[X] Head to your apartment.
[X] Male

Abstaining from choosing a name since I'm no good at thinking up names.

[X] Head to your apartment.
[X] Male

[X] Head to your apartment.
[X] Male

We haven't ever had a ridiculously tall character before. I can't wait for people's reactions.

[x] Head to the Shinto shrine.

When changing one's residence, it is appropriate to offer prayers at the local shrine. Maybe ask for an amulet that will keep away those nutty cultists.

>Yamada, Tarou (山田太郎): A polite but severe 30 year old salaryman with no prospects for marriage, working in a dead-end job with people he hates. In addition to the relic daishou he keeps on display (at the ready in case he decides to commit seppuku, as he does so often in his dreams), he also has a massive, illegal gun collection; which he justifies as preparation for various contingencies: War, zombies, Chinese invasion, mid-life crisis, work issues. He wears boxy, black glasses a completely unironic manner. His dream is to someday lose his life in pursuit of what others would consider a worthy goal.

[ ] Head to the Shinto shrine.
[X] Shota

[x] Name:John
[x] Gender:Male
[x] Height:6'8
[x] Race:Half Irish & Half Japanese.
[x] Age:22
[x] Head to your apartment.

Ehh. Scew getting used to the place; you've got unpacking to do, and you're not really in the mood for anything at the moment.

Given that you don't particularly want to spend money on a cab right now, you decide to walk. Walking's alright. When you've walked all your life, you get used to it.
However, the other people aren't used to it. They're never used to it, at least not here in Japan. The fact that you're 6'8" and you look a bit foreign, no doubt due to your Irish blood, makes you stand out in any crowd.
The funny thing about them staring at you here, though, is that they all look more riddiculous than you do, and you're not particularly staring at them. There's quite a few exceptions, but most of the people here seem to dress...uniquely. It's as if they're all cosplayers, and that's rumored to be one of the places that the cult originally started, with the cosplayer subgroup of the otaku subculture. If dressing weird weren't enough, many of them have hair with colors that are quite odd to see on a real person. And every other person is carrying a parasol.
They're all odd for reasons beyond just the intricate dresses and odd habit of carrying parasols everywhere. they believe...weird things. Well, it's not like the rest of the world doesn't. It's just that theirs are weirder, and even stupid. this is why they've been gently pushed into moving to this city.

Eventually, you make it to your apartment building. After a bit of trouble actually finding your room, given that they don't seem to follow the same first number is floor and the next two are room number format but instead literally gave every room the next number not used starting at zero. Why they chose to do this is beyond you, but it's a bit of a pain.

In any case, you've arrived at your apartment door. Sitting in front of it is a smallish brown box, addressed to you. You pick it up, holding it in your left hand while you use your right to fiddle with the key and unlock the door.

Inside, you find that it's already been furnished...somewhat. It appears to follow the traditional style of small spaces, paper interor walls, and tatami mats. The only things that you've actually been furnished with are an unassembled, still-boxed kotatsu and a futon. Of course, there's a small fridge and stove in the kitchen and the bathroom has the necessities, but other than all this, it's empty. Your stuff should be arriving soon, but you've got no idea when "soon" is given that your employer is the one who's sending it.

After unboxing and assembling the kotatsu, leaving the blanket rolled up and shoving it in a small closet, you decide to open the box you found on your doorstep.

Inside you find a PDA-like device. There's no brand name on it and you don't recognize the model, but it's been stamped with the name of the company you work for. Included in the box is a USB wall charger and a small protective case. There's no manual for it; apparently they want you to figure it out on your own.
Oh well. That's life.

In any case, now that you're as unpacked as you're actually going to get tonight, you've got to figure out what to do.

Turning on the PDA, which luckily for you seems to have been given to you with a full charge, you find that the time is about 15:30.

[ ] Go visit that shrine.
[ ] Go do something else around town.
[ ] Introduce yourself to neighbors.

[X] Introduce yourself to neighbors.

[X] Introduce yourself to neighbors.

[x] Introduce yourself to neighbors.

[x] Introduce yourself to neighbors.

[x] >>19079

Well, the next thing to do would be to introduce yourself to your neighbors, as people who just moved into an area tend to do.
Sliding the PDA into its protective case and then into your pocket, you head out your door.

Being that your apartment is on the very end of the row, you're left with a choice of three doors which you can choose to be the first. You don't really feel any reason to be picky, so you pick the first one. Room 29, as yours is room 30. Once again, that weird room numbering system they decided to use...

Knocking on the door, you hear the person inside, a woman by the sounds of it shout back to you.
"Coming!" the female voice gets slightly more loud as it comes towards you. After a couple seconds, you hear a lock turning and the door swings open inward.

"...Um..." She looks slightly confused. Well, you've never bet before, so...
Taking a short look at her, she is wearing a white and blue dress. Not quite as flashy as some of the others, but that's made up for by her hat, which is very odd indeed. You'ren not sure how that thing pokes up like that, as it looks to be made of the same soft material as the rest of the hat is, but such is how these people tend to do things.
"...Who're you?" She asks, slightly cautious-sounding. You notice a rather cold breeze coming in fron the house.
"I just moved in next door, and decided I'd like to introduce myself to my new neighbors."
"...Oh! The manager had said something about someone moving in today. I'm sorry, my memory isn't that great when I've just woken up. I'm Letty Whiterock."
"I'm John. Did I wake you up?" You'd feel bad about it if you interrupted her nap.
"Oh, don't worry about it! I sleep too much as it is."
"I see. I don't really get that much sleep, myself."
"It's easier to sleep when you turn the temperature down, you know?" Ahh, that explains why her house is apparently freezing cold. Her electric bill must be huge, though.
"Is that so? I've never heard anything like that before."
"Cold is wonderful~ But it's a bit too warm outside for me right now, and I imagine you'd like to introduce yourself to the rest of your neighbors, so..." You can tell from the sleepy look on her face that she really means that she wants to go back to sleep.
"Yeah. See you later." she nods, and closes her door. You don't hear the deadbolt being replaced. It strikes you as odd that she'd lock her door in the first place.

Well, the next door down is the next destination. Room 28.
The door gets no answer, though, and when you take a quick glance through the unshaded window, you find that no one's home. Must be at work; it's still the afternoon.

Moving to the next door down, you notice that there are lots of flowers decorating the area in front of the entrance, as well as a flower-themed doormat and a flower ornament on the door. Lots of flowers.

You have just as much luck with this door as the last one, though. It's not really that expectable that people be home at this time. Letty must be a housewife, or another person who just moved here and is in the process of finding work. Or perhaps she works at night? There's no way to know.

Well, returning to the apartment would definitely lead to lots of boredom. You could try messing around with the PDA, but without internet, which hasn't been hooked up yet, you won't really be able to accomplish anything other than figuring out how it basically works. Knowing you, the whole process should only take a couple minutes. You could always go do something after that, but then again you could do something before it and do that later. You're not on a schedule or anything.

[ ] Visit the shrine.
[ ] Do something around town. (specify)
[ ] Mess around with the PDA.
[ ] Write-in.

[X] Visit the shrine.

Letty~

[X] Visit the shrine.

[x] Visit the shrine.

[x] Visit the shrine.

Yeah, it's probably a good idea to go visit the shrine, now that you think about it. It's appropriate to offer prayers at the local shrine, and who knows? Maybe you could ask for an amulet to ward off the crazy cultists.

After a considerable amount of time walking, you decide that leaving for the shrine without knowing exactly where it was was a dumb decision. To make up for it, you stop by a small police kiosk, the closest place nearby you could think of, for a map of the town. Luckily, they actually had one, which lists the locations of places of worship for any religions here, major businesses, schools, government buildings, and the like. According to the map, you walked the wrong direction. This means you're going to have to walk back the other way.
Your legs are going to be sore tomorrow. You can just tell.

Yeah. and it's all the way across town from your position. It'll take forever to get there on foot.

Best to get a cab.

So you whistle for one. And when it comes near, the license plate says fresh and there's dice in the mirror. You're tempted to wait for a different cab, because of the feeling that you're being trolled. You let that pass, though, since you really want a ride.

Sitting down in the backseat, you tell him you want to go to the Hakurei Shrine. he looks at you funny, then shifts the car into gear.

Yeah, the driver's definitely one of the cultists. He's dressed in what you'd normally expect to be something people only wear on special occasions, a blue yukata. Not very fitting for work. You're not about to complain about it, though; doesn't really bother you.

After ten or so minutes, you make it there. It was quite a quick drive as there was no traffic.

Getting out of the car, you brace yourself for the task ahead of you. You remember being told about it, but you didn't think it'd be this bad. The shrine is on top of a fairly tall hill with a fairly steep slope, and you've got to climb a set of stairs to get up.
Great.

Well, you're at the top, and like you'd expected, it's empty. not a person here. The grounds are cleanly swept, though. Sitting in the front is a donation box, which is absolutely empty. The shrine building its self isn't very large, probably no larger than if you combined your apartment with Letty's.

The whistle of a teapot comes from inside.

[ ] Knock on the door.
[ ] Just offer a prayer and leave. (specify next action)

Optional:
[ ] Donate some money. (specify amount)

---

Oh, right. You guys never checked your inventory. That's probably a good idea to do at some point.

how much $$ do we even have?

[x] Knock on the door.
[x] Donate some money. 2500 yen.
[x] Inventory

[x] Knock on the door.
[x] Donate some money. 2500 yen.
[x] Inventory

[x] Knock on the door.
[x] Donate some money. 2500 yen.
[x] Inventory

Well, before anything, you'd better donate. From the looks of things, the miko here is probably starving with no donations.

Reaching into your back pocket, you pull out your wallet. There's a total of 20,000 yen inside. You've got more in your bank account, but of course carrying it all would be dumb. There's also ~1,000 yen in your pocket; a 500 yen coin and assorted smaller ones.

Pulling out two 1,000 yen bills from your wallet and the 500 yen coin, you drop them in the donation box before heading towards the door.

On the way, out of curiousity, you decide to check yourself to make sure you didn't drop anything. Of course, there's the wallet with money in it; your keys, which as of now are just the key to your apartment and the key to your parent's house, as well as a small flashlight keychain; and the PDA. Normally you'd be wearing a watch, but it recently broke and you haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. Your cellphone...seems to be missing. Damn. Well, they're not very expensive. You can just buy a new one if need be. There's also the note which has the address to your house, which you don't want to lose until you've actually got it memorized, and the map of the city.

Well, that's all you have on your person. Something was indeed missing, so checking was a good idea. In any case, time to say hello to whoever is inside.

By now, the kettle has stopped whistling. This is good, because it makes your knocking more audible.

"Oh, just come in." She says, sounding very neutral about it. Following her instruction, you slide open the door and step inside.
"Oh." she looks slightly surprised after seeing you, then returns to neutralness. "A new face. I thought you were Marisa. Well, come in and sit down, I guess. Have some tea too." You look and find that there's four cups sitting on the tray with the teapot, which is slightly odd considering that she's the only person here.
Sitting down, you pour yourself a cup.

"I don't think I've seen you before. I'm Hakurei Reimu." She says neutrally. Her posture is quite lazy.
"I'm John. I just moved here, thought I'd stop by the shrine and pray."
"Oh?" she once again looks shocked. It once again disappears almost instantly. "That's quite refreshing. Everyone else around here is, you know."
"Yeah." Seems like your guess about how things are going here at the shrine was fairly accurate.
"I'm just here because there needs to be a shrine here, you know? But I put myself on the city limits, so that if I find an urge to leave I don't have to travel through town. It's a bit irritating, seeing everyone dressed so oddly. I mean, it must look odd for me to be dressed this way all the time too, but I have to. It's my job. Them...Yeah."
"I see." You'd definitely agree with that.
"Haaaaah. It's so boring here." He sprawls out on the table, her face down on the blanket coverint it. "No one ever comes to pray; the few people that do come just come to bother me, never pay respects or anything. And no one donates." She sounds really depressed.

You pat her shoulder reassuringly.
"It's alright. I'm sure that'll change when some of these people realize how stupid they are."
"I guess." She sits back up and smiles at you.
"So, would you happen to have any charms or anything to ward off cultists, or something like that?"
"Hahahaha." She begins laughing. "I wish. I can give you one for luck. Hopefully it'll make you lucky enough to avoid them."
She stands up, leaves the room, and comes back with a charm and hands it to you.

"Thank you."
"Nah, don't worry about it. You made my day a bit better, I ought to at least make yours the same. So, why exactly did you end up coming here?"
"Work. My employer transferred me here at the same time as a layoff on my area. I knew that if I decided not to go, I'd be the first one laid off, so... But yeah. For some reason, they decided to send me here a few months in advance of the building even being completed, to 'get used to the place.' With full pay. Not having to do anything is a bit nice, I guess."
"Well, you're the first person I've heard of actually coming here for the purpose of stimulating the economy. Everyone else here...you know how it goes, I'm sure."
"Yeah."

Suddenly, your phone starts ringing.

...No, you don't have your phone. It's the PDA.

"...Sorry." pulling it out of your pocket, you look at the screen.

"Incoming call: Enpen Inc."

That's your employer. Also, this PDA does phone calls? Fuck yes. In any case, you have to get this.
"Oh, this is my employer. I have to get this."
"I see."

Stepping outside, you hit the green button on the screen that says "answer" and hold the device up to your ear.

