Komano Aunn had just started climbing the stairs of the Hakurei Shrine, returning from Myouren Temple, when she saw the familiar black tear appear in the sky to the west of the shrine. That immediately perked her up after the long walk. Finally she could see what it was! She had seen the eye-filled tear numerous times when she was still bound to the form of a statue across the various temples of Gensokyo, but until now she'd never had the chance to investigate it! Something that mysterious and dangerous-looking was clearly the job for a good guard pup like her!

She growled as she leapt through the thin brush, coming into a small clearing under where the tear was just a moment ago. In front of her was a human woman laying flat on her stomach, with a familiar fairy next to her.

Aunn locked eyes with the fairy, neither saying anything for a moment. The fairy opened her mouth first.

“Who're you?”

The tension broken, Aunn pounced at the fairy! “You! You've been bother Miss Reimu for months now!” she said.

The fairy giggled, effortlessly dodging Aunn's surprise attack with remarkable dexterity for a fairy. Before Aunn could even get back onto her feet, the fairy flew up into the sky, a torch manifesting in her hands, a couple spell cards appearing in the other. Then, just as quickly as she started, the fairy looked at the woman laying on the ground and stopped.

The fairy spat. “Bah! I'll take care of you next time!” she said, before flying off towards the Forest of Magic.

Caught between pursuing the intruder and helping the woman, Aunn decided on the latter.

“Gao?” she said as she nudged the woman, “I scared off the fairy, miss! Are you alright?”

“I'm quite alright.” The woman responded as she pushed herself up off the ground, brushing the dirt off of her robes. She was surprisingly tall, giving off a very matronly vibe.

Aunn clapped her hands, “Good! You outta be careful out here, miss. There's lots of youkai who would love to eat a human like you! You're lucky I was here this time!”

The woman coughed loudly, covering her mouth with her robes, “Heh-he--Oh yes, I was in terrible danger. A-aha, thank you for saving me, miss...?” She lowered her arm slightly, looking expectantly at Aunn with lidded eyes.

This was her moment!! The one Aunn had been planning for! She twirled once, drawing her arms into her trademark guardian pose, closing her eyes, and cracking a triumphant smile.

“Komano Aunn, ma'am! The best shrine guardian in all of Gensokyo!”

She held the pose for a good ten seconds before she opened her eyes. When she did, the woman in front of her was doubled-over. Aunn ran towards her.

“U-uh, ma'am? Are you alright?” she said, but the woman raised one of her hands, inhaling deeply as she did.

She exhaled a moment later, her composure returned, although the woman's face was still flush red.

“My apologies, I was still a little dizzy from getting up.” She stuck out a hand towards Aunn.“Thank you for you help, Miss Aunn.”

Aunn practically jumped at it, returning the handshake with both her hands. “Gao!”

After a vigorous minute of shaking hands, Aunn stepped back finally before saying, “Do you mind if I take you to the main entrance of the shrine, ma'am?”

The woman nodded, “That would be preferable. I have business at the shrine, anyways.”

The pair turned around and walked back towards the main path. The walk to the shrine couldn't be longer than three minutes at most, but it still seemed unnaturally quiet to Aunn.

“Are you acquainted with Miss Reimu, ma'am?” Aunn asked her companion.

“Heh—you could say that,” the woman said.

“Gao...? I've never seen you before, ma'am? What's your name?”

“Quite the curious one aren't you,” the woman said, a slight edge her words—almost as if she was trying to bait Aunn.

“I'm the best shrine guardian in all of Gensokyo! You have to be curious to make sure no youkai can trip or fool you!”

If Aunn turned to look at the woman's face, she'd see a puzzled look. “I'm not sure it works li—My name is Yukari.”

Aunn rubbed her horns. “Yukari...Yukari......Like the color?”

“Just so.” Yukari said.

“Doesn't ring a bell.”

Yukari sighed, “That's probably for the best.” At that, Aunn's ears perked up, but before she could respond, Yukari stepped in front of her. The final torii was in front of them. She turned back to Aunn, giving her a slight bow.

“Thank you for your help, Miss Aunn. Have a nice day.” She said before walking off just a little too briskly for Aunn's liking.

Aunn hopped on top of one of the nearby Komainu statues, pondering about the encounter. Something didn't seem right...

Come to think of it, Aunn wondered where Miss Reimu was? Usually she spent her days lazing in the yard, so for her to not be there meant something was going on. It couldn't be another incident though, else the Buddhists would have been involved as well. She couldn't be in the village either, or they would have passed each other on the way here...There was still the possibility she had left to the Forest of Magic, but then who was that woman? She still hadn't left the shrine.

