2/8

aburaage: Hey Crow, can I get you to come out to the community message board in front of the central marketplace in the village?

pancakeman: I'll be there in a few minutes.

I threw on my boots and jacket and made my way out to said message board, a large board propped up in front of the town's central market where people posted things advertising services, things for sale, lost pets, and notices from the town hall. I arrived, and started looking for Reimu, but couldn't see her face in the sea of kimonos parading up and down the streets.

"Hey, Goro, I'm over here."

I turned my head to face a woman in a dull, red kimono with white flower designs, no doubt Reimu. "Good morning," I said, walking over. "I apologize, I didn't recognize you without your normal clothes and hair bow."

"Well, I mean, I don't wear that all the time," she said. "I've got regular clothes, too. Plus, I didn't want to cause a scene by coming here in my shrine maiden outfit."

I examined her appearance, her elegantly designed kimono, socks with sandals, and without the bow and hair tubes her long, silky black hair was allowed to hang and flow freely, much like her Metaverse appearance.

"You look very different in that kimono," I said. "And, if I must say, the very model of Yamato Nadeshiko, graceful, wise, mature and obedient, but holding a fierce wildfire underneath all of that."

Reimu stepped back and blushed. "I, er…"

"Yeah, if only she'd keep her mouth shut, then she'd be a real Japanese beauty," came Marisa's voice. We looked to the left, and saw a Marisa with a very different appearance than I'd come to know: she wore a purple kimono with faint wavy designs on it, but more than that, she lacked her trademark hat, her hair was straightened without the braid, and it was reddish-orange.

"Marisa," I said, "why do you-"

"Look like this?" She grasped a lock of hair. "I learned a color-changin' spell a million years ago to make it red. I do it whenever I have to hide my identity. Villagers sometimes think an incident is up if I roll in lookin' like a witch, plus it prevents my dad from knowin' it's me. The same spell makes my eyes red, too, just like Reimu over here."

"Indeed, you look like a completely different person," I said.

Reimu shook her head. "We're not here to discuss appearances. We're here because I need to show you something." She reached for the message board and removed a note pinned to it. "I saw this note this morning when I came down to buy some groceries." She read us the note. "Hello. I'm hoping this message reaches the famous Day Breakers. I can't reveal my identity, but I live on Youkai Mountain. There's a person who lives there, guards the mountain even, who is unabashedly and abusively racist against crow tengu, even calling them 'corvos.' Her name is Momiji Inubashiri. I'm hoping that you can do to her what you did to Byakuren Hijiri, if only so that her bigotry can be stopped."

Reimu folded the note and looked at us. "So… what do you think?"

"I think we should call a meeting to discuss this," I said. "I don't want to do it in public."

"Good idea," Marisa said.


A couple of hours later, all of us had convened in the Hall of the Day Breakers. Reimu tossed the note onto the table so that everyone could take turns reading it.

"Momiji Inubashiri," Nitori said. "She's one of the White Wolf Tengu who patrol Youkai Mountain and repel intruders."

"White Wolf Tengu?" I asked.

"Yes. Both Japanese Crow Tengu and Chinese Wolf Tengu live in Gensokyo," Nitori explained. "They live in a city further up the mountain, Tengu City. The wolf tengu comprise most of the guard, but… they tend to be treated as second-class citizens."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"The Tengu have a caste system," Reimu said. "At the top is Lord Tenma; that's not actually their name, it's a title that the ruler of the Tengu is given. I say 'their' because they never present themselves to non-Tengu, and their identity is a closely-guarded secret. Under them are the Daitengu, who answer to them directly and manage all the other types. Next are the Crow Tengu, who make up the majority of the Tengu population. Below Crow Tengu are the Long-nose Tengu, the red-skinned ones with long noses whom I'm told resemble Western goblins; they do a lot of busy work behind the scenes, including making maps, and they can do it without going outside, so they're rarely seen by outsiders. Then there's the White Wolf Tengu, which is what Momiji is; as Nitori said, they're all conscripted into the guard and are managed by the Crow Tengu, who have a tendency to treat them like dirt. They're effectively the lowest-ranking Tengu on the mountain, since the only lower-ranked ones, the Yamabushi, don't even live in the city."

"Castes… in other words, forced classes which one cannot hope to advance out of. I'm familiar with the concept; they have a caste system in India." I put my hand on the table. "No wonder she would be bitter and her desires would warp to the point of spewing venom at her superiors and the citizenry."

"Racism of any kind is unacceptable," Byakuren said. "It's the sort of thing the Evil One espouses in us to try and divide us."

"Yes, but that's not what's at issue here," Reimu said.

"...hm?"

