— — — — — —
The sunflower seeds from the Sunflower Field weren't anything particularly special.
Even with the care and attention of Kazami Yuuka—the Flower Master of the Four Seasons—they were just a bit more vibrant than normal, containing a trace of life energy that could slightly nourish the body when consumed.
But once certain quirky requirements from the Trait System were met, they offered something else entirely to Veyron.
[Your Trait Photosynthesis (White) has evolved.]
[Photosynthesis (White) → Photosynthesis (Green)]
[Your Trait is evolving…]
[Photosynthesis (Green)→ Photosynthesis (Blue)]
[Your Trait…]
[Photosynthesis (Blue) → Photosynthesis (Purple)]
...
"Okay, okay, that's enough for now. I can't eat another bite..."
After three rapid evolutions, his originally white Trait shot all the way up to purple. Veyron had almost cleared out the mountain of sunflower seeds in front of him.
Seeing Yuuka raise her hand to offer more, Veyron quickly stopped her.
Sure, getting a Trait evolution for free just by munching seeds felt amazing—but after eating what felt like an entire mountain of them, he now had something of a trauma just looking at them.
Besides, after reaching purple, even finishing off the rest of the seeds didn't give him that same feeling of progression.
He had a hunch—even if he devoured every last seed in the whole field, it still wouldn't be enough to evolve the trait again.
"Are you really human? Not some kind of plant spirit or nature elemental in disguise?"
Yuuka held her parasol over Veyron's head, then moved it away, as if sensing how efficiently he was absorbing sunlight and turning it into nutrients.
"...Of all things, I can at least be sure about that."
Veyron nodded firmly.
"Hmph, fine."
Yuuka, a bit disappointed, rested the parasol back on her shoulder. So, you're heading off?"
"You know how I got here—I should probably head back and check in before people at home start freaking out."
...Wait. Why does this feel oddly familiar?
After a pause, Veyron asked, "We're still in Japan, right?"
"Mhm. Western region."
"Then I'm not that far from home."
He wasn't exactly up to date with how the various powers were distributed across Japan in this world—especially since this was the Touhou Project universe, where you couldn't just apply historical knowledge directly.
Still, he had a general sense of the land's scale.
"How about this—once I check in and make sure things are fine back home, if I've got time... I'll come back and visit y... Uh, visit you, I guess?"
He originally meant to say he'd come back to see Yuuka, but after second thought, their relationship wasn't really at that level yet, so he shifted mid-sentence—redirecting his gaze to a familiar sunflower instead.
"La~ la~ la~"
The sunflower swayed happily with its fellow blooms, though it was hard to say if it actually understood what Veyron meant.
Veyron: "..."
"These kids are just a bit more spiritual than flowers on the outside. They can't really grasp complex stuff like that."
Yuuka smiled as her slender fingers brushed across the sunflower's face. "But if you've got time, coming back to sunbathe with them would be nice too."
"Deal."
Reaching out, Veyron gently shook one of the sunflower's leaves like a handshake, then turned to leave.
As he walked down the path the sunflowers bent away to create for him, he gradually made his way out of the sunflower field.
---
A few moments later—
Yuuka watched Veyron's figure disappear into the distance, then suddenly lifted her parasol upward.
The tip of the parasol stabbed precisely into a rift that had just torn open in midair.
"Ow ow ow~!"
Another spatial gap opened right in front of her, and from it emerged a woman with long golden hair, amethyst eyes, a purple outer robe, and a Western-style dress underneath.
The moment she stepped out, she rubbed a red dot on her forehead and scowled at Yuuka. "Yuuka-chan! Could you please be more careful? If I hadn't dodged just now, you could've stabbed me right in the eye!"
"Oh really? That's too bad. I should've moved faster."
"Hey!"
The blonde woman stomped her foot. "We've been besties since forever—grew up together, helped each other out—and this is how you treat me? One more stunt like that and I swear I won't talk to you for the next thousand years!"
"Sounds like a win to me. Want to shake on it?"
"...Ahem."
Realizing that she still needed Yuuka's power for her plan, the golden-haired woman—none other than Yakumo Yukari—quickly changed the topic. "You know, in all these years I've never realized just how spiritual your 'kids' were."
"I mean, they were actively trying to make someone stay and even handed out gifts?"
Yuuka closed her eyes and said nothing.
"Hmm… Could it be because I've never stepped on them before?"
Yukari pulled out a lacy folding fan from her gap and tapped it thoughtfully against her chin.
She then bent down toward the sunflower. "Ah, I see! So you prefer a little rough play, huh? Well then—just a quick question: do you like it more when I step on you with shoes, barefoot, or just socks? And if socks, any preference on the style?"
BOOM—!!!
A giant magical beam shot straight out from the sunflower's face, narrowly scratching Yukari's nose and streaking across the sky.
"Are you done yet, Yukari Yakumo?"
Yuuka's voice was heavy with annoyance. "If you have something to say, then say it. If not, stop getting in the way."
"Alright, alright, I'll get serious."
Now that all the sunflowers had turned their faces toward her, Yukari dropped the act. "Remember that thing I mentioned before? I'm hoping this time you'll actually consider it seriously."
"You've been called a 'Yokai Sage' for so long, you really started believing your own hype?"
Yuuka opened her eyes and frowned. "You and I weren't born from fear like the other yokai. Even if this so-called new era arrives, how's it going to affect us? Why go that far for idiots who don't even care about their own kind?"
"Which is why I have a plan. I'm going to use that guy's power to trim some of the dead weight first."
Yukari pointed toward the moon up in the sky, then gestured in the direction Veyron had left. "At first, I just sensed a powerful slash that could hurt even a Great Yokai, so I took a closer look. Turns out he's a hidden gem. If we can get him on our side, it'll boost the plan's success rate by at least 30%!"
"So your way of recruiting him... was to throw him at me and hope I'd kill him?"
"Come on~ You know the saying—'you don't truly know someone until you've fought them.'"
Yukari snapped open her fan, hiding the lower half of her face. Her eyes gleamed with mischief. "Honestly, if you had gone all out, I might've had to step in and fight you myself."
"Heh..."
Yuuka's lips twitched as she turned and walked toward the house in the center of the flower field.
"Huh?"
Yukari blinked in confusion. "Wait, aren't you supposed to say something like 'Then let's fight right now'?"
Yuuka didn't even look back as she said. "You've spent so many years scheming and calculating everything..."
"I'd rather wait to hear about how it all blows up in your face."
.
.
.