I apologize for the delay, school is already kicking my ass.
Anyway, Previous Threads:
Thread One >>35593
Thread Two >>35921
Thread Three >>36313

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“Perhaps part of it was getting caught up in the moment, but I really do like Youmu and so at the very least I need to try and make things work between us. I would never forgive myself if I broke her heart,” you mumble to yourself as you let the water wash over you. You’ve been thinking for a while and you’ve used up all the hot water at this point. Serious internal debates should probably be done out of the shower when you have someone waiting to use it after you. You shake your head and wash your hair.

Again.

After turning the water off and wrapping a towel around your waist you step out of the shower and over to the sink. On the very edge of the sink is a small package wrapped in brown, now moist, paper with a small note written on it.

“Dear Aaron,
You have been looking a little scraggly lately, so I picked you up some razors. It wasn’t too bad last night, but you should probably use them soon. Unless you plan on growing a beard, but I don’t think it would look good on you.
Love, Mom”

She must have gapped it in while you were in the shower. That thought makes you more uncomfortable than it probably should, but the idea of your mom just “popping in” on you while you’re naked makes extremely uncomfortable. You rip open the package and toss the paper into the trashcan next to the toilet. Oh, good, she included shaving cream. After wiping off the mirror so you can see, you examine your stubble. You’ve never been able to grow a proper beard; it always looks awful on you when you try.

Your mind wanders to Youmu while you shave. You’ve made up your mind to try and make things work between the two of you, but you can’t help but think of the obstacles that lie in your path.

Namely, Yuyuko.

As long as Youmu is her servant, she’ll have to live in the netherworld. You also just opened the bar, so going to live there is out of the question. Yuyuko’s reaction to this also causes you worry. What will she do if she disapproves? At worst, she kills you. At best, she forbids Youmu from seeing you. The former is almost certainly not going to happen, but the latter is likely.

But Yuyuko isn’t the only problem. Now that you have the bar, your free time will be limited. Finding time to meet will be a pain, not to mention the lack of good “date” spots around here. Sure, she’d probably just enjoy spending time with you, but you can’t help but wonder if there’s anything nearby you could do together.

“Tch!” You hiss when you feel the razor slice your chin. It’s not a big cut, but enough to bother you and be noticeable. “Damn,” you swear under your breath. This is the first time you’ve ever cut yourself shaving. “Well, looks like today will be a day of firsts. First time being cut while shaving, first girlfriend, first date, and who knows what else will happen today!”

You take care with the rest of your face as you finish up to avoid another cut. Once that is done you actually dry off rather than trying to air-dry, can’t keep Luna waiting to shower any longer. You look around the bathroom, but it doesn’t look like you brought any clean clothes in. Sighing, you put the clothes you slept in back, minus the shirt, and walk out of the bathroom with your towel draped over your shoulder.

“Sorry I took so long,” you say closing the door behind you.

No response.

You look around the room for the blonde fairy but fail to see her anywhere. Maybe she got tired of waiting? “Oh well, she can always shower later if she wants, but,” you look out a window and notice the sun is pretty high, “What time is it anyway?”

After rooting around in a box, you find an old pocket watch that you had when you came to Gensokyo. It’s beat up and could use some cleaning, but it still tells time. It’s nothing special, you don’t even remember which foster family you got it from, but you have always been fascinated by it.

You shake your head violently. “Shouldn’t be so easily distracted today,” you tell yourself. You aren’t trying to, but you are subconsciously avoiding the mental topic of “What do you say to Youmu?”. You want to make it work, but there are so many troubling factors. Another one you can think of is that she’ll outlive you, should things get that serious.

TIME! What time is it? The watch says it’s almost eleven thirty. Oh, good, you didn’t miss your appointment with Youmu.

Wait…

Eleven thirty? “Crap!” Youmu’s probably already waiting for you! You quickly strip down and throw on some clean clothes. You wind up wearing some fairly plain clothes. Blue button up shirt with white undershirt, blue jeans that mom had grabbed for you from the outside, and your shoes. You don’t bother buttoning your shirt; it will take too much time. You do, however, take the time to water the seed Yuuka gave you. Oddly the seed has already begun to sprout. You chalk it up to “magic” and move on.

