Alice was working on making a new doll for her daughter whom she had recently adopted. She, Yuuka, and Patchouli were supposed to head to Eintei earlier but had to cancel due to recent events.
"Mama! Look at what I found!"
Alice stopped working to see her daughter running over with a large gem in one hand and a doll in her other.
"Medicine!"
Alice opened her arms and allowed the doll youkai to jump into her arms and show her the gem she had found.
"Where did you get this?"
"By the river! It just washed up while I was playing with Su-san."
Alice smiled and gently caressed Medicine until she heard a low growl.
"Mama. I'm hungry."
Alice carried Medicine into her home where she made some food and ate with her daughter. As they ate, Alice put on a small puppet show using her dolls for Medicine until they were interrupted by the sound of childish laughter outside.
"Wait here," instructed Alice.
She went outside to see none other than Reimu and at least 10 fairies playing near her house.
"Mama, can I join them too?"
"Did you finish eating?"
Medicine nodded.
"Go ahead."
Reimu repeated the activity again and this time, the fairies found the items much faster. Part of this had to do with the fact that many of them were familiar with it though this didn't mean that they knew where everything was. Once again, she rewarded them all in the same manner with candy for every 5 squares they had in a row.
"Dollies!"
Reimu turned to see Alice Magatroid walking over with Medicine Melancholy. Instinctively, she reached for her gohei in case the tsukumogami tried to attack but upon seeing Alice and her dolls holding Medicine, she stopped and watched her interact with the fairies.
Even though she didn't show it, she was pretty tired since holding a picnic for the fairies, cleaning several fumo dolls, and taking them to the bathroom one at a time was not an easy task. Since fairies were beings of nature, they didn't have parents that taught or watched over them the same way humans did and as a result of such, they lacked some basic skills that other children had. While they were literate, their knowledge and vocabulary was very small and at most similar to a child from preschool or kindergarten. Their behavior on the other hand, was closer to that of a toddler and thus were impatient when it came to things that were dull or boring by their standards.
Reimu learned this the hard way when she was taking them to the bathroom. A few of them chose not to wait their turn and opted to go on the forest floor instead. Needless to say, she wasn't happy and had to put up several amulets to protect their privacy afterwards. The same thing happened again when she was going over the squares in the bingo game. Some of them didn't want to wait for Reimu to come back and go over their cards so they tried to find Reimu's candy box instead. Luckily, Reimu figured that would happen and kept said box with her at all times but this didn't stop them and when Reimu had got back with Daiyousei, she found Lily White and Eternity Larva looking through the cards that she had planned to give them at the Youkai Mountain.
"-mu! Reimu!"
Reimu looked up to see Lily White, Clownpiece, Eternity Larva, and Medicine pulling on her shoulder.
"Can Medicine join the card game?"
Reimu smiled and patted them on the head.
"Let me ask Alice first."
She got up and walked over to the puppeteer who was examining the fumo dolls that Cirno, Sunny, Luna, and Star were holding.
"Hey Alice, I didn't expect to see you out here like this."
"Ah yes. Neither did I. Let me guess, you want my permission to let Medicine play bingo with the fairies?"
Reimu nodded.
"How did you know?"
"These kids here told me and yes you have my permission."
Reimu smiled and called the tsukumogami over to get a card. Once everything was set up. Reimu watched as the doll youkai went around with Lily White and Eternity Larva to find various items.
"You know, these dolls are really cute," commented Alice. "Where did you get them?"
"Oh. I bought them from a friend. He and Yukari know about this stuff and got me a ton of them when I told them about my plans to start babysitting," informed Reimu. "They're really popular with the kids and I've been selling some to a few of my customers."
Alice rummaged through her pockets before pulling out some money.
"How much is it for one?" asked the puppeteer.
"50000 yen," answered Reimu. "I don't have a lot and they're really hard to come by even in the outside world. Currently, I have about 40 or so left in stock."
"That's expensive but it makes sense," commented Alice. She began counting the bills but Reimu stopped her.
"If you want, you can join the kids in their game of bingo. I'm handing out a free doll of their choice to the first kids that complete the entire card," informed Reimu.
"Oh. Then I guess I'll join in."
