It had been a few day's sense the whole thing with Eiki happened.
Things were weirdly peaceful.
Reimu was looking at Chris, who was playing with Fumo Reimu and Golden Freddy, with Chen and Tewi.
His Grimoire moved around him, humming.
Reimu drank her tea. 'Soul Guide'.
She said in her mind, Eiki's words.
She looked at Chris. "He can barely speak".
She said to herself, she felt the air shift, as her hair went up
Which only meant one thing.
Her relative was here.
Footsteps were being heard on the steps, as someone kept coming up.
They went to the barrier of Gensokyo and went through it without it rejecting them.
Which meant, that person was Hakurei.
Reimu looked at who came up.
A young woman with a voluptuous figure, delicate facial features, and very long blonde hair often tied in a ponytail. Long blonde hair reaching her legs, spiralled at the end, and golden yellow eyes. She is wearing a Miko like outfit as 9 Golden tails flare behind her
[Insert image of Yasaka]
Reimu looked at her. "Cousin".
Yasaka smiled. "It's been a long time Reimu, hasn't it".
Reimu looked at as she sighed. "Why, are you here".
Yasaka giggled. "Can, I not visit my relatives?".
She just looked at him. "You always give a notice in advance".
Yasaka smirked at her. "Oh Yes, but this time I didn't, Eiki told me all about your Fight with her".
Reimu's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Of course she did."
Yasaka laughed softly, the sound light, almost teasing. "You always did punch above your weight. Matching a Yama blow for blow?" She shook her head. "You've grown."
Reimu didn't rise to the praise. She just tilted her head toward the yard.
"So you came all this way to flatter me?"
Yasaka's gaze shifted.
She saw him.
Chris sat on the wooden porch, cross-legged, carefully stacking stones Chen had brought him. The Grimoire hovered at his side, pages fluttering like it was breathing. Golden Freddy sat beside him, unmoving, watchful. Tewi was whispering something that was definitely a bad idea.
Yasaka stopped smiling.
Her tails slowed.
The air around her tightened—not hostile, but alert.
"…So that's him," she said quietly.
Reimu didn't answer.
Yasaka stepped forward, each footfall deliberate. The barrier around the shrine didn't react at all. It accepted her presence like it always had.
Chris looked up.
His eyes met hers.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then—
The Grimoire hummed louder.
Chris flinched, instinctively pulling his hands back. The air around him rippled, like something old and deep had stirred.
Yasaka froze.
Her golden eyes widened just a fraction.
"…Interesting," she murmured.
Reimu was already between them.
"Don't."
Yasaka raised both hands slowly, palms open. "Relax. I'm not here to touch him."
She tilted her head, studying Chris the way a priest might study a sacred flame.
"He's not bound like a normal soul," Yasaka said. "And not free either."
Chris clutched Reimu's sleeve, fingers tightening.
'She's… loud,' he thought. Not in sound. In presence.
Yasaka noticed.
Her expression softened.
"So you can feel me," she said gently. "That's rare."
Reimu clicked her tongue. "You're scaring him."
Yasaka exhaled, and the pressure eased. The tails settled. The shrine breathed again.
"My apologies," she said, more sincerely this time. Then she looked back at Reimu.
"Eiki wasn't exaggerating. That child has the makings of a Soul Guide."
Reimu's grip tightened just a little.
"And you're here because of that."
Yasaka smiled—not playful now, but sharp.
"I'm here because something like him doesn't just happen."
She glanced up at the sky, then back at the Grimoire.
"And because if the outside world notices him before we do…"
She shrugged lightly.
"…things get messy."
Chen swallowed. Tewi had gone quiet. Even Golden Freddy's presence felt heavier.
Reimu met her cousin's gaze.
"So what do you want, Yasaka?"
Yasaka looked at Chris again.
"To watch," she said simply.
"And eventually…"
Her smile returned, slow and foxlike.
"To teach."
Then by golden fire, Ran arrived, as she came from picking up Chan, then she blinked seeing what was happening. 'Who is she?'
Chris tilted his head, eyes still on Yasaka.
'Nidhogg?'
The Grimoire reacted instantly.
Its pages flipped on their own, faster than before. The faint flames along its spine deepened in color—golden, radiant, warm. Not destructive fire, but something older. Sacred.
A small flame bloomed above Chris's palm.
Golden fire.
It didn't burn. It shone.
Yasaka stopped walking.
Her ears twitched.
"…Oh?" she murmured.
Inside Chris's mind, Nidhogg chuckled low and amused.
'That woman is hiding more tails.'
Chris blinked.
'More…?'
The golden flame pulsed.
Yasaka's smile widened, sharp and knowing. "You really are rude, little one. Exposing a lady's secrets without asking."
Reimu turned sharply. "Hiding what?"
Yasaka sighed, then snapped her fingers.
The air peeled back.
For just a moment, shadows stretched behind her—far more than nine. They overlapped, blurred, refusing to stay still, as if reality itself didn't want to count them.
Then they were gone.
Chen gasped. Tewi's ears flattened. Even Ran stiffened.
"…That's not possible," Ran said slowly.
Yasaka glanced at her. "It is if you stop letting history decide your limits."
Chris's golden fire flickered again, responding to her presence like it recognized something familiar.
Reimu looked down at him. "Chris. Stop."
He nodded immediately, the flame shrinking until it vanished. The Grimoire settled, though it still hummed—excited.
