[x] Some other day, you're going to spend today how you want.
-[x] Finish up Argetlahm.
-[x] Try making a cyber pet! [Image Related]
-[x] If you've got time head by Yuko's and see if you can hang with her and her sister's.

Finishing up with the Wild Arms 2 binge.

[x] >>98689

[0] >>98689

This works.

[x] >>98689

[x] >>98689

Btw anyone know who Anne Gotezi (the woman that "Alice" knew and shopped from) correspond to.

But we should try to chat up Katsumi sometime, to at least tell her about our weapons. (I'd think she'd get a kick out of that), perhaps call her Machi-nee somehow?

[O] >>98689

[x] Some other day, you're going to spend today how you want.
-[x] Finish up Argetlahm.
-[x] Try making a cyber pet! [Lucied]
-[x] If you've got time head by Yuko's and see if you can hang with her and her sister's.

You close the messages without a second thought. You have all summer for this kind of thing, and you've been plenty busy enough already for the last few days, barring yesterday, which was spent largely sleeping and laying around just enjoying being able to. You've got your own things to do, like learning how to make a cyber-pet from scratch. You start to think about what you should make, or at least try to, when you realize you still haven't quite finished off your work on Argetlahm. The next thought is only natural. You're already a suit of armour and two swords in the hole, why not all the way when it comes to your pet? Before all that though, you've got to get the basics under your thumb.

You make yourself comfortable on the couch, then pop open the modeling program you were using to make Argetlahm. It's mostly finished, just as you left it. It doesn't take you too long to complete, having only the texture to finish and apply. It takes you just around 20 minutes, then you turn your attention to the program you got from Maggie and take a look over it. This is just a basic tool, she told you, at the very least you'll be able to learn the basics of it all. It'll probably take you the entire summer to actually reach the point where you could make a full out pet, and who knows how much longer after that it would take to actually make it, but at least getting practice would be a benefit. You load up one of the samples, an untextured, undetailed human-like figure. The shapes are simple enough, but when you open the coding that powers it, you're treated to a huge wall of commands and text you don't understand. Oh shit, this could take a while. You briefly reflect on the amount of code that powers the simple processes this sample doll can perform, basic 'flight', command responses, limited problem solving... Compared to something like Luna? Maggie's dolls are more advanced than this, you couldn't even imagine what their code would look like. No use in backing out now, you might not be able to make anything today, but you're going to learn as best as you can. You turn to a few of the included manuals packed with the program. Thankfully, Maggie included these. With all the resources you think you need at hand, you set to work.

From 10am, straight until 5pm you spend on the couch in various positions, through Yumiko waking and complaining about breakfast, eventually leaving to man the counter at the store, and a few messages you've left unchecked, you finally pack it all in. Despite being samples, the provided files are more like final products of what you could achieve with just this tool. It's not all lost, however, even though you've only made a small amount of progress in the first battle of learning the process of writing the code itself, you've managed to create a short script that makes the object orbit you at a variable speed, so at the very least you have an 'Option'. You finally get around to checking the messages you've received. Again from Hideo and Madoka. In Hideo's case, just an update on the location of the pool party and a repeat reminder. With Madoka it's more personal, a direct contact to ask why you haven't responded. You consider just ignoring it, but decide against it. Instead, you compose a short message about wanting to spend a bit of time to relax on your own before getting involved in illegal hunts. With that done and out of the way, you start to consider how you should spend the rest of your time today. Yuko comes to mind, you do essentially have an open invitation to come by any time, and you wouldn't complain with spending time with her and her sisters. … Well, that settles it for you. You head up to your room to claim your wallet and your keys, then make way to the door and out into the street.

It's a short walk to Yuko's home, which seems to work in your favour, as you come across Yuko leaving her home alongside two other unfamiliar girls, both with blonde hair. The lot of them are a little dressed up, obviously prepared to go out somewhere and each looking rather nice. You're at least thankful to have been able to see this sight. As they reach the sidewalk, Yuko notices your approach.

“Oh, Takeo! You've got some timing,” she says, sounding a little apologetic. “I was just heading out with some friends to see a movie.”

“He a friend of yours?” the long-haired blonde asks, nudging Yuko. “Why haven't we met him yet?”

“Could this be the guy that you were talking about that helped Mio?” the short-haired one says.

“The same,” Yuko says, looking at her friends. “Takeo, this is Saki,” she gestures to the long haired girl first. “And Ai Koizumi,” she finishes introductions. “They're old friends of mine.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Saki says, extending a hand. You step forward and take her hand, she's got a firmer grip than you'd have expected. “But no sense in factoring in length of friendship, is there?” Saki asks, looking back at Yuko, who seems a little confused. “He's come by, it would be a shame to just send him home.”

“Oh, well,” Yuko looks past Saki. “Do you want to come with us then?” she asks. “We're going to go see a horror movie!”

[] ”Holy shit yes!” “Sure, I wouldn't mind”
[] “I could go with you, but I think I'd rather see a different movie.”
[] “Oh, no, it's okay, have fun with your friends. Thanks for the offer.”

---

>>98721

Anne Gekizai is no one, but the one daughter that 'Alice' mentioned is someone. Since I'm unbelievably shit at names, it can be pretty easy to figure out.

In before I fucked up the strikethrough tags.

[x] “Sure, I wouldn't mind.”

[x] “Sure, I wouldn't mind.”
[x] If there's time, check your messages at least if not respond to them.

[x] “Sure, I wouldn't mind.”

[x] “Sure, I wouldn't mind.”

[0] “Sure, I wouldn't mind.”

[x] “Sure, I wouldn't mind.”

Thankfully you brought your wallet!

“Sure, why not,” you say with a grin. Accompanying three girls to a movie? The thought briefly occurs to you to have a picture taken with these three to send to Hideo just to mock him, but it passes as the girls start to walk off. You keep up behind everyone, but the group slowly shifts to accommodate you.

“So, what brought you by?” Yuko asks, taking stride next to you. You shrug.

“I thought I'd drop by to visit,” you admit. “I didn't want to just sit around at home alone, so I thought it would be nice to get out.”

“And then here you are, getting out,” Yuko says. “How were your exams?”

“Eh,” you grunt, not really having much of a response. You can't quite say they were good, but you can't quite say bad. “They were about as exciting as exams,” you say. Yuko laughs a little.

“Yeah, I never liked exams. How did you do?” she asks next.

“Okay, I suppose. I can't say for sure, because if I was sure I knew the answers, I'd probably have better things to say about them,” you state. “So, what movie are we going to see?”

“Eternal Night,” Saki replies. “It's the latest film by Jun Ota,” she continues. “His movies have a pretty good cult following, really throws back to the cinematography of the early 2000's.” The name seems a little familiar, you've heard it in passing before, but you've never really seen any of his movies. This should be an interesting experience, at least.

“I hope you don't mind me saying, but I find it kind of odd that girls are, or at least were, going to go see a horror movie,” you say, and receive a small bit of laughter in return.

“Yuko and I are big horror movie fans, we practically grew up on them,” Saki says, patting Ai on the shoulder in the meantime. “Ai isn't too good with them though, so if she needs someone to hold on to and scream you can do that for her, right?”

“Hey!” Ai interjects, swatting her sister's hand away and looking back at you. “I'm not that bad, really! I do jump a bit, but that's it,” she explains. You can't say whether or not she's trying to save face, since you barely know her, but you suppose everything will be made clear once you reach the theater. For the rest of the walk there, you simply listen to the girls chatter, occasionally adding to any conversation topics you can. You notice quite a few in-jokes being used that you wouldn't get, and every once in a while Yuko seems to give you an apologetic look as if to compensate for you being out of the loop, but you don't really mind. You're sure you could probably hear more about them some other time, you're not going to make them explain every little joke.

You did pick up a little bit of information about the two blondes though. While you weren't aware, they're not natural blonde, but did recently colour their hair again so the roots didn't show. Saki is also a year older than Yuko, with Ai being a few months younger, and there's a third sister, Kiyoko, but she's a middle school student.

The theater you're going to is fairly close, a fifteen minute walk from Yuko's house. There's a fairly large turn out tonight it seems, and a lot of people are buying tickets to the same movie. Everyone purchases their tickets individually, and you proceed further into the lobby. The movie doesn't start for another 20 minutes, enough time to stop at the concession stands and make an important choice: popcorn or candy.

[] Popcorn was invented for movies.
[] Candy is less noisy to eat, so that.
[] A soda is fine enough for you.
[] You don't want to get anything.

---

Movie snacks are serious business. I always buy M&Ms.

In before 'I see what you did there' and variants.

[x] Candy is less noisy to eat, so that.

Does not make you thirsty as well.

Let me Guess Yukari and Ran, and that younger sister is CHEEEEEEEENNN!!!!

[x] Candy is less noisy to eat, so that.

Ai is Ran and Saki is Yukari right?

[x] Candy is less noisy to eat, so that.

Bastards better have Skittles.

[0] Candy is less noisy to eat, so that.

[x] Candy is less noisy to eat, so that.

You've found that popcorn tends to be a bit bothersome to eat, the crunching can make it kind of hard to hear a movie at times, not to mention the rustling of the bag. Candy bags aren't quite as noisy, and at least you can suck on candy as well. At least, that's the way you go about it. Saki is the only one that doesn't get in line, apparently having smuggled a bottle of iced tea and her own candies in her handbag.

“You getting popcorn?” Yuko asks you from her spot in line behind you.

“I was thinking of just getting a bag of jujubes or something,” you reply, looking over at the clear display case. Quite a selection they've got in there.

“Hey, Ai, you getting popcorn?” Yuko asks past you, to the girl in front of you.

“Ah, I was actually just going to get a drink. I don't really like to eat junk food,” she says, turning and looking at Yuko over your shoulder. You hear a noise behind you, sounding kind of like a 'humph'.

“I guess I'll buy popcorn for myself then,” Yuko whines. The line is pretty short, so you don't end up waiting for too long. In the end, you get a large bag of Skittles and a small soda, then step aside to wait for Yuko. She leaves the counter with a medium bag of popcorn, and a medium soda. The two of you join back up with Saki and Ai who were waiting outside of the hallway to the theaters containing the one you're going to see. The group proceeds past the booths for ticket checkers, relinquishing your tickets to be ripped and proceeding into the theater proper. There are quite a lot of people already in their seats, a lot of couples it seems. Saki takes the lead, heading up a shallow flight of stairs to a row in the back half of the theater and waits for everyone else to catch up. Yuko is the first to pass, and you expected Saki or Ai to go next, but instead you're waved in.

“You sit next to Yuko,” Saki says with a smile. Well, you don't have to be told twice, especially when it means you'll be sandwiched between girls anyway. You proceed down the row and take a seat next to Yuko, who looks a bit surprised. Saki takes the seat next to you, with Ai in last.

“I'm looking forward to this movie,” Yuko says, sitting back in her seat and getting herself comfortable, bag of popcorn resting on her lap. “Have you seen any of Jun's movies before?”

“Not really,” you say. “I've heard the name though, so I'm kind of expecting a good movie.”

“I think you'll like it,” she says. “Or I hope you will at least.”

There's a bit more chattering between the girls before the movie starts, but as the theater starts to darken, everyone goes silent. The screen lights up, and a message appears to remind everyone to put away any non-prescription eyewear. Even in this day and age, movies are still projected onto a screen.

**

Nearly two hours later, the group exits the theater, Saki having quite a laugh. Seems Ai was mostly talking tough earlier after all. Sure, she didn't jump and scream, but she did have one particularly notable yelp that drew attention from several others nearby.

“That was actually pretty good,” you say, pocketing the half finished bag of candy, having discarded your empty cup within the theater trash can.

“It was,” Yuko agrees. “I'm glad you liked it.”

“I'd say it's about on pay with his earlier movies, which is a good thing,” Saki says. “Though I'm not sure Ai would agree.”

“S-shut up,” she whines, still red over her embarrassing situation. This wasn't too bad a way to spend time.

“So, what's next?” Yuko asks. Saki cranes her head back in thought.

“I don't know, want to see if there's another movie playing soon we want to see?” she asks.

“Not really,” Yuko responds. Ai doesn't seem up for it either. You don't really mind either way, but you don't speak your mind.

“Well, I don't really have any other ideas,” Saki says with a shrug. “I'm the only one that likes to go to nightclubs, but I don't want to go on my own, and it's kind of too late to call any one else that would go. Maybe we could go back to your house and just chill out there.”

“We could, my aunt is out for the night, so it'll just be my sisters at home if they're still there,” Yuko says. She turns her eyes to you. “You're fine with going back, right?”

[] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”
[] “If we're going to sit around, we can find a park.”
[] “I was thinking of heading home from your house.”

[x] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”

[x] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”

[0] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”

[x] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”

>>98763
>>98765
The three sisters are named after Koizumi Yakumo/Lafcadio Hearn, right?

>>98807

Yep.

Also, no more posts for tonight. I should try to wake up earlier so I can start earlier and not carry on into the early morning hours.

[x] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”

[x] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”
[x] Check messages if you get a spare moment.

It's not like that it occur, but I'm usually one to at least check messages, if not reply to them.

I wonder if the two sisters or Yuko's family mess around with cyber glasses or not.

[x] “I don't have any objections to that plan.”

“Sounds good to me, I don't have a problem with it,” you say with a grin. Yuko gains a grin of her own.

“Of course you wouldn't mind, being alone in a house with five girls at once,” she jokes. That was what you had in mind though. Granted, you'd still be in the same situation if you'd gone with Madoka. It occurs to you now just how lucky you might actually be, and yet you've still not made a move to capitalize on your position. Not that you don't want to, but- “Well, let's go!” Yuko exclaims, derailing your train of thought temporarily.

Along the way back, the group takes a detour to stop by a convenience store and pick up some more snacks. You're the one that is sent inside to fetch the junk food, and when you return to the girls seems to be talking about something, but they stop as you start to get closer. You find it a little odd, but you're not going to press the issue right now. The rest of the walk back to Yuko's house involves movies, and you do a fair amount of talking yourself compared to the walk to the theater. Upon reaching Yuko's house, Saki goes ahead and opens the door and lets everyone in. Since it was unlocked, it would seem that Yuki and Mio are still home.

“We're back,” Yuko calls out into the house as she kicks off her shoes. Saki and Yuko head to the living room while you and Ai are left to remove your shoes as well. Joining the others in the living room, Saki and Yuko are sitting on the sofa, and Ai takes up one of two empty chairs even though there's still enough room on the sofa for two more people.

[] Take the empty chair.
[] Sit at the end of the sofa, next to Yuko.
[] There's a spot between Saki and Yuko.

---

So I wake up around the time I wanted, but still didn't start writing until now. Oh well, at least I'm here! Let's see if I can't get another 5-6 updates out today too.

[X] There's a spot between Saki and Yuko.

Nothing wrong with getting some experience in flirting. It will help with Luna later~

[X] There's a spot between Saki and Yuko.

[x] There's a spot between Saki and Yuko.

>>98909

Or Katsumi (we didn't forget about our shapely gaming buddy/waitress, did we?)

[x] There's a spot between Saki and Yuko.

Why not?

>>98909

>implying 'human' flirting will work on a 'fairy'

>>98928

A girl is a girl, computer program or no.

... the things you make me say.

[x] There's a spot between Saki and Yuko.

Might as well take the best spot, and you sit down between Saki and Yuko. In the mean time, Saki's pulled open a bag of chips along the back and lays it out on a coffee table between the chairs and sofa. Everyone takes a turn grabbing themselves a small handful, and the individual bottles of juice and soda are distributed as well.

“So, Takeo was it?” Saki asks, crunching on a chip. “You got any plans for the summer?”

“Nothing yet, it's only just started,” you say, munching a few of your own chips. “Though I do intend to learn how to make my own cyber pet, just learning how to do all the coding and stuff.” You get a near unanimous 'Oh' from the girls. You recall Yuko had a pair of glasses, but so far you haven't seen her use them extensively, nor do you know if Saki and Ai have them, as they're not wearing any.

“That's pretty impressive,” Yuko says first, she seems rather lit up.

“I hear it's pretty hard work,” Ai follows. “Can you really learn that in a few months?”

“Well, I hope so,” you say. Yuki and Mio show up in the entrance to the living room at this time, looking over every one.

“How was the movie?” Yuki asks, walking over to grab a few chips from the open bag.

“It was good,” Yuko replies. “I should take you two to see it some time.” Yuki hums in thought, then walks to the end of the couch and sits beside Yuko. Mio walks over to the empty chair and sits. Mission Complete! “Takeo here was just talking about his goals for the summer. He's into making cyberpets,” Yuko continues, bringing the two younger girls up to speed on the situation. Yuki looks indifferent, but Mio seems more interested.

“Do you make anything else?” Yuki asks, popping a chip into her mouth. Well, you do have that avatar and those swords... maybe it would be best to hold off on the avatar though. The least you could do is show off your props though.

“Just a bit, only started recently though, so I don't really have a lot to show,” you say, strongly resisting the urge to play yourself up when surrounded by women. “But, well, do any of you have glasses?” Your question is answered quickly, as Saki produces a glasses-case from her handbag, and takes a rather expensive looking pair of frames from within it. Ai puts on her own pair, though much less fancy looking. Mio, Yuki and Yuko all collect a set from a nearby table. Well, seems they all do, though you're the only one out of everyone here that wears yours all the time. With everyone ready, you open your prop menu and select Argetlahm, being the one better for showing off. The virtual weapon flashes into your hand, and you get another round of 'ohs' from the 'audience'.

