"Would you like to draw?" Alice asks. She removes her hand from Sunshine's hair to grab a stack of loose paper and one of Sunshine's pencils, then drags them closer on the coffee table. "Here. How about that?"
Sunshine shakes her head.
"Would you like me to read to you?"
"No thank you..."
Alice frowns to herself, studying Sunshine's face. "Sweetie, it's been three days. Do you plan to lay on the couch the entire break?"
Sunshine doesn't have a response to that. She stays quiet, and the sound of rain drumming on the roof fills the house.
The break for planting season hasn't been nearly as fun as Sunshine had expected. First, her parents sat her down and told her that she isn't able to be a magician. It was the saddest she's ever been, even worse than when she broke her arm and couldn't play outside. To make matters worse, it's rained for the past few days, so she can't even play outside. She isn't sure she'd want to anyway. She hasn't felt much like playing ever since she found out that she can't do magic. It almost feels like she was so excited for that, she used up all her excitement for other stuff.
"Well then," Alice says, "in that case, I think that I'm going to make cookies. Would you like to help me?"
Sunshine glances up at Alice, and after a moment's consideration, nods. She still feels the need to help Alice around the house. She can remember what it felt like when that was all she wanted, and she's definitely moved on from that, but it still feels nice to be helpful.
And besides, she'd have to be really sad to be too sad for cookies.
"Now we add two eggs," Alice says. The last word is barely out of her mouth before Sunshine lifts one from the basket, and Ichigo hovers in to grab another. They give them a pair of expert taps against the edge of the bowl, then dump the contents inside.
"... three-quarters of a teaspoon of cinnamon..." Sunshine opens the little jar of cinnamon and carefully measures out a level 3/4 teaspoon, then adds it to the bowl.
"... a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg..." Sunshine does the same with the nutmeg.
"... and stir until it forms a stiff dough."
Sunshine gestures toward a mixing spoon on the wall, and Ichigo delivers it to her. Taking it in both hands, she sticks it into the mixture and starts stirring, while Ichigo grabs onto the edge of the bowl to hold it level.
Alice watches this with half-veiled amusement. "I'm not sure if you even need me here for this."
Sunshine pauses and looks up. "Cooking is easy..."
"Sometimes I forget that you've been doing this sort of thing since before you can talk." Alice steps over and rests a hand on her shoulder. "But keep going. The cookies won't look as nice if we don't get them in the oven while the dough is still cold."
Sunshine nods and continues stirring. Soon, her face is scrunched up in concentration and effort, as the dough starts putting up some resistance. Poor Ichigo has to brace herself against the bowl to keep it in place, and her little arms tremble with the effort.
Before they can finish, the front door of the house opens, followed by Marisa's voice. "Yo! Sunshine, are you free? I've got something I wanna show you."
"We're baking cookies," Alice calls toward the front of the house. "What is it?"
Marisa's footsteps approach the kitchen, and before she's even close, Sunshine can hear a distinctive squish beneath them. "It's a surprise!"
"Marisa, we're—you're tracking mud everywhere."
"Only a little! Dolls'll clean it right up anyway, right? What's the problem?"
"That isn't an excuse to make a mess!"
"Right, so, anyway." Marisa steps past Alice to rest a hand on Sunshine's back. "Wanna go mushroom hunting out by the shrine? With this weather, I bet there's lots of them popping up."
"Um." Sunshine squirms under the soggy hand. "But it's raining..."
"That's the best time to find 'em."
"I'm sure the mushrooms will still be there when the rain stops," Alice says.
"Nah, trust me." Marisa shoots her a wink. "Right now's a special time for it. You know?"
"... what's special about it?"
Marisa sighs. "Right now's just an extra-good special kind of time for mushroom hunting." She winks again, this time putting so much force into it that it's practically audible.
Alice stares at her, pursing her lips in a mixture of indecision and annoyance, until she capitulates. "... well, you'd know better than I would," she says, and looks to Sunshine. "Sunshine, do you want to go mushroom hunting? I can finish up the cookies. They should be nice and hot when you get back."
