~Picnics are no Picnic~

"Sumi, you're... You're... You want to... G-go outside? For fun?! WILLINGLY?!" Mrs Usami's mouth was agape. "Are-are you feeling all right? You haven't been at Aunt Haruhi's plum wine, have you?"

"No, Mum, I'm absolutely fine. I just wanted a change of pace, you know?" said Sumireko patiently. She was decked out in a breathable raincoat, sleek plastic trousers, a heavy backpack and fancy hiking-boots. All in all, the ensemble represented half a year's pocket money.

"Change of... pace. I know, more or less..." her mother said weakly. "Well, great! Good. Marvellous. Um, where were you thinking of going? Do you need a packed lunch or anything?"

"No, it's... It's a picnic! I've already made about half the food," Sumireko pointed out. "My friends are bringing the rest. We'll be going to that park with the trees near the river."

"Oh, good." Mrs Usami didn't bother remarking the preparations her daughter had made before deigning to tell her, nor that there were dozens of parks that fit that description around Tokyo. What the heck, at least she'd be doing something healthy. "Remind me, which friends are you going with? Sho'on and Totoro?"

"Hata no Kokoro and the Yorigami sisters, Jo'on and Shion," Sumireko corrected her.

Mrs Usami raised an eyebrow. "There aren't many people with a 'no' in their names these days."

"Well, you know... Apparently, she's descended from Prince Shoutoku!" cried Sumireko, playing up the ridiculousness of the idea.

"Oh, I'll bet she is!" laughed Mrs Usami. "And these Yorigami girls are actually goddesses associated with poverty, right? Hence all the expensive gear you bought when you could've just put on a jumper!"

"...Um." Sumireko cleared her throat and tried not to look like she'd had a heart attack. "I'd better get going. Love you! 'Bye!"

Sumireko darted out of the room. Her footsteps were thumping down the stairwell just moments later.

"St... Stay safe!" There was no way Sumireko would hear her, but Mrs Usami had to at least try.

After a couple more seconds, a playful smile crossed her face. She stepped into Sumireko's bedroom and played Horizon: Zero Dawn for several hours.

Kokoro was sitting on a tree-stump on the slopes of a vibrant green valley west of the city, her face empty. A mask hovered in front of her forehead, calm and content. She could hear the river burbling faintly in the distance, like a river winding its way through a forested valley. The wind tickled the leaves like a large mass of air blowing through a bunch of foliage.

Kokoro sighed. Her mask flew behind her back to make way for a glum-looking stone faceplate. She had never been good with metaphors.

As she sat and mused in silence, Kokoro could hear the faint thumping and crunching of boots fresh from the shoe shop on a damp gravel track. She looked over just as Sumireko rounded a bend in the path.

"Hi, Kokoro!" shouted Sumireko, waving a picnic basket awkwardly above her head. "I brought miso soup and stewed octopus!"

"Don't slop it about like that," said Kokoro. Her voice was completely flat, but she'd switched her sad mask for a terrified one.

"Eep!" yelped Sumireko. She stumbled and ran forwards in a blind panic until she managed to brace the basket against a slender tree. "That... That was probably a bit stupid." Sumireko scratched the back of her head. "Um, what've you brought?"

"Salad," stated Kokoro. "Reimu devoured my cheesecake while she was escorting me through the barrier."

"Oh, nuts... Why didn't you stop her?!"

"She was weeping with joy. I could not bring myself to."

Sumireko sighed. "Well, if it made her that happy, it's worth it. We've still got other stuff, right?"

"Yes," said Kokoro.

Sumireko slumped down on the scraggly grass next to Kokoro. "Just need to wait for Jo'on and Shion to bring it."

"Oh, la!" Jo'on's face was a rictus of horror. "Shion, we simply must turn around. The road is impassible!"

Shion glumly inspected the source of her sister's distress. The road joined a soggy, muddy path alongside the river, and there was no other way to reach the park without letting all the Outside Worlders know they could fly.

Shion stepped onto the mud and winced as it chilled her bare feet. "Yuck... I don't know what you're complaining about, Jo'on. You're the one with the boots."

"I-! My dear, stupid sister, these are patent leather!" Jo'on stared at Shion as if she'd just grown an extra head.

Shion rolled her eyes. (Still just one pair, thankfully.) "Then walk on the grass. It'll be drier."

"Why should I?" sniffed Jo'on. "Hey! Hey, you! Girl in the stupid hat!"

"Jo'on! Shion! Where were you?!" Sumireko sprinted over to them, then almost fell in the river as she skidded to a halt. "We've been waiting for ages! Also, if you ever insult my hat again I'll make you beg for the sweet release of death."

"Yes, fine, whatever. Listen, Sumi, you're a woman of the world. They say you're quite an intelligent young woman, not to mention one of the prettiest. You've seen a lot of things, too, haven't you? Life, death... Mud?"

"Eh?" Sumireko was completely lost already. "I... I know what mud is. Why?"

"The thing is, friend, I like women of quality." Jo'on put her arm around Sumireko's shoulder, gripping the fabric of her coat like a bear trap. "In this day and age, we need more people like you, more people who have what it takes to work towards a brighter tomorrow. You've felt it in the air, haven't you?"

"Well... Yeah?" said Sumireko faintly. "I do hate capitalism..."

"Wh-wha-?!" Jo'on cleared her throat and tried not to look like she'd just had a heart attack. "Um, great! Good. About this path, do you know they've cut the road-building budget again? Yes, apparently our wonderful prime minister needs his second private jet a couple of weeks sooner, and we, the ordinary working people of the Land of the Rising Sun, have no choice but to trudge along in knee-deep mud for the sake of his happiness."

Shion looked askance at her sister. "It doesn't even come up to our ankles, dummy."

"It's hardly mud at all," agreed Kokoro.

"Shut up!" snapped Jo'on. "Brave, strong, wise Sumireko, won't you help me? Won't you stride with me into a brighter, less boggy future? Won't you be the one who dares to stand up and say 'no more'?!"

"You bet I will." Sumireko's eyes were burning with detrmination. "Screw the road! We'll wade through the river!"

Jo'on gasped. "B-but you could just carry me over the mud!"

Sumireko shook her head. "It wouldn't send a strong enough message to the government. Come on, hitch up your skirts and let's go!" She jumped into the deep, cold, rushing river and almost dropped her basket. "Aaaaaaah! Oh, god, it's freezing!"

Kokoro took Jo'on by the hand and led her to the river. "Come along. We can't let our friend face this trial on her own."

"V-very kind of you!" squeaked Sumireko.

"But-but-!" Jo'on whimpered. "Oh, Shion, my dear older sister, won't you please carry me?"

"For pity's sake, Jo'on, you can FLY!" snapped Shion.

~Author's Note~

And now we're in the home stretch with my Gensokyo Festival rewrite series. Hopefully I'll have them done by April, when this year's Gensokyo Festival is due to start. Timing!