"Obviously, being racist is wrong, but the thing I'm most concerned about is the fact that this note even exists. The only ones who live on Youkai Mountain who would care about Momiji doing this are Crow Tengu, the target of her hate, if this letter is to be believed. Like all youkai, they're forbidden from entering the village without authorization and an agreement to keep their youkai identity a secret. There is only one Crow Tengu who possesses this authorization, visits the village regularly, AND associates with Momiji enough to want to make a request like this. She is the very same person whose notice we're trying to avoid: Aya Shameimaru."

Marisa rubbed her chin. "Aya, huh? Why would she do something like… ah."

"The villagers have started to gossip about the Day Breakers," Youmu added. "We sent Byakuren the calling card in a very audacious fashion, so it shouldn't have surprised us that people would start talking about us."

"I suspect Aya has been suspicious of us for a while," Reimu suggested. "Ever since we destroyed Yuyuko's fortress, and Crow started visiting all of us."

"Yeah, that's the reason why I made the hideout here inside the Metaverse, so that Aya couldn't find it," Nitori said.

"I'm thinking she's the one who wrote this note," Reimu suggested. "She wants us to take on this case so that she can verify it's us. After all, we met in the village for a few minutes so I could show you the note; she may have been around the corner spying on us for all we know. Hell, she wouldn't have even needed to be physically there; she can simply listen to the winds to hear our conversation from clear across Gensokyo."

I laced my hands together and sighed. "Aya is turning out to be a major obstacle in our operation. She can stalk us from literally anywhere, and she's absolutely voracious for information, wherever she can get it, no matter what the subject is."

"This is a difficult situation," Reimu said. "Silencing her would be difficult: I could probably do it, but Aya is a very old, very powerful Tengu, and she would put up a hell of a fight if she realized I was trying for her life. And since she technically hasn't committed a crime which threatens Gensokyo, doing so would create far greater problems and get all of the Tengu on my ass."

"There's also the matter of another person no one has brought up yet," Nitori said. "Aya has a rival, Hatate Himekaidou, who runs a competing paper, the Kakashi Spirit News. And unlike Aya, she's got what are basically psychic powers that let her interpret events via 'thoughtography,' so she doesn't even have to leave her house to write articles."

My forehead hit the table. "Great, just great. So we also potentially have a psychic eavesdropping on us. How much worse could this situation get?"

"What should we do?" Mamiko asked.

"I'll see if I can get some recent copies of both papers, just to make sure there's no recent articles of any of us," Marisa said.

"Just so you know, I was recently interviewed by Aya for her paper, although I gave no incriminating information," I said. "I was… politely asked, shall we say, to do it."

"Well, of course she'd want to interview you," Reimu said. "Outsiders don't come along often, and certainly not ones who engage in spell card battles or are quick to make friends with me and Starburst."

"She's likely keeping a close eye on you," Youmu warned. "You'll need to be careful with your movements from now on."

"Indeed, especially since we're very close to Tengu territory," Byakuren said. "They're just up the mountain from the ravine. It would be easy for Aya to spy on us from here."

"We need to keep all Day Breaker discussion limited to my communicators, or in the Metaverse," Nitori said.

"Right," I said. "Anything we discuss here is safe and hidden away from her. So we need to keep it that way."

Mamiko raised her hand. "What of the request?"

"Well, I mean, it's legit," Marisa said. "I did speak to the key, and Momi's shadow is lurking in Ethos somewhere."

"And I, for one, happen to know Momiji actually says those things. 'Corvo' is a super offensive insult, on par with Japanese Korean-bashing, the English N-Word, and other things like that, and she tosses them around as casually as 'hello' and 'goodbye.' She practically hisses at her superiors, to the point that her bosses don't go near her. She's basically a cantankerous asshole who no one wants to be around. And worst of all, she cheats at shogi."

"Okay, but considering what we were just talking about, what stake do we have in dealing with it," Reimu added, "knowing that doing so could expose us to Aya?"

"We did say we stand for justice across Gensokyo," I said. "And while Momiji herself does not possess a full fortress, we may get clues from her shadow about who might. She may not be the only person whose shadow is affected by the Tengu's caste system; there are likely others, and there could very well be a fortress in the center of it all."

"A Tengu having a fortress would make sense," Youmu said. "So far, both fortresses we have destroyed were ruled by persons of authority, namely Yuyuko-sama and Priest. While we can't yet prove that they're the only ones who can have fortresses, we also haven't yet proven that others can have them. So it's definitely possible that authority figures should be who we focus our investigations on."