Sunshine isn't quite sure what's going on, but she trusts Marisa, even if it means walking outside in the mud. She releases the spoon and nods. "Okay..."
"Great!" Marisa gives her another pat on the back and leans back, grinning. "Let's get you dressed, then. And bring your sword, too. Never know when it'll come in handy, right?"
Like all of Sunshine's clothes, her raincoat was custom-made by Alice. It's blue and it has a hood, and it has an enchantment on it to make water slide right off. Normally, she isn't sure why Alice and Marisa seem to dislike getting rained on so much. It's just water, just like when she takes a bath. Today, though, she's glad for the raincoat. She keeps the hood pulled down over her face as the broom rockets over Gensokyo, and between that and the shield of Marisa's body, she doesn't have to worry about getting water in her eyes.
She sees the shrine through the haze of rain below, but they fly right past it. A short while later, Marisa pulls the broom to a stop, and they descend through the canopy below. Here, the forest is thick enough that the rain barely gets past the leaves, drumming on the canopy above before dripping to the ground elsewhere. Sunshine's first few steps squelch on the wet ground, and she's glad that she's wearing her boots.
"There we go," Marisa says, swinging the broom up onto her shoulder. "You've never been mushroom hunting before, right?"
Sunshine nods.
"So, we're lookin' for little brown mushrooms, about this tall, or skinny white ones. If you see any that are other colors, don't grab 'em, okay?"
"Okay..."
"So, I'll go this way..." Marisa jerks her thumb toward the forest behind her. "... and you can go that way." ... and points to a path that leads off in the opposite direction. "In about ten minutes, come back here and we'll meet up again, alright?"
Sunshine glances down the path and frowns. "You're not coming with me...?"
"Well, the forest around here's pretty safe. The actual dangerous youkai aren't dumb enough to hang out around the shrine. Plus, if something happens..." Marisa crouches down and gives Ichigo a careful pat on the head with a fingertip. "That's what Ichigo's for, right? And you've got your sword."
That makes her feel better. Ichigo's a really good doll, and she's shot Yukari, who's the scariest person Sunshine can even imagine. She should be pretty safe as long as Ichigo's nearby. Sunshine scoops the tiny doll into a hug and nods.
"Good. Remember, ten minutes! And if you find more mushrooms than you can carry, yell and I'll come help, alright?"
"Okay..."
Marisa gives a final nod and heads off into the forest. Sunshine hesitates, but she needs to be brave. She releases Ichigo into the air again, then heads off down the path in the opposite direction.
Apart from the rain, the forest is quiet here. Her parents have warned her dozens of times that she can't go into the Forest of Magic alone, and sometimes at night, she can hear animals howling and snarling in the distance. This forest is a lot nicer than that. Little bunches of flowers bloom all along the edges of the trail, and everything around her is bright green. It helps cheer her up a little, even with the rain dripping down all around her.
After walking for a minute or so, Sunshine spots a cluster of mushrooms poking up through the leaves. She crouches down to inspect them, and they look just like the ones Marisa described, short and brown. With Ichigo's help, she picks them, then continues down the trail, carefully cupping them in her palms.
A bit further down the trail, something rustles in the trees. She stops, peering up at them, but can't see anything. A few seconds pass in silence, and she decides to continue.
The trees rustle more loudly this time, with the loud snap of a twig.
Sunshine freezes, staring up at them wide-eyed. Ichigo hovers forward defensively, and Sunshine lets her free hand drift down to the wooden sword by her side. "Um..." She glances back along the path, but it seems like a really long walk back to the place where she left Marisa.
She doesn't get the chance to turn around anyway. From the treetops, a voice shouts, "Who dares steal my mushrooms?!"
Sunshine looks down at the mushrooms in her hands. She isn't sure if somebody can even own mushrooms that grow in the forest, but having somebody shout at her about it is kind of scary either way. She takes a few hurried steps backward and glances indecisively toward the clearing. "U-um."
"O ho ho! You can't escape, foolish mortal! For now you have angered, me, the Great Youkai of... um. of Light!"
