#Koishi vs Miss Merry

[mageofsleep]

Koishi vs Miss Merry The Prologue, Silly but very long story

alright, before I begin this is was all meant to be lighthearted shitposty but got wayyyy too wordy. 🥲 It's a little bit related to these two, but it's self-contained and can be read without them. Also, it was meant to be a hifuu story, too.... I will edit this post and post part 2 later Please click "Read more" after you're done with the first paragraph

In the forests of Youkai Mountain, there’s a small market stall run by tengu reporter, selling books and cawing at youkai passersby, “You should read this book report! As the war between humans continues, sailors from the land of Portugal have arrived in Japan! They’ve been selling specialized weaponry to profit from the war for economic gain! Some of these sailors have been sighted and killed right here on the Mountain by fellow youkai! There are treasures flying about Gensokyo that have been lost and forgotten about! Just as there are wars between humans, wars between youkai are being fought right here in Gensokyo over treasures!” A satori with mint green hair, Koishi Komeiji, strolls along the path and becomes curious, “Hmm? Treasures? Por…tugal?” The tengu cheerily answers Koishi, “Good morning! Would you like to buy one? It’s all about treasures! Gensokyo is scattered with treasures worth plundering! You satori could read my mind and find out that it’s no lie! Give some of those long weapons to the kappa for their research and they will most surely reward you. Act fast, I couldn’t publish a whole lot of them, so what you see here is all I have.” Koishi says, “Well, I can see that you’re not lying. Hmm… I’ve never seen a tengu journalist talking about technology and writing book reports like that… I’ve only seen papers about trashy gossip and drama from the tengu. Hmm…” The tengu then reassured Koishi “Nothing to worry about! These papers aren’t that speedy as that gossipy tengu Aya, but they are packed with information! You see, if you buy this book, you’ll have more knowledge about the treasures and inventions better than others!” “Hmm… Maybe it could convince my sister to go outside and treasure hunt with me, too! She’s always shut-in our little house. She’s so sleepy and I think she’s starting to grow sickly from being indoors so much, too. The tengu hesitated, “Ummm… Yeah… Y-You have a nice day, now,” The tengu then thought, “You can get sick from being indoors for too long?” Koishi replied to her thoughts, “As long as you adventure outside every once in a while, you’ll be healthy and won’t be sick, too! Can’t write reports when you’re always sleepy and tired, y’know.”

Koishi happily strolled away with her purchase, but the tengu cawed back to her, “Wait! I forgot something! Come back!” Koishi turned back, and the tengu gave her a small felt bag, “As my very first customer, I’m obligated to give you one half of the treasures I found while I went outside for once, as a bonus offer. I’d hate to spoil the reading a bit, but since I’m thinking about it, anyways, and you can read minds, I had to let you know that they are one of the most valuable treasures. I was ordered by my boss to find any treasures that landed on the Mountain for her, and found these bags of seeds by the corpse of the sailor at the foot of the Mountain that nobody seemed to bother taking. Nobody else had gotten a hold of these, either. If you plant these now and take good care of them, then they will allegedly grow unique and sweet fruit next year. Once they do, that will make Gensokyo one step ahead of the rest of Japan!” Koishi took the bag of seeds and continued her journey to her house while reading the book report.

Koishi entered back down to her and her sister Satori’s small little house on the skirt of Youkai Mountain with the tengu book report and seeds. “Satorin! I’ve got some stuff!” Koishi sees Satori sleeping with her head on her desk with stacks of paper, and her quill taken off from her hand, as it had dripped strands and drops of ink onto the paper. “Satoriii! I’m too late! She fell asleep!” Koishi tries to shake the shoulders of Satori in order to awaken her, but she had barely opened her dark baggy eyes. Koishi rests her sleepy sister against the chair, and places the bag of seeds on the desk. Koishi tries another method to wake her up one more time, “Satori! You look so sick, you need sunshine! I got a book for you to read! It’s a book report about treasures from the tengu,” Koishi said as she opens the book to a random page and hands it to Satori. Satori was enticed by sketches of a mansion, and her eyes opened up even more. Koishi continues, “The tengu who wrote it even gave me these seeds, too. She told me to keep them safe, they might contain strange fruits we don’t know about! Maybe we can go outside together, get some fresh air plundering for treasures, or even garden! Also, I wanna try out that memory digging hypnosis magick you taught me!” Satori sighed, “Oh alright, Koishi… I do want to see what sorts of information we can dig up with that skill and our mind reading powers. I guess I’ll go outside, but let me finish reading this first.” Koishi beamed with excitement, “Yay! In the meantime, I’m going to brew some remedies for exploring and for you since you are so ill from being inside all the time.”

