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[x] The village to the east.

That was where he went for groceries, right? He probably had some connections there. Even if we don't stay in the village, we should make a stop there and find someone to tell them what happened.

(I would use the phrase "tell the police" but I have no idea if Kogasa would be familiar with the concept.)

[x] The village to the east.

[X] The mountains to the north.

>>176552
[x] The village to the east.
Interaction!

[x] The village to the east.

[X] The village to the east.

I drive down the dirt road with a shaky start, my hands having trouble holding onto the handlebars and keeping its safe pace from before. I fall over with the scooter a few times, but soon enough I manage to get to the village with the sun shining at the top of the sky, several clouds keeping it company.

I have visited the village that the old man occasionally travelled to before, but this time there were less people bustling around at this time of day. He did show me where the grocer was during one of those rare visits but never let me enter the store. With that in mind, I walk alongside my bike to their place and keep it and my umbrella outside as I enter the store.

The bell they hung on the door rings as I slide open the door. The storekeeper, a fairly spry old woman standing behind the counter, looks at me with wonder in her eyes.

"You're an unfamiliar face! Are you new here?"

"New here, but not new to the village. Why?" I walk over to the counter and rest one of my elbows on it.

She looks away from my eyes for a moment, then rubs her chin until a thought sparks in her mind and she quickly turns her head towards me, her brown hair swaying. "Oh, you're the girl the old man at the cemetary talks about!"

"Eh? What did he say about me?"

"Nothing much. He ran on and on about you while he was looking at my produce though. Did you by any chance," The woman bats her eyelids rapidly, moving her hand to the side of her mouth as if she were whispering a secret to me, "marry him?"

"Whaaat!?" I lean back far enough that I almost fall down, my cheeks red once more. "No way! I'm not looking for that kind of a relationship!"

"I don't know, I see you now and you're a pretty face if I can say so myself." She pulls up a wooden chair behind the counter and sits down. "I also remember the old man saying he was going to visit today. Where is he?"

"Umm, about that..." I look away from the lady, but summoned up the courage to tell her, "He got in a terrible accident and he's now gone."

"Oh..." She tilts her head down, "May his soul rest in peace." She then looks up at me like nothing really changed. "So what are you looking for?"

I grab the pouch that the old man left me and pull out the coins. "How much are these worth?"

The lady takes out a small gold ornate magnifying glass and examines each of the coins meticulously, analyzing each crevice and ridge. After a few moments, she finally gives me the verdict.

"They're worthless."

"You're, you're kidding." I cross my arms on top of the counter and bury my face, mumbling. "I'm really hungry and that's all he left for me and I don't know what to do and-"

"Hey. Since the old man's been a regular customer of mine, I'm willing to cut corners with you for your groceries."

My eyes immediately perk up as my head rises out of my arms. "What do I need to do then?"

"That's the spirit." She stands up and starts flipping through a stack of crinkly papers at the end of the counter. "I know plenty of folks here and some of them have been complaining about a girl that arrived in the village a few days ago. Mauve yukata, dark red short hair, blue bow, and a mantle that she never removes. They say there's something weird with her since the weather's been warm lately, but won't talk to her because they're afraid that she's a youkai that'll eat them and they don't want to cause a commotion. If you talk to her and tell me what's with her, I'll give you some groceries free of charge." She gives me the picture of the girl she mentioned before. "Are you fine with that?"

"Definitely!" I stare at the picture, then looked at the lady's eyes. "Thank you so much for your generosity..."

"That's fine, business is business. Take care." The lady nods at me.

"I will!" I walk outside the store with the picture in hand.

I sit down on the scooter while it's leaning on a wooden support and analyzed the picture closely. If she's a youkai, she wouldn't mind if I gave her a scare, that's what makes me feel excited and tingly inside! I still wonder what the old man said about me.

No, that's not what I should be thinking about, I should be thinking about food! I need to find this girl and get this done! How should I approach her when I find her though?

[ ] Go with the original plan and spook her. It's harmless!
[ ] Just talk to the girl normally and ask her what the lady wants to know.
[ ] She sounds really scary... I'll be fine with no food for a while... maybe..."

[X] Go with the original plan and spook her. It's harmless!

Kogasas gunna kog.

[X] Just talk to the girl normally and ask her what the lady wants to know.

Work on getting free food for now.

[X] Just talk to the girl normally and ask her what the lady wants to know.

