After this, the guests are mostly people you don't recognise pouring in much faster. The few you can pick out are Keine, the schoolteacher, Mokou, her friend, Ran, the fox-lady, and Reisen, the rabbit, who you've all seen around the village. You were kind of hoping Rinnosuke might show up, but you didn't really expect him to. Though this raises another question. Just how many of the people here are youkai? Any chance of picking up a conversation is drowned in the now large din of dozens of people carrying on their own conversations, though odd words you can pick up mostly seem to be about Cirno. Well, it's about time, so you decide to start working and head over to the tables. The first person to call you is Reimu, intently staring at you as you get near.
"Would you like to o-"
"Hayate~!"
Marisa loudly cuts you off with her greeting, and an energetic wave from across the table. She doesn't seem surprised at all, unlike Alice, who looks a little shocked. Reimu just seems tired.
"Ah, hey guys. It's been a while."
"Damn right it has been-ze!" You get the feeling the other two are trying to say something, but can't get a word over Marisa. "I've barely seen you since you left Kourin!"
On the other hand, you haven't seen Alice at all since then. "Yeah, I've been switching jobs a little."
"Oh? Does that mean you're working here now?" Alice finally manages to get a word in, "I'd like to know the answer to that too." Along with Reimu.
"Ah, yeah. I'm officially one of Remilia's employees now."
"WHAAAT!" YOU WORK FOR REMILIA!?" Marisa jumps up and hits her hands on the table as she yells. The entire room goes silent. Alice rubs her temples, while Marisa bashfully sits back down. It doesn't take long for people to start talking about it.
"...He works for Remilia?"
"A man?"
"How strange..."
"Maybe he's just hired work..."
"What about Cirno? Maybe Remilia's really gone senile with age?"
"You're a lot older than she is."
"How rude! I'm only 17!"
...And such things.
"...Where is Remilia?" Reimu asks you, completely serious.
"Um..." It's really intimidating. "I don't know. She should be coming down-"
Completely as though on cue, the ballroom doors bust open once more, and the room goes quiet as Remilia confidently strides in.
"Thank you all for coming! I'd like to remind you all-"
"Remilia."
Reimu doesn't even let her introduce herself, getting out of her chair and walking over to her.
"I need to talk to you. Now."
Remilia grins. "Oh, what about, I wonder~?"
Reimu doesn't even respond, and just stands there. She really does seem tired. Remilia sighs, and turns back to the room.
"Sorry, sorry! I'll be right back! For now, please order your meals!"
That said, she leaves, with Reimu in tow, and the conversation picks up again. Suddenly, you can see many people raising their hands, trying to get your attention.
"Sorry guys, work beckons. I'll talk to you later, alright?"
"Sure thing, Hayate~"
You're sure Alice tried to say something, but between Marisa and everyone else, her quiet voice goes unheard.


Well, your first group of orders came from stranger and stranger people. Keine and Mokou were fairly normal, but after that things just got stranger and stranger. A yama telling you to stop being so negative all the time, a ghost who ordered enough food for ten people, a girl with an eye on her chest who told you you're working too hard, a group who ordered almost nothing aside from carrots, and a little girl who asked to get a fly in her soup. And that's not even half of them. What a peculiar bunch. Showing the orders to Sakuya, you expect her to ask if you're joking, but she just laughs and says "Oh, that must be the group from Eientei" and "So the Moriyas are here again?"

"Well, I'll get started, but I need some more things." She writes down a list of items and directs you to one of the kitchen doors. Apparently, it's a food storeroom. There's plenty of things in here, but mostly spices and such. It doesn't take you long to find what Sakuya's looking for, and you're about to leave, when you hear voices.
"Alright, here is good. What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Oh? Whatever do you mean?"
It sounds like... Remilia and Reimu. Thinking about it, outside this room would be the corridor of the first floor. The walls must be kind of thin here, which is why you can hear them so well, even if it's kind of muffled.
"You know exactly what I mean. Stop screwing around."
What are they talking about..."It sounds serious.

[ ] Eavesdrop
[ ] Get back to work

[x] Eavesdrop

It might have something to do with Cirno. I cannot allow my beloved tomboyish daughter to be written off as collateral damage in the swath of Gensokyo's political skulduggery!

[x] Eavesdrop

Hopefully Sakuya is too busy to check up on us.

[X] Eavesdrop

[x] Eavesdrop

I'll vote anything for Cirno.

[X] Get back to work

Why the fuck are you all horrible workers? Goddamn.

[x] Get back to work

Low profile. It's just going to get us into trouble with Sakuya. And we need her to allow us to sleep in her room because we've been having VERY bad dreams.

>>28535

I doubt their conversation is about Cirno.

ps: good to see this story back!

>>28538
>>28532 convinced me.

>And we need her to allow us to sleep in her room because we've been having VERY bad dreams.

Ahahahahaha!

Oh u.

[!/] Get back to work

Why you do this to Flan~chan ;_;

[x] Get back to work.

[x] Get back to work.

[X] get back to work.

[x] Get back to work

[X] Eavesdrop

Flan.

One of these nights we're going to get up, march over to the door as she's taunting us, and swing it wide open. She'll expect us to try and close it, thinking we're scared, so she'll put her weight on it and fall into the room surprised.

Then we pick her up, march back to bed, and bring her in with us, forcing her to sleep between Cirno and us.

>>28556

I prefer smashing her fingers by kicking the door shut.

[X] Eavesdrop

Hooray, an update!

>Then we pick her up, march back to bed, and bring her in with us, forcing her to sleep between Cirno and us.

I don't know that Cirno is going to entertain the notion of sharing her human with anyone.

[x] Get (back) to work

>>28530
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
THAT PICTURE

I forgot how fucking creepy your Flandre is.

>>28556
I can't explain in words how stupid you are.

[x] Get back to work

[X] Get back to work.

Sure is votespam around here.

Anyway, I already started writing when [X] Eavesdrop had won, so yeah.

>>28570

I love you.

>>28570
Confirmation on votespam? Oh fuck, I'm beginning to doubt everyone again.

>>28570

The Correct Option is whatever option that you start the writing for.

Where are you anonymaster? I thought you were already start writing.

>>28712

I had. I've had about half the update done for the last ten days, but it's a hard one, and I can't think of what to do with the second half and the first half I'm not really satisfied with, but I can't think of why or how to improve it.
So the usual faggotry.

>>28740

Don't tell me I have to bring out the disapproving Cirno maid again.

>>28755

Please don't. I had it almost finished this morning, but not before I had to get to work. Doing the last of it now.

More recommended listening, though only for the first bit. http://www.mediafire.com/?oxhg4tihemw
Image unrelated but has maid Cirno so must be posted. Also OH BOY I SURE DO LOVE THOSE TEXT LIMITS



[X] Eavesdrop

This is far too interesting to pass up. You move closer to the wall, and push your ear against it.
"Screwing around? Really, I don't know what you're talking about. You need to be more clear, Reimu."
Obviously Remilia, given the tone. Still, you wouldn't expect her to be treating Reimu like this. But what's going on, anyway?
"...Hiring Cirno I could attribute to your eccentricity, but hiring a man? What the hell are you planning?"
"What, so I'm not allowed to have any male employees? They're just as efficient as women, you know. And he's much more useful than those fairies."
"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"
Silence. Is that really... Reimu? You've never heard her lose her cool like this, ever. She can be gruff and rude, but...
"My, my, such language, and from a shrine maiden, no less! Are you truly a woman of faith?"
...This is suspect. You don't think Reimu would go off like this without a reason. But ...why? Okay, so the circumstances revolving around your employment are kind of strange. But is Remilia doing something... wrong?
"Don't think I've forgotten what happened when you came here."
"Come now, that was over seventy years ago. Besides, how could you forget? You weren't even alive back then. And that Hakurei was much stronger than you, I'll have you know."
"Funny, I recall beating you quite thoroughly when we fought."
There's no response. It's like they're trying to provoke each other. But then, what happened? You haven't heard that story.
"...Where's the little sister?"
Wait, little sister? Whose little sister?
"...She's under control. You don't need to worry about that."
Remilia's tone completely changes. It's not mocking now, it's sombre. Could they mean... Remilia's sister? You thought she was just a rumour..."
"She'd better be. And so should you. This is your only warning."
"So accusing! Really, how do you think I treat my employees?"
BAM-
You stumble backwards as something crashes against the wall, but avoid knocking anything over. What the hell was that?
"If you intend to break the contract, you won't get another chance. I'll have you sent back where you came from."
Shortly after, there's some muffled tapping. Footsteps? It's quiet for a while, until you hear Remilia's giggle.
"Ah~, she's certainly entertaining, isn't she?"
There's a pause before you hear more footsteps.

...That was rhetorical, right?

"What took you so long?"
Damn, you probably were gone for a while, seeing as you'd already found everything before you heard that conversation. In the meantime, it seems Sakuya's already started cooking what she could, which is a lot. There's already three or four pots boiling on the stove, along with the heat you can feel from an oven somewhere. Sakuya's quickly jumping from place to place, doing different tasks. It's like you're missing frames. She appears in one spot, checking the contents of a pot. Then she appears in another, and cuts some vegetables. Then she appears in another, and puts them in a pot. Is this how she always cooks? Oh, right. You find a clean bench.
"Sorry, I had trouble finding some of these. Is here fine?" You start putting down all the things you got for her. Once they're all down, they suddenly disappear and a meal turns up in front of you, and Sakuya tells you whose it is. You spend the next half hour or so just delivering meals like this, with a new one appearing each time you come back to Sakuya. At some point Reimu returned to her seat, but there's no sign of Remilia. She's probably trying to make some dramatic entrance to compensate for the first one being interrupted. What exactly were they talking about? Contract? What happened when Remilia first came to Gensokyo? And... Her little sister? There's just too many things you don't know. And you don't have time to think about it, either. Really, why doesn't Sakuya just do all this herself, if she can stop time? It'd be faster than working with you, at least. But then, you have no idea how her time manipulation works, though Sakuya's never shown any visible sign of it being exhausting. Maybe she's just lazy..."No, that's a bad path to go down. And as you've found, untrue. There's definitely meals being eaten that you haven't delivered, or even taken the order for. She really is hard working. You kind of feel bad about how much trouble it is for her to need to look after you and Cirno now, too.
Come to think of it, how's Cirno? She wouldn't have taken well to seeing Reimu. Not after that incident. Every time you've seen them together they've been at each others' throats, quite literally. Thankfully, it never got quite as violent as the first time. Well, Meiling wouldn't let anything happen to Cirno, so you're sure she's fine.
But man, are these orders ever going to stop coming? You haven't had any for a few minutes now, but really, how much do these people eat? Especially that girl with the pink hair, she's ordered like four times already! Why does a ghost even need to eat in the first place!" If she orders one more thing, you'll-

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

You recognise that voice. It helps that it's the first male voice you've heard for a few days now, but it's one you know. You look around for the source of it. Over there, on the stage.
"Rinnosuke Morichika, at your service!"
It's that guy, making exaggerated gestures as he shouts out to the crowd from the stage.
"Ah, but where are my manners? First, I should introduce your host, the stunning, the beautiful, miss Remilia Scarlet!"
He shoots a hand upwards. Following it, you look up to the giant chandelier, which Remilia is calmly sitting on. Wait, when the hell did she get up there? Satisfied that everyone's seen her by now, she jumps down, causing the chandelier to rattle a little. Thankfully it's sturdy enough not to fall. She lands next to Rinnosuke, with the stage groaning a little under the pressure. She dramatically brings her hand up near her mouth.
"My, you flatterer~! What do you hope to achieve with such things~?"
Rinnosuke strikes what you assume is some kind of dramatic pose. Probably best to assume that, yeah.
"My lady, this is not flattery, but mere truth."
...What is this, a comedy routine? Or is it just Remilia stroking her own ego? Looking around the audience, you can see a few people laughing, and Reimu holding her head in her hand. There's bandages wrapped around it. When did that happen?
"Ah, but we should get on with the night's festivities, my lady!"
Another dramatic pose.
"Oh~ I suppose you're right~" She feigns some kind of disappointed turn before wishing the audience a good night and leaving the stage.
Rinnosuke taps his glasses a few times.
"Now then, time for the night to begin! And what better way to start than with the main act? Let's dance!" ...Everyone just ate, Rinnosuke. "Let me introduce the Prismrivers!"
There's some applause as he steps down from the stage and three girls take it, along with three floating instruments. What kind of creatures are they? You can't see too well from here, but It looks like a violin, a keyboard, and a trumpet. They bow, before starting their music. You never really cared too much for music, but it seems nice. An upbeat song. The guests begin to rise from their seats and take to the middle of the room to begin their dances. Well, aside from that girl with the pink hair, who seems to have eaten too much.

"Hayate~"
"Hm?"
Turning to find the owner of that call, your vision suddenly goes black.
"Guess who!"
"...What are you doing inside, Cirno?" Well, at least Reimu hasn't killed her.
A frustrated groan comes from behind you as her hands leave your eyes.
"You're no fun."
She's leaning against the wall, tapping her foot in time with the music.
"It's boring out there."
"That's how work is."
"Work sucks."
Eloquently put.
"Anyway, I realised something." You swear you see something glint in her eye. "This place is huge, right?"
"Uh... I guess."
"So there must be some kind of hidden dungeon or something!"
"...What."
"Come on, it's in all these books and stuff!"
"This isn't a book. Furthermore, you can read?"
"So there must be something!" She ignores your question. Maybe she doesn't see that you're genuinely surprised? "And we should go find it!"
"Your logic could use some work. And why 'we'?"
"Coooooooooome oooooooooooon!"
She starts tugging on your arm. You're not sure if she's actually trying hard or not, but she's not even getting it out of your pocket.
Eh.