The Komeiji twins wander around the foggy mountain and come across two different paths with the sign at the top pointing to the left that says, “Forest of Magic” and the sign below it that says “Misty Lake”. Koishi exclaims, “There shouldn’t be any more treasures on the Mountain since the tengu took them all, so we should head downwards. Where should we go first? I bet the Forest of Magic has magicians with tons of knowledge on treasures that we can memory dig from!”  Satori then warned her, “Koishi, some of those magicians are pretty scary, even for satori like us. Some of them are weaklings, sure, but some know terrible spells from youkai who live in an underground world deeper than Hell. Some know how to give us headaches for reading their mind… some can even forcefully close our third eye with magic stitches that seals it forever… I think we should take another path.”  Koishi turned to Satori and startled, “They can do such a thing?! Wouldn’t that just make us lose our ability to read minds?”  Satori replied “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard scary stories from other satori on the mountain. Our third eye is our ‘heart’, so if the stitches seal the eye, then the ‘heart’ is also sealed. Another story is that those whose hearts are sealed are forever forgotten.’” Koishi shivers, “Why would such a thing even exist? Do other youkai hate and fear the satori as much as humans do? How do you know this stuff when you’re always in your room?”  Satori tells her, “Koishi, maybe you’re a shut-in yourself if you don’t know those horror stories. Anyways, Let’s try that lake with fairies and mermaids. Fairies are weak enough and we can grab some information from them with our memory digging hypnotism. Same goes for the mermaids, too.” Koishi agrees with her, and they continue their descent from Youkai Mountain to the lake.

Later on, a purple magician aimlessly wandered through a foggy forest on the Mountain. She passed a cliff and heard a youkai communicating with her, "So she says, 'Well... I think I’m lost, but I guess I have to make my way to the top somehow.'" Another voice was then heard after, "'Well, I know it's a mountain filled with youkai, but I just hope that I don't encounter anything uninteresting,' How silly this human is!" The purple magician turned around and looked at the cliff behind her: she saw the two Komeiji sisters. Satori had continued to mock her thoughts "'Oh dear, not just a youkai, but a satori…’” and Koishi followed “‘Weren’t they banished to Former Hell?’ Huh? Satorin, this one’s thoughts are a bit silly… What’s she talking about?” Satori had replied “Here to climb the mountain to find more ‘interesting’ youkai like the oni? Might as well write your wills.” Satori looked at the human magician more carefully and mocked her once again, “‘Oh dear, I must’ve landed in a time period where they were still on the mountain,’ Hmm… I think this individual isn’t human, Koishi, she might be the gap youkai Yukari Yakumo. That youkai is more terrifying than us satori, she can set up barriers that block our ability to read her mind! The barriers are filled with nonsensical readings that might give you a headache, sister, so try not to read them too much.” The magician chimed in, “I don't know if I'm even human either, but I’m pretty sure my name is Maribel Hearn, not Yukari Yakumo.” Koishi cheerily says, “Oh, a human who speaks her mind for once. This silly human’s name is ‘Maeribeu’ or something. Satorin, she might be a sailor! Thinking she’s in the past! Oh goodness, in her mind she says she’s from Ireland and moved to Japan, she wants to reach the summit.” Satori then followed after, “Pay attention and read carefully, sister. Look, ‘At least they think I’m someone else, a stronger youkai even. I might be able to just walk away from them and just head to the top,’” Maribel walked away from the two and continued to traverse through the forest, Koishi was shocked, “Oh right, right! We were supposed to prank humans like her and warn her about the mountain, but she’s getting away! It would be very tragic of a silly human like her to die. We have to chase her and prank her before the other youkai kill her, sister!” Satori replied to Koishi, “If you say so, I’m too lazy to prank today, though. I do want to see what interesting things you can do with pranking her, so I’ll just follow you. Maybe you can test your new skills of hypnotism that I’ve taught you on this human, Koishi.” The Komeiji sisters continue to follow Maribel deeper into the steep forest.