Getting food is important right now.

[X] Just talk to the girl normally and ask her what the lady wants to know.

All business, no play. I mean, it's the only way I'm getting myself the food anyway.

I pick up my umbrella and hop onto my scooter to stroll around the village. At the speed I'm going, the thing pushing it forward is making a humming noise that makes everyone trade glances at me. It's embarrassing, but the scooter is better than the horses that passed by the cemetery. Horses smelled terrible and this smells... less terrible. It still smells terrible though.

After half an hour of driving through the crossing pathways of the village, I look at the photo one more time and when I look in front of me, I find the girl sitting on a wooden bench with the physical description accurately matching what the lady told me. I park my scooter on a wooden fence across from the bench and walk over to the girl.

"Hi!" I wave to her.

"Mmf mf ff." She responds with the first half of one of her three sticky rice dumplings in her mouth. After she finishes chewing and swallows, she says something intelligible this time. "Sorry. Uh, hello."

I sit beside her with a smile on my face. "My name's Kogasa. What's yours?"

"Sekibanki." She keeps her dumplings close to herself.

"Where did you get the dumplings from?"

"Some boy saw me and freaked out, dropped his dumplings and I couldn't give them back, so I'm eating them."

"That's terrible!" I exclaim.

She shakes her head left and right as she takes another bite and chews, then swallows. "It was still on the leaf when it hit the floor, it's clean. Still, maybe I'm too scary, I need to hold back."

"Is that why no one's talking to you?"

"Probably. I need to get stronger so I can control my power! The goal that I strive for is a difficult and arduous journey, but that is what makes it a journey!" Sekibanki pumps her right fist in the air while her hair bow flaps.

I nod my head with my hands on my lap. "That's surprising! Is that why you're here?"

"Correct. Like I said before, it's difficult. You find me scary, right?"

"You're not scary at all!" I swiftly slap her back and then I hear a soft thud from Sekibanki. I look over and stared at her body just lying on the ground and her head on the side.

Her head just fell off.

Her head just.



I open my eyes to see a Sekibanki staring at me on the ground. I'm also finding myself currently short of breath. She extends her arm out and I gripped her hand and got off the ground.

I calm myself down and collected my wits. "What happened?"

Sekibanki adjusts her mantle and laughs nervously. "Well, you hit me on the back so hard my head fell off, then you saw that, fell forward and went out cold for an hour or so while I slowly gathered my strength to put my head back on!"

"Oh. Ohhhhhhhhh." I place my hands on my flushed face to not let Sekibanki see, but then I quickly realized what I really wanted to know about her and moved my hands away from my face. "But that means you're a yo-"

"Shhhhh!" She places a finger on my lips. "Don't tell people here that, that would make my mission more difficult than it has to be."

I sit back down on the bench and took slow breaths. "That's true. So what should I tell the grocery store lady then?"

"Oh, you're reporting to her? Tell her what I told you before, I'm trying to get stronger so I'm not scary anymore." She removes the pink sticky rice dumpling and hands it to me.

"Isn't power inherently scary?" I take the dumpling and chew on part of it.

"It is, but if you understand your power, you can control it. If people know you have it in control, they're not frightened! That's why feral youkai are scary, they don't have that control."

"Do you think I'm scary?"

"No, I think you're very polite! And your umbrella is also very cute!"

I tear up a little.

Sekibanki sighs. "I might have said the wrong thing."

"It's okay, you were being honest about it." I bite off another piece of my dumpling.

Sekibanki wraps her arm over my neck. "I know you want to be scary, it's your life and all, but not being scary is a whole different world, a world that I want to get into as I've said before." She then takes her arm off of me. "So what's your advice for me?"

"Umm." I glance at her straight in the eyes. "Have your head fall off less?"

"Hmm, that makes sense." She nods her head. "Anyway, go tell the lady what I'm here for and then if you want to, you can come back here after you're done and talk with me more. I'll be finishing my dumplings and then I can tell you more exciting tales of my travels!"

I get up after finishing off the final part of the dumpling she gave me and then waved farewell to Sekibanki as I take my umbrella, get on my scooter, and report back to the lady. After that incident, I felt less hungry than before I met her.



"And that's it." I tell the storekeeper lady.

"So this girl acts weird because she's trying to get stronger to not be scary? Definitely weird behavior, but my customers are also definitely overreacting. Tolerance and patience are a virtue for both young and old." She nods her head. "That's satisfactory, so wait here and I will grab the groceries that I agreed to give to you."

