With a final exciting drumroll, the song came to a thunderous finish, and is followed by the cheers of the audience. The three performers for the song, featuring an eclectic combination of drums, biwa and koto, were flushed from the satisfying effort. Raiko was especially glistening as she took in the sight of the enthusiastic crowd before the stage.

Performances done at this concert stage among the garden paths tended to attract a decent number of both humans, fairies, and also youkai of all sorts. Raiko was especially pleased to see the large number of new tsukumogami faces among the audience. After they got used to having a body, many of them expressed interest in seeing the music and glory a tsukumogami could achieve, and the performers on stage were happy to provide a demonstration.

"Yeah! We really blew them away!" Yatsuhashi happily exclaimed to her fellow musicians over the applause, looking over to her sister and Raiko. "This is the power of tsukumogami uniting!"

"Indeed, it came together even better than I hoped." Benben clasped her hands happily. "I think Yatsuhashi might have a point after all, Raiko. Maybe you should hang out with us more often, when you're not touring with other big shots."

"Hey now, didn't I already say I want to spread my music as far as possible?" Raiko grinned, not even hiding how pleased she was at being desired. "Next week, I'm going to be backing up Chouju Gigaku at one of their gigs."

"Do you ever take a break?" Yatsuhashi couldn't help but be impressed.

"Not as long as my heart is still beating!"

After a bit more small talk, Raiko eventually descended from the stage, navigating around the excited fans. She then moved over to the booth that had been set up by the side.

"So, what did you think of the show?" Raiko stepped in front of the booth.

"Hm? Oh, it was fine." Keiki answered from behind the booth. "I only caught glimpses, but all of you were bursting with a wonderful charisma, definitely a picture worth capturing for art."

"I was talking about the music, but thanks for that too…" Raiko then looked down at the booth's offerings, seeing the various merchandise on display.

As part of their lengthy and passionate discussions for collaboration that spanned realms, Keiki had prepared various goods to both showcase her artistry to Gensokyo, and also promote Raiko herself. The merchandise included little drums and figurines made with exceptional detail.

"I don't see a lot left…' Raiko observed with a smirk. "Sales were that good?"

"Yes, there were a few moments where I thought I hadn't prepared enough!" Keiki returned a similarly pleased smile. "I'm glad the living beings of the Human Realm have an eye for quality."

"Well, I'm sure the fact that it's based on me doesn't hurt-" While in the midst of boasting, Raiko suddenly noticed something at the back of the booth that gave her pause. "...Um, what is that?"

"Hm? …Oh, that! Are you impressed?" Keiki asked, gesturing to her finest and most expensive item on display. "A splitting image, wouldn't you say?"

"No kidding…" Raiko wasn't sure what the words she was looking for were. It was hard to describe her feelings when she spotted an exact replica of herself, standing eerily still and staring ahead with a blank smile. "When you said you were going to make figurines, you never mentioned… that ."

"Oh, the ⅛ scales were a nice warm-up for me, but I couldn't truly show off my worth as an artist with just those. Life-sized is the only true way to go, and it's fully posable too!"

"Wait, you said 'models', plural ? You made more than one?"

"Of course I did. This is just the only one left." Keiki proudly stated. "The Life-Sized Horikawa Model was a big hit today!"

"I-I see…" Raiko's wide eyes fretted between Keiki and her own face standing at the back. "Just how many did you-"

"Hey, is that really on sale?!" Yatsuhashi popped up from beside Raiko, staring starry-eyed at the model. "If this Raiko is too busy all the time, maybe that one will suffice!"

"What a nice idea." Benben chimed in, giggling from Raiko's other side. "Her face might even be nicer than the real thing."

"Hey, I'm not such an easily replaceable tool!" Raiko shouted, more flustered than she cared to admit. Both sisters continued to laugh and joke as Raiko tried to persuade them not to buy the model.

"The Human Realm really is interesting." Keiki smiled as she watched the tsukumogami chatter among themselves. "I look forward to plenty of fruitful business here!"

The fairy maid hovered down the mansion hall with a feather duster in hand. She managed to remember that she had cleaning duty that day, and had been swiping at dust left and right. It was one of the only chores she found fun to do, since as far as she understood, she just needed to swing her trusty duster a few times at anything she felt like, which sometimes included other fairies.

She then spotted an unfamiliar antique vase sitting on a table, and decided to give it a good once-over and cleaning. …Unfortunately, one particularly clumsy motion caused her to instead knock the vase over with the feather duster. She could only gasp in shock as the vase went flying and towards the floor…

…but instead of shattering, however, the vase landed on two little legs. It then marched up to the fairy and even spoke in an irritated voice. "Hey! You should be more careful!"

After a second or so of being shocked, the fairy maid's only response was to shriek in confused terror and fly away at full speed. She passed by Remilia, who was walking through that same hall, and then glanced down at the vase.

"Oh, good morning, Mistress!" The vase said as it climbed back up on the stand.

"...Please don't talk." Remilia hesitantly replied as she quickly passed the vase. She passed by several more tsukumogami who occupied the halls, acting as furniture. Even when they didn't say anything, Remilia could feel all their gaze on her, and so she picked up her pace and entered the main hall.

"Remi!" Patchouli's voice called out, as she walked into the hall as well, her pace just as urgent. "I can't stand this! You need to do something about it!"

"What is it, Pache?" Remilia asked as the two of them stopped in front of one another. "...Actually let me guess. Is it the new 'additions'?"