“That's pretty good for someone that just started recently,” Saki says, nodding approvingly. “I'm actually going to university for graphic design myself,” she proceeds to explain as she opens a menu of her own. With the touch of a button, she summons her own prop, a very elaborate and finely detailed parasol. A thought of Maggie comes to mind, she might want to meet someone like this. “Ai is into it a little herself as well,” Saki adds, giving her sister a sidelong glance. Ai seems a bit uneasy at the attention.

“Ah, well, mine's a bit different, not like a parasol or anything, but...” Ai pauses as she opens her console. A few presses later and she stands up, pressing one last button as her cyberbody flickers, replaced by an avatar in a rather interesting looking China-dress style outfit, long, loose white sleeves with a long, loose fit blue top that extends into a skirt. Down the front is an unusual pattern embroidered in silver thread, but that's not the most unusual part of it all. The most attention drawing part of the avatar is the gold and white ears protruding from the top of her head, and the large cluster of what looks like tails behind her. “I've always like old mythology and legends, so it's supposed to be based on a kyuubi,” she explains, turning a bit to show off the sides and part of the back that's not obscured by the tails.

“I've got something of my own!” Yuki exclaims, opening her console in turn. In seconds, she's called up a prop as well, a long, sheathed katana, though it's closer to an odachi's length.. There's a large pom-pom type thing at the end of the handle, and what looks like an amulet wrapped around the sheath near the end, holding a flower of some kind. Yuki unsheathes the virtual sword, holding it out in front of her. “I replaced my shinai's image with this, so I use it when I practice,” she boasts. Mio's called up a prop of her own as well, a shorter, more plain katana. It comes down to Yuko, who seems a little embarrassed.

“I've got an avatar of my own, but I didn't really make it myself,” she says. “All I did was redraw the texture a bit.” She opens her console, and soon enough her clothes are replaced by a blue and white kimono with lacy trim, decorated with patterns of flowers and butterflies. On top of the clothing change, her hair changes colour from brown to pink.

“Well, at least I don't feel like the odd one out,” you say with a slight chuckle. You were kind of worried you were the only one with a hobby in glasses, but it seems you're not so alone. Though, you still have one last thing up your sleeve.

[] Become Knight Blazer!
[] Keep it secret for now.

---

Maybe I shouldn't try to play Demon's Souls and write. It's not like I can just stop somewhere and put down my controller safely, as I learned. Damned Black Phantoms.

[x] Ask if they can keep a secret
-[x] If so, unveil Knight Blazer!
-[x] If not, wait until you can trust them more firmly.
[x] Regardless,
-[x] Update your avatar when you get home. You saw a picture online over the time when the exams were going on.
-[x] See if you can update the animation sequence for your avatar as well. Those flames trailing up the body looked awesome.
-[x] Check your messages at least.

[X] Keep it secret for now.

Aya's got her eye on us, right?

[x] Ask if they can keep a secret
-[x] If so, unveil Knight Blazer!
-[x] If not, wait until you can trust them more firmly.
[x] Regardless,
-[x] Update your avatar when you get home. You saw a picture online over the time when the exams were going on.
-[x] See if you can update the animation sequence for your avatar as well. Those flames trailing up the body looked awesome.
-[x] Check your messages at least.

[x] Ask if they can keep a secret
-[x] If so, unveil Knight Blazer!
-[x] If not, wait until you can trust them more firmly.
[x] Regardless,
-[x] Update your avatar when you get home. You saw a picture online over the time when the exams were going on.
-[x] See if you can update the animation sequence for your avatar as well. Those flames trailing up the body looked awesome.
-[x] Check your messages at least.

[0] Ask if they can keep a secret
-[1] If so, unveil Knight Blazer!
-[2] If not, wait until you can trust them more firmly.
[3] Regardless,
-[4] Update your avatar when you get home. You saw a picture online over the time when the exams were going on.
-[5] See if you can update the animation sequence for your avatar as well. Those flames trailing up the body looked awesome.
-[6] Check your messages at least.

[x] Ask if they can keep a secret
-[x] If so, unveil Knight Blazer!
-[x] If not, wait until you can trust them more firmly.
[x] Regardless,
-[x] Update your avatar when you get home. You saw a picture online over the time when the exams were going on.
-[x] See if you can update the animation sequence for your avatar as well. Those flames trailing up the body looked awesome.
-[x] Check your messages at least.

[x] Ask if they can keep a secret
-[x] If so, unveil Knight Blazer!
-[x] If not, wait until you can trust them more firmly.
[x] Regardless,
-[x] Update your avatar when you get home. You saw a picture online over the time when the exams were going on.
-[x] See if you can update the animation sequence for your avatar as well. Those flames trailing up the body looked awesome.
-[x] Check your messages at least.

It might be risky, but you can't help but show off a little.

“I have an avatar as well,” you say, bringing up the manager program. “Though it's a bit... different, and it might seem familiar, not a lot of people know I have this, so I try to keep quiet about it,” you press on, trying to hint towards the fact you want it kept secret without expressly saying so. 'Can you not tell anyone about this' would sound a little strange, and you couldn't even begin to try to justify the reasoning without sounding weird. With no more hesitation, you activate your avatar, and your display flickers slightly as your avatar activates. Once again, you get some reactions from everyone, but not to the degree you were expecting. Only Mio, eyes wide, seems to actually understand.

“You might have a future in virtual modeling,” Saki says with an amused grin. “You're rather gifted for a beginner. What is it from? Some anime or something?”

“It looks really cool!” Yuko practically gushes. “I'm kind of embarrassed my avatar is so plain.”

“I think it looks good,” you say, looking over her avatar some more. Even for something like a kimono, it has a very elegant look to it, and it's fit is something you happen to find some enjoyment in as well. You turn your attention back to Mio, she's typing away on her console. You're feeling a slight dread when you notice she's got a messenger program open, she probably knows who you are now and is telling everyone she kn- Oh, you got a message, from Mio no less. You open it.

”You're Knight Blazer!" The one that fought that huge illegal?”

Oh yeah, she knows, you've got to handle this situation as soon as possible. Everyone else seems to be unaware of the truth to your avatar, thank god, but you still need to prevent any leaks of information, if only to save yourself worlds of unbearable humiliation if everyone in the city finds out you're a costumed 'superhero'. You need an excuse fa- Another message.

”I'm going to go get some more juice, say you got to go to the bathroom, you can exit into the kitchen from it.”

Okay then.

“Ah, I'm kind of thirsty,” Mio says, looking around. Seems she's setting bait. Saki has already finished her bottle of water from the store, so she seems to take the hook.

“Could you bring me some too, please?” Saki asks.

“Me too,” Yuki adds as well.

“Speaking of drinks,” you say, shifting towards the edge of the couch, “where's the bathroom?”

“Out in the hall, to the right, the door is just inside the kitchen,” Yuko answers. Perfect. As Mio heads off one way, you go around the other. You arrive shortly after Mio, and she rushes over to you.

“You're seriously Knight Blazer!?” she asks excitedly, though keeping her voice down. You nod in response, a little surprised. From what little you've seen of her, Mio's seemed like the quiet, reserved type, so to see her so fired up and excited is unexpected.

“No one else seems to know anything about me and this avatar though, so don't go telling anyone,” you say, keeping quiet as well. Mio shakes her head.

“No way, I wouldn't tell anyone! Actually...” she shrinks back a little bit, getting a little red in the face. “I'm a big fan of tokusatsu, so that's really cool to me! Imagine my surprise when I read about some people doing that around here! I'm surprised I was actually able to meet you- Oh! Can I meet everyone else too!?” she asks, starting to get wound up again.

“Sure, I can arrange that, I guess,” you say, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. You notice she's shaking slightly, she really is wound up, shaking with excitement?

“Oh wow, thank you!” she squeakily exclaims, a result of trying to not shout even though she wants to. “Ah, I need to bring out the juice!” She rushes off to start getting everything together, and you decide that's all you need to get done. As it turns out, you actually do need to use the bathroom anyway, so you get to that. Washing your hands before you head back, you return to see Mio almost back to her quiet self, though she's still wearing a small smile.

You spend some time sitting around with the girls, talking with them and listening to them talk about their own topics, their plans for summer, things they're looking forward to, as well as suggestions for things to do as a group in the near future. You don't make any formal commitments to any ideas yet, but you do put forth that you'd be willing to join in any plans, while making a mental note to yourself to at least inform Madoka about the situation and your new friends. You file that mental note next to 'Introduce Maggie to Saki', and keep it for later reference. Eventually, the night winds down, and people start getting tired. It's about 10:30 pm, so you figure if everyone else is going to be going to bed or at least getting ready to, now would be a good a time as any to get home. You've remembered that there was a new picture of Knight Blazer you found while you were resting during exam week, and you didn't have the time to work on the avatar then, you kind of wanted to get around to updating the look.

“I'm going to go,” you say to Yuko as everyone gets up to go start making their own arrangements for the night.

“Oh, alright then, I'll see you out at least,” she says, and you head towards the front door. “Or actually, would you mind if I walked to your house with you?” You look back at her with a questioning expression. “After all, you've seen my house twice now.”

[] “It's only fair, then. Get your shoes on.”
[] “I suppose you can come along.”
[] “Not tonight, I could call you over tomorrow?”

---

I don't know what takes me so long to write these updates. It's not like I take a break to play games. Does it really take me an hours to type this much and double check it? Well, I know I spend a bit of time anytime I need to look something up to make sure I don't make any silly mistakes I can help.

[x] “It's only fair, then. Get your shoes on.”
- [x] Offer your contact info to Mio, if anything to give her family a way to contact you, and it's the least you could do for a fan.

[x] “It's only fair, then. Get your shoes on.”
-[x] Offer your contact info to Mio, if anything to give her family a way to contact you, and it's the least you could do for a fan.

[x] “It's only fair, then. Get your shoes on.”
-[x] Offer your contact info to Mio, if anything to give her family a way to contact you, and it's the least you could do for a fan.

[0] “It's only fair, then. Get your shoes on.”
-[1] Offer your contact info to Mio, if anything to give her family a way to contact you, and it's the least you could do for a fan.

[x] “It's only fair, then. Get your shoes on.”
-[x] Offer your contact info to Mio, if anything to give her family a way to contact you, and it's the least you could do for a fan.

“I don't see why not, get your shoes,” you say with a smile. Yuko returns the smile and then proceeds to get her shoes. In the meantime, you open up the message from Mio you got earlier. It's a simple enough process to add her to your contacts list from there, and a few seconds later you get a message confirming you've been added on her end as well. With that done, you open the door this time and let Yuko out first, giving your goodbyes to anyone within earshot, and you follow. Yuko follows you to the sidewalk, and joins you at your side for the walk back to your house.

“Will your sister be home?” Yuko asks after a few steps. You're actually not sure, you kind of hope not actually, since you can imagine how much she'd bug you over it.

“I don't know,” you answer with a shrug. “She might be, I guess we'll find out when we get there.”

“I had fun tonight,” Yuko sighs. “I'm glad you showed up too, I like it better when there's mixed company.” That's a pretty good sounding line, you think.

“Glad I could be there?” you reply, not really too sure what else to say. “I had fun with you girls.”

“I'd imagine, I have to admit though,” Yuko says, adding a small laugh. “I've got to respect your ability to keep a level head with so many girls around.” Haha... ha... “Most guys try to show off or get big headed over it, it's kind of annoying.”

“I know a few guys like that myself,” you say, Hideo strongly on your mind. He'd probably have a breakdown if you told him you blew him off to go hang out with a bunch of girls that weren't Madoka and the others, not that there's anything wrong with them either though. “I guess it's just natural for me to be surrounded by women.” Yuko gives a sarcastic joking kind of laugh, but you give her a straight faced look in response. “I'm serious, actually. Most of my friends growing up were girls.”

“Oh? So you're used to being the only guy? I guess that makes sense,” she says. “I'd like to meet your other friends sometime.” Looks like you've got some more appointments to arrange. At this point you might as well just invite Yuko and all her group to meet Madoka and all her group and just save some time.

“I'm sure you'll get a chance,” you say, rounding the final corner to your house. “And here we are, my street.” A couple houses down, and you walk up to the front door. There are more lights on in the house, but no sign of anyone inside. You only left the front door light on, Yumiko must have come and gone. No matter. “This is it, doesn't look like anyone's home.”

“Can I take a peek around inside?” Yuko asks. You were going to let her anyway, but you nod and open the door, stepping inside. You hold the door for Yuko and start taking off your shoes when you look up and freeze. Star and Sunny are both sitting on the couch watching TV. You totally forgot about the fairies, and- “Oh, someone is home?” Yuko asks, having already spotted them. You hastily try to come up with some kind of reasoning for who they are, pass them off as relatives, but in another extremely unfortunate moment, Yuko's raised her glasses and attained an utterly confused expression. She lowers her glasses, then raises them again, then turns her head to you. “Who are they?” Yuko asks, confused and obviously curious. Can you even tell her the truth, given how crazy it will no doubt sound?

[] Come clean, hope you don't sound nuts.
[] Share some info, but don't admit to keeping them.
[] Tell her they belong to Yumiko.
[] Make up some kind of excuse. [Write In]

[x] Come clean, hope you don't sound nuts.

better now than later when 'Marisa' opens her mouth about it in her rush.

>>99000

[x] Come clean, hope you don't sound nuts.

[x] Come clean, hope you don't sound nuts.

[x] Come clean, hope you don't sound nuts.

[ℤℯ] Come clean, hope you don't sound nuts.

[x] Come clean, hope you don't sound nuts.

Yeah, you've got nothing. Honesty is the best policy, they say. It could also get you labeled a nutjob, but you can't just try to stall for time either.

“They're... fairies,” you say, hoping that the pause didn't sound too strained. Yuko gives you an incredulous look, then looks back at the fairies. Seems you've attracted their attention, and now they're leaning over the back of the couch, watching you two. Both of them have their wings very clearly sticking up behind them, twitching occasionally.

“Well, they look kind of fairy-ish. Are they some kind of program?” Yuko asks, taking it in better stride than you'd imagine. You don't think she's buying the 'fairies' part though, at least not as a complete explanation.

“They are programs of some kind, but I really don't know much about them. I found them, to be honest,” you say. Another odd look from Yuko.

“Are you telling me the truth?” she asks, sounding a little upset.

“I wish there was some way I could really tell you what they are, but I've been unable to find any kind of information about where they came from, how they were made, or even how they really work,” you say as sincerely as possible. “They describe themselves as fairies, and they live in cyberspace. These three-” you pause for a second, kicking yourself mentally for that slip. Yuko noticed your little trip up as well it seems. “-are staying here, because they've apparently registered themselves to my system, and I've been trying to figure out exactly what they are. Yuko is looking straight into your eyes as you finish, and maintains contact for a few seconds before looking away.

“So, fairies exist in cyberspace?” she asks idly. You can only suppose this means she believes you. “Where's the third you mentioned?”

“Probably upstairs somewhere, she doesn't come downstairs a lot. I think she prefers to be on her own,” you say, looking at Star and Sunny. “Can one of you call Luna downstairs?” Both Star and Sunny raise their arms and make an x. What's this about then? “Why not?” Sunny mimes the action of opening a window.

“So one of them left?” Yuko asks, apparently picking up the same meanings. At least you don't have to explain things to her.

“Seems like it,” you say, scratching your head. “They come and go as they please, really, I don't try to keep them cooped up. They have a fair bit of independence.” Yuko hums thoughtfully, then turns back to you with a smile.

“Your house is better than I imagined, it's like some kind of strange fantasy,” she says happily. You're not sure if that's a compliment or what, but you take it in stride. “I guess though for someone with an avatar of a suit of armour and a big prop sword, I should have expected a few fairies or something. I'm surprised your house didn't look like a castle keep or something,” she continues jokingly, and you get a bit of a chuckle out of that. “Thanks for having me inside to take a look. I'll come visit properly some other time.”

“I'll look forward to that,” you say. You kind of just let go of the door earlier, didn't really close it, so you just pull it back open to let Yuko out. She steps outside, then turns back and bows to you.

“Goodnight, Takeo,” she says.

“Goodnight, Yuko,” you reply, and you wait for her to turn back around and start walking before closing the door. You walk into the house and over into the living room area, coming to a stop on the couch end opposite the two fairies, both of whom are still watching you over the TV. Now that you're home, you're feeling kind of tired. You could start work on redesigning your avatar, but you're not sure how much longer that would take you to work from what you already have. The grumble in your stomach also has been making it's own plans for your time. You haven't eaten since your quick lunch at 2pm. As you start to plan what you're going to make, you start thinking about how you'll spend your time afterwards.

[] The avatar cannot wait.
[] Maybe I can find something on TV.
[] See what you can find online.
[] Perhaps some gaming is in order.
[] Eat and just go to bed, wake up earlier.

---

I think this might be it for the night myself. My allergies have been flaring badly for an hour or so now.

[x] The avatar cannot wait.

