Spring arrived the following year. It was 2005.
Reimu held Chris as they looked at the trees in bloom.
She took a deep breath. "It's spring. It's peaceful… nothing can go wrong."
Then she heard the sound of a broom. Landing from it was Marisa.
Reimu took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Well, there goes the peace."
Chris looked at her, confused.
Marisa laughed at her reaction.
"Relax, ze. I just came to see if you wanted to go out and enjoy spring."
Reimu blinked.
"There's no incident going on?"
Marisa shrugged, resting her broom on her shoulder.
"Nope. No youkai going wild, no weird skies, no moon acting funny."
Reimu narrowed her eyes.
"…That makes me more nervous."
Chris shifted in her arms, looking between them.
"Spring… is bad?"
Reimu's expression softened.
"No. Spring is good."
She glanced at the blooming trees again.
"It's just… when things stay too peaceful in Gensokyo, it usually means something is waiting to happen."
Marisa grinned.
"See? That's why I came. Figured we could enjoy it before everything goes wrong."
She kicked off the ground, hovering slightly.
"C'mon. The flowers are blooming all over. Even the ones that shouldn't be."
Reimu paused.
"…The ones that shouldn't be?"
Marisa's grin widened just a little.
"Yeah. Thought you might wanna see that."
Chris tugged lightly at Reimu's sleeve.
"Flowers… pretty."
Reimu sighed, then adjusted her grip on him.
"Alright. Just a look."
She stepped forward, the shrine gates creaking as they passed through.
The air was warm.
The sky was clear.
And as they moved away from the Hakurei Shrine, the wind carried petals—far too many of them.
Reimu frowned.
'…Spring's definitely wrong.'
Reimu looked at her as she spoke, as she grabbed Chris. "So, are we the only ones, enjoy today?".
Marisa looked at her as she spoke. "Nah, I saw Sakuya and Youmu fly by, Mystia was singing, Chirno was being Chirno, Reisen was in the human Village, and the Prismriver sister doing her Music thing, also a tengu".
Reimu stopped walking.
"…A tengu?"
Marisa nodded.
"Yeah. Camera, notebook, the whole deal. Didn't stop to chat though."
Reimu clicked her tongue.
"Of course, Aya's already sniffing around."
Chris looked up.
"Lots of people… happy?"
Marisa laughed.
"Pretty much. It's like everyone decided today was a festival."
Reimu scanned the horizon. The fields ahead were overflowing with colour—flowers layered over flowers, blooming where grass should've been.
"…That's not normal," she said.
They reached a small hill overlooking the plains, and Reimu finally froze.
The land below was buried in blossoms. Red, white, purple—flowers from every season, all at once.
Marisa let out a low whistle.
"Yeah… that."
Chris stared, eyes wide.
"Whoa…"
He reached out slightly, and a few petals drifted toward him, hovering for a moment before falling.
Reimu tightened her hold on him.
"This isn't just spring."
She exhaled slowly.
"This is life running wild."
Marisa tilted her head.
"Think it's an incident?"
Reimu didn't answer right away.
In the distance, figures were already moving—familiar silhouettes flying low over the sea of flowers.
"…Yeah," she said at last.
"And knowing Gensokyo, everyone's enjoying it before they start fighting over who caused it."
Chris leaned his head against her chest.
'…Flowers feel loud,' he thought.
The wind picked up again, carrying pollen, petals—and the quiet warning that peace in Gensokyo never lasted.
They made it to the Human Village by noon.
The streets were lively—too lively. Flower petals drifted through the air like snow, settling on rooftops, stalls, and people who barely seemed to notice how strange that was.
Near the edge of the village, Reimu spotted two familiar figures.
"Sakuya. Youmu."
Both turned at the same time.
Sakuya gave a polite bow, hands folded neatly in front of her.
"You look well, Hakurei Shrine Maiden."
Youmu nodded quickly.
"Good afternoon, Reimu."
Chris peeked out from Reimu's arms, eyes lighting up.
"Youmu!"
She softened immediately.
