“Hello Mokou! I'm happy you're here!” Flandre says, sounding quite cheery. It's actually kind of unnerving how she's acting right now. Mokou doesn't seem bothered, taking a seat on the bed next to Flandre. You notice that Mokou's unbuttoned the top buttons of her shirt, and pulls it open slightly.

“Anything to help,” Mokou sighs, shooting you a glare. Flandre looks up to you as well.

“I waited like a good girl!” Flandre says happily. “I was told that you'd bring me breakfast and I waited like a good girl even though it was hard.” You manage a smile, even though Flandre is starting to get more and more unsettling. She seems to be physically shaking as she sits. “Can I eat now? Is it okay?” You feel a lump in your throat. You're now starting to have second thoughts about this, even though Mokou is immortal, you're still allowing her death. You look at Mokou, and despite her faded anger, she gives you a firm nod and takes a deep breath.

“Drink up Flandre,” you say. Flandre's gives you a happy smile, and then whips around and goes straight to Mokou's throat. Aside from the impact from Flandre, Mokou hardly flinches as Flandre bites into her throat, only a slight facial tic at the moment of impact denotes any kind of pain she might have felt. You see the red stain spread across Mokou's chest very quickly, and Flandre starts to make some noises you can only liken to moaning. You don't stay in the room any longer.

**

You're not sure how long it would take for Flandre to feed to her content, but you give her an hour. During that time, Patchouli had returned, carrying a few blood packs and in quite a panic until she heard you had gotten back first with success. After taking some time to have her caught up on events and hear from her, you manage to get in some time to talk, and you get some rather chilling news. The amount of blood Youmu donated had been less than ideal, and if you hadn't have been able to return with Mokou, Flandre would have gone into a bloodrage long before Patchouli returned. You don't want to imagine how that would have turned out. Patchouli leaves eventually to check in on Meiling, Alice goes with her, and Youmu heads off when Yuyuko calls for her. You decide to check in with Flandre. The room isn't any messier than it was before, aside from a totally limp and apparently dead Mokou at the foot of the bed, and Flandre curled up at the head, face buried in her knees.

“Flandre?” you say, seeing her curled up like she is. She moves a little bit, but doesn't look up. You take a few steps into the room, a little hesitant to get too close, admittedly a little afraid to get closer to a presumably dead body.

“I'm sorry,” Flandre says, not lifting her head. “I'm sorry that had to happen.”

“It's okay,” you say gently, stepping towards the bed. You look over at Mokou. Sure enough, she's dead, but the neck wound looks a lot better than you thought it would given how violently Flandre bit in. “You needed to eat.”

“She was friendly,” Flandre says, looking up finally. She's been crying it seems. “She was nice to me and I ate her, I couldn't help myself. I ate her all, and now...” Flandre looks over at Mokou's body. You approach the bed and kneel beside it. Flandre drops her legs and scoots over, laying her head on your shoulder. “I killed someone that was nice to me,” she says, and you can tell that she's starting to cry again. You can't help but feel sorry for her, but at the same time, you almost feel like laughing. You bring your hands to Flandre's shoulders.

“It's still okay, Flandre. I've got some surprising news,” you say. Flandre doesn't move to reply. “Mokou can't die for long.” Flandre is still for a few seconds, but then sits up, wiping away a tear and looking confused.

“What do you mean?” she asks, looking at Mokou again. You look too, and you notice that the wound is even better than it was before. She's healing, it would seem. You're about to explain that Mokou is immortal, when Mokou herself starts coughing. It's enough to make Flandre jump and fall back, turning towards Mokou in surprise, and the whole thing makes you laugh a little. “Wha- what!?”

“Mokou is immortal, she won't stay dead,” you say. Mokou groans.

“Lucky me,” she rasps, sounding a little raspy. You can't exactly blame her for that. Flandre looks absolutely amazed and confused at the same time.

“You're not dead!?” she practically shouts, then looks at you. “She's alive!?” You nod in response, and Flandre smiles, then scurries across the bed and drops onto Mokou, squeezing her as best as she can from her position. “I'm so sorry I killed you! I didn't really want to!” Mokou places a hand on Flandre's head, and... well you can't tell what Mokou did given her condition, any sound she makes sounds like pained wheezing. Flandre sits back up lays down next to Mokou, hanging her legs over the edge of the bed, matching much the same position Mokou is laying in.

“I've had my throat cut before, but that was new,” Mokou says, coughing a little. “You've got strong jaws I was pretty surprised.”

“Ah, thank you...” Flandre replies, sounding a little embarrassed. It seems that things are okay, and you're relieved. Crisis averted, though there's still quite a mess to need to clean up. You'll leave it for now, at least until Mokou is back on her feet.

“I'm going to go, leave you two for a while,” you say, heading to the door. You don't think Flandre could hear you, and you don't think Mokou cares. Either way, you head out. With that problem out of the way now, you should probably get back to the rest of the days tasks. It takes you a short while to actually remember, what with all the panic you've had things slip your mind a little. From what you can remember, you were to take Wriggle to look for some suitable clothes, play with Cirno, and it would likely be about time you head back to see Aya. Time to get to them then, starting with...

---

[X]Go with Wriggle to Kourindou after that dress.

>Youmu/Yuyuko's route
>Wriggle's femminization
>Aya's interview
>Playing with Cirno
>Studying magic for that doll spell
>Doing your part of the deal with Mokou
>Scarlet problems

Holy shit, too much to do. We better stop offering help to everyone we see.

>>84395

>Studying magic for that doll spell

Or find Mima and convince her to help.

[x]Go with Wriggle to Kourindou after that dress.

[X]Go with Wriggle to Kourindou after that dress.


Geez we've got to make it up to Mokou somehow.

>>84387
>>84389
Flandre is a good girl.
And we should thank Letty for coming with us.

>Aya's interview
>dress for Wriggle
[+] Ask Wriggle if she's okay for making a short stop over at Aya's place before we go shopping

[+] Ask Wriggle if she's okay for making a short stop over at Aya's place before we go shopping

[X]Go with Wriggle to Kourindou after that dress.

I think that was one of the most dignified death scenes Mokou has had on these boards. Of course, my memory has been known to fail me.

[ze] Ask Wriggle if she's okay for making a short stop over at Aya's place before you all go shopping.

This was beautiful.

[x] Ask Wriggle if she's okay for making a short stop over at Aya's place before we go shopping

>>84398
changing vote to
[x] Ask Wriggle if she's okay for making a short stop over at Aya's place before we go shopping.

[x] Ask Wriggle if she's okay for making a short stop over at Aya's place before we go shopping.

[x] Ask Wriggle if she's okay for making a short stop over at Aya's place before we go shopping

You should probably go see Aya now, but since you're leaving anyway, you could bring Wriggle with you. So long as she's okay with it at least. You head to her room first. You're in luck, she's in her room, and she seems to be fixing her hair again. She's also gotten back into her normal clothes.

“Hey, Wriggle,” you say, knocking on the door frame. She looks over at you and smiles.

“Is it time to go?” she asks, and you nod.

“I was actually wondering though, I need to make a stop at Aya's, do you mind?” Wriggle shakes her head.

“Not at all, actually,” she replies, setting the brush aside. She also set the barrette down as well.

“You're not using that today?” you ask. Wriggle looks away, turning a little red.

“I, well, I don't want anyone to see me until I've made a complete change, so plain Wriggle will have to do until then,” she says, walking towards you. “Like how a caterpillar goes into a cocoon so noone can see it's transformation into a butterfly.”

“A bug related metaphor,” you say with a grin. “How expected.” Wriggle pouts a little.

“Sorry for being obvious then,” she says, then she smiles as well. “Are we leaving immediately?”

“Unless you've got anything to do first,” you say, stepping back as Wriggle exits the room. She thinks for a moment, but then shakes her head.

“No, I'm fine,” she says.

“Alright then, let's get going,” you say, and you head towards the outside porch, and with Wriggle, set out for the gate once again.

**

Flying back to the mountain was a mostly silent affair. Idle chatter with Wriggle slowed a few minutes out of the gate, and the time was passed mostly looking out over the distance, trying to make sense of the bizarre patches of strange weather. From the air it's harder to make out some things, but what you do notice is several patches of clouds hovering in place over a location, and several places where any moving clouds instantly fade away to let the sun shine through. Even more unusual is the heavy fogs. Almost the entirety of the Misty Lake is clouded by a thick fog, and to a lesser degree the Forest of Magic is overflowing with a thick mist.

At the mountain, you head up the river towards Aya's office. You pass several kappa bucket teams gathering water from the river, and you notice Hina floating along watching over them. She must be at work as well preventing misfortune from affecting their work. She doesn't notice you though, so you pass by and head up the waterfall. With all the activity going on around the river, a bunch of smaller fairies are buzzing around excitedly as well, the mountain really seems alive. The fairies are even flying around at Aya's office when you reach it. Momizi is still there, sitting out on the porch and drinking.

“Hello Momizi,” you greet the dog eared girl and she waves to you as you float towards her. “Aya back?”

“She told me you'd be coming around,” Momizi says. “I wish she'd have told me this morning, I'd have been able to tell you then.”

“Tell me what?”

“Something big happened and Aya won't be in today, she said she'll be busy gathering information for the rest of the day, so she's canceling her appointment with you,” Momizi says, taking a drink from a bottle. “So nothing's going on today, and I'm just relaxing.” You're a little relieved that the situation turned out how it did, but now you're curious.

“What happened exactly?” you ask.

“I didn't really get much of what she said, she was talking faster than she flies, but she said something about the Hakurei Shrine collapsing,” Momizi says casually, like it's no big deal. You're at a loss for words, and Wriggle seems just as surprised.

“Collapsed? Was Reimu hurt?” you ask. Momizi waves her bottle.

“Well, Reimu's pride was probably hurt if it was knocked down by a youkai, but I don't think anyone was injured,” she says, taking another swig from the bottle. You kind of want to head over to Reimu's shrine and take a look, find out what happened for yourself, but you'd have to pass Kourindou for that, and right now you did head out with Wriggle to go looking for a dress. You're not the only one that seems concerned either. Wriggle looks troubled by the news as well.

“What do you think Wriggle?” you ask her.

“Well, if no one's hurt then it's probably okay, but...” Wriggle trails off. There is a point there, it's true that if no one was hurt then there's not really any need to worry, but you can't help but feel curious. You're a little conflicted at the moment, but it's not like you really have to worry about the time right now. It's still early in the afternoon, evening won't be for a few hours so it might not hurt to check the shrine afterall. Whether or not to go shopping before you go or afterwards though...

---

[x] Go to Kourindou to buy a dress. Check out the shrine afterwards.

I haven't played SWR. Is anything important happening at the shrine right now?

>>84483

Earthquake demolished it. Tenshi caused the earthquake.

[x] Go to Kourindou to buy a dress. Check out the shrine afterwards.

Can't wait for a duel with Tenshi. That's going to be awesome.

[x] Go to Kourindou to buy a dress. Check out the shrine afterwards.

[x] Go to Kourindou to buy a dress. Check out the shrine afterwards.

updates?

[x] Go to Kourindou to buy a dress. Update the story afterwards.

>>84729

Never!

Tomorrow.

>>84749

hooray!

>>84749

Lies!

>>84795

I'm three hours ahead of the board time, so my issues with time are a bit different from my perspective.

And yes, that is a bad excuse and I do feel bad.

[x] Go to Kourindou to buy a dress. Check out the shrine afterwards.

You've done enough back-and-forth today already, what with having to come back to the Youkai Mountain after already being out here earlier in the day. You're going to head to Kourindou first on the way, then you'll go on from there.

“We'll check it out later,” you say, turning to Wriggle with a small smile. “I'm sure Reimu can handle herself.” She doesn't seem to be quite as confident, but she nods in acceptance and smiles a little herself. With that decided, the two of you swoop down towards the edge of the forest.

**

It doesn't take long to reach the shop, and the door is found stuck open. Despite the clouds and rain that circle the area, the sun shines down brightly on the area surrounding the store. What surprises you more is the fact that there are several people, some of which visibly youkai, gathered around the premises as well, though Rinnosuke isn't anywhere among them. You enter the store, putting the crowd out of mind. Rinnosuke comes out of a back room, looking a little annoyed.

“Are you here to bug me too?” he asks as he vanishes behind a pile of junk. “If so, I suggest you go outside and mingle, I'm not giving handouts.”

“We're here to shop,” you say. It only occurs to you now that you don't have anything that could be passed as money. Damn it. Rinnosuke reappears and gives you a strange look, then shrugs.

“Well, whatever you're after, good luck,” he says, picking up a box from out of sight and carries it off into the back room. This place is a mess. There's junk everywhere, and there doesn't seem to be any kind of organization of goods either. Finding anything specific in this would be work enough, let alone a dress. Does he even stock clothing? After a bit of searching, it would seem he does, but all you manage to find are a couple of shirts, sports jerseys and the like. Nothing of the dress variety. You feel that this place might be a bust after all, you might need to head somewhere else to look around. Alice had offered to help, afterall. You're left wondering if you should try to get Rinnosuke's attention and ask him if he has anything, or if you should just cut your losses and head out.

---

It kind of feels weird to write so little.

[X] Go ask Alice.

When she's ten feet tall.

[X] Go ask Alice.

Alice should be close enough without sacrificing the chance to check the shrine.

>>84842

Unless I forgot already, Alice should still be at Hakugyokuro.

[X] Go ask Alice.

Vote harder, maybe it'll get Mode to update faster!

Rinnosuke was going to have to be an accomplice anyway, Wriggle. Can't completely hide the secret from everyone.

[+] Try to get Rinnosuke's attention; ask about dresses, and ask what's going on
- [+] If he has stock, search it
- [+] Else, explore the Shrine ... from a Reimu-safe distance

We'll refer back to Alice later; barter with research. Or, maybe we picked-up some sewing skills ...

[+] Try to get Rinnosuke's attention; ask about dresses, and ask what's going on
- [+] If he has stock, search it
- [+] Else, explore the Shrine ... from a Reimu-safe distance

[x] Try to get Rinnosuke's attention; ask about dresses, and ask what's going on
- [x] If he has stock, search it
- [x] Else, explore the Shrine ... from a Reimu-safe distance

[x] Try to get Rinnosuke's attention; ask about dresses, and ask what's going on
- [x] If he has stock, search it
- [x] Else, explore the Shrine ... from a Reimu-safe distance

fffffffffff

I wrote an update for the [x] Go ask Alice vote and come back to see something new in the lead.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board. Writing board. Whatever. I'll just splice what I have with even more text.

[x] Try to get Rinnosuke's attention; ask about dresses, and ask what's going on
- [x] If he has stock, search it
- [x] Else, explore the Shrine ... from a Reimu-safe distance

You bide your time wandering around the store for now. You hadn't really taken a look around the last time, you were pretty intently focused at the time. You're a little surprised to see a number of familiar objects, mostly technology. After a few minutes of browsing idly and watching Wriggle pick through what seems to be a pile of costume shirts, Rinnosuke returns minus one box.

“Ah, excuse me,” you say, hoping for a response. He glances over at you but doesn't really acknowledge you. “I was wondering if you had any dresses?” You motion towards Wriggle with your head, who seems to have heard you and is looking at Rinnosuke as well. He looks a little annoyed, and sweeps his head around, looking at the various piles of junk.

“Nothing out here,” he says, stepping over to another pile and rummaging somewhere out of sight and retrieving another box.

“So, you have some?” you ask.

“I'm a little busy right now,” he says, picking up some of the objects and putting them in the box.

“Does this have anything to do with the group of people gathered outside?” you question, and he looks past you to the door.

“No, those lot are just loitering on my property. Ever since this weather started getting weird, people have been flocking here since it's one of the few places that the sun still shines,” Rinnosuke says, setting the box aside for a moment and adjusting his glasses. “It's a hassle. They come here because the sky is clear and they occasionally wander in here to get a break from the sun. I try to sell them umbrellas to they can at least protect themselves from the sun, but of course, no one ever comes here with money. One of these days an umbrella is likely to simply walk out of the store on it's own.” You stiffen a little bit at that money part. You wonder how exactly you're going to explain your intent to take goods without having anything really to trade for it.

“So...” you begin, getting ready to get around to asking more about the clothes, when Rinnosuke interrupts.

“Yes yes, dresses, I know. Give me a moment,” he says, hoisting the box and walking off into the back. Wriggle seems to lose interest in the shirts and starts to wander around, looking at some of the technology laying around. You just idly glance around the store, stopping at a large box filled with umbrellas in the corner opposite the door. One large, violet umbrella stands out in particular.

After another few minutes, Rinnosuke returns with a box, and places it on the front counter, pulling open the top. A mass of cloth greets you.

“Here,” he says, tilting the box towards you. Wriggle heads up next to you, and you reach into a box, pulling out one of the wads of cloth and unfurling it. They're dresses alright. They all seem fairly small too, good enough to fit Wriggle at least.

“I'm a bit surprised you actually had clothes here,” you say, as Wriggle has taken over the dress browsing. Rinnosuke snorts a short laugh.

“Because Kourindou is a junk store, right?” he asks, shaking his head. “Don't answer that. These aren't typically for sale though.”

“Oh, really?” you ask, looking at the box. “Why's that?”

“Most people tend to buy their clothes in the human village, or they make their own. It's mostly a vanity for people to buy something like a dress,” he says, looking at Wriggle. “There's also the fact that if the old owner of these clothes knew I still had them she would never shut up.”

“So these are second hand then,” you say. Guess you could have seen that coming. You're about to ask who they had belonged to beforehand when Wriggle pulls out a light blue dress decorated with multicoloured stars roughly sewn into it. Actually, you think you have an idea who it was now. After a little while, Wriggle settles on a rather simple green piece with a frilly chest. Likely to help hide her total lack.

“I like this,” she says, looking over the dress in her hands.

“Alright then, what do you have in exchange?” Rinnosuke asks. Great.

“Uh, about that...” you say, and you can visible see Rinnosuke sag.

“Oh come on,” he whines, sliding the box aside. “Not another broke customer.”

“This was kind of poorly planned,” you admit. “Could I just get it on credit or something? Come back some other time and pay?” Rinnosuke sighs.

“I wouldn't even ask that much for it, but whatever,” he groans, pushing away from the counter. “Take it, come back some other time, or not. It's okay, I'm just a charity,” he complains, heading back into the junk and collecting another box. You feel kind of bad for the whole situation. You're definitely going to need to come back to make up for it, but staying around now would probably only make it worse.

“Let's go,” you say to Wriggle quietly. She seems to be a little regretful as well as the two of you head towards the door. You step outside to find the gathered crowd had grown a little in the meantime. Seems more people seeking the sun have come along. You and Wriggle take to the air and head off towards the mountains.

