As daylight pours within a storefront of a warehouse, a young man with messy black hair and brown eyes wearing a green kimono and black hakama pants was reading a book when the bell rings, alerting him to two customers that are coming inside.

But the familiar faces and the way the one in particular is holding tightly around the other alerted the young man of their presence.

"Well, I guess you two came back, Reimu and Kenzaki," the young man stated with an easygoing smile on his face as he puts the book down on the counter. "Anything to get for today?"

"I just want to work around Timber Designs, Naoki," Kenzaki answered.

"How come?"

"Let's just say it took me some time to think about where I want to work until I decided that can work here within the Human Village without problems," Kenzaki explained. "Plus, I have enough woodworking skills just to improve my chances of getting hired."

"Well, you're in good luck my fair sir," the now-named Naoki said confidently. "Mr. Kimura needed some extra hands on completely some of those projects while working on new ones, especially after that stupid ice fairy named Cirno thought it was a good idea to fight several of the Youkai Hunters with the reason of, and she quote, 'To make me become the strongest!' I'm not sure if that fairy is stupid or insane at this point."

"She's like most fairies, Naoki," Reimu replied calmly. "They always want to do things that peak their interests. Though at least I was willing to stop her from inflicting more damages, as usual."

"You think?" the employee rolled his eyes before looking at the Outsider who casually took of his hat. "But anyway, I'll let Mr. Kimura know about you wanting to take this job, so hang tight."

Naoki quickly leaves the counter as he goes to the back room to find Mr. Kimura, leaving Reimu and Kenzaki to themselves.

"Though I'm going to be upset over not being around you for the next couple of hours, but at least you can do something to keep your mind off of the whole predicament," the shrine maiden said as she rubbed her head on his chest. "At least we stopped over to get you some food in the marketplace in case a lunch break happens."

"Yeah, I get that," the young man nodded, especially since he's needed something to eat in between working projects, though he felt relieved to not deal with the lovestruck young woman for the rest of the day.

"Anyway, I'll return here once you're done with work, but feel free to wait around Kosuzu's place if I'm too busy resolving Incidents." Reimu explained, recalling how she asked her to let the young man inside the bookstore before going to Timber Designs beforehand (which the bookstore owner happily accepts even though the person in question is an Outsider that wants to not stand out).

"Yeah, I'll do that," Kenzaki nodded, though he had to refrain from growling in the process.

88

The interiors within Timber Designs is full of energy as they are constantly doing their respective tasks while handling wood-based products wearing a setup of a green and brown kimono with an image of a golden tree on the back, a black hakama, green cloth wrappings around the forearms to cover the sleeves, and geta sandals over white tabi socks.

And despite the snowfall from yesterday before, they are more than willing to make up for the lost time by resuming their assigned duties.

"I'm glad you decided to work for Timber Designs, Mr. Hayashi," an older man with short yet slightly unkempt black hair wearing with the same attire as his workers said as he shows the young man around the warehouse. "I know that living in Gensokyo isn't easy for an Outsider like you to handle, but at least we're giving you a chance to get back on your feet regardless."

"I get that a lot when looking for jobs around the village, Mr. Kimura," Kenzaki replied as he wore the same outfit as the workers as he observes what projects his coworkers are doing using tools that weren't out of place in ancient Japan. "And while I do want to leave Gensokyo, I know it may be easier said than done due a number of problems I may have to deal with, Youkai included."

"Highly understandable, Mr. Hayashi, highly understandable." Mr. Kimura nodded. "So, you know much about woodworking, correct?"

"Well, I technically did that just to learn how to make a wooden raft at first, though later I just did it just to get some time outside the house," the young man explained. "It's pretty surprising what I can learn when taking something like this."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"I simply considered it as a way to use my time wisely."

Mr. Kimura gave a healthy chuckle. "As long as you have the skills to back up, that's all we need in Timber Designs. So, here's what you need to do?"

88

Flying towards the sky, Reimu looks around to see the sights around Gensokyo itself covered under a few layers of snow until she makes a stop towards one particular place in mind: Mayohiga.

As she reaches towards her destination while landing safely, the shrine maiden recalls what Yukari told her yesterday before the former starts finding and bringing the Outsider to her shrine.

Despite the abundance of cats roaming around the snowy landscape, Reimu walks towards a house within Mayohiga when she kneels onto the snowy floor.