"Ah—hello, Chris."
Reimu then noticed the girl standing with them, wearing shrine maiden clothes that definitely weren't Hakurei-style.
"Sanae?" Reimu said, surprised. "We haven't seen you since the Scarlet Mist incident."
Sanae waved with an easy smile.
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
She scratched the back of her head.
"The last couple of incidents didn't really affect my gods, so I stayed out of it. And…"
She glanced at Youmu.
"I've been hanging out with her a lot."
Youmu looked slightly embarrassed but didn't deny it.
Marisa crossed her arms.
"So you just skipped the chaos?"
Sanae laughed.
"More like watched it from a safe distance."
Reimu's eyes narrowed as she looked around.
"So… you've all noticed the flowers too."
Sakuya nodded.
"They began appearing early this morning. Not just in spring areas—everywhere."
Youmu added,
"The Netherworld is the same. Yuyuko-sama is very pleased."
Reimu sighed.
"Of course she is."
Chris looked between them.
"Is… this bad?"
Reimu adjusted her grip on him.
"Not yet."
She looked at the endless petals drifting through the village streets.
"But when Gensokyo gets this pretty all at once," she continued,
"it usually means something's about to go very wrong."
Sakuya's gaze sharpened.
"If this is an incident, we should investigate before it spreads further."
Marisa grinned.
"Guess that means a spring sightseeing tour just turned into work."
Reimu glanced at the group, then at Chris.
"…Looks like it," she said.
Sakuya looked up as another cluster of petals drifted past.
"Even though I said we should investigate, Lady Patchouli has already examined the flowers—and the surrounding youkai energy."
She adjusted her gloves.
"There's nothing abnormal. No corruption. No hostile influence."
Reimu frowned.
"So the flowers themselves aren't the problem."
Marisa thought for a moment, then shrugged.
"Then it's probably the fairies overdoing it again."
Right on cue, a loud laugh echoed overhead.
"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?!"
Cirno zipped past, trailing petals behind her before stopping midair and pointing accusingly at Marisa.
"We didn't do anything weird!"
Mystia landed nearby, wings fluttering.
"Well… not that weird."
[Insert image of Mystia]
Sanae blinked.
"So if it's not an incident, and not the fairies…"
Youmu hesitated.
"Then why is spring this intense?"
Chris tugged gently at Reimu's sleeve.
"…It feels loud."
Everyone looked at him.
Reimu tilted her head.
"Loud?"
Chris nodded, searching for the words.
"Not noise. Like… the world is talking too much."
Ran's earlier explanation echoed in Reimu's mind.
Spirit Bond.
Sakuya's expression sharpened.
"That would imply the land itself is responding to something."
Marisa smirked.
"Which means we've got a mystery without a culprit. Those are always fun."
Reimu sighed, already feeling a headache coming on.
"Great. A peaceful incident."
The petals kept falling, thicker than before, as if spring itself was refusing to calm down.
After a while, they ran into the Prismriver sisters near an open field, music drifting lazily through the air.
Lunasa gave a polite nod.
Lyrica was already floating closer.
Merlin gasped the moment she saw Chris.
"Oh my gosh, he's even cuter up close!"
Before all three could reach him, Reimu shifted Chris to her other side in one smooth motion.
"Nope. Hands off."
"Aww—" Merlin whined.
Lyrica pouted.
"We just wanted to pinch his cheeks a little."
Reimu shot them a flat look.
"You already tried that last time."
Chris peeked out from behind Reimu's sleeve, eyes wide and curious.
Merlin leaned down anyway, grinning.
"He's shy too! That makes it worse!"
Marisa laughed.
"Reimu's running a full anti-cheek-pinching barrier."
Reimu muttered,
"I should charge admission at this point."
The Prismrivers laughed, their instruments drifting back into position as soft music filled the field again.
No danmaku.
No crisis.
Just spring being spring.
And for once, Gensokyo was content to let it stay that way.
To be continued
Hope people like this ch and give me power stones and enjoy and happy new years everyone