Chapter Text
A bluenette goddess was busy sculpting, focusing hard on her task, while another hand absentmindedly got sweets. A bowl made of clay sat next to her, usually filled to the top with all sorts of different sweets, it helped her focus for some reason. Nevertheless, today was not a good day for the bowl, as when she reached over to it, it was unable to provide the goods. “Mayumi! Can you fetch me some more snacks?”
“Sorry, Mistress Keiki… we have no more sweets for you.” A haniwa walked into the scene, with a saddened expression. Blonde hair, little white tufts and the armour gave the girl quite the outfit. Mayumi Joutouguu was the leader of an army, yet she was quite innocent in other areas as it turned out. When you’re created for battle, everyday life seems a bit strange.
Keiki Haniyasushin turned to the girl, placing her tools down next to her. “Are you sure? What about the Popcorn Haniwa?”
“No more corn to make the popcorn…” Her subordinate shook her head at that.
“The fruit mixer?” The goddess was sounding more desperate as she questioned the girl, though her face remained relaxed. She wasn’t going to lash out at the girl for this!
“Nope, that haniwa stopped working, remember?” Mayumi said, sadness clearly in her eyes. Then she looked at haniwa, who was simply sitting there. Most haniwa didn’t have that much emotion, but they all had love all the same. Still, Mayumi did feel bad for it, Keiki was supposed to fix it earlier! “Also, we don’t have any more fruits.”
“I see…” Keiki got up and left the project she was doing half finished. “Well, I suppose we need to head to Gensokyo to pick up more supplies…” She took off her dirty apron to put on a clean yellow one instead. Then, the two began to walk down, as Mayumi turned to stare into an empty kitchen. Keiki kept walking, but soon noticed Mayumi staring, as Keiki turned back. “Are you coming?”
It took a second for Mayumi to hear Keiki, as she just nodded. “Of course, Mistress Keiki.” She wandered back to Keiki and now began to overtake her, as Keiki just watched Mayumi. The goddess knew her creation well, staring into an empty kitchen… that only really meant one thing. Her little haniwa was self-conscious about not being good at cooking, Keiki found the thought quite adorable, but she also hated seeing her sad. She was quite like other gods in that way, a bit too attached to their loyal servants.
But besides that, the two made their way to the surface, the human village would work. They looked human enough… but Keiki noticed some of them were staring at her, she couldn’t figure out why. As Mayumi was used to heavy lifting, she was lifting multiple heavy bags, while Keiki was carrying nothing. Neither of them figured out what was the problem there.
They walked and walked, Keiki humming to herself as she eyed up the area, and she noticed a festival going on! Seeing a talent show of some kind with judges and while what normal humans did wasn’t so impressive, she was more interested in the judging idea. Looking at Mayumi, and back at the judge’s area, Keiki snapped her fingers. “Let’s head back! I have an idea, but I need to get some things ready!” She flew off, Mayumi wanting to call out to let her know that they were still in the village… but gave up quickly, as the girl just followed the creator goddess…
A few hours later, Keiki had snuck out. Considering she was more of a recluse than most other gods, which was something to behold. She landed outside of a rundown shrine, smiling as she looked around. “Hmm, this place will do…”
“‘This place will do?’ You better be donating a large amount for that insult.” The shrine maiden of paradise was already sweeping the floor, as a little haniwa began to sweep right next to her, much to the living komainu’s amusement.
“Well, it may not be outright cash, but I was planning on hosting a contest and I figured this place would be perfect! A cake making contest to be exact!” She said, clapping her hands together with excitement. “You’ll get lots of visitors. After all, a contest held by the gods, who wouldn’t be interested to see that!”
Reimu looked at her, and then drooled. “Hakurei Shrine gets to keep 80% of the profits made from the event, I get to be a judge and the contestants have to make extra sweets.” She knew a money-making scheme when she saw it, but the sweets were also too tempting to pass up, so she decided to low-ball it.
Keiki had a look of shock at that, not expecting to get any of the profits from Reimu… but it worked for her! “Deal!” She then clapped her hands as a bunch of Haniwa appeared. “These little guys will be making the stage and everything people will need for the cake making. Please don’t interrupt them!” Keiki said, for a split second going very menacing, something that the komainu noticed right away, fearfully hopping inside the shrine and then peeking out.
“Wait, you won’t be here to guide them?” Reimu asked, as she tried to not get in the busy worker’s way.
