Chapter 1



Like many homes in the Genbu Ravine, Nitori’s had the kappa essentials. Upon entering, there was the workshop, consisting of a workbench and empty space for large projects. To the workshop’s left was the supply closet. It contained everything a kappa needed to build, as well as some of her inventions. To the right was Nitori’s bedroom. All it had was a bed, a small table, and a wardrobe. In the back was the kitchen, always stocked with cucumbers, and the back door. In the ceiling, the electric lights would shine bright, helping the kappa work on her inventions late into the night.



That was not the case on this night. The house was dim except for candlelight from the counter in the kitchen. Nitori and Marisa sat at opposite ends, a finished dinner between them. “So, how was my cooking?” Nitori asked.



Marisa twirled her fingers around. “Well, it’s pretty hard to beat a maid’s dishes…” She smirked as she saw Nitori make a pouty face. “But it’s a close second.”



Nitori smiled widely. “Thank you, Marisa! I worked hard to make this dinner great. Those mushrooms you gave me helped a lot.”



“Yeah, that cucumber and mushroom curry was delicious!”



Nitori reached across the counter and held Marisa’s hand. “You inspire me to try new things. Speaking of which, I’ve been practicing some new techniques for my water show. How would you like a private preview? Maybe tomorrow morning?”



“That’d be great!” Marisa thought for a moment before adding, “Hey, I’ll bring Patchouli along too!”



Nitori brought her hand back and stared at her messy plate. “Oh. Her.”



Marisa got up and walked behind her. She placed her hand on Nitori’s shoulder. “Come on, she’s not as bad as you think. It’ll be great for you to meet her. And it’d be good for her to go outside for once.”



There was a short silence before Nitori smiled back at Marisa. “If you say so. We can meet up at the Misty Lake after I finish repairing the lights.”



“Sounds great!” Marisa yawned. “Well, I think it’s time for me to go home and sleep.”



As Marisa walked toward the door, Nitori got up behind her carrying the candle lantern. Marisa picked up her broom by the door and sat on it. “Can’t wait to see your show tomorrow, Nitori! Bye!”



“Bye, Marisa. See you tomorrow,” Nitori replied while opening the door. With that Marisa flew away. Nitori watched her fly above the water and the trees until she could no longer see her. Then she closed the door and locked it.



Nitori went to her supply closet and looked inside. Glancing at the section of cleaning supplies, she quickly found her portable vacuum cleaner. She made sure its dust bag was full before putting the vacuum cleaner back. The kappa went further into the closet and found her explosives stockpile. She grabbed a few firecrackers, placed them in her pocket, and left the closet.



At her workbench, Nitori brought out her CD recorder. After checking to see there was a new CD inside, she pressed the record button. She grabbed a hammer and a power drill and banged and drilled for random intervals. After a few minutes, she stopped the recording.



Nitori brought the lantern to her bed. Placing it on the table, she opened the lantern and blew the candle out.





Chapter 2



Nitori waited behind some trees near the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Her optical camouflage helped her hide in the shade as she watched the entrance gate with her binoculars. For a few minutes, all she saw was the guard leaning against the wall. Then she saw Marisa and Patchouli arrive at the gate. They stopped to talk with the guard, holding hands as they did. During their conversation, Patchouli quickly kissed Marisa on the cheek.



Nitori winced and her heart beat faster. She felt her pockets for the firecrackers and her backpack for the vacuum cleaner. When she looked back, Marisa and Patchouli were waving goodbye to the guard. Nitori put her binoculars in her backpack and flew away.



At the Misty Lake, Nitori waited behind some more trees. Despite its name, it was only misty after noon. She saw Marisa and Patchouli appear at the shore on the other side of the lake. Nitori took out the firecrackers and lit their fuses. After tossing them near the lake, she flew behind the trees towards the two.



Once the firecrackers exploded, fairies came out of the trees and shot danmaku everywhere. Nitori arrived at her destination just as Marisa left to go confront the fairies. She waited for a moment to watch Marisa fight. Her colorful star-shaped danmaku lit up the sky. Nitori wanted to continue watching, but she had a job to do. She deactivated her optical camouflage and approached Patchouli from behind. “What type of love spell did you use on her?” Nitori asked.



Patchouli scoffed as she continued to face the lake. “Love spell? You’re not serious, are you?”



“How else could she love a sickly girl like you?”