Yasaka crouched a short distance away, lowering herself so she wasn't towering over him.
"You copied divine fire," she said softly. "Not Youkai flame. Not magic."
Her eyes met Reimu's.
"That came from her side of the family."
Reimu didn't answer.
Yasaka straightened, brushing dust from her robes. "Now you see why I came without warning."
She folded her arms, tails swaying lazily behind her.
"That child is standing at a crossroads," she continued.
"Soul Guide. Divine echo. Copy core. Nightmare vessel."
Her gaze sharpened.
"And if he stays ignorant, someone far worse than me will notice first."
Chris leaned into Reimu's side, whispering, "She's… noisy."
Yasaka laughed outright at that. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Then she looked serious again.
"Reimu," she said. "I'm not here to take him."
A pause.
"I'm here to make sure he survives what he's becoming."
"…How," Ran said carefully, "do you know this woman?"
Reimu didn't look away from Yasaka.
"She's my cousin."
Silence.
Ran's breath caught.
Her mind raced—old records, discarded myths, divine contradictions buried in Youkai history. Stories that never lined up no matter how many times they were rewritten.
"…That's not possible," Ran said slowly. "Amaterasu and Tamamo no Mae weren't same being."
Yasaka smiled, amused but not mocking.
Reimu answered before she could. "No. They were the same entity."
Ran's ears flattened.
"…So it wasn't folklore," she whispered.
She looked at Yasaka again—really looked this time. The divine pressure she had mistaken for confidence. The way the barrier had accepted her without question. The extra shadows behind her tails.
"…They didn't make it up," Ran said. "They simplified it."
Yasaka inclined her head. "Humans like clean stories. Gods don't fit into those."
Ran bowed deeply. Instinctively. Completely.
"Leader of the Twelve Youkai Clans," she said. "Descendant of Tamamo no Mae… no—continuation of her will."
She hesitated, then added, quieter, "Protector of Youkai outside Gensokyo."
Yasaka waved it off. "Titles pile up when you live long enough."
Reimu snorted. "You enjoy every single one."
Yasaka grinned. "Guilty."
Ran straightened slowly, her gaze shifting to Chris.
Everything clicked.
The Grimoire.
The divine fire.
The copying without rejection.
"…That child," Ran said carefully, "is standing between two divine bloodlines."
Chris looked up at her, confused. "I am?"
Reimu rested a hand on his head. "You don't need to worry about that yet."
Yasaka's eyes softened—for just a moment.
"But you will," she said gently. "Sooner than you think."
Reimu looked at Yasaka, her expression steady.
"So," she said, "why did you actually come here?"
Yasaka's smile faded.
"A warning," she replied. "The Twelve Youkai Clans are in conflict. I'm trying to stop it, but…"
She paused, eyes flicking briefly toward the sky beyond the shrine.
"…not everyone wants peace."
Reimu nodded once. No surprise. No panic.
"I'll be ready for refugees."
Yasaka studied her for a moment, then let out a quiet breath.
"Still the same," she said. "You always prepare for the consequences, not the cause."
Ran's ears twitched. "If the clans fracture," she said carefully, "some of them won't just run. They'll bring grudges with them."
Reimu shrugged. "Then they'll leave them at the border."
Yasaka chuckled softly. "You really are Hakurei."
Chris tugged at Reimu's sleeve. "Ref… u-jees?"
"People who need a place to stay," Reimu said, gently.
Chris thought for a moment, then nodded. "We help them?"
Reimu smiled faintly. "Yeah. We help them."
Yasaka's gaze lingered on the child, something unreadable passing through her eyes.
"…Then Gensokyo may survive what comes next after all."
Yasaka tilted her head, eyes settling on Chris again. "So," she said lightly, "are you raising your future husband?"
The shrine went dead silent.
Reimu froze, mouth open.
Ran instantly clapped her hands over Chen's ears. "Do not listen to that."
Tewi collapsed onto the porch, wheezing with laughter. "PFF— SHE SAID IT—"
"NO," Reimu snapped, spinning on Yasaka. "Absolutely not."
Yasaka raised a brow. "If so, there's nothing strange about it. Many youkai—"
"He is my age," Reimu cut in, pointing sharply. "He's a memetic entity. He's growing. I'm taking care of him. That's it."
Chris looked up at Reimu. "Hus… band?"
Reimu immediately knelt. "No. Don't learn that word."
Ran peeked at Yasaka from behind her sleeve, eyes sharp now.
"You're speaking from youkai standards," she said carefully. "But this child is… different."
Yasaka nodded. "I can tell."
Her gaze softened, just a little, as she watched Chris tug at Reimu's sleeve.
"A soul that doesn't age the way others do," Yasaka continued. "Protected, shaped by proximity rather than time. Dangerous… and precious."
Tewi wiped a tear from her eye. "Still funny though."
Reimu groaned. "I hate my family."
Yasaka laughed, genuinely this time.
"Relax. I was teasing."
Then, quieter:
"Mostly."
Chris leaned closer to Reimu, lowering his voice.
"She's… loud."
Reimu snorted despite herself. "Yeah. She is."
Yasaka straightened, tails swaying behind her.
"Jokes aside," she said, tone turning serious again, "if the clans fracture, children like him will draw attention. Power like his doesn't stay unnoticed for long."
Reimu's expression hardened.
"Then they'll have to come through me."
Yasaka smiled.
"Good answer."
To be continued
Hope people like this Ch and give me power stones and enjoy