[X] Fuck the creepy little weirdo. You'll go, but not with him anywhere near you.

"The council house, right?" you ask. "Fine. I'll go."

"How magnanimous of you," Rasetsu says, voice dripping with sarcasm. Bowing once again, he gestures grandly at the door with both hands. "Now then, my liege, if it would please you to--"

"Just not with you," you interrupt coldly. "I'll be along in a few minutes, so you can leave first. Now."

Rasetsu freezes in mid-bow and his head snaps up to look at you, his off-kilter smile looking a little forced. "Could you, ah, say that again for me?" he finally manages, breaking from his pose to lean towards you with a hand cupped to his ear. "Because it sounded like you said you were refusing an escort from the council head."

"You heard me," you say. "I already know the way, and I don't need an escort I can't trust."

"Oh, really?" he asks, recoiling with a hand over his mouth in mock surprise. "Oh, really, reeeally, reeeealeeeaahahah!" He collapses into laughter, doubling over and stumbling backwards to brace himself against a wall. You take another big step away from him, and Yamame follows suit.

"But that's no good, you see?" Suddenly, he's back to normal, frowning sternly as he wags a single finger at you. "No good, no good, no good. NO. GOOD." The last two words are nearly shouted, and his stare looks genuinely angry as he locks eyes with you.

It occurs to you that this guy may be fucking insane. You take another step into the hallway, preparing to slam the door closed and run for it if he snaps.

"It's because of Hoshiguma, you see." And just as suddenly as he switched to anger, he switches back to calm explanation, gesturing with both hands. "Because of how she feels about me. When you show up dead, she'll snap. Go off her rocker. Nuts. Bonkers. Even flawed as she is, if we fight, there's a good chance she'll be grinding my bones to make her bread. And then we'll both be dead." He casts a glance at your face. "You and me, that is. Because they'll kill you. That's why you're dead at the start of our little hypothetical scenario."

"What? Who?"

"The youkai, of course. You see, that reason for leaving your friends behind was what we call a 'polite fiction'. Even if she does buddy up with Hoshiguma a little too much for their tastes, the arachnid remains one of them, bound by the stigma of their exile for the surface." Rasetsu presses the back of his hand to his brow in mock sorrow. "Truly tragic, but handy for her. You'll have to ask her about it sometime."

Exile? You look back to Yamame, but she doesn't return your gaze, keeping her head down.

"But a human?" Rasetsu laughs. "You're the ones that forced them underground! Their warmongers will be looking for something to show us oni that they're serious, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind, ah, killing two birds with one stone, if you catch my drift." He pauses. "And in case you don't, I'm saying they're going to cut off your head and leave it on our doorstep as a declaration of war."

"They wouldn't..." You hear Yamame's voice from behind you, and turn to look again. She's looking at the ground, hands balled into fists, and nearly shaking. "Who would do something like that...?" she murmurs, voice cracking.

"Who?" he asks mockingly. "Do you want an alphabetical list?"

You've had enough of this. "Get the fuck out," you say, stepping back to put an arm around Yamame's shoulder.

"I just told you why that's not--"

"Now." You know you have no power to make him leave even as you say it.

"Or?" And so does he. You remain silent, locking eyes with him as he grins bemusedly.

He breaks the gaze first, looking down and scratching his head. "Well, if you insist, I suppose I can make a small exception to policy. You'll just have to give me a headstart, all right?" He looks back up, that manic grin back on his face. "So I can tell the council head you'll be committing assisted suicide."

Yamame shakes slightly against your arm, and you hear her choke back a sob. "Just leave," you say.

"Right away," he says, taking a step back out of the room through the door behind him and into the kitchen. "A minute's headstart should be enough to clear my good name." And with that, he steps out of sight, heading towards the front door. As he leaves, he sticks a hand back into view, waving slowly at you. "Nice knowing you."

You don't reply, listening to the sound of the front door closing as Rasetsu makes his way out. After you're sure he's gone, you turn Yamame to face you, trying to look at her face. At her right hand, you see Kisume peek out of her bucket, looking up at her friend in concern. "Are you... alright?" you ask, already knowing the answer.

"I..." She pauses for a moment, then looks up at you, teary-eyed, with a strained, unnatural grin. "I shouldn't listen to him," she says, wiping at her eyes with her free hand. "I know he just tried to make people upset." She laughs weakly, wiping her eyes again. "Sorry for getting so emotional..."

"Don't apologize," you say, crouching to bring yourself to her eye level. "You didn't do anything wrong, and you've got every right to be upset." She nods, but her expression doesn't improve, and you shoot her a weak smile of your own, reaching out to touch her arm. "I feel like crying myself after that creep pretended to be Yuugi," you say, trying pathetically to lighten the mood.

Her smile brightens even as her eyes well with tears, and she chokes out a half-sob, half-laugh, stepping forward and throwing her arms around your neck. "T-thank you, Mr. Taizou," she says, giggling wetly into your shoulder at your poor attempt at humor. After a moment, you raise your arms, patting Yamame weakly on the back, and the two of you stay like that for a while as she dries her tears.

The two of you separate after a while, and you hold Yamame at arm's length to get a look at her face. You couldn't call her expression happy, but at least she doesn't look like she's about to cry anymore. Shifting your gaze downward, you notice Kisume beaming at you from her position at Yamame's side; the most emotion she's shown towards you (with the exception of fear) since you met her. Guess you scored some points with her by standing up for Yamame.

"I'm gonna go now," you say, taking a step back towards the door. "Are you two going to be okay here?"

"We'll be fine," Yamame says, backed up by a serious nod from Kisume. "You... you should make sure to stay safe, too," she adds, looking away and frowning.

"I will. See you later, Yamame, Kisume," you say, and, stepping back out of the room, you retrace your path out of the house to get your shoes, then around to the path towards the city. The light from the palace is still easily strong enough to see by, but the road seems more foreboding than any of the other times you've traveled it. Reminding yourself to be on your guard, you set off at a brisk pace towards the light of the palace.

Being on your guard doesn't really have any effect, though; you get about a third of the way before you notice a figure making its way down the road in the opposite direction towards you. It doesn't really look suspicious at all, as it's clearly making no effort to hide itself, and under normal circumstances, you probably wouldn't think anything of it; there are other houses on this road than Yuugi's, after all. After listening to Rasetsu, though, you can't help but think that you didn't run into anyone this far from the city on any of your other trips.

It's not like there's anything you can do about it now, though; you doubt you could run from any of the city's residents even if they did mean you harm. Instead, you just keep your head down, taking the road one step at a time as the figure draws closer to you. As you reach a distance of 20 or so paces from each other, you sneak another quick glimpse up. Based on its lack of horns, you can see that it's not an oni, but any more details elude you; it's wrapped in a plain, loose-fitting robe that extends over its head, hiding its face as well as its figure.

No choice but to continue. Turning your head away as though suddenly possessed of an acute interest in the dirt on the side of the road, you draw within a few steps of the figure.

"Hey."

Your body reacts before your mind can tell you to just ignore it and keep walking. Your feet pause for a second, and you tilt your head to catch a glimpse of the person figure that called out to you. Behind the ragged hood, you make out a pair of... antennae, not horns, covered in a strange, organic sort of armor, and a familiar face --

"You--"

You feel the weight against your shoulders before you can say anything; an incredible force pressing you into the earth. You try to run, but it's too late, the iron grip around your shoulders reverses direction, pulling you into the air by the base of your arms. You try to turn around, reach your assailant, or at least get a good look at him, but the hands -- you can feel now that they're hands -- are around your neck now, not squeezing, but trapping your chin, keeping your entire upper body immobile. You kick your legs backwards a few times, but what you hit feels as solid as rock, and your captor doesn't move.

"Me." The figure brings a hand to his mouth, letting out a piercing whistle -- and an army assembles. Crawling out of holes in the ground you hadn't noticed, descending from the sky, even stepping out of thin air; before you know it, there are enough of them to fill your vision, more than you want to count, more than enough people to--

"What are you doing?!" you scream, but you can't seem to put any energy behind it. It's already over. You've already been caught. You let your limbs fall limp, the joints of your shoulders suddenly burning with the pain of being suspended in midair.

"Nothing you haven't done yourself, human," the figure snarls, stepping face-to-face with you. You recognize the face now -- the youkai from the fight in the city, the one that tried to attack the council head, after the kid was--

Oh, God.

"What are you doing?" you repeat, quieter this time; you can barely hear yourself over the pounding of blood in your ears. You feel a sickening pressure in your chest, and fight back a wave of nausea, breathing quickening as you try to focus on what's happening in front of you.

Crack. Your head snaps back as the youkai's fist hits the side of your head, bouncing it off a hard surface behind you with enough force to leave stars in your vision. "What we should have done the moment you came down from your village," he says with a voice like cold steel before hitting you again, on the other side of your head this time. You try to speak again, but the next strike comes before you have time, and then the next strike, and after that you lose track for a while.

