The interior of the printing building was expansive in both width and height. The various printing machines and conveyor belts were built across multiple different levels, which could have been accessed from each other through stairs and ladders, but most employees were simply expected to fly to get where they needed to.

At the moment, the equipment was quiet and there were no tengu of any kind present, since nobody was feeling like working a night shift at the time. Usually when it was time to close up the building for the night, all the printing in progress was simply left in place so as to be picked up right where the workers left off the next day. This night was no exception, as a seemingly endless amount of partially-finished newspaper could be found either lining the conveyor belts, resting within the presses, or sitting in large stacks situated all around the room.

It was easy enough for Mai and Satono to make their way into the building, after having come out a door that led right outside and then helping themselves through a window despite it being barred from outside. The pair had already been inside once in order to procure one of the printing presses, but they took the chance yet again to take in the sight while they had the place to themselves.

"Seriously, this place is bigger than any temple I've seen." Mai commented as she sat on top of a high stack of newspapers, looking upwards to the ceiling high above. "Except instead of worshiping gods, it's a tower where only information is sacred!"

"I was thinking the same." Satono said as she undid the bundles that held newspapers togethers, and began haphazardly tossing them all across the area. "It makes me wonder then… If the tengu were to suddenly lose their 'sacred tower', would their reaction be similar to humans who have lost faith and fall into despair?"

"I almost want to see that. If they can't control the flow of information… will all the tengu just go visit temples instead?!" Mai said, unable to help but laugh at her own comment.

"That's such a gross image! I don't like this analogy anymore!" Satono said, laughing as well as she threw up a few more papers in the air that dropped along the floor in a complete mess.

While the pair were making small-talk during the last few minutes, they had also been busy not only spreading a mess of papers across the area as much as possible, but also preparing batches of dry straw and grass set up across every level, making displays that might have looked like effigies of worship despite their purpose to be set on fire in mere moments.

Mai stood up and moved to the center of the floor where Satono was. From there, each of them prepared a torch, helping to light the other's at the same time.

"You know, I think we really deviated from our original 'sit back and observe' plan at some point." Satono commented, finding the whole thing rather amusing to think back on.

"Maybe. But if the inhabitants of this land can't handle a little disaster now and then, then that just means they fail Master's evaluation!" Mai declared with a grin.

"Very true. Let's dedicate this blazing performance to Master while we're at it." Satono nodded and took Mai's free hand in her's.

The two shared in a twirl before setting a particularly large heap of papers on the ground ablaze. They were then quick to float high in the sky, each wearing an eager smile as the fire began to slowly but surely spread…

...That is, until a small but powerful whirlwind burst forth from beneath the fire, instantly dissipating it and blowing apart the heap of kindle where it used to be.

"Huh...?" Mai and Satono were confused for only a moment before they looked towards the entrance of the room. Standing there was Aya, clothes still soaked, and glaring sharply at them from below.

"You actually made it." Satono said, blinking in surprise.

Aya addressed them in a serious voice. "You two must really be mad if you thought I would just leave you be. You should have expected to see me again."

"We both did, but I didn't think we'd see you, how long has it been, ten minutes since the last time?"

"Expect nothing less from the fastest in Gensokyo." Aya proudly stated. She thought she likely lost a few feathers from the speeds she reached just now, but the situation warranted it. "I even had time to bring some company."

"Ah! Hold on...!" From behind Aya, came another voice entering the room. Hatate came up beside Aya, and stared up at the dancers with cautious excitement. "Oh my gosh, they're really here! I was so worried you made me break in here with you for no reason."

"I wouldn't have forced myself in here for no reason! ...But I am also really glad I wasn't wrong." Aya allowed a small sigh of relief, since there wouldn't have been any other explanation to her breaking the lock in the front entrance.

"So you brought a friend too?" Mai commented, looking down at the two tengu, her tone having grown somewhat annoyed. "I feel like this just got a lot more troublesome."

"It definitely has, and I can't fathom why you would make it so, Miss Tengu." Satono said, speaking to Aya as if she were confused. "You told us once that you only cared about what made for a sensational story. You're not the slightest bit curious about what the fallout of everything here burning would be?"

"You could not be further from the truth." Aya stepped forward, and spoke to the dancers without hesitation. "I am here to fight for the sake of the tengu, and I'm always proud to do so! As for whether this will be a sensational story, I'll trust the fledgling over there to cover it."