Maribel had carefully tried to walk along very steep terrain and found shrubs bearing small pome fruit. She inspected them carefully, but found that they were still not ready to be harvested. While distracted, Koishi had talked behind her, “I wouldn’t eat those fruits if I were you, they’re pretty sour and can make your face scrunch up and maybe even kill you! We wouldn’t want a dead human while trying to read her mind, right?” Maribel became startled and fell down. Koishi continued, “Maeribeu, right? Would it be okay if I called you Miss Merry instead?” Satori scolded Koishi, “Koishi, you scared our test subject and killed her. How are we gonna find another human to test the hypnotism I’ve taught you now?” “Aww…” Koishi poked Merry’s head with a stick and read her mind “‘Hmm, I don’t think she’s dead, I’m still able to read her mind. See? She thinks, ‘Oh dear, these two are not going to leave me alone, huh. Well, I guess I could make a report about the satori for my studies, instead.’” Koishi turned back to Satori and excitedly claimed, “Satorin! This’ll convince Miss Merry to play with us, too!” Merry, annoyed by Koishi poking her head, tries to stand up. Once she stands she tells Koishi, “Alright, Koishi, I’ll play with you. Do be warned that I do know some magical skills myself, though.” Merry takes out a strange rectangular device with a set of lenses to the side. Koishi mocks her mind one more time, “‘Bullets from youkai turn to nothing with thi-’” but Koishi was interrupted by a flash, "Aaah!" and a shudder was sounded from the strange device.Koishi recoiled back, “Wait! Restart! Let me start first! I attacked from behind you, so it's only natural that my turn is first! Also, if you lose, you have to play with us again! I’ll start by testing this skill that makes you think of your true inner secrets and traumas!” Koishi spinned lasers towards Merry and scattered simple yellow bullets of light throughout the field. Merry’s vision had grown darker and darker throughout until she could see nothing but the light of the danmaku. Merry had felt as if she had died, and this feeling is what floods her thoughts of precious memories and traumas.

“I see them now… This skill makes it so I can dig up precious and unforgettable memories and traumas stored in a hidden part of the mind that satori can't read by forcing one to think of them! But Miss Merry’s precious memories… they are a bit strange… I feel a bit of a headache but… It’s like they are from another world! Or more worlds than one!” Koishi said, “Miss Merry is no ordinary human who landed on the mountain… She’s a magician who studies minds from a world stranger than Gensokyo, or maybe even the future! Precious memories of the future, of leaving her faraway country to Japan. There’s tall, rectangular prismic buildings… And she’s always with another girl who studies the forces of nature and things that are tiny and unseeable! She’s traveled to Paradise… to the Moon… to Hell except it had a big castle in the middle… and then there was another stranger Hell??. She’s traveled to the past and seen the formation of Japan by Izanagi… As a matter of fact, the girl standing before us isn’t really her, but a doll of some sort, that she created to possess and traverse these strange worlds without endangering her real self who’s just sleeping in her room in the future! What a strange human!” Satori tries to read the trancing Merry’s mind as well, but she develops headaches and passes out from the information she’s read. Koishi shocked, “Oh no!! Merry put sister Satori back to sleep! I’ve got to have vengeance!! Alright, so I’ve narrowed it down to three choices: A battle with a silvery blade maid of a vampire, visions of a fiery Hourai immortal, and a battle with a cat-like chimera youkai from a spacey place with wings! Although, there isn't enough information about their attacks, as each one of them ended with her waking up in the end, so I will collect them and do each of them in order.” The bullets of yellow light and lasers continued to rotate. Merry had started to develop migraines and vertigo after trying to just dodge and time out the attack, but then remembered that she can’t time out Koishi’s attacks because they are not spellcards. She then tries to use her strange device to flash against the bullets and Koishi. “Eek!” Koishi recoiled against the flash once more, “That strange device, it’s a ‘smartphone’? Spellcard rules? Don’t worry, my first attack will be from your future! My next trick is to use the attacks of the blade maid you’ve battled once before! This one will have a timer.” Despite delivering an attack to Koishi, Merry’s headaches continue to develop into more severe migraines. Koishi scatters knives throughout the field. Knives are placed behind Merry, but she was too distracted by her migraines to pay attention to the patterns. The knives then, all at once, quickly jolt towards Merry. The ‘doll’ that Merry is possessing is destroyed and disappears before Koishi.

