Now that you've finished cooking, you've got to wake up Keine. You walk back to the room where she was sleeping. You see that the house is brighter now. The curtains have been opened around the house. It seems that Keine woke up in the while it took you to cook the omelettes. She's fixing the spot where you slept last night, moving the chair back to its correct position.

“Yo! Good morning!” You greet her.
“Good morning Shirou.” She greets you back. She turns to you after moving the chair back. “I woke up a while ago and saw you in the kitchen. I was going to ask you if you needed any help, but you looked so concentrated that I decided to leave you alone.” She says giggling a bit.

It looks like she slept really well. You can't detect any signs of a hangover and her bright expression makes you feel relaxed.

“I made enough for the both of us. Would you like to eat with me?” You ask her.
“Sure, that'd be great. Let me set the table and let's eat together.”

The two of you work together and set the table. You bring your dishes and place one at each place. You sit down and Keine follows suit.

“Omelette à la Emiya.” You indicate, pointing at the fluffy yellow mass. “It's been a while since I've last made them, so please don't expect to much.”
“I'm sure they're fine.” She reassures you, and cuts a small piece of the omelette.

You watch as she brings the small piece to her mouth. She doesn't hesitate at all as she eats it. You look at her anxiously, awaiting her verdict.

“These are really good!” She exclaims. A happy expression forms on her face and you think that she's telling the truth.
“Really?”
“Yes really! You were praising me last night about my culinary skills but it turns out that I'm nothing compared to you!” She eagerly cuts another piece and eats it. “Really now! I have never had such a good breakfast before! Really this ambiguously spicy flavor and the way that the stuffing is deliciously crispy is great.”
“Ah yes, it requires a lot of work on my part though. I had to concentrate so everything was optimal.”
“I can tell, I saw you transfixed by the stove and it convinced me to not interfere.”

You cut a piece of your own omelette. You chew on it and taste the familiar spicy flavor of your recipe. It's not too bold of a flavor but it does leave certain aromatic traces. It's not 'hot', per se, like tabasco sauce would be, put the flavor nips at the tip of your tongue and invites you to eat as much as possible. Oh man the ham is good. The local pigs must be special or something, because you taste a very delicious smoky flavor with every bite. In your opinion this omelette isn't as tasty as Keine's cooking, but maybe that's because you've grown accustomed to it.

“Well, I'm glad that you enjoy it.” You add, smiling at her. “It makes the effort worth it. I put a lot of myself into making this.”
“See? That's what I was talking about yesterday! It's about the feelings that you put into making it that makes it special.”

You cheerfully continue to eat your breakfast, content that she is enjoying your cooking. The two of you stay mostly silent as you both eat your meals. Your stomach thanks you as it's filled with sustenance. It's quite filling. You feel like you have enough energy to get you through the rest of the day now.

“Say, Shirou.” Keine pipes in after a prolonged period of silence. “You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, but I must warn you that in an hour or so I've got to go to the school. I have to be there before class starts. I don't know what your plans may be, but please take that into consideration.”
“No problem, I didn't plan on loitering here all day. I've got things to do today.” You say. And it's true, you've got to speak with Kaguya and finalize your job and after that treat the miko to a steak. Oh and Alice said that she wanted to see you after you decided what you were going to do as well. So there's that possibility.

This moment seems to be a good opportunity to ask her about the things that you've been putting off. There's plenty of time. The trick is prioritizing the order in which you bring up the topics. You don't want her being distracted or annoyed by one of your questions and therefore compromising the rest of them.

[] Ask her if you could take a bath somewhere
[] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[] Try to find out how you can get money – fast
[] Ask her what was the deal with those villagers this morning
[] Take it easy
----------
Ahh - spent too much time describing the cooking. It only made me really hungry. Well, vote away as this phase reaches its end today. The wheels of destiny are already in motion.

Oh and make sure you read up on the sidestories, I should update more soon.

[x] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[x] Try to find out how you can get money – fast

Priority #1: Your job in this world.
Priority #2: Making sure Reimu doesn't kick our ass.

>>7332
>[] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher

She's not going to give you the confirmation you need if she doesn't know you need an answer immediately; she fell asleep while you were trying to tell her last night, remember?

[x] Ask for her advice on Kaguya's task.

[] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[] Try to find out how you can get money – fast
[] Take it easy

[+] Try to find out how you can get money – fast
[+] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
In order of priority.

[x] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[x] Try to find out how you can get money – fast

[] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[] Try to find out how you can get money – fast

[] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[] Try to find out how you can get money – fast

[x] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[x] Try to find out how you can get money – fast

[x] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher
[x] Try to find out how you can get money – fast

Results are pretty obvious. I'll start writing in an hour or so.

[x] Comment about the possibility of you becoming a teacher

The first topic that you try to bring up is the possibility of becoming a teacher.

“Keine, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. I couldn't bring it up yesterday properly.” You say after you finish the last of your eggs.
“Sure, go right ahead, I've got time.”
“Well, I'm not sure how to put this, so I'll just say it directly. I heard that there might be an opening for a substitute teacher at the school – and I'm interested in fulfilling it.”
“Ehh – really?” Keine asks, with obvious surprise in her voice.
“Is it a problem for me to want to?”
“No, it's not that. Let me see...” She organizes her thoughts for a moment, or so it would appear to you. “I've been busy lately since our other regular school teacher has been away. But I hadn't thought that anyone else might be interested in replacing her, so it came as a bit of a surprise. I'm managing well, but I haven't thought of the future.”
“So is that a yes? A no? A maybe?” You ask, trying to get what she's trying to say.
“Well, I really hadn't thought about it. Anything that eases my workload and helps the children is welcome in my book.”
“So it's at the very least a maybe?”
“I would have to ask you a bunch of questions though. I couldn't just let anyone do the classes.”

The way she says 'anyone' hurts your feelings a bit. Well, you guess that she doesn't really see you as the teaching type. Maybe she just sees you as some oaf that likes to waltz inside classrooms and act all high and mighty. You frown a bit.

“Ah, well, don't take it personally Shirou.” She says, seeing your displeasure. “I just meant that I have to know your intentions first. I don't doubt that if you really want to do it that you're more than qualified.”

Her apologetic tone soothes you a bit, but it's still not enough to make you feel wholly better.

“Oh and it goes without saying that the job doesn't pay that well. I'm afraid that we've barely got enough money to afford chalk. So if you're in it for the money, I recommend you look for something else to do.” She says as if talking to herself.
“I'm not really interested in the money.” You say. You had come to grips with the fact that any of your activities would not really net much of a financial profit. Any reward that you got would be likely in the form of personal growth and self-gratification. Yes, not that cool, but you're sure that you weren't assigned your task in order to build a multinational corporation.
“Oh that's good to hear then. So tell me Shirou, why do you want to do this anyways. Mind that the reason for wanting to teach is probably more important than your actual skills. You have to have a passion, a calling for it.”

A passion, eh?

You want to teach because:

[] There's this damn quest you were given (explain)
[] To be closer to Keine and help her out
[] You love small children
[] Mokou told you that you had the demeanor and presence of a teacher
[] You've learned a great deal with Eirin, and you feel that you can put that knowledge to good use by teaching
[] You're on a quest to make sure that every kid knows how to dance as well as they can do arithmetic
[] lol, dongs (aka write-in)
---------
Oh hay, I changed my mind and wrote sooner. The other choice (asking for money) has been added to the question quene and will be asked after you resolve this issue one way or another. Feel free to choose as many from the above, but keep in mind that some of the reasons are naturally incompatable or seem to contradict each other somewhat. So less = more at times.

[X] You love small children

And not in THAT way, you sick bastards.
Seriously, this is one of the most important things for a prospective teacher. A love of learning in general, or a passion for the subject matter is great, but if you can't stand the very people you're doing this all for those other things are basically meaningless.
As a follow-up, though...

[X] Briefly explain how you've learned a great deal from Eirin, how you've realized your love of learning as a result, and how you would like to pass on that knowledge and love of learning onto others.

{X} Briefly explain how you've learned a great deal from Eirin, how you've realized your love of learning as a result, and how you would like to pass on that knowledge and love of learning onto others.
works

[B] There's this damn quest you were given that means filling your own niche in this world, and this might be your calling, because...
[A] ...you've learned a great deal with Eirin, and you feel that you can put that knowledge to good use by teaching, but aside from that, you want...
[M] ...to be closer to Keine and help her out.

[+] You love small children
[+] Mokou told you that you had the demeanor and presence of a teacher
[+] You've learned a great deal with Eirin, and you feel that you can put that knowledge to good use by teaching
[+] You are also a little enthusiastic about the idea of bringing some of the teaching standards up to date with the modern world outside

[x] You love small children
[x] Mokou told you that you had the demeanor and presence of a teacher
[x] You've learned a great deal with Eirin, and you feel that you can put that knowledge to good use by teaching
[x] You're on a quest to make sure that every kid knows how to dance as well as they can do arithmetic

"I love small children" < "I love kids"

Ok, so now in addition to pimping every single fucking girl in Gensokyo, we spent a day with Keine acting like cheery newleyweds.
I can't say this is bad, but......
What about the time when Alice discovers we were lying, Aya will discover we were just sextually harassing her for fun, and in short-
We'll be torn to shreds.

Yay Shirou.

P.S- I think it's a time to offer a pray to the booze god. We neglected him for too long.

[x] You love small children

The Nice Boat End is coming closer now.

Well as always anon proves himself to be decisive. The votes agree on enough common points to be seperated into two camps. (Not) surprisingly almost all of them include in one way or another the 'cute not pedo' sentiment. Or maybe it's the other way around. Only some of you clarify what you mean by that.

Anyways vote it up and choose carefully. Sometimes overexplanaition can be a bad thing, despite good intentions, so just focus for what you feel is important.

>>7346
>>7351
>>7353
The picture is for you.

>>7352
One thing I've got to admit is that it really *was* a nice boat they showed. I'd explore the fjords on it, if you know what I mean.

tl;dr vote moar

[x] There's this damn quest you were given
-you should be honest, Keine should at least be a close friend by now now, and if you can tell a miko you barely now, why not Keine?

[x] There's this damn quest you were given
[x] Mokou told you that you had the demeanor and presence of a teacher

{X} Briefly explain how you've learned a great deal from Eirin, how you've realized your love of learning as a result, and how you would like to pass on that knowledge and love of learning onto others.

{X} Briefly explain how you've learned a great deal from Eirin, how you've realized your love of learning as a result, and how you would like to pass on that knowledge and love of learning onto others.

And yes, we should make another offering to the booze god soon. We should remember to ask him which woman he thinks we should focus on, if only for the lulz.

>>7352
And then, when we meet Komachi, we can hit on her while taking a ride on her NICE BOAT.

Judging by Shirou's general lack of redeeming qualities, the ride will be a long one.

inb4ifyouknowwhatimean

Writing soonish.
>>7352
>>7367
The booze god is indeed wise. You could ask anything from which girl is the best to how to fit 20 fratboys into a volkswagon and he'd have a satisfactory answer. Plus, drunkedness and being awesome while under the influence merits rewards.

[x] Briefly explain how you've learned a great deal from Eirin, how you've realized your love of learning as a result, and how you would like to pass on that knowledge and love of learning onto others.

One of the many potential answer sticks out in your mind. You figure that it's good enough to satisfy her.

“I don't know if this counts as being passionate,” You begin to say. “but lately I've learned a great deal myself. I undertook several lessons with Eirin and, according to her, I'm good enough to be a university graduate. But that's not all!” You continue in the same breath. “I realized that knowledge is meant for sharing with others and a I developed deep desire within me to share that knowledge and pass on this feeling. I feel that everyone should get a chance to learn.” Ah theres, one more thing that you want to tell her. “Plus, you know, I love small children.”
“Eh?” Keine says surprised. It looks like that last comment caught her off guard.
“Oh, I just meant that I like working with them.” You try to clarify. “They're energetic, innocent, and eager. It's satisfying to teach them about the world and see how their eyes sparkle as they learn.”

...

