~Author's Note~
For this final entry in last year's Gensokyo Festival, I knew I had to make a special effort. I've loved the world, the characters, the music, the lore, the art and the fandom of Touhou since I first discovered it, and I've learned to handle the gameplay. It's great stuff. Touhou is a thing of joy like few others, and I'm glad to have added a few stories of my own to the boundless imaginary universe that sprang from Gensokyo.
This is my love letter to fierce women who don't feel forced to abandon their femininity, to having a big fight and still being friends afterwards, to living as you please, to tea and beer and naps in the sun, to fierce women who don't want any femininity and will gladly abandon what little they've been lumbered with, to making whatever your heart desires and cultivating a healthy, creative fanbase, to frilly dresses, to bloomers and mob-caps, to loving another world and feeling at home there.
~Eternal Dream: Three Cheers for Gensokyo~
"So, Sumi, what are your plans for today?"
"Well..."
"Do you want to go for a walk in the park? Or show me how to play those vertical-scrolling shooting games you like so much?"
"Um, you see..."
It was a chilly Sunday afternoon in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, and Sumireko knew exactly how she wanted to spend it.
"I think I'll have some tea with a few friends," she declared, "and then maybe a few magic duels to keep in practice. Then I might go swimming in Lake Suwa, head over to my friend Sanae's place to play video games, climb a mountain, maybe round the evening off with a quiet pillow-fight for three. I'll have to check in on my many beautiful girlfriends, too..."
Her mother's face fell. "Another hours-long nap, then?"
Sumireko nodded solemnly and curled up like a snuggly little caterpillar in a purple cocoon.
"Sleep tight..." Mrs Usami was about to walk out of her daughter's bedroom when something stopped her. She knew there was no putting it off any longer. "Oh, Sumi, for the love of Ame-no-Uzume, this has to stop! All you ever do is sleep!"
Sumireko's only response was a gentle snore.
What had she been expecting? Mrs Usami breathed a deep, heartfelt sigh. "Listen, my parents used to be dead-set on turning me into the perfect housewife. They wouldn't let me go out with my friends, wear the clothes I liked or even eat decent food, and it was horrible. I used to feel so trapped. All I wanted was to get outside and just, just bloody do something, but my excuse for a dad would spank me until I was raw if I tried it. And... And you're just lying there."
Mrs Usami plonked herself down on the bed. Sumireko mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over.
"I know there's nothing wrong with naps and video games, but... Well, what kind of a life are you having?! You haven't played outside since you were eight, and you'll be eightEEN in a couple of years! You should be spending time with your friends, learning, having fun, doing stupid things so you'll understand why you shouldn't do them..."
Mrs Usami sighed again. "I'm not saying you have to make mud-pies or have dolls' tea parties and stuff, but there must be something you can do! Start roller-skating again, maybe, or do whatever it is people do with trading cards, or... You could take up sculpting, or... Study with your friends? At least then you'd be talking to people... And it wouldn't hurt you to climb a few trees."
Sumireko remained silent. Her mother sighed a third time. "All right, we'll talk more when you're conscious. Hope you're having an interesting dream..."
While Sumireko's body was drifting off, her spirit was waking up among the towering trees in the Forest of Magic. Sumireko yawned and rubbed her eyes. Being awake really took it out of her.
The sun was still high above the mountains, warming Sumireko even in her summer dress. The ground, the trees and the flowers smelled sweet and verdant after a shower of rain. Sumireko smiled. "Such a beautiful day..."
"Yep, you're right about that!"
Sumireko looked around in amazement.
"Up here," said the voice patiently. Among the leafy branches of a great oak tree sat Mokou, dangling her feet in the breeze.
Sumireko's face lit up. "Mokou! No, don't move, I'll come up and join you."
Sumireko wrapped her arms around the broad trunk, gripped the bark with her knees, winced as the bark ground against her helpless knees, and clambered up into the canopy. Mokou held out a hand, which Sumireko accepted gladly. She was soon perched beside her immortal friend with her feet dangling off the bough.