"Wow, don't I feel honoured?" Hatate said dryly. "Don't worry, I'll cover whatever happens here better than you ever could. So you focus on stopping those two."

"Understood! ...Wait, hold on, that's not quite-" Aya started to say, but Hatate then flew upwards.

"Listen up, all of you!" Hatate enthusiastically called out to Aya and the dancers. "You all have some dramatic reasons to be here but are now at odds, right? Then fight it out, and I'll make sure to capture everything about you, be it your passion or your fury or whatever!"

Mai in particular seemed delighted about this. "How quaint! A tengu is going to report about us burning down this sacred tengu structure."

Hatate flipped open her camera. "I don't know if 'sacred' is the right word-"

"We'll be sure to put on a splendid performance, then!" Satono declared, before glancing towards Aya. "Right after we ward off this other tengu here."

"Wait wait wait." Aya turned to Hatate. "I thought we were going to do two-on-two? I dramatically unveiled you as my backup and everything, like an ace up my sleeve, so- Woah!"

Aya narrowly dodged an incoming attack by flying upwards. Satono wasted no time going on the offensive. "Your choices now are to either be repelled, or choke on ginger...!"

Before Aya could respond, Mai circled to her other side and unleashed her own flurry of projectiles. "Falling those, you can go mad from the frustration of it all…!"

Aya swerved in the air, managing to put some distance from both dancers before heading higher into the air. Not only was she being attacked on two fronts, but her fellow reporter was safely taking photos afar, which Aya had to admit was a tactic she respected.

As frustrated as she wanted to be, and still was, Aya couldn't help but smile in this situation.

"Ayayaya... I just cannot have anything easy lately." She took a moment to stretch her arms above her head. "...Fine by me! Hatate, you better capture my image in all of my splendor!"

Aya flew right into the thick of the action, and Mai and Satono went after her, all three of them dancing around the air in a chaotic whirl of violence.

Hatate was also speeding through the air with her camera at the ready, capturing all sorts of striking images. At the same time, she was working in her mind about how the inevitable article will be structured, and how the imagery in front of her will relate to the words she would write. It felt important to make sure this scoop was exceptionally well-covered.

After all, the subject of the scene was Aya Shameimaru, crow tengu of the gale and model reporter in the ways that mattered most, fighting for the sake of all tengu against a secret god's servants. She flew through the air with graceful movements as she and her opponents chased one another. A plethora of projectiles from three sources filled the room, and all the papers that were in their paths were blown all over the place from all the wind and chaos that was stirred up.

Even with newspapers flying everywhere, and despite the speedy movements of all participants, Hatate had no trouble following, even coming close to being in the line of fire herself. Being so close to the danger was how one brought out the most impressive imagery, such as Mai and Satono's synchronised performance unleashing a storm of danger in all directions, or Aya dodging and countering it all with a smile on her face.

At some point, Aya started moving faster than anyone's eyes could keep track of, but Hatate's camera managed still to capture her fellow crow tengu riding the gales she produced as if the domain belonged to her, battering the overwhelmed dancers with winds from multiple directions.

" Aya's really going all out against these two. " Hatate thought as she smirked to herself. " When it comes to your tengu pride, you always get more serious than you let on. You're a traditional tengu through and through, aren't you? Well, that can be a good point sometimes… -Woah!"

Hatate quickly dived out of the way, avoiding the two dancers that were sent flying from a decisive attack. Satono slammed back-first into a window, and Mai slammed into her in turn. Many random newspapers were still floating and falling all through the air around them.

"Aargh, Mai, you're crushing me…" Satono groaned, fairly certain she could feel glass breaking behind her.

"Sorry! I'm gonna give that tengu one for- ...Ah." Mai trailed off when she realised Aya was already in their sight. Or rather, the two of them were in her sights.

"Here's the clincher!" Aya declared, and gave one mighty swing forward with her fan. In an instance, a massive cyclone was produced and sent straight towards her pair of targets, who could not have hoped to move out of the way in time.

The cyclone's furious force completely broke through the window and even parts of the wall around it. The dancers were blown right out of the building, and they landed outside along with a heap of newspapers.

After a few seconds of only seeing stars, Mai, who was flat on her back, blinked and focused until she was seeing the actual stars in the night sky, realising they were now outside. "Did we underestimate her again...? Argh, I'm annoyed! Let's get back in there, Satono!"

"Um, actually! I think we have other things to worry about." Satono said as she sat up, glancing around their surroundings.

