Yukari had indeed found more challenges for Reimu. She spent the next several days exercising her new powers—making gaps faster and farther away, tweaking the border between illusion and reality to let her reach into a mirror and grab her reflection's hand (she was really trying her best not to think too hard about that one), taking a stroll along the inside of the Hakurei Barrier to prove that she could reinforce the weak points, putting her new divination skills to work until she could correctly predict the result of a coin flip nine out of ten times... even with her newly-enhanced mental abilities, it was exhausting.

But the rhythms of her day-to-day life barely changed. She woke up, she ate, she trained, she had another meal, trained some more, had another meal, relaxed for a few hours, took a bath, and went to bed.

The mundanity was almost surprising. Even after they'd become friends, Yukari had always had a mystical air about her. Reimu couldn't picture Yukari having something so plain as a routine. Yukari showed up when you least expected it to take a tithe of sake and drop some cryptic hints. Yukari knew everything that happened throughout Gensokyo, even when nobody involved had seen her for days. Yukari was a force of nature, a creature of mystery.

On Reimu's third day in the household, she found Yukari and Ran relaxing on the couch, lazily cuddled together and discussing the best day to dry the laundry.

If Reimu had ever bothered to try, she wouldn't have been able to imagine the discussion. Yukari just didn't feel like the type of creature who could worry about such petty topics as laundry. In a sensible universe, Yukari's outfits would have materialized onto her body from a force of will, already crisply pressed and smelling lightly of flowers. It only felt right.

It turned out, the reality was far more prosaic: It was easy to cultivate an air of effortless perfection when nobody could see how much work it took to maintain.

By comparison, Reimu's adjustment to Yukari's mostly-nocturnal schedule was straightforward. As a youkai hunter, regular sleeping hours had always been a luxury. Now that she was a youkai, she just had to get used to the opposite end of it.

Today was the first day that she woke up on time by herself, in the late afternoon. By the time that the sun was sinking toward the horizon—in two places, thanks to the strange wraparound barrier of the Yakumo homestead—she had taken care of her basic hygiene, and found herself with an hour of free time before the evening meal. Now, she was curled up under a tree, idly playing with Chen.

Reimu jerked her hand in the air, miming several tosses. Chen watched every single one, her body twitching with anticipation. "Are you gonna throw it, or what?!"

"Don't be so loud, jeez. Are you ready?"

"I've been ready."

"Fine, then." With a flick of her wrist, Reimu tossed the coin. Chen pounced toward it, a grin on her face... and just before she could snatch it out of the air, a gap opened mere millimeters in front of it. The coin vanished, and her hands swished through empty air..

Chen landed on the ground, both tails twitching, and pulled her hands back to find them empty. Her eyes instantly turned toward Reimu's palm, where the coin was glittering in the evening light. "H-hey! That was too quick!"

It was one of those games that just seemed to come into being wherever there were small children. The rules were fuzzy, and mostly sprang from Chen's head as they played. Reimu would throw the coin, then try to gap it away before Chen could snatch it. It was good practice at gap manipulation, at least. In the interest of fair play, she usually gave Chen a second or two head start. Usually. "Maybe you're just too slow," Reimu said, and gave the coin another flick.

Chen leapt into the air again. Her hands clawed wildly toward the coin. This time, she got to it just before Reimu could tug it away. With a sharp-toothed grin of satisfaction, she slapped it out of the air and pinned it to the grass. "Who's too slow now, huh?!"

"Don't get cocky, I'm still ahead of you," Reimu said.

It was strange. She'd never had much experience with children or cats before, but dealing with Chen was coming naturally to her. Maybe it was because Chen was so straightforward. Even when she tried to lie, she was about as subtle as a brick to the face. It was refreshing after second-guessing Yukari all day.

Inside the house, she'd been hearing the sounds of cooking from the kitchen ever since she'd woken up. She knew from experience that Yukari would be awake by now. Ran was inside as well, probably performing their almost ritualistic morning and evening routine, filling each other in on any developments and... whatever else it was that they did when they were together.

Only once had Reimu checked on Yukari's mental link when she was alone with Ran. It had been an innocent mistake, trying to get a feel for whether she had time to take a walk before dinner. Instead, she'd gotten a taste of Yukari's emotions for Ran. She'd pulled back immediately when she realized, but it had left lingering impressions: joy, happiness, contentment. They weren't emotions that Reimu had ever expected to associate with Ran, let alone like... that. Just thinking back to it left her blushing. There couldn't be much doubt that the pair had a relationship that went a bit deeper than just master and shikigami.

So. That was a thing. It only seemed polite to give them some space. Besides, she did enjoy these sessions with Chen. With a momentary gap, she stole the coin out of the bakeneko's palm and held it up again. "Whoever wins this time gets the other person's portion of fish at dinner."

Chen's eyes fixated on the coin, and her ears tilted back at an aggressive angle. Reimu could almost see the visions of fish dancing behind her eyes. "Deal!"