[ ] Humour her.
[ ] You haven't seen Marisa and Alice for a while, go talk to them.
[ ] You're in the mood for dancing. (Pick partner)


(And the aforementioned image is too big. Great.)

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno

I'm torn between dancing with Cirno and exploring dungeon with her.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno

Anything to stop her from dungeon crawling.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno

Oh yes.

>(And the aforementioned image is too big. Great.)
Post it on tinypic or something and link it. We all want to see it now.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno

Cirno route in Sakuya-centric CYOA confirmed.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Sakuya

Didn't the SDM appear in 1999?

>>28773

Not likely. There's not much in ZUN's works to suggest any kind of specific time, but the one consensus is that it isn't recent. Aya makes a small mention of it in BAiJR, but that's about it.
http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Guide_of_Beautiful_Sceneries_in_Gensokyo:_Scarlet_Devil_Mansion

Also aforementioned image: http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/457038/bat_wings-blonde_hair-blue_eyes-blue_hair-braid-ca

>>28774
>before 1998 A.D. - Vampire Incident (Perfect Memento: Reimu Hakurei)
>Scarlet Devil Mansion appears in Gensokyo under auspices other than Remilia's
>Akyuu believes Remilia came to Gensokyo after this incident

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Sakuya

Let's help the maid take it easy for a little bit.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Sakuya

[O] You're in the mood for dancing.
[O] Sakuya

[x] "Alright, but on the condition that when I ask you do dance with me, you'll say yes."
[x] Regardless of how she responds, offer her your hand: "Will you dance with me, Cirno?"

Let Sakuya take care of the real work; it's what she's most capable at and likes to spend her time doing.

Cirno and you will be the center of attention here, which will entertain your mistress, which is what your real duty is anyway..

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno.

Remilia will get a kick out of it, and it'll be nice to take Cirno off-guard.

[x] You're in the mood for dancing.
[x] Sakuya

Piss against the tide.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Sakuya

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno.

>[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
>[X] Sakuya

As a result, a hurt Cirno resolves to go into the basement alone. She doesn't need you of course; she just thought that she could spend some alone time with you. The only reason she wanted to work here was to be with you, after all. Already irritable for the rejection by the time she meets Flandre, she either recognizes her as a threat to your safety, or simply enrages Flandre by her stupidity and arrogance. The proceeding fight either ends instantly as Cirno is destroyed, or takes place through the mansion, ultimately resulting in public furor and leading the Hakurei to make a her preemptive strike. Because Sakuya gets a bad feeling, she cuts out early in the dance.

When it's all said and done multiple people are hurt and/or killed, and Sakuya as a control freak will hate you with every fiber of her being for withholding information from her over the conversation you had overheard. More than that, you knew Cirno was snooping around, and didn't think to keep an eye one her. Finally you took up her valuable time, time which might've been used to prevent this tragedy from occurring in the first place,

You wouldn't really be considered a 'flea' then; more like a 'flesh-eating bacteria'.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Sakuya

>>28794

Nice job blowing things out of proportion.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Cirno

[B] You're in the mood for dancing.
[B] Cirno

>>28794

Now I want to pound that vote harder, because this sounds awesome.

>>28797
>Nice job blowing things out of proportion.

You're handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500.

Here we have a woman who burned crosses on your front lawn because you accidentally walked in on her in the tub after she left the door she unlocked.

Reimu just now delivered an war ultimatum to Remilia because she found out that she hired a male butler and a quasi-competent ice fairy as servants.

So is your monocle really that loose, or are you one of the ones who voted to stick our heads in the sand, and now bitter that we didn't?

[x] You're in the mood for dancing.
[x] Cirno

>"So accusing! Really, how do you think I treat my employees?"
>"If you intend to break the contract, you won't get another chance."
http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Perfect_Memento:_Encyclopedia:_Vampire

She thinks Remi's planning to kill us for our blood? Or can she not suck anyone's blood at all?

>>28779

Stop reading the Gensokyo timeline page. There's no source for the information there, and also Akyu doesn't say such a thing.
Also backup plan in case I'm mistaken fanfiction.

>>28794

As AWESOME as that would be, this isn't MiG.

Anyway, Cirno option wins.

>>28817

Also, I like you for being the only person to even bring up that section at all.

>>28817
>She thinks Remi's planning to kill us for our blood? Or can she not suck anyone's blood at all?

Technically, it might be a different matter if the person gives the vampire their blood willingly, or maybe there's some odd trait we have that makes us an exception, like being from the outside originally.

Anyway, Remi isn't going to kill you for your blood itself. She doesn't even know if you taste good, and besides she cannot stomach much blood at once. This is the reason given why she does not have any more vampires under her.

Flandre might, though. Maybe Remilia is looking to extend her family and therefore her power base in Gensokyo?

It being a normal village boy gives her an instant voice within the town. And that he's male, might allow for rapid propagation of vampiric blood.

>>28818

Hooray!

>>28820
Whatever happened to Remilia being unable to vampirize others?

>>28847

She can't, at least not by herself, because she cannot drain enough blood without it greatly upsetting her digestion.

Akyu's article states that exsanguinated humans turn into ghouls, but does not elaborate on the mechanism by which one would become afflicted by vampirism. Often in vampire myth a mutual exchange of blood required. ZUN definitely states that vampirism is transmissible by blood-drinking in Remilia's EoSD profile, however.

But Flandre could be fully able to gorge herself on blood, which may be why Reimu mentioned her in particular. Flandre drains the candidate, while Remilia feeds him her own blood. Likely, the new vampire would be beholden to Remilia.

>>Flandre might, though. Maybe Remilia is looking to extend her family and therefore her power base in Gensokyo?

If that were the case, there's a slight hurdle that would have to be overcome for such a plan to be successful. Namely, Flandre's power. Just as Remilia apparently can't create more vampires because she can't drink enough from her prey to change them, Flandre basically can't because there's typically nothing LEFT to change.
>>Whenever she tries to attack a human, she fusses too much and blows them away without leaving a spot of blood.

Frankly, considering just how much work would probably have to go into getting Flandre trained well enough to restrain herself from completely destroying her prey to get enough to drink, let alone actually turn them, I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be much easier for Remilia to simply try overcome her light appetite.

>>28849

You're misinterpreting what ZUN means by 'attack'. It is not in the sense that she is attempting to suck their blood; canonically, Flandre doesn't even know that blood is put in her food. Rather, when she attacks things, she does so in order to destroy them, using her inherent ability to do so, and due to the complete nature of this destruction, there will never be any blood left behind for her to discover how good it tastes.

Similarly, if Remilia was hurling Gungnir at you, you wouldn't expect that she's trying to turn you into a vampire or is attempting to sate her appetite for blood. She just wants to kill you.

However, if Flandre did know she was supposed to drink blood, there'd be nothing to stop her from catching prey the old fashioned way and taking a big bite out of it.

>>28853
I'm not so sure about that. Looking at the whole line:
>>When vampires attack humans, they generally try to take their prey alive so that they can suck its blood afterward, but Flandre has always been fed with cooked dishes, so she doesn't know how to properly attack a human. Whenever she tries to attack a human, she fusses too much and blows them away without leaving a spot of blood.

It seems to me that while that could be taken as meaning she doesn't attack humans for food, and so she destroys them, it could just as easily be taken to mean that she DOES attack them for food, yet destroys them anyway since she has no real, practical experience on how to properly feed.

As for not knowing where her food comes from:
>>Perhaps she can't tell that her daily meals are made from living humans.
>>Her meals look like such harmless foodstuffs as cake and tea, after all...

Technically, it's not explicitly stating she doesn't know there is blood in her food, just that it MIGHT be the case that she doesn't know that it comes from humans. To her, it might just be another ingredient, like sugar or flour.

But then, that calls into question something Flandre herself said in Reimu's scenario:
>>I've never seen humans as anything else but a drink.

Whether she means the only way she's ever viewed a human before was as a source of food, or she has literally never seen a human that wasn't in a form she could sip through a straw, I can't help but think she's at least made the whole "blood is from people" connection.

Which brings me back to the point of:
>>if Flandre did know she was supposed to drink blood, there'd be nothing to stop her from catching prey the old fashioned way and taking a big bite out of it.

Nothing to stop her, aside from her own lack of experience at actually doing it, that is. Just like riding a bike isn't quite so simple as "sit, steer, pedal" I would think successfully drawing blood from someone with your mouth probably takes some degree of practical experience to get good at.
Hell, look at Remilia. She supposedly knows how it's supposed to be done, yet the whole reason for her title of "Scarlet Devil" is because her tendency to get more blood on her dress than in her mouth.

>>28853
Isn't the Flandre blood-mixed-in-food thing just more of Akyu's nonsense?

>>28879
No, Akyu doesn't even seem to touch on Flandre's diet, actually. The information about Flandre being only fed prepared meals comes directly from her character profile from EoSD.

EOSD Extra stage:
Flandre:
>You're not trying to trick me, right?

>I've never seen humans as anything else but a drink.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing.
[X] Sakuya

>>28880
>>28882
Hold on, is that an official contradiction?

I suppose the lie is in the dialogue, then.

>>28932
Is it really a contradiction, though?
At that point, she had basically been confined to the mansion's basement for centuries, and considering in that very same conversation she also claims to not know who makes food out of humans in the mansion, meaning it's possible that in all that time she's never even personally met Sakuya. If, however, despite that total lack of exposure to humans, she were to know that there's blood in her food and that it came from humans, it would be no more a lie for her to say she's "only ever seen humans as a drink" as it would be for someone who knows where beef comes from yet has never seen a cow before to say they've "only ever seen cows as a hamburger".

She could, quite literally, mean she's only ever seen humans as (that is to say, in the form of) food.

>>28934
From the profile:
But Flandre has always been fed with cooked dishes, so she doesn't know how to properly attack a human. Whenever she tries to attack a human, she fusses too much and blows them away without leaving a spot of blood.
Perhaps she can't tell that her daily meals are made from living humans.
Her meals look like such harmless foodstuffs as cake and tea, after all...

Well, it explicitly says that she has tried in the past but failed. It is strange to refer to humans as "nothing but a drink" when you can't drink from them. Or maybe ZUN's "maybe she can't..." is supposed to be false and she can tell her cakes are made of people.

>>28972
Well, you can't bullshit profile information. That's the one thing in Touhou that's honest-to-god undeniable fact, as far as I know.

Anyone can lie, anyone can bluff, and anyone can tell increasingly-exaggerated stories about how they singlehandedly kicked the asses of The vampire and her mansion/those ghosts and the Yakumos/half of Higan/Every last tengu, kappa, god on the mountain/Any Celestial known to Heaven/all the youkai that ever lived underground, past, present, or future

>>28999
You're wrong about the lying part. You can't say "Humans are just a drink" unless you know what a human is and know that they are edible.

I think it's the profile that is incorrect, and intentionally so (unless ZUN actually did just screw up or didn't care). Again, the phrasing used is "Perhaps she can't tell that her daily meals are made from living humans". "This could be true... or it could not be true". I get the feeling it's actually the latter.

>>29004
Nah, I said anyone can lie.
Key word: anyone.

In other words, in-game dialogue carries little or no guarantee of truth. It's not official information.

However, I'll grant you the 'perhaps' thing. Fucking ZUN. It might simply be a by-product of Japanese phrasing, though.

>>29008

I think the point he is trying to make is that by saying what she said, Flandre shows that she knows that humans are food. And the profile is specifically set up to allow for it to go either way.

However it could be that both are true. It could be that Flandre has in the past attacked humans for food, knowing that she's supposed to drink blood, but doesn't know that her current meals are made from humans. No contradiction there if that is the case.

As for what someone said earlier, implying that it was possible Reimu has lied about defeating all the bosses in the games, well, that's just plain retarded. Of course, this brings us to an important point about Touhou, one that makes it difficult to produce fan-works for:

We have no idea what dialog is canon. Consider this: In every Touhou game (excepting STB) there are multiple routes the player can take. This either takes the form of what character you play, or in the case of TH1, which literal route you take.

Because of this, we have no idea what events "count". This is particularly bad in all three versus games (IaMP, SWR, PoFV). There is no indication of what player's routes are canon, or if somehow all of them are. This creates problems when some contradict each other.

For instance, I can argue that Cirno has defeated Reimu in canon based on her playthrough of PoFV. And you might (perhaps rightly?) say that it doesn't count because Reimu's playthrough is the one that really happened.

But this creates problems because the story events of Cirno's game ARE counted in most people's canon, such as the Yama lecturing Cirno and telling her "even nature dies". This is a problem because one relies in the other. If you choose to count only parts of a character's playthrough, then it suddenly canon becomes incredibly shaky.