"Yukari!" Reimu shouted out in the open.

Without warning, a gap opens up in front of her, revealing to be the gap Youkai in her trademark attire while carrying her umbrella before closing the gap shut as she notices the shrine maiden in front of her.

"Hello there Reimu," Yukari greeted casually.

"Greetings, Yukari," the young woman said obediently.

"So, what is it you want?" Yukari's tone seemed subdued.

"I managed to save the Outsider named Kenzaki Hayashi within the forest near Misty Lake safely and without complications," Reimu explained. "Though I wasn't able to alert you to avoid drawing suspicions, but I provided as much hospitality as I can, though I had been attached to him in the process, including earlier this morning. Not only that, he's willing to learn Danmaku and pay for living with me after work within the Human Village.

"In return, I helped him get some clothing to help him resemble a Villager, did provide him shelter, and helped buy some food for lunch at work as well."

"That's good. And what is he doing now?"

"Kenzaki is currently working within Timber Designs." Reimu respond without hesitation. "Though sadly, my major concern is that he may try to leave Gensokyo, even as I refrain from telling him how to return back to the Outside World safely. And while I don't mind him the option of living within the Human Village, I'm worried that he might leave regardless."

Yukari noticed the shrine maiden's sense of fear over the loss of the Outsider the youkai had gapped without his knowledge, or the fact said Outsider may find out why he's here in the first place, in particular the ones responsible for doing this to him.

"I am aware of the fact that Kenzaki Hayashi may have plans to escape Gensokyo regardless, but I will send some of my allies to keep an eye on him in case that does happen." Yukari explained. "But I had a feeling he may try to gather clues before making his decision."

"How so?"

"Mr. Hayashi could figure out the reasons he was here in the first place, as someone like him want to gather as much intel as he can before he can attempt to escape." The Gap Youkai noted. "If he does try to escape, I will have to use some . . . countermeasures incase Mr. Hayashi does attempt this."

"Are you sure, Yukari?" Reimu asked before Yukari places her free hand on the shrine maiden's shoulder as the Youkai lowers to the ground level.

"I will put effort to keeping the Outsider within Gensokyo's borders safe and injure-free," The Gap Youkai stated. "But will have ways to keep him compliant should the situation arises. It won't be easy and I may have to get my hands dirty if necessary, but Kenzaki Hayashi must stay within Gensokyo's borders whether he likes it or not. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, Yukari," the shrine maiden answered with a small smile on her blank face. "But what should I do to let him stay?"

"Treat him humanely as much as possible," Yukari suggested. "Not only that, let him adjust to living in Gensokyo at his own pace; providing him normalcy in a far-away land can help ease his concerns about being stuck here against his will. But, if he proves to become too hazardous, I will resolve this Incident myself."

"Are you sure, Yukari?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, Yukari," Reimu nodded her head.

"Okay then," the gap Youkai replied. "Is there anything else?"

The shrine maiden gently shook her head in response.

"Alright," Yukari opens her gap behind her. "And by the way, a good idea to teach him Danmaku; it can help him learn how to defend himself from hostile Youkai and other threats, though I will keep tabs if he attempts to use it for power or to leave Gensokyo. Are you clear about it?"

"Understood, Yukari."

"Great, goodbye now."

Yukari's gap closes up, leaving Reimu alone with the cats around her doing their mundane tasks before the shrine maiden gets onto her feet and flies out into the sky to resume her duties.

88

What an exhausting day, Kenzaki replied as he waits outside the wood making warehouse for Reimu to arrive wearing his regular attire for the Human Village as people walk around doing their normal business, putting his hat on top of his head.

The young man's day within Timber Designs pretty much consisted of learning the ropes with how people at Timber Designs do their projects they're currently working on using the ancient Japanese style of woodworking.

Though despite the lack of modern technologies just to speed up the process, the Outsider nonetheless understood what was instructed towards him before helping his coworkers out.

During break, he would quickly yet quietly eat his lunch that he and Reimu bought before relaxing and thinking of ways to better improve his chances of bidding his time before making an attempt to leave Gensokyo without causing too much problems until he had to go back to work.

And while doing a project with woodworking can be tedious at times, Kenzaki felt nothing but content with what he's doing as he can move freely without having the shrine maiden be around him constantly.