“I won! I won! Miss Merry was nothing compared to a mountain youkai! She has to battle us again!” Koishi cheers, but then she turns back to the downed Satori. Koishi crouches down and tries to gently shake Satori’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her. Satori slowly wakes up. She then sits up but tries to hold her head and faintly responds to Koishi. Koishi takes out a vial of medicine and hands it to Satori. Satori drinks the vial and tells Koishi, “I told you… I told you those magicians are terrible… I think this fog made us go the wrong way…” Koishi cheers, “We’re on the right path, and we won! Miss Merry was from the future and she was possessing a doll that looked just like her. I used all my power, copied abilities from her memories, and she lost! We can go back to siphoning information and finding treasures! Then prank Miss Merry again once she comes back!” Satori sleepily responds, “Koishi… What are you even talking about? That human magician was from the future?” she then, still drowsy, smirked, “We can’t prank Merry because she’s from the future, and I lost anyways to her, so that makes it a tie. No more migraines from Miss Merry ever again.” Koishi sulked, “Well… if we live long enough, we can see Miss Merry in the future again… right?” Satori questioned Koishi, “How were you even conscious during that whole battle? Miss Merry’s memories and thoughts gave me such a headache.” “I think I can explain but let me help you stand back up so we can explore more afterwards,” Koishi helped Satori back up, they both paused and their thoughts scrambled with time travel and other worlds. Koishi then snapped out of it and clarified, “Miss Merry’s future is where humans like her study minds and become magicians, and she’s traveled to other worlds, other time periods. She has a friend who believes that everything is made from really tiny things we can’t see. If humans can end up learning tricks like that, then we youkai must grow and form new tricks, too!  We satori can only read what people are thinking about at the moment, there has to be more to the mind than just what people are thinking about. For example, memories are stored in a place of the mind that us satori can’t read unless one thinks about them at the present moment, so we needed to learn that magic about how to hypnotize people to reveal their memories and traumas. If we learn more psychic skills like memory digging, we could learn more about that side of the mind and become powerful, so much more powerful than Miss Merry even! We could do so much and change fate if we just explore!” Satori smirked, “We satori will become the most powerful youkai there is.” Koishi and Satori then continued their journey and wandered downwards from the foggy Mountain.

Afterward Notes: So for this beginning part I wrote them in the Sengoku period, because of Zanmu Nippaku who's based on a monk from that time, Zanmu Nichihaku. (their given names are spelled slightly differently in kanji and surname for the real guy is pronounced Nichihaku instead but with the same exact kanji spelling as Nippaku) There's not too much information about him either way and he's a bit enigmatic, but Nichihaku's death is recorded in 1576, or in touhou lore Nippaku from TH19 "purposely descends into hell and becomes an oni" possibly vaguely around that time. If you want to read more about the lore of Zanmu Nippaku and Nichihaku I suggest reading this post. And obviously after she turns into an oni, Nippaku from TH19 is the one who convinces the Yama and the dwellers of hell to abandon the underground/former hell in favor of a new hell. This first part of the story takes place many years before that time and the middle of the youkai expansion project, tho.

This may be obvious but the original joke is because Maribel is Merry but Koishi pretends to be a vengeful spirit urban legend named Miss Merry/Mary in ULiL that nobody in the game seemed to get because gensokyo residents dont know what a phone is. And also this part having Koishi before she closed her eye happy about her mind-reading ability... well... I know AO3 exists but also im too lazy to make an acct, i just bookmark things on my browser when i read on there, but I'll crosspost anyways if i do

The pome fruit that Merry sees is the quince of some species of Chaenomeles that is native to Japan, and is a member of the rose family (Rosaceae) and Koishi uses roses as bullets. It's a very hard fruit when its raw and very sour in general but the flowers are quite amazing to look at during the spring.

