Mentioned Characters: Keiki, Misumaru

Keiki Haniyasushin is a goddess summoned by the prayers of human spirits. She's a gifted craftswoman and has made so many haniwa that she has enough to fill an army. Yet thanks to her ability to create idols, each one is its own work of art. On just another ordinary day, Keiki sat in her room at the Primate Spirit Garden, hard at work on a new haniwa, when an unusual visitor showed up. It was Misumaru Tamatsukuri.

Misumaru Tamatsukuri is a goddess skilled at crafting magatama from minerals. The magatama she creates are imbued with all kinds of magical powers, sometimes putting Gensokyo in danger and sometimes serving as the key to its salvation. One day, Misumaru sat lost in admiration of her own work. Surrounded by her colorful creations, she suddenly wanted to show them to someone, so she made her way to the Animal Realm.

That's what brought Misumaru to Keiki's door. The moment Keiki asked why she'd come, Misumaru wasted no time showing off the Incident Stones she'd made. The Incident Stones came in red, blue, yellow, green, each one unique in both color and shape. Keiki's gaze lingered on one of them, as though she was recalling something. "I remember a shrine maiden showing me a stone like that once," Keiki murmured. "I made that one. Isn't it beautiful?" Misumaru asked, puffing out her chest with a smug little smile. "Don't tell me you came here just to brag." "Of course I did."

"That's all well and good, but why brag to me of all people?" Misumaru was ready with a reply. The Animal Realm had been untouched by the incident where the same day kept looping endlessly, so she figured Keiki would probably remember its details. But Former Hell hadn't been affected by it either. Keiki couldn't help but wonder why Misumaru hadn't chosen to go brag to the youkai over there instead. Without a moment's hesitation, Misumaru replied to Keiki's question. "You struck me as someone who'd appreciate it more than anyone in Former Hell would." "Oh, I'm flattered." Keiki seemed pleased by Misumaru's words.

Misumaru went on to tell Keiki what she wanted to do next. She made the stones to help resolve incidents, but she'd ended up enjoying the work, and now she wanted to give them an upgrade... even though she had no idea when the next incident might occur. "For starters, I want to diversify what the Incident Stones can do. I've decided to call them Incident Stones 2.0." "Bit odd to keep 'incident' in the name when it's not really incident related." "Well, if I changed the name, it wouldn't feel like an upgrade, would it?" "So that's the hill you're dying on." Keiki wasted no time adding her own suggestion. "Since you're already improving them, why not make them more beautiful?" "Beautiful how, exactly?" When Misumaru asked what she meant by that, Keiki explained that if she was the one redesigning them, she'd give them a haniwa-style look and make them in every color imaginable, which would surely look beautiful, all lined up together. Misumaru was quick to disagree, arguing that such a design would undermine their functional beauty. Keiki wasn't ready to concede either, and the disagreement gradually escalated into a heated debate over the aesthetics of craftsmanship itself.