And if Reimu is too busy resolving Incidents, that might have been an added plus for the young man to deal with, if he had to stay Kosuzu's place just to avoid creating problemd with the shrine maiden over his disappearance.

But as the day quickly ends, regardless of the fact he got a small bag of mon for helping out with the Timber Designs crew, the Outsider must get ready for another round of life with the shrine maiden, as usual.

"Hey Kenzaki," Naoki complimented as he came out of the warehouse. "Thanks for helping the whole crew out; you really knew your stuff really well despite being your first day."

The Outsider sighed. "I was just doing my job; as long as I know how woodworking is actually done, there won't be any problems."

"Glad you can say that," Naoki nodded when his face grew somber. "A random question, no offense, but if you have a way to return back to the Outside World, would you do it?"

Surprised by what his coworker had said, the young man looked at his coworker for a moment, unsure if he's telling a joke or not. "I'm not sure, why?"

"Well, it's just that, I'm not sure, but you got a sense of homesickness I suppose?"

"How come?"

"There's a number of humans and Youkai that miss living in the Outside World that isn't too obsessed with science and technology," Naoki explained. "And there are those that want to leave Gensokyo to see what the place has to offer."

"Is it possible of going to and from Gensokyo?"

"Likely possible, though not easy if you're not careful," the coworker answered. "It depends on how they do it."

Kenzaki debated about talking to Naoki further of the idea but shot it down just for now as he decides to change topics.

"Say if the Hakurei barrier finally collapses and reveal everything that's on between both worlds," the Outsider suggested. "How does that sound?"

"Beneficial at best, terrible at worst."

"Why?"

"Let's just say humans and youkai think differently in terms of viewpoints, which can cause conflict if left unchecked." Naoki answered. "And while that's understandable due to a variety of factors, but if relations between Gensokyo and the Outside World begins to collapse, there will be massive problems that can take months, if not years, before things can resolved smoothly. And even so, not everyone wants to interact with folks that are different from them regardless."

"How so, Naoki?"

"It's more because what each side is really capable of if fear, arrogance, and/or hatred ends up consuming their rationality," the coworker replied. "I'm not sure how things will turn out if that actually happens, but I know that it's going to be ugly should things go south."

"I'm sorry to hear about that," the Outsider replied to his coworker. "And while that factor does exist, there's a number of within both sides that just want to remain on reasonable terms while reducing hostility with each other. Not easy, but can work if put a lot of effort into it."

"I guess that's true as well," Naoki nodded when Reimu arrives in the sky and lands in front of Timber Designs. "I'll leave you with Reimu, okay?"

"Sure," the Outsider nodded. "See you tomorrow Naoki."

"You too," his coworker nodded as he heads back inside the warehouse.

Reimu looks at Kenzaki with a small smile on her face.

"It seems you're making a friend, Kenzaki."

"Well, I'm not sure if 'friend' counts, but at least he's a reasonable person."

"That's good," the shrine maiden nodded. "Anyway, want to get some food around the marketplace?"

"Well, sure?"

"That's great," Reimu places her lithe hand over Kenzaki's firm one. "You can follow me right over. Also, how was your day?"

"Pretty tiring, but okay."

"Can you start out?"

Kenzaki explains about his whole day alongside the conversation with Naoki (barring the one regarding to possible ways to leave Gensokyo), admitting that he got some sense of normalcy at work.

Remu can't help but giggle at what the young man had told her, but remained solemn about the discussion about if he ends returns to the Outside World (though the young doesn't explain how he plans to return back home).

"I know you want to leave Gensokyo, but trying to explain it to everyone what happened could at best think you being crazy, or worst, being in a delusional state," the shrine maiden said, her tone being somber. "Even if they know you're not crazy, how this could impact between worlds can become rocky if both sides create any more conflict than needed as it is."

"Anyway, I asked Naoki about the possibility of how the Outside World and Gensokyo would react if they met each other, and well, multiple possibilities exist."

"How so?"

"Either things can get good or bad, it depends."

"I can understand why Naoki has those view about relations between Gensokyo and the Outside World." The shrine maiden nodded calmly. "And even if they do coexist, there are things that are difficult to adjust unfortunately."

"Like view on life for example?"

"Sadly, correct."

"Yikes," the Outsider sighed nervously until he changes topics. "Anyway, how's your day so far?"