I hop in place with glee. I did it! I got the food!

With the groceries on the counter, I bow to the lady. "Thank you."

"You finished the errand I asked for, so no thanks needed. Is there anything else you want?"

It is getting rather late and I do need a place to stay. I wonder who I should ask.

[ ] Request some money and directions to the local inn.
[ ] Ask the lady if I can sleep at her residence.
[ ] Head back to where Sekibanki was and ask if I can stay at her place for the night.

[x] Head back to where Sekibanki was and ask if I can stay at her place for the night.

Overusing people's charity when you'll probably need it later on is not very wise

[x] Head back to where Sekibanki was and ask if I can stay at her place for the night.

That's not fair, you know the Anon of this website can't refuse the Banki.

[X] Head back to where Sekibanki was and ask if I can stay at her place for the night.

"No, that's all." I grab the paper bag with my groceries and wave to the lady as I close the door.

I get back on my scooter and drove back to where I met Sekibanki. True to her word, she's on the bench licking her fingers of the last sticky rice dumpling she had in her possession.

"You're back! How did your report go?" She glances at me.

"I just told her your goal and nothing more." I fidget with my fingers. "Um, Sekibanki, can I stay with you for the night?"

"Uh." Sekibanki shifts her eyes away from me.

"Are you living in a small place? Is it a box?"

"Hey!" She turns to me and yells. "My head isn't [i]that[i] light!"

I giggle, then asked her again.

"Sure, but I only have enough food to provide for myself."

"Don't worry." I hold up my bag of groceries. "I have that taken care of."

"Excellent!" Sekibanki pumps her fist. "So, are we walking there or?"

"You can get on my scooter and tell me where to go." I walk over to where my scooter is parked and hop on, then I pat the back seat. "Hold onto my waist and my umbrella."

Sekibanki gets up from the bench and sits down on the scooter's back seat. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"It's definitely safe, I've gotten used to it!"

The scooter starts up and Sekibanki shakes a bit. "R-Really sure?"

"Just tell me where your place is." I reaffirm.

After a couple of corners rounded, we arrive in front of the place Sekibanki called home. There are several holes in the boarding and a few holes in the paper doors, but other than those minor problems, Sekibanki found it a viable place to live in.

I park my scooter next to the establishment and the both of us sit on the steps to the front door and watch the sunset.

"Sekibanki, how did you end up here anyway?"

She looks up. "I moved here from the central town to gain perspective. I was thinking of visiting the cemetary outside this village sometime today. I heard that-"

"Sorry to interrupt you," I tilt my head down, "but I came from that cemetery. The person who took care of me and that cemetery passed away very recently."

"Oh. That's too bad." Sekibanki puts her hand on my shoulder. "So that's why you're here?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to find a new place to live. That's why I want to stay only for the night and not to live with you."

"You've definitely put thought into this. If you want some more info, I do know the places around where I migrated from.

There's the town itself to the north of this village, very large and the epicenter of most human civilization in this country.

Then there's the bamboo forest to the northeast of here where the famous medicine of the town's pharmacy comes from, but it's a confusing place to navigate.

Lastly, there's the stream to the northwest, supposedly the kappa hang out there but I've never seen one when I passed through there to visit the Hakurei Shrine to the west of it."

I rub my chin. "Wait, I saw the mountains to the north of the cemetery. Couldn't I have...?"

"Unless you can fly or you made a really really really long jump, you're not avoiding the stream to get to those mountains."

I give out a depressing sigh. "I feel a bit dumb now."

Sekibanki pats me on the back. "Don't. You only saw the half of it and didn't know the other half. It's called discovering things and that's why you're out here in the first place. So, where are you thinking of going?"

[ ] The town to the north.
[ ] The bamboo forest to the northeast.
[ ] The stream to the northwest.

[X] The bamboo forest to the northeast.

[x] The bamboo forest to the northeast.

[X] The stream to the northwest.

[x] The town to the north.

I apologize for the delay. Winter has been having a rather rough time with me!

I have to put this story off for a two day hiatus so I can recuperate. Further updates will be posted after the hiatus is over (hopefully).

Thank you for reading this far and I'm sorry for not responding earlier, but I really want to continue this story as soon as possible.

>>176760

All good broski.

I'm not dead. I'm fine.