**

The scene is pretty much what you imagined. A pile of rubble in the middle of the lot, with Reimu and several others gathered around. Reimu is sitting slumped against a battered looking box with 'donations' written on the side talking to Suika, and as you had suspected, Aya is zooming around the area, snapping pictures and writing things. You stay at a distance at first, a little worried about getting close to the shrine. You had figured Reimu would have been in a rage, but considering the number of people gathered here too that are going unmolested, it would seem that there isn't a problem. Well, not for them at least. Come to think of it, it's sunny here at the shrine as well. You circle the area a little until you notice a some motion from near the box. It seems you've been spotted, and Reimu is waving you down. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go down for a while.

“What happened here?” you ask when you get close to the box. Reimu lifts a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she looks up at you. It's quite evident in her face that she's is quite a poor mood.

“Earthquake, I suppose,” Reimu says, pushing off the box and standing up. “It's probably one of those girls at the other shrine. One of the gods is the goddess of the earth or something like that, Suwako? They're probably still sore about last time, so this is how they pay me back.”

“Why would that be?” you ask, a little confused. Reimu sighs.

“They showed up a while ago, and I heard they tried to take over Reimu's shrine,” Wriggle says, jumping into the conversation.

“Oh?” you say, turning to her.

“They made a lot of noise when they came here, trying to gather faith and worshipers, Reimu,” Wriggle pauses, looking at said shrine maiden. It seems Reimu has an idea what Wriggle was about to say, and Wriggle shrinks back a little. “Uh, Reimu wasn't going to simply roll over, and went to duel with them.”

“Huh, and so because of this, they knock down your shrine?” you ask, turning back to Reimu, she shrugs and looks back at the pile of rubble.

“I don't even know any more,” she says with a defeated tone. “I don't know who to blame for this,” she whines, idly kicking the donation box. You hear a slight noise from inside. “Turns out though that the shrine falling in on itself is what it takes for me to get a few donations, though.”

“How much are you going to need to rebuild the shrine?” you ask. Reimu gives you a sarcastic look and a dry laugh.

“If I bother the townspeople enough, they'll rebuild it for free,” she says, sitting on the edge of the box. “Though I suppose if I find an incident to solve, they'll do it out of gratitude...” Reimu leans back on the donation box and stares up at the sky. “Maybe this weather is something I could look into.” Suika hums a little at that comment, which gets her a look from Reimu.

“Itching to fight?” Suika says, standing up from the ground herself. Reimu groans a little.

“It's too hot to even move comfortably,” she whines, sliding off the box and onto her feet. “If I find out there was someone behind this, I'll crush them in one move so I don't have to work myself into a sweat.”

“Oh! I can feel your killer intent already!” Suika cheers, pumping her fist. Reimu just glares at her.

“I think you're mistaking my sleeping intent,” she says, walking away towards the building off the shrine property.

“Could something like this happen without someone's interference?” you ask. Reimu stops walking and scratches her head.

“Maybe,” she says, half-turning. “This is the first real earthquake I've had. Who knows if there really was someone behind it.” You look at the shrine ruins. It's collapsed, sure, but you're wondering why only the shrine collapsed. You take a few steps towards it out of curiosity, not really having gotten too good a look. As you do, you feel yourself stopped by an invisible force.

“What's with this force?” you ask, reaching a hand towards the shrine. It's not a solid wall, rather it feels like a strong pressure pushing you back.

“Hm? Oh! That,” Reimu says, smiling a little. “I forgot I set up some wards to keep spirits from hanging out at my shrine.” You glance over at her, and she waves a hand dismissively. “It's not for you, it's been up for a while, ever since I drove away a slacking old ghost.”

“Really?” you ask, looking back at the ruins. “Maybe it was that ghost?” Reimu shakes her head.

“If it was done by magic, I'd have known it,” she says. “Plus, I don't think she's the kind that would get back at me like that. She'd just have taken up residence in my home if she really wanted to stay, like some other layabouts I know.” Reimu glances at Suika, who in turn looks away as if the trees suddenly caught her attention. Right.

“I'm glad to see you're alright though,” you say. Reimu grins a bit.

“I'm sure a lot of people would be thankful that the Hakurei miko wasn't killed by something like a collapsing building,” she says, folding her arms. “Funny how quickly you can move when there's a building come down around you.” You let that process for a second before you realize what was being said.

“Wait, you were inside it when it collapsed?” you ask, a little shocked.

“I was cleaning it up a little,” she says, looking towards the ruins. “It didn't really start coming down until I had gotten outside, but I was in it when the shaking started and a few things fell. I was just hoping that heading outside would keep anything from falling on me, not avoiding my entire shrine coming down.”

“It is a good thing you weren't hurt then,” Wriggle interjects. Reimu smiles, then stretches a bit.

“I'm going to go inside and relax out of this sun,” she says, looking up at the sky. “With all the rain and clouds and snow, you'd think I'd be lucky enough to not have constant glaring sunlight all the time,” she sighs, then she turns and heads towards her home.

“She's not dealing with this well,” Suika says, rubbing her head a little. “Normally she'd be jumping at shadows trying to fight anyone that might know something.”

“Is that how she is normally?” you ask. You catch a glimpse of Wriggle looking troubled out of the corner of your eye, and Suika just grins.

“You don't know her that well then,” she says. “By now she should have said something like 'I'm sick of this stupid weather! I'm going to go find whoever is behind this!'”

“She's probably upset and dazed over what happened,” you say, looking back at the ruins. “Though just because she isn't making a move doesn't mean I don't have to.”

“Oh? You want to go looking for trouble?” Suika asks, smile widening.

“There has to be something behind all this weather after all. Maybe I could find out something. Actually...” you stop to think. Maybe if you were to find a way to resolve this incident, it would cement your reputation. You're already known as one who defeated Yukari, but that was just given to you. With this, you might be able to really earn a name for yourself, though the idea of it being turned against you still weighs on your mind. You get the feeling that something big is going to happen, the same feeling that drove you to commit to training as Youmu's pupil.

“Oh-ho! You are looking to fight, aren't you?” Suika asks, starting to sound a little excitable. “You've got a nice gleam in your eye.”

“Maybe I am,” you say, looking out at the red sky.

“Then I think I should go looking for trouble too,” Suika says, hoisting her gourd. “Find someone suspicious and give them a good punch! I wonder if you could keep up with me though.” You smile a bit, looking at the horned girl.

“Perhaps,” you say.

“Maybe we should find out!” Suika says, hopping out in front of you. “Find out who is in better shape to go trouble-hunting!” It's fairly clear she wants to test you, but you're not really sure you want to get into that right now. As you weigh your options, you notice a cloud starts to roll in. A few seconds later and a light rain begins to fall. Interesting shift in weather... Now, your decision: Stay and fight, or take a rain check.

---

This doesn't count towards your event progress, in case you're wondering. Think of this as a prologue battle if you accept.

[x] "I guess a fight wouldn't be too bad. Mind if we move it someplace where we won't cause any additional damage to the shrine?"
[x] Summon up the Kusanagi if possible.

[x] "I guess a fight wouldn't be too bad. Mind if we move it someplace where we won't cause any additional damage to the shrine?"

Yeah, between an oni, the sprinkling, and the fact we're using a wind-generating sword...

[x] Summon up the Kusanagi if possible.

[x] "I guess a fight wouldn't be too bad. Mind if we move it someplace where we won't cause any additional damage to the shrine?"
[x] Summon up the Kusanagi if possible.

[x] "I guess a fight wouldn't be too bad. Mind if we move it someplace where we won't cause any additional damage to the shrine?"
[x] Summon up the Kusanagi if possible.

>>84877
>Yeah, between an oni, the sprinkling, and the fact we're using a wind-generating sword...

Hmm...

>Sprinkle
>Associated with: Suika Ibuki
>Color: Blue
>Effects: All special moves and Skillcard moves are upgraded to Level 4.

Oh, this will be interesting.

[x] "I guess a fight wouldn't be too bad. Mind if we move it someplace where we won't cause any additional damage to the shrine?"
[x] Summon up the Kusanagi if possible.

You can't help a smirk.

“I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to have a spar,” you say. “Though we should probably move somewhere else so we don't damage the shrine grounds any more.” Suika grins, and you glance over at Wriggle. She seems to have a slight issue with this idea.

“Let's go then!” Suika cheers, stepping forward and grabbing your collar. Before you can get another word out, you're thrown from the shrine grounds into the forest that surrounds it. You dematerialize on instinct, and luckily you did, as you pass through several trees before you manage to slow yourself. You begin to fade back in as Suika enters the trees in pursuit. She closes the distance between the two of you, and you hold your arms up, not really sure what you intended to do once a strong punch hits you and sends you flying back out of the trees, into the road leading to the shrine. You're not so lucky this time either, as several branches break off as you blow past them. You stop by crashing into a tree at the edge of the road. Your back and arms hurt from the impacts suffered.

“God damn,” you mutter to yourself, rubbing your arm. You're starting to understand that you can still feel pain after all, you just have a much higher threshold as a ghost. Suika exits the trees lazily and stops at the opposite edge of the road.

“I was kind of expecting more,” Suika says, shaking her hand.

“I was kind of caught off guard,” you say, shaking out yours arms. You had expected her to be strong, but she's above what you had first considered. Oni strength really is amazing, and you find yourself wondering if you can really defend yourself hand to hand well enough to stand on equal ground with her. Probably not. She unstoppers her gourd and takes a healthy swig before lowering it to her side with a refreshed sigh.

“Well, now that you're on guard,” she says, rushing forward. With a flick of her wrist, her gourd flies out, trailing a chain. You manage to move aside as the gourd crushes through the tree with a loud crack, and with a loud rustling the tree falls back into the woods. You retreat farther down the road. Screw this, you need your sword. You didn't take it with you when you left this time, you had set it aside at some point after you got back. You need it again, now how did you do it last time? You just wanted it and there it was. The rain continues falling, though you feel a shift in it's direction. You can feel it now. Suika is in pursuit again, and this time you clench your hand, the welcome weight weight within. You bring up the sword and remove the sheath, raising the blade over your head. Suika closes in and launches into a head first attack. You hesitate for a moment, but you swing the blade down, turning it to that the side of the blade hits Suika rather than the edge. The rain shifts wildly as the wind back up your swing, and with a heavy blow, you bring the flat of the sword down on her head, floating up as you do so. The impact is strong enough to send her flying towards the road with a cry of surprise, and she just barely manages to stop herself, catching her fall with her hands and turning herself over. You take this moment to stick the sheath through your sash belt.

“Now I'm ready,” you say, brandishing the blade. Suika grins wider, rubbing the spot on her head where you hit her.

“I think I might get a bump from that!” she says with a laugh. “I didn't know you could hit so hard!” She removes the stopper from her gourd and quickly downs another mouthful of alcohol. She rushes in again, and this time you draw the sword back, ready to intercept her again. She draws near and suddenly stops, lurching her head forward and spewing a billowing tongue of flame towards you. You fly back in surprise, swiping with the Kusanagi. A wind scatters the flames, and you notice the rain intensifying. Suika draws a card from somewhere and holds it overhead, where it flashes briefly and disappears into a glistening dust.

“Planning something?” you ask, rushing in while turning the blade in your hand so that you swing forwards with the blunt end. Suika grins and retreats, but not fast enough to get away from you. The distance closes and you lash out, using the sheer force of your blows rather than the edge of the sword to win. Suika was ready, though, and smacks your hand as it comes close, sending it careening straight downwards and nearly losing your grip on the sword. She follows up by joining her hands and delivering a strong hammer blow to your now exposed back, sending you smashing into the ground on top of your own blade. You look up to see Suika overhead, arms raised to the sky, a glowing ball of light forming in her hands as smaller lights flow into it. You take to the air once again, and Suika swings her arms down, throwing the ball towards you. It moves faster than you expected, and you can't escape before it overwhelms you. The light bursts around you and sends you flying back. You recover easily enough, and find Suika closing in on you. You prepare yourself for close combat again. At this rate, you feel like you're going to lose. You need a definite plan to handle her.

[] Focus on close range melee. She's strong, but so are your strikes.
-[] Emphasis on using your swords strikes.
-[] Emphasis on using the wind control.
[] Keep your distance, you can try to overwhelm her with danmaku attacks.
[] Call on one of your attained abilities:
-[] Alice
-[] Hina
[] “That's enough for now.”

Or a write in strategy. I'll say it now though, relying on your ability to turn ethereal will just prolong fights, not necessarily win them.

[x] Box her in with Danmaku, and when she trys counter-attacking knock her backwards back into them with a wind-slash.

[x] Focus on close range melee. She's strong, but so are your strikes.
-[x] Emphasis on using the wind control.

>One of these days an umbrella is likely to simply walk out of the store on it's own.

Do want Kogasa!

[x] Box her in with Danmaku, and when she tries counter-attacking knock her backwards back into them with a wind-slash.

[x] Take to the high skies. Above the clouds or into one.
[x] Dodge her strikes as you did Komachi's scythe, short minimally wasteful jerks at oblique angles, making her have to reorient herself as much as possible. Phase out and charge through her. Use control of the wind to make her overshoot you or to make raindrops fall up at her. Throw spiral danmaku patterns at her. Anything to confuse her sense of up and down.
[x] Once you've gotten her on the defense (or at least dizzy enough so that she stops moving), dive from above right into a grapple. Plunge the pair of you straight down into the earth, using the full power of the Kusanagi to accelerate you with a downdraft. You can even try using Komachi's distance trick to bring the ground closer.
[x] Phase out just before impact.

[x] Take to the high skies. Above the clouds or into one.
[x] Dodge her strikes as you did Komachi's scythe, short minimally wasteful jerks at oblique angles, making her have to reorient herself as much as possible. Phase out and charge through her. Use control of the wind to make her overshoot you or to make raindrops fall up at her. Throw spiral danmaku patterns at her. Anything to confuse her sense of up and down.
[x] Once you've gotten her on the defense (or at least dizzy enough so that she stops moving), dive from above right into a grapple. Plunge the pair of you straight down into the earth, using the full power of the Kusanagi to accelerate you with a downdraft. You can even try using Komachi's distance trick to bring the ground closer.
[x] Phase out just before impact.

[x] Take to the high skies. Above the clouds or into one.
[x] Dodge her strikes as you did Komachi's scythe, short minimally wasteful jerks at oblique angles, making her have to reorient herself as much as possible. Phase out and charge through her. Use control of the wind to make her overshoot you or to make raindrops fall up at her. Throw spiral danmaku patterns at her. Anything to confuse her sense of up and down.
[x] Once you've gotten her on the defense (or at least dizzy enough so that she stops moving), dive from above right into a grapple. Plunge the pair of you straight down into the earth, using the full power of the Kusanagi to accelerate you with a downdraft. You can even try using Komachi's distance trick to bring the ground closer.
[x] Phase out just before impact.

[d] Take to the high skies. Above the clouds or into one.
[a] Dodge her strikes as you did Komachi's scythe, short minimally wasteful jerks at oblique angles, making her have to reorient herself as much as possible. Phase out and charge through her. Use control of the wind to make her overshoot you or to make raindrops fall up at her. Throw spiral danmaku patterns at her. Anything to confuse her sense of up and down.
[z] Once you've gotten her on the defense (or at least dizzy enough so that she stops moving), dive from above right into a grapple. Plunge the pair of you straight down into the earth, using the full power of the Kusanagi to accelerate you with a downdraft. You can even try using Komachi's distance trick to bring the ground closer.
[e] Phase out just before impact.

I like this write-in for a number if reasons:
1. If it works, we've cleared one of the earliest (and strongest) characters to defeat Tenshi.
2. She doesn't know that we can manipulate distances.
3. She won't expect, or resist, a grapple attempt, since everyone knows how strong oni's are--she's likely to already think of it as her win at that point.
4. She should be relatively easy to disorient, given her (increasing) state of inebriation; the more she drinks, the more immune she becomes to pain, but the slower her reaction time and ability to keep her balance.
5. Even if it doesn't work (i.e., Suika turns to mist before impact), it's still a pretty badass trick, which the kind of thing she's looking for.

Me... not so much. Suika can disperse herself into mist, dozens of mini-clones, change size and go back without missing a beat. Drunk or not, disorientating her is not going to be easy. (And frankly, she can try splitting herself and watching her own back if things get too hectic.)

Two, I consider mental bandwidth a precious resource in a close range fight. (Most glaringly, the finishing move requires three seperate actions in quick succession - turning off the Kusanagi, teleporting down and phasing out all without alerting Suika that there's something off. Particularly since we're still very much a novice at teleporting that's going to require alot of concentration that'll sap the response of the phasing portion that's going to be done a split second later. If it's going to be done, just skip the phasing portion out. Yeah, that'll make it end with a double-KO, but I seriously doubt that Suika would think any less of us because of that.)

>>85026
>Suika can disperse herself into mist, dozens of mini-clones, change size and go back without missing a beat.

A strong argument for "why bother?" I don't think she'll be expecting to have to use her powers to such a degree. It's not fun for her, which is why she doesn't spam them in IaMP or SWR canonically.

>Two, I consider mental bandwidth a precious resource in a close range fight.

You contradict yourself here. Splitting yourself in to clones and coordinating them all while drunk is plausible, but multitasking for us is not, because it's not like we were able to operate multiple dolls in tandem when we were Alice, or that we could phase out on reflex alone during the snowball fight.

>turning off the Kusanagi

Why would we be doing that?

>Particularly since we're still very much a novice at teleporting that's going to require alot of concentration that'll sap the response of the phasing portion that's going to be done a split second later.

It's not teleportation. The ability simply shortens the distance between two points; when Komachi did it to us, there was no time to react. We and and whom we bring into it maintain the same inertia they have as when they entered, which is why we crashed in Tokiko earlier.

The only purpose of this is to bring us closer to the ground than she'd have judged, in case we didn't actually disorient her.

And we don't need to phase out at the "last second". Once Suika's ability to fly is overcome by the combination of gravity, our own flight, and the headwind produced by the Kusanagi, she'll be accelerating toward at 9.8m/s^2 with a range of 150-200 mph as her terminal velocity (higher than usual due to being in a low pressure system). Even when we slip out of the grapple and the wind stops coming down, she'll already be moving far too fast to decelerate in time. And because she'll be in free fall, all the while she won't feel anything is wrong until she hits the ground.

>If it's going to be done, just skip the phasing portion out.

Even if we did survive that, the Kusanagi is going to be left buried a few meters below the ground. We'd also very likely lose the hairclip as well.

>You contradict yourself here. Splitting yourself in to clones and coordinating them all while drunk is plausible, but multitasking for us is not, because it's not like we were able to operate multiple dolls in tandem when we were Alice, or that we could phase out on reflex alone during the snowball fight.

Canonically, Alice also sucks at close combat because of the dolls. (PMiSS) And Suika coordinating herself while split has been directly observed. (IaMP, SWR)

>And we don't need to phase out at the "last second". Once Suika's ability to fly is overcome by the combination of gravity, our own flight, and the headwind produced by the Kusanagi, she'll be accelerating toward at 9.8m/s^2 with a range of 150-200 mph as her terminal velocity (higher than usual due to being in a low pressure system). Even when we slip out of the grapple and the wind stops coming down, she'll already be moving far too fast to decelerate in time. And because she'll be in free fall, all the while she won't feel anything is wrong until she hits the ground.

