It is another normal day, you and Reimu (mostly you) has finish cleaning around the shrine. Reimu decide that today is a wonderful day to relax, and it would be a waste to not do so. She asks you to brew some tea and bring out the snack as she walks towards the porch. You do so, preparing the tea. When you finish, you bring the tea and teacups out with a tray of leftover dango from yesterday to the porch, where Reimu is currently sitting, taking in the warm sun. Suddenly, you hear a noise, coming from a distance. You turn your head to find the source of the noise and looking at the entryway of the shrine, you found it. In the distance, you see a silhouette slowly coming in. At first, you thought it was Marisa, coming in to mooch off of you but then, you see another silhouette behind the first one. You and Reimu wait for the silhouette to come closer. Upon it coming closer, you can finally make out what the silhouette said,

"Reeeeeeeiiiiiiimmuuuuu," one the silhouette screams out. Slowly, the two stops in front of the shrine. On closer look, it's two fairies that stops in front of you and Reimu. The fairy standing in front has aqua-colored eyes, blue-ish short hair. She wears a blue ribbon on her head, a white blouse, blue jumper dress and a red ribbon, tied on her neck. On her back, you can see icicle-shaped wings. Behind her, however, has short green hair with yellow ribbon, tied to her neck. She wears a blue dress with white trim and sleeves, golden wings rest on her back.

"Today, will be the day! Eye'll show you the power of the strongest!" the fairy in front confidently said, her hands rest on her hips.

Reimu sighs. "Can we not do this today? It's such a beautiful day today and I deserve this break."

"No! It has to be today! The strongest me is the most strongest today! Fight me, Reimu!" the fairy points at Reimu.

"How many times has this made? How annoying... Anyways, pour me a cup, this'll be over real quick," Reimu stands up and brings out her ofuda "I'll show you what happen when someone mess with my breaks". With that said, Reimu and the fairy will begin the danmaku.

*sips* "Aaahh~ Nothing like a good cup of tea to quell a minor annoyance" Reimu happily said, drinking her tea on the porch.

When Reimu said it'll be over quick, she means it. The battle didn't even last five minutes. The fight begins with the fairy shooting her bullets at Reimu, with Reimu gracefully graze around it. When you thought that Reimu would get hit by it, the bullet passed through her, leaving her unscathed. She breezes through the hail of bullet, elegantly pass as a dancer would, inching closer and closer to the fairy. You have seen this multiple times with her battling Marisa, but it still sends your heart thumping, seeing how elegant yet powerful in the way Reimu fight. Feeling cornered, the fairy then uses her spell card, Reimu had no problem skirting around the barrage of ice-like bullet from the fairy. Reimu start on her attack when the fairy has exhaust all of her option and easily hit the fairy that tries to dodge Reimu attacks. After the fight, the fairy exclaims 'Th-this one doesn't count! Next time, Reimu!' and flies off, the other fairy impishly follows behind her. To say that this is a fair fight would be wrong, this is a one-sided match with Reimu in the lead. You did feel bad for the fairy but there's nothing you could do right now. Also, you haven't met the two fairies yet. Curios, you ask Reimu who they were.

"Hm? Oh, her? She's the idiot fairy." Reimu answers. Well, that wasn't very nice.

"It's not like that. Fairies are rather simplistic. The only thing on their head is how to have fun and they usually shows it by pranking others, just look at Clownpiece. The one that kept screaming that she's the 'strongest' is Cirno. She's a fairy that able to manipulate ice. Because I kept on beating her over and over, she put me as a target to get back her title of 'the strongest'. Of course, that'll never happen." Reimu sips her tea "But, if she fought other fairies, she might be the strongest."

Oh, I see, you say. Wait, then who's the one behind her? you ask.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. That's..." a long pause. Reimu took a sip of tea. "Anyway, I think it's time you go back to work, you rest plenty already." Reimu said.

Wait, you haven't told me who that is y-

"I think it's a good time to work, isn't that right, Mr 'I-can-be-the-right-man-for-you'?" Reimu jokingly said.

That's a low blow Reimu. You only said that once in a spur of the moment and now she won't let it go. You blush and restart your cleaning, a snickering Reimu can be heard behind you.

