Disclaimer: Touhou belongs to Zun, and the only things that belong to myself would be Usagi the mimic, and Moegi the japanese beetle. Everything else belongs to their rightful owner.

Author: Well, now. Here we are again.

Yukari: I'm quite happy to see that the Halloween party didn't reach a second Halloween~

Yuuka: Ohh? What took so long?

Yukari: Well, this genius decided to write for over a dozen pairs of characters.

Author: In my defense, I don't regret doing as such.

Yukari: ...Is that truly something you can defend with?

Author: Who knows. Anywho, I've been looking forward to continuing this story for a year!

Yukari: You know, you aren't forced to only write every Halloween.

Author: Yes, but I like writing for Halloween. If I were to ever run out of content, I wouldn't know what to do with that holliday!

Yukari: Well, you could always just write an update for Halloween that has nothing to actually do with spooky things.

Yuuka: 'Spooky'? I do not see what All Hollows eve has anything to do with anything 'spooky'.

Author: Well, that's a human thing. We like to dress up like monsters and have fun on that night.

Yuuka: That sounds harmless enough.

Yukari: The pranks are the best part of that night~

Yuuka: And it only took three seconds for Yukari to ruin the sound of it. Bravo.

Yukari: Ohh, hush.

Author: Anyways, let's get on with the-

Yukari: You know, I feel as if you are forgetting something.

Yuuka: Ohh?

Yukari: Yes. A very important picture. One that the author has an ever nearing deadline for, if I'm not mistaken...

Author: Ehe... Y-yeah, I know...

Yukari: And when do you plan to get to that?

Author: ...After this?

Yukari: Hrm.

Author: Ahaha... A-anyways, how about we get on with the show?

Late afternoon, Hakurei Shrine:

The knife stabbed into the hard flesh with a resounding thunk.

Wiping sweat from her brow with her sleeve, Kokoro said in a flat, uninterested tone. "It is done." She pulled away the cut-out section, and reached inside of the gourd, pulling out the innards, and placed them in a large pot. She wore her mask of cheer, the hyottoko mask, cocked to the side, blocking a part of her face. There was a bag under the eye that wasn't covered, as well as the one that was, presumably.

Smiling, Reimu said, "So it is. I suppose I should thank you for all your help. Usually I'm alone in preparations for feasts." Reimu couldn't help but sigh at the memories of feasts past.

Remaining in that same flat, uninterested tone, Kokoro replied, "Thank Miss Byakuren, not I. If not for her, I wouldn't be here, as I'm sure you're aware."

Flapping a hand from side to side before her own face, Reimu replied, "Right, right. Gotta earn your keep somehow, right? Still seems a bit odd that she wouldn't just put you to work around the temple."

At the mention, Kokoro remembered the attempts to do just that, resulting in horrifyingly bad food. Or so they thought. Kokoro actually enjoyed her own cooking. Who doesn't like wood varnish soup? Kokoro muttered, remaining ever even and without emotion, "...They didn't give me a second chance." Her mask of confusion, the monkey mask, swapped places with the mask of cheer.

Raising a brow, Reimu asked, "What was that?"

Shaking her head, Kokoro said flatly, "No, it's nothing." If they didn't want to eat her cooking, so be it.

Taking out a list, Reimu checked off gutting pumpkins. Looking back to Kokoro, she said, "Next on the agenda is to separate the seeds from the pulp for brittle and pies, then cooking said pies and brittle."

Nodding, Kokoro set to work, and was soon joined by the last Hakurei maiden, who began to grumble, muttering under her breath, "Why'd Mom have to ask me to cook western treats...? If she wants them so bad, she should bring them herself... Just supplying the ingredients is hardly enough..." She, of course, spoke of the youkai of boundaries, whom had been revealed to be Reimu's mother. She also diligently obeyed, as she knew that Yukari would just pester her if she didn't do as asked. Besides, who knows, it could bring her donations to supply treats. As a donation box tsukumogami, donations were her number one priority.

Plucking seed after seed from the pulp, Kokoro chose to ignore the muttering that was easily heard at such short a range. She had other things on her mind, anyways. That hockey mask she found, for instance, which she had stored back in her room. Just what was wrong with it? She could hear the voices of masks normally, but that mask had been eerily silent. Was there something wrong with it, or was the mask just shy? ...Would that mean that that mask embodies that emotion? You would think that a mask made to play a game would be more confident, if so. Kokoro had tried much in an attempt to communicate with the mask. Each of her 66 masks had tried, in fact. She had even tried to leave each of them in a room alone and see what happened. They all reported that they had failed, when asked. Of course, if it was just an embodiment of shyness, it would be useless to her; she wanted to find a replacement for her mask of hope, not another mask of shyness. She had even stayed up all night last night to try and figure things out, earning her a pair of bags under her eyes.