"Hello?"
"Hello." The calm feminine voice of your boss comes through to your ears. "I'm calling to tell you that there's been a complication with the shipment of your stuff; the person in charge got lazy and only actually shipped the box with your clothing."
"What." This is definitely bad news.
"Don't worry, I'm going to get it worked out. You should have the rest of your stuff by the end of the week. Your clothing should be at your doorstep by now, actually. I'm truly sorry."
"...Alright. Thanks for telling me."
"Mhmm."
"I suppose I'll talk to you later, then."
"Indeed."

The call ends.

[ ] Go back inside and visit with Reimu some more.
[ ] Go back inside and excuse yourself; head home. You've got things to do.
[ ] Go back inside and excuse yourself; go do something else. (specify)

[ ] Go back inside and visit with Reimu some more.

[x] Go back inside and visit with Reimu some more.

[x] Go back inside and visit with Reimu some more.

Well, you've been having a fairly good time with Reimu today. You get the feeling of wanting to continue it some more.
Sliding the door back open, you step back inside.

"Sorry about that, I can't really just ignore my employer."
"Don't worry, I understand."

The two of you sit there sipping tea for a bit, before you decide to initiate conversation. You talk about nothing in particlar; the conversation just flows from one subject to the next, as it goes. You learn a lot from just this conversation, though; it seems that they've got a really strange hierarchy where the people who are more "powerful" with using the magic that these people think they can use, basically control everything. Of course, as she points out, the people who are seen as more "powerful" are the people who promote themselves as such, or who win in the oddly quite regulated street fights that they tend to have considerably often. Which reminds you that you wanted to buy a pair of brass knuckles, just in case, before moving here, but never got around to it.
And apparently, given that Reimu's had to mediate a few such disputes and has proven somehow to be the best at fighting in the city, she's considered to be on top. Apparently she's quite popular with others who are "strong" and somewhat hated by those who are weak.
"Of course, the fact that most of them are scared to death of my amulets makes matters easier. It seems like a large part of the basis of their...stuff comes from shinto. Most of them think themselves youkai, actually. It's irritating." She explains.

After about an hour of talking with her, you excuse yourself. It seems like you two get along pretty well. In any case, it's getting a bit late. It's not quite getting dark yet, but you can tell it's only an hour or so before it does.

Looking at the time on your PDA, you find that it is currently 17:30.

[ ] Head back home. Perhaps neighbors have gotten home and you can introduce yourself.
[ ] Find a cyber cafe or something with wifi. Finding out that this thing has a phone gives you incentive to mess around more.
[ ] Find something else to do around town. (specify)

[ ] Find a cyber cafe or something with wifi. Finding out that this thing has a phone gives you incentive to mess around more.

[X] Find a cyber cafe or something with wifi. Finding out that this thing has a phone gives you incentive to mess around more.

It's kind of sad that more people don't vote for this. It's just starting out and it seems like it'll have an interesting premise.

[x] Find a cyber cafe or something with wifi. Finding out that this thing has a phone gives you incentive to mess around more.

[x] Find a cyber cafe or something with wifi. Finding out that this thing has a phone gives you incentive to mess around more.

[X] Find a cyber cafe or something with wifi. Finding out that this thing has a phone gives you incentive to mess around more.

Your curiousity is piqued. After finding out that the PDA is a phone, you're curious as to what all else it can do.
Of course, it'd obviously be best to do this while there's internet nearby. It's very likely that at least some of the functions are internet-related, and you'd like to be able to try them out.

You get another cab. This time it's being driven by a girl wearing some sort of hat and a frilly dress. Once again, too frilly. These people...

"Take me to the best internet cafe in the town," you tell the girl.
"Alright. Just a minute."

It really did take just a minute. After leaving the cab, you enter the cafe. Inside, there's various people. Almost all of them are dressed riddiculously. Well, it's more accurate that YOU'RE dressed riddiculously, since you'd be the one riddiculed in this place.

Stepping up to the counter, you take a look at the menu. It's about time, might as well get dinner. Hmm... Probably best to just go with a sandwich. And for the drink, just tea.

A woman, who surprisingly isn't dressed riddiculously like everyone else, walks up to you. Looking you over real quick, she's slightly surprised.
"Ah, you're not one of them." She nods to herself.
"Indeed I am not."
"Well, what can I get you?"
"How much to use your wifi?"
"It's free with any drink purchase."
"Ah. I'll be getting green tea and a sandwich, then."
"Just take a seat somewhere, I'll bring it out for you."

You comply, choosing an empty seat as far away from all of the freaks as possible.

Pulling out the PDA, you go over its functions.

Built in, there's a number of useful things. All the standard things for a PDA: a scheduler, a notepad, a phonebook, which ties in with the phone function, and all that good stuff. It's also got a web browser and email client, as well as a few client softwares for things like FTP which really aren't very useful for you. It also has a function for keeping track of the things you're carrying. When you run it, it gives you an error message stating that the inventory add-on has not been installed. Huh. Whatever.

"Hi. I've never seen you around here before."

!"

"Uh..." Looking up at the girl who stands before you... She's one of the most oddly-dressed people you've met. She looks like Wendy from the Wendy's restaurant chain, only with cat ears and a tail. On top of that, she's pulling some kind of wheelbarrow. Inside the shop.

"I'm Rin. I collect corpses."
"...Huh-" What? She colle- Oh god. Is this girl a serial killer? Oh fuck oh fuck oh fu-

"What's wrong? Ohhh! You must have misunderstood! I work at the crematorium."
"I... See." Well, that's a bit relieving. You're still not sure you can trust her.
"Why are you dressed so...plainly?" She asks you as if you're the one who's odd for dressing in a certain way.
"Because I'm a plain guy, no quirks or special abilities or anything."
"Nonesense! Everyone in Gensokyo has some kind of ability! You just haven't found it yet."
Oh god not this bullshit again.
"Look. I don't believe in any of this crap. And I really don't like being preached to. So if that's what you're trying to do, go away."
"How rude. I was just trying to be friendly." She doesn't really seem offended, though.
"...Whatever." You've already had enough the second she tried to tell you that you have some sort of latent ability.
"Hmm~ I'll see ya around sometime then." She runs off with the speed of a cat, dragging the cart behind her.

Man, that was strange. You're finished with your food, though. And you basically know what the PDA does, so no real use in messing around with it for now.

The PDA lists the time as 18:30.

[ ] Head back home. It's almost certain that neighbors have returned home by now.
[ ] Find something else to do around town. (specify)

[ ] Head back home. It's almost certain that neighbors have returned home by now.

[x] Head back home. It's almost certain that neighbors have returned home by now.

[x] Head back home. It's almost certain that neighbors have returned home by now.

[x] Head back home. It's almost certain that neighbors have returned home by now.

[ze] Head back home. It's almost certain that neighbors have returned home by now.

[:>] Head back home. It's almost certain that neighbors have returned home by now.

Yeah, those neighbors who weren't there have probably gotten home from work by now.
Stepping outside, you realize that you're going to have to call a cab again. You don't know exactly where you are, and getting home would take a long goddamn time.

Right. Cab. The number for a cab is...

"Hey~!" a voice you recognize from a few minutes ago startles you.
"You need a ride, don't you!" Ugh, she's going to offer you a ride now. Well, it's better than paying cab fare, so...
"Well, yes."
"I'll take you wherever you need to go."
"Okay, as long as you don't try to preach at me."

So she takes you to her car. It's, as you should have expected, a hearse.

"I'm walking." You turn away and head in what you think is the general direction of your house.
"Wait!" She shouts. "You can't turn me away! I'm going to have to drive you there if I have to lock you in the back!"

Like hell she i-

You find yourself falling backwards into a wheelbarrow, and then swifly moved back towards the hearse. You're forced into the passenger side, and when you try and open the door, you find that the child safety lock has been turned on. Damn it, why is there a child safety lock on a goddam hearse?

Before you can try and get out the other side, she's already sat down and started the car.

"So, where do you live."
"...Here." You give her the sheet of paper with your address on it.
"Alright! Let's get going!"

After about fifteen minutes, you arrive in front of your house. She lets you out, turns the child safety lock off, and tells you that she'll see you later. Not if you can avoid it. Which you probably can.

Well, there's two doors. Which to check first?

[ ] The one immediately following Letty's.
[ ] The one with flower decorations everywhere.
[ ] Screw that, do something else. (specify)

[ ] The one with flower decorations everywhere.

[x] The one with flower decorations everywhere.

[x] The one with flower decorations everywhere.

[x] The one with flower decorations everywhere.

Cat corpse car creates creepiness.

[x] The one with flower decorations everywhere.

[ze] The one with flower decorations everywhere.

This will not end badly.

[†] The one with flower decorations everywhere.

The one with flower decorations definitely sticks in your mind. It's the most noticable of the two. And, since it's closer from the direction you're walking in, there's no reason not to pick it.

Walking up to the door, you press the button to ring the doorknob.

A couple minutes later, you hear the deadbolt turn, and the door opens right up.

Standing in front of of you, looking up at your face, is a woman wearing a red plaid skirt. Her hair is green. Yeah, she's one of these cultists. She's one of the ones with a parasol. Why she's still carrying it with her inside, you have no clue, but whatever.

"...Who're you?" She asks. Most people are at least a little bit intimidated by your towering stature, but she doesn't appear to be at all.
"I just moved in a couple doors down and felt that I'd like to introduce myself to my new neighbors."
"Uh-huh. So what do you want then?"
"I'm just here to introduce myself, is all."
"I see."
She looks you over for a moment.
"Do you like flowers?" She asks.
"Well, they're nice to look at and they create oxygen."
"You don't seem too excited about it." She points out the obvious. "Hmmm...Maybe that'll change if you take care of one for yourself. I'll give you a plant. If you let it die, I'll kill you." She steps back inside for a moment, returning with a pot in which a plant with deep blue flowers is growing.
"Water it every day and set it in a place with lots of sunlight. Don't let any bad bugs get at it, but let bees and butterflies do as they please. Check it often for aphids, and if you find any come get me and I'll give you some ladybugs. And remember to love it. Come see me again when you do." She closes the door on you, leaving you standing there bewildered and holding your new plant.

You never even got her name.

You go back to your apartment, unlock it, and step inside. After a bit of looking around, you decide on a place to put it where it'll get plenty of sunlight. You don't want that woman to kill you for letting it die, and you suspect she'll be keeping watch on it. Even if she was just joking about killing you... You don't feel that you want to be on her bad side at all.

Well, you've been once again left with a choice as to what to do.

.>input

[x] Go visit the other neighbor, surely he or she will be more... reasonable?

[x] Name the plant Seymour once the town has eroded your sense of normality enough.

[x] Go visit the other neighbor, surely he or she will be more... reasonable?

[x] Name the plant Nemo once the town has eroded your sense of normality enough.

[x] Go visit the other neighbor, surely he or she will be more... reasonable?
[x] Name the plant Nemo once the town has eroded your sense of normality enough.

Nemo ;_;

[x] Go visit the other neighbor, surely he or she will be more... reasonable?
[x] Name the plant Nemo once the town has eroded your sense of normality enough.

[x] Go visit the other neighbor, surely he or she will be more... reasonable?
[x] Name the plant Nemo once the town has eroded your sense of normality enough.

Well, as it stands, you haven't visited the apartment between Letty's and that flower lady's.

Making your way in front of it, you knock on the door.

After another minute or so, you hear the deadbolt turning. Really, why does everyone here seem to lock their doors while they're home? It makes no sense. Are they scared of something?

The door opens, revealing a girl who is dressed, compared to everyone else, rather normally. She's wearing a burgundy dress with a white bow in the back and a black ribbon tied around the neck, and a fairly normal-looking hat with a large red ribbon tied in a bow around it.

"Oh! It's you. You're the one that just visited Yuuka." Yuuka? Is that the flower lady's name? "Come on in."

You comply and enter. The room, other than the stuff that wouldn't really be changable, looks to be decorated mostly in a European style.

"Have a seat at the table, I'll bring out tea."

You once again comply, taking a seat at the table. It's an actual table, with actual chairs, rather than the kind you kneel on the floor for. It feels kinda nice to sit like this for once.

Sounds come from the kitchen area; the sound of water being poured into a kettle, the sound of a small container being opened. After a while, you also hear a whistling sound from the kettle, and more water being poured. Eventually she comes back out with a tray, on which a teapot and two tea cups, with saucers, are set. After she pours herself a cup of the tea, you pour one for yourself.

"So, about Yuuka... I'm sorry she's so cold to everyone. It's hard to get to know her, because she doesn't really like to talk to people who don't like flowers. Try hard enough, though, and that'll eventually break, and she'll be a good friend."
So it is the flower lady's name.
"I see."
"I've known her for a long time. For as long as I can remember, I've been her employee, first working as a door guard at her mansion, and now that we've moved here, working with her in her flower shop, working the register while she takes care of the plants. She's always treated me fairly and kindly, even when I'm not the best at my job. Of course, she has a habit of losing her temper occasionally, but... If you look past that, she's a really nice person."
"So she wasn't being serious about killing me if I let the plant die?"
"No, she was. She can't stand to let plants get hurt. If ever you feel that you can't take care of it, you should give it back to her."
"Alright."

The conversation just dies off about right here.

[ ] Excuse yourself, go do something. (specify)
[ ] Stay here, do something. (specify)

>>19258

[x] "If I'm not being too forward, what's your name?"
[x] "Would you mind telling me a bit about Gensokyo? The bit I've heard has been very little, and it'd be nice to hear about it from someone who's been here longer than I have."

[x] "If I'm not being too forward, what's your name?"
[x] "Would you mind telling me a bit about Gensokyo? The bit I've heard has been very little, and it'd be nice to hear about it from someone who's been here longer than I have."

