Continuation of
>>104022 >>104570 >I'm expecting a re-write. Sure why not. Here you go.
Can you spot the writefag's mood shift?
...
Tick-tock, tick-tock...
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While observing the humorous proceedings before you fills you with an amused glee, the smug smirk is quick to fade from your face as a realization dawns upon you, sparking a bitter sense of guilt. You came here with the honest intent of being completely and totally honest, didn't you? And besides, Rumia really didn't have anything to do with that particular incident; disregarding all the hardships she's put you through over these two weeks, you still can't be a total douche towards her. You guess you're just that type of guy, in the end. Besides, telling the truth now will just put your mind on the right vibe for confronting Remilia later; build up some momentum so you don't chicken out when it's time for the -big- reveal, and all that.
"Er, actually... Sakuya... Could you please put the knives down?"
"Oh?" The maid sends a curious glance your way, another knife disappearing from between her fingers and driving itself into a conveniently located tree right next to Rumia's head, freezing the youkai in place yet again.
"And why, pray tell, should I do that? Criminals must be punished, after all." The way she says this with her usually mellow tone of voice actually makes her come off as even more scary, somehow.
"I, ah, I may not have seen the culprit properly at the time, and the weather was pretty hot, and I was rather shocked, so..."
"So..?" Turning away from Rumia to face you and crossing her arms, still wagging a finger in her general direction just to keep her from trying to escape, Sakuya tilts her head at you; the look on her face already tells you that she understands what's going on here, so you just give her an awkward, nervous smile.
"So you didn't actually see her, did you. My my, such a dishonest kid you are..." While her tone sounds accusative, the chuckle following closely behind betrays her amusement, calming you down some.
"N-no, I'm pretty sure Rumia had nothing to do with it"
"Really now... Ah well." The topic of your conversation simply trades confused glances between the two of you, until Sakuya fixes her with a long, silent glance, a pensive look on her face as if she were considering her options. Eventually, she lets her arms drop to her sides, putting the knives away... somewhere. They just seem to vanish into her uniform, as if by magic; which is not that unlikely, really.
"Well then, I suppose my search for the true culprit behind the damages to the garden will continue! False leads are such a bother, though... Wouldn't you agree, Rumia?" The maid smirks at Rumia in a playful manner, walking over to her and leaning down so their faces are level, accentuating their difference in height; Sakuya can come off as rather imposing, for a young-looking woman (heck, using the word 'girl' for her wouldn't feel improper at all) in a maid outfit. Only further contributing to Rumia's continued state of suppressed panic, she suddenly reaches out a hand, seizing her by the ear.
And promptly pulling out what appears to be a red lollipop, in the shape of a heart.
Holding this offering out to the confused little monster, she resumes speaking in a kind voice.
"Well then, run along now, alright? No hard feelings or anything, little lady? Ah, but one thing you should always keep in mind, just in case..." She gently presses the candy against Rumia's lips, the latter surrendering and accepting the offering, timidly gripping the stick when Sakuya releases it and proceeding to suckle on it, looking distractingly adorable in such a state.
"You're lucky your friend here spoke up for you. I'm not always this nice. If I ever find reason to suspect you've been causing trouble for the mansion, its residents," she says, suddenly gesturing to you, "or acquaintances of the mistress, I'll put you over my knee and give you a spanking even your grandchildren will feel. Okay?"
Just to drive the point home, she gives Rumia a light, playful slap on one cheek, more a gentle tap of the hand than anything. Naturally, your blonde little sister figure gets the message, nodding vigorously with the lollipop still in her mouth, and turning around to take flight so fast you're surprised she didn't break the sound barrier, forming a black orb of shadows around herself as she distances herself from the island, before disappearing into the forest, far, far away. Shielding her eyes from the morning sun with her hand, Sakuya stares after her with a smirk on her face for a short while, before turning her attention back to you. Her eyes are narrowed, and she emits a soft sigh, yet you can tell she's not really upset with you.
"Wasting my time like this... Honestly, kid, you really do have some sort of strange love for increasing my workload, don't you?"
"Honest, it's not that, I just-..."
"Relax, I'm kidding. I suppose you add some variety to my routine, at least; the spice of life and all that? Or does that saying not apply to this situation, hmm... Ah well." Still all smiles, the maid pats you on the back gently, motioning for you to follow her.
"Let's go inside then, shall we? This morning sun will make you pass out if you stay in it too long." Indeed, it was as unbearably hot this morning as it had been since the first day, if not moreso.
"I actually had a rather cool trip, really..."
"Ah, yes, of course." Sakuya glances over her shoulder for a moment.
"You seem to be good at making unexpected friends, kid."
"Oh? You could tell?"
