Mentioned Characters: Yuugi, Satori, Koishi, Utsuho, Parsee

Satori Komeiji is a satori, a type of youkai capable of reading minds. That ability alone makes her especially unpopular, even among youkai who are already considered outcasts. And yet, Satori governs the Underworld from the Palace of the Earth Spirits, the very heart of Former Hell. Presumably, that's because mind-reading ought to be useful when it comes to keeping vengeful spirits under control. In theory, it makes perfect sense. In practice, not so much. When a certain vengeful spirit escaped, Satori found herself struggling through the ensuing investigation like the lead in a detective drama who's bitten off more than they can chew. In truth, Former Hell seems to function largely because the oni manage themselves, while the hot springs may do more to keep the vengeful spirits content than Satori's mind-reading ever does. So just how much Satori herself actually contributes is unclear. But if there's one thing she never seems short on, it's confidence. Whatever doubts anyone else may have, Satori's opinion of her own ability remains sky-high. After all, she rates mind-reading a full 11 out of 10. In the 80th provisional Gensokyo, Satori puts that same ability to use in a role resembling a radar operator. Mind reading can be understood as a highly specialized form of temperament manipulation. Satori draws out the temperaments that make up a sentient being's psyche, then reads how they're arranged. The countless possible worlds drifting through probability space can likewise be thought of as being composed of temperaments. If those worlds contain anything resembling a psyche, then Satori's ability can function like radar, allowing her to pick them out from among the countless possibilities.

[Part 1 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "What exactly are you planning to do, Lady Satori?" In the Earth Spirits Student Council office, Rin Kaenbyou―secretary (and just about everything else)―asked the question with real worry in her voice. She knew that look on Satori's face. Something was up. Satori looked back, brimming with confidence. "Nothing. I don't need to do anything. The information will come to me on its own." Satori enjoyed playing the armchair detective, and she'd built enough of a reputation from it that people swore she could read minds. Though, most of that reputation wasn't exactly flattering. What was strange was just how much she seemed to know. She's infamous for bluntly exposing what people were thinking, so it's hard to believe anyone would willingly share their secrets with her. Perhaps she had an exceptionally capable informant working behind the scenes. One had to wonder whether that informant was happy with the arrangement. "But... maybe it wouldn't hurt to actually go out and take a look around for once." "Why?" "Aren't you curious about what's really going on here? I could just wait it out, sure. The truth always surfaces eventually. But this time I want it now, not later. Normally I'd have the answer before the question even arrived. This time, I don't. That alone should tell you why I care." "I mean... you could always just leave it alone." "You think I'm just bored, don't you?" "...Yes." Satori did, in fact, have too much free time. Still, there was a chance this whole affair was some new form of attack from another student council. And if that was the case, it wasn't something she could afford to shrug off.

[Part 2 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] Word was the Scarlet Devil Student Council wanted to cover the entire academy in one giant dome. Satori couldn't help thinking they could save themselves the trouble by simply moving down to the the academy's underground area, better known as the Underworld. Not even a single ray of sunlight reached that far below, making it the perfect place to do whatever you pleased without worrying about being seen by anyone you'd rather avoid. The Underworld was also home to the Earth Spirits Student Council office, and it was where most of the academy's troublemakers liked to hole up. Even students who had officially been expelled still hung around down there, going by names like "vengeful spirit" and "oni." They certainly looked like the sort who would push back against anyone trying to keep them in line. And yet, not one of them dared lay a finger on the Earth Spirits Student Council. That's just how terrifying Satori Komeiji was. "Oh, um, nothing especially noteworthy..." "A-Actually, hang on! I just remembered! That great vengeful spirit's stirring up trouble on the surface again!" People volunteered information before Satori even had to ask. "That great vengeful spirit" could only mean Mizuchi Miyadeguchi. If she was involved, the oni were probably tangled up in this somehow. Yuugi was bound to know something, and Parsee and the others might have useful information too. Except... if Mizuchi was off causing trouble on the surface, then technically, she couldn't be causing trouble down here, too. Of course, if the Underworld's reputation got any worse on the surface, that would only invite more trouble. It would have to be dealt with eventually. Just not now. What had caught Satori's attention in the first place was something else entirely. Something was stirring in the Underworld. Something was happening right under her nose, yet information about it was strangely scarce. That alone was enough to set off alarm bells. For all she knew, the commotion surrounding the vengeful spirits could even be an attempt to cover it up. She wasn't about to fall for such an obvious misdirection.