Nothing changes when you come back to consciousness. You feel something warm and wet dripping through your hair, and you can't see out of your left eye anymore. "Don't do this." Someone's crying. Is that you? You can't tell anymore. You try to look up, through the crowd, but your muscles don't seem to work right anymore, and your head lolls against your chest.

"That's it." The youkai's voice enters your brain, and your vision swims back into clarity. "Finish it." You see him turn his head, looking over your shoulder, and nod sharply.

You feel a brief tightness as the hands holding your shoulders and neck tighten, followed by a small snap.

Then nothing.

BAD END - "Strange Fruit"

View Super Orinrin Land?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No

If No:
[ ] Back one choice:
- [ ] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.
- [ ] Safe or not, you really don't want to do anything he suggests. Ask Yamame and Kisume to come with you.
- [ ] Don't go. If the council head wants you, he can come get you himself.
[ ] Back N choices.

[X] Yes
[X] Yes
[X] Yes!
[X] YES!
[X] YES!

[x] Back one choice:
- [x] Don't go. If the council head wants you, he can come get you himself.

[X] Yes

?????"

"Welcome to Super Orinrin Land! Orin here, ready to guide you on your path to glory, along with my assistant, the lovely Kisume!"

"'Sup."

"Congratulations on avoiding any bad ends up 'till now! You've exceeded my expectations, you stud, you! Survive any more dangerous situations and you'll become so masculine, I may just catch you and have my way with you next time you drop by~"

"They're not on your route, dumbass."

"Route, shmoot! What's fanfiction without a little plot-irrelevant, out-of-character sex every once in a while?"

"Not shit?"

"Sadly, my lovely assistant is absolutely correct! Out of six possible routes for this playthrough, the choices have been narrowed to two, with one of them already a heavy favorite!"

"You mean seven."

"Aha! So you might think, but think again! On the first playthrough, one of the possible routes is unavailable! Which one is it, I wonder, I wonder~"

"Fuck if I care. I'm already getting an side story H-scene."

"Says the character without a route in any playthrough~"

"..."

"But you're not going to finish any route unless you live, you know~? Lucky you have us to tell you where you went wrong~ Isn't that right, Kisume?"

"Fucking propitious."

"This choice was harder than most, though! Only a 50% chance of surviving, and the hint that your surroundings were dangerous was so well hidden it may as well not have been there! It's almost like you fell into a trap~"

"Writefag's a goddamn cheater."

"Well, be that as it may, you'd better remember where you are! You're not strong enough to wander around alone unless you're completely sure it's safe! You're better off sticking with someone strong enough to keep you safe, even if you hate his guts!"

"Your hints are too obvious."

"Of course, you could avoid this sort of situation by getting stronger, right~? The way things are going, it looks like you might have to defend yourself sooner than you think~"

"Good luck finding the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, you pussy."

"Anyway, I think that's enough for now! Try this choice again, and hopefully we won't meet again for a while~"

"GL HF DD DS."

?????"

"..."

"..."

"Hey..."

"..."

"You know I didn't mean anything by that 'character without a route' crack, right?"

"..."

"...Sorry."

"..."

"..."

"...I forgive you."

---

[ ] Back one choice:
- [ ] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.
- [ ] Safe or not, you really don't want to do anything he suggests. Ask Yamame and Kisume to come with you.
- [ ] Don't go. If the council head wants you, he can come get you himself.
[ ] Back N choices.

[x] Back one choice:
- [x] Safe or not, you really don't want to do anything he suggests. Ask Yamame and Kisume to come with you.

>>66

This; and what is super orinin land?

[X]Back one choice.
-[X]You'd rather keep you friends from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Go with him, and go alone.

I like this Orin already.

>>71

Speaking about that, where is that H -side story anyways?

And I predict fanwars in UnLA R2.

[X]Back one choice.
-[X]You'd rather keep you friends from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Go with him, and go alone.

>>64
[X]Back one choice.
-[X]You'd rather keep you friends from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Go with him, and go alone.

Well goddamn, this is probably the first time I didn't vote for the Bad End the first time through. Second verse, same as the first~

Just going to throw this out there: even though some of their species have proven to be jerks and scum-bags, does this End somewhat confirm that all oni do not tell lies? He may have been a douchebag about, but Rasetsu was pretty forthright in his assessment of our situation.

Finally, for the sake of masochism, I request a brief, Teruyo-esque, write-up of how Yuugi and Yamame responded to Taizo getting maimed. I find such post-scripts oddly cathartic (especially after a Bad End) in the way they shed light on how our character was posthumously perceived.

>>75
>>/others/21663
He may only update once in a blue moon, but glasnost is a man of his word. All things considered, though, I'd gladly trade reliability for some goddamn timeliness.

[x] Back one choice:
- [x] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.

[x] Back one choice:
- [x] Don't go. If the council head wants you, he can come get you himself.

We have good reason not to go with him. The way he treats you might be punishable.

[z] Back one choice:
- [e] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.

How pleasantly insane~

>>71
>Out of six possible routes for this playthrough
Yamame, Yuugi, Satori, Orin, Utsuho, Koishi

>the choices have been narrowed to two,
Yamame, Yuugi, Satori, Orin, Utsuho, Koishi

>with one of them already a heavy favorite!"
Yuugi, Yamame, Satori, Orin, Utsuho, Koishi
Probably.
Though a spider is fine too.

>"You mean seven."
>"Aha! So you might think, but think again! On the first playthrough, one of the possible routes is unavailable! Which one is it, I wonder, I wonder~"
Parsee.
Also might actually be Utsuho or Koishi, in which case, replace all relevant instances accordingly.

>"Fuck if I care. I'm already getting an side story H-scene."
Yes... how is that coming along, anyway?

>>74
Orin, nothing. Bitter, cynical Kisume is the best.

[X]Back one choice.
-[X]You'd rather keep you friends from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Go with him, and go alone.

I have no idea if i already voted, yesterday is kind of hazy. If yes, ignore this one.

A dead Taizou causing some kind of serious underground conflict?

Sounds like a side-story to me.

[x] Back one choice:
- [x] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.
Somehow I have a feeling this'll end up just the same as the previous choice, but what the hell.

Wait. When the fuck did this story turn so dark. Pretty certain it was a lighthearted adventure thing story with cute girls and rapid development. And look at what we now have, a motherfucking cavehammer 40k grimndark emofest with sudden death minefields aplenty. It's like Narutaru, drawing you in with cute stuff and then it mind rapes you.

>>71
[X] Back one choice:
[X] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.

>>102
Inclined to agree, but this line in the post-death analysis gives me pause:
>"Congratulations on avoiding any bad ends up 'till now! You've exceeded my expectations, you stud, you!

I think this was another SDM LA situation where we (supposedly) avoided a dozen or so bad ends before we were finally caught. All things considered, it's probably for the best since now we know exactly what kind of story this actually is. What surprises me the most of how long the update actually was. Quite involved for our ignominious demise.

In b4 we get two bad ends in a row.

>[X] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.

Instead of sticking by people we know can and will defend us, we'll go with the guy who hates our guts, and who, if he didn't lay the trap, certainly stuck around in a different skin long enough to see it sprung--and did nothing. Yeah, fucking brilliant thinking there.

[x] Back one choice:
- [x] Don't go. If the council head wants you, he can come get you himself.

If this guy stood up to the council head, then I won't expect anyone but the council head to talk him down.

[X] Back one choice:
[X] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.

Kisume H-scene is up at >>222, in case you failed to notice. Vote's called for following Rasetsu alone; I'm going to update MoaV next, but I'm think I may be getting back in the groove of semi-fast updates. But don't hold your breath.

And now the aftermath short is posted, same Bat-thread as before.

>>73
For the record, "Super Orinrin Land" is based on the Futaba meme "Super Ochinchin Land" (where "ochichin" means "penis"), where Japanese imageboard trolls spam threads with pictures of cocks. I picked the name largely at random, but the idea for a post-bad end comedy recap with wildly distorted personalities comes from TYPE-MOON visual novels; Taiga Dojo in F/SN and Teach Me, Ciel-Sensei in Tsukihime.

It's late but.....

Yamame ;____;

been catching up on ULA and that bug guy in the bad end I think was from >>/others/18754

Just something to think about.

>>608
>>613


DURR HURR
Top of page 2 in /others/

>>614

I forgot Glasnost is nice enough to link to the next threads. But I made my second post to inform those who might not be aware of earlier events.

But on what Glas said earlier, if we're on Yuugi route, I wonder if this entails any kind of interference in the SA events.

But it seems Taizo is indeed the key to resolving the issues between the two groups in the underground, especially judging from the bad end aftermath.

[X] Back one choice:
- [X] You'd rather keep your friends away from danger, and that may include Rasetsu. Follow him, and go alone.

You look back at Yamame. She looks... scared, more scared than you've ever seen her; she's holding her ground, but you can literally see her shake. Is this guy really that strong? Yuugi made him sound like more of a nuisance than anything else. Besides, if he had wanted to hurt you, he would have done it while he was disguised as Yuugi, right?