Alice put away the money, picked up a card, and joined her daughter in playing the game while Reimu rested for a bit.
"You know Ryusei, sometimes I wonder what you do at times like these."
She began to reminisce about their previous adventure together in the outside world.
"Wow. You weren't kidding when you said you've never been to a beach."
"Of course! Gensokyo has no beaches or seas!"
Reimu threw off her clothes and jumped into the sea only to realize that she didn't know how to swim two seconds later.
"Help! I'm drowning!"
Ryusei sighed and quickly threw off his outside world clothes and disguise to rescue her.
"I get that she's never been to a beach but seriously, has she never swam in a pool or something?"
Moments after he had rescued her, he spent the next three hours giving her swimming lessons and watching her enjoy the beach by building sand castles and playing in the water. Soon enough, he got bored and pulled out a book to read. Reimu on the other hand, stopped playing and mischievously scooped up some water and quietly snuck up on him. Upon reaching the distracted samurai, she splashed the water at him and ran off giggling.
"Reimu! What did you just- nevermind. Get back over here!"
He chased after her until they reached a fruit stand where he bought her a drink and dried off his book.
"So what were you reading?"
"Erm."
Embarrassed, he tried to hide the book from her only to realize that it was no longer drying out and that the shrine maiden was now reading it.
"Ah! I've been trying to get my hands on this for months."
"You guys have manga?"
"Yeah! Remilia has a whole collection in her library that she keeps to herself. Marisa's brought a few over before but most of the time, they're full of naked girls doing something weird…"
"Oh wow. So that's what she likes to read huh."
Ryusei used his symbolizer to dry his book before taking it back and walking with her back to the beach.
"Hey, join me in the waters next time."
"Sure after we get some swimsuits. My pants are full of sand and still haven't finished drying yet."
The two picked up their stuff and got on the next tourist bus for the temples.
"Hey Ryusei, are you sure we don't need a cover story or anything?" asked Reimu while they were on the bus.
"Yes. I'm sure. Mordecai was just trying to poke at us," replied the samurai.
"But still, it could come in handy."
"For when?"
"Passports please."
A person in a police officer outfit held out his hands.
"What? Why?"
"Sorry. Standard procedure," replied the officer. "A tourist had broken into a store moments ago and left their passport behind. We're looking for tourists that are traveling alone and don't have a passport on them."
Ryusei quickly pulled out his passport while Reimu struggled to find hers. It was at this moment, Ryusei realized that Reimu never had one to begin with and two hadn't bothered to get her one before coming.
"You're good," replied the officer who handed his passport back. "We're still waiting on you girl."
"She's with me," informed the samurai.
"Really?" questioned the officer.
"Yes. We're partners," answered Reimu.
"Partners?"
"Yes. He's my-"
"Okay. You're good then."
The officer left and Ryusei gave Reimu a suspicious look.
"Partners? Really?" asked Ryusei.
Reimu nodded.
"It's what Mordecai suggested."
"You are really dense and oblivious to this kind of stuff aren't you?"
Reimu gave him a puzzled look before going back to looking out the window again.
"Up! Wake up!"
Reimu opened her eyes to see Alice, Lily White, Eternity Larva, Clownpiece and Medicine standing in front of her.
"We finished."
Reimu smiled and checked their cards before opening a portal to let them pick a doll of their choice. Afterwards, Alice joined her in watching the kids while her daughter fell asleep in her lap while clutching several dolls.
"Hmm. Since when did you start babysitting?" asked Reimu
"Oh! Actually, I'm her mother."
Reimu looked at Alice in shock while the puppeteer giggled.
"W-who's the father?" questioned Reimu.
"Oh silly, I adopted her," answered Alice. She gently caressed Medicine and commanded two of her dolls to bring a blanket over to cover Medicine.
"Ah. I see. So how did you meet and when did you adopt her?" asked Reimu.
"Marisa, Yuuka, Patchouli, Koakuma, and I found her sleeping in my house after she broke one of my chairs and ate all my sandwiches," answered Alice. "She had been kicked out of Eintei earlier for helping Tewi with one of her pranks and was looking for a place to hide from the rain. I felt bad for her and decided to adopt her if Eirin didn't want to take her back."
"Wow. How did Eirin react?"
