The photograph in Reimu's hands was an old one.

It was crossed by a pair of creases, each one deep enough that a ragged strip of naked paper peeked out beneath them. A rectangular imprint around the edges showed where it had once been framed. Several brown stains blotted the surface.

And yet, the subjects were still visible.

The photo showed a small group standing in an unrecognizable patch of forest, on a rainy day. A man in onmyouji robes, frowning seriously. A pair of men holding bows. Two men who, judging by their outfits, were minor officials. A few other people off to the sides, in plainer clothes.

And front and center: A girl barely older than Reimu's age, a scrawny thing in a threadbare shrine maiden outfit, shielded from the rain with an umbrella.

On the back of the photo, somebody had neatly written: "Foundation of the Great Hakurei Barrier – Kaei 3."

When Reimu had found it, it had been laying on an overloaded shelf in the shrine's storeroom, under two crates of ancient knickknacks. She'd turned half the place upside-down in her attempts to find any other hints, and spent days searching beyond the shrine. Akyuu couldn't tell her much about it. Yukari had glanced over it and cryptically hinted that the girl was Reimu's great-great-great-great-grandmother or something. A lot of greats. 'You know how short human generations are; it all blends together, mmh?' On further pressing, she gave the name 'Teruko Hakurei,' and not much more.

Only after days of staring at the picture, trying to puzzle out whatever other secrets it held, did Reimu notice: the umbrella her ancestor was carrying was purple.

The photo carried only the slightest hints of color, but it was still obvious that the umbrella was purple. An ugly eggplant color, actually. A color so ugly, you had to think that it was chosen on purpose, but who would do such a terrible thing?

It was also a suspiciously familiar color. Which was why she was now standing in a graveyard on the outskirts of the human village. The last light from the recently-set sun was casting long, pale shadows. Half of the grave markers were so weathered that the names were no longer visible. Judging by the tall grass and the vines clinging to every grave, the place had been practically forgotten by the human villagers.

It seemed like a perfect place to find a youkai, so her inability to do so starting to annoy her. "Kogasa!" she shouted down a row of weed-covered tombs. "Are you here?" The only response was the continued buzzing of the last few stubborn cicadas. "... I just want to talk!"

Hearing something moving, Reimu hurried across an aisle to peek around a tombstone. A scraggly cat stared back at her, surprised. She sighed and moved on.

It was ten minutes into her search when a massive, glowing red eye rose from the silhouette of a tombstone, just visible from the corner of her eyes. "U~RA~..." The speaker was obviously straining their voice to be as low-pitched as possible, and quavering it in what they probably thought was a very spooky manner. "ME~SHI-YAAAAAAAA~!" The eye was just high enough now to catch a bit of fading sunlight, illuminating the umbrella it was attached to. The umbrella split open, revealing a jagged mouth. A floppy tongue lolled out.

Reimu crossed her arms. "Are we really going to do this?"

This obviously was not in the script. The umbrella's one-eyed glare softened into a look of confusion for a moment, then redoubled as it started bobbing around. "I'm going to eat youuuuuuuuuu~."

"No you aren't."

"Um." The umbrella slumped to one side. "Y-yeah, well! How do you know?!"

"Kogasa."

There was a moment's hesitation from behind the tombstone, then a defeated sigh. "... what?"

"Get out here, I'd like to talk to you."

The umbrella finally lowered now, and Kogasa stepped out from behind the tombstone, with it leaned over one shoulder. "I thought that one was really scary," she mumbled. "I practiced it for days."

"Well, it—" Vivid memories of the sobbing youkai following her around like a lost puppy flashed into her head. She did not need to deal with that right now. "It was a little scary."

"Kyouko said it was the scariest thing she'd ever seen..."

Kyouko's an idiot, Reimu wanted to say, until Kogasa's eyes turned toward her. They were glowing in the darkness—one red and one blue. It was creepier than the umbrella thing, in Reimu's opinion, but she wasn't about to say that. Particularly since there were tears brimming in them. She grimaced. "Y-yeah. It was really scary."