"I'm still bothered by what those shadows were saying right after Priest awakened her Persona," I said. "They called her a 'prisoner' before they corrected themselves. This raises the possibility that fortresses don't happen on their own: they could be targeted to specific individuals."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Mamiko said. "Ethos can take control of shadows and direct them to do its bidding, almost as if the tower itself were alive…"

"And if that's the case," I said, "then of course it would target those who could do the most damage if their desires became distorted."

"But, why does it create fortresses?" Byakuren asked. "If it can house the shadows of other individuals, I mean…"

"Well, we've found that destroying fortresses unlocks more of the tower for us to explore," Reimu said. "Perhaps the fortresses act as locks to prevent intruders from reaching the top. We'll know we've destroyed every fortress if we can reach the top, and confront whatever waits up there…"

"And who knows, maybe the shadows of other people just get caught up in it," Marisa suggested.

I thought about Ethos, then thought about Mementos, which acted as a "prison of regression" which represented the distortion of the public as a whole, and how the palace rulers were escapees, so said Doremy. Ethos seemed to be almost the opposite of Mementos while still serving similar purposes: it rose into the sky, rather than digging down into the depths. The fortress rulers were prisoners, rather than escapees. At the same time, it still draws in shadows and distortions; perhaps it uses all of them as added security to prevent us from reaching the top? What about the Reaper? It also appeared in Mementos; what purpose did it serve in Ethos? And what about Jose? Why did he appear both here and in Mementos? There were too many unanswered, and perhaps unanswerable, questions, until, of course, we continued up the tower to uncover its secrets. But to do that, we had to find and destroy fortresses. The best way to find fortresses was to interrogate shadows of people in Ethos. It was a catch-22, one which we had to find a way to break.

"Whatever the case, we need to make a decision about whether to take on Momiji's shadow. If we take her on, it may cause Aya to figure out that we are the Day Breakers. On the other hand, we may be able to get some information on other possible distorted individuals, not to mention put an end to her constant abuse and bigotry."

"And even if we don't go after Momiji's shadow, I've got an update on one of our targets from last week," Marisa said. "Remember Masashito Takanashi, the bully? He mentioned another kid named Hideo. I talked to Alice, since she goes to the Temple School a lot to do her puppet shows; she told me that he might have been talking about Hideo Ginza, one of Keine's older kids. I tried putting his name into the key, and it spat back a match. So I'd like to go take care of him, if possible. Because bullying is shitty, y'know."

Indeed, bullying was 'shitty.' Nobody objected to going after Hideo's shadow.

"Now then, we simply need to decide on whether to also take on Momiji. Remember, if one person disagrees, everyone does."

Marisa sighed. "It's a tough call. I mean, on one hand, we'd gain a lot of stuff by doing it, but on the other hand, if Aya found out…"

"If I could offer an idea that might change your minds about it," I said, "if Aya really is the one who made this request, it's possible she's not doing it simply to figure out that we are the Day Breakers. She may, in fact, genuinely require our help."

"Why do you say that?" Reimu asked.

"When she interviewed me the other day, she acted bright and bubbly until I brought up the subject of justice, after which she tensed up and became uncertain. She put on the bubbly mask again as she wrapped up the interview, but as she left the tavern I saw her become rather sullen."

The room was briefly silent.

"That's…"

"Interesting," Youmu noted. "Normally, Crow Tengu such as herself are very proud, and never show weakness to anyone. If she acted like that around you, of all people, then something must be seriously troubling her and making her feel hopeless."

"Hopeless, huh…" Marisa said. "I've never known Aya to ever get hopeless over anything. A bit pouty over not finding news material, maybe, but not hopeless and desperate."

"But that would still suggest she probably knows we're the Day Breakers by now, and she's just doing this to verify that it's us,"

"Perhaps, but think of it this way: if she's asking us for help, it means she thinks we can solve an issue that she can't," I said. "Which means we have some leverage over her. In fact, it's not out of the question that we could win her to our side."

"If we won her to our side…" Marisa grinned. "I like it. Guess crows are clever, after all."

"Not only that, it would make it easier to gather intel on possible targets in Tengu City, if we had a Tengu on our side," Youmu said. "They famously don't allow outsiders into their town, unless they're invited."

"I see," I nodded. "In that case, I'll personally handle Aya and ensure she does not become a problem for us."

"And I'll see if I can keep Hatate in check," Marisa said. "I have the ability to visit the Tengu City; Iunno if it's because they think I'm as clever as them, or if it's just because Mamizou's Futatsuiwa Clan Curse attack turns me into a crow."

"Er…"

"I'll explain it to you later," Byakuren said.

"Right," I said. "In that case, I vote that we should target Momiji's shadow as well."