"I haven't seen you for a while. Where've you been?" asked Mokou.
"Well, I've been- Eep!" Sumireko's flip-flop flipped clean off her foot and flopped down among the leaf litter. "Um... I got a new video game, so my naps kind of went by the wayside."
"Ah," said Mokou understandingly. She didn't actually understand, but Sumireko was important to her. "You're back now, right?"
"Mm-hmm. I'm gonna spend the whole day with you, unless Mum wakes me up for some reason."
"Sounds good!" Mokou leaned back against a solid bit of tree, put her hands behind her head and luxuriated. "How about lunch in the village after we're done enjoying this tree...?"
The sights and sounds of the Forest of Magic filled Sumireko's heart with joy. The paths were squishy underfoot thanks to the rain, but since she was only there in spirit she didn't need to worry about how filthy her socks were getting.
"Do you want to go swimming, maybe?" said Sumireko, as she waded through a puddle. It was cold, but nothing compared to the river a couple of weeks ago.
"I'm not sure... Maybe we should just have tea and cake," said Mokou.
"That sounds nice. How about-" Sumireko's foot plunged into a particularly deep patch of mud. It took her several seconds retrieve the flip-flop. "Let's just go for a fly."
Mokou shrugged. "Sure. Though, actually..."
To Sumireko's immense bemusement, Mokou bent down and grabbed a handful of mud. "Y'know, there's something really special you can do with this stuff."
Sumireko blinked. "Like what?"
"Dorodango!" Mokou clenched her mud-filled hand, grimmacing with exertion. Gouts of flame licked out from between her fingers.
"Um," began Sumireko, but Mokou held up a hand to make her wait.
When Mokou opened her other hand, what lay within made Sumireko gasp in amazement. Mokou held a sphere of baked earth, charred and cracked but surprisingly smooth.
"That's amazing!" cried Sumireko. She grabbed her own handful of mud and took a deep breath. Images of fire flashed through her mind, of volcanoes and supernovae, of barbecues and cookers, of heating elements and Bunsen burners, of campfires and flaming torches, each one brighter and hotter than the last (which was pretty embarrassing for the supernova). A roaring flame erupted inside her hand.
"Yeeeowch! Hot! Hot! Hot! Aaargh! Eek! Ow!" Sumireko dropped her dorodango and plunged her hand into the nearest puddle, letting out a sigh of relief as the cool water soothed her scalded skin. Her face fell when she caught sight of the seared mud ball, nothing more than a misshapen lump of rock-hard soil half-embedded in the track.
"They aren't easy for beginners." Mokou gave Sumireko an encouraging smile. "Took me years to learn how to make one the normal way, centuries with fire magic."
"There's a normal way?" said Sumireko curiously.
"Yeah. You just get a ball of mud and slowly let it dry, and somehow make it look round and pretty," said Mokou. "Some people can even get a sheen on it."
"That's amazing!" breathed Sumireko. "All that time and effort, for shiny balls of mud..."
Mokou nodded. "It takes a true artist to make a good dorodango. Mine, I admit, are just average."
"Are there any true artists nearby? I'd love to to see one of the shiny ones!" Sumireko's eyes were sparkling with eagerness.
"There is one, actually," said Mokou. "I think she might be at Alice's place..."
Sumireko could scarcely believe her eyes. She'd met Alice a couple of times, but the magician's dress seemed even frillier and more bouffant than ever before.
Sumireko cleared her throat. "Alice, are you... Isn't that dress a bit impractical?"
"How do you mean?" Alice dropped her five hundred kilogramme dumbell, which hit the floor with such a clang that the entire forest trembled.
"Um..." Sumireko cleared her throat again. "Well, isn't it a bit restrictive? And warm?"
"No." Alice was completely bewildered. "Why, don't you wear dresses in the Outside World?"
"Not at the gym!" cried Sumireko. The very thought of it sent shivers down her spine.