>>29022
>suddenly canon becomes incredibly shaky

>>29022
From what I've heard for SWR, EVERY route is considered canon. They aren't "paralell playthroughs" where only one "really happened", but rather a series of events occuring after the other.
For the others, at least on the wiki, the standard seems to be to treat ending #1 as canonical (which would mean that Suika beat Reimu in IaMP). Extra endings are typically numbered with normal, but obviously don't interfere.

> the story events of Cirno's game ARE counted in most people's canon, such as the Yama lecturing Cirno and telling her "even nature dies".
Well, just because something didn't happen doesn't mean it couldn't. If Cirno is not completely immortal, she isn't immortal whether or not she fought Sikieiki. If you just mean canonical for a single story, e.g. Owen's Cirno referencing the fight with Sikieiki... well, there's no reason why Cirno's scenario can't be considered canonical within a single story.

>implying that it was possible Reimu has lied about defeating all the bosses in the games
And finally, something tangentally related. The wiki states that Reimu/whoever may NOT have been victorious against Yukari, even if you clear her extra stage and get the ending. The reasoning is that the fight was to force Yukari to restore the boundary to the netherworld, and that did not happen.

>>29026
>From what I've heard for SWR, EVERY route is considered canon. They aren't "paralell playthroughs" where only one "really happened", but rather a series of events occuring after the other.

Yes, in fact there is in fact a detailed and consistent timeline of the events, translated somewhere.

>>29032
http://thwiki.info/?%B8%B8%C1%DB%B6%BF%C7%AF%C9%BD%2F%C8%EC%C1%DB%C5%B7%BB%FE%B7%CF%CE%F3 (original)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?x1ywmwziymg (english)
Still need a translation on those notes at the end.

>>29120
http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Scarlet_Weather_Rhapsody:_Timeline has this too, and with most of the notes translated.

Update.

[X] You're in the mood for dancing. (Cirno)

"Hey, I've got a better idea."
"Huh?" She stops tugging.
"Come with me." You grab her hand and start pulling her along to the dance floor.
"Hey, hold on! What are you doing!?" Here should be fine. You won't get in anyone's way like this. You stop pulling her and face her.
"Cirno..." You try to make this sound as charming as possible. "Would you like to dance?"
Her face instantly flushes red as she turns away.
"I-Idiot! Why would I want to do something boring like that!" Come on, let's go already!" She does.
"Hm... Don't you know how to dance?"
"How'd you know th-that's not important!" She catches herself in the middle of her admission. Heh.
"It's not too hard. It's basically all just walking around, really. Here, put your hand on my shoulder."
"Um... Like this?"
And just as planned, she's already forgotten that she wanted you to go exploring. You guide her hand to your shoulder, and hold her other one. Like this, it's really obvious how much taller you are. It must be kind of hard for her to hold onto your shoulder.
"Yeah, that's right." A slow song right now. That's good.
"Then, let's start with a waltz!"
"What the hell is a wa-oa--!?"
You pull her towards you as you start moving, making sure to keep a safe distance from any of the other dancers should things go wrong.
"Just walk, walk!"
Cirno finds her balance, and takes lots of quick steps to keep up with you.
"See? It's just walking!" Well, for now, at least.
She giggles. "This is kind of fun!"
"Isn't it? Follow my lead and you'll be fine." But you can't get used to it just yet! You add a spin to your simple walking, happy to see that she doesn't stumble. Instead she looks up at you, competition burning in her eyes.
"Ha, you won't trip me that easily!" Ah, but the music's speeding up, Cirno! You move your feet faster, adding a skip step to the swinging beat. It looks like Cirno's flying a little with each skip, unable to keep up with you normally.
"Well, I guess you need a handicap. You couldn't possibly keep up with me otherwise."
Tap.
"Like hell! If you weren't leading, I'd have made you drop on the floor!"
Tap.
"As if! You haven't even danced before today!"
Tap.
"I'm still better at it than you!"
Tap.
You both laugh at each other, slowing down as you do so.
Tap.
Crash. A scream. You jolt to attention.
Tap.
The music's stopped. How long ago did that happen?
Tap.
The guests are fleeing. Yelling. Chairs and tables being knocked over as people fly and scramble away.
Tap.
From...

A little girl. Who is she?
Tap.
Short blonde hair, and red eyes.
Tap.
Wearing a short red dress with a yellow necktie, along with a pink undershirt and hat with a red ribbon tied around it.
Tap.
But you hardly pay attention to that. Rather, it's her wings that draw your attention.
Tap.
They don't look like wings. You've never seen anything like them.
Tap.
It's as though somebody jammed two rusted iron bars into her back. They're like twigs. No, more like vines, wrapping around themselves as they stretch out.
Tap.
"..te.."
And hanging from each twig are seven coloured... What the hell are they?
Tap.
"..yate.."
They look like some kind of gemstone. Shaped like diamonds. But they're hanging from her wings. What the hell kind of creature has wings like those? It's like some kind of monstrous biological decoration.
Tap.
"Hayate!"
Huh?
You look for the source of that voice. Above you, in the air. It's Reimu, holding a spell card in her hand.
"What are you just standing there for!" Get the hell away from her!"
Away..."
---!
You hadn't even noticed it, but the girl had been walking towards you. And now, she's mere feet away. She stops. She bows. And she opens her mouth.
"Um..." Her voice is soft, childish. She stands there, fiddling with her hands, like she's trying to find the right words. "Um... Would you... Would you like to dance with me?"
What... What kind of question is that? And why the hell is everyone so scared of this... This little girl? And... Why do you feel like you just might accept her offer?

And...
Why the hell...

Does she seem so familiar..."


[ ] Accept.
[ ] Get away.

[x] Accept.

Alright.

Let's do this.

[x] Accept.

Only because watching Cirno get possessive will be awesome.

>>29528

HHHHHHNG

[O] Accept.

Just... just in a sec... I need to recover from the heart attack... 'kay?

[x] Accept.

Proceed.

[X] Accept

[X] Accept.

Ever dance with (the sister of) the Devil in the pale moonlight?

[x] Get away.

[X] Accept.

Must not anger the Flan, we do enjoy breathing after all.

[X] Accept.

[X] Accept.

Anything else would be meta-knowledgan gaems.

[!/] Accept.

Flan~chan moe~ hnnnnnnhg

[X] Accept.

[x] Kiss Cirno.

[x] Accept

She already wanted Hayate beforehand. And now, she’ll have him.
Shit.

>>29535
Ha!

>>29588

I think we all secretly want this, but this is neither the time nor place.

>>29600

Maybe if it were in the context of a goodbye kiss.

[X] Accept.

You nod, and move to take her hand. After all, who could refuse such a request..."
Only then do you realise that Cirno is still here, holding you tightly around your waist. When did she move? You don't remember, but she's behind you now. You can't really take a step forward like this.
"Damn it!" A yell. Who's yelling? "Sakuya!"
Then there's a snap. Your ears are ringing from how painfully silent it is. And nobody is moving. Everything, everybody, completely frozen in place. You can feel a hand on your shoulder. Turning to see who it is, you find a strange sight on the way. Cirno, frozen in the air a few feet away from you, looking as though she was spinning around in the air. The hand on your shoulder leads you to Sakuya.
"I don't have time to explain. Stay back." Is this her power? Then, suddenly, she tightly grabs your arm and with surprising strength, flings you into the air. Sound and movement return to the world, and you go sailing through the air along with Cirno, tumbling along the ground as you land. What the hell was that for?
"Owie..." Cirno sits up, rubbing her head and backside.
You've been thrown away from the dance floor, over to the sides of the ballroom. From here, you can see Reimu, Marisa and Alice all flying in the air above the girl, forming something of a triangle. Alice is fumbling with the lock on her grimoire. What's going on? Do they think this girl wants to fight them, or something? The previously panicked crowd is now mostly silent, looking at the girl from afar, while many people seem to have already left the building. Sakuya confronts the girl.
"Flandre, what are you doing here?"
Flandre. You know that name. But from where?
"I... I heard music, and people... I thought it might be fun..."
"You know you're not supposed to be here."
"I... I know that..."
Her voice is so quiet, but it sounds like she's on the verge of tears. Sakuya reaches out her hand.
"Come on. Let's go back to your room, alright?"
The girl stands there for a while. You can feel how tense the four surrounding her are. Alice has finished undoing the lock on her grimoire, but hasn't opened it yet. Eventually, the girl takes Sakuya's hand, and follows her out of the ballroom. As she nears the door, she pauses and turns to you, before continuing out with Sakuya and disappearing from your sight. The three in the air watch her the entire way. You can hear Marisa sigh with relief as she falls slowly to the ground, not bothering to stay standing. Alice starts doing something with the grimoire; putting the lock back on, you assume. Reimu lands on the floor, and starts looking around the room.
"Remilia, I know you're here somewhere."
"Oh dear, I was found out~"
From behind the wood backing of the stage, Remilia appears. Taking to the stage, she addresses the guests.
"I'm very sorry about that interruption. Please, return to your seats for now. The night is still young, and-"
"Like hell!"
A yell from the crowd.
"You expect us to stay here with that monster running loose?" Muttered agreement from the crowd. Remilia tries to calm them down, but it's not working, as many people start to leave. Reimu is walking towards her. She reaches the stage, and grabs Remilia by collar, lifting her off the ground.
"What the hell was that!?" The room becomes quiet once more. "You tell me you have things under control, and then something like this happens!"
Remilia offers no response. Reimu raises her other fist, but thinks better of it and simply drops Remilia to the ground. She then turns to you and starts heading your way.
"Hayate."
"Ah... Yeah?"
"We're leaving. Come on." Leaving?
"Hold on, what are you talking about?"
"This place isn't safe for you. So you're coming with me."
"I kind of work here, you know."
"So find somewhere else to work!" She yells, then stops and brings her hand up to rub her temple. "I'm not going to give you a choice here. Either you come with me, or I'll drag you out of here."
What the hell kind of talk is that?


[ ] Go with her.
[ ] Refuse.

[ ] Refuse.

Poor Flan did nothing wrong.

[x] Refuse.
The only option.

[x] Refuse.

No way. We got beds to make, dishes to serve, laundry to do, girls to screw.

[O] Refuse.

[Q] Refuse.

[†] Refuse.

I want my cute danceing Cirno back!

[x] Go with her.

[X] Fuck off, Raymoo.

[x] Refuse.

[X] Refuse.

Screw you, tsundere Reimu.

God damn it, everyone's a jerk. All Flan wanted was a single dance.

When she comes to stare into our room tonight, we have to confront her and offer her the chance at another dance. It might be late, and we might not be dressed for the occasion, and maybe the ballroom will be dark and empty, and perhaps there won't be music playing, but we are going to give her that dance. It will be the best damn dance she ever dances, too.

[X] Refuse.

Remilia pretty much sealed Hayate's fate earlier on with fate hax. What does Reimu expect him to do besides starve?

>>29700
>It might be late, and we might be scared shitless.
Sounds about right.

[!/] Refuse.

WHY ;_;
She only wanted to dance....

[~] Refuse.
[z] "If I go back, I'm broke and jobless. If I stay, I've at least got a job, plus room and board."
[e] "I don't know what everyone's so worked up about, but if something happens to me, then it'll be my own stupid fault."

>>29700
Plus, it'll likely be, you know, the only thing that has a chance in hell of keeping him alive.

[X] Refuse.

[X] Refuse.

[x]"Unless you're planning on employing me with room & board at your shrine..."
[x]Refuse

[X]"Unless you're planning on employing me with room & board at your shrine..."
[X]Refuse

[X] Refuse.

[x] Refuse.

>>29731

This reminded me that I was supposed to have a line like that in the update. Something like "Rinnosuke can take you in! You know he has plenty of spare rooms! I'd even let you stay at the shrine! Anywhere is better than here!"
But I forgot, apparently. By the time I realised there were too many votes to repost it.

You guys would have refused anyway, so.
Refuse wins, writing now.

>Only then do you realise that Cirno is still here, holding you tightly around your waist.

I'm slow, so I only just noticed that while everyone else, which includes pretty much fucking everyone, has cleared a space around Flandre, Cirno, who I assume knows all about Flan, is standing with us.

This fairy really likes us.

>>29766
Sakuya also kind of protected us. Although it probably means less danger for her because of her ability. But maybe, maybe she forgave us for the bathroom incident.

>>29769

I doubt she's completely forgiven Hayate yet. Though perhaps enough to where she realises that letting him stay close to Flandre would be too great a punishment, at least in her eyes.

Also, brave Cirno, keeping hold of her human despite the potential misting.

>>29766

>This fairy really likes us.

We really like this fairy and damned if we don't get a chance to dance with her again.

>>29782
But the damned don't dance.

Oh wait, that's the point.

>>29769
>Sakuya also kind of protected us. Although it probably means less danger for her because of her ability. But maybe, maybe she forgave us for the bathroom incident.

More likely she was attempt mitigate what had become a social disaster for her mistress, before it could turn into a social nightmare. This is a woman whose raison d'etre is perfection and elegance in one's duties, so we should expect her to be very conscious of the consequences of her public interactions. Very openly and indiscreetly flinging the butler across the room, when everyone is already on a hair trigger, would have predictable results, when she could've either spirited Flandre back to her room silently, or simply teleported the protagonist away from her.

