[x] Nanashi
[x] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[x] You’re still kind of hungry…maybe you should stop by Mystia’s on your way there?

[x] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[x] Swing by Ms. Hakurei’s shrine and donate before you make your flight to the mansion. Donating to a shrine can only bring good fortune, right?

Jumpy, aren't ya?
Here is a tip for you: Extra blog text is discouraged, we work on a need-to-know basis. Your posts should be mostly story.

[x] Nanashi
[x] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[x] You’re still kind of hungry…maybe you should stop by Mystia’s on your way there?

In interesting introduction, though I am rather confused with your removal of live in fear anymore to be replaced with worry. I understand it when you crossed out bribe with persuaded, but it's awkward to see you remove a line for a word.

Also, the fourth wall breaking, though interesting, leaves a rather strange taste in my mouth. I don't know if the protagonist is actually acknowledging that they live in a game, or something or if you're just being sly with it. It makes it slightly difficult for me to follow, but it's not bad, just a little less replacing of words with other words and bolding of certain words. It's not extremely excessive, but I personally find it a bit... overboard.

But either way, there is promise, just needing to be polished out.

> Bad Ends
> No Continues
> Figure it out for yourself

Hmmm...interesting...

Well, if you don't do an Ass pull, No Sell, or a Rocks Fall Everyone Dies, I think this will be fine.

[X] Nope, you can’t think of a thing!
[X] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[X] Hug Mokou.
[X] Biiiiig kiss!
[X] Swing by Ms. Hakurei’s shrine and donate before you make your flight to the mansion. Donating to a shrine can only bring good fortune, right?

>boy somewhere between ten and thirteen years old
>Keine, Mokou
I like where this is going.
Joking aside. Something is disturbing me with your writing but i can't tell what it is. I will probably know in the next update.

Short introduction is always good, giving a bit of info about you and the story you wish to write. The lenght of the updates is optional, some writer make it small, big or lenghty. It is up to you.

[x] Hug Mokou
[x] You’re still kind of hungry…maybe you should stop by Mystia’s on your way there?

We tend to like the longer ones though.

[x] Nanashi
[x] Hug Mokou
[x] Swing by Ms. Hakurei’s shrine and donate before you make your flight to the mansion. Donating to a shrine can only bring good fortune, right?

[x] Nope, you can’t think of a thing!
[x] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[x] Straight there! You don't want to mess up your first job.

We're almost 13ish, we're a big boy now. Big boys don't need hugs from their mother or whatever. On going straight there, this is our first job why the hell would we take it easy, especially when the client is the famed Devil herself?

Same vote as in the other thread.
>This time in the right place!
No, still wrong. And go delete the other thread.

Oh I appear to have miscommunicated, or perhaps simply made a poor choice of words.

When I said no "continue" system I meant that I wouldn't give you a limited number of cotinues, so feel free to take risks and try options you think are interesting!

Also, I will attempt to keep my overuse of italics, bold, crossout line throughs, spoilers and fourth wall breakage in mind when I write next. I am trying to go for a Fluffish feel for this, and I suppose I went somewhat overboard.

[x] Nanashi
[X] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[X] Hug Mokou.
[X] Biiiiig kiss!
[X] Swing by Ms. Hakurei’s shrine and donate before you make your flight to the mansion. Donating to a shrine can only bring good fortune, right?

And...I think I'll call it now. I'd have waited until it was the top of an hour but I'm far to impatient to do that.

I'll try to write something up before I go to sleep for you fine Anons.

Also, thank you for pointing out my error in forgetting to delete my post. As for your other point, I picked general because...well, assuming I don't burn out like a match doused in kerosene you'll have more deliveries than just this one. You'll be going ALL over Gensokyo.

>>136029
[x] Nanashi
[X] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[X] Hug Mokou.
[X] Biiiiig kiss!
[X] Swing by Ms. Hakurei’s shrine and donate before you make your flight to the mansion. Donating to a shrine can only bring good fortune, right?

[X] Of course I haven't forgotten my name! But why repeat it to myself? (stick with anon)
[X] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[X] You’re still kind of hungry…maybe you should stop by Mystia’s on your way there?
-[X] Hug Mystia

>>136030
>ALL over gensokyo

A fair point, and I assumed that would be the case, but the stories general location while we are not delivering shit will be Keine's house, correct? That's more border/shrine material, but oh well.

I'm just splitting hairs at this point, and you should feel free to ignore me.

[x] Nanashi
[x] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[x] You’re still kind of hungry…maybe you should stop by Mystia’s on your way there?

[x] Nanashi
[X] Say your goodbyes to Mokou before you go.
[X] Hug Mokou.
[X] Swing by Ms. Hakurei’s shrine and donate before you make your flight to the mansion. Donating to a shrine can only bring good fortune, right?
--------
Wait. Did you forget something? On one hand you can’t seem to remember anything from before waking up in that Bamboo Forest. On the other hand you’ve never forgotten anything you can think of besides that. That, in this case, being most of your life. Can it really be said that you have good memory given that situation? Further mo-

Mokou rolls your eyes at the thoughtful pose you’ve adopted and in that moment of exasperation she drops her guard. It may have been for only the briefest of instants but that was just long enough for you to lunge! Moving with lightning speed you cross the distance between the two of you in an instant! Now is your time! This is your chance to-

No. No it can’t be! In your rush to take advantage of that perceived opening you’d walked right into a trap! That gleam in her eyes was unmistakable. She had known all along what you intended. You attempt to slow your advance but it is too little too late and she is already there and-

Her arms wrap around you and hold you tight, and you swear you can hear the smile when she speaks, “Gotcha’!” You wrap your arms around Mokou and pull yourself just a bit closer to her, letting out a content sigh. You know that most guys your age, whatever that age may be, would be humiliated to be seen hugging their guardians like you are now.

You don’t really care about that.

This is the person who saved your life, who picked you up when you were lost and alone and scared beyond reason. This is the person who introduced you to Ms. Kamishirasawa. This is the person who made time to visit you even when you were sure they were busy. This is the person who stayed when you begged them not to leave again.

Mokou is really warm, you note to yourself. Well, Most people are warm, except for Ice people, Mokou is…different. Just being held like this makes you feel like you are wrapped up in a blanket and...it makes you feel safe.

Mokou pulls herself away, and you reluctantly allow her to do so. Directing your attention upwards you note Mokou’s extremely amused grin. “Hmm? What’s the matter with you, huh? A couple seconds ago you were about to run out that door and now you’re acting like you can’t bear to leave.”

You inform her that it is her fault for being so warm.

Mokou stares at with an incredulous look on her face for the briefest of moments, and then lets out a heartfelt laugh. Still chuckling she ruffles your hair, “Oh…you keep saying that sort of thing and you’re gonna find yourself in some real trouble.” She pauses, “Course, given the crowd you run with I guess you could already be…”

You’ve absolutely no idea what she is talking. Sure your friends are all girls, and may or may all be youkai...but that’s to be expected when you’re the only guy your age with powers! How are you supposed to play with a bunch of people who are all scared of you can’t keep up with you? It’s the only way to resolve the situation that makes sense!
Still laughing Mokou shoo’s you away, “You got a job to get to, don’t you Nanashi?”

Oh.

OH.

Okay, you know that it needs to be delivered today, but it wouldn’t take you long to get there given your INCREDIBLE flying abilities..

…Still you’d prefer not to tempt fate, especially on a day as important as today. You’ll just have to swing by the Hakurei shrine to donate and pray for aid and…guidance or something you guess. Maybe Ms. Hakurei will grant you a blessing or something if she isn’t away dealing with another incident. Even if she is away from the shrine, it’s important to always remember to donate! Not doing so is a terrible sin!

At least, that is what Ms. Hakurei told you. You figure that she would know since she is a Shrine Maiden and all.

You sling the bag holding your precious delivery (as well as a few other things) over your shoulder and call out your farewell to Mokou as you rush out the door, your Sky Board under your arm.

The Sky Board is a tool that serves the purpose that so many other devices throughout Gensokyo seem to. Namely: to give flight to those without wings or vast cosmic powers. The vast majority of people in Gensokyo who are aware of your ability to fly believe that you are entirely reliant on it when it comes to flying.

This vast majority are completely and utterly wrong. You are capable of not only flying when off the board, but quite honestly your better when it isn’t limiting your movement and cornering abilities. The only reason you use it is because of a lesson Mokou taught you back when you were first learning about your flight abilities.

“Nanashi.” She had said, “One of the most important things you’ve gotta remember is to never, ever let your enemy know what you are capable of if you can help it.” When you pressed for further details she told you that by making people believe you could only fly by using that board, you’d have a better chance of getting away as they focused on removing it from you, and that if they did get it somehow take it from you...

“Then you smash their faces in when they think you’re helpless!”

You always loved that lesson.

Without a moment’s hesitation you kick off the ground and take to the skies, savoring the feel of the wind on your skin and the sound of your clothes fluttering about you. Shaking your head to clear it of that euphoric feeling you focus your gaze towards where Hakurei Shrine lay. Blasting off in the direction, you couldn’t help but feel no small amount of excitement. You think this is probably the beginning of something really great!

As you carve your way towards your destination you remember the other reason you use the Sky Board.

It’s just so much more fun!

-----
Okay, I'll just post the second half of this later on after I've actually slept. Also, for all those of your who voted for the Mystia vote...

Consider them...taken into consideration.

Well, I've to admire the spirit of this CYOA. Keep up the good work.

Making your way to Ms. Hakurei’s shrine took no real time at all. It is not as though it is especially far from the Human Village in the first place, but with the sort of speed you can get when you fly…well, it makes travel times much, much shorter. With just a slight movement on your part the Sky Board begins its descent towards the Shrine proper. You lightly jump off your mode of transportation and idly tuck it under your arm. Carrying this thing around is a bit of a pain but…well it’s worth it in the end, you guess.

A quick survey of your surroundings tells you that Ms. Hakurei is currently not tending to the public portion of the Shrine. Huh…that’s strange. She’s usually around here somewhere if there isn’t some sort of Incident to solve and you’re pretty sure you’d hear about it if something really big, like an Incident, was happening.

Well, you suppose you should just donate to the Shrine and get back on the road then. You place your donation into the box and note that it appears to be somewhat on the empty side…

“Thank you for your donation!~”

Whirling around you find yourself face to face with the Shrine Maiden herself. You ponder precisely how it is she manages to be so sneaky when she is wearing that outfit…maybe it’s some kind of secret Shrine Maiden technique or something she was taught when she first took up her duties?

Pondering that mystery will have to be put on hold however, as you must mentally prepare yourself for the goliath challenge that is about to rear its head. You are going to have to turn down Ms. Hakurei’s traditional offering of tea. You’ve only dared attempt to do so once, and the sheer amount of soul crushing guilt that her expression brought down on you lead to you immediately reconsidering your decision to leave. It’s not like you don’t enjoy tea time, but…

“I’d invite you in for tea, but I know that you’ve got a delivery to make to the Remilia’s mansion, right?” She drags you out of your internal dilemma-

Wait…what?

You are quite certain that Ms. Hakurei should not be aware of the specifics of your current delivery job! You'd not told anyone you explicitly didn't have to out of concern that someone might attempt to abscond with your precious parcel. You ask Ms. Hakurei just how she came across that information.
Her face adopts a serious expression, “I know because Marisa couldn’t stop babbling about it.”

Oh NO...

“She knows what you’re carrying Nanashi,”

Oh NO…

Ms. Hakurei doesn’t relent in informing you of the severity of your situation, “And you’re carrying something that she wants.” Without any mercy, she bluntly tells you this.

Oh NO.

This…You…you cannot imagine this situation getting much worse. You know what happens to people who are between Ms. Kirisame and something that she wants! You’ve seen the scorch marks! You’ve seen the Master Spark itself once when Ms. Kirisame was showing off to you when you had sought out Ms. Hakurei for advice on Danmaku!

Those poor fairies never stood a chance…

“So,” Ms. Hakurei drags you out of your fear induced flashback with a question, “What are you going to do?”

…You can’t give up now. When you accepted this job you made a promise, and if you broke that promise you’d be failing to live up to the example your guardians set for you. That means that there is no turning back or running away! No matter what, you are getting these books to the Scarlet Devil Mansion!

…Now how are you going to do it without getting trounced by Ms. Kirisame?

CHOICE TIME

[ ] Stay low while flying! Maybe if you are try to stay in cover as much as possible Ms. Kirisame won’t see you?

[ ] Don’t bother with hiding, just go as fast as you can to Scarlet Devil Mansion! With your flying skills maybe you can outrun Ms. Kirisame?

[ ] Stick to the roads! Surely she won’t expect you to take such a blatantly obvious route?

[ ] Write in? ((I might not accept it if I don’t think I can write it.))

OPTIONAL WRITE IN TIME

Is there anything you want to say to Ms. Hakurei before you leave? ((Actions are also acceptable.))

My apologies if the formatting is incorrect, I am rather out of it at the moment.

I'll put forward my best effort to updating earlier tomorrow.

[x] Don’t bother with hiding, just go as fast as you can to Scarlet Devil Mansion! With your flying skills maybe you can outrun Ms. Kirisame?
-[x] "Put on the kettle. I'll be back in five."

Marisa ain't got shit on us. The only person in Gensokyo who can match our top flight speed is the wonderful and pure reporter. It's go time.

[x] Stay low while flying! Maybe if you are try to stay in cover as much as possible Ms. Kirisame won’t see you?
-[x] "Please, make a prayer for my sucess"
We can't outrun a blazing star.

[x] Stay low while flying! Maybe if you are try to stay in cover as much as possible Ms. Kirisame won’t see you?
-[x] "Please, make a prayer for my success"

I'd be more apt to go for the rush option, but I doubt a 13 year old is as fast as Marisa.

[x] Stay low while flying! Maybe if you are try to stay in cover as much as possible Ms. Kirisame won’t see you?
-[x] "Please, make a prayer for my success"

Let's hope for the best.

[x] Stay low while flying! Maybe if you are try to stay in cover as much as possible Ms. Kirisame won’t see you?
-[x] "Please, make a prayer for my success"

[x] Don’t bother with hiding, just go as fast as you can to Scarlet Devil Mansion! With your flying skills maybe you can outrun Ms. Kirisame?
-[x] "Please, make a prayer for my success"

Hah, This is good. I like the voice you use. Keep it up.

[x] Stay low while flying! Maybe if you are try to stay in cover as much as possible Ms. Kirisame won’t see you?
-[x] "Please, make a prayer for my success"

“Marisa ain't got shit on us. The only person in Gensokyo who can match our top flight speed is the wonderful and pure reporter. It's go time.”
You. I like the way you think. Consider this taken into consideration.
-----
You pause and take the time you have now to consider your options. Following the roads is completely out of the question at this point. There’s no way Ms. Kirisame won’t be watching that path like a hawk, not to mention just how much trouble you’d be in if Ms. Kirisame manage to get the jump on you there. It would be way to easy to get hemmed in there…

You consider making a straight rush for the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but after some deliberation you decide against it. You’re fast, probably one of the fastest flyers in Gensokyo, but that isn’t really going to do much to help you if Ms. Kirisame see’s you coming from a mile away. Still…you’ll have to keep the position of the Mansion relative to you in mind, since you are reasonably certain that you can outpace Ms. Kirisame. Worst comes you’ll just have to make a run for it.

The only real course of action that you can see taking is making trying to use the Forest as cover for as long as you can, ideally making it all the way to the Misty Lake so you can use the mist that gave it its name to your advantage. Once you make it to the Lake it’s just a matter of crossing as fast as possible, given that the Scarlet Devil Mansion isn’t far off from the opposite shore.

Taking a breath to calm yourself, you inform Ms. Hakurei that you’ve no intention to abandon your job just because you run into difficulty, and that while you will admit that the idea of getting into a fight with Ms. Kirisame is rather intimidating, you’re quite certain that you can get to the Scarlet Devil Mansion without the situation becoming too dangerous.

Ms. Hakurei gives you a nod of confirmation, her expression softening somewhat, “Just don’t go and do anything stupid, alright?” She pauses for a moment, “Well…anything more stupid than what you’re already doing.”

…You suppose knowingly going against one of the most accomplished Incident Resolvers in all of Gensokyo would be considered rather stupid by most people. Still, not like you really have much of a choice in the matter. Either you try to complete the job, and go against Ms. Kirisame, or you give up and potentially earn the ire of the inhabitants of the Scarlet Devil Manor as well as destroying your still budding reputation as a Delivery person.

...Oh right! You came to the shrine hoping to receive some sort of blessing! Now that Ms. Hakurei is here you should ask her if she could do something. Taking advantage of the fact her attention has not yet been diverted back to…whatever it was she was doing before. You inform her that you would like to make a request of her before you leave.

“Oh? So you’ve got a last request before you go?” Ms. Hakurei smirks at you and leans forward, a strange gleam in her eye that you can’t quite seem to place, “What’s that?”
You ask Ms. Hakurei if she would be willing to give you her blessing. Her smirk evolves into a grin that you gives you quite the eerie feeling. “Oh? Really? That’s a pretty bold thing to request of a Shrine Maiden Nanashi.”

…She’s lost you. Isn’t giving blessings part of a Shrine Maidens duty? Did you ask wrong or something? Maybe you aren’t supposed to ask at all, and Shrine Maidens just grant blessings as they see fit? You really hope you didn’t do something to insult Ms. Hakurei, because that wasn’t your intention at all! All you’d been thinking was that with her blessing you’d stand a better chance of success and-

Ms. Hakurei interrupts your rambling mixture of an apology and an explanation by patting you on the head. Oh. It appears that you haven’t upset Ms. Hakurei at all. Quite the opposite you guess, given that she’s smiling. “Don’t worry about it.” She says, ruffling your hair lightly, “I’ll pray for your success. So long as you try your best I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

You’ve never understood why some people consider Ms. Hakurei to be cold or intimidating. Sure she may not by quite as open with them as other people, but it isn’t that hard to see what she’s feeling if you look for it. You guess they just aren’t observant enough, or maybe they just don’t care. It’s their own loss you guess.

Returning Ms. Hakurei’s smile with one of your own, you inform her that you should likely get going. She’s shoos you away and turns to go into the Shrine, and you in turn mount your Sky Board and quickly skim off into the forest that surrounds the Shrine's stairway. You’ve no idea where Ms. Kirisame could be, and you’re not sure what else might get in the way of your completing your job, and you’ve just received the blessing of a Shrine Maiden.

You knew this was going to be the beginning of something really great!
-----

My apologies in advance for how long this took. Between writers block, a paper deadline approaching and having an exam tomorrow I’m stretched just a little bit thin.

I’ll put the next part up…hopefully tomorrow if my paper doesn’t consume me.

>>136281
Yes, truly a SINGLE FULL DAY of delay is absolutely unacceptable. We here at THP inc hold very high standards concerning schedules, you know. If this happens again, consider yourself fired.

You silly goose.

Godspeed, delivery boy

Oh god papers everywhere.

I'm sorry about this, but I'm in no condition to be writing anything vaguely decent. I'm about 30 seconds away from passing out.

I'll update tomorrow. Possibly in the early afternoon.

You urge the Sky Board forward, gently cruising through the lush woods whilst keeping your eyes on a swivel the whole time. After you’d gotten away from Ms. Hakurei the full weight of what you were going up against came down on you. You’d no real doubt that when it came to pure speed, and perhaps even maneuverability, you could outperform Ms. Kirisame. That didn’t change the fact that she was vastly more experienced than you when it came to Danmaku, and would take you down faster you could say pichuuu~n if you gave her the chance.

