Mentioned Characters: Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, Mokou, Seiran

There's a sweet smell in the air. It's that time of year again. Reitaisai. Gensokyo's biggest yearly festival. It's a traditional event attended by humans, youkai, and gods alike. Where they gather, fun is sure to follow. It looks like there is plenty of fun to be had at this year's Reitaisai, too.

As I was exploring the rows of food stalls in front of Hakurei Shrine, I walked past the ever-elegant Sakuya, who seemed to be licking some kind of lollipop. Turning to where she had come from, I spied a stall selling the most delicious-looking candied apples. Unable to resist, I reached out to purchase one, only for a familiar girl dressed in black and white to grab my hand. "You want this candied apple, huh?" Marisa Kirisame flicked back her golden hair and gave me one of her mischievous grins. "What a coincidence. So do I." Knowing better than to argue with Marisa at times like this, I let her have the apple. Her grin turned into a radiant smile. "You're a true friend. C'mon, let's check out the rest of the festival together."

"Seems like something's going on over there." Turning to face where Marisa was pointing, I spotted Seiran holding a massive mallet. "Oh, it's the forest magician. Wanna have a go at my lottery?" "Before I say yes... what's with the big mallet? "It's for the prizes. Winners get some of my freshly pounded dango, and if you win the jackpot, you get something even better." "Hmmm, whaddya think?" It seemed kind of suspicious, but perhaps the festival had gotten to me, as I decided to have a go at Seiran's lottery with Marisa. "Tsk, no luck, huh?" Disappointed, I glanced over at Marisa's ticket to see big, bright-red letters written on it. "Oh!" "We have a jackpot! I'll go get your prize!"

From behind her stall, Seiran dragged out a dango bigger than she was. It was covered in a mysterious, dripping red liquid... "Yikes, I don't want anything to do with this." Completely taken aback, Marisa politely declined the prize, took my hand, and quickly ran away. "Where are you going?! Oh, this red stuff is just strawberries! It tastes much better than it looks!" Wanting to get as far away from the giant dango as possible, we ran in the direction of the festival stage, where the crowd was the thickest. "I think we lost her." Stopping to take a breath, we almost jumped out of our skin when something red and white suddenly appeared in front of us. "What are you two doing?"

"Right back at ya. Aren't you meant to be running this thing?" "It was a lot of work getting things ready, but now that it's started, I'm gonna enjoy it like everyone else." Responding to Marisa's question with a laugh, Reimu pulled out a stack of papers. "Speaking of, I made a Reitaisai catalog. Want one?" "Is that like your version of my grimoire...? Sure, I'll take one." Marisa glanced around as she took one of the leaflets. "So, why are there so many people gathered here?" "Oh, don't you know? It's―" Reimu's words got drowned out as intense music suddenly started playing. Looking up, I saw Mokou standing atop the stage, strumming a guitar. "I didn't know she could play guitar." "She's the headliner of today's show." Highlighting the truth of Reimu's words, the crowd erupted into cheers as Mokou grabbed the mic and shouted, "You ready?! I'm gonna play till the sun goes down!" Reitaisai was just getting started.