Suika can turn into mist, remember? And she'll certainly feel something when she's being accelerated downwards in a rather non-freefall manner, and she'll certainly know the difference between falling and staying in one spot. (You know, the wind rushing past you, the fact that normal flying is not freefall and thus would not feel anything like freefall?)

>>85039
If she was going to turn into mist to avoid impacts she could have done so already. She never does it in the game. Maybe it takes too much time/concentration, unless it's part of a spellcard (which still needs a free moment to be declared)?

>And she'll certainly feel something when she's being accelerated downwards in a rather non-freefall manner, and she'll certainly know the difference between falling and staying in one spot.

Our downward force negates her upward force, leaving only gravity. Freefall.

>(You know, the wind rushing past you, the fact that normal flying is not freefall and thus would not feel anything like freefall?)

Because of the sword, the immediate air flow will be in a state of turbulence. It'll be blowing past her, yes, but not from any single coherent direction.

Which raises another interesting point: If the local air is turbulent but its location fixed to our sword, then we aren't falling, rather, we're a bubble of air that is falling. The friction of air on air should be negligible, so we might really be accelerating at G, in which case our speed is only a matter of how far up we are. People who are used to flying against air resistance are liable to grossly underestimate their speed.

>Our downward force negates her upward force, leaving only gravity. Freefall.

What.

1) You're proposing to exactly match her upward hovering/flight force WHY?
2) Unless you match the forces precisely, you're either going to compress, extend, or spin the body depending on where the forces are. Given that we're going to be pushing her down with a sword, good luck with that.

That and freefall is... not anything that spends alot of time close to Earth experiences for any prolonged period of time. Ever ride on a drop tower? That's you, trying to go into freefall. If you're being held and suddenly go into freefall, you tend to notice it real fast.

>Because of the sword, the immediate air flow will be in a state of turbulence. It'll be blowing past her, yes, but not from any single coherent direction.

You're seriously proposing that you're not going to get a coherent direction if all the wind is going to be biased in one direction? That a wind-controlling sword is capable of uniformly accelerating a body?

>1) You're proposing to exactly match her upward hovering/flight force WHY?

That's not how it works. You try to push her down, she exerts resistance by increasing the force she's using to hover, so you push a little more, and so on. You'll reach a point where your flight power of one exceeds the other (which I think may be us; we did beat Yuyu in a race), or it equals out, in which case we start falling.

>2) Unless you match the forces precisely, you're either going to compress, extend, or spin the body depending on where the forces are. Given that we're going to be pushing her down with a sword, good luck with that.

If you were made out of rubber and flying with the aid of rocket boots, maybe this would be a concern. However, the magic forces used to fly appear to be applied uniformly throughout the body, and while you're going to feel pressure at the point(s) of contact, the forces applied here aren't going to be more than a few G: Hardly enough to fold, spindle, or mutilate you.

And I don't see why you'd assume we'd be striking her with the sword. It may be easier to simply tackle her.

>That and freefall is... not anything that spends alot of time close to Earth experiences for any prolonged period of time. Ever ride on a drop tower? That's you, trying to go into freefall. If you're being held and suddenly go into freefall, you tend to notice it real fast.

The drop tower is a bad example because the platform (or whatever is attached to and controlling your descent) is exerting compressive forces against you before you fall. Here, Suika herself generates the force that prevents her from falling herself uniformly. She already feels weightless.

>You're seriously proposing that you're not going to get a coherent direction if all the wind is going to be biased in one direction?

Normally, you would, if by "wind" you mean the sensation of the resistance of air as you pass through it. However, the sword seems to be capable of controlling the wind in an arbitrary manner, removing the uniformity of the air flow and thereby removing any clear sense of direction it might have provided.

>That a wind-controlling sword is capable of uniformly accelerating a body?

I didn't make that claim. Rather, the claim I'm making is that by manipulating the flow of air, being wind, around us, we essentially remove air resistance as an upper limit on our velocity. This does not change the fact that it is only gravity that is accelerating us, not the sword.

>>85043

Actually, Suika does turn into the mist. Usually for attacks and stuff though. I think in IaMP it was in story mode and you could still hit her, but in SWR it's a skill card.

>A new thread in less than a month? No way! Next thing you know I'll need a new thread in less than two weeks!

We're trying! But c'mon, it's been three days without an update already, if it continues you will need more than two weeks.

>>85057

Sorry, it's just seeing discussion over one of my stories is so rare anymore.

That and headaches and Left4Dead Survival mode.

>>85068

Yeah, well, we're done, so you can get to writing any time now.

[x] Take to the high skies. Above the clouds or into one.
[x] Dodge her strikes as you did Komachi's scythe, short minimally wasteful jerks at oblique angles, making her have to reorient herself as much as possible. Phase out and charge through her. Use control of the wind to make her overshoot you or to make raindrops fall up at her. Throw spiral danmaku patterns at her. Anything to confuse her sense of up and down.
[x] Once you've gotten her on the defense (or at least dizzy enough so that she stops moving), dive from above right into a grapple. Plunge the pair of you straight down into the earth, using the full power of the Kusanagi to accelerate you with a downdraft. You can even try using Komachi's distance trick to bring the ground closer.
[x] Phase out just before impact.

You're going to need to gain an advantage. At this rate you're sure she's going to beat you. What you need is some space to move. The sky should work for your needs. You ascend quickly, leaving Suika to fly through the spot you had occupied just a second earlier. She gives chase soon afterwards, and even though you're moving at full speed, she's still gaining on you. You're far enough ahead though that you can still put a fair amount of distance between the ground and yourself before she catches up. Just being high up isn't enough though. You need a little bit of cover, and think to escape into the clouds. A glowing ball of light flies past you, bursting in the air and showering the area with wisps of flame. You just barely manage to get caught in the blast as you skirt the edge, and you look down, seeing Suika lobbing another glowing orb at you. You move aside, and once more it bursts in the air. You alter your course slightly, and then ascend towards the nearest cloud, disappearing within. You begin to plan your next step when you realize that the cloud is fading away. As it does, you spot Suika floating a few feet away, waving her finger in a playfully mocking way.

“I don't think so!” she says, swinging her gourd back and forth. Well, that was kind of a bust, but none the less you're at least ready to engage her now, and she wastes no time in closing the distance. She takes another punch, and you duck to the side. She follows with another, and you dodge in the opposite direction and fly back a little. She laughs a bit, then move to take another drink from her gourd. You interfere, however, flying forward to strike at her opening. She's faster, however, as she takes a mouthful and spits it into the air where it quickly becomes a dense cloud. You hesitate to enter the cover, and instead disperse it with a swing of the Kusanagi. Suika's just replacing the stopper by the time it clears, and she rushes again, taking another swing at you. You dodge aside, but she's catching on, as rather than winding up another punch, she swings her arm into you, hitting you with enough force to send you flying a few feet, and she approaches again, thrusting her feet forward into a high speed dropkick. You float aside and turn as she passes, grabbing her by one of the horns. She lets out a cry of surprise as you use it as a point of leverage to swing her around and throw her a few feet away from you. Before she recovers, you focus on bringing energy into your fingertips.

With wide sweeping motions, you create a four-shot wide string of danmaku and stream it towards Suika, creating a spiral effect with the occasional wave entering the 'tunnel' in order to force her to have to move around it. She doesn't seem to be having any of that though, as she flies aside from the initial wave entirely and rushes towards you again. You charge up a large shot and fire it towards her. You begin to focus once more, streaming another spiral towards Suika as she bursts through your shot seemingly unharmed. This time however, she's caught by the spiral tunnel and forced into your little game. Good. While you stall her advance with waves, you begin to turn on the spot, inverting yourself slightly while maintaining your streaming spiral in the opposite direction. Suika responds by turning as well, in order to maintain herself on the same perceived angle. What you didn't count on however was that your shots would start to spread out more as they leave your fingers, leaving a smiling Suika to approach faster. You launch another large shot and retreat, taking the time to find exactly what your position is. The ground is far below to your left. You're not quite upside down, but you are nearly. You only hope you can make this work before Suika can catch on. You have another idea, and swing the Kusanagi in an attempt to change to flow of the wind in order to change the direction of the rain. For a moment you manage to generate an effect where the rain falls as you would assume it to if you were the right way up, but the effect dissipates rather quickly. As a final effort, you swing the Kusanagi towards the shot just as Suika flies around it, and a powerful gust of wind blows past carrying the rain with it.

Suika flies through the wind, undaunted, but she's inverted herself even more in the process of avoiding your shot. You turn to match her angle, the ground nearly overhead now. Suika begins to windmill one of her arms as she flies in, and you begin to withdraw, getting ready to avoid whatever it is she's planning. She doesn't even come close, however. Instead she winds her arm around one last time and thrust forward, releasing a wave of fire towards you. You just barely manage to move around it in time, just to see a large swirling vortex appear in the air in front of you. You're drawn towards it easily despite your attempts to escape, you can't fly hard enough to escape it's pull. Just as soon as it appeared it vanishes, leaving you open and off guard as Suika charges from just behind where it was, and lands a hard punch against your chest. As you fly away from the impact, a glowing ball is thrown towards you, and passing behind you, bursts in the air. The force of the blast throws you back forwards, towards a waiting and smiling Suika. She grabs you, but you render yourself immaterial in defense and escape. You have only a second before you reappear just above her, taking advantage of her momentary confusion, and descend upon her.

Once again grabbing her horns, you pull her down as you ascend towards the ground from your inverted angle. You begin to twist your descent, giving one final element of disorientation to your attack, and attempting to keep Suika confused to the last second. You consider one attempt at the distance manipulation trick, but in your current situation you can't afford to misplace your attention. You make it several feet before your arms are grabbed at the wrists and easily pulled away from Suika's horns, and she pulls you up, reverting to proper orientation and ruining your plan. You can't even struggle against her grip as she swings you around, building up speed and momentum in the process. You lose focus yourself now, unable to discern which direction is which, and then you're surrounded by rushing wind. In the moments it takes you to register the increasingly diminishing size of Suika, you've already traveled halfway back towards the ground, and yet still before you can stop yourself, you barrel into the forests below, crashing through a tree with a loud crack and impacting the ground behind it with a heavy thud while the tree falls to the forest floor. The only thing you could do in the amount of time you had was tighten your grip on the Kusanagi, and you're glad you did, as only the impact with the forest floor had managed it to leave your hand. You're still disoriented from the throw and reeling from the pain of impact, but you manage to get up, retrieving your sword.

There's rustling as Suika enters the forest and lowers in front of you.

“Pretty tricky!” she says, drinking form her unstoppered gourd. “Too bad you weren't fast enough, you could have had me there.”

“I get points for trying though, right?” you say, smiling a little. Even you can notice your voice sounds a little strained.

“Gotta give you that, yeah,” she says, replacing the stopper and begins to swing the gourd again. You initiate another attack with a swing of the Kusanagi, kicking up a large amount of loose matter. You're not letting up this time, you swing again, adding more force to the wind. Each swing gets easier, carried by the force of the wind blowing through the trees. All sound is lost in the almost deafening noise of the wind in the trees. Suika begins to approach, and you make another swing, surprised to find that the wind you're generating now is apparently strong enough to stop her advance. Maybe this is what you needed. Suika's approach continues, slowed by the winds that are now approaching what you would assume to be dangerous speeds. Among the sea of noise you hear several cracks, and a few branches fly past you, carried by the strength of the wind. Suika's now completely stalled, and yet you don't feel a single amount of pressure from the force of the wind. This must be the true power of the Kusanagi. Suika's taken to shielding her face from the wind, but you can see her smile behind her hands and arms. This is a chance.

With a final swing, you fly forward carried by the wind. Suika can barely move to intercept you as you slam into her stomach with your shoulder, grabbing the chain to the gourd at her waist with your free hand. The impact and the force of the wind are enough to throw her back, and you direct her through the motion of your body to collide with a tree. The two of you bounce off the target with a crack and a shower of bark, and blow into the road with you holding the chain at her waist. You use the final amount of momentum to swing her around and throw her with her own chain, into the forest on the other side where she collides with another tree and manages to catch onto a branch. The winds strength has diminished rapidly, but it was enough to serve your purposes. You practically feel like you're on fire with excitement as Suika exits the forest smiling drunkenly.

“Now that was surprising,” she says, settling to the road. You set down as well, grinning like an idiot. “I didn't think you had that kind of fight in you! Where was all that during the snowball game? You could have probably wiped out my entire team if you got serious like that.”

“It was just a game though, and I didn't want to ruin Yuyuko's garden,” you say, partially bluffing. You weren't really aware you could create winds that strong either, but you've learned quickly. “Are you done for now?” Suika laughs at your question. You had hoped not.

“I still have a little more to give,” she says, working circles with her shoulders. “How about you?”

“Still good,” you say. The pain you were experiencing had faded considerably already. You're definitely glad you're not alive for this, if only for the painful bruises, fractures you'd have suffered, if you'd even survive. At the very least, you hope that a ghost form doesn't feel prolonged pain after taking damage from, say, breaking through a solid tree. Now though you have a better idea of how to handle this, if your attempts so far have met with success due to surprise, then you need to keep coming up with ways to surprise Suika. She doesn't know the full extent of your abilities, and now you realize that is your greatest asset.

---

Fucking A. This is a good fight.

[x] Charge at her, but phase out before impact, turning around to attack her now open back.
[x] Put yourself between her and the sun, so as to blind her.
[x] Turn invisible; attack at angles with the sword.
[x] Failing, turn invisible and circle her in a spiral; attempt to create a whirlwind with the Kusanagi.
[x] If she spits another gout of flame at you, don't dodge, just send it back with the sword--in myth, the Kusanagi is dominant over fire.
[x] Try the dive attack one more time. This time, turn invisible. Fly high above her, really high, like half a km. She'll hear you coming, but you should've have built up too much speed by then for her to dodge, if she does get out of the way, and if she does get out of your way, she'll be caught in the massive air front that will follow in your wake.
[x] You're at an advantage if she uses her mist form, as you'll be able to simply blow her away.
[x] If things ever get too dicey, use a bomb declare a spellcard.
[x] Attempt to use the sword with the strings, having it attack her at close range, while you lob magic at her.
[x] If all else fails, possess the sword.

I want to vote for >>85080 but somebody else who can visualize this stuff better and knows half a damn thing about combat should probably take a look at it first.

The awesome thing about fighting Suika is that no matter how well or poorly we do, we're going to attract a lot of attention. In fact, that's largely the point of declaring a spell card in the middle of a no-holds-barred fight.

And on a scale from 1 to awesome, how awesome would it be to tag-team with an oni against Tenshi?

[x] Charge at her, but phase out before impact, turning around to attack her now open back.
[x] Put yourself between her and the sun, so as to blind her.
[x] Turn invisible; attack at angles with the sword.
[x] Failing, turn invisible and circle her in a spiral; attempt to create a whirlwind with the Kusanagi.
[x] If she spits another gout of flame at you, don't dodge, just send it back with the sword--in myth, the Kusanagi is dominant over fire.
[x] Try the dive attack one more time. This time, turn invisible. Fly high above her, really high, like half a km. She'll hear you coming, but you should've have built up too much speed by then for her to dodge, if she does get out of the way, and if she does get out of your way, she'll be caught in the massive air front that will follow in your wake.
[x] You're at an advantage if she uses her mist form, as you'll be able to simply blow her away.
[x] If things ever get too dicey, use a bomb declare a spellcard.
[x] Attempt to use the sword with the strings, having it attack her at close range, while you lob magic at her.
[x] If all else fails, possess the sword.

I know what I'm voting for.

[x] Charge at her, but phase out before impact, turning around to attack her now open back.
[x] Put yourself between her and the sun, so as to blind her.
[x] Turn invisible; attack at angles with the sword.
[x] Failing, turn invisible and circle her in a spiral; attempt to create a whirlwind with the Kusanagi.
[x] If she spits another gout of flame at you, don't dodge, just send it back with the sword--in myth, the Kusanagi is dominant over fire.
[x] Try the dive attack one more time. This time, turn invisible. Fly high above her, really high, like half a km. She'll hear you coming, but you should've have built up too much speed by then for her to dodge, if she does get out of the way, and if she does get out of your way, she'll be caught in the massive air front that will follow in your wake.
[x] You're at an advantage if she uses her mist form, as you'll be able to simply blow her away.
[x] If things ever get too dicey, use a bomb declare a spellcard.
[x] Attempt to use the sword with the strings, having it attack her at close range, while you lob magic at her.
[x] If all else fails, possess the sword.

You adjust your grip on the Kusanagi, keeping your eyes on Suika. Right, if you're going to win this, you need to keep up with anything that you can do to surprise her. You can tell her alcohol is catching up with her now. While she's still a capable fighter, her reaction speed has slowed. The advantage lies in the unexpected, and for your first trick...

Suika hops forward, raising her gourd over her head, grabbing the connecting chain with her other hand. With a quick swing, the gourd plummets towards you, where it connects with the ground. You've quickly faded away in preparation, and you float past Suika as she drops to the ground, rematerializing behind her. You turn quickly, swinging the blade out behind you as you turn. You catch Suika in mid turn, and the strike sends her staggering forward. You take your opening to step forward, landing a second blow, and a third, finally sending her flying into the air. She recovers with a laugh, then dives towards you, arms outstretched. You fly up yourself, moving out of her path, only to be caught off guard by a large crystalline formation that erupted from her point of impact. While you're dazed from the impact, Suika windmills her arm again and launches another wave of flame at you. You're caught this time, and the wave blows you backwards, sending you higher into the air. Damn it, maybe she hasn't slowed as much as you thought. You still have a few tricks left though, with the sun at your back as it is now. Suika looks up at you, grinning. You move to the side a bit, and she grimaces, shielding her eyes. So long as you don't stay directly in front of her, it seems you can use the sun's light to keep her from seeing you precisely.

Of course, that idea doesn't last very long. While she's shielding her eyes with one hand, Suika uses the other to pitch several of her firebombs towards your position, forcing you to move out of their way or be caught in a chain explosion. You retreat backwards, trying to keep the sun at your back, but the pitches only get faster and more accurate, several passing you by entirely to cut off your retreat. You only barely manage to escape the blastwave of one of the bombs when you're starting to get driven away, forced to abandon your plan to keep the sun behind you. Suika grins as you circle around her, and she lobs another dark orb towards you, where it opens into a swirling vortex and begins drawing you towards it. It's still too strong for you to resist, but you might not have to. Instead, you simply allow it to draw you in. You'll use it to your advantage. By the time the vortex disappears, Suika is on top of your position, and you strike forth with the Kusanagi, landing a hard blow on her chest. You used the brief cover to turn invisible, unsure if it would even work. The effect is weak, appearing as a distortion in space, and the Kusanagi is still visible, but so long as you keep moving and changing your attacks you can keep her on the defense. You approach Suika and strike again. She goes into defensive moves immediately, shielding her body with her arms and absorbing your blows with her forearms, laughing while she does even while she's being pushed back with each strike. You swing one final time, but Suika's hand intercepts the blade.