I'm really sorry for the unannounced hiatus. Things came up after I got over my sickness and I had to deal with those things.

Daily updates will now return. Thank you very much for your patience.

[X] The bamboo forest to the northeast.

"Hmph." Sekibanki takes her hand off of my shoulder and crosses her arms while shaking her head. "You have some nerve to think about going there."

"The people at the pharmacy can take me in. I'll be their surprise present!" I clench my fist and raise it into the air with a smile on my face.

She giggles, then pats my head. "That's a pretty good attitude. I like you a bit, Kogasa." Sekibanki then grabs my hand and pulls me up. "It's getting cold outside, so come inside and I'll prepare dinner, alright?"

"Thank you." I involuntarily grip her hand firmly for an instant, then hand her my groceries. "Don't forget these."

"Of course! I'm going to make the strongest stew to celebrate this occasion!" She grabs my hand holding the groceries and slides the door open as we both enter her home.

It's a shabby place, but I shouldn't complain, Sekibanki's treated me well since I've met her! As she takes the groceries from my hand and leaves me alone, I explore the house meticulously, sliding the creaky doors open and examining the furniture left from what I assume the previous owners left behind. The drawers shudder loudly and the floor was littered with holes, yet it was all so interesting! I was so engrossed in all these strange peculiarities that I almost didn't hear Sekibanki call out my name.

"Hey Kogasa! Supper's ready!"

I run into the living room and see Sekibanki sitting on a pillow next to a crackling fire with the cast iron pot of simmering beef stew resting on top of it. She hands me a bowl and a spoon. "Dig right in, Kogasa. It's pretty delicious if I say so myself!"

I ladle the stew into my bowl and sit down a pillow across from Sekibanki, slurping it up with my spoon. The warmth and savoriness makes me open my eyes wider as it perks me up.

"How is it?" Sekibanki grabs her own bowl and sips the thick soup from her spoon.

I swallow my spoonful stew with a satisfying gulp. "Mmmm!" I can't hold in my excitement and started to laugh afterwards. The old man wasn't very good at cooking, to be honest.

"Good to know you like it!" She smirks at me. "I don't hold back on my cooking skills, you should know."

"Have you ever served your cooking to any humans?"

Sekibanki scratches her head. "That's not something I've considered, really. You're the first to taste my cooking."

"What got you into cooking so well?"

"I wanted to be satisfied with my own food and so I kept going at it until I liked it. Apparently, I have really high standards for a youkai, hahaha!"

I put my bowl down and pat my stomach. "You should definitely try letting humans taste your dishes then. I really liked it!"

The pot sits quietly while we both ate all of the stew from it. The fire takes its leave as I lie down on the floor to rest for a bit. I never noticed but I was really tired so I quietly nod off. I feel myself getting lifted up and hear the floor's creaking noises with Sekibanki carrying me to bed.

After a while, I get restless and roll around in my blanket. When I turn around, I suddenly see the back of Sekibanki's head. She... didn't have a separate bed.

"Sekibanki?"

She didn't try to look at me and just responded, "Sorry."

"It's okay." I blush. "Can I get closer to you?"

"S, Sure." She stutters.

I wrap my arms around her waist and nuzzle the back of her neck for a moment. She's very warm. Warm enough to make me rest easy.


My dream was not very exciting, but it was a soothing memory if I can say so myself. I had a simple life in the past, just an umbrella in the rain spun by a little boy. He had short brown hair, not very tall for his age, and a smile as bright as the sun when it peeks through. He arrived home from school and was greeted by his mother, a slender woman with long black hair and her eyes . For me, it didn't matter if I was in a family of commoners or royalty as long as I was loved and with these two, it was the happiest I ever was.

Yet here I am, looking for a new home. What happened to that world of mine? I'm sure I'm repressing the answer to that question, leaving myself a ignorant fool. I really don't know if I can face that truth. I'm just... scared.


Even before the sun rose from the horizon, I slide discreetly out of the blanket and try to sneak out to no avail with a loud squeak from one of the floorboards.

"Kogasa." Sekibanki interrupts me with her face still turned away from my eyes.

"Huh?"

"Promise me one thing."

"One thing?"

"When you come back, tell me as soon as possible. I want to host a party and I want you to be my guest of honor."

I look down at the floor. I heard the remorse in her voice. "What do you actually want from me?"

Her head jumps out of the bed and her eyes narrow. "Please don't die."