Unless he's trying to get you alone so nobody can see what he does to you. It's paranoia, but you can't help it; everything Rasetsu does and says is suspicious in one way or another. Still, Yamame may be stronger than you, but you don't think she can defend you from an oni. Is there some other motive, then? Or is he just trying to be clean about it, make sure he doesn't kill more people than he has to--

"Heeey. Human." You snap out of your thoughts as Rasetsu's voice calls out to you, waving a hand as though to check whether or not you're still conscious. "Do you think you can speed this decision up a little? We've got places to be." That slasher smile returns, and he shifts his gaze ever so slightly to look at Yamame. "If you're worried about not taking your friends, I can make that decision much easier for you, if you want."

"I'll go." You spit out your approval before you can regret it. His threats may be empty, but there's no way to tell; at least this way, you're the only one who'll get hurt. "Will you be okay here, Yamame?"

"We'll be fine, Mr. Taizou," she replies. "Are you sure that--"

"Yes, yes, parting, sorrow, sweet, et cetera." He's right there at your shoulder, across the room in the instant you looked at Yamame; you recoil slightly out of instinct. "Terribly sorry, but we must be going, dearest--"

"I'll be fine. You stay safe yourself," you say loudly, shooting a glare at Rasetsu as you talk over him. "If Yuugi comes back before I do, let her know where I am, okay?" Yamame nods silently, and you turn to Rasetsu. "Let's go."

"Really? Are you sure? Are you sure you're sure? You don't want to discuss it in committee? Maybe sleep on it?" He rolls his eyes at you, then turns back to the door. "Come on, human. We'll have to hurry if we're going to meet our ambush on time."

...This was a bad idea. Ignoring the sinking feeling in your stomach, you follow him out of the house and down the path to the city. He stays silent part of the way, thankfully; even the sound of his voice is starting to piss you off a little. About halfway to the city, though, he stops walking abruptly, just standing on the road, looking off into the distance.

"Looks like we made it in time after all," he says with a cackle in his voice. "Try not to move too much, would you?

"What are you talking about?"

"Look." He points, and, following his finger, you just manage to make out a figure walking towards you, a short distance off of the road. "The signal man for our ambush."

"What ambush?" You've had more than enough of this cryptic bullshit. "What the fuck are you talking about?!" you shout.

"If you don't use your head, it's liable to fall off," he replies calmly, smirking back at you. "You were there when Hoshiguma got attacked. If it was your child that had been... disciplined..." His smirk stretches into a grinning sneer, and you dismiss the urge to punch him as a matter of principle. "...what would you do?"

The kid that attacked Yuugi... "You're saying that the youkai are--"

"That wasn't a rhetorical question, you know," he interrupts in a disapproving tone. "What would you do?"

"Move somewhere where the people who make the law aren't sociopaths," you shoot back angrily.

"Well, then, you're not a youkai, because they're thinking revenge. Now, if you had your choice, who would you rather beat up: a oni, awe-inspiring creature of myth and legend, or a squishy little human who can barely tell his ass from his elbow?"

"The oni, as long as I got to pick one that I really want to beat up," you say through gritted teeth.

"Wrong again. You wouldn't make a very good youkai," he says matter-of-factly. "Now, they probably wouldn't have broken into Hoshiguma's house just to lynch you, but the council head decided not to take that chance, and so we end up here."

"You said Yamame and Kisume were in danger," you say. At this point, it wouldn't surprise you to learn that he lied, but you'd at least like to know that they're safe.

"I said, and I quote, 'Senseless violence is just waiting to happen.' The devil's in the details, you-- ah, there you are!" Rasetsu breaks off suddenly in the middle of his explanation and calls a greeting back down the road. Looking back, you can see why; the figure from earlier is much closer now, and a few more people have joined him. All of them are dressed in the same featureless, sack-cloth clothes, with a long hood that obscures their features. You do, however, see a pair of antennae peeking out from under the hood of the one in the center; they're covered in a sort of armor, just like...

The youkai who attacked the council head. So this really is an ambush?

"Oh, are we early? I don't think you have enough people for a proper ambush," Rasetsu says conversationally. "Although I guess you can't really have an ambush either way, since we know about it now."

Silence. The hooded figures don't reply, and you can't see their faces well enough to make out their expressions. After a long moment, though, the one in the center brings his hand to his mouth and... whistles; a loud, shrill noise that echoes across the empty landscape.

"Oh, wow," Rasetsu says incredulously. "You're really still going to try?" You hear a sound from behind you, and turning to face it, you see... something crawling out of the ground; humanoid, but not like any youkai you've ever heard of. "I mean, sure, you could kill the human without too much trouble, but I could take out... hmm, about a quarter of your forces before you could even run." You spin back around towards Rasetsu in time to see a group of three youkai land next to the hooded figures. "And I am but one man! Even if you start a war, you won't win it, especially with your poor grasp on ambush tactics." You look towards a movement in the corner of your eye, and find your escape route cut off, a group of youkai that weren't there a second ago blocking the way. You're completely encircled now, you realize as you survey the area around you; there are easily twenty or thirty youkai shoulder-to-shoulder around you, and more behind them, and in front of you is--

You.

What?

Yeah, that's you, all right; the same face you see in a mirror, turning around as it surveys the youkai surrounding you with (you must admit) a stupid look. It doesn't seem to respond to you at all, staring you right in the face as though it's looking through you. What... is it? You reach out to touch--

"Stay still, human," Rasetsu snaps, looking at you... no, at your clone. "These youkai are ferocious beasts. A single false move, and they'll spring on you!" he shouts, mock-serious, before breaking into a high-pitched cackle. You take his advice, lowering your arm slowly; your clone, however, doesn't, taking another step away from you and toward the front of the circle and the hooded figures.

"What's going on?" it asks. "Who are these people? I'm so confused..."

"Fear not, young fool, for I am here," he says with an air of gallantry, putting a hand to his chest. "What are your demands, O foul creatures?" he bellows at the crowd of youkai.

The same figure that whistled steps forward. "Leave the human and we'll allow you to live."

"Leave the human and I live... Hmm..." Rasetsu rubs his chin in mock-thought. "Well, I'd really like to accept your offer, buuuut I'm afraid that's the worst bluff I've ever heard, so... no. Go away."

"I see." The figure turns to his left, looking over your clone's shoulder... and straight at you. "Do it."

What? You turn -- and duck as the rock whizzes over your head, fast enough that you can hear the air being displaced. You cover your head with your hands and crouch even further, bracing yourself for the impact of the next shot --

Crack. You break your defensive posture, though, as that unmistakable sound of breaking bones comes from behind you. The rock that missed you, you realize as you turn to look at the noise, hit your clone perfectly in the back of the head, and it goes down with a dull thump, body going limp all at once.

"Oh, shit!" Rasetsu runs to it immediately, crouching to examine it. A useless gesture, from what you can see; blood is already starting to pour from the hole in its skull (if you can call it a hole; it looks more like the back half of its head was simply replaced with a rock), and the body is already starting to lose its color.

"What..." Your head may as well have been the one hit with a rock, for all the sense this is making. You still don't know what that thing was, and it's already dead? It couldn't have been Rasetsu; he's right there next to it! And why hasn't anyone thrown anything at you yet? You duck back into your defensive position, but it doesn't seem to make any difference; nobody's paying any attention to you whatsoever.

Instead, all eyes turn to the hooded figure as he speaks again. "You now have two options: surrender or die."

"Oh, dear," Rasetsu says under his breath; too quiet for anyone but you to hear. Oh, me, oh, my." He stands, turning to face the hooded figure. "That was a bad idea."

"Make your--"

"See, I'm supposed to be protecting the human." Rasetsu speaks up now, drowning the figure out. "But I have to be reasonable, they say, and limit my use of force." He takes a step towards the figure, and you do the same, suppressing the urge to keep trying to hide yourself. "So I can't hurt anyone unless they try to hurt him first. But if they kill him..." He smiles widely, and the hooded figure takes a step back.

"Well, I've got a lot of latitude to deal with you, now, don't I?"

"This is your last warning." The hooded figure doesn't back down, but his voice betrays his fear.

"But I'll be kind. Or, rather, I've been kind." Rasetsu ignores him, holding out his right hand and gesturing -- holy shit, is that a snake? It is a snake, coiled around Rasetsu's arm and hissing dangerously as he points it towards the youkai. Where did that come from?

"I gave you until now to run away."

And then he... explodes. More snakes fly from his body in all directions, a few of them narrowly missing you as they strike down members of the youkai mob on all sides. The once-silent air is suddenly filled with screams and hisses as humanoid figures writhe around on the ground, wrestling with serpents as long as they are. Are these snakes... him? You pause, stunned, over one of the hooded figures, fighting off a snake colored the same red as Rasetsu's hair.

"Let's go, human." And somehow, to top it all off, Rasetsu steps up from behind you, that same smug smile on his face.

You... don't have it in you to argue anymore. He walks through on down the road, stepping carefully around the struggling bodies, and you follow his path silently until the two of you are clear of the scene.

"So?" he asks, after the screams have faded away.

"...What?"

"I just saved your life, you know," he says. "No token of appreciation? Grudging brofist? Confession of love? 'Thank you, mighty Rasetsu, for going above and beyond the call of duty in your concern for the structural integrity of my skull'?"