The pair had landed in the middle of a small crowd of tengu who were going about their nightlife, who were all staring at them with varying levels of confusion and apprehension. More worrying than just that though, were the squad of white wolf tengu looming over them.

"Woah!" One of the wolf tengu exclaimed upon spotting the odd pair. "You were right, Captain! They really are here!"

It took some time to convince her whole squad to come to the printing building at this time of night, especially since Momiji herself wasn't entirely certain when the only reason she had was a soaked Aya arriving at her home and clamouring for her to hurry. However, it looked like they had arrived just on time.

Momiji stepped forward, staring down at the dancers with her weapons in hand. "I took a chance on something I heard from the wind, and it's a good thing I did."

"Um…" Satono chuckled nervously at the rather intense stares that were coming her and Mai's way. "So did you come because you were interested in an encore, or…"

"Tear them apart." Momiji said bluntly, and the rest of her squad moved forward.

"Uh oh." Satono and Mai both exclaimed, before immediately turning tail, kicking up newspapers as they fled from the angry pack of wolves baring fangs and swinging swords.

Aya and Hatate peeked out from the destroyed window just in time to see Mai and Satono frantically fleeing down the streets with not just the wolf tengu close behind them, but plenty of other tengu who were too curious not to follow.

"So…" Hatate spoke as they watched everyone disappear into the distance. "I'm pretty sure a commotion like that is going to have everyone talking, regardless of what any decree might have suggested. You think the white wolves will catch'em?"

"I don't know. Their plans have gone up in flames either way, though." Aya said, weary but relieved.

Aya's heart felt lighter now. Perhaps part of the reason was having stopped the dancer's harmful 'performance', or because she got the chance to let loose in the earlier fight. More likely than either of those, was that she was simply feeling optimistic again.


After witnessing how their very own printing presses came under threat, every tengu reporter felt compelled and obligated to comment about it in their papers, whether it was speculation about the perpetrators, commentary on tengu security, or something in between. Whatever opinions any of these reporters had though, they all knew they would be defaulting to Hatate Himekaidou's take, seeing as how she witnessed all the happenings up close, and tengu everywhere were eagerly awaiting for an extra from Kakashi Spirit News to disclose the undisputed facts. Hatate simply assured everyone that it was coming, just that a properly-done article needed time to be refined.

As for the perpetrators in question, Mai and Satono had managed to escape from their pursuers the previous night, although not without taking a hefty amount of scratches and bites. Through combined suggestions from both Momiji and Aya, several new magical seals were placed around the area to ideally prevent or at least reduce the chances of any tricksters opening their strange doors wherever they please.

It might have worked already, since Aya heard that the missing printing press was found sitting at the base of the mountain instead of specifically within the tengu's territory. Aya assumed that those two were quick to dump the machine since they didn't know how to fix it and it was taking up space.

Aya heard all this at the station where she was once again recounting the gist of the situation for the record. It only took about thirty minutes altogether, and they had even finished questioning Hatate by then. Even after it was finished though, Aya decided to stick around the station. She felt that this event in particular warranted her to make sure no details were left up to misconstrued. ...However, the other tengu present insisted that she simply leave them to their business.

"Alright, alright, I can take a hint." Aya grumbled as she was shooed out of another room. The other tengu had given her about ten different 'hints', but she decided to finally show some mercy on them by leaving them alone after spending most of the morning micro-managing them.

As she was heading towards the station's exit, she spotted a familiar figure heading in her direction. She first noticed when other tengu who were passed by the figure were quick to give respectful bows and greetings. Aya settled for simply standing in place, an impassive expression and neutral stature as she was approached by the daitengu.

"Good morning, Shameimaru." The daitengu in ornate robes and blue mask addressed Aya like it was any other day. "It seems you couldn't help but have gotten mixed with trouble."

"This time it feels trouble stumbled onto me, rather than the other way around. If you're here to find out what happened, I'm sure the others in this station can relay the details. I spent a lot of time making sure they didn't get any details wrong."

"Ever dedicated." The daitengu was about to leave at that, as Aya nodded and started to walk past, before suddenly addressing her again. "One moment, Shameimaru."

Aya stopped and turned around, unsure what to expect.

"Before, we had instructed all tengu to simply ignore those servants of the sage. However, after they appeared to cause a commotion for a second time, caught in the middle of undermining our printing press no less, it became impossible to ignore their presence."