“Slow down!” she says with a laugh, and she flashes you a smile, though it quickly becomes a confused look as her eyes focus on the sword. “Huh? Why isn't it breaking?” Suika gives the sword a hard twist, but all that achieves is causing your arm to turn to follow it. Suika blinks a bit, then laughs, tugging on the sword. “An artifact sword! I should have known it wasn't you that was so strong!” Suika's grin returns, and you try to pull the sword form her grip. She doesn't seem to be resisting at all, but you make absolutely no headway. Suika brings her second hand to the sword and grabs it, releasing her first hand. She then lowers her head towards your arm, then twists and raises it, catching one of her horns under your arm and lifting it, causing it to twist at a fairly painful angle. Her free hand thrusts forward and slams into your chest, and that's all it takes to send you flying, leaving the Kusanagi firmly in her grasp. You recover from the impact, but Suika's holding the sword now, smiling. “That's that then!” She drops it, and it clatters to the rocky dirt below. Suika smiles in triumph, but now it's your turn to smile. You fly towards Suika as fast you can manage, holding out your hand. The Kusanagi meets you midair, and before Suika can react, you slam the butt of the sword into her chest, propelling her into the road and bouncing back into the woods. You hear her laughter a short while later, and a loud rustling as the tree that had been felled by your impact earlier comes flying towards you. In an instinctual reaction, you swing the Kusanagi at it, and the blade makes contact, knocking the tree from the air entirely and sending it plowing into the dirt road. The strikes are really that powerful? Suika emerges from the forest a few second later, looking suitably impressed.

“Maybe you do have some power!” she says, placing the stopper in her gourd. Well, you do, but you're holding onto that information. For now, you brandish the Kusanagi once again.

“Well, perhaps I have to convince you,” you say, and you begin to circle Suika at a distance, keeping the Kusanagi ready. Suika's keeping her eyes on you, if you suddenly disappeared, you can be fairly sure she'd be on the defense until you reappeared, so perhaps you need to just stay nice and perfectly visible while you trap her anyway. While you circle her, you wave the Kusanagi. A harmless enough looking movement in itself, though with every wave you can feel the wind that backs it building. The sound of the rustling in the leaves is proof enough of the building power. Suika hasn't taken her eyes off you, turning to follow you while you fly. You increase your speed, pushing yourself to your maximum. Suika takes a few seconds to try to catch up and match your pace, but by then you've built up a powerful force. Leaves broken from the trees are now circling the area with you, carried by the winds. Suika also seems to catch on to what you're doing and closes in on you, trying to knock you aside. You drive her back with a swing of the sword, blowing her towards the center. Yes, with the force you've built up now you can keep her in check. Suika seems to be perfectly happy in this condition, however, floating around the center, drinking from her gourd. You're not sure if she's given up or simply mocking you. Maybe you should up the ante. You're already at your max speed, but that doesn't stop you from increasing the building twister. Dirt and rocks have become gathered by the swirling winds now, creating a very large, faint funnel. You circle within the wall of wind, striking into the current with the Kusanagi. Each swing increases the speed, and with the increasing speed Suika's mood seems to worsen, but she doesn't leave the center. Calmest in the eye of the storm, right? A few cracks catch your attention, and you catch a few glimpses of the fallen tree in the road sliding towards your growing twister. You're on the verge of a full blown tornado now... and maybe that's just what you need.

You increase the speed of your swings, and a loud rustling draws near. It isn't long before the tree is swept into the twister, and several more cracks catch your attention as trees at the edge of the road begin to break away from the force of the winds, their branches and leaves flying into the storm of wind. Suika seems rather distressed now as several fairly large pieces of wood are flying around haphazardly, though once the tree draws close to her, she kicks it, sending it flying towards you. You manage to avoid a collision by fading out, but from the cracking sounds that followed, you feel there'll be a few more problems for her to deal with. Soon enough, the newly fallen trees are being drawn into the twister, and you decide to make the most of it. You are the only thing in this windstorm free from it's effects under the power of the Kusanagi. You close into the center and strike at Suika. Even the glancing blow you land is enough to throw her off center, and she's quickly drawn into the winds with a scream. You can't help but watch as she defends herself from merciless battery by flying trees as she tumbles through the air at the edges of the tornado. She does a fair enough job at fighting off the flying forest, but she takes a few hits from the flying timber. While she's distracted, you fly up the center of the twister, gaining as much height as you can. You get towards the top where the wind is weakest. You can see the storm below, the dark whirling chaos of wind, with several fallen trees circling around in it, and occasionally flying from the storm and disappearing into the surrounding woods.

You spot Suika among the mess, and prepare your attack. Brandishing the Kusanagi once more, you proceed into a dive, angling and turning in order to keep on target with Suika. She's still engrossed at trying to fight the current of the wind, though without your intervention it's begun to weaken. You wave the Kusanagi slightly as well, creating a powerful downdraft behind you as a means of dispersing the twister. You have to make several adjustments to your flight in order to avoid trees and other debris, even becoming intangible as a last defense, but you close in on your target. Suika doesn't even see you coming until it's too late, and you tackle her at full speed, with the force of the wind behind you and the dispersal of the twister, you drive her hard into the ground outside and slide several feet, grinding through rocks and dirt as falling trees crash into the road and forest surrounding. When you come to a stop is when you realize you're slightly dizzied from your dive, all the circling and turning around you has you feeling slightly disoriented. Suika doesn't look much better either, despite her drunken grin.

“Haha...” she laughs weakly, not moving. “I've got to hand it to you. You really know how to make an impact,” she says, looking up at you as you bring yourself to a kneel. You grin back at her.

“I'm still learning,” you say, staggering a bit as you get to your feet. Suika shifts a bit, then raises her legs and throws herself into the air suddenly, kicking you back. You're knocked into the air, where you stop yourself. Suika hobbles towards one of the fallen trees in the road, and leans against it with both hands, looking up at you with a smile you can see quite clearly despite the distance. She rummages through her skirt for a second before recovering something, a card. She holds it up, and with a quick flash it vanishes, and Suika rapidly begins to grow, to the point where she's towering over the trees, holding the fallen tree in one hand entirely like a baseball bat.

“I haven't had a fight like this in so long!” Suika's voice booms, smiling down at you. “It's really the greatest thing in the world to find someone that can give you a decent challenge!” Easy for her to say that now, she's the size of a damn building! Can you even do anything to her like this? You were able to knock a tree out of the air with a swing, but Suika's so much larger then that. You're surely facing certain defeat no-

“Hey!” a shout rings out, and you look towards the source to see Reimu flying towards the two of you. “What the hell is going on out here? Stop fighting!” she shouts. There's a loud crash from the woods, and you look back to find Suika has returned to normal size, minus one tree.

“Aw, come on Reimu! We were just playing!” Suika whines, floating towards the shrine maiden. Reimu gives her an angry glare, then turns it on you.

“And you, I thought you wouldn't go making trouble,” she says, shaking her head with a sigh.

“I didn't realize we were doing something wrong,” you say, sheathing the Kusanagi. Reimu's glare just hardens.

“And why would you two be fighting if you weren't up to trouble?” she asks, crossing her arms.

“We were seeing who was the strongest,” Suika says. “You didn't seem like you were up to investigating the problems with the weather, so we were seeing who was more suited to go in your place.” Reimu blinks with disbelief, looking between you and Suika.

“What, seriously?” Reimu asks.

“It was something like that, yeah,” you reply. Reimu looks lost for a few seconds, then sighs, rubbing her head.

“You two...” she grumbles. “I heard all this commotion at the shrine from the layabouts that gathered there about a fight, and I look outside to see a huge tornado. I thought you were up to something, and-”

“You came to look into it, right?” you ask, cutting Reimu off. She doesn't look pleased that you did, but she nods.

“Yeah. I thought it was connected to the weather, but then I saw Suika, and-”

“So you did think it was connected to the weather?” Suika asks, cutting Reimu off this time. She looks even more annoyed now.

“I wasn't going to just ignore this problem, you know,” Reimu says, crossing her arms again. “It's just, with the shrine and everything, it was just too much for me today. I only came out here because a tornado seemed dangerous and I wanted to try to keep it from reaching the shrine if it was heading that way.” Reimu sighs.

“So, it was that noticeable, huh?” you ask. Reimu just smirks at you.

“I don't think there wasn't anyone around that didn't see that,” Reimu says. “Was that your doing?” Reimu's eyes pass to the Kusanagi. You don't reply, since you're pretty sure Reimu would know the answer anyway.

“It was pretty amazing!” Suika says, floating in front of Reimu. “I didn't think he could do something like that, and I had to keep from being hit by flying trees, and-” Reimu holds up a hand and Suika stops talking.

“So, who was winning?” Reimu asks with a grin. Suika rubs her head and laughs a little.

“Actually, I was pretty much running out of ideas,” Suika says, turning to look at you. “You're a pretty surprising guy to fight. I hadn't fought anyone that could control the wind like that before. It was like I was fighting some kind of God or something. The entire time I could feel my heart thumping in my chest.”

“Oh really,” Reimu says, looking back at the Kusanagi, then back up to you. “You might say you were.” Suika recoils a little in surprise, then she looks back at you with a broad smile.

“Sure felt like one to me,” she says, lifting her gourd again. You're feeling a little embarrassed from all the attention suddenly, put on a level with a God? That's a bit much really, but you have to admit that you didn't really know that the Kusanagi was that powerful really. A pleasant surprise to be sure.

“So does this mean you lost?” Reimu asks Suika as she's drinking. Suika pulls the gourd away and taps the opening against her chin in thought.

“Well, we didn't get to finish, but,” Suika looks over at you with an appreciative smile. “As it is, I would say I'm behind by a bit.”

“Sounds like a loss to me,” Reimu says, turning away. “Well, I'm going back now. Suika, you're coming too. You can put off your duel until some other time, like after I'm long dead and gone and I won't have to clean up the mess afterwards.”

“Aw,” Suika whines, corking her gourd. She starts after Reimu, then stops, looking back at you. She flies away from following Reimu and floats up to you. “That was a pretty incredible fight. It's been a long time since I've met a man like you,” she says, smiling and patting your shoulder. “If you ever need my help, just ask.” You smile back and nod.

“You can count on it,” you say. It might be quite handy to have an ally in Suika. Suika looks a bit red in the face, though you're sure it's from the amount of alcohol she's taken in. Suika pulls her hand back, and after hesitating for a moment, quickly closes in and kisses you on the cheek before flying off to follow Reimu, leaving you alone above the road.

Well... that was interesting. You remember though that Wriggle had been with you, and that she was at the shrine when you were violently thrown from the grounds by Suika for the fight. You wonder if she's still there, since she hadn't come with Reimu or showed up any time during the fight. Maybe you should go back to look for her, or could she have gone back on her own?

---

[x] Go and look for Wriggle. Apologize for bailing on her so suddenly.

[ze] Go and look for Wriggle. Apologize for bailing on her so suddenly.

Poor Nightbug.

[x] Go and look for Wriggle. Apologize for bailing on her so suddenly.

Fighting Suika to a standstill. Very impressive anonymous.

[x] Go and look for Wriggle. Apologize for bailing on her so suddenly.

That shit was badass. Let's hope it doesn't get to Kenshiro's head.

[x] Go and look for Wriggle. Apologize for bailing on her so suddenly.

[x] Go and look for Wriggle. Apologize for bailing on her so suddenly.

[x] Go and look for Wriggle.

You should at least try to look for her, even if she did leave without you you'd be a little more reassured to know you at least went back to make sure. You let Reimu and Suika put some distance before you head back in that direction. You kind of wish you'd have thought to ask when Reimu had come along.

Reaching the shrine again doesn't take very long. The group of people that had gathered is still there, and you can hear them chattering excitedly as you pass by, and it only gets louder as people notice you. You can't help but feel that they're all talking about your role in the fight they witnessed from a distance. In fact, you're sure of it when one of the girls flies up towards you from the group.

“Hey!” she calls out, waving at you. “You found that Oni, right?” she asks. You hesitate for a moment, recalling yet again the warning you'd received about Yukari. Even if you denied it though...

“Yeah, I did,” you say, turning away and returning to your search for Wriggle. The girl floats in your way again.

“So, you were the one that made that tornado, right? That was incredible!” she gushes, starting to sound like some kind of fangirl. You'd always thought that being a celebrity would be great, having people get excited to see you. Maybe you still would in this kind of situation, if it weren't for the conditions you fear lie behind them.

“It wasn't much, really,” you say, flying around the girl. She grabs onto your sleeve, and you respond by phasing out for a moment to escape her grasp. She seems surprised by that, and there's also a small reaction from the crowd as well.

“You're a ghost too?” she asks, following after you. You sigh to yourself, and turn to face the girl. She stops a few feet away.

“Am I really that interesting?” you ask. The girl looks a little troubled for a moment.

“Well, when the Oni sent you flying, everyone thought you were done for, but when we saw how you fought with her, we were all wondering where you could have come from,” she says, looking back at the group below. “Afterall, no one recognizes you. Someone said you were an outsider, so...”

“So... what?” you ask, not really sure where this is going.

“Are you an outsider?”

“Yes, why?” you reply.

“Is your power normal for the outside?” she asks, her eyes brightening. You think you get it now.

“No, this power is something I've attained only after I came here,” you say, and as you had expected, she seems disappointed.

“That's too bad...” she says, sounding defeated. “I was kind of wishing that one day we could go back to the outside world.”

“Maybe one day,” you say, scratching your head. You're not really sure what you could say, but you figure so long as you can instill a bit of hope. “Who knows, magic might make a resurgence in the outside world. All it takes is belief, right?” She does seem to have her mood improve a little from hearing that.

“I suppose you're right,” she says, nodding. “Maybe I could do something about that myself...”

“Hey now, don't go stirring up trouble in the outside world. There's a chance someone you irritate out there could end up here when they die, and they could end up with some kind of ridiculous power,” you say, trying to avoid any kind of plan she might have been thinking of putting into play. Admittedly, you're more concerned with the fact that Reimu would get involved if someone from Gensokyo started openly traveling through the Border than what a lone youkai girl could do in the outside.

“You do have a point there,” she says thoughtfully. “I might need to rethink my idea,” she adds. She seems to take your explanation at face value. You wonder if it's just because of your perceived power that she buys into it, or if it's because she might just be incredibly gullible. In any case, you're relieved you didn't end up inciting an event, compounded more so by the fact that she finally floats away towards the group. Shortly afterwards, you spot Wriggle leaving the home portion of the shrine grounds. No wonder you hadn't seen her outside. What's better is that she apparently changed into the dress she had acquired, and is carrying her normal clothes. She's still wearing her cape though. You fly down towards her, and she waves to you as you approach.

“You're back in one piece,” she says with a smile as you land.

“Luckily,” you add. “So you stayed behind here after all, and you changed.” Wriggle blushes a bit, looking down at the dress. It looks better on her than you had first thought, and the frills really did work to hide her flat chest. If you didn't know better, you might think otherwise.

“It feels strange to wear though, it's... breezy,” she says, tugging at the lower portion a bit.

“You are wearing something under it, right?” you ask, a little concerned that she might have gotten the wrong idea. Her blush deepens.

“O-of course! But still,” Wriggle groans, looking away. “I'm not used to wearing things like this.”

“It does look good though,” you say, looking her over. She does look much more feminine, or rather, as feminine as she can realistically manage without further changes to her appearance. At least she doesn't look completely masculine anymore. You can't help but think that maybe there's something more that can be done though. Make up would definitely be a help, but you're not even sure where you could find any in Gensokyo.

“Thanks,” Wriggle replies quietly, smiling a little. “Reimu didn't really say anything about it, so...” Wriggle looks back at the living quarters and sighs. “Well, maybe that's a good thing.”

“Anyway, I came back to see if you were still around, and you are. You ready to go?” you ask. Wriggle nods.

“Yeah, I got to talk to Reimu and bit while you and Suika were off fighting, and then she ran off when someone started yelling about a tornado,” she says, smirking a little. “I heard you were behind that part.”

“Yeah, apparently everyone's worked up about it too,” you say, floating into the air. “Let's get going now.” Wriggle floats up a bit, then her face starts to turn red again, and she lands once more. “What's wrong?”

“How does everyone else fly in a skirt,” Wriggle mumbles to herself.

“What?” you say, confused as to what she's going on about. There's a difference to flying in pants?

“I mean, couldn't someone see up your skirt if you're flying?” Wriggle asks. You're actually a little surprised you never thought of that, especially with the time you've spent so far in dresses.

“Well, uh...” you sputter. You can't really answer. That problem never came to mind as far as you can remember when you were flying around as Alice and Hina. “I guess people don't really think about that kind of thing?” Wriggle doesn't seem totally satisfied with that answer. You realize something now as well, that Wriggle is apparently embarrassed by the idea, which strikes you as odd considering how easily she had undressed beforehand while you were still watching. Could it be that she's starting to think of herself more as a girl as well? “It'll be fine. If you're really that worried, just hold the skirt down or something, or fly really fast.” With a grumble, Wriggle follows you into the air. She moves slowly at first as you float away, until she manages to catch up.

“I think moving quickly is the best choice,” she says, and you nod to her. The two of you speed up, heading back towards Hakugyokuro.

**

Upon returning, Wriggle left for her room again. She apparently planned to stay at Hakugyokuro for a while, so long as you would be continuing to help her improve her image, to save you the trip out to the forests to find her every time you were going to help. That leaves you back on home turf, so to say, with the next item in your 'To Do' list...

---

Vote changed, since Wriggle was there when the fight was initiated so no real apologizing is necessary. On top of it, this is Gensokyo. Girls try to shoot other girls out of the sky all the time over silly little things like simply being there.

[x] Under the pretense of asking whether or not they've seen Cirno or Letty, check up on Mokou & Flandre.
[x] Find Cirno; you were going to play danmaku with her, weren't you?

[x] Under the pretense of asking whether or not they've seen Cirno or Letty, check up on Mokou & Flandre.
[x] Find Cirno; you were going to play danmaku with her, weren't you?

Ah, anyone have that checklist of things to do?

[x] Under the pretense of asking whether or not they've seen Cirno or Letty, check up on Mokou & Flandre.
[x] Find Cirno; you were going to play danmaku with her, weren't you?

>>85431
you mean the third post in the thread? >>84395

[z] Under the pretense of asking whether or not they've seen Cirno or Letty, check up on Mokou & Flandre.
[e] Find Cirno; you were going to play danmaku with her, weren't you?

Mode, is there a chance of Kenshiro ever becoming a god like Hina said 2 threads ago? Because that sounds more enticing than becoming a celestial.

>>85443

A celestial is basically a god.