Considering Remilia was watching silently, however--possibly having let Flan out in the first place--Sakuya may have exacerbated the situation rather than defuse it. We know that while she has utmost loyalty to her mistress, that sometimes she purposefully attempts to sabotage her plans, such as concerning the protagonist's employment. Doubtlessly, she has her own ideas on how to best maintain order in the household; Flandre become more active participant in the household is probably not one of them.

Moreover, deliberately manhandling the butler in public is probably to the same effect as when she 'mistakenly' left the door to her bath unlocked: It's an excuse to make him feel like he doesn't belong, and, here, to make it plainly obvious to the public that this isn't the safest place for him to be.

>>29835
The head maid isn't such a horrible person!

>>29844

Who said anything about her being terrible? Sakuya is merely a dutiful and loyal servant of Miss Scarlet, and responsible for the good functioning of entire mansion filled with monsters.

updates?

>>29918
Getting worked on. I swear, every time I say I'm writing I jinx it or something. I guess you guys can have this part for now, to tide you over until the rest is done.



[X] Refuse

"Come on, what's up with those terms? They're not appealing at all."
"...Is that a no?"
"Yeah, sorry. I kinda enjoy having a roof over my head and food to eat."
Reimu sighs, very deeply. "Rinnosuke, do it."
"Certainly. Sorry, Hayate."
That voice came from behind you. Turning around, for a moment you see a glance of Rinnosuke bringing down a chair on you, before everything goes black.

For a few seconds, at least.
"Hey, I don't think you hit him hard enough."
You fade painfully back into consciousness, now being carried by your arms and legs through the mansion. At your arms is Marisa, and your legs, Rinnosuke. Your head hurts like hell.
"Ah, awake already? Sorry about that, my friend." Rinnosuke talks over his shoulder.
"If I'm your friend, why are you knocking me out and kidnapping me!?" Pain assails your already throbbing head. You tell yourself not to shout again.
He chuckles. "Well, I'm afraid Reimu is much scarier than you."
...He does have a point. Wait, no. You shouldn't be agreeing with him. "Damn it, put me down already!" You try to struggle free, but the effort makes your head ring.
"Just be quiet and let us take you home, ze~! Oh, Alice~ Get the door please~!"
"A little busy, Marisa!"
From behind you, you can hear the sounds of fighting. Wait, so that means those stars you've been seeing weren't just from your head? What's going on now? You can't see anywhere but in front of you, where danmaku is sailing over top of you. Alice is obviously fighting with someone, but who?
"That's my employee! Let go of him!"
That voice is Remilia. Then, is she the one fighting with Alice? You have no idea how strong either of them are, but...
"Hayate!" Cirno appears at your side, flying next to you as you're carried away. "Are you alright!?"
There's tears forming in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Could you get these two off of me, though?"
"Ah, sure!" Her eyes sparkle as she gets to work trying to tug Marisa's arm away. "Let him go!"
"Oi, get off!" Marisa tries to shake her loose. Then-
"Ah-!"
Cirno jolts in pain as a stray bullet from the fight behind you slams into her. She falls away from your vision.
"Cirno? Hey, Cirno!" You twist your body to see if she's alright.
"Stop moving already! I'm gonna drop you!" You ignore her, trying to free your legs from Rinnosuke's grasp as you struggle to break away.
"Hey!"
Unfortunately, Marisa's grip gives way first, leaving your head tumbling down to the floor.

It all goes black a second time.


--------------------------------------

I can't help but see Remilia being on the verge of tears....(Ｔ▽Ｔ)

>>29924

And I can't help but imagine her going on a rampage after the initial breakdown to get what she considers hers back where he belongs.

>>29924

I'm more concerned about the well-being of Cirno--She tries so hard for your sake.

>>29925

At first she is like like
Then she is like

>>29927
Charisma Moe~.
Yes. Charisma Moe~.

>>29926

He last sees her being hurt while trying to free him. If her whereabouts aren't the first thing on his mind when he wakes up, I'll be sorely disappointed in him.

I can't be bothered finding an appropriate image.


--------------


You wake up in a familiar room. This messy place can't be anywhere but Kourindou. Even in this room where you're lying in a futon there's piles of junk strewn about. All manner of things that will never be sold because nobody knows how to use them. Well, there's nobody here right now. You sit up, then fall back to the floor as your head throbs. Bringing your hand up, you can feel that there's now bandages wrapped around it. Rolling over to look at the pillow, there's a little blood seeped into it. Just how hard did they hit you? Well, you're not still bleeding, so you probably don't need to worry about dying from blood loss. Lifting the covers, you're still dressed in the same clothes as before. No idea where your shoes are, though. You sit up slowly this time, and clumsily bring yourself to your feet, bracing against the nearest wall to stop yourself from falling over.
Having gained your balance, you make your way out into the corridor. There's still junk everywhere; hundreds of nameless items lining the corridors. You can see that peesee thing Rinnosuke talked about to your left, so... The other way, then? Unless he's moved it. But you doubt that. Travelling through the house, the familiar layout returns to your memory. If your kidnappers have stuck around, they'll probably be in the dining room. Your suspicions are confirmed as you hear voices while drawing near. You slide the door open and enter.
"Ah, Hayate."
Even this room has piles of junk strewn about. Sat around the table are Reimu, Marisa (with a blanket wrapped around her), Alice and Rinnosuke, all nonchalantly drinking tea.
"...What the hell is wrong with you people?"
"We're just looking out for you."
"By giving me a concussion and pissing off my boss?"
"It's better for you than staying there." That again.
"You keep saying that. What are you-"
Hold on. Someth-one's missing.
"Where's Cirno?"
"Probably still at the mansion, I guess." Reimu sips her tea as she gives this answer so simply.
The last thing you remember is seeing Cirno get hurt. "Do you even know if she's okay?"
"Nope. Well, she should be. Even fairies can take more than one hit before they die." Don't say such a thing so matter-of-factly!
"What the hell is with that!?" Before you know it, you're slamming your hand against the wall. "You keep telling me how dangerous that place is, and you just leave her there!?"
"I'm afraid we had our hands full fighting off a vampire and her gate guard. Be more grateful, you brat. We didn't need to rescue you. We did it because we care ab-"
"Nobody ever said I needed rescuing! Don't give me that shit!"
Reimu doesn't reply to that. She thanks Rinnosuke for the tea, then gets up, and walks out of the room. You hear a door slam a few seconds later.
"Hey... She was just trying to help, you know?" Marisa speaks up.
"Don't tell me all of you supported this."
You get blank stares in response.
"Her methods are rough, but she did it because she was worried about you." Alice, this time.
"Oh, come on." You turn to Rinnosuke. He slowly shakes his head.
"Alright, fine. I'm the only sane one here, then. I'm leaving."
You walk around the table, heading where Reimu left through.
"Hold on, where are you going!?"
You pause. "Where do you think? The mansion."
"Were you not paying attention at all!" It's dangerous there!"
"Then give me a damn reason why! All your talk of how it's dangerous to be there, and you don't even say why!"
"Are you stupid, Hayate?" Rinnosuke asks with genuine surprise. "They're vampires. Monsters who suck the blood of humans to keep themselves alive. Don't you see anything wrong with that?"
"That's why the contract exists. They're supplied with blood so they don't need to drink from living humans."
"And you expect monsters like those to keep their word?"
"At least they haven't attacked me!"
Rinnosuke opens his mouth, but can't find the words to come back with. Everybody looks surprisingly guilty. Tch. If they're going to be guilty now, they shouldn't have done it in the first place. You start walking.
"Hayate, wai-"
"What!?"
You yell at Alice louder than you mean to. She flinches.
"You can just... Stay here, can't you? We can go back to how things were, right?"
Rinnosuke doesn't object. Marisa nods in affirmation. Honestly, it wouldn't be much different from working at the mansion. You'd have shelter and food. And you've known these guys for years. But... It's not that simple.


[ ] Stay.
[ ] Leave.

[x] Leave.

We can't (shouldn't?) back down after a show like that.

[x] Stay.

[X] Leave.

>>29935

> OMG! VAMPIRE! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!
> Gensokyo, a magical land created for monsters, ghost, demons, and other assorted nasty things.

It's your interpretation, I'm not trying to block your ability to write how you want; but I still find the non-SDM cast's reactions to be funny considering what Gensokyo is. I'll just rack it up to racism.

That, and I'm surprised how many people know who Flandre is, being that she spends most of her time locked in a basement.

[x] Leave
[x] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

[x] Leave
[x] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

Wait for me Cirno! I'm gonna save ya!

[X] Leave
[X] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

[X] Leave
[X] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

Fine option is fine.

[O] Leave
[O] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

[X] Leave.

>>29939
Well, to be fair, the vampires are somewhat of a special case. They're among the very newest type of being to be introduced to Gensokyo, and so have at least some feeling of unfamiliarity compared to some of the older beings who have been there since even before the border was created. On top of that, they're regarded as extremely powerful, so much so that their introduction basically altered the balance of power in Gensokyo, putting them on the same level as other high-tier individuals like Yukari, and even entire factions like the Tengu. And that's with just TWO of them.

As for knowing about Flandre, is it really so surprising? Given how much trouble just Remilia caused for Gensokyo, the fact that there's ANOTHER vampire living with her would be something that most people would probably want to at least be aware of. Especially when this other vampire is somehow able to send her own household into a state of total panic just for leaving her room. Whoever made the return trip to the mansion is EoSD and met the little walking nuke would almost certainly have told others once they left, and then it's just a matter of word spreading like it usually would. Throw in the typical embellishments and exaggerations that tend to happen any time a message gets passed from person to person, and before you know it, you have a whole lot of people aware (and afraid) of someone they have never even met.

Not that there aren't reasons TO be afraid, of course...

[X] Leave
[X] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

[x] Leave
[x] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

[X] Leave
[X] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

And by "maybe," of course, we mean "not at all."

>>29939

The first point was addressed by >>29945 well enough, but here's an added note for the second point: knowledge of Flandre's existence and abilities shouldn't be uncommon because both Aya and Akyu have written about her. Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red is a collection of Aya's Bunbunmaru articles, and given that her paper is actually popular as fluff reading in cafés, it's not surprising that a number of people would read her article about Flandre destroying a meteor. While Perfect Memento in Strict Sense would have less of an audience given that it's presumably incomplete at this point, there are probably still a few people who have read the early drafts and learned about Flandre from them.

[Q] Leave.

>>I'll just rack it up to racism.

Actually, considering they're European vampires who moved to live with Japanese monsters, I think "xenophobia" would be more accurate.

There's a question I've got though.

Why would Reimu care about Hayate?

Did he donate sometime or something?

>>29939
>I'll just rack it up to racism
*chalk it up

Racking up is for points/a score.

>>29953
1) Hayate has apparently some past with the main character-y types and Rinnosuke, so they're looking out for him out of kindness if not friendship.
2) Reimu sort of has a duty to protect people from the great many nasty things of Gensokyo. Hayate certainly qualifies, as he's basically a plain old human who has nothing like the kind of power sufficient to hold one's own in Gensokyo (such as that which Reimu, Marisa, Sanae, and Sakuya have).
3) Upon finding out Remilia had hired a man (a human man, at that), Reimu was furious. She was willing to let it go, but only just barely.
4) Flandre came out apparently with nobody noticing, and apparently on her own, despite the fact that Remilia had just assured Reimu that Flandre was indeed safely tucked away, which was likely the only reason she didn't evacuate Hayate on the spot when she first heard he was working there.
5) Flandre walks in and makes a beeline right for Hayate.

Now, given all that, wouldn't you say Reimu had some pretty good reasons to want Hayate out of there at all costs?

We still don't know the significance of having men working at the SDM, however. Something to do with vampirism or vampiric powers, no doubt, but what, specifically? Who knows.

>>We still don't know the significance of having men working at the SDM, however. Something to do with vampirism or vampiric powers, no doubt, but what, specifically? Who knows.

Maybe she just wants to get Sakuya knocked up so she can have a bunch of little time-manipulators that can be trained to be the new generation of perfect and elegant maids when Sakuya inevitably croaks?

Wonder why we don't hear much about Hayate's family, despite being "born and raised" here in Gensokyo. That would likely imply a farm of some sort, that he could fall back on if living on his own didn't work out. He also seems to have no magical training to speak of, implying his caretakers hadn't been all that concerned for his safety.

They couldn't have been killed in a youkai attack, otherwise Hayate would have some kind of telling phobia or grudge, and certainly he was removed young enough from the others that he wasn't indoctrinated into the whole "fairies aren't people" thing.

I'm thinking that Hayate's major concerns--which are primarily around securing work, food, and permanent shelter, and only caring for the closest of friends--are the result of some trauma that would seem much more mundane and commonplace against the background of a pre-industrial agrarian community than would, say, being killed by vampires.

[x] "That's the thing about humanity that surprises me again and again: It's not so much a concern if another man dies as the result of malnourishment, or exposure, or disease, but as soon as they hear about the possibility of an 'attack', well! Well then they get all blustery and self-righteous, falling over themselves to display their compassion and their good intentions, in their fervor neglecting to notice just how many of the burial plots around them are ones they dug all on their own... graves for parents or siblings or..." Your voice should be giving out by here.
[x] Leave.
[x] "I'm going back for Cirno. What happens to me after that will be my decision, not yours."

Whatever their reason for forcefully evicting you from your domicile earlier, I don't think they'll have the guts to look you squarely in the eye for the rest of their lives.