[ ] Write-in.

[X] Begrudged brofi...

>>773
>Grudging brofist?
FFFFFFFFFFFFF

[X] "...I'm very thankful you've been able to carry out your duty so far."

Many, many thanks Rasetsu, but while you are by far one of the most interesting antagonists yet, you've only done what was asked. Much obliged for doing what you were told, but please be snappy with delivering us to our beloved Yuugi~

[X] Grudging brofist

I'll do it.

Definitely digging this guys attitude.

Assuming that was Yamame who was telling them to "Don't do it" during the BAD END. I wonder if she also saw the clone get "killed"?

[X] "...I'm very thankful you've been able to carry out your duty so far."

This but be as sarcastic as posable.

[x] "Well, let me think about it. I'm pretty sure you only did it because you were ordered to, and my life was only really in danger because you brought me out here in the first place."
[x] "Also you're an asshole. And I'm pretty sure you enjoyed doing whatever it is you did to those Youkai. Because you're an asshole."
[x] "So, thanks for being an asshole."

[X] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

Dick.

[x] "Well, let me think about it. I'm pretty sure you only did it because you were ordered to, and my life was only really in danger because you brought me out here in the first place."
[x] "Also you're an asshole. And I'm pretty sure you enjoyed doing whatever it is you did to those Youkai. Because you're an asshole."
[x] "So, thanks for being an asshole."

[X] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

This is far more insulting to an oni than calling him an asshole.

{X} "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

[X] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

[X] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

{X} "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

[x] "Thanks for saving my ass even when you didn't want to."

The mess wasn't caused by Rasetsu, but by their angry reaction over something we kinda started by accident. And I figured some sort of thanks is needed, since we never know when the next time he's the only thing between us and pissed youkai is.

Somehow I don't think he'd be too insulted by this; he's not a normal Oni.

>>799
>The mess wasn't caused by Rasetsu, but by their angry reaction over something we kinda started by accident.
Yeah, remember when we accidentally made that youkai punch Yuugi? Oh wait, that didn't happen.

We got a something thrown at our head, Yuugi stepped in, the kid did something stupid, and the Head Oni did something even more stupid. We didn't start shit.

>>808
>we kinda inadvertently started a ripple effect of things, and perhaps upset the uneasy balance.
Rephrasing your statement doesn't make it any less false.

This situation has been created by the escalating tensions between the Oni and the Youkai due to the draconian polices of the ruling Oni. It has been happening since long before we got here, this is just the latest incident.

>Thus, it's up to us to restore it.
Are you nuts? The status quo is all fucked up down here. The last thing we should want is to restore it.

>Regardless, Rasetsu had no real part in the mess.
He could have used that illusion stuff to just walk away, but instead he chose to fuck up a bunch of Youkai. That is just going to make this situation worse. He's fanning the flames here. I bet a big reason Youkai are resorting to violence is because of him and people like him.

I concede the point this time.

[x] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

[X] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

Let's get this scheming bastard right where it fucking hurts.

[x] "Okay, I think I understand why you wanted to bring me to the council, despite the high likelihood I would be attack..."
- [x] "You wanted to use me as bait to flush out the more militant youkai and their leader; the attack on me--or the dummy, in this scenario--gives you the necessary excuse to make an example out of the agitators."
- [x] "You fit the role because you have a knack for goading people, you're not nearly as intimidating in appearance as the council head, and because Yuugi is not a good enough an actor--she lacks the essential duplicity."
- [x] "I'm alive because Yuugi would have objected had this plan involved my death. This is why you bothered to use a double instead of just letting me die, which would have been to the same effect."
- [x] "Now was this the council's plan? Or your own? Because I have to commend your acting and ingenuity. However, the only person who deserves my thanks here is Yuugi. In fact, it looks as if you and you council should be thanking me."

>>872

This would only work in Rasetsu's favor for a variety of reasons...

1. The ambush would have occurred no matter what so long as Taizo continues to breath as he's forever marked. Considering the kind of character Rasetsu is, there are plenty of ways to goad the volatile youkai; especially if they already developed a deep hatred for decades if not centuries...

2. Rasetsu's pretty much a Kefka without the nihilistic tendancies, not to mention possibly still holds up the standard of "Oni do not lie" policy, even if twisted...

3. This insinuates that Yuugi not only intentionally sent Taizo into danger but is in cahoots with Rasetsu. I don't buy that as, based on what I've read, she would have had nothing to do with such a plan and more likely would have tried to get in the way of it ever passing, even more so if Rasetsu is going about it entirely alone.

4. The council(read leader) most likely did want to see Taizo in his search through the Earth Palace (more like mansion). The ambush is just something that was going to happen; especially considering the hostile portion of the underground population is looking for Taizo's blood spilled.

I forget. What does LA stand for?

>>887

Limited Adventure.

Called for savvy race relations. Updates before Monday.

[ze] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

I really, really, really like Rasetsu.
I keep hearing his voice in something sort of like a rougher version of Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz.

>>1203
>I keep hearing his voice in something sort of like a rougher version of Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz.
I came

>>1052
>Updates before Monday.
I AM DISAPPOINT

I think Rasetsu is a pretty cool guy, eh tricks youkai and doesn't afraid of anything.

But seriously, Rasetsu's a pretty awesome antagonist, almost to the magnificent bastard status.

[X] "Alright, fine, I'll admit that your deception was impressive. I daresay it was almost human."

"Token of appreciation? Fine." You nearly laugh; you don't understand this guy's way of thinking at all, but if the stories about oni are true, there should be one thing that'll definitely get under his skin. "Yes, the way you murdered those youkai by deceiving them was very impressive. I'd say it was almost... human."

Rasetsu's jaw drops, and he doesn't respond for a moment. When he does, though, it's with that infuriating cackle, and a wide-eyed grin to match. "Oh, that's good. You should use that one with every oni you meet. That element of self-loathing really adds a nice touch," he says, a note of mocking praise in his voice. "Unfortunately, species is no factor in my tender feelings toward you, human. You should know, considering that you pegged me as a sociopath so quickly."

"So you just hate me for the fun of it?" you ask, finding yourself drawn into his conversational tone.

"Hate? You've got it all wrong." He chuckles, a oddly genuine laugh, and his smile goes a little off-kilter as he looks you in the eye. "You don't hate objects."

"..." You want to respond, but there's something about the look in his eye, the angle of his grin, the pattern of stress in his voice; it... unnerves you, and you stay silent, not looking away as he continues to stare.

"By the way, I didn't murder anyone, you know." And then the moment passes, and he turns away, looking back down the road as he continues to speak. "Big boss says it's bad PR. Won't let me."

"You attacked them with snakes bigger than they were," you say, shaking off the strange feeling from before. "You expect me to believe they all survived?"

He snorts. "Snakes? You thought that was real? 136 snakes, just appearing out of nowhere?" Another cackle. "Life must be simple above ground. Where would I keep them, in my pants?" His grin stretches into a leer. "Because there's only one snake in--"

"Please, just shut up." Why did you bother responding to his taunts, again? You can't remember.

Rasetsu is mercifully silent the rest of the way, settling for cackling to himself unsettlingly as you walk through the streets of the city proper. The reaction you get from the youkai in the city is... surprisingly positive, really, considering what you just went through. There are a few that pointedly look away as you pass, and a few more that openly curse at you, but there are more that let you go with a friendly nod, and even a few that greet you with an "Afternoon, human," which you return as politely as you can. The oni you pass seem ambivalent, on the whole; you don't really see very many on the way in. In fact, now that you think about it, you really haven't ever seen too many oni out on the streets; they've dominated your attention before, due to their physical differences from humans, but from what you can tell, there are several times more youkai than oni living here. Either way, the trip through the city is relatively uneventful, and Rasetsu leads you to the council hall within a few minutes.

The council hall is... chaos. The stench of stale alcohol and spicy food hits you full-force as you step inside, and the noise... You can barely think straight. The long table, empty of everything but dirty dishes last time you saw it, is covered with food and drink, and every position around it is occupied by an oni, all of whom seem to be trying to talk to everyone simultaneously. You spy Yuugi at the end of the room, to the left of the council head's position at the head of the table, and make your way towards her, watching the floor to avoid stepping on any sprawled body parts.

Before you can even make it halfway, though, one of the oni turns as you pass, tilting his head up at you with a bleary-eyed look that quickly sharpens. "The human's here!" he warbles, turning to address the table excitedly. Suddenly, all attention is on you, and the noise level rises further than you thought possible as a mixture of cheers and boos echo through the cramped space. A few people on this side of the table rise, moving towards you, but they're stopped by others who stand to block their path. In the space of a few seconds, the noise of rowdy discussion has turned to that of rowdy argument, and the word on everyone's lips seems to be 'human'. You continue towards the head of the table, and Rasetsu stays by your side, positioning himself between the table and you.

"I brought the human, Oosenri," he says with a wry grin as the two of you reach Yuugi's position. "Not even a scratch on him, Hoshiguma," he adds, moving around the table to sit opposite Yuugi, to the left of the council head.