Which was precisely way you intended to do everything you could to avoid a direct confrontation. Your time spent with your friends wasn’t wasted, and thanks to them you’ve learned many a harsh lesson in how to move silently and how to avoid detection. As you skim along the ground you quickly begin to further plan out your path. Knowing what you do of Ms. Kirisame she’ll likely be watching from above the forest, hoping to spot you whether you’re running under the tree-line or above it. Taking this into consideration, you decide that you'll have to stick to the more heavily forested sections of the area to give yourself more cover.

You let out a quiet sigh. What you’d thought would be a simple delivery has become a matter of…well not life and death since you rather doubt Ms. Kirisame would kill you but it is still a very dire situation for you. Carefully ducking behind a sizable oak tree you peer around the corner of it into the break in the foliage above. No sign of Ms. Kirisame, and the fact that the local animals are still making noise implies she probably hasn’t been here recently. That’s good news for you. Urging the Sky Board forward you skim along the ground at a somewhat faster pace.

You’re making good progress towards the Mansion. You figure at the rate you’ve been going you’re at least half-way there now and if you keep moving at this rate it shouldn’t be long until you reach Misty Lake, and after that you figure you guess it should pretty much be a straight shot to the Mansion from there.

You can just barely make out the Misty Lake in the distance when it happens. You realize that all the ambient noise in the forest has stoped. Out of the corner of your eye you spot a flash of black and white. Moving with all the speed you can muster you hurl yourself behind a nearby tree and hold your breath. Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t see you.

“I know you’re down there!” She calls out. You can confirm now that the person flying around up there is most certainly Ms. Kirisame. Still, it’s not as though you’re just going to give up after coming so far! Besides, you think that she may just be bluffing.

“Look Nanashi, I know you’re there, and I know that you’ve got the goods.” That’s another thing! Just how did she find out what you were carrying? You’re quite certain that the only people you told about it wouldn’t have told her. “…So, you’re not giving up huh? I figured as much.” You can hear her better now, and it sounds like she’s lowered herself into the middle of the clearing that you’d seen her through. “Don’t worry though Nanashi, I’ll be sure to be real gentle with you.”

While you suppose it’s good to know that she doesn’t intend to go all out on you, that doesn’t really change the fact that she’s too close for you to be able to make a clean get away right now. You’re so close to the Misty Lake, if you just had a few seconds of distraction you could make your escape!

Something at the opposite end of the clearing from you makes the mistake of stepping on a twig, and almost immediately after that you hear Marisa unleash a barrage of Danmaku in that direction. Acting quickly to take advantage of her momentary lapse in attention your burst out of your heading place and quickly pick up speed as you hurtle towards the edge of the forest.

As you clear the last of the trees you’re forced to roll out of the way of a barrage of stars. A quick glance backwards confirms that, yes, Marisa has noticed you and is on your tail, a massive grin on her face. You wonder briefly just why she’s smiling so much before your attention is diverted to other more pressing matters, namely avoiding the waves of stars and lasers being fired in your direction.

The fears that kept you from simply rushing towards Scarlet Devil Mansion in the first place have been confirmed now. While it appears that you can outperform Ms. Kirisame on a speed and maneuverability basis her skill and experience makes up for that. When you add in the fact that she was never really slow in the first place it’s become increasingly obvious to you just why Ms. Kirisame is one of the foremost Incident Resolvers in Gensokyo, and this is when she’s taking it easy on you!

Still, slowly but surely you’re making progress towards your destination, even as you weave through increasingly complex barrages of danmaku. Engaging in this game of chase seems to be entertaining Ms. Kirisame enough that she isn’t immediately going for the kill. You dive through a gap in a formation of stars once again, tucking your body close as close to the Sky board as you can manage to slip through

You manage to hear Ms. Kirisame call out to you over the din wind and stars are making, “Come on Nanashi! If all your gonna do is run I’m gonna get real bored real fast!”

You don’t think you really want to find out what Ms. Kirisame will do to you if she gets bored of this chase. Besides, you were getting tired of just running anyway. In a single fast maneuver you pull yourself up so that you can stare at the sky and quickly force yourself to decelerate, and continue your maneuver so that the Sky Board is now above you

Ms Kirisame passes by you less than a foot away from your face, and for that brief instant your gazes meet. For brief moment you can feel…something in the way she’s looking at you that sends a shiver down your spine.

Still, you refuse to let it distract you from what you need to do. Taking the initiative now that you have the advantage you open fire on Ms. Kirisame. Raising your hands you focus and unleash several staggered waves of Danmaku.
Nothing especially impressive, certainly not enough to actually hit Ms. Kirisame. But then, you aren’t trying to hit her. The only thing you are focusing on is keeping her distracted long enough to reach your destination.

You repeat this exchange time and time again, each time drawing closer and closer to your destination.

There it is! You can see the Scarlet Devil Mansion clearly now, looming ominously in the middle of a lake. It is…extremely red. You think you can guess where the name came from.

After returning the Danmaku exchange one last time you push yourself into a steep dive towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where hopefully you’ll be somewhat safe from your pursuer.

You hear the sound of laughter over the wind pushing past your ears. “So that’s your plan Nanashi?” You push yourself just a little bit harder, “I ain’t letting you get away that easily!” No! You’re so close! You can make out the details of the Mansion now, and even see what you think is someone waiting at the gate!

“LOVE SIGN!”

You’re pulling out of your dive now, having approached the shore.

“Master~!”

You’ve cleared the lake now all that’s left is to cover that last little bit of distance! You just need 30 more seconds at this speed!

“Spaaark!”

You know what will happen if you get hit by that attack. Ms. Kirisame might be holding back, but you doubt you’d maintain consciousness if it connected. You know without a doubt that should you be hit, you’ll fail. You’ll fail to deliver the parcel as you promised you would. You’d fail to prove that you really could handle yourself in tough situations like this. You’d fail to live up to the expectations of Mokou, Ms. Kamishirasawa and Ms Hakurei.

And that is why you moved.

You took every last ounce of power, skill and sheer grit you had and focused it on dodging the perversion of love that was bearing down on you.

Then. Even then. It wasn’t enough. Just as you swung out of the path of the master crafted spark, avoiding something that had felled so many others, you felt it. Ms. Kirisame hadn’t let up on her Danmaku barrage while setting off that massive laser? She…really really must be something else to accomplish such a monumental task.

A volley of bullets slams into your unguarded back, hurling you off of the Sky Board. You reflexively bring one arm up to guard your face while you use the other to cradle your bag firmly to your side, and attempt to bring what focus you have left to slow your descent. Thankfully, it’s enough to keep the impact from breaking anything.

You bounce off the ground and skid a short ways before coming to a stop, gazing blearily up at the sky from your position. You’re so tired, and every part of your body is just telling you to stay down.

You cast your eyes towards your destination and note that the Mansion Gate isn’t more than twenty meters away from where you lay. Strangely, the person you could have sworn you’d seen at the gate isn’t there anymore.

Ms. Kirisame has landed some distance away from you and you think she might be speaking to you while she approach’s you. You try to make sense of what’s she’s saying as she gets closer but you can only seem to grasp snippets of what she’s saying“Shoudn’t have…wasn’t very…”.

She’s standing next to you now but you can’t make out her face with the sun angled like it is. You can see begin to kneel and note that her hands are reaching towards you…or is she just going to take her prize?

1st Choice!
[ ] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[ ] Just close your eyes…you’re too tired to do anything else now.
[ ] Write In~ ((Standard rules apply.))

2nd Choice!
You see something out of the corner of your eye…what is it?
[ ] Shadows and Blue
[ ] Knives and Red
[ ] …is that a crow?
[ ] …Whatever you saw, it’s not there now.

AND FINALLY...
Spell Card desingin' games! (For those Inclined)
[ ] Card 1
[ ] Card 2
[ ] Card 3
[ ] Bombs

Oh well now that took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. Sorry about that!

Also, I'd appreciate any suggestions that you all might have to offer on the chase/combat sequence, as I'm not to fond of how it came out.

[x] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[x] Grab her by the ankle and yank her off of her feet.
[x] Shadows and Blue
[x] Bombs

[x] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[x] …is that a crow?

I can't think of anything for the spellcards.

Come rain, come sleet
Come snow, come hail
You don't fuck with
The daily mail

[x] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[x] …Whatever you saw, it’s not there now.
[x] Card 1

This is our first job. This is our first impression we will give in our burgeoning delivery business. We can't afford to look weak, too need assistance in transporting even the simplest of parcels. No matter who stands in our way, no matter what trials we may face in spreading the news, we can't just give up when the going gets tough. We're the delivery boy, and even if it's the God's themselves barring our path, we blow right by them and deliver shit. It's time to show her our determination.

I am also too stupid to design a card, so whatever you come up with is okay.

[x] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[x] …Whatever you saw, it’s not there now and it's not important.

By the way the third option is to make them up, no to select them. If I'm wrong, ignore these.

[x] Card 1 Tengu Sign - Wind Storm (Increases movement speed, cause danmaku to appear wherever you move and spin in random directions afterwards)
[x] Human Sign - The duty of an honest job: Intersecting walls of bullets move towards the opponent while the caster is free to throw two barrages of bullets anywhere he wants to.

Oh dear now, my apologies for not thinking to provide a better explanation as to what that spell card vote was for. I blame the fact that it was three in the morning at the time.

The thing is you aren't going to be getting into a Spellcard proper duel just yet, but depending on the decisions you all make here and in the next few choices we could be getting into one very, VERY soon. So I figured why not let you guys have a bigger part in building up Nanashi's Danmaku style?

Sorry for the confusion as to the matter, I probably shouldn't have put little vote check boxes next to them in hindsight.

As an apology, have an adorable picture.

[X] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[X] Knives and Red

Come on Big Damn Heroes.

[ ] Nameless Sign: Vague Interpretable Delusion
[ ] Warp Sign: Delta 9
[ ] Alpha Sign: Pi Burst.
[ ] Actual Bombs.

[X] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[X] Knives and Red

[x] Human Sign - The duty of an honest job: Intersecting walls of bullets move towards the opponent while the caster is free to throw two barrages of bullets anywhere he wants to.
[x] Actual Bombs.

Getting help from Aya could be more trouble than it is worth. Same thing with the nine crew, but probably not as bad.

[X] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[X] Knives and Red

[x] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[x] …is that a crow?

[x] Speed Sign 「Express Delivery」
[x] Delivery Sign 「Message from Afar」
[x] Destination 「Inevitable Impact」
[Bomb] Speed 「Wings of Faith」

Hm. My shot at this.

[x] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!
[x] …is that a crow?

[x] Speed Sign 「Express Delivery」
[x] Delivery Sign 「Message from Afar」
[x] Destination 「Inevitable Impact」
[Bomb] Speed 「Wings of Faith」

Well then, I believe I shall call this voting to a close and get to writing.

By my count it looks like the following won:

[x] No..! You’re not done yet! No matter how tired you are, no matter how beat up we get… the mail! Goes! Through!

and there was a tie between:
[ ] Knives and Red
[ ] …is that a crow?

At the time of my writing this, so I'll probably flip a coin to decide which one I work with, and then I'll just take the other into consideration.

Pic Related: It's the last thing you would have seen if you'd decided to follow the roads.

You’re exhausted. You’ve just concluded a mid-air duel with a superior opponent, the conclusion of which was you taking several Danmaku to your unprotected back. You slammed into the ground rather harshly and by all right you think you should be unconscious, but you’re not. You’re actually pretty mentally aware of the situation now that some of the haze from the impact has faded away, even if you still can’t quite make sense of what Ms. Kirisame is saying. Still, you’re aware enough to see that Ms. Kirisame believes you to be defenseless, and is too close to dodge should you attack.

How unfortunate for her that you remembered the lessons that your guardians taught! From Mokou you learned to always be willing to use your opponent’s underestimation of you to your advantage! From Ms. Kamishirasawa…

In sudden movement your hand current not preoccupied with keeping a firm hold on your delivery bag launchs upwards and grabs Ms. Kirisame by her collar. She only has a moment to let out a gasp before you initiate phase two of your attack plan.

Ms Kamishirasawa taught you the value of using your head!

You hurl yourself upwards from your supine position and deliver a mighty headbutt, releasing your hold on Ms. Kirisame the instant your attack connects. She stumbles backwards, mostly out of surprise but partly out of the pain, at least that’s what you assume. Whatever the reason, you decide to take full advantage of the opportunity. You roll away from your previous position and struggle to your feet, your body protesting every movement you make. You wipe away the sweat from your brow and notice that a small amount of blood is there as well.

…Is this why people call Ms. Kirisame hard headed?

You hear Ms. Kirisame call out to you. It appears that she’s recovered from your attack already. You can’t let her catch up to you now, not when you’re so close to your destination! You push your body onwards, speeding up to a sort of awkward, stumbling jog as you try to hurry towards your goal. You can feel the cuts and bruises on your body all the more clearly as they urge you just to lie down and stop moving. Ms. Kirisame calls out to you, her tone conveying something more urgent but you still can’t seem to make much sense of it.

Whatever she’s saying you don’t bother slowing down. You’re so close now, just a few more meters and you’ll be there…!

You bodily hurl yourself through the gate and stumble to your knees onto the path. Assorted flowering bushes and trees are visible all to both your left and your right now, all of them obviously well cared for. Perhaps the person you saw before was a gardener rather than a gate keeper?

You turn your head towards the gate and see that Ms. Kirisame is standing on the other side of it. She takes a step towards the gate, and you by proxy. “Hey, Nanashi…” Whatever she intends to say she doesn’t get the chance to. Before she can progress any further she’s forced to dart backwards as a line of knives impale themselves into the ground where she stood a moment ago.

You blink.

In between you closing your eyes and opening them a silver haired woman wearing a outfit that looks like something out of one of those magazines you found at Mr. Morichika’s place appears in between the two of you. “I think you’ve done enough for one day, Kirisame.” The woman speaks with a tone of finality and command. You realize that those words aren’t carrying a threat, they’re carrying a promise. Ms. Kirisame doesn’t appear to be as impressed as you are, but she isn’t attacking just yet.

Your observation of this world class staring contest is interrupted when someone places a gentle hand on your shoulder. Understandably interested in finding out just who it is that has a hand on your person, you regretfully turn away from the scene. You find that the person who’s hand on your should is decidedly female. She has long, red hair and is wearing a green dress of a style that you are not familiar with.

She also has a very kind smile.

“Hey, are you okay? Can you stand up?” She’s speaks in a kind if informal manner. Nodding your confirmation you attempting to force yourself up to a standing position, the woman’s steadying hand helping you keep your balance as your body continues to rebel against any sort of movement on your part. You realize now that you are standing that you barely come up to the red-haired woman’s stomach.

She’s just tall, it’s not that you’re short or anything.

At least, that’s what you tell yourself.

It appears as though the stand-off at the gate has come to an end as well. Ms. Kirisame gives you one last look that you can’t quite catch the meaning of before blasting off. She quickly gains altitude and in a matter of seconds she’s long gone.

The Silver haired woman turns away from the gate and the intimidating aura she’d been broadcasting disappears in an instant. She graces you with a small smile and speaks, “Am I correct to assume that you are here to deliver a package to Patchouli Knowledge?” You inform her that, yes, you do have a package for one Miss Knowledge. She produces a pocket watch from…somewhere and clicks it open, “You are earlier than I expected you would be.” With what appears to be a practiced movement she closes the watch and secrets it away to wherever she keeps it. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sakuya Izayoi. Welcome to Scarlet Devil Mansion.”

CHOICE MAKIN GAEMS Pt. 1
Ask some questions?
[ ] Ask the Red haired lady what her name is.
[ ] Just who is Miss Knowledge anyway?
[ ] Other~ ((Write in any pertinent questions you’d like to ask))

CHOICE MAKIN GAEMS Pt 2
With Knowledge gained, it is time for ACTION.
[ ] Introduce yourself and thank the two for your help. You really appreciate them showing up when they did!
[ ] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.
[ ] You’re feeling a little banged up right now…maybe you should ask for a first-aid kit or something?
[ ] Other~ ((Standard rules apply))

For those of you interested, feel free to continue to get inventive with spellcards and such. All of the suggestions have sounded quite interesting!

Also, I am posting this at around Five Am my time, so there may be some errors I missed. My apologies. I just didn’t want to go to sleep without updating.

The delivery is foremost. Introductions and first-aid can wait until the package is in its rightful hands.

[X] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.

The delivery is foremost.

[X] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.

The delivery comes first, but that doesn't mean we need be rude. I'm sure we can take a couple of seconds to introduce ourselves. We did arrive early, ya know.

[x] Introduce yourself and thank the two for your help. You really appreciate them showing up when they did!
[x] Ask the Red haired lady what her name is.

[X] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.

[x] Ask the Red haired lady what her name is.

[x] Ask the Red haired lady what her name is.
[x] Introduce yourself and thank the two for your help. You really appreciate them showing up when they did!

Just because we're here doesn't mean we have to immediately go deliver. Talking a bit won't hurt.

Well, the mail went through in the finest tradition of the Persian Empire's Postal Service.

[X] Just who is Miss Knowledge anyway?
-[X] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.

[x] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.
-[x] Introduce yourself and thank the two for your help. You really appreciate them showing up when they did!

[x] Ask the Red haired lady what her name is.

[ ] Introduce yourself and thank the two for your help. You really appreciate them showing up when they did!
[ ] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.

Pow, right in the kisser!

[x] Ask the Red haired lady what her name is.
[x] Introduce yourself and thank the two for your help. You really appreciate them showing up when they did!

I think we have time, we did arrive earlier than Sakuya expected.

[ ] Introduce yourself and thank the two for their help. You really appreciate them showing up when they did!
[ ] Ask the Red haired lady what her name is.
[ ] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.
---(En Route)[ ] Just who is Miss Knowledge anyway?

I believe I'll just be writing these options in this order, since they make the most sense to me. I'll try to finish up before 4 in the morning this time.

Also, does anyone have a more complete height chart than this one?

>>136650

You might find either of these helpful:

http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/620420

http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/652516

In any case, searchng for 'everyone' and 'touhou' tags on danbooru should get you some height comparison images.

[X] You’ve arrived at your destination, now all you need to do is deliver the package! Ask them if you could be directed to Ms. Knowledge.

>>136650
>>136659
Keep in mind tough, that like nearly everything in Touhou, there is so much that's only vaguely defined, if even at all. Comparative height and bust size are two of these.

...Although I think ZUN did come up with a list that roughly groups the girls (albeit 'the girls' as of around TH09 or so) into Tall, Normal, Short, and Tiny. I can't remember where that list is, though, so sage for not helping much.

>>136690
http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/ZUN%27s_E-mails

>Tall: Sakuya, Meiling, Yukari
>Fairly Tall: Reimu, Yuyuko, Alice, Letty, Ran
>Fairly Short: Marisa, Youmu, Patchouli, Lunasa, Merlin
>Short: Remilia, Lyrica, Chen, Cirno, Rumia, Flandre

You’re still a little out of it from your fall and general tiredness, but you’re determined not to show it. It would be rather unprofessional of you to go and request medical aid before you even fully completed your job! Another thing that would be remarkably unprofessional of you would be to stand here and allow your mind to wander while you should be introducing yourself. Not wanting to be seen as rude, you formally introduce yourself to Ms. Izayoi and…

Oh. You don’t know the red haired woman’s name yet, and you rather doubt you can really just call her red haired woman or something like that. Calling someone some random nickname because you can’t be bothered to learn or remember their name sounds like a rather horrible thing to do. You ask her for her name so you can prevent such a thing from happening.

