Ruby wandered around, taking in the sights around her.

She wasn’t too sure how she got here and could only gasp at the structure before her.



Four pyramids upside-down and conjoined. Four towers supported them and hundreds of people walked underneath.

Everyone dressed very strangely. Their styles had a certain flair, but certainly was very different than what she was used to.

Oh, and everyone, or nearly everyone, had a hat or some head ornament on.

Going around, she saw numerous tables and booths, each filled with books, and trinkets, and other works of art. People formed winding lines, snaking through the space to pack as many people as possible.

So engrossed in everything around her, she nearly bowled over someone right in front of her.

“I-I’m sorry!” she quickly apologized and offered a hand to help the person up.

“It’s okay,” a clear and calm voice answered.



As the girl stood up and brushed off any dust on her skirt, Ruby took a careful look. A strange outfit with detached sleeves and a white top with a tuft of fur. Long black skirt with red trimmings near the bottom and sandals with a long tooth in the middle. Like everyone else, a strange hat sat atop her head with two trailing tails, also ending in tufts.

Notably though, were two large triangular ears, white like her hair.

“Are you also a Faunus?” Ruby asked.

“F-au-n-us?” the girl sounded out the words slowly. “I’m not sure what that is, but I’m a wolf tengu.” She bowed slightly, “I am Inubashiri Momiji.”

“Ruby Rose!” Ruby bowed back. She wasn’t sure, but if this was how they greeted each other, than she should follow along. “Nice to meet you Ms. Momiji.”

“Mmm…” Momiji gave her a long hard look.



“Err… is what I said wrong?” Ruby asked worriedly.

“No…” Momiji sighed. “Well, I suppose I’ll allow you to call me that even if we don’t know each other really well.”

“Eh?!” Ruby exclaimed, not understanding the difference in cultures.

Momiji explained that Inubashiri was her surname, and that as strangers, proper conduct dictated that Ruby address her as Inubashiri-san. Using someone’s first name implied a sense of closeness.

“That’s strange,” Ruby wondered. “So that’s why you give your last name first and your first name second.”

“Calling them first and last names are part of the issue,” Momiji pointed out. “Surname and given name describes them more accurately.”

“Hmm…” Ruby nodded thoughtfully. “Well in that case, you can just call me Ruby!” She grinned at Momji. “From one wolf to another!”

“Thank you, Ruby-san,” Momji smiled back.

As they walked around, Momiji explained Reitaisai. It was an annual convention where people could sell doujins, dress up, and generally have a good time.

“Wow!” Ruby exclaimed as she took in everything. They walked by a table that displayed some very cute figurines of what Momji called shrine maidens. There was a red-white one and a blue-white one. Ruby was very biased and liked the red-white, though Momji admitted just as much bias for the color scheme, but supported the blue-white.

Eventually, Momji led Ruby to where she was stationed.

“Oooh~! You’re back!” A girl with black hair and short skirt shouted and rushed over.



Ruby paused as her eyes and mind instantly sped up to keep track with the girl. Even then, she was merely a blur as people and shapes around her stood still in time.

“Why are you still here?” Momiji scowled. “Shouldn’t you be off snapping pictures and not bothering me?”

The girl responded with a bright flash from her camera, blinding Momiji for a moment and capturing her scowl on film. If anything, this only agitated Momiji more.

The girl ignored Momiji’s rant at how she shouldn’t take people’s picture without their permission and instead focused on Ruby.

“You have pretty good eyes don’t you?” she asked with a grin.

Ruby gulped, realizing that the girl saw her tracking with her eyes. Even moving at that speed she could observe that small of a detail?

“Haha! You might be able to beat Momiji here in terms of pure dynamic vision,” the girl laughed.

Ruby looked at Momiji confusedly, not understanding her vision.

Momiji coughed slightly into her hand. “My ability is to see one thousand ri.” At Ruby’s still confused expression, “A really long distance. So I can see far away.”