That still sort of sounded creepy you think. But your tone of voice and facial expression hopefully made Keine understand what you meant. Oh please let her have understood your intention. You don't think the could be a worse outcome than Keine thinking you want to do it because you're a pedo and kicking you out of here. You hold your breath, waiting for her reply.

“I see.” She finally says after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “I guess those are as good a reason as any. It is definitely a benefit if you are at the level of those lunarians. It single-handedly guarantees that you're academically qualified to teach. As for your motivation.” She looks into your eyes. “While phrased a bit awkwardly, I think I know what you mean. And I think that your heart is in the right place.”
“So does that mean that I can?”
“Well, I think so. Since it's a temporary position I don't think I need to talk to the parents. When do you want to start anyways?”
“As soon as possible. The sooner that I can make myself useful the better.”
“Well, the soonest you could begin would be tomorrow. I would have to draw up a lesson plan for you, but I'm sure you'd do fine. I would think that Eirin taught you well enough so that you could deal with this simple a level of mathematics.” Keine tells you with a smile on her face. It looks like she enjoys the idea somewhat as well.
“Just one thing.” You say, remembering your previous encounters. “Could I give you my definite answer later today? I have to confirm that I want to do this with someone else.”
“Well, that's fine.” The schoolteacher says looking a bit pensive. “I guess it's only natural that you would have to sort out your commitments first. Very well, I'll wait for your answer later today.”

Alright. You pretty much resolved this matter. There would be no major problems with you becoming a teacher at the human village. Now it's time to ask the other question that's been worrying you for a while now.

“Say Keine, there's another thing I've been meaning to ask you. It's completely unrelated of course.”
“Go right ahead.” She says, leaning back on her chair a bit.
“Well, I need to get some money. Fast.” You say it bluntly. “In fact, I need to get money before one o'clock today.”
“Money? Whatever for?”
“Let's just say that I'll be in a squeeze if I fail to show up with money.”
“I'm afraid I don't understand the situation. What's wrong? Is the BWM hazing you? If so, I'll tell them to stop. The tavernmaster will listen to me.”
“Ah, thanks. But that's not it unfortunately.”
“Then what else would you need money for?”

You don't know if you should tell her. There's a voice in the back of your head telling you to conceal this from her. But to be fair, the only time that you heard this same voice in the past was when you didn't know which flavor of donut to get. Is it really a bad thing to be treating the miko to a steak?

[] Tell Keine the truth, she'll understand
[] Tell Keine a 'slight' distortion; You're being coerced
[] Lie; Tell Keine that you need it in order to buy equipment for a religious ritual
[] Don't tell her, but insist on help
[] Drop the subject, nothing good can come of this

[x] Tell Keine the truth, she'll understand
[x] "Think of it as an advance."

awesome.jpg

[X] Take a deep breath.
[X] "Well basically it all started because I have been given this task by Kaguya because some people I don't know want me to do something but I don't know what and I wanted to get more information on who it could be so I went to ask Reimu about the big players in Gensokyo and she agreed to tell me on the condition that I buy her lunch tomorrow and I really needed to know but I forgot I didn't really have much money and so I agreed anyway and now she's expecting me to deliver on my end of the bargain and if I don't I'm afraid of what's going to happen to me and oh god I'm too young to die."
[X] "That's it. Basically."

[x] Tell Keine the truth, she'll understand

"Hey, Keina. I need some money to take Reimu out to a steak dinner if you know what I mean."

[+] "Because if I don't buy Reimu a steak dinner today, she'll have my balls on a silver platter."

>>7374
>>7372
Guys, I love write-ins, really. You guys think of things that are (most of the time) awesome. But it's just hard to get a majority if everyone does their own thing. It's much easier for everyone involved if you vote for an option and add your general sentiment (or perhaps that phrase). I try to place my options as general 'guidelines' for the most obvious options in the scenario, so unless your idea is really out there (Which is at times amazing), you should be sticking to one of them. If enough people want what you wrote I write it in the text anyways. I try to be as inclusive as possible given the circumstances.

tl;dr vote as you please - but don't scatter the votes everywhere, it takes forever to get enough votes.

>>7375
7372, here. Fine, fine. If it helps any, just regard my write-in as a vote for:

[X] Tell Keine the truth, she'll understand

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Sure, there's that little voice telling us it's a bad idea, but I know that little fucker was dead-wrong when he wanted me to get that bear claw.

Besides, Reimu has a reputation.
...in more ways than one.

There shouldn't be any reason to think anything inappropriate is going on between us. We merely wanted information, and she seemed to be the best person to go to for it, since she has personally dealt with all the big names in Gensokyo at one point or another.
Considering her financial status and the generally poor diet she's bound to have as a result, it should be hardly surprising that she would take any chance she could get for a good free meal. And what better opportunity for such a chance than asking for it in exchange for giving some information?

Despite our smarts in some regards, and our skills in the OH-SO-MANLY arts of cooking and sewing, it should be clear to even Keine that when it comes to dealing with people we're dumber than a bag of hammers, and thus most likely did not agree to treat Reimu for anything other than the most blatantly-obvious reason of wanting information.

Honestly, I don't see why Keine would have a problem with this. If it's to do with our paying for a nice meal with Reimu, I would think it would be obvious that a purchased meal from a restaurant is NOTHING compared to a home-cooked meal.
Sharing your wallet could never hope to match sharing your heart. Unless you're Reimu, I suppose.

>>7375, >>7374 here.
If it's that problematic, count my vote as
[+] Tell Keine the truth, she'll understand
but with the intent of actually saying
[+] "Because if I don't buy Reimu a steak dinner today, she'll have my balls on a silver platter."
to begin with, and expanding on that with the full story when she inquires further.

[x] Tell Keine the truth, she'll understand

Telling the truth is the best policy. Always. Dissenting voices be damned. It's probably best to purge that voice before it gets any more influence. You'll be dealt with, comrade... later.

“Well, I kinda need to treat Reimu to steak for lunch today – or she'll have my balls.” You put it succinctly.
Keine noticeably cringes with your coarse word choice. But she still articulates a reply. “That's, uhh, certainly quite the predicament.”
“Well, I had to agree to it.” You say, making sure she hears the whole story before she judges you. “I needed some information about a group that's been messing around with me and she seemed like the best person to ask.. And, uh well, she got me good. She only agreed to help me after I promised to treat her to 'the best steaks'. It's apparently a place in the center of town. And well, I don't really have any money to speak of. And I'm running out of time, and I'm desperate. And oh god, she's going to kill me. She almost did so once. Luckily that oni came out of nowhere and saved me. Oh, and that time she killed me with her balls for accidentally walking in on her. Despite her cute looks, she's scary. Like staring at death itself. I know I'm in for pain if I don't have enough money. And the joint looks expensive. Oh god. What am I gonna do?!”

You cradle your head with you hands and start rocking back and forth in your chair. The fact is that you have around six hours or so and you're no where near getting a single yen. At this rate you're going to be annihilated by her. Wait – maybe she'll go easy on you if you steal a cow from somewhere. Yeah! That'll do it in a pinch, you can just claim that it's tastier and offer to butcher the cow for her. Plus, she can have all that she wants. Much better than a single lousy steak.

“Umm... Shirou?” Keine's voice snaps you out of your little runaway fantasy world. “I get it. There's no need to panic. It was the only way you felt that you could get information. It's okay.” She reassures you with her gentle voice. It seems to you that she's using her 'teacher's voice' with you.
“...You do?” You say, removing your hands from your head and looking at her.
“Yes. And well, I'm afraid that I don't know any way for you to get money quickly.”
“I'm doomed then.”
“No, not really. It may not be much, but I think I can help you somehow.”
“Really? How?”
“Well,” Keine says as she gets up and walks over to the furniture where she got the booze last night. “I've got some money here that I can lend you. Like I said, it's not much, but it's all I have. It should be enough for a meal at a restaurant.” She takes out a tiny leather pouch. She opens the pouch and shows you a couple of bills that are inside.

You're not sure how much it is, but it does look like enough for a meal. Meat can't be that expensive. Even if it is the 'best steak'. You're torn however, seeing her display of kindness. You have no idea if you're going to be able to pay her back anytime soon anyways. There's a part of you that wants to believe that this is the best choice. But then again, there's another part of you that feels that you'll find another way. Also, there's the matter of your troublesome tatter-filled pride.

[] Accept her offer
[] Accept, but offer to become her slave or something
[] Decline
[] Stoic silence
---------
>>7376
>>7377
Thanks, it's not really that troublesome. It's just that at this hour there's barely any votes and having to wait 10 hours for enough votes gets boring.

[+] Accept her offer
[+] Offer to pay her back from your wages when you start working
I think it might be just timezone differences keeping the votes low, Teruyo. It's about 0400 where I am; I wouldn't normally be awake to vote, except for this bout of insomnia.

[x] Accept her offer
[x] Tell her she just saved some poor farmer's cow

[X] Accept her offer

At this point, I would start tearing up, hug her, and swear an oath to do whatever I could to repay her kindness, barely keeping myself from breaking down and sobbing.

[x] Accept her offer
[x] Genuflect before her generosity
[x] Offer her compensation later; perhaps you could pay her back in full or something

[X] Accept her offer

>At this point, I would start tearing up, hug her, and swear an oath to do whatever I could to repay her kindness, barely keeping myself from breaking down and sobbing.
Sounds like something Shirou (w/c)ould do..

[x] Accept, but offer to become her slave or something

Well, accepting has won pretty much. And I'm not getting any younger. So, judging by the responses I'll ask another question:

Attempt to hug Keine?
[] Hug
[] No
[] Genuflect

Also, Argentinian bubbly sucks. So vote before it gets to my brain and I start writing botched up sex scenes because I'm aroused, 'for the lulz', or because I have nothing better to do.

[x] Hug

I wonder if we're being asked because there's a consequence to picking a certain choice.

[X] Hug

Hug the werecow. Hug her. Love her.

>>7387
All choices have their consequences. Nothing is in vain - ever.

[x] Hug

*squeeze*

>>7388
Not even when we tried, and failed miserably, to get Tewi to be our guide?

Because that seemed pretty "in vain" to me.

>>7390
Well, from a reader's point of view it might have been 'useless' but from a storyteller's mechanics point of view it wasn't. It cost you time and lessened the chances that you would find kaguya. This of course lead to a whole series of alternate events. Yeah, that's what I meant. That there's no choices that are just there for flavor. They almost always (98% of the time) have a reason for being there. They have different effects.

Well, fuck. I think I'm too wasted to write properly. A sign of this would be the fact that I wrote a (probably) crappy random Cirno H-scene in an msn convo with a buddy. So yeah, I'll be back in a bit after detoxing/sleeping. Keine deserves better than my drunken ramblings.

>>7393
POST THE H-SCENE

>>7393

Ahhhh, I want that scene. It's fucking Cirno!

>>7393
>Cirno H-scene

DO WANT
When you wake up, finish it and bring us that Aya's Fantasies that you promised us for so long now.

[x] Accept her offer

Seeing no other way out of this, you accept her gentle offer.

“Thank you, you just saved me.” You say emotionally. You can almost feel your feelings of gratitude and appreciation overflowing. It would be no surprise if you started crying out of gratitude right now. Her act of kindness has really touched you.

You get up from your seat and hug a rather shocked Keine.

“Ah, it's okay... there's no need to get so worked up.”
“No, you don't understand just how much this had me worried.” The schoolteacher feels nice in your arms. Even though you don't think she's had the chance to gussy up, you can smell her soft scent. It tickles your nose and makes this whole experience more pleasurable. You don't think that you ever want to let go. “Really, really, I must thank you. I'll pay you back in full soon.”
“Not a problem, I don't really need money right now anyways so don't worry about it.” She gently pats you on the back and you realize that hugging her out of the blue is rather awkward.
“I'm sorry.” You say after letting go of her. She's slightly flustered you think. She must not get hugged very often. “I was just really happy and I wasn't thinking properly.”
“Don't worry about it.” She says, handing you the small pouch. “I guess that you can't help being what you are.”