[mageofsleep]

Koishi Vs Miss Merry Chapter 2(technically Chapter 1): Gluttonous Youkai Terrorizing The City!

Alright so this one's not working so well. if you want to read it properly I have an ao3 link to this you can use instead for tumblr i had to divide some paragraph out because it literally would not work unless I divided it out :( Click this link for part 1

　"So anyways, we’re here to investigate strange happenings in this area…” The scientific-looking woman, Renko, looked at Merry, “Merry, you're a bit sleepier and just completely zoned out this morning... Much sleepier than usual. Did something happen last night?" She was worried about the woman dressed in purple with baggy purple eyes. "Oh my... oh dear..." Merry tried her very best to keep both eyes open and her head up, "Last night, I tried to test out something with powers the doll witch in the forest gave me…” she yawned, “I merged my powers with the doll magic and created a doll of some sort that I could possess… I tried to dream of visiting the Youkai Mountain in Gensokyo… but I went to a time period farther than what I was hoping for… it obviously didn't take me long to encounter youkai either.... More specifically, a pair of satori twins. The doll was destroyed and as expected it left me with no injuries, but it felt so real… the satori were also still capable of reading my mind and I had the worst migraines ever. It took me an entire hour to fully wake up," she had laid her arms on the table and rested her head face down against her inner elbow.

　Inside a bakery café had a duet of academics sitting together on opposite sides. They have traveled to Kofu to investigate rumors of a strange individual in the city. A waitress greeted them and offered three menus. Renko thanked her and took the menus, placing the first on Merry's side of the table, the second to Renko’s right end of the table, and kept the last. The waitress was concerned about Merry, "Is she alright?" but the scientist reassured him, "Oh she's fine, she just needs a little bit of caffeine." The scientist turned back to Merry, "Anyways, let's try to keep you awake. What were we talking about? Satori? Those are the human-looking mountain youkai with a detached third eye who could read minds, right, Merry? It's a pretty scary ability, I wouldn't even be surprised if other youkai themselves feared them." 　Their conversations were much different than any normal guest at the café and were often centered around the occult. Sometimes, passersby would eavesdrop into their esoteric discussions. "Oh yes, these two were a little bit different, Renko," Merry yawned, "A satori can innately only read the thoughts of what you're thinking of at the moment, but…" Merry yawned, "They learned a psychic skill on how to hypnotize you into thinking about your inner memories and traumas….. later learn attacks from the memories against you…." Renko desperately tried to hold the discussion about Merry's dream, "That’s kind of like that spell that can steal enemy moves in RPGs, right? Pretty dangerous for a satori of all things to learn such a trick," but ultimately Merry once again fell asleep.