"Good," she spits, pointedly turning away from him and looking up to you. "Sit down, Taizou," she says, patting a space to the right of her, and you squeeze into position, your elbows brushing the people to your sides.

"Good work, Kirio," the council head says, clapping Rasetsu on the shoulder. "Were you intercepted?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," he said, his usual smirk conspicuously absent as he spoke to the council head.

"Just as I expected. There were no casualties?"

"As promised."

"Good man." The council head gives Rasetsu a small smile, an exercise in contrast against his stern demeanor, before turning to Yuugi. "Yuugi, if you intend to act, I recommend you do so now, before the rest of the council recalls how the voting process works."

Yuugi nods sternly. "You're gonna have to follow along here, Taizou," she says, giving you an uneasy grin.

Follow along? "With wha--"

"Taizou Hori!" Suddenly, she stands, shouting out your name loud enough to draw the attention of the rest of the oni. "I nominate you as a member of the Council of the Ancient City!"

"Second!" You jump as a voice booms out beside you, from the person to your right. It's Yuugi's friend, you realize; the one that ran the meat shop you visited earlier. Zenki, was it? He did say he was on the council along with Yuugi, didn't he?

"Should you accept, you will be charged with the responsibility of ensuring the safety and prosperity of the oni with the entirety of your being!" Your attention snaps back to Yuugi as she continues to shout, more to the rest of the oni than to you. "In return, you will gain the power to direct the future of the oni through your choices! Do you accept this power and responsibility?"

This is what she meant? How are you supposed to follow along with this? "What are you--"

"Do you accept?" Yuugi asks again, cutting you off bluntly. For the first time, you catch a glimpse of emotion beyond her shouts; a hint of pleading in her voice, a bit of encouragement in her expression, the slightest hint of a nod. She... wants you to accept?

Your head swims, trying to make sense of what she's saying. A member of the council? You have some idea of what that means, but that doesn't tell you everything you need to know. Is there some sort of catch here? Is this just a formality, or does it actually mean something? Do you even want to accept, either way?

...All you can do is trust Yuugi, and the tense anticipation on her face, together with the tone of her voice, tells you what she thinks you should do. "I'll accept," you say, loud enough to be heard over the din.

Another spike of noise resounds, the same mixture of cheers and boos as when you first entered the room. Yuugi, on the other hand, sags with relief, giving you a weary smile and a pat on the shoulder. Before anyone has a chance to say anything, though, the council head speaks out over the noise.

"And I place under Taizou Hori's command a force of ten men, for the sole purpose of continuing investigation into the issue of Satori Komeiji's involvement in the destruction of above-ground crop fields." Another roar goes up from the crowd, and you see one oni, across the table and a few seats down from you, stand and walk out of the hall, cursing loudly all the way.

"Now." Even the council head's voice doesn't cut through the maelstrom of sound in the hall now, but he doesn't seem to notice, looking directly at you as he speaks. "We need you to lead that force in another search, beginning tomorrow."

"The deal with Satori was one person from each side." Is this what that ceremony was about? Are you just being used as a political pawn of some sort.

The council steps closer to you, lowering his voice as he looks down at you. "The agreement we made with Miss Komeiji names you as its sole arbiter. Should you decide that additional force is necessary, you may choose to apply it as you see fit." Another step closer, and he's practically on top of you now. "And I believe that you should choose to apply it."

"As he sees fit," Yuugi echoes from behind you.

"The choice is yours," the council head says, and his expression tells you that he wants it made now.

[ ] Write-in.

---

You may have noticed the lack of choice regarding joining the council. You can take that as a sign of whose route you're locked on.

we've already accepted for better or worse.

The choice here regards if we need more man power and what to do with it.

we should think about this before making hasty decisions, since our neutral spot isn't quite so neutral now possibly.

A suggestion would be perhaps ask about how the investigation is going on the end of the openings and such. (Catching up)

I'll try to think of more suggestions tomorrow.

[X] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact."

Seriously. I don't want to tear the woman's house to pieces.

[X] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact."

Sounds good

Play along anon. For now, at least.

[X] 'The palace's mistress may disagree, but the destruction of our precious resources is too serious of a matter to care about her reactions. I'll go with all the men under my command and perform a through search to find out exactly what that girl is hiding'




>>1304
So, we're locked in Yuugi's? Well, it makes sense I guess but... how the hell were we supposed to get into Satori's route? By acting like a jerk to Yuugi until we reach the palace? That'd have got us killed...

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact."
I doubt that any search can dispell the doubts the oni have about Satori, only finding the true cause and demonstrating it to everybody can do that. I would have said before that this is definitely not Satori's doing, but since the bad end showed that I had completely misintreped the nature of this story I can't rule her involvement out anymore. Damn you and your paranoia fuel, glasnost.

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

Make it clear that you're participating in the search, but that it's not going to be a destructive romp through Satori's house, and that you're a man of your word.

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

sounds good man.

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

Feels good man

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

sounds great to me, and it remembers the original spirit of you being the neutral party even in your skewed position.

My question is how will this affect SA events...

And I wonder about Rasetsu's role in the future; with his shape shifting abilities, one must always keep as many eyes on him as possible. (For all we know he might be causing the mess in the shape of an non-oni) But this is just baseless speculation.

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

>(For all we know he might be causing the mess in the shape of an non-oni)

Well now that there is an interesting idea, it is.

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."
[x] You'll see to it, though, that the men will wait outside, preferably with someone to keep them in check. You three are the only ones needed inside the residence.

Our position means diddly-squat. I can just see those Oni storming the palace and then making an excuse that they thought we were in trouble.

>>1316
We've spent just as much time with Yamame, though. So I'm still trying to wrap my head around that.

>>1429

I also have no idea how we locked ourselves onto the Yuugi route. As long as Yamame remains a frequently appearing character, I'll be okay with it.

>>1316
>>1429
I was rereading the first couple threads to try and understand the Yuugi route lock (don't misunderstand; as soon as I saw it, I had the biggest grin on my face, but I still wanted to get a full grasp of what was behind it). I speculate that the big turning point was our decision to fight with her when we first met. I think the choices were split between fighting and not at the time. After the fight, Yuugi declared that she/oni won't live with people they haven't fought with. Had we declined her challenge, I think she would have carted us off to the palace as a more permanent place of residence, ensuring a more Satori/Orin/Okuu/Koishi-centric route. Guessing all the way, but some of our shameless flirting and intimacy probably helped secure a very tight Yuugi lock right off.

That said, I still think there's a 10% chance for a Yamame route.

What really has me boggled is why we haven't met Parsee yet. After the most recent update, I pillaged Pixiv for all the best Yuugi pics availiable, and half of the good ones were those that paired her up with Ms. Jealousy.

>>1431

I think another part was all the places we went with her as opposed to Yamame.

Updates?

>>1635

Glasnost is rather infamous for updating his stories once a month or so, so just enjoy other stories until he does.

>>1639

Yeah the recent push of these updates almost made me forget about that...

>>1639
>Glasnost is rather infamous for updating his stories once a month or so, so just enjoy other stories until he does.

I'd be inclined to agree, but that was before an unambiguous route lock. It's officially on, and we'd be remiss to remain complacent with the current pace.

>>1683

I can't wait for a month to say it so I'll ask it now after eight days...

Is it still on.."

[x] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."
[X] "Also, I'd like for the best oni carpenter to accompany us at the palace. Since I don't know who that is, I will leave that to the council."

Don't forget. Keep exploring the map We need to call a carpenter to remove that paintings from the wall at the palace. Also, maybe we should have an escort at all times, whenever we go to the city? In case Yuugi is busy, that is.

Kisume uses GATTAI!

It's super effective!

>>1430
I'll admit that a route lock at this juncture may seem a bit odd, and in hindsight, a few more choices to let you clarify things wouldn't have been a bad idea, but to make a long story short, we've come to the point where the story branches into route-specific subplots, which means that we need a route. There was at least one Yuugi vs. Yamame choice that Yuugi won, though, so I don't think the choice was completely arbitrary. Branch points that could have gotten you onto other routes should be a bit more obvious, at least in retrospect, but I'll probably clarify them in the next bad end (or the postgame, should you manage to avoid death for the remainder of the story) just in case.

Also, what's with this talk of once a month updates? I'll cop to being slow, but never that slow, unless you count the site downtime against me.

---

[X] "... fair enough with how things seem to be going, but I expect anyone under my command not to forget that fact, as we've got a pre-existing agreement with Komeiji to do what we can to protect her property, where it does not expressly interfere with the search. Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

"Another search with more men? Fair enough," you say. "But I expect anyone put under my command not to forget that fact."

"What are you implying?" the council head asks neutrally, taking a step backwards out of your personal space.

"You saw the reaction to this announcement," you say, gesturing to the table, where chaos somewhere between a public debate and a bar brawl still reigns. "A formality that puts me in command means nothing if I'm not obeyed." Your tongue sticks a little on that last word. 'Obeyed'... you never could have imagined that you would be having a conversation like this. "The agreement was that I would remain neutral and strike a balance between Satori's right to protect her property and the council's right to investigate." You force yourself to look the council head in the eye, ignoring his deepening frown. "Oni put stake in their word, and so do I."