Her wording seems to allude to something else, but you don't think much of it at the moment. You're ecstatic about getting money. Now you might make it to see another day. Thank the maker. You had already made plans in your mind for spiriting away cattle secretly. It looks like some lucky bovine is going to live to see another day now.

You offer to help Keine clean up now, thinking that it's the proper course of action. You help her carry all the dirty dishes back to the kitchen. There, you volunteer to wash them for her. While you formerly might have shied away from doing this sort of housework in the past, you're all too happy to help out now. You hum to yourself as you scrub a dish in tandem with Keine's cleaning of the kitchen. With the two of you working harmoniously, it takes little time to clean the kitchenware and plates from yesterday and today. The two of you don't talk too much during this time, instead you enjoy the feeling of the sponge in your hand and the smell of the soap. Mm, lime fresh.

You finish up and head back to the couch. Keine moves around the house now, apparently getting ready to go to the school. She disappear for a moments after collecting a couple of books. When she comes back she looks refreshed. You note that her clothes, while similar, are probably a different set. She probably just changed and washed her face or something. Oh, she changed in such a carefree manner, not bothering to tell you anything. She just went to her room (presumably) and changed. Does that mean that she doesn't mind having you around? Or that she trusts you? A familiar dissenting voice claims that it's because she doesn't see you as a man. The voice is immediately arrested by the thought police and sentenced to a forced labor camp in the harsh remote areas of your mind. It seems that you're running out of time to spend together with Keine. Too bad, it's still pretty early in the day.

[] Ask her about the farmers you saw this morning
[] Ask her if you could take a bath somewhere
[] Stare lovingly at the schoolteacher
[] Time to pick up and leave
--------------
I don't think I'll post the Hscene unless there's an overwhelming desire to see it. It's just not that good. It's short, needs revision, etc. It's not hot at all, you might even say that it's a bit cold instead. It chilled me somewhat.

{X} Ask her about the farmers you saw this morning
{X} Ask her if you could take a bath somewhere

[X] Ask her if you could take a bath somewhere

>>A familiar dissenting voice claims that it's because she doesn't see you as a man. The voice is immediately arrested by the thought police and sentenced to a forced labor camp in the harsh remote areas of your mind.

Good riddance. What a dick.

[X] Ask her if you could take a bath somewhere

[] Ask her about the farmers you saw this morning

I want to know why it is we're suddenly being treated this way by the townsfolk. Did we grow horns or something (ehehehe)?

[X] Ask her if you could take a bath somewhere.

> A familiar dissenting voice claims that it's because she doesn't see you as a man. The voice is immediately arrested by the thought police and sentenced to a forced labor camp in the harsh remote areas of your mind.
> The voice is immediately arrested by the thought police
> thought police

Brings back memories of the book 1984 I've read a few years ago. Is this intentional?

[x] Ask her if you could take a bath somewhere

“Keine?” You ask as the woman in front of you tends to her business. “There's another thing that I wanted to ask you. Is there by any chance any way that I can take a bath? I think that I really might need one.”
“A bath, huh?” The schoolteacher clad in blue stops to think for a bit. “Well, there's a small bathtub I have that I use but it's a pain to get hot water. It takes at least a half an hour for the water to be warm enough to bathe. If you want I can set it up for you.”
“You don't sound too certain about that possibility.”
“Well, it's just that you might prefer the public baths in town. They're larger, better equipped and generally nicer. It's just off the village center, by the tavern.”
“I see, I guess that might be better.”
“Well, you don't have to. I mean, I'll be glad to let you use my bath so don't hesitate. It's not like I'm kicking you out or anything. The baths aren't that great.”

Eh? Keine seems to be contradicting herself. You don't understand the cause of it. Both options seem appealing in their own ways. You get to hang out with Keine a bit more if you linger here, but the bathhouse might be less hassle for her. There are no voices in your head telling you to pick one over the other, it's like everyone is too scared to speak up.

Keine is looking at you, apparently waiting for a decision from you.

[] Take a bath here
[] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)
[] Go to the bathhouse
[] Eh, bathing is overrated, change the topic
-----------
Trying to speed things up, so I know a lot of people aren't awake at this time but for the love of god more votes would be appreciated. I'm tempted to drink again, and that probably won't end well. At all.

>>7406
Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along.

>>7408
[moe~] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)

No possible way this can fail.

[] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)

RISKING IT ALL.

[x] Take a bath here

Dancing is moving too fast, but bathing isn't? Riiight. Or is the charisma check to make it a successful joke?

This doesn't seem worth the risk. We already tried this shit with Reisen and it was awful.

[X] Take a bath here

I don't trust our luck with the dice, but DAMN it is tempting...

>>7413
If it makes you feel any better Shirou's past interactions have left him with a higher than average charisma. So he's got that advantage. He wouldn't do as poorly here as he would for a constitution check (lol anemia). But then again the difficulty of the check is also a big factor. It'd be inheritently easier if, say, you wanted to get a member of the BWM to buy you a drink. Ultimately go with what your heart tells you. Lady Luck is fickle.

> higher than average charisma

I feel encouraged, that said.

[X] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)

>“Don't misunderstand.” Keine starts off by saying, looking directly at you. “It's not that I don't want to dance...”
>“But... I just can't help but feel that you're trying too hard.”
>“But... I just can't help but feel that you're trying too hard.”
>“But... I just can't help but feel that you're trying too hard.”
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SOLVE THIS

>>7420
>“What I'm saying is that there's no need to try so hard with me.” She flashes a reassuring smile to you.

Yeah.

3 votes vs 2 is anything but a decisive bout of voting. So I'm still waiting for more votes. I thought that more people would be active at this hour.

[x] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)

ROLL THE DICE TERUYO AND LET US FAIL MISERABLE

[+] Go to the bathhouse
Shirou needs to quit trying so hard.

[x] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)

Teruyo, what do we need to roll to pass the check? And how big is the bonus that we get from our above average charisma stat?

>>7428
Don't worry too much about actual stats. I try not to crunch numbers a lot. Just mostly going with what the mood of the story dictates. technically even your abilities and magic are governed by stats, but I use them more as a general guideline than strictly adhering to them. The only time I'll EVER strictly crunch numbers is if you try to cast a dragon slave while having no magical ability at all or something. Even then it'd be like the chart for psykers in Dark Heresey. I'll be throwing 2d10 and using a mixture of common sense and difficulty scores for the task; the above average charisma lessens the difficulty by about one or two degrees. Or rather, since I'm going to go by degree of success (or failure) they'd primarily mitigate the disasterous results of rolling two 1s or something. So instead of getting kicked out and having a hit being placed on you for total failure, you'd only likely get a strong kick in the nuts and a shove out of the door.

But in all seriousness, don't worry too much. The system I have in place ensures that the results can't go to the extremes very often. Only getting a 20 or a really low score should affect the outcome drastically.

tl;dr degrees of success and custom flexible stat system.

Alright, fuck it.

[X] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)

LET IT RIDE. If we succeed, it shall be a glorious triumph. Should we fail...well, it's not like there aren't plenty of other reasons for Keine to become unhappy with us. We'd just be adding yet another one to the list.

Alright rolled. And I've got the results I needed. I'll write soon enough. Got to take care of a little business first. Yeah, so feel the anticipation grow as you wonder if it was a success or failure. If you'll get to see the soaped up tits of the busty school teacher or be kicked out for being a horny scoundrel. Or you know, something in between those might be a possibility as well.

Ahh...it was nice being on Keine's good side while it lasted.
I know there's a chance this won't blow up in our face, somehow, but since when have we had things go so well for us for so long?

We got to have dinner, we got to sleep over, we got her to agree to our idea of helping her teach, and we got her to lend us some money to take Reimu to lunch. I'm afraid our luck with the werecow is about to run out.

Dice are loaded; prepare for fail

[x] Take a bath here; Invite Keine to join you. (Charisma check)

“I think that I'll take a bath here.” There's no reason to go all the way to the village, you think. Even if it takes a while to get the water hot it's better than going somewhere completely unknown to you. And well, there's another reason as well. You don't know if it was divine inspiration or what, but something tells you that it's time to try your luck. Yeah, once the tub is filled you'll ask Keine if she wants to join you. You're certain that this is a great idea. It came to you like some sort of divine providence, so it has to work. Nothing bad can come from this.

“Okay then. I'll need your cooperation.. Could you fetch some kindle for me? We need it in order to heat the bath.” Keine starts issuing commands to you, and starts moving herself. You smile slyly to yourself as you fantasize about the possibility of what is to come. “Can you go out back and get the wood. It should be in a pile. I'll go get everything else ready.”

You exit the house and circle behind it. Just as Keine said, there's a pile of wood just lying there. You take several pieces and lug them back into the house. You hope that this armload will be enough. You look for Keine. The first place you check is the bathroom. Sure enough, she's there. The bathtub has been filled with water. More interestingly though, that's a rather flat slab of metal below the tub that also contains water. Keine is setting up a small stove-like apparatus under that. You assume that's where the wood will go.

“Here you go, I hope this is enough.” You say, leaving the wood next to her.
“Thanks, that'll be enough. Let me just light this fire and we can begin.”

Keine places a few pieces of kindle into the small stove and then lights a match. The glowing flame reminds you of the dangerous beauty that fire has. Even burning buildings can seem to be beautiful. The different hues of fire caused by the difference in temperature can create truly breathtaking scenes. You think that if you were an arsonist there would be many fine targets here in Gensokyo. The Hakurei Shrine seems almost ideal, in fact. Its old wooden structure would surely captivate you if you decided to one day burn it down in a fit of madness. These thoughts are troubling, and so you push them far away. You should just focus on the now.

The small stove lights up and you can clearly see flames contact the flat tray-like hunk of metal under the tub. Oh, you know what this reminds you of. You've seen it in cooking before. This is a Bain-marie. It's a way of indirectly heating a body of water. By heating the water on the bottom this system makes sure that the bottom of the tub isn't exposed directly to fire – and by extension it doesn't heat up a lot and burn you. Yeah, the drawback to this is that it'll probably take a long while to heat up so much water. Half an hour is a very optimistic estimate you think.

You stare silently at the tub. You estimate the time it'll take for it to heat up. You decide to tell Keine about your proposition once the tub is lukewarm.

“Say Keine, you haven't bathed either right?” You ask her, already knowing the answer.
“Eh, not really, since I didn't have time this morning. I had planned to take a bath later.” She replies to you in an unexpectedly frank manner.
“Well then, how about taking a bath with me. The tub isn't that big but I'm sure that we could work something out.” You try to come off as sincere as possible. If this is to work, you can't make this sound like a joke or like you're patronizing her. You try not to show a lewd smile. “It'll be fun, and you'll get a chance to clean yourself off before class.”

You await her reaction. It's kind of exciting to see how she'll react. You're scared of being rejected but at the same time there's a part of you that's bursting with excitement.

“I don't think so.” Her reply is rather terse and to the point. She doesn't really give any other explanation and instead gets up and walks over to the door. “It should be ready in about ten minutes or so. I think I'll be going soon. There's a towel hanging behind the door.”

Well, you're stunned. She doesn't make a big deal out of it, blushing like a schoolgirl, nor does she kick you out violently. You're not even sure if she got the implications that you were making. It hurts your pride to have her reject you so easily and simply like that. You feel like you've been scammed. You were entitled to more than just that simple answer.

Can we just save and reload until we win?

Just when you're about to verbalize your displeasure with this outcome, a large bang comes from the front of the house. Geez, it sounds like someone crashed a bike at full speed at Keine's front door. Keine seems to tell you with her eyes to stay here and that she'll go check it out. Not seeing any reason to get involved, you stay in the bathroom. However, Keine soon comes running back into the bathroom. Her blue dress is stained with various ugly red splotches and her face tells you that something serious just happened.

“Keine? What's wrong? What's that that you've got all over your dress.?”
“It's Mokou. She's hurt pretty bad, I need your help here.”