Or, at the very least, a celestial in daoism/buddhism is on the same level as a low-tier deity in Shintoism.

>>85443

Considering that the 'Celestial Route' is something I was forced to plan for as it wasn't one of the original concepts I planned, I would have to say 'maybe'. If I can plan out the actions and events that would need to take place, and then find a way to integrate it into the story so far, as well as possibly retroactively tripping requirements.

If there's enough support to go in that direction, I'll put thought into it. As it is, I'll hold onto that idea and put it on the back burner, save it as an extra thing if people want a second run of Flight when it finishes.

Of course, I can't help but say that I've been thinking of something lately to throw at you that I could use to put this idea into play, sort of.

>>85445

Do it maggot.

>>85441

Shit, how did I miss that? Thanks.

>>85443

Gods aren't enlightened beings. They're usually ascribed to a higher rung than humans, with youkai being on a lower rung than humans. That's not to say becoming one would be a bad thing, but it'd be a stepping stone. Of course, subjectively to the character this is a non-issue; his only interest is in performing good acts, not in his own karmic progression, a goal which would be self-defeating.

And besides, he already kinda is a god, as Reimu put so succinctly.

You know what we need to do? Read some books on magic with Alice and Patchouli.

>>85486

Well we have to find four magicians to cast the doll spell that completes Alice's route. That means we have to solve the Marisa issues. Or find Mima (not likely). Or find Ellen (impossible).

[x] Under the pretense of asking whether or not they've seen Cirno or Letty, check up on Mokou & Flandre.
[x] Find Cirno; you were going to play danmaku with her, weren't you?

You find yourself wondering about Mokou and Flandre. When you had last seen them, they weren't exactly in the best of conditions. Well, Mokou wasn't, Flandre was pretty much fine. You head into the mansion and head by the room Flandre had been using, though you're surprised to find it empty. You take a few steps int o take a better look. Not just empty either, empty and clean. The only thing that looks off is the fact that there are no bedsheets. You step back from the door, and are greeted by a cry of surprise. You jump aside from the sound, a bit startled, though apparently Meiling is just as surprised. She's carrying a bundle of sheets.

“Almost ran into you there,” she says, stepping past you into the room. “I didn't realize someone was in here, I just thought I left the door open.”

“Sorry about that,” you say. “I'm glad to see you're alright too.” Your eyes fall onto the bandages she has visible under her collar. Meiling just smiles uneasily as she sets the bundle of sheets down on the bed, brushing some loose strands of hair back.

“It's nothing, really,” Meiling says. “I've been worse off before. Humans have done much more terrible things to me simply for being a yaojing.”

“Yaojing?” you ask, confused over the word. Meiling looks confused now too for a second, before she seems to realize what's wrong.

“Oh! Sorry,” she says, scratching her cheek. “Mixed up my words there a bit. Yaojing is the Chinese name for youkai, essentially,” she says with a quiet laugh. “It happens sometimes when I'm thinking of home.” You guess you could understand what she's talking about. You have something else on your mind right now though.

“Where'd Flandre and Mokou go?” you ask.

“Ah, they're in the library with the others. It's actually getting pretty crowded in there,” Meiling says, walking towards the door. “You looking for them?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to check in on them, see how they were doing,” you follow Meiling from the room and close the door.

“Flandre's doing well, thanks to you,” Meiling smiles. “Mokou seems to be enjoying herself as well. She's probably the first person outside the household that Flandre has talked to for so long.”

“That sounds like a good thing,” you say, and Meiling nods.

“It helps keep Flan's mind off what happened,” she says while walking past. “Plus Mokou seems like a really strong woman, a good role model for Flandre to look up to.” You walk along behind Meiling, might as well ask her.

“Say, you haven't seen Cirno and Letty around, have you?” you ask. Meiling thinks for a bit.

“Not that I can recall. Then again, I've spent most of the day indoors so far, should I have seen them?”

“No, I was just curious. I'm looking for Cirno, have a bit of an appointment with her,” you say. Meiling stops at an intersecting hallway for a moment.

“Well, if I see her, I'll let her know you're looking for her,” Meiling says, giving you a small wave before heading off down the other hall. You make your way to the outside and begin your search for Cirno. The quick search of the immediate outside and the interior garden reveal nothing, not even Letty or Daiyousei. You wonder if they went farther out into the garden. If they did, it could take a while before you found them, and you're not really sure you want to start looking. Perhaps you should look for more information. Meiling said the library was pretty crowded, didn't she? You're not sure anyone there will have any information that could help you, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

You make your way to the library. It really is quite packed. Alice and Patchouli are still there, as well as Tokiko, who seems to have joined the former two. Flandre and Mokou are off to one side as well.

“Anyone in here seen Cirno lately?” you ask the room, catching everyone's attention.

“I saw her and the others she hangs around with by the stairs on the way here,” Mokou says after a while. “Maybe she left?” It seems like a possibility, though you're wondering what she left for, if she was just going out to some place and coming back, or if she was going back to... wherever it is she stays normally. At least now you know why you couldn't find her, so you can put off what you had planned for a while. You're starting to find yourself a little overwhelmed at the sheer volume of favours you've promised to people as you start to recall what else you had to do.

---

[x] Ask Flandre and Mokou how they're doing.

>“It's nothing, really,” Meiling says. “I've been worse off before. Humans have done much more terrible things to me simply for being a yaojing.”

Well, that's another one added to a long list.

[x] Check how the village is faring. Even if it's just as gesture, you'll want to be able to assure Mokou later that Keine is safe.
[x] Reimu had suspicions about Suwako being the cause of this. It might be worth gathering information at the Moriya shrine, if only to avoid any unnecessary conflict when the red-white does set out to 'solve' this incident.
[x] Find Hina, and ask if she's done with the bucket brigade; at the very least she'd be able to assure Reimu that this isn't the result of some kind of hex or curse.
[x] However, if at any time you spot Cirno, Dai, or Letty anywhere, fulfill your promise.
[x] Fly invisible. You have too much on your plate right now to be stalled.

>>85599

Don't forget nipping Koakuma's jealousy in the bud.

>>85604

SDM is going to be a real big mess, and we're not likely to step foot outside again until everything is resolved. Otherwise, I'd vote right now to see Cirno where she's most likely to be, at the Lake.

Wait for the sun to go down, that's when vampires and ghosts will have time to play.

>>85599
Why wouldn't Keine be safe?

>[x] Reimu had suspicions about Suwako being the cause of this. It might be worth gathering information at the Moriya shrine, if only to avoid any unnecessary conflict when the red-white does set out to 'solve' this incident.

I whole-heartedly support this notion.

[d] Check how the village is faring. Even if it's just as gesture, you'll want to be able to assure Mokou later that Keine is safe.
[a] Reimu had suspicions about Suwako being the cause of this. It might be worth gathering information at the Moriya shrine, if only to avoid any unnecessary conflict when the red-white does set out to 'solve' this incident.
[~] Find Hina, and ask if she's done with the bucket brigade; at the very least she'd be able to assure Reimu that this isn't the result of some kind of hex or curse.
[z] However, if at any time you spot Cirno, Dai, or Letty anywhere, fulfill your promise.
[e] Fly invisible. You have too much on your plate right now to be stalled.

[x] Check how the village is faring. Even if it's just as gesture, you'll want to be able to assure Mokou later that Keine is safe.
[x] Reimu had suspicions about Suwako being the cause of this. It might be worth gathering information at the Moriya shrine, if only to avoid any unnecessary conflict when the red-white does set out to 'solve' this incident.
[x] Find Hina, and ask if she's done with the bucket brigade; at the very least she'd be able to assure Reimu that this isn't the result of some kind of hex or curse.
[x] However, if at any time you spot Cirno, Dai, or Letty anywhere, fulfill your promise.
[x] Fly invisible. You have too much on your plate right now to be stalled.

Okay, so.

Totally unrelated, but when we get around to possessing Eiki, that chapter has to be called "Possession Is Nine-Tenths Of The Law."

>>85668
You don't see me but I'm simutaneously hating you to death and laughing really hard.

>>85668

oh u

[X] Read some books with Patchouli and Alice. Study some magic to help them and to help you for when the time comes.
[X] Ask Mokou what she wants you to do for her. She did her part of the deal, now you need to do your.
[X] Relax with Yuyuko.

>>85696
>[X] Ask Mokou what she wants you to do for her. She did her part of the deal, now you need to do your.

She didn't do this on account of any deal, remember?

>“I don't know what I'm going to do to you yet to pay you back for this, but you can be damn sure you're going to hate every minute of it.”

While a bout against SolMokou would hardly be disappointing, there's much we have to do to before we start calling people out on grudge matches.

>>She didn't do this on account of any deal, remember?

Deal or no deal, I think that the fact that she not only DIED for you, but in doing so also saved you from having to deal with a berserk blood-thirsty Flandre going on a Gensokyo-wide rampage merits doing SOMETHING nice for her.
That's not even taking into account the attempted possession and prying into her memories to emotionally blackmail her into helping/dying.

Face it, Anon. You owe her. Big time.

>Face it, Anon. You owe her. Big time.

That's not the way this works. She didn't do us a favor. We forced her to do something, and for that she's going to beat the shit out of us. No two ways about it. You'd have us dance on eggshells when we should be clenching our fucking teeth.

>I don't know what I'm going to do to you yet to pay you back for this, but you can be damn sure you're going to hate every minute of it

Well, she is going to ask for something, sooner or later.

>>85705

She's not gonna to ask to beat our ass. She's just gonna do it. For now I think it's best we leave her to bond with Flandre. We wouldn't want to look adversarial with Flan watching. Don't make the girl feel she has to choose between her newfound friends; she's suffered enough.

[x] Check how the village is faring. Even if it's just as gesture, you'll want to be able to assure Mokou later that Keine is safe.
[x] Reimu had suspicions about Suwako being the cause of this. It might be worth gathering information at the Moriya shrine, if only to avoid any unnecessary conflict when the red-white does set out to 'solve' this incident.
[x] Find Hina, and ask if she's done with the bucket brigade; at the very least she'd be able to assure Reimu that this isn't the result of some kind of hex or curse.
[x] However, if at any time you spot Cirno, Dai, or Letty anywhere, fulfill your promise.
[x] Fly invisible. You have too much on your plate right now to be stalled.

Your mind wanders back to the shrine, and Reimu's take on the whole situation. It troubles you to think about it, if someone had been behind the shrine's collapse. Reimu lives alone in Gensokyo as a safety device, but with the earthquake you can't help but think that maybe the plan has a flaw. Even if the quake wasn't caused by anyone, you can't ignore the possibility of an accident. Even with your memories from Alice, you know that if Reimu does die and no other Hakurei replaces her, the border would begin to deteriorate.

Now that your mind is on that topic, though, you find yourself thinking more about the weather, or rather the cause behind it. Something like this can't be natural, could it? On the other hand, how could someone be behind the weather itself? You're running into more questions than answers so far.

“Something on your mind, Kenshiro?” Patchouli asks, snapping you back to the current situation. You must have been making some kind of thinking face.

“Ah, well I've been thinking about the weather,” you say. “Since Reimu's shrine collapsed-”

“Eh!?” a resounding cry of shock rises from the room. Oh. You forgot to tell them that part.

“Seriously!?” Alice asks, standing quickly. Everyone else is on their feet shortly afterwards. “Is she okay?”

“Well, yeah, thankfully,” you say, stepping back as Alice and Patchouli are the first ones to the door, and they leave the library quickly, hastily excusing themselves and leaving to go check in. Flandre looks worried, but Mokou... you can't quite make out the emotion she's wearing. Concern? Anger?

“How bad is it?” Mokou asks, she sounds pretty serious.

“It's completely ruined, an earthquake apparently,” you say. Mokou taps her forehead, looking down at Flandre in thought.

“Were you there when it happened?” she asks looking up. You shake your head.

“I heard about it second hand from Momizi when I went to see Aya,” you say. Mokou sneers a bit, then turns to Flandre.

“Sorry Flandre, I'm going to leave for a bit,” she says, ratting a hand on Flandre's head.

“I want to go with you!” Flandre says, taking Mokou's hand. Mokou sighs, shaking her head a little.

“Sunlights not good for you, right? Just take it easy, let me look into this,” Mokou says, stepping away and releasing Flandre, who seems even more upset now. You turn to head out behind Mokou, when you're grabbed from behind.

“Kenshiro, let me go with you!” Flandre whines. Mokou looks back at you and grins a little before leaving the library as well.

“I have things I want to look into as well,” you say, turning to the little vampire. “Plus I want to do them quickly so I have a lesser chance of running into others. I've got a lot of things to deal with and I'm running out of time for everyone.” Flandre pouts, then flies up into the air.

“I can be quick to! Don't just leave me out of this because I'm little!” Flandre complains, her wings fluttering behind her. … She actually uses those to fly? “All the time things happen around Gensokyo and I never get to go look. Even Remilia goes out to play on occasion, and I'm always left alone in my room. Well, I'm not alone anymore! I'm outside, and I have new friends and I want to play too!”

“This might not be a game, though,” you reply. “I'm not sure if the earthquake and the weather are connected, but if they are, and someone's behind it, well, they could have killed Reimu.” Flandre's eyes widen a bit, but she steels her resolve again.

“I'm going out,” Flandre says, flying past you. Not it's your turn to stop her.

“You don't even know what you're looking for,” you say, chuckling a bit. Flandre turns, looking kind of annoyed and embarrassed.

“Well, give me a clue!” Flandre says hastily. You consider the options you have, but you don't really have many ideas of where to go yourself, only a lead to who might be involved. Mokou seemed to have some kind of idea though, seeing as she left pretty quickly.

“I don't really know where to start looking myself, really,” you say, walking around the floating Flandre. “You're going to have to find clues on your own.” Flandre sulks a little, but brightens a little after a few seconds.

“Then I know where I'm going first!” Flandre says before floating out the still open door. The only person left in the library aside from you is Tokiko, who has calmly gone back to reading.

“You're not going anywhere?” you ask her. She gently shakes her head.

“Nope. I could care less what happens to Reimu,” Tokiko says, calmly turning the page. Damn, that's kind of cold. You wonder if it's her personality.

“You don't have any problems with the weather?” you continue to ask her questions.

“Nope. I don't really care about the weather. Someone's probably bored and making a mess because they want to play,” Tokiko continues, looking up from the book. “It's always someone's fault. Nothing would happen otherwise. The ruins, the strange demons, the red mist, the fake moon, the flower event, so on and so forth. There'll be someone behind this, just like there's always been.”

“You sound pretty confident about this, so why don't you do anything?” you ask. Tokiko scowls and turns red, looking back down at the book.

“I-it doesn't bother me, that's why. I could care less what happens outside,” Tokiko's voice wavers a bit. She doesn't sound very confident now. “B-besides! Even if I did care, there's so many hotheads living here that jump at the first sign of something strange and shoot everyone in their way until they find who they're looking for.” It's still suspicious sounding, but you figure there's a reason behind it. You're not going to press the issue any more though, you need to head out. You just leave Tokiko alone and close the library door as you leave. Flandre seems to have left already, and you see Youmu just starting down the stairs.

“You heading out too?” you ask. Youmu looks back at you.

“I'm going to Reimu's shrine as well. I heard what happened from Alice,” she replies.

“You're only just heading out?” you ask. Youmu sighs.

“I went to tell Miss Yuyuko I was leaving and she started whining about food, so I had to fix her a snack,” she says. “She's so helpless sometimes...”

“That's mean Youmu~” Yuyuko says, appearing over Youmu's back, causing the latter to jump in surprise.

“Yu-!” Youmu blurts as Yuyuko drops down on Youmu and grabs onto her shoulders.

“I'm coming along too, I want to see the ruined shrine,” Yuyuko says, almost too happily for the situation. Youmu groans in response, but doesn't resist.

“Fine then,” Youmu says, turning her head to you. “Sorry, but I'm going on ahead.” With that, Youmu accelerates rapidly and heads off down the stairs with Yuyuko hanging on. You're still amazed how fast she can move. Maybe it's something you can be taught. … Actually, it would probably be faster to possess her. Again. You wonder if she'd allow you do that...

**

It's just on the edges of early evening by the time you set back out. Your first thought had been to check in on the human village, since if Reimu's shrine had been damaged in the earthquake, the village is located around the foot of the mountains where the Hakurei shrine is located, so maybe it had suffered some damage as well. You don't want to end up wasting time though, so you fade yourself from sight. Traveling invisible will keep you from having to deal with anyone you don't want to. You set off for the human village first.

As you had thought, there was some apparent damage to the village. A few buildings seemed to be damaged, but no full collapses like the shrine. There are quite a number of people milling around the town though, and among them you can see Keine, taking a leader role as she directs people around to help clean up damaged property and directing people around. Seems like hectic work. You also notice Sanae among some of the grouped people, apparently offering spiritual support. Seems like everything is looking fine here. Seeing Sanae gave you another idea, your next stop is Youkai Mountain.

At the mountain, you pass by where there had been kappa working earlier to find no signs of anyone. That might be a good thing if you want to find Hina, but where to start looking? You decide to swing through the kappa village first, and fly towards the cave entrance. You can hear the noise from the village long before you get into the entrance, the echoed noise of the entire kappa population up and working at once. At least you're invisible. You pass easily through the cave into the interior chamber, avoiding contact with anyone and keeping an eye out for Hina. It takes some flying and searching, but you do manage to find Hina, together with Nitori, at the far end of the chamber, around a small recessed area. Unfortunately, she's in the middle of the group, and you can't easily get her attention alone. Seems like there are some plans going on for digging through the rock to somewhere, though you're not paying a lot of attention. Likely part of their construction efforts. If you had to guess, you'd say that Hina's on hand here still to make sure things go smoothly. Maybe you shouldn't bother her now. At the least, you're closer to your first idea, to check in on Suwako and ask her about the earthquake. It's her domain afterall, if anyone has some answers, it would have to be her. You set out for your next destination through the ever-present fissure.

Traveling to the Moriya shrine doesn't take long. You make your way to Suwako's building out behind the main grounds and find the door open. Since you're invisible, you decide to make the most of it and take a peek inside. Empty. Seems she's out, or at least not in her home. You're going to check the rest of the grounds though. You do find her shortly afterwards, sweeping out in front of their still intact shrine.

“Hello,” she says aloud, even though you're still invisible and behind her. She's pretty sharp it seems.

“Hello Suwako,” you say, reappearing. She looks back at you, taking a break from sweeping. “I came to ask you something.”

“That's great, because I have something to ask you too,” she says with a smile, turning to face you. “Me first though!” she starts, clutching the broom with two hands.

“Okay then,” you resign. “Your question?”

“That tornado, that was you, right?” she asks.

“Yeah, it was,” you say. Suwako giggles a bit, then looks over her shoulder back at the far mountain range.

“Ah, when Kanako saw that she spit sake everywhere,” Suwako recalls, smiling wider. “It was pretty incredible to hear her raving like that. She took off to find out what was behind it, but she didn't reach you in time, did she?”

