Glistening Summer Days

A sunny day sometime in August in the Garden of the Sun. Summer is hot―everybody knows that. But summer is also beautiful―not so many know that. The bright blue sky soared above. Sunflowers stretched up to the sun with glee. Splashes of water leaped up and twinkled in the light. Butterflies danced with grace, flapping this way and that. Soft gusts of wind blew and sent music through the trees. Summer days like these melt all of one's troubles away. As such, a certain youkai could be found, doing something she wouldn't normally do.

Wriggle Nightbug is a firefly youkai who suffers in the cold. However, since fireflies are summer insects, she has no trouble in its ferocious heat. She's often seen hovering in the night sky, but today, she's playing under the sun. After defeating the swallowtail butterfly fairy, Cirno declared summer to be her own. Capable of manipulating ice, she does tend to struggle in the heat, but today, she's off to play with a straw hat on her head and a popsicle in her hand. Despite the fierce summer sun, she's full of energy.

This summer, Gensokyo was struck by a terrible heat wave and was hotter than ever. There was once an incident that disrupted the four seasons and smothered some parts of Gensokyo... but this time around, it was unclear if someone was up to no good or if this was all part of nature's plan. However, considering how the shrine maiden and the magician played in the sun and cooled off indoors while waiting for autumn's arrival, it seems there was no great incident to be resolved. Apparently, there's another world where Gensokyo is in the midst of a never-ending summer. Perhaps the Wriggle and Cirno of that Gensokyo see glorious summer days like today as nothing out of the ordinary. Or maybe not...

Beneath the crystal blue sky, cool water sprinkled down on sunflowers in bloom. Perhaps spurred on by the beauty of the summer day, Wriggle was busy watering all the flowers, a joyful grin on her face. Nearby swallowtail butterflies swooped under the droplets and cooled themselves off with a pattering of their wings. But suddenly, Wriggle felt droplets of water slashing on her head."Is it raining? But it was such a nice day!" she exclaimed. Starting to feel like one of the flowers she was watering, she looked up to see Cirno flying above her through the bright blue sky.

Munching away on her popsicle, Cirno called down to Wriggle, "Hey, whatcha doing?" The frosty air around her turned to water droplets in the heat, which were raining down and dampening the ground below her. "All the flowers are in bloom, so I thought I'd water them," replied Wriggle with a giggle. She adored the beauty of nighttime but was amazed at just how pretty the daytime could be too. "I see... Well, be sure not to get a sunburn!" chuckled Cirno. The two may not be the closest friends, but their conversation bloomed like the sunflowers around them. Even the butterflies seemed to enjoy listening in as they flapped their delicate wings a little livelier than before.