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"We're descending towards the Hakurei Shrine," Sumireko says aloud (even though no one's listening) as she soars through the air, preparing to land in front of the aforementioned shrine on this bright and sunny morning. "Thank you for taking Flight Sumireko!"
No, she's not here just for fun. She has an ulterior motive in mind!
Strangers. Though she's interacted with the denizens of this strange and mysterious land known as Gensokyo during a couple of the incidents previously, she still feels like Reimu and her are kind of strangers to each other. Maybe acquaintances at best. That shrine maiden just has a knack for being aloof and distant, making Sumireko doubt if that girl truly appreciates her presence or if she's just tolerating her. Which is unfortunate.
To become closer friends with the shrine maiden, she has visit more often! She needs to bring presents, do things together, the usual kind of thing friends do. That sort of thing!
Love, maybe, even? Sumireko chuckles to herself. Nahhh. For some reason she feels like Reimu is way out of her league. And is that girl even interested in romance? Somehow, the shrine maiden just doesn't give off that vibe.
You know, it never hurts to ask. But knowing Reimu, even just asking her might get her put on some kind of "dislike this person" list or something. She wouldn't want to get on her bad side.
Know what? Sumireko is really tempted to ask now, because she's curious. Well, Sumireko could always drop subtle cues here and there to see if Reimu reciprocates, but that would take too long, and Sumireko's never been one for subtlety.
The thing is, Reimu isn't even really her type. Maybe Sumireko just wants to know out of curiosity about what the girl thinks of her, rather than an actual desire to date the girl. Well whatever.
"Rules," says the shrine maiden, rolling her eyes as soon as she makes eye contact Sumireko, and immediately hopping into a battle-ready stance. "Close quarters? Long range? First-to-three? First-to-five? Well, what will it be?"
And… the girl immediately treats her as an aggressor! Well, Spell Cards Battles are pretty trendy in this place after all. But Sumireko's not really in the mood for battling this early in the morning. So she just shakes her head, holding up her hands to reveal that her hands are empty.
"So… do you immediately challenge anyone you see to a Spell Card battle?" asks Sumireko, smirking. "Or am I just special like that?"
"Do you have any business here?" Reimu relaxes marginally, putting her Spell Cards away, but she's still eying Sumireko with a certain level of wariness.
"I can't just show up and visit a good friend… pal… buddy?" asks Sumireko, waving her arms. "I just wanna hang out! Come on, I'm great to have around!"
A moment of silence.
"Full of yourself, aren't you?" asks Reimu, her eyes narrowing. "Isn't it a weekday? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Commitment's already satisfied!" says Sumireko, spreading her arms. "I showed up to class, that's enough, isn't it? I mean, the stuff we learn is pretty easy after all. And I sit near the back of the class, so no one's gonna notice if I doze off for a while, right?" She winks. "Come on. I just wanna visit you! You don't have a phone, so I can't DM you like other people in my world. So I have to come visit in person."
"What the heck…" Reimu lets out a sigh. She eyes Sumireko warily, but then shrugs, picking up her broom and waving her in. "I mean, I'm not doing anything today. So whatever."
"I'm so happy!" cheers Sumireko. She was afraid for a moment that Reimu was just going to shoo her away. Phew! What a relief.
Thinking about it more, there's really no need to overthink things. Reimu's a pretty chill person, all things considered. Sumireko feels like she could bother her a bit, and even if the girl puts up a front of being annoyed, maybe she actually enjoys having people around?
Of course, since they don't really have technology here in Gensokyo, Sumireko decides to share some of the latest dank memes from the outside world. "Hey Reimu-cchi, check this out," she says, picking up her phone and opening up one of the videos that she has saved (since there's no internet here.)
"NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOWN NEVER GONNA RUN AROUND AND DESERT YOU!!" Sumireko wheezes with laughter, clutching her belly. She's laughing so hard that she's having trouble breathing. "Haha… GOT YOU!" She drops to the floor, dissolving in a fit of hysterical giggles.
"What the heck?..." says Reimu, looking perplexed and also annoyed. "Sumireko, stop blasting that music so loudly, it's too early for this!!"