“Nope! If they need any guidance, they’ll go to their fellow person made from earth!” Aunn’s tail wagged at that, while Reimu just looked annoyed at the implication Keiki made. “I’m off to go advertise the event and head home so my wonderful Mayumi doesn’t get suspicious!"
Keiki then flew off, as the Haniwa just worked and worked, some of them trying to push the maiden out of the way. “Sheesh, okay, okay! We’ll wait inside!” It was better than having to hire the kappa at least.
It didn’t take too long for the event to start. A tengu had seen the conversation, which was part of the goddess’ plan, so there was a lot of buzz for the event and the shrine was bustling! It almost felt like the only people not at the event were the goddess and her servant, something that would change shortly as Keiki walked to Mayumi with a present. “Here you are! We’ll be going to the surface again shortly, so make sure you put this on!”
“Again, don’t we have enough sweets?” Mayumi raised an eyebrow, but Keiki just smiled, walking out of Mayumi’s sight, closing a door… to the changing room. The haniwa didn’t question it, simply opening up the contents to find… a chef’s hat, with her little tufts on it? She plopped it on her head, and it felt comfy! Everything her mistress made was a delight to wear!
Keiki herself came out, looking very different! She was wearing a professional looking green suit, a yellow shirt and blue tie. On top of that, she was wearing a cooking apron, with her headdress still intact. “Come, let us head out, I’ve got a contest to host!”
“R-Right! Right behind you.”
Both flew outside Hell, floating all the way to Hakurei Shrine. It was quite the trip, but eventually they made it as Reimu and Aunn were busy running around, trying to keep everything contained. “There you are! What took you so long, people are getting restless!”
“Haha, I apologise. Have you kept the stage clear?” An annoyed nod from the maiden made the goddess smile. “Excellent. Head to your place, Shrine Maiden. I’ll begin the event! Mayumi, you help Aunn for a bit, and then head in front of the stage!” Mayumi just looked confused as the two went off to another location.
“H-Hey, please don’t touch that!” Aunn’s panic snapped Mayumi back to focus as the two worked together for a few minutes…
Using a device that the Kappas offered in exchange for stalls there, Keiki began talking into it. “Greetings, everyone please come in front of the stage!” Her voice boomed throughout the area, which caught their attention. Everyone wandered over to the stage as she smiled. “Excellent! Welcome to Cake Create! This will be a contest of cake creation, as the name implies. Your cakes will be tasted by gods and many of the most powerful in Gensokyo, a wonderful chance to prove yourselves! I am Keiki Haniyasushin, your first judge and host of the event! And…” with a snap of her fingers, a curtain opened highlighting a judge’s panel, like she had seen previously. “These are my fellow judges! The first one is Reimu Hakurei, the lovely shrine maiden who let us have the event here!”
Reimu gave a small wave, as she wore a similar outfit to Keiki, only red and white, with a yellow tie. “Hello, please feel free to donate while you’re here and don’t try to poison me, or else!” Everyone went a bit quiet at that, which was an annoyance to the maiden. “What?”
“A-Anyway, the third judge shall be, Misumaru- wait, huh?” Keiki said, but then she noticed the person next to Reimu was a pink haired, one-armed ‘hermit’. She also wore a judge’s outfit, hers having a pink shirt and white suit, as she just smiled.
“Kasen Ibaraki. I’m here to make sure that the sweets aren’t too unhealthy. A goddess such as yourself should make sure to keep yourself healthy. What would Mayumi think if you got sick?” She said, with a serious tone despite her smile, as someone else was sitting next to her.
“She asked to be a part of this, so I asked the haniwa to extend the stage…” A dark blonde-haired goddess spoke up, raising her hand. She had a similar outfit, but it mixed Keiki’s shirt with Reimu’s suit. Though she had her outfit outfitted with plenty of magatama. “I tried to explain but she was very passionate about this… Apologises…”
Keiki just looked for a second and then chuckled. “Fair enough, the more judges the better. Besides, I wouldn’t want to worry Mayumi. Anyway, this is Misumaru Tamatsukuri! She will help me make the winner’s choice of prize! Plus, as another goddess, she’s perfect for having the goddess’s touch. And that makes our four judges! So, now we can get started on picking the contestants!” Cheers erupted from across the crowd… and the judge’s table?
“Ohohoho, now this is exciting!” Keiki turned to the cheering, as everyone looked shocked at the presence of a fourth person in the judge’s seats. Another pink haired person, with phantoms floating beside her! She even had a suit on her, this one being blue and white! “My name is Yuyuko Saigyouji, and I’m honoured to be judging this event with all of you!”
