Snow fell on Gensokyo, covering the land in a blanket of pure white as a crisp, icy wind swept over the streets. On this night, there were just two souls out in the bitter cold. The snow around their feet gently piled up, and the tranquility of the air swallowed the sound of their shallow breaths. Each of them stood in wait for their friend's arrival, but then they saw someone they did not expect―a goddess of Hell. She held a loudspeaker up to her mouth and called out to them. And so, with snowflakes drifting all around them, their tales began...

The Taoist's Tale Futo had wrapped herself up warm and arrived at the meet-up spot on time. "Tojiko... Where art thou, Tojiko?" she muttered to herself in frustration. Her frustration slowly bubbled into anger, but there was still no sign of Tojiko. Futo questioned whether she'd mixed up the time or gotten too excited and arrived early. Either way, she was all alone. A short while later, delicate snowflakes began drifting down around her, each one a small gift from the night sky above. Futo smiled, and whispered, "How can I be mad at Tojiko on a night as pretty as this?" "Next time, we are meeting at dawn and spending the whole day together!" she thought to herself as she happily waited for her friend.

The Half-Human Half-Beast's Tale "She should be here by now..." mumbled Keine, checking her wristwatch. She was wearing an extra couple of layers, but tonight was even colder than she'd anticipated. She sighed, regretting not staying in the warmth of the school a little longer. But her regret soon vanished into the crisp winter air just as the white cloud formed by her breath did. "Mokou should arrive soon," she thought, "And when she does, maybe I'll ask her to warm me back up with her flames." Simply by imagining Mokou's bright flames, Keine felt her heart warm in her chest, staving off the night's bitter cold.

Winter's Charm Surely you, too, know how it feels to wait for someone to arrive before an outing together. It may depend on where you planned to go and what you planned to do... but when you got to the meet-up spot first, did you not eagerly await their arrival with butterflies fluttering in your stomach? However, if a person is made to wait too long, those butterflies tend to stop flapping their delicate wings...

Now, what about that Hell goddess? She and her Hell fairies seemed full of energy. That isn't because they were enthralled by winter's chill, but rather because they were here on an exciting mission. "Help support the fairies of Hell!" shouted the goddess into her loudspeaker. Thinking about it, the only one who really gets a kick out of winter is the ice fairy, especially on nights as cold as this one. And yet, the Hell fairies around the goddess flapped their wings with delight. Perhaps there was some event being held to help them through the long winter. In any case, the cold didn't seem to bother the Hell goddess or her fairy companions. However, this was a meet-up spot. Who could she possibly be waiting for? Unless that wasn't what she'd come here for. Maybe the people she was hoping to find were already right before her eyes...