　Renko said, “Ohhh… I guess I’ll get something for you to wake up to…” she picked up the menu, opened it and slipped, “I love you, Merry…” then froze. She clutched the menu and her face gradually reddened. “What’s wrong? Why’s your face all red?” Renko heard a voice to her right, she turned her head and saw Koishi, whose vessels were in the shape of the straps of a crossbody purse, with her eye at the end. She was surprised. “Goodness, with all the food choices here, my face would go red, too. I can’t seem to pick any of these delicacies, because I just want them all!” The girl said. Renko scolded her, “Who are you and what are you doing here? I thought it was just me and Merry.” Koishi replied, “Oooh was this supposed to be a date? Oops, I just wanted some treats.” “No-no-no-no-no! This isn’t a date! We’re supposed to be investigating youkai exploiting people for tre-” Renko peered at Koishi’s satchel and realized that the ‘bag’ was her third eye and the ‘strap’ were her vessels and was horrified. She then interrupted herself and exclaimed, “You! You’re the youkai exploiting people for treats, aren’t you?!” Guests at other tables around slightly turned their heads towards the Hifuu Club. Koishi asked, “If it's not a date, then why did you confess your love to her?” Maribel had woken up startled from the noise. Renko’s face became as red as a sweet cherry; she could not form a single proper sentence. Merry said, “Oh, I think I had another crazy dream, I think I was in burning in the fires of He-” she widened her eyes, “Renko, did you bring a youkai with us? Weren’t we supposed to investigate youkai? The one you found is exactly the one I fought in my dream this morning that read my mind and gave me headaches.” Renko was surprised, “M-Merry? Ohh I hope you didn’t hear-I mean… I didn’t really plan on bringing her, she’s the culprit behind the incidents in this city. She’s exploiting humans for treats, and that’s why we traveled here, but we got a bit sidetracked. Or… our investigation has been solved in a way.” Koishi sulked, “I guess I got caught, and now you won’t give me treats because I pranked you, right? It’s fine, I couldn’t decide on what to order anyways.” Merry answered, “Actually Koishi, I could give you something that you like. I’ll even pay for your drink and treat. If I do, though, could you give us something in return?” Koishi’s eyes lit up, “Ooh a trade!? If you surface dwellers order me something I super ultra mega love, I’ll give you both a formal invitation to my palace. Although, it’s in the Underground which is a dangerous place!” Renko questioned Merry, “Merry, if you spoil her, she’ll just continue to prank humans, but maybe you have a different motive than the incident she caused in this city?” Merry replied, “You read my mind better than this satori. I think I’m more invested in something related to my dream last night. Let’s talk more after we’ve ordered something; I’m already starting to fall back to sleep.”

　The waitress walks toward the table and asks them what they would like to order. Renko answers, “I would like just an iced mocha coffee with just a little bit of milk, please, I'm not really hungry.” Merry questioned her, “Goodness, Renko, are you also indecisive? I could get something for you too; we have a lot of work ahead of us, you know.” Renko blushed and answered, “N-No, I’ll just stick with the coffee….really it’s fine.” Merry sneered at Renko and then sighed, “It is what it is then,” she faces the waitress and finalizes her order, “Okay, I would like a hot cappuccino signature blend, a tray of assorted cookies, and a whole round tiramisu cake. The green one wants a caramel hazelnut latte shake and pancakes with strawberry toppings and whipped cream. Also, give her maple syrup with it, too.” The waitress writes down the Hifuu Club’s orders then takes leave. Renko becomes surprised at Merry’s order, “Merry, did you buy those cookies and cake for all of us? I’m seriously not that hungry.” “Well, if you don’t want the rest, I’ll just keep it in my house just in case you do get hungry. The cookies are rations for our real investigation, though.” Koishi wonders, “So you ordered me something too? I hope you ordered me something I really love!” Merry answers, “Of course, Koishi.”