Patchouli turned around. “Marisa and I could talk about books and magic for days and we would never get bored.” She examined Nitori. “The real question is: Why is Marisa interested in you?”



“I build things. Things that can fulfill any girl’s desires.” Nitori pulled the vacuum cleaner out of her backpack.



“Oh? And what desire does that machine fulfill?”



“My desire to clean…” Nitori turned on the vacuum cleaner and exhausted the dust at Patchouli. “And to kill you.”



Before Patchouli could fight back, she started to cough violently. Her breathing became harder and more irregular. She headed towards the display of danmaku on the other side before collapsing in the lake.



Nitori vacuumed up the dust bunnies on Patchouli’s body. She looked around, making sure there were no witnesses. The mist was starting to build up around her. The fighting at the other side of the lake was dying down. Nitori reactivated her optical camouflage and flew away.



As Nitori approached her home from the back, she could hear the sounds of hammering and drilling from inside. After making sure there was no one around, she entered through the back door and closed it. She deactivated her camouflage and stopped the CD player. Then she took a cucumber out of her refrigerator. Nitori took a deep breath before taking a bite.





Chapter 3



At the Misty Lake, some rabbits from Eientei surrounded Patchouli’s body. Marisa was slumped against a tree and crying into her hat. As Cirno was flying by, she noticed the scene and landed to talk to a rabbit. “What happened here?”



The rabbit pointed at Marisa. “Her friend died. She’s the one who found the body. Been crying ever since we got here. As for her friend, she likely died of asphyxiation. Don’t know anything else besides that. Maybe Master Eirin’s autopsy will help.”



“As… fix…”



“Suffocation. She couldn’t breathe.”



Cirno walked over to Patchouli’s body. The corpse was wet and paler than usual. At her feet were tracks that led to the lake. Following them, Cirno noticed two sets of footprints near the water. Cirno took out a small notebook and sketched the two patterns. When she was done, she went to talk to Marisa.



“I’m sorry, Marisa,” Cirno said quietly. Marisa sniffled and nodded, her face still covered by her hat. Cirno sat down next to her. She took a quick look at Marisa’s shoes before watching the rabbits. They were examining the body and preparing it for removal.



Eventually, Marisa put her hat on her lap and squeezed it. After a few moments, Cirno asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”



“I should’ve listened to her. She wanted to help but I wanted to show off.” Marisa rubbed her eyes. “I should’ve listened.”



“Help with what?”



“There was a loud noise on the other side of the lake. Some fairies started to cause trouble and I left to go resolve it. Patchouli said she wanted to help but I told her to stay and watch the pre-show. When I finished and came back, I found her lying in the water. I dragged her out and tried to revive her, but… but…” Marisa began to cry again.



Nitori came up behind the two. “Marisa, I’m so sorry I’m late.” She sat down and hugged Marisa. “I was in workshop working all morning. If I were here earlier, maybe I could have saved her.”



Cirno looked at Nitori’s shoes before facing her. “Oh, then those footprints I found at the lake aren’t yours. They look very similar though.”



“We kappa mass-produce our shoes. We even sell some to humans and other youkai. Anyone could have made them.”



Cirno nodded. “Marisa, don’t be too hard on yourself. I think those extra footprints mean someone strangled Patchouli.”



“Then I’ll find whoever killed her,” Marisa replied.



“Marisa, don’t jump to conclusions,” Nitori said. She glared at Cirno. “And don’t take advantage of a hysterical girl, fairy.”



“I’m certain someone killed her! I’ll prove it!” Cirno shouted back. “Marisa, if you want me to, I can get the autopsy report from Eirin.”



“Thanks, Cirno. I don’t think I could handle going to Eientei to find out.”



“Good luck with that,” Nitori told Cirno. Turning to Marisa, she said, “Come on, let’s get you home.” Cirno watched as the two left the Misty Lake before following the rabbits back to Eientei.





Chapter 4



A knock on the door interrupted Nitori as she was organizing her workbench. She opened the door and saw Cirno waiting outside with a bag. “Why are you here with flour?”



“Oh, this is for my friend Mystia. She wants to cook some fried lamprey, so I’m bringing her this.” Cirno peered inside. “Wow, so this is what a kappa’s workshop looks like. Marisa was right. This is pretty cool.”



“Thanks. So, you talked to Marisa earlier? How is she?” Nitori let Cirno come inside her home.