The next day, you're on your way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. You're going to return some of the books – that Marisa 'borrows' – back to Patchouli so that she could teach you magic. Although, no new development has been made, you still won't give up. If they won't give up on you, you won't give up either. On the path to the SDM, you need to circle around the Misty Lake. Rumour has it that there is a Loch Ness monster, reside inside the lake. Passing through, you see two familiar faces playing near the shore: it's the two fairy that came by yesterday. The one in blue, Cirno, is sleeping – a flower crown adorned her head - while the other fairy is making a flower crown. You decide to greet the two, as you couldn't do so yesterday. You walk up to the two and the (flower making) fairy notice you. She gives you a small head bow, and slowly shake Cirno to wake her up.

"Cirno, Cirno, wake up," the small fairy shakes.

"Hmmm, what is it, Dai?" Cirno groggily wakes up. Cirno slowly rubs her eyes and turn her head to meet yours. She tilits her head. "Hm? Who are you?" You explain that you are a resident at the shrine. You saw the two at the shrine yesterday but wasn't able to properly greet them.

"Oh, hi," Cirno responds. Silence. "So, what do you want?" Cirno asks.

You ask that if you could hang out with them sometimes. In the pursuit of getting stronger, you don't think that this will make you stronger, however, meeting new people, you will inevitably meet stronger people. Even if that fails, having connection is another form of strength... you think.

"Sure! What do you wanna play today?" Cirno slowly gets up. Oh no, not today. You tell Cirno that you have to go to the SDM today to return these books.

"Books?" Cirno tilts her head. You show her one of the books that you are retuning 'Chemistry of the heart: How to capture anyone's attention!'. With a title like that, you wonder why the SDM library has such a book. Maybe they collect any books to their library.

"I wanna read it!" Cirno holds out her hand. You ponder for a moment. This book doesn't belong to you, but it should be fine if you stay for a bit and humour her. You give Cirno the book.

Cirno take the book and start opening it. "Hm, hm" she slowly starts reading and flipping the pages. A few second later, she closes the book and hand it back to you. "Well, if you have time, come play with us" Cirno happily said.

??? You ask Cirno if she doesn't want to read the book anymore in which she replies,

"The strongest me is tired today. C'mon Dai, let's play over there," Cirno then start running. Dai stands up, give a little bow, "Wait for me, Cirno" and follows Cirno. You wave goodbye to the two fairies and make your way to the SDM.

Three days later, you and Rumia are heading to the Misty Lake. You have been going daily towards the Misty Lake in search of Cirno and Dai but to no avail. Luckily, you meet up with Rumia and she is heading towards the two. You ask Rumia if you can follow her, and she happily agrees. So, you are following behind Rumia to the Misty Lake. There, you spot several people playing in the area. You count and there is exactly five people – or to be more specific, fairies – there. Two of the fairies are Cirno and Dai while the other three are the Fairies of Light.

"Cirno~! Dai~! I'm here~" Rumia calls the two.

Cirno and Dai turn their heads around and wave "Oh Rumia! You're here," you and Rumia walk until the two of you stands in front of Cirno and Dai, "We're still deciding on what to play today," Cirno head turns towards you, "You wanna join too?"

Sure, you say to Cirno. You did say that you'll play with them whenever you have the time and here you are, with free time to spare.

"Great. Oh, but we have to wait. Luna, Star and Sunny are still deciding on what we'll be doing today. I suggest that we freeze some frogs, but they rejected it."

"That's because only you can do that, Cirno" Dai responds.

While talking to Cirno and Dai, you can audibly here the discussion from here. You turn your head to look at the Fairies of Light. You can make out what the activities they want to do today: one of them wants to find some beetles (Sunny), one wants to find some flowers (Star) and the other one wants to find some mushroom (Luna). In the end, they reach a consensus: to join all the activities into one and turn it into a competition.

"Alright, Cirno, Dai! We're making a competition on who can find the best"

"beetle," "flower," "mushroom,"

the three simultaneously say. They turn their body and faces Cirno, "After finding them, we'll meet up here so that we can compare – "the fairy that able to refract light stops when she sees you "- Gah! It's the human from the shrine! Star, why didn't you say anything!"

