Mentioned Characters: Byakuren, Shou, Murasa, Kogasa, Mamizou, Kyouko, Nazrin, Ichirin, Nue

Nue Houjuu is a nue, an unidentified youkai. She looks completely different depending on who sees her, sounds different depending on who describes her, and there is no solid proof anywhere that she exists. Her Seeds of Unknown Form seem to blur the very definition of whatever they're used on. Mischievous and mysterious, she has the personality of a textbook youkai. She once got in the way of Byakuren and her followers over a misunderstanding, but as soon as she realized her mistake, she apologized and even came to admire Byakuren's virtue. For all her mystique, she can be surprisingly honest. Mamizou is one of her closest friends, and their abilities seem to complement each other nicely. In the 80th provisional Gensokyo, Nue has a handful of unique responsibilities. The first is deploying an all-purpose barrier when an emergency strikes. The hypothetical enemies they're preparing for could have all sorts of abilities, so there's no telling what kind of attack might come their way. But Nue doesn't have to figure out how an attack works. Her Seeds of Unknown Form can make an attack's very definition so vague that it simply stops working on the spot. That doesn't make her invincible, though, since it probably eats up a ton of magic. She also serves as a training partner, mostly for the human members, simulating the hypothetical enemies they'll be up against. They have to learn how to handle unidentifiable opponents.

[Part 1 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Find me." One morning, notes with that message were found scattered all over campus. They were written on sticky notes of every color and shape, in all kinds of colorful pens, but they all said the same thing. The wind carried them to every corner of the academy. Oddly, they were made of biodegradable material, perhaps indicating that the person who made them didn't care if they were ignored and left to rot. It wasn't annoying enough to complain about or alarming enough to panic over, so most of the students just went about their day like normal. As it turns out, the daily routine is surprisingly hard to disrupt. It takes a lot more than a few notes to throw it off. Then again, maybe it was just the bystander effect, and everyone was waiting for someone else to do something. "Oh? This one looks a little different from the rest." Mamizou Futatsuiwa picked a single note out of the pile in front of her. Apparently, they didn't all say the same thing. This one clearly had something else written on it. "...'Science lab'? Hmm." Mamizou pushed her glasses up with a fingertip and took a closer look. Whoever wrote it probably wanted her to show up at the science lab. Not that any of it made a lick of sense.

[Part 2 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Oh, hey, Miss Mami." "Are you here because of a note too?" Kogasa Tatara and Kyouko Kasodani had beaten Mamizou to the science lab, and both were clutching notes just like hers. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who couldn't just stand by. "Ah, so the notes led you here. Ho ho, very good." "All we did was show up. We still don't know anything." Kyouko's hair drooped like the ears of a disappointed puppy. She was an open book. "The note said 'Science lab,' so we came here. But there's no one around, and nothing seems out of place..." Even as she grumbled, Kogasa kept glancing around the room. She might seem like an ordinary girl, but she's far more curious than most. "Things like this usually follow a pattern. No need to rush. If you look carefully... There, see?" She pointed to a cabinet of beakers and flasks, the kind every science lab has. Stuck neatly to its glass door was a single cute sticky note. It was the same kind as the ones scattered across campus, which could only mean this was a message from the culprit. "Whoa, you're right!" "Looks like there's something written on it. Let's see..." The two were practically bouncing with excitement, certain the note would finally give them a clue that made sense. "...'Home economics room'?" The two of them said it in perfect, adorable unison.

[Part 3 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Oh, hey, it's Miss Mami, Kogasa, and Kyouko." "You're here for the same reason we are, aren't you? Sorry to say, there's nothing here." "..." Once again, someone had beaten them there. Standing among the stoves and sinks of the home economics room were Minamitsu Murasa, Ichirin Kumoi, and the big, silent Unzan. "Well, nothing except another note." Murasa waved a new note, her fingers pointing toward the big fridge's door. Apparently, that's where it had been stuck. Mamizou could already see where this was going. It was the same trick all over again. "This one says... 'Gym.'" "The gym, huh?" "Something tells me we're about to get the full campus tour." A full campus tour didn't seem all that unlikely. Besides, nothing said these notes would lead to the culprit. They might not even lead anywhere... "And what about you, Unzan? Nothing to say even at a time like this?" Getting no answer, Mamizou gave Unzan a few playful pokes. "Miss Mami, please stop poking Unzan."

[Part 4 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "I knew we'd find you here." "We've been looking all over for you." "Well, finding things is kind of my specialty." Byakuren Hijiri, Shou Toramaru, and Nazrin had joined them too. It was a full-on group outing at this point. "Thank goodness you're all right." "Come on, let's go back together." "..." "Good thing we made it before sunset." "Wow, what a view! Helloooo!" Nue Houjuu stood on the rooftop with the sunset spread out behind her. Her face lit up with a smile the moment the rooftop door opened. She had been up here waiting for them the whole time. "...You guys!" The culprit who'd led them on a merry chase across campus threw herself into Mamizou's arms without a shred of remorse. That was just the kind of girl Nue Houjuu was. "You guys are amazing! But how'd you figure it out?" Nue was clearly waiting for the brilliant deduction, but all she got from Mamizou Futatsuiwa was a long sigh. There was hardly any deduction involved in this. "The rooftop's the only place you could've scattered the notes from." "Oh." Of course, that alone didn't prove anything. The rooftop just happened to be the one spot they hadn't searched. But Mamizou had known it was Nue from the start, because who else would pull something like this? Every stop around campus had brought another memory rushing back: Nue botching an experiment with electricity, Nue shorting out the kitchen appliances with static, Nue breaking the power tools... The fragments had pieced themselves together into one big chimera of a memory. And what a memory it was. "Honestly, if this is your idea of a mystery... I bet you've never read a mystery novel in your life." "Nope, never!" Nue happily took Mamizou's hand so they could head back together, just like always.