"Oh!" Kogasa didn't look entirely convinced, but smiled. "Well, good! I'll keep practicing that one! ... um, were you looking for me?"

"I was, yes," Reimu said, stifling a relieved sigh. By the standards of Kogasa's pleas for attention, she'd gotten off lightly. "I have something to show you." She held out the photograph, and only then did she realize that it was a bit too dark to see it. A new moon and an overcast night... in a few hours, it would be almost totally dark. There were lanterns lining the streets in the human village, but she wasn't about to take a youkai there, or step into the Myouren temple. Which meant... "... could you come back to the shrine with me?"

"Ah, it's perfect!" Kogasa said, the second they were inside the door.

"What?"

"The building, I mean!" The karakasa whirled around to face Reimu, and leaned forward, with her closed umbrella held in both hands behind her back. "It's really new, isn't it?"

"Yeah, um. I just rebuilt it after the earthquakes a few years ago."

"I could tell. Its spirit feels young. It really wants to make you happy!"

Reimu glanced around suspiciously, half-expecting to see another face peering out of a dark corner. There was nothing, thankfully. "Well. That's good, I guess? Thank you, shrine." The comment was a bit forced, but Kogasa beamed at it, and Reimu decided that now was as good a time as ever. She spread the photograph out on the table and knelt down next to it.

"Hm? What's this?"

"I'm hoping that you can tell me a little about it. Have a look."

"Hmmm..." Kogasa started bending down to inspect the picture, only to freeze. "Th-that's me!"

"I thought so! I was hoping that you—"

"That's me!" Kogasa snatched the picture up from the table and held it in front of herself.

"Be careful with that! It's really old!" Reimu watched warily, but Kogasa seemed to be content with holding the photo. Her hands were shaking. It was enough to make Reimu pause, giving the karakasa a few seconds to calm down before she said, "Do you recognize that girl?"

"The one... holding me?"

"Yeah, her."

"Um. Nope..."

"Nothing at all?"

Kogasa shook her head. "Sorry. That was before I was a youkai."

Reimu studied Kogasa's face, but she looked far too overwhelmed to be lying. "Well. It was worth a try, I guess. Thanks for taking a look." With a sigh, she reached out to pull the photo back, but found it cemented in Kogasa's grasp.

"W-who is she...?"

"The girl holding the umbr—er, you?" Kogasa looked up in response and gave a wide-eyed nod. Reimu hesitantly continued. "Her name is Teruko Hakurei, I think. She's probably my great-great-great-great-... lots of greats... grandmother, I guess? It's why I was hoping that—"

Before Reimu could finish, Kogasa turned a wide, tear-filled gaze toward her. As she started bawling, she tackled the shrine maiden to the floor in a hug.

Reimu had to hand it to Kogasa: She wasn't very scary or good at surprising people, but the girl could cry. Nearly ten minutes passed before she managed to wriggle out of Kogasa's grip enough to sit up, and even then, the karakasa continued clinging to her.

After squirming uncomfortably for a bit, she hesitantly stroked Kogasa's messy hair. Was this what you did when people cried? She thought she could remember her mother doing something like that, but that was long ago. When the Hakurei shrine maiden cried, she cried alone. Either way, it seemed to work, and Kogasa's sobbing gradually grew gentler. When she'd finally trailed off to sniffling, Reimu cautiously withdrew her hand. "... feel better?" Her face still buried against Reimu's stomach, the karakasa nodded. "Can you get off of me?"

"S-sorry..." Kogasa pushed herself backward. Predictably, the whole affair had left her a mess. Her hair was ruffled and pointed in every direction, her face was still red, and her eyes were swollen. Even the eye on her umbrella looked a little red around the edges. And yet, she was smiling softly as she said, "I just never thought I'd find you..."

"Find—huh? Find who?"

A bit too late for escape, Reimu realized that Kogasa's lips were spreading in a broad grin. "My owner!"