[0] The avatar cannot wait.

YOU CAN'T CUT BACK ON AVATAR DESIGN YOU WILL REGRET IT.

[x] The avatar cannot wait.

[x] The avatar cannot wait.

[x] The avatar cannot wait.

[x] The avatar cannot wait.

Let's finish it, and hopefully being kinda tired won't affect the job.

[X] The avatar cannot wait.
[X] Figure out how to make your house look like a castle keep.

>>99071

That last bit is just being silly.

But I guess Hideo's just a basic "buddy that's a massive lech" type and not based on a Touhou at all?

But if he knew the details, he'd be insanely jealous. Far as possible romantic interests goes, there's Maggie, Katsumi, and Yuko n' Saki's group.

Maddy/'Marisa' is more a sometimes annoying best friend type.

Chie and Mana are more comrades but not alot of friend to friend development

I think Norio would be too straight-laced for Taeko's tastes.

>>99073
Don't be silly. This is a CYOA, right? Hideo is clearly Anon.

>>99073
>Far as possible romantic interests goes, there's Maggie, Katsumi, and Yuko n' Saki's group.

Don't forget Luna~

[x] The avatar cannot wait.

It wouldn't hurt to at least take a shot at it right now. You open up the avatar maker again as you head into the kitchen. There's some pork chops from the night before, so you take one of those and some left over rice as well, then put it in the microwave for a bit. A few minutes later and you're sitting at the kitchen table, looking over the new reference picture and comparing it to your avatar currently. The most work will be on the back, adding in the details you missed back there. At the moment, it's more or less just a flat area that's hidden beneath the cape. Aside from that, just minor changes need to be made to a few more pieces to match the look, no real total overhauls. That is, unless you can figure out a way to make the avatar appear in flames. While there are custom animations that can be used for avatars, you haven't exactly looked into them much. With your meal finished quickly, you put your dishes away to wash later and head back to the couch, opening your avatar file on the way, getting right to work as soon as you sit down.

When you next look at the clock, it's nearly 2 a. You've been working for roughly 2 hours, and you've only just got the new portion on the back finished and correctly aligned with the segments that cross into the front. Getting the shape right was a bit of a hassle, and most of the time was spent making sure it didn't look too small or too large in comparison to the rest of the outfit, with the addition of changing the positioning of the existing cape so that it doesn't clip. You raise your glasses and rub your eyes, you're definitely feeling tired now, but you've made some good progress. You might be able to finish the rest of the touch ups in an hour or so tomorrow, you're content with the progress you made tonight. Saving the file, you push off the couch and head upstairs to your room. As expected, your window is open and Luna is still nowhere in sight. Guess wherever she went is somewhere she could stay for a while. You briefly consider that she might be in trouble, but if that were the case, Sunny and Star wouldn't just be idly watching TV and laying around. They're always connected to each other, it seems, so if one was in trouble, the other two would know quickly. Then there's also whatever Luna did to those illegals before, those lights she shot from her hands. It almost reminds you of a Mr. Forthright, but larger, and more colourful. Well, whatever. You set your glasses on your desk and get changed for bed.

**

Sunlight makes it hard to open your eyes. You'd put it at late morning if that's the case, tossing the covers off. In routine, you grab your glasses and look to the fairies corner. Strange, only Sunny and Milk are there. Did Luna not come back? You look over at your window, then down at your bed. There she is, curled up on your bed, close to the wall. Uh... huh. You scratch your head as you stand up, you know that Luna's fallen asleep on your bed before, but not while you were in it. It doesn't really bother you, since it's not like she could disturb your rest. You're going to wait until she wakes up at least before you try to ask her any questions. You grab up a change of clothes for the day from your dresser and head down to the bathroom.

Refreshed and awake as you emerge, you pick up your glasses again and find, surprisingly, nothing. Not to say that everything's disappeared, but rather that you haven't gotten any messages from anyone. You were at least expecting Madoka to send you something, but it's nearly noon and nothing yet. Does this mean... you get to make your own plans? Well, not that you wouldn't anyway, but still, not having to drop other people's invitations in order to do your own thing feels pretty good. Question is, what to do, besides breakfast- or lunch, given the time.

[] Get some morning blockstring practice.
[] Maybe some TV? Never know what's on.
[] Been a while since you've cruised the 'net.
[] Send a message to ________
[] You've an avatar to finish, immediately.

---

>>99073

Hideo's nobody, he's my attempt at adding more generic male characters so it's not one high school dude surrounded by chicks all the time. You see how thats working out. However, there are some characters you will have a much easier time meeting through him, and a few you can only meet at his parties.

As far as the girls go, pretty much anyone is a viable target, even the fairies despite being virtual girls. The only explicitly denied 'route' is Yumiko, everyone else spans the range of Easy to Lunatic, with Kana being an example of Lunatic on account of her being 27, and other background details yet to be revealed.

[x] You've an avatar to finish, immediately.
-[x] Browse the internet afterwards. Look into to instructions on custom avatar animation.
-[x] Go browse Aya's site and go see if there's any new information on you and the group.
-[x] Get back to work on your cyberpet practice.

[x] You've an avatar to finish, immediately.
-[x] Browse the internet afterwards. Look into to instructions on custom avatar animation.
-[x] Go browse Aya's site and go see if there's any new information on you and the group.
-[x] Get back to work on your cyberpet practice.

[x] You've an avatar to finish, immediately.
-[x] Browse the internet afterwards. Look into to instructions on custom avatar animation.
-[x] Go browse Aya's site and go see if there's any new information on you and the group.
-[x] Get back to work on your cyberpet practice.

[0] You've an avatar to finish, immediately.
-[1] Browse the internet afterwards. Look into to instructions on custom avatar animation.
-[2] Go browse Aya's site and go see if there's any new information on you and the group.
-[3] Get back to work on your cyberpet practice.

[x] Send a message to Katsumi
-[x] Talk about your weapon making and cyberpet efforts
[x] Get some morning blockstring practice.
[x] Then resume work until you hear from Maddy about whatever plan she has for tonight.

I think this is a nice plan, and does Morning
Blockstring refer to normal gaming?

>>99141

Makes me wonder what circles his parties involve. (Since we know the magican group, the border/netherworld group, the Higan duo so far and there's 'Rumia' and 'Wriggle')

Remaining groups would be the SDM proper, The Moriya folk, the Hakurei shrine group, the rest of the Youkai mountain folk (Momiji, Nitori), and the Eientei group.

Not sure if SA, SWR, or UFO are in this now or not.

[x] You've an avatar to finish, immediately.
-[x] Browse the internet afterwards. Look into to instructions on custom avatar animation.
-[x] Go browse Aya's site and go see if there's any new information on you and the group.
-[x] Get back to work on your cyberpet practice.

[x] You've an avatar to finish, immediately.
-[x] Browse the internet afterwards. Look into to instructions on custom avatar animation.
-[x] Go browse Aya's site and go see if there's any new information on you and the group.
-[x] Get back to work on your cyberpet practice.

Might as well do the touch ups first thing, get it out of the way for when you might need to use it. Back to the fridge, might as well take that last chop for breakfast. No more rice though, so you settle for some bread. Since it's come down to bread, you get some cheese and some lettuce and decide to make yourself a sandwich out of it. One minute in the microwave and sliced, you add the pork to the waiting bread and have yourself a quick and easy meal, and you're back to the avatar.

Even though you predicted an hour to finish the touch ups, it takes a little longer then that due to a few complications and oversights you made while tired. In the end, the final product looks rather close to the new pictures you have, though you suppose if you really wanted to make sure it was done right you could always contact Katsumi and have her take a look at it. Until then, you have something else you want to look into, and hop onto the internet to see if you can't find any kind of instruction on avatar animations. That doesn't take you long, one simple search turns up thousands of results; do it yourself guides, tips and pointers in avatar animation creation aspects, how-to for transformation cliches, that last one sounds like something you'd need, if it weren't for one particular site. 'Avatar QuickPatch', a one stop shop for avatar cosplay and creation applications, featuring a wide variety of pre-made parts, pieces, props and other assorted objects one could want for pretty much any purpose when it comes to 'avatar cosplay'. It looks more geared for convention-style cosplayers or professional designers, but there's nothing keeping you from using it either, especially since a quick search of the animation patches turns up a 'Fiery Reveal' animation that matches what you're looking for perfectly. The only downside is, being a business site, it has a price tag. It's not really expensive, however, so you take the easy shortcut. One small transaction later and a quick download, you follow the instructions for patching your avatar, including one setting that allows you to 'hotkey' your avatar transformation to a gesture, and another that allows you to also 'hotkey' a prop. With the patch complete, you decide to give it a shot to see if it works. Standing in your living room, you close down all your windows and give your patch a test run. You raise your hand to your chest, and after a second for the motion to register, a flash of flame appears beneath your feet and winds up your body, your avatar appearing in it's wake. The transformation takes only a few seconds, and afterwards you hold your arm out in front of you, hand loosely closed. Another second later it registers, and Hot Fencer flashes into your hand.

Holy shit, you feel like a badass.

“You look like a dork,” Yumiko says from the stairs. “What are you doing?” You look over at her. She's not wearing cyberglasses, naturally, so she just sees you standing in front of the couch looking like you normally do. You really wish she couldn't see how much you feel like you're blushing.

“It's for my avatar,” you say, lowering your arm. “I was just testing something out.” She gives you an amused look, then proceeds into the kitchen.

“Aw, you ate the last pork chop?” Yumiko whines before digging further into the fridge to find something else. “By the way, you think you could watch the store today?” You could, having more money surely wouldn't hurt. You spent a lot of time watching the store during exams, using the time you were there to study quietly, so you've got a good bit saved up already.

“I guess I could,” you say, even though that overrides any chance of plans you could have made. Though, on the other hand, you can spend the quiet time working on your own goals. Nothing quite like getting paid for a few solid hours of learning how to code a cyberpet.

“I went out drinking last night with Katsumi and I feel like I'm going to die,” Yumiko says, closing the fridge with a grumble. “I need to get groceries.”

“When should I open the shop?” you ask.

“The sooner you do, the more you get paid,” Yumiko says, digging herself out a box of cereal from a cupboard. Sounds like solid logic, might as well go in now then, the shop is usually opened for the afternoons anyway.

“I'll go in now then,” you say, heading around the couch. You left your keys down here last night, so you don't have to go up to your room for them, and you probably won't need your wallet. In a few minutes, you've left to open the store. A few minutes more, and you're sitting back behind the counter, browsing the internet. You haven't been to Aya's site in a while, since you've been busy. You wonder what she's been up to. You load up her page and give it a look over, seems she didn't have much to put up over exam week either, given that there was only one post concerning reports of illegals over the final week of school. There is one recent news piece posted yesterday though, and the subject catches your attention rather quickly. There's a picture of Luna, floating through the air, and a short article that expresses more curiosity over lack of information than anything concrete. Rumour mongering, of course, takes full strength in the comments section. There's a whole lot of crazy theories and guessing, but the only thing that concerns you, where she came from or went back to, is completely overlooked by everyone of the posters.

With your curiosity sated, you decide to get back to learning how to make a cyberpet. You skip the program for the most part, going right to the manuals and documentation, since it's where you should be starting anyway. You don't get much uninterrupted time, as only 20 minutes later you hear the door chime go off, and you look over the counter top from your seat to see a familiar face, in glasses this time and without her bunny-eared hoodie.

“Come to screw around today, Usagi?” you ask, hoping to preempt any funny business she might have in mind.

“How rude! I'm actually going to pay!” she complains, producing a handful of coins. “Your sister finally caught me stealing and called my mom. She's slower than you, so I stopped coming in when you were here.” You give her a short glare over her admission, but man the counter anyway as she gathers candy.

“Well, at least it seems you've learned your lesson. It's unfitting for a girl your age to be stealing sweets anyway,” you say, ringing up the sale. She hands you the pile of coins, exact change? That's a new one. She happily pockets her goods, but doesn't turn to leave.

“So what were you doing there?” she asks, looking at the hovering books floating in the air behind you.

“I'm studying coding and scripting so I can make a cyberpet,” you say with a smirk. “So I can make a big wolf that attacks anyone trying to steal from the store at all.” Usagi furrows her brow at that.

“I told you I'll pay, I'm not going to steal from here anymore,” she whines. “If I get into any more trouble, my mom will take my glasses away.”

“Good to hear,” you say.

“Is it hard?” Usagi asks next. “I think it'd be kind of neat to learn something like that, make my own army of rabbit pets.”

“Well, see for yourself,” you reply, picking the floating book from the air and putting it on the counter for Usagi to see. It only takes her a few seconds of looking over the page to look away.

“I don't understand any of that,” she grumbles, stepping away from the counter.

“You're not supposed to understand it at a glance, I suppose,” you admit. “That's why you have to study it.”

“I guess I'll see if you figure it out or not,” Usagi says with a mischievous grin. “If someone like you could figure it out, I suppose I would have no trouble.” You don't bother with a response, you just shake your head and return to your seat. Usagi chuckles a little over her perceived victory and proceeds to exit the store, leaving you at peace to continue studying. For about an hour, at least, when the door chimes again. You look up again, and there's another familiar face approaching the counter, wearing her glasses and looking energetic. You don't see the camera until you stand up to man the counter.

“You're in today!” Aya cheers. “I was hoping I could talk to you, since your sister doesn't follow my site.” You're starting to get a bad feeling about this.

“What's on your mind?” you ask, though you have a suspicion you already know.

“Have you seen yesterday's article?” she asks, confirming your fears. You reply with a nod. “Well, after I snapped that picture, I thought 'Maybe I should see where she goes', and so I followed her a bit,” Aya continues, each word giving you more and more of a sinking feeling. “I ended up following her to around here, but since she can fly it was hard for me to keep up and keep her in sight, so I lost sight of her, and then she disappeared. I was hoping I could find out where that girl stays around here so I could really make a breaking story, so I'm asking people around here with glasses if they've seen anything.”

At the very least, Aya doesn't know that you're the one that's keeping fairies around, but she knows that Luna comes back to some place around here. It's only a matter of time before she finds out if Luna leaves again and gets spotted. You're also concerned that Aya will just stake out the area for a few nights and follow anything suspicious, which no doubt will lead her to seeing the fairies near daily excursions and lead her to you. You're going to have to do something about this later as well, but right now, if you're going to throw Aya off your trail you're going to have to do it right now.

[] Feign ignorance, you just know what the article says.
[] Claim you've seen her go to some random house.
[] Say you've seen her go farther beyond this area, that she doesn't stay around here.
[] Make Aya agree to absolute confidentiality, then admit the truth.
[] Just tell her the truth plain and simple. She'll find out eventually anyway.

---

Sometimes I try to write short updates for the votes so I can get them out quicker, but then they end up being almost three pages long. I don't know if I can actually consistently write short updates, so at least try to bear with long ones. As if that's a bad thing.

>>99153

It is up to date as far as characters go, you just haven't met many of them aside from Nezumi/Nazrin.

Actual character, missed choice and background event spoilers, I suppose?: Meeting Hakurei/Moriya folks would require going out of your way to head to a shrine. Saki/Yukari and Madoka/Marisa could eventually get you in touch with Reimu and Suika, but in Madoka's case it's a 'friends of a friend' kind of acquaintance, where it's more direct for Saki in a twist. There has been one random encounter chance to meet Sanae (who would have been named Sanae, of all things) that was missed in exchange for Mio/Myon and Hakugyokuro group.

As far as SDM goes, you would definitely need to go way out of your way to meet the rest, as Chie/Patchouli and Mana/Koakuma aren't naturally part of that 'group', and Remilia and Flandre attend a private school on top of being wealthy locals, meaning you'd have very little chance of actually coming across them in the course of anything you'd normally do. There was a missed chance to at least see them had you left Maggie early on the pseudo-date to wander around downtown, but you wouldn't have had any interaction.

Eientei (which I don't include Mokou as part of, she's 'Human village' with Keine in my book) has a special role in story, so I'm not going to say much more then that. Everyone else though, they're out there.

[X] Feign ignorance, you just know what the article says.

[x] Make Aya agree to absolute confidentiality, then admit the truth.
-[x] Mention to her the possibility of exclusive coverage.
-[x] Remind her of the rights of sources to their confidentiality.
This is Aya here, she WILL find out sooner or later, so it's best to some how do things on our terms, and we need a info monger on the team anyways. And Exclusive rights should be enough to keep her mouth shut otherwise.

She's serious about being a news reporter she will keep quiet lest her integrity is affected. (Aya despite her opinions has always stuck to the truth)

[x] Make Aya agree to absolute confidentiality, then admit the truth.
-[x] Mention to her the possibility of exclusive coverage.
-[x] Remind her of the rights of sources to their confidentiality.

[X] Make Aya agree to absolute confidentiality, then admit the truth.
-[X] Mention to her the possibility of exclusive coverage.
-[X] Remind her of the rights of sources to their confidentiality.

Best way to go. We're not going to be able to hide this for long, not with Aya's dedication.

[x] Make Aya agree to absolute confidentiality, then admit the truth.
-[x] Mention to her the possibility of exclusive coverage.
-[x] Remind her of the rights of sources to their confidentiality.