“Huh, my name?” She appears to think for a moment before rapping herself lightly on the head, “Oh yeah! You probably wouldn’t know my name, would you?” She grins and extends a hand, and you take with your own. “I’m Meiling, Hong Meiling.” She shakes your hand once and releases it, allowing it to return to its previous job of maintaining a stranglehold on your delivery bag. Hmm…perhaps you’re a bit more shaken up by what just happened than you’d like to admit. If either of your two saviors noticed they’re not commenting on it, which is something you appreciate.

Still, now that you have both of their names you can say what needs to be said before anything else can be done. These two individuals aided you when you were in need of it, and you need to thank them for that. Taking a step back, a movement that draws further attention from the duo, you bow deeply to them and thank them for rescuing you from the predicament you’d found yourself in. Ms. Meiling seems to be embarrassed by your thanks and is trying to say something but can’t seem to find the words to make the point she wants to make.

Ms. Izayoi apparently has no such problem and responds immediately after you finish, “I cannot accept your thanks.” Wait what. “You arrived on the mansion grounds under your own power, and I only acted to prevent the thief from entering the grounds herself. So, the only person you have to thank for your safe arrival is yourself.” …Is that a compliment? You think it might be a compliment. Ms. Meiling has apparently recovered enough to voice her complains, “Geez Sakuaya, don’t go saying things like that or he’ll get the wrong idea!”

What idea? The idea that perhaps someone from this mansion was the one who leaked the information about what you were carrying to Marisa for some as of yet unknown reason? The thought has never crossed your mind.

…You’re extremely glad that you don’t know anyone who can read minds, since you don’t think you’d be able to hide anything from them.

You don’t have any real proof to back up the nagging suspicion in the back of your head, and it isn’t like you could really do much even if you did, so you let the matter rest for now until it becomes topical again. Instead, you decided to get to the matter at hand and get your job done. Acting quickly, you ask if either Ms. Izayoi or Ms. Meiling would be able to point you towards Ms Knowledge so that you can finish your job.

After a moment of pause Ms. Izayoi steps forward, “I will take you to where she is. Meiling, return to your post.” Ms. Meiling snaps into some sort of salute before making her way back towards the main gate. Huh. You guess that means that she was the one you saw if that’s her ‘post’. Ms. Sakuya is making her way to the Mansion proper, so you hurry along to follow her. You need to move at a rather brisk pace to keep up with her long, measured stride.

It takes you significantly less time than you thought it would to make it to the front door of the Mansion, but you don’t really have long to ponder that thought as Ms. Izayoi ushers you inside. There’s a brief pause as you wipe the gathered muck off your feet on the offered mat that you take advantage of to ask a vital question: Just who is Ms. Knowledge anyway?

“Patchouli Knowledge is the Librarian of Voile, the Library located here in Scarlet Devil Mansion. “ Sakuya responds to your question without actually giving you any information you didn’t already have. Well, you didn’t know the name of the Library, but still! Deciding that you likely aren’t going to get any more information out of Ms. Izayoi for the time being you simply keep quiet and attempt to memorize the route you are taking so that you can leave without having to ask for assistance. This proves exceedingly difficult as Ms. Izayoi appears, at least to you, to be taking turns entirely at random.

Time marches on and so do, only breaking the silence that has fallen between the two of you to ask about the occasional painting you pass by. You acted suitably impressed when you were informed that the Lady of the Mansion was descended from Count Dracula, though you’d already heard that rumor before. Just as you were beginning to wonder whether Ms. Izayoi was manipulating time to make this trip take forever she speaks, “We are here.”

You stare up at a very large set of double doors, and you feel a bit of elation well up in your heart knowing that your task is so close to completion. Ms. Izayoi opens one of the doors and gestures for you to go through. Abiding by her request you pass through the portal first, and just as you pass through the door you hear the distant sound of someone calling for Ms. Izayoi, who visibly perks up at the sound. “I’m sorry,” She says, “But I am needed elsewhere. Just look for the light and you should find Patchouli.” You blink, and when you open your eyes Ms. Izayoi is gone and the door you passed through is closed.

...That nagging suspicions that someone in this mansion is messing with you begin to become more prominent. Still, there isn’t really much you can do since you’re certain to get lost if you try to get out of this mansion yourself. Besides, when you agreed to make this delivery you made a promise, and you don’t break promises.

…Though, you are starting to wonder just how big this place is because all you can see is lanes of bookshelves that disappear into darkness in every direction you look.

Decision Time!

[ ] Just start walking. Maybe you’ll find a sign?
[ ] …Is that a girl with bat wings on her head? Maybe you can ask her where Ms. Knowledge is?
[ ] Write Ins~ ((Blah Blah Standard Rules))

To those of you writing in, the Sky Board is currently missing from our inventory due to it flying off after Marisa nailed us in the back.

[ ] …Is that a girl with bat wings on her head? Maybe you can ask her where Ms. Knowledge is?

[X] …Is that a girl with bat wings on her head? Maybe you can ask her where Ms. Knowledge is?

[x] Just start walking. Maybe you’ll find a sign?

The conveniently placed Koakuma is a trap, please ignore them.

>>136724
>Press_Start
We seem to be having a strange influx of trash lately. I wonder why that is...

[X] …Is that a girl with bat wings on her head? Maybe you can ask her where Ms. Knowledge is?

I don't think she'll mean much harm.

>Someone messing with us for fun
Dammit, Remi!

[X] …Is that a girl with bat wings on her head? Maybe you can ask her where Ms. Knowledge is?

>>136726

>The conveniently placed Koakuma is a trap, please ignore them.

I'm just curious to how the little succubus will act with someone that can barely get it up.

[X] …Is that a girl with bat wings on her head? Maybe you can ask her where Ms. Knowledge is?

>>136726
On the other hand, we've had an influx of promising new writefags, so it's an even trade.

>>136728
I'm sure she can help with that.

>>136728
You think a 13ish boy will have no sex drive, or can't sustain an erection? Provided Patchy doesn't intervene, I would honestly be surprised if he managed to get away from her in fine health.

>>136729
Hardly. These "promising new writers" are themselves drawing in trash by the rivets. Look no further than the faggotry that goes on in Mary Sue In Gensokyo:Wizard and Planewalker Edition for evidence of this.

[X] Is that a girl with bat wings on her head? Maybe you can ask her where Ms. Knowledge is?

>>136731

Do I detect butthurt? The most active threads on /th/ are also the ones full of Mary Sue Faggotry, my my~

>>136731
It's not about mary sues, but I've noticed that if you give your MC any significant power, it tends to bring out the idiot in people, the one notable exception I can think of being Fragmentation of Memories in /youkai/.

[x] Just start walking. Maybe you’ll find a sign?

[x] Just start walking. Maybe you’ll find a sign?
If I read the thread correctly, our MC can fly under his own power-much better than with the Sky board even... did I misread something? (I'm aware that he's too tired to do so right now but still)

...Aaannnnd I feel like writing now so I'm just gonna go and work with the Koakuma option, since that is what has the most votes at this moment.

Also, yes you can fly without the Sky Board, and yes you are better without it, but as you said Nanashi is tired as hell right now. He's also somewhat suspicious about his current situation and doesn't quite want to reveal his hand just yet. That's all.

I never understood the whole mary sue stigma...if the writer is a unique and interesting person, why would I not want to read a story about him going to gensokyo.

>>136790
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue

From what I remember, weren't a lot of the older story protagonists Mary Sueish in their stories, or am I confusing something.

>>136790
I think it's less about if a character is interesting and how they come across to the reader. Mary sues generally have so much going for them that it overrides what they are going against. So, even if the character is really interesting in reality, it can be hard to reach the realization they are interesting when everything is working out so well for the character.

[X] …Is that a girl with bat...
>>136760
I've been slowpoked again? But, but why?

You take a moment to consider your situation. You are currently carrying a number of what you assume to be Magical Tomes of Unknown Power and Type, which Ms. Kirisame apparently were important enough to use her Trump Card on you to try and get. You’ve entered a Mansion that follows no logical layout that you could find, and are currently inside of a massive library that you have been assured contains the person you are supposed to be delivering the previously mentioned tomes to. Your situation is becoming increasingly ridiculous, as though fate itself is mocking you.

But you can’t just sit around and mope. Mokou and Ms. Kamishirasawa did not raise you to be a quitter! Shoring up your resolve you take a few steps further into the library, casting your gaze about hoping to spot some sort of sign of habitation. It’s remarkable, you think, that a place like this exists. You’ve seen massive libraries before, but this…this is on a whole other level! You don’t envy the person who has to keep this whole place organized.

Speaking of incredible timing, as you look down one of the rows you spot a red haired woman with…bat wings on her head? Eh, you’ve seen weirder things. Plus, she looks to be gathering or organizing the books, so she probably works here. You open your mouth to call out to her, but stop yourself. You’d almost forgotten that you were in a library! You can’t yell in a library! You shudder to think of what punishments might be inflicted on you for doing such a thing. You can’t see any other option besides getting closer to her so you can get her attention without breaking the Golden Rule.

Moving quickly you cross the distance between the two of you. You can see now that she’s carrying a load of books in one arm and appears to be reaching for another, hovering just an inch of the ground so that she can take it from its spot on the shelf. Retrieving it, she adds it to the sizable pile she’s carrying and turns in your direction. She freezes the moment she sees you and her eyes grow wide. You feel something like a warm fuzzy blanket sweep over you for a moment, but the feeling fades away quickly enough.

Given that you’re the one who simply wandered into the library and lurked behind her you quickly introduce yourself and explain why you’re here before any misconceptions can be formed. Her wide eyes return to a less shocked state, though she still seems surprised for some reason.

...Is she surprised you're here early too?

Whatever the reason for her surprise, it appears that…oh. You don’t know her name either. Deciding it best to do something about that, you introduce yourself and ask her for her name. “Koakuma.” She replies, and says nothing more. Well, so long as you know what to call her you don’t really need to know any more. You are about to ask her to guide you to Ms. Knowledge before you realize that you’ve yet to check on the condition that what you are carrying is in. You had tried to shield them with your body as best you could during the fall but still…

Kneeling down you shrug your bag over your head and to the floor and begin to undo the ties and buckle holding it shut. You take a deep breath before you open the bag and hope that Ms. Hakurei has been praying for you as she promised as you pull the flap up and over. After a few moments of inspection you let out a content sigh. Not a sign of damage on anything insid-

You spoke too soon. Despair grips your heart as you check one of the many secondary pockets, as inside it lies what was once a package of delicious, home-made cookies that had been baked with you in mind. A note lies next to it, though some of the text is obscured by crumbs and bitter tears you can make out enough to know that it’s from Ms. Kamishirasawa and Mokou, both of whom are wishing you good luck on your job.

You resolve then and there that you will be having words with Ms. Kirisame after you finish this delivery.

Idly wiping a sleeve across your face you reseal the bag, taking special care to ensure that no crumbs will make their way into the main compartment. You shrug it back into place as you stand up, making sure to school your expression before you turn to Ms. Koakuma, who appears to be somewhat concerned. You quickly assure her that no harm has come to the books that Ms. Knowledge is expecting, but her expression does not lighten. Slowly, as though she was afraid of something, Ms. Koakuma reaches out a hand. Carefully, and gently, she places her hand on your head. The “smothering” feeling you had felt before comes back in force, but you shrug it off with no real issue. Perhaps the feeling is today’s events catching up to you? They have been rather exhausting.

Ms. Koakuma appears to be rather shocked by something about this situation, as her mouth is open slightly in surprise. Slowly, she begins to move her hand lightly through your hair, gently ruffling it. Her previous expression of surprise is replaced by a small smile. Her hesitant movements become surer and you have to admit that it feels kind of…

But, no. This isn’t the time or the place to get lost in hair ruffling, nice as it might feel. You speak, getting Ms. Koakuma’s attention. You ask if it would be possible for her to lead you to Ms. Knowledge, as you’d like to complete your delivery before anything else manages to happen. She doesn’t seem upset that you’re asking her to stop ruffling your hair in the least, and cheerfully takes you by the hand and leads you down several aisles before making a turn. Many more aisles and a few more turns later you can make out a light several stacks away from you. It appears that you’ve arrived at your destination at last…

The study, at least that’s what you think it is, is a rather cozy place with a few chairs scattered about here and there and desk sitting off to the side. One of the chairs is occupied by a tired looking woman with purple hair. She’s wearing what looks to be some kind of sleeping gown.

…Maybe you actually did get here a bit early? You hadn’t thought about it but maybe some people don’t get up as early as you?

“Koakuma.” She speaks, her voice calm and serious, “Did you bring everything I told you to get?” Ms. Koakuma nods and moves to place the books she’s carrying near the woman that you assume to be Ms. Knowledge, dragging you along with her. Ms. Knowledge rifles through the books for a moment, before nodding, “Yes, these are exactly what I needed. Good job, Koakuma.” Ms. Koakuma visibly preens under the praise. “Now, please go and prepare tea.” Koakuma finally releases and you quickly flutters off to parts unknown.

…Ms. Knowledge is staring at you. Her gaze is focused, and she seems to be searching for something. A long moment passes before she finally says something, “Impressive. Most males would have been reduced to drooling heaps if they were had gotten as close to her as you just did.” Drooling heaps? Well she is certainly pretty you can’t help but feel that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

Ms. Knowledge appears to have predicted your thoughts and responds immediately, “Koakuma is a succubus, a type of demon known to be able to break a human’s will with nothing more than a glance. Not only did her aura have little to no effect on you, but even when you came into direct physical contact with her you still had control over yourself.” She leans back in her chair, “…but, that isn’t important right now. You have something for me, correct?”

You confirm her suspicions and once more pull the strap of your delivery bag over your head. Placing it onto the table, you undo the straps and the belt and open the main compartment. Carefully, you withdraw the Magical Tomes of Unknown Power and Type and present them to Ms. Knowledge, who takes them and places them to the side.

“Thank you for getting these here.” She makes a gesture with her hand and one of the chairs that are scattered around the room moves itself to the opposite side of the table from Ms. Knowledge. “Please, take a seat. Koakuma will return with tea shortly.”

You see no real reason to refuse, and to be honest you’d love to have the chance to sit down in something as comfortable as that chair looks after what you’ve been through. You move to the chair and sit down across from Ms. Knowledge, and happily note that the chair was, in fact, every bit as comfortable as it looked.

...Is there anything you want to do while you wait?

CHOICE TIME

[ ] Any questions? ((Write Ins, standard rules, etc))

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY

[ ] How do you take your tea?
-----
Ugh...this section was extremely difficult for me to write, and I still don't like how it came out. There's probably some errors here and there, sorry about that.

[x]Ask Ms. Knowledge about your suspicions.
Only thing I could think of.
Though she's unlikely to be in on it, since the delivery was for her and all, she may know something.

[x] Introduce yourself
[x] Inquire about the tomes you just delivered
-[x] And the payment for your services
[x] Just regular tea.

Thank god we are young. Koakuma was surely trying to rape us. Anyways, this stale air is incredibly hard to formulate questions in, but I'm sure someone else can expound upon this.

[x] Inquire about the tomes you just delivered
[x] Just regular tea.

Either we have a bit of magic resistance or shotas are immune to succubi.

[x] Introduce yourself
[x] Inquire about the tomes you just delivered
[x] Relate the trip here, hinting your suspicions.
[x] Regular green tea.

>>136883
I had a different reading of Koakuma

She seemed happy that we weren't affected.

Hopefully she becomes an older sister figure because older sister Koakuma would be awesome.

[x] Introduce yourself
[x] Inquire about the tomes you just delivered
[x] Relate the trip here, hinting your suspicions.
[x] Regular green tea.

[x] Introduce yourself.
[x] Ask how she's doing!
[x] Earl Grey, cream and sugar.

[x] Introduce yourself
[x] Inquire about the tomes you just delivered
[x] Relate the trip here, hinting your suspicions.
[x] Black milk tea.

...I prefer it.

[x] Introduce yourself
[x] Inquire about the tomes you just delivered
[x] Relate the trip here, hinting your suspicions.
[x] Regular green tea.

>>136891
It seemed that way to me; though he as only slightly affected (only to the point he could tell something was off)

Hey guys just dropping by to say I'll probably start writing in about twenty minutes or so, so if you've got any questions you want to ask, post them now.

Also, this is the picture that I almost used for the update.

[x] Introduce yourself
[x] Inquire about the tomes you just delivered
[x] Relate the trip here, hinting your suspicions.
[x] Regular green tea.
With a side order of
-[x] And the payment for your services
I am just going to assume by Regular green tea you mean you take it plain.

------

Well, if you are going to have tea with Ms Knowledge you should get formalities out of the way first. Before anything else can come up you properly introduce yourself to Ms. Knowledge. Her gaze shifts away from the book she was flipping through to you, “I was aware of who you were.”

…Ouch.

She continues, “…I assume that Sakuya has already introduced me, but I shall say it myself. I am Patchouli Knowledge, and I am the Librarian of Voile, as well as one of the foremost experts of Magic here in Gensokyo.” You have to admit, that seems like a pretty impressive resum-wait Patchouli? Like that plant that gets put in incense? You’ve always thought it smelled nice.

Ms. Knowledge seems a bit off-balance from your unexpected line of questioning, “I-uh…yes. That naming convention is a…family tradition.” She doesn’t expand upon the subject, which you take as a sign not to ask anymore about it. Well, there are some other things you’d like to know anyway.

Adjusting yourself slightly in the chair, you question Ms. Knowledge about the tomes you’d delivered to her, asking what they are about and such. “…They’re copies of books that a few of my contemporaries owed me for…services rendered. Most of them aren’t particularly valuable, but two of them would be irreplaceable.” Her eyes move from her back onto you again, “Ordinarily I would have requested that Sakuya retrieve those two for me but…something apparently came up.” Well now isn’t that just a coincidence. “…Though, with how quickly you delivered these, perhaps I will make use of your services from now on.”

Ms. Koakuma returns from wherever she had run off to, carrying a tea set on a tray. By the smell of it, you guess that it’s a type of black tea. While you usually drink green tea, black isn’t something you’ll complain about. After all, in the end tea is tea no matter what color it is. You request bit of sugar and cream be added to yours. You thank Ms. Koakuma for the tea and she simply smiles at you in return.
You take an idle sip of the tea as you think. Your suspicions about how Ms. Kirisame managed to find out about what you were carrying are still fresh in your mind. Only Mokou and Ms. Kamishirasawa knew about what you were carrying on your end, and you doubt that Ms. Knowledge would risk two books she deemed ‘irreplaceable’. If someone put something so important to her and risk, then you should tell her what almost happened.