　Later on, their conversation shifted and Renko turned toward their youkai friend, “You know, I kinda forgot she was here again. This satori is a bit strange.” Merry agreed, “I’m able to remember her fine, actually. Although, she’s not the same Koishi I fought in my dreams. She can’t read minds, but I do see that there seems to be a barrier of some sort that’s affecting that ability.” Koishi responds, “It’s true, I’m not like other satori. We’re so hated by everyone because we can read minds, so I closed mine. Ever since I closed it, I’ve been able to go as I please!” Renko asked Merry, “Do you think she’s in a state of nothingness? She always seems content and thoughtless.” “Definitely not if she’s gluttonously exploiting people for treats, of course. The eye of a satori is their ‘heart.’ What I feel like I’m seeing is that the seal’s true nature is that it’s a barrier within her ‘heart,’ or a divide between the conscious and unconscious. Although, the way she has sealed it is a bit imperfect,” Merry answered. “Hmm, Miss Merry seems to know a lot of stuff! If you’re trying to learn how to unstitch it… then… then there’s no way to unstitch my eye. I'll be like this forever and ever!” Koishi smiled, but to both of the Hifuu Club members, it felt insincere. “Hmm… I think we’re making her a little bit too uneasy… She hasn’t had her treats to interrogate her with, so let’s change the topic: We would know more about Koishi from her sister, right? All of my answers about the banishment of the oni and the satori will be answered underground.” Merry said. Koishi said, “My sister likes to talk to people who enter our palace. She's not much of a fighter, so you don't really have to worry about her fighting you.” Renko worried, “That’s true, but the oni and plenty of other dangerous youkai on the path there are the ones who guard the underground, right? We would have to fight them in order to get to the castle in the center. Would you give us a pass from them?” Koishi exclaimed, “Nope! You have to go through the journey to Chireiden yourself!” Merry followed, “I’m all up for it actually, I will just use the same doll magic I used last night. Although, the doll I made to spy through other worlds so the real ‘me’ wouldn’t get hurt still felt too realistic, and I’m kind of worried about that.” “So you were trying to create a doll similar to a ROV or a planetary rover, right? Something to use as a camera for dangerous places instead of getting injured, but it didn’t really work out,” Renko said. “More like it worked out a bit too well. I don’t think satori are able to read minds through a doll. It’s much different than how I used mine.” Merry faced Koishi, “The Koishi of the past was very strong, stronger than her older sister, but they were both able to read my mind even if I was using a doll to spy on them. Actually I don’t…” Merry hesitated, “I feel like it was another body that I created rather than a doll… like another ‘me’ or a doppelgänger. It feels a lot different than what I normally do. Before, I just brought the original ‘me’ with me to those worlds, but this doppelgänger is much different.” “You’re saying you fought me in the past?” Koishi wondered. Merry answered, “Yes, many centuries ago when you were still on the mountain. Although, I guess it may be centuries for you, it was literally last night for me. I’m guessing you don’t remember it.” “Hmm… Even if my eye was open, I don’t think I could remember all the humans I’ve fought. I’ve scared so many people, both human and youkai alike, it would be hard to keep track of them all!” Koishi admitted. “Oh dear, how unfortunate,” Merry worried.

“Also, I don't believe one could make two bodies of themselves, it just doesn't make any sense. Maybe if you go back to the old witch you learned it from, then she might know what’s going on.” Renko noted. Merry refuted “I would believe it’s the same as how a god creates or possesses an avatar, would it not?” Renko insisted, “Merry, you can only have one brain. You should know this, we’re post-grads after all.” “Oh you know, I think my migraines started back up again. I’m too tired to debate with you right now, Renko. I think I’ll wait on my drink,” Merry sighed. Koishi was confused at what they were arguing with each other about, but was nonetheless interested in the cold stares the academics gave each other.

The waitress entered and placed drinks and dishes at each girl’s sides of the table while the academics still silently stared at each other. Koishi gazed at her wonderfully cold and earthy shake. She turned toward the tray of desserts being placed one by one on the table, and was so infatuated, “Oh my, they all look so amazing… so many amazing treats!” Merry snapped out of her cold and silent feud with Renko. She faced Koishi, then turned back toward Renko and agreed, “Right, our food and drinks are ready. We should start interrogating her as she enjoys her meal.” Koishi looked at both Renko and Merry before she began eating and shivered, “What are you two saying?” then murmured, “‘Merry has completely… Renko’s so cute whe… but she’s so cute… so ignorant like this…’” and finally exclaimed, “Your mouths aren’t moving but you’re saying things! This is strange!” Renko and Merry become so flustered, their faces reddened to the color of a strawberry. Renko peered at Koishi’s third eye and quivered, “Her eye… it’s opening back up… Does that mean she just…” and blushed even more. Merry hesitatingly pressed, “I’m not able to see it from here, but it doesn't look like the barrier is undoing itself… but… I did say that… it’s imperfect… oh no…” Merry shiveringly cut a slice of the tiramisu onto her empty plate, as it flaked and parted along the way. She then picked up her mug and slowly downed the hot cappuccino. Koishi tilted her head, but she felt a tight feeling in her stomach and peered back at her treat. “You guys are strange humans. Well, it may all look beautiful, but let’s see how it tastes. Will I super duper ultra mega enjoy it? If I do, I’ll formally invite you to Chireiden!”