Keine's sober tone of voice spurs you into action. You don't complain at all and instead get up and follow Keine. Lying at the door step, is an unsightly mess. There's red everywhere. It takes a while for your brain to understand that what you're seeing is blood. Blood everywhere. It's staining the ground, the door, and it's what was on Keine's dress. Did all of that come from a single person? You check the source of it with a horrified face. Lying there in the middle of all the blood is a person wearing tattered and bloodied clothes. The familiar red pants (or rather what's left of them) are almost indistinguishable from the red liquid that permeates the scene.

“Shirou! Help me carry her inside.” Keine commands you, snapping you from your daze. You near the body and see numerous gashes and lacerations all over the person. Is this really Mokou? You can't tell due to her disheveled hair and bruised face. You grab her by the legs while the schoolteacher grabs her torso.
“Is she – you know? Going to be okay? I don't think people are meant to lose this much blood.” You carelessly comment out of sheer stupefaction.
“She'll be alright, we just have to dress her wounds and get her out of those clothes. She's tougher than she looks. Come on, we've got to put her somewhere comfortable.”

The two of you carry the corpse, or at least what seems to be a corpse, to the sofa. It's a messy affair, and you're sure that you've gotten blood all over the floors and furniture. But that doesn't matter now. Keine rushes out of the room, claiming that she'll be right back. You look to see if there's anything that you can do for Mokou. To your surprise, you find that Mokou is still conscious. Her eyes are wide open and looking at you. There's no way a normal human would be alive, let alone conscious under such circumstances. You try to talk to her, and ask her what happened.

“Kid, is that you?” A weak voice comes from the bloodied Mokou. “Look at you... you spent the night here, didn't you? Good for you.”

Is she... joking with you? You can't understand how she can even form a single sentence, let alone joke.

“What happened?”
“I just happened to mess up... that's all. It happens. Don't worry. Despite my appearance I'll be fine. Just let me sleep a bit. I'm just so tired.”

Sleep? Oh crap, that might be a sign that she's about to cross over to the other side! You try your best to keep her awake with small talk. You can't let her die.

“Maybe we should take you to Eientei! They've got good facilities and they'll patch you up in no time.” You suggest, trying to keep her focused on conversation.

There's a silence for a few agonizingly long moments. You look with uncertainty, expecting the worst to have happened. But Mokou surprises you with her reaction.

“Bwahahahaha!” She laughs uncontrollably. She laughs so hard that she then starts to cough up blood You don't understand... what's so funny? “Kid, you're a riot. Where do you think that I just came from? Who do you think did this to me?”

You don't quite understand what she's implying. You can't imagine anyone at Eientei harming another person like this. They may be unpredictable at times, but they're not murdering monsters.

Keine comes back carrying a big box. She opens the box and removes a large pair of scissors, a rag and a couple of rolls of bandages. She kneels by Mokou's side and uses the scissors to cut off her clothes. Mokou is stripped completely naked. It's not an erotic sight however. Blood covers most of her body. The crimson liquid stains her normally white skin everywhere. Her breasts are two red-tainted mounds. You couldn't even begin to think unwholesome thoughts seeing this. Keine takes the rag and wipes as much blood as she can. You watch, transfixed.

After getting the amount of blood on Mokou's body down to a manageable level, she applies the gauze to the places where she's bleeding. The bandages are quickly stained red, but Keine just applies more bandage to the affected areas. Eventually she wins the fight and there's more bandage than blood. You see that now Mokou has passed out. It looks like whatever energy she had before has been totally sapped. Keine pulls out a blanket from the box and covers Mokou's body with it.

“Will she be okay?” You ask.
“Yes. She won't die from something like this. She's lucky that she can regenerate. If it were a normal human they'd have died several times over by now.”

You don't quite get what she means by that but you don't have a chance to ask her about it. She asks you a question.

“Look, I'm sorry to dump all of this on you. But I need your help. You're the only one that can help me. I have to be there for class. At least to tell the students that I have urgent business. Can you keep a watch on Mokou while I step out quickly? Please? I don't think anything will happen to her, but it'll grant me peace of mind.”

Crap, this was definitely not in your plans. It's hard to turn down the schoolteacher. She's asking you earnestly. She can't shirk her responsibilities. But on the other hand, you're not sure if you have time to spare. It's still morning, but you don't know for how long she'll be gone. And to be honest, you head is still swimming. You're trying to comprehend the events that you just witnessed. You're shocked at all the blood and at Mokou's condition as well. You think that you might go into shock any moment as well.

[] Agree to keep watch over her
[] Decline and leave
[] Anemia option
------------
Results for the throw were a minor failure (a few points below the needed goal). Also, enjoy your even based on lingering too much this morning around Keine's.

I think I'm going to go take a nap now. Be back in a while.

[X] Agree to keep watch over her

Leaving a person in need just ain't our style.
Besides, we have our PDA to warn us when our appointment is coming up, we're close enough to Eientei to get back in good time, and even if we have to delay our meal with Reimu by a little bit we at least have the means to pay for it.

[] Agree to keep watch over her

[x] Agree to keep watch over her

Of course.

{X} Agree to keep watch over her

>The Hakurei Shrine seems almost ideal, in fact. Its old wooden structure would surely captivate you if you decided to one day burn it down in a fit of madness.

ಠ_ಠ

[x] Agree to keep watch over her
[x] Liver option

[x] Decline and leave

[x] Agree to keep watch over her

{X} Agree to keep watch over her

[x] Agree to keep watch over her
Liver option?

{X} Agree to keep watch over her

Probably will come down to RUN SHIROU LIKE A FUCKING KENYAN TO EIENTEI.

>Leaving a person in need just ain't our style.

Nope it suuuuure isn't, anyways
[x] Agree to keep watch over her

>>7446
I somehow don't think that anatomy is our forte. Or that we'd be able to cut someone open without barfing all over the place. Anyways, writing nowish.

>>7455
[x] Agree to keep watch over her

[x] Liver option

[x] Agree to keep watch over her

There's no contest at all. You know what you want to do. From the moment you laid eyes upon the bloodied Mokou you knew that you wanted to help her out. And you just can't say no to Keine either. Seeing her oddly calm and collected in the face of all of this makes you feel calm as well.

“I'll do it. Don't worry, go off and take care of what you have to do.”
“Thank you, I'll be back as soon as I can.” Keine says.
“Don't worry about it. You can count on me. It's the least I can do.” You try to sound cool. It doesn't hurt to show people your dependable side at times.
“Alright, I'll get changed and then be on my way.”

Keine leaves the room and you focus your attention to Mokou. She looks like she's a deep slumber. Her face doesn't betray any hints of pain and suffering. If it weren't for the red tinge that her skin has at places, you might have mistaken her state for one of normal sleep. You find that even her hair is tainted with blood. The blood there has coagulated and clumps of her hair are stuck together, bound by the dried blood. Your clothes as well have been stained with blood. When you carried her large amounts of blood stained your sleeves and parts of your pants. There's a steady trail of blood drops coming from the entrance leading to the couch. You're sure that where she's lying now is stained as well. Just how much blood did she lose? This amount couldn't have possibly have all come from her. There's no way the human body can hold that much.

You hear the sound of a door closing in the distance. It seems like Keine has left. You don't really know what's expected of you. You were quick to try to sound as dependable as possible when Keine asked you to keep watch, but you don't know if you should maybe be doing something else. Maybe you should take care of this mess first. It's not nice to have blood staining the floor and furniture of the house. Truth be told, it's starting to stink in here. It reeks of an acrid smell. One which you immediately identify as the smell of blood. Well, that shouldn't come as a surprise.

You leave Mokou on the couch for a moment and try to look for cleaning materials. The house isn't very big, and there aren't many rooms. You think that you can discard Keine's room and the bathroom. The former is a weird place to keep such things and the latter is too small and barren to have them. This leaves only two places to check. One is the various closests in the hallway and the other is the kitchen. You don't recall seeing anything resembling cleaning tools in the kitchen so you check the closets. Sure enough, by opening the first dark closet, the first thing you find is a big mop and a bucket. This should do.

You fill up the bucket in the kitchen and start working backwards. That is, starting from where mokou is, you mop up the trail of blood inside the house first. The blood washes off the wooden floorboards quite easily. The red spots get absorbed by the mop easily. You ignore the furniture; it's impractical to try to clean fabric with a mop. The water in your bucket becomes redder and redder, with each spot that you clean up. The color reminds you of one of those food dyes. It looks so artificial when dilluted in water. You feel like you could use the red dye to color a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Later on you would think back on this moment and realize the grim task that you had undertaken. If you had thought of the spots on the floor as blood and had really understood its significance it would have likely caused your body to fail you.

The hardest part was cleaning up the front of the house. There the blood mixed in with dirt and it proved to be difficult to clean up with a mop. Ultimately, you just dump your bucket of reddened water on the dirt. The wet earth seems to absorb the blood and you think that that's good enough. Even if the ground becomes darker where the blood was absorbed, the problem should fix itself the next time it rains. You place the mop and bucket back in the dark closet. You may not have done the best job in the world, but at least the floor is clean. If you just had some specialized tools to clean fabric you'd be on your knees wiping furiously. As it stands, it's just a lost cause.

You return to Mokou's side. She's still out cold. Her breathing is so soft that you at first doubt that she's breathing at all. Well, it's a miracle that anyone would still be alive after losing so much blood, so this doesn't seem that far fetched. You don't know if you should be doing something. Like treating Mokou further. You're sure that just leaving her wounds like this is an invitation to infections and other nasty ailments. You see that despite the bandages, Mokou is still pretty bloodied. You're not quite sure what happened to her. She doesn't seem to have any broken bones nor is maimed. It makes her bleeding all the more stranger. You would have expected huge gashes all over her body to be the source of the blood. But there's no trace of anything like that. Well, from what you saw briefly of her naked body.

You sit back on a chair, observing the sleeping girl. Not knowing what to do in this type of situation is troublesome. Maybe she herself knows whats best right now.

[] Just sit there, quietly observing her
[] Find something to treat her wounds with
[] Clean her up; Sponge bath time
[] Try to wake her up
-----------
I sort of got caught up playing Edelweiss, so I didn't start writing until recently. Yeah, I'll try to stay away from eroge so I can update more.

[] Clean her up; Sponge bath time

I HAVE NO REGRETS
THIS IS THE ONLY PATH

[x] Find something to treat her wounds with
She can clean herself up once she's recovered. Doesn't matter how pure our intentions may be, I don't fancy having her wake up on us while we're washing her down.

[x] Try to wake her up

you are supposed to die when you are killed.

[] Clean her up; Spongebob Squarepants time

[x] Clean her up; Sponge bath time
bath time.

Uh, wait, is she healed enough for a bath? Soapy water and wounds don't mix.

[x] Find something to treat her wounds with

[x] Find something to treat her wounds with

>>7468

Read the last post again. SLOWLY.

[x] Try to wake her up

[x] Clean her up; Sponge bath time

Removing the dirt from the wounds will enable them to regenerate faster. And since apparently Shirou doesn't know she's immortal, it would also serve to prevent infection.

And seriously, she's starting to stink.

If you clean her, you can move her to the bed without worrying about ruining the sheets. Then you can try to wash her clothes to see if they're salvageable (we liked those pants, remember?).

[] Clean her up; Sponge bath time

>>7472
Clothes are ripped up. Both from before and from Keine cutting them open with a scissor. I'd say they're pretty unsalvagable. Even if they were intact, how willing do you think Mokou would be to part with them? Not very, I can assure you.

I'll write and post an update in an hour, or more likey two from now. Life is like that sometimes. So voting remains open, but it's still pretty clear what's the preferred choice.

[] Clean her up; Sponge bath time
Delicous Mokuo, MUST CLEAN
Also,
[]go to the sewing shop and repair Mokous clothes

>>7474
>Even if they were intact, how willing do you think Mokou would be to part with them? Not very, I can assure you.

What? Nobody was implying we were going to steal her clothes.

Alice has to be pretty good at sewing, considering all the clothes she makes for her dolls. Maybe we can drop them off at her place for mending on Mokou & Keine's behalf on the way back to Eientei. Mokou can borrow Keine's clothes in the interim.

