Hey all, I am trying something different. Something to note: I'm writing this in a way that the reader has some knowledge of Touhou. I apologize to any new readers or my followers if you get lost. I'll try to keep it as simple as possible.

"Blah" — Speech

"Blah" — Speech in another language

'Blah' — Thoughts

[ Blah ] — Text

*Blah* — Sound effects in speech

(Blah) — Author's notes

I do not own any characters of Touhou Project; they belong to Jun'ya Ota aka ZUN.

White little specks float from the sky and fall down to the soil. They pile up and form sparkly mounds that cover almost everything.

Reimu Hakurei stabs the shovel into the ground and swings the snow to the side. After several minutes of shoveling, the shrine maiden pauses and looks up from her work; she wasn't even close to the top of the stairs. She spears the shovel to the snow and wraps her gloved hands inside her jacket.

She sighs and wipes her brow, 'Damn this snow.' She walks to the top steps and looks down to see nothing but snow. 'Ehhhh. Maybe I should just go inside. Not like anyone comes here.'

Before she gives into the temptation, the red-colored miko feels two arms squeeze around her waist. "Eek!" She jumps and turns around to see blonde hair.

"What are you doing so up and early?"

Reimu smiles, "I figured to clear the snow as early as possible." She leans back to the figure, "What about you?"

The Hakurei shrine maiden feels their chin tickling her neck, "I just wanted to see you."

Reimu can feel her cheeks get warmer, "Mn."

Before she stews in her embarrassment any longer, a small doll floats in front of them. It seems to wearing a blue Victorian maid dress with a white apron on top of it. On its shoulders is a white capelet tied with a red ribbon. Just like its owner, the doll has blonde hair and blue eyes. The puppet bounces in front of them, "Shanghai!"

Reimu puts her hand out, allowing the floating doll to hug the appendage, "Hey Shanghai." She feels the arms around her separate and she hears the snow crunch behind her. She turns around to see blue eye staring back and Reimu smiles, "Hey Alice."

Alice smiles back. "Hello Reimu."

"When did you get here?"

"When you were too busy staring off into space."

"I was not staring off," Remiu crosses her arms, "I was just contemplating on whether or not to clear the snow."

"You might as well finish what you started." The puppeteer reaches into her basket and takes out a red scarf, "Here." She wraps the scarf around Reimu's neck. "Even with that jacket on, you still look cold."

Reimu touches the scarf, "Did you knit this?"

Alice smiles, "Of course."

Reimu pulls up the scarf to cover most of her face, muffling her voice. "Thank you." She looks back at the snow covering the ground from her shrine to here. The shrine maiden sighs, "This is going to take forever."

"Then you are in luck since you have me," Alice snaps her fingers and an army of Shanghai dolls appear around their master. Two dolls bring the shovel back to Reimu and drop it off into her hands. "Let us finish this so we can go inside and get warm."

The dolls split off and began shoveling away all that snow. Reimu on the other hand took her time and stayed close to Alice. 'Might as well let them do most of the work.' In just twenty minutes, the path to the shrine is clear of snow.

Alice turns to Reimu and holds out her hand, "Shall we?"

.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

.

Inside

Reimu shakes off any snow on her and takes off her extra clothes; she puts her jacket and scarf on the coat hanger. She was about to go to the kitchen to make some tea when a hand lands on her shoulder.

Reimu turns around to see Alice holding up her basket and a team of dolls floating near her back, "I want to make a surprise for you so can you set up the kotatsu for us?"

She shrugs, "Alright." She watches as Alice and the dolls enter her kitchen. Seeing them disappear, Reimu goes into the living room and sets up the heating table. Turning it on, the miko maneuvers her feet under the blanket and table. She leans her head on the table and sighs in bliss, 'Nice and toasty.'

It did not take long before Alice walks with a couple of cups on a tray and her dolls carrying sweets. She walks over to Reimu and hands her a cup, "Here."

Reimu accepted the warm offering. "Thanks again." Before she took a sip, she notices the brown color of her drink. She peeks at Alice but she was already drinking. 'Might as well.' She takes a sip of it and her eyes widen at how sweet it is. She takes a couple of more sips and lets the liquid warm her stomach before she turns to Alice, "What is this?"

Alice puts her cup down and turns to Reimu, "It's hot chocolate."

Reimu takes another sip, "It's different. Where did you get it?"

Alice puts a finger on her chin, "I got the idea when I talked to Sanae at the village several days ago. After I finish my show, she complained about the cold and said she wanted some hot chocolate. I was curious about it so I asked her what it was." Alice reaches into the basket and pulls out a bag that has brown powder. "Apparently it is from the Outside World and you brew this similar as to how you brew tea. You can add other sweets in to make a variety but I chose to make it simple."

She takes another sip and then continues her tale, "I was intrigued and so I went to that one shop that Marisa visits frequently."

'Rinnosuke huh.'

"I was in luck that I found some bags of cocoa powder on a shelf. After buying them, I immediately went home to try and brew them. But then I realized that I need other people to see how it tastes so I can make improvements. And so I planned to do full shows and sell hot chocolate for the next couple of days. With the help of Sanae I was able to make and sell wonderful hot chocolate."

Reimu puts her cup down, "How did get people to stay in the cold? Especially the kids?"

A doll floats over and Reimu can feel some heat from it. "I brought portable heaters to make sure my audience does not freeze."

"So you spent two days with Sanae helping you huh?" Reimu keeps her tone level and casual.

Alice gets up to walk over to Reimu and sits behind her, wrapping her hands around the maiden, "I wanted to surprise you."

Reimu can feel Alice's nylon-clad legs up against her bare legs. "Hmm. I would have been fine with your first batch."

"I wanted make sure you had one of my best." Alice puts her chin on Reimu's back. "Was it good?"

"...ish good."

"Hm?"

"...It's good."

"Thank you."

"But you're not off the hook for spending time without me."

Plop Clink

Reimu looks to the table to see a doll near a brown pouch.

"You know," Alice pressed herself flush against Reimu's back. "I made a lot of money putting a show and selling those hot chocolates. I will make a donation to the Hakurei shrine for all of the hard she has done for the village and for me. I also will cook for her the whole day to show my gratitude to her.

Reimu struggles very hard to stand her ground. But in the end, she crumbles, "...Make it three days and you have to help me during New Year's Eve."

"Thank you." Alice chuckles and cuddles up to Reimu.

Reimu tries not to shiver as she feels Alice's chuckles reverberate through her body; she might faint with how much heat is spreading throughout her face.

.

And Fin.

Happy New Year all.

Head-canon time & notes:

-Reimu gives off this bored yet no-nonsense persona to other people, but she gets all dere when Alice is around.

-Shanghai has some sentience.

-I don't know if cocoa is introduced yet in Gensokyo.

-I don't know if Shanghai is capable of generating heat, but magic.

Well this rare pair is one of my favorites in the Touhou universe and I am glad to have finally done it.

Thanks for reading

Constructive criticisms are appreciated

Bravo Tango out.