[0] Make Aya agree to absolute confidentiality, then admit the truth.
-[1] Mention to her the possibility of exclusive coverage.
-[2] Remind her of the rights of sources to their confidentiality.

[X] Make Aya agree to absolute confidentiality, then admit the truth.
-[X] Mention to her the possibility of exclusive coverage.
-[X] Remind her of the rights of sources to their confidentiality.

Even if you got her off your trial now, you'd still have to get the fairies to co-operate and try to arrange some way they could leave the house without drawing attention back to you. Frankly, you're surprised it hasn't happened yet, considering how many times they've come and gone since, but there's no way you could keep it covered if there's someone actively looking for them, especially if she knows where she should be looking.

“Okay, I've got some information for you,” you say, leaning on the counter. “You must absolutely swear you will leave my name out of it.” Aya's eyes light up at the sound of that, and she leans in closer as well.

“This sounds good! Don't worry, I'll keep your name out of it, so just tell me!” she says, practically overflowing excitement. You wonder how she'll react... well, only one way to find out.

“The fairy, in fact, the fairies that have been seen around recently,” you start, swallowing a lump in your throat. You still feel like this might be a bad idea, but it's better you get it out in a way where you can control it than let it break on it's own. “They live with me, I'm their caretaker, so to speak.” If Aya was lit up before, now she's practically burning. Her jaw slacks slightly, then transforms into a huge smile.

“No way! Seriously!?” she cries, giving a happy-excited giggle. “You're joking! No way, really!?”

“I'm not kidding, their names are Sunny, Star and Luna. Sunny's the one with pigtails, Luna is the one you caught last night, and Star is the one with the long black hair,” you explain as Aya furiously jots down notes half-way through, suddenly remembering that she should be taking this down.

“Oh wow, oh wow, I can't believe it! First you have an awesome camera, and next you have a huge news story for me!” Aya cries, looking up from her pad, then suddenly leaning forward over the counter and pulling your head into her shoulder with both arms, some kind of crazy-excited hug. “This is great! I knew I could count on you!”

“Yeah, okay,” you say, patting her arm as a sign she should let go of her pseudo-headlock. She releases you, and you rub your neck a bit. “Remember though, I don't want my name attached to this. I don't want crazy fairy hunters turning up at my house. I'll even sweeten the deal,” you say, which gets another happy look from Aya. “You can get exclusive coverage, as much as you want, so long as you make sure as best as you can that it can't be traced back to me.”

“Exclus-!” Aya starts, practically choking on the word. “You mean, you'll give me whatever news I could want about them?” You nod, and Aya goes right back to writing like mad.

“Oh man, oh man, I can't believe this, this is going to be a huge break,” she says excitedly, smiling to herself all the while. “I can't believe how lucky this store is,” she continues, looking up at you for a moment. “Or maybe it's you that's my lucky charm.”

“I don't know about that,” you say, trying to avoid smiling too much. “The main reason I'm agreeing to this though is because I want to help them,” you say, jumping back to the issue of the fairies. “And myself, I suppose. I don't know a whole lot about them, other then the fact that I found Luna one day, and the other two showed up to save her, they all ended up staying afterwards,” you take a minute to pause, as Aya is no doubt writing down every word you say. “I want to know more about them, but there's not a lot of information out there about them, so many if they get good, real coverage on a popular site, I'll be able to get some information on them.”

“I'll do whatever I can to help you, seriously,” Aya says through her smile, writing down everything. “This is just too good for me not to, you have my support 150% in anything.”

A thought occurs to you, given how wound up she is right now over just the fairies, you can't help but consider how she'd deal with the news that you're also Knight Blazer. She's lied straight to your face about that before, so coming out with that bit of information would be like throwing water on a greasefire when embarrassment is added to explosive excitement.

[] Might as well tell her that too, while you're sharing your secrets.
[] Keep that under your thumb for now, you'll make that reveal some other time.
[] That's one thing you're going to keep as concealed as possible, no matter what.

---

I wrote a short post for [x] Feign etc etc, came to post it and something new was tied 2/2.

[x] Keep that under your thumb for now, you'll make that reveal some other time

[x] Keep that under your thumb for now, you'll make that reveal some other time

[0] Keep that under your thumb for now, you'll make that reveal some other time

[x] Keep that under your thumb for now, you'll make that reveal some other time

Jesus, Mode what is going on here. Updates like HY did it in his prime. I always check hourly if Taisa updates, but do i need to F5 now to see your updates?
I like your new update speed.

[x] Keep that under your thumb for now, you'll make that reveal some other time.

Let her cool down, and if she thought exclusive rights to the fairies was cool, imagine being the official news things for Knight Blazer and his gang of lovely ladies!

>>99189

Well, this is more or less to make up for how poor my update schedule has been since I started university. This whole week had no classes scheduled, so I got to kick back and relax, and actually have free time without worrying if I'm up to speed on everything in my courses. They might slow down come Monday, but considering the last few days have seen me start around 5 and write until about midnight (or later), I think with some good time distribution, I might be able to keep it up. The only thing that really causes delays between updates now is that I play games to pass the time waiting for votes, so I'm not sitting here mashing F5 for votes, but I do check every 10-20 minutes.

Also, update inbound.

[x] Keep that under your thumb for now, you'll make that reveal some other time

No use playing all your cards at once, this will hold her over for now. Besides, if you reveal that now, you won't be able to make it as dramatic as you could at some other point. Given how she writes her articles, she'd probably go nuts for a proper 'battle transformation'. That's something Mio might want a front row seat too as well.

“Good to hear,” you say in response to Aya's pledge of loyalty. “I'll look forward to your article then.”

“I'm going to start writing it as soon as I get home, and I'm going to rush there as soon as I leave,” she says with a big smile. “This is just so awesome, thank you so much for this!”

“I am a bit of a fan of your site too, after all,” you say with a smirk.

“I'm going to get going,” Aya says, packing her notepad away into a pouch at her side. “I've got to get on this article, since my search for info is over already.” She gives you another smile and a slight bow. “Thank you so, so much for this, Takeo.”

“Anything to keep the news interesting,” you reply with a smile. Aya practically bounces out of the store after that. You return to your seat behind the counter, at first thinking about how the news will turn out, then your mind wanders back to the fairies. It takes you a while to get back around to reading up on pet creation, and despite a few breaks to help a few customers that come in looking for something, you make some pretty good progress, only getting into applying what you've been reading in the last hours of the night. By the time you're ready to close the store, you've managed to expand on your previous attempts from before, creating a script that allows the object to move to designated points, either marked manually or measured by voice commands, and then return to orbit after a minute. You also assign a model to the script, just to get the hang of it. It's not much more than an orb, but considering you're mentally calling it an 'Option', then that's pretty standard. You've seen quite a bit of business today, surprisingly, with people paying in cash rather than straight trades. Closing time rolls around, and you close up all your work and documents, then proceed to close up the store itself. You still haven't seen any messages from anyone all day, which you find kind of welcome.

When you get home, you find an unfamiliar pair of shoes in the door, but a voice to do recognize calls out soon enough.

“About time you got back, I've been whooping the game's ass waiting for you,” Katsumi calls from the living room. You enter to find her entertaining herself with the same game as before, Yumiko sitting in a chair nearby reading something with a pair of cyberglasses. You kick yourself for not practicing much lately, you've thought of it a couple times, but never got around to it.

[] “Alright, let's go! I've been waiting for a second battle of skill.”
[] “I haven't practiced much, but I suppose I'll play a bit.”
[] “Not tonight, I don't really feel like playing. Just want to relax.”

[x] “Alright, let's go! I've been waiting for a second battle of skill.”
-[x] Ask her if she wouldn't mind looking over your avatar after the match to see if it still needs some improvement.

[x] “Alright, let's go! I've been waiting for a second battle of skill.”
-[x] Ask her if she wouldn't mind looking over your avatar after the match to see if it still needs some improvement.

Katsumi~

[0] “Alright, let's go! I've been waiting for a second battle of skill.”
-[1] Ask her if she wouldn't mind looking over your avatar after the match to see if it still needs some improvement.

[x] “Alright, let's go! I've been waiting for a second battle of skill.”
-[x] Ask her if she wouldn't mind looking over your avatar after the match to see if it still needs some improvement.

Katsumi~ (I'm a sucker for a Komachi route most of the time)

That and we do have an idea of how she'll play, that in itself is better preparation.

[x] “Alright, let's go! I've been waiting for a second battle of skill.”
-[x] Ask her if she wouldn't mind looking over your avatar after the match to see if it still needs some improvement.

“I hope you're ready,” you say, heading over to the couch. “Because I've been waiting for a rematch.”

“Oh ho, that's what I like to hear!” Katsumi responds, tossing you a controller as you approach. She quits the match she's playing against the AI and returns to the character select. You chose your best characters and the game is on. You have a plan, however. While you haven't practiced since the last time you played, you still remember how she works with her character. Knowing her playstyle, you could easily work against her, luring her into attacks and beating her with the simple knowledge of how she plays.

Of course, in theory, it works. In practice, it's an entirely different experience. No doubt she's had the same idea about you and your playstyle, because the two of you are much more defensive and slow going compared to your quick battles before. Despite the sudden caution, you manage to pull through the first win of two. The second round starts, and you rush in an attack. You manage to get in a good opener, but in your excitement over taking the lead you slip up and whiff an attack, and then it's back to the defensive game, exchanging pokes and taking advantage of any gaps in open defenses. The match comes to a one-hit win situation, with Katsumi in favour of winning. You take a risk to get her with a poke, but you're easily countered, and the match comes to a tiebreaker round. Katsumi mimics your actions last round, and rushes in the beginning, but you punish her with a juggle combo. Without a word spoken, the two of you abandon the defensive playing and go right back to pressing the attack from both sides. The final match is a flurry of counter-hits, air juggles and rushdowns, ending in victory for Katsumi after you whiff your last attack and getting punished with a throw combo.

“So close,” Katsumi muses, bumping shoulders with you playfully. “Thought you'd try to play safe and use my aggressiveness against me in the beginning, did you?”

“You did the same thing,” you say, putting the controller down on your leg. “Though actually, I just remembered I've got something to show you.” At that, you open the avatar manager and pull up your Knight Blazer. Katsumi seems to realize the situation right away.

“You updated the look, huh? Did you find a better picture?” she asks, and you sure enough pull up the picture you used as reference. After a few seconds of looking, Katsumi gives it an appreciative nod. “Looks good!”

“Think it could use some touching up?” you ask, a little curious about your handiwork, since she was the one that made most of the avatar last time. She shakes her head.

“Nope, it looks perfect,” she says, smiling. “You got pretty good pretty fast.”

“Haha, thanks,” you say, a little glad for the praise, then you pick up the controller again. “Now then, I can't let you have that win.” Katsumi takes up her controller again, and after picking new characters you get back to the game. Over the course of an hour, you and Katsumi battle across the entire character selection board, claiming victories and losses, with the final match going to Katsumi.

“I'm going to take a bit of a break,” Katsumi says, setting the controller aside. “I was playing for an hour before you got home.”

“I kind of want the TV back as well,” Yumiko complains from her seat. “You'll have all night to play, anyway.” … Wait, what? You look at Katsumi for an answer, she seems kind of embarrassed over something.

“I made Nori mad, so she kicked me out and locked the door,” Katsumi says, laughing slightly. “So I kind of came here to crash for the night while she calmed down,” she pauses for a second, resting her hand on her stomach. “Speaking of calming things down, you mind if I order some food?”

“Well, if you're going to get something, I guess I'll throw in as well,” Yumiko says, supporting the notion. You are hungry as well, so you decide you could go for it as well.

“I guess I'm in too,” you add. Katsumi smiles and brings her hand to her head, activating her phone and bringing up a list of pre-set numbers. A short phone call and a pool of money later, and pizza is on route. The TV has been temporarily reclaimed, and you're left to decide how to spend time waiting for the food to come.

[] Watch TV with sis and Katsumi.
[] Go check in with Luna and the fairies.
[] Might as well study pet scripting.

---

For as much as I know about fightan gameplay and concepts, I sure am shit at the entire genre.

In case anyone's wondering, in my mind, the game played by Katsumi and Takeo is a future relative of the Guilty Gear series, if only because I listen to the OSTs while updating.

[X] Go check in with Luna and the fairies.
- [X] If they're busy then might as well study pet scripting.

[x] Watch TV with sis and Katsumi.
-[x] Make a hotkey for materializing Argetlahm.

[X] Go check in with Luna and the fairies.

Hard choice. I love me some Komachi, but I also love me some Luna.

[x] Watch TV with sis and Katsumi.
-[x] Make a hotkey for materializing Argetlahm.

[0] Watch TV with sis and Katsumi.
-[1] Make a hotkey for materializing Argetlahm.

[X] Go check in with Luna and the fairies.
- [X] If they're busy then might as well study pet scripting.
- [x] If not invite them downstairs to watch some TV with the rest of us.

Figured the trio might make hanging out with both our lovely gamebuddy and our sister easier (sure Katsumi isn't exactly a good girl, but that's where the fun lies), since doesn't Yumiko object to Katsumi's attention on her brother?

That and There's all night to try to talk with Katsumi regardless.

[x] Watch TV with sis and Katsumi.
-[x] Make a hotkey for materializing Argetlahm.

Votes have been pretty close, I might have to actually call it in favour of the TV vote just to be sure I don't end up with a different winning vote by the time I finish.

[X] Go check in with Luna and the fairies.
- [X] If they're busy then might as well study pet scripting.

whoops, missed two updates there.

[x] Watch TV with sis and Katsumi.
-[x] Make a hotkey for materializing Argetlahm.

[x] Watch TV with sis and Katsumi.
-[x] Make a hotkey for materializing Argetlahm.

You figure that you'd rather wait here, since you don't want to be too far when the food comes along. Katsumi and Yumiko squabble about what the watch for a while, until finally settling on something. You join in watching it, but your attention is called away by your thoughts. You have a hotkey for one sword, why not get one ready for Argetlahm as well? You decide to pass some time with that, get it out of the way. You open up the prop manager, and refer back to the patch instructions. You don't quite remember how to do it yet, so you use the guide to go through it again. You decide on a pose with your hands in front of you, but you'll wait until later to test it out. You did everything by the guide, so it should work anyway. Once you're done, you return your attention to the TV.

By the time the show is over, there's a knock at the door signifying the arrival of dinner. Yumiko takes the money to pay, and returns with the boxes, and everyone proceeds to the kitchen table to divide the food. Yumiko and Katsumi must have been as hungry as you were, since everyone eats their share without much more than a few words of approval.

“That hit the spot,” Katsumi says happily, crunching on a small bit of crust.

“Haven't had a pizza in a while,” you say in idle reflection.

“So much for the groceries,” Yumiko says with a sigh and a shrug. She starts to head back to the couch, and Katsumi follows shortly after, leaving you to put away the leftovers. Yumiko goes back to her chair, and you take a seat on the couch with Katsumi.

“Lets see what else is on,”Yumiko says, flipping through channels. Eventually, the channel flicks through something and Katsumi gives a short cry.

“Oh hey, go back to that, let's watch that!” Katsumi says, looking over at Yumiko. “I love that movie!” Yumiko considers for a second, then flicks back to the channel with a passive hum. Turns out to be some kind of Hollywood action movie from last year. Despite the origin, you realize you're familiar with the subject of the movie, being an American movie adaptation of an originally Japanese series that was popular twenty or so years ago. You could barely tell that over all the explosions, however. Despite itself, it was an entertaining movie. Yumiko's looking pretty tired by the end of it, though Katsumi looks just fine, and you're not feeling too bad yourself.

“Ugh,” Yumiko whines. “I still feel like crap.” Katsumi gives her friend a worried look.

“Really? From last night still?” she asks. “I feel fine.” Yumiko gives Katsumi a bit of a sour look.

“Yeah, but that's you,” she complains, sitting up. “I don't drink that much usually.”

“You should go lay down if you're feeling that bad,” Katsumi says. Yumiko looks like she's considering it for a bit, then stands up and makes for the stairs, handing the remote over to Katsumi.

“Don't put any funny ideas in my little brother's head, Katsumi,” Yumiko says as she trudges off. The accused feigns a pout.

“Aww, but how am I supposed to have fun?” Katsumi asks with a sarcastic tone.

“Takeo, don't fall for any lines, she loves to play with guys,” Yumiko continues, ignoring her friend and addressing you specifically. You don't reply, and Katsumi waits until Yumiko is upstairs before giving her response.

“I'll decide if I'm playing around or not,” she says quietly, adding a wink for effect that practically stops your heart, though you suppose that was probably the intended purpose. You don't necessarily take your sister's word entirely, but you don't doubt that Katsumi does act flirty on purpose, but there's no fun in simply shooting it down as a joke either. “Want to find something else on?” she asks, brandishing the remote.

[] “Lets see if there's another movie on some other channel.”
[] “Maybe there's some kind of show on we could watch.”
[] “Actually, I had some things I wanted to ask you...” [Write in topic(s)]
[] “I'd rather rack up some more wins against you.”

[x] “Actually, I had some things I wanted to ask you...”
-[x] Does she have any interesting plans over the summer?
-[x] What exactly does she do for work?