“I… uhm…” The goddess had no answer to that, just looking for a second. The judge’s table had even been expanded to fit more people… “Wait, the table is a different texture, it’s not clay!” The guests felt up the table and noticed, with Yuyuko giggling at Keiki’s shock… “I liked that table…” She pouted but shook her head. Best not mess with the person who could make tables disappear in a flash. “Right, well you can be our fifth and last judge! And with that, we can bring the contestants on stage!” Keiki clapped, getting to her seat, excited to get the contest started!
After a while, a white wolf tengu walked onto the stage, looking very confused with just about everything. But she had a notepad, so she began to talk. “It seems that the offer for a day off wasn’t just for kindness.” She said to herself, which got a laugh out of the crowd causing her to sweat drop. “T-That wasn’t a joke. A-Anyway, while the ten… tens of helpers that should be doing this job should be up here, they’re too busy chatting up innocent people, so the job lands to me.” She said, as she glared entirely at one black haired tengu. “So, now everyone, please begin the first part of the event! Partner finding! Each contestant will be two people, this is to inspire teamwork, build friendships and teach others on how to bake cakes… honestly, I think it’ll only do the last part and that’s if we’re lucky.” Another laugh, and while the girl’s tail wagged, she kept an outward appearance of confusion. “T-That wasn’t a joke either…”
Yuyuko floated out of her seat, landing next to a white-haired girl, who had two swords and a half phantom floating beside her. “Ah, Youmu. I assume you’ll be taking part in the contest?”
“Eep!” Youmu hopped up in shock, having not noticed her master clearly. Yuyuko giggled at Youmu’s easily shocked self, as Youmu just nodded lightly. “Well, that’s what I assumed, either that or you want me to cook you cakes in private if you weren’t a judge…”
“Hahaha, well it’s a good thing they accepted me as a lovely judge then! It’d be a shame for you to not have fun and show off your cooking.” A smile grew on the half-phantom’s face as she was praised by her mistress, but she also knew that this could only mean Yuyuko wanted her to do something. “See, I was hoping you’d take a certain someone as your partner for the event.”
“A certain someone? I was planning on going with Reisen…” She said, a little confused at this. Why would this part be important to her master?
“See, I don’t want to ruin my and the host’s relationship because I might have forgotten to tell her about the updated plans.” She giggled at this, much to Youmu’s shock. How do you forget to tell someone something that important! “So, as an act of good faith, I want you to partner with Mayumi Joutouguu. You’ll recognise her, you did beat her up while possessed after all.” Youmu nodded along to that.
“The haniwa girl?”
“Correct! See, a part of this is to help Mayumi improve at cooking, so we should have the best cook here teach her the ropes!” Yuyuko said proudly, pushing Youmu closer to the Haniwa.
“O-Okay. Hopefully Reisen isn’t disappointed…” Yuyuko smiled and floated off, all the way back to her seat at the judge’s podium.
With a bit of nervousness, Youmu walked up to Mayumi. “My master has told me to make you my partner… if that’s okay.”
Mayumi turned to the girl and tilted her head. “She did? That’s certainly surprising, it doesn’t seem very tactical…”
“She said I’m to teach you the ropes, so then you can make better cakes for Keiki I guess…” With a rub of her head, Youmu replied to Mayumi’s straightforward response.
“A better cake maker for Lady Haniyasushin… I accept it!” Mayumi said, gaining a bit of happiness from that. Someone she once fought was willing to teach her about cake making. Well, she was certainly strong in terms of combat, so this had to be a good idea! They shook hands, with Mayumi having a stronger grip then Youmu would have expected!
“Hey, Youmu. Looks like you’ve got a partner!” A familiar voice called out, as Youmu excitedly turned to see a pink haired rabbit with a black vest waving at her.
“Oh, Reisen! S-Sorry, I would have teamed up with you, but my master wants me to help Mayumi so I…”
Reisen giggled at that. “Oh, I would have loved to accept… but with my master’s also taking part, I must make sure Tewi doesn’t poison anyone as a prank. So, I would have said no anyway.” She laughed, as Mayumi just looked confused.
“Why would she try to poison someone? If she poisoned Keiki, I would make sure she would return to the earth.” She said that with a glare, and her grip tightened, causing Youmu to yelp in pain, which the haniwa noticed and let go.