“Yep. She’s feeling better than yesterday, but she’s still pretty sad. We talked some more about what happened before Patchouli died and I told her about the autopsy.”



“What were the results?”



“I recorded it in my notebook.” As Cirno pulled it out of her dress, she spilled some flour on the floor. “I’m so sorry, Nitori!”



Nitori sighed. “As expected of a fairy. I’ll clean this up.” Nitori went into her supply closet, brought out her vacuum cleaner, and vacuumed the floor.



“That looks like a very useful machine. Can I see it?” Cirno placed her bag of flour on the floor. “I promise I won’t drop it.”



“Fine.” Nitori cautiously gave her vacuum cleaner to Cirno. Cirno observed its parts and found a switch. She flipped it. “Cirno, don’t do that!” Nitori shouted.



“Why not?”



“If you press the trigger, it’ll cause the vacuum cleaner to blow everything inside it out.” Nitori took the vacuum cleaner back and flipped the switch. “Now, about Patchouli’s autopsy…”



“Oh, that’s right. That’s why I came here. To tell you about it.” Cirno looked at her notebook. “Patchouli died from an asthma attack.”



Nitori grinned smugly. “So, you were wrong. Patchouli died in an accident due to her poor medical condition. It wasn’t murder.”



“No, I still think she was murdered. Something Eirin said bothered me.” Cirno flipped to the next page. “She said, ‘Strange, I would have expected pollen, but there are high traces of dust instead.’ I told Marisa about this and she told me the mansion she lived in was spotless. It is very strange.”



Nitori nodded. “Well, maybe someone living nearby was cleaning and the wind carried the dust along. Poor Patchouli got unlucky.”



“Maybe.” Cirno looked back at the vacuum cleaner. “Me and my friends could use something like this. How do I get one?”



“I can build it. But it’ll cost you.”



Cirno’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Really? How much?”



“10000 yen.”



Cirno pulled out her money. “100, 200, 300, 400, 410, 420, 430, 435, 440, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449… I don’t have enough. Um, can I pay you tomorrow?”



“Sure. I’ll start working on it when you pay me.”



Cirno smiled. “Thanks, Nitori! See you tomorrow.”



“See you then.” Nitori escorted Cirno to the door and they waved goodbye.





Chapter 5



Nitori floated above the Misty Lake. As she danced around, she made the water mimic her movements. The faint mist added to her performance. From time to time, she winked at Marisa, who was watching from the shore. When she finished, she took a bow.



Nitori jerked back up when she heard the sound of clapping. To her dismay, it was only Cirno. “That was great! Science and arts, you’re very talented, Nitori!”



“Thanks,” Nitori replied as she flew back to shore. “What did you think Marisa?”



“It was nice,” Marisa answered. “I just wish Patchouli could’ve seen it.”



“I’m sure she would have liked it too,” Nitori said. She placed her hand around Marisa before asking, “So Cirno, how did you find us?”



“Well, I wanted to pay for the vacuum cleaner. I went to your workshop and knocked on the door, but no one answered. So I decided to try another day and come here instead. Then I saw you perform and just had to watch.” Cirno paused. “Kinda wonder why you did it here and not at the Genbu Ravine.”



“I asked her to come here,” Marisa replied. “For Patchouli.”



Cirno nodded. “I understand. Oh! Before I forget, here’s your money, Nitori.”



After Nitori took the money, she quickly counted it up. “That’s 10000 yen. I’ll start working on it later. For now, I think Marisa and I will spend some quality alone time.”



“Oh, I see. I’ll go then. I’m trying to find out what made that loud noise a few days ago. The timing was perfect – too perfect. I’m certain that and the footprints prove someone murdered Patchouli.”



Nitori scoffed. “Not this again. Don’t listen to her, Marisa. Coincidences happen.” Nitori hugged Marisa. “I know it’s hard, but you have to accept it was an accident.”



“I can at least help Cirno find the source of the sound. Maybe that’ll give me some closure,” Marisa said. She moved Nitori’s arms away from her. “Come on Cirno. I’ll show you where I think it came from.” Nitori watched Marisa and Cirno walk away before reluctantly following them.



After reaching the site, Marisa said, “This is where I fought all those fairies. The noise must have happened around here.” Cirno nodded and searched around. She flew over the trees and looked in the leaves and branches. Then she looked through their roots and the grass until she reached the water. By that point, the mist became thick.



Cirno sighed. “Can’t find anything.”