[x] “Actually, I had some things I wanted to ask you...”
-[x] Does she have any interesting plans over the summer?
-[x] What exactly does she do for work?

[0] “Actually, I had some things I wanted to ask you...”
-[1] Does she have any interesting plans over the summer?
-[2] What exactly does she do for work?

[x] “Actually, I had some things I wanted to ask you...”
-[x] Does she have any interesting plans over the summer?
-[x] What exactly does she do for work?

[x] “Actually, I had some things I wanted to ask you...”
-[x] Does she have any interesting plans over the summer?
-[x] What exactly does she do for work?
--[x] Compliment her personality


I don't think she's quite as bad as Yumiko says she is (Sure it might be blind trust, but I think she only plays around with guys who see her as a set of two large melons)

Figured complimenting her personality would help her see that we're no way like other guys.

[x] “Actually, I had some things I wanted to ask you...”
-[x] Does she have any interesting plans over the summer?
-[x] What exactly does she do for work?

“Actually, if you don't mind,” you start, shifting your position a little so you can face Katsumi better. “I have a few things I wanted to ask.” Katsumi smiles a bit, leaning back on the couch.

“Okay? Like what?” she asks.

“I was curious, ever since I saw you at the cafe that one day over a week ago,” you say. Katsumi nods her head, seems she remembers. “You said that was your second job? What do you do normally?”

“Ah, I figured that was probably it,” she says with a short laugh. “Yeah, I pick up part time jobs from time to time to supplement my life, since my normal 'job' is pretty inconsistent at times, since I only get to work when someone dies.” … What?

“What?” you say, voice reflecting your mind, simply unable to think of any other response. Katsumi laughs instead.

“You see, I work at a funeral home,” she continues. “It's family owned and operated, so it's not like I can easily get away from it either,” she adds with a smile. “I'd say that's why I act the way I do, I see enough death and sorrow from my job, I counter act that with fun and happiness.”

“That's... uh....” you reply. You probably could have thought of that if you hadn't blanked at first hearing it. “I wasn't expecting that.”

“Not a lot of people do, it seems,” Katsumi says, tipping her head to one side. “Though I don't see too many people complaining about it when they see me dressed up in my work suit.” The mental image of that now comes to mind, and you have to agree, that's something you'd die to see. Figuratively speaking. “Was there anything else?”

“A bit,” you say, a little nervous about posing this next question. “What are you doing for the summer?” Katsumi's smile widens and she sits forward, leaning closer to you.

“Why do you want to know? You want to plan some more time with me?” she asks, dropping the level of her voice again.

“I suppose I am,” you reply with a grin, trying to keep your cool and, of course, keep your eyes off her body. At least while she's looking at you. “I know I enjoy the time we spend.”

“Mmhmm~” Katsumi laughs in her throat. “Aren't you trying to say you want to have a date? You're not falling for me, are you Takeo?” Seems she's playing right back at you.

“I hope you don't mind cafes and video games,” you reply, earning a giggle.

“It's like you really know me!” she replies, sitting back again. “I was planning to go away with a couple girlfriends, rent a beach house for a few days and have a time of it. You want to go?” You smirk, she can't really be offering that.

“I'd have to say I like the sound of it, but I doubt I'd actually be able to go,” you say. Katsumi blinks a bit.

“I am being serious, you can come along if you want, no one would mind,” she says, smiling a bit. She serious? That would be incredible if you could go, but you'd imagine Yumiko would explode over it. Then again... could it be a trap?

[] This really is too good to pass up. Do it.
[] Give it some thought, but get back to her.
[] It's too obvious, keep Yumi's words in mind.

---

This might be it for tonight. I'm finding myself distracted easier and easier. I might be able to get out one more if I can focus my attention in one direction.

[] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

[x] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

[x] Give it some thought, but get back to her.
-[x] Tell her that while you trust her, you're just very flattered for the chance.
-[x] Give her the link to Aya's site and tell her to keep an eye on it in the future.

Not that I suspect her of anything myself, but it does sound a bit too fantastical to be believed. But it'd be quite a nice time if it did go over well.

Also this might be a test of sorts by her to see if we are TOO eager for the chance.

[x] It's too obvious, keep Yumi's words in mind.
>This might be it for tonight.
Good updates, great work. You earned your rest.

[0] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

[x] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

[X] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

Katsumi's high on my list, but I'd like a little more time with other people (Mio in particular) before we give away a significant chunk of our time. I do wonder who the "girlfriends" that would be coming along are, though.

>>99269

I think we should at least think about it and see how she reacts. She may be testing us.

But she's very high on my list.

Also another factor is the grand new debut of Knight Blazer; I'm kinda anxious on that.

But who to say that something else won't happen during the night. The whole night's a good chance to earn points with her.

[X] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

A few days is a long time, and we have quite a few other things pending (like arranging a meeting for our first fangirl~)

[x] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

[X] Give it some thought, but get back to her.

On one hand, the chance to go away with Katsumi and her friends. On the other, the potential of some kind of trap. You haven't quite figured out which it might be quite yet, but no need for a definite answer, you can always get back to her. You do have some things you want to make sure get done before you go anywhere, at least.

“Well, if you're being serious, I'll have to think about it,” you say, sitting back against the couch as well. “At least want to make sure no one's going to be bugging me about something over the internet for the entire trip.”

“No worries!” Katsumi replies. “We're not planning to leave for another week or so, so you've got plenty of time to think,” she explains, opening a screen in front of her. A few presses later and she turns it towards you. “Just to show you I'm not just kidding either.” Looking at the screen, it looks like a recent history of her bank transactions. Sure enough, it seems there's a payment down on a rental house. “It's an open invitation as well, to anyone that we want to bring along,” Katsumi winks. “You should feel special that I'm asking you.”

“That is rather lucky for me,” you say, grinning again.

“Now, for tonight,” Katsumi says, holding up the remote and a game controller.

[] Gaming is the way to go.
[] Late night TV is usually interesting.
[] You wanted to talk more. [Write in topics]

---

Not going to be doing the quick back to back updates today, but I will get out more than just one.

[x] Gaming is the way to go.

[x] Gaming is the way to go.

[0] Gaming is the way to go.

[X] Gaming is the way to go.

[x] Late night TV is usually interesting.

late night shows

[x] Gaming is the way to go.

[x] Gaming is the way to go.

Time to cut back and have some fun and see what happens.

Interesting... wonder how Katsumi would interact with our other friends or if there'd be a bad mix.

And I think it's too soon to ask what makes us stand out from other guys.

[X] Gaming is the way to go.

>Late night TV is usually interesting.

Late night TV is usually a bunch of ads for porn and penis enhancement products.

>>99402

I doubt Katsumi needs to see such trash on TV (I do suspect she has to deal with horndogs alot, even when she's not in that hot waitress outfit)

Also I think sometime we should ask if she has an avatar or not.

[X] Gaming is the way to go.

You take up your controller, and the matter is settled.

“Hope you're ready to lose,” Katsumi says, turning the TV back to the channel for the game console.

“We'll see about that,” you reply as the character select screen comes back up. Once again, the two of you select characters and jump back into battle.

**

You haven't kept track of how long you've been playing. As you finish the latest match, a counter on the screen increases by one. 43 matches total it's been with many of those being close draws extending into a third round. Sometime during it all, the two couch potato fairies have wandered down, and are hanging off the back of the couch, watching the two of you battle it out, but it seems like the show might be over as Katsumi sets her controller down.

“We're tied, I think,” she says, rubbing her eyes. “I don't even remember the score.”

“Ha, neither do I,” you say, putting your controller down as well. “Let's just call it a win in my favour.”

“As if, I think I remember that I was winning,” Katsumi says, laying head head back on the back of the couch. “Well, whatever, let's say it's a draw. I think I'm ready to go to sleep.”

“Yeah, it's pretty late,” you say, checking the time. Nearly 2am? Yeah, you've been playing for a while now. “I'm going to go to bed if you are.”

“Then I guess this is good night,” she says, sliding down the couch more and turning to lay down. You get off the couch. The fairies drift away, heading back upstairs now that the entertainment is over, and you head over to the closet near the bathroom. There are some spare sheets and pillows kept in there that are kept for guests that crash on the couch. You pull out one of the sheets and pillows, and turn around to see Katsumi in the middle of pulling her shirt off over her head. The beauty of the sight overwhelms your common sense to not get caught long enough for you to fail the latter, and Katsumi breaks your concentration with a light giggle. “See something you like?” she asks, and you promptly look away, feeling a hard blush coming on. Well, not just the blush that'd coming on hard, either. Granted, she's wearing a bra, but still.

“You could have said something,” you say, looking back at Katsumi and making a conscious effort to keep your eyes on her face, her 'winning smile' face clearly taunting you.

“And ruin the surprise?” she asks as you walk up to the couch. Your eyes wander a bit, and another laugh snaps you back. “See, you like it after all!”

“I'm going to die of blood loss if I hang around too long,” you joke, averting your eyes back up to her face as you hand off the pillow and sheet. Katsumi takes them with a smile, and then drapes the sheet over herself.

“You're a good kid-” she says, stopping suddenly, “Or rather, a good guy I should say. You have a good night,” she continues, propping the pillow up at the end of the couch.

“Good night, Katsumi,” you return the expression, then head off to the stairs and up to your room. As you arrive, you find the three fairies preparing to set out through your window. Works for you, you wait until they leave, then get ready for bed yourself, setting your glasses on the edge of your desk. Even though the recent events jump-started you a little, you get back to being sleepy soon enough, a fantastic mental image of Katsumi on your mind as you drift off to sleep.

**

Sunlight on your sleeping face wakes you up. Must be late morning again. You grab up your glasses without getting out of bed, and see the fairies huddled together in the corner. They're becoming more and more nocturnal as time goes on, it seems. After a few minutes of laying in bed feeling comfy, you slide out and go about your morning routine, which ends with you exiting the bathroom downstairs 20 minutes later, fresh faced and dressed just as Katsumi starts to stir. You were the first one up, it seems. This is good, it means that you'll have the best chance to get the best of the leftovers from last night. You get right to it, then raiding the fridge and picking the largest slices of pizza left over. As you collect your spoils and close the fridge, you catch a glimpse of motion from the direction of the living room as Katsumi's arm raises over the back of the couch and she pulls herself into a sitting position.

“Mmm-morning,” she says, barely awake at all. You collect yourself a plate and put your breakfast in the microwave, as you see more motion as Katsumi slips her shirt back on. Well, even in her sleep-addled state she still has priorities. You were afraid Yumiko would come down and see her walking around like that. Not that you'd mind, particularly, but you'd rather avoid getting her irritated first thing in the morning. “Pizza time?” Katsumi calls out from the couch. Before you answer, the microwave chimes. Yep, pizza. Taking your plate, you get an idea that, despite being simple, is sure to start your morning right. You head over to the couch, plate in hand.

“You woke up right on time,” you say, stopping at the back of the couch as Katsumi leans on it, rubbing the sleep away. “Take your pick,” you state, lowering the plate towards Katsumi. It takes a second for the effect to kick in, but a lazy smile crosses her face and she picks up two slices happily.

“Breakfast in bed?” she asks, biting down on the first slice, then quickly redacting that motion and blowing on the hot slice. “Ah, ow, hot. Bringing me breakfast in bed, and I didn't even have to get naked for you,” she jokes, finishing what she started in biting off the end of the slice.

“This is because of the draw last night,” you say, walking around the couch and taking a seat. “I figure that since we were tied, we both have equal stake in the best parts of the leftovers.” Katsumi has a breathy laugh as she takes another bite, and you start eating as well. The two of you continue eating, and Katsumi fishes up the remote control, turning on the TV and flipping to some news channel. She finishes eating first, then heads into the kitchen to start making some coffee. A few minutes later and Yumiko makes her appearance at the bottom of the stairs.

“You two are up and moving it seems,” she says. By now, Katsumi's woken up considerably, and is just leaving the kitchen with her cup of coffee. “Helping yourself to my coffee I see.”

“I made enough for everyone,” Katsumi says, continuing over to the couch. You hear the fridge open a few seconds later, and a sigh.

“You guys ate all the best pieces,” Yumiko whines, obviously in disdain about being left the slimmer, less topped slices of pizza. You exchange a victorious grin with Katsumi silently, then pass the time watching the news. As Yumiko joins the two of you on the couch, chatter starts up between her and Katsumi, something about plans they had today and when they were going to get going. You tune it out for the most part, and lose interest in the news, instead hopping onto the internet to check out a few sites. That is, until you realize you're being addressed by your sister.

“Hm?” you reply, coming back to reality.

“You want to watch the store today too?” Yumiko asks over a mouthful of crust. She's giving you a choice?

[] “Sure, I don't mind. I didn't have anything planned.”
[] “Why not? Getting paid to sit around and do nothing?”
[] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”

---

I know it's not much compared to the last few days, but this is probably it for today. I need to make sure I go to bed early enough so that I can manage a sleep schedule that allows me to wake up at 8:30am without feeling like I'm going to die. If only I didn't have a class at 10am on Fridays I could proceed as normal, waking up at 1pm is fine for the rest of my classes. I suppose there's always next term/semester/whatever the fuck these are.

[x] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[x] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.

[x] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[x] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.

[x] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[x] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.
-[x] Message Aya (If we have her contact) about how she's feeling.

We should talk things over about the possibility of Aya being the official news group for the group/info monger.

And I like how Katsumi called him a good guy (Nice sign), and earning some nice points with her. (I wonder if she meant more by the remark about not having to get naked.); Yeah she's starting to get more and more interesting as a character. (Since it seems she's a bit of a wild girl, but still good at heart.)

[0] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[1] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.

[x] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[x] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.

[x] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[x] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.

[x] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[x] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.

[x] “I actually had something I wanted to do today, sorry.”
-[x] Message Madoka and see if she can get the gang together. Message Mio as well, she wanted to meet the rest of the squad and now's as good a time as any.

“I had some things I wanted to do,” you say, shaking your head. Yumiko frowns a bit, then sighs.

“Alright, I suppose, just means I'm going to have to get out soon and get my running around done quickly,” she says, taking a sip from her coffee.

“I could go with you,” Katsumi offers.

“You probably should,” Yumiko says with a short laugh. “It's the least you could do for borrowing my couch overnight.” The two of them lapse back into light conversation, and you tune them out. You open up your messaging program and write a short note to Madoka, asking if she can get everyone together. You've decided to introduce Mio to everyone else today, though you should at least wait for a confirmation before you get around to contacting her. Right as you're about to send the message though, you get one of your own, from Madoka naturally. She must be spying on you. A quick read reveals that she wants you to come meet her, and everyone else is either already there or on their way. Well, damn, that solves that problem then. You erase your message and change the addressee to Mio, informing her of your plan, then send it. Afterwards, you reply to Madoka, telling her that you'll be along and that you've got a few surprises for them. You send that as well, then close everything down.

“We should get going,” Katsumi says, standing up with a stretch.

“Clean everything up here before you go anywhere,” Yumiko says, standing up as well and heading by the kitchen to put her dishes in the sink, then heading upstairs to get ready properly. It only takes a few minutes for you to get responses, the first from Madoka, indicating surprise at your mention of 'surprises' and saying she can't wait for you to show up. The second is naturally from Mio, quickly stating that she'll be over as soon as possible. You might as well get ready to go yourself, setting off to collect your keys and wallet. Once you're done, you're gathering the pillow and sheet used by Katsumi when there's a knock at the door, probably Mio. You lazily stuff the objects away in the closet and answer the door. As expected.

“Hello!” Mio says happily, bowing slightly. You notice rather quickly that she's carrying both a small messenger bag, and a larger, tube-like container.

“Hey Mio,” you say, stepping back inside. “Just getting my shoes on-”

“Who is this?” Yumiko asks from behind you, walking through the living room area. Seems Mio's arrival coincides with Yumiko's departure.

“This is a friend of mine,” you say, sliding your foot into one shoe. Mio bows to your sister in turn, the large tube nearly sliding off her shoulder where it's strapped.

“My name's Mio Shirotou, I only live a few blocks away. It's nice to meet you!” she introduces herself. Yumiko looks a little confused.

“You're a new friend of Takeo's?” Yumiko asks, so that's what's confused her. Mio nods, and Yumiko just responds with a 'huh'.

“It's a bit of a long story,” you say as Yumiko and Katsumi approach the door, ready to leave as well.

“In that case, tell me later,” your sister replies as she gets her shoes on. Everyone heads out the door at once, and you head one direction with Mio; Yumiko and Katsumi go in another, the latter of which waves to you as they head off.

“Were those your sisters?” Mio asks, sounding a little unsure.

“Ah, the taller one is a friend,” you say. Mio nods, then smiles.

“So, let's go meet everyone!” she says, and so you do. You're going to meet outside Madoka's house, so you don't have a very long walk. Along the way you have some light banter about the day so far, and mostly end up listening to Mio talk about how much she loves masked heroes and how she's still happy that she gets to meet a real life 'team of heroes'. Your attention occasionally shifts back to the two things she's carrying. You can't imagine what she would need either for just to meet people.

[] Ask about the messenger back.
[] Ask about the tube-bag... thing.
[] Leave it alone for now, you'll probably find out.

---

Another night that will have a few updates. Borderlands comes out tomorrow, so I probably won't have any at all for all of tomorrow unless I wake up around 8am.