Reisen shrugged, despite the fearsome glare. “I would love to know why myself, other than amusing her. If you want a crack at returning her to earth, be my guest. Anyway, I’ve gotta go now, hope you two win!” Reisen said, waving off as she ran back to her masters, with Mayumi giving a wave back.
“Well, let’s get on stage before my hand is unusable…” Youmu said, with a bashful Mayumi following her.
Reisen meanwhile was heading back to two taller women, one with black hair and one with white hair. The black-haired girl wore a pink dress as she hummed to herself, nibbling on her hair, while the white haired one had a red and blue dress and was holding a bow and had to take the hair out of the pink girl’s mouth. The latter noticed Reisen approaching and looked at her. “Ah, Reisen, did you find Tewi?” A shake of the former Moon Rabbit’s head affirmed that she did not in fact find Tewi. “Worrisome, there’s a high chance she can pull a prank then. We need to keep looking for her.”
“Yo, found your rabbit.” A taller woman wearing a burnt white shirt, red sashinuki hakama and long white hair, held a small rabbit with a pink dress… by her ears.
“Hey, get off, I wasn’t planning anything wrong, honest!” With that complete and honest truth out of her mouth, the woman proceeded to toss Tewi at the black-haired princess’ face.
The princess simply caught it and tossed her into her white-haired friend's arms. “Oh, my~. You’re useful as delivery, glad to see we’ve finally found a use for this immortal girl.” She grinned, as embers began to spark from her recipient of the burn.
“Do not start a fight at Hakurei Shrine while we have at least two gods watching please.” A blue haired girl walked onto the scene, with a long blue dress and a funny hat.
“Hmph, we’ll just have to show how you Lunarians actually make food. Since you’re all pure, do you even need to eat?” The long white-haired girl said to the princess with a grin.
“Oh please, with Eirin’s help, anything is possible!” The princess responded with a beaming smile.
Eirin proceeded to roll her eyes as she passed the pink rabbit over to Reisen. “You will be contributing, right, Princess? Otherwise, it would be better for you to look after Tewi and let Reisen come along. Besides, I’m not sure if we’re on the same page here…”
Princess Kaguya simply raised an eyebrow. “Of course, I’ll help, but it shouldn’t be a problem for you right? A drug is a substance that affects the body, and food affects the body in some sort of way.”
“In medicine, drugs and food are separated. So, there’s also a pretty high chance that even if Eirin knew how to make something, she might not be able to make it perfectly as it’s not the medical term.”
“Correct, Ms. Kamishirasawa. While I do not wish to disappoint my princess of course, it does not mean I will be able to make a perfect cake just like that.” Eirin calmly responded to the blue haired girl with a confident look.
Mokou simply walked over to Kaguya and punched her arm, with a calm look on her face. “Looks like your plan to cheat the event failed, princess. You’ll just have to use hard work like the rest of us.”
“I’d be glad to! If I can get a better score than you, anything’s worth the trouble!” The two grinned at each other, their competitive spirit going sky high once more.
“At least they’re not going to start a ruckus over here. Let’s get onto the stage before that changes…” Keine said, with a worried tone, beginning to walk to the stage.
“Indeed, though we both know that they wouldn’t do anything to actually endanger anyone else.” Eirin said, bring along her partner to the event, while Mokou went behind Keine. The duo with bunny ears were left by themselves, with Reisen forced to keep a hold of Tewi…
“Why can’t I tie you up or put you on a leech again.”
“The fact you think that’d work is all I need to see…” Tewi snarked at Reisen. “Besides, if I wanted to get out of your grip, I’d be out already. I’d rather not get on that shrine maiden’s bad side, you know, even if an angry foe is easy to handle, she is not someone I want to handle.”
“So, wait. You’re just using me as an alibi because if something does go wrong, you’ll be the first to be blamed for it?” Tewi just winked back at Reisen for that response. “Of course…” She just sat down, and decided to watch for others to see who they’ll be teaming up with…
Under some shade, a vampire with short blue hair and a long dress was standing on the table, with a grin. “Alright, Sakuya, Meiling, this is why I’ve brought you two out!” She put her hands on her hips in a confident pose.
The one with long red hair and a Chinese green dress looked a little concerned. “Wait, so that’s why you brought all of us? Isn’t Mistress Flandre going to be lonely?” She got up to do what the vampire said anyway, but the worry on her face didn’t entirely go away.
