The true identity of natural phenomena themselves.

Fairies live in such phenomena where it gets cold and hot, rain falls and wind blows, grass grows and flowers bloom.

They come in various shapes, but many of them are humanoid with wings like those of insects like butterflies and dragonflies.

Their height is uniformly small, from the degree where they can fit in the palm of one's hand, up to the size of a child below ten years of age. There is hardly any fairy outside of this scope.

They live wherever there is nature.

You can confirm their existence anywhere in Gensokyo.

They especially prefer active places, so when humans and youkai gather you can probably spot lots of them.

On the other hand, in gloomy places their numbers decrease.

They are a kind of youkai you frequently can see even in human villages.

Fairies are active at all hours, so you can probably encounter them both at daytime and in the night.

They don't seem to follow any manner of law or code.

Also, an individual fairy is short-lived(*1), but they immediately resurrect in the same shape.

Even if they suffer large injuries so that their bodies are in pieces, they heal immediately.

In a stricter sense, fairies can't die.

Therefore they take reckless action, without fearing death.

Since their concept of death appears to differ from that of humans, it is also said that they are simply foolish.

Fairies don't actually need to eat, but they see the way humans enjoy their meals and copy them, eating the same things.

They eat anything which humans do.

They especially like to sneak away that which humans are planning to eat.

(*1) Fairies lives differs from that of humans, so it is a mistake to say that they are short-lived.

Pranks on a Whim.

They all like pranks.

If they catch sight of a human walking somewhere, they make them lose their way.

When you're cleaning, they'll raise the wind to send all your gathered dust flying.

When you are not looking, they put salt in your tea.

Without thinking of the consequences, they disturb the actions of whomever they see.

There are also occasionally pranks that go too far, such as when you get pushed off a cliff, or when your back is set on fire, so it is necessary to be cautious.

When you walk down the road while thinking about something else, you lose your way.

When you're absorbed in conversation with a friend, your bags are carried away when you're not looking.

Things like these are sometimes thought to be caused by fairies.

The people that most easily get pulled into pranks are those that are uncautious and prone to being preoccupied with other things.

Fairies won't go near cautious people.

Therefore, if you usually pay attention to your surroundings, you should be fine.

But if you were to be subjected to a prank, what should you do?

The truth is that while fairies are reckless, they don't like fighting much at all.

When a human notices the prank, the fairies will probably run away as fast as they can.

If you were to be successful in catching one, you can freely vent your anger on it since they're not very strong.

A grown human should win easily.

However, there are also the occasional exceptions where without doing any pranks, they just suddenly attack.

At such times you must be careful.

That is because there is a possibility that it is a warning for something.

Especially when fairies aggregate in large numbers or start clamoring, there is a possibility that there is an unbelievably powerful youkai lurking about nearby(*2). Therefore, you must be careful.

At such times, I think it's best if you just quietly head back home.

(*2) The number and ferocity of fairies expresses the threat level of the surrounding area.