You speak up, gaining a quiet noise of acknowledgement from Ms. Knowledge when you do so. You explain that you felt it your responsibility to inform her of your trip here and the…issue you ran into along the way. You relate your tale to her, skipping over certain personal moments and just giving her information that relates to the matter at hand. Both of her eyebrows raise a fraction when you mention that Ms. Hakurei knew not only where you were delivering, but what as well. They immediately lower to a glower when you mention her source. Her expression darkens as you continue onwards. “T-That Marisa…who does she think she is!?” She exclaims as Ms. Koakuma watches on concerned, “First she starts breaking into my library, and now she’s trying to steal my books before they even get here!?” She pauses, and then suddenly rounds on you, bringing her hands down on the table with surprising force. “You!” She seems to have suddenly switched from outrage to joy in a moment, “You…you kept Marisa from stealing my books!” Out of the corner of your eye you see an expression of awe begin to dawn on Ms. Koakuma’s face as Ms. Knowledge begins to cackle.

You’re feeling just a bit embarrassed from all the attention, and try to say that you believe Ms. Kirisame was holding back on you anyway, but Ms. Knowledge will have none of that. “That over-powered, laser happy, mushroom obsessed lummox of a Magician wouldn’t know restraint if someone showed it to her in the dictionary!” She’s shaking her head and you think you see some tears in the corner of her eyes, “I just wish I could have seen her face…” You admit to her that Ms. Kirisame’s expression right before your headbutt connected was rather hilarious. Her cackling grows to full blown laughter, “I-I can imagine it!”

You think that, just perhaps, there may be some bad blood between Ms. Kirisame and Ms. Knowledge.

As quickly as it began Ms. Knowledge’s celebration comes to a halt. In mid-laugh, she suddenly suffers from a coughing fit. Before you can even get all the way out of your chair Ms. Koakuma is already at her side leading her back to her own chair. Once sitting down her coughing quickly begins to fade, the only sign that it happened in the first place is Ms. Knowledge’s haggard breathing. Unsure of what you should do, you remain silent.

“I…apologize for that.” Ms. Knowledge appears to have returned to her more somber attitude, but a slight smile remains on her face. “Thank you.” You pause mid-sip and make a questioning noise. “It seems as though my request caused you a lot of trouble. Even though you were dealing with that giant rat herself you didn’t acquiesce to her demands.” There’s no reason for her to thank you. Besides, you were happy to have been able to help.

Ms. Knowledge gives you an amused look, “Hmm…Is that so?” Ms Knowledge appears to have finished off her cup, and Ms. Koakuma moves to refill it the moment it’s placed back onto its saucer. The conversation lulls off and you finish off your own tea, turning down Koakuma’s offer for more. At this point you should probably ask her about-

“You want to ask about how that white-black rat knew about what you were carrying, correct?” You nod, wondering idly why it is people feel the need to interrupt you before you can ask a question. “It’s a reasonable thing to want to know, given what happened.” She leans forward, steepling her hands, “You’re certain the information did not spread from your end, which leaves you no obvious option but to suspect that someone from here spread it, correct?”

Oh wow she is really living up to her name right now. Wait, did you say that out loud?

The stifled giggling coming from Ms. Koakuma and Ms. Knowledge’s smirk seem to imply that you did.

“You’re suspicions are not unfounded.” She continues, “Now that you’ve told me your story my previous suspicions have been confirmed. The only question now…is why?” Ms Knowledge begins to massage one of her temples whilst pinching the bridge of her nose, mumbling under her breath. “No…I know why she did it. It annoys me, but I know why.” She lets out a long suffering sigh and returns her gaze to yours, exasperation clearly written on her face. “You want to know what I’m talking about, right? I’d tell you, but she’d probably sulk for weeks if I did.”

That’s fine, you say. You don’t want to cause her trouble just because you were curious, you say.

Besides, you already have an idea who is responsible. From what you’ve heard before the job and during it, there’s only one person left in this mansion. and that’s the Lady of the Mansion herself. Well, hopefully you can get out of here without having to oh who are you kidding you know what’s coming now.

“About your payment…”

And…

“You’ll need to talk to…”

Here it comes…

“Remilia about that.”

There we go! Well, it is pretty obvious at this point that fate really is conspiring against you. Still, it isn’t Ms. Knowledge’s fault that this is happening, so you smile and tell her that you’re fine with that.

“I see.” She nods, “Sakuya will likely be along to collect you shortly.” Well that’s an ominous choice of words. “So let me say this now. If you ever have need of my assistance, or wish to browse Voile, feel free to return.”

That is..! There’s no doubt that this is an incredible gift from her. You can’t even begin to imagine just how much knowledge is contained in Voile, and for her to basically give you free reign like that…

You rise from your chair and take a few steps away from the table before turning yourself to face Ms. Knowledge, and then you bow deeply and thank her for giving you such a generous gift. “Ah…” She sounds embarrassed for some reason, “There’s no need to thank me like that. I’d…be happy to be able to help you.” She returns the words that you spoke to her just minutes before. Raising from your bow you notice now that her face seems to be rather red…is she not used to receiving thanks?

A polite cough breaks the silence. You turn towards the source and find Ms. Izayoi waiting. “My apologies for the interruption,” Her tone is cool and professional, and is closer to the tone that was used on Marisa than you’re comfortable with, “But the Mistress has requested her guests presence.” You get the feeling that this may not be a request.
“Ah, it’s fine.” Ms. Knowledge answers before you have the chance, “We had just finished our tea.” You rise from your chair, stretching lightly as you do so. You bid your farewells to Ms. Knowledge, who simply nods, and Ms. Koakuma, who graces you with a smile and a wave, as you make your way over to Ms. Izayoi.

“You’re prepared then?” As much as you suppose you could be, yes. “Then, please hold still, and try not to panic.” She moves behind you and places a hand on your shoulder and the whole world melt and spins and jerks and then the world comes back into focus and you find yourself standing outside of a large, majestic set of double doors. You steady yourself from…whatever that just was and prepare yourself to greet the Lady of the Mansion.

As the doors opened you schooled your expression into one of neutrality. You weren’t going to give her the advantage by gawking at the lavishness of the room. It was a long hall of some sort, probably used to host parties or other large gatherings. Your gaze travels around the room before it settles on the opposite end of the hall, where you can see someone waiting on a raised dias. So, that’s her game, huh?

Ms. Izayoi enters the room and begins to make her way towards the figure at the far end of it and you follow after her. No words are spoken as you cross the room, and soon you’re close enough to get a detailed view of your host. She’s gently reclining in an extravagant wooden throne, a clear wineglass full of some kind of red liquid held in her left hand as she slowly, lazily swirls it around in its glass. It’s like she’s actively trying to act like a stereotypical vampire or something…

Ms Izayoi stops walking a short distance away from the bottom step of the dias and bows deeply, “Mistress Remilia, I have brought your guest, as you requested.” Remilia lazily casts an eye in your direction, “Mm~, so you did.” She places her wine glass on a side table. “Please, leave us now Sakuya. I wish to speak to our…guest alone.” Ms. Izayoi bows once more and simply disappears from where she had stood.

Your host chuckles merrily, “Let us get the formalities out of the way first, hm?” She spreads her arms wide, and her extend to their full length, “I am Remilia Scarlet, descendant of the legendary Vlad Tepes, and Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion! Welcome, human, to my lair!” Wow, she’s really getting into this, isn’t she?

CHOICE TIME
Firstly, what is Nanashi’s relationship with Lady Remilia?

[ ] This is the first time you’ve met in person, but you’ve heard her reputation for eccentricity!

[ ] You’re somewhat acquainted, having met a few times when she deigned to leave the mansion for some reason or another.

[ ] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.

[ ] It’s not something you can describe with just a blurb! (( Write in Option for those of you who’d like to be a bit more detailed or want something different))

SECONDLY. How do you respond to Remilia?

[ ] Play Naïve! Make her think she’s lost you!

[ ] GENUFLECT! Despair! Being captured by this vampire has left you in despair!

[ ] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

[ ] Write in~

[x] You’re somewhat acquainted, at least acquainted enough to get away with the next part.

[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

[x] You’re somewhat acquainted, having met a few times when she deigned to leave the mansion for some reason or another.

[x] Play Naïve! Make her think she’s lost you

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

Being a good friend is the only way to pull the Castlevania stunt off.

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.

[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

Is that time again.

[x] You’re somewhat acquainted, having met a few times when she deigned to leave the mansion for some reason or another.
[x] Play Naïve! Make her think she’s lost you

This story feels a lot like GH.

I like this. A lot. And I won't be the only one.

[x] You’re somewhat acquainted, having met a few times when she deigned to leave the mansion for some reason or another.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gensokyo!

There has to be some foundation of friendliness built, for her to turn to us for delivery services. However, personally, I do not wish to be the best of buddies because it will lend a little bravado to our speech if we are only faintly acquainted. Doesn't even matter though, I'm way late to the vote.

>Ms. Knowledge begins to cackle.
Creepy. I cannot imagine Patchy doing this in any sort of way. Full-blown laughter much less so.

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gensokyo!

What can I say? I'm a sucker for Castlevania options when it comes to Remilia.

[x] You’re somewhat acquainted, having met a few times when she deigned to leave the mansion for some reason or another.
[x] Play Naïve! Make her think she’s lost you

[+] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[+] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gensokyo!

>>137191
>Creepy. I cannot imagine Patchy doing this in any sort of way. Full-blown laughter much less so.
Not that hard to imagine when you consider how irritating it could get have someone stealing from you & not being able to do more than offer a token resistance that always proves futile.

I have to wonder in what the hell kind of situation a haughty 500 year old vampire aristocrat would become good friends with a young peasant boy. I wouldn't even have given the option myself.

>>137246
>I have to wonder in what the hell kind of situation a haughty 500 year old vampire aristocrat would become good friends with a young peasant boy.
Gensokyo.

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.

[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

>>137246

Boredom. Also Gensokyo. Because look at Remi's options.
>Psycho Sister- CHARISMA'd
>Murder Maid- CHARISMA'd
>Asmtha Wizard- CHARISMA'd
>Log Being Saw'd w/Red Tuft at one end- CHARISMA'd I guess
>FAIRIES- FAIRIES what else need be said?
>Rat-like Wizard- Beat you down
>Embezzling Shrine Maiden- Kicked your ass
>Everyone else- Too boring/far away/hated because they're more powerful then you
>Random human kid who can fly and make amusing pop culture references- NICE TO SEE YOU THAT XANDER

[V] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[V]Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x]Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!
Can't resist

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

This kid is going to break a lot of hearts at this rate. That or he's gonna get molested a lot. There just aren't enough attractive men for all the powerful women in Gensokyo.

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

Siccing Marisa was a prank on us. Clearly, we need to prank harder.

[x] You’re somewhat acquainted, having met a few times when she deigned to leave the mansion for some reason or another.
[x] Play naïve! Make her think she’s lost you.

shirou.jpg

Yeah, I'm just going to take those votes now and get writing. You'll have a voting update tomorrow, but you might get a non-vote update tonight.

Also, here. Have the picture that inspired the Remilia scene.

[x] You’re good friends! The only person who knows about your relationship is Ms. Izayoi.
[x] Castlevania Option! Away with you monster, you do not belong in Gesokyo!

Your host smirks down at you from her raised dias, and you resist the urge to roll your eyes. It is not as though you don’t enjoy spending time around Remilia, It’s just she can be so…eccentric. Speaking of which…

Remilia has summoned a massive red spear from somewhere and has begun making dramatic gestures with it “Away with you Nanashi, you do not belong in Gensokyo!”

…Something about this entire situation feels off. You are reasonably certain that she is the exact opposite of the sort of person that should be saying those lines.

Still, you suppose it’s best to just play along. You give her a disinterested gaze and with an air of indifference respond, “It was not by my choice that I was brought here.” You make a dismissive gesture with one hand, “I was called here by librarians who wished for deliveries.”

By the widening grin on her face, you can tell with some certainty that she approves of your improvisation to the script, or at the very least is amused by them. Now it’s time to see if she can do the same…

“Deliveries?” Remilia incredulous voice almost manages to hide the hints of dire amusement underneath it, “You steal girls hearts and make them your slaves!” Her grip on the spear tightens.

You maintain your carefully crafted image, but inject just a touch of annoyance into your voice, “Perhaps the same can be said of all delivery persons.” One of Remilia’s eyebrows rises as she mouths ‘delivery persons’ at you, her dire amusement no longer very concealed. As though she could handle this speech any better.

…Actually, would she have to change the speech at all?

She punctuates her next statement with a stamp of her foot, and is likely unaware of just how much it makes her look her age.“Your words are as empty as your soul! Gensokyo ill-needs a delivery boy such as yourself!” Well, physical age anyway. You suppose being a vampire of indeterminate age means that acting her own age would probably mean she’d be telling you about how much cheaper bread rice was when she was young…

You allow your disinterested gaze to evolve into a dark glower, and force a growl into your voice as you unleash your final response! “What is Gensokyo? A miserable pile of non-tippers!” You tense, preparing yourself for the most important part of this display. “But enough talk…have at you!” With a dramatic flair you throw your right arm towards Remila, and a single, red danmaku appears, moving in a slow, lazy arc.

Remilia idly side-steps the single bullet and just stares at you, as though unable to comprehend your final statement. Well, the grin hasn’t faded at least, so you think you can assume that she isn’t mad at you…probably. Of course, you suppose a smile could be considered a threat from a vampire, what with the giant fangs and everything.

A strangled noise comes from Remilia as she covers her mouth with one hand, her shoulders shaking. Her half-hearted resistance ends and she is quickly consumed by her own laughter. “I-I…” she attempts to speak but dissolves into giggles, “I can’t believe you said some of those things!” You don’t think you did THAT badly, but apparently she disagrees. She apparently feels it necessary to inform you of the numerous mistakes you made, her good humor not fading as she continues to poke fun at you for your poor improvisation. Ah well, so long as she’s laughing you’re fine with this.

Remilia returns to her chair, and gestures for you to take a seat in a chair that appears seemingly from nowhere. Taking the seat you adjust yourself slightly in the overly soft cushions, trying to find a way to sit that won’t end with you being devoured by them. Remilia smirks, and you immediately know she chose this chair on purpose. The things you put up with…

“With that matter out of the way,” Remilia speaks “You want to talk about payment for the job you did you Patchy, right?” That’s one thing you’d be interested in talking about, but you’re far more personally interested in how Marisa came to find out about what you were carrying. Remilia adopts a sheeping expression and responds, “Oh, yes. That.” She smiles, her fangs gleaming a bit, “You wouldn’t be willing to forget all about that, would you?” No, no you would not. Her smile droops a bit and she lets out a dejected sigh.

An uncomfortable pause arises, but you don’t try to break it. Perhaps it’s selfish of you, but Remilia’s actions nearly got you seriously harmed. If that Spark had connected you’d have been in no condition to save yourself from the fall, and with how close you were to the ground…

“…I’m sorry. It was never supposed to get as bad as it did.” She doesn’t try to deny her involvement in the situation, which is something you appreciate given the circumstances. “It was foolish of my in hindsight. Of course that black-white would try and take Patchy’s books from by force.” Admitting her mistakes, that’s another thing you can appreciate.

“I cannot apologize enough for what happened to you due to my carelessness. I am prepared to…” You cut her off, tell her it’s fine. After all, you’d be a poor friend if you let something like this get in the way.

She stares at you incredulously, as if she cannot comprehend a person who would answer in such a manner. “You…what? I put you in danger, you idiot!” Why is she so angry about this? “Not only did I carelessly risk your well being, I put Patchy’s books at risk as well, just so I could have my fun! I even told Sakuya and Meiling to only interfere if absolutely necessary!” She’s admitting to things she hadn’t before, but she doesn’t notice, “I did all these things to you, and you’re just going to forgive me?”

Well, that’s just your style.

“…You’re an idiot Nanashi.” Though she’s acting so harsh, she seems really relieved. Did she actually think you’d be that upset? You ask her what’s so bad about a bit of endangerment between friends. She just starts laughing at you again.
-----
Ugh…I’ll have the rest of this up when I manage to shrug off whatever’s in my system right now. Sorry if Remilia feels weird to read, I’m trying to write her as…well FRIENDS with Nanashi.

You sit in silence as Remilia enjoys her laugh at your expense. You really do wonder why she would be worried about you being upset with her for such a thing. Given that even the closest of friends you've seen in Gensokyo make a common practice of shooting Danmaku at each other, letting a bit of information out as a practical joke isn't really all that bad. Plus, like you said, holding grudges just isn't something you do.

...Except for her, but that's something of a special case.

You quickly force your thoughts off onto other tracks, knowing that focusing on her will just end up ruining the rest of your day. Turning to Remilia, you note that she's gotten her laughter under control. "Ah, Nanashi." You know, for all the fuss people kick up about Remilia, she's never really seemed that different from any of the other girls you spend time around. "Such a naive answer is what I should have expected of you." You think that you should perhaps be insulted by that remark.

A companionable silence falls between the two of you. Remilia seems to be gazing off into nothing, likely thinking about something. Following her example, you reflect on just how this day has gone so far. While you admit that the entire slamming body first into the ground part of the chase wasn't so much fun, you have to admit to yourself that the informal duel you had with Marisa was a lot of fun once you got into it. The constant threat of attack, needing to run a half-dozen routes to take through your head in an instant so that you could pick the best path, and the last final thrill as you rolled out of the way of Marisa's legendary technique. You feel like you've finally proven your claim that you're one of the best flyers in Gensokyo now.

Even better, you had the chance to meet a number of new people! You'd already met Ms. Izayoi during your interactions with Remilia, but you've never had the chance to meet any other member of Remilia's family. Ms. Meiling seemed like a nice person for what little time you had to spend around her. Ms. Koakuma was quite nice as well, and her assistance in finding Ms. Knowledge likely saved you a large amount of time and effort considering that you had been headed in the wrong direction entirely before you stumbled upon her. Speaking of Ms. Knowledge, she seemed to be a rather interesting person as well, if rather focused on her field. Her generous offer to allow you into Voile on an "as interested" basis is probably something you'll take advantage of in the future, even if it's partially because it gives you an excuse to come and visit Remilia in her domain rather than her coming to you.

Your musings come to an end as Remilia breaks the silence, "As much fun as sitting her doing nothing is, Nanashi." Remilia has a somewhat somber expression on her face, "I'm afraid that I can't spend much time with you today. I promised Flan that I'd spend the day with her." You attempt to extract yourself from your chairs pillowy clutches, and while doing so you tell Remilia that you're fine with that. No reason to be mad at her for being a good sister, right? Besides, you have other incredibly important business to attend to, so you would have had to leave soon anyway.

"Oh?" Remilia's confident grin has returned, just as you'd planned, "Important business? Well then, I guess it's for the best then, isn't it? Let's conclude our own business though, hm?" ...Wait you had business here? You were just relaxing with Oh right your pay!

"SAKUYA!" Remilia calls out for Ms. Izayoi, who appears from nowhere the moment Remilia finished. "You called for me Mistress?" Ms. Izayoi questioned in her ever present professional tone. "Yes, go and retrieve Nanashi's payment, would you?" With a bow, Ms. Izayoi once again disappears, off to go and retrieve your pay you suppose. Not even a minute passes before Ms. Izayoi returns carrying a…briefcase? You see Remilia make a gesture out of the corner of your eye, and Ms. Izayoi adjusts the briefcase so that it’s lying horizontally. With a swift motion she unlocks and pulls the lid up revealing…

Oh wow. That…that is a lot of money. It’s several magnitudes larger than what you expected to receive for this delivery. You turn to speak to Remilia about this but she cuts you off before you can say anything, “I don’t want to hear anything about how ‘You can’t accept this.’.” She rises from her chair with a fluid motion as she speaks, “Besides, this isn’t just your pay. It includes a bonus for early delivery, hazard pay and,” A gleam that you are beginning to become quite familiar with enters her eyes, “a down payment on further use of your services.” Remilia descends from the dais, and after extricating yourself from your chair you follow after her. “As entertaining as this has been, it’s time for us to go about our separate business. Flan is waiting for me.” Well, you have no desire to keep Remilia from spending time with her sibling, so you agree and wish her a pleasant day. “And you as well Nanashi. Sakuya will escort you to the entryway.” And with that, Remilia turned and walked away, likely off to wherever her sisters room is.