Also, I've made a few of the girls so far in Artificial Girl 3 so that I could watch them get fucked silly get some caps to use as portraits. This is hindered by the fact that I'm colourblind, which makes getting any specific colours that aren't a primary one pretty fucking hard.

[x] Leave it alone for now, you'll probably find out.

[x] Leave it alone for now, you'll probably find out.

Let's make it a surprise.

[X] Ask about the messenger bag.

The tube is probably a shinai holder.

[x] Leave it alone for now, you'll probably find out.

Mio's such a cute little sister figure.

[0] Leave it alone for now, you'll probably find out.

[x] Leave it alone for now, you'll probably find out.

[x] Leave it alone for now, you'll probably find out.

You don't feel like interrupting her just to ask about the bags. Whatever she has them for, you're sure she's got a reason, and that you'll find that out soon enough. A few short minutes later, you come upon Madoka's house, where everyone is already waiting, and all of their eyes fall directly on Mio, who is now completely frozen on the spot.

“Who-” Madoka starts, only to get cut off by a sudden excited giggle.

“I'm sorry!” Mio apologizes, bowing her head. “I'm just so excited!” Now, everyone's eyes turn to you.

“She's part of what I was talking about in my message,” you say, explaining the situation. “Long story short, I met this girl and her sisters, showed them my avatar, and she recognized me from the news and flipped her lid,” you pause, looking back at Mio to make sure you have her attention. I ttakes a second, but she notices you. “Let me introduce you,” you say, starting with Madoka. “This is Madoka Risako, and the one that came up with the idea, and this is Margaret Troy, another friend of ours that joined us,” you pause for a moment while the two named wave to Mio before continuing. “And this is Chie Kokoroe and Mana Kumotsu, more friends that were pulled in.”

“Not that I mind the attention, but why are you so excited to meet us?” Madoka asks, not really understanding what's going on.

“You're like TV heroes!” Mio blurts out. “I'm a big fan of tokusatsu, so having real life heroes is like a dream.” Madoka blinks, then gets a strange grin.

“Heroes, huh?” she says, obviously liking the direction this is going. You'd imagine she would, Mio's exactly the kind of person best suited to feeding Madoka's crazy imagination for this kind of stuff. “Well, I guess we kind of are, but we haven't really done anything.”

“There'll be more, right? More illegals to fight?” Mio asks, having one thing on her mind. Madoka's grin widens.

“Actually, that's the reason I sent for Takeo today,” Madoka says, looking at you briefly. “I've spent the last few days tracking any strange activity we could find, and I think we have a few targets.” Figures she would have something like that, now you think you know why you haven't heard much from her. Mio on the other hand looks starstruck.

“Are you going to go fight!" Can I come!?” she asks, practically begging. Madoka's grin reaches critical.

“Would I turn down our biggest fan?” Madoka cheers, crossing her arms triumphantly over her chest.

“Oh! I got so excited I forgot,” Mio suddenly says, coming down from the clouds and opening her messenger back. She pulls out a fairly small book wrapped in a thin sheet of clear plastic and carefully unwraps it, then produces a pen from another small pocket. “Can you all sign this?”

“Sure!” Madoka cries, taking the lead. Everyone gathers close to Mio, who keeps the book in her hands. She opens the book and flips through a few pages before Madoka cries out in surprise. “Wait, this book, is that-”

“It is!” Mio cuts her off. “I had to wait so long to get his autograph, but he signed this last, I was so happy!” Madoka blinks in surprise, looking over a few other names.

“How... did you get all these?” Madoka asks, clearly astounded.

“A lot of them weren't for me, this was my father's,” Mio says, looking over the book. “He was a stuntman for action movies and shows. He always tried to get the stars autographs, I've been trying to do the same, but I have to do it the hard way...” she trails off. With that bit of information, her fascination is starting to make sense. You don't know what it was that happened to her dad, all you know is he's not around. While you were having a reflection, however, it came around to your turn to sign the book. Snapping into the moment, you write down your name for Mio, and then she takes the pen and rewraps the book, stowing it away once more for safekeeping. She looks so satisfied with the whole thing.

“So, any more surprises?” Madoka asks, looking at you. You bear a sly grin.

“I'll show you later, when it's needed,” you reply, stoking the fires of Madoka's curiosity.

“Aw, come on!” she whines, but you don't reply. Madoka gets tired of waiting for your response, so she turns to Mio instead. “Anyway, are you ready to come along with us to our first site?”

“Uh, actually...” Mio starts, her voice cracking slightly as she seems to regress into her quiet side personality. “I... wanted to... j-j-” she stammers into a pause, swallowing a lump in her throat as redness starts to cover her face. “I w-want to be part of the team...” she says quietly. Everyone's dumbstruck, including you. “I even brought...” she continues, lowering the tube form her shoulder and popping open the end, revealing the handle of a wooden sword. As always, Madoka's the first to break the silence.

“A new team member?” she muses. “Is this the surprise?” You shake your head, you didn't expect this. You probably could have, had the thought even come to mind.

“I had no idea,” you say, looking down at Mio. She seems incredibly embarrassed even with the huge smile on her face.

“Well, you brought her, so what do you say?” Madoka asks, pinning the decision on you. Mio turns her gaze up to you, an expectant gleam in her eyes.

[] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”
[] “We'll have to have a try out, to see if you can make the grade.”
[] “This is too sudden, I'll have to think about this decision.”
[] “Sorry, I don't want to bring you into this, it's kind of hectic.”

[x] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

[0] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

[x] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

[x] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

Was there even a point to the other options?

All that's missing is a 'Kogasa' to yell "Surprise!~"

>>99645

>All that's missing is a 'Kogasa' to yell "Surprise!~"

;_;

>Was there even a point to the other options?

Yes.

>>99649

Well Kogasa is the surprise girl (fitting for Mio's surprise)

That and sure romantically many are aiming for Katsumi, but Mio's easily our non-fairy little sister. Too bad we couldn't take them with.

[x] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

[x] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

[x] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

[x] “We'd love to have you! New members are always welcome!”

“I don't see why not,” you say with a smile. Mio giggles happily then throws her arms around you.

“Thank you!” she cries, releasing you and stepping back. “Oh wow, I was so nervous you'd say no because you don't know me that well,” she admits, hands clutched to her chest.

“So what can you do?” Madoka asks the new member. With that, Mio draws the bokuto from it's holder and sets the large tube down, quickly getting into stance, and just as quickly she lets out several quick strokes, each practiced and flow easily together. Once she's done, she returns to a neutral stance. Everyone looks pretty impressed. “So, you practice with swords?”

“I occasionally compete in kendo,” Mio says, kneeling to grab the container again. “I do pretty well in those.”

“Will something like that work against illegals though?” Maggie asks.

“She could always just use the patch,” Chie suggests. “Even a wooden sword would become a weapon then.”

“So where's that leave you?” Madoka asks, looking at you. You suppose you were the 'sword user' before, though you never really considered that to be your speciality.

“I guess I'm just the front man,” you reply with a shrug. “Draw the attention, keep others safe.”

“I guess, oh!” Madoka suddenly gets a spark of inspiration. “You could be like a magic knight! Using ranged and melee!” Well, you could, really. Anyone could, though the current state of your pet programming leaves you with a basic 'option'. Maybe you could use something like that in the meantime?

“So, you said you have some spots to check out?” you ask, wanting to get around to the actual task. No doubt Mio's excited to get going as well, from how wide eyed she is, hanging onto everyone's words.

“Yeah,” Madoka says, opening a window. “I've got a list of a few places here. The first being that one park from last time,” she states, as if you're supposed to know what she's talking about. You eventually realize she's likely talking about the ambush against Rin. “Another at out school, surprisingly, and a third potential spot around the bridge by the station.” Three places, huh? You spend a few seconds considering the locations, then look over at Mio. She might like being the one to make the decision on where to go first.

[] The school, it's the most familiar.
[] The park, it's quiet and not too open.
[] The bridge seems like a good choice.
[] Let Mio decide.

---

I might not be able to match the frequency I had going before, but I do intend to try to update at least twice every day. As a forewarning though, this weekend might not see a lot of writing, since my brother will be visiting and I don't want to just sit around writing for 5 hours.

[x] Let Mio decide.

I can't help but to choose this option.

[x] The bridge seems like a good choice.

[x] Let Mio decide.

[x] Let Mio decide.

[0] Let Mio decide.

[x] Let Mio decide.

[x] Let Mio decide.

[x] Let Mio decide.

“So, what do you say?” you ask, looking down at Mio. She seems confused by the question.

“I get to choose?” she asks, blinking a bit before the situation fully sinks in. “I get to choose!?” You reply with a nod, and one happy squeal later, she has the destination.

“I want to see your school,” she says, looking around at everyone. You all exchange glances, then get ready to leave.

“Alright then, let's go,” you say, taking the lead. Mio falls into step next to you, and Madoka takes up your other side.

**

The walk to the school itself is mostly spent with the various girls chattering and talking to Mio, learning more about her as it's quite clear she's going to be a regular. You relate the story of how you met her and subsequently her family, which gets you a bit of an odd look from Madoka that you off-handedly ignore. Once you reach the school grounds you find, to no surprise, that the gates are closed and that the only way in is to hop the wall. Of course an illegal would never be conveniently waiting at the gates. Thankfully, it's not that hard to get over the wall, with only Chie needing assistance in scaling the vertical obstacle.

On the inside, everyone regroups and gets ready for the briefing.

“Alright,” Chie starts, opening up several screens. “From what info I found myself and from what Madoka says, there was some strange anomalies with space on school grounds. It's no secret that schools get a lot of use, and as such the cyberspace of the area handles a lot of data. This usually means that once the school year is over, the space is pretty roughed up and prone to glitching.” Chie pauses, activating the map and zooming in on the building. The building icon flickers and transforms into a three-dimensional blueprint. Mana is the next one to speak up.

“There was a rumour circulating towards the end of the school year about a phantom in the school. Students report seeing strange shadows around the building after school, or seeing something moving around at night,” she says while highlighting a few doors on the ground level. “So of course, this is what we're going to be looking for. Ghosts might not exist, but illegals do, and both can fit the same description,” she finishes with a smile. “We can enter from different locations in pairs, just in case there's anyone in the building still. If we get caught, there might not be any way to talk our way out of it, so if you're forced to leave, don't make a fuss.”

“I'll further that,” Chie says, adjusting her glasses. “Even if you are not spotted yourself, if your partner is, leave them. It's easier for one person to sneak back into the building anyway.”

“What about security systems?” you ask the obvious once again. Everyone exchanges looks.

“I suppose I should shut those down...” Chie says, blushing slightly at the realization. “In the meantime, pair up.” Everyone looks around at each other. Everyone is a friend here, so no pairs break away immediately. There's someone you wanted to be paired with though, so you should probably ask her before she pairs up on her own.

[] Mio
[] Maggie
[] Madoka
[] Mana
[] Chie

---

So many M names.

[] Mio

[X] Mio

[x] Mio

[x] Mio

[0] Mio

[x] Mio

Show her the ropes, and perhaps pick up a few things from her in sword play.

Hoping you update today because I've got a hankering for Gensou Coil.

>>100677

Your wish will be granted! Writing now.

[x] Mio

Mio watches you intently, her eyes practically shining. You suppose she wants you to pick her.

“You want to-”

“Yes!” Mio squeals, running over to your side. “The rookie gets to pair with the Leader for this mission!” Well, that settles that. Chie and Mana pair up, naturally, and Maggie and Madoka form the last team. With that, the groups are assigned their 'doors' and depart. The entrance you're to use is fairly close, so you head over there and stop outside.

“Okay, so, remember what Mana and Chie said,” you say, and Mio nods. “It might be a little troublesome for you, since you're not a student here, so stay close to me. Don't want you to get lost.” Mio blushes a little, but retains a mostly serious look, and nods again.

“I'll stay close, no matter what,” she says, maybe just a bit too vigorously. You pull open the door and step in, holding if for Mio. Once she's in, you open up a copy of the school map yourself, and then copy it for Mio, handing over the spare.

“This should help you out a bit at least, so you can help with directions in case it's needed,” you say. Mio accepts the spare map with a grin and looks it over. Now then, you've entered the building, but you don't have any specific goal other than to 'investigate'. It's your call, since Mio doesn't know the school like you do.

[] Search the ground floor.
[] Search the second floor.
[] Search the third floor.

---

God damn it, the site dies right as I was about to post my update.

[x] Search the ground floor.

We do have a rookie with us so we might want to have an easy escape route.

[x] Search the ground floor.

[x] Search the ground floor.

[0] Search the ground floor.

[x] Search the ground floor.

[x] Search the ground floor.

[x] Search the ground floor.

[x] Search the ground floor.

Might as well stick the the ground. It would be easier to make a break for it if there's anyone around to catch you.

“We'll stick around the ground floor for now,” you say to Mio, and start off down the hall. She follows closely at your side. You can hear other footsteps as well as a door closing in the distance, probably another pair. You continue along at a fairly relaxed pace, looking into rooms you pass and keeping an eye out for anything unusual. Besides a few flickers in the space at hall intersections and flights of stairs, you don't happen across anything too unusual.

“So this is your school,” Mio says absently, looking around as you come to another intersection. “I guess it's not surprising it's just a normal school. It would be kind of unrealistic to expect something unusual.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” you ask, confused by her statement. Once again she blushes slightly.

“Well, I kind of imagined that a group of people that play themselves up as heroes would go to some kind of special private academy or something,” she says with her head slightly bowed. She looks embarrassed, but she's smiling at the same time, so you smile too.

“Yeah, it's nothing special, just an ordinary school,” you say, shrugging at the surroundings. “Though that doesn't make it any less interesting, I suppose.” Mio responds to that with a questioning hum. “What with the cyberglasses technology and all the various tools available, student rivalries get pretty... intense, at times,” you go on to explain, recalling the event in which Madoka blew out Rin's glasses while an entire crowd of people gathered not too far away. That incident aside, it's still not too uncommon for 'battles' between students, usually only limited to various pranks of differing levels of nastiness, though outright firefights between batteries of Mr. Forthrights aren't entirely unheard of.

“Do you have a rival?” Mio asks, starry-eyed. You hesitate to answer at first, but you figure there's no harm if you just suggest you do.

“Yeah, there are a group that seems to be fill that role, always been a bit of a pain to deal with. I think they have it out for Madoka right now,” you recount. Mio's eyes widen in response to that.

“So they're like villains instead of rivals?” she asks, and you realize she's starting to sink all this into some kind of hero-shenanigans scenario.

“I don't know about that,” you say. “We compete at times, but our last push back against them was kind of... way more than needed, so they're kind of pissed about that, I suppose.”

“Do you think we'll meet them again?” Mio continues with her questions, but you can only shrug.

“I don't know. I kind of hope not, actually,” you state, and a message pops up in your view. Madoka's calling you, so you pick up.

“Find anything yet?” she asks, sounding a little annoyed.

“Nothing but visual glitches,” you respond, looking back at Mio. “We haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Where are you?”

“We went upstairs,” Madoka replies. “I thought that it would be better to search the second floor, since we were all coming in on the ground, it would be cleared out quickly, but Chie and Mana went up to the third floor instead. What about you?”

“Ground floor,” you say, looking around. You hear Madoka sigh.

“I thought there was something here, maybe it's just not coming out? Probably hiding outside of space somewhere,” she complains. Hiding outside of space... well, if it was, you wouldn't normally be able to find it without very specifically looking for it, and that could take quite some time, unless you had something that could, say, go into the space beyond and look around for you.

Oh right, you do.

[] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.
[] Just bring over ______, she should be enough to just search the school.
[] On second thought, that might not be necessary.

---

After I wrote this, I had a sudden realization I have no explanation for how Takeo is able to call the fairies to him through a link. Not that I particularly care, I'll hand wave something later when I actually give it a thought.

[x] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.

[x] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.

Not to mention their other abilities in case anyone else using cyberglasses come around.

That and it's time to have them get out.

[0] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.

[x] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.

[x] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.

[x] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.

I desire updates.

Back to the top.

I should probably update, huh?

>>101944

Probably so.

Waiting for a story that I enjoy reading just suddenly stop updating is annoying.

[x] Bring out the fairies. They could dig around for you easily.

It wouldn't be too bad, would it? You could effectively cover more ground with more eyes, so you decide to take the chance.

“I've got an idea,” you say, opening up a screen. “I'll call you if I get anything.”

“Alright,” Madoka replies with renewed vigor, and you disconnect the call. You bring up your partition and work on opening a link to the fairies. A large circle appears in the air in front of you, causing Mio to step aside in surprise, and you access the fairies files. Simply activating their main programs always seemed to call them to you, so you run all three, and sure enough, the three of them appear from the link-gate and walk into the hallway, having seemed to step directly through the wall. A feat that has left Mio utterly speechless, looking between you and the girls. You turn to the fairies yourself, who all look slightly confused.

“You called us?” Luna asks, speaking for the group. Mio squeaks in surprise, getting a glance from the trio of girls momentarily. Predictably, Mio lifts her glasses, then lowers them in surprise.