“No need to worry, we explained the situation to her beforehand. We’ll bring home cake and sweets for her, and honestly if you ask me, she didn’t even need that.” A purple haired girl in some comfy looking clothes chuckled, drinking some tea made for her by her familiar. That pleased the redhead enough as the silver haired maid in a blue dress and the Chinese gatekeeper walked off. However, the moment they were out of earshot, she turned to the vampire. “Are you quite certain that those two will win as per your wishes?”
The vampire sat back in her seat, nodding with the same amount of confidence she showed earlier. “Certainly, we all know Sakuya’s cakes are amazing! As long as she just keeps thinking logically, nothing can go wrong!”
The girl in patchouli stared… and sighed. “Well, I suppose we’re done for.” She then sighed, taking a moment to breathe, as the vampire looked shocked at her friend’s lack of faith.
The earth rabbit soon got bored of staring at the shade though, so she turned elsewhere. The loudness of two groups stuck out to her. The first she caught eyes on was a black and white witch dragging along a straw-hat girl with a long grey dress with a stone texture. “W-Wait, stop Marisa! I don't think this is a good idea!”
“It’s better than just staying at home all day, Naruko! Even Patche’s more outgoing than you and she’s as frail as a leaf! You should be as tough as stone!” Marisa Kirisame was more than happy to just drag her friend up the stairs, all with a cheerful grin and tone.
“Y-You were the one who told me to come you know! I thought it’d be a fun day, eating sweets! Besides, what about Alice, you two like each other!” Narumi Yatadera meanwhile was less cheerful and more panicked out of her mind. To say she was incredibly introverted would be an understatement, it seemed that the only person who would even bother to try and get her out of her shell was Marisa and her unusual talkativeness. “A-And what’s with Naruko, anyway! That’s a terrible nickname!”
“Alice is playing with that poison doll girl, both to keep her happy and to make sure that she doesn’t get any ideas! Yuuka is there too, it seems those three have become a happy little family, ha-ha. Patche is sitting over there and Nitori would want a cut of my winnings, so you’re the only option! Besides, I think the nickname is cute, it fits you!” Marisa casually stated, causing the former Jizo statue (former as in she was no longer a statue…) to blush even harder! It at least managed to quiet them a bit so less people were looking at them now…
The other loud noise makers were the rock band known as Choujuu Gigaku, which certainly confused Udonge… “Aw, come on. Don’t tell me you forgot that the sparrow owns a food stand, right?” Tewi was right there to be snarky, as her captor bonked the girl on the head. “Ow, ow, okay, okay!” After that, Reisen stopped. She wasn’t going to do more than she could get away with after all.
“I didn’t know you could make cake, Misty!” The yamabiko spoke up first, with her tail wagging about in excitement. She made a sweeping motion with her hands, like she was brooming… even though she didn’t have a broom on her at the time.
The night sparrow, Mystia Lorelei nodded proudly, with a sharp grin on her face. “Of course, I can, Kyouko! If I’m to keep people coming back to my stand, I’ve gotta stay ahead of the game, and if that means adding new food items to the menu, then that’s what I’ve gotta do!” Her wings were flapping very quickly, like Kyouko’s tail. A bird and a beast didn’t seem that different at the end of the day. The rockstar duo, instead of going onto the stage like they most likely should, instead went off to get more sweets, as Reisen noticed a pair sitting down near her.
This was a young red-haired girl, with many bells on her who seemingly didn’t notice the large number of unusual things going on. That always surprised Reisen, how does one not notice animal ears, tails, wings or different features on their faces. But it did make their life easier, so she was not one to complain. Instead, she just listened to the conversation she was having with another girl, this one with purple hair and a green and red dress.
“Marisa and that nightstand owner are only confident thanks to the fact they broke in last night…” The bell girl sighed out, which caused Reisen to perk up a bit, seemingly more interested in the conversation now. Tewi just giggled at Reisen’s nosiness.
“Hmm, that explains why the Choujuu Gigaku concert was suddenly cancelled… I was hoping that they were saving their vocal cords for today.” The other girl simply drank some tea as she relaxed, sipping calmly…
“Wait, why would you hope for that Akyuu? Besides, because of that I couldn’t even consider taking part in the contest today, I’m too sleepy!” She seemed a tad annoyed at it all, before yawning to prove her point.
Akyuu turned and raised an eyebrow, not having the full story. “Well, what happened anyway for you to be so tired, Kosuzu?” She did seem worried for her younger friend, who yawned a bit more to prove that point…
“Well, I had to stay behind in the shop a lot longer to make sure they wouldn’t run off with the book, they practically begged me to at least let them read it… I don’t know Kirisame well, but I do know that her and books make for a terrible combination.” She rubbed her eyes, before turning to Akyuu. “You didn’t answer my question though, why would you want Choujuu Gigaku to rest their vocal cords?”