"I have no more intention of forcing you to break your word than I do of breaking my own," he replies immediately, the steel back in his voice. "Do not suggest otherwise. Your agreement, however, is nothing more or less than to determine the cause of the destruction of the crop fields, and you have a responsibility to do so, regardless of the means. Do not forget that."

You... there's nothing you can say to respond to that. Fortunately, the council head seems to feel the same way, his expression softening (back to his normal stony glare) as he turns away from you towards the table.

"It seems that trying to accomplish anything further tonight will be a waste of time," he says with a sigh as he looks over the chaos. "This meeting is adjourned!" he calls out (to no apparent reaction from the crowd) before turning to leave out the back door. Oddly enough, Rasetsu stands and follows close after him, abandoning a conversation with another oni at the table.

"That actually went better than I woulda figured." Yuugi speaks up from behind you, clapping a hand on your shoulder. "You okay, Taizou?"

"Y... yeah, I guess." You're still not exactly sure on the specifics of what happened, with you being made a council member and all, but it seems to be over now and you're not dead or injured, a status which is rapidly becoming your standard for 'okay'. Still, talking to the council head has left you a little out of sorts; even if he's not actively trying to intimidate you, just being around him is enough to make you nervous. Is it just because he could crumple you into a ball and throw you away, or do other oni feel like that about him too?

"That calls for a drink," Yuugi says with a laugh, slapping a cool bottle into your palm. "Just sit tight for now, okay?" She reaches under the low table, sliding a big wooden crate out from where she had been sitting. "Zenki'll explain everything while I take care of things."

Take care of things? "You're leaving?"

"Nah, I ain't goin' anywhere." With a grunt, she hefts the crate off the ground, bringing it to rest on her shoulder, and flashes you a wide grin. "Just gonna do a little PR."

Before you can ask what that means, she moves around to the head of the table. "Okay, kids, meeting's over, and I'm feelin' generous!" she calls into the center of the room. "Who knows what that means?"

"Booze!" "Free liquor!" The chaos around the table collapses into a chorus of cheers as Yuugi sets the crate down with a ground-shaking thud and begins pulling bottles out. Before you know it, she's surrounded by a crowd so thick that you can barely see her, all clamoring for their share.

"Sit down before you get knocked down, kid," Zenki says, still in the same place at at table as he was when you first noticed him. You take his advice, sitting back down as the area around you gets more and more crowded.

"So Yuugi's gone and pushed ya off onto me, but I don't really know what she wants me to tell ya, so..." Zenki trails off and shrugs, taking a gulp of his drink. "You got questions, or what?"

"What..." You struggle for a question that will tell you everything you want to know, finally settling on the simplest one. "What does this actually mean? Being a council member."

"Eh," he grunts. "It ain't as big of a deal as you're makin' of it, really. You come to the meetings, you vote, debate, do all the same things as anyone else here. Hell, you don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"Vote? About what?"

"Y'know, day-to-day stuff. Whether to build more houses up north, how to divide up the council's farmland, stuff like that."

"That's... it?" From all the uproar that joining the council caused, you were expecting something more... significant.

"It's a symbolic thing, that's all. Dirty, lyin' human on the council, what's the world coming to, all that shit. Most everyone'll be over it in a few days." He grins. "Or by tonight, if Yuugi has her way."

Now that he mentions it, it seems like the frenzy that Yuugi's handout caused things to calm down somewhat; it's still loud, but looking around, you see less angry shouting and more raucous laughter. You look up and down the table and spot Yuugi herself near the other end of the room. She seems to have exhausted her crate full of bottles already, and now she's holding an oversized glass of her own, chatting happily with a small group of oni you don't recognize. "What exactly did she mean by PR, anyway?" you ask Zenki.

"Never you mind," he says, waving off your concerns idly. "Anyway, important thing is that you remember what position you're in." "You're the human councilman now, in charge of buggin' Komeiji, and that means you're the one all the warmongers are gonna wanna bump off and replace with one of their own."

"What? Bump off?!" you screech, and Zenki gestures at you to quiet down as a few heads turn your way.

"Not like that. Gimme a damn break. I mean get you off the council." He leans in, lowering his voice to a whisper (or rather, to a normal speaking voice, which carries about as far as a whisper with the background noise). "I don't know how the laws work up where you come from, but down here, they make sure that nobody's abusin' their power, and that means there's lots of ways to kick someone off the council if they act out." He holds up a hand, counting off on his fingers. "If you start a vote someone doesn't like, they have the right to fight you, loser gives up their position, and the vote stops for 24 hours regardless. If you're the only one who votes against something that passes, you aren't allowed to participate in the next vote, or propose a vote for 48 hours. You propose something that nobody votes for, you lose the right to make another proposal for a week."

...Holy shit. "You expect me to remember all this?" you ask, incredulous.

Zenki sighs in response, chuckling slightly. "Look, what it all boils down to is that you shouldn't try to stand out too much." He looks you in the eye. "Truth is, it doesn't hurt us, either, having someone else who'll vote for people gettin' along. If you end up gettin' kicked off the council, we're a step closer to outright war."

That's... wow. Somehow, it seems like the stakes for your staying underground have gotten much higher over the past few hours. First you nearly get attacked on the street, and now you're the lynchpin that's stopping a war?

Zenki notices the look on your face and laughs, a deep, belly laugh that might be contagious if you didn't feel so stressed all of a sudden. "No point dwellin' on it," he says, putting a hand on your shoulder. "Just try to have fun, take it easy. Always works for--"

"Okay, people, time for round number two!" Yuugi's shout interrupts your conversation. "The bottles're over by Taizou, so why don't ya go over and shake his hand when you get one!"

Another cheer erupts from the crowd, and this time, the clump of people descending on the alcohol is moving towards you.

"So this was her plan after all?" Zenki chuckles to himself, standing and pulling another bunch of bottles from under the table. "Try not to get crushed, kid," he says, passing you a bottle before walking away.

"Hey, where're you--" You turn to look, but he's already gone, disappeared into the mass of people rapidly converging on your position.

Quite rapidly converging, in fact. How did they get up to that speed inside, anyway? And what, exactly, is their plan for stopping before they reach the liquor? Or, for that matter, before they reach you?

You take a gulp of your drink.

---

WHAM! "Hah!"

The crowd roars around you as your arm slams against the table. You try to wrench it away, out of the grasp of your opponent, but he keeps you trapped, pinning you there for just a second longer before finally releasing you. "Shit!" you hiss, pulling yourself away before he changes his mind.

"Pay up, Yuugi!" your opponent hoots, thrusting a hand across the table, palm up, as you pull your hand off of the table, examining your bruised knuckles.

"Keep your pants on, Aoki," Yuugi replies from next to you, taking another bottle from her rapidly dwindling supply and passing it to him. "You're gettin' drunk on my dime, you can wait your turn."

"Don't think I ain't grateful, babe," he replies with a shit-eating grin, reaching out with both hands and trapping Yuugi's hand along with the bottle. "And I know just the way to make it up to you, too."

"That what you think, casanova?" she asks with a smirk, pulling her hand away.

"Over here too, Yuugi!" someone calls from behind you, and she reaches around your back, handing off another bottle to someone else who bet against you.

"Geez, Taizou, how many is that in a row now?" she asks with a laugh. "You're gonna bankrupt me."

"Y'know what they call it, where I come from, when you make a bet you can't win? They call it 'arm-wrestling an oni'," you grumble, shaking your hand out after your crushing defeat. "Besides, you're the one who won't stop betting on me."

"Why would I? At your odds, if you finally pull off a win, I'll be the richest person in the underground!" She gives you a playful shove, reaching across the table to fill your cup again.

"'Sides, she's gotta bet on you, right?" Aoki says with a grin. "Wouldn't wanna make the husband unhappy."

"Real funny," you deadpan, before laughing a little despite yourself. If Yuugi's plan was to make you popular with the oni, it seems to have worked; the alcohol did its part to loosen everyone up, you included, and after a few drinks, you may as well have been one of the guys, complete with friendly ribbing about your 'shacking up' with Yuugi.

Well, maybe that's not quite true; you're better liked now, at least among the people you've met, but their reaction to you was similar to Yuugi's, when she first met you: curiosity. You've gotten two or three requests for fights (none of them in the near future, fortunately, but Yuugi made sure you accepted all of them anyway), and dozens of questions about every aspect of life above ground. Most of them haven't been hard to answer at all, though you have gotten a few more pointed ones about what humans in the village are like, and it sounds like there's still plenty of animosity towards humanity as a whole.