"Of course." She gestures at your clothing with another mild smirk, before extending her index finger skyward, continuing to speak.
"You're on the island. I know you can't fly, and your clothes are dry so you didn't swim either. Meiling hasn't taken her boat out today, miss Knowledge never goes outside, the mistress is at home, and the mistress' sister came back alone. Logic dictates that you received help from someone else capable of flight, and Rumia's presence near you combined with the fact that she wasn't in the process of eating you alive were all the clues I needed to put this puzzle together."
"...Seriously?"
She laughs for a good few seconds.
"No, I'm lying. I was actually doing my rounds around the grounds... Hm." She stops walking for a moment, crossing her arms and pondering her own words intensely.
"Rounds around the grounds. That sounds funny, somehow. Don't you think so?"
"Er..."
"Ah, but where was I? Oh yes. Well, I just happened to see you flying this way, that's all."
"...And you still almost attacked Rumia?"
She just grins in response, and you keep walking. Sure is a long-ass wall, isn't it? You turn around a corner together, now walking along the side of the wall in front of the mansion, the gate in view some distance ahead of the two of you.
"So, what brings you here today?"
"Come again?"
"Well, the mistress did say she had been considering inviting you for another visit this weekend, but I had assumed she'd be coming to pick you up, herself. Seeing you make your own way here is a bit of a surprise, really." You can feel those blue eyes of hers looking at you quizzically; thinking back on what she had said to Rumia, you find it natural that the head maid of the Scarlet household would want to know why exactly you decided to come here by yourself like this, all of a sudden.
"Any specific reason I should know about, kid?"
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"Well, actually..." Right, you're supposed to be on a truth-speaking binge today. No reason to hide anything; Sakuya's helped you out at a time like this before, right? She's a sensible woman, setting the greater good of the situation above a blind loyalty to her mistress. She wouldn't screw you over. Hopefully.
"...Yeah, I've got a reason. A few, actually; my original reason for coming here this weekend, aside from spending time with the sisters," and you, is what you almost find yourself saying, stopping yourself so as not to be inappropriate, "was to finally tell Remilia that I know what I know. Gensokyo's true nature, her being a vampire... everything. I figured doing so in her own home would, you know... leave a good impression on her, as opposed to doing it in school where we're on more equal terms. If that makes sense."
"Mmm... Or she might throw you in the dungeon until she cools off from finding out you've been misleading her, kid." Don't say such things so casually!
"Although, I suppose you have a point; the mistress would likely feel less of the brunt of the insult in her own home, where she is above you in status and power. You've got guts though, risking something like that..."
"...You're not going to tell me it's a bad idea, then?"
She frowns a little.
"I won't say I like the concept of the mistress becoming upset, although I never really thought miss Knowledge's idea was good in the first place. While I'm sure it helped you adapt to Gensokyo easier, well... You can see how it's also created new potentially dangerous situations, like this one."
"Which is exactly why I'd rather get this done and over with as soon as possible." Receiving a nod in response, you resume walking for a bit, the gate slowly drawing closer and closer.
"Also... Today, I was supposed to spend some time with Flandre, but, ah, well... I seem to have royally cocked it up by accident."
"Oh?" She doesn't sound terribly surprised; you're not sure that's a good sign.
"Hm. This might explain why the younger sister seemed somehow stranger than usu-... somehow strange, when she returned home earlier. She wouldn't tell me or the mistress that anything was wrong, though. What happened?"
Remilia doesn't know, then? That's a major relief - perhaps you're not doomed to have every possible scenario turn out for the worst after all. This fills you with a newfound sense of hope. Oh, Sakuya, how fortunate it was to bump into you first like this.
"Well, I, ah, wanted to try and get Flandre and Rumia to bury the hatchet, you know... Settle their differences, maybe even become friendly towards one another, considering I'm living with one of them and-..."
"You're living with Rumia? That's... unexpected." Before you can worry about Sakuya getting -that- kind of misunderstanding, you notice her scanning your clothes with her eyes again, and realize what she was thinking.
"No, no, I mean she's living in my house. What, did you think I was living somewhere in the forest with her?"
"Of course not. Do you think I'm some sort of airhead or something?" She knocks on her head once and winks at you, sticking her tongue out at you in a completely inelegant and silly manner.
"Anyway... Long story short, she tried to kill and/or eat me, I challenged her to a duel, somehow managed to win by sheer luck and with the help of a little trinket Patchouli gave me... and then she suddenly decided to become my little-sister-rival figure and move into my house. For some obscure reason, my host family didn't object..."
"They sound like friendly people." Sakuya completely misses the obvious despair in your voice. Granted, living with Rumia has turned out to have much less of a negative impact on your life than you would have imagined; none of your digits have gone missing overnight, for example.