The branches rustle more loudly this time, and something fades into sight in mid-air before landing on the forest floor. The Great Youkai of Light is a lot shorter than Sunshine's imagination would usually guess. She's actually a little shorter than Sunshine herself. Plus, there are her clothes. A black cloak is draped over her back, with lumpy shapes beneath that even Sunshine can tell are wings. There's a wooden bucket over her head, with eyeholes cut out of it and a scary, roaring face drawn on the front with chalk. She has a staff in her hands that's twice as tall as she is, and it kind of looks like a mop handle to Sunshine.
This, of course, the scariest thing that Sunshine's ever seen.
"Return my mushrooms to me," the Great Youkai of Light gives her mop handle staff an intimidating shake overhead, "and leave this place!"
Sunshine shies backward, clasping the mushrooms to her chest. "But they're mine..." Ichigo settles into position hovering right between the two.
"O ho ho ho!" It's probably meant to sound like a really smug laugh, but the Great Youkai of Light is really just saying it. She takes a step closer. "They'll be mine again after I beat you up and take them!"
Sunshine quivers in fear, but she has to be really brave. She tucks the mushrooms into a pocket and draws her wooden sword, holding it up uncertainly in front of herself. This doesn't stop the Great Youkai of Light. She starts stomping forward, holding her staff in front of her like a sword. "Go away!" Sunshine squeaks.
The Great Youkai of Light keeps advancing anyway. "O ho ho ho!" she shouts. Her helmet jostles a little with each firm stomp, until it turns around and she can't see out of the eyeholes anymore. It makes her a little less scary, but not nearly enough.
Sunshine shrinks backward behind her sword, trembling. After a moment, she remembers to gesture Ichigo forward. Ichigo hovers right up to the Great Youkai of Light, and Sunshine doesn't waste any time. With one more gesture, she instructs the little doll to fire. Ichigo rears back, and a cone of tiny rainbow-colored bullets explode out of the air in front of her.
Now completely blinded by her own helmet, the Great Youkai of Light is entirely unprepared for the attack. "Agh, what the heck?!" She drops her staff and wildly swats at the spray of bullets, like she's trying to fight a swarm of bees. The bullets pepper her all over, and when they bounce off her helmet, they give soft thumps like marbles falling on a table. This mighty attack is too much for the youkai to handle. She stumbles backward a few steps, then dramatically pitches herself back onto the ground.
"Argh, I'm defeated!" the Great Youkai of Light shouts, before going still.
Sunshine gestures for Ichigo to stop, but holds her position for a few seconds before cautiously advancing on the youkai. She grabs a stick from the forest floor and prods at her helmet.
"Hey!" The Great Youkai shouts. "Quit it."
Sunshine reluctantly stops."Um. Are you okay...?"
"I'm defeated!" The Great Youkai shouts with a huff. "Go away! You won."
This is all really strange, but Sunshine guesses it makes sense. She's never exterminated a youkai before, so she isn't sure what's supposed to happen afterward. Marisa's stories about fighting youkai usually gloss over that part. She gives an uncertain nod, but backs away and rises to her feet. After a few seconds of consideration, she leans in to whisper to Ichigo. "Um. Let's keep going."
Sunshine's more careful as she proceeds through the forest this time, though. She spends as much time watching out for youkai as she does trying to find mushrooms. After a short while, though, she spots some more mushrooms and hurries over to pick them. It's good at taking her mind off of the attack. When she gets back to the trail, she glances back at where she fought the Great Youkai of Light, and her body isn't there anymore. It's a little worrying, but it makes as much sense as anything else. Sunshine continues down the trail.
This time, she's attentive enough to spot the pointed tip of a translucent wing poking up from the underbrush before she gets close. She freezes in place, staring at it for a few seconds. Whoever the wing is attached to doesn't seem to notice. "Um," Sunshine says. "... is somebody in the bush?"
The bush rustles, and frantic, whispered conversation comes from it. "Ah. Er. We're..."
"The Mighty Youkai of Darkness!"