They've made it quite clear that your well-being in particular is, if not a non-issue, then an afterthought, only sparing you the most meager of excuses for their actions. What they really care about is their own safety. A young, naive male taken in by Remilia, when all published information about vampires is that there are apparently specific requirements to pass on the affliction, because the normal case results in the victim becoming a pathetic, impotent ghoul. Remilia, who had determined that she wanted you in her household based only on your appearance and expression of at least a modicum of social grace, you having been specifically selected by your employer despite his less-than-impressed normal disposition toward you. The second Scarlet is insane, apparently out of his sister's control, and immensely powerful. Now could the stalwart guardians of Gensokyo really allow for the possibility of a new addition to the Scarlet family?

I wonder how far they'll go to make certain that Hayate is no longer a virgin?

>>29960

Have you ever read or watched Hayate no Gotoku? If Hayate's parents are anything like his namesake's, they're irresponsible assholes who have already pissed away anything that Hayate could fall back on if he were out of work.

If we stay here and just shit on our contract, Remi's gonna take us to court over breach-of-contract. And we all know what court that is going to be. By the way, did we read the small print?

>>29961

Except irresponsible assholes with no apparent property, currency, or anything to barter in a society like this, with no system of loans or credit, is going result in a predictable end within a short period of tune: Impoverishment (begging), debtor's prison, or death.

And it's not like they can simply travel to distant lands like they did in the show, as they apparently possess no meaningful magical talent. People who live off the land are typically more grounded than that, because those who aren't end up dead.

>>29963

Yes, and his parents could impoverished, imprisoned, or dead. Conflict resolved.

>>29960
>some trauma that would seem much more mundane and commonplace against the background of a pre-industrial agrarian community
I wonder if he was kicked in the head by a horse.

[X] Leave
[X] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

[B] Leave
[B] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."

>>29961

I was gonna ignore this, but apparently people actually think this.
>namesake
No. I haven't seen the show. I picked the name entirely for the irony factor in someone so utterly uncharismatic having a name that means "smooth".

You update painfully slow.

>>30018

Yeah.

>"She is human, so... I thought it seemed more out of concern than anything else. Quite reasonable, given your surroundings."

Sakuya's conversation with Siki in PoFV means that this is probably bullshit. Not on the part of Reimu, though I can see it as believable to someone whose job is to protect human lives. I wonder how Remilia will respond, learning of Sakuya's conscious and planned insubordination. She's probably the one who let Flan out, anyway.

>>30034

It does say the only humans she's ever touched. (Marisa & Reimu) I always figured it meant she just doesn't deal with any other humans.

tl;dr: Sakuya doesn't really get close to any other humans, and those she has gotten close to are merely knife targets.

>"Sorry. Thanks for worrying about me."
>"Mm." She closes the door behind her.

>Concern, huh?
>You wonder if that's really it as you start making your way to the mansion.

Indeed.

Not happy with this update. Retcon in progress.
Please wait warmly.

>>30314

Hooray

>>30314

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Why is the retcon necessary again?

Retcon or not this story needs an update.

You're making Cirno sad again. You don't want Cirno to be sad again, do you?

>>30733

Of course not. I'm once again going through a stage of not being able to write anything/ decent.

>>30734

We don't need decent. Just write. Forget the retcon. Pick up where you left off.

Just don't sweat it too much, and don't forget that you're writing fanfiction for a bunch of Touhou obsessed nerds (myself included). No need to stress out over us. Just have fun with it.

But no, seriously: update

So I've reworded the update I deleted before. Not gonna bother with excuses here, though the one thing I feel is necessary to say is that while it might take a while, this story will definitely be finished. On that note, the next part isn't finished yet, but I'll leave it until tomorrow because I'm too tired to keep writing right now. In the meantime, enjoy some Hayate, courtesy of drawfag Pygmalion.


[X] Leave
[X] "I'm going back for Cirno. I'll think about things on the way...maybe."


"It won't be the same. Not without her."
"Her? You mean..."
"I'm going back to get Cirno. What you said... I'll think about it on the way. Maybe. I'm not making any promises."
They're pausing. Obviously considering whether or not they can just let you walk out of here, after the trouble they went to 'rescuing' you.
"Come on!" Marisa loudly speaks up. "We can just bust her out of there like we did with you!" She slams a fist into her other hand out of emphasis, losing grip of the blanket she's wearing as a result, and it slips off despite her attempt to grab it, revealing that all she's wearing is some frilly white underwear. "Don't look!"
You and Rinnosuke turn away as she sorts herself. "So why are you half naked, exactly?"
"You got blood all over my clothes." You did. Of course. Right, Marisa was carrying your head. Obviously you're the one responsible. "...You can look now."
Turning around, Marisa's blushing lightly, face downcast. Well.
"I don't think Remilia will be all that tickled pink to have another one of her employees stolen."
"Who cares? She couldn't beat us, anyway."
"...No, he has a point." Rinnosuke's agreeing with you? "After that stunt, as soon as we're spotted anywhere near the mansion Remilia will be all over us. She's not about to just let us walk in again. This probably also cost me one of my biggest customers."
"So sorry to hear about your reckless actions coming back to haunt you." Rinnosuke adjusts his glasses. You've learned over the years it's a habit of his when he's irritated. "If, and that's a big if, when I get there, I decide to leave and take Cirno with me, I'd rather explain things to Remilia and get it sorted out peacefully."
"That's the best plan of action. I don't think Remilia will take this sitting down."
"Eh, boooooring." Marisa flops down onto the table.
"Well, unless you guys want to object further..."
"Hayate." Alice, again, with a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah?"
"Just... Promise us that if anything seems bad, or you feel like you're in danger, you'll get out of there, okay?"
"Sure." Seeing as if something did seem dangerous, then you'd actually have a reason to leave. "Alright, then. See you." Without waiting for a reply, you leave the room with a wave, and after carefully treading your way through more piles of junk, thankfully find your shoes among those lying at the entrance. You're about to leave the building before something among the junk catches your eye. Still in the same place after all this time. You pick it up, and it rattles a little.
"Hey Rinnosuke, I'm taking this!" You yell down the corridor. It doesn't take long for a head to pop through, and Rinnosuke quickly comes to inspect what it is you're taking. He pulls it out of your hand and examines it.
"Ah, the inhaler. Made to help those with breathing problems. Well, I have several of these, so I guess you can have it." He gives it back to you. "Why do you need it, though?"
"Don't. The magician in the mansion –Patchouli, she has asthma, I think."
"Oh ho." You don't like that expression. "Trying to get some points, are we?"
"Not really. Anyway, how much do you want?" Not that you have any money to begin with...
Rinnosuke shrugs. "Ah, just take it."
"You're sure?"
"Favour for a friend, right?"



It's bright outside. It's been a few days since you've even seen sunlight, as the mansion has so few windows. You must have been out cold for a while, as it looks close to midday. It's kind of nice. The sun feels good on your skin. You stretch a little. It's a bit of a walk back to the mansion from here. At least a few hours. Damn, you should have asked someone to carry you. Well, too late now. You set off-
"Where do you think you're going?" –and stop. Reimu's sitting on the roof, looking down at you. Great, she still hasn't given up.
"To work, of course."
She sighs, and holds her head in her hand. "Man, you're annoying." Then drops down to the ground with an ungraceful thud.
"You going to try and stop me?"
She shakes her head. "No, with how headstrong you are, you'll just try and sneak away every chance you get." Don't make me sound like a little kid!
"But there's something you should know before you leave."
"What's that?"
"It wasn't my idea."
"What, knocking me out and kidnapping me?" She nods. "Whose idea was it, then?"
"Sakuya's."
...What?
"You're joking, right?" Shake. Well, it's not the first indication she's given of not wanting you there, but... "Why?"
She shrugs. "Dunno. When Flandre showed up she asked me to get you out. 'I want you to take Hayate away from here.' She didn't even give me time to reply. Ask her yourself."
"Well, it's probably because she hates me."
Reimu looks surprised. "Oh? I didn't get that impression at all."
"What do you mean?"
"She is human, so... I thought it seemed more out of concern than anything else. Quite reasonable, given your surroundings."
"I've never heard of any humans that can stop time."
She shrugs. "Neither have I. But she says she's human. She's quite adamant about that claim, actually."
"You're not really making sense here."
She raises an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"You don't trust Remilia at all, so why do you trust her head maid?"
"Because she's human." ...This is getting tiring.
"So?" You already know what her reason will be.
"So humans look out for each other. That's why she can be trusted, and Remilia can't."
And there it is. The Hakurei maiden's inexplicable xenophobia.
"Not all humans are shining examples of moral behaviour, you know."
"Of course I know that. But you don't have anyone else to trust there. She's the only other human in that mansion."
"What about Patchouli?"
"What about her?"
Damn it, Reimu. Don't make every part of the conversation a chore.
"She's human. Or close to it, at least."
"No, she's a magician."
"Yeah, and so is Alice. You know Alice. One of your best friends? The magician Alice."
She gives an exaggerated sigh like you're the one acting foolish.
"Alice can be trusted. She comes to the village and puts on plays for the people there. She's friends with the villagers. She can be trusted, unlike some shut-in who lives with vampires and youkai."
"There are youkai that come to the village too, you know."
"But not from there. Sakuya and Remilia are the only ones that come to the village."
...This is going nowhere.
"What's so bad about the vampires, anyway? They're close enough to human, right?"
She snorts. "Oh, sure. If you think a human drinking the blood of another human is normal. Tell me what you know of them, Hayate."
"Hm... Let's see... All I know of them are rumours from the village. There's Remilia and her little sister, if you wander around the mansion you'll be eaten, the little sister's completely insane, she blew up a meteor, she can destroy anything just by thinking it, she bathes in blood, if you go around the mansion at night you can hear her laughter, those sorts of ridiculous things. Though I guess those are mostly about Flandre." Of course, you take all these rumours with an entire salt shaker.
Reimu nods in response. "That's natural. Rumours would focus on the more terrifying monster, after all. Though, what if I told you most of those stories were true?"
You can't help but laugh. "Come on, that's just crazy. Even here, there's no way a monster like that could exist."
"She does. Look, I don't care if you believe everything or not. I just don't want you getting anywhere near her. If you see her again, I want you to get out of there immediately. She's dangerous."
"Yeah, yeah, the little girl is a bloodthirsty monster. Of course."
Reimu rolls her eyes and continues. "Furthermore, we don't know what Remilia is up to. She's eccentric to begin with, but she's never hired a man before. It's suspicious."
"Maybe she was getting lonely?"
"Don't be a smartass. She's not that kind of person. Or is it that you like little girls, Hayate?"
"Of course not!"
"Well, I guess your preferences are none of my business, anyway."
"I'm telling you, I don't! And she's older than you, anyway!"
"Well, whatever. Just don't get yourself killed trying to seduce them." She waves as she heads back inside.
"Reimu."
"Yeah?"
"Sorry. Thanks for worrying about me."
"Mm." She closes the door behind her.


Well, concern, huh?
You wonder if that's really it as you start making your way to the mansion.

--------------------------------------

Hot damn.

Glad to have you back in action.

>>31419

This isn't really an update.

>>31441

I know. The actual update is still being worked on, but I've kept having real life things distracting me. I'd post what's done, but there's not really any good cut-off point for it.

Right, there is no way you're making this trip on foot again. At the very least, you're going to ask Reimu to lend you Genji next time. It's only been a few days since you last made this trip, but it feels like it's been months, for some reason. If you had any compliments about the weather, having walked through the forest in that heat now leaves them retracted. You get a sense of déjà vu walking towards the mansion, with the sunset heaping an extra dose of red on the building's already dark exterior. ...Yeah, there's definitely something not right about this place. Looking at it from outside, it doesn't fit. From the outside, it's barely the height of one of the library's bookcases. So the mansion is... Six floors? If the library takes up two of those floors, then... There's no way the entire place could fit into this building before you, even given its generous size. Maybe you should grab one of those measuring tape things from Kourindou next time you're there...
Adding to your feeling of having seen this scene before is one Chinese gate guard, leaning against said gate with her eyes closed. Her hat is tilted down over her face, probably trying to hide it. Rather than risk sneaking past her, you decide to call out.
"Hey, Meiling, right?"
"Sakuyaimnotsleepingjustdoingeyeexercises-" She jumps to attention, hastily making an excuse until she notices you, groggily trying to figure out who you were. First comes the face of recognition, followed quickly by... Tears? Her face scrunches up as she drops to her knees, and bows her head down to the ground.
"I'm so sorry! I tried to stop them from taking you but I wasn't strong enough! I'm sorry!"
...You're not too sure how to respond to this. "Um... It's fine?"
She violently shakes her head. "It's not fine! I'm a failure as a gate guard!"
"Well, I'm back now, so it's okay, isn't it?"
"It shouldn't have happened in the first place!"
You're at a loss here. "Well, a gate guard's job is to keep people out, right?"
"So I shouldn't have let in the people who took you!"
She really doesn't want to let go of this. Is she a masochist or something? Well, you have more pressing concerns right now.
"So, hey, where's Cirno? Is she okay?"
Meiling lifts her head and wipes her eyes, settling into a sitting position with a few snivels along the way.
"Cirno? She's fine. She should be working with Sakuya right now."
"Seriously? Didn't she get shot when I was getting carried away?"
"Yes...?" She seems confused by this.
"So what, she just recovered? That quickly?"
"Not that quickly... I heard she was in bed for a few hours. And Sakuya told me she's using it as an excuse to slack off."
"A few hours." She nods. "Are you kidding me?" She shakes her head.
"What, is that strange?" Yes. Very.
"I don't know about you guys, but I once got hit by one of Reimu's stray bullets when she was chasing some youkai away from Kourindou. I was in bed for three days, and had trouble moving properly for longer than that." Reimu didn't even apologise for it.
Meiling gives you a sceptical look. "You're joking, right?"
"...No?"
She stays like that for a few seconds, before suddenly bursting out in laughter.
"Ahaha... You humans are so weak! That's hilarious!" Well, you didn't find it very funny. You give her a little longer than you thought necessary to stop laughing.
"So I guess it's not so bad for you guys."
"Yeah, Cirno's case was pretty ridiculous by our standards. If it had been Remilia that got hit, she wouldn't even flinch!"
"I'm sure that's an overstatement, but okay. Any idea why?"
"Hm..." She makes an exaggerated thinking face. "Well, you can't use magic or anything, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"So that's probably it!" She pounds her fist for emphasis. "You're spiritually weak! You should train with me sometime!" She hops up and starts kicking and punching at the air. She can kick pretty high... "I can teach you to strengthen your body and mind!"
"How would martial arts help me with danmaku, though?"
"It's not about the fighting! It's about discipline! To train your body you need to train your mind! This is the foundation of martial arts and magic!" She launches a punch that sends out a fist shaped danmaku flying from it.
"Okay, that was kind of cool."
"Wasn't it?" She flashes a confident grin.