“Uh, no,” you say, looking out towards the forest you had fought in with Suika.

“She was acting pretty mad that someone was screwing around with her winds, but she was pretty happy actually,” Suwako says. “You should probably talk to her sometime and show her your friend there,” Suwako eyes the Kusanagi. “She'd probably have a bit to say about you being on good terms with her elder.”

“Elder?” you repeat, confused. Suwako giggles a bit more, then holds out her hand. The Kusanagi flies from it's sheath into her hand, just like it does with you.

“This sword was recovered in times of legend by Susanoo, the God of Sea and Storms. He'd be the guy that Kanako serves under, at least if there was a strict hierarchy. They share a domain though, and he came first,” Suwako says, waving the sword a bit and generating some wind. “Blades kind of no good, but the power is intact at least. I'm surprised you can really use it though.”

“I didn't know there was a trick to using it,” you say, holding out your hand this time. The sword jumps from Suwako's hand to yours. She grins as a reaction.

“You really don't know anything about it do you?” she asks.

“Not really. Can I ask my question now?”

“I had nothing to do with the earthquake,” Suwako says plainly, shrugging. Well then. “Why would I do something like that? It'd just cause trouble if I did. That said though, well...” Suwako looks up towards the sky. “I feel like someone else was behind it.”

“Do you have any ideas?” you ask expectantly, hoping you can get a lead after all. Suwako looks back at you and winks playfully, waving her finger.

“Nuh uh! Answers aren't that easy to come by in Gensokyo. You're going to have to get them just like everyone else,” Suwako says playfully.

“And how's that?” you ask. Suwako raises the broom, and swings it in a wide arc. Somewhere in the process, the broom transformed into a spear, and Suwako swings it down in front of her, taking a combat stance.

“We have a fight!” Suwako cheers. You're not entirely sure what to make of this, but she seems to be keen on the idea. She's also hinted at having answers you'd like.

“You couldn't just tell me the easy way, could you?” you ask with a slight laugh. Suwako shakes her head.

“It's a surprise optional boss fight! Win this and you can skip a tedious side quest!” Suwako declares.

Well, that's a convenient way to put it. You have your misgivings about this though, something feels off. You would like the information she has though, and there's only one way to get that.

---

>You have your misgivings about this though, something feels ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD

[x] Half-jokingly, "You just want me to start a cyclone in Kanako's backyard!"
[x] "All right, how are we gonna do this? Spellcard rules? Fisticuffs? Or no holds barred?"

We know which she'll pick.

Also, frog rain inbound.

[x] Half-jokingly, "You just want me to start a cyclone in Kanako's backyard!"
[x] "All right, how are we gonna do this? Spellcard rules? Fisticuffs? Or no holds barred?"

Can't think of anything good so I'll roll with this.
And geeze, picking fights with a final stage boss and an extra stage boss before the action even starts!

[x] Half-jokingly, "You just want me to start a cyclone in Kanako's backyard!"
[x] "All right, how are we gonna do this? Spellcard rules? Fisticuffs? Or no holds barred?"

[x] Half-jokingly, "You just want me to start a cyclone in Kanako's backyard!"
[x] "All right, how are we gonna do this? Spellcard rules? Fisticuffs? Or no holds barred?"
[X] "And can you teach me more about the Kusanagi and it's history after I win too?"

[x] Half-jokingly, "You just want me to start a cyclone in Kanako's backyard!"
[x] "All right, how are we gonna do this? Spellcard rules? Fisticuffs? Or no holds barred?"

You're going to fight her. She seems fairly intent on it as well, plus you find yourself a little curious. You don't have much knowledge of Suwako, even from your possession of Hina. You know she's a Goddess of Earth, and that she's symbolized by a frog, but not much else. The fact she's apparently going to be fighting with a weapon too...

“You want me to start a cyclone up here in Kanako's backyard?” you ask sarcastically, raising the Kusanagi slightly. “I don't think she'd like that much.”

“It'll be okay, this place is under my protection,” Suwako says, tapping the ground with the tip of her spear. The ground shimmers slightly.

“I want some answers after I win,” you say, smiling a little. “I especially want to know more about the Kusanagi.”

“Oh, after you win?” Suwako repeats, giggling again. “I like the sound of that.”

“Well, how do you want to do this then? Spellcard rules?” you ask. Suwako gives you an exaggerated frown. “Fisticuffs then?”

“Let's just go all out!” Suwako shouts, shaking her spear. “Show me what you've got!”

“Works for me,” you say, and you step forward, swinging the Kusanagi upwards to create a blast. The wind rushes by, and Suwako responds by slapping the stonework with her spear again. This time, columns of earth spring from the point of impact, effectively dispersing the wind before they begin to fade away. Before they've completely vanished, Suwako rushes through their fading image and closes in. You bring the sword down in an overhead attack, only to be easily caught by the shaft of Suwako's spear. Without a moment hesitation, Suwako hooks the flat end of the spear's pole around your arm and behind your neck, twisting your arm out and forcing you to duck. Just as soon as your head lowers, you feel the pole slip out of it's position, and without a chance to recover you see Suwako swinging the point around towards your head. The upwards swing hits you in the jaw with the shaft rather than the blade, and sends you flipping onto your back where your momentum causes you to roll over onto your stomach. God damn she's fast with that weapon. You attempt to get up, but you are interrupted by a sharp pain in your right shoulder, and you look up to see Suwako in front of you, spear pierced through your shoulder into the ground. She laughs a bit, then makes a small apologizing gesture.

“Sorry, I should have warned you I was really good, you were probably underestimating me,” Suwako says, withdrawing her spear and hopping back, striking her combat pose once more. The pain in your shoulder remains as you get to your feet, bad enough to be distracting but not crippling. “Come on now! One more time!” You get ready again. Your ranged attack with the Kusanagi didn't work, so another attempt at that would probably fail, but she's likely to be just as hard to hit in close range. You decide to test her defenses, just to be sure. You step forward, and as you do she hops forward and thrusts her spear towards your chest. Her reaction was nearly immediate, and you just barely manage to avoid being skewered again. This time though, you grab the pole and step forward into striking range to take a swing. As you bring the Kusanagi to bear, the spear vanishes, and in it's place Suwako raises a katana to parry your swing. As soon as your attack is stopped, Suwako steps in, turning inwards and grabbing your wrist. She uses her leverage on your arm, as well as her shoulder to throw you over. She's already positioned her blade for a strike by the time you hit the ground, and you roll aside just in time to avoid a second impalement. Suwako laughs a bit as you get onto your feet and make some distance between the two of you.

“You've done this kind of thing before, haven't you?” you ask, shaking slightly. You definitely weren't expecting her to be like this. Or maybe... this is what you were feeling that felt off.

“Maybe a bit~” Suwako muses, twirling her... broom again.

“How do you do that anyway?” you ask, nodding towards the broom. Suwako looks at the broom, and then back at you.

“Miracles,” Suwako says happily. “They're handy for everything.”

“Sure are,” you say, readying yourself for another attack. The broom transforms itself into another sword, a wide, curved blade you're not familiar with. Suwako's pose changes to something mimicking holding a baseball bat. You don't think conventional tactics are going to work here. Suwako's obviously had more than just 'a bit' of practice in combat like this, and frankly, the idea of trying to win against her on purely physical means seems outright impossible for your current skill level. Opposed to Suika, who was overpoweringly strong, Suwako is both strong and skilled. You wonder if there's anything you could do to gain an advantage. You need to find some kind of weakness to be exploited if you have any chance of winning.

---

Suwako~

Needs some kind of strategy based on a saying about miracles.

Weapons Kitchen Sink!

>>85773
Good luck.
"For every mountain there is a miracle." - Robert Schuller
Uh, okay, appropriate but not useful.

"A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug." - Patricia Neal
How are we still holding that jar of Eirin's shady vitamins anyway?

"Only he shakes the heavens and from its treasures takes our the winds. He joins the waters and the clouds and produces the rain. He does all those things. Only he realizes miracles permanently." - Michael Servetus
This part of my book is really short ...

"The world presents enough problems if you believe it to be a world of law and order; do not add to them by believing it to be a world of miracles." - Louis D. Brandeis
APPROPRIATE! But, again, rather useless.

"All the biblical miracles will at last disappear with the progress of science." - Matthew Arnold
Nitori, I choose you!

...

>>85774

>How are we still holding that jar of Eirin's shady vitamins anyway?

Really big pockets.

[x] Take to the air. Being near the ground at any time risks impalement or falling into a fissure.
[x] "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"
[x] Make ranged feints with wind slashes, force her to turtle (block with a rock wall) or dodge. All while drawing in the winds at your back.
[x] If you can't harry her this way, turn invisible and try to send wind attacks from unexpected angles.
[x] If you can get her to fully wall herself in, then your ruse will have paid off: Turn incorporeal & invisible, fly into her little castle, and then immediately possess the sword. She'll have left herself with no room to dodge.
[x] If she takes to the air with you, draw her as high as you can. Utilizing the winds, you should be able to win if you can keep her at a distance.
[x] She obviously has developed tactics against wind-users, but probably not so much against ghosts or magicians. Try things she definitely wouldn't expect from Kanako, like a fireball in the face. You can also use your wind powers as a red herring. Gather the wind and charge with the gale at your back, phasing out as you impact so that you phase in behind her. She'll be busy weathering the residual wind blast, leaving her back wide open.

[] Ask yourself, aloud, 'What Would Cirno Do?'
[] Then just grope her chest anyway.

[x] Take to the air. Being near the ground at any time risks impalement or falling into a fissure.
[x] "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"
[x] Make ranged feints with wind slashes, force her to turtle (block with a rock wall) or dodge. All while drawing in the winds at your back.
[x] If you can't harry her this way, turn invisible and try to send wind attacks from unexpected angles.
[x] If you can get her to fully wall herself in, then your ruse will have paid off: Turn incorporeal & invisible, fly into her little castle, and then immediately possess the sword. She'll have left herself with no room to dodge.
[x] If she takes to the air with you, draw her as high as you can. Utilizing the winds, you should be able to win if you can keep her at a distance.
[x] She obviously has developed tactics against wind-users, but probably not so much against ghosts or magicians. Try things she definitely wouldn't expect from Kanako, like a fireball in the face. You can also use your wind powers as a red herring. Gather the wind and charge with the gale at your back, phasing out as you impact so that you phase in behind her. She'll be busy weathering the residual wind blast, leaving her back wide open.

Good as any.

>>[] If you can't harry her this way, turn invisible and try to send wind attacks from unexpected angles.
Ignoring that she has already told us that being invisible doesn't work on her ...

>>[] If you can get her to fully wall herself in, then your ruse will have paid off: Turn incorporeal & invisible, fly into her little castle, and then immediately possess the sword.
She can detect us while we're invisible. And she has better knowledge of the sword than we do which is part of the point of this little fight asides from the back-door to Bhava-agra.

>>[] She obviously has developed tactics against wind-users, but probably not so much against ghosts or magicians ...
This, in some form, but not spammed. Also, she might not fully expect us to be able to pull a Hina on her. Just putting that out there.

>>85782
>Ignoring that she has already told us that being invisible doesn't work on her ...

She never said that she could see us. In fact she couldn't have seen us, because her back was turned. She either has some kind of non-directional auric sense, or more likely, tremor-sense (you know, being an earth deity and all). If it's the latter then invisibility and incorporeality should work fine, as long as she doesn't start throwing seals around.

>And she has better knowledge of the sword than we do which is part of the point of this little fight asides from the back-door to Bhava-agra.

That may be true, but we nonetheless have greater mastery of it, which was evidenced in how we were able to take it out of her hands at a thought, while she was surprised we could even use it at all.

Waiting for the write-in to be finalized and fine-tuned before voting for it.

>>85783
>we nonetheless have greater mastery of it, which was evidenced in how we were able to take it out of her hands at a thought
She didn't seem surprised, it's not like she was going to keep it.

>>85789

>I'm surprised you can really use it though.”

The best part of this will be Kanako's face when she recognizes us as the guy who didn't "look like much" from the other night.

>>85790
That still doesn't mean we have "greater mastery of it" just because she let us take it back.

>>85803

She didn't 'let' us have it back. That's why her expression changes when we take it.

>The sword jumps from Suwako's hand to yours. She grins as a reaction.

Voting wound down? I want to be sure everyone's content with the vote so far before I continue.

>>85811

This Anon is confident with his vote.

Don't really care which way this fight goes, honestly. On one hand it'll impress the right people and gain him some info if he wins; on the other I think Ken may be in need of a sobering beat down. At least here there won't be too much embarrassment if he fails, and he'll still be able to pass the news on to Reimu that Suwako knows something. Which would send the appropriate message to Suwako and Reimu: He's not in it for personal glory; he just wants to set things right.

>>85850

Ah, But if Suwako wins, then she get a reputation as "the one who defeated the one who defeated Yukari" Which means that worshipers will flock to her shrine. Which isn't good from a route perspective in my opinion.

If I was to make a wild guess. I think that getting worshipers to Moriya shrine isn't her problem for us to fix.

>>85853
But technically it's not really her shrine, is it? Not since she surrendered to Kanako all those years ago, and gave up control of it.
Well, it might still garner more faith for Suwako, but I can't see Kanako being too pleased with her friend suddenly getting a much bigger take than she was.

What I'd be curious to see is what would happen if Kanako then challenged us, and we won. If Suwako beat us, and we beat Kanako, who in turn once beat Suwako, that would make us "The one who defeated the one who defeated the one who defeated Yukari."

Hmm, I thought Suwako used rings as weapons.

[x] Take to the air. Being near the ground at any time risks impalement or falling into a fissure.
[x] "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"
[x] Make ranged feints with wind slashes, force her to turtle (block with a rock wall) or dodge. All while drawing in the winds at your back.
[x] If you can't harry her this way, turn invisible and try to send wind attacks from unexpected angles.
[x] If you can get her to fully wall herself in, then your ruse will have paid off: Turn incorporeal, fly into her little castle, and then immediately possess the sword. She'll have left herself with no room to dodge.
[x] If she takes to the air with you, draw her as high as you can. Utilizing the winds, you should be able to win if you can keep her at a distance.
[x] She obviously has developed tactics against wind-users, but probably not so much against ghosts or magicians. Try things she definitely wouldn't expect from Kanako, like a fireball in the face. You can also use your wind powers as a red herring. Gather the wind and charge with the gale at your back, phasing out as you impact so that you phase in behind her. She'll be busy weathering the residual wind blast, leaving her back wide open.

>Voting wound down? I want to be sure everyone's content with the vote so far before I continue.

In my defense, I couldn't have voted during the weekend because I had no computer available.

>>85853

I really don't think Suwako is doing this for her reputation. She seems interested in us for reasons that are not entirely clear. That favor she had us do this morning could've been done by anyone; it's not something that required us specifically. Whether we win or lose, I'm thinking Suwako has some kind of plan for us, maybe as a future check for Kanako's grand designs, but until I see any reason to go against her, we may as well do what she asks of us.

[ze] >>85860

No update today because I was nearly done writing it and my fucking shitty computer decided that openoffice had to crash, and each attempt to recover it failed with another crash until it decided there was nothing to recover.

>>85888

I've been there before. Look around in your user profile for the backup. It may be hidden, so make sure you check that hidden files are displayed in folder settings.

Should in or near.
Users<user name>AppDataRoamingOpenOffice.org3user
OR
Documents and Settings<user name>Application DataOpenOffice.org3user

>>85891

Oh, well what do you know, there it is!

... Well, technically it is already 'tomorrow'...

>>85908

hooray!

[x] Take to the air. Being near the ground at any time risks impalement or falling into a fissure.
[x] "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"
[x] Make ranged feints with wind slashes, force her to turtle (block with a rock wall) or dodge. All while drawing in the winds at your back.
[x] If you can't harry her this way, turn invisible and try to send wind attacks from unexpected angles.
[x] If you can get her to fully wall herself in, then your ruse will have paid off: Turn incorporeal, fly into her little castle, and then immediately possess the sword. She'll have left herself with no room to dodge.
[x] If she takes to the air with you, draw her as high as you can. Utilizing the winds, you should be able to win if you can keep her at a distance.
[x] She obviously has developed tactics against wind-users, but probably not so much against ghosts or magicians. Try things she definitely wouldn't expect from Kanako, like a fireball in the face. You can also use your wind powers as a red herring. Gather the wind and charge with the gale at your back, phasing out as you impact so that you phase in behind her. She'll be busy weathering the residual wind blast, leaving her back wide open.

First of all, you're not going to risk being on the same level as her. She's already proven to be quite dangerous to approach, so you make your distance into the air. Suwako twirls her sword idly and watches as you ascend, smiling all the while.

“What are you up to?” Suwako asks.

“Just trying something a wolf once said,” you reply, raising the Kusanagi. “I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down.”

“Haha, but I'm not a piggy,” Suwako retorts, and with a flick of her blade, a wave of force is sent flying towards you. You move aside as it passes, and Suwako takes a step forward. There's a cracking sound as she ascends, though not by flight. Propelling herself with a fast moving column of earth. Using the momentum, Suwako leaps towards you as the pillar fades away and takes a wide swing. You match blades to stop her attack and withdraw before she can follow up. She remains floating in the air as you retreat. You can't help but think she's playing with you at the moment, holding back on purpose. In any case, you're going to need to gather winds. You hear another crackle, though this time from the sky as a storm begins to roll in, and the rain begins slowly. You make another swing to send more wind towards Suwako, but she easily avoids the blast. You manage to maintain distance,and in the air Suwako can't use any more earth tricks at least. You wave the Kusanagi in small circles to generate wind power, while occasionally swinging out to form a new blast. Each time, Suwako easily avoids it. This isn't working as well as you hoped it would, time for a change in tactics. You fall back slightly more and turn invisible, then proceed to move towards Suwako's side. As you move, however, Suwako turns to follow you, and you slow to a stop. Suwako's still looking right towards you. For a moment, she takes one of her hands off the handle of her sword and waves at you. Yeah...

You swing again regardless. Even if she can still sense you somehow, she couldn't actually see you. Your guess pays off as well, since she is taken by the wind blast, though only momentarily. As a defense, she holds her blade up and angles it against the wind. While not much, it does seem to have enough of an effect at diminishing the force to counteract it. Once the winds die down, Suwako lashes a hand out, and several flying rings whisk towards you. Several of them come very close to hitting you, and one does manage to graze your arm, cutting you as it does. So, her weapons really can harm ghosts, and she does know where you are. Suwako edges closer slightly, and even as you begin to move away again she pursues you. The rain is whipping around in all directions at this point, carried by the winds gathered by the sword in your hand. Now is as good a time as any for an attack, and you draw back for a rush. As you prepare, Suwako charges forward to close the distance. You only have about ten feet of clearance by the time you charge forward, carrying the wind at your back. You fade back into sight and draw a hand back, gathering energy quickly and bringing to mind a simple fire spell you had recalled from Alice's memories. You thrust your hand forward within feet of Suwako and discharge the gathered power in the form of a wave of fire, more as a distraction than a proper attack. You lose sight of Suwako as the flame grows forward, but she breaks through the flaming cloud soon enough in mid swing. You duck your head as the blade skins across your back and pass Suwako. Looking back as you clear her range, Suwako takes pursuit immediately, backed by the force of the wind behind you.