Alice frowned in confusion. "Jim? Is he a friend of yours?"
"Nah, she's talking about those special exercise buildings they have out there." Marisa came clattering in from some other room. To Sumireko's relief, she was wearing frilly white shorts, a black vest and a bandana. "Thing is, Sumi, youkai don't need special clothes for exercising. If you're allowed to be a two-hundred-year-old magician who can control dolls, change your own shape and do magic and stuff, you're allowed to lift weights in a dress."
"Oh. I think I understand." Sumireko did not understand, but that wasn't going to stop her from speculating endlessly about Alice's physiology. She knew it was wrong, but she did quite fancy dissecting a youkai. "Hey, Marisa, when you're done here, could you show me your dodongos?"
Leaning listlessly against the wall, Mokou stirred. "It's 'dorodango'. Singular. You can't just go making Japanese words plurals even if this is the dub."
"Right. That's what I said. Your lovingly-crafted balls of mud," said Sumireko firmly. "I want to see them. Please."
"My... Dorodango? Well, they're... Nothing... Special," panted Marisa, doing star-jumps with all the speed and power of a rhinoceros. And about as much elegance. "I've got one... In here."
Marisa reached inside her vest and pulled out the most beautiful dorodango Sumireko had ever seen. It was a flawless sphere, as round and smooth as a teardrop. Its skin was the light brown of ash wood, marbled with curling streaks of yellow and blotches of rich brown.
Sumireko was unable to speak in the face of such beauty. She stood there, wide-eyed, with her mouth hanging open, hardly even daring to breathe.
"Cool... Isn't it?" Marisa huffed proudly. "I've got a... Few more... At home. I tried making... A square... One... But it came out... Looking more... Like a... Dodecahedron. Right, that should be enough star-jumps."
"It's...! It's BEAUTIFUL!" breathed Sumireko. "How did you ever make something so gorgeous?! So smooth, so round, such a perfect shade of brown!"
Marisa went bright red. "Aww, shucks, Sumi... All it took was years of practice and dedication! Anyone could-"
"You really think I'm gorgeous?"
The room fell silent as Marisa and Sumireko tried to comprehend the fact that a lifeless sphere of mud had just spoken.
"Yeah, I think she did," said Mokou casually. "Come to life, have you?"
"I sure have!" The dorodango leapt from Marisa's trembling hands. By the time it reached the floor, it was no longer a shiny sphere of earth but a heavy-set woman with light brown skin and coppery blonde hair. She wore heavy brown boots, a furry brown hat and a bell-shaped tweed dress with yellow and orange tie-dye.
"Er," said Marisa.
"Um," said Sumireko.
"Shoes off, please," said Alice.
"Right. Sorry." The dorodango took off her boots and handed them to Marisa. "My name's Nendoro Mahousume. You're that witch all the other mud was talking about, right?"
"I... think so?" Marisa cleared her throat. "Great to meet you, Nendoro! I'm Marisa Kirisame, the woman who shaped you into a ball."
"Oh, it was you?" Nendoro's eyes narrowed. "Then you're the one who mutilated my poor cousin. He was such a polite patch of mud! He never stole anyone's shoes or anything. My cousin wanted to be a cube, but no! You turned him into a hideous mutant!"
"Wh-what?! Do you mean the dodecahedron? I wasn't trying to hurt him! I just got this idea and, um, it didn't work..."
"You should have known better! A dorodango's spirit is born as soon as its creator starts working, and my cousin was born to be a cube!" snapped Nendoro.
A very big concern arose in Sumireko's mind. "Um, excuse me, Nendoro? What do you mean by 'as soon as its creator starts working'?"
"Eh? I mean as soon as they clump the first ball of mud together, of course!" snapped Nendoro!
"Oh, gods, I dropped mine in a puddle!" wailed Sumireko.
Nendoro rounded on her, eyes blazing with fury. "WHAT did you just say?!"
"N-nothing! I said nothing!"
"LIAR!"