[x] "If I'm not being too forward, what's your name?"
[x] "Would you mind telling me a bit about Gensokyo? The bit I've heard has been very little, and it'd be nice to hear about it from someone who's been here longer than I have."

[x] Introduce yourself. Give her your name.
[x] "If I'm not being too forward, what's your name?"
[x] "Would you mind telling me a bit about Gensokyo? The bit I've heard has been very little, and it'd be nice to hear about it from someone who's been here longer than I have."

Remember your manners, Anon. 'Tis not polite to ask someones name without giving your own.

"If I'm not being too forward, what's your name?" You ask the girl.
"Oh!" She looks slightly embarassed. "I should have introduced myself by now. I'm Elly."
"I'm John. Nice to meet you."

The lateness of the actual introductions leads to an awkward silence.

You decide to break it.

"Would you mind telling me a bit about Gensokyo? The bit I've heard has been very little, and it'd be nice to hear about it from someone who's been here longer than I have."

"Ah, well, as you know this place was sorta made to herd all of us cultists-" you didn't really expect a cultist to call themselves such "-away from the rest of civilization, because they're scared of us or something. Judging by your appearance, you don't fit in with the rest of us. I'm a bit curious as to why you're here."

So you answer, telling the same story you told Reimu. The conversation lasts about as long. She tells you about the place; about where the best restaurants and such are, what the best method to avoid the cultists most of the time would be, bits and pieces of the hierarchy that you hadn't picked up on from Reimu. It isn't very rigid, and there's no one to define what it actually is. If you haven't met someone, you can only guess as to what their position is, unless they're one of the really well-known ones. This is mainly due to there being no real structure behind the cult, she tells you. It's just a bunch of people who believe the same thing and who recently moved to the same place. That could change any moment, though, if one of the stronger people decide to take advantage of their status. Of course, that's unlikely, since "their power levels at that point are about the same." Of course, what this means to you is, "at that point, your power level is based on how many people you have following your orders and how strong they are." Of course, with a system like this, you could spend some time working out, and with your stature, you could take over the whole town.

Hey, that's not necessarily a bad idea.

Wait, yes it is.

In any case, the conversation lasts until you hear a beeping noise from your PDA, which tells you that it is now 20:00. Upon realizing how late it is, you excuse yourself to head home. Immediately after stepping out of Elly's door, you find that a box has appeared on your doorstep. Most likely the clothing that your boss said was going to arrive soon.

Kicking it inside, you open it up and look inside. Indeed, it is your clothing. But on top of it, there's a note, with a phone number on it. And nothing else. Huh.

.>input

>>19294

[x] Take your stuff inside and try calling the number.

[x] Take your stuff inside and try calling the number.

[ze] Take your stuff inside and try calling the number.

Well, might as well try the number to find out exactly what it is.

After dialing it into your PDA, you wait and listen to it ringing.
And ringing.
And ringing.
After about 20 rings, an answering machine picks up. It's some person's answering machine, telling you to leave a message at the beep. Huh. Must not be home.

After plugging the number into your PDA for future reference, you find yourself once again with a loss as to what to do.

[ ] Sleep.
[ ] Write-in.

[x] Since it's upon pain of death, better take care of Nemo the potted plant first.
[x] Oh god, less than a full day here and I'm already naming the plant Yuuka gave me?!
[x] Then sleep.

[x] Since it's upon pain of death, better take care of Nemo the potted plant first.
[x] Oh god, less than a full day here and I'm already naming the plant Yuuka gave me?!
[x] Then sleep.

[x] Since it's upon pain of death, better take care of Nemo the potted plant first.
[x] Oh god, less than a full day here and I'm already naming the plant Yuuka gave me?!
[x] Then sleep.

[x] Since it's upon pain of death, better take care of Nemo the potted plant first.
[x] Oh god, less than a full day here and I'm already naming the plant Yuuka gave me?!
[x] Then sleep.

[x] Since it's upon pain of death, better take care of Nemo the potted plant first.
[x] Oh god, less than a full day here and I'm already naming the plant Yuuka gave me?!
[x] Then sleep.

Well, since it's upon pain of death... Better go take care of Nemo the potted plant fi-
Waaaait.
...

Less than a full day here, and you're already naming the plant Yuuka gave you.

...

Right...

So, you water the plant as best you can with no proper watering tools. basically, you stick it in the sink and pour water in it. Your sink's dirty from the dirt that flowed through the holes in the bottom, but it's not like you really care about something like that. It'll wash off when you wash your hands.

Well, it's getting pretty late. Glancing at the PDA it says that the time is 20:20. Man, you sure took your time watering that plant. Well, whatever. You should get some sleep. Not like there's much else to do.

.........

The sound of knocking wakes you up.

"Ugh..." Opening your eyes, you find that it's morning. Barely. It must be...

Checking your PDA...

6:00. What the hell, why is someone knocking on your door this late?

Putting your futon away hastily, you quickly go to answer the door. The person who is there catches you by surprise, though.

"Uhh, Reimu. Why are you waking me up at 6:00 in the morning? And why do you even know where I live?"
"Unnecessary details. I need your help with something, and you're the only person I could think of to ask. Will you help me?"

The change in her attitude from what you remember yesterday is a bit alarming, but... Well, she may just be irritable in the morning too. Sounds like she needs something done as well, which can cause irritation.

She's the person in Gensokyo you know best. You know Elly fairly well, but... Well, your conversation with her was mainly based on Gensokyo, not herself. With Reimu, you spent a bit more time getting to know her, so you feel more friendly towards her.

However, she woke you up at 6:00 in the morning to do something, and when you ask what, she doesn't tell you. This is a predicament.

[ ] Help her.
[ ] Don't help her. Go back to sleep.
[ ] Don't help her. Do something else. (specify)

[x] Help her.

[x] Help her.

OUR TALLNESS WILL HELP YOU.

[x] Help her.

"Uh, alright?"
"Good, let's go." She grabs your arm and drags you out of the room with strength she should not posess.

The car she leads you to...is interesting. It's got yin-yangs all over it. And balls with yin-yang decorations in the backseat. They look like they're made of iron, or something.
"Get in. I have some business to take care of."

You comply, and you're off.
Reimu seems awfully cold today.

You pull up in front of what looks like a pawn shop.

"Alright. First of all, I'm going to buy you something to defend yourself with. Nothing that'll really hurt someone, but enough that if you get jumped or something, they won't hurt you. Mainly because that's what we'll be risking."
She tells you as you walk up and into the door of the shop.

There's a man sitting behind the counter on a chair reading a book. He pays no attention to the two of you after he identifies who it is that walks in, finding his book more interesting than customers. Well, letting a customer browse without interrupting them in a place like a pawn shop is probably a good idea.

Immediately, Reimu's grabbed an alluminum baseball bat out of a box with various sports equipment in a bundle. She then points to a pair of brass...well, steel, rather, knuckles inside of a display case.

"Which do you want? It doesn't really matter to me what you choose, but you obviously can't have both."

Looking them over, they both have advantages. The baseball bat has more power and range, but it's a lot slower. And it's hard to conceal. However, the knuckles are easy to hide, and they're as fast as your fists are. Definitely not cumbersome at all.

"And if you tell me you don't want either of them, I'll pick and force you to use what I choose."
Well, since she's going to be pushy about it, might as well.

[ ] Bat
[ ] Knuckles

[X] Knuckles

[X] Knuckles

[x] Knuckles

[x] Knuckles
[x] "If this place were that dangerous, you might have given me this advice when I met you, and why would anyone in their right mind want to mess with a 6'8" ma--no, wait; you're saying I'll be jumped merely from association? Just how deep in the shit are you?"

I GOT YO BACK

"If this place were that dangerous, you might have given me this advice when I met you. And why would anyone in their right mind want to mess with a 6'8" ma- Wait. You're saying I'll be jumped merely from association? Just how deep in the shit are you?"
"Stop complaining. Gensokyo is only dangerous in the dangerous places, which is where we're going. Gang territory. The gangs reached a stalemate a while ago and haven't been aggressive against each other, but you're still likely to get jumped."
"...Oh." Well, that makes a bit of sense. Gensokyo did seem fairly peaceful to you so far. Though things like Yuuka threatening to kill you for letting a plant die and that cat girl kidnapping you were a bit off, and the described way of solving conflict...
Well,anyway.

"I'll take the knuckles, then. Easily concealed, fast, and less likely to get me arrested."
"I see. Hey, Kourin! I'm taking these knuckles. Put them on my tab."

The clerk behind the desk mumbles something, writes something behind the counter, and goes back to reading. Reimu heads outside. Putting the knuckles on, they feel like they were made for your hand. They fit like a glove.
These knuckles...They were made for you.

Well, beyond your creepy attachment. They're comfortable, just the right weight to make you feel that they'll protect you but not so heavy that they'll slow you down. They're perfect for the job.

Shoving them in your pocket, you climb in the car.

Reimu drives for a while, then parks in a parking garage. After grabbing one of her iron balls from the back seat, which she straps to her back, and a gohei, she begins walking.

"...So, where exactly are we going?"
"Youkai Mountain. People call it that because the people there are as dangerous as youkai. Well, there's a couple of good people who are affiliated with the gangs just because they have to be in order to survive, but everyone else is dangerous. Watch your back, but don't look paranoid. Understand?"

You nod.

The grade of the sidewalk you're walking sharply increses, only to level off for short periods and then go steep again. Every once in a while, you'll see kids playing like normal. It looks like a fairly normal place.

But then you get near the actual mountain. Past the foothills... Well, this place doesn't look like projects, but it's the kind of urban setting where gangs can thrive. Technology abound. There's videogame centers, video stores, electronics stores, etc. Normally you'd think it a dangerous place, but you've noticed various people with key necklaces following you.

Reimu seems to notice them too, as she begins making seemingly random turns down streets. If you didn't know what it is she was doing, it'd look to you like she's just shopping. However, it's obvious that she's trying to evade.

After turning down an alleyway, the two of you find yourself at a dead end.

"...Shit." She says, then turns back around. You do too, and find a group of thugs with those key necklaces.

"..." They don't say a damn thing, but rather just stand there looking intimidating. To someone who's shorter than you and less reclkess than Reimu seems to be. Of course, one of them has a metal bat, very similar to the one you chose against getting at the pawn shop. That's enough to at least make you cautious, even if you dwarf everyone else present.

You've got to choose a plan of action now, before shit starts moving, or else you'll be lost in the middle of a fight. You've never really been in a fight before, mainly due to your stature. Of course, avoiding fighting at all is best.

[ ] Attack. You've got to do it before they do.
-[ ] Use that special technique you've learned for putting as much power in one blow as possible. Maybe you can scare them off that way.
-[ ] Just attack normally; smash is too slow for an actual fight and you'll get your ass kicked just getting it ready.
[ ] Try and talk your way through this. You're just passing through. You've got no business here, and you don't want to cause trouble.

[x] Attack. You've got to do it before they do.
-[x] Just attack normally; smash is too slow for an actual fight and you'll get your ass kicked just getting it ready.

[x] Attack. You've got to do it before they do.
-[x] Just attack normally; smash is too slow for an actual fight and you'll get your ass kicked just getting it ready.

[x] Attack. You've got to do it before they do.
-[x] Just attack normally; smash is too slow for an actual fight and you'll get your ass kicked just getting it ready.

Right. This is a tough situation. You're being descended upon by a group of gangbangers, who are armed for a fight. You're trapped in a corner in a back alley where you wouldn't be able to get help.

Right. No, you can't try reasoning with them, they're gangbangers. They don't give a fuck about things like logic or peace or whatever, they just want you off of your turf for whatever reason, and they're going to beat the snot out of you until you leave. And scaring them off, even with your stature, is a dumb move; they'll just come back with more. It'll take them longer to come back with more if they can barely move.

Reaching into your pockets, you thread your fingers through the holes in your knuckles, ready to pull them out when necessary.

When you deem it a good moment, as the group is mostly focused on Reimu for whatever reason they may be, you spring. You obviously don't run as fast as you could, but your height and the resulting long legs make your run more than quick enough. Reaching the thugs before they have time to react, you've already placed a firm punch in the gut of the one with the bat, causing him to drop it and clutch his stomach in pain, undoubtedly because of the metal you hit him with.
The others take a defensive stance, but you can't really block metal knuckles. Easier to block than, say, a bat, but by blocking it you're likely to get your forearm bones crushed.
Of course, you aim away from their arms, instead hitting them in the same place you hit the first guy, so as to minimize actual damage while maximizing the damage you put out.

"What the hell are you- Well, nevermind. Doesn't matter. We have to hurry now, though." Reimu rushes past you, out of the alley, and into the street. She keeps running up the hill, a feat which you find tiring but due to the fact that you just beat the shit out of three guys isn't very difficult.

About halfway up the mountain, you suddenly find yourself blocked by a different group of what appears to be thugs. Instead of the key necklaces, which are fairly normalish to wear, they're all wearing an absurd type of hat, the type of pointed red hat that the tengu in Japanese folklore wear.

Of course, the scary part is that they ALL have baseball bats, and there's definitely enough to overpower you.

Of course, Reimu is unintimidatable, it seems, as instead of backing off she rushes forward, unstrapping the metal ball from her back and sending it flying at the group like a baseball with a firm smack from her gohei. A giant steel baseball, but that's not the point. It hits its target, knocking a couple of them back immediately. Pulling a stack of papers out of her sleeve, she throws them, harmlessly, at the people attacking you. Of course, seeing that they're being repeatedly attacked by what seems like curtains of the things, which she keeps producing from some hidden pockets in her sleeve, they run away. You, personally wouldn't run away, but....didn't Reimu say something about the people here being scared shitless of her ofuda?