"She told me to keep her and I did. I do have to go back every so often to get her medicine to help her with controlling her powers."
After a few more hours, Reimu called all the fairies back over to check on their progress and get them ready to go to the Youkai mountain. Once she confirmed that everyone was present, she bid Alice and her daughter goodbye and made her way towards the Youkai mountain.
"Reimu, where are we going?" asked Sunny Milk.
"We're going to the Youkai Mountain," answered Reimu.
Upon hearing this, many of the fairies broke into cheers and began making their plans. On their way there, Reimu heard some of them singing various songs that she had no clue about but figured that they learned from Yuuka or some other person that was willing to teach them. However, due to their poor memory, most of them were unable to finish or only remembered a small part of it.
"Reimu, do you know that song by any chance?" asked Cirno.
"Well, do you know the name?" asked Reimu. "If you do, they I might be able to help you guys but right now, I have no clue on what you guys have been singing."
"Reimu! Are you neglecting your duties again?" asked Keine.
"Ah!"
The red and white shrine maiden turned around to see the half human and half youkai teacher carrying several items that she intended to bring up to the mountain.
"No! I wasn't I'm-"
"Then why do you have so many fairies with you?"
"I'm babysitting!"
Keine gave Reimu a puzzled look.
"What?"
Reimu smiled as she, the fairies, and Keine continued their way up the mountain. It took a while to explain to Keine but once she had finally finished, Reimu was grateful to hear Keine volunteer her aid with the fairies.
"I'll help out a little. They may be youkai but they're kids nonetheless."
As they continued their hike, Keine decided to sing a few mountain related nursery rhymes that Reimu herself recognized as the same songs the fairies had been trying to sing earlier but failed due to their poor memory. Still, Reimu had no clue on what those songs were and made a mental reminder to ask Keine about them later.
"We're here!"
Reimu breathed a sigh of relief. They had finally made it to their destination. Even though they weren't at the top of the mountain, Reimu was still tired and she was sure that everyone else was tired as well. Part of this had to do with the fact most of the time, they flew up and to the mountain rather than hiking up to it. Thus, they weren't used to such.
Even Keine was a bit tired as she sat down next to Reimu to rest.
"Okay kids, here you go," declared Reimu as she handed out the bingo cards again.
She watched as each fairy picked a single card but rather than running or flying around like the previous two times, they instead opted to sit down and rest before doing the cards.
"Oh, are you playing bingo?" asked Keine.
"Well, they are. Do you know the game?" asked Reimu.
"Of course I do," replied the half human and half youkai teacher. "I use it to teach some of my classes. How did you learn of it? Marisa?"
Reimu shook her head.
"An outsider named Sumireko taught me," answered Reimu. "So you taught Marisa this once?"
Keine laughed.
"Not really. I tried to teach her and her class with this game once but ran out of cards so I had them all bring their own," revealed Keine. "It did not go that well."
Reimu smiled just thinking about it.
"Sometimes, I wish I could've attended your classes. They seem quite interesting," commented Reimu.
"Well, if you can get enough helpers, maybe you can join in or I can come visit," replied Keine
"We'll see. I'll let you know when I'm ready," informed Reimu.
"By the way, Reimu, how old are they?" asked Keine.
She pointed at the fairies who were now awake and trying to complete the activity.
"Ah, I'm not too sure," answered Reimu. "In terms of mental age, they're about as old as a kindergartener though they behave like toddlers."
"I see," smiled Keine. "So that's why those were the only songs they knew."
Reimu gave Keine a puzzled look.
"Ah, so you've never heard a nursery rhyme?"
Reimu shook her head.
"No. I heard one or two before," replied Reimu. "But that was pretty much it. Everything else was either children's books or stories about youkai."
"I see," commented Keine.
"So what were the names of the nursery rhymes they were trying to sing earlier?" asked Reimu.
"Ah. They were 'She'll be Coming Around the Mountain' and 'The Bear Went over the Mountain'."
Reimu was once again puzzled.
"I take it, you've never heard of them before."
Reimu nodded.
"Mind teaching me a few later. They might not learn anything from them but at least they'll be entertained or so."
Keine smiled and nodded.