You turn to Ms. Izayoi, and note that the briefcase has seemingly disappeared into thin air. Before you can voice any questions, Ms. Izayoi speaks, “I took the liberty of transferring your payment from the briefcase to your own bag.” You heft the bag slightly, and realize that it has gotten heavier without you even noticing it.

…It seems as though Ms. Izayoi really is the perfect maid, just as the rumors said.

In short order Ms. Izayoi lead you out of the massive room you’d been in and back into the labyrinthine hallways of the mansion proper. You don’t even bother trying to keep track of your path through the Mansion this time, knowing that it would be futile to attempt it. Your journey to the entryway is far shorter than your trip to the library was, and in no time at all Ms Izayoi ushers you out the main doors of the mansion. You shield your eyes as you step out into the bright light, only now realizing just how much darker the interior of the mansion is. As soon as you are out of the way, Ms. Izayoi begins to close the doors. Before it shuts completely, she speaks, “Thank you for coming today. The mistress enjoys your company.” You tell here there’s no reason to thank you for spending time with a close friend. Your only response is a quite thoughtful hum before the door closes completely.

Finding yourself left to your own devices, you begin to make your way towards the main gate of the mansion in no real hurry. You enjoy the sights and smells of the garden as you wind your way down the path. Even at your own slow pace, the sun has risen no higher in the sky than it had when you left the door when you reach the gate. Ms. Meiling turns her head as you pass by her, “Oh! Hey, did you finish up your delivery already?” She scratches the back of her head, “Uh…sorry about not jumping in when you got attacked, but…” You tell her that it’s fine, and that you know she’s got her own job to do, and can’t just go and leave her post whenever she’d like to. She laughs and responds, “Yeah! I mean, who knows what sort of people would try to get into the mansion if I wasn’t here!” You don’t point out that one of the main suspects, at least given what you heard from Ms. Knowledge, was the one after you.

Much as you’d like to just stay here and make ideal conversation, you know that you’re probably distracting Ms. Meiling from her job by doing so, and you’d rather not get her in trouble. You reach behind your back for your Sky Board, only to come to the startling realization that it isn’t there. Where did…?

Oh, right. When Marisa’s attack hit you it went flying off in some direction. Well, that’s just-

“Oh, right!” Ms. Meiling exclaims, “I grabbed that thing you were flying on when Sakuya took you inside.” She’s holding out the Sky Board, and you gratefully take it back from her, thanking her profusely for retrieving it. She seems rather embarrassed by your gratitude, “Aw, geez. You don’t need to thank me, it hadn’t really flown off far anyways.” Still, you tell her that you appreciate going through the effort for you. She pats you on the head and laughs, “Hey, don’t worry about it. Us workers have to look out for each other, right?”
------

FIRST CHOICE
[ ] Is there anything you’d like to say to Ms. Meiling before you go on your way? ((Write in~))
SECOND CHOICE
Where the heck are you headed anyway?
[ ] Head over the Mystia’s! You’re really hungry after everything that’d already happened today.
[ ] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

---
Sorry for any errors, but I am rushing this out before I go on a car trip. Image used because I thought it was cool.

[x] "You're real swell, Miss Meiling!"
[x] Mystia's. Fooood!

[+] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[+] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

I almost feel like I'm reading HLA again

[x] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

[x] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

[x] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

[x] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

In the end there will be no Touhou Nanashi has not hugged.

[x] "You're real swell, Miss Meiling!"
[x] Mystia's. Fooood!
Must. Know. Interaction. With. Other. Touhous.

[x] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

Most in-character option.

Well, I'm just going to call this and start writing now. It looks to me that

[x] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

Won, so I'll be seeing what I can do for you hug happy anons.

I wonder who her is...

>>137799
I'm pretty sure it's Marisa since she is responsible for the destruction of the ever-treasured baked-with-love cookies.

>>137815
He already has an established friendship with Marisa, and is confident he can fly better than her. Despite her trying to take our parcel, and smashing our cookies, we left that confrontation on somewhat amiable terms.

No, you see, this boy seems to pride himself primarily by his flying skills. Since we are one of the best fliers in Gensokyo, you should ask yourself; who in Gensokyo flys better? The identity of her is none other than Aya, our only rival. It's rather obvious.

>>137823
It might be some other character that might have done something against one of his friends/"family"

>>137823
No, I'm still gonna have to go with Marisa as being her.

>You spoke too soon. Despair grips your heart as you check one of the many secondary pockets, as inside it lies what was once a package of delicious, home-made cookies that had been baked with you in mind. A note lies next to it, though some of the text is obscured by crumbs and bitter tears you can make out enough to know that it’s from Ms. Kamishirasawa and Mokou, both of whom are wishing you good luck on your job.

>You resolve then and there that you will be having words with Ms. Kirisame after you finish this delivery.

Yeah. Gonna stick with that until Nobody says otherwise.

No, wait. Guys. Her.

We know he delivers things. He makes sure things go where they need to. He brings things...from Here to There. He prides himself on speed and flight ability, as well.

She must render all this moot. You know how Yukari gets from place to place?

She Manipulates the Boundary between Here and There. She never needs to fly, and can mess with a delivery without anyone knowing, or even disturbing the packaging.

It's totally Yukari.

You're all wrong, and her should be fairly obvious. You're just looking in the wrong places for it.

>>137886
Clearly. By guessing, we make the answer wrong until we say it couldn't possibly be her, therein making it right.

[x] It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks again for the help earlier.
[x] Hugggggggggggggs~
[x] Go to the Hakurei Shrine! We should thank Reimu for praying for us.

Welp, dragon hugs and Shrine Maidens are the name of the game today.
------
While you certainly appreciate and respect the virtue of modesty, you’re no fool. You’ve spent enough time on the Sky Board to know that Ms. Meiling is exaggerating greatly when she says that it hadn’t flown off far. Given it’s propensity for meandering off course if it doesn’t have someone actively controlling it you’d imagine that it flew a fair distance away from the mansion, potentially landing any number of places. Even if Ms. Meiling had simply watched where it flew, she would have still had to leave her post to retrieve it for you. Also, from the way you’ve seen her react to your praise, you suspect perhaps she does not receive enough of it for her hard work and you’ve no intention of following that pattern.

Moving quickly while she’s still distracted you take the few steps needed to close the distance between the two of you and quickly pull her into a hug…well, pull yourself into hugging her, as the size difference between the two of you all but ensures that you aren’t going to be moving her via your own strength. Ms. Meiling seems to freeze the moment you initiate the hug, perhaps unsure of why you are doing this or how to respond.

You inform Ms. Meiling that you are neither stupid nor unobservant. That you know that Sky Board better than anyone else, and given that you are well aware of all its quirks you know that it wouldn’t have stopped a short distance away, and that it would have flown off-course and landed any number of locations. Given this, it is rather obvious to you that she’s lying when she implied that it hadn’t taken her any work to get it. At this point, Ms Meiling appears to have calmed down, as she’s no longer quite so tense.

Moreover, you continue, you owe Ms. Meiling from before when she helped you. She starts to attempt to claim that she hadn’t done anything, that Ms. Izayoi was the one who really helped, but you inform her that it was her who kept you from lapsing into unconsciousness when she surprised you. Thus, in simply being there and talking to you, Ms. Meiling helped just as much as Ms. Izayoi had when she chased off Ms. Kirisame.

You feel Ms. Meiling place a hand on your head, gently ruffling your hair around as she chuckles, still sounding somewhat embarrassed by your expression of gratitude. “Uh, well…Thanks.” You respond, informing her that it’s not necessary to thank someone for their thanks. “Then, you’re welcome, and I’m glad I could help.” Disengaging yourself from her, you take a step back and can now see Ms. Meiling beaming smile, which you return with one of your own.

Much as you’d enjoy staying and chatting, you know that Ms. Meiling has a job to do, and that you should be off to go and thank Ms. Hakurei for her prayers, especially considering it likely took some kind of diving intervention to get you out of the way of that Master Spark. You hop onto the Sky Board and wish Ms. Meiling a pleasant day, a gesture that she returns. With farewells taken care of, you launch off into the air.

You let out a sigh of relief as you feel the wind gently caress your face, and allow yourself a moment to simply cruise aimlessly and enjoy the feeling. You’ve been asked before why you love flying, and it’s just not something you’ve been able to properly articulate. Whether you’re cruising at low altitudes, rushing somewhere at high speeds, or engaging in fantastic mid-air duels, flight always fills you with the same feeling of contentment.

You adjust your angle on the Sky Board, aiming it in the same direction that you came from before. A quick glance at the sun tells you that it’s currently sometime around noon. Deciding that there’s no real point in rushing at everywhere, you simply set off at a decent clip in the proper direction. On carefully honed instinct, you keep your sense alert for the sound of any interceptors. The faeries don’t usually bother you, but most of them are flighty creatures, so it pays to be cautious. Not to mention, you don’t imagine that Ms. Kirisame is especially happy with you at the moment, given you foiled her dastardly plan and delivered what you expect was a rather painful headbutt. Still, you can’t imagine that she’d try to jump you when it’s obvious just who you’re on your way to visit.

Speaking of visits, you can make out the Shrine in the distance now. Picking up the pace just a bit more, you begin to lower your altitude in preparation for your landing. Swooping down you see Ms. Hakurei sitting and having tea with a guest. Well, you’ll just swing by and thank her and get out of the way. Slowing down before you’re close to the ground so you avoid kicking up debris, you bring yourself to a stop a fair distance away from where Ms. Hakurei is. You turn your attention in that direction to greet her when you finally clearly see her guest. Ms. Kirisame is staring at you with an expression of surprise on her face, but you don’t think that’ll last for long.

[b]CHOICE TIME[b]
Look Out! An Ordinary Magician approaches!
[ ] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

[ ] Evade! Just thank Ms. Hakurei and try to leave. You’d really prefer not to deal with Ms. Kirisame right now.

[ ] RUN! Flee from this place before she has the chance to attack!
[ ] Pick a number (1-8)

[ ] Write in~ ((Standard rules apply.))
-----
Writing is kind of difficult when you catch a minor case of food poisoning, this is a lesson I’ve learned firsthand. Also, I’m going to be looking into getting a proof reader, so hopefully my writing will improve.

Forgot my pic.

Also, edited choices for poor formatting

[b]CHOICE TIME[b]
Look Out! An Ordinary Magician approaches!

[ ] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

[ ] Evade! Just thank Ms. Hakurei and try to leave. You’d really prefer not to deal with Ms. Kirisame right now.

[ ] RUN! Flee from this place before she has the chance to attack!
--------[ ] Pick a number (1-8)

[ ] Write in~ ((Standard rules apply.))

[x] Attack of opportunity. Shoot

Her surprise won't last for long, and we are entirely justified in doing this. Not only did she smash our painstakingly crafted homemade cookies, but she tried to spark us. She deserves much worse than a quick spray of danmaku, but this will have to do.

[x] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

There isn't much to worry about seeing how we actually donated and if she tries a ruckus, it'll attract Reimu's attention.

[x] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

She must answer for destroying the cookies Keine Baked for us.

[x] RUN! Flee from this place before she has the chance to attack!
[x] Pick a number (8)

>>137954
[x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.

[x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.

x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.

[♦] Hello.
[♦] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[♦] You ruined my cookies.
[♦] Prepare to die.

Of course this probably boils down to pointing out how little restraint she can actually exercise & waving the destroyed cookies in her face indignantly. Nanashi is only a child if, as has been shown, an overly mature one.

So far this is good & you should feel good.

[x] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

[x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.

[x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.

[x] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

[x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.

[x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.

Y U DO THIS MARISA?

[x] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

[x] Talk! This is likely the best chance you’ll have to talk to Ms. Kirisame about this mornings events.

Eh, he wouldn't get the reference and neither would she.

[x] Hello.
[x] My name is Nanashi Mumei.
[x] You ruined my cookies.
[x] Prepare to die.
Inigo Montoya moment? I can dig this.

>>138045
>Eh, he wouldn't get the reference and neither would she.
I am 99% sure everyone realizes that and are, in fact, wanting what he says to be something along those lines even if the 'Prepare to die' bit is, of course, exaggeration.

>>138005

Congratulations! You figured out exactly what I am going to do with this. You won't be getting a straight reference to this because it would be drastically out of character.

So yeah, I'm writing now. You should get something tonight if all goes well.

>>138052
I can feel the victory overcoming me.

I'm just dropping by to apologize for not being able to update. A whole lot of shit happened today which basically kept me from writing at all. So, as an apology, take this picture of Patchouli and something I wrote up because someone on the IRC bugged me to.

-----

You are caught by surprise as straps fly up from the sides of the chair and lock themselves into place around your arms, leaving you trapped. On instinct you struggle against the bonds, but find it to be a fruitless endeavor. You turn your head sharply towards Ms. Knowledge when she closes her book with an audible snap.

“You really are interesting...far too interesting to just allow Remilia to have you all to herself." Ms. Knowledge places her book on the sidetable and rises languidly from her chair, looking you over with an interested gaze.

"It's a rare enough occasion for a man to come to this library, and those who do are almost always ensared by Koakuma's charm." She pulls her outer robe off, leaving her in nothing but a nightgown that you are suddenly aware is not quite as loose as first glance would imply.

"Yet, here you are. Not only did you resist Koakuma's temptation, but you perservered against that monochrome, mushroom obsessed, poor excuse for a Wizard when you came to deliver my books to me." She's standing in front of you now, her arms crossed under her bust, bringing your gaze to it before you force your eyes away.

Her thumb begins to idly stroke your face, and you unconsciously lean into it, bringing a smile to her face as your feel your own grown increasingly warm. Ms. Knowledge leans forward, her face now just a scant few inches away from your own. “You did something good for me, Nanashi.” Her other hand reaches out and takes hold of the back of your head, “Allow me to return that favor.” Then, without another word, the distance between the two of you is closed.

So soft…that is the only though running through your mind as Ms. Knowledge takes away your first kiss. Moving with speed and grace her tired attitude had not implied, she quickly straddles you and holds you firmly in place, one hand behind your head and another behind your back. You feel something apply pressure to your closed lips and…

-----
It's kind of halfhearted, but they're were rather insistent that I post it.

do continue~

>>138089
Any more to this? If you can't update right now, at least we can get this to sate our appetite shortly.

Huh. If you guys like it I'll try to finish it up at some point in the future. Anyways, I'll try to write some more today.

>>138089
Patchy is getting so CAVED once Keine finds out. Tying her boy down and molesting him is not a good idea. Unless she's a lot more accepting of such things than I'd honestly expect.

>>138131

Keine would be annoyed that Patchouli got to him first.

>>138146
It's kind of funny and sad at the same time, but looking at my comment in >>138095, if Patchouli were a guy and Nanashi were a girl would most of us who have no problem with that little excerpt be squicked out a little?

I still do definitely like that little scene, and do hope it will be continued, but sometimes I get reminded about the http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeIsOkWhenItIsFemaleOnMale (Rape Is Ok When It Is Female on Mape trope), and other Double Standards as well.

>>138155

A woman sexually dominating a man is hot because of how-

>http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeIsOkWhenItIsFemaleOnMale

Nevermind, just leave.

You feel the anger from before begin to well up in your chest the moment you see her. Her actions against you earlier today are still fresh in your mind. It was her actions that forced you to sneak like some kind of rat through the forest, and then opened fire on you without even having the good grace and manners to declare an official spell card duel. While you admit it is something of a formality usually reserved for serious situations, it was a slight against you that she treat you like that. Then she chased you across the entirety of the Misty Lake, nearly shooting you down half-a-dozen times, all the while making comments and jibes at you the whole way. Then when you are so close to making it to your goal unscathed…she uses her signature attack on you, an attack that’s been known to take down individuals significantly more powerful than yoursel. Even when you manage to avoid that she hits you in your exposed back with a flurry of danmaku, sending you careening to the ground in an uncontrolled descent that, had you been any less skilled than you are, would likely have resulted in serious injury to you, and because of that fall…

You spoke too soon. Despair grips your heart as you check one of the many secondary pockets, as inside it lies what was once a package of delicious, home-made cookies that had been baked with you in mind. A note lies next to it, though some of the text is obscured by crumbs and bitter tears you can make out enough to know that it’s from Ms. Kamishirasawa and Mokou, both of whom are wishing you good luck on your job.[i]

You suppose this is the best chance you are going to get to have words with Ms. Kirisame. Ms. Hakurei is here, so you sincerely doubt she’ll do anything particularly rash. Also, you have the advantage in this situation as it appears that your sudden arrival has knocked Ms. Kirisame off guard enough that you should be able to complete your declaration without her interrupting you. Your course of action decided on, you hop off your Sky Board and sling it under your arm, and march towards Ms. Kirisame. Out of the corner of your eye you see that Ms. Hakurei has an amused expression on her face, for some mysterious reason. Well, at the very least you think that means that she will not stop you.

“Oh hey, Nanashi…” You don’t allow Ms. Kirisame to finish, you just simply don’t have the patience at this point and time to do so. You interrupt her and begin to list the actions that she took against you today: The threat of her attack forced you to skulk through the forest rather than simply fly comfortably, she opened fire on what she thought to be your opinion without even showing you the common respect of declaring a duel, once she sighted you she [i]continued her assasult, all the while throwing verbal taunts at you, attempted to hit you with a Master Spark, and then succeeded in hitting you with a barrage of danmaku that sent you crashing to the ground. You ask if Ms. Kirisame is aware of just how lucky you are to have taken that fall without serious injury. Moreover, and as you do this you produce the damning evidence, she destroyed a precious gift! Marisa stares at the package of cookie crumbs and the note incredulously as you launch into your speech, declaring that her actions completely destroyed what was a loving gift from your caretakers, something they had crafted for you to enjoy when you discovered where it was secretly hidden away after you made you delivery! But no, that was not allowed to happen as Ms. Kirisame saw fit to shot you out of the sky and send you careening into the ground!

You take a breath to calm yourself and then speak calmly once more, asking her just why she did what she did. “U-uh…” Her voice is somewhat unsteady, and her shoulders seem to shake slightly as she speaks, “It wasn’t really supposed to go that far, you know?” Wasn’t supposed to go that far? It does not particularly matter that it wasn’t supposed to go that far! You ask her what do you think would have happened to you had that Spark connected? You’d have been plowed straight into the ground, and there would have been no way you’d come out of that able to walk! At this point Ms. Kirisame appears to be attempting to look anywhere but at you, and the shaking in her shoulders has increased.

…Still, you’ve said what needed to be said. Now it’s time to clarify. One of the many lessons you’ve been taught is to never allow bad air to remain as long as you can avoid it. You allow yourself a calming breath and speak once more. You clearly state to Ms. Kirisame that you do not hate her, if that is what she believes. While you are admittedly upset that she acted as she did, you were aware that even though she used of the Master Spark Ms. Kirisame was never, at any point, going all out. After all, you’re well aware of Ms. Kirisame’s genius when it comes to her chosen field.