Anyway, with all these mixed signals we keep getting from Keine in spite of Mokou's previous assurances, she might just be closeted for Mokou.

>>7471
>she applies the gauze to the places where she's bleeding. The bandages are quickly stained red, but Keine just applies more bandage to the affected areas. Eventually she wins the fight and there's more bandage than blood.
>You see that despite the bandages, Mokou is still pretty bloodied.
>You would have expected huge gashes all over her body to be the source of the blood. But there's no trace of anything like that.
How do you know all her small wounds under the bandages have closed up? Gauze isn't waterproof.

>>7481

Mokou has dried blood all over her skin and soaked into her clothes, and she may have other unbandaged wounds you haven't noticed. You won't get a good look at her actual injuries until you remove the clothes and wipe the dried blood off.

It's better she gets cleaned up now while she's unconscious, as it'll be painful to wash the wounds once she's awake. Secondly if you don't take her clothes and put her to bed now, as soon as she awakes she'll run off so that she doesn't have to face Keine. Keine will then be upset you let her leave in that condition.

[x] Clean her up; Sponge bath time
bath time.

>>Anyway, with all these mixed signals we keep getting from Keine in spite of Mokou's previous assurances, she might just be closeted for Mokou.

maybe this is the closed route penalty we got for being a retard.

>>7484
Unless we've fucked up and received another penalty that I'm unaware of, the only thing we've had closed so far was Unlimited Fig Works. I doubt wooing Keine is involved in that path.

No, I think we just have really bad luck scoring points with her consistently. Still, the fact that our attempt to get her in the bath with us was only really a slight (if decisive) failure as opposed to the complete and utter fuck-up it could have been is slightly encouraging. Sort of.

...as "encouraging" as "you still fucked up, but at least you didn't fuck up as badly as you could have" can be.

>>7484

According to Mokou we haven't fucked up that bad, but maybe Keine has some inside information (e.g., she knows about Aya, Alice, etc.) that ruins any kind of attraction she once had.

>>7485
>No, I think we just have really bad luck scoring points with her consistently. Still, the fact that our attempt to get her in the bath with us was only really a slight (if decisive) failure as opposed to the complete and utter fuck-up it could have been is slightly encouraging. Sort of.

That she didn't get embarassed, visibly offended, or even laugh it off as a joke is pretty damning towards any prospect of a relationship with her--Keine is THAT disinterested in you.

>“I don't think so.” Her reply is rather terse and to the point. She doesn't really give any other explanation and instead gets up and walks over to the door. “It should be ready in about ten minutes or so. I think I'll be going soon. There's a towel hanging behind the door.”

Really, that sounds pretty final.

>>7487
As helpful as she can be as even just a friend, I think her not thinking enough of us as a man to react strongly to our proposition is hardly the worst possible outcome in this. Just be thankful she's still apparently willing to let us stay at her place at all, rather than telling us to be gone before she returned, or kicked our ass out onto the street right then and there.

Hey guys, sorry for not updating. My internet has been crapping out since earlier and I wasn't able to check the results until now. I've read the replies, however, and I can't help but feel a bit generous. A lot of you seem to be Keine fans.

So, I propose to you the following:

I'm willing to give you a bit of insight into some of Keine's reactions and her feelings. Mind you, that this is a general thing. And it obviously won't quantify any affection she may have for you. But it may clear some misconceptions that you may be having. It probably will in fact. Unless you guys are somehow thicker than lead, really. It might help you deal with her in the future a bit better as well.

However, everything has a price. The cost for this, for recieving insight you normally wouldn't, is to be paid in full. Since I feel generous, it would likely be something small. Such as a slight negative modifier for the next time you try to do something complicated (baking a birthday cake, flexing your muscles - or lack of to impress someone, evading bear cavalry, etc). Or I'm open to a fair write-in suggestion as well if you want to suggest something fair and impartial. After all, it's unsightly to show a bias.

So, will you accept the deal? It would be unfortunate if people voted yes and then decided to go for someone else.

[] Yes, tell me
[] No, I prefer leaving things to chance or anon's wonderful assessment

Oh and btw, I find that I should clear up this once and for all. I've never once imposed penalties for stupidity in the story. Unlimited fig works? You wouldn't have gotten it anyways. You failed to meet the criteria. It was just to try to keep anon focused. At most what I had planned to do with the dice roll (if it had come out to close someone else's route) was to maybe lower affection score slightly. At the worst. Or just block them off from any dream sequences in the future or something. It's at times more interesting to see anon panic.

Oh and my internet is still wonky, so I'll try my best to keep following replies, but no guarantees.

[x] Yes, tell me

[x] No, I prefer leaving things to chance or anon's wonderful assessment

[X] Get a clue (Yes, tell me)

Get information in exchange for an increased likelihood of failing at something later down the road, or don't get information have a good chance of failing at something else later down the road? And don't think we won't fail at something, somewhere, either way we go. Because we can, and we WILL.
Better that we actually get something for our troubles, at the very least.


I just hope whatever info we get will point out something we've been missing, as opposed to pointing out something that should be bloody obvious, like why if something like asking a girl to dance did not succeed, that asking that same girl to take a bath with you is probably not going to fare any better.

[x] Yes, tell me

I want to see this.

[x] Yes, tell me.

Might as well see what we have here.

>>It would be unfortunate if people voted yes and then decided to go for someone else.

Reposting for truth.

>>7492
>pointing out something that should be bloody obvious, like why if something like asking a girl to dance did not succeed, that asking that same girl to take a bath with you is probably not going to fare any better.

I hope not, I even said that WHILE people were voting. I guess Anon's compulsive gambling spirit couldn't resist that fucking dice roll.

[X] Yes, tell me.

Very well, the ayes have it. I'm doing this in list form because that's how I roll. Some of these are obvious, but I'm including them for clarity's sake.

General Observations (not just limited to Keine):
-The most you've known any of these characters is 15 days (with the exception of Kaguya). I don't know about you, but relationships usually tend to take more than two weeks to cement themselves.
-Different people have different opinions of you. And different parts of you appeal to them. Not everyone likes the dancing buffoon or the unrelenting flirting machine.
-I hear that they have really nice boats in Gensokyo. So you might eventually go a head and ride one.

Tips on a Keine path:
-Becoming a schoolteacher nets you lots of bonuses if you choose to pursue it, but it's not necessary.
-You might gain more insight on her life if you ask around the village. Say old acquaintances of yours or the obligatory old gossiping ladies at the village square.
-Too much 'dramatic' excitement might scare her away.
-Prioritizing your needs is key as well. If you play with fire too much, you will get burnt.

Things to take into consideration about Keine:
-She's a teacher. And despite that, no because of it, she learns new things every single day.
-Honest and simple in nature. Won't care if something is a gold or pyrite. It's the intention and message behind it that counts.
-It's fine to take the lead with her, but being forceful might drive her away. If you get to know her better, you will know how much is enough.
-Never too stubborn to accept help (see first point here)
-Will repay debts in full, and expects the same to be done for her.
-Generally gets along with everyone, but romantic feelings on the other hand... let's just say that a woman's heart is a complicated thing.
-If you piss her off or upset her, trust me, you'll know it.

What Shirou should do:
-Not be impatient and overbearing.
-Be thoughtful.
-Take it easy.

Hard, I know. But the last few points don't just apply to Keine. Shirou's impatience and domineering attitude is only a positive trait when interacting with a few very specific characters that appreciate that sort of thing. Seriously, taking things fast for the most part is worse than ADD or wandering off or, hell, suggesting to misuse your time together with your best friend just so you can get a kick out of it. It's no use to get so worked up over small things. It just leads to a negative spiral. Rome was not built in a day. Same goes for your status and reputation.

Anyways, as an added bonus I'll throw in a special tip: Time flies when you're having fun. But you mustn't forget your duties. Lest they come and bite you in the ass.

Looks like I might have gone a bit too far. But let's see if you can keep this in mind. Reading a bit back on our interactions with Keine might help as well. I feel that you've forgotten a bit of the context under which we've done things with her. And her responses and reactions.
---------------
Damn ISP. I'll post the next part maybe later. I guess sponge bath (not surprisingly) won.

>>7498
>Shirou's impatience and domineering attitude is only a positive trait when interacting with a few very specific characters that appreciate that sort of thing.

Mokou route, here we come.

>Anyways, as an added bonus I'll throw in a special tip: Time flies when you're having fun. But you mustn't forget your duties. Lest they come and bite you in the ass.

Duties? What duties? We don't show up for more of Kaguya's bizarre mindfuckery, and what'll she gonna do about it? Pout? For all she knows we were eaten by a grue last night. And we've got Mokou by our side who knows more survival tricks and evasion methods than anyone. Plus Keine as support for resources. Don't forget Keine.

Come to think of it: We got a doll & rudimentary magic skills from Alice. Money, alcohol, and bursts of will were from the Beer God; we've had our lives saved by Mokou. And what have we got from Eientei? Nothing. That "knowledge" we gleaned from Eirin's lectures hasn't fucking done anything has never helped us out. Considering all the residents more-or-less hate us, there's no reason to go back there, and we'll be thrown out when we're no longer useful.

>>7499
>>Duties? What duties?
The folks at Eientei aren't the only ones we owe something to at the moment, remember, nor is Kaguya the only one we have an appointment with.

>>We don't show up for more of Kaguya's bizarre mindfuckery, and what'll she gonna do about it? Pout? For all she knows we were eaten by a grue last night.

Possible, but unlikely. You might have forgotten, but Eientei has eyes and ears everywhere. Even if last night's "experience" was nothing more than some mindfuck dream, it's quite likely that at least Kaguya and Eirin know where we are right now. In fact, I'd saying it's practically a certainty they know where we are.

>>And we've got Mokou by our side who knows more survival tricks and evasion methods than anyone.

Yes, and look how well they're serving her at the moment, bleeding all over Keine's house.

>>Come to think of it: We got a doll & rudimentary magic skills from Alice. Money, alcohol, and bursts of will were from the Beer God; we've had our lives saved by Mokou. And what have we got from Eientei? Nothing. That "knowledge" we gleaned from Eirin's lectures hasn't fucking done anything has never helped us out. Considering all the residents more-or-less hate us, there's no reason to go back there, and we'll be thrown out when we're no longer useful.

None of them "hate" us, as far as I can tell, and the only reason they might seem like they do is entirely our own damn fault. And as for them giving us nothing, they've given us plenty so far. Aside like the basics of free food, shelter, and clothing, they've also given us something far more valuable: purpose.

Thanks to this little quest Kaguya put us on, we actually have something resembling an objective now, where before we were just aimlessly dicking around and letting our ADD have free reign over us. Now, however, we actually have some reason to try to get our act together. If only we can get our shit together and straighten out our priorities, maybe we can try to head for something other than the inevitable Nice Boat BAD END cluster-fuck we've been setting ourselves up for so far.

Shirou? I liked him better when he was called Makoto.

>None of them "hate" us, as far as I can tell, and the only reason they might seem like they do is entirely our own damn fault.

You are a model of learned helplessness.

>Yes, and look how well they're serving her at the moment, bleeding all over Keine's house.

That's because she wanted a fight, and we have no reason to believe Kaguya is any better off from it. Why the fuck do think she canceled dinner with Keine if she didn't plan on fighting?

>Even if last night's "experience" was nothing more than some mindfuck dream, it's quite likely that at least Kaguya and Eirin know where we are right now.

So what if they did? Eientei wouldn't dare make a move against the village and Keine. And Reimu is going to show up soon after the deadline, so they'd be double-fucked. Shirou caved completely whenever someone from Eientei had confronted him, so it's natural they don't assume he's a runaway.

>Aside like the basics of free food, shelter, and clothing, they've also given us something far more valuable: purpose.

Please, cut the melodrama. There was a reason Kaguya brought us here; something to her own personal gain or for her own entertainment. Not only did she bring us here forcefully to begin with, but she makes no explanations and refuses all attempts to get them while now burdening with this bizarre "task" again without saying anything.