"I don't mind. By the way, you know that the game you've given them is also the name of a popular nursery rhyme?"
Reimu shook her head.
"No, I didn't know that. Mind teaching me?"
Cirno and the Three Fairies of Light were playing with their new fumo dolls. Like every girl their age, they decided a small tea party would be the way to go and were enjoying their little party when they heard someone singing a song.
Being the curious little kids they were, the group quickly packed up their party and followed the sound of music to see who the singer was. It didn't take long for them to discover Keine singing and clapping to a song they didn't know and Reimu struggling to follow along.
While Sunny, Luna, and Star decided to leave to continue playing around, Cirno herself was interested and decided to head over with her doll.
"No Reimu. It's one clap per letter you see."
Reimu gave Keine a confused look.
"Okay. Let me show you again."
Cirno watched as Keine began to sing a nursery rhyme and then clap to it. After a few seconds, Reimu tried to do the same thing but failed again.
"It's kinda hard, Keine," commented Reimu. "I keep messing up."
"Don't worry. You'll get it pretty soon. In fact, you're getting it better than Marisa."
"Really?"
"Yep," replied Keine. "Took her three months to get it and she was about four, maybe five years old at the time."
"Oh hi Cirno. Did you finish?"
The ice fairy came out of her hiding spot and shook her head.
"I just wanted to know what you guys were doing."
Reimu smiled and gestured for Cirno to come over.
"Keine was teaching me a few songs. Though they are a bit hard."
"Only because you've never heard of them and it's your first time."
Reimu watched as Cirno crawled onto her lap and watched Keine with curious intent.
"Do you want to learn too?" asked Reimu.
"Yeah I do. Even the strongest needs to know their songs," declared Cirno.
Reimu smiled and watched Keine sing the nursery rhyme and demonstrate the hand motions to the song.
Having heard and seen it enough times, Reimu scanned the mountain for the other fairies. Unlike the previous two places, Reimu didn't need to keep an active eye on the fairies while on the mountain since the place they were at wasn't that large. One scan of the area was more than enough to get everyone in her view. It also helped that Reimu forbade the fairies from flying to prevent them from getting lost or hurt.
"Got it?"
Reimu turned back to see Keine finishing the song.
"Ah. Kinda," said Reimu. Cirno on the other hand shook her head.
"The lyrics I pretty much got now since I've heard it enough times and I think I've yep. I did," revealed Reimu.
She showed Keine the back of one of her bingo cards which now had the lyrics of the nursery rhyme "Bingo" written on it.
"The motions are a different story," admitted Reimu.
"Wanna try again?" asked Keine.
"Yes!" said Cirno.
As Keine began to sing, Reimu noticed that Cirno was able to get the clapping right but had trouble getting the lyrics. Moments later, she noticed that the other fairies were getting curious and coming over to try and follow along. However, the result was the same nonetheless.
"Sheesh. This is hard," commented Keine.
"I know," commented Reimu. "It's hard to teach or get them to learn something unless you can keep their attention and make it simple for them to follow along."
Keine looked at Reimu surprised.
"Just how long have you been babysitting little youkai and fairies?" asked the teacher.
"Unofficially, maybe three or four years. I've lost count. Officially though, this is my third job of the month," replied Reimu.
"Well, got any tips for me then?" asked Keine.
"Well, stories are usually no trouble but try to avoid using advanced words. Pictures help as well."
"Not going to help at the moment," commented Keine.
"Well, a visitor of mine did advise basing some stuff on things they like- Hang on!"
Reimu began scribbling on the back of a new card and within moments finished writing a song that Keine recognized as a parody of their current nursery rhyme.
"Mind helping me teach it?"
Keine smiled and took the card.
"Alright then, tell them to gather around."
Reimu did just that and watched as Keine began to teach.
"Reimu, will you please leave them with me for a while?" requested Keine.
Reimu smiled and flew off to check their surroundings. Despite her being sure that Moriya shrine hadn't learned about her new business, it wouldn't hurt to make sure and ensure they didn't send any spies.
Flying around the place, she saw Aya and Hatate drinking, the Aki sisters playing with Rumia, and Nitori was teaching their seal a few new tricks.
The Akis aside, it was pretty normal and nothing was out of place.