Reimu pulled the coin back and aimed, trying to keep Chen waiting so that she could catch her by surprise. Double portions of fish for breakfast sounded pretty good.

Before she could throw it, though, Chen perked up her ears and looked back toward the house. Reimu considered throwing it while she was distracted, but the door opened. Yukari and Ran stepped out, hand-in-hand, with Ran carrying a wicker basket. This seemed to mean something to Chen, and she took off running toward the two.

"Reimu," Yukari said with a smile, "How would you like to go on a picnic? The moon should be beautiful tonight."

The spot that Yukari had chosen for the picnic was, of course, exquisite. They'd come out of the Hakurei barrier on the south side of Gensokyo, in the middle of rolling foothills. It was a remote area, kilometers away from the nearest settlements. They were on a hill just tall enough to look out over the landscape. Below, scattered forest below faded into grassland. Just beyond that was the human village, a constellation of torches and lanterns in the twilight. Farther away, Youkai Mountain was half in shade, casting a long shadow across everything to the east.

As soon as they arrived, Chen ran toward the trees, her eyes already on the birds, while Ran spread a cloth on the ground. After setting the places, she began withdrawing items from the basket: two bottles of sake, water, cream stew, dried persimmons, fuki tempura, and some kind of baked custard dish that Reimu didn't recognize.

Reimu became fairly certain that the basket was just for show, and Yukari was concealing a gap inside. It seemed like too much food to fit in there. … It seemed like too much food in general, really. "Isn't this a bit much for four people?"

"It's a feast," Ran said, as she pulled the cap off of a bottle of sake and started filling cups.

"Huh? It's not a holiday or anything, is it?" A quick glance at the sky assured Reimu that it was 6:22 PM, March 29. She could now name dozens of significant historical events that had happened on the date, but none of them were really worth celebrating. She felt silly for asking such an obvious question, but being a living almanac took some getting used to.

Nobody called her misstep. "Our household has gained a new member, and I've gained a new shikigami," Yukari said. "Don't you think that's worth a celebration?"

"Oh. Um." Reimu found herself fidgeting with the sleeve of her outfit. She wasn't used to people doing this sort of thing for her. Demanding parties from her, sure. Throwing celebrations for her, not so much. "... thanks."

"It was Yukari's idea," Ran said. "She woke up early today to make the custard herself."

"I didn't know that lazy youkai could cook."

"It may be crispy in places," Yukari said, with an absolutely straight face that left Reimu uncertain whether or not she was joking. She resisted the urge to cheat by peeking at the mental link. "I did my best, but Ran has done most of the cooking for the last few centuries."

"She's a great cook," Ran reassured Reimu. "Could you please go tell Chen that we're almost ready to start? I think she'll actually listen if it's you. Yukari spoils her too much."

A giant bowl of stew, an impressive pile of fuki, two persimmons, two cups of sake, and one of the custards later, and Reimu was... mostly satisfied. Her hunger had been growing sharper, lately, and even that small feast left her feeling like she could make room for more. If every youkai had an appetite like this, it explained a thing or two about how often they'd dropped by the shrine for meals.

Not... that she wanted to think of herself as a youkai yet.

Now, after eating for most of an hour, the sun was fully set. True to Yukari's word, the moon was beautiful tonight. Reimu didn't need the light—acute night vision seemed to be one of the few physical changes she'd developed—but it still gave everything an ethereal blue cast. Ran was kneeling on the hillside with Chen, while Reimu had remained on the cloth with Yukari. She was nursing a third cup of sake, but she wasn't in a rush. At this point, she'd hit just the right state, relaxed and suffused with warmth, but not quite ready to trip over her own feet. "That custard was pretty good."

"Thank you."

"... I really didn't know that you could cook, though."

"You might be surprised by how many hobbies a person can take up in two millennia," Yukari said. She leaned forward, resting her chin in one hand, with her cup dangling from the fingers of her other. The posture was just inelegant enough to make Reimu wonder how many drinks she'd had. "Sewing too. I'd thought about designing your shikigami uniform myself, but Ran insisted."

"Huh, why?"

"Mmh, well." Yukari looked down at her drink, giving the glass a few slow rolls with her hand, then took a sip. "Apparently my ideas were 'inappropriate.' It's a shame, the bared midriff would have been cute."

"I don't think I need an outfit like that," Reimu said, struggling to keep her voice level.

"That's unfair. You haven't even heard my thoughts on the thigh-high stockings yet."

"You're terrible," Reimu said, and lifted her glass for another sip to hide her smirk.

"I'm afraid that it's your fate as a shikigami to put up with a good-for-nothing master like me. Please be patient." Yukari emptied her cup and sat it aside. She breathed a long, satisfied sigh, but when she spoke again, the teasing tone had left her voice. "How are you settling in? Do you feel like you're adjusting?"