As she got to work, Kokoro's mask switched from confusion, to the mask of determination, the fox.

It took a long while, but eventually there was a considerable pile of seed, and a pot full of pulp. Nodding to herself, and wiping her brow with her detachable sleeve, Reimu said, "Now, all that's left is to cook everything. I hope I have enough wood to cook all of this..." Turning to Kokoro, Reimu asked, "So, what's it gonna be, brittle, or pie?"

Kokoro rubbed the bicep of her right arm awkwardly, and said without a hint of an expression on her face, "I'm... not supposed to cook." She swapped masks from determination, to the mask of awkwardness, the monkey mask.

Snorting, Reimu asked, "Who says?"

Looking down blankly, Kokoro hesitated a moment, before saying, "...Miss Byakuren. Miss Murasa. ...Everyone."

Raising a brow, Reimu asked, "Well, do you agree with them?"

Shaking her head, Kokoro replied with a flat gaze, "No, it tastes just fine to me."

Chuckling, Reimu asked, "Well, why do they think you can't cook?"

Sighing, Koko said with her ever monotone voice, "They said that it's poisonous."

Raising a brow, Reimu asked, "You put wild mushrooms in it?" Kokoro shook her head. Blinking in confusion, Reimu asked, "Then what did you put in it? Run me through preparation."

Thinking a moment, Kokoro replied in a flat, uninterested voice, "Bring together ten onions, twenty cloves of garlic, seven potatoes, five apples, and ten gallons of wood varnish stock. You can add seasoning to taste. First you peel the onions and garlic, peel the potatoes, and peel the apples. Next, you chop all of these ingredients into small chunks. After that, you fill a large cauldron with the stock, add the potatoes, onions, garlic, and apples and begin to heat it to boiling. Once it is boiling, you let it cook for five hours. Once the time is up, you taste it to get a feeling for the flavor, and season it accordingly." During the explanation, her mask of awkwardness swapped back to the mask of determination, the fox.

Raising a brow, Reimu asked, "Apples? You put apples in soup?"

Nodding, Kokoro replied, "I find that it adds something to it."

Cringing, the shine maiden said, "Not sour ones, I hope."

Shaking her head, Kokoro replied, "No, sweet apples."

Sighing in relief, Reimu said, "Thank goodness. Sour apples just sound like they'd ruin a soup."

Shrugging with a blank expression, Kokoro replied, "Well, I'm sure there are some soups made better by them."

Snorting, Reimu replied, "Somehow, I doubt that." Sighing, Reimu added, "Also, wouldn't the wood varnish make that soup really expensive?"

Kokoro asked, "Would it?"

Nodding, Reimu replied, "Yeah, it would."

Expression blank, Kokoro replied, "I see."

Sighing, Reimu said, "Anyways, so long as you follow the instructions, I'm sure that you'd be able to help me with the cooking."

Tilting her head, Kokoro asked, "You would trust me with the cooking?"

Raising a brow, Reimu replied, "Well, yeah. You came up with that recipe all on your own, right? That takes skill."

Her mask switching from determination to that of the young woman, the mask of joy, Kokoro said, "Thank you. ...I'll make the pies."

With that said, they brought the pot of pulp and the pot of seeds in together, one pot at a time, and set them down in the kitchen. What they weren't expecting was when a tear opened up in the fabric of reality, leading to a far larger kitchen. Somehow, there was a note taped to the edge of the hole.

Reimu snatched the note, and read it over. Snorting, Reimu said, "Well, I can't argue that cooking all of this would be hard with just one oven. Alright, help me get the pots into the other kitche- Ohh, they're already gone. ...Well, let's get to work, I guess..." Sighing, Reimu stepped through the so-called gap, her donation box following close behind, and paused when she noticed Kokoro just standing there with her mask of surprise, the raiden mask, on. Raising a brow, she asked, "Kokoro?"

Flinching at her name being called, Kokoro was suddenly shaken out of her stupor by Reimu's words, and stepped through the portal, into the kitchen. The hole sealed behind her.

Noticing a certain kitsune, Reimu said after a pause, "...You're here to teach us how to use the ovens, right?"

Her hands in her opposite sleeves, forming a single linear sleeve, the shikigami replied, "Good guess. Yes, I am here to do just that."

Looking around, Reimu complimented, "Nice kitchen you got here. ...Do you really need all of the similar things?" Reimu motioned to the rows upon rows of modern ovens with stoves.

Nodding, Ran replied, "My master is friends with Miss Saigyouji. It is to be expected of us that we be able to cook a variable feast when needed..."