Reimu told Kenzaki about doing her typical duties as a shrine maiden alongside flying around Gensokyo for any unusual activity going around, but not the conversation with Yukari or the possibility of the Outsider might become watched in case of attempts to return to the Outside World.

"Well, that's pretty mundane for someone that resolves Incidents pretty often," Kenzaki commented lightly.

"Tell me about it," Reimu nodded.

Before long, a snowball hits the young woman in the back, alerting her and the Outsider who then turned around behind them.

As they look at the person who threw the snowball, it was revealed to be a young boy with short black and green hair, fearful green eyes, and was wearing a green and black hanten underneath a green kimono, a black hakama, and black tabi socks over his geta sandals.

Behind said young boy are equally two equally scared young children around his age, one being a nervous yet angry boy with reddish eyes, short yet spiky blonde hair and wearing an orange and brown attire like the boy in front of them.

The last of the trio is a young girl with long brown hair with scared brown eyes while wearing a pink, white, and green kimono with a hanten covering it alongside white tabi socks and geta sandals.

"Deku, you idiot!" the blonde boy shrieked in fear and anger. "You shouldn't do that to her!"

"I'm sorry, Kachan, I really am," 'Deku' said nervously, not being able to look at the blonde boy as he stares into Reimu's reddish eyes. "Look, we're sorry, miss Hakurei, ma'am?"

"Look, Izuku, Katsuki, and myself were just having a snowball fight with our friends, miss Reimu when Izuku accidentally hit a snow at you by mistake," the brown-haired girl explained while consoling the nervous black and green boy. "We're sorry about that, please?"

Things look silent between the trio of nervous kids, a shrine maiden of the Hakurei clan, and an Outsider caught in the middle of all this, unsure of what's going on between them.

It didn't help that a number of villagers start to notice what's going on and are becoming nervous at what the shrine maiden could do yet felt helpless over someone who pretty much resolves Incidents every so often; some even considered alerting the police when something unexpected happened.

Reimu simply giggled lightly towards the three young kids in front of her. "It's okay. You three were just having fun, that's all. Though I would suggest being careful at where you're throwing at just to make sure. Is that okay?"

The brunette looked at the shrine maiden nervously before she nods her head. "Of course, it won't happen again."

"That's great," the shrine maiden nodded. "Be safe you three?"

"Uh, you too."

And with that, Reimu takes Kenzaki towards the marketplace, the latter looking dumbfounded over what he had witnessed as they walk ahead, leaving the three kids behind them in the process.

"Well that's unexpected, Ochako," the blonde boy grumbled towards the brunette holding the frightened green and black-haired boy in her arms. "I thought that Hakurei girl is going to go psychotic like last time."

"Unfortunately, Katsuki, that was directed at a group of people that let their arrogances get over their heads," the brunette girl named Ochako replied sternly. "This was different than what Izuku accidentally did."

"Not only that, she has the powers and experience to back up if she goes violent," the black and green hair boy named Izuku added nervously. "How can anyone contain someone like that."

"Well, if you didn't throw the snowball by accident things would have gone smoothly, Deku," Katsuki growled.

"But still Kacchan . . ."

"What's going on you three?" a female voice alerted the three kids as they see someone they didn't expect as she wears a winter version of her attire, in particular the house-shaped hat on her head.

"Miss Kamishirasawa?" Izuku gasped alongside Katsuki and Ochako. By then, the villagers carefully resumed their normal activities, though what just happened remained in their minds for a while afterwards.

Keine resisted the urge to sigh at what was going on. "Please tell me what's going on this time? And no. Katsuki, you're not going into one of your rants like usual this time."

The trio remained silent barring the blonde boy growling about it until Ochako recalled what had happened. "We were playing a snowball fight when Izuku accidentally threw his into Miss Reimu by mistake. While he apologized for it, all of us were worried that Reimu could hurt us like that noble from before, but she simply forgave us and left like it wasn't a big deal to her."

"I-I know," Izuku said as he starts to regain his bearing again. "I was surprised that Reimu is acting more civil than before. Typically, she was grumpy yet blunt wherever she goes, especially with Marisa with her. But after what happened to her, that shrine maiden almost looked like she's about to lose her sanity in a real bad way. Now she looked more civil than before, yet I'm not sure why?"