"Oh, by the way. You said Sakuya told you? About Cirno?"
"Hm? That's right."
"Well... Sakuya doesn't really seem like the kind of person to talk about her work like that. I guess you guys are pretty close?"
"Yeah, really." She nods in emphasis. "We came to the mansion together, after all."
"Together? So you knew each other in the outside world?" You'll never get over these women that are hundreds of years old but still look like they're in their twenties or thirties. Or, in other cases, like children.
"Correct! You should have seen Sakuya back then! She was so different to how she is now!"
"Oh? Do tell~" This you've got to hear. Meiling chuckles and motions you to come closer. You walk up to her, and she slings her arm around your shoulder, whispering into your ear.
"Well, back then Sakuya was such a tomboy!" You stifle the chuckle trying to get out, unlike Meiling. "She had her hair really short, like barely longer than yours! And she wore pants, too! Back then, people were really uptight about it! She wore a shirt and vest, as well! There were people who really did think she was a guy!"
This is great. "And~? What about her personality~?"
"Oh man! She was so cute back then, too! She dressed like a boy, but she'd get all embarrassed by the slightest thing! She even insisted we slept in different rooms when we travelled together! And even though she was a tomboy, the guys still really liked her! Whenever we went to an inn she'd have guys offering to buy her drinks! Well, the ones that could figure out that she was a girl, at least..."
You burst out laughing at this. "I guess she was the total opposite to how she is now, then!"
"Exactly!"

"My, what a lovely duo we have here." You both freeze. "Do tell me, what kind of conversation are you having that requires you to huddle together and whisper so as not to be heard?"

You both slowly turn around at the same time. Standing there is Sakuya, with an expression that looks quite calm, but at the same time, causes you to start shaking. This is a fear no monster could ever induce. Meiling jumps away from you and hastily tries to make an excuse.
"Ahaha, well, you see, um... We were just talking about... Uh..."
"Cirno."
"Yes! Cirno! Hayate came to check on her and- Wait, why did you come, again?"
Nice save, Meiling. That didn't sound suspicious at all. Sakuya's eyes are now directed back at you. That stare gives you the creeps.
"Well, that's part of it. I do still work here, you know."
"Oh, do you? I was hoping you wouldn't come back." Sakuya says this plainly.
"Sakuya! That's a terrible thing to say!" Meiling jumps to your defence.
"What? It's the truth. Well? Do you still insist on working here? If you do, I'll let the mistress know that you've returned." Is she trying to intimidate you?
"Yes, I do." You don't have any other choice.
Sakuya sighs a very long and deliberate sigh.
"Fine. Wait here." A snap, and she's gone. Meiling lets out a breath of relief and leans against the gate.
"So, any idea why she hates me so much?" She casts her eyes down.
"Well, I don't think it's really like that..."
"What do you think it's like, then?"
"Sakuya is... Well, she's like that with most people." She treats everybody this badly!" What kind of maid is that!"
"Meiling." You bow your head to her, something she's probably not used to given her panicked reaction.
"W—W-W-What is it!?"
"Teach me your secret! How did you become so close with Sakuya!?"
"Well... I don't think there's really any secret to it..."
"Damn. No hope for me, then."
"Oh, come on." She waves her hand. "You've only known her for a few days. Just try not to break anything and she'll warm up to you sooner or later."
"I sure hope so."


With nothing else to talk about, you're grateful that the mansion's large doors open soon enough. Remilia, holding a parasol over herself, happily makes her way out humming a tune as she does so, with Sakuya following behind her. Remilia's carrying something in her hand. She waves with the other.
"Hayate, so good to see you! Have you been well~?" She walks up to you with a great big grin plastered across her face. Like this, you can see her fangs quite easily. They look... Very sharp.
This is... Different. "Uh... I'm okay."
"Good, good~"
This is too different. It's like some writer went back to a story he hasn't worked on for months and forgot the characterisations.
"So, you're prepared to start working again, right~?"
"Well, yeah."
"Good, good~"
...This is starting to creep you out.
"I wouldn't want you backing out of our contract, after all~!"
With that, she grabs your hand and puts what she's holding— a piece of paper, in it, then looks at you expectantly. You unravel it and read the contents.


Conditions of employment in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, authority of Remilia Scarlet

1. The master's authority is absolute and may, at times, override the terms of employment listed below.
2. The master is not to be disobeyed.
3. The direct supervisor for all newly-hired employees is Sakuya Izayoi.
4. The direct supervisor is not to be disobeyed.
5. Three square meals a day shall be offered to employees at specific times each day. Failure to be present for meals is no grounds for compensation.
6. An employee will receive no payment for his/her services.
7. No vacation time shall be given, unless first approved through the proper channels.
8. One hour free time will be given to employees after lunch/dinner. The employee is expected to use this time responsibly or the privilege will be withdrawn.
9. Room and board will be granted at no expense to employees, and each member of the staff is expected to live on-premises.
10. Leaving the premises will not be tolerated unless first approved through the proper channels.
10a. If permission to leave the premises has been given, the employee are expected to return as soon as their business is concluded.
10b. An employee absent from the premises in excess of two days is considered away without leave. (Dereliction of duty)
11. The basement, clock tower, and Remilia Scarlet's personal quarters are strictly off-limits.
12. The establishment will be indemnified of all personal and legal liabilities in the event of accidental or intentional death or dismemberment of any staff.
13. The employment is binding for a time period of no less than 10,000 years, or until the time of an employee's termination.
14. Upon death, the employee is to be considered as employed and expected to return to work unless the binding period of the contract has expired.
15. Resignation is forbidden unless first authorised through the proper channels.
16. Any violation of these terms will be considered a breach of contract, and subject to disciplinary action and/or termination.


You scoff as you go through the list. This is totally ridiculous. Nobody would ever agree to such an absurd contract. And yet, at the bottom of the page...

I, the undersigned, have read and understood this contract, and agree to abide by all above terms and conditions. I will uphold this contract to the best of my abilities, and am aware of the consequences were it to be broken.

Next is the signing line, with your signature on it, along with a stamp of a bat next to it.
"...Remilia, what is this?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, can't you read? It's a contract. You do know what a contract is, yes?"
Don't speak so condescendingly! "I know what a contract is. When did I sign this?"
"Before you started working here, of course."
"I'm telling you, I d-" "It sure is a good thing you came back by now." She cuts you off. "Had you left this another day, you'd have breached the contract."
"I don't re-" "You are aware that this is a devil's contract, yes? A devil's contract cannot be broken, under any circumstances."
Remilia's wings, normally folded behind her back, begin to stretch to their full length. Each wing is almost the size of her entire body like this. Suddenly, your desire to object has just faded considerably. You don't remember ever seeing this paper before. But that is most definitely your signature. Did you really sign this thing..."


[ ] Object
[ ] Let it go for now

[x] Let it go for now

No point in making a fuss about it now.

[X] Object

[x] Object

[X] Object

[X] Object

[X] Object

[X] Object
Maybe our character will finally realize that he's being a dumbass.

[X] IRON HEART SURGE Object

[X] Let it go for now

[x] Let it go for now

[ℤℯ] Object.

Well shit.

>>31445
Did the portcullis in the thumbnail make the gate look like it had a creepy, faceless, eyeless mouth to anyone else, too?

>>31466

Well, now it does.

[X] Objection

>>31466
Thanks for the nightmares, pal.

So we defend Remilia's character, after we and she are betrayed by Sakuya, which resulted in inflicting grievous bodily injury upon our person and our friend and co-worker, and now Remi is convinced this is our fault?

Hell no. If we're getting all 'Objection!' about this, we should at least be able to address the matters directly, and point out Sakuya's complicity.

[x] Ask to studying the document for a minute, then address Remilia: "I will talk to the Mistress regarding this rather than through my supervisor because an employment contract is a matter of direct employer-employee relationship. While I am a million percent certain I could have this thrown out on grounds of the terms being clearly unconscionable, seeing as it seems to entertain the Mistress, the servant will acknowledge its binding power."
[x] "However, he must point out that his unintended departure was orchestrated by the head maid, a fact admitted to by the Hakurei shrine maiden. Thus establishing tacit permission for leave by the authority of the direct superior, per articles 3 & 4. Therefore your servant was at no point in any danger of violating article 10 and its subsections, being that he has returned to the Mansion as soon as he had regained consciousness. Any inconveniences this event may have caused the Mistress would be through the misfeasance of the servant's direct superior, Miss Izayoi."
[x] "Moreover, the cost of the medical care and food provided to the servant outside the premises must be restituted to the shrine maiden and her cohorts. I don't have the benefit of having Miss Izayoi's contract in front of me, but I imagine it would have a clause for misappropriation of funds and personnel, which of course includes the time spent in convalescence of myself and the junior maid from injuries sustained."
[x] "I can read legalese because the owner of the last establishment I worked at was a hopelessly greedy and corrupt man." Give Sakuya a smile. "The devil, as they say, is in the details."
[x] "But more than infuriating my 'direct superior' I'd like to make certain that the junior maid hasn't been subjected to harsher treatment than I have. Please, may I see her, Mistress?"

It's not just about defending Remilia's character over out friends, or getting food and board, or Cirno, whose treatment while we were away is as yet unconfirmed. Sakuya has pulled the dickest of dick moves, with no justification (even by her best friend) of her actions other than general misanthropy. No, it's time spite starts to play a large factor in choosing to remain here.

>>31512

The thing is while Sakuya's stunt was a dick move, the main compelling aspect as for the main character's return was first his concern for Cirno, and second his innate work ethic.

That and this kinda reeks of overwrought write in regardless of how good it might be.

[X] Object

...it's odd. I've never had the urge quite this badly to wring a fictional character's neck before.

Anyway, this isn't...this just isn't right. I kind of totally lack the words to express exactly how Not Right this is.

In situations like this, where you're screwed either way--

You've got to stand up for your rights, even if it kills you--and I mean that literally, you know. Even if it kills you.

>It's like some writer went back to a story he hasn't worked on for months and forgot the characterisations.

[X] Object.

Even if you tell Remilia about what Sakuya has been doing, she might not even believe you. Still,

[X] Object

>>31522
We are humans. We are weak. No matter how much we train or fight, there's a stone wall between us and monsters such as Remilia. We are prisoners in this frail, decadent body.
Then what should we do in this case? When we are pressed by a demonic being to give up our liberty, one of our most basic instincts?
We resist.
We can't give up what makes us humans, if we let this one go we'll just start a neverending spiral of one concession after another that'll end us with something far worse than death.

[X] Object. If my body can't be free, at least I want my mind to be.

[X] Object

Suppose I should give a status update (read: excuse) at least. Seems to help tide you guys over a bit.
I've been working a lot more lately, along with having been ill. Update's underway, but it's pretty big, and hence not done yet. Hopefully it'll be finished next time I get a day off.

So in case you couldn't tell, I've been having trouble with updating.
At this point, I'm calling it writer's block. I can't think of anything else to call it. I sit down every day and try to write, but I can't. I know what happens in this update. I know what words I'm supposed to write. I know what the scenes are. But I just can't write it. The words don't come out. I sometimes manage to write a paragraph before deciding it sucks and deleting it.
I don't know when I'll be able to finish it. All I can say is that I'll definitely finish this someday, and I won't start anything else in the meantime (aside from maybe some one-shots).
I just need you guys to be patient for now. Well, more patient.

Still having trouble?

>>32366

Yeah. I've been managing to get some ideas out, and work on ideas and plans (such as backstory or what's to come), but I've still not been able to write anything of the actual update.
Well, I think I'm progressing a little, but with no result, there's not that much strength behind such a statement.

Yeah, I know what that is. Sometimes you need a bit of time to clear your head, so take the time you think you need.