And as to giving us "purpose" we have no dependents, long-term goals, and hell we haven't even decided on a job or a girlfriend. So what purpose has she given us then? To find gainful employment? Nigga plz. Shirou could just have done that in real life if it meant anything to him.

>If only we can get our shit together and straighten out our priorities, maybe we can try to head for something other than the inevitable Nice Boat BAD END cluster-fuck we've been setting ourselves up for so far.

If you couldn't tell this wasn't going to end in a good way from the start, I don't know what else to say to you.

[x] Clean her up; Sponge bath time

As you keep watch on Mokou, an idea occurs to you. You'll clean up Mokou. Her body is stained with blood, and you're sure that she doesn't smell very pleasant right now either. Keine just wiped away the excess blood. You can clearly see large patches of dried blood on most of her body from here. Well, the bits that you can see exposed from under the sheet. Places like her neck and shoulders. You can only imagine how the rest of her looks. This something that you can do by yourself, and you're sure that it'd be appreciated by the unconscious Mokou. Reeking of blood is not necessarily a very nice thing. This tasks suits you well. And it's better than just sitting here and looking at her.. It'll give you something to do.

You get up from your chair and look for the items needed for a sponge bath. You don't think that you've seen a sponge since you arrived here in Gensokyo. Well, at least not inside Keine's house. When you washed the dishes you used a brush instead of a sponge. In the bathroom, as well, you don't recall seeing anything similar to a sponge. Perhaps Keine's first aid kit has something that will be of use to you? You take a look at the box that she brought in earlier. There's a whole lot of bandages in there and not much else. A bloodied rag is draped over the box's edge. This should be the rag she used to clean her up before. You sift through the bandages and see that there are an additional two rags inside the box. What a weird first aid kit. It has no disinfectant, medicine, or anything else that you might expect. Is the medicine for common people in Gensokyo that primitive? Surely it's just a case of Keine running out of these items. Bad timing. Or something.

You decide that you'll alter your plans slightly. You'll use one of the rags to clean her off and with the remaining one you'll dry her off. It might not be as efficient as a sponge, but you think that you'll manage just fine. The next step is a recipient for water. You need something to keep the water with which you'll moisten the rag. You recruit for this end the bucket that you used earlier. While there might be more appropriate vessels in the house, the truth is you don't feel like snooping around. This will do.

Next up, water. It can't be any old water. It should be something that's at least room temperature. Well, not necessarily, but you think it might be a bit of a shock to clean Mokou with cold water. Luckily, you remember the bathtub. While Keine turned off the fire (likely before she went out) you think that the water might have had the chance to heat up a bit. Sure enough, when you stick in your fingers, you find that the water is lukewarm. While it would be a very mediocre bathing experience, you reckon that it's a good temperature for a sponge bath. You take a bucketful of water with you and you're ready to go. You carry all of the materials back to where Mokou is.

You kneel next to the couch. You dip a bit of the rag into the bucket. You wring the excess water. You start your task by gently wiping Mokou's exposed shoulder. There's a bit of blood just around the area where her arm meets her shoulder. There's no wound nor bandage present, so you just clean away. Mokou doesn't seem to react to the sensation of the wet rag and so you continue undisturbed. Soon enough, you're done. You pull back the sheet that's covering her and reveal more of her body. Large portions of it are covered in bandages, including most of her chest. The placement of the bandages looks haphazard, but the actual wrapping is skilfully done.

You work around the bandages, cleaning the spots that you can access. You're afraid that you might do more harm than good if you removed the bandages. You have no idea if Mokou's wounds have healed yet and if tampering with the bandages might cause a torrent of blood to gush out. Mokou stirs a bit as you clean her, but she doesn't wake up. You dip the rag in water occasionally, refreshing the supply of water. This isn't hard at all. Blood comes off easily from flesh. Where the blood has dried up, you simply apply a bit more of force and it eventually disappears. You remove more and more of the sheet from her as you work your way down her body. It satisfies you. The cleaning that is. It's almost like a game to you, you see a red blotch on her otherwise pale skin and you remove it, restoring balance.

You decide to respect her privacy for now and skip her private region. You stop at her belly and skip down to her legs. Huh, she has really pretty feet. How unexpected. For some reason you thought that she would have larger and more grotesque feet. You don't quite know why yourself. Now that you think about it, you weren't really paying attention to it before, Mokou has a pretty girly body. A lot of it is hidden now, wrapped in bandages. She's soft and her curves aren't too bad either. Her puffy, loose clothing hides it pretty well. What a waste. You're sure that she would look as lovely as any one of those traditional high-society babes if she were to wear a dress instead of pants. But, ah well, at least the pants are cool. And she seems to like her appearance, so there's nothing to be done.

You're done before you even realize it. You've cleaned up most of Mokou. The rest would be either under her bandages or in that small area that you purposely ignored. You don't quite get how Mokou could stay asleep through all of this ordeal. It's not exactly the most subtle thing you could have done to her. You did rub pretty determinedly at some spots to get the blood off. For your first time doing something like this, you think that you did a good job. Then again, you guess you'll have to wait and see what the person on the receiving end thinks. It's not just about what you feel, Mokou's opinion should count as well. You just hope that she won't mind your initiative. That could make things complicated.

[] Unwrap some of the bandages; You should clean there as well
[] Modesty is not necessary; Clean the spots that you 'missed'
[] Wake up Mokou
[] Finish for now and sit back and relax
----------------
Laziness, crappy connection, more half-hearted excuses, etc. Hope to update more soon. As soon as votes come in.

>>So what if they did? Eientei wouldn't dare make a move against the village and Keine. And Reimu is going to show up soon after the deadline, so they'd be double-fucked. Shirou caved completely whenever someone from Eientei had confronted him, so it's natural they don't assume he's a runaway.

Who said they ever had to? If we assume that we weren't dreaming when we woke up back at Eientei, then we were not only found but abducted in our sleep and then taken back to Keine's just as easily when it was over, with nobody being the wiser. Point is, it probably doesn't matter where we are. If they know we're there, and they want to get to us, they can and they will.

>>If you couldn't tell this wasn't going to end in a good way from the start, I don't know what else to say to you.

So what? "It was going to end badly from the beginning anyway, so why bother fighting it?"

And I'M the "model of learned helplessness"?

[] Finish for now and sit back and relax

But for the love of all that is holy, keep an eye on her so she doesn't think she can just get up and walk away.

{X} Finish for now and sit back and relax.
Taking it easy.

[] Finish for now and sit back and relax

[X] Finish for now and sit back and relax

Best to respect the lady's privacy.

[x] Finish for now and sit back and relax

Hotglu-Take it easy~

[X] Finish for now and sit back and relax.

[x] Hotglue Mokou

>You find that even her hair is tainted with blood. The blood there has coagulated and clumps of her hair are stuck together, bound by the dried blood.

[x] Wash her hair.
[x] Unwrap some of the bandages; You should clean there as well.
[x] Modesty is not necessary; Clean the spots that you 'missed'.
[x] Put her in Keine's bed while you wash her clothes.

Jesus Christ, if you're going to nurse someone who's injured, you don't do it half-assed. As it is now she'll still reek of blood when she wakes up, she'll need another bath, and then she'll have to sully something of Keine's while she washes her clothes anyway.

If you want to impress Keine, you have to live up to her standard of care for others. And right now you haven't really done anything to actually care for Mokou at all.

>>7531

Hint: Take it easy

>>7533

Counter hint: Be thoughtful

Counter-counter-hint: see image

>>7531

Okay, there are several things wrong with this.

For one, her clothes are beyond repair. How many times has this been said for far? Not only were they already ripped apart, but Keine cut into them even more with a pair of scissors. They're practically shreads now, the best they're good for is being confetti.

Second, we don't know if her wounds have healed yet. Yeah, as anon, we know that Mokou has regenerative powers, but does Shirou know that? Furthermore, we don't know if they're active while she's low on energy to begin with. So unwrapping some bandages might not end well and will only aggravate her wounds more.

Thirdly, there are plenty of signs of Mokou ready to wake up at any moment, meaning if she caught us trying to "clean" her in areas she would rather us not touch, it could end VERY badly for us, on both Mokou and Keine's part. As Teru said, we've really only known these two for a few days at the very most. We shouldn't go betraying the trust we're trying to build here.

Finally, we have a job to fulfill, we need to be ready to run out the door the very moment Keine comes back because we're probably pretty late to meet Kaguya already. We can't be in middle of something when Keine comes back, or at least, if we are, we need to be ready to put that burden on Keine when she comes back, which you might not wanna do.

I understand your sentiments and they're well founded, but seriously, as Keine said, there's no need to try so hard with her. We're only in the beginning parts of trying to get together with her and going overboard with the semantics might only prove harmful to us in the end. Not only do you need to pay much more attention, MUCH more, but you need to wrap your head around a few important things that should be a basic part of life too.

[x] Finish for now and sit back and relax

After spacing out for a moment, you regain your composure. You cover Mokou again and put away the rag that you used to wash her. While she still has some blood in places like her hair, and probably under some of the bandages, there's nothing you can do. Well, not without disturbing her further, and you don't know if you want to do that just now. You get up from your kneeling position and take a seat just opposite her. You sigh and slump in your seat. It's boring just to watch her like this. It's odd that she hasn't moved at all, even a bit unnatural maybe. But then again this whole ordeal has been just plain outright strange. There's a couple of things that strike you as odd.

Having no one around that can answer your questions, you just take it easy. Seeing Mokou so relaxed, you can't help but feel a bit tired yourself. You didn't sleep that well last night and it shows. You let out a large yawn. Eh, it looks like you're more tired than you thought. You catch yourself almost nodding off several times. You rest your eyes for just a few moments and it feels like you're going to go into a deep slumber. You fight it at first. You don't really want to fall asleep again, especially when you're supposed to be keeping an eye on Mokou. But things aren't looking too good. You are falling into a destructive pattern of keeping your eyes closed for more than you should every minute or so.

Luckily, something interrupts your sleepiness. It's a strong vibration coming from your pocket. A loud chime accompanies the vibration. The unexpected sound kicks your body back into gear. Your senses are sharpened and you investigate the cause of the disturbance. You fumble about until you find the offending object. It's your PDA. You check to see what the fuss is all about. A blank screen greets you. You stare at it, expecting something else to show up. But, nothing does. Is this thing on? You trying switching it on. The YakOS logo appears briefly along with a familiar mascot but then the backlight lights up and the device fails to continue booting.

Now, you're no expert on the fine workings of this PDA, but these symptoms are familiar to you. Most portable devices exhibit them under particular circumstances. It's a tell-tale sign of low battery. There's not enough charge to keep the device on. If you accept this, then it's likely that the beeping noise earlier was the device warning you and switching itself off. My, it turns out that this contraption has a limited battery life. You think that it couldn't have lasted barely more than a single day. This is a bit troublesome though. Now you're left without a convenient way to check the time. And more importantly, to keep track of your appointments.

You know that you aren't late to go meet Kaguya, yet. The alarm would have sounded before it had turned itself off. But now, you don't know when that time will come. Keine doesn't seem to have any visible clocks at her home. This situation is further complicated by the fact that you're supposed to keep watch on Mokou. You don't know how soon Keine will come back. She said she wouldn't take long, but god knows how much time that means. For all you know, she has to escort every single kid home by herself because she canceled classes. An all too familiar feeling of unease crops up in the pit of your stomach. There's no obvious advantage to panicking and taking flight. But just staying here with your arms crossed doesn't seem very productive either. Isn't there anything you could do? If only cell phones existed in Gensokyo...

[] Leave immediately for Eientei
[] Wait around for a bit, you shouldn't go back on your promise
[] Wake up Mokou
[] Use item from inventory (specify what and how)
------
I apologize in advance if I can't post any more updates like right now. My internet connection is about as stable as an African democracy right now. So it works for only three minute intervals at times. Meaning that checking replies and posting is... complicated.