Snorting, Reimu replied, "So it is. And you really need to cook it with fifteen... I'm going to guess that they're... ovens?"

Sighing, the kitsune replied, "Quite. Now, would you let me set to teaching you and your... helper... the method to cooking with modern tools?"

Sighing as well, the shrine maiden replied, "I suppose I can handle that."

Nodding, Ran made her way over to the ovens. "Come here."

With that said, Reimu and Kokoro made their way to the bearer of nine tails, and stopped before the shiny white modern marvel.

Clearing her throat, Ran began, "What you see here before you is a modern stove/oven combo. It runs on electricity, and needs little effort to keep going for long periods of time. Of course, the tradeoff is the ease in which you can leave it on without even noticing. As for how you use the oven portion, well there is a dial for that that controls the temperature. The rest of the dials control the heat of the various burners of the stove. The food processor is over on the counter." She motioned to the dials that the two of them would be getting to know quite well over the next hour or so, followed by pointing out the rather large food processor. "Just follow the instructions given on the recipes and you should be fine. Ohh, and the dough for the pie crust is on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator." With that said, she pointed to the large shiny white box with doors one might refer to as a refrigerator, and another gap opened, this time under Ran, and she fell through.

Looking to each other, Kokoro and Reimu sighed, and got to work, Kokoro's mask switching to determination as she worked.

For Reimu's part, she began to toast the seeds, batch by batch, and worked to boil the water, sugar, and corn syrup in a huge pot. When ready, she began to mix in the seeds, and eventually mixed in the baking soda, vanilla extract, and butter. Stirring until the foam settled, Reimu began to pour the brittle over dozens of baking sheets, being careful not to get the sticky concoction everywhere.

As for Kokoro, she started by heading over to the fridge and opened the doors. "...The bottom shelf, right?" She knelt down, and inspected the bottom shelf, finding quite a lot of dough. With that said, she began by carrying the dough over to the counter, and set it out. With that done, she began to preheat the ovens. Next, she took a pie tin and began to work the dough into it just as instructed. She repeated the process until quite a few pie tins were filled with what she hoped was the right amount of dough. Next, she began to feed pulp into the processor, working to turn it all into a puree. After she had turned every last gob of pulp into puree, she began to gradually add sugar to the sludge, beating it thoroughly. Looking back to the recipe, she nodded, and went on to mix in the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. After that was all mixed in, she added in the flour and salt, stirring well. With that done, she looked to the recipe once more, and started adding quite a number of eggs, and slowly adding evaporated milk. By the time she was done mixing it in, it was a nice and thick batter. Nodding to herself, she began to work towards filling the pie crusts, and sure enough, one by one, they were filled.

Looking to Reimu, she asked, "Reimu, as you are done, would you please help me load these into the ovens?"

Looking away from her nails, Reimu paused a moment to consider that. "Well, alright, but I hardly see how it will be of that much help. They're just pies."

With that said, they each began to work towards loading half of the pies into the ovens, Kokoro taking care of the odd pie out, out of the fifteen pies. A perfect number for the fifteen ovens.

Sighing, Reimu commented, "Like always, exactly the right amount. How on earth do they even calculate such a thing?"

Shrugging, Kokoro replied, "I don't even understand math all that well, so I'm not sure."

Staring blankly, Reimu asked, "...Are you sure you even got the recipes right?"

Nodding, Kokoro replied, "I am."

Falling out of another gap, this one in the ceiling, and landing safely on her feet with an unnatural grace, Ran said, "I am here to relieve you of your duty. This is now simply waiting for them to cook."

Chuckling, Reimu replied, "Well, I'm not going to complain about being let go of my obligations earlier than I expected."

Looking to Kokoro, Ran asked, "I trust you do not mind this situation, either?"

Kokoro simply shook her head in the negative, just wanting to be allowed to go home.

Nodding, Ran replied, "Then I suppose this is where we part ways. Farewell."

Suddenly, a pair of gaps opened up under the two girls, and they fell through a sea of eyes for a moment, before falling through another hole, landing in a heap on Reimu's patio. Moments later, the heavy wooden donation box slammed down on Kokoro's mid section, causing her to cry out in pain, but never make any sort of expression.

Picking herself up first, as she had long since gotten used to falling from gaps, and in fact would have simply landed on her feet if not for Kokoro landing on top of her, Reimu sighed. How she managed to get up first while on the bottom of the pile was a simple application of divine power to phase through Kokoro and end up on top. "Well, that sure was a way to spend a day." Smiling, she added, "Thanks for the help, Kokoro." With that said, Reimu offered her hand to Kokoro.