The owner of the wing jumps up and into view, thrusting a finger into the air triumphantly. She looks like an even weirder kind of youkai. She's wearing a black cloak, with the hood pulled up over her head, but Sunshine can still see an eye patch under it, too. She has four wings that poke out freely, giving a little flutter as she levels her finger at Sunshine.
"Hey! We haven't even—" The other voice from the bushes sighs and scrambles to catch up with her. "The Mighty Youkai of Darkness!" it shouts, as it too jumps out in front of Sunshine. This Mighty Youkai is wearing a flat white mask with two holes for the eyes and a bunch of holes over the mouth, and a pile of silvery blonde ringlets poke out past it. She also has a baggy white robe that looks kind of scary, but also gets tangled in the bush, making her hop around and tug at it for a few seconds before she's freed. Once she's away from the bush, she waves her arms extra threateningly to make up for it.
"We've heard that you defeated our ally, the Great Youkai of Light," the first youkai says. "So we came here to avenge her!"
"Yeah, that," the second youkai says, sighing to herself and tugging at her baggy robe.
"Um!" Sunshine gestures Ichigo forward again, and draws her sword. "Are you... bad guys?" she demands, in a shaky voice.
"Ohohoho!" It's the same smug laugh that the Great Youkai of Light used, but when the first Mighty Youkai of Darkness does it, it sounds a lot less forced. "Right! We're the most evil youkai there are!"
"And the mightiest!" her companion adds, getting into the experience a bit more.
The two youkai raise their hands overhead and waggle their fingers spookily, then start slowly advancing on her. Sunshine raises a hand to command Ichigo, and—
"Oh, you beat her up with that doll, right?" The first Mighty Youkai of Darkness asks. She leans forward and wraps both hands around Ichigo, plucking her out of the air. "I'd better hold on to this!"
Sunshine's eyes go wide. She's never even thought about somebody managing to beat Ichigo. Ichigo thrashes in the youkai's hands, occasionally firing off a little burst of bullets, but the youkai doesn't seem to mind.
"Let go of her...!" Sunshine squeaks.
"Ohohoho! We will after we beat you up!" The two youkai start advancing on her again, with one still holding the protesting Ichigo.
"Let go of her!"
"If you surrender, we'll get this over with quickly," the other youkai promises, sounding a bit tired of this.
Sunshine trembles with barely-restrained outrage, but now she knows what to do. She's okay with giving up the mushrooms if she has to, but there's no way she's giving up when evil youkai like this have their hands on Ichigo.
She steps forward, raises her wooden sword overhead, and slams it down on the nearest youkai's head. "Let go of Ichigo!"
"O-ow, hey, what the heck?!"
But Sunshine isn't going to be pacified so easily. She keeps smacking the youkai with her sword, even as the youkai starts stumbling backward and raising her hands defensively. After a few seconds, the youkai falls to the ground, then scrambles back to her feet and goes into a full retreat.
Sunshine turns on the other youkai, who looks a little less confident now. "You weren't supposed to hit he—"
The youkai cuts off with a squeak as Sunshine charges at her, sword raised. In a frantic flurry of motion, she practically throws Ichigo into Sunshine's face, then turns and takes off running. "Okay, you win!"
The two youkai retreat off into the underbrush. The second one's robe catches on a root and she sprawls to the ground, but Sunshine leaves her alone while she tugs herself free. She still keeps an eye on them until they're completely out of sight, and she's safely alone in the forest once more.
Sunshine is still gushing about her victory when the broom lands in front of the house.
"Um! And. She grabbed Ichigo. And I was scared. Um. Um! And I hit the other one with my sword, and she ran away! Um. Even... even without Ichigo's help!"
"Wow, sounds pretty rough," Marisa says. She crouches down in front of Sunshine. "C'mon, boots."
Sunshine holds a foot out for Marisa to tug the boot off, but doesn't interrupt her story for it. "And, um! The other one was... the other one was..." She slows down for a moment, giving a frustrated huff, as her tongue struggles to catch up with her brain. "... scared. And she gave Ichigo back and ran away."