Say, what do we have on us anyway? Need to know for third selection

[x] Use item from inventory (Cellphone, check the time)
[x] Wait around for a bit, you shouldn't go back on your promise

derp

[x] Use item from inventory (Cellphone, check the time)
[x] Wait around for a bit, you shouldn't go back on your promise

[x] Use item from inventory (Cellphone, check the time)
[x] Wait around for a bit, you shouldn't go back on your promise

Wait, we have a cellphone?

>>7547
We don't.
>>7542
Pretty much all of out inventory except for a change of clothes.

[X] Wake up Mokou

If she wakes up at all, she'll be one step closer to being able to watch after herself again, freeing us up to get back to Eientei for our appointment without breaking our promise. Sorta.

Right, no cellphone.

[X] Wake up Mokou.

Next best choice.

Yeah this will end well.

"Get up you lazy, malingering dog. I don't have time to babysit your useless ass; I have to go prostrate myself in front of the people who just beat the tar out of you. Make sure you tell Keine I was watching you. I don't want to get on her bad side now that she's both my boss and creditor."

And Kaguya probably ain't in better shape herself; how's she gonna meet us like that?

[x] Wake up Mokou.
[x] Ask what what happened.

{X} Wake up Mokou.

[x] Wait around for a bit, you shouldn't go back on your promise

Why would her being awake mean we don't have to watch her? It's not like she was going to die otherwise.
>Can you keep a watch on Mokou while I step out quickly? Please? I don't think anything will happen to her, but it'll grant me peace of mind.”

>>7548
>Pretty much all of out inventory except for a change of clothes.
What? Should that be "all out of inventory"?

[X] Wake up Mokou.

>>Why would her being awake mean we don't have to watch her? It's not like she was going to die otherwise.

Well, why would her being awake mean we HAVE to watch her? She's a big girl, and can take care of herself better than we can. We certainly wouldn't stand much of a chance against anything capable of putting her in the condition she's in now, at any rate.

If she wakes up, can't move for whatever reason, and we can make ourselves useful by giving her some company, fine. But if she decides she's well enough and wants to go, there's not a whole lot we can do to stop her.

Even if she can't get up yet, who's to say she even wants us watching her? Say she tells us we don't need to hang around, or something. What then?
Sure, Keine asked us to watch over her, but doesn't the patient get some say in the matter? I don't know about you, but I would think the person who is being watched over should have the final say in whether or not she has someone watching over her at all.

>>What? Should that be "all out of inventory"?

I think it's supposed to be "all of our inventory". Meaning we have everything we've acquired up to this point on us, aside from extra clothes. Albion, our laser pointer, that mysterious bottle, hotglue gun...

>>7556
>I think it's supposed to be "all of our inventory".
But he was asking for a list of the inventory, not a goddamn truism like INVENTORY = INVENTORY.

Teruyo, what exactly do we have in our inventory?

>>7557
Technically, he simply asked what we had on us at the moment. "Everything we've collected up to now" is as valid an answer as an itemized list, even if it's not nearly as helpful to anyone who hasn't bothered to keep track of what we pick up in this story.

That said, reminders ARE always welcome and helpful. Especially when we're being given an option to use something.

Gentlemen, I apologize. It was indeed 'our' but it was a typo made out of haste. As I've mentioned before my internet has been crapping out. So I meant to follow up with a list, but couldn't get back on. So, I just eventually went to sleep.

So, without further ado, our inventory:

-Albion
-Gourd
-Laser Pointer
-'Magic dust' (supposedly will make you fly)
-Marisa's special liquor
-Mystery bottle
-PDA (No charge left)
-Set of generic clothing (wearing)
-Small pouch with money
-Trinkets of money left over from before

And, continuing the running gag:
-hotglue gun

This should be it. Mind you, I can't find the list that I wrote everything on so this is from my memory. Please correct me if I omitted something.

[x] Wake up Mokou.
[x] Ask what what happened.

Kaguya seems like a nice girl and all, but we do have to remember that she's also cruel and murderous. Between Mokou and Kaguya, all other things being equal I'd rather take my chances with the one who is easier to read.

Maybe Kaguya blurted out something revealing in the heat of battle? We can at least learn how injured Kaguya was.

[X] Wake up Mokou.

[X] Wake up Mokou.

Mokou is cool. There's really no way of permanently pissing her off, because in that case she'll just kill you. We had a dynamic when we first got here; maybe we could pick that up again.

And if anyone--anyone--would be interested in helping solve one of Kaguya's "impossible requests" it would be Mokou. If not by pity for Shirou than out of spite for Kaguya.

[x] Wake up Mokou

Maybe waking up Mokou will help you figure out what to do now. You get up from your chair and walk to Mokou's side. You call out her name and shake her slightly. Almost immediately she opens her eyes. It surprises you that you were able to rouse her so quickly. From the looks of it, you would have thought that she was in a deep slumber, oblivious to her surroundings. She looks at you and you stare back, slightly at a loss for words.

“Heya there.” You manage to squeeze out. “How are you feeling?”

You think it best if you started with some innocent small talk. You don't want to come off as a self-interested asshole right now. Or at least, you didn't, in retrospect. At that moment it was all that you could have thought of asking.

Mokou blinks her eyes a few times, and looks around the room. “I've been better.” She says in a slightly raspy voice. “You the only one here? Where's Keine?”
“She had to step out for a bit. She said that she'll back soon.”
“Soon, huh? Knowing her she's probably take a while. She doesn't deal good with a sudden crises.” She tries to raise her upper body a bit but then stops, groaning. “Eh, it looks like I'm still quite sore. Pain hasn't gone away. Hurts like hell.”
“Anything I can do to help? I looked through the box that Keine brought but couldn't find any medicine.”
“No surprise there. She'd starve if she were a doctor or nurse instead of a teacher. It has probably never occurred to her that medicine is part of the healing process.” You think that you can detect a hint of a sarcastic smile forming on Mokou's face as she says this. But she coughs a bit and her expression returns to a neutral state.
“So, no joy then? Are you sure there's nothing here?”
“There's only one thing that I can think of that would help me right now.” She states looking at a corner of the room. You follow her line of sight but can't see what she's getting at.
“And that would be?”
“That's obvious. A natural painkiller. Well, natural enough.”
“I'm not following you here. Is there such a thing here?”
“Don't be coy. You know what I mean. Alcohol. Booze. Hooch. That'll help ease the pain.”

Eh, you don't know if that's a good idea. What if she has any injuries that might be exacerbated by the addition of alcohol. Or what if Keine comes back with medicine. It could potentially prove to be lethal. It's not a risk that should be taken very lightly. Your hesitation must be evident, since Mokou drives her point across forcefully.

“I'll be fine. I don't need medicine to heal. I just need something to ease the pain. Trust me on this one.”
“I'm not sure that's the best idea.”
“Hey, if you don't get the stuff, I'll crawl out of here and get it myself. I'm sure that that would be an awkward outcome for everyone involved.”
“Fine, I'll get some alcohol.” You say, sighing. Really now, this girl does whatever she wants all the time. Whether the people around her like it or not.

You walk over to the drawer where Keine keeps bottles of alcohol. You just take the first bottle that you can find, paying no mind to anything else. The bottle has a cork, and so you use a nearby cork puller to rip it out. There's a satisfying 'pop' as the cork comes off. You carry the bottle back to Mokou and present it to her.

“Hey help me up, will ya? I can't drink lying down.” She says.

Is it just you or has the color returned to her face a bit? Is it a fever or is she recovering? You sigh and gently help her sit up. You see an expression of pain on her face as you help her, but she doesn't complain out loud. She pivots around and leans her back on the backrest of the sofa. The sheet that was covering her slides off of her slightly, exposing most of her upper body. She doesn't seem to mind much and takes the bottle from your hand. She doesn't hesitate at all and sakes a swig.

You remember drinking with Keine last night. In contrast to the way Keine elegantly sipped her drink, Mokou's chugging only serves to remind you of the average fratboy. You put your hand on the side of your face and sigh. You still think that drinking alcohol when you've lost that much blood is a bad idea. You heard that there are some people who go donate blood just to get smashed afterwards. The loss of blood causes the booze to go to your head quicker. Mokou stops drinking and lets out a beefy belch. Way to be classy.

“That sure hits the spot! I feel warm all over. Want some?” She asks you.
“No it's okay.” While normally you'd drink, you don't feel that doing so now would be very productive.
“Well, suit yourself. That just means there's more for me.” She says with a happy smile. Seeing her like this, one would never imagine that she was just lying there motionless a few minutes ago. You're not even sure how she was able to wake up so easily. After all, even though you wiped most of her body with a wet cloth, she didn't wake up. Well, it seems like she's roused enough for you to ask her questions, or walk away. You feel that you do not want to be around her to see the effects of the alcohol on her.

[] Tell Mokou to take care of herself, you have to go now
[] Ask her what the hell happened to her
[] Ask her how she woke up so easily (she looked like she was in a deep sleep!)
[] Offer to get her something to eat
[] Just watch her drink for a bit, keeping an eye on her is the plan
----------
>>7565
Well pissing her off too much sounds pretty permanent. At least the way you put it, it seems like it'd be pretty permanent for Shirou. People die when they're killed.

[X] Just watch her drink for a bit, keeping an "eye" on "her" is the "plan"

If you know what I mean

{X} Offer to get her something to eat.

Dinner time~

[x] Offer to get her something to eat

[] Tell Mokou to take care of herself, you have to go now

[1] Ask her what the hell happened to her
[2] Tell Mokou to take care of herself, you have to go now

[x] Offer to get her something to eat
[x] Ask her what the hell happened to her

>>You feel that you do not want to be around her to see the effects of the alcohol on her.

Like hell I don't!

[X] Ask her what the hell happened to her
[X] Ask her how she woke up so easily (she looked like she was in a deep sleep!)
[X] Offer to get her something to eat

[+] Chat with her and keep an eye on her awhile, but excuse yourself and leave when she's feeling alright.

Still waiting for more votes. The next course of action hasn't been clearly defined yet.
>>7574
How vague. That could be within the next 5 minutes or after 5 hours. Plus, 'chat' is vague. Although I suppose that talking about random things or letting her take the lead in any conversation might fit your bill.

[x] Just watch her drink for a bit, keeping an eye on her is the plan

[X] Ask her how she woke up so easily (she looked like she was in a deep sleep!)
[X] Offer to get her something to eat
[X] Ask her what the hell happened to her

If she woke that easily, I wonder just how out of it she REALLY was when we were washing her...

After we get that out of the way, we can have sandwiches together while talking about our "mutual friend".

Without our PDA, we're at a serious risk of being late for our appointment. Hopefully Mokou left Kaguya in at least as bad a state as she's in, and our appointment could be pushed back a little while she recovers.

Unfortunately, between the medical care available there potentially allowing for faster recovery, and the possibility that it wasn't Kaguya (or at least, ONLY Kaguya) Mokou was fighting, we probably won't be lucky enough to be able to have our appointment delayed.

[x] Just watch her drink for a bit, keeping an eye on her is the plan

>>7578
Eh, there isn't really a set appointment with Kaguya. All that's been said is to 'go see her by midday' (paraphrasing because I can't be assed to look up my exact wording). I just (automatically) had made Shirou set his alarm for earlier because of the assumption that you would need time to talk to Kaguya and still make it in time to treat Reimu to lunch.

>>7580
So we just keep an eye out for where the sun is in the sky or something to get a vague idea of when we need to get moving, and we shouldn't have too much trouble getting where we need to be roughly when we need to be there. No sweat.

An immortal with power over "eternity" can probably afford to be a little lax about punctuality, anyway.
Frankly, I think it's Reimu that we have to worry about if we keep her waiting.

>Eh, you don't know if that's a good idea. What if she has any injuries that might be exacerbated by the addition of alcohol. Or what if Keine comes back with medicine. It could potentially prove to be lethal. It's not a risk that should be taken very lightly.

The pharmacologist in me is facepalming so hard right now.

>You're not even sure how she was able to wake up so easily. After all, even though you wiped most of her body with a wet cloth, she didn't wake up.

[x] "You a light sleeper Mokou? Or were you playing dead because you thought I was Keine?"

Gotcha!