Sumireko flinched as Nendoro advanced on her. She could smell the dorodango's damp, earthy skin, feel her cold breath upon her face.
"So, you think you can throw away one of my kin, do you? I'll show you! As per the laws of Gensokyo, I challenge you..."
Sumireko sagged with relief. A spell-card duel couldn't be that bad.
"...to a roller derby tournament!"
Sumireko blanched.
"Hey, that's convenient!" Mokou piped up. "You won a trophy for roller-skating once, didn't you?"
"I... I haven't skated in years..." Sumireko turned her hat the other way round, which was pointless because it had perfect rotational symmetry. "But I'll be ready for you, dorodango. I won't lose!"
"Patchouli! Patchouli, you have to help us!"
"Has a dorodango ever come to life before?"
"I don't even know how to skate any more!"
"Hey, are those new slippers?"
Patchouli looked up in alarm as three panicking women, one unflappable Alice and one Mokou came charging towards her. With a sigh, she moved her pile of books to one side and sat up straight. "Can I help you with anything?"
"I'll say! Sumireko's gonna get killed!" declared Marisa.
"How do we deal with earthenware youkai?!" demanded Reimu, who had only been given a vague explanation of what was going on.
"We really need your help, Patchouli. Do you have any idea what "roller derby" is?" asked Alice.
"Those slippers look so comfy! Where'd you get them?!" cried Mokou.
"Um...? Well, ah, you see... My slippers were a birthday present! You'll have to ask Meiling about them," said Patchouli weakly.
Sumireko groaned. "We're not here to talk about slippers, we need help! I have to beat a dorodango tsukumogami I've only just met in a roller derby tournament and I just don't have the skills any more! I don't know anything about dorodango tsukumogami! Help me!"
"...Oh. My, my. That does sound like a quandary." Patchouli took a shallow breath, which was all she could manage. "First of all, you should-"
"Did someone say roller derby?" Flandre poked her torso through a tall bookshelf, dislodging several volumes.
Patchouli sighed. "Yes, Sumireko has somehow been forced to take on a dorodango tsukumogami in such a competition. Now would you mind-"
"I love roller derby! It's like my all-time favourite sport!" Flandre's face lit up with joy. "When's the tournament? Who's in your team, Sumi? Can I play too?! Can I, can I, can I, can I, can I?!"
"Um." Sumireko barely managed one syllable before Remilia dropped down from the ceiling and landed on her head.
"So, what's all this?" asked Remilia, ignoring the dazed teenage girl beneath her feet.
Patchouli sighed heavily. "You see, dear friend-"
"Sumireko's been challenged to a roller derby tournament!" Marisa talked over her.
"And we're helping!" declared Flandre.
Remilia's eyes widened. "Roller derby?! But that's my all-time second-favourite sport after flying baseball!" she squeaked. "Where's the tournament?! Who's invited?! What are the prizes?! When is it?! Oh, please say we're having it soon!"
"Th-there isn't- we're- it's not- it's just me and that baked mud woman! She challenged me and I don't know what to do!" wailed Sumireko.
"Really? Well, then, just leave it to us!" Remilia winked.
Sumireko flopped down in defeat. Marisa tried to give her a friendly pat, but Remilia stepped on her hand by mistake.
"Ladies and additional ladies, the Scarlet Slaughter will now begin! Clay Crusher, captain of the Elementerrorists, is challenging Sumi-Wreck-You, captain of Team Danmassacre!" Decked out in all the punk clothes Remilia hated, Flandre was in her element. "There will be violence! There will be pain! There will be accidents! There will probably be a tea break- yes, what is it?"
Meiling whispered urgently into Flandre's ear.
"Oh." Flandre cleared her throat. "The tea break is cancelled due to safety concerns! Namely, Sakuya having a nervous breakdown if she has to clean up all the scones and smashed cups! Anyway, um, where was I?" She glanced at her note card. "Team captains, come forth!"
Nendoro glided out in front of the gazebo. The audience cheered as best they could while packed into such a small space. Marisa and Mokou wheeled Sumireko out after her. The audience stifled a collective fit of laughter.