You turn incorporeal, planning to attack from another direction. After your withdrawal, Suwako passes by and slows to a stop, and with a wave of her sword the winds seem to clear, and she takes a few moments to look around. You position yourself behind her and move in quickly, reconstituting yourself as you do. Unsurprisingly, Suwako intercepts your attack with a turning slash, but you simply return to the ether and circle around again. It would seem that she can't detect you like this, or at least that whatever ability she has to sense you takes longer to pick up, as she occasionally turns in the direction you circle, but never locks eyes on your location for more than a second or two. You make another attack from behind, at a closer range. Suwako intercepts the attack again regardless, and after you fade out again, she begins to laugh.

“Are you going to attack from behind again?” she asks, looking around. “I'm not going to be tricked so easily.” She raises her sword in front of her, and she seems to be concentrating on something. The air around you seems to distort, and you start to get a bad feeling. You take a final chance to attack Suwako, rushing from the side. Your attack is deflected again, and Suwako falls back as the shimmering air begins to transform into solid rock. In only a span of seconds, a tunnel of faintly glowing rock has grown around you and Suwako, encasing you in a rather tight conditions. She smiles down at you.

“Well, this is new,” you say, grinning back.

“It's to help keep you in check,” Suwako says, floating over to the stone wall. “You won't be able to phase through this magical earth.” Now that's troublesome. You float to the wall as well and place a hand against it, attempting to partially phase through. While you're able to become incorporeal, the wall feels solid even to your intangible form. Well damn. However, this situation gives you an idea. You're going to need some distance. You look up at Suwako, and then begin to fall. As expected, Suwako follows after you, and fits into your plan perfectly. As you fall, the Kusanagi builds the momentum of the air in the earthen tunnel, a slowly building current of air flowing downwards in a confined, possibly airtight space. With nowhere to dodge, with luck, the force of the downdraft will be too much for even Suwako to stop. Since she's moving with the wind as well, she doesn't notice it's strength as it swells behind her. You look back to see the bottom approaching, a section of the shrine grounds that had been below you in the air. You orient yourself to land, and follow with a strong downwards slash. As expected, the air current grows to incredible levels, and you can feel a building pressure even through the protection offered by the Kusanagi. Suwako realizes the situation as well, and as you had planned, is unable to stop herself against the strength of the winds. What you didn't count on however was for Suwako to simply vanish into the ground. In hindsight, you rationalize that the idea of pinning the Earth goddess against the ground with air pressure might have been a bad idea. You hear a grinding sound behind you and turn in time to see Suwako lunging from the wall towards you with her sword. Once more the tip pierces your body and forces you into the opposing wall. Before you can escape, a column of rock emerges from the wall, swallowing Suwako and crushing into you. Suwako's top half pulls itself up from the top of the pillar and she rests her head in her palms, looking down at you.

“Looks like you got me again,” you say, smirking a bit. Suwako smiles and tilts her head to the side.

“You're pretty persistent,” Suwako says, taking her hat off for a second and scratching her head. “You rely a lot on the Kusanagi's power though, don't you?” She's got you there, you haven't really put much effort into developing your own abilities outside of the swordplay you've been learning from Youmu, but drills and practice can only get you so far in such a short time. What else can you really do though? Aside from slight knowledge of magic and the skills and talents of Hina and Alice, you haven't much to work with otherwise, do you?

“I do put the Kusanagi to use a lot, don't I?” you say with a smile despite the crushing pain from the column of rock pressing into your chest. Suwako hums a bit.

“You're in a pretty big jam, it seems,” Suwako says, patting the rock. “Got any plans to get out of this?” That's another point she's got you on, there doesn't seem to be anything you can do to get yourself out of this situation other than admit defeat. You strain to think of anything you could do...

---

Today is going to be kind of busy, since I'm doing some running around to get ready for Mother's Day at the end of the week, and also for Wednesday, since it's my birthday. Don't know how much I'll be around Wednesday, so if I don't update you'll know why.

What limitations are there on ghosts, anyway? If you can't go through the rock, is there any way you could go around it?

[x] Possess the sword.
[x] Failing that, turn incorporeal--it won't get rid of the rock, but it will allow other things to phase through you.
[x] Build a ball of air 'inside' you. If you can continually increase increase the density of the air, eventually the pressure should be enough to part the rock squeezing in on you.
[x] Try manipulating the distance between you and the rock, or manipulating the distance between you and Suwako.
[x] If that fails, try using the Kusanagi as a jack, jamming it between the two sources of pressure. It should relieve the pressure on you such that you can wriggle your way out.
[x] Finally, you can attempt to remove the clip that gives you a form, allowing you to slip out of the vise.

[x]admit defeat

well she's a god. I don't think we can beat her up now.

We are fighting a God of times past here. Perhaps we need to use techniques from the future.

We can control curses, dolls and the wind. We're in a rocky environment. The best thing I can think of is using friction in some way. Melt or erode the rock or something.

Or we can find away to make it really cold. Frozen frog anyone?

[X] Use Komachi's distance manipulation to switch positions with Suwako.

Hey, it worked in SWR.

>>85945

Suwako wasn't in SWR.;_;

And didn't we try using the distance manipulation and bump into Tokiko during it?

Anyway, here's my vote for:
[x] Possess the sword.
[x] Failing that, turn incorporeal--it won't get rid of the rock, but it will allow other things to phase through you.
[x] Build a ball of air 'inside' you. If you can continually increase increase the density of the air, eventually the pressure should be enough to part the rock squeezing in on you.
[x] Try manipulating the distance between you and the rock, or manipulating the distance between you and Suwako.
[x] If that fails, try using the Kusanagi as a jack, jamming it between the two sources of pressure. It should relieve the pressure on you such that you can wriggle your way out.
[x] Finally, you can attempt to remove the clip that gives you a form, allowing you to slip out of the vise.

[X] Use Komachi's distance manipulation to switch positions with Suwako.

Waaaaaaaaaaaait a minute.

If distance manipulation works by sorta basically pulling a point in the distance closer to you, could you also do something like that in reverse? Instead of pulling a point to you, you push it away from you?

>>85951

No. Komachi can only make things closer. A serial killer gets the same ride as an average person. [/sarcasm]

>>85965
I think there's perhaps a subtle difference between the distance manipulating capabilities of Komachi, who does it as a part of her job (well, whenever she actually does her job, at least), and someone who is by comparison a total novice at it.

And this isn't making something like the opposite shore of a river or the other end of a hallway nearer or farther from you. This is making something farther from you that's so close it would probably be cutting off your circulation if you had any left to cut off.

[X] Use Komachi's distance manipulation to switch positions with Suwako.
[X] ... and if that doesn't work, try to use distance manipulation to create a large distance between you and the earth that's pinning you down.

[ze] Use Komachi's distance manipulation to just be not under the goddamn rock.

I think, more to the point, people are assuming we've been encased in rock in some manner, when it's more like we're just being forced prone against the wall of the enclosure. Assume no limbs are free to move. Suwako can still directly see what we're doing.

We can try Komachi's thing, but I think we should see if we have anything from Cirno to help us out, whether or not Komachi's trick works. Plus, we do have a sword that controls air currents. We'd be hoping that this works like an air and fire kind of reaction, except with wind and cold.

[+] Use Komachi's distance manipulation to try give yourself enough space to escape the rocvk column.
[+] Whether or not that works, stall for a bit.
[+] Try to recall something from Cirno's cold magic, amplifying it with the Kusanagi's winds (if need be).

And some time after this we need to figure out *we* can do besides the hit-and-miss possession trick.

[x] Possess the sword.
[x] Failing that, turn incorporeal--it won't get rid of the rock, but it will allow other things to phase through you.
[x] Build a ball of air 'inside' you. If you can continually increase increase the density of the air, eventually the pressure should be enough to part the rock squeezing in on you.
[x] Try manipulating the distance between you and the rock, or manipulating the distance between you and Suwako.
[x] If that fails, try using the Kusanagi as a jack, jamming it between the two sources of pressure. It should relieve the pressure on you such that you can wriggle your way out.
[x] Finally, you can attempt to remove the clip that gives you a form, allowing you to slip out of the vise.

>>85991
>And some time after this we need to figure out *we* can do besides the hit-and-miss possession trick.

Nobody's having issues fighting against Suwako.

Now step back. Think about that statement for a moment. A god and an EX-level boss. Without spell card rules. A little while ago, he fought an oni to a standstill.

Put this into perspective of someone who was living on the lam just a few days ago; a nearly powerless human soul, just barely managing (and once failing) to fake people like Reimu and Komachi out of him existing.

Now, as a result of the combined weight of Yuyuko indulgence, Yukari's machinations, as well as his own good intent and ambition, he's had to put more and more investment into being Kenshiro the Helpful Ghost, wielder of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, one of the most historied and famous artifacts in Japanese myth. Of course the time spent doing this leaves him without enough possessed Touhou abilities to draw on. That's why he needs to solve his current troubles explosively, without taking on any more responsibilities, so he can get back to his regularly scheduled programming. We took this gamble because if he can finish this event with enough bombast, he'll have the faith necessary to possess even the strongest Touhous. But for that to happen, right now he needs to squeeze every last rules-lawyering drop out of his equipment, his ghostly nature, and Hina & Alice's memories.

>>85937
>[x] Finally, you can attempt to remove the clip that gives you a form, allowing you to slip out of the vise.
...Don't you mean idclip?

>>86072

FUCK

>>86068
You make an excellent and compelling point.

>>86072

Well played.

updates?

>>86108

Maybe later today or in the early hours of the morning tomorrow. I've been feeling incredibly lazy all day.

>>86114

hooray!

[x] Possess the sword.
[x] Failing that, turn incorporeal--it won't get rid of the rock, but it will allow other things to phase through you.
[x] Build a ball of air 'inside' you. If you can continually increase increase the density of the air, eventually the pressure should be enough to part the rock squeezing in on you.
[x] Try manipulating the distance between you and the rock, or manipulating the distance between you and Suwako.
[x] If that fails, try using the Kusanagi as a jack, jamming it between the two sources of pressure. It should relieve the pressure on you such that you can wriggle your way out.
[x] Finally, you can attempt to remove the clip that gives you a form, allowing you to slip out of the vise.

The thought comes to mind to attempt to use the distance manipulation trick you had learned, though it seems to be a long shot. You've hardly practiced the ability and you have no real proof if it had even worked the last time you attempted. You begin to concentrate, keeping your eyes open this time so aso to not be caught off guard by anything. Suwako still suspects something regardless, since her grin changes slightly a few seconds afterwards.

“You're up to something, aren't you?” she asks, rocking her head side to side. “I wonder what you could be doing~” You try to keep your concentration. The distance between the two of you is already rather short, but even with your attempt at visualization you don't seem to be getting any headway in moving Suwako or the rock away. Suwako hums while she watches you, at least she seems to be enjoying herself. You're not likely to get any results from this, and you sigh in frustration as you lean your head against the rock wall. “Oh, tired already?”

“Just changing plans,” you say, adjusting your grip in the Kusanagi. You're not really in any kind of position to swing at Suwako, but maybe you could try to wedge yourself out of this. You bring the blade to the underside of the rock and fit the tip in between your body and the pillar. With a bit of effort from both your arms and body, you get the blade in, and then pull up on the handle. All you manage to do is grind the tip of the blade into your body rather painfully, making no progress with this attempt either. Time for something else. You briefly consider possessing the sword, but even if that did get you out of this situation, you're not even sure if you could do anything. You'd likely only get yourself in a jam again regardless. You're running out of ideas, only one last one presents itself. You consider it a long shot, but maybe it will have some kind of effect. You fade into the ethereal realm, which causes Suwako to chuckle a little. However, you plan to use the nature to your advantage. You concentrate on your grip on the Kusanagi, calling on it's powers to build up within the space of your body. You wouldn't be sure you were achieving any results if you couldn't see the faint shifts in Suwako's hair and hat from the movement of the air.

“Ah, I get it now!” Suwako says, then she waves a finger at you. “Not good enough though!” A whistling sound picks up out of nowhere. You notice that several holes have appeared in the rock surrounding the area. She's venting the air pressure to ruin your plan. That's just... perfect. You retake your form and swing the Kusanagi up, then slam the butt of the handle against the wall beside you. There's a loud crack as the force of your strike knocks a section of the wall out. With the holes in the wall, the wall would be much weaker. With another swing, you smash out a larger section, and pieces beyond the edge of the growing hole begin to fall apart. One last swing close to your body and the wall collapses away behind you, the rock column pressing against you pushing you through the hole and into the open air, where you quickly put distance between you and Suwako. The tunnel of rock has already vanished as Suwako takes to the air, carrying a straight, thin sword. “That was kind of silly of me,” Suwako says.

“It was pretty helpful, actually,” you say with a grin. No time to relax just yet though, as Suwako is slowly getting closer. With the fresh air around you, you run through your gathered memories for any other defensive options you have. You recall a set of spellcards typically called 'bombs' from Alice's memories, cards that clear the space surrounding you and tend to have a method of dealing damage at the same time. Can you even use other people's spellcards though? Suwako's picking up speed, guess there's only one way to find out. You retreat from Suwako, calling up memories of Alice's cards. You're taking a gamble here that might not pay off as you try to materialize a card. Suwako is within feet of you, and you call up one last burst of energy to your hand. You feel an object appear in your hand, thin and papery. You waste no time, raising the card above your head and releasing it's energy. A bright pulse of light washes out from you, driving Suwako back in surprise, and from the light, several small figures appear; small phantasmal bodies, carrying swords. Dolls, or at least your version of them. The group of dolls rush forward in a loose cloud, and Suwako prepares to swat them away. She strikes one, and it explodes into a cloud of white fire that quickly fades. The surprise is enough to throw Suwako off guard, and several more of the dolls collide with her, completely surrounding her in ghostly explosions. Suwako emerges from the fireball, escaping the few remaining dolls that still pursue her. After several seconds, the remaining figures fade away, and Suwako looks around for any more before turning back to you, a strange grin on her face.

“Wasn't expecting something like that!” she says, straightening her hat slightly. “Though I feel like I've seen someone else do something like that before. I guess there's more to you than I thought.”

“Not quite done yet,” you say. You're surprised that worked, actually, but you're not telling Suwako that. You're also glad it worked as well, since now you know that you really can call on other powers. How well though? Perhaps this would require some field testing...

---

I use Alice in SWR.

>>86133

I always used Komachi.

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?

I just realized Hina and Alice have a synergy: The Nagashi-bina doll army.

spin~ spin~

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.

I'm hesitant to use our Ice ability from Cirno, not only is it weak but considering her relationship with Cirno it might make Suwako pissed.

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.
[x] While doing all of this, use Cirno's cold manipulation to try and freeze your surroundings. Frogs don't like extremely cold temperatures, do they?

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.

Question. When Hina gathers misfortune. where does it go?

Answer. It goes to a God where it only affects them in the slightest.

Derp.

>>86148

Yeah, but it's Hina's specialty. I doubt other gods would be able to handle it as well, and even a small amount of misfortune might be enough to make a difference.

>>86148
>Question. When Hina gathers misfortune. where does it go?
>Answer. It goes striaght to her thighs.

>>86148

Misfortune is not in Suwako's portfolio. She exerts no more power over it than Hina would an earthquake.

>>86153
Hina's thighs are divine are you know it.

>>86154
>portfolio
I smell D&D on you.

Suwako received a lot of faith by defeating a curse god, correct? But I don't suppose she has any power against the curse/misfortune itself...

>>86160

Multiple assorted. She tamed the Mishaguji, the native curse gods that cursed nearly every aspect of life. She defeated them single handedly and controlled the Moriya kingdom after acquiring their amassed faith, then proceeded to fight off other Yamato gods to protect her land to the end, when Kanako defeated Suwako by rusting away her weapons using her divine powers.

Sage for pseudo-revelatory backstory information.

>[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.

spin spin SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.
[x] If all else fails, combine the Wind, Ice and Curse powers and rust her weapons.

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.
[x] If all else fails, combine the Wind, Ice and Curse powers and rust her weapons.

[x] Misfortune. Look for it, in you, in her, in the Kusanagi, in the wind.
[x] Wherever you find it, if you find it, draw it out. You don't have a ribbon, but the strings you got from Alice should serve as a material component.
[x] Assuming you've gathered the misfortune, try to do something with it, either letting it out explosively, channeling it into Suwako's broom or person, or consuming it: It's divine power, so you might be able to perform miracles with it.
[x] You were able to summon Alice's dolls to explode around Suwako. Can you do the same with Hina dolls, releasing misfortune rather than energy?
[x] As a last resort, make another tornado (we can clean up later) but combine it with as much misfortune as possible.

Hina's power, the power over misfortune and curses. She limited herself mainly to the absorption and removal, but you know she also has the capacity to wield the stored power. That presents a small problem for you, the lack of a required energy. You're going to need to find a source of misfortune. You draw away from Suwako and call on Hina's power, tuning your senses to allow you to sense the negative energy. Almost as soon as you do, you're overwhelmed by a feeling from above. The clouds overhead in the red sky are overflowing with the dark miasma. Where could all that have come from? You look back down at Suwako, and she's looking at the clouds as well. She looks down at you with a smile.

“Planning something?” Suwako asks, tapping her sword against her shoulder. You don't answer. Despite your concerns, you're just as interested in attaining some of this power to help you, and to that end you bolt upwards towards the clouds. Suwako follows closely behind, but doesn't close any distance in her pursuit. You distract her by firing a few scattered shots downwards and succeed in slowing her down slightly. You reach the cloud and extend your arm towards it, commanding the strings of Alice's ring much like Hina's ribbon, gathering chunks of the dark energy at once and passing it into your body. Suwako interrupts your gathering from below by knocking you into the cloud. The sudden submergence in the miasma gives you a full body jolt of energy, and you become intensely aware of the myriad of voices speaking within the cloud. There are too many to make out anything, but you can feel the pain in each of the voices. Suwako hasn't given chase into the cloud, though you realize you can sense her below, a strong presence directly below you. Time to retaliate. You enter a dive and exit the cloud with the Kusanagi leading the charge. Suwako falls back to your assault and you manage to drive her away. She has a rather curious expression on her face now.

“First those ghost dolls and now you're gathering the misfortune and curses of the deceased?” Suwako asks. “I think there's a lot to you I didn't know at first, and that makes you even more interesting.” You can hear her, but you're having a hard time even bringing yourself to smirk. Your senses have dulled, replaced by a strong throbbing through your entire body. The voices are still with you, less than before but just as pained. It might have been a mistake to try this, your body isn't attuned to handling this much, and now you're on the verge of being completely overwhelmed by it all. Suwako seems to understand your plight, however, and she flies towards you. With a single finger, she taps your forehead, and the paralysis that held you gives away.