Renko shakingly picked up her cup and sipped some of her own coffee. She then snapped out of her embarrassment and faced Koishi pouring maple syrup on her pancake then exclaimed, “Merry! Let’s focus on interrogating her: Koishi, I wonder if you know or remember how you traveled to this city.” Koishi said, “Oh, hmm… I just followed this tanuki with a bunch of colorful glowy spinny things. I got caught, but she said I could only be here if I prank humans. They give me lots of soft things that look like animals if I do!” Koishi then joyously snacked on her pancakes. “Alright! So we already found where she got this idea from, but now we have to find the real villain, right?”  Renko asserted, “I might be more interested in finding them out than going to Former Hell filled with dangerously foul youkai, honestly. This satori here is already a handful to deal with and she’s not even trying to fight us.” Koishi worried, “You won’t accept my invitation to Chireiden, Miss Renko?” Renko hesitated, “I-I mean…” Merry assured, “Koishi, it all depends on how you enjoy your meal, right? How is it by the way?” “Well, these pancakes are very great, but the strawberries don’t taste as fresh as the freshly picked strawberries my pets harvest for me. The drink is super amazing, though, I think I might just give you the invitation for that alone!” Koishi smiled. Merry said, “Really? I will gladly accept your invitation, then. I’ll give you some of these cookies to take home with you, too, Koishi.” “This youkai is just as spoiled as a princess,” Renko giggled. Merry notices a slice of tiramisu on Renko’s once-empty plate as she packs various different containers with cookies. She said, “The way to Former Hell is in Gensokyo, so I’ll dream about visiting the forest as a start just so I can learn more spells before our mission. I don’t think I will be able to bring you with me this time, though, as I’ll be using the same exact method I used last night. I hope you understand; you’re going to have to find your own way to Gensokyo.” Renko was shocked, “Huh?! How would I be able to find a way to Gensokyo?” “I’ll give you a hint: It’s the true ‘villain’ of this incident in this city, the bake-danuki boss. She’s the one who brought Koishi here. Also, the bake-danuki thrive on Sado, but there must be something important in Kofu if their boss is causing mischief here.” Merry explained. Koishi asked, “You guys are talking about Miss Futatsuiwa?” “Yes, could you perhaps take us to this Miss Futatsuiwa as well?” Renko replied, then Koishi pondered about her question.

“Renko, after we’re done with our food and packing the leftovers, we’ll split up. If you ever even get the chance to find this Miss Futatsuiwa and travel to Gensokyo, then we’ll decide where to meet. You are interested in this incident more than visiting Chireiden after all, right?” Merry said as Renko then agreed to her plan. The Hifuu club spend the rest of their time chattering and playfully debating each other, all while Koishi and passersby become more and more invested in their conversations. Merry argued that they will both find a different outcome to their mission, while Renko wondered how youkai could physically travel between a tiny brane like Gensokyo to the greater Outside World in a non-microscopic form. The waitress who had served them even eavesdropped onto their conversations, but she heard a ringing noise in her pocket. She took her phone from her pocket and gazed at the ringing screen. She quickly turned to her managers and said, “Sorry, I really have to take this phone call,” then darted to the bathroom, then to a stall. She crouched, held the phone to her ear and quietly answered, “What is it?” The girl on the other end of the call said, “Nue, did you forget about Koishi?” “Oh, sorry I had you on speaker for a minute,” she taps her screen and then continues with her call, “No, I didn’t forget about her, but I think the humans she’s pranking are onto our game.” …“The humans she’s pranking are occultists who are madly in love with each other, but they’re both in complete denial. They gave her treats and she read their minds. I think her eye is slowly opening back up, just as you wanted, right?” … “Hmm… You’ve seen those occultists before, too?” … “Alright, I’ll try to lure one of them to you, it will be so much fun to watch you prank these lovestruck losers.”

After notes: Kofu is a city situated in the Yamanashi Province and is very close to the iconic Mt. Fuji. I can't really explain in detail why I chose this spot. Also in this story, Koishi is able to exist within the Outside in a similar fashion to Yukari and Mamizou but unlike them she cannot travel there on her own. Nue in this story is also allowed to exist and travel here because it explains how she fished Mamizou from Sado to solve the incident in Ten Desires, but it's never explicitly stated that she could in canon works.