"Are you sure you're gonna be all right?" whispered Marisa.
"Positive." Sumireko smiled in a way she hoped was convincing. "I'll have four good blockers, won't I?"
"Well, yeah, it's just-"
Sumireko yelped, flailed around and fell flat on her face.
"That," sighed Marisa.
"I'll be... Fine..." groaned Sumireko. She was glad of her knee- and elbow-pads, even though they were only made out of wood. All her fondest skating memories involved at least one minor injury. "Skating is like riding a bike. Once you learn how, you never... Ow..."
Flandre glared at the guffawing audience. "Come on, she's trying her best! I'd like to see any of you lot do better!"
The gazebo almost collapsed from the jeering that followed.
"Maybe I'll take over for a bit," said Remilia, plucking the megaphone from Flandre's hand. She wasn't dressed quite as ruggedly as her sister, but she was wearing jeans. "All right, teams, take your places!"
Sumireko and Nendoro stumbled and/or glided to the start line. Their blockers formed up in front. Marisa, Mokou, Sakuya and Reimu were wearing the purple capes and black helmets of Team Danmassacre, while Letty, Wakasagihime, Aya and Clownpiece wore the brown dresses and warm Russian hats of the Elementerrorists.
Reimu stared at the mermaid in amazement. "Is that allowed?!"
"I don't see why not." Wakasagihime was lying flat on top of a wide blue skateboard. "I mean, why should I be kept from participating in a team sport just because I was born without any legs? Are you some kind of biped-supremacist?"
"Forget I asked..." said Reimu weakly.
"Because we don't have a proper circuit, there will be no jams or necessity for overtaking! Instead, each team has to meet certain requirements in order to win points!" Remilia drivelled on. "The first person to finish gets ten points, the second gets nine, etcetera! Additional points will be awarded for stunts, knock-outs, evasion, poetry and- Flandre, you've put no thought into this at all, have you?"
Flandre pouted. "I only had half an hour..."
"Well, fine," sighed Remilia. "The team with the most points wins the match. Only blockers may, well, block; the captains, acting as jammers, must focus solely on reaching the finish line. Magic may be used if it falls within the bounds established for spell-card duels, and only one autonomous familiar is allowed for each contestant."
"That reminds me, where did Alice get to?" Sakuya piped up.
Marisa shrugged. "Playing with her dolls, making clothes for her dolls, making new dolls, having a nap with her dolls, pretending to feed her dolls... Just the usual, probably."
"Teams, are you ready?!" demanded Remilia.
"YEEEEAAAAAAHHH!" chorused the magical derby girls of the East.
Flandre snatched back her megaphone. "Then let the Scarlet Slaughter begin!"
Sumireko darted forwards. The squads of blockers clashed together, shouting and swearing like longshorewomen, firing danmaku in all directions. Sumireko weaved past a few stray bullets and hurtled along the first flower-lined path.
Nendoro flashed past her, waving a cheeky little wave.
"Wh-wha-?" Sumireko froze. Her skates, however, kept moving, sending her ploughing through a bed of chrysanthemums.
"Come on, Sumi-Wreck-You, pick up the pace!" shouted Mokou, speeding past her on the main path.
"But... I can't..." Overwhelmed by despair, Sumireko fell silent. What could she do against someone like Nendoro? A human, skating with nothing but her own feet, against a youkai, newly-manifested and bursting with power? It was hopeless.
Then it hit her. She could fly. Like everyone else, Sumireko was capable of SUSTAINED FLIGHT WITH NOTHING BUT THE POWER OF HER MIND. Skating was small beans in comparison.
"Don't start celebrating just yet, mud girl." Sumireko smiled. "Just got to exert a little force directly upon myself- Waaagh!"
Sumireko shot out of the flower bed in an explosion of mangled stems and pastel-coloured petals. Her eyes widened in horror. The football-pitch-sized duck pond was straight ahead.