"If we just went with my idea, I would have been able to focus. Besides, if you have just refract light, the human wouldn't even notice us," the fairy that able to detect sound sarcastically says.

"What was that?" the two starts.

"Sunny, Star, stop!" the fairy that able to mute (surrounding) yell, "We have something else to focus on," Luna points to you. The three fairies of light have their guard up on you. Well, you wouldn't blame them after the three got yelled at by Reimu. You might have joined in on the scolding as well at the time, because it does happen to you at the time. You say to three of them that you're not here to scold them, but rather join in on their activities. The three looks at each other before Sunny speaks,

"You're not mad at us?"

You would be lying if you're not mad at the incessant prank that they have done to you, but after seeing them get scolded by Reimu that one time, you now relate to them. You know how fun and dangerous it is to prank Reimu, but your body refuses to stop. It's like a weird kind of drug. You say that you've forgiven them, and that today you only want to play with them. The three of them look at each other, then Sunny says,

"Well, the past is the past. Anyway, you joining too?" she ask. You nod. "Great. Now, it's time to begin the competition. Seeing that this is your first time, I'll be generous and show you the best spot to find them."

"It's this way!" "That way!" "Over there!"

the three simultaneously say, pointing at three different directions. The three glares at each other, before moving in the direction that they point.

"Hmph! I'll show you how the strongest does it! C'mon, Dai, let's go!" Cirno rushes forward, Dai following her from behind. You start moving forward too when you notice that Rumia is nowhere to be seen. When did she move? you wonder, but there's no time to waste. The competition has already begun and there is no way you're losing to a bunch of fairies (and Rumia). You move forward, rushing to find the three items.

After a while, everyone is back at the start, carrying different things in their hands. Starting off with Cirno, who brought a frozen frog in her hand, which disqualifies her. Dai brought out a red flower that she found when Cirno was busy finding frogs to freeze, Rumia, however, brought an unidentified meat (which also disqualifies her). When you ask where she get the meat from, she smiles and point to the direction of the SDM. She also tries to share the meat with everyone, in which everyone refuses, prompting the darkness youkai to eat the meat alone. Now, is your turn to present the things you have. You manage to get some weeds, a half-eaten apple and a snail you found frolicking. You thought that being in the forest, these things might be easier to find and how wrong you are. But, hey, this has to count for something right? The three unanimously agrees to disqualify you.

Only the three of them left. The first one to present her finding is Sunny,

"Hmph! I'll show you a winner!" Sunny puts out her hand, a small black beetle rest on her palm. Judging by the size and colour, you think that's a Dung Beetle. You saw a picture of it in one of the Insect Encyclopedia in Marisa's house. She further solidifies your speculation when she said she found it with a clump of ball. Next, is Star's turn,

"Hmph! Don't be too surprised!" Star brings out a prickly green plant from a potted plant. The plant has spikes all over the body and when you look at it, it reminds you of the desert. Wait, that's just a potted cactus. She said that she found this lying on the floor, topple over. It is surprising seeing a cactus in this place. Lastly, Luna's turn,

"Hmph! I know I'll win," Luna pulls out few mushrooms that she gathers. Most of the mushroom that she collected are brightly coloured with spots around them. You feel like the mushrooms that she gathers are dangerous. There is one mushroom that you know, is the HappiShroom. It has a red coloured body, with two spots on top and a crescent shape on the middle, resembling a smiling face. You remember hearing Marisa said that she fed someone – who uses masks to show emotion because she's expressionless – and she starts grinning and laughing uncontrollably. The effect lasted for a week. You shudder imagining the torture that the person experience.

After everyone has finish presenting their items, the three fairies start to bicker, giving points on why they should be declare the winner. You protest at first, saying that you should be the winner, seeing that you brought three items while they only brought one thing, but are quickly dismissed due to the fact that no one brought anything remotely similar to the competition (except for Dai but she gladly let them decide the winner). You now wait for the three to finish. Bored, Cirno is finding more things to freeze while Dai watch over Cirno. Rumia is nowhere to be seen again. Thinking that this discussion won't end, you hear a familiar voice from above,

"That's an interesting group." You turn your head up and see someone hovering over a broom: it's Marisa. She slowly descends in front of you. You say hello and ask her what she's doing here.