“Heh~ yeah, but just because she can see it, doesn’t mean she can do anything about it,” the girl chuckled again. “Oh yeah! The name’s Shameimaru Aya, tengu, a reporter for the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, and the fastest in Gensokyo.”

“Tch,” Momiji scoffed. “She’s just a crow and about as trustworthy as one too.”



“Bunbun… Genso…?” Ruby sounded out the strange words, not knowing what they are. A newspaper and a place. Eh~ good enough. “Nice to meet you, S-sham-e….”

“Haha! Just call me Aya,” Aya laughed. “I’m not so strict as Momiji is.”

“You mean crows are just too lax,” Momiji muttered.

After Ruby introduced herself, Aya snapped her fingers.

“I’ve got a great idea! Ruby, what do you think of Momiji’s outfit?”

“Eh?” Ruby looked over at Momiji who blushed at the sudden attention. “Um… I like it? It’s very cute,” Ruby said truthfully.

“I see. I see,” Aya nodded sagely. “Ja, what say you to wearing it?”

“Eh?!”

“H-hold on, I’m currently wearing this,” Momiji jumped up. She wouldn’t put it pass Aya to disregard that completely though.

“No problem,” Aya said as she fished a bag from underneath the table and handed it to Ruby.

Ruby took a look inside and found an exact copy of Momiji’s outfit… and by exact, she meant exact.

“Wait,” Momiji took a sleeve out and sniffed. “Why does this smell like mine?”

“Silly Momji,” Aya laughed. “Because it is yours.”

“You broke into my house?!” Momiji shouted in outrage.

“Don’t forget burglary,” Aya reminded her.

At their incredulous stares, Aya suddenly felt the need to defend her actions. “It was for a good cause!”

“Oh let’s hear it,” Momiji snarled, baring her fangs.

“I needed material,” Aya answered simply. “And it might be useful in a scandal.”



“Why you-!”

“I also brought your sword and shield.”

“You touched my weapons?!?!?!” Momiji lunged forward and started to try and tear Aya apart. Not only did Aya perform a great dishonor, bringing weapons here was liable to get them kicked out and arrested.



“Aya,” Ruby’s voice called out softly, causing both tengus to freeze. “That’s not very nice,” her calm but firm voice shook something within the crow.

“S-sorry, Momiji,” Aya apologized before she realized what she had just done. Her eyes widened and she stared at Ruby who beamed back brightly.

Shaking her head, she decided she might as well roll with it. “Well, since the clothes are here anyways, why not try them out?”

Ruby took another look at the clothes and they did look cool. She cast a glance at Momiji who sighed but nodded.

They led her to a restroom where she changed and emerged as a near replica of Momiji, except their hair and eye colors. While Ruby had dark hair with red tips and grey eyes, Momiji had white hair and gleaming red eyes.

“Ooooh!” Aya immediately started snapping pictures of Ruby. “Such a good look!”

“Of course it looks good,” Momiji puffed out her chest in pride. “She’s a wolf!”

They had a good time with Momiji and Ruby making different poses and even letting Ruby hold Momiji’s sword and shield that Aya brought along. They had to find a quiet area without guards to avoid freaking everyone else out, but that was also part of the fun.

As the day drew to a close and Aya flew off to write her articles, Momiji looked at Ruby yawning cutely while watching the sunset and then looked down at her shield.

Round and emblazoned with a maple leaf, her namesake.

“Hey Ruby-san?”

“Hmm?” came Ruby’s tired voice.

“Which do you like more? The sword or the shield?”

“…mmm… the shield,” Ruby answered sleepily. “…because… I want… protec…zzzz….zzzz”

Momiji smiled and softly stroke Ruby’s hair. “Yeah… I like the shield more too.”

Weiss awoke and opened the curtains, letting the soft sunlight spill onto the sill and carpet. Another beautiful day.

She looked over to her leader’s bed and could only think one thing.

Where did she get the shield?