I'm still waiting.

>>32616

I've managed to write about a third of the update so far. However, it feels terribly unnatural and doesn't flow well at all. Seems forcing myself to write like this makes the quality suffer.

Glad you are still up to it.

SUDDENLY


[X] Object

"Remilia, I didn't sign this."
Her smile doesn't fade. "Whatever are you talking about? That's your signature right there." She points to it.
"Yeah, I want to know how you got it, too."
"I got it when you signed the paper."
Why does she always need to make things so difficult?
"I'm not going to accept this. I didn't sign it."
"You did!"
Right, that's it. Remilia didn't think to take the paper back from you after you read it, so, you hold it up in front of her, and tear it in half. That smug grin of hers disappears instantly. You can hear Meiling gasp, while even Sakuya looks shocked at your actions. You savour that image of Remilia looking confused, taken aback, shocked, and maybe even a little worried, as you continue to tear the paper into ever smaller pieces. Once confident that you can't possibly tear it any further apart, you bundle it into one hand, lift it up, and let it fall in front of Remilia's face. Her mouth opens and closes like a fish, unable to find the right words. Sakuya is the first to speak, stepping forward as she does so. Shit, she looks mad.
"You insolent little-" Whatever word came next is drowned out by her palm connecting with your face. That... wasn't a soft hit. Your cheek burns, and you can taste blood in your mouth. She raises her hand again, but before she can take another strike, Remilia grabs her by the wrist.
"Come now, Sakuya. We can't have you treating another employee so harshly." Remilia's defending you?
"But, Mistress! This salaud is-" This what?
"Is still entertaining. He shall continue to work here, and you will not hit him again lest I give you permission, is that clear?"
Sakuya has a difficult expression. After a few seconds, her arm drops down to her side, and Remilia lets it go.
"Yes, Mistress." The words are incredibly forced.
"Good. Now, then. I have matters to discuss with him, so could you bring him to my quarters after you have treated his wound?"
"Yes, Mistress." The same hollow reply.
"As for you..." Remilia turns to you with a stare cold enough to make you shiver, then suddenly begins to laugh. "It's nice to see you have a backbone after all!" She pats you on the shoulder, then makes her way back into the mansion. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was she testing you or something? No, you're not going to give her that much credit.
"Meiling." Sakuya addresses the gate guard, who was passively watching the entire ordeal. "Get back to work."
She nods. "Yes, Sakuya!" An enthusiastic reply for such a boring duty. She moves back to the gate and proudly stands outside it, in a manner completely unlike how she's looked whenever you've come here.
"Come on, then." Sakuya's already walking through the mansion's doors. You rush in behind her; the large doors sliding shut behind you. You take note of the mansion's architecture as you follow her. The difference is immediately obvious. From outside, the large doors appeared to cover the size of an entire floor. From inside, they only reach about halfway to the ceiling. It doesn't match. There's also still the matter of that impossible ballroom.

"In here." Sakuya opens a door and motions you inside. You step through, trying to avoid her gaze.
This room appears to be something of a medical area. Along one side of the room is several beds, with curtains around them. The many cabinets around are filled with bottles of medication. There's actually a window on the far side of the room, though it's forced shut, with metal bars preventing any possible opening. Given where this room is, that window probably should not exist. There's also a few desks and chairs. It's like a hospital room, minus the sterile smell.
"Sit down." Sakuya pats one of the beds as she walks past, and begins to rummage through the room's cupboards. You sit down, and wait for her to find what she's looking for. You don't really have anything to say. Being alone with a woman who just slapped you doesn’t really stir conversation. Sakuya quickly finds the thing she was looking for, and stands up with something in her hand, glowing a faint blue.
"Put this against your cheek. It'll help the swelling." She opens her hand, revealing some sort of glowing ball.
"Hold on. What is this thing?"
"Crystallised magical energy. It's like ice, but it doesn't melt. Patchouli's invention."
You pick it up, and sure enough, it's cold. Pretty much an ice pack, then. You put it to your cheek, and wait. Awkwardly. Sakuya takes a chair and sits down, blowing into her hands.
"So, why did you come back?"
That question again. She doesn’t even look at you, like she doesn't expect an answer.
"I told you before. I don't have any other choice."
"That's a lie."
"Pardon?"
"Surely the Hakurei maiden would not leave her friend to die in the street? You lived at Kourindou before, too. This can't be your only option."
"That's..."
"So, what exactly do you mean when you say you have no other choice?" She stops warming her hands to look at you.
"I mean that I can't keep relying on them."
She raises an eyebrow. "Oh? Why is that?"
You sigh. "It's a long story."
"I have all the time in the world." She leans back in her chair, crossing her legs.
"Well... Where to start? I suppose I should say that I never knew my parents."
"An orphan?"
You shake your head. "Abandoned, but I was brought up in the orphanage. I never did get adopted, though. I've spent most of my life there. When I heard that Rinnosuke was looking for an assistant, I somehow ended up working for him. But… That wasn’t really work. So I ended up returning to the village and working at that restaurant."
"Sorry, could you try that explanation again?"
"I was a burden to them. At the orphanage I just did my studies, and had all my living provided. I didn't have that much freedom, but I had a life. I wanted to work. To repay them what I owed. That's why I tried to get a job. I mean, we need to, once we get old enough. But most people don’t really want to leave. I was trying hard to find a job. Rinnosuke came to the orphanage one day, asking if any of us job-seekers were interested in being his assistant. Nobody else was interested. His eccentricity doesn’t go down well with most people, I guess.”
“Very understandable.” She nods in affirmation. “You can’t think too well of a man who sets up a shop in a forest.”
“Right. Well, I accepted and went to work with him, but it was the same thing. He was never concerned about running a shop. He's a collector. The most I did was pick up orders for him. You couldn't call it work."
"So you considered yourself a burden to him?"
"Yeah. I went back to the village to get a proper job. I found a place to stay, and made my own way. Then you guys showed up and got the place closed down."
Sakuya looks off to the side. "Well, I wouldn't say we did it directly..."
"Anyway, that left me without a job or money to live with. And Remilia had offered me a roof, at least. I'm sure Reimu would have offered me a place to stay if Rinnosuke didn't take me in. But I wouldn't have earned it. I'd just be a burden to them. That's why I'm here."
She sighs. "I see. You are a fool."
You have nothing to say to that. She's probably right. Sakuya stands up.
"Well, if you desire to make yourself useful, then I hope you'll become much more efficient at your duties."
You didn't expect that response. "What, does that mean you're going to accept me now?"
"No. As you are, you're a burden." Way to crush my hopes, Sakuya. "But, if you learn to do your job well, I just might."
"I see." Leaving that ball on the bed, you walk over to her and extend your hand. "Then, I look forward to working with you."
She returns the gesture. "Same for y-COLD COLD COOOOLD!" And flinches as soon as she touches your hand. Now that you think of it, your hand went numb a while ago. That probably isn't good. Sakuya looks through the cupboards again, this time emerging with a red ball, quickly throwing it from hand to hand, then to you. You catch it, and feeling quickly returns to your numb hand, along with the pain of burning heat. You throw it back to her, and she throws it into the cupboard, with a loud crash. You both stand there in silence for a few seconds.
"Well then.” She clears her throat. “We've kept my Mistress waiting long enough. Shall we?" Before you can say anything, she's already out the door.
"Hey, wait up!" You laugh to yourself as you chase after her.


She's already going up the stairs by the time you get outside. You hurry over to her.
"How odd. That was hardly the most elegant display I've seen."
Sakuya turns her face away from you. "I was just caught off guard, is all."
"So even the perfect, elegant maid can be caught off guard? Who would have thought?" You're having more fun with this than you should be.
"Of course I can. I'm human, after all."
That’s a… strange response, for someone who seems to be at least one hundred years old. “Hey, hold on.”
You’re already onto the fourth floor by this point.
“Before we see Remilia, I need to ask you something.”
Sakuya stops and turns to you. “What is it?”
“Why don’t you want me here?” You’ve got to know. There has to be a reason she’s so opposed to your presence.
“You’re extra work.” She says this completely naturally.
“…Huh?”
“I need to train you, and look after you, and provide for you. You’re making more work for me. The sooner I can teach you to take care of this place, the better.”
“Hold on. You’re saying you’d rather take it easy?”
“Of course! I’m entitled to time off too, you know!” She seems just a little bit too adamant about that…
“That’s it? That’s your entire reasoning for why you don’t want me here?”
Probably realising how lazy this makes her sound, her face turns a little red.
“N-No! It’s not just that!”
“What else is it, then?”
“Well…” She speaks more seriously. “I can’t guarantee your safety.”
That wasn’t the answer you expected.
“My safety? Come on, now you’re going to tell me how dangerous this place is, too? What here actually poses a threat to-”
“HAYATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE--!” Suddenly, a blue-haired fairy comes hurdling down the corridor in front of you, smashing into your stomach, and sending you flying back down the stairs. Then, not a second later, you find yourself landing softly. Sakuya’s arms are outstretched beneath you, saving you from a nasty fall. On the other side, Cirno is wrapped around your waist, tightly hugging you. It’s cold.
“Well, she does, for one.” Sakuya sets you down.
“Hayate, you jerk!” Cirno starts pounding on your chest. “Don’t just leave me alone again! You’re so thoughtless, just going away by yourself! Idiot! You’re a big idiot!” Her pounding slowly becomes weaker, until she stops. You stay like that for a while, unsure of what to say. Then, Sakuya taps Cirno on the shoulder. Cirno looks up at her, and suddenly jumps back, rubbing her face.
“I do believe you’re supposed to be working, fairy maid.”
Cirno continues to back away. “I… Ah…”
“And furthermore, seeing as you knew of Hayate’s return, I can only assume that you were slacking off and talking with Meiling again. I certainly did not tell you.” Suddenly, there’s a knife in her hand. Cirno moves further away, eyes darting between the top and bottom stairways.
“What are you waiting for!" Get back to work!” She throws the knife, and Cirno yelps as she flies down the stairs, narrowly escaping Sakuya’s blade. Where does she even keep those things?
“Now then.” She turns to you. “Consider what would have happened if I wasn’t here to catch you.”
“Ah, yeah. Point taken.”
“Come on, then. My Mistress will be getting impatient.” You want to ask about Cirno, but she’s right. You don’t want to piss of Remilia, so you follow after her.


Having not tumbled into the room in a daze this time, you’re able to get a better look at it than before. It’s like an entire mansion compressed into one room. Huge dressers, tables, chairs, couches, mats with extravagant patterns, chandeliers, candelabras, and so forth, with the room generally being a deep red. The far end of the room is entirely a window, with large red curtains pulled to the side. She must close the curtains during the day. In front of that, with steps and a red carpet leading up to it, is a seat entirely worthy of being called a throne; so much that there are jewels adorning the top and other parts appear to be made of solid gold. And sitting in that throne is the ever ostentatious Remilia, swirling a glass of what you hope must be wine in her hand, using the other to rest her head.
Sakuya walks towards her, bowing to her knees as she reaches the steps. “Mistress, I’ve brought him, as you requested.” As you walk up behind her, she whispers to you: “Bow, you crétin.”
You begin to lower yourself, before Remilia waves her hand. “Now, there’s no need for that. Please, take a seat.”
Sakuya stands up, and pulls out two chairs from one of the nearby tables. You sit down, now considerably below Remilia, and for once, she’s able to look down at you.
“Well, I suppose you’re wondering why I called you in here?”
You nod. “Not a clue, really.”
“This is about my sister. Flandre.”
“What about her.”
“To be frank, I’d like you to stay away from her.”
“What for? Even you’re not going to tell me she’s dangerous, are you?”
“That is exactly what for.” Oh, come on. “Flandre is my sister. And as my sister, she is a direct descendant of Dracula himself!” Remilia’s wings spread out as she declares this, but the impact is lost on you.
“Who?” Her jaw drops.
“You… You don’t know of Count Dracula?”
“Nope.” Her wings fold a little.
“Vlad Tepes?”
“No?” Further.
“Vlad III the Impaler!?”
“No idea.”
Remilia hangs her head in defeat, wings folding back in. “Well, I suppose it’s not too important, anyway. Look, the point is, she’s powerful. And Flandre isn’t quite… all there.”
“You’re saying she’s out of it?”
“More than that, really.”
“Insane, then.”
“That’s it. You might say she’s a bit batty, really.” To your side, Sakuya starts giggling.
“You’re the fifth person today to tell me that your little sister is nuts, you know.”
“Well, that’s more or less how it is.”
“I don’t get it. She asks for a dance and the entire room flees. What’s so bad about that? She seems fine to me. Well, a little strange, maybe, but even so.”
“Hayate, how many insane people have you met?”
You’d be one, you crazy little girl. “None, so far.”
“Then who are you to say that she’s fine?”
“I’m just… Saying that she doesn’t seem that bad.”
“Look, as my employee, your safety falls in my hands. I would rather you try to avoid her, if you could. You shouldn’t be seeing her again anyway, but if you do, I want you to call for Sakuya immediately. Do you understand?”
“Okay, fine, whatever. She still doesn’t seem that dangerous to me.”
“She is a vampire, and my sister, and a descendant of Count Dracula-”
“Still don’t know who that is.”
“-And could probably tear you in half with one hand, if she wanted to.”
“If.”
“Right.”
“What’s with this vampire phobia, anyway? Aren’t you lot just like any other youkai?”
Remilia stands at this, throwing her glass onto the floor, shattering it. “Any other youkai!?” She walks down towards you, wings outstretched. “Don’t you dare insult me like that! We are a class above the youkai in this land! Those vermin aren’t even worthy of kissing my feet!”
“You still lost to Reimu, though.” Wait, shit. You shouldn’t have said that. Before you can scramble out of your seat, Remilia floats into the air, grabbing you by your collar and lifting you with her, baring her fangs. You can barely breathe.
“The danmaku you people have here is just a game. If I had wanted to fight her, she would be dead. Do you understand?” You struggle to get a nod out. “Good.” She drops you on the ground. You gasp for air while she carries on.
“A vampire is many times more powerful than your youkai. We can move faster than you can see, have the strength of a hundred men, the intelligence of fifty magicians, and there is nothing, nothing, that can kill us. We are the most powerful beings to ever grace your beloved Gensokyo. Don’t you dare compare us to your everyday strongmen. The only reason we haven’t bent this place to our rule is because there’s just the two of us.” Her expression softens a little. “Oh, and that other girl.”
“Okay, okay, point taken. Sorry.” You’re sure the youkai you’ve met would disagree with her, but you’ll leave that to them to sort out. “If numbers are your only problem, why not just make more of you, then?”
Remilia pauses for a few seconds to consider this, then begins to smile. She hoists you up off the ground, and throws you into your seat, pinning you down and straddling you. “Oh? Is that an offer, Hayate?”
“Mistress, what are you doing!?” Sakuya speaks up, but doesn’t get a reply. Remilia folds her wings around you, leaving you only able to see her.
“You know… You’re quite attractive right now, Hayate.” You can feel her breath on your face. “It would be a shame to see such good looks spoil over time.” Her head moves down, towards your neck. You can’t move yourself at all. Shit, she really is strong. “You see, vampires don’t age. I would hate to see such a promising young man wither and die, like the rest of your pathetic species.”
“Ever the flatterer. You might need to work on your technique, th-gah-!” You’re interrupted by the feeling of her lips wrapping around your neck; her soft tongue wetting it with saliva. She brings her head back.
“What do you say, Hayate? Eternal youth. Superhuman ability. Immortality. This can all be yours. Just say the word, and I can make you one of us. It’s that easy. Just say the word.”
What the hell is she trying to do? The offer is a tempting one, sure, but…