Flying back, she saw Keine with a proud smile and the fairies carried eager expressions as if they were about to show her something.
"I'm back. How did it go, Keine?" asked Reimu.
"They got it really quick," answered Keine. "In fact, they've memorized the whole song and want to show you."
Reimu sat down and smiled.
"Alright then, show me."
Keine signaled them all while Reimu began to listen to the kids sing and clap.("C-I-R-N-O" Parody of "B-I-N-G-O")
"Letty has a fairy child and Cirno is her name-o.
C-I-R-N-O
C-I-R-N-O
C-I-R-N-O
And Cirno is her name-o.
Letty has a fairy child and Cirno is her name-o.
(clap)-I-R-N-O
(clap)-I-R-N-O
(clap)-I-R-N-O
And Cirno is her name-o.
Letty has a fairy child and Cirno is her name-o.
(clap)-(clap)-R-N-O
(clap)-(clap)-R-N-O
(clap)-(clap)-R-N-O
And Cirno is her name-o.
Letty has a little child and Cirno is her name-o.
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-N-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-N-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-N-O
And Cirno is her name-o.
Letty has a little child and Cirno is her name-o.
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-O
And Cirno is her name-o.
Letty has a little child and Cirno is her name-o.
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)
And Cirno is her name-o."
Once they had finished, Reimu smiled and rewarded them with candy. Keine watched as the kids ran around playing and taking turns getting Reimu's attention.
"Well, that's one way to do your job" thought Keine. She was pretty surprised to see how fast the fairies picked up and learned the song once Reimu changed the lyrics. "Maybe I should try doing that with some of my nursery classes one day."
After a while, many of the fairies went back to finishing their game activities while Reimu sat down with Cirno on her lap. The ice fairy was a bit tired and decided to sleep on Reimu's lap with her fumo doll. Reimu didn't mind and instead, began to gently stroke the ice fairy.
"I'm beginning to wonder if what you said about starting fairly recently is true or not considering how comfortable they are around you."
Reimu looked up to see Keine standing over her. The teacher then took a seat next to the shrine maiden and ice fairy.
"Well, I've been unofficially taking care of most of them for about three to four years," informed Reimu. "So this stuff comes pretty naturally."
"I see," commented Keine. "I guess that's why you're a bit soft on them."
"Teaching experience aside, you seemed to know how to handle them as well," commented Reimu. "Did you have kids before?"
"Actually, I have some right now," informed Keine. "With the exception of one who's still not ready to join us yet, most of them are youkai."
"Really?" questioned Reimu. "I never expected someone like you to adopt youkai."
"She's harmless," informed Keine. "Or well, she doesn't attack people unless they hurt her first. Her name's Tokiko and she likes to read books."
"That's nice. I guess I don't have to worry about that one causing trouble."
"Really? She knows you pretty well for stealing her books."
Reimu stopped her current activity and turned to Keine.
"W-wait. W-who?"
Keine pulled out a picture of a familiar bird youkai who Reimu instantly recognized as the same youkai she had robbed to pay off Rinnosuke for repairing her dress and some of her debt.
"Ah. Is there a way for me to make it up?" asked Reimu. "Please don't-"
"Well, if you can, buy back her books," said Keine. "That being said, she is still very young and has difficulty reading, so maybe donate a picture book or two to help her literacy."
Reimu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay then. I'll talk to Rinnosuke. By the way, you said you had more than one kid. Who are the others?" asked Reimu.
Instead of answering, Keine gestured towards a group of fairies whom Reimu immediately recognized as the same ones Marisa adopted.
"What? I thought Marisa adopted them."
"She did," replied Keine. "But she also made me and Rinnosuke their unofficial guardian figures should something happen to her."
"That's interesting," commented Reimu. "Still, why not me?"
"You're pretty busy most of the time and unlike Rinnosuke and I, always seem to have some other youkai nearby," informed Keine. "If it helps, she did make you their aunt."
Reimu smiled upon hearing this. Before she could ask more questions though, she heard a small yawn and saw Cirno waking up.
"Reimu, is mom here yet?" asked the ice fairy.
The red and white miko shook her head. While Keine slept on a nearby boulder.
"No, she isn't here yet."