"I agree," Mamiko said.

"Me too," Youmu said.

"I'm for it," Marisa said.

"You made a good case, I'm going to say yes," Nitori said.

"And I say yes as well," Byakuren said.

We looked at Reimu. "Once again, your vote is all we need," I told her. "Do you think it's worth it to go after Momiji's shadow, knowing the potential risks?"

Reimu mused for a moment, then nodded. "I still have doubts, but I trust Crow's and everyone else's judgement. If nothing else, I can deal with Aya if need be. So, yes, let's do it."

"Excellent," I smiled. "Now then, let's get going. I'd like to take care of these as quickly as possible."


We quickly made our way inside the tower of Ethos. According to Marisa, both of our targets were in the new Dhyana block, so we started searching there. Along the way, we sharpened our skills against the shadows there, picked up some treasure and flowers, and as always kept an eye out for the Reaper, who was ready to tear us a new one if it ever caught up to us.

We soon found Hideo's shadow, and challenged him. He turned into a Black Frost, and came at us.

"This is just like Jack Frost," Reimu said. "Should I roast him?"

"Actually, don't," I cautioned. "Black Frosts are far tougher than regular Jack Frosts. They're not weak to Fire attacks; in fact, they will bounce them right back at you."

"He's right," Nitori affirmed. "Fire, Nuke, Curse and especially Ice are gonna fall flat. It needs to be Bless attacks. Go for it, Priest!"

"Understood." Byakuren got ready to tumble, with Reimu coming in from behind. With Marisa drawing Mudos away, they pinched him in and took him down in short order. So effective were they that I barely did anything myself, only casting Sukunda at one point to disorient it.

"Why do you have to go after me?" Shadow Hideo complained.

"Because your bullying prompted another boy to bully the kids at the Temple School," Reimu scolded.

"What was I supposed to do? My parents fight all the time, and they often take it out on me."

I shook my head. A broken household, an all-too common discovery when I investigated crimes and individuals. When there was no compassion in the home, it drove children into gangs, and from there into crime. I realized we may very well have stopped this boy from becoming a delinquent, but at the same time I knew we likely still had work to do: seeing if we could fix his parent's possible distortions as well. Assuming we couldn't get him to do it, of course.

"I want you to go home and tell your parents to stop fighting, and that it's hurtful to you," I told him, "as long as you promise to stop bullying other kids."

Hideo sniffled. "Will that work?"

"A child's words cut deepest," Byakuren assured him.

He nodded. "Okay, then, I will." His shadow disappeared into light. I took his treasure bud, a Taunt skill card, and we moved on.

Further up from Hideo, we discovered Momiji's shadow, standing guard in front of a golden treasure chest, with sword and shield in hand.

"HALT!" she shouted. "I will not let you pass here!"

I swept my hand. "I'm afraid we cannot obey. We will destroy your distortion, by force if necessary."

"Distortion? Bullshit! If anyone's distorted, it's those bitch-ass corvos who think they're hot stuff and treatin' me like shit!"

"You need to stop," Byakuren insisted, "you're taking out your frustration in precisely the wrong way! It's what the evil Mara wants you to do!"

"If anyone's evil, it's all you fucking corvos who want to shut me up like the other fucking corvos!" She quivered, then dissolved and turned into Orthrus. "Now fuck off, all of you!"

I pulled my glove. "Seems like she won't settle for talking. Let's get this done quickly."

"Affirmative." Nitori started running her scan, but Shadow Momiji didn't wait: she pounced at us, forcing us into action, repelling her with physical blows and guns.

"Goddamn!" Marisa exclaimed. "I knew she was dedicated, but I didn't think she'd be this aggressive!"

"Doktor, what's the analysis?" I shouted.

"Just finished: don't use Fire or Nuke. Use Ice!"

"Ice? Fury, Ice!"

"On it," Youmu said. Me and Reimu backed her up, using our Ice attacks to back up hers, which were weaker than ours but somewhat mitigated by her having recently learned Bufula. We managed to freeze the Ice-weak Shadow Momiji into place right as she was about to use a Fire attack.

"Permission to strike?" Youmu asked.

"Absolutely," I nodded.

"Perfect." She brandished her blade, and summoned her Persona for a devastating combination attack: her Persona fed power into her blade, before she dashed forward. Aiming for the heads, she swung away, slicing off both of them at once. She landed on the other side, on her feet, and simply sheathed her sword, the shadow exploding behind her right as she did.

Momiji's shadow reformed into her normal self, kneeling down and catching her breath. We surrounded her, and she looked up at all of us.

"God...damn...you guys," she panted. "What do you all think you're trying to prove, beating up a peon like me?"