I thought I'd be shocked unconscious by her floating head like the first time, but I just held back my tears and glanced straight at her eyes. "...Okay. I'll make sure of it." I turn around and walk out the room as I gather my things.


I have my closed umbrella wrapped to my back and the rest of my groceries in my right hand as I drive towards the northeast. The road is well travelled so it's not a problem for my scooter to ride across. During my journey, I arrive at a food cart stopped on the side of the road. It's fairly early in the morning, but the cart seems to already have business set up. I park my scooter nearby and sit down on one of the stools in front of the cart.

The lady inside the cart wore a mauve kimono and a blue handkerchief around her light pink hair. It's very hard to ignore her wings and fluffy ears though.

"You don't look like a regular. What's your name?" She asks.

"Kogasa." I nod my head. "What's yours?"

She then grins. "Mystia. Lorelei Mystia. Are you ordering anything?"

"Umm. What do you serve here?"

Mystia points at the back wall of the cart. "Eels with a good helping of rice and along with that filling meal, a tall bottle of sake!"

I pull out the coins from the pouch from before and give them to Mystia. "How much are these worth?"

She sorts the coins out and stares at them for a while, then sighs. "I can't take these as payment."

I groan. "They're worthless?"

"They're priceless."

I shake my head for a few seconds, then stared at Mystia. "What do you mean, 'priceless'?"

"You could buy out my entire stock with that kind of currency." She hands the coins back to me. "I'm not going to accept them, so I apologize."

"So how can I pay...?"

Mystia chuckles. "You know what, I'll just make you a bowl because I feel like I need a warmup today!"

"Really?" My cheeks redden slightly at her generous offer. "Th, Thanks."

She smirks as the fires flare up and her hands move gracefully, roasting the eels with precise efficiency. I was very impressed with her skill with grilling the skewered eels!

The rice drops off the paddle into the bowl and the eels cover the rice with a modest amount of soy sauce.

Mystia places the bowl in front of me. "Ta-dah! What do you think?" Beads of sweat dot her face, but she smiles proudly nonetheless.

I can't help myself as I clap gleefully. "That was phenomenal! Are you sure I can have this?"

"Sure. It's not exactly anything off my back." Mystia produces a spoon from behind the counter and gives it to me.

I scoop up the rice and eel, but quickly place the spoon of food back in the bowl. "It's still steaming hot, haha."

"I get told that often, it's not that uncommon."

Suddenly, I hear wheels behind me as the horse pulling a small wagon stops and a girl with long purple hair and bunny ears hops out. She sits down next to me and nods her head a bit before relaxing her shoulders.

"Good morning, Mystia."

"Good morning, Reisen. The usual?"

"The usual." The girl turns to look at me. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kogasa! Nice to meet you." I grin. The girl's face was very youthful, but she looked tired.

"I'm Reisen Udongein Inaba." She smiles for a moment, then looks at Mystia.

Mystia plates two skewered eels and plops it in front of Reisen. With a swift motion, Reisen grabs one of the sticks and takes a small bite out of the eel.

Reisen nods. "Good as always, thanks."

Mystia blushes a little, but bows lightly afterwards. She then glances at me when I finally decide to eat a scoop of the rice and eel. "Kogasa, what were you planning on doing today?"

I swallow my food and look away for a second before answering. "I was heading to the Bamboo Forest to look for the people who run the pharmacy in the village."

"Oh!" Mystia perks up. "Well, Reisen here works for that pharmacy. You could ask her to take you there if you want."

I look at Reisen, then back at Mystia. "Is she always like this?"

"Reisen's always like that. She's just not a morning person, don't worry about her." Mystia giggles. "So are you leaving now?"

[ ] Stay for a while and talk with Mystia about things.
[ ] Ask Reisen about the Bamboo Forest.
[ ] Don't bother Reisen and just head to the Bamboo Forest without consulting her.

[ ] Stay for a while and talk with Mystia about things.

Cuz she knows things. Things that would make most mortals shiver.

[x] Stay for a while and talk with Mystia about things.

[x] Ask reused about the bamboo forest

Keep in traxk

[x] Ask Reisen about the Bamboo Forest.

Let's not just go stumbling through the notoriously confusing Bamboo Forest. It's all in the name see, Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

Hopefully Reisen will be willing to personally guide us.

[X] Ask Reisen about the Bamboo Forest.

Having to go through it, she'd certainly know better about how to get to Eientei.