"... who was this?" Alice's voice comes from the kitchen. Marisa freezes, looking like a mouse cornered by a cat.
Sunshine's too excited to notice. As Alice steps into view, she yanks her foot out of her second boot and runs over to hug her thigh. "I beat up three youkai!"
"Three—Marisa, what were you doing?"
"A-ah, hey, hey!" Marisa says, scrambling forward to raise a placating hand toward Alice. "They were, uh, tiny youkai!" She pointedly hisses, "Talk about it later, alright?" before turning back to Sunshine. "... but real impressive for a little tyke like you!"
Sunshine gives an excited nod, making her hair bounce around her. "Um! One had a scary mask. And one um. Had a helmet."
"Did they?" Alice asks, in a voice somewhere between suspicion and outright confusion.
"And just think," Marisa says, leaning in to ruffle her hair. "You managed it all without any magic at all. We might just make a youkai hunter outta you yet."
In her excitement, Sunshine had almost forgotten about the magic thing. Even now, she quickly pushes past it. "I can draw them!" she says to Alice. "Then, um, then you can see!"
It's late in the evening before Marisa gets a chance to sneak outside, while Alice helps Sunshine get ready for bed. She eases out the front door, praying that it doesn't make a single creak, and takes off through the rainy skies toward the Hakurei Shrine.
Again, she flies past the shrine. This time she lands in a clearing a hundred meters or so behind it, where a single giant tree towers over the rest of the forest. After resting her broom against its trunk, she leans over and gives it a few solid thumps. "Hey, you guys still awake?"
It takes a few seconds, but a muffled voice shouts out of the tree. "You were supposed to be here like five hours ago!"
"Yeah, well, I got held up."
There's no response to that except some muffled complaints. There's a creak near the base of the tree, and three fairies appear seemingly out of midair. Luna Child stops as soon as she's in front of Marisa, crossing her arms and scowling. "And you didn't say we were going to get beat up, either!"
"That girl was really vicious..." Star agrees with a shiver.
Sunny looks over to them curiously. "Huh, I didn't notice anything..."
"That bad, huh?" Marisa asks.
"She did chase us with a sword..." Star says.
"She chased you. I'm the one who got hit with it!" Luna corrects her.
"I mean, it's a wooden sword," Marisa says, glancing between the two complaining, but completely unharmed-looking fairies. "A fairy should be able to shrug off something like that real easy, right?"
The two fairies grumble a bit, but neither of them can come up with a good counterpoint to that. Marisa decides to move the conversation along. "Besides, the important thing is that it worked. You must be pretty good actors! She's still happy about beating up a bunch of scary youkai. So, here." She slips her hat off, and from the depths, pulls out a bottle of sake and offers it over. "There's your payment. From the shrine's offerings, even. Y'know, the good stuff."
The fairies' wounds, real or imagined, are instantly forgotten. "Oh! Thank you," Star says, already taking it in hand.
"Yeah, don't mention it."
Marisa leans against the tree, crossing her arms behind, and watches the fairies start divvying up the bottle's contents. They're efficient like that. "Oh! You should stay and have snacks," Sunny says. "We found a lot of mushrooms while we were out there waiting for her."
"Eh, I mean, I'd love to, but, uh." Marisa glances aside, in a rare show of embarrassment. "I should probably get home before Alice notices I'm missing. She's kinda pissed off at me. 'Don't teach her it's okay to get into fights with youkai' and stuff, you know?"
"You should definitely teach her not to fight fairies," Star agrees cheerily, already sipping at a cup of sake.
"Won't it make it really easy for youkai to eat her if she doesn't fight back?" Luna asks, confused.
"Think the idea's that we stop that from even being an issue in the first place," Marisa says. She rises from leaning and grabs her broom from its spot against the tree, giving it a lazy spin before resting it by her side. "Anyway, enjoy the booze. … and hold on to those costumes and stuff! Might need you to pull that again."
Marisa hops on her broom and takes off into the sky. Soon, she's headed toward home, and a long-overdue berating from Alice.