"Hey. Well, I was heading to the Scarlet's Library. Going to borrow some books, but then I heard your voice and the group you were with, and it look interesting. And, here I am, aren't you glad to see me?" Marisa grins. You're always happy to see her. You tell Marisa what's going on here and ask her to please stop borrowing the books from the Scarlet's Library. Every time you went there, you get an earful from Patchouli. Marisa just laughs. Then says,

"I see. You're going to be here all day if you don't take the initiative," she moves forward to the fairies of light, "Oooii, what are you guys doing?" she asks the fairies of light.

"Oh, it's Marisa. Marisa, tell Luna and Star that my beetle is better!"

"No, you should tell Sunny and Luna that this cactus is better."

"Obviously, these mushrooms are better. Star and Sunny doesn't appreciate quality mushrooms."

"Alright, alright. Let's see what we have here," Marisa begins to look at the item the three fairies bring.

In the end, the competition ends with a draw. Marisa says that everything the fairies bring have their charm to them. The three fairies seem to be okay with the result, so they leave it as that. Marisa takes some of the mushroom off Luna by saying that almost all of them are poisonous. The three fairies of light had their fun, and they leave to find the next thing to do. They say their goodbyes to you, Marisa, Cirno and Dai as they left. Cirno and Dai decide to head elsewhere as well, and they say their goodbyes too. Now, it's only Marisa and you left. Marisa stuff the mushroom that she receives into her hat. Then, she faces you.

"Did you have fun today?" Marisa asks, smiling. You do. Seeing that everyone has already left, you say your goodbyes to Marisa and start heading to the shr-

"Now, now. What's the rush?" Marisa stands in front of you. "The sun is still up. It's a shame to go home now." Well, Marisa is busy, so you don't want to take more of her time. "Ahahahaha, that can wait. Now then," she slings her arm around your shoulder, "I hear that you confess to Reimu. Care to share?"

Wh-what? I did not confess to her. Who told you that? you ask.

"The girl herself. I went to the shrine last night; you were fast asleep. We had a couple of drinks and that's when Reimu start saying you 'confess' to her and what not, her face beaming when she tells her story. Now, why don't you fess up, or this mushroom will be your snack today?" she holds out a Happishroom in her hand, pushing it up your face. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, you decide to tell Marisa what happen that day.

"That's it?" the armed magician asks. That's it. You tell her about the day with Rumia and how you – in the heat of the moment – said that. Sure, Reimu is a nice girl and all, but you can't say that to your hero. That would be uncalled for. Marisa stays silent for a while before laughing.

"Ahahaha. That's it? Phew. When I heard how Reimu tells it, I thought I don't have a chance anymore,"

Huh? What did Reimu say?

"It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it," the magician says, putting away the HappiShroom in her hat. When she says not to worry about it, it has the opposite effect. Now you're more curious about it, but Marisa probably won't answer you even if you ask. "Aaahh~ that's a weight off my shoulder. Now, there's another thing I'm curious," she removes her hand from you shoulder and stands in front of you. "I've noticed that you've been avoiding me for the last couple of days. Why is that?" the magician asks.

Avoiding you? Marisa, we met four days ago.

"Yeah, but you were just reading alone. Usually, we always talk, and you respond seriously. Now, your responds are cold and short, sometimes you didn't even respond when I call you. After that, you just took the books and went home," the frustrated magician recalls, "Not only that, when I invite you out, you're always busy doing something else."

It's true that you have been trying to meet her less, but there's a reason for that. After Marisa invited you to stay with her (you rejected her) her action has been more aggressively... touchy. Whenever it's just you two, she starts being more active in showing her affection: hand holding, hugging, palm reading (every time Marisa does the reading, your love line will always be with a certain blonde magician close to you with 'M' being the first letter of her name). The more that she does this, the more that you feel like –no, most likely- you'll fall for her. Before, you see Marisa as an adventurous, free-spirited girl, but now you see her more as a girl. Sooner or later, you'll cross a line where your friendship will end. So, you decide to distance more from Marisa, until you became more mature.

As you stay silent,