"Well... I'm getting better with the new powers, right? I won't know for sure until I have to use them in a fight or something, but..."

"That's good, but I don't just mean your abilities. What about emotionally? Are you comfortable?"

"Oh. Um. I... guess. I hadn't really thought about it."

"I know that the training has taken a lot of your time. It's just as important to keep yourself happy, though." Yukari's gaze trailed down the hillside, to where Ran and Chen were sitting. They were playing what looked to Reimu like some kind of variant of hide-and-seek, with Chen hiding in and around the voluminous fluff of Ran's tails. At the moment, Ran was doing her best to pretend not to notice Chen, as the girl crept around to kneel behind her. "Like I said earlier, you're not just my shikigami, but you're a member of this household. If there's anything that you need, you can ask."

"Right..." As Reimu watched, Ran turned around and snatched Chen off of the ground. Surprised, Chen flailed, laughing loudly enough that it carried up the hill. "I guess it's just different than I expected."

"Oh? How so?"

"I don't know. I thought it would be all... plotting and sneaking around."

"I'm sure that there will be some sneaking around sooner or later. You'd be surprised at how much one can accomplish with a well-developed rumor mill, though." Yukari looked over to Reimu, clearly amused. "You were expecting more action, then?"

"A little."

Yukari nodded. "I won't deny that I'm ruthless when I need to be, but I prefer to use a light touch. Gensokyo is nearly self-governing these days. I like it that way. It's much nicer to spend the evening with a good drink and better company, don't you think?"

"I wouldn't know. The only drinking partners I ever get are a bunch of noisy youkai," Reimu said, now too relaxed to bother trying to hide her amusement at her own joke. Down the hill, Ran had somehow ended up face-first against the ground, with Chen sitting on her back and swatting at her tails. "... I've been wondering. How old is Chen, anyway? She seems... young, for a youkai."

"Youkai don't mature the same way that humans do. But yes, Chen is a child. She had only been a youkai for a few days when Ran rescued her."

"Rescued?"

"She was living in the human village when she became a bakeneko. Youkai hunters were after her. We took her in to save her life. That was nine years ago."

"Oh."

Nine years... the thought led to some bad places. Reimu had been the shrine maiden for ten years. Exterminating new youkai who popped up in the village had been one of her clear-cut duties. Young youkai rarely had the discretion not to attack humans. Leaving them to their own devices didn't end well. It was best for everybody if they were exterminated before they could hurt anybody.

Or so the common wisdom said. Looking at Chen, who was currently wrestling one of Ran's tails and trying to bite it, Reimu found herself glad that Ran had gotten to her first. If Reimu had been the one to find Chen, she would have exterminated her. There was no question about it. If she'd followed all of the rules back in the bamboo forest, she'd be dead by now, herself.

She tried not to wonder how many other youkai like Chen she'd exterminated as the shrine maiden.

"So she's like me," Reimu said.

"Mmhm. It seems like Ran and I both have a bad habit of taking in strays," Yukari said. As she spoke, she reached over to pat Reimu's head, taking great care to ruffle her hair as much as possible.

"Are you calling me a stray?" Reimu tugged at her bow and tried her best to straighten her hair up again.

"Hmm, perhaps," Yukari conceded, with a teasing smile. "You're certainly scruffy enough. But if you'd prefer, we can call it... Things that have nowhere else to belong."

"That doesn't sound much better."

"There's no shame in it. Most of the best things don't belong anywhere. Gensokyo was founded on that idea, after all. Humans only believe in things that are useful, but not surprising enough to challenge their worldview. Everything else, they call 'fantasy'... and it ends up here."

"A land for useless weirdos. That explains a lot." Keeping up with Yukari's banter was a bit easier when she'd had a few drinks. The trick was to relax enough to roll with the punches. She drained her cup, then looked to the moon as as the slight heat faded from her throat.

Nowhere to belong, huh? To part of her, the past few days—living in Yukari's strange personal universe, having meals with the Yakumo family, being able to see the boundaries that made up the universe—still felt like a slightly surreal dream. Any minute now, she'd find some loophole that would let her go back to being the shrine maiden, and the natural order of things would reassert itself.

But that wasn't going to happen, was it?

Reimu sat her cup aside, then pushed herself to standing. With her hands resting on the back of her head, she looked out over the landscape. "Anyway, to answer your question... I'm pretty happy for now, I guess. Things seem to be working out."

"Ahh. Well, I'm glad."

"... hey, Yukari?"

"Yes?"

"I never did say, um..." Reimu trailed off with a sigh. She knew how that sentence needed to end, but summoning up the humility to actually say it was another matter entirely.

Below, Chen seemed to have finally burnt through her energy and settled down for a nap. Ran was pinned beneath her, and staying very still. Reimu smiled to herself. "... thank you. For saving me, I mean."

Reimu was used to Yukari taking any sign of emotional vulnerability as an opening to tease her. Tonight, though, she only smiled in return. "It was my pleasure."