“You're not real!?” she shouts, suddenly rushing forward and reaching out to Sunny, who is standing closest. Mio reaches for Sunny's arm and lightly touches it, then draws her hand back and looks at you. “These... aren't they those fairies?” Mio asks, bewildered.

“They are,” you say, looking over the group. They all seem confused, their wings twitching occasionally. “I suppose you could say they're mine,” you joke, but Luna seems less than pleased, and perhaps embarrassed, given the light blush on her face.

“We don't belong to you! You're housing us!” she declares, shaking her head. “So you called us for something, did you just want to parade us around in front of this girl?”

“Actually, I wanted your help,” you say. “We're looking for signs of illegals around the school, and I was hoping you could root around outside of the local space and see if it's hiding somewhere.” The fairies look to each other again, and Sunny smiles, followed by Star. Luna looks like she opposes the idea, based on her expression. You suppose they're doing their silent communication thing, you're not going to bother to check, you still wouldn't understand it. After a short while, Luna turns back to you.

“Alright, we can do it. We don't feel anything too dangerous around, so we should be okay,” Luna announces, seeming a little more eager. You, however, get an odd sensation. 'Feel'? Do they really feel anything? All the questions you had about the 'fairies' momentarily bubble up again as the three girls split away down another hall, but the thoughts are quickly suppressed by a sudden bump against your side. You look down to see Mio clutching your arm.

“First you're a masked hero and now you turn out to be the one behind these fairies?” Mio asks quietly, looking excited all over again. You nod. Mio gives a happy laugh and then pulls on your arm a little. “I never want to leave your side! So many interesting things must happen around you all the time!” Your heart jumps in your chest a little at that phrase.

“You'd be surprised how boring my life is, really,” you say, slowly reclaiming your arm. “But I suppose I won't really stop you if you want to hang out sometime,” you admit. Mio releases your arm with a smile.

“So? What are they like?” she asks, before rattling off a list of similar questions relating to the virtual girls. She already knows their significance, but it's still up to you how much more you tell her.

[] Keep it short, you still have hunting to do.
[] Give her some general info, then get moving again.
[] Tell her everything, you might as well wait anyway.

---

>>101945

Sorry about that, busy weekend. A midterm on Friday that I wanted to study for an a pile of writing assignments due the same day for the same class, so that ate up my time on Wednesday and Thursday, and Saturday was Halloween. I'll be back on a regular 1 update/day minimum schedule for now.

[x] Give her some general info, then get moving again.

For any Flight readers here: http://www.touhou-project.com/gensokyo/res/2721.html#2721

[x] Give her some general info, then get moving again.

[x] Give her some general info, then get moving again.

[0] Give her some general info, then get moving again.

[x] Give her some general info, then get moving again.

[x] Give her some general info, then get moving again.

She can find out more in later visits.

[x] Give her some general info, then get moving again.

You could at least inform her a bit, but there's simply too much theory and possibility on your mind to go into detail about everything you know and think about them. For now, you're just going to go with some basic information, get her up to speed.

“The talking one is named Luna, she seems to be the leader,” you start, “She couldn't really talk at first, but after that one 'hunt' of ours that ended up on the rumour site she apparently became able to speak like she can now. Star is the one with black hair, and Sunny is the other blonde. They all seem to be capable of thinking and acting on their own, and they each have a different... power I guess you could say.” Mio's eyes light up towards the end of your explanation. Guess she'd probably like to hear that part too. “That is to say, they have specialized skills and programs available. Luna seems to have some kind of relation to sound, being able to record and replay it, as well as cancel out all sound for cyberglasses wearers. Sunny has... something, some kind of stealth system. I don't really understand it all that well really, she seems to be able to affect the displayed data of cyberspace, and Star is some kind of high quality signal tracker. I've never really been able to find out why they have them.” Mio absorbs all the information you give her with a smile and a nod. Once you stop, she waits a bit to see if you have anything else to say.

“Is that all?” she asks expectantly, as if she's waiting for you to continue.

“Well, there's a bit more, but we should probably get going, see if we can find something ourselves,” you say, “besides, you're welcome to come by any time, you can visit them as often as you like, they do live in my house after all.” Mio laughs slightly.

“I think I'd rather move in if that's the case,” she says, and once again you feel your heart jump. You realize she was joking, but part of you believes that she probably would actually consider it if given the option. Maybe you should mull on that later...

“I don't know if my sister would go for that,” you say jokingly, and then take a step away to signify you're going to continue on. Before you can say anything though, a screen winks up in front of you displaying the school blueprint, and a trio of blinking dots appear, along with a fourth, darker spot. It takes you a second to realize, but this must be Star's doing, displaying the location of her and the others, and the fourth dot... is the illegal? You bring up your own map file and overlay it with the blueprint to see where you are in comparison. Second floor, just a little ahead of you. Thankfully, there's some stairs not too far away. You quickly pull up your contacts list and send a call to Madoka. She picks up.

“Hello?” she answers.

“I've got a lead on the illegal, it's on the second floor, not too far ahead of me,” you say, heading in the direction of the stairs. Mio is following along beside you, looking a little eager.

“What!" Seriously? Where are you!?” Madoka cries. “Nevermind, I see you on the map. I'll meet you at the stairs!” After that, the call is disconnected and you speed up a bit. You realize that Mio might have a hard time keeping up with you, and check to make sure she's keeping pace, only to find that she's having absolutely no trouble at all keeping up with you, and you get a bit cocky.

“Let's pick up the pace stairs are just ahead,” you say with a grin. Mio catches it and flashes her own confident grin, and you immediately regret your decision. While you manage to push yourself into a run, Mio easily breaks away and outruns you. The shock of her sudden speed causes you to lapse a second, but you keep at your own speed. You can't catch up, and she's already slowed to stop at the stairs ahead. You figured she might be a little athletic for her kendo background, but this is a bit much. By the time you catch up, Mio's wearing a look of happiness and regret.

“Sorry for running off too far ahead,” she says with a slight bow, “I shouldn't be showing up the leader on my first day.” You can't help but smile a bit.

“It's alright, I wasn't expecting you to be so fast. You're a sporty type, I take it?” you ask, a little winded. Mio blushes slightly.

“I train a bit. Yuki and I are in the same clubs at school, so she's my training partner,” Mio explains. You haven't spent a lot of time around the girl, but from the few times you have been around, you know that Yuki's a bit of a braggart and is really competitive. Growing up and training with a sister like that, you guess it's no surprise.

“Let's get up there, then,” you say, and the two of you start climbing the steps. Your each the second floor to find Madoka and Maggie waiting already, the two of them having activated their avatars, which surprises Mio at first.

“I completely forgot about costumes!” Mio whines, looking between the two girls, both of whom get a bit of a chuckle out of it. Mio turns to you next. “Are you going to get yours on?” Ah, right, you forgot the other surprise you said you had in store. You start to bring your hand to your chest in order to activate your avatar when you hear footsteps on the stairs again, coming from above. You seem the be the only one that gets a surprise out of it though. Chie and Mana appear on the landing above, the two of them in their own avatars, which is a bit of a surprise. You hadn't seen Chie's completed look, you only faintly remembered the poofy cap she made, and now she's wearing a matching robe, as well as long purple hair with several ribbons of different colours tied up. The two of them reach the second floor as well, which Chie looking rather embarrassed all of a sudden.

“Well then, now that almost everyone else is ready, I suppose it's my turn,” you say, and raise your hand once more to your chest. After a moment, there's a flash and the program initiates. All but Mio take a step back in surprise as the rolling flame spreads over your cyberbody, transforming it into your avatar in the process. Once the procedure is done, you hold up both hands, calling the Argetlahm as well to complete the look. A second of stunned silence passes, and then Madoka breaks into an utter fit.

“Oh. My. God!” she squeals, getting closer to look at your avatar. “You updated it? And that transformation! How did you do that? This sword too! Is this what you made!" That's so awesome!” she rants, completely blowing her lid. “You have got to let me hold that sword, please!” Even though your face would be hidden by the helmet, you smile, and turn the blade over to her. Madoka quickly snatches it up and holds it carefully, as if it were a real thing.

“You like it, huh?” you say, fully proud of yourself.

“That was impressive!” Chie says, clearing her throat, “especially considering how you were against the whole notion of 'transforming magical girls'.” You look over at her, well, she's over her embarrassment at least.

“I didn't think you'd install an animation,” Maggie says, scratching her head, “I didn't think anyone would, actually. I think I might get one next.”

“You definitely have to teach me how to transform like that, Takeo!” Madoka cheers, swinging around the Argetlahm and providing her own sound effects.

“I will later, now, let's get on with this,” you say, holding out your hand to Madoka. She looks at it for a few seconds, then gives you a disappointed glare.

“Aw, come on!” she whines.

“I'll make a copy for you later,” you sigh, starting to regret the decision to make this stuff a little. She reluctantly hands over the weapon, and you hold it down so it's not waving around in the air. “Anyway, the illegal is a little way ahead. I don't know what to expect, so I don't know what to say, but we should have a plan.” You leave it at that, hoping that someone would say something to get the ball rolling. After exchanging glances, everyone's eyes fall back to you. You really are the leader now, aren't you? “Right, okay. Give me a second then...”

[] You'll lead, Mio can back you up. Madoka and Mana can be long range support, with Chie and Maggie acting as back row support and trying to keep anything from escaping.
[] Split into two groups: You lead Madoka and Chie from one side, and Mio can take Maggie and Mana to the other side, and try to pull the target into a pincer attack.
[] Maggie, Mana, Madoka and Chie combine their attacks to bombard whatever comes out, while you and Mio make sure nothing tries to slip away.

[x] You'll lead, Mio can back you up. Madoka and Mana can be long range support, with Chie and Maggie acting as back row support and trying to keep anything from escaping.

This seems better, perhaps after Mio gets a few more missions under her belt do we try a pincer attack.

[x] You'll lead, Mio can back you up. Madoka and Mana can be long range support, with Chie and Maggie acting as back row support and trying to keep anything from escaping.

[x] You'll lead, Mio can back you up. Madoka and Mana can be long range support, with Chie and Maggie acting as back row support and trying to keep anything from escaping.

[0] You'll lead, Mio can back you up. Madoka and Mana can be long range support, with Chie and Maggie acting as back row support and trying to keep anything from escaping.

[x] You'll lead, Mio can back you up. Madoka and Mana can be long range support, with Chie and Maggie acting as back row support and trying to keep anything from escaping.

Nice to see Madoka so ecstatic.

Update coming sometime later. For now, have a Mio. I made up most of the girls that have appeared so far and even some that haven't in AG3, more or less so I can have some kind of consistent physical description for them. Colours might be a bit off though, on account of the fact that I'm colourblind.

>>102212

Please don't sage stuff like this. I like to be informed of what is happening.

[x] You'll lead, Mio can back you up. Madoka and Mana can be long range support, with Chie and Maggie acting as back row support and trying to keep anything from escaping.

“Mio and I will take the lead, I suppose,” you start. You hear an excited giggle next to you from Mio, and you realize just how limited your peripheral vision is in this avatar. “Madoka and Mana, you two can be range support. Chie and Maggie, try to make sure nothing gets away.” Everyone nods, and seems pleased with their role. Mio opens her sword carrier and draws her bokken, and a few seconds later the virtual image transforms into a katana, the same one you saw when you were at her house. You take the lead, walking past the group and down the hall, towards the spot on the map closest to the black dot. With everyone following behind you, you eventually stop at a segment of bare wall a few feet away from another hall intersection. With a bank of windows at your back and a hallway leading to a corner farther ahead, it seems like a fairly easy place to try to hold up any kind of threat that might present itself. There's only one problem.

“So, it's around here?” Madoka asks, looking around. You look at the wall.

“Should be right behind here,” you say, pointing in front of you.

“Well, hit it!” Madoka says, stepping forward and delivering a hard kick upon the wall. The graphics flicker slightly. Right, you could probably destabilize space enough with physical blows, but you have a better idea. You take a step back and prepare Argetlahm, grasping the handle in both hands, and then thrusting the weapon into the wall. The tip smashes through the wall, and a patch of the wall flickers heavily from the damage before blinking out entirely, allowing you to simply lower the blade from the new void. Within seconds, a burst of light explodes at the edge of the gap, damaging the space further, and a single short, black figure emerges. A small illegal, maybe only two feet tall. It looks around in a panic then rushes away from the gathered group while everyone's still slightly surprised by it's sudden appearance, but it doesn't make it too far before an encode glyph sails past it and hits the floor, spreading across the wall and partially along the walls. With a zap and a flash, the short illegal disappears the second it hits it.

“Was that it?” Chie asks, sounding a little annoyed. “Just one little-” She's interrupted by shower of lights that come flying out of the gap, bursting against the window and wall behind you as you jump aside. You realize that this is similar to the fairies attacks, and among the hailstorm of lights, multiple short illegals flood out of the gap, tumbling and scurrying over each other as the bolts of light tear through any stupid or unlucky enough to be caught in the line of fire. You ready your sword again, and you look aside to see Mio prepared as well.

“Alright, let's get them!” you call, and step forward, swinging the sword in a low, wide arc. A few of the shadowy figures are caught by the blade and destroyed in a flash, but several more dodge aside or jump away, easily moving past you. You see a few flashes from the side, and figure that Mio is holding her own, but with the oncoming waves you don't exactly want to waste time to check. A beam of light carves through a line of the short shadows next to you, and you hear the distinct sound of Mr. Forthrights firing, and soon enough the air is filled with lasers and streaks of orange. Several swings at the milling horde, and an illegal leaps from the crowd and latches onto the face of your helmet. You stumble back a bit and try to pull it away, but without actually being able to feel if you're touching it, you have quite a difficult time until it too vanishes in a flash. You blink away the light and catch a brief glimpse of something moving behind you from overhead. You simply focus forward for now, you'll ask questions later. The entire 'battle' takes several minutes, with Luna appearing from the gap in the wall once the illegals stop emerging and assisting in cleaning up what remains. Only at this time do you find that Madoka had essentially sealed the area with encodes, and that every illegal that emerged had been destroyed.

“That was exciting!” Mio cheers, her sword transforming back into it's wooden variant. “I wonder how it looked! It felt like it would have been a really exciting scene to see in a movie!”

“That was pretty awesome!” Madoka follows suit in the celebration. “I didn't get to burn out the entire hallway, but it was still an impressive show!” Madoka smirks at you. “Especially when that illegal latched onto your face.”

“Yeah,” you respond with a slight chuckle. “That was unexpected. I didn't really know who got that off for me though,” you say, and Maggie nods towards you.

“That was me,” she says, one of her dolls twirling itself in the air next to her. “I saw it jump on you, so I shot it off.”

“Thanks for that,” you say, looking down at the floor. Typically when you went chasing illegals with Madoka, you would try to capture them to transmute them into metabugs. In todays case though, you were mainly destroying them outright, but despite that there's a few scattered stones littering the floor. You figure that Madoka probably tossed a few encodes to that effect. Chie and Mana are already gathering up what they can find near them. You turn back to Luna, who is standing at the edge of the gap, which is still flickering. In fact, the area of the hallway had been pretty badly damaged. The wall opposite the gap was just barely hanging on, and the floor in the area flickered and flashed. The whole section was on the verge of a crash from the amount of abuse the space suffered. “Thanks for your help too,” you say to Luna, and she bows her head, but something seems off. She seems upset rather than happy. You have a bad feeling about this. “What's wrong?”

“There's... a problem,” Luna says, looking back to the hole in the wall. You look back at the group, but other than Mio, everyone else seems to have started collecting the metabugs left behind. Mio looks at you with concern, and you walk towards Luna.

“What kind of problem?” you ask, getting close to the hole. Luna gestures inside, and you look in to see Sunny, Star and someone else you don't recognize, with the latter on the ground while the other two seem to be in various stages of panic trying to deal with her. Your first instinct is to go help, but your initial step forward causes you to kick the wall, and you're snapped back to reality, what you see is beyond your world. “What's wrong?”

“It's another sister,” Luna says quietly. “She was attacked and hurt by the illegals. They were feeding off her data when we found her, that's why so many of them were here.” Your stomach sinks. The illegals were feeding on her? “We're too far from Fairyland to be able to know if we can make it back safely, but if we leave her here, she'll...” Luna trails off, and looks at you with a very pleading expression. “Please, help me save her.”

[] “Can you get closer to Fairyland in normal space? Could I help escort you to the closest physical entrance?”
[] “Bring her out here, all of us can protect her here and make sure she's okay. We'll stay as long as needed.”
[] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.
[] “I'll open a link back home. Take her there to protect her, I'll be home as soon as possible to help you out.”

---
>>102219

Have a complimentary update.

[x] “Can you get closer to Fairyland in normal space? Could I help escort you to the closest physical entrance?”
If this fails
[x] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

[X] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

[x] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

[x] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

[0] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

[x] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

[X] "Can you get closer to Fairyland in normal space? Could I help escort you to the closest physical entrance?"
[X] "Is there an entrance to Fairyland close to home? I could open a link to take you back home if there is."

[x] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

[x] “Bring her out, we'll take her away from here. We need to find someplace other than here to keep watch on her.