You rush out the door and into the kitchen, which is empty, and into the bar. All of your employees are in there looking mildly bored. Mokou standing near the door with her arms crossed and eyes closed, Marisa is leaning on the bar talking to Hinata who is sitting on a stool, Sunny is making a pyramid out of forks while Star and Luna watch.

“Uh, good morning everyone,” you say after a moment of confusion. “Slow morning?”

“Very slow,” Mokou says without even looking at you. “Do you mind if I bring a book or something for times like this?”

“Go ahead, just make sure you’re ready if someone decides to start tro-“ You get cut off by the sound of silverware clattering loudly on a table. Without looking you know that Sunny made a mistake in her pyramid of forks. “Sunny, if any of those hit the floor you need to wash them immediately.”

As she assures you that none of them hit the floor the front door opens and Youmu walks in. She’s back to wearing her regular outfit, excluding her swords. “Ah, hi Aaron!” She greets excitedly. “Were you waiting long?”

You shake your head and say, “Nah, I just woke up really.” While you walk over to her you tell your employees, “Watch over the bar while I’m out!” The only responses you get are from Mokou and Marisa who give you a thumbs up and wolf whistles respectively. Ignoring them you walk outside and close the door behind you.

“So, Aaron,” Youmu says hesitantly. “W-what do you want to do?” You open your mouth to speak, but your stomach decides to do the talking for you. “Well, I guess that answers that,” she says laughing.

You take her hand causing her to gasp, but she doesn’t pull away. The two of you walk leisurely into town and stop at the Lorelei Grill. You are greeted by Yoko when you enter, “Hello and welcome to the Lorelei Grill!” She leads you to a booth where you and Youmu sit across from each other. “Can I get you something to drink?

“Tea please,” Youmu replies warmly.

As you open your mouth Yoko simply says, “Coffee, right?” You nod, feeling all too predictable. “I’ll be right out with your drinks!”

After Yoko leaves, you and Youmu start looking over the menu. “So, last night went pretty well,” she comments.

“Yeah,” you agree, “but, Marisa and Mokou said that everyone was must on their best behavior. Things will just get harder from here on out.

The two of you talk casually about the bar for a while. During that time, Yoko had come to take your orders and bring your drinks. Taking your word for it, Youmu ordered the grilled lamprey and you ordered a simple bowl of ramen.

After Yoko returns with your food and heads back into the kitchen Youmu asks you, “Aaron, how do you feel? About us?”

"I do like you and I want to make this work no matter what hurtles come up,” you tell her after a moment to collect your thoughts. “We’re both going to be busy, and I don’t know how much free time we’ll have to spend with each other. I know it won't be easy but any good relationship is about cover coming hurtles together."

For a moment she sits there staring at you with wide eyes full of emotions. Happiness, trepidation, and excitement. “Aaron, I-I don’t know what to say,” she admits. “I’m so glad you feel this way, but I’m worried about how Lady Yuyuko will react. And as you said, we won’t have that much free time. But, I want to make this work too.”

You reach across the table and place your hands on hers. “So, how do you think Yuyuko will react?” You ask her. “She’d understand right?” She doesn’t say anything, in fact, she looks away. “Youmu, should I be worried?”

“Youmu~?”

**********

Both of you leave the restaurant laughing. She had led you to believe Yuyuko would try everything in her power to break the two of you up; she was just messing with you though. For the rest of the time you just talked about simple things, like her duties with Yuyuko and your life before Gensokyo. Neither one of you learned anything new, but you enjoyed your time all the same.

“I need to head back home,” she tells you while you’re walking through the village. “But, I’m nervous about telling her.”

“Don’t be, if she cares about you, she’ll understand,” you say as you give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

She chuckles slightly. “Thanks.” She quickly leans over and kisses you. “For luck,” she whispers. “I’ll come back when I get the chance. Take care until then, okay.”

“You take care too,” you tell her as she flies off with the biggest smile on her face.

As you walk to the bar, you can’t help but think, ”Life is good.”

-Choose one
[] A lone wolf in love
[] A sparrow needs a sympathetic ear
[] Red Poltergeist needs help badly
[] A phantom drowning herself in sake
[] The puppeteer is taking your measurements
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Okay, Youmu route is a go! Now what am I going to do with the Momiji/Mystia/Youmu Harem route?

Let's hope that I can update regularly, but we'll have to see how this semester goes.