Nitori shook her head. “What a waste of time.” She grabbed Marisa’s hand. “Let’s go.”



As Nitori and Marisa walked away, Marisa called to Cirno, “Let me know if you find anything!”



“I’ll ask some nearby fairies. Maybe they know something,” Cirno said. She waved goodbye before entering the forest.





Chapter 6



Marisa was sorting through her many books when she heard a knock at the door. She had to maneuver around her cluttered floor to answer it. “Hey Cirno! What’d you find out?”



“According to the fairies I talked to, there was a loud ‘popping’ noise that started everything. Do you remember hearing something like that?”



Marisa closed her eyes. After a while, she nodded. “Yes, I think I heard something like a ‘pop’ before the danmaku came out. It was kinda faint.” She walked towards a cabinet and Cirno followed her. Cirno was careful not to step on the books, mushrooms, and other things littered on the floor. At the cabinet, Marisa pulled out a CD recorder and pressed a button. “It was a loud ‘pop’ that made the noise,” Marisa recorded.



Cirno looked at her quizzically. “Why are you talking to that thing?”



“It’s a CD recorder. You press one button to record what you want and another to play it back.”



Marisa pressed a button and the recorder played, “It was a loud ‘pop’ that made the noise. It was a loud ‘pop’ that made the noise.”



Marisa pressed the button again to stop the recorder. “It has a cool ‘repeat’ feature too! Nitori made it for me for my birthday. It’s very useful for taking notes.”



“It does seem very useful,” Cirno replied. “Um, Marisa, could I ask you a personal question?”



“Sure, what is it?”



“What exactly was the relationship between you and Patchouli?”



Marisa grinned slightly. “We were lovers. I don’t know why, but it just felt right.”



“How did Nitori feel about it?”



“I could tell she didn’t like me bringing her up in conversations. I was hoping once they met, they’d get along, but I’ll never know.” Marisa wiped away the tears that were forming. “Nitori’s right; I need to move on. And the faster we find Patchouli’s killer, the sooner I can start.”



“If you want, we could go look for possible sources of the sound,” Cirno suggested.



“You’re right. Once we find that, we’ll be closer to finding the killer. Let’s go!”





Chapter 7



Nitori flew above the Forest of Magic and quickly found Marisa’s house. She landed at the front door and was about to knock when Cirno opened it. “Cirno! What are you doing here?!”



Cirno’s eyes gleamed. “Nitori, you’re just in time! Marisa and I made an important discovery.” She dragged Nitori into Marisa’s room. “Tell her what happened, Marisa.”



“Well, Cirno came by yesterday and we decided to go investigate possible ‘popping’ sounds. We searched all day but couldn’t find anything. Then at night, as we were flying near the Human Village, I heard that noise again. I rushed towards it. It was a few kids playing with firecrackers. So, I bought some from them and we tested my theory out this morning. The noise was firecrackers!” Marisa smiled widely. “If we find this person, maybe we’ll find Patchouli’s killer!”



Nitori fell back on a chair and shook her head. “Marisa, please! This isn’t normal!” She pointed at Cirno. “And you’re encouraging this!”



“I don’t think it’s strange,” Cirno replied. “It makes much more sense for this to be a murder. Where did the dust come from? How could the wind blow enough of it to give Patchouli an asthma attack? How could this happen shortly after someone used firecrackers? And why were there those footprints near Patchouli’s body?” Cirno shrugged. “There are just too many coincidences to be an accident.”



“That’s right,” Marisa said. “Now we have to think about possible motives and we’ll find our killer faster.”



“Jealously is always a good motive,” said Cirno.



Nitori stood sharply. “W-what?! Marisa, this has gone on too far!”



“Oh, you have nothing to worry about Nitori! I was thinking about Alice.”



Marisa gave a slight laugh. “You’re joking, right? She’s a close friend. I’d be devastated if it was her.”



“It doesn’t hurt to check. I’ll go see if Alice has an alibi,” Cirno responded. She waved goodbye to Marisa and Nitori before leaving.



Nitori pointed at the doorway. “Cirno is manipulating you, Marisa. She’s trying to isolate you from your friends.”



Marisa raised an eyebrow. “Nitori, I think you’re the one who’s acting strange. Maybe you should rest for a few days.”



“Oh, just one more thing.” Cirno appeared at the room’s doorway. “Nitori, how’s my vacuum cleaner?”



“You can pick it up tomorrow morning.”