You can't say you haven't been popular, though; it seems like everyone here has a story about some contest or another they had with a human, and you're pretty sure you've heard every last one of them now. To your surprise, they aren't nearly as bad as the stories humans tell about oni, at least in terms of vilifying the other side; most of the humans they talk about fighting sound like the kind that wander around looking for a fight in the first place. The stories don't end the same either: for one, the humans never, ever win (though they do come pretty damn close at times, and you find yourself getting drawn into a few particularly well-told tales). They're a lot less bloody than you would have expected, too; a few of the stories are about deathmatches (try as you might, you couldn't laugh along with the crowd at the one that ended "...and I kept his jawbone as a good luck charm!"), but the majority end with the defeated human being sent back home with a jug of alcohol for his trouble.

"So, we goin' again or what?" Aoki asks, putting his elbow on the table. "I need another refill."

"How about we try something I have a chance of winning?" you ask, leaning back from the table and stretching your arms. "You're not gonna get any weaker, no matter how much you drink."

"True." He brings a hand to his chin in thought. "So if contests of strength won't work, how about the other great oni pastime?"

"And that would be?"

He raises his glass, the same oversized saucer-type as Yuugi's, in your direction. "Why, drinkin', of course!"

A drinking contest with an oni? Oh, wow. "I think I'll--"

"He accepts!" Yuugi says gleefully, pulling another case of liquor from under the table (when did she put those things there, anyway?) and grabbing a few bottles. "I'll provide the alcohol!"

You accept? "Hey, Yuugi, I dunno--"

"C'mon, jus' go with it!" Yuugi says, cutting you off again. "It's part of livin' here, along with the fightin'! Trust me on this one!"

"..." You're still not convinced, but you stay quiet for now, deciding to see how things play out from here. You've had a few cups, but you're still far from at your limit, and you don't think Yuugi would let you drink enough to injure yourself.

"First to pass out loses?" Yuugi asks Aoki, sliding a bottle his way.

...Okay, maybe she would. "How am I supposed to compete with an oni in a drinking contest?"

"Whine, whine, whine," Aoki mocks. "My cup's, like, three times bigger than yours, y'know."

"So what's the wager?" Yuugi asks. "I'll take Taizou, naturally."

"Eh, bettin' liquor on a drinkin' contest is kinda boring," he says.

Yuugi shrugs. "S'what I've got, unless you got any alternatives."

"I got nothin'." Suddenly, his face splits into a wide grin. "Buuut I think you just might." He leans over the table in a stage whisper with you. "How's a kiss from Yuugi sound to you, Taizou?"

"Say what?" Yuugi asks, incredulous. "Can't bet what's not yours, casanova."

"I think it's the perfect bet," Aoki counters. "How about it, Taizou? You on?"

[ ] Accept the contest.
[ ] Decline the contest.

If you accept:
[ ] Yuugi doesn't seem to like this. Change the bet to... (Write-in)
[ ] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.

AND

[ ] You still don't think this is a fair contest. Isn't there some other handicap you can get?
[ ] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.
[ ] Ask for a bigger glass. You don't need any handicaps to win this.

[x] Accept the contest.
-[x] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-[x] Ask for a bigger glass. You don't need any handicaps to win this.

It's time to channel our inner Mikio and drink these Oni under the table. Not to mention get a kiss from our lovely lady Oni.

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Change the bet to... Temporary servitude (a month?)
[X] Ask for a bigger glass. You don't need any handicaps to win this.

My reasoning behind is this, as much as having the former reward, I'm willing to bet even Yuugi got a certain point where she stops in terms of stakes. Plus having an extra grunt that will more likely follow orders than some one who had been placed under by a superior could be beneficial...

though this could get ugly idk lol

[x] Accept the contest.
[x] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet. She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to, though. It's up to her.
[x] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-{X} "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?"
[X] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

Hell yes, accept the contest.

That glass size thing, though... as they say, pride goeth before the fall. Mister Amorous here has already offered us the handicap, so just take it. Know your limits.

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-{X} "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?"
[X] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

[Q] Accept the contest.
[Q] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
[Q] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

[x] Accept the contest.
[x] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
[x] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

{X} Accept the contest.
{X} Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
{X} The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-{X} "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?"
[X] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

However, I want to make something clear: for the sake of the route, we CAN'T lose this bet. So, either we drink to death and retry after the BAD END or we just awaken some inner power (Every CYOA character has at least one, not because it's a rule, but to make the character a little less useless) that let us drink more than an oni.

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-{X} "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?"
[X] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

Works for me~!

>>1882
Mikio already has dibs on that particular superpower. But I agree, every Touhou has some special ability or skill ranging from useless to game-breaker, so I don't have a problem with protagonists finding their own while in Gensokyo.

You fools are gonna get killed. He's feeling confident: let's use that.

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-{X} "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?"
[X] You still don't think this is a fair contest. Isn't there some other handicap you can get?

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-{X} "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?"
[X] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
-{X} "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?"
[X] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

Can we have our monthly update now?

>>2144

Monthly updates is easy-modo
Bi-Annual is LUNATIC MODO

>>2146
Does that make Harker and HY phantasm?

>>2150

I'd say Harker's the mid-boss if only because he has yet to complete a run, where as HY has...

Sorry for the wait.

---

[X] Accept the contest.
[X] Yuugi... kiss... yes. Don't change the bet.
- [X] "Hey, if I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivaion, right?"
[X] The glass size handicap should be enough to give you a chance.

"Sounds good to me," you say, extending a hand over the table, and Aoki takes it, his smile turning into a leer as the two of you shake on the deal.

Yuugi, on the other hand, looks significantly less pleased. "Don'cha think you're leavin' someone outta the decision-makin' process here?" she asks sharply, crossing her arms. "Gimme one good reason I gotta be someone's prize, ya horny idiots."

"Ah, c'mon," Aoki says, opening a bottle near him with a single hand and pouring himself another drink. "We decided it de... dem..." He furrows his brow, taking a gulp of his drink as he puzzles out the rest of his sentence. "...by votin' and everything!"

"I don't remember puttin' myself up for a vote," Yuugi replies, looking unimpressed.

"Us, you, what's the difference?" he replies, spreading his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "C'mon, Taizou, talk some sense into your wife," he says to you with another devilish grin.

Not helping matters, you think silently, looking over at Yuugi. She doesn't seem particularly angry, but she's certainly not pleased, leaning back from the table with her arms crossed and a slight frown on her face. "Well?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at you. "You got somethin' to say, Horny Idiot #1?"

Do you? She does seem really opposed to this. Maybe you should just change the bet? Besides, it's not like you really desperately wanted--

Except you do want to kiss Yuugi. Very much so, in fact.

"If I want to do the impossible, I'll need some heavy motivation, right?" You're just letting yourself talk now, trying to justify your sudden desire to yourself as much as to her. "You're the one who wanted me to have a contest, after all. Besides, you can make a little money on side bets, and I get something I want, too."

Yuugi's other eyebrow goes up. Apparently, that wasn't what she was expecting. "So you really think you can win?" she asks.

"Yeah," you say without hesitation. It may just be the alcohol talking, but with the advantage of a smaller cup and considering the amount Aoki's already had, you think you have a chance here.

She gives you a long, hard look, like someone sizing up a piece of beef before deciding whether or not to buy it, and you struggle to keep your eyes locked with hers as she stares you down. After a moment, though, one corner of her mouth turns upward into an odd half-smile, and she turns back to Aoki. "Fine. A kiss it is."

"All right!" Aoki slaps both hands face down on the table, squaring himself off with you. "What's the time limit?"

"Two minutes per cup. Throw up, pass out, or take too long and you lose." Yuugi fills both your and Aoki's cup as she speaks. "Other than that, the only way to lose is givin' up. Got it?"

"Got it," you echo, and Aoki nods.

"Ready?" she asks, looking back and forth between the two of you once. "Round 1, go!"

Two minutes per drink? You look down into your cup; it really isn't that large, especially compared to the ones that most of the oni use, but it's more than big enough, considering that you're drinking hard liquor. You'll have to pace yourself as best as you can if you want to have a chance, you decide, taking a slow sip of your drink, letting it burn its way down your throat before you drink again.

Your opponent, on the other hand, shows no such restraint, tilting his head back and finishing his entire cup before you finish your sip. "Startin' off a little slow there, human?" he goads. "Good plan, good plan. I wouldn't wanna beat you too quickly, after all."

"Let's see how confident you are twenty minutes from now," you shoot back, letting the drink talk for you, before taking another sip. "If you're still awake by then, that is."

"Oh ho! The little man's got a big mouth!" he laughs, as the small crowd gathering around the two of you reacts to your boast. "At least it won't be boring, even when I win!"

You finish your drink, choosing to remain silent, and the two of you stare each other down. After a half a minute or so, Yuugi refills both cups. "Ten seconds, boys," she says, setting the now-empty bottle down on the table with a clunk.

"You made those side bets yet, Yuugi?" you say, keeping your eyes on Aoki as you tilt your head towards Yuugi. "'Cause this contest isn't gonna last much longer."

Her only response is another wide-eyed look and a laugh as she reaches for another full bottle.

"Round 2, go!"

---

"Round 14, go!"

You feel excellent.

The crowd gathered around you cheers wildly as you stare blankly at the table. When did all these people get there, anyway? What are they doing? You look down into your newly refilled cup to ponder this mystery.