[Part 3 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] Something didn't add up. The more Satori investigated, the more questions piled up in her head. No matter how many people she questioned, she still couldn't get a clear picture of what was happening in the Underworld. But something was definitely happening. Food going missing with no explanation. Bookshelves torn apart overnight. Sounds coming from empty rooms. That prickle of someone standing behind you, gone the instant you turn around—the whole thing read like a ghost story. Almost funny, considering the ones doing all the panicking called themselves "vengeful spirits" and "oni." Similar stories were pouring in faster than Satori could ask for them. There were almost too many. And somehow, the more information she gathered, the less she understood. Who was behind it? How? And why? None of it made any sense. Whether it was one culprit, a group working together, or a string of copycats, every possibility raised more questions than it answered. No wonder the reports reaching the Earth Spirits Student Council were so vague. They all amounted to the same thing: "Something weird is happening. Please do something about it." Gathering more information wasn't helping. If anything, it was only making the mystery worse. "Might I suggest just... not thinking about it so much, Lady Satori?" Utsuho Reiuji was a member of the Earth Spirits Student Council, and one of the academy's most important operations rested almost entirely on her shoulders. The Underworld was a gathering place for the academy's worst troublemakers. The biggest reason it hadn't been shut down despite that was because it was useful. All of the academy's trash was sent underground to be incinerated. The heat produced in the process was used for everything from heated pools and indoor climate control to generating most of the academy's electricity. And the one in charge of the incineration itself was Utsuho. Every load of fuel she fed into the furnace helped keep the entire academy running. And maybe she had a point. Overthinking things might really do more harm than good. "So get this... I wasn't even paying attention, and the Moriya Student Council people just swapped in a brand-new incinerator for me! Apparently it's a prototype fusion reactor or something?" "...Oh." No way. That couldn't be right.

[Part 4 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] Even one of the Moriya Student Council's gods had gotten involved. The Underworld really was a gathering place for all sorts, Satori thought, almost as though she were merely watching it all from the sidelines. Then again, perhaps that wasn't so strange. The Underworld was Satori's domain, but a garden doesn't need its owner to dictate when every flower should bloom. Part of its beauty comes from letting things take their own course. "Yeah, I think so too." By the time Satori reached the school gates, dusk had already begun to settle in. Somehow, Koishi was standing beside her. Koishi Komeiji was her younger sister. Despite being the person closest to Satori, she was also the one person whose mind Satori could never read. And Koishi would never read Satori's mind either. No one could read Koishi's thoughts, and Koishi herself read no one's. "Lots of stuff happened today! Actually, not just today. Yesterday, the day before that... I've been having fun every day lately!" The culprit... was Koishi. That would explain why no one had seen her, and why no one could make sense of how or why she was doing any of it. ...Though maybe the "why" wasn't so hard to guess. "The animals we take care of are sooo cute! I like the flowers too, but I think I'd still rather have an animal for a pet!" Satori couldn't help thinking that plants were a much better match for her sister who moved through life entirely on unconscious instinct. The Komeiji sisters could never fully understand each other. Satori could read anyone's mind but Koishi's, while Koishi went unnoticed by everyone, including her own sister. Between two people like that, conversation shouldn't have come easily. There shouldn't even have been an opening for it to begin. No amount of deduction or analysis could bridge the gap between them. Communication itself should have been beyond them. Such were the Komeiji sisters. And so, as Satori walked home with Koishi beside her, she failed to notice the strangest thing of all. They were talking. The fact that such a conversation could exist was itself a mystery. A tiny incident she never even noticed.