“Thanks!” Cirno waved again and left.



Nitori sighed. “You’re right. After I give Cirno her vacuum cleaner, I’ll just lie on my bed and eat cucumbers.”



Marisa laughed. “That’s the spirit!”



Nitori gave a quick goodbye hug before flying back to her workshop. Once inside, she stared at the finished vacuum cleaner on her workbench. Then she went into her supply closet and picked up a stick of dynamite. She attached some of the vacuum cleaner’s wires to the dynamite’s fuse, hiding it within the cleaner’s frame. After carefully placing it back down, she grabbed a cucumber from the refrigerator and bit it, fantasizing about tomorrow as she chewed.





Chapter 8



Nitori looked at her door from her workbench, waiting for Cirno to arrive. Glancing at the rigged vacuum cleaner, her heart beat faster. She jumped up when she heard the knock at the door. Nitori answered it and saw it was Cirno. She smiled. “Hello, Cirno. The vacuum cleaner is ready for pick-up.”



“Thanks, Nitori!” Cirno replied. “And guess who came along?”



Marisa flew down from Nitori’s roof. “Ta-da!” Marisa announced.



Nitori took a step back. “Marisa, what are you doing here?”



“Cirno came by my house this morning. We were going to continue our investigation.”



“But then I remembered I needed to pick up my new vacuum cleaner.” Cirno pointed at the workbench. “Look, there it is!”



Nitori gave a slight smile and invited the two in. Leading them to the workbench, she picked up the vacuum cleaner and gave it to Cirno. “Hope you enjoy.”



“Wow, thanks!” Cirno admired the device. “Hey, Marisa. Do you want to test it in here?”



Nitori started to sweat. “I just cleaned everything. It wouldn’t be a good test.”



“What are you talking about Nitori?” Marisa grabbed the vacuum cleaner and started walking to the door. “I’m sure there’s something dirty near there.”



Nitori ran up to Marisa. “Wait! Don’t press the trigger!”



Marisa turned around. “Huh? Why not?”



“Because, this is Cirno’s.” Nitori looked at her. “Don’t you want to be the first one to try it out?”



Cirno shrugged. “It’s fine if Marisa wants to use it first.” Nitori gave her a worried look but Cirno only tilted her head.



Marisa continued walking towards the door. “The vacuum cleaner is rigged to explode!” Nitori shouted. Marisa froze. Cirno walked up to her, taking the vacuum cleaner out of her hands. After she placed it on the floor, Marisa curled into a ball and cried.



Cirno pointed at Nitori. “You tried to kill me, but more importantly, you killed Patchouli!” Nitori remained silent, looking at Marisa. “On the morning of Patchouli’s death, you used a sound recorder to make it seem like you were in here working. However, you were really at the Misty Lake waiting for Marisa and Patchouli to show up. Once they arrived, you used firecrackers to scare the nearby fairies and cause a distraction. It worked and Marisa left to resolve it while you flew to Patchouli. Then you blew the dust from a vacuum cleaner at Patchouli, causing her to have an asthma attack and die.” Cirno paused. “You tried to kill me because of all the time I spent with Marisa. You were jealous of me and you killed Patchouli because you were jealous of her!”



Nitori nodded. “There are some missing details, but that’s correct.”



Marisa got up, her back towards Nitori. “Nitori, I never want to see you again!” Marisa ran out the door.



“Marisa, wait!” Nitori called. She looked at Cirno, who stared at the open door. Nitori walked over to the vacuum cleaner and brought it to her workbench. In a few moments, she took out the dynamite. She tested the vacuum cleaner in front of Cirno before giving it back to her. “A deal’s a deal.” Nitori gave a faint smile before adding, “Looks like you won.”



“Thanks, but no one won.” Cirno looked at her new vacuum cleaner. “I really do admire your inventions. Marisa does too.”



“Thank you,” Nitori replied. She went to her refrigerator, grabbed a few cucumbers and sat on her bed. As Cirno left Nitori’s workshop, she could hear the sounds of her sobbing behind her.



Outside of Nitori’s home, Cirno followed the sounds of another person’s crying. She eventually found Marisa sitting under the tree. Cirno sat down next to her, placing her vacuum cleaner to the side. “Do you want to talk about it?” Cirno asked.



“I wish there was a way to prevent all of this.” Marisa leaned onto Cirno’s shoulder.



Cirno sniffled. “I wish so too.”