[ ] Accept
[ ] Refuse

Now this’ll be a little different. The vote is a simple yes/no situation, but I want you to give your reasoning behind your answer. Whatever reasoning is fine, but I want to hear it. Copying someone else is fine, of course. This’ll be going towards shaping Hayate’s character, somewhat.

>>32975
>Now this’ll be a little different. The vote is a simple yes/no situation, but I want you to give your reasoning behind your answer. Whatever reasoning is fine, but I want to hear it. Copying someone else is fine, of course. This’ll be going towards shaping Hayate’s character, somewhat.

Just to clarify - is vampiric turning something in your writing something that happens relatively quickly (Remilia is certainly making it sound instantaneous), or a long and gradual process?

>>32977

About a day, minus the adjustment period.

Also had a minor formatting error there, the "say the word" at the end there was supposed to be in bold.

[X] Refuse

As dangerous as it may be in the SDM household and the rest of Gensokyo, the idea of being a vampire doesn't sit well with me.

>You're one of those, right?
>Can't stand sunlight or odorous vegetables,
>or silver things.
>You know, the masters of the night with
>tons of weaknesses for some reason...

Quote taken from EOSD. This would also would create a lot of challenges for Hayate. Canonically at least, Remilia seems to be exaggerating her powers a bit, so it might not be as glamorous as Remi makes it out to be.

[X] Dodge

Looking at the way she reacted to your objection, this is probably another test, isn't it? Some semi-dickish way to judge your character?

...well, it could be, anyway. But there's the off chance she's serious, too. So refuse to commit. Play the clueless male. "Ah hah hah. That's not a very funny joke." Because there's no way this girl would suddenly desire you--seriously. It's a joke. A bad joke.

>>32983
>The vote is a simple yes/no situation

That is to say, NO WRITEINS.

[X] Refuse

I like garlic too much.

[X] Accept

I'm going to play the Devil's Advocate here.

If Hayate accepts then, to his knowledge at least, he will be getting a substantial boost in survivability at the very least - obviously he is going to need this, as even Cirno, a very benevolent force, nearly rendered him dead just a few moments ago. It would be far less trouble from everyone if he didn't have to constantly be aware of his own mortality. The increased strengths and senses of a vampire would also be a massive boon to his ability to work - he could deal with more work, faster, which serves his drive to keep from being a burden. On a slightly more selfish note, Cirno is his closest friend, and a fairy - she's not apt to die any time soon, and Hayate would get to spend a much longer time with her as a vampire than he ever could as a human.

Consider having Remilia's soft little lips pressed to his neck as she sucks and tongues his flesh to be just a bonus.

[x] Refuse

Fuck your shit.

Hayate has proven to be a guy that earns things and won't take freebies.

[x] Accept.

Partly because it'd probably provide interesting character development, but the major reasons behind my choice were pretty much summed-up by >>32986, so there's no need to repeat them.

>>32981

what that guy said

[x] Refuse

>She returns the gesture. "Same for y-COLD COLD COOOOLD!" And flinches as soon as she touches your hand. Now that you think of it, your hand went numb a while ago. That probably isn't good. Sakuya looks through the cupboards again, this time emerging with a red ball, quickly throwing it from hand to hand, then to you. You catch it, and feeling quickly returns to your numb hand, along with the pain of burning heat. You throw it back to her, and she throws it into the cupboard, with a loud crash. You both stand there in silence for a few seconds.

hahaha

[x] Refuse

Born as a human, die as a human.

[x] Accept.

>>32993
Forgot my reasoning. In another situation I might be voting to refuse, but frankly, it's been offered so many times, that I'd like to see the result of accepting. I mean, it can't be completely story-breaking but at the same time I doubt very much it will entail major plothax. Or something.

>>32981
Challenges averted for the 'superhuman strength, stamina, speed, magic skill' and other things that ARE, without a doubt, Vampires' traits.

[x] Accept

First off, the meta reason: since the beginning of time (or THP) the MCs that end up reaching, or live on Gensokyo have always wanted to be stronger. I guess it's an understandable desire, since most of the important people are stronger than average at least and Gods (or above) at most. The desire of being something more than a burden or a liability is strong and even more in the Scarlet Mansion: you can't exactly protect (or even partner with) the twin sisters if you aren't exceptionally strong or posses a special skill.
This has been resolved in many different ways. Some good (Butler, Belmont) some bad (Spiritual armor? The hell?) and some just different (EoSD and Memories... where Remilia is the big bad and thus, MUST be stronger than the MC)
However, never before has the MC had the chance to become an equal to them, to stand in a common ground. This is that chance.

Looking at it from other point of view, isn't this our revenge form that '[x] Eat Mokou liver' option? Here's a chance to become something different than human! That's right, I said different. Not better, nor worse. Being stronger, as useful as it is, is situational. It just happens that, regardless of which is your target, this is one of those situations:
-Want Flandre? Then you need to be strong enough to resist her... episodes. Besides, you wouldn't want to make her happy for 50 years and then just die and leave her alone would you? Monster.
-Want Remilia? What better way to do so than to become her... partner? Husband? Brother? Whatever you want, you'll be able to. The 'long life' thing from Flandre's case also applies here.
-Want Cirno? Well, for starters, you should stop being so fucking pathetic than you need her help to escape from a little girl, you skinny villager you. Besides, with your newfound strength, you'll be able to protect her-forever I might add, due to your newfound longevity.
-Want Sakuya? Well, who doesn't?

Err, sorry.

Leaving my biased opinion aside, going along with Remilia's ideas is always a good thing for her: what makes her happy, makes Sakuya happy. Also, becoming a vampire and remaining at her side as a friend may help her to remember that she is a human before a maid and that Remilia is a friend before a master. In addition, you can help her on certain things better and she wouldn't have to worry about you dying on her anytime soon (she seems to be specially interested in keeping our MC alive...I wonder why?)

Now, I could go on (I did, then the browser crashed) but I won't. Being a vampire is an interesting and fairly unique option that may not occur again. Go for it!

One last thing... remember what I said about Mokou's liver? Well, it's entirely possible (63%) than the author may play the same card here. It's much harder to write a 'survival' CYOA (the most common style here) if the character suddenly becomes a fucking vampire. And going away from the standard problems and situations that the formula 'male human trapped in the vampire's mansion' gives may make things more difficult for our writefag in the long run. Finally, it's very likely (77%) that Remilia is just fucking around with the MC. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't take this chance and go for broke. Do the unthinkable, anon, reach the unreachable... you know the rest.

>>32989

{Accept}

[x] Accept
For the previously mentioned reasons. Unless we learn whatever Sakuya does or something like that MC isnt going to live that long compared to the other residents. The extra durability is also a huge plus.

>>32997
>Some good (Belmont) some bad (Spiritual armor? The hell?)
Wait, I don't get it. Are you saying SDMLA did it both in a good -and- bad way?

[x] Accept

He needs strength to stay on his own path, not to get dragged away by his well meaning friends.

That and It'd be a great boon to his abilities and thus less of a burden to Sakuya. It's basically a form of job training.

And Hayate would be able to back up his bravado about protecting Cirno.

But the thing is expecting to become as strong as say the scarlets is asking alot, even for a newly turned vampire. A Lead wouldn't reach that point for perhaps 500 years.

But I do wonder if this is another test or not.

Also despite vampires' weaknesses, Remilia doesn't seem badly affected by them depending on story. (in fan art it's popular to show Remilia catching on fire or such in the sun) while in some stories here, she's merely weakened by being out in the sun.

>>33000

I think Belmont refers to the lead of Taisa's Touhouvania story, the only moment I can think of is Belmont getting to whip one of Patchy's stones to power up his whip and then that enchantment book.

[x] Accept
>>32986
What this guy said. He's an ordinary, powerless human working with an ice fairy and a time-stopping maid in a vampire's mansion, which also houses a genius magician and a guard who has transcended martial arts. And all of them can fly. How is he going to avoid being a burden when he's less useful than a fairy maid?

Also, considering the way he describes his background and motivation, I'm not sure he'd put so much importance on remaining "human".

[X] Refuse

I'm not against immorality, I just think you should only have what you earn. It's also fun not letting Remilia get her way.

>>33006
Your last sentence convinced me.
[x] Accept

[x] >>32985 (Refuse.)
Jackass and smartmouthed, just the way I like it.

>>32986 Has an interesting point:

>The increased strengths and senses of a vampire would also be a massive boon to his ability to work - he could deal with more work, faster, which serves his drive to keep from being a burden.

Since I think he has the habit of perhaps harding harder than he should due to his drive. This would removes that problem.

But again I do wonder what the truth of this matter is.

[X] Refuse

Besides not letting Remilia getting her way, there's the fact that Reimu and friends will react quite differently when they find out. Like, oh, I don't kno-MASTER SPARK TO THE FACE!

Also, Cirno became friends with a human, not a vampire, so take that into consideration.

>>33025

First you'd assume they'd blast him just because he became a vampire. They'd just look at him and ask "Did you know what you just did?"

That and Hayate would still be Hayate no matter what. It's not as if Anonymaster is a hack writer and Hayate turns into a emo sparkling vampire or Something out of Hellsing.

[X] Refuse

Yes, eternal youth would be nice, albeit a little vain to want.
Yes, superhuman ability would be great, and actually useful.
And, yes, even the brand of immortality that being turned would bring would be quite handy considering the work environment.

On the surface, what Remilia is offering is a very generous offer, indeed. Even more so if there are no other stings attached, beyond the obvious ones that come with the species. But it's precisely because this gift is so generous, and its benefits so great, that it should be refused. It's all well and good if she's seriously offering this, but what have we done to actually earn it?

If there's thing Hayate can appreciate, it's the value of good, honest work, and the importance of earning the things you receive. If he was into taking the easy way to do things, he'd still be working at Rinnosuke's, or even staying with Reimu, wouldn't he?

>>33027

But who to say that Remilia wouldn't make him work it off, since it's not as if she's just going to let him out the door otherwise.

And it might be a different type of contract/Way to make him good for more than just entertainment (I.e. more than fairy maid caliber)

>>33028

It's not like Remilia could make him immortal anyway. She's just messing with his head.

>>33029
That's what I'm worried about. Feels too easy?

>>33030

She might see this as a different sort of contract and a way to reduce the risk of him going off and doing something stupid.

And for all we know she might have been impressed with how Hayate didn't seem phased by all he heard about Flandre.

Always wanted a protagonist to go down this route. This Remi is interesting. I'd like Hayate to retain most of his human personality if possible, though.

[X] Accept

>>33032

I doubt he'd change much personality wise, he's a stubborn guy.

I'm curious what do you folks think of Sakuya in the story? Me? This comes close to the complex personality I think she has (She's neither just perfectly cold maid/killing machine nor airheaded girl, but both then some)

Accepting wins. Writing soon. Update will be up when it's done. New thread at that point.

No idea how I'm gonna work all these different reasonings into his character, actually, but I'll try figure something out.