"If it helps, I don't think anybody is going to think your instructions were wrong. You can just say it was a suggestion, and they'll probably just chalk it up to unforeseen circumstances." Aya said, not really expecting anyone, especially the daitengu, to reconsider their priorities after today.

"What happened last night was unforeseen, yes, but that's not my point." The daitengu explained, and Aya managed not to roll her eyes at the expected response. We were going to inform you about this later, but I may as well relay it now. We decided it would now be pointless to ask you to retract your latest article, and we have further informed the yamabushi that you were never in the wrong."

"Oh. I see." Aya hadn't thought about it until that moment, but foiling the dancer's plans the way she did the previous night had actually gone and proven the point of her extra in a roundabout way. "Thank you for letting me know. So then…"

"You may simply forget about the stipulation we gave you, and resume your business as usual."

"...I'll do just that, then. Thank you." Aya said in an impassive tone. Just as she was wondering if that was all there was, the daitengu continued.

"I know you disagreed with our decision to begin with, but I do hope that you, of all people, understand the purpose behind our actions. Everything we do is only ever for the sake of all tengu."

"I do understand, and I've never had a doubt about that." Aya responded. As she spoke, she took on a lighter tone and a small smile as she brought a hand to her chest. "In that same vein, I hope you all understand that I only ever act as I believe a proper tengu should."

"...Well then, I'm sure I don't have to tell you, that you can expect others to have a different idea of what a proper tengu is."

"I am sure there will be plenty of conversations about it between all of us to come. Until then, good day." Aya gave a sincere bow, and then left for the exit.

Aya stepped out of the building. Just as she was wondering how best to spend the rest of her day, she spotted Hatate coming up the nearby hill.

"I've been waiting for you!" Hatate waved towards Aya and stopped in front of her. "Let me guess, they kept you from leaving just to ask the same few questions like ten times, right?"

"...Yes, that is what happened." Had Aya known Hatate was waiting outside, she might not have spent so much time inside the station. "I thought you would have headed straight home to work on your latest scoop."

"That's the reason why I was waiting for you. Seeing as how you're a central subject in the story, I thought it would only be fitting to ask you for an interview, so as to get the full rundown on your thoughts and feelings."

"Is that right?" Aya pretended to think about it for a moment. "It definitely feels a little surreal to be the subject of an article instead of the one writing it…"

"Oh, one thing though. It's only fair of me to warn you before you agree, I will be brutally honest with how my newspaper presents the people in it. You will be no exception." Hatate said, though she also sounded proud about that fact. "Only agree as long as you're prepared for that!"

Aya just chuckled at the warning. "I wouldn't want you to be anything but pure and honest! I happily agree to an interview, so give me your all!"


Season 134 Shimotsuki Extra

Chaos Erupts At The Press!

A Clash Of Forceful But Careless Minds...

Late at night on the ○ the ○th, a violent confrontation took place within Center District's very own printing building. Two agents from the Land of the Backdoor, Mai Teireida (human?) and Satono Nishida (human?), who had previously appeared in front of the tengu on ○ the ○th, infiltrated the building with the intent of destroying the supplies and archives within. Supposedly, their reasoning for such actions was to throw the tengu's network into disarray for the purpose of 'testing' their capabilities to adapt.

Fortunately, this disastrous plan never came to fruition since soon after the arrival of the pair, came Aya Shameimaru (crow tengu). I arrived shortly after alongside her to cover the scene.

A disagreement naturally occurred, which very quickly broke out into a physical confrontation between the three parties. All participants in the brawl went all out, taking no heed of their surroundings as their battle disrupted many of the supplies and equipment. The yamabushi tengu in charge estimate that it will take them a full week of work to repair and re-organise the mess that was left behind.

At the end of this fight, a window was destroyed along with its surrounding concrete when the secret god's servants were blown out of the building by the crow tengu, where they were then pursued by a white wolf tengu squad on patrol. All photos on page 3 cover the extent of the damage caused during this incident. On the morning directly after, I interviewed Aya Shameimaru.

"From when I flew over there and to the end of our skirmish, you could say I was essentially acting on instinct the whole time! Yes, yes, with the fate of the sacred printing press, I wasted no time in expelling those intruders in a flash. When it comes to defending our network of information, this tengu of the gale will always be up to the challenge!"

Between giving herself a self-aggrandising title and her lack of solemnity, she appears to treat the incident as a fun anecdote rather than the serious threat she describes it as. Her carefree attitude in this situation is not too surprising considering that in the following excerpts, she explains how it was likely that this whole matter came to be due to her own indiscretion.