[X] Offer to get her something to eat
[X] Ask her what the hell happened to her

[x] "You a light sleeper Mokou? Or were you playing dead because you thought I was Keine?"

CHECKMATE DA

[x] Offer to get her something to eat

You figure that she might be hungry. Well, even if she isn't, you hardly think it healthy to be drinking without eating anything.

“Hey Mokou?” You ask. “Would you like something to eat?”
“Nah, it's okay.” She replies, smiling. “I'm not hungry.”
“You sure? Have you had breakfast yet? I can cook something for you if you want.”
“Well, I'm fine with just this.” She points to the bottle in her hand.
“That's what I'm worried about, it doesn't seem very healthy.”
“Don't be so uptight. I know you like to drink as well.”
“I can't deny that, heck I even worship a booze deity. But that doesn't change my point.” You say, trying to get through to her. “I don't see any benefit in becoming completely drunk while injured like you are. In any case, it's not going to kill you if *I* cook you something. You just have to sit here.”
“Fine, fine. If it'll stop you from being a pain, I guess I'll eat something.”
“Good, I'm glad that you understand. So what will it be?”
“I don't really care.” She shrugs her shoulders. “Just make it tasty.”
“Okay, but no complaining later if it's not to your taste.” You try to add, treating her like a fussy child.
“Sure, whatever.”

You leave her alone for now and head to the kitchen. Mokou's indifference to your efforts annoy you a bit. How can she just reject kindness like that? You were thinking of making her something special like your omelette, but you think that she doesn't deserve something like that. Especially if she's dead drunk by the time you finish cooking. You decide to go with something simpler instead. Just your run-of-the-mill eggs over-easy. You prepare a frying pan and turn the stove on. Once the pan is hot enough you add the eggs. It doesn't take you very long to cook them. A simple, yet tasty breakfast. You look around for crackers of maybe bread. Some people like those things accompanying their eggs. Well, if Mokou does, she's out of luck since you can't find any.

You bring back a plate and a fork with you. You find that Mokou is sitting on the couch with her head tossed back and is no longer holding the bottle.

“What's wrong, alcohol got to you already?” You teasingly ask her.
“Nope, not yet.” She replies, not really humoring you. “I just felt a bit... tired that's all. Been running around since yesterday afternoon, y'see? Haven't stopped at all.”
“I brought you your food. Hope you like it.” You place the plate in front of her. She tepidly raises her head and looks at it.
“Thanks, I appreciate it. But I'm afraid I can't eat it.”
“Why not?” You ask disappointedly. You feel slightly pissed that she won't eat your food.
“Don't get worked up, kid. I just can't really move my arms now. They hurt a lot. Especially at the joints.”

...

Geez, there's no helping her. But, considering the state that she was in earlier, you can sort of believe her claim. You sigh, and move next to her. You pick up the plate with the eggs and cut off a small piece. You scoop it up in your fork and turn to Mokou.

“Say 'ahh'.” You tell her. She looks at you blankly. “Come on, you can't feed yourself right? So I'll do it for you. Just eat, okay. Otherwise it'll be a waste.”

Mokou starts to say something but she then changes her mind. She just sits there and opens her mouth. She gives you a look that seems to say 'Go ahead'. You deliver the small white piece of egg to her mouth. She chews on it a bit and then swallows.

“Good girl.” You say, patronizingly. You even pat her on the head a bit, driving your point across.
“If you're going to be a jerk about it, then forget it.” She replies, but you can tell she's only saying this half-heartedly.

You don't make any more cracks and continue to feed her. She silently eats the eggs. She's behaving awfully well, unlike her previous rowdy self. Maybe alcohol calms her down? As you're feeding her the last egg, you hear the main door open. Footsteps and creaking floorboards are heard and Keine comes into the room.

“Shirou, I'm sorry that I took so long, but I had to talk to a few concerned parents and-” She cuts off when she sees the scene in front of her. “Well, I see that the two of you are getting along just fine. I'm glad.”
“Yeah, I was just feeding her because she said her arms hurt.” You say. Mokou remains silent, just looking at Keine.
“Well, that's fine. Mokou can be so spoiled at times. I apologize for putting you through all of this.” She then notices the bottle of booze that Mokou had been drinking from. She lets out a large sigh. “I suppose that she also asked you for alcohol, right?”
“Yup. First thing she did when she woke up. Is that a problem.”
“Not really. Mokou, you should know better. I could have made you that special tea if you were in so much pain.”

Mokou just sits there, silently looking at Keine.

“What's the matter with you anyways?” Keine asks.
“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. And you know how I hate that tea. I'm glad that Shirou here understood my pain and was kind enough to get me a drink.” Mokou says, with a tone that seems to sharply contrast the silence she was exhibiting just a few moments ago. “Anyways,” She turns to you. “I'm fine, I don't want any more.” As if to prove her point, she leans back and rests her head.
“Well, thanks a lot Shirou. I can take it from here. I know how to deal with her best.” She says that last bit with a tone of burdensome self-resignation.

Well, it would seem that that's that. Keine will probably take care of the capricious Mokou now. No need to involve yourself further. But still, a lot of things still trouble you. There's something that you feel might be important to ask here. But, you don't know what time it is. That's a big problem. You don't want to push your luck. It's inconvenient not to have a place where you can check the hour.

[] Bid both of them farewell, you've got to go
[] Ask Keine if she needs your help for anything else
[] Ask Mokou about what happened to her
[] Ask how in the hell Mokou could live after losing so much blood
--------
>>7584
>>7586
This would have been an interesting choice.
>>7583
While alcohol will probably never cause you to spontaneously bleed. It can act as a sort of anticoagulant ('thinning out' blood). And plus, you probably wouldn't want to mix alcohol and drugs. While in a lot of cases it just reduces the efficiency of a drug (because of the competition in absorption in the stomach lining), it can be harmful or even fatal in others. Especially when mixed with certain painkillers or sedatives. It multiplies the risk of slipping into a coma. In general it increases the risks from other drugs, facilitating liver damage and other nasty effects. Well, at least in a significant dose.

[x] Bid both of them farewell, you've got to go

We need to get back to Kaguya now that we have no way to check the time.

[X] "so before i leave, would you quickly tell me what the heck happened just now?"

SMART DECISION GAEMS

>>7587
>While alcohol will probably never cause you to spontaneously bleed. It can act as a sort of anticoagulant ('thinning out' blood).

It's not an anticoagulant, it's a vasodilator. Alcohol only adds to bleeding risk for those with an ulcer.

>While in a lot of cases it just reduces the efficiency of a drug (because of the competition in absorption in the stomach lining), it can be harmful or even fatal in others.

Drugs aren't absorbed through the stomach lining; they're absorbed through the intestinal lining and into the portal vein system. Alcohol doesn't inhibit the absorption of any drug; hell it even increases the porosity of the intestinal lining.

>Especially when mixed with certain painkillers or sedatives. It multiplies the risk of slipping into a coma. In general it increases the risks from other drugs, facilitating liver damage and other nasty effects. Well, at least in a significant dose.

That only goes for opiate painkillers. Most traditional painkillers, like willow bark, do not cause respiratory depression. And even if Keine did come back with a bowl of opium, all CNS depressants are dose-effect, so you just titrate according to the person's response.

And the reason for the risk of liver damage with alcohol and acetaminophen is due to a chronic induction of the CYP2E1 enzyme, which converts acetaminophen to its hepatotoxic metabolite; for chronic heavy alcohol users, it's actually SAFER to drink alcohol with acetaminophen than to take acetaminophen alone, due to the transient competition for this enzyme.

[x] "Mokou, did you leave Kaguya in pretty much the same condition you were? Cause if so, I'll have to assume my appointment this afternoon with her is canceled."

>>7590
Yes, yes that's fine and all. And while I'm aware of most of that, and simplified my reply to avoid discussion, I don't feel that it's necessary to be so anal for something silly as the protagonist's thoughts. And while I appreciate the lesson and clarification your expertise offers, I much rather you just voted instead of typing this up. If you want to teach me about medicine than feel free to chat me up in the irc channel.

ITT debates over little things in the story that apparently make a HUGE difference.

[X] Ask Mokou about what happened to her

Shirou needs to learn about the other side of his "buddy" before he discovers it himself, first-hand.

[x] Ask Mokou about what happened to her

>>7592

If you're that dismissive, I wonder why you even replied at all? The relevance to the story is that Shirou is apprenticed to a genius pharmacist and yet chastises a person who is in pain because she asked for appropriate relief. I could understand if you had made it an option, but being cruel to an injured person is just not consistent with his character as written. If it's a fuck up, that's okay, but make sure no consequences come of it.

[x] "Mokou, did you leave Kaguya in pretty much the same condition you were? Cause if so, I'll have to assume my appointment this afternoon with her is canceled."

Shirou already knows they fight. He said as much when he introduced himself to Mokou.

[x] Ask Mokou about what happened to her

>>7597
>>Shirou already knows they fight. He said as much when he introduced himself to Mokou.

And yet...
>>You can't imagine anyone at Eientei harming another person like this. They may be unpredictable at times, but they're not murdering monsters.

>>7596
Didn't mean to come off as dismisive. Just didn't want to derail the thread. And for all of Eirin's training I don't know if that makes him a genius pharmacist. Yes, there was that component to the training, but most of it was about physics (most of that abstract) and chemistry rather than biology. Again, I invite you, if you wish to get a faster answer or debate on any point (or ask for more in-depth clarification) come to the irc channel. No one benefits from a back and forth exchange during voting and other comments.
>>7597
>>7599
Well, it's always one thing to hear about an occurrance and quite another to see its effects. Especially in the case of conflict between two groups that seem to be otherwise amiable and fine. Its hard to reconciliate nefarious deeds with people you might know.

[x] "Mokou, did you leave Kaguya in pretty much the same condition you were? Cause if so, I'll have to assume my appointment this afternoon with her is canceled."

[x] "Mokou, did you leave Kaguya in pretty much the same condition you were? Cause if so, I'll have to assume my appointment this afternoon with her is canceled."

{X} "Mokou, did you leave Kaguya in pretty much the same condition you were? Cause if so, I'll have to assume my appointment this afternoon with her is canceled."

{X} "Mokou, did you leave Kaguya in pretty much the same condition you were? Cause if so, I'll have to assume my appointment this afternoon with her is canceled."

The recent influx of votes are stupid. Shirou doesn't know that Mokou has been fighting with Kaguya, nor does he have any idea that there is so much enmity between Mokou and Kaguya that they fight until they are as close to death as they can get.
Don't try to reason it off with, "Shirou could probably connect the points and figure out what has been going on", he has a track record of being as clueless as the common image we have of Emiya Shirou.

>>7609
This.

And a couple of other points that anon hasn't really thought about that are implied by that choice. This choice additionally creates the problem of (unwittingly) informing Mokou about your dealings. And I'm not sure that that's necessarily a good thing nor if anon really understands the implications (also you may want to re-read some of the previous posts and my comments). Metaknowledge from the games is fine, but it can't nor shouldn't intefere what characterization.

Well, I'm going to create a new thread in a while and (hopefully) write a post that doesn't mess that much with the (percieved) intention here while not ridiculously using false assumptions and out-of-character knowledge. Give it a while.

[] Ask Mokou about what happened to her
[] Ask how in the hell Mokou could live after losing so much blood

>>7610
Just intrepret them as asking about what happened, since kaguyas current condition would probably come up during the explanation.

>>7609
>>7610

Anon not considering the implications of his choices, and why they might not be such a good idea?
Nope, that sure hasn't ever happened before.

[X] Ask Mokou about what happened to her

[+] Bid both of them farewell, you've got to go
Time is critical right now. Can't waste it fucking around, even with these two.

[x] Propose undying love to Mokou

>>7611
>>7612
Yeah, yeah. I know what I'm going to do, I just need to overcome the inertia of not writing. Thankfully Mr. Stolichnaya is going to assist me with that. He's most generous and cool like that. A true role model.

>>7614
haha, now THAT would be a funny scene. Considering that Keine is there with you as well. But then again, this sort of thing has never stopped anon in the past from declaring their love, has it?