After they've all left sight, the two of you collect as many of the amulets as you can in a minute or so, as well as the ball, then head your way back up the mountain.

A short distance up, you're interrupted by someone else wearing one of those hats. Reimu once again seems unintimidated, but she does seem a bit more cautious.

"Oooh, interesting story." The woman in front of you, who is wearing what is the damn most normal clothing you've seen on a cultist, begins speaking. "'Crazy shrine maiden assaults mountain neighborhood, attacking innocent villagers who just happened to be in her way.' How do you think they public would react to that?"

"I'd hope they'd treat it the way they treast the rest of your articles," Reimu responds, "rags for washing windows with."

The woman doesn't seem too pleased by that statement.

"Now, I'll have you know, I, Shameimaru Aya, the fastest in Gensokyo," She says this looking at you, as if trying to brag to someone she hasn't met before about her abilities, "never lie in my articles."

"Shut up, you liar." Reimu now seems severely irritated, and grabs a whole new package of those ofuda out of her sleeve, as well as a small card.

"Spirit Sign 「Fantasy Seal -Spread-」!" she shouts, as she begins widly throwing them with dexterity which would take years of practice, effectively filling the area with the amulets.

Rather than run away, however, Aya pushes forward, swiftly dodging the papers. She pulls out a card of her own, and yells out "Gust Sign 「Sarutahiko's Guidance」!"
With a sudden burst of speed, she runs at her maximum towards Reimu, who proceeds to smack her in the head with her gohei once she gets too close, causing Aya to pass out.
"Well, she shouldn't be a problem for a while. Let's get going."

The two of you continue up the mountain. Near the top, you find a Shinto shrine, somewhat similar to Reimu's, standing.
"Right. Now, there's two ways of taking care of my problem: talking it through and beating people into submission. I prefer the latter, but if that doesn't sit well with you, we can do the former."

[ ] Talk it through.
[ ] Beat people into submission.

[ ] Talk it through first. If that doesn't work...
[ ] Beat people into submission.

[ ] Talk it through first. If that doesn't work...
[ ] Beat people into submission.

[x] Talk it through first. If that doesn't work...
[x] Beat people into submission.

[x] "Give peace a chance. But only a chance."
[x] Talk it through first. If that doesn't work...
[x] Beat people into submission.

"Well, what I have to say is: Give peace a chance. But only a chance. We should talk it through first, but if that doesn't work..."
"Right. Well, let's see if this works, then."

Reimu begins walking towards the shrine, and you follow her. When she reaches the door, she slams it open really loudly. Hey, is she really going to try diplomacy first? That's not how it's done...

"Alright. I'm here to talk."
The two women sitting at the table inside seem quite shocked.
Reimu nonchalantly steps forward and takes a seat at the table. You take a seat beside her.

Immediately a staring contest ensues. No one seems to have anything to say. Well, audibly, at least. The intensity of the agressive stare Reimu has directed at one of the girls, a girl who appears to be dressed in something remotely similar to a normal shrinemaiden dress with vibrantly green hair, which had to have been died, and some strange decorations in her hair in the shape of a frog and a snake.

"...Alright, before anything happens, I just want to know. What exactly is going on? Reimu still hasn't told me at all."

"We just suggested that Reimu and her shrine leave, is all." The other woman, a tall one with dark blue-purple hair wearing a bright red shirt with a round mirror just over her solar plexus, responds. Rather arrogantly.

"Not happening." Reimu responds.
"There's only room in Gensokyo for one Shinto shrine, and you get no visitors." The tall woman responds to her response. "Therefore, yours should be the one to shut down, while ours takes over."
"Feh. Your shrine isn't a Shinto shrine. It's more of those cultists, just with more emphasis on the Shinto side of it. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't a Shinto shrine at all."
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Reimu, but I'm really going to have to insist on you leaving."
"Not happening." And it appears the conversation took a full circle.

The conversation stays at a standstill.

...

Well, this isn't going anywh-

"I'M HERE TO HELP -ZE!" a loud, feminine in tone but masculine in wording, voice booms from just behind the door, which rather quickly becomes useless for its purpose as it's kicked in. Reimu facepalms.

Rather quickly, she's covered the short distance between the door and the table and reached out to swing her broom at the taller woman. The broom gets blocked before connecting, though, by the green-haired girl's gohei. how it managed to survive the clash against the much thicker and more massive broom, you don't know, but you don't really want to find out either.
"Damnit, I knew you weren't to be trusted." The taller one stands up, pulling out a rather large octagonal pillar from under the table. The thing looks like it weighs a ton, and as such she seems to have a bit of trouble wielding it.

Right. Shit's not working out as planned.

.>input

[x] Whip out your own pillar. You're not about to be outdone by a girl damnit.

[x] Use her table as weapon and try to beat her unconscious with it.

[ ] Rush in and punch her in the gut before she can act.
[ ] Combo that shit till she drops, assuming you don't get crushed by her pillar.

[ze] Use her table as weapon and try to beat her unconscious with it.

BONK

[x] Use her table as weapon and try to beat her unconscious with it.

[x] Open up a can of Shaq-Fu

%50 Irish, %50 Japanese, %100 gigantic nigger.

No, you can't let her hit anyone with that. It would be a very bad result.

Rushing forward with speed you didn't expect that you had, you firmly plant a fist into her gut, causing her to instantly drop the pillar.

"Kanako!?" The green haired girl rushes forward, wielding her gohei, which she swings swiftly at your head. You manage to step back just in time to avoid getting hit, and afterwards grab the thing and wrestle it out of her hands, tossing it out of the way. The woman who was using the pillar attempts to recollect it, but she's stopped by someone else.

"Stop right there -ze!" The girl who burst in with her broom holds some sort of octagonal box at her head.
"Gah." She stops immediately.
"You! Move and I shoot -ze!" She shouts this at Sanae, who immediately steps back.

Well, past this point, the two women who you ended up being forced to assault by this blond-haired witch gave in and took back their demands that Reimu pack up and leave Gensokyo. In the end, the five of you end up calmly enjoying a cup of tea.

Marisa, the witch girl, is the first to leave, stating that she has "business elsewhere." Soon after, you and Reimu also leave, her dropping you off near your place. She explains that dropping you off right there might be a bad idea after attacking the tengu and kappa like you ended up being forced to do.

You get to your front door, step inside, sit down at the table... And realize you've got nothing to do.
Not here, anyway.

[ ] Write-in.

[x] Therapy session with Nemo.
[x] Hardware and supply store; just that single, hollow door is the only thing between you and them? You will make this apartment goddamn impregnable.
[x] Look up Reimu's number. Call. If you get her voice mail, leave a message: "Last time I let somebody fuck me up the ass, Hakurei, they at least had the decency to buy me dinner first. Now I know you probably got all kinds of ways to extort or threaten me, so let's cut the shit, and you just tell me what your bottom line is."

[x] Therapy session with Nemo.
[x] Hardware and supply store; just that single, hollow door is the only thing between you and them? You will make this apartment goddamn impregnable.

[x] Therapy session with Nemo.
[x] Hardware and supply store; just that single, hollow door is the only thing between you and them? You will make this apartment goddamn impregnable.

[x] Therapy session with Nemo.
[x] Hardware and supply store; just that single, hollow door is the only thing between you and them? You will make this apartment goddamn impregnable.

[z] Therapy session with Nemo.
[e] Hardware and supply store. That single, hollow-core door is the only thing between you and them? You will make this goddamn apartment impregnable.

You've got to water your plant. Every day. And check it for bugs, and make sure it's healthy. Every day. Because that's what you do when you have a plant, and you care about it.
Right?
Because you're supposed to care about it. Right? Because Yuuka told you she'd kill you if you didn't.

...

Fuck this. You've got the plant watered. It calmed you down a little bit at first, but the thought of how fucked up the people of this place are has gotten you concerned. Being kidnapped and forced to let someone drive you home. Well, that's not that bad. Being threatened to be killed if you don't water a plant? That's goddamn psychotic, if you had to define it. Being roped into some mess over Reimu being told to leave? Yeah, sure, except this led to you getting into a fight with two gangs as well as the other shrine, the one that wanted Reimu to leave.
A bit much fighting for one day.

And all you have is this single, hollow door between you and them.

No, you've got to make this place more secure. If for no other reason, to keep out any gang members who might want to break in and take revenge for you assaulting their territory. But do you need to use gangs to justify it? No, just the normal people is enough.
This place will be impregnable.

As you leave the apartment, you make sure to lock it. As you're turning the key, you suddenly get an idea of why everyone locks their doors.
They're afraid of everyone else.
That's how nuts this place is, how nuts the people are. They even realize that they're nuts.

Time to leave.

...

Getting the door up the stairs was the most difficult part. You got a rather heavy one, quite dense. You didn't quite go for metal, looking like you want to shut anyone out...Well, you don't really want to look like a hikkikomori. So, instead, you got the hardest, heaviest, thickest wooden door as you could, as well as a can of wood stain, which you intend to apply after putting the door up. However, after carrying it so far, the feeling of need for more security doesn't exceed the feeling of absolute tiredness. Just a short break should be fine, right?

You hear a knock at your door. Thankfully, it's the one that's in its proper location, or you'd be creeped the fuck out. Well, in any case...

When you answer the door, you find Letty standing outside

"Hello." You answer the door as normally as you can for someone who just went out and bought a heavy door to keep people like her out.

"Hello~" She sounds cheerful. "I was wondering if you might want to join us for lunch."

You realize that it indeed probably is about time for lunch, but you haven't even eaten breakfast. On top of that, you carried an intentially very heavy door all the way home from a hardware store, with minimal carrying relief from the public transportation you took.

But then...That'd mean interacting with more people like that. The type you're trying to keep out. The type you can't stand, now that you've interacted better. Even if she doesn't seem that bad, herself.

[ ] Accept her offer.
[ ] Refuse.

[x] Accept her offer.

[x] Accept her offer.

[x] Accept her offer.

We only want to keep out the bad kind of crazy. The good kind is fine too.

>...

>Getting the door up the stairs was the most difficult part. You got a rather heavy one, quite dense.

I just want to say that this is a good scene transition, and you should feel good for writing it.

[x] Accept her offer.
[x] In a very neighborly manner.

When security is your concern, one's neighbors are either your first line of defense or your greatest threat.

>>19515
>We only want to keep out the bad kind of crazy. The good kind is fine too.

And then there's Yuka, who will tear the door right off the hinges.

We should probably get some spare keys made for our immediate neighbors, in case they have a sudden urge to check to see how our plant is doing or if we're trapped somewhere where we're unable to take care of it.

[x] Accept her offer.

Letty is one of the good crazies here. Elly at least seems to be friendly, and it seems even Yuuka is okay if you don't piss her off.

[X] "...'us'?"

[ze] Accept her offer.

I like Letty.

>>19522

Yeah her and the rest of her crime syndicate bridge club.

Alright, pausing this and Nightmare for a month until school gets out due to having an acute lack of time for planning. In the meantime, I'll restart CTAiG and VTAiG. Same old schedule. Starting tonight at 20:00 server time.

...Yeah, I know it seems I can't stick with anything. That's probably because at this moment I really can't. School is too much of a priority to spend time thinking and planning out something such as this story to the extent that I need to in order for it to come out like I originally wanted it to. As such, I'm just going to switch to VTAiG and CTAiG, which are much easier to do because I can get an update done in between problems and only look at the screen for a second compared to a few minutes with something I have planned out with longer updates, and since looking at the screen at all for an extended period of time tends to get me very distracted, I don't want to have to do it if I'm trying to finish homework that is drastically behind time.

tl;dr i slacked off on schoolwork too much so I have to slack off on this story in order to catch up.

>>19550

Go ahead and do what you need to do. We don't want either this or NIGHTMARE decreasing in quality because of school related stress.

>>19550
For a second I thought you wrote you were going to drop this nightmare of a story and I was panicking because this is the first thing you've written that I liked.

>>19559
This (as unkind as it may sound).

>>19559

Thirding this. Really, this is a cut above your other stories.

Fourthed, not to be mean, but I like this much better that TAiG and it's variants.

[ze] Accept her offer.

Jerl, you have a good thing going here.

Well, school's out next Friday. For this whole week, there probably won't be any assignments to worry about, so I decided that it was early enough to start this up again. Sorry for the wait. I did get the story planned out about halfway during the few breaks I had during the massive amount of catchup I was doing. I think that it'll turn out rather well from this, but of course, time will tell. In any case, updates are resuming as of now.
---
Lunch, though... Sounds really good. Carrying a heavy door so far was really tiring, and you haven't eaten anything yet... It's got to be at least noon. Or at least that's what it feels like, it's a bit difficult to keep track of time given what's happened today. Well, in any case, you're hungry.
"Lunch is exactly what I need right now. Sure, I'll join you."
Hearing this, she smiles broadly, beaming at you.
"That's great! Well, come on over whenever you're ready." She walks back over to her door, opens it, and goes back into her room.

Alright, she said "whenever you're ready." Thinking about it, you've sweat quite a bit today. You were running all over in the morning with Reimu attempting to avoid getting in gang fights, and on top of that, you hauled a thick, heavy door all the way home from the hardware store. You're definitely not clean. And it's rude to go over to someone's house all sweaty and smelly when they ask you to come over for lunch. It'd be best to wash up a bit before going over.

Walking into the small bathroom section of your place, you suddenly realize something: you didn't bring a towel with you. It's odd, but you didn't really think about it. You'd expected your stuff to have arrived already. You also didn't bring any other toiletries. The main reason that this revelation is important is because without said things, you cannot wash yourself properly. The secondary reason that it's important, though, is because it's all here anyway. You're going to have to thank whoever it was that prepared this apartment for you for the foresight to put this stuff here.