"Damn it... I'll have to go-"
An icicle thwacked into Sumireko's chest. She cried out in pain and went limp completely limp, fell flat on her stomach and skidded into the pond.
The cold shock was enough to startle her out of her fugue. Sumireko leapt out of the pond, gulped down a colossal breath and fell back in with a splash. After a few seconds she exploded from the far shore, trailing mud and pondweed and wearing a ferocious scowl. Letty (she assumed it had been Letty) was going to pay.
The last of her competitors were already disappearing around the corner. Sumireko flattened her arms against her sides and forced herself to accelerate. The wind whipped her hair into her eyes and made her dress billow like a sail, plants slashed at her shins, but she pressed on with grim determination until she could see her competitors close in front of her.
"OI, REIMU!" shouted Sumireko. "REIMU, I'M COMING UP BEHIND YOU! GET AYA OUT OF THE WAY!"
"RIGHT!" replied Reimu. "Say, Aya, have you ever heard this expression?"
"Expression?! What are you talking about?! More to the point, it's Lady Blightshade while we're-"
"Duplex Barrier!"
Aya spiralled into the hedge maze, screaming in terror.
Satisfied, but also a bit sympathetic, Sumireko hurtled past her teammates and enemies. The shouts and explosions of a spirited free-for-all were soon ringing in her ears as she chased after the opposing captain.
Nendoro was so startled to see Sumireko that her hat flew up off her head. "W-what are you doing here?! I was miles ahead!"
"Just hit my groove, y'know? Now shut up and skate! I'm gonna prove I'm not a... That I'm..." Sumireko's brow furrowed. "What am I fighting for, exactly?"
Nendoro rolled her eyes. "I happen to be fighting for my people."
"Oh, yeah, because of the... And the... Well, I'm going to prove something, all right?!" snapped Sumireko.
Nendoro just smiled. At that moment, a large shadow fell over Sumireko, and what she saw above her head filled her with terror.
"Eek!" Sumireko lunged to the side, just in time to avoid a barrel-sized blob of thick, heavy mud. The clay exploded gloopily on the grass, splattering as far as the mansion wall.
Nendoro growled. "I'll get you next time."
"What?! That's cheating! Only the blockers are allowed to attack me!" cried Sumireko.
"Oh? And just who's gonna believe you?!" crowed Nendoro. "Face it, Sumireko, I have you beaten."
"Screw you." Sumireko grabbed her spell-cards, fumbled them, dropped Occultician of the Present World on top of a gnome and blushed furiously.
"Two can play at that game, four-eyes," smiled Nendoro. "Clay Sign: Brick Breaker!"
A brick hurtled towards Sumireko's head. She yelped and ducked, but the brick struck her hat dead-centre and sent it flying into the bushes.
"No-one touches my hat! Double screw you!" Burning with hatred, Sumireko brandished her own spell-card. "Pyrokinesis: Microwave Maul!"
Psychic energy warmed Sumireko's fingers as she cast a ray of pure heat. Nendoro somersaulted over the ray, landed heavily on the path and stumbled.
Nendoro let out a low growl as she regained her balance. "Swamp Sign: Rage of Sphagnum Moss!"
Tendrils of slimy green moss closed in on Sumireko. She kicked a tentacle in half, skipped over the second and ducked at the last moment, letting three more tendrils grab ineffectually at each other. The sixth lashed out at her shoulders, but she barged through it.
"It'll take more than that to stop me." Sumireko selected her next spell-card. "Automaton: Great Turbine Punch!"
A schoolgirl-sized robot materialised in front of Nendoro. The dorodango swerved, but the robot struck like lightning with enough force to send her skidding across the grass.
Nendoro let out a scream of rage. She kicked off her skates and took to the air, bearing down on Sumireko with frightening speed.
"I made that robot myself! Like her?" said Sumireko proudly.
"Shut up! Bog Sign: Unbreakable Suction Trap!"