“Take her out of there,” you say, more calling into the void than speaking to Luna, accompanied with a gesture to the two others to come along. They hesitate for a moment, then the two fairies pick up the injured girl and carry her towards you. The closer they get, the more you realize she's another fairy, just like them, wearing a long black dress with a matching conical hat, both sporting a red zig-zag around both. The outfit itself is rather battered, torn in places and simply broken in others, periodically flickering and blinking like the damaged parts of the rest of her body. She seems to be conscious even though her eyes are closed, but she looks to be in a great deal of pain. The sight makes your heart sink, knowing that there's likely very little you can do yourself. Everyone's gathered around by now, having caught on to what was happening.

“What happened?” Madoka asks, pushing in next to you. “Another fairy?”

“She was hurt by the illegals, she's why they were here,” you repeat for Madoka, “they were... feeding on her.” Madoka's expression blanks, then becomes completely serious.

“We need to get out of here,” she says, stepping back and them coming around your other side. Luna and the others are helping tend to their injured sister. Madoka crouches near the fairies, who all look up to her. “Let's bring her outside, get her out of the school. We don't know if there's anything else around here.”

“We can bring her to a park or something,” you say, disengaging your avatar and Argetlahm, and then kneeling near the fairies as well. They all look to you as well, and you scoot closer, and try to pick up the injured one. Like the others, she's entirely weightless, but she winces as you handle her, causing you to stop.

“She's in pain,” Luna says, “but not because of you.”

“Alright then,” you say, continuing to lift the girl as you stand. The fairies stand too, and you turn around to everyone. All their avatars are off now, and each looks just as sad as the next.

“Let's go quickly,” Maggie says, looking over the hurt fairy. A path is made clear for you, and you hurry towards the stairs, Luna close at your side, with Mio and Madoka on your heels, and everyone else falls in line behind you. You make your way downstairs, and to the closest door out into the school lot, where you're faced with a new problem: getting your injured fairy over the wall surrounding the school. Before you can even mention the problem though, you see Mana rush off ahead.

“She'll open the gate,” Chie says, “we should stick close behind her.” You do as she says, and the group heads in that direction. You're a little concerned, since the gate itself is still opened and closed manually, and gets locked with a good old fashioned lock and key. Opening something like that requires quite a specific set of skills you're not about to start questioning, not until you're safely off the school grounds. You reach the gate as a group just as Mana is stowing away some kind of small pouch in her pocket, and gives the gate a push, sliding it open enough for everyone to get out.

“Let's go,” she says, waving you through. You head through, minding to be careful with the casualty, and wait for everyone else to get out. Mana closes the gate as the last one out, then takes a few seconds to remove something from the lock and put it back in her pocket before joining everyone. You recall once more her 'codename' of 'Little Devil' as she turns back with a smile and catches up to everyone.

Several minutes of brisk walking later, and the lot of you reach a park near the school. It's a rather small affair, but it serves your needs well enough. You set the injured fairy down on a bench, and the others crowd around her. After having gone with her eyes closed the entire time, she finally opens them, much to the joy of the other fairies around. You wish you could think of something to say or do to help, but you just silently stand by and watch the group of virtual girls tend to their wounded. Everyone slowly congregates to other benches nearby, you ending up with Mio and Madoka, only to sit in silence. It's a painful wait, and it only causes all the questions you've repressed to explode back into your mind. What are the fairies? Where do they come from? Why? How are they made? More and more questions flood into your mind fast enough to start giving you a headache, and you find yourself rubbing your temples. No one says anything for you don't even know how long, until you see a pair of frilly shoes appear in your line of sight with the ground. You look up to see Luna, looking a little less stressed, but no less upset.

“She's is going to recover, I think,” Luna says with a content sigh, “but we need to stay with her. I'd feel bad if I asked you if we could bring her back home because that might bring more trouble, so we thought we'd just find somewhere out here to hide until she recovered, then we can bring her back to Fairyland.”

[] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.”
[] “I don't mind if you bring her home to watch over her until she recovers. I'll help you bring her back after she does.”
[] “I don't like the idea of all of you alone out here. I'm sure one of us will gladly put you up for a while.”
[] “If there's somewhere we can go where it's a short trip to Fairyland, we'll still escort you there.”

[x] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.

[x] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.

[x] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.”

If they want to help her out at our home, why not? I doubt our sister would snoop around that much.

[x] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.”

[0] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.”

NO FAE LEFT BEHIND.

>>102399
>NO FAE LEFT BEHIND.
So we're going to give her a battery of standardized tests, then cut funding to her school if she fails? </politics>

[X] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.”
[X] "You three are fun to have around, after all; one more won't be any trouble."

Making sure (in a roundabout way) that 'trouble' just means 'household trouble' and not, say, 'trouble with the law'.

>The closer they get, the more you realize she's another fairy, just like them, wearing a long black dress with a matching conical hat, both sporting a red zig-zag around both.

Why hello there Lily Black.

[x] “What!" No! You can bring her home to care for her, I don't mind at all. She can stay with us.”

You blink in disbelief for a moment, did she just-

“What? No, no no no, you're not going to stay out here with someone that's hurt,” you state, standing quickly. You're already working to connect to your homespace and establish a link by the time you pause. “Take her home, I don't mind at all. This is a serious matter, I'm not going to let you just rough it outside.” All the anxiety melts from Luna's face, and is replaced with relief, and she jumps forward and hugs you around the chest quickly. Once she pulls away, you realize the odd tingle left behind that quickly fades.

“Thank you!” Luna sighs, with the other fairies smiling at you as well. You open a link between spaces, and Luna helps Sunny and Star carry their injured sister through. Once they're home, you disconnect the link.

“Well, that's settled then,” Madoka says, finally speaking.

“I feel bad for the girl,” Mio says quietly. “Maybe if we found the illegals faster...”

“I'm not sure that would have made a difference,” you say, taking a few steps away from the bench. “I guess we'll know more about it later though. For now though...”

“Well, we did what we came to do,” Madoka says, standing as well. “I suppose that's a mission complete.”

“So, what do we do now?” Mio asks, looking between you and Madoka.

[] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.
[] Getting something to eat probably wouldn't hurt.
[] Honestly, you'd rather just get home right away and rest.

---

Short update, since I'm getting ready to wrap up the thread, I want to get to a point where I can leave off before autosage.

[x] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.

[x] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.

[0] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.

[x] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.

Let's bond as a team, and to have Mio learn more about our group.

[x] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.

[x] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.

[x] You wouldn't mind just hanging out as a group here for a bit.

“Well, the fairies should be safe, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to at least relax a little,” you say, smiling a bit. It seems to be contagious, since Mio and Madoka smile as well. “Besides, we really should give our new member a proper greeting,” you continue, nodding to Mio. “We kind of just went about business as usual, but didn't really take much time for introductions.”

“Yeah, I guess we kind of just smoothed over that,” Madoka says sheepishly. The other girls have come around as well, and are now congregating to your bench. Starting with Madoka, each girl properly introduces herself to Mio, explaining a little about themselves inside and outside of the group. When that wraps up, Mio gives her own introduction to the group, and then it breaks into chatter, sweeping you in as well. Stories are recounted, jokes are told, a rather interestingly in depth conversation on the best ice cream flavours and their toppings comes up as well. The lot of you spend a good hour and a half just talking about mostly nothing, until Madoka's stomach interrupts the conversation with a grumble.

“We should probably go get something to eat,” Chie says, concealing her own rumble with a red face.

“There's a pretty good burger place nearby,” Madoka says happily. No one objects to the idea, and all together you move as one group towards a universal target, the conversations striking up again on the way. Another thirty minutes and 6 burgers later, the group emerges from the fast food restaurant, and comes to a pause.

“Well, now what?” you ask, checking the time. It's getting pretty close to 3pm, it'll be evening before too long.

“I don't have any ideas right now,” Madoka says between sips of soda. “I was kind of hoping someone else would do the thinking.”

“Like normal, you mean?” Chie interjects, as well during the times between eating her remaining fries. You glance at Mio, she seems to be content just watching everyone.

“So, is this it for today?” Maggie pipes up, putting the question on the table. No one seems to have anything to say at the moment. Looks like it might just be the end of today's events. Unless...

[] Let the group disband for today.
[] You do have an idea for something: [Write In]

---

Thread ending soon, like two posts soon, but I have something in mind that I want to try after the episode ends, so we'll see how that turns out.

[x] Let the group disband for today.
[x] Walk Mio home

I have no ideas on that to do other than this.

>>102610
Seconded. I blame the TV for my lack of imagination.

[x] Let the group disband for today.
[x] Walk Mio home

[x] Let the group disband for today.
[x] Walk Mio home

[0] Let the group disband for today.
[1] Walk Mio home

[x] Let the group disband for today.
[x] Walk Mio home

[x] Let the group disband for today.
[x] Walk Mio home

Not sure if voted already, last 2 days are foggy.

Updating later today. Until then, have the majority of the cast so far.

Disclaimer: Colours/appearances might not be exactly as originally described. Aberrant colours can be blamed on the author's colourblindness. Aberrant bodily proportions are subject to the author's whim.

>>102890
look at those tits

>>102890

hooray!

>>102890
Holy sameface, Batman. That picture doesn't just travel to the uncanny valley, it moves in there and puts up a yurt.

>>102890
Goddamn, I didn't realize almost all of them were wearing glasses until now.

>>102921

Well, you have to remember, Cyber Glasses being what they are...

>>102918
yurt. Really. A Yurt.

gods I haven't heard that word in forever. Makes me laugh every time.

>>102918

The differences are there, but yeah. It's kind of hard to tell the differences I suppose unless you make them. Not that AG3 has the most comprehensive modeling in the first place.

[x] Let the group disband for today.
[x] Walk Mio home

You've got nothing. You remain silent as everyone seems to come to terms with the situation.

“So then, case closed,” Madoka starts, tossing her empty cup away in a nearby trash bin. “Let's go home.”

“I'll head back with you,” Maggie says to Madoka, stepping away from the group.

“We'll be on our way now too then,” Chie says, moving away with Mana. Madoka passes by you, and Mio and yourself fall into step with her and Maggie. The girls start up a new conversation again, mostly about Mio's performance today and more about her. You mostly tune it out until you notice your name come up.

“Takeo,” Madoka says, waving her hand in your face to get your attention. “Hey! We still have some places to check out, who knows how long they'll be active. You up for another outing tomorrow?”

“I'll give it some thought,” you say, pushing the matter to the back of your mind. A few minutes later, Maggie splits off of the rest of you and heads down another street to her home, leaving you to walk with Madoka and Mio.

“So, Mio,” Madoka says, crossing in front of you to wedge herself between you and Mio, “got any big plans for the summer?”

“Well...” Mio says, trailing off before she gets anywhere. “Nothing soon, but I do have something planned for August.”

“Huh? So late? Why not anything sooner?” Madoka asks.

“It's not really my choice,” Mio replies with a sigh. “I'm looking forward to it though.”

“You can't just look forward to something so late!” Madoka whines. “Hey, about you make plans with us? I'm sure we could all pull something together, right Takeo?” Madoka turns to you now. Well, you suppose if you all did pull together, you could probably get something done. What, though, you're not sure.

“Probably, we'd have to see what we can do,” you state. Madoka seems pleased with that, turning back to Mio.

“See! We could even bring along your sisters too as we could all meet each other,” Madoka cheers, starting to fall in love with her own idea as it were. “Oh, maybe we could even rent a beach house or something!” Oh boy, here we go.

“That might be nice,” Mio says thoughtfully. You make to reply, but then stop. You were about to shoot down the idea, but you remembered that Katsumi had prepositioned you for the same kind of thing. Difference was that she seemed to actually have the trip ready and planned. You've still yet to get back to her on that as well. You're ready to give a new thought on the matter when Madoka skips past in front of you again. You're at her street now.

“We'll talk more about this some other time!” Madoka calls out, skipping off before you can get a word out. Damn it, whatever, it's summer. You can get this sorted out any time. Somehow you feel like you're the one that will be making the decisions in the end. Right now, all that's left is to take Mio home. Unfortunately, the walk is mostly silent, having exhausted most topics of conversation already between the park and food.

“I had a good time today with everyone,” Mio says, adjusting the straps of her bags.

“They're a good bunch,” you reply. “Keeping up with Madoka can be a pain at times, but she's been my friend for years, I've gotten used to her brand of crazy.” A few more seconds of silence pass as you come to the street Mio lives on and start down it.

“Do you like her?” Mio asks, keeping her eyes on the sidewalk. There's a sudden question from nowhere, and frankly, one you're not sure how to answer. You know what she's probably getting at, but- “I'm sorry, I probably should ask embarrassing questions like that!” Mio apologizes just as suddenly as she questioned you. “It's none of my business.”

“You probably had an idea like 'the heroic leader and the female lead have feelings for one another', right?” you ask in return, taking a shot at guessing how her mind works. It seems to work, since Mio blushes and nods slightly. You might as well have some fun with this. “Well, isn't it also a fairly common sight to see a new girl join the team, and the hero takes a liking to her as well?” Mio suddenly looks up at you with shock, her blush deepening, and she manages to stumble a bit over her own feet.

“Wha- I mean, yes, but-” she stammers, and you simply chuckle in response. “I suppose... that is something you might see,” Mio says, managing to compose herself.

“It's only natural to want to know what comes next, but that's what makes the next episode worth looking forward to,” you say, fully boarding her train of thought. “There's more cast to fill, adventures to be had and scenes to seen, so don't worry about all that right now. Everything will work itself out in the end.”

“I see, yeah,” Mio mutters, completely understanding. You're not sure if it's a good or bad thing that she so easily accepted something that compares real life to serialized television, but considering what you do with your spare time it might not be that much of a stretch. By this time, you're only a few steps away from her house, and you stop.

“Alright, I'm heading home now, you have a good evening,” you say, and Mio continues up her walkway without you.

“Alright, you have a good evening as well,” Mio says back to you. You wait until she reaches her door before turning and walking back home on your own.

EPISODE 3 END

---

And so that wraps up this thread so far. I think I said something about an experimental idea I had, but in the end I'm not going to use it because I'm still having trouble figuring out how I would implement it. However, I have something else on my mind: How is everyone enjoying this so far? Best and worst points? Favourite character(s)?

I've been enjoying this alot, and I regret not reading it sooner.

The whole world is interesting though it'll be hard to fully explore it.

Particular favorites?

Romance wise: Katsumi; Komachi as a base always helps and I like the fact she's very capable despite her habits. Same with the possible angle she tricks guys due to the fact said guys don't look beyond her party girl image.

And I wonder if she knows the Saki/Ai/Yuko trio or not.

And if Kourin goes ahead with Katsumi's invite and perhaps the others end up there, it'll be interesting to see how the two groups react to each other. (I can imagine Maddie going "How the hell did you meet someone like her?") Hideo would just say "I HATE YOU MAN"

the only down point I see is a minor one: No real chance to see more of the world without giving up time with existing characters. Perhaps have incidental run ins and such.

You're doing great. I've liked this from the start, and it's going well. The only real complaint I have is that it sometimes seems like our schedule is constantly full of things to do; a guy could use some downtime, you know?

As far as favorite characters... Mio is rapidly becoming one, but I'm still determined to pursue a Luna route. Actually, speaking of Luna, that's one area that I find the story a little lacking - choices that would lead to finding out more about the faeries are not particularly easy to decipher, especially since we don't have the opportunity to spend much time with them. It seems like they're constantly out and about, and our only real chance to play with them is when we're investigating something and need their help. Less of a problem with Luna, since she likes to stay home sometimes, but...

Anyway, you're doing well. You should feel good about how this story has gone so far.

Also, more Kayo, please?

Mio and Luna I see as Little sister material.

I think there's down time days; just that we kinda skip over them with each episode.

>>103064

Well, for the most part, various options at times will lead you to meet different characters, particularly when you are outside and wandering around. Those votes to hang around downtown, wander around on your own, etc. are all random encounter material. Mio was one as well. Thing is though, most of the time votes are made fairly decisively to move onto the next thing.

>>103087

There is a few points of downtime so far, but the issue there is that given the nature of doing nothing in particular, it's not exactly an extensive action that requires a lot of explanation. Spending time sitting around usually doesn't last for more than an update. Also keep in mind that the events of a thread happen over a handful of days, and with threads 1-2 there's been a week and a half or so of days with nothing but school exams and sitting around. Extended periods of downtime are glossed over because, really, would you want to read 20 pages of a guy laying around at home, eating sandwiches and watching movies?

Also, I probably shouldn't say this because it will likely influence vote patterns, but even though a Luna route would be heartbreak and despair, there would be a happy ending, but you have to work for it.

As for the fairies themselves, well, there's three different 'arcs' in place that cover specific things. These would be 'Fairyland', 'Daily Life' and 'Hero of Justice', and each involves their own characters and plots. Fairyland, obviously, deals with the fairies and their existence, the world around you and investigating their origins. Daily life is the current 'arc' with the most attention, and is closer to a slice of life than anything else. 'Hero of Justice' is naturally dedicated to the illegal hunts, and is basically fully adopting the Knight Blazer persona and essentially Mio's wet dream of real life heroes of justice fighting against monsters and the forces of evil. I will say one thing though concerning the fairies: You've successfully triggered a fairly important event regarding them, but it hasn't come to play yet. Once it does, you already have an ace in the hole.

When will there be a new thread for this?