“This is a festival, is it not? Music is very important to an event like this one, Kosuzu. Besides, a goddess with her own idol is the one hosting, surely, she must have some taste in music.” Akyuu simply stated, as Kosuzu simply decided to think about that logic…
“Hey, Misty!” A childish yet proud tone came out, as Reisen felt a chill in the air, looking right back to see a little blue ice fairy floating in with a big smile. “You’re taking part in this too? Did you guys get a reserved spot?” Cirno landed down, as the pair she was talking to were more than happy to explore the sweet stalls, as could be seen by their full bag of sweets. Mystia had put a limit on what they could get, but clearly with smart saving they could get a lot of sweets anyway.
The night sparrow turned to look at the fairy, with a smile of her own. “I’m more surprised you're taking part too, Cirno. Is your shaved ice business failing?” The two wandered over together, being friends, although due a fairy’s attention span, it was a little bit more distant than Mystia would have liked. She then blinked in confusion. “Wait, what do you mean by-”
“Hehe, well my shaved ice business will come in handy here! Shaved ice is a dessert, and this will be even better! After all, I’m planning on- '' Cirno folded her arms with a big grin, as she interrupted Mystia’s question, before getting interrupted herself.
“Now, now Cirno. Let us not spoil the surprise for everyone. The strongest should know the power of surprises.” A woman of much larger status came around, to which Cirno happily flapped up onto her shoulder, but she folded her arms. She was wearing blue and white like the fairy, but she had a blue dress and a white apron. Seems she was already fit for the job.
“I know that Ms. Letty! I was just trying to make them shiver from the power of our combo!” She confidently said… folding her arms trying to appear tough… but considering she was sitting on the shoulder of a taller woman, it looked cuter than anything else.
“Hello!” The beast of the Choujuu Gigaku yelled out with a strong shout to Letty Whiterock, almost knocking the fairy off her shoulder! “I wish you the best of luck, and I hope I get to taste some treats!” She and Mystia excitedly flew off to the stage. Even if they somehow lost, they didn’t doubt Letty’s ability to make treats.
Letty just giggled, while Cirno tried to stabilise herself. “Hehe, it seems that even though they try to act tough with their band, they’re just a bunch of sweet loving children at heart…” Soon Cirno got her sitting down, as the Yuki-onna turned to the fairy, petting her head. “Come, Cirno. Let us show them the power that winter has left, it takes cold to make a real dessert.”
“Yeah, we’ll show them!” Cirno happily giggled, as Letty floated her way up to the stage too! It seemed like the stage was filling up, surprisingly with people Reisen could at least recognise. Though, looking up on that stage, there seemed to be a few alterations that were already going on.
“U-Um, ma’am. You need a partner to join this contest…” The tengu announcer, Momiji Inubashiri was visibly panicking, as her voice could be heard from everywhere… she hadn’t turned off the microphone, likely because she didn’t know how.
“Eh, a partner? What kind of weird rule is that? An’ here I thought that ya tengu weren’t s'posed t’ be biased here.” The whole world seemed to freeze at the grey haired yamanba, either because she just spelt out that Momiji was a tengu (while her microphone was still on!), or her accent. Wood cracking could be heard from the judges table as the shrine maiden looked very upset.
“Hahaha!” Momiji just laughed in a panic, pointing her thumb at the girl. “W-Well, looks like we have a jokester here. I mean, I know tengu are the worst of the worst, especially those ones rumoured to oversee news outlets but calling me one of those seems a bit far-fetched!” Thankfully, Momiji’s strange knack for making the audience laugh worked out wonders here.
“Eh, what do ya mean, isn’t that-” Momiji, now on instinct, drew her blade, which the yamanba laughed at. “Ye git guts, I can respect that. But seriousin’, I don’t come out often so I may not know how to hold back.” She revealed she was holding a knife on her as well, as long as the tengu’s sword…
“Alright, here’s a deal. You beat me, and I’ll be your partner. Then you won’t have any problems joining this event…” Momiji said, trying to act tough… not really successfully doing it though.
