A full moon sat beautifully in the sky during the chilly night. The only sounds were that of leaves being rustled by winds, or distant cicadas. Suika sat on the top of a rooftop of a building long since abandoned, and took in the sight of the moon. It was the perfect place to share a drink with a partner.

Unfortunately, Suika's partner appeared to be late, leaving her to bask in the scenery and the first sip of sake all by herself, even though she had a large tray already set up on the roof for both of them.

Just as Suika was contemplating having more to drink by her lonesome, an ominous crack formed in the sky just above her. The crack opened up, creating a gap to parts unknown, and a figure slithered out until it was floating above Suika.

"About time you showed up!" Suika shouted without even looking up at who had arrived, playing up the irritation in her voice. "And don't try saying you're just being fashionably late, either."

"You know..." A decidedly unamused voice responded to Suika. "This isn't even the place we agreed to meet, is it?"

"Oh? Well, it's pretty close, isn't it? And I prefer a spot closer to the moon." Suika explained, without a hint of remorse as she gestured to the tray beside her. "Now are you gonna sit with me or what?"

There was a brief silence, and Suika assumed that time was spent by her company rolling her eyes. A second later, now seated across the tray from Suika was Yakumo Yukari, who wordlessly took a cup, holding it out and expecting to be poured a drink.

"And besides." Suika spoke as she poured from her gourd into Yukari's cup. "You have to admit, the view from here is better too, right?"

"I'm not giving you that satisfaction." Yukari did wear a small smile as she said that, despite herself. "Anyhow, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while. There are several landmarks in Gensokyo whose status I've been curious about."

"That's what you want to start off with?" Suika didn't hide the disappointment in her voice. "I was about to ask what kind of new food you've been trying. I heard from Ran you've been testing out new imports."

"That can come after." Yukari dismissed the attempt to change the subject, and put on a more serious expression. "Right now, I'm more curious about the balance of Gensokyo."

"And… What makes you think I would know anything about that? Not like I'm a sage or anything." Suika asked with the kind of expression that implied naivety, but Yukari knew her better than that.

"Come now, you've been spending a lot of time in all the recent places of interest. The Underworld, the Human Village… and even Heaven of all places."

"Yeah, cause all those places are fun to hang out at." Suika casually replied.

"...Heaven? Fun for you ?" The candidness in Yukari's tone so far was abruptly broken by the disbelief of what she was hearing. "All they do up there is eat peaches and meditate. I would have thought you'd be bored half to death."

"I can appreciate little things too, you know? And if I'm ever in the mood to spice things up there, I can make my own fun. I can show you sometime if you want." Suika took another sip of her own drink, and the enthusiasm in her voice increased as she spoke of the ideas on her mind. "In fact, if you're curious about all those places, we could run amok in all of them! I know you hate being left out of a fun time, so-"

"I'm not talking about whether they're nice places to carouse." In Yukari's voice was a hint of irritation that she reserved specifically for Suika messing with her. "I'm trying to consider the future of Gensokyo's balance, and I know you have your own opinions on the matter, which I'm having a harder time extracting than I do water out of rocks."

"Bah, you want my opinion on the future?" Suika leaned back, disinterest obvious in her posture and voice. "If you ask me, it's more fun when you don't know how it's gonna turn out."

Yukari was about to say something about how she knows that's not all Suika has to say on the matter, but Suika suddenly continued anyway.

"Your lovely Gensokyo is only as good as it is, because everyone living in it has got their own idea of how they wanna live. Watching them all mix together, whether it becomes a complimentary set of flavours, or a gross and inedible broth, that's something I'd love to just watch unfold naturally."

"...I see." Yukari's smile returned at last, and she looked ahead into the nondescript scenery. "Well, I don't quite agree. Gensokyo is a precious garden, and I will do what I can to make sure no bed of flowers encroaches on another, or that any weeds pop up."

"Hah." Suika scoffed at that grand statement. "Well, there are flowers that will grow any which way they please, no matter what you do. And as long as we're on this tired metaphor, trying to trim any of them would defeat the whole purpose."

"You prune flowers, not trim them. ...But who knows what I'll do, if the situation calls for it."

Yukari left it at that. Even with a lot more stirring on her mind regarding the topic, she chose instead to focus her thoughts at the moment on Suika, glancing towards her as she spoke.

"I'll say this much though, you're one flower whose direction of growth I could never predict, and I'm quite glad for that." Yukari suddenly realised she was getting tired of that metaphor as well. "...Or would you prefer I say you're a cocktail mix that always surprises me?"

"Do I look like the kind of fancypants who knows what a cocktail is?" Suika scoffed again, vexed that she wasn't instead compared to a sake dish or the like.

Yukari didn't try to stifle the lighthearted laugh she let out. At this point, it was clear that trying to talk about 'business' was fruitless, and that obviously wasn't what Suika had invited her for anyway. Thus, she let out a resigned, but not unhappy sigh, before finally drinking from the cup Suika had poured her… and even going as far as drinking it all in one go.

"Hey, looks like you're finally in the right mood." Suika said with a bright grin, holding out her ground in preparation to pour Yukari another.

Yukari exhaled roughly upon finishing the cup, and she returned the grin. "Please tell me you brought some other brews with you, and that we aren't just drinking from your gourd all night?"

"What, you don't like the stuff from my gourd?"

"No. It's awful, and you know it is."

