube-foxes before she left.) And just now, blamed herself for the results of her grandfather’s attempts to help her…

What was it about what Kosuzu could do as a tube-fox, Kitsune, Inari, or whatever, or has done that was to be ashamed about??

Kicchou paused as she heard Yumemi calling out for Kosuzu as she went.

There was a possible source of a couple of Kosuzu’s reactions, but _______ was hesitant to consider it. Even with how many memories she was missing _______ had the feeling that even with her memory restored… there still wouldn’t be anything that she could draw on regarding how a parent acted. But even then as Reimu thought back to the previous hours of the day, how Tsukasa didn’t even glance at Kosuzu when she had come into Kicchou’s room. How Tsukasa demeaned Kosuzu’s capabilities with Kosuzu standing right there, how her friend quietly admitted that she could see her mother send Seiga after her and the rest of them for just some chance to schmooze up to their enemies. There was no way Kosuzu should have ended up like she was now, {unless something truly dreadful had happened to her.} Tsukasa did manipulate and disparage people, {but it was behind their backs, and she surely wouldn't be doing it to her own daughter!} Whomever was at fault, Reimu swore was going to seal {claw} and exterminate {BUR-}

Reimu had to shallow the sudden flare of heat that had surged up her windpipe and coughed out a plume of dark smoke… it would not do to have Kosuzu upset for some scorched books on top of everything else right now.

The problem was that _______ just didn’t know how off such actions were for a parent. The only things she could draw on were Yachie’s actions and care for the kid and Keiki’s actions for Mayumi that she could observe, and some patchwork memories involving feeling eyes on her and seeing a hand reach out from a gap to usually nab some of her crackers…

Actually, speaking of that feeling, Reimu stopped as it came over her and she turned her head towards the gap that appeared in the air beside her…