Oh, right! The contest! You raise the cup to your lips and drink about half of it in a single gulp, savoring the taste of... well, actually, it doesn't taste like much of anything. That's weird, right? Alcohol's supposed to taste like alcohol. Maybe you're not drinking alcohol anymore, or maybe your taste buds have suddenly gone numb, or maybe you're blind, stinking drunk. Probably that last one. Maybe you should stop drinking?

No! Can't do that. No way. You're a little fuzzy on the details, but there was definitely some reason you had to keep drinking. What was that again?

Oh, right! You finish your glass with another swallow and look across the table at your opponent. He stares back at you through half-lidded eyes, face bright red as he finishes off the last of his own drink.

Heh. He looks wasted.

"'Ngnna..." Oh, he's talking. You tilt your head forward, trying to make out the words. "'Ngnnalosetafknhumn..."

Okay, maybe he's talking. Would you sound like that if you tried to talk now, too? Better not try it.

"Round 15, go!" Wow, that was fast. You grab for your cup, catching it on the third try, and take a big gulp as Aoki tilts his head back and downs his own drink.

Except he's tilting his head rather far back, isn't he? Any further and he'll--

Crash. The table jumps as he hits the floor, the cup falling from his hand as he lands. Oh, damn. Now you'll have to wait for him to wake back up before you can finish the drinking contest. Hey, why's everyone yelling?

Wait, does this mean you won? You raise your arms, letting out a cheer of your own, then quickly lower them and brace yourself against the table as the world tilts on its axis. You won!

...What did you win, again? Something good, you're sure, but you can't seem to remember.

"Well, what do you know." Yuugi enunciates each word with more than a little disbelief, putting a hand on your shoulder and spinning you around to face her. You try to focus on her face, but the room keeps on spinning after your body stops, and you let your head sag slightly against your shoulders.

"I won, Yuugi," you say, your own emotions caught somewhere between disbelief and elation. "What's my prize, again?"

She gives you a small scowl, but doesn't hold it, letting it collapse back into a amused look of surprise. "Well, I got to see somethin' interesting. S'pose I can't feel too bad about givin' you a little reward." She gives you another one of those odd half-smiles, and you can't help but smile back stupidly. "Better than the alternative, too," she says with a laugh, casting a glance across the table at your unconscious opponent.

"Now then." Yuugi reaches out towards you, grabbing either side of your head with her hands, and moves towards you, slowly but surely.

Ah. You remember what your prize was, now.

Her lips meet yours with a surprising gentleness, one that quickly vanishes as she leans further into you, tongue probing into your mouth. You find yourself being pushed backwards, and catch yourself with one hand, looping the other around her body to rest at the small of her back as you fight to return the kiss, pushing your lips back against Yuugi's. She tastes sweet, surprisingly so, with only a hint of the bitterness of the liquor she must have been drinking up until now. You don't have time to wonder why, though, before she deepens the kiss yet again, her hands running through your hair, pulling you into her.

You don't know how long the kiss lasts, but both of you are breathing heavily as you slowly pull away from each other, and you feel light-headed from more than the alcohol. The air is filled with hoots and cat-calls, but you hear them only as an afterthought; your mind is completely focused on Yuugi.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Her voice is almost too small to hear over the roar of the crowd. "We oughtta try that again, when you ain't smashed," she adds, licking her lips. Okay, that's... wow. The fire in your brain after that kiss moves south, stopping in your stomach briefly before moving... uh, further down, and you shift uncomfortably in your seat under Yuugi's smirking stare.

Or maybe you have more to be uncomfortable about. Your stomach doesn't seem to have recovered from that little flip it did quite yet, and you feel an instantly recognizable sensation in your abdomen, threatening to make its way back up your throat and onto the floor if you move too much.

Fortunately, Yuugi seems to know just how to interpret your suddenly clenched jaw and panicked expression. "So bad you're gonna hurl?" she asks mockingly, and you give a short half-nod followed by vehement shake of the head as your brain pieces together the full meaning of that sentence.

"Exit's right behind you," she laughs, standing and extending a hand down to you, and you take it, allowing yourself to be pulled up.

"You in a hurry to take him home now, Yuugi?" someone yells from the crowd, and the hoots and hollers start anew.

"All right, all right, outta the way, unless you wanna get thrown up on!" she yells, loud enough to make you cringe, and the sea of people parts for her, leaving an unobstructed path to the back door. Yuugi lets go of your hand, and your stomach lurches as you regain your own balance. You clap a hand over your mouth, willing yourself to take deep breaths, and you feel Yuugi's hand on your back, gently pushing you forward towards the head on the table. Looking up, you take a wary step towards the door

"Keep it movin', Taizou. Eyes on the prize." Yuugi's voice comes from right next to your ear, and you focus on it, keeping your head down and concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. The two of you make it out the back door and into the night air in a daze, and you manage to reach the edge of the porch before you lose it, falling to your hands and knees and throwing up over the side. Yuugi kneels by your side, resting a hand on your back and rubbing in small circles.

"Yeah, you had your fill, huh?" she says in a conversational tone that you would probably find annoying if you weren't so busy throwing up. "Least you don't have long hair. Lemme tell ya, that's a real pain. Normally, I--" She pauses for a moment as you give a particularly loud retch. "Normally, I'd wear it in a ponytail just in case, but I figured you'd probably end up gettin' drunk before me."

The conversation, if you can call it that, continues like this for a while; Yuugi talking about nothing in particular, filling the moments of silence as you empty your stomach of its excess alcohol. After a few excruciating minutes, you begin to feel a little more stable, and it doesn't seem like there's anything left in you to throw up.

"Feelin' good enough to walk?"

You nod, forcing yourself back off of your hands and knees to a sitting position. "Yeah," you finally croak, the taste of your own bile on your tongue nearly setting you off again.

"I'll get ya some water, and we'll head home for the night, all right?"

"Thanks, Yuugi," you say, and she walks back across the porch, stepping back inside. You hear the noise of the party spill out briefly as she opens the door, and tilt your head back, feeling the very beginning of what promises to be an amazing hangover starting already. Why did you put yourself through this again?

Oh, right.

...Totally worth it.

"...got pretty popular, didn't..." A voice, rising slightly over the noise from inside. Is Yuugi back already?

"...keep going like... may have to actually kill someone." No, that is most decidedly not Yuugi. Who is that, and what are they talking about?

"...much easier if he'd..." A different voice this time. It's coming from around the side of the building, you realize, not within; it's far quiet for anyone still inside the building to be able to hear.

"He already said he..." The voices are getting softer now, moving out of your range of hearing. Moving, or just getting quieter? Either way, you want to know what they're saying. Should you try to listen in, though?

[ ] This could concern you on a very personal level. Move closer and try to hear more of the conversation.
[ ] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.
[ ] You doubt the people involved this conversation will react well if they find out you heard them. Move back inside, away from the voices.

[x] This could concern you on a very personal level. Move closer and try to hear more of the conversation.
[x]You just beat an oni in a drinking contest. As far as anyone's concerned, you're way past drunk. If caught, act like it.

[x] You doubt the people involved this conversation will react well if they find out you heard them. Move back inside, away from the voices.

Taizo's in terrible shape to try to easedrop, something tricky to do to youkai or oni even in his best shape.

And we figured there's a plot against Taizo, and chances are this was more commentary on it. It's clear that someone wants us dead as to start a massive fuss.

[X] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

Middle ground. Trying to sneak up on an Oni is quite the feat when sober and impossible when drunk. However, with half of your stomach on the floor, you have a perfect excuse if you're found where you are now.

[X] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[X] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[X] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[x] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[\\!/] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[X] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

Now we play the waiting game, figuratively and literally

[x] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[x] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[x] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

Hooray! You are back.

[X] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

Middle ground sounds safe. Go inside, you miss something important. Eavesdrop any closer, and if you're caught, you're lying to an Oni. Not the brightest idea in the world, especially since you were just admitted to the council.

[?] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

[x] This could concern you on a very personal level. Move closer and try to hear more of the conversation.
[x] You're drunk. What the fuck do you know, right? Pretend you didn't hear and don't give a crap either way.

Hay... wasshu gais doin' *hic* not drinkin? Ishha parteeee, y'no?

[x] This could concern you on a very personal level. Move closer and try to hear more of the conversation.

[x] You just beat an oni in a drinking contest. As far as anyone's concerned, you're way past drunk. If caught, act like it.

Sorry, you're worried about...what, now? Being killed because you're eavesdropping? You're eavesdropping on people who will want to be killing you. But no, you guys vote the awesome route. Man, that's a lot better than the alternative of having no advance warning when they do try to kill you later --or someone else-- later, and they most likely goddamn will.

Yeah. Way better.

...This isn't MiG, dammit.

Too bad I didn't get a chance to vote last night and stem the tide.

>>2220

My line of thinking actually has more to do with the possibility that Yuugi suddenly calling for him when it turns out he's pretty damn close to possible conspirators; with said conspirators suddenly catching him eavesdropping due to Yuugi's calls.

I have no doubts they WILL press Taizou for it, how