...Still, you swear that there was no towel there before. Ah well, you only took a very brief glance at the room before. It's entirely possible you completely missed anything inside.

...

After cleaning yourself, you find yourself in another predicament. You only had the clothes you brought with you. However, this time there aren't any prepared beforehand. Damn, your stuff better arrive soon. If anyone says anything, you'll just have to tell the truth about your stuff being way too late.

After putting your dirty clothes back on and putting your phone and your keys in your pockets, you leave for the lunch.

When you knock on the door, it is speedily answered by the person who lives there. Letty invites you in, and you oblige.
Inside, it's just as cold as you remember.
Inside, you immediately see the table, and the two people seated at it. Of course, it only follows that you go to sit at the table as well, given that this is a lunch event. On the way to your spot on the floor at the table, you briefly examine the people already sitting.

One of them you recognize; Elly, from one more door down. The remaining person is a small girl with hair dyed blue. She's wearing a rather normal dress considering the scenario. There's also a large blue ribbon tied in a bow in the back of her head. None of this is really notable, especially compared to the crystal spikes she's wearing on her back. The way they're positioned, they could almost be some sort of wings...Wings that wouldn't do a damn thing if one actually wanted to fly. Of course, she's not going to be flying anytime soon, unless she's on a plane, so...
Elly looks to be a bit chilly. You probably look the same to her. It strikes you as odd that neither Letty nor this blue winged girl are bothered at all by the low temperature of the room. It almost feels unhealthy, like staying in here for a significant amount of time will only lead to catching a cold. How does Letty live like this?

When you take your seat, the girl you don't know immediately starts coversation.

"Ah! It's that guy who moved in next door that Letty told me about! Hi! I'm Cirno! I like cold things like ice cream and air condishners and fridges and popsiculs!"
Yes, she's definitely a kid. You've never really been able to deal with kids well. It's not that you don't like them or can't get along with them, it's just...

Well, in any case, Letty's finished making lunch, and brings it out to the table. Sandwiches. Delicious looking ones. And lots of ice cream.

...

Lunch was definitely delicious. The sandwiches were great, and the ice cream was gourmet stuff. Or, at least it was a lot better than the ice cream you usually buy. And the company was good, too. Cirno, the blue winged girl, turned out to be just as childish as you could expect. Well, maybe a bit more. She looks as if she's about nine years old, but acts as if she's about seven. She didn't actually eat any sandwiches, just a bunch of ice cream. It can't be too healthy for her to do that, right? Hopefully that's not all Letty feeds her. Oh, right. Letty's taking care of Cirno. That's probably where her love of cold things came from, as well as her ability to take the freezing temperatures of their apartment.
Mainly what happened was conversations about what's been going on. They were talking about various things, like how the subway running through the city which is soon to be finished will be great. Apparently the only train line the city has is the one that you came in on, and it only has that one stop. A subway is in the process of being built to handle a large chunk of the mass transit in the city.
There's also the nuclear power plant which has been proposed to power the city. Apparently they want to take it off of the main grid. It sounds rather isolationist. In any case, it's got a lot of controversy behind it. Some people are concerned that it will be dangerous; it could melt down or there could be polution. Of course, that's rather unlikely, so you don't think too much of it.
There's also the many hot springs in the mountains on the edge of the town. Of course, people have begun making outdoor baths out of them.

In any case, lunch went well.
But now you've got to find something to do for the rest of the night.

.>input

[x] You were installing that new extra-secure door, remember?

[x]Elly seems nice enough. Perhaps the two of you could enjoy some tea.

Oh, right. You were going to install a new door.

....Now that you think about it, you haven't thought this all the way through. Sure, you bought the door. But...How exactly are you going to install it? You don't have any tools at all, power or otherwise. And you really don't want to walk all the way to the hardware store just to buy a drill. Someone has to have a drill, but...
Well, you don't feel comfortable asking to borrow tools yet. Especially when it's to install a big heavy door to keep the freaks out.

Instead, you decide to take a walk to clear your head.

You begin by just walking around randomly in the neighborhood. You make sure to take note of street names so you know at least how to figure out how to find your way back home. Quite soon, you've got at least a one-block radius explored, just walking to clear your head.

While walking, you think about this whole situation.

You've been moved to a brand new city that was constructed to separate cultists from the rest of the world by your boss so they can start working on getting things done here. And you're apparently the first person, other than construction crews.
Yeah, all this makes sense. Well, a cult getting its own city is a bit much, but...Well, they ARE pretty nuts.

So on your second day here, you help a Shinto shrinemaiden protect her Shinto shrine from being taken down by a new cultist shrine which took to the shinto side of the cult. And in the process got involved in a gang war. And you probably made a lot of enemies.
And, given the way Reimu and everyone else reacted afterwards, this is pretty normal.

...This place is fucking nuts.

During your walking, you pass up a yakitori stand. You'd buy some, but you just ate, and the person running it isn't present.

Right, moving right along.

After a bit more walking, you realize something: You have gone and gotten yourself lost. Well, it's not like you have absolutely no clue where you are, it's just that it'd take a considerable amount of time to find your way back.

Well, getting back isn't really a concern. It's not even two o'clock PM yet. You can wander a bit. But you could also go ahead and try to accomplish something. There's lots of things you can do. Well, it's better to restate that: there's lots of things you can look around for places to do, and then do. You still don't know where anything is around here.

.>input

>input

ಠ_ಠ

[X] Go browse the stores. Get an idea of whats available.

>>20373
see
>>19068

"There will be two main ways that I'll prompt for votes. The first, and probably most common, method will be the standard most-votes-wins method. That will have votes listed out basically the same way as most stories have them.

The next method will be the .>input method, which is what VTAiG and CTAiG use. Instead of it being what the most people vote for, it's what I like best. Most of the time, it'll be used for when creativity is something I'm trying to get; such as picking a name"

[x] Go back to the yakitori stand and wait for the owner. Maybe they'll help you out.

[x] If you're too lost to even find the stand, wander around aimlessly.

[ze] Explore the neighborhood.

>>20355
>you didn't bring a towel with you.
YOU FOOL

[x] Find a police box or a convenience store, anywhere you can find or buy a map.
[x] Inventory

You've made a number of enemies and now you're out here wandering around, lost. Reimu bought you a weapon because she assumed you'll be jumped. Do you even have it?

>>20355 Welcome back~

Suddenly you realize something. You've been wandering around lost. And you've made a number of enemies.
...And you're pretty sure you didn't grab your knuckles.

A quick check of your belongings tells you that all you have on your person is your cellphone and your keys. You didn't even bring your map.

Well how about that.

...

Well, the police box was rather difficult to find. After you find it and get another map, you take a look at it, wondering what route you could have taken to have missed all of them. It turns out this is the ONLY ONE in this half of the city. The only police box? In this big of an area? There's only this, another box in the other half of the town, and the main station.
This can't be right.
Ah well.

You're not very far from your house, it seems. Which is a good thing. An even better thing is that there's quite some distance between you and that mountain. While that doesn't mean that they couldn't be following you anyway, at least you're not going to walk into the territory of some gangs you've pissed off.

Instead, you decide to browse stores. You can tell that most of them wouldn't interest you without even entering. For example, you really don't give a fuck about sewing patterns, so you skip the store selling them.
By the time you've made it home, you haven't found a single interesting store. You've taken note of a bunch of stores selling specific goods in case you may need them in the future.

Well, at the moment, you're standing in front of your apartment building, and need to figure out what to do next.

.>input

[ze] Mess around with your PDA.

Sure.

[x] Mess around with your PDA.
[x] Water Nemo, he must be thirsty.
[x] ...Oh hell, I'm getting crazier by the second.

[x] You'll be make more trip to the home improvement store in the next few days, but it's best to do the heavy-duty stuff now, when you have space, before the rest of your stuff arrives. You're in a high-crime area, having been witness (and perpetrator) to more than one yourself. Therefore you'll charge everything on this business card if you have one; otherwise, you'll just have to get reimbursed by the company later. Make a list, as it'll be at least a few days before you can get all of it.
-[x] Take measurements of the windows & window frames before you go. If you don't have a tape measure, borrow one from one of your neighbors for now, and buy one later.
-[x] You want smoke detectors in every room. Count how many you'll need before you go.
-[x] A corded power drill, with a set of screwdriver bits, a set of spade bits, and a hole saw attachment.
-[x] A peephole camera for your front door, wire runs to the input of your TV; failing that, a standard peephole.
-[x] A deadbolt. Single cylinder (knob on inside, key on the outside). The heavier the better.
-[x] A rim lock (if you can find one), vertical bolt (ceiling), to mounted on the surface of the door on the inside, with the mechanism operated by a knob.
-[x] Multiple copies of the keys made, for your friends and neighbors as trust. More importantly, you need an extra key to give to someone so they can water Nemo, in event you have to stay the night somewhere else.
-[x] Security bars to be installed on the inside of the apartment windows. Make sure they come with a quick release feature so that your domicile abides by the fire code.
-[x] A two-way electronic door buzzer-speaker set. Preferably a wireless model, so you can keep the receiver near the TV.
-[x] Drapes, since the blinds won't fit over the security bars, which will likely look hideous.
-[x] Motion detector light switch plates for all the rooms in your house. It convenient, and may wake you if somebody is snooping while you're asleep.
-[x] An emergency lighting fixture by the door, in the event of a blackout.
-[x] The largest, heaviest Maglite you can buy, the 6 D-cell model.
-[x] Batteries. Lots of batteries.
-[x] A large, wall-mountable, well-stocked first aid kit.
-[x] A UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) and surge protector; even if your computer hasn't arrived, you'll want to make sure you can charge your cellphone or PDA in the event of a blackout.
-[x] A dehumidifier. A dehumidifier can draw many liters of distilled, potable water from the air within a 24 hour period.
-[x] A personal GPS navigation system. These are often accurate down to street level, allowing you to know where you are at all times, and how to get to where you're going.
-[x] A police scanner. If the freaks start rioting in the city somewhere, you'll want to know before they're banging down your front door.
-[x] Candy. Children are often willing to say things they've been told not to for candy.
-[x] Even if you can't find what you need, look for the resources to acquire it. Many hardware stores will place orders from their suppliers for their customers, and many also offer free home improvement literature. You could also buy a DIY manual.
[x] You'll also need to begin construction of a 'bug-out bag' which will allow you to quickly vacate the area and survive on your own for 72 hours. Like the security measures, this may take you a number of days to acquire:
-[x] Map
-[x] Compass
-[x] Non-perishable food for 72 hours
-[x] 4 liters of bottled water
-[x] Iodine tablets
-[x] First aid kit
-[x] Extra set of clothes
-[x] Hand-powered portable AM/FM radio
-[x] Hand-powered flashlight
-[x] Portable CB radio
-[x] Pair of handheld walkie-talkies
-[x] Emergency flares
-[x] Bivouac sack
-[x] Space blanket
-[x] Screwdriver with interchangeable bits
-[x] Utility knife
-[x] Flint & steel
[x] Take the knuckles with you this time, in fact, keep them with you any time you leave the apartment.
[x] Stop by Letty's for a bit, thanking her for lunch and asking if she has a copy of the complex bylaws.
[x] When you've done all you can do in a day without collapsing from exhaustion or making a racket during quiet hours, take out the map and try to familiarize yourself with the city. Find and mark locations of note, so that you may traverse the city as safely as possible:
-[x] Hakurei Shrine
-[x] Your apartment
-[x] Police boxes & station
-[x] Public transit
-[x] Bridges & underpasses
-[x] Other shrine
-[x] Bars & cafes (places where you go to meet someone)
-[x] Closest phone booth
-[x] Closest mailbox



A deadbolt cannot be carded like a regular spring lock. It can still be picked, bumped, or drilled out. They are much more resistant to forced entry than a spring lock.

A rim lock can only be operated by a person inside the domicile, but is resistant to intrusion from all but the physical destruction of the door and frame. It is the kind of thing you use when you want to sleep soundly.

[x] >>20439

Watering the plant is good for your health.
Especially when backed by a Yuuka death threat.

[X] >>20442

And we're slowly growing more paranoid by the minute from everything else.
I like this John, he's silly.

[X] >>20442

FFFFFFFFFFFFF
I realized that I accidentally retconned something. Let's pretend that John's memory is as good as mine and he legitimately forgot about the box he got the day before containing his clothing. That makes everything easier.
---

The thought strikes you to make a few more trips to the home improvement store. You started with the door. Might as well make a few more trips. This time, you'll take a cab.

...

By the time you've finished all of your work securing the house against any unwanted intruders, evening has began. You're surprised you were able to complete all that you did. You managed to install the new door, of course. But you also put bars on your few windows, and installed both a deadbolt and a rim lock on your door, as well as a peephole. You've also put smoke detectors in each room, which wasn't that much work considering that the apartment has three rooms. You've put up curtains on all your windows to conceal the the security bars; don't necessarily want to look as paranoid as you seem to be. While at the hardware store, you had a few copies of your keys made which you can give to trustworthy people, whoever you may decide that those may be. You bought a few more things to install in the future, but they're the types of things that you don't have enough time to do in the rest of the house. For example, the two-way door speaker. There's a few more things you'd like to complete, but which you haven't the time for at the moment, such as buying an uninterruptable power supply, a police scanner, and other things of the sort. You've already mostly reached your budget, so it's best to wait for your next check.
You've also planned a "bug-out bag" with various supplies in case you decide to quickly vacate the area so you can survive for long enough to escape whatever may be happening that you're running away from.
Of course, the whole time while gathering the things to do all of this with, you kept your knuckles on you.

