Angry Desu !jVJAZ.LN/Q 2008/12/08 (Mon) 20:12 No. 71102 ▼ File 122879596749.jpg - (178.85KB, 530x600 , Yuyukarin.jpg)
You stare at the woman's back as she looks out into the living room through which Utsuho had left.
“What,” you begin, causing her to turn around and raise one eyebrow. Setting your teacup down on the counter behind, you give her your best glare - one heavily watered down by the sick feeling in your stomach. “The. Hell?” you finish, then wave one hand dismissively before she can answer.
“No,” you say, “No, I'm going to need something to drink before I hear this - I just know it.”
“Drinks cabinet is up there.” The woman states, pointing at a small wall-mounted cabinet in one corner of the room. “Not the good stuff of course, that's in the dining room, but I suspect cooking quality alcohol will be alright?” Cooking alcohol would be absolutely fine - it was strong and there was likely to be plenty of it.
A glass was soon produced, along with a bottle of... actually you had no idea what it was but it was a red-brown color and smelled like it could strip paint with it's fumes alone. A good measure was sloshed into the glass and, after a brief gulp, you downed the contents in one go before pitching forward and coughing at the burning in your throat. You'd never been that heavy a drinker and you'd certainly not tried... whatever this was... before - though like all employees you had been obliged to drink something at all the various after-work drinking sessions you occasionally got invited to. Wines, or Beers, were generally more to your taste - mostly because you could easily nurse them for some time in order to avoid getting totally smashed like some of your ex-co-workers used to. Hey - maybe that was another plus point to this? You'd never have to drag your co-workers drunken, vomit covered bodies to their homes ever again.
Instead you'd have to deal with... monsters.
“You can have another you know,” The woman murmurs from behind you, “I don't mind if you do.”
“No...” You grumble ins response, though you do pour another measure of alcohol into your glass - just in case you needed it. “If I'm going to be given an explanation, then I expect to be sober enough to understand it.”
“That's fair enough I suppose,” she states as you turn to face her. “Then lets perhaps begin with what I missed out during our ride her.” She smirks, “My name is Yakumo Yukari, and I am a Youkai.” Idly she picks her cup from where she had left it and takes a sip.
“Wait, wait wait wait,” You wave one hand in front of your face. “Youkai? As in 'spiritual being'? I remember hearing about that kind of crap from my grandfather - but that's just religious nonsense.”
“And was what you just saw nonsense?” Yukari responds, “You're a scientist, an engineer - I know people like you trust their own eyes over stories people tell them. So, tell me, are you going to ignore what your eyes have already told you today?”
You stare at her, then at the drink in your hand. You jostle the glass and make the liquid inside swirl around for a few moments as you think hard. “No.” You say eventually, “I know what I saw, and I saw a girl with actual wings - real ones, however the hell that's supposed to work.”
“What you saw was a Youkai,” explains the woman opposite you, “Specifically she is a greater hell-crow, one of sufficient power to assume a human...” She pauses and shrugs, “well... human-ish form. Some youkai are better at that kind of things than others, though their power isn't necessarily indicative of who is and who isn't capable of doing it well.”
“Was... Was Miss Meiling a youkai too?” You ask, a small spark of curiosity having awoken deep inside you. “I didn't see anything about her that seemed... uh...”
“Inhuman?” Yukari says, leaving you to nod at her completion of your sentence. “Well, Youkai like her have an easier time of it. I'm sure you've heard the stories that an animal which lives long enough can become a demon?” You nod again, still swishing your drink around in it's glass. “Simply put that story is more or less true - though there is far, far more involved in such a transition than mere age. Anyhow, it can happen with any creature - animal, plant or human - and more than a few inanimate objects too.”
“Tsukumogami?” you suggest, doing your best to remember those hazy memories of your grandfather telling you such stories about things like geta sandals and paper lanterns turning into monsters if left long enough.
Yukari simply nods, “That would be the result of such a thing, yes, though truthfully even I am not entirely sure how some of those objects make the transition without aid. Simply put, anything can become a youkai if the conditions are right. Meiling was most likely a normal human girl beforehand - for a given value of 'normal' at least, since there must have been something about her that prompted her transition.” Yukari shrugs, “Whatever it was, it basically means that her human form is also her natural youkai form.”
“And how about you?” You ask, staring hard at the woman, who simply raises one hand to her mouth and quite blatantly feigns a blush. “What did, uh... what are... I mean, that is to say...?” you trail off into a sort of embaressed
“My my,” She giggles, “And you barely even know me.” Shrugging she removes her hand and smiles, “I'm afraid I can't answer that,” she states in a seemingly apologetic tone, “For one thing I'm on a somewhat... different... level from most youkai, and for another if you actually saw me in my entirety I'm pretty sure your brain would implode.”
“... is that so?” You ask, wondering what the hell she could mean by that, and feeling maybe more than a touch intimidated for some reason. “So, is that... everything?”
“Oh! Heavens no! There are Fairies, Death Gods, Snow Maidens, Vampires, Goddesses...Almost every spiritual being you can imagine resides in Gensokyo” Yukari laughs again, “I haven't even told you half of what you need to survive! But don't worry, Meiling is perfectly safe and Utsuho is... mmm... excitable. Threatening to report her to her master, Komeiji Satori, should however be more than enough to make her back down unless you do anything to really offend her. For the most, however, I'm afraid I must allow you to develop your own impressions of the girls.”
“Are you going to tell me anything more about this 'Gensokyo' though?” You ask, “I'm assuming it's important as everyone seems to come from there.”
Shrugging Yukari sips at her tea thoughtfully for a few moments, “Not too much to tell,” she states eventually, “Gensokyo is, or was, a sealed off area intended to let youkai and other similar beings exist - the outside world had become... mmm... 'less than hospitable' shall we say. In Gensokyo, and don't assume there aren't other places like it around the world, we were all meant to simply wait until the outer world became hospitable again or...” She trails off and looks down at her cup. “Yes, well, we managed to pick up quite the diverse selection of... unique individuals over the years. And then came the recent planetary alignment and 'pop' went the little self-contained bubble that was Gensokyo. I think, Mr Ryougi, that someone as smart as you can easily see how this links up with what you've already been told.”
“They need help adapting to the modern world,” you whisper, receiving a nod of confirmation in response. “I assume... there are four more girls?” You whisper, looking down at your glass as the blond woman nods again. There was something that still seemed off about the situation, but Yukari's explanation hadn't possessed any particularly glaring holes in it that you could see... So for now you couldn't come up with any particular argument or objection against it. “Right then,” you say instead, downing your drink and gasping once again at it's burning taste, “Lets get this over with -”
[ ] Motherly
[ ] Strongest!
[ ] Spinning
[ ] Rumia
Goddamn posting cockups.
I'll count prior votes for this post, don't worry.