“Thanks,” you say, smirking. You still feel stiff, but you can move now.

“Guess you can't handle that much after all,” Suwako says, flying backwards and retaking a ready pose. “You feeling better now?”

“Much,” you reply, calling up Alice's power again now. You extend the strings that connect to the ring on your finger, and at the end of each another phantasmal doll appears, but rather than the sword bearing ones you end up with a collection of straw dolls, each of which you funnel the gathered misfortune energy to. While you do so, you take a swing with the Kusanagi, pouring your gathered energy into the swing. You issue forth another blast of wind, but this time it accompanies a dark billowing cloud of misfortune. Suwako easily moves aside, but the dark energy lingers in the air where it passed. If that's the case then, this should be a crucial element to turning the battle in your favour. You send the controlled dolls forward, directing them towards Suwako as you move behind them. You have several overshoot the target, while several stop just short, and they all burst at once, releasing their pent up curse energy in waves. Suwako just barely stays ahead of the ensuing burst, skirting the edge of the blast radius. You can see wisps of the darkness hanging onto her, though they quickly vanish. You close in on Suwako, preparing to strike her with the sword. While your swing is blocked, it also leaves you in a perfect position. You call a doll to your hand and reach forward, pushing it into Suwako's chest. You draw back as the doll bursts into a cloud of misfortune. After a few seconds, Suwako emerges from the bottom of the cloud, glowing slightly.

“I guess I've got to be careful how much of that I take on myself,” she says with a smile. “Though if you want to play with dolls...” Suwako flies around to a clear spot in the sky, the sword transforming back into a spear. Once she stops, she takes off her hat and pulls a card out of it. It disappears with a flash and Suwako rushes towards you. No, she's split. She's still where she had stopped, though semi-transparent, and also closing in on you. The approaching copy begins to release a trail of lights, and as she gets close enough, she goes for a lunge with her spear. You move aside to avoid the strike, and the copy passes you by, still trailing light. A crackling sound catches you attention, and you look down the line to see the lights bursting apart into a shower of smaller shots and bursts. You look back to the copy as well to see it preparing for another lunge. You drop out of the way, only to find yourself seeing a second copy chasing you. You're put on the defensive now, pursued by two clones of Suwako trailing exploding danmaku. They alternate apparent roles, with one attacking while the other moves to create an obstacle to impede you and make you change direction. Any counterattack you attempt to defeated by a parry, and at this point you're too far from Suwako's transparent form to try to attack it. On top of it, you're becoming more and more trapped in their tighter flight patterns, surrounded by exploding danmaku. It takes all your concentration just to avoid being impaled or caught in a crackling wave of explosions. You look back to check for the next rush attack, when a strong blow from the front sends you flying up into the trailing pattern, just in time to be caught in a shower of exploding danmaku. You fall a few feet before recovering afterwards, and look up to see Suwako back to her singular form.

You're going to need to do something more if you want to win, and only one thing comes to mind. Suwako did say the shrine was under her protection, right? That's good then. You fly groundwards, and Suwako pursues. You change from a straight path to a spiraling descent, waving the Kusanagi as you drop. You intend to make another tornado, though this time you're going to pour misfortune into it. You look back to see if Suwako's following, and you notice she's following you in your spiral. You fire a wave of danmaku to try to force her into the center of your spiral, but instead she falls back and circles around the outside edge. Any attempt to adjust your spiral to catch her is defeated by her pursuit, and eventually you stop, facing her once more.

“Trying to make another tornado?” Suwako asks. “You can't do that without the right momentum though, right? It takes a while to build up, doesn't it?”

“Yeah,” you say, adjusting your grip on the sword's handle. “I'd prefer if you sat still.”

“But it's so nice out!” Suwako says. It's only now you realize that the storm had disappeared, replaced instead by clear skies and sunshine.

“Perfect weather for a twister then,” you say, and you fly away into another circular path. Suwako chases again. Let her then, you're still going to pull it off, and she'll have to deal with the aftermath. At the very least, you can stay ahead of her. At least, you had thought up until she passes in front of you and drives the tip of her spear into your chest. She cut across the circular path rather than simply follow you in circles. You should have expected it. You're thrust downwards at the end of the spear, and the short trip back to the ground is made, and once more you find yourself on your back with Suwako standing over you. She releases her spear and raises her hands, another two appearing, and both of which she then drives into your shoulders, pinning you to the ground further.

“Ah, that's that then. First to three, right?” Suwako says, winking.

“First I've heard of this rule,” you say, giving an annoyed grin. Maybe you really can't beat her after all.

“I haven't really been entirely honest,” Suwako says, walking around to your side and sitting on her knees next to you. “I'm actually quite good at fighting.”

“I've noticed,” you say, glancing down at the weapons sticking out of your body. If you weren't a ghost, you would be incredibly concerned with the amount of metal and wood in your body at the moment.

“The full story is something better saved for another time, but the short version is that in all my fights against Curse Gods and other Deities, I've only ever lost once,” Suwako says. Given her performance, you can acknowledge that she's probably telling the truth, despite how outlandish it might seem. “The only person to beat me is Kanako, which is why this is officially her shrine.”

“You lost to Kanako?” you ask, a little surprised, but you give a sarcastic smile. “What, did she make a tornado too?” Suwako giggles in response.

“No, it was a lot more simple then that. In a single move, she rusted away all my weapons,” Suwako says, looking at the spears sticking through you. “It's taken me quite a long time to build up my collection again.”

“Would you say I have any chance of beating you?” you ask. Suwako stops to think for a second.

“Well, maybe if you were a better swordsman you could have a better chance, but...” Suwako stops again. “I think the only thing that could definitely secure a victory is to be a stronger God.”

“I see,” you say, sighing despite the pain in your chest. “Then I guess I lose.”

“It was a fun fight though!” Suwako says, leaning forward and patting you on the shoulder. “Now come on, sit up.” Just like that, you're inside a building and the spears are gone. It takes you a second to realize that it's the inside of Suwako's building, and as you sit up you find yourself at a small table, with Suwako taking a position on the other side. There is tea already prepared waiting for the both of you.

“Guess I underestimated you,” you say, looking down at the cup of tea.

“You still put up a fight though,” Suwako replies, taking a sip from her tea. “Most people tend to give up after the first wound, though I guess injuries are a bit different for ghosts. Drink up!” Suwako raises her cup towards you, and you take up your own cup and take a drink. It's good stuff, not that you know exactly what kind it is.

“So, I guess since I lost, you won't answer any questions?” you ask. Suwako's eyes widen a bit.

“Oh, I forgot about that!” she says, rubbing her head a little and laughing. “Well, since you did put up such a fight, I guess I could still answer anything you want to know. Though I'm still not going to tell you directly who might be behind the earthquake.” Well, that still seems like a good thing. Even if you could get a slight hint or clue, you could probably ask around for more information. Where to start with your questions though?

---

>“Oh, I forgot about that!” she says, rubbing her head a little and laughing. “Well, since you did put up such a fight, I guess I could still answer anything you want to know. Though I'm still not going to tell you directly who might be behind the earthquake.” Well, that still seems like a good thing. Even if you could get a slight hint or clue, you could probably ask around for more information. Where to start with your questions though?

[x] "I'd rather you didn't tell me that part actually. This way I get to tell Reimu who to beat up for the answer."
[x] "I was more curious about that task you asked of me this morning. And the fight just now. And what kappa are in such a fuss over. For what purposes is the mountain so willing to paint such a big target sign on itself, during an incident when you know that the shrine maiden will be on the warpath?"
[x] "What can you tell me of the legends associated with this sword? And why would it be found lying atop a pile of junk in some witch's hovel?"

[~] "I'd rather you didn't tell me that part, actually. This way I get to tell Reimu who she needs to beat up to get the answer."
[z] "I was more curious about that task you asked of me this morning. And the fight just now. And what kappa are in such a fuss over. For what purposes is the mountain so willing to paint such a big target sign on itself, during an incident when you know that the shrine maiden will be on the warpath?"
[e] "What can you tell me of the legends associated with this sword? And why would it be found lying atop a pile of junk in some witch's hovel?"

[x] "I'd rather you didn't tell me that part actually. This way I get to tell Reimu who to beat up for the answer."
[x] "I was more curious about that task you asked of me this morning. And the fight just now. And what kappa are in such a fuss over. For what purposes is the mountain so willing to paint such a big target sign on itself, during an incident when you know that the shrine maiden will be on the warpath?"
[x] "What can you tell me of the legends associated with this sword? And why would it be found lying atop a pile of junk in some witch's hovel?"

Bandwagonan gaems!

[x] "I'd rather you didn't tell me that part actually. This way I get to tell Reimu who to beat up for the answer."
[x] "I was more curious about that task you asked of me this morning. And the fight just now. And what kappa are in such a fuss over. For what purposes is the mountain so willing to paint such a big target sign on itself, during an incident when you know that the shrine maiden will be on the warpath?"
[x] "What can you tell me of the legends associated with this sword? And why would it be found lying atop a pile of junk in some witch's hovel?"

EZMODE?

MORE LIKE: LAYZMODE

>>86361

I've been outed!

>>86363
>0hoursinopenoffice.jpg

BACK TO WORK

[x] "I'd rather you didn't tell me that part actually. This way I get to tell Reimu who to beat up for the answer."
[x] "I was more curious about that task you asked of me this morning. And the fight just now. And what kappa are in such a fuss over. For what purposes is the mountain so willing to paint such a big target sign on itself, during an incident when you know that the shrine maiden will be on the warpath?"
[x] "What can you tell me of the legends associated with this sword? And why would it be found lying atop a pile of junk in some witch's hovel?"

“I'd rather not know, actually,” you state, sipping at your tea. Suwako removes her hat and sets it aside, and then sits back slightly, supporting herself with her arms. “That way I can tell Reimu who to beat up for more information,” you add with a grin, and Suwako grins back.

“I don't know if I could fight her,” Suwako says, tilting her head to the side. “I didn't have any issues with you because you're a ghost, I don't have to worry too much about hurting you.”

“That's true,” you say. As distressing as the fact had been, being a ghost isn't too bad, at least when you have form. All the physical sensations of life with a much higher pain threshold and a myriad of ghostly abilities? “That aside though, I'm a little curious about something.” Suwako hums in thought, sitting forward to reach her tea. “That errand you had me run earlier, the fight just now, and the kappa's big project. That would all serve to draw a lot of attention to the mountain, but why now? There seems to be an incident occurring throughout Gensokyo, and these things just make this place look that much more suspicious I'd think.”

“Hmm, I don't think it's any more suspicious than normal,” Suwako says, running a finger along the edge of her cup. “Though the errand and the kappa's excitement are two halves of the same whole. Kanako's found out something that could help her gain more faith from the mountain dwellers, and of course being how she is, she's taken advantage of it,” Suwako explains, pulling her legs underneath her while she talks. Seems she doesn't really sit still for long. “I can't tell you any more, really, but the reason I had you go out there instead of take it myself if because I don't want to get involved publicly, even though it would never have even been realized without my power.” Well, that's just gone and made you more curious, but you figure that if you really wanted more information, you could probably get it from Nitori. Still though.

“Nothing about the fight?” you ask.

“Ah, that was just for fun!” Suwako states happily. “It's been great since we've come to Gensokyo, I don't have to hide from the public anymore, it's actually really refreshing!”

“... Hide from the public?” you echo, kind of hoping there's a simple explanation. Suwako looks puzzled.

“Yes, why?”

“Why would you need to?” you clarify, and Suwako starts to idly toy with her hair.

“Well, a long time ago, Kanako beat me in a fight, and she won my land fairly. The shrine became hers, but since it was my strength that tamed the other wild gods of the time, I still had to be around to contain them in order to keep the people appeased. Kanako had come up with some kind of cover for the whole thing, and even though she was officially enshrined here, I stayed nearby to lend her my power, all the while she gathered the faith from miracles performed and, of course, what's due in prayer,” Suwako pauses to take a sip of her tea, then leans back again, cup in hand. “It worked for a long time, until recently when science began to drum up popularity with the people. For the most part though, everyone had come to foreget I even existed. The only reason I didn't fade away entirely is because of my children, though that was later supplanted by Kanako sharing what little faith she had remaining.”

“Children?” you repeat. There's a surprise, one that Suwako seems rather pleased with.

“'You're a mother!" But you're so young!' I know huh? ” Suwako muses. “Though none of them are around anymore, what with them being born mortal. My blood does run strong in a few families though, and certain individuals who incidentally tend my old shrine.” You take a few moments to let that information sink in.

“Sanae is one of your descendants?” Suwako smiles and nods, then she giggles softly.

“Of course, it wasn't entirely luck. I might have pulled a few strings to make sure things ended up like this, but it's worth it, she's such a cute girl,” Suwako says, tilting her head back. “It's strange to feel like a mother again, almost, watching over her.” You're left in a bit of an awkward position, what with having to interrupt Suwako while she apparently recalls fond memories. “I kind of miss that feeling...” she says, unconsciously touching her stomach. Ah, well this is getting even more awkward as time goes on actually.

“Uh, I had more questions...” you say, and Suwako snaps back to attention. She looks a little embarrassed.

“Haha, there I go saying strange things,” she jokes, then pulls herself back up to the table. “Alright, what else was there?”

“About the Kusanagi,” you say, resting your hand on the hilt. “What can you tell me about it?”

“Oh! That's easy!” Suwako cheers, leaning forward over the table and setting her tea in front of her. “Like I said before, it was recovered by Susanoo after he had slain the Yamata-no-Orochi. In his finding it, it attuned to his power, and he later presented it to his sister Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, as a reconciliation gift. She passed it on to one of her descendants, and that's how it ended up in mortal history. It wasn't until it was given to Yamato Takeru though that it's power was really used. Whenever you hear a story about the Kusanagi, it's either about Susanoo finding it, or Takeru using it.”

“So, why would it be here of all places, laying around in some witches home?”

“It hadn't been physically seen by anyone for quite some time, and while a bunch of rumours and legends sprung up around it, they're all just stories. Like all fantastic things that no longer have belief in the outside world, it fell into Gensokyo,” Suwako explains. Rather straightforward, really. Faith and belief seem to be recurring enough. “Though that's hardly as interesting as an outsider actually using it, though in your case I guess it makes sense.”

“Why's that? Something special about me?”

“Well, I'd say 'no' if it weren't for the fact you can call the sword to your hand,” Suwako says with a smile. “It only reacts like that to people with traces of divine blood.”

“What!” you exclaim, nearly dropping your tea. Suwako laughs at your reaction.

“It's nothing big, really,” she says. “You'd actually be surprised how many people in all corners of the world have some kind of divine tie. Having divinity anywhere in your ancestry is enough, though for most people it's so diluted through the years and suppressed through lack of belief that you wouldn't be able to make much of it. Plenty of people have strange events or unusual strings of luck that can be attributed to this. A soldier with incredibly lucky and decorated service, a musician who gains popularity and fame quickly, even someone with an innate talent for landscaping are all minor manifestations of a small divine spark somewhere in their blood.”

“Is it really that common though?” you ask, a little skeptical at the notion that a large percentage of the world population are descended from gods. Suwako thinks for a moment on that.

“Well, no. There's about one person for each 1000, but that's still a lot of people in the end. It's easy enough to find out who they are though, so long as you're in Higan,” Suwako grins at this last part. “Since that's where these special people end up after they die.” That makes sense, a section of the underworld located within a magical pocket dimension specially handles the dead souls of secretly divinely originated humans. You reflect only briefly on how strange the idea sounds, but the feeling passes. “As for finding the sword where you did, well, just be thankful it was still just a sword when you found it,” Suwako smiles. “Afterall, things around here tend to turn into girls if you don't pay enough attention.”

“There's a strange thought,” you say, looking down at the sword. … Would it really turn into a girl?

“You'd have to wait a really long time though,” Suwako says. “I think it's about 100 years or so, not exactly the kind of thing you'd want to sit around waiting for.”

“I suppose not,” you reply. You don't exactly plan to stick around for that long in the first place if you can help it, really, though should you have a reason to...

“Enough about all that though!” Suwako pipes up. “I think I'm going to take a bath and then get ready for anyone else that might show up looking for a fight.” Suwako finishes off her cup of tea, and you polish off yours, and the two of you stand.

“I'll be heading off then,” you say, though Suwako looks away with a strange look.

“You don't want to stay and help me wash?” she asks. You freeze up entirely.

“Wha-” you begin, only to be cut off by laughter. Suwako's practically doubled over on herself. Oh.

“Ah, I wish I could save a picture of your expression right then,” she says, wiping her eyes. You can only manage to grin in a semi-amused, semi-annoyed fashion. You felt a bit of a squeeze there in your chest for a second. “I think I can handle myself, I'm old enough,” she continues with a wink. Suwako really reminds you of... well, a girl with many years worth of pent up energy. “Come by anytime you want to play though, I've got all the time in the world.”

“Maybe sometime,” you say, taking a step away from the table and turning towards the door. Suwako floats past you to open the door, and you nod in thanks as you pass. “Thanks for the time,” you say as you exit.

“It was my pleasure, even if I did win,” she calls from behind as you float away from the building. You hear the faint sound of the door sliding shut behind you. Now, what else was there to do?

---

>Kusanagi touhou
Do not know if want.jpg

>“I kind of miss that feeling...” she says, unconsciously touching her stomach.

>“You don't want to stay and help me wash?” she asks.

Oho I wish

>“As for finding the sword where you did, well, just be thankful it was still just a sword when you found it,” Suwako smiles. “Afterall, things around here tend to turn into girls if you don't pay enough attention.”
This is possibly the best single quote regarding youkai origins that I have ever read, in terms of being both amusing as well as to the point.

>>86470

Seconded.

Although the Hina in us could hypothetically explain our control over it, we now have an explanation now as to why we ended up in Higan: We possessed divine blood, and we therefore truly belong here in Gensokyo.

>“It was my pleasure, even if I did win,” she calls from behind as you float away from the building.

Despite Suwako's bluster, I don't think we have to worry about Reimu's safety. Whether it was a bluff or that she really doesn't understand just how powerful she is, Suwako is just begging for comeuppance.

[x] Head to the shrine. You have information to relay to the miko.
[x] Stay visible. It's possible Reimu has already struck out on her own, and others may be able to tell you where they saw her last.

[z] Head to the shrine. You have information to relay to the miko.
[e] Stay visible. It's possible Reimu has already struck out on her own, and others may be able to tell you where they saw her last.

"Follow the danmaku fights."

[x] Head to the shrine. You have information to relay to the miko.
[x] Stay visible. It's possible Reimu has already struck out on her own, and others may be able to tell you where they saw her last.

updates?

Autosage. New thread requested.

1. Defeat random encounters.
2. Receive delicious Reimu.