Now that you're done with the hard work, you decide to do something a bit more mental: marking your map with locations of note such as-
...Ah. It's already got all of the useful stuff marked, except a nearby mailbox and phone booth. Nice map. Takes a couple seconds to mark them, since you can see them immediately after opening your door.

You take a moment to survey your work. You house, it is impregnable. No cultist freak is going to break in, and even if you get sieged, soon enough you'll be able to survive that as well.

...

Suddenly you realize that you've overdone it. You really were only originally going to put the door up and install bars on your windows, but you ended up overhauling the whole thing.

Well, it's about time to go to sleep. You've already watered Nemo today, and you don't want to overfeed it, so instead you check it over for aphids and such. Immediately afterwards, you unroll your futon and fall asleep.

---

You find yourself awake quite early in the morning. At least, early for someone whose plans were to sleep in, given that you don't actually have to go to work. It's only a bit past 8 AM.
It takes you a moment to actually collect your senses well enough to realize that the reason you woke up so early was because of a loud, constant pounding on your new door.

What the christ? Who the hell could be waking you up this early? And WHY are they waking you up this early?

You wait a minute for the knocking to stop so you can go back to sleep. But it doesn't stop.

"Ugh." You grunt as you get up out of bed, still feeling tired. Must have missed a good point in your sleep cycle to wake up. Can't help that, though.

After making yourself clothed, you walk over and look through your peephole.
On the other side stands the girl who drove that hearse.
...What the hell is she doing here?

"Hmm." You hear her say from the other side. "He's not answering. I'll have to pick the lock."
Gah. You don't want her ruining your new lock by fucking up trying to pick it.
"Fine, I'll answer the door." You undo your three locks and open the door.
"Oh so you actually ARE home. I thought you might be gone. That'd have been too bad."
"..."
"C'mon, let's go get breakfast."
"Do you know what time it is?"
"Eight seventeen. Come on, let's go!"
"Why are you waking me up at eight seventeen in the morning?"
"Breakfast. We're going to go eat breakfast. So let's get going."
"Does everyone in this city wake everyone else up early in the morning by knocking on their doors or something?"
"Something like that. Which cafe do you want to eat at? There's this one down the street..."

The conversation carries on for a bit longer, and eventually you get irritated enough by it just to do what she wants and go eat breakfast.

As irritating as being awoken so early in the morning by someone who you already found to be irritaing is, breakfast is quite enjoyable. Though her extremely upbeat and pushy attitude gets irritating at times, you're somehow able to ignore it for the majority of the time spent. It seems you've gotten used to this place a bit quicker than you'd expected.
Eventually, though, it stops being as fun. It becomes a bit boring. Not really irritating, just boring and repetitive. You've been in the cafe for over an hour and your food's long been finished, yet you just don't feel right about getting up and leaving in the middle of a conversation.

Luckily for you, a ringing noise saves you from your boredom.
Pulling the PDA/phone device out of your pocket, you look at the screen to see if you recognize who is calling. Of course, you do, as you should given that only a few people supposedly know your number as of now. You never did give anyone your number, thinking about it. Oh well. In any case, the person calling shows up as Enpen Inc. In other words, your boss again.

"Ah, this is my boss. Probably something very important. I have to take it."
"That's fine." She says with a smiling expression that tells you that she really doesn't care. Alright then...

"Hello?" you question into the phone.
"Hello." The same calm feminine voice as last time comes crystal clear through the phone. "I'm calling to tell you that we managed to get the shipping on the rest of your stuff expedited, and it should already be waiting for you outside your door."
"Alright. That's good."
Ahhh, that's a relief. You get your stuff now. That's definitely a good thing.
"Indeed it is. Well, you'll probably be getting an assignment of sorts in the next few days, so be prepared for it."
"I see. Thank you for the notice."
"You're welcome. I'll talk to you later. Goodbye."

The call ends.

...Alright. This gives you an excuse to leave right now. Getting home and unpacking your stuff is a goo- Holy shit you didn't even unpack your last box and you ended up wearing dirty clothes because you completely forgot about it. Guess that's what happens when you spend a morning the way you did.
Anyway, you've got an excuse. Unpacking is a good idea. Definitely.
...However, it occurs to you that just because you're using it as an excuse to get away from this situation doesn't mean that you have to actually go do it. You could very well just end up wandering around town for a while instead. This time with a more secure feeling knowing that you've got your knuckles with you. You could also go and buy some more components for your earlier plans which you NEED to put into action just because of how far you've already taken them.

Now, it's time to choose which path to take.

[ ] Head home to unpack.
[ ] Do something else (specify)

[x] pick up some more of the supplies and make note buying one of those fancy robotic maids when you have the funds for it.
[x] Also grab some crimson colored cosmetic contact lenses and false fangs. Perhaps those crazy cultists will mistaken you for some sort of demon or something and leave you alone.

[ ] Head home to unpack.

[x] Head home to unpack.

[x] Head home to unpack.

"Sorry, but my stuff just arrived. Took them damn long enough, but in any case, I need to go get it moved in and unpacked before someone comes up and steals it, so I'll have to be leaving now."
"I see." Her expression shows disappointment for a bit, then returns to her usual cheery overexcitedness. "I'll see you later, then!"
You mutter under your breath that you hope it'll be a while.

...

Just as you reach the top of the stairs, Letty's door swings open. She's carrying a trash bag, obviously towards the dumpster at the bottom of the stairs leading to your level.
Seeing as she's been rather nice to you this whole time, you decide that you should offer to help her a bit.

"Ah, let me help you with that." You say with a smile.
"Why, thank you. I wish there were more men like you around here." She steps back inside her apartment and grabs another bag, carrying it down at the same time as you carry her other bag.
When the two of you reach the top of the stairs, she notices all of the boxes stacked outside your door.

"Oh my, looks like a lot of things have arrived. Let me help you move them in."
"There's no need to-"
"Sure there is. You're my friend, and you have a lot of work to do. Don't friends help friends in situations like this?"
So she considers you her friend, huh? Well, it's not like you can really complain about that.
"Alright. Thank you very much."

The work is rather quick, especially compared to how long it'd have taken for just you. She apparently has quite a bit more strength than her appearance alludes to; she picks up boxes you know would give you at least a little bit of trouble with ease. Thanks to her almost unnatural-seeming strength, the work passes by very quickly and you even have the place secured.
Luckily, she either doesn't notice or doesnt' care about the fortifications you've made to your apartment.

When you're finished, the two of you take a short break.

"Ahh. That was hard work. Thank you for the help, it'd have taken forever without you."
"Don't worry about it, I'm used to these things. Carrying heavy things is something I have to do often at my job."
"Oh, I see. If you don't mind me asking, what is your job?"
"I inspect and repair air conditioning units on large buildings. Recently I've been having a lot of work, because of all the new buildings being built. It's really good for business."
"I see."
A moment of pause.
"Ah! Look at the time! I've got to get ready for work. It's almost four! I'll see you later sometime, okay?"

She quickly dashes out of your apartment to her own.

...Wait, it's almost four? It really took that long to move all this stuff in?

Well, in any case. You've got methods of passing the time now that don't involve wandering around the town. You've got your computer nearly set up for use, but at the moment it would be useless anyway given that you don't have internet yet. Instead, you turn on your TV.

After flipping through the channels, you eventually find a channel with local news and begin watching.

"The city government desparately grasps for power, which at the moment remains in the hands of the various high-ranks who inhabit the city. Since the city's inception, the government has been mostly powerless to govern the people, and that fact hasn't changed still. In other news, the Prismriver Sisters are holding a-"

The government is powerless here? Damn, it really WAS a good idea to secure your apartment. Well, then again, according to Reimu, the cultists are capable of sorting everything out themselves, but... How does that help you when a thief breaks in?
Well, back to the news.

"The Hakurei Shrine stands strong even after the establishment of the new Moriya shrine at the top of the aptly named Youkai Mountain, inhabited by people scary enough to call monsters. When asked about how she felt about the new shrine, she stated, quote: 'As long as they're not actively trying to drive me out, I don't care. It's not like I'm losing any worshippers to them.'
And indeed, the pure shinto shrine, which has been against magic from the beginning, doesn't have many visitors. We asked one of the people who do visit her for comments."

The visuals change from a newsroom to in front of someone's house, obviously an interview. The person being interviewed you recognize as Marisa, the girl who suddenly busted into the Moriya shrine last night and made things worse.

"Yeah, Reimu isn't very popular -ze. She's so lazy that even if you visit her shrine she'll probably only be sipping tea or sleeping on the shrine's floor."

The visuals switch back to the newsroom.

"Even though her shrine is unpopular, Reimu still has a significant say in the operations of the city; even though she's completley against the idea of our magic being real, she still manages to dominate anyone who tries to do something she doesn't like. It's rather impressive.
On a different note, small problems with the construction of the new hospital and library have finished almost simultaneously, timing which-"

The rest of the night passes the way you'd normally expect a night to have passed before moving here, with the addition of watering Nemo before going to sleep.

---

In the morning, you are awoken rudely again. However, thankfully, this time it wasn't by someone pounding on your door, but rather the alarm clock on your phone. When you check the time, you find it to be ten thirty in the morning, a time which you are definitely comfortable with.

After getting yourself ready for the day, you decide that sitting around watching TV all day won't be a good idea. There's other things you could be doing. The two main things that come to mind are visiting that new library that they were talking about on the news and buying more of the stuff on your massive paranoid shopping list.

But you can't do both at the same time, so you'll have to choose which to do first.

[ ] Visit the library. Reading is good for your mind, and it helps pass the time when you have no internet.
[ ] The survival kit needs to be made someday.

[x] The survival kit needs to be made someday.

[x] The survival kit needs to be made someday.

[x] Visit the library. Reading is good for your mind, and it helps pass the time when you have no internet.

[x] The survival kit needs to be made someday.

paranoia paranoia everyone is coming to get me

[ze] The survival kit needs to be made someday.

The survival kit needs to be made someday.
Yeah, surviving a potential siege or escape into the wilderness is more important than a bit of passive entertainment. It's obvious that the first thing you'd choose to do is collect a few things to prepare it.

First stop is an electronics store. After all, it's the place with the best concentration of the stuff that you're going to buy.

Reaching into your pocket, you pull out your map, which you've marked with the locations of sto-

THUNK

A short surge of adrenaline bursts through your body as you're made to go flying, but the sensation disappears with the rest of your feeling shortly after.

...

When you regain consciousness, everything's...Bright. Painfully bright. Especially given the pounding headache you have.
After you give your eyes a moment to adjust to the bright light of the room, you turn your head to look at things other than the celing. A pang of pain surges through your head as you do this.

The room appears to be some sort of doctor's office. Or ER room, difficult to tell.

Sitting up isn't as painful as turning your head was. Once you've sat up, you get a better look at the room. Yeah, looks more like an ER room than just a doctor's office. This can't possibly be good.

...

A short while later, the door slides open, revealing a woman wearing a nurse's uniform and carrying a clipboard.

"Ah, you're up. That's good. The doctor told me to tell you that you're fine, just a bit of bruising and an extremely minor concussion. She wanted you to go collect a perscription from her to go get filled."

The doctor was also quite normal. It almost makes you wonder if the entire cult situation were just a concussion-induced memory mixup.
Of course, this thought disapppears as you step out ofn the office and are nearly slammed into by a small girl wearing rabbit ears.

"Damn. Thanks for getting my hopes up, world."

The pharmacy, a section attached to the hospital, seems just like a regular pharmacy, with the small exception of all the small girls with rabbit ears running around the place.

One thing slightly different from most pharmacies that you've seen is that the line moves fairly quickly. People hand over their perscriptions, and within a couple minutes they have their medications. It's nice to get your medication quickly, but you hope they aren't skipping any verification steps.

Once you reach the front of the line, the woman standing behind the coutner, who is dressed rather strangely with a dark blue and red nurse uniform with a dark blue nurse's hat, all of which has constellation decorations, looks up at you.

"Ah, you're here already. I'll need to talk to you in my office. Come this way. Reisen, take over for me from here."

"Yes ma'am." Another girl with rabbit ears, but rather different ones compared to the rest of the girls running out, steps forward and takes Eirin's place as she leads you back to her office.

"Well, here's your prescription." She tells you as you sit down and hands you a small bag. "But that's not what I called you back here for. I must apologize for my pet, since she's the reason you're in here."

"Pet?"

"Yes. Tewi, a short girl with rabbit ears. She usually wears a pink dress. She's the reason why you're here. Like usual, she was uncaringly running through the city, and she happened to bump into you with enough force to make you fall over, which is how you got the concussion."

"I see."

"So, for an apology, I'm going to offer you an invitation to come to the moon viewing party we're having at Eientei tomorrow night. You can go or not go, it's your decision."

[ ] Go.
[ ] Don't go.

[x] Go, but ask if you can bring a guest.
[x] "So what are these pills for?"
[x] Don't touch them until you have internet access and can research them.

Reimu, obviously. You don't want to be walking alone into some cultist trap, and she won't want that either. Fucking Scientologists, man.

And prescription medication for a concussion? Sounds shady as fuck.

[x] Go, but ask if you can bring a guest.
[x] "So what are these pills for?"
[x] Don't touch them until you have internet access and can research them.

[x] Go, but ask if you can bring a guest.
[x] "So what are these pills for?"
[x] Don't touch them until you have internet access and can research them.

[X] >>20956

This.

[x] Go, but ask if you can bring a guest.
[x] "So what are these pills for?"
[x] Don't touch them until you have internet access and can research them
Shady indeed.