"...Anyway, I put the two of them in the same room, tried to get them to interact and so on... It all seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Even though, from what I've heard, Flandre saw Rumia trying to choke you in school last week. I'd hope you don't get any of your 'good idea' while at the mansion, lest you start causing property damage more serious than a few broken glasses or light bulbs." You hope she's kidding.
"Well, Flandre, ah... Well. She pretty much subtly terrorized Rumia during the whole thing. I could tell the poor girl was utterly terrified throughout the entire ordeal; Flandre didn't exactly hide her intentions too carefully in the way she was talking and acting. Then she just stormed off. I wanted to go after her and talk things over, but I figured I needed to calm Rumia down first - she seemed to have more of an immediate need for it - so... Here I am now."
"Hmm." Sakuya rubs her chin in thought staring into the sky with her eyes squinted. A few moments pass as you walk like this, birdsong and cicadas interrupting the silence alongside the sound of your footsteps in the lush green grass. Come to think of it, you'd have expected the nature around a vampire's mansion to be... darker, deader, scarier? You suppose relying on such stereotypes around the real thing would just be silly, after all.
"Heh. You seem to be the type of guy that wants to make every girl happy, rather than choose one, huh? You've got your work cut out for you, kid..." She offers you a kind smile, raising her hand to ruffle your hair as if you were a kindergartener; you don't protest, however.
"Just be careful not to let the stress kill you. A woman's heart is not an easy thing to understand, and all that. And, well, you're dealing with the younger sister here..."
"...Thanks for having faith in me."
"I'd like to ask you for one favor though, kid."
"What's that?"
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she leans her head back a little, her other hand resting on her hip, and lets out a soft sigh.
"If you do intend to upset the mistress a second time, I'd appreciate it if you could do it Sunday evening, not right away. I'd rather not have your stay here involve any unnecessary awkward shenanigans from the very beginning."
>implying your stay here won't involve awkward shenanigans anyway "That being said," she continues, "I suppose it's not all bad. The mistress does have a distinct cute side to her when she's sedated... 'Uu~ Shakuyaaa~ Uu~'" You try not to picture any strange scenes in your head, as the maid giggles to herself in a mildly disturbing manner. Luckily, you've reached the gate by now, and the two of you are greeted by the sight of a
sleeping meditating Meiling. Another sigh escapes Sakuya's lips - this time a frustrated one, as opposed to one of those 'geez, honestly' amused-type ones.
"Now what, pray tell, am I going to do with this?"
Meiling's slow, calm breathing is accentuated by the occasional quiet snort, as she rests there, leaning back against the mansion wall on a chair; you look upon the scene with a mild worry as Sakuya walks up to her, putting her foot behind the legs of the chair, seemingly intending to sweep it out from under her. Changing her mind at the last moment, she shakes her head and reaches her hand out, flicking Meiling across the nose gently.
"Huwah... M-miss Sakuya, n-not there..."
"...What the hell are you dreaming about, you lazy-..." The cold tone in her voice fades away as quickly as it appeared, and the turns to smile at you once again.
"You wouldn't happen to have paper and a pencil on you, would you, kid?"
You rip out a sheet of paper from your sketchbook and hand it to her with your pencil, expressing surprise at how she could've guessed.
"Oh, the mistress showed me that picture you drew of her," she explains, writing something down as she holds the paper against the wall.
"I think you caught her eyes rather splendidly."
She finishes writing, folding up the paper and sticking it neatly within the grasp of Meiling's folded-up hands; you didn't get a good look at the text, but you think it said something along the lines of 'No dinner tonight'.
...
The mansion foyer. A familiar sight, despite all the hallways and staircases being arranged differently from the last few times you've been here. Not that this surprises you anymore, mind you.
"Well, if you'd just kindly head over to the guest quarters, I had prepared a room for you in advance, just in case. It's got a note on the door, but one of the maids can lead you if you have trouble finding it. I've got just a few more things to take care of, then I'll go announce your presence to the mistress and come fetch you. Alright?" Before you can even answer, she vanishes from your sight in the blink of an eye. You make a mental note to ask her about her abilities at some point, just out of curiosity of what a human like yourself could truly be capable of. In hindsight, you're also a little disappointed you didn't get to see her in a duel. Ah well.
Hm, so... She told you to go chill in your room for now, didn't she?
[] Be a good boy and do as you're told. Go find your room.
[] Actually...
-{} Go find Flandre. Now.
-{} Go find Remilia. You can announce your own presence just fine.
-{} Go find Patchouli. You just feel... safe, around her.
-{} Go find Sakuya... again. Maybe you can help her out.
-{} Go back outside and wake Meiling up. You feel sorry for her.
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As always, write-ins or modifications are welcome.