"We don't allow anyone to commit sins and wrongdoings," Byakuren proclaimed. "We find shadows like you and make you see your distortion in order to free you from the dark cloud of evil."

"Gah," Shadow Momiji grunted. "You can't understand the amount of frustration I have pent up over the whole caste bullshit! No matter what I do, no matter how hard I work and how dedicated I am to my job, I can't ever advance my position and be rewarded for it! I… I take it out on all of them as a way to rebel… Aya-san gets it the most because she's my boss, but…"

"But you don't have anything against her personally," Nitori finished for her, "aside from your jealousy of her being in a higher caste."

"Exactly! And even then, I've heard her bitch about her own inability to advance despite her age and experience as the captain of the guard! It's not just me, the whole damn system is broke! Whose fucking idea was the caste system to begin with?!" She slammed her fist onto the floor, her face red and seething and with tears streaming down her face. "Fucking fuck and damn it all!"

Byakuren reached out to her. "Calm down, Momiji-san. Yelling about it and cursing your superiors isn't going to fix the problem, but I can understand your frustration."

Shadow Momiji looked up at her. "What would you know? You're just some youkai who tries to be a Buddhist monk!" She sniffled and held onto her. "But, maybe you're right. My energy is wasted just insulting everyone. Normally, I'd be too proud to admit it, like any Tengu, but I need to get help. I need to get someone to help."

"We can help you," I said. "We know your distortion was caused by someone else's, most likely."

"Indeed," Shadow Momiji sighed. "But, I still have to guard the mountain. It's my life, and I have a sworn duty to uphold Youkai Mountain's peace and security. But that doesn't mean I can't ask someone else to solve the problem in my stead."

"Then do it," Nitori requested. "And don't cheat at Shogi anymore."

Shadow Momiji broke into raucous laughter. "Oh, yes, I suppose that's my actual biggest crime as a White Wolf Tengu." She shone white while she was still laughing, then disappeared, leaving behind a book.

"A book?" Reimu wondered.

"Well, I'm sure she gets bored on the job," Marisa shrugged. "Just something to read to pass the time…"

"...no." I picked it up, and looked at it's cover. "Not just any book." I showed the book to the others. It's title: Animal Farm. "This book is an allegory of the Bolshevik takeover of Russia. No doubt she subconsciously wanted to take down the current Tengu government, but given her state of mind it would have turned out no better than the Soviet Union."

"So, in other words, she was getting to the point of wanting to stage a revolution," Reimu said. "Reminds me of a certain amanojaku whose ass I want to fry so bad…"

"Yeah, but Seija wanted to overturn Gensokyo's order basically for the hell of it," Marisa said. "Despite her powers, she should have known that the strong rule the weak, no matter what, and we proved that by beatin' her and forcin' her on the lam. Momiji here is fed up with what she thinks is a corrupt system, and she wants to get rid of it. That, I can totally get behind."

Nitori kicked her feet. "So, what happens now?"

"Right this second, nothing," I said. "Most changes of heart take time to process. She did promise she'll tell someone else about her frustrations and persuade them to fix the system in her place. She'll definitely make good on that promise; who she asks, however, is anyone's guess."

"But I suspect it'll most likely be Aya," Youmu said. "She does report to her frequently, and being a Crow Tengu, Aya would have a greater ability to act on Momiji's concerns. Especially if Aya herself wrote the note."

"Yeah… now that I think about it, this trap could go both ways," Marisa suggested.

"Just as Aya would suspect us if we changed Momiji's heart, so would she react to the change of heart if she were the one who requested," Byakuren said.

"Exactly what I thought," Marisa said. "Seems great minds think alike."

Meanwhile, I could see Reimu off to the side coughing.

I looked over at Mamiko, who was at the back of the group, observing us silently. She then realized I was facing her. "Er… I apologize if I'm not speaking much. There is still much I don't know about Gensokyo…"

"No, 'yer totally fine, Bull," Marisa smiled. "We don't expect 'ya to be an expert. 'Yer just as much of a newbie to Gensokyo as Crow over here is."

"That's right," I nodded. "But I'm sure we can learn more about Gensokyo the more we go on adventures together."

"And besides, we're doing this in part to solve the mystery of Ethos," Nitori said. "That's your main goal, isn't it?"

Mamiko nodded. "Indeed. I will do my best to help us work toward that goal."

I heard chains rattling in the distance. "That's our cue to leave," I said. "Let's go. We can discuss more after Momiji's change of heart processes." I led us to the nearest safe floor, warped back down to the entrance, exchanged some flowers with Jose for supplies, and rowed back to shore before we parted for the day.