Suika let out a hearty laugh. Naturally, Suika already knew that the only thing her gourd's alcohol was good for was getting drunk. "You're absolutely right I do. No worries, because I came prepared!"

Now that the time was right, Suika laid out everything she was carrying on her person across the tray, and to her satisfaction, Yukari was immediately and visibly captivated.

Multiple unique bottles of beverages, and even a few containers of light snacks, all from several different places all across Gensokyo, were placed on the tray. Laid on the edge of the tray was also a tortoise, and sitting under it was a white envelope with a heart-shaped stamp.

Yukari stared in puzzlement at the object that clearly stood out, and pointed to it. "What's that there?"

"This?" Suika picked up the tortoise in one hand. "Well, there's a few dishes I brought where the best thing to go with it is fresh blood-"

"No, not the tortoise." As if Yukari hadn't seen Suika pull out such a thing a dozen times before. "That envelope there."

"Oh, that. I sort of forgot I put that in the same pocket as the tortoise. It's a gift I got, supposed to be a cute message you pass around or something."

"Can I take a look?" The longer she stared at the envelope, the more intrigued Yukari grew. "Actually, can I just have it? If you forgot it was in your pockets, it must not be that important to you to begin with, after all."

"Hey, hold on, I never said that." With her free hand, Suika picked up the envelope, and then gave a teasing smile to Yukari. "I know I was sounding all indifferent about it, but it's still a precious item. I have to think hard about how much I like you before I can consider it."

"Are you serious?" Yukari narrowed her eyes, and when she spoke, her tone was back to the unamused one from the beginning of the night. "Fine, how much do you 'like' me, then?"

"Hmm… Hard to say." Suika appeared deep in thought, or at least was pretending to think hard. "I thought I liked you a lot, but then the first thing you did when we met up tonight is try to talk about boring business instead of having fun. So now I'm reconsidering my feelings."

"Wow, you can be so…!" Yukari exclaimed through gritted teeth, though she was simultaneously trying not to laugh right then. "What do you want me to say? That I am having fun right now? Because I am , and I'm glad you picked this spot for us. And yes, I'd love to run amok with you in all those other places sometime. ...That good enough?"

"I judge that to be… sufficient." Suika gave a sagely nod, before handing the envelope to Yukari.

"You're soooo generous." After giving that sardonic reply, Yukari looked over the envelope, noting the texture of the material, the quality of the stamp, and the engraving that said ' Only Open This When You Are Alone '. Some level of understanding was already present in Yukari's eyes, and she proceeded to open the letter, taking out the pink piece of paper within.

"Oi, Yukari? Doesn't it say right there not to open it unless-"

"Like I care." Yukari heedlessly said as she scanned the contents of the letter. "...I see. How peculiar."

"You think it's silly?" Suika interpreted the perceptive look in Yukari's eyes as dismissal at the letter's contents. "I thought it's sort of cute. I hadn't put any thought into who I might pass it to, but you ain't a bad choice."

"I appreciate that, but that's not what I was thinking." Yukari turned her eyes to Suika, as she held the letter and the envelope in each of her hands, gesturing to them as she explained. "This is a chain letter, and it would not be inaccurate to say that it is a physical embodiment of superstition."

"Superstition?" Suika blinked at the seemingly innocuous piece of paper, but understanding soon dawned on her. "I think I get it. I suppose you would have to be pretty superstitious to believe what's written on it."

"Indeed. This kind of letter feeds into that irrational fear of disaster, and relies on it to spread. Though, I suppose this specific chain letter relies on significantly more… positive emotions, like affection, appreciation, or just plain desire."

"Well yeah, I bet anyone who got their hands on it would be more flattered than afraid." At least, Suika was certainly flattered when she read the contents for the first time, and she hoped Yukari did too, despite having specifically asked to be handed the letter. "But an 'embodiment of superstition', huh? Sounds like it's the kind of thing that's a perfect fit for Gensokyo."

"Incorrect." Yukari bluntly replied, to Suika's confusion. "A chain letter like this is a strictly modern superstition, and works in conjunction with lifestyles, expectations, and mailing systems that do not exist in this land. It has no place among the kinds of myths and legends in Gensokyo, and thus…"

Yukari wordlessly folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. Then, a small gap opened in the air right next to Yukari, who proceeded to blasely throw the letter into it. The gap promptly closed afterwards.

"...It belongs in the abyss where nobody needs to think about it ever again." Yukari said with a satisfied smile, the same kind of satisfaction that came from pruning a weed from a garden.

"Huh? Did you throw it into the ocean or something?"

"Didn't I just say nobody needs to think about it?" Yukari gave a sly smile, making it clear that was the last was going to say on the matter.

"...Fine with me." It appeared that Suika agreed with the assessment, since she saw no need to linger on the topic. Instead, she was happy to get back to enjoying the night with her drinking partner for the night. "Now, my recommendation for your particular palette is this ginjo along with these pickled plums. With some fresh blood to boot"

"Gladly. Hold the blood please, I'd like to try these all unaltered for the first go."

"Fine, but you're totally missing out." Suika set the tortoise aside, not noticing it was already crawling away from her as she focused on happily pouring Yukari and herself a cup from one of the bottles, "See, isn't the 'balance' of Gensokyo or whatever just fine as long as we can have nights like this?"

"I think you just might have a point."

Yukari graciously accepted the cup, and Suika picked up one for herself as well. Sharing a relaxed smile with each other under the full moon, the two raised their cups to each other and drank one of many drinks they would share that night.