[x] OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH
[~] Go, but ask if you can bring a guest.
[z] "So what are these pills for?"
[e] Don't touch them until you have internet access and can research them.

>>20601
Now, you see, this is why I don't like it when people just point to other votes when they vote.

>>20604

Writing now?

>>20607
No, I'm only writing when I say I'm writing.
As such, I'm now writing.

>>20609

hooray!

"Can I bring a guest?"
"Hmm... I don't see why not. It's just a moon viewing party."
"Alright. I'll go, then. Oh, by the way. What are these pills for?"
"Oh, they're just ibuprofen. You're going to have a headache for a while. There's only five doses."
"Ahh, I see." That's a bit of a relief. You thought it was some sort of brainwashing drug to get you to join the cul-
Wait, what? When did you get so paranoid? Paranoia is a bad thing. What was that show called... Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni? Yeah, you learned your lesson from there.

Well, in any case.

"Well, I'll see you at the party then. I still have some chores to complete." Chores which you only have due to paranoia...
"Alright. See you."

Exiting the hospital, you resume your quest for electronics. Hopefully, this time you won't get knocked unconscious. It's rather unlikely for such a thing to happen.

After walking for a while, you near a yakitori stand. Suddenly hit by a fit of hunger, you decide to check the time.
...2 o'clock PM. And you didn't eat breakfast today.

Might as well. Not like you'll really be losing anything because of it.

The closer you get, the better it smells. The delicious smell coming from the grilled chicken intensifies your hunger, leaving no doubt that you're going to buy some goddamn yakitori.

The girl standing behind the stand, wearing red overalls and a pinkish off-white shirt, turns around as you sit down. When she does this, you notice all of the paper charms attached to her everywhere. Well, it's better than rabbit ears, at least.

"Oh, a new customer. I'll have to give you a discount. What can I get you?"
"Well, what would you recommend?"
"I get complimented on my yakitori. People also like my yakitori and my yakitori. Occasionally somebody will come and order yakitori, but usually people just order yakitori. Basically, I only sell yakitori."
"I see. I'll try the yakitori then."
"Salt or tare sauce?"
"Tare sauce, I guess."
"Coming right up!"

She removes a few skewers of the grilled chicken from the grill and sets them on a plate, as well as a cup of the tare sauce.
When you take your first bite, you find that it's delicious. Very delicious. Whether it's because you haven't eaten all day that it tastes so good or not, you're sure that you'd order it again. It might even become part of a daily routine.

Mokou interrupts your enjoyment.
"So you don't look like you're one of the cult freaks. I mean, you're dressed pretty normally, and all."
"I'm not. I take it you aren't either?"
"Yeah. I just dress like one so they'll leave me alone. I imagine you won't be getting the feeling, since you look like you aren't the type to have a job in retail or food service like me, but when you get lots of customers talking to you and it's obvious that you aren't like them, well, they'll try and change that. It's really irritating, so I try to blend in."
That's a pretty good idea. The thought HAS come to you in the past to try and blend in, but you didn't actually go through with it. You'll have to decide whether or not to do so in the future based on how much you get annoyed by people for not doing it.
"So wait, if you aren't one of the cultists, why did you end up in this city? This food's good enough that you could sell it anywhere and make good enough money off of it."
"You can bet I wouldn't even be near here if it weren't for the fact that that bitch Kaguya lives here. We've been rivals since we were kids, you know. She grew up as the daughter of a bamboo cutter and I was royalty, now look at how we ended up. And it's her goddamn fault."
"Wait, who's this Kaguya person?"
"A bitch."
"Yes, but who is she?"
"The so-called 'princess of the moon', Kaguya Houraisan. Owner of Eientei, that mansion somewhere in that direction." she waves an arm in a direction. You're not certain exactly which direction it is, given that you haven't really looked at your map yet.
The name Eientei is familliar. But why?
Oh, the place where the moon-viewing party is going to happen tomorrow. Of course.
"Anyway, she joined a different cult separate from the one populating this city at some point. If the people here are nuts, the people of this cult are fucking insane. Luckily they tend to hide themselves, so their lunacy isn't outwardly visible. Anyway, Kaguya one day decided to break some stupid rule about not making some sort of 'potion' that supposedly makes one immortal, and they decided that the best option then was to kill her, which is rather illogical anyway unless the potion doesn't work. And it doesn't, I ended up stealing some and I don't heal any more quickly than anyone else. In any case, I'd have sympathized with her if it weren't for the fact that I want her dead myself."
"I see."
"But yeah. I get in a lot of conflict with her and her group. Occasionally they'll send a few minions to try and rough me up, but none of them are capable of doing anything. They all try and stick to the spellcard system, but that's retarded. I don't need any spells or curses or whatever to win a fight, fists are where one's true power lies. And for things my fist won't solve, Phoenix will do the job just fine."
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a matte-black Zippo lighter with a beautiful image of a phoenix embossed on it, and uses it to light a cigarette. She offers you one, but you decline.
"Suit yourself. But yeah, me and Phoenix go way back. I've used Phoenix to light more than a few Kaguya-owned buildings on fire. Hahaha."

From here, conversation shifts to more mundane stuff. She confirms that your paranoia is mostly baseless, as most of the cultists here are harmless and the rest aren't any more dangerous or common than the thieves or other such people you'd find outside the city. Barring, of course, a couple people, but you imagine they have their equivalents as well.

Eventually, you have to say goodbye. You've still got things to do, even though you realize you don't really need to do them. But hell, a survival kit is a good damn idea anyway.

...

You spend a good deal of time collecting the various components for the survival kit. The difficulty in finding items isn't helped by the fact that there aren't any large shopping centers of any sort open yet, so you're forced to go to specialized stores, which are amazingly difficult to track down in some cases.

By the time you get home, it's five o'clock at night. By the time you've assembled the kit, it's about five ten.

...You don't really want to go out walking again after today, and the headache is still present, so you decide to do something else.
After taking one of the ibuprofen, which you make sure actually is ibuprofen first, you decide to play a game on your computer. Since you don't have internet, it can't be anything multiplayer. And you've completed the story mode of all the games you have so...
Well, that just means you'l have to choose a game that you haven't played in a long time.

The game you finally decide upon is Red Alert. Of course, you aren't going to be able to beat both sides' campaigns in one night, so you have to choose who to play as.

[ ] Allies
[ ] Soviets

[ ] Soviets

RUBBER SHOES IN MOTION

[ ] Soviets

[ ] Soviets

[ze] Soviets.

We here at THP have a soft spot in our hearts for the Red Menace.

[x] Soviet

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING

>>20619

Indeed.
Though I'd like to see a story where we go Irish or Italian.

[x] Soviet

You decide to play as the Soviets, and insert the appropriate disk into the disk drive on your computer.

...

Several hours have passed, and you've grown tired. As an RTS game, it's one of those types where you have to constantly be on your toes in case of a sudden attack. The missions end up taking a considerable amount of time to complete, considering that it's been a while since you've actually played an RTS game. Of course, you only make it through five or six missions before you decide that it's time for bed.

...

The clock on your PDA says that it's 2:32. That means it's rather early to be waking up.
But you aren't tired. In fact, you feel a bit restless.

You get an urge to take a walk to wear off the energy that you seem to have gotten from nowhere. It may be a bit dangerous, but, well... You're six feet and eight inches tall, and have a pair of metal knuckles that you'd obviously take with you. No one's going to mess with you, and even if they did they'd be fucked in the end.

Still, there's the possibility that you just need to calm down and go to sleep.

[ ] Sleep.
[ ] Take a walk.

[x] Take a walk.
[x] Check on Nemo.

[x] Take a walk.
[x] Check on Nemo.

[z] Check on Nemo.
[e] Take a walk.

[x] Take a walk.
[x] Check on Nemo.

[x] Check on Nemo.
[x] Take a walk.

>It may be a bit dangerous, but, well... You're six feet and eight inches tall, and have a pair of metal knuckles that you'd obviously take with you. No one's going to mess with you, and even if they did they'd be fucked in the end.

We start with baiting muggers, moving on toward more active vigilantism, like Charles Bronson in Death Wish.

No updates tonight. Entirely my fault for overdoing it with catching up on stories which I haven't read since school started. I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'm not going to stay up late writing an update. I'll update as soon as I can tomorrow, and then as many times as possible, to make up for it.

>>20700

hooray!

...Nah. Taking a walk sounds like a good idea anyway.

The cool night air feels good in your lungs. Since this city is relatively new, the polution hasn't really built up, so it's a bit refreshing breathing the air in.

Walking around at night is definitely nice. It's peaceful and quiet. There's a lot few people walking around in strange outfits. In fact, there's barely anyone at all besides you. Only a few cats cross your path during your walk.

Of course, the sounds of a fistfight in an alleyway come as a bit of shock. You're walking along, and suddenly you hear people yelling and the sound of fists connecting with flesh. Your first reaction is to take advantage of your stature and try and break it up. A foolish move, in reality. They could have a gun or something. But that doesn't matter to you. For some reason, the night air is making you feel more active.

When you turn the corner into the particular alley it's happening in, you're shocked to find that the people fighting are Mokou from earlier and a group of people wearing rabbit ears. She looks to be winning, but they've got numbers behind them. At the very least, someone's going to end up getting hurt if you don't step in.

"Oi." You make your presence known.
But you're ignored. The fight continues as if you weren't here.

"HEY." But it's no use, they don't pay any attention to you.

Well, looks like you didn't really need to get involved. Mokou manages to defeat every single one of them without taking a hit. It's a bit impressive. She's definitely got experience with fighting.

"Hah. Every night. Every goddamn night." She whispers to herself, still not seeming to notice your presence.

One of the rabbit-ear freaks on the ground suddenly gets up and charges at her.
She doesn't seem to notice.
It's time for you to intervene.

Reaching into your pockets, you slide your knuckles onto your fingers. Taking the proper stance, you get ready for the 'one-hit kill' technique, smash, that you've learned for situations like these.

It connects with the rabbit-freak's stomach, knocking him over onto the ground. With a groan, he stays down.

"You should be more careful, miss Fujiwara. Just because it looks like all your opponents have been felled doesn't mean that they really are."

"Ah!" Oh, it's you. What're you doing here? It's dangerous to but in on fights in the middle of the night." She turns towards you.

"Yeah, well, I've encountered plenty enough danger to be able to handle myself."

"Oh? Then what would you do if I did this?"

Without warning, she suddenly launches a punch directly for your face.

But once you've realized where it's headed, it's fairly predictable, and you you block it easily.

"...Not bad. Alright, whatever. I guess I owe you something for the help, then."
"No, I don't really care."
"Ehh, I was going to go get something to eat anyway. You might as well join me, right? I'm going to take you someplace awesome. Just follow me."

She takes off walking at a fairly brisk pace. Well, you walk about this fast normally, so at least you're not being forced to walk at a speed that feels rather slow.

You arrive at a cart set up on the side of a street. The smell of grilling food and the sound of singing give it a particular atmosphere.
"Alright, we're here. This is how it works. If you want delicious food in the middle of the day, you come to my yakitori stand. If you want delicious food in the middle of the night, you come here."

She walks up and takes a seat.

"Alright, Mystia, I'll have two of the usual."
"Alrght~" The girl slips the word into the middle of her singing flawlessly, then begins work on cooking something. It looks somewhat similar to yakitori in that it's on a skewer, but you're not sure exactly what it is she's cooking. Whatever it is, it looks delicious.

As she's working, she continues singing. It's a peculiar song; the melody is beautiful, yet at the same time very, very creepy. Other than the melody its self, the actual words she's singing are...off. It's rather creepy sounding, but she looks so carefree and happy that you can only assume that it's just a song.

"Here you go~" she interrupts her singing to give you your food. "Grilled lamprey~ It's good for night vision~ I hope you enjoy it~"
Even when she's not singing, her voice is entoned in such a way to make it seem like she is.
"Thank you." You thank her for the food before digging in.

...This is quite something. The flavor is definitely unique. What did she say it was, lamprey? You've never eaten lamprey before, you're not even sure what it is. Well, whatever it is, it's delicious.

As usual, you end up enjoying conversation with both parties present for a while until you decide that it's time to get going.

"Alright. It was good talking to you, kid. If you ever find yourself walking around alone late at night, and find me in that kind of situation again, well, I won't particularly regret your help. See you later."

She stays behind at the lamprey stand and continues talking with Mystia, the girl running the stand, as you make your way home.

---

Alright, this update will finish later. I got tired of writing. It's already longer than usual updates, though, so it should tide you over for now, unless the action of casting a vote is the most entertaining part of reading a CYOA.

Well, last night was... Interesting. That's defintely the best way to describe it.

In any case, it's evening once again. Today went rather normally. You got woken up by someone loudly knocking at your door again, but it was just some kid playing a prank, probably. Actually, it was likely one of Cirno's friends, thinking about it.

Oh well.

As it stands, you've got a decision. You can actually go to the party which you have been invited to, or you could just not.
Of course, the decision stands as to who to actually take if you go, given that you asked if you wanted to take a friend. The first thought was Reimu, but there could be someone else to take.

If you go to the party, Mokou could end up in some trouble again. Then again, you're not so sure you really want to get yourself mixed up in these things. That incident at the other shrine was enough for the whole year.

...One solution would be to take Mokou with you to the party, but that could potentially end up being a horrible idea.

[ ] Go to the party.
-[ ] By yourself.
-[ ] Take someone(s) with you. (specify)

[ ] Don't go.