“Well now… alright, it’d be nice to go a few ‘ounds with your uptight freaks.” Momiji nodded, and motioned her to follow, with the (seemingly) older lady doing so without much more of a fuss. The Hakurei Shrine maiden just gave them the side-eye as she did so…
Reisen then looked down, to notice that Tewi had simply fallen asleep… How could someone fall asleep after that altercation? “Hehehe…” A cheerful giggle came out from the shadow… she tilted her head towards the giggles, but as soon as she did so, they got quieter and quieter…
Eventually, they stopped and Reisen shrugged, before turning back to the stage, only to find a floating head, with red hair and eyes, that without warning proceeded to lick Reisen’s face! It then spat out the taste as Reisen just looked dumbfounded, as Tewi giggled at both reactions… “Hahaha, licking, really? She’s a silly rabbit, not a chocolate rabbit!”
The floating head just stuck her tongue out and tried to get the taste of her mouth, before calling to the direction of the giggles. “Seriously, licking? Why did you think that would work!”
“Well, I mean, have you seen my umbrella?” A blue haired girl walked out, with heterochromia in her eyes, one red and one blue, holding a purple umbrella, with an eye and a tongue out. Not hard to see where the idea came from. “It usually surprises people!” She pouted at the implication that her idea wasn’t the greatest thing ever.
Sekibanki rolled her eyes, as a body holding onto Kogasa walked on by, with a red hood and a black long-sleeved shirt. The head then floated on top of the body, the hood making it so that it was never disconnected in the first place! “Well, let’s not make too much of a scene anyway. I’d rather us not get in trouble before we get on stage.” She said, as her friend followed her up onto there, floating calmly.
Reisen just sat there dumbfounded as she did so, before she got a cloth to dry herself off with. “W-What just happened?” There was no verbal response, Tewi was just silent to make her doubt herself even more.
After a while, when Nemuno and Momiji came back, both bruised with cuts, and actual bruises but seemingly more relaxed now that stress had been dealt with. It seemed that all but one pair had gotten onto the stage.
Momiji saw this and walked over to the solo girl, a wavy blue haired one wearing white. “Miss, please leave the stage if you don’t have a partner, we’ve already been through this…” Momiji had an exasperated tone to her voice, but still trying to be gentle all the same.
“But my partner’s right there.” She said, pointing at the air, as a little *Doot! * came out! “See, she’s making a noise right now!” She kept pointing as more *Doot, Doot! *s came out.
Momiji just looked at the trumpet and went back to the girl. “I’ve been to your concerts…?” The girl didn’t let Momiji figure it out. In her defence, she was tired and barely had any time to go to any concerts thanks to upper management.
“Merlin! Merlin Prismriver, supplier of happy tunes and trumpet player of the Prismrivers with H!” The girl was all too happy to introduce herself, as the three other members were currently a bit tied up in their practice session turned meet and greet! To the point they hadn’t noticed that one of their members was gone!
“Right, well that’s clearly a trumpet sound, and you can play your trumpet without even having to use your hands, so that’s not fooling me.” She crossed her arms, looking somewhat annoyed.
“What, no!” Then, she poked the air again, as it went *Doot! *. “See, that’s a “Doot!” meanwhile my trumpet happy sounds simply can’t be replaced by such silly noises!” As such, she began to play her trumpet, which indeed did not go *Doot! * but instead, a small portion of one of their hit songs, ‘Tonight Stars an Easy-going Egoist!’ That in fact, caught the attention of her bandmates, who had reasonably shocked expressions that she had just up and left!
Before they could go on stage to get her off, another voice called out, this one quiet and serene. “Apologies, I had simply gone off to examine the cake…” A blank eyed, pink haired girl walked on stage, next to Merlin. She wore a light pink pumpkin like skirt, and a blue shirt, along with a fox mask.
“Hey, you’re the girl who doesn’t smile at my happy tunes!” The poltergeist cheerfully cheered, even though her words came off as insensitive, she was happy to have her here.
“Hata no Kokoro… very well. If you’re her partner, she can stay for the event.” Merlin was about to speak out, but Kokoro placed her hand on Merlin’s mouth, and on the air, getting behind them.
“Yes, I look forward to helping her out.” She said, though her voice was calm, the mask of Hyottoko on her face. Momiji just nodded, and went back, now seemingly talking to the judges. She then turned to the air, looking intensely at it. The mask of Hannya now equipped as she did so. “Why did you make things so much harder than they had to be, Komeiji.”
A girl who was always there just appeared, not too many people though. Yellow top with long sleeves and a green set of a shirt, short hair and eyes cheerfully perked up! “Hmm, I’m not sure. I just wanted to hear more of Ms. Trumpet’s songs!”