"Why did those two suddenly decide to commit arson of all things? I suppose in the back of their heads, they were always considering some kind of large-scale action that the tengu couldn't ignore, another grand 'performance' as they would describe it. I mean I might have mentioned a thing or two about 'burning garbage' or the like to them. Oh, but I'm certain, completely certain, they were dead-set on causing mayhem regardless."

Such emphasis only gives the impression of an uncertain statement from her, making her culpability all the more obvious. Regardless of that, it was Aya Shameimaru who first encountered these beings from the Land of the Backdoor, so her opinion on their intentions are currently the most reliable source despite her careless lack of foresight regarding the threat they held. The next page's excerpts will follow results of the patrolling squad's pursuit of the perpetrators, and advice on how you can assist.

(Hatate Himekaidou)


"Hmm. I don't know how I feel about this." Mai looked over the copy of Kakashi Spirit News as she laid on the couch. "It is a little funny, seeing that tengu get called a dummy, but it's not quite the sensational bit of news I was hoping for."

"Personally, I don't care much either way." Satono said indifferently, sitting by a nearby table. She was currently busy replacing the bandages along her arm and shoulder. "I think I'm done caring about what tengu are writing about. My final conclusion from our observations is that making newspapers is too troublesome, and I'm not in a rush to take their place."

"I can agree with that." Mai said, putting down the paper and slowly standing up, something she had to take her time with due to the still-healing wound on her back. She was instantly chipper again, despite having to wobble over to Satono with her bandaged leg. "Ow. Ow. Ow. …Anyway, reporting news is a totally worthless profession, isn't it?"

"Absolutely worthless!" Satono nodded. "...But it was fun when we were putting our own spin on it, wasn't it?"

"Oh, naturally. We're experts at combining work and leisure, aren't we?"

"I defer to your expertise on that. You're such an expert at putting off work, after all." Satono said with a giggle, and Mai took the comment as a compliment, giggling alongside her. "Let's find a new way to make observing youkai more interesting, as soon as possible."

"I couldn't agree more! We can take more photos to commemorate those occasions too, right?"

"Sadly, no, I lost that camera. I think I dropped during that scuffle." Satono explained, but then quickly laughed it off. "Oh, but who needs pictures as reminders! I could never forget any day spent with you, Mai."

"Aw, I feel the same." Mai leaned in for a big hug with Satono… which she immediately regretted thanks to the sharp pain that shot through her back. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow...!"

Satono only fared slightly better, hissing quietly as her shoulders ached under Mai's weight. She gently pulled Mai off her, and spoke in a strained voice. "...A-actually, nevermind what I said about 'as soon as possible'. How about we just take it easy right now, and indefinitely?"

"I couldn't agree more…" Mai said weakly, before wobbling back to the couch.


Aya examined the pinboard in her house. As always, it was covered in a mess of miscellaneous notes and photos with headline potential for Aya to consider. The contents were replaced at an irregular rate, but she had one new addition at the moment. Now pinned to the one of the corners was a photograph, salvaged from the camera Aya picked after her confrontation with the dancers.

It was a self-portrait of Mai and Satono, the latter holding the camera. If she wanted to, she could criticise a lot about the picture, like how the angle was awkward, or how there was a lot of wasted space and it was only due to their faces being so close to each other that they were both visible in the picture. Regardless of all that, the strange lighting found in their bizarre domain of backdoors, along with their bright smiles made for a striking-enough photo.

"Nowhere near good enough to be considered a Bunbunmaru-quality picture, but I will give points for passion." Aya mused aloud at the photo. Now that all was said and done, she could look back on all the trouble caused by them and even laugh about the extent of it all. Not that she would ever want to relive any of it, though.

Aya had no way of knowing if she would have a chance or reason to write another article about those two, but should they ever make another newsworthy commotion, she was confident in being the first to cover that scoop, just as she was confident that she would continue discovering and reporting on all sorts of truths for a long time to come.

...Although she wasn't in a rush to go out and get to work any time soon. She glanced towards the copy of the latest extra from Kakashi Spirit News lying on her desk, and grimaced.

"...I really wish she could have been less honest." Aya tried to laugh to herself about it, but Hatate's harsh article meant every tengu was going to give her strange looks. It was enough to make even someone like the pure and honest Shameimaru self-conscious.

Aya's career as a reporter still had a bright future ahead of it, but her break from society was going to last a little bit longer after all...