Aunn hopped off her statue. There was DEFINITELY something strange going on, and she was going to figure it out! Slowly, she began creeping up towards the shrine proper. When she heard voices, she crept faster. Before too long, she was right below the porch. As best she could, she strained her ears and tried to hear.

“--A few minutes more, Lady Yukari,” an unfamiliar feminine voice said.

“Has the fairy returned yet?” That voice was definitely Yukari's.

“No, not yet. I won't be able to finish the con—Chen! What are you—CHEEEE-EEEEENNNN!” The next sound Aunn heard was a loud crash, startling her. With renewed vigor, she leaned back and launched off the ground...and tore right through the screen wall, falling flat on her stomach.

Pushing herself off the ground again, she let a growl rise in her throat, glaring at the woman standing there.

“Miss Aunn?” Yukari said, a slight smirk on her face.

“What are you doing to Miss Reimu!” Aunn barked out, taking a step forward.

Yukari looked from side to side, before giving Aunn a exaggerated shrug. “Reimu? She isn't even here.”

Aunn pointed at her. “Exactly! Don't tell me you didn't do something to her! I heard that before!”

Yukari began to raise her sleeve towards her face again saying, “I think you have the wrong idea here, Miss Komano Aunn.”

But this only stirred Aunn on, taking yet another step towards the woman, “Then who was that other voice!”

“Oh that?” Yukari said, taking on a sing-song voice and turning towards an open door in the room. “Raaaaan, can you come out here please?”

A few seconds later, another tall woman walked out, dressed similarly to Yukari. However, most peculiar was the number of fluffy fox tails behind her! Immediately, Aunn tensed up.

The new woman bowed to Yukari. “Yes, Lady Yukari?”

“Introduce yourself.”

The kitsune then turned to Aunn and bowed once more. “My name is Ran Yakumo, pleased to make you acquaintance, miss. I am Lady Yukari's shikigami.”

Aunn blinked. Why was there a youkai in Hakurei Temple (besides her)? And just who was this woman who so easily tamed a kitsune?

“Gao!” she roared, or attempted to at least, falling back on her haunches to prepare her next attack.

But the final unopened screen door in the room slammed open before she could attack. From that door came in a very dark-eyed and half-undressed shrine maiden. Stepping between the two parties, she briefly made eye contact with each person in the room, an impressive feat considering she didn't move her head at all all.

Then, she turned to Aunn, her eyes burning with exhausted authority as she uttered two words.

“Get. Out.”

How could Aunn refuse that command?

Aunn was writhing on her statue near the front of the shrine. Why would Reimu invite a youkai in? She's a youkai exterminator! Well, except she had made an exception for Aunn...

Aunn barked. She was different from a kitsune or...whoever that Yukari was! Komainu were sworn guardians of humanity after all!

There was certainly something very foul going on here...There was something Aunn was missing, she was sure of it. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she closed her eyes and strained her brain. What did she know about the situation?

One, Reimu was holed up in her room. Two, that Yukari woman was guarding her overseeing something. Three, Yukari seemingly has a kitsune doing her bidding. A strong one too, from the number of tails she had...

Why would a kitsune bind itself to her? Youkai besides the tengu aren't very prone to following orders without good reason, especially in such a...mechanical manner of that one...Surely there was some sort of trick Yukari was using...

Wait.

Aunn smacked her forehead. She was stupid! If this Yukari could make a kitsune follow her orders, then controlling a human would be simple compared to that! Yukari probably already had her under her thumb during the confrontation earlier!

And only one person was around to stop them. She hopped off the statue and dashed towards the interior of the shrine again, but stopped halfway.

No, if she was doing this, she had to do it right. She...wasn't exactly the best at danmaku, and she had no doubt that Yukari and her servant were strong if they were capable of besting Reimu. No, as much as Aunn hated it, she would finally have to exercise some of restraint if she wanted to save Reimu. She needed to make a surprise attack if she wanted to succeed.

She thought back to watching Lady Hijiri meditate at Myouren Temple. If Aunn was going to do this, she'd need to be calm. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then mumbled out what she thought was a mantra.

When she opened her eyes, they were glistening with an inner flame. It matched the flames roasting her.

Aunn howled as she fell to the ground, rolling in circles to squelch the flames. She could hear a childish squealing nearby, but the smoke in her eyes was blocking her view.

Thankfully, the fire went out quickly. A small figure pushed its heel into Aunn's forehead.