“Hehe, I already played some for you on the way here, but I’ll play even more if we win this!” Merlin seemed more than happy to play along with Koishi, but Kokoro just stood there quietly.
“But I want to hear some too…” Kokoro said, with her Uba mask… her pose slumping a bit as she did so…
“Huh, you do?” Now Merlin looked very surprised, as she beamed even more. “Okay, if we get our cake done, then I’ll give you both a performance of a lifetime! You’ll both smile so much that your mouths will hurt!” This caused both to perk up. Even though Koishi was unconscious, the power of the Prismrivers was enough for her to be a fan!
“Koishi, let’s work together to win this thing.” Kokoro now said, with a mask of the fox once again, getting into a firm pose, as the closed eyed satori bounced around.
“You got it, the ultimate cake that even gods fear will come right up!” Therefore, the trio were ready for action, even if most could only see two competitors, and those who could see three didn’t care enough to correct.
“S-Should we stop her?” The red-dressed Prismriver worriedly said, looking over at the stage and then her fans.
“Nah, she’s fine. Her fans are in the audience now anyway, so no way you’re slacking. Besides, you should know your sister better than I, but even I know she’ll have enough energy for the song later!” A red dressed drum tsukumogami ruffled the polterghast’s hair, as Lunasa was steadying away at her fans.
After a conversation, Keiki soon made her way back to the centre of the stage, tapping the microphone with a confident smile. “And so, our slots have been filled! Now, let me introduce the competitors! Please keep quiet during this phase, so then we can go right into the cooking!” Keiki followed up with, winking back at the cooks.
She then went in order of everyone there. “Introducing… “Double Bladed Assistants, Youmu Konpaku and Mayumi Joutouguu!” The white-haired half phantom and the blonde haniwa both waved, a little bit timidly on Youmu’s part. Meanwhile Mayumi was treating it more like she was with a crowd of her haniwa soldiers.
“Next up is… The Endless Knowledge and Flames, Fujiwara no Mokou and Keine Kamishirasawa!” Mokou gave a more laid-back hand wave, while Keine gave a bow with her dress… both were a little confused at the order Keiki chose to introduce them. This was while Mokou’s rival struggled to hold in a laugh.
“The Eternity of Eientei, Kaguya Houraisan and Eirin Yagokoro!” Eirin too, took a bow, while Kaguya smiled and waved for the audience, getting quite a cheer from that. (Mokou knew Kaguya would use the larger cheers against her next time they fought.)
“The Green and Blue Gems of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Hong Meiling and Sakuya Izayoi!” The green gatekeeper noticeably had a blush at the nickname, while the blue maid took it in stride, she figured her master would do that to make said master stand out more, which she completely understood.
“The Power of the Forest, Marisa Kirisame and Narumi Yatadera!” Narumi was very embarrassed at the nickname, holding her face in her hands, while Marisa grinned pridefully, doing tricks with her broom as she did so!
“Choujuu Gigaku, Mystia Lorelei and Kyouko Kasodani!” They both took to the spotlight, clearly used to cheers and roars… this clearly wasn’t as much as they usually got, but they still looked happy enough to be up there.
“The Power of Winter, Letty Whiterock and Cirno!” Cirno proudly stood on the counter, with her fists on her hips, while Letty just had a one-handed wave. It seemed a chill ran down the audience, but that was surely just a coincidence, right?
“Rivalry of the Mountain, Momiji Inubashiri and Nemuno Sakata!” They both simply gave a thumbs up, a bit too worn out to really focus on much else. Maybe having a fight before a cooking challenge was not the best idea.
“Duo of Surprises, Kogasa Tatara and Sekibanki!” Kogasa attempted to surprise the audience… to not much success, while Sekibanki had to try and keep her secrets on the downlow, maybe showcasing that she was a youkai in front of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden would not be the brightest idea.
“Lastly, the Emotion and Song of the Stage! Merlin Prismriver and Hata no Kokoro…” Keiki slightly trailed off, something about only those two didn’t feel entirely right, yet she couldn’t put a pin on it. Meanwhile, the two of them waved to the audience, though if one were to look closely, maybe they could see another girl behind them, doing a double peace sign over their heads, to give them the illusion of bunny ears…
“One more announcement, thanks to the creative tools from our sponsors and friends, the competitors will only have to make average sized cakes, we’ll handle the rest to let all of you have a taste of paradise! Now, let the cooking begin!” Keiki said, as a Magatama Orb was placed on the judge’s table, slowly turning as a timer…