[x] Water Nemo.
[x] Go to the party.
-[x] Take someone(s) with you. (Reimu)

[x] Water Nemo.
[x] Go to the party.
-[x] Take someone(s) with you. (Letty)

[x] Water Nemo.
[x] Go to the party.
-[x] Take someone(s) with you. (Reimu)

[x] Water Nemo.
[x] Go to the party.
-[x] Take someone(s) with you. (Reimu)

[x] Water Nemo.
[x] Go to the party.
-[x] Take someone(s) with you. (Reimu)

[x] Water Nemo.
[x] Go to the party.
-[x] Take someone(s) with you. (Reimu)

Tit for tat

[~] Water Nemo and check it for aphids.
[z] Go to the party.
-[e] Take someone(s) with you. (Reimu)

Well, you might as well go anyway.

You remember asking earlier if you could take a friend, and being somewhat encouraged to do so.
...It'd almost seem like you were disappointing them if you didn't, so you might as well find someone to take.
The people you know...
Letty would be a good choice, given that she's closeby and you're relatively good friends with her, but... Well, considering the fact that she's probably at work right now, or will need to be sometime during the party, that idea's gone.
The others living in the apartment block don't seem like the type you'd want to bother at this time of night for something like a party, at least not without getting to know them better. Well, maybe Elly, but that would pretty much require bugging Yuuka too, wouldn't it?
This leaves Rin, Reimu, and Mokou. Rin's right out. You don't ever want to be around her as long as a party would imply. Mokou probably wouldn't want to go, and would probably be horribly recepted. This leaves Reimu as the final option.
...Thinking about it, she's the best option anyway. She doesn't have any obligations, she seems like the type to enjoy this type of easygoing party, and you're also relatively close to her as well. And beyond that, she's not one of the cultists. It's backup in case they try and drug you or something- the fact that there's a pharmacist on hand means you should at least worry a little. Yeah, Reimu being there would hopefully prevent such an occurance.

Well, time to head for the shrine, then.

Before leaving, you decide to water Nemo.
Wow, this sure is an odd plant. Just out of the blue it suddenly turned a blood-red color. You're slightly concerned when you first see it, but upon feeling it you find it to be at least alright enough to survive until you get back from the party. That sure is strange, though. You'll probably have to ask Yuuka about it later, if it doesn't go away.

Well, time to leave. Grabbing your stuff, including your knuckles of course, you head out the door and in the direction of the shrine.

...

Man, climbing up those steps sure is a pain. How does Reimu manage to do it routinely? If she'd lived here since childhood or something, you'd understand it, but the whole city's only been here for a short time. She can't have lived here since childhood.
Well, best not to think about useless things.

The donation box, sitting in front of the shrine, is once again completely empty. Well, given what you know about the people here... Yeah, that's to be expected.
Might as well donate something.

You knock on the door.

"Someone's actually knocking instead of just barging in? How odd. Come in."

You slide the door open and step inside.

You're greeted by the familliar room with a kotatsu in the center and basically nothing else of interest other than the miko sitting at it.

"Oh, it's you. I should have guessed as much, you're the only person normal enough around here to knock."
"Funny, people knock on my door all the time, to the point where it's gotten irritating."
"Heh. Sorry about that, I needed to get what I needed done as soon as possible, and you were the only one I could ask for help."
"No, I completely understand that situation. It's the other people who've done it that irritated me."
"I see. Yeah, 'other people' can be irritating at times."
"Indeed."
"So what're you here for? I can't imagine someone climbing those stairs without a reason, and I suspect that unlike everyone else, 'bugging that lazy shrinemaiden' isn't yours."
"Well, due to an incident involving 'other people', I've been invited to a party at Eientei and told that I could bring a friend. I was wondering if you'd want to come with me.

---

Cutting off here because it's late and I'm tired.

>Cutting off here because it's late and I'm tired.

Fuck!

FUCK!

>>20781
This.

"What kind of 'party?' I won't go if it's too troublesome."
"Apparently a moon viewing party. It probably won't be any troublesome."
"Alright then. Sure, I'll go. Hold on, give me a minute."

She stands up and walks across the room, sliding open one of those paper doors, stepping inside, and shutting it after herself.
The paper is surprisingly opaque.

...

After a few moments, she slides the door back open.

...Wait, is that really her? This sort of outfit is completely unexpected. You'd expected her to just change into a fresh set of miko clothes, but... She went and put on a fancy yukata. Well, of course, it's nothing to complain about, since it looks quite good on her.

"Alright, let's go!"

She rushes out the door with energy you wouldn't have expected to come from her when you first met her here.

For whatever reason, she decided that walking would be the best method of getting there. While it doesn't really bother you too badly, since you're used to walking, it's a little bit odd considering that she has a car.

"It's a nice night tonight, isn't it?" She asks, answering your question in a way.
"Yeah. Good weather for looking up at the moon, right?"
"Yeah."

The two of you continue walking on in the chilly night air. You almost feel that you should have brought a jacket or something, but it should be too warm for that. Well, the weather isn't really predictable. In any case, as long as it doesn't get TOO cold and it doesn't start raining, you're fine.

Along the way, you get a lot of strange looks from people. Or, rather, it seems that Reimu's getting more of them than you are. They're looks that carry a meaning similar to "whoa, she's wearing something like that? How unusual."

Eventually after a considerable amount of walking, you make your way to the giant mansion Eientei.

When you ring the buzzer, you're greeted by a young-sounding voice.
"Who's there?" Sounds like the voice of a little girl.
"John. I'm here for the party. I brought Reimu as well."
"Oh, I see. I'll open the gate, then."

You hear a buzzing sound, and the gate slowly creeps open. On the other side, you're greeted by a little girl wearing a red dress and rabbit ears. Just like at the pharmacy.

"Come this way!" she giddily shouts at you, then runs off in a direction around the house.

---

Well, cutting off here again. I'll hopefully have more written by the end of the night.

>>20785
i wish i could draw like this. I would draw every day for hours without rest

>>20786
As would I.

>>20786
>I would draw every day for hours without rest

Hello there, dumbass. Draw for hours every day without rest for a few years. Shock and surprise! You can draw like that!

>>20792
But I don't wanna practice!

Holy shit I managed to finish the update in one go.
---
The rabbit leads you around the yard towards the back of the mansion. Of course, this is a rather long walk, given how large this mansion happens to be. The scenery as you're walking is bamboo on all sides other than to your left, to which there is a massive classical Japanese-style mansion.

"So this is Eientei? Even from what I'd heard, I didn't expect it to be this large." Reimu accurately describes the mansion.
"Yeah. How'd this get built so quickly? Was it already here?"
"I really don't know. Didn't bother learning the history of the area. It was just a forest before they moved the city in, after all."

The two of you remain silent for the rest of the walk.

Eventually you reach a clearing at the back of the mansion. It doesn't really seem like a party, with the amount of people present. There's only, discounting yourself and Reimu, four people there. Of them, you only actually recognize two. There's Eirin, of course. Her way of dressing immediately makes her the most noticable. Her clothing is easily the least normal present. The others seem to be wearing relatively normal clothes in comparison, even if a couple of them are wearing rabbit ears. She's wearing the same nurse outfit as before, half red and half deep, dark blue. In the dark night, the blue parts of her clothing are so dark that they appear to be black, giving the impression of two floating patches of red underneath a floating silver-haired head with a floating red cross above it. Upon closer inspection, the constellation...things reflect just enough light to be noticable.

Reisen, the other person you recognize, is wearing something similar to before. The difference is that the jacket of her suit is now missing, and her shirt appears to be a bit more pink than it was before. Other than these minor changes, she's the same as before.

Of the two remaining people, they both appear to be different from ordinary in ways other than their clothing. The first one, a small girl dressed in a pink dress. She looks like a child, and is dressed in a...well, somewhat ordinary way. You don't really see that many pink dresses like that nowadays, but at least it's more normal than what SOME people seem to wear in this city. Hanging from her neck is a small carrot pendant.
The odd thing about this one is the rabbit ears she's wearing. Unlike Reisen's, whose are bent in a way that makes you wonder if a dog got a hold of them, hers are in perfect order. They're also of a different style from Reisens; they're large and floppy, hanging loosely to the side as if they've got no support keeping them up.

The remaining girl is even more ordinary at a first glance. She's wearing a pink shirt with some white bows. Yeah, it's a little bit abnormal for normal people to wear, but... This is a huge goddamn mansion, whoever owns it has to be rich. And this seems just like the type of clothing that someone rich might wear, to you. Yeah, that's right. A lot of the clothing you see around would probably look just fine if it were being worn by rich nobles, but it just feels off to see normal people wearing it. You'd like to think of it as just a fashion fad, but given that the clothing is only the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately you can't.
...Well, there's probably quite a few people who got brought into it as a fashion fad anyway.
Well, back to the girl you're describing. Her clothing is quite normal. It's her actual self that's abnormal. Not in a bad way at all, though. She's quite beautiful. Easily one of the most beautiful girls you've ever seen. The fact that she seems to be somewhat young, perhaps sixteen or so judging by appearance, helps it a bit. Her beautiful, youthful features are accented by her long, flowing black hair.

"Oh, he's arrived." Eirin notices you moving towards them almost immediately.

"I see. Over here!" The beautiful girl waves to you from across the yard. You start walking towards them.
"Come on, sit down, sit down! No need to stand, right?" She seems quite energetic, in the non-hyperactive manner.

"We were just about to open a bottle of sake. Right, Reisen?" She looks over at the girl sitting next to her.
"Oh, yes. I'll go get one, then."

The girl stands up and runs off towards the mansion.
Everyone else turns their gaze back towards the southern sky, where the full moon hangs, glowing with reflected light and illuminating the otherwise dark sky.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The full moon." Eirin smiles longingly at the distant satellite, as if it's a home she wishes to return to. That'd be absurd, though.
"Yes, quite." The beautiful girl nods in agreement.

"...Oh! I realized I haven't introduced you to anyone yet." Eirin suddenly realized something you've been realizing from the start. It's a lot easier to use a proper noun than a common noun with an adjective while thinking, really.
"The girl wearing a pink dress, the one with the carrot pendant. That's Tewi. She thinks she's a rabbit. Those superstitions people have these days, I swear."
"Hey, I AM a rabbit!" The girl suddenly pipes up, voicing annoyance.
"Well, those fake ears do suit you quite well. If you wear them full-time, you'll be a 'rabbit' in a sense."
"Hmph." The rabbit girl looks away from Eirin in annoyance.

"...And this is Kaguya-hime, the owner of this mansion. I, uh, won't go too much into her past. It's her private business, and I'm sure she doesn't want many people knowing about it."
"Indeed."
"And that's that. Where could Reisen be? She's taking a bit long finding a bottle of sake. I hope she didn't get hurt.
"That would be unfortunate."

Well, you've learned something important from this exchange. Even though of the people here she's dressed the most like one, Eirin is most likely not a member of the cult. This is a bit relieving, given that she's the one you'd be most scared of trying to force you to join. Needle time isn't very fun when it's messing with your free will.
But Kaguya-hime... Just like in that one story. The beauty definitely fits the name, that's for sure. You don't know anything else about her, though, and seeing as she isn't being taken care of by a bamboo cutter, you can't make assumptions. At most it was just a parent naming their child after the Kaguya-hime of the story just as flattery or something. It's most definitely a coincidence that the beauty of the girl matches the Kaguya-hime of the story.

The group of you continue after this without conversation, staring at the moon.
It's not often that you stare at the moon. In fact, it's not often you have a view where the moon is visible. You've lived your whole life in the middle of the city, where the moon isn't extremely easy to see because of large buildings obstructing the view from all of your windows at night. It's been like this since you were young.
...You can't exactly remember why it seems like this, but it definitely does. You only remember a few select events from your childhood.

After about ten minutes of moongazing, the rabbit sent to bring sake finally arrives back. Compared to before, she looks a bit less neat. As if she had to fight with something. If there was something heavy in the way, she could have just asked you. It'd be easy work, and you wouldn't really mind doing it.

Reimu looks at the rabbit girl suspiciously, as if analyzing what she could have done to be in such a state.

"Ah, good. Let's have a toast, then. To the moon."

Everyone gets a sakazuki full of sake.

"Kanpai!"

---

The rest of the evening passes easily. There's not much conversation, just staring at the moon.

Eventually you and Reimu decide to leave.

Well, it's still not all THAT late. You could still find something to do with Reimu before taking her home. Or you could just take her home and get back to your own home quicker. After staring at the moon and drinking sake all night, you're a little bit tired.

[ ] Write-in.

Alright. With the next thread almost here, I'd like to have a name for this story. Since I'm no good at naming things, anon gets to suggest some.

.>input

[x] Grab a bite to eat with Reimu.
[x] That Lamprey stand might be a good choice.

Title: Ass Whooper in the City.

[x] Grab a bite to eat with Reimu.
[x] That Lamprey stand might be a good choice.

I can't think of a name.

City Of Weirdos, C.O.W.

[x] Grab a bite to eat with Reimu.
[x] That Lamprey stand might be a good choice.

Title:Cultists. Why did it have to be cultists?

[x] Grab a bite to eat with Reimu.
[x] That Lamprey stand might be a good choice.

[x]COW

Funny that Reimu never introduced herself, considering that she claims not to have been there before.

[x] Grab a bite to eat with Reimu.
[x] That Lamprey stand might be a good choice.

[x] COW

[~] Grab a bite to eat with Reimu.
[z] That Lamprey stand might be a good choice.

[e] City of Weirdos

[X] Grab a bite to eat with Reimu.
[X] That Lamprey stand might be a good choice.

[X] A Cultured Utopia Tantamount to Excellence