Mentioned Characters: Yukari, Ran, Chen, Saki, Yachie, Yuuma

Ran Yakumo serves as the shikigami of the Youkai Sage, Yukari Yakumo. At the same time, she's also a shikigami-user who commands Chen. The beast youkai that acts as a base for her shikigami possession is said to be the legendary nine-tailed fox. Among shikigami, tails are seen as a symbol of status, so having nine surely places her near the top of the pecking order. Shikigami are often likened to computers, and Ran is no exception. She is believed to excel in areas where computers dominate. In fact, when a business network under the Kiketsu Family's control in the Animal Realm suffered a system failure, she handled it with precision, speed, and above all, persistence. Her knowledge and understanding in that field seem far superior to those of anyone else. In the 80th provisional Gensokyo, Ran's role is critical. Navigating the Probability Space Hypervessel, a craft capable of traversing different possibilities, requires extremely complex calculations. That's where she comes in. As a nine-tailed fox, it's said she can process information as if controlling nine shikigami in parallel. You could even call her a probability navigator.

[Part 1 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Relax, Ran. It's all taken care of." Eyes wide behind her glasses, Ran looked at each of the three students standing before her. How on earth did it come to this? "That punk who gave you attitude yesterday? Yeah, I already dealt with 'em," said Saki Kurokoma, the dependable musclehead. "Yes, but you left the door wide open for retaliation. Luckily, I went ahead and secured personal data and private photos on everyone they're affiliated with," said Yachie Kicchou, the expert schemer. "What the hell're you two doing?" asked Yuuma Toutetsu, the insatiable glutton. "What's your problem, Yuuma? If you're worried about Ran, too, why don't you help out?" "Exactly. If you can't make yourself useful, maybe you should stay quiet." "You guys can't be serious..." Yuuma let out a long, fed-up sigh before muttering, "Drawing this much attention to yourselves isn't good for Ran. Just look around." "Oh," said Saki and Yachie in perfect sync. The entire classroom was staring straight at us. It was hardly surprising. Those three were too dangerous to ignore.

[Part 2 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Wow, so THAT'S what happened, huh?" said Lady Yukari, the student council president. The student council room had essentially turned into a break room. In truth, I felt like I was the only one doing any actual work. "Perhaps I shouldn't be asking this," began Lady Yukari, "but are you sure you want to be the student council vice president, Ran? You're a huge help, but those three are your oldest friends, right? Don't you ever think about going back to them?" "What?!" cried Chen, who handled all the council's odd jobs. "Lady Ran, you're not quitting the student council, are you?!" Neither Chen nor Lady Yukari seemed particularly dedicated to the job. But they were my fellow council members, and I belonged with them. I'd never told anyone why I left my friends to join the council. It was hardly a story worth telling. All that mattered was the present. "I'm not going anywhere, Chen. And as for your question, Lady Yukari... I distinctly remember saying we weren't going to bring it up." "Really? Wow, I totally forgot!" "Well, I just finished making tea. But neither of you is getting any of my special dorayaki." "No fair!" exclaimed Chen. "I want dorayaki!" "S-Sorry, Ran! I just remembered our conversation! In fact, I remembered every conversation we've ever had... ever!"

[Part 3 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Hm? Hey, Ran. Look outside!" Our hopelessly lazy student council president was, as usual, letting her good looks go to waste and showing zero signs of actually working. (That said, when she DOES work, everything gets done in the blink of an eye.) I figured she was just trying to distract me again. But then I looked in the direction she was pointing―ignoring the dorayaki in her clutches, of course. Beyond the window was the school gate, glowing in the sunset, with only a few students left heading home. Among them was a small figure: Yuuma Toutetsu. A ring of looming shadows surrounded her. "Funny, we were just talking about her..." I mumbled. "Wait, something's not right." "What's wrong, Lady Ran?" Yuuma was forced along, with no way to escape. She quickly disappeared from view, but not before I caught a glimpse of her face. There was no mistaking her expression. "Ran, where are you going?" asked Lady Yukari. "We've still got work to do, you know!" said Chen. "Guess we'll have to handle this ourselves." "Uh-huh..."

[Part 4 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "You sure this was OK?" asked Yuuma. I said nothing in response. Our silhouettes stretched across the ground in the last traces of sunlight. We were the only ones standing. Everyone else was down, beaten to a bloody pulp. "Hang on..." said Yuuma, squinting at me. My face was hidden under my helmet, but I forgot to hide my tail accessories. Had she figured out who I was? "I don't know who you are, but I had this situation under control. Don't expect a thank you." I'd caught a glimpse of Yuuma's expression from the student council office. She was smiling. A sharp, dangerous grin―one she was trying to hide. The kind that meant there'd be no talking, only violence. She was ready to let loose. If I hadn't stepped in, the bodies scattered around us would've never moved again. I turned to leave. Every second I lingered gave Yuuma another chance to work out who I was. "Thanks, Ran." I thought I heard her call out to me. But I must have imagined it.