A thousand tiny brown bullets broke away from the ground and swarmed towards Sumireko's feet. She had barely a second to react. Sumireko kicked off her skates and spiralled through the air, the mud bullets falling behind as she careened over the garden. The pair of roller-skates were still rolling along beneath her.
"Hey, you're not allowed to take those off!" Hypocrisy sparkled in Nendoro's eyes. "I'll show you. Sludge Sign: Bubble Volcano!"
A grey bubble shot towards Sumireko. It was now or never. Sumireko dropped like a stone, avoiding the bubble by a hair's breadth. Her feet thudded back into her skates.
Nendoro broke away as Sumireko barrelled into the cherry orchard. Through the dense green foliage, she could catch only glimpses of the dorodango, but she knew Nendoro wasn't going to give up. She had to be ready.
Sumireko's fingers brushed against the small plastic handle concealed inside her blouse. She'd only packed one hihi'irokane bullet, strong enough to stun a youkai and gentle enough not to do anything worse to a human. Would one be enough?
The trees parted, and Nendoro was immediately upon her. There was no time to think. Sumireko whipped out her pistol, took aim and threw it over Nendoro's shoulder.
Nendoro's eyes widened. "Wh-what was that?!"
"Magic Metal Storm: Ultimate Bullet Purgatory!"
Sumireko focused all her power on the small, pointy lump of hihi'irokane in her hand. The bullet exploded into a thousand shining red grains. Grinning triumphantly, Sumireko threw them with all her might.
Nendoro yelped and soared out of the way, but she was too slow. Pichuuu~n after pichuuu~n echoed across the garden as the grains battered her into submission. With all her strength spent, Nendoro plummeted helplessly into a marshy patch among some rhododendroms.
"Piece of cake!" Radiant with pride, Sumireko brushed the dust off her blouse and sped towards the finish line.
The charred, lumpen dorodango was resting peacefully inside a wicker basket, snuggled up in a soft blue towel. Sumireko swept away a few more flecks of dust and laid down her brush.
"He should be fine now. Or she, or they, or... I suppose we won't know until a spirit manifests inside there." Nendoro sighed. "I'm glad you still trust me, Sumireko. After I let myself get so angry."
"It's okay. I tried to destroy Gensokyo once, when I was young and stupid," said Sumireko, laughing nostalgically. "I thought I was saving the world. Turns out that, well... Lunarians need to go and die in a fire."
"I can help you there!" chuckled Mokou, giving Kaguya a nudge in the ribs.
Kaguya poured her bowl of tea in Mokou's lap. Mokou pounced on the princess and started pumelling her.
"It's nice when we're all together, isn't it?" Reimu put her arm around Marisa's shoulder and smiled. "You know, Marisa, we should have more roller derby tournaments. Proper ones, with an oval and jams and referees and danmaku and... And everything!"
"What about music?"
"I'm thinking soft rock and power ballads, maybe something a bit more powerful for the big matches..."
"Wow, that'd be the best! I can't wait!" cried Sumireko. "Nendoro, you'll be there, right?"
"I'm a perfect sphere made of mud, Sumi. Of course I need to roll around!" giggled Nendoro.
At that moment, a panting Alice burst into the room. "I found it, everybody! I finally found it!"
"Eh?" said Marisa.
"What?!" cried Sumireko.
"This!" Alice beamed as she held up a flat wooden stick with measurements on each side. "Would you believe it took me a whole hour to dig this out? Anyway, now we can finally play ruler derby!"
Sumireko fainted.
There would be many more puns that night, but for the most part the Hakurei Shrine was filled with laughter. The tea and sake flowed freely, spirits were as high as the birds that soared overhead, and everybody was looking forward to new adventures.
People are born, people die, empires rise and fall, but there will always be a small, cosy shrine among the mountains where Amaterasu rises from her slumber. And next to that shrine, skipping along with hand in hand, a cheerful witch, a friendly shrine maiden and a schoolgirl who just sort of showed up and never went away will always be together, laughing and danmakuing in the beautiful Eastern Wonderland.