Kokoro, not used to falling from such heights, and still seeing stars, gladly took the hand, and stood. Although her poker face didn't betray this, her mask did, as it swapped from determination to the cheerful hyottoko mask. "Thank you." With that said, she dusted herself off.

Smiling just a bit, Reimu said, "It was really great to have some help making those pies, and gutting the pumpkins. It was a pleasant surprise to have some help for a change." Scratching her cheek, Reimu added, "I guess what I want to say is... thank you."

Not reacting at all, Kokoro replied, "Think nothing of it. As I already said, I was just doing my job. I hope that the party goes well."

Nodding, Reimu said, "Yeah, so do I. I'm sure that that pesky dullahan will show up. It's pretty much his holiday, after all." Chuckling, Reimu added, "Anyways, I don't want to keep you. Don't be a stranger! You're welcome at any of the Hakurei Shrine's mostly unwilling festivals and parties." Grumbling, Reimu asked, "Why does everyone have to enjoy the party without donating a dime?"

Staring at Reimu silently a moment, Kokoro looked down at the donation box that had been prodding her leg for a little while now, and fished out her coin purse.

Blinking, Reimu said, "Hey, I'm not saying you have to donate or anything. I'm satisfied with any help given, even if it's not financial."

Kokoro opened her coin purse with a snap.

Reimu couldn't help but gaze longingly at the contents from where she stood. Would this be her first time? The anticipation was killing her.

Kokoro fished out a one yen coin, and dropped it into the donation box.

Reimu watched it fall with an ever widening grin, tears welling up in her eyes. "Ohh, thank you! Thank you so very much! You've made me a happy woman today, let me tell you!" She whisked a tear from her eye. "Thank you."

Putting away her coin purse, Kokoro flatly replied, "Don't mention it." With that said, she flew off, Reimu watching her fondly as she went.

It was starting to get late by this point, but really, it is only the humans that must be mindful of the time; night time, to a particularly strong youkai, is perfectly safe. Of course, Kokoro also wasn't nocturnal, so she was starting to grow a bit tired. Feeling a yawn coming on, Kokoro held her hand over her mouth.

It was an uneventful flight back to the outskirts of the Human Village, but Kokoro didn't mind the company of a pleasant autumn breeze tussling her long lavender locks as her masks stretched their legs, so to speak, flying out from under her skirt and swirling about around her. All sixty five masks were accounted for - she could sense as much. After losing the mask of hope, she had kept closer tabs on her masks. ...Not that that would have helped against someone who hides in the subconscious, but it would certainly stop thefts from any other person.

Soon arriving at her destination, as the village and the shrine aren't all that far from each other, Kokoro began down the path leading up to the temple. The cheerful mountain echo, who would normally be sweeping the paths, was nowhere to be seen, what with the time. You could only expect to find her out here early in the day. So-called ungodly hours. Kokoro wasn't sure why some people called those hours that. That actually sounds rather insulting to the religious that are up at that time.

Coming to the outer gates, Kokoro pushed them to the side, and entered, closing them behind her. Why not just fly over them? Well, it seems rude to just ignore a door. The temple was a grand old thing, which looked much like a ship. Which is reasonable, because it used to be a ship.

Coming to the large wooden doors that one might call the front door, Kokoro pulled them open, and quietly closed them behind herself.

Tip-toeing her way through the halls of nothing but wood that looks as fine as any of her masks, careful to not disturb anyone that was sleeping, Kokoro made her way towards her room. After a good ten minutes of making her way through winding corridors, she came to another door, which she slid open, and made her way further inside.

Her room was rather basic. A futon laid in the middle of the room, and there was a closet off to the side, and a simple maple dresser off to the other side. In the center of the bed, on top of the sheets, lay a certain inert mask. Sighing, her expression remaining the same as always, Kokoro said, "It still hasn't come to life. I had thought I had given it enough to bring it to life..."

Picking up the mask, Kokoro inspected it for the umpteenth time. It was quite worn, the paint faded, the straps burned away, and the edges of the mask were charred. It was a wonder it had survived the fire it had obviously been in. Shrugging, Kokoro took off her boots, sat them off to the side, and got in bed. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments, thinking about the events of the day. She had done as Byakuren had asked. Surely, she would be happy to hear of this, come tomorrow. Furthermore, Reimu seemed happy. It was good to make friendly with the other tsukumogami.

Kokoro found a certain ease when it came to drifting off to sleep that night, holding the hockey mask to her chest in a light embrace. The flames of the masks that would normally surround her slowly dimmed, and they each went limp, resting on the floor.

Moments later, an ethereal flame came to life on the hockey mask.