“Heheheh, that's for crossing me earlier!” The fairy said, sneering at Aunn, a torch in her hand.

“You!” Aunn shouted back, manifesting a spell card in her hand.

The fairy took a step back. “You still wanna fight me?” The fairy stuffed her hand into her gaudy shirt and pulled out a couple clumps of dirt. “I gotta give these to that lady, but if you wanna fight I'll give you a chance.”

Aunn sprung up. This was her chance! She might not be able to take those other two head-on, but a fairy? Easy.

The fairy tucked the clumps back into her shirt, and summoned a spell card of her own. “That lady's scary, so only one round.”

Aunn nodded. The faster she dealt with her, the faster she could save Reimu! They each jumped back from each other, preparing their only salvo.

“Koma Sign 'Solitary A-um Breathing!'” Aunn yelled, feeling the magic in the card inhabit a nearby komainu statue, turning it into a second copy of her. She nodded at the new clone, and they began their assault.

“Hey! Not fair, there's two of you!” The fairy shouted back, effortlessly dodging between the danmaku fire. In a lull between waves, the fairy finally got a chance to shove her free arm into the air, her spell card glowing.

The fairy grinned. “I made Reimu use a continue you know! 'Apollo Hoax Theory'!”

With her other arm, she pointed her torch at Aunn, a stream of danmaku bursting forth. There wasn't as many as Aunn expected from someone with such a bold claim, and began her next wave of danmaku fire. The fairy must have caught miss Reimu on an off day if she beat her, because this was easy.

The battle raged for a few more moments, both of them dodging everything the other fired at each other. As the danmaku fire waned, Aunn slowed down and growled at her opponent.

Then, there was a loud CRASH. Aunn jumped to her left, narrowly avoid a giant rock falling on her. Not even a moment later, another crash—her animated clone shattering under the impact of another rock.

She turned to the fairy oncemore, who was standing triumphant, her torch held high as if it was a conductor's baton. Locking eyes with Aunn, the fairy was sneering. She swung her torch down. Aunn looked above her.

Yup, it was a third rock.

It took a few minutes for the rock to de-materialize and free her. Aunn's body ached as she got up off the ground, but thankfully the danmaku magic prevented her from getting any debilitating injuries.

She staggered into the main foyer of the shrine, glaring at the various figures in there—Yukari lounging decadently on the tatami, a bakeneko diligently stirring a bubbling pot in the center of the room, and Ran overseeing said bakeneko. The fairy was nowhere to be found.

Yukari's eyes narrowed when she noticed Aunn. “I apologize for Clownpiece's behavior. I sent her back to hell for the time being, but I'm sure she'll be back.” Aunn just walked past her towards the pot. Yukari continued, “Please don't mess with the potion, it's for Reimu.”

Aunn looked down into the pot, the slop inside was a slight purple color and gurgling in a way she didn't trust. She looked back up at the bakeneko, happily stirring without a care in the world, then at Ran, who was glaring at her.

Aunn put her hands on the side of the pot, and pushed. As the pot fell, the purple muck sloshed out onto the floor, covering the poor bakeneko along with it. The kitsune was shouting as she dove down to help her.

“Now, why would you go and do that?” She heard Yukari say behind her.

“I'm not gonna let you control miss Reimu like that!” She yelled as she turned back to face her.

Yukari, to her part, was still relaxing on the floor.

“Controlling her? She's the one who called me here.”

“G-gaoo..? Miss Reimu wouldn't traffic with someone like you!”

Yukari shook her head, “I swear, new youkai are always so troublesome. You should look behind you.”

“Be-behind me---” Aunn managed to get out before turning her upper body, a large lump of purple cat sending her flying.

Pain shot through Aunn's spine as she crashed into a post, but she forced herself to land on her feet. The bakeneko was on all fours, ready to pounce again. Aunn had but scant moments to brace herself before she had a cat on top of her again, raking it's claws against Aunn's skin.

In the background, she vaguely heard someone say, “You two can take that outside.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that mysterious dark void begin to appear below her. Then she felt an overwhelming sensation of falling.

Aunn crashed into the dirt outside with a thump, the void cutting the clear-blue sky above her now. Then, she saw another familiar object fall out of the void—its claws digging into Aunn as it landed flatly on four feet.

“Gao!” Aunn yelled as she began to revert to her basic instincts, biting into one of the cat's arms. The cat hissed at that, panicking and trying to shake Aunn off her. This finally gave Aunn the chance she needed to shove her weight into the cat, flipping on top of her, but not before the cat got another swipe at Aunn's face. She howled, the cast using the momentary confusion to run towards the shrine.