"Perhaps it's that guy she's with," Katsuki suggested, though he kept his tone down to a reasonable level. "Clearly we didn't know who this guy is or why for that matter entirely."

"Maybe he could be an Outsider?" the brunette suggested.

"I'm not sure who he is to be honest," the blonde admitted.

"I'm not sure what's going on, but I will let Kotohime and Akemi know what's going as a safety precaution," Keine explained. "For now, just be careful around Reimu, okay?"

"Yes Miss Kamishirasawa," the trio nodded.

"That's good," their teacher nodded. "Do you need me to escort you three back to your homes?"

"We're good," Ochako replied. Izuku and Katsuki shook their heads in the process.

"Alright, I'll be going now." Keine said before she leaves the trio to themselves.

Izuku, Katsuki, and Ochako look at each other unsure about what had turned out so far for something like this.

"Well this is odd?" the blonde grumbled at what they had to witnessed.

"Tell me about it," the brunette nodded in agreement.

"But at least you now got clingy to Deku over something like this," Katsuki added. "Crazy lovebirds."

In response, a snowball hit him straight at his face.

"Who did that?" the blonde screeched until he notices that Izuku threw him a snowball while being covered by Ochako's reassuring embrace.

"Sorry about that, Kacchan," the other boy smirked, the brunette giggling mischievously.

Said Kacchan made a response as he makes a snowball. "It's on, lovebirds!"

88

As Reimu and Kenzaki head inside the Hakurei shrine after sometime in the marketplace within the Human Village, feeling exhausted over their day and wanting some rest and relaxation over their busy day.

Or at least, was, as the interiors looked typical at first glance, barring the two-horned Oni girl lying in the kotatsu half-asleep, unfortunately.

It took a conservable amount of restraint for both of them to visibly refrain from screaming their heads off when said girl turns her head towards them with a drunken smile on her face.

"Hey Reimu, what's shaking?" the two-horned Oni asked half-drunkenly.

"Suika, what are you doing here?" the shrine maiden replied through gritted teeth.

"Just crashing around," Suika replied before noticing the human's blonde companion. "Who's that beefcake anyway?"

"It's Kenzaki Hayashi," said blonde companion grumbled. "You?"

"Suika."

"Suika?"

"Suika Ibuki," the two-horned Oni girl announced with a drunken smile.

Fantastic, the young man grumbled. How did my life go out just now?

"Anyway, why are you here Suika?" Reimu asked plainly, her blank expression going towards the Oni's drunken state. "Aren't you supposed to be in the Underworld right now?"

"Can't, felt bored," Suika replied. "Everyone's feeling busy, so I decided to crash right in. How about you two?"

"I was taking Kenzaki here after taking a long day of work and shopping for food."

"Awesome, you got yourself a boyfriend!" Suika cheered as she starts drinking her gourd. "When are you getting married?"

Her answer came when both shrine maiden and Outsider blushed furiously while staring nervously, both agreeing that, despite the former's attraction towards him and the latter's desire to leave Gensokyo, know that the Oni loved to get on peoples' nerves.

"Wait, you're not giving me an answer despite the weird looks?" Suika wondered as she checks at their blushing faces. "Aww, just when I was about to give you two some wedding gifts and sake. Oh well, I better leave here to keep you two warmed up."

Suika decides to gets herself out of the kotatsu, still wearing her normal attire despite the cold while carrying her gourd. "Let me know when the wedding starts, because I love a good wedding."

And with that, the two-horned Oni quickly leaves the Hakurei shrine, not caring about the snow or cold weather getting in her way. "See ya."

Once Suika finally leaves, both the shrine maiden and the Outsider just stared for a few minutes, wondering what had just happened until they got their bearings back together again.

"Suika's annoying," Kenzaki stated. "And how did you know her?"

In response, Reimu explained how she met up with Suika a considerable amount of time ago (Look into Touhou-Immaterial and Missing Powers or the actual Touhou Wiki for that matter entirely) and how she has to put up with her ever since.

"Wow, that's really surprising, Reimu," the young man said. "But still, she's still annoying."

"Can't fault you for that."

"I can still hear you, y'know." Suika's voice echoed outside.

After waiting for a few more minutes, both of them looked at each other in silence.

"Want to sleep it out for the day after dinner?" Kenzaki asked.

"Duly noted," Reimu nodded.