"Aww. I guess we're going to see Mai after all."
Reimu gave Cirno a puzzled look.
"Mai? What's wrong with seeing Mai?"
Mai was a witch that lived in Makai's ice fields and specialized in ice. Like Cirno, her main element was ice and she also liked to boast about being the strongest. Physically, she never aged and her physical body's age was a little older than Cirno's. She was a little more mature than the ice fairy though and personality wise, she was as cold as Letty.
"She's always taking mom from me. Everytime we go to visit her, she tries to keep Letty with her and away from me. Anytime I want to spend time with Letty and she's around, she'll push me off. Unlike me though, she even gets to see her after winter. At some point, I stopped going to visit with Letty but now she's going to be moving here soon. I'm never gonna be able to spend time with mom again."
Reimu gently stroked Cirno's hair while listening. To her, it almost sounded like a case of sibling rivalry. Though she never dealt with something like this, Reimu had heard of cases like these happening before. They were pretty common amongst siblings.
"Cirno, is Mai your sister?" asked Reimu.
The ice fairy nodded.
"Older sister but only recently."
Upon hearing this, Reimu realized what was going on with Cirno. Cirno was simply jealous over Mai's recent adoption which had taken up much of Letty's attention. Because of this, the ice fairy felt abandoned and left behind by Letty when in reality, Letty was just trying to make her feel welcome.
In response, Reimu gently stroked Cirno's hair.
"Cirno, I understand you miss spending time with Letty alone. But Mai is your sister now, and maybe she feels a little nervous coming to a new place. How about you talk to Letty about how you feel? Maybe you two could even suggest doing things together as a family! It would be a great way to show Letty how much you both care about her, and you could even show Mai all your favorite places in Gensokyo and introduce her to your fairy friends. That way, you both get to spend time with Letty, and Mai can feel more welcome in her new home."
Cirno looked at Reimu as if she were thinking about it.
"Okay but I don't know where to start."
Reimu smiled and continued to stroke the little ice fairy.
"You can ask her what she wants to do and try to join in if she lets you. That way, she can get to know you more and maybe even Letty will join in to play with you both."
"What if she doesn't want to?" asked Cirno.
Reimu chuckled and ruffled Cirno's hair.
"Then you can invite her to one of your own activities. Just don't force her to play with you."
Cirno's face brightened upon hearing this.
"Really? Should I do a snowball fight and teach her to freeze frogs?" asked Cirno.
"Um…" thought Reimu nervously. Freezing frogs was a favorite pastime of the ice fairy and had gotten her in trouble on some occasions. Notably, a giant toad had once tried to eat her after seeing her freeze a few frogs. Why Cirno did it so much was a question that not even Reimu knew the answer to, though she suspects that Letty may have had something to do with it.
Nearly a year ago, the shrine maiden caught sight of the yuki-onna freezing a large number of toads and frogs with her daughter by the Misty Lake. To avoid any trouble though, Reimu pretended that she didn't notice and allowed the two to do their thing.
After a while of thinking, Reimu finally came up with her answer, "How about you do something else?"
Cirno tilted her head. "Like what?"
"You can play with dolls," suggested Reimu. "You can even give her one of these as a present. I'm sure she'll like it."
Reimu pointed at Cirno's fumo doll which she had received as a prize for completing her bingo card at the Misty Lake.
"But I don't know which one she'll like," sighed the little ice fairy.
"How does this sound? If you finish your bingo card again, I can use that as a ticket to get a free doll," informed Reimu. "You can give it to her as a present so if she joins us the next time, she can get a free doll of her own choice."
Cirno looked at Reimu confused but smiled moments later and left to finish the activity.
"Okay Reimu-san. I will."
Outwardly, Reimu smiled at the fairy though she internally sighed and prayed that Cirno would remember and follow her advice. She was a fairy after all and fairies tend to forget things over time.
"Those dolls are pretty cute," complimented Keine. "Mind telling me where you got them?"
Reimu turned to see Keine awake and spectating her actions.
"Ah, they were from a friend," replied Reimu. "Do you want one?"
Keine pictured several potential events in her head before answering.
"Not at the moment. Still, save one for me alright."
Reimu nodded and was about to nod off again when she heard a loud scream.