Aunn got onto her haunches and chased after her, even gaining on her a little before the cat did a harsh turn right in front of the stairs.

Aunn didn't have such luck, creating another crater as she crashed into the wooden stairs. Shaking her head, she looked up to see Yukari giggling, her finger pointing to the left. Sure enough, the cat was over there, trying to escape into the brush. Aunn dashed after her.

A half-hour later, Yukari was sitting on the porch watching the two pets chase each other, a cup of foreign tea pilfered from the Scarlet Devil Mansion in her hands. What an enjoyable day, she mused. Maybe she'd have to turn the komainu into one of her shikigami someday.

Ran tapped on her shoulder. “The potion is finally done, Lady Yukari.”

“Oh good, good. Thank you for your work, Ran. It was probably against my best judgment to trust Chen with it.” Yukari said, giving ran an approving nod.

“Certainly, Lady, Yukari. It's a shame I had to brew it yet again because of that komainu though.”

Yukari set her tea saucer next to her. “Of course, but you know how precocious young youkai are.”

Ran closed her eyes, reminiscing. Yukari straightened her back and turned in the direction of the two rambunctious youkai.

“Cheeeeen, miss Ran needs you!” She yelled over to them. Immediately, Chen's ears perked up and she turned away from the komainu, running towards the porch. The komainu chased after her. As Chen made it back to the porch, she hopped up into Ran's awaiting arms, embracing her.

Aunn, however, crashed yet ago into the stairs, going limp as she did so.

Yukari looked down at her. “Hey, you didn't black out, did you?”

Behind her, Yukari heard a very tired and stern voice. “She better not have.”

Aunn finally showed a sign of life, rubbing her head, looking up only to see the very scary face of Reimu Hakurei glaring down at her.

Reimu scanned both the foyer to the shrine and the yard, potmarked full of holes, destruction, craters and all sorts of mischief, then looked back down at Aunn.

“What. Did. You. Do.”

“N-n-othing miss Reimu! I-I was trying to stop her,” Aunn pointed at Yukari, “From brainwashing you!”

Reimu looked unimpressed. “You do know who this is, right?”

“She's a witch! Or something like that! Someone with lackeys like she has can't be good!” Aunn said, gesturing to Ran and Chen.

Reimu buried her face in her palm, “I swear...” She exhaled, which quickly turned into a cough. She swayed backwards until she was leaning against a post, then finally caught her breath.

Yukari stepped towards her, “Reimu, dearie, you should get back in bed. I'll take care of this.”

Reimu shook her head though. “No, no, she won't listen unless its from me,” She turned to Aunn, “Right?”

Aunn blinked twice.

“Yukari is troublesome, but she's not dangerous. Well, to us anyways. Leave her and her shikigami alone.” Reimu said, only half-caring if Aunn was listening.

“B-but they were trying to drug you with something!”

Reimu shook her head again, rubbing the sweat from her forehead. “No, she's brewing some medicine for me. Why do you think I've been asleep all day?”

Aunn took a step back. “G-g-gao! But the fairy!”

Reimu shot a look at Yukari, who shrugged. “I had Clownpiece fetch some herbs for me.”

“There you have it. Now, leave them and...me...alo--” Before Reimu could even finish her sentence, she collapsed.

Aunn and Yukari ran to catch her fall, each holding one side of her.

Yukari glared at Aunn, then stepped back. “Take her to her room. Poor girl shouldn't have been pushing herself so hard.”

Meekly, Aunn listened to Yukari's instructions.

“--And that's the whole of it.” Reimu finished saying a few days later, watching Aunn fix one of the broken posts in the foyer.

“But Miss Reimu, why do you let so many youkai infest the shrine?” Aunn asked.

She shrugged. “I tried getting rid of them, but they just came back. After a point you just stop caring.”

As if to prove her point, fumes of smoke began to rise through the floorboards.

Reimu stamped on the floor, yelling “Knock it off!” at the tenant below her.

Aunn tilted her head. “Who's that?”

Reimu turned and starting walking towards the porch. “Clownpiece probably just got back from hell. Took her long enough.”

“O-oh.”

She took deep breath when she escaped the smoky room. “Point being, I know its in your nature, but don't worry about youkai around here.”

Aunn nodded.

“Not good enough. Say it back to me.” Reimu said.

Aunn clapped, “I won't bother you with any of the youkai, Miss Reimu! Just trust your trusty guardian Aunn to take care of it!”

Reimu glared at her. “Would you like to repeat that, miss Aunn?”