"What do you think? I can't get any reading done when my candlestick is breathing!" Patchouli complained with more energy than she's been forced to muster in a while. "And just now in the kitchen, the cup talked to me and recommended I wait for the tea I poured to cool. How am I supposed to drink out of that? I nearly set the thing on fire on the spot!"

"It's… a little strange, yes. …Okay, it's extremely weird!" Remilia proclaimed, unable to contain her feelings for a second longer. "I'm afraid to touch or look at anything for too long, or else it might start talking to me. I've been in haunted houses that were less unnerving!"

"Then why didn't you say something sooner to Sakuya?"

"Well, she made a really compelling case for how these walking antiques only add to the eccentric mystique of our mansion…"

"Figures she played to your ego." Patchouli rolled her eyes.

"I thought I could stick it out, but… This is perhaps a level of eccentricity beyond even my tastes." Remilia sighed. "Sakuya might be disappointed, but these walking setpieces are going to have to find work elsewhere."

"Wait, are we paying these tsukumogami to just sit around all day?"

"She made a very compelling case, okay?!" Remilia turned around before Patchouli could criticise her any further, and started calling out for her maid. "Sakuya! Where are you?"

The hanging textile along the wall answered. "I think I saw the head maid over on-"

"Bwah! Don't talk to me…!" Remilia yelled, and quickly marched elsewhere.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the mansion, Sakuya was walking down the south halls, checking on the windows and mentally recounting which chores still needed work.

The day was still bright and early, plenty of time to get everything done even if she didn't have the ability to bend time to her liking. Sakuya contemplated these facts, and came to a decision. " This might be a good opportunity to test the apprentice. "

Sakuya then raised her hands and clapped three times, and then spoke loudly to the seemingly empty hall. "Trainees! Status report!"

"Coming, Ma'am!" A voice exclaimed from around the corner. Appearing from the other end of the hall was the mansion's newest, temporary hires, who all came marching toward Sakuya and stopping in front of her.

"Haniwa Maid Corp, present and accounted for!" Mayumi exclaimed, the frills of her maid outfit swaying as she took a rigid stance. Flanking her were several smaller haniwa, all wearing tiny aprons of their own. "The windows of the south-east corridor have all been wiped, and the carpets laundered!"

"I see… You lot are very efficient, indeed. But I'm still feeling a lack of elegance." Sakuya sternly said. "Quick, show me your best twirl right now!"

"Twirl? Um, alright!" Mayumi did exactly as such, doing a slow, awkward spin on the ground. The haniwa followed the same motions. Sakuya watched with cool, analytical eyes. "Was that… elegant enough?"

"Not really. But it was adequately cute, which is its own strength." Sakuya said, before giving a warm smile. "Your training as idol maids have a long way to go, but we'll work on it together."

"Thank you? The culture of living humans is still so bizarre to me…" As of yet, Mayumi wasn't entirely sure what kind of skills she was meant to be picking up during her apprenticeship, but she remained confident that it would somehow teach her how to better serve others. "But in any case, we'll be in your care!"

"Surprise! Boo! Ooga-booga! Bwaaah! …Come on, anything?"

Kogasa had leapt out from behind the corner of the shop, unleashing every scary sound she could muster in rapid succession on her unsuspecting victim. Rather than screaming in terror however, the human child instead just laughed before scurrying away.

"...That still counts as being surprised, I think!"

It was better than the previous two attempts that day, where the humans just ignored Kogasa, so she'd consider this a small victory.

Kogasa turned around, and smiled at her acquaintance for the day. "Anyway, that's the gist of what I do on most days. I'm always brushing up on new scaring techniques, but jumping out at them is always a classic!"

"But…" Said acquaintance had remained inconspicuous while accompanying Kogasa all day, which wasn't hard to do when the other's bright purple umbrella stuck out so much in comparison to her own plain clothes. "You don't seem like you're very good at it."

"Ahaha, you don't hold anything back, do you?" Kogasa gave a weak laugh, but quickly reinvigorated herself. "I know I've got room for improvement, but I won't give up. Because I know this is what I want to be doing right now!"

Kogasa stepped out from the dark corner, and out onto the road under the bright daylight. Her umbrella, useful for just about any weather, provided enough shade for both of them.

"There's lots of different things you can do too, not just in this village, but across all of Gensokyo too. So after watching me, have you got any ideas? I could offer a few suggestions, but I think it's important for us tsukumogami to try things out for ourselves."

"I'm still not sure…" The tsukumogami hugged her birdcage for comfort. It was still a strange feeling, having transferred to such a smaller body, compared to the large, stone tomb she used to be. "I know I told Miss Raiko I wanted to find my own way, but I have no idea where to start. How long did it take you to find out what you wanted to do, Miss Kogasa?"

"I couldn't tell you." Kogasa answered with a cheerful shrug. "Even now, I'm still trying to find out just what kind of umbrella I want to be. It's um… not always easy, but it feels good to work towards that goal! And even if that goal changes, I want to always do my best for it!"

"Hmm…" The fledgling tsukumogami first thought those words all sounded a tad too optimistic. Yet somehow, hearing Kogasa say them with such certainty and with such a big smile made it harder to be cynical. "Maybe I'll have fun working towards something too, like how you do."

"Good! I know for a fact that every tool has a place and purpose, even if we have to make it ourselves. Now come on, there's still one more spot I think would make a good hiding place…"

"Oh… You still want to try scaring someone today?" If nothing else, the tsukumogami thought, it was hard not to at least admire Kogasa's persistence.

"Of course I am!"

Kogasa stuck her tongue out at the other, before turning around and skipping ahead to whatever opportunity next awaited her.

"As long as I keep at it, one day I just might surprise even myself with the results!"