Ms. Hakurei is the one who speaks this time, “Oh? A genius in her field, hm?” The amusement is plain in her voice. Perhaps she’s simply happy with how you handled the situation? You respond to her question, stating that it is a well know fact that Ms. Kirisame is one of the most powerful individuals in Gensokyo, and that she’s fought on an even level with thousand year old Youkai, powerful spirits, and gods. Moreover, you’re well aware that this is not some ability she was born with, as any person who has conversed with her would see that it is obvious that Ms. Kirisame takes great pride in the amount of effort she puts into her arcane studies, even if her methodology for acquiring new things to study is a bit…unorthodox. Ms. Kirisame tugs the brim of her hat down some more, and at this point you are unable to see her face.

“Hm...is that so?” Ms. Hakurei turns her head lazily towards Ms. Kirisame, “See, Marisa? He’s not angry at all.” Was Ms. Kirisame concerned that you’d be that angry with her? “So!” Ms. Hakurei continues, “That means you didn’t have any reason at all to come in panicking like you had.” Ms. Kirisame begins to turn an interesting shade of crimson and seems to be trying to speak, but is unable to find the words. Ms. Hakurei continues, “You were yelling about how ‘He’s going to hate me forever~’ and ‘I could have dropped him into the lake~’ for no reason at all!” A predatory gleam in her eyes Ms. Hakurei presses on, “You also said ‘Now I’ll never get-“ Ms. Hakurei shifts to the side as a beam-type danmaku passes through where her head was a moment ago.

Ms. Kirisame gestures wildly at Ms. Hakurei as she speaks, having apparently found her voice at some point, “W-what do you think you’re saying Reimu!” Oh. She sounds really angry. You begin to subtly and slightly adjust your position in respect to the two.

You’re almost in position to run. You know it’s best to be ready, because if you were reading Ms. Hakurei correctly…

Ms. Hakurei grins at her, “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about Marisa.” Even you aren’t convinced by the innocence she projects into her voice. Ms Kirisame decides that she wasn’t making enough of a point with an empty hand, and is now gesturing at Ms. Hakurei with her Mini-Hakkero, angrily questioning her about her reasoning behind saying what she had.

“Oh? Why’d I say it?” Ms. Hakurei is on her feet now, her gohei in one hand and a bunch of seals in the other. “You didn’t even notice did you? When you came running in her you knocked over my tea!”

It is at that moment you appreciate the severity of the situation, and you throw the Sky Board down in front of you and hop on it. You need to move quickly…!

Ms. Kirisame doesn’t back down, and an ominous glow begins to shine from her Mini-Hakkero, “I don’t care if I destroyed your whole stock!”

You move, and not a moment too soon. Letting out their respective battle cries, the two titans of incident resolution face each other in combat, filling every available space with numerous types of bullets. From what you were able to hear, this is…probably going to take a while, and as you aren’t particularly interested in ending up caught in this bullet storm, you decide to go somewhere else.

CHOICE TIME
[ ] Head to Mystia’s Stall! She’s probably got a fresh shipment of ingredients by now…

[ ] Swing by the Forest of Magic. You might be able to find one of your friends there!
---- [ ] Pick a Number ( 1-3)

[ ] …Those crows are staring at you.
------
Well, that took longer than I’d hoped. Sorry about the delays, all sorts of drama came up. Still, errors what not blah blah blah, I am going to go to sleep now.

[x] Head to Mystia’s Stall! She’s probably got a fresh shipment of ingredients by now…

Now it's time to hang out there!

Good update as always.

[x] …Those crows are staring at you.
I wonder.

[♦] …Those crows are staring at you.
Time for a staring contest.

[x] …Those crows are staring at you

[x] Head to Mystia’s Stall! She’s probably got a fresh shipment of ingredients by now.

A growing boy needs food after all that excitement.

[x] …Those crows are staring at you.

[x] Those crows option

What the hell was up with the italics in this update? Did you simply forget to remove them, or was being lazy in the editing?

>>138187
>*snerk*
I am not a brilliant man, so I cannot express my disdain of you in some sort of elegant or witty manner. Instead, I will give it to you straight. You are trash, and I pray you kill yourself.

[X] Head to Mystia’s Stall! She’s probably got a fresh shipment of ingredients by now…

Lunch time.

>>138188
>What the hell was up with the italics in this update?
Chill out, he forgot the slash for a closure tag, so the italics kept going until they hit another. Other writers have made that mistake too, so don't go crazy over it.

>>138181

Haha, this!

[X] …Those crows are staring at you.
---[X] Time for a staring contest.
---[X] Shed a single tear for Reimu's tea... a fellow comrade lost to Marisa's thoughtless knavery.

Tea and cookies... you shall be remebered fondly. Cruelly taken before your time.


>>138188

Happy? I'm new, made an honest forgetfull mistake. Least I remebered not to use smilies.

[x] …Those crows are staring at you

[x] …Those crows are staring at you.

[X] …Those crows are staring at you.
---[X] Time for a staring contest.
---[X] Shed a single tear for Reimu's tea... a fellow comrade lost to Marisa's thoughtless knavery.

>>A predatory gleam in her eyes Ms. Hakurei presses on, “You also said ‘Now I’ll never get-'

Never get what?

>>138203
Married. I've revised my position on his future to gigolo or unsubtle harem anime protagonist.

[X] …Those crows are staring at you.
---[X] Time for a staring contest.
---[X] Shed a single tear for Reimu's tea... a fellow comrade lost to Marisa's thoughtless knavery.

[x] …Those crows are staring at you.

[x] Head to Mystia’s Stall! She’s probably got a fresh shipment of ingredients by now…

[X] …Those crows are staring at you.
---[X] Time for a staring contest.

[X] …Those crows are staring at you.
---[X] Time for a staring contest.
---[X] Shed a single tear for Reimu's tea... a fellow comrade lost to Marisa's thoughtless knavery.

[X] …Those crows are staring at you.
---[X] Time for a staring contest.
and if I can make it work,
---[X] Shed a single tear for Reimu's tea... a fellow comrade lost to Marisa's thoughtless knavery.

Anyway, I'll be getting writing. Not sure when I'll post, though I'll try to finish it up by friday night.

[X] …Those crows are staring at you.
---[X] Time for a staring contest.
---[X] Shed a single tear for Reimu's tea... a fellow comrade lost to Marisa's thoughtless knavery.

>>138227
Vote's called already, and posting a vote after the fact is not a tradition

You take a moment, now that you are out of the line of fire, to observe the beautiful lightshow going on at the top of the steps. You may not be able to see Ms. Hakurei or Ms. Kirisame from your current position but you can see the danmaku they’re using. Danmaku caused by Ms. Kirisame’s continued absent mindedness when it comes to those around her. With a rueful shake of your head you mourn the loss of Ms. Hakurei’s tea. While you hold no ill-will towards Ms. Kirisame you really do wish she would learn to consider the consequences of her actions before she goes through with them.

You hear and see the tell tale signs of a spell cards activation, and watch appreciatively as numerous shooting stars fly into the sky, swirling in a tightly woven pattern. While you admit the temptation to stay and watch is there, the numerous warnings you’ve received against spectation of a match of this scale keep you standing where you are, rather than trying to get a better view. Besides, it’s not like you won’t get a blow by blow account from at least three people.

This in mind, you turn and prepare to skim the rest of the way down the steps, taking your time so you can decide upon a destination. Just as you turn though, you catch sight of something that holds your attention, keeping you from continuing on your way. There, on a branch, is a pitch black crow. Its eyes are intently locked on you, observing you with signs of intelligence that don’t match your average crow, but exceed greatly.

Moreover, in those staring eyes you see a challenge, a call to the field of honor that you’ve no intention to ignore, not when it would be such a blight upon your own reputation! No, you shall meet this challenge and face your worthy, avian adversary, here and now! The score between the two of you currently lies at 6-6, and you’ve no intention of allowing your feathery foe to slip into the lead again.

Hoping off the Sky Board, idly tucking it away after you do so, you walk closer to your waiting rival, who does nothing but watch as you approach, head cocked to the side as if to ask Why even bother trying? Oh, you’ll SHOW this bird why you’re here.

You’re here because you are going to win.

You lean yourself against a tree that allows you to face your opponent and inform your opponent that you’ll begin on the count of three. With that said, you close your eyes and begin to count.

One…

Two…

Three!

You open your eyes the moment the word leaves your lips, and lock gazes with the one opposite you, who simply stares back in return, its gaze flat and unflinching. You think that if crows had eyebrows your opponent would likely be raising one.

…Do crows have eyebrows? You aren’t really certain. You think they don’t, given that you can’t see any on a bird, but maybe they’re just not as visible as eyebrows on humans are? Whatever the case might be, this isn’t the time to allow yourself to get sidetracked. Refocusing your mind on the matter at hand you redouble your efforts to stare your avian aggressor into submission, though your efforts are met with little obvious success.

Time passes and you begin to feel the irritating, itching, burning sensation begin to crawl its way across your eyes, but you don’t blink. You wouldn’t allow such a small thing to defeat you, not after you’ve already come so far! Your determination to win this match has not wavered, even in the face of minor irritation!

Time continues its march and the sounds of battle from the temple above grown louder still, likely because the two opponents are half begun to bring out their serious cards. Still, so long as the danmaku don’t start raining down on the two of you, you and your opponent have no intention of letting them interrupt your match.

Then, disaster strikes. You hear a distant cry of “ –aaaaaark!” and a massive plume of dust and debris shoots up into the air from the shrines direction, and then begins its slow descent towards the ground. Unfortunately for you, the winds today carry that debris in your direction. Already you can begin to feel the burning in your eyes increase ten-fold as dust and grit find their way into them. Your eyelids begin to twitch, struggling against you to perform their natural function despite the fact that doing so would doom you to defeat.

Your opponents gaze remains unchanged. Their unwavering eyes stare down at you, filled with what you’re certain is glee at what must seem to them is your assured defeat. How unfortunate for them, as you’re about to play your trump card!

Carefully inflecting the cheer into your voice, you happily call out your grettings to Chen, never once allowing your gaze to completely leave your opponents. The crow responds instantly to the name, and hurls itself into the air, cawing up a storm and generally panicking for those few moments that Chen will truly appear and pounce on him. The crow stops, likely realizing that it had yet to be pounced on. It casually turns its head so that it can look behind it, and then look all around it, confirming that Chen was indeed not in the immediate area. Then, and only then, does your opponent turn back and stare at you, its feather ruffled up in affront at your actions.

You respond with a shrug of your shoulders, and inform your foe that they can only blame themselves for their carelessness. After all, falling for the same trick they pulled on you last time? You wonder aloud if that isn’t a whole new level of low. Your opponent lowers an avian equivalent of an affronted glare at you and, with pseudo-huff, flies off.

“Ayayayaya~…” A voice drawls out from behind you, but you aren’t surprised in the least at it. Turning around without any real hurry you confirm that, as usual, there was no one behind you in the least. There are however signs that someone was there a moment ago. Almost as though someone of great speed and grace simply left before you could turn around.

But whoever could that be?

A familiar laughter echoes all about you, quickly moving from place to place as the owner of the voice moves as well. Try as you might, it’s still too difficult for you to pin down her position when you’re standing still like this. Then again, you suppose that is the entire reason why she does this.

CHOICE TIME I
It would appear that Ms. Aya wishes to play a game of speed. How shall we respond?
[ ] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?

[ ] Apologize, but after what you’ve been through today, you’re in no condition to play around as you usually do.
----[ ] Just how bad is your condition? ((e.g. Tired, Bruised, Cut-up, clothing damaged, that sort of thing.))
CHOICE TIME II
Should Ms. Aya ask you about what happened today, how will you respond?
[ ] With as factual an account as possible. Ms. Aya will surely appreciate that!

[ ] Exaggerate it a bit. Ms. Aya could probably use a laugh!

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[x] With as factual an account as possible. Ms. Aya will surely appreciate that!

[x ] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[ x] With as factual an account as possible. Ms. Aya will surely appreciate that!

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[x] Exaggerate it a bit. Ms. Aya could probably use a laugh!

We have been beat up, injured, and our cookies have been smashed. Since the moment we woke up, we have been constantly downtrodden upon by our "friends." To top it all off, just when we are about to turn our luck around, she comes to mock and fly circles around us.

These transgressions against our character will not stand. We may not be able to make even with Marisa in the realm of danmaku, or get even with Remilia's machinations, but we sure as shit can out-fly Aya. On this day, we will finally overcome our limits, and achieve victory. Let us race, crow.

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[x] Tell her the truth. How, despite facing an opponent with superior firepower and experience, you never gave up and delivered the package (mostly)unharmed. The mail goes through once again.

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[x] Exaggerate it a bit. Ms. Aya could probably use a laugh!

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[x] Exaggerate it a bit. Ms. Aya could probably use a laugh!

Nobody going for sick boy moe? How disappointing.

[X] Apologize, but after what you’ve been through today, you’re in no condition to play around as you usually do.
-[X] Battered, bruised and contused, with a load of fatigue. There's a couple of tears on your shirt and pants from that unplanned landing.
[X] With as factual an account as possible. Ms. Aya will surely appreciate that!

No need to exaggerate, Aya can do that herself.

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[x] Exaggerate it a bit. Ms. Aya could probably use a laugh!

If Nanashi asks Aya about what Marisa meant by "Now I can never get...", tomorrow's Bunbunmaru News will cause mass hilarity. Especially with the rest of Nanashi's fan club.

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?
[x] You're still hurt by the way (A few cuts in the armas, bruises everywhere)

>>138343
Maybe it's about him becoming her apprentice. Only a couple real ways to find out.

The lack of dialogue from our MC is getting to me. Am I really the only one bothered by indirect speech in a story?

>>138371

I've noticed it, but it hasn't really bothered me too much yet.

Every piece of dialogue from Nanashi being indirect is overdoing it a bit though.

I'll call the votes here and get writing. It looks like the majority voted for...

[x] Show your mentor and rival just how much you’ve improved since last you met. Perhaps now you will be known as the fastest in Gensokyo?

And if I take that one write in as a "Factual" vote I believe that should be about even, so I'll just go flip a coin on that.

>>138371
Nah, I'm noticing it too and it's kind of bothering me, but not enough to make me stop reading.

>>138395
>>138371
>>138372

If it is really that annoying, I've no problem making use of dialog for Nanashi. I haven't up until this point mostly because I was experimenting with writing that way.

>>138400
It hasn't bugged me in the least.

Some people just have to see quotation marks around shit apparently.

>>138405
Or, you know, implied telepath protagonist is kind of odd and makes it feel like he doesn't actively engage in conversation, and that instead of listening to a conversation I'm just being told one took place.

While that's the reasoning for me, it still isn't bothering me very much. This is the only thing in the story that is bugging me, and it's not even a big deal.

Hey. I am just dropping by to apologize for the delay. A lot of thing are happening in real life right now, which means I have little time to write and even less inclination to do so. I'm gradually getting stuff written down, but things are going to be slow for a while.

As way of apology, have this picture.

“Is it that time again, Ms. Aya?” You ask, internally plotting out angles of approach, mapping out the area and setting into place your plan for the clash you are about to find yourself in. The only response you receive is the continuation of Ms. Aya’s laughter. You suppose she’s every bit as excited about this as you are. You suppose it would be rather rude to keep here waiting, so you begin preparations immediately. You’d have preferred not to be carrying anything right now, you don’t really want to deal with the extra weight and drag, but it is not an option to leave behind your bag or the sky board.

Well, it’s not as though you’re in any condition to give Ms. Aya a real showing anyway. The thrashing Ms. Kirisame gave you has left you in less than peak condition. Between the danmaku and the fall you have ended up in a rather battered condition, though thankfully you’ve managed to avoid any major cuts or contusions. Still, even if this is the case you’ve no intention to hold back anymore than necessary.

You tighten the strap on your bag as much as you can, hoping to keep it from causing you any major difficulty, and hold the Sky Board tightly under your arm. You won’t be using it now, to do so would be an insult towards Ms. Aya that you’ve no intention to make. Your excess baggage held down as best as it can be, you adopt a loose stance and take several deep, slow breaths and focus yourself as much as you can.

You wait. You’ve no intention to start this chase under any circumstances worse than those you are already in. Knowing Ms. Aya as you do, you’re certain you won’t need to wait long before she starts talking again. This time, focused as you are, you’re certain you’ll be able to pinpoint her position. It’s just a matter of patience...

“Ayayayaya~! Standing still Nanashi? You’ll…” You immediately pin-point her position and quickly judge her rate of movement based off of where her voice is coming from. Given both of these factors you need to aim…there! In a burst of motion that sends newly settled dust back into the air you hurl yourself towards Ms. Aya’s probable location. In an instant you cross the distance between where you started and where she was.

You burst through the foliage covering her position and immediately lock gazes with her. You can tell now that you guess as to her location and where she would travel was off by about three feet, but it is nothing you can’t recover from later on in this chase. With her signature laugh Ms. Aya launches herself away, disappearing in a blur of speed that the vast majority of Gensokyo couldn’t hope to match.

How fortunate for you that you aren’t a part of that vast majority.

You immediately chase after Ms. Aya. The two of you rapidly begin to pick up speed, dodging around and between trees, and occasionally through their branches. You roll around another large tree, making sure to maintain awareness of Ms. Aya’s location at all times, having learned not to make that mistake the second time you faced off against her.

As the chase continues you and Ms. Aya begin to push yourself further, beginning to travel at speeds that would leave you little more than a blur to a mundane observer. Even so, it’s obvious to you that Ms. Aya has yet to really put any effort into this yet. Perhaps she is holding back because she noticed the condition you are in and didn’t want to aggravate it? You would not be surprised if that was the case. Ms. Aya has always been kind to you, in her own way.

That doesn’t mean that you won’t take advantage of this situation to catch up to her. After all, Mokou taught you that the only unfair advantage is the one that you do not hold. Well, she didn’t use those words exactly, but the meaning was the same and that is all that really matters.

You bide your time, maintaining your current distance relative to Ms. Aya while waiting for the perfect time to put your plan into action. You know that Ms. Aya is not taking you completely seriously at the moment, which means that if you make a sudden increase in acceleration you might be able to catch up with her. You figure that it is just about your only chance at managing to ‘win’ this little race you are doing right now. Even then, pulling off the maneuver you have planned will be risky. Already you are feeling your battered body groaning in protest at the stress you are putting it under, and you imagine that your body won’t hold up under heavy strain for long.

You don’t have to wait long for your chance, as once again Ms. Aya weaves her way around another of the large tree’s so common in this forest. As you follow after her you ‘build up’ energy and prepare to release it in a single, sudden burst. Doing this will give you a ‘jump’ in your speed, helping you close much of the gap between you and Ms. Aya and hopefully allowing you to catch her before your forced to slow down or stop.

You put your plan into motion immediately after you round the corner of the tree. You release the burst and accelerate to three times of your previous speed in an instant, your body’s protests reaching new heights as you feel muscles already beginning to cramp in protest at your actions. You don’t allow that searing pain to break your concentration. Already you are far closer to Ms. Aya than you were before, and you are still gradually gaining ground. If you can just keep this up for a few more moments than you’ll be close enough to finish this.

