"Good morning."

-- Music: Phantasmagoria of Flower View - Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Ancient Temple. --

Just a minute ago, Ran had opened the door to the garden, her hand following the texture of the polished cherrywood doorframe. On the raised wooden back porch, she had found a table for two, on which Alice had prepared a teapot and two small cups.

But the smell of the gently steaming tea hadn't been the reason Ran had come to Alice's house, here in the Forest of Magic. It had been the doll that was sat lifelessly in the left chair, a blonde 5'9'' prop dressed in Alice's classic red-white-and-blue Bucureszti design. Two antlers decorated the doll's head. Alice's dolls don't have antlers, she recalled. Except this one. For some reason.

A mild creaking sound had emerged under her feet as Ran had walked towards the table. Her two-pointed Shikigami hat, which normally covered her vulpine ears, had been carefully placed on the doll's antlers. Upon sitting down, she had felt the backrest of the chair brushing up against her nine tails. Humans, she had thought. Humans don't have tails, so they don't have to design their chairs in ways that accommodate them.

Once the fox had finally found a comfortable sitting position, she had closed her eyes, put her elbows onto the table, and formed "O" shapes with her fingers.

-- Music: Perfect Cherry Blossom - Charming Domination --

What Ran Yakumo had just set into motion was something nobody had attempted before, and she knew that. Equipped with the brain of an experienced youkai fox, she was well aware of the implications and side effects. But this was something that she had wanted to do for a very long time, and both Alice and Yukari had given their approval. If there had ever been any doubts in the nine-tailed fox' mind, they had long since been quenched.

Only a few seconds had passed until the fox found herself shaken by a sudden feeling of emptiness and silence. When she reopened her eyes, the doll in the other chair had started moving, and its porcelain eyes had shifted from a lapislazuli blue into a sparkling amber.

"Good morning", the doll repeated. A familiar voice.

-- Music: Perfect Cherry Blossom - The Doll Maker of Bucureszti. --

"Wh- what happened?", the fox muttered, still coming to her senses. "Who are... who am I? Am I... awake?"

What a strange question to ask, she thought. Hadn't she just been awake a minute ago? Was there any difference between then and now? But now that she had already asked it, she might as well listen out for the answer.

The doll seemed in no rush to respond to her questions. "It feels nice talking to you face to face. You look good." What did she mean by "face to face"? Had they met before? Who was this doll, and why did her demeanor feel so familiar? Maybe the next thing out of the doll's mouth would give her some more clarity.

"You might have heard of Yak'mo Ran. That's me. Hi." Alongside those words came a casual waving gesture, where the doll had raised up her right hand while keeping her elbow still on the table.

"Yaku-mo Ran..." While it was common for people to skip the "u" sound in Japanese names, she wouldn't have expected this level of confidence and semantic intuition from a doll that had just awakened for the first time.

"Oh. Oh wow. I've definitely heard that name before..."
"I think that's what people have been calling me?" A quick glance at the doll's head gave her the slowest of nods, affirming the fox' train of thought.

Finally, she decided to wager a guess. "You're my Shikigami, right?" There was no point in waiting around, and her curiosity and confusion outweighed any fear of guessing wrong.

"Technically the phrasing would be that I'm Yukari's Shikigami", the doll druxed around, "and that you're my vessel..."
"but yeah, essentially. You've got the idea."

That confirmed it. Her memory had been serving her well. In fact, the afternoon had been going exactly as Ran had planned.
But she wasn't Ran. She had never been Ran. Her mind briefly froze under the realization.

-- Music: Subterranean Animism - Heartfelt Fancy --

"I must admit, I haven't thought of a name for you yet", continued the doll. "Maybe ´Yak'mo no Kits'ne?´ "

"Yakumo no Kitsune..." The fox took a second to think. Yakumo was the surname of both Yukari and Ran, and she was the fox whose brain Ran had been leading for the last several hundred years.
"You know what, I like it. Simple, practical, straight to the point. Also has a nice ring to it. And after all, I don't think I've heard of Satori or Murasa complaining about their names."

She was right. Captain Minamitsu Murasa is a sailor phantom named after a species of sailor phantom youkai, and I am Satori Komeiji, named after a class of mind-reading youkai. We are both very satisfied with our names, as they describe our identity and abilities well.

"I'm glad you like it", Ran replied, calmly taking a sip of tea. Apparently the design of the doll was intricate enough for a bit of tea-sipping to not cause any issues.
"So how does it feel being awake?"

"It feels... different. A lot to take in. And a big marvel that I feel I could spend centuries exploring."

That was when Reimu and I arrived on the scene. Taking a brief glance at Kitsune's mind, I saw that her memories were still vibrant and fresh, so while I hadn't been there to witness the event myself, I was easily able to follow.

So there I was stood, mesmerized by the thoughts within Kitsune's mind, as my shoulder was grazed by the paper strips of a carelessly wielded gohei. Reimu had walked past me, and it didn't take a third eye to spot that the shrine maiden in red hadn't noticed anything.