Ms. Aya appears to have decided that it is time for her to get a bit more serious, and begins to put more effort into her escape. She begins to use some of the more advance maneuvers in her arsenal, seemingly changing direction without any care for the forces being exerted on her. You ignore your bodies increasingly direct protestations over your actions, and force yourself to keep up with her, maneuver for maneuver, and even pushing yourself past what she is doing, taking increasingly sharp turns to try and close the gap between the two of you faster. Your body’s protests are quickly becoming more rampant and apparent, but you force yourself to focus on your goal rather than the pain.

Gradually, slowly, you are gaining ground on Ms. Aya. If you were to reach out now you would be able to touch her, assuming that the act of reaching out didn’t slow you down like it would. It will take you just a short time more to catch up to her, but it would seem that Ms. Aya has deployed her final trick for this race. She’s lead you into one of the thicker sections of the forest, perhaps hoping the threat the trees present will force you to slow down and take it easy.

You don’t do that. Rather, you continue to push your body and powers as hard as you can, weaving in between and around trees in an intricate pattern as you chase after Ms. Aya. You can already feel your body reaching its last limts, but that doesn’t matter, in just a few more seconds you will be in range to tag Ms. Aya and finish this round in your favor.

Of course, it was foolish of you to think that fate had stopped conspiring against you. As you close the last of the distance and prepare to make the catch, you become aware of something quite important. Namely, the fact that there is a fairy in your flight path.

A fairy that is staring at you with wide, terrified eyes, and who seems to be trying desperately to move out of the way, though far too slowly for it to be of any avail.

As far as you can tell you can either stay the course, impacting on the fairy but catching Ms. Aya, or you can juke now and hopefully manage to avoid hitting her, though doing so will put yourself at a high amount of risk and will destroy any chances you have of managing to win this round.

…As though that is even a choice.

You react instantly, violently twisting your body so as to minimize the chance of errant limbs or your cargo impacting on the Fairy despite your efforts. As you do so you forcefully joke away from the fairy, pouring a lot of power into changing direction in the short amount of space you have left.

You make it. Against all odds you manage to avoid bodily slamming into the fairy despite the excessively high speeds that are generally involved in races against Ms. Aya. Pulling off such an amazing stunt would ordinarily fill you with joy, but at the moment you are rather preoccupied with the horrific amounts of pain shooting through your body.

It would appear to you that that last maneuver you made was the final straw. You’re mind blanks momentarily from the pain as your entire back seizes, and you desperately wish you did not feel the pain coursing through your body. You attempt to regain control over your flight, but you can’t seem to focus enough through the pain. You’re left helpless, with no other choice but to watch as you careen towards the ground again, this time without any method of saving yourself.

The feeling of someone gently taking you into their arms disrupts the endlessly repeating message of pain, and you know instantly who it is. After all, there’s only one person capable of keeping up with you at these speeds. Ms. Aya carefully slows the two of you down, and gently guides you down to the ground. You can’t seem to support yourself at the moment, so you simply fall to your knees and lean heavily against Ms. Aya, not even bothering trying to keep yourself up. While this is the worst it has ever been, this wouldn’t be the first time you pushed yourself too hard and ended up worse for wear because of it.

Ms. Aya gently runs a hand through your hair as the other begins to expertly work on the muscles in your shoulders and upper back, gradually soothing them back into a semi-functioning condition. Not a word passes between the two of your during this, the only sound disturbing the scene being your own haggard breathing. As time passes, Ms. Aya’s ministrations allow you to at least partially support yourself, though you still need Ms. Aya to partially support you. Ms. Aya is carefully and gently calming the muscles in your arms now, and at this point your legs have cease their complaints so long as you are not attempting to move them.

“Thank you, Ms. Aya.” You are the first to break the silence. Ms. Aya hums in a questioning tone, “What are you thanking me for?” You pull yourself back slightly from Ms. Aya, so that you can look her in the face, “For saving my life.” Ms. Aya seems to be entertained by your thanks, as she laughs lightly, “You don’t need to thank me.” She pauses her ministrations for a moment to gesture dramatically, “Doing that is all in a day’s work for I, the pure and honest reporter, Aya Shameimaru!” “Even so.” You respond, “Thank you.” Ms. Aya just smiles and continues with her efforts, which have remarkably lessened the pain you were in.

Maybe today is finally taking a turn for the better? You certainly hope so.

------
Well, here is part 1 of this update. I am going to go to sleep and then hopefully write up the rest of this update tomorrow. Again, sorry for the delay, but real life drama was dramatic. Sorry for any errors I may have missed.

Hey, welcome back to the land of the updates. Good to see you back and all, but you should really find a proofreader.

>>139160
I disagree.
This is not at a level where a proofreader is really necessary. Apart from a few awkward sentence structures which aren't too bad, these mistakes should be easily catchable by the author in a couple attentive re-readings.

>than you’ll be close enough to finish this.
>You’re mind
>hold back anymore than necessary.
>before your forced to slow down or stop.

>>139180
They should. But as we can see, they aren't being caught.

So yeah, a proofreader really, really couldn't hurt.

Gotta say, I like this. Also, there is never a time to not use a proofreader, unless you for some reason just can't find one when you want to update.

ITT: fucking English teachers

Hey guys, fellow writefag here! Nobody wants you to know his access is blocked and he's vehemently sick so no update today!


Also, I wrote smut for this story!

>>139473
>I wrote smut for this story!

Where!?

>>139484
There's an 18+ portion of this thread.

>>139506

Speaking of which, it's been posted there.

Ms. Aya’s tender ministrations continue and gradually you feel less like a ball of pain, suffering and misery and more like a person again. You rest your head on Ms. Aya’s shoulder and close your eyes. This isn’t the first time that Ms. Aya’s had to do this for you. It is, to your personal embarrassment, not an especially uncommon occurrence for you to push yourself too far beyond your limits and for your body to give up the ghost before your will is ready to.

You take some solace in the fact that, at the very least, Ms. Aya and Mokou have been the only ones to see you in this sort of condition. You’d rather not imagine just what Ms. Kamishirasawa would do if she found you like you are, besides probably ban you from ever leaving the village again. You’d really rather not consider how she’d go about making sure that you didn’t leave anyway.

You remember what happened the one time she caught you sneaking out of the house after curfew.

you were sore for a week

A gentle, compared to what else you’ve experienced today at least, rap upside your head draws you out of your traumatic flashbacks. “So, did that feel so good that you fell asleep?” Ms. Aya asks, her voice carrying an amused edge to it. Hm, did you fall asleep? Well if you did, it is her own fault for being comfortable, and you inform her of such.

…You wonder why you suddenly have a feeling of déjà vu.

Ms. Aya laughs in response to your statement, and gently pushes you back a bit so that she can look you in the eyes. You pick up on the glint in her eyes immediately, and feel your stomach sink a bit. “Oh ho?” She titled her head back, smirking widely at you, “Comfortable? That’s a bold thing to call a girl.

You are not quite sure why stating a fact is a bold thing to say to a girl. Perhaps it is related to tengu society? You voice your opinion on the matter, “Why is it a bold thing to say? Given the amount of time that we spend around each other, and the fact that this is not the first time you have done this for me, is it not natural that I would be comfortable around you?”

You pause briefly, before deciding to admit the last part of why you nodded off, “Also…” You smile, “You’re soft, Ms. Aya.” It is true, the feathers on her wings are remarkably pliant.

As you make your declarations, Ms. Aya’s face develops a blush, and her eyes are shining for some odd reason. The two of you stare at each other for a moment, not a word passing between the two of you, the only sound being the wind rustling the leaves, the water splashing in a nearby pond, and a quiet clicking noise, likely being produced by some kind of bird.

Suddenly, one of Ms. Aya’s hands wraps around the back of your head and forcibly pulls you down, introducing you to a wonderful childhood memory marshmallow hell her chest, holding you there firmly as she crows joyfully, “Ayayaya! I had no idea you were such a charmer Nanashi!” She lowers her voice to a whisper that sends shivers up your spine, “If you keep saying things like that, I might just have to take you back to the mountain~.”

“…But I’ve already been to the mountain with you.” You respond, your voice muffled due to your…circumstances, “Remember? You introduced me to your subordinate, Ms. Momiji, and then showed me your office that you produce your paper in.” You are aware that Ms. Aya has been around for quite some time, but you don’t think she’s lived long enough for it to have affected her memory that much.

Ms. Aya lets out a decidedly unladylike snort and releases you from your mammaric prison, chuckling good naturedly at your expense. “Ah, Nanashi.” Ms. Aya smiles at you, “I am absolutely certain that I’ll be writing many, many articles about you in the future.” A wide grin blossoms on her face, and you see a familiar spark light in her eye, “Speaking of articles…”

In an instant, Ms. Aya’s Notebook and a writing utensil are in her hands, and she’s staring at you expectantly, “So!” She leans forward, “Tell me about the job you had to do today Nanashi.” Her earnestness almost makes you not ask a question that’s been bothering you.

“You mean you don’t already know?” You had been rather certain that someone had been tailing you after you left the Hakurei shrine. At the time, you’d though it had been Marisa but when you ran into her further along that idea was squashed.

Ms. Aya cocks her head, peering at you from a queer angle “Nope. I’ve been busy running around Gensokyo gathering information like usual.” She places her pen to her lips for a moment before removing it, “Oh!” Her grin returns full force, “I also interviewed Gensokyo’s youngest entrepreneur’s parents.” You really hope Ms. Aya did not get Mokou too wound up. It would likely bode poorly for you if Ms. Aya began to abuse the truce you managed to worm out of Mokou in her favor.

However, if Aya wasn’t your follower, than who was? You consider this question while you begin to explain the events that came before today, making sure to cover everything to the best of your ability with some…minor embellishments. You don’t mention the near panic attack that you suffered when you first learned that Ms. Kirisame was after you for one thing. You also might have…done some minor editing while you were describing your mid-air battle. You don’t think there is any real need to basically tell Aya that you were nailed by Danmaku after you dodged a bomb because you lost focus.

“So basically, you got shot down like a chump because you weren’t watching the big picture?” You internally cringe as Ms. Aya catches sees right through your cover-up.

“It was not [i[that[/i] bad…” You grouch, somewhat disheartened to hear Ms. Aya’s opinion of the situation.

“You’re right.” She responds, “It wasn’t that bad. You did an incredibly well, considering the handicaps you were dealing with and who you were up against. I’m proud of you Nanashi.”

You idly wipe away a bit of dust or pollen that had gotten into your eye, “…Thanks, Ms. Aya. It is good to hear that.” You know that it really is. Ms. Aya is not especially generous with real, heartfelt praise.

Aya is kind enough not to remark on your state, and instead chooses to rise to her feet and muse aloud, “What sort of title should I use for this issue’s cover…” She twirls her pen idly in one hand, “How about… ‘Manic Magician Molests Messenger!’.” You blink, unable to comprehend why she would think that using those words in that combination could be even considered a remotely good idea. “Don’t like it? Can’t blame you, alliteration like that is something only an amateur would use.” She whirls around, pointing dramatically, “I’ve got it! ‘Malcontent Magician assaults Delivery Boy’!” You’re satisfied that, at the very least, people will likely not immediately leap to any sort of unfortunate conclusions simply from seeing the title page.

Ms. Aya’s tucks away her notebook and pen, where you are not certain. She lets out a whistle as she observes the suns position in the sky, “Afternoon already huh?” She turns to you, “Sorry Nanashi. I’d like to stay but I have an appointment I need to keep. Are you okay, or do I need to drop you off somewhere.” You rise to your feet and assure Ms. Aya that you are fine, her actions having long since banished most of the pain you’d been in. With a grin Ms. Aya responds, “That so? Then…” She tenses, “ I’m off!” She yells and disappears as quickly as she came.

You gather up your possessions, slinging your pack over your shoulder and taking hold of the Sky Board. You think carefully about what you intend to do with the next few hours you have before you’re due back at the village.

CHOICE TIME

[ ] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

[ ] After everything, you just feel like relaxing and cruising around without any destination in mind.
----- [ ] Under the Radar
----- [ ] Alone in the Wind
----- [ ] The Cross of Sand
----- [ ] Pale Light of Silver Moon
----- [ ] Gautama Ponders

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

As his proxy, Nobody asked me to make those five vague. So I did.

[x] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

It's Team 9 O'Clock.

[x] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.
No vague options for me!

[ ] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

[x] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

Oh man this kid is so screwed in a few years, hell if he keeps acting the way he does there's gonna be a few Touhous robbin' the cradle right now.

[x] After everything, you just feel like relaxing and cruising around without any destination in mind.
----- [x] Gautama Ponders

Byakuren?

[x] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

[X] After everything, you just feel like relaxing and cruising around without any destination in mind.
----- [X] The Cross of Sand

[x] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

What the hell happened to your grammar this update, Nobody?

[x] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

>The two of you stare at each other for a moment, not a word passing between the two of you
That whole scene was pretty tender and intimate. He and Aya have something special going on. Felt pretty good man.

[x] Head to Mystia’s! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t think of something you’d want more than food and good company.

Update, you lazy bum.

"I'm really sorry about how I sort of dead-stopped with the updating, but between the Bronchitis, amongst other health issues, having 5 papers plus a final paper to do in the last two and a half weeks, and the actually Finals week, it has been rather difficult for me to find the time and the inclination to write.

I will try to write up something before Saturday, but I can definitely promise a return to previous update pattern once I finish my last final and move back home.

P.S.: This won't come up for a bit yet, but I forgot to post it last update.

Pick a Number: 1-4"


Quoted straight from nobody on steam.

[x]4
four=death=Yuyuko

Or not.

[4]

[x] 4

Just dropping by to say that I am home now, and thus capable of writing and posting my own updates.

I am currently in the process of the former.

And yet, maybe not.

You stretch your body lightly as you consider just how best to use what time you have left. You’re reasonably certain that you have a few more hours of free time left before the curfew Ms. Kamishirasawa placed on you comes into effect. Considering that there are really a multitude of options available to you at this point so-

Gruuuuuuuuuuu~

…Well, it seems your stomach has already made your decision. Given what happened to your snack anyway it’s probably for the best that you get something to eat now, especially considering how much energy you’ve burnt up so far today. Besides, you really should go and tell your friends about how the delivery went, if only to suppress their strange beliefs that Remilia intends to sink her fangs into you.

Ridiculous, really.

With a hop you get aboard the Sky Board and take back to the air. You pause for a moment and take a deep breath, allowing yourself to savor that feeling of being back in the air again. You plot your course towards Mystia’s stall and take off. You fly at a relatively sedate pace as you can see no real reason to rush, especially considering the stall shouldn’t be that far off if Mystia is following her usual pattern moving it around in the forest.

You breeze over the treetops, enjoying the slow sedate pace of your flight. You take a glance back and the sky to check up on the time and notice that the sun has dipped behind a cloud. Moreover, the sky has gone from being mostly clear to what looks like a developing rain system while you weren’t paying attention. Strange, especially since the weather’s been rather dry lately and you’d heard it was probably going to stay that way for a while yet. Still, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be starting soon or even be all that large, so it’s probably nothing to worry about. The land could probably use the rain to be honest.

You turn your eyes back towards the ground, your intuition telling you that you’re close to your destination. You cast your gaze about the foliage and then spot the clearing that you believe Mystia should have set up her stall in. A quick sniff of the air confirms that your suspicions are correct, as the smell of grilled eel hangs heavily in the air.

Eeeeeel.

Well, lamprey if you wanted to be technical, but you’ve no time to focus on such technicalities when the only food in Gensokyo that rivals Mokou’s cooking is so near! A quick nudge of the board’s nose and you’re gracefully arcing towards the ground and just skim over the edge of the trees.

Strangely enough, Mystia isn’t actually back behind the counter cooking. In fact, she’s standing some distance in front of her cart, speaking with Rumia and Chen. All three of them look rather concerned about something, though you can’t hear what they’re talking about from your current position. You land some distance away from them and hop off of the Sky Board, waving at them as you call out, “Good afternoon everyone!”

You notice Chen’s ears twitch once and then perk up to their highest point. She whirls about to face you, her tails whipping back and forth as she does so. Mystia and Rumia are not far behind, both of them turning rapidly to face you the moment you raise your voice. On all three of their faces you spot expressions of shock, which rapidly morph into incredulous joy. You never knew your company could be so missed.

…Why are they still staring at you? It’s honestly getting a little bit creepy. “Do I have something on my face?” You ask, pausing a moment before you add, “Wait, did Ms. Aya put a note on me again?” You do a quick check of your person to see if there were any signs where you could find them. Nothing turns up on your chest so you run your hands through your hair a few times assures you that you don’t have any obvious additions.

A quiet noise from the same direction as your friends startles you from your self-inspection. You turn back towards them assuming that they’ve finally managed to shake themselves from whatever stupor they’d been in only to find a sight that strikes you right through your heart. Chen looks to be on the brink of crying. Her eyes are wide and watery, her ears on laying nearly flat on top of her head. She’s biting her trembling lip as she stares at you with an expression you can’t read.

Did you do something wrong that hurt her? Maybe something happened while you weren’t here? You immediately throw aside your bag and toss your board on top of it and begin to run towards your friends and call out to Chen, “Chen, what’s wro-!”

You don’t get a chance to finish your sentence. No longer able to contain herself, Chen hurls herself at you with a cry of “Nanashi!”. Warnings immediately flare to life in your mind as you become distinctly aware of just how fast Chen is approaching you. Unfortunately, since you were running towards her before she hurled herself at you you’re not really in a position to catch her. You immediately stop running and dig your heels in, trying to slow yourself down and firm up your stance, and as you do so you spread you arms open so that you can catch your Chen and not end up sprawled out on the ground with any luck.

With Chen rapidly approaching you take a moment to internally pat yourself on the back for your quick thinking and reaction time. Another potential disaster averted thanks t-“Nanashi~!”

Rumia from the side!" But how did she even get there?

Despite the fact that she was just moments ago right next to Mystia, Rumia is hurtling at you from your right with her arms outstretched and a brilliant smile on her face. You rapidly run through any course of action you could take to stop this oncoming trainwreck of a display of affection, but there’s not enough time and before you even have a chance to adjust-

Pomf!

She’s already made contact and has thrown her arms around your middle and is nuzzling her face into your side. Ah, Rumia. Your displays of affection are as endearing as your references to eating me were disturbing.

Knocked off balance as you are by Rumia’s unexpected assault, there’s really not much you can do to stop the inevitable from happening. Chen throws her arms around you on impact and sends the three of you tumbling to the ground in a storm of limbs and squeals.

In a matter of seconds your find yourself in a rather delicate situation. While Rumia is currently safely attached in the same position as she was before and is currently in the process of snuggling up against you, Chen has taken up a rather uncomfortable position of sitting on your stomach and leaning over you.

You stare at her while you search your mind for a way to break the silence before it gets anymore awkward and latch onto the first idea that comes to mind. “Is that a new ribbon?” You ask her, pointing at the lacey bow tied around her neck with the arm that Rumia isn’t currently keeping occupied.

She smiles, apparently having at least calmed down to the point where she’s not on the verge of tears. “Yeah, it is. Ran-sama got it for me as a present while she was a chore for Yukari-sama.” She answers as she toys with the ribbon, twirling it around one finger.

You smile back and respond, “Is that so? Well, it looks lovely on you.” A scarlet flush appears as you say those words and Chen draws back. Goodness, why is she so embarrassed over such a small compliment? Maybe she doesn’t like the ribbon and is only wearing it because it was a gift from her master?

“Anyway,” Chen speaks up again, blatantly changing the topic of the conversation, “What happened to you earlier today?” Her eyes narrow as she gives you a more thorough look over, likely noticing your disheveled appearance.

Rumia decides at this point to finally stop nuzzling your ribs and joins the conversation. “Cirno said that the Black-White had blasted you out of the sky with her Master Spark!” She states bluntly ,”and you weren’t even in a Danmaku fight or anything!”

…Oh right! Cirno and Dai live around there, don’t they? So they probably saw you come blasting out of the forest at full speed and saw Marisa chase after you and try to shoot you down. And saw her try to use her Master Spark on you. Goodness, that’s not a story you want getting back to Ms. Kamishirasawa before you get a chance to figure out a good explanation for the whole thing. I mean she might over-react and try to ban you from ever leaving the village or something.

…

“Who else did Cirno tell about this?” You ask, hoping desperately for a some good news. Chen and Rumia share a look between each other, shattering your hopes for any form of good news at all. Still, she couldn’t have passed it out to that many people.

“Cirno came and told us first, Nanashi.” Mystia states as she steps into your field of vision, looking down at your current position with blatant amusement. She continues on and starts to tick off fingers as she goes, “Wriggle was here too.” Well that doesn’t sound so-, “There were also a bunch of fairies.” Okay that’s-, “Who Cirno ordered to go out and gather as many of the other fairies as they could.” That’s concerning. “She said she was going to ‘lay siege’ to Marisa’s house.” Mystia states, still smiling, “Wriggle went with her.”

While that is all concerning and something you should probably go and resolve before it becomes an incident and Ms. Hakurei gets involved and smacks around your friends, it doesn’t seem like-

“ And then she took off to find more fairies herself, yelling about it the whole time and telling anyone she ran into that would listen.” She taps her chin with one of her long nails as she adopts a thoughtful expression, “It was about a minute before we couldn’t hear her anymore.”

Well that’s it then. Ms. Kamishirasawa is going to find out what happened and then she’s going to panic and completely overreact and then you will never see your friends again because you’ll end up being tied to your bed for your own safety and-

Gruuuuuuuuuuu~

Mystia’s smile is a touch smug as your stomach makes its hunger known again. “So, that’s the real reason you came here now, huh?” She feigns distress the imagined sleight, sighing dramatically and continuing, “I should known you were just after my eel!”

You smile at Mystia as you begin to try to nudge Chen and Rumia off of you, “Ah, Mystia. You sell yourself short with that sort of talk.” Really, she should know this by now, “Your company is far better than even the finest of meals.” After all, even the best of meals can be made better when shared with friends.

Mystia laughs at your response, finding it deeply amusing for whatever reason. Shaking her head she steps closer to you all and puts a hand on both Rumia and Chen’s shoulders. “Now come on you two, let him get up.”

Chen hops off of you with little fuss about the matter, but Rumia is still clinging to your side with her face buried in your jacket. The shaking of her shoulders gives you an idea as to why she’s still clinging to you. You cast a glance at Mystia, who thankfully understands you plan and leads Chen over to the stall to get the grill heated up amongst other preparations.

You push yourself up into a sitting position, as task made all the more difficult but Rumia’s continued clinging. Gently and slowly you slip your arm out of her grasp and wrap it around her back. “Hey.” You speak quietly, just above a whisper. Rumia simply lets out a muffled statement into your jacket. You continue anyway, “So, what’s wrong, hm?” Rumia says something into your jacket but you can’t make out it out. You decide to press on again, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you?”

You’re rewarded for your efforts by Rumia peeking up at you, her eyes looking a bit puffy. Ah, you see what’s happened now. “I thought you’d gotten hurt, really really bad…” She sniffs lightly, “I know how rough that Black-White is and…” Rumia stops speaking and tucks herself back into your side.

That’s right isn’t it? Now that you think about it Rumia lives in the Forest of Magic, meaning she’s exposed to Ms. Kirisame’s… eccentricities far more often than you are. She’s likely well aware of what a Spark looks like up close. It’s not surprising she’d jump to the conclusions she did, especially since Cirno was likely blowing the whole situation drastically out of proportion.

Ah, Kirisame. She’s been beating up your friends regularly, hasn’t she?

Putting aside that matter for the moment, you decide to focus on a problem you can solve. Namely, cheering Rumia up.

You gently reach down and break her now loosened grip on your torso and slip her arms out from around you. Now free to move you adjust yourself so you’re kneeling in front of her. “Rumia, would you please look at me.” When Rumia does as you ask you quickly reach out and brush the hair away from her forehead and lean in to place a quick kiss on her forehead. Ms. Kamishirasawa did that when you had been caught in a panic before, so you’re rather certain it should do the trick.

You lean back and grin at your shocked and staring friend, “Don’t worry. I’m here, aren’t I?” You hop up and strike a silly pose before you continue, “Besides, it’ll take more than a two-bit thief with delusions of adequacy to take me down!” You declare, hamming the moment up for all it’s worth. You wait for the appropriate amount of time to allow the moment to sink in before you continue, “Now let’s go get something to eat. It’s my treat.”

Before you even finish your sentence Rumia is already half way to Mystia’s cart, skipping gleefully. That is…so very, very like her.

With a rueful shake of your head you begin to walk towards Mystia’s cart as well, happy that something finally went right today without a hitch. Looking up at the cloudy sky, you’re happy for that much.

CHOICE TIME
How much should you eat anyway?
---[ ] Just get a normal serving, you’ll probably have to head home soon enough anyway.
---[ ] Get a big serving, you’re starving!
---[ ] Try to match Rumia! If she can do it, so can you!

FREE FORM CHOICE
Are there any topics or questions you’d like to talk about in specific with any/all of your friends who are here? You’ll have the chance to ask two or three topics per option. I’ve included some simple/example choices, but interesting write ins would be nice. I’ll be pretty much picking and choosing which ones sound like fun, but if an option gets a majority vote, I’ll try to work it in.

All
--[ ] Ask them about how their day was going before they heard the news.
--[ ] What did Cirno do specifically when she came here?
--[ ] Write in(s).
Chen
--[ ] Maybe you should ask her how things have been for her at home lately?
--[ ] Write In(s).
Mystia
--[ ] Maybe you should ask Mystia how business has been lately?
--[ ] Write In(s).
Rumia
--[ ] You should probably point out that she’s got something on her cheeks.
--[ ] Write In(s).

Sorry about the entire "not updating for months on end" thing guys. Life kind of chewed me up and then spat me out, and I wasn't really in any condition to write something happy/fluffy like I intend for this to be.

Patchwork and you in the same day? What a treat.

How much should you eat anyway?
-[x] Get a big serving, you’re starving!

All
--[x] Ask them about how their day was going before they heard the news.
---[x]Inquire about Wriggle too.
--[x] What did Cirno do specifically when she came here?

Chen
--[x] Maybe you should ask her how things have been for her at home lately?
--[x] Ask if Ran gets terribly over protective.

Mystia
--[x] Maybe you should ask Mystia how business has been lately?

Rumia
--[x] You should probably point out that she’s got something on her cheeks.
--[x] Ask how many times Marisa attacks without provocation.

How much should you eat anyway?
-[x] Get a big serving, you’re starving!

All
--[x] Ask them about how their day was going before they heard the news.
---[x]Inquire about Wriggle too.
--[x] What did Cirno do specifically when she came here?

Chen
--[x] Maybe you should ask her how things have been for her at home lately?
--[x] Ask if Ran gets terribly over protective.

Mystia
--[x] Maybe you should ask Mystia how business has been lately?

Rumia
--[x] You should probably point out that she’s got something on her cheeks.
--[x] Ask how many times Marisa attacks without provocation.

How much should you eat anyway?
-[x] Get a big serving, you’re starving!

All
--[x] Ask them about how their day was going before they heard the news.
---[x]Inquire about Wriggle too.
--[x] What did Cirno do specifically when she came here?

Chen
--[x] Maybe you should ask her how things have been for her at home lately?
--[x] Ask if Ran gets terribly over protective.

Mystia
--[x] Maybe you should ask Mystia how business has been lately?

Rumia
--[x] You should probably point out that she’s got something on her cheeks.
--[x] Ask how many times Marisa attacks without provocation.

How much should you eat anyway?
-[x] Get a big serving, you’re starving!

All
--[x] Ask them about how their day was going before they heard the news.
---[x]Inquire about Wriggle too.
--[x] What did Cirno do specifically when she came here?

Chen
--[x] Maybe you should ask her how things have been for her at home lately?
--[x] Ask if Ran gets terribly over protective.

Mystia
--[x] Maybe you should ask Mystia how business has been lately?

Rumia
--[x] You should probably point out that she’s got something on her cheeks.
--[x] Ask how many times Marisa attacks without provocation.

Sorry to bandwagon-vote in this glorious season of returning writefags, but it's a good wagon to band.

http://touhou-project.com/at/res/12537.html

Don't care if it's non-canon or not, this fapfic needs updatin' also!

How much should you eat anyway?
-[x] Get a big serving, you’re starving!

All
--[x] Ask them about how their day was going before they heard the news.
---[x]Inquire about Wriggle too.
--[x] What did Cirno do specifically when she came here?

Chen
--[x] Maybe you should ask her how things have been for her at home lately?
--[x] Ask if Ran gets terribly over protective.

Mystia
--[x] Maybe you should ask Mystia how business has been lately?

Rumia
--[x] You should probably point out that she’s got something on her cheeks.
--[x] Ask how many times Marisa attacks without provocation.

Anonymous 11/11/01(Tue)03:19 No. 148503

How much should you eat anyway?
-[x] Get a big serving, you’re starving!

All
--[x] Ask them about how their day was going before they heard the news.
---[x]Inquire about Wriggle too.
--[x] What did Cirno do specifically when she came here?

Chen
--[x] Maybe you should ask her how things have been for her at home lately?
--[x] Ask if Ran gets terribly over protective.

Mystia
--[x] Maybe you should ask Mystia how business has been lately?

Rumia
--[x] You should probably point out that she’s got something on her cheeks.
--[x] Ask how many times Marisa attacks without provocation.

yeah, why not

Well, that looks like it's about all the votes I'm gonna be getting, so I'll just call this and try to write something up. It'll probably be up Saturday or so, assuming I'm not dragged into anything unexpected.

As for the fapfic...I'll see what I can do.

Picture unrelated, but amusing.

>>148565
I am now imagining her piloting turn X Gundam... it is horrifying

>>148887

That is precisely what I thought.

On another note, why am I finding this dailogue so difficult to write? I'm working on it still and...I dunno, I'll se when I can get it done and not sounding really forced.

Bye again

This one is for everyone who convinced me to actually write and to stop being a lazy and depressed jerk.

You follow after Rumia at a rather sedate pace, not bothering to try and keep up with her skipping. Mystia is already back behind the counter and has already begun preparations for feeding the three of you. The previous pleasant smell of cooking sealakefood doubles in force. You are once again reminded of how you have yet to eat.

…Well, you suppose you can eat before you ask the questions that have been bothering you. You are quite positive you have the time for that.

You take the open seat between Chen and Rumia and quickly place an order for one Large Serving of Mystia’s special eel. To your left, Chen orders the same. To your right, Rumia orders one large…and another three…and a few other options off the menu…and…

…You have the strangest feeling that your pocketbook is weeping as Rumia adds the finishing touches to her selection. You are distinctly thankful now that Remilia is as generous an employer as she is a friend, otherwise you’d be in a lot of trouble right now. Mystia does not take especially kindly to people who try to dine and dash, if the horror stories you’ve been fed are any example.

“Hey, Nanashi.” Mystia speaks up, drawing your attention. “Yes Mystia?” You say, turning your head in her direction and noticing her serious expression. “Here’s your bill.” She says, putting a piece of paper with an unfortunately large number on it in front of you,”I’d appreciate it if you’d pay up front.” She says with a merciless smile.

You frown at her, “Why Mystia, are you saying you don’t trust me to pay my bill? I’m hurt, deeply.” You respond. She shrugs, “Sorry, but business before friendship.” Ugh. She’s always like this when she’s behind the counter. It wouldn’t matter if you were on your last breath, she’d still charge you full price.

Probably after you’d eaten it too. A good friend, but a better business woman.

“So Mystia, how has business been lately?” You ask as you pull the required payment for the bill from your now disappointingly lighter sack of money. Mystia responds as you hand over your payment, “It’s been going pretty well lately, thanks for asking. I’ve gotten a new customer too!” She cheerfully tucks away the money as she speaks, “That Karakasa girl. I’m sure you remember her since she scared-“

“Surprised.” You immediately point out, “She surprised me.” You weren’t scared at all. Nothing scary about someone jumping out of a bush at you while making loud, spooky noises.

“Right.” Mystia smirks,” I’m sure you remember her since she surprised you like that.” Now that’s just being mean. “Yes, I remember her.” You state, ”Now, not to change the subject but I’m changing the subject; So Rumia-“ “Myesh?” She responds with a mouthful of food, having already received her appetizers. You pick up a napkin and wipe away from errant bits of food that flew in your direction. “You…have a bit of something on your cheek.” You say, turning away as she swallows everything in her mouth and then pokes her tongue out, trying to get the missing sauce.

You turn to your other side, “So Chen, how about you? How has everything been lately?” You ask. Chen perks up, finishing her bite of the skewer she’s eating before responding, “Oh, it’s been pretty great lately. Yukari-sama’s been napping less lately, so I’ve gotten to help her out when Ran-sama is busy.” She frowns,”But…Yukari-sama’s been keeping Ran-sama really busy lately.” Ah, that doesn’t sound good. “Do you know why?” You ask concernedly. Chen shakes her head, “No, when I ask about it Ran-sama says nothing’s the matter, and if I ask Yukari-sama, she just hides behind her fan and starts laughing…” It doesn’t sound to you like things have been pretty great lately at all. You pat Chen on the back in a consoling manner, “I’m really sorry to hear that Chen. I’m certain that if you catch Miss Ran and explain to her how this situation is making you feel that she’ll listen to you.” Chen gives you a look, “You think so?” She asks. You nod again, “Absolutely. Sometimes you just have to make someone listen to you.”

Mystia returns, and delivers Chen’s and your platters, and then quickly bustles back into the kitchen to begin the arduous and lengthy task of bringing Rumia everything she ordered. The conversation dies down for a while as the three of you eat your meals, and Mystia goes about tidying up her work place. As you expected, the special was a sublime and wonderful experience. The combination of flavor, texture and atmosphere can be only properly summed up in one way.

Eeeeeel.

As you munch on your eel, you muse on what you’ve discovered so far. While you were off delivering your package (and getting shot out of the sky) to Miss Patchouli and chatting with Remilia, Cirno apparently witnessed you go careening into the ground and came to the the entirely reasonable conclusion that she had just witnessed a brutal and lethal Fly By Sparking. After that she made another entirely reasonable decision and immediately panicked and went flying over to Mystia’s stall where she told them all that you had died a horrible, laser filled death. She then set about gathering a fae army of incredible proportions and intends to lay siege to Kirisame’s house. Wriggle went along with this blatantly suicidal plan for whatever reason and now you have no idea where the two of them could be

Given that you also know that Kirisame has gotten into a danmaku duel with Reimu and almost certainly lost, she’s not likely going to be in the merciful and friendly sort of mood. Moreover…

You set down the last empty skewer, having torn through your meal, “…How often is Kirisame harassing you all?” You ask without preamble. You can see Rumia tense up at your question, but it’s Mystia who speaks up first, “It’s not an everyday thing, but it isn’t uncommon. Whenever she makes a new spell card or spell and needs someone to test it on…” Mystia shrugs, “Whoever she finds first usually gets the honor.” You frown as she explains further, “Most faeries don’t last long enough for a ‘good test’, so she goes after one of us. We’ve all been on the receiving end of it, but Cirno and Rumia get it the most.”

You interrupt Mystia, asking her, “Why is she targeting them?” Mystia takes your plate from you as she responds, “Because they’re the easiest to find.” Ah. That makes an unfortunate amount of sense. Cirno is…boisterous even during the best of times, and Rumia spends about half of her time wandering around in an orb of darkness that you’d probably be able to see from above the tree line. Meanwhile, Mystia and Wriggle are no pushovers when it comes to fighting, and both have their own ways of avoiding someone who wants to catch them. Chen is even tougher than those two, and given who her family is she’s got even more protection coming from that.


And right now, as you’re sitting here talking about it, Cirno and Wriggle and a whole bunch of innocent faeries are trying to get ‘revenge’ in your name and probably are all going to end up in a whole lot of pain because of that.

There’s really only one thing you can do now.

You hop out of your seat, “Thank you for the meal Mystia. I wish you all a good day.” You move to pick up your Sky Board and your bag when you hear Mystia speak up, “Where are you going Nanashi?” You sling your pack over your shoulder and readjust it, getting it settled. “I am going to go find Cirno and Wriggle and see what I can do.” You respond as you put the finishing touches and get comfortable with the familiar weight. “She’s gonna hurt you again!” Rumia responds in distress.

You turn around and put on your best smile, “Last time I went up against Kirisame, I was trying to protect and deliver a package. Since I do not have to worry about that this time, she’ll find dealing with me to be vastly different.” Rumia’s concerned expression softens, if only slightly. You keep up the cheerful air as you hop onto your ride, “Don’t worry, I can handle this.” You reassure them as you kick off the ground and take to the sky, hoping to make up for lost time.

You really do wish that it was as easy to lie to yourself about this as it was to convince them. You’ve seen and heard what Kirisame is capable of. If she can do that you’re rather doubtful that you’re going to last all that long if she gets serious.

Still, nothing to it but to try. Now, where to look…

VOTING TIME
Where are you headed?

[ ] Check out Wriggle’s Field. Maybe they ended up there?

[ ] Cirno might still be rounding up Faeries, maybe you should look around for groups of them?

[ ] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!

What are you going to do when you find them?

[ ] You’re going there to back up Cirno and Wriggle. Whatever their plan is, they’ve got your support.

[ ] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

[ ] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
[ ] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

Good to see you again, Nobody.

[x] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
[x] You’re going there to back up Cirno and Wriggle. Whatever their plan is, they’ve got your support.

If they fight a war for you than you have to back them up.
Besides since Marisa beats up on them all the time you should stand up for them.

[X] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
-[x] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

No need to make enemies now and attempting to beat Marisa up on a minor, to put it mildly, fuck up isn't going to make things any better.

Totally understandable though if Marisa trolls around trying out new spell cards on them on a seemingly regular basis.

[x] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
[x] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

[x] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
[x] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

Could you start new paragraphs when the speaker changes? It's hard when you don't.

[X] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
-[x] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

[x] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
[x] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

Tired or not beating her up now would only make her want to come back most likely with a real nastu experimental card.

Besr thing for Nanashi to do would be to help them out as best they can to get away from Marisa's wrath.

besides maybe now she's less likely to pull anything overkill with Nanashi around' if only for a while

Oh hey new thread needed

[x] Cirno might still be rounding up Faeries, maybe you should look around for groups of them?
[x] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

[X] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!

[X] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

After the thrashing Reimu likely gave her good buddy and partner, Marisa ain't gonna be in a good mood. AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!

[x] Head straight to Kirisame’s house. It’s been long enough that they’re all probably there!
[x] The most important thing is to get Cirno and Wriggle out of danger. Picking a fight with Kirisame isn’t something you’re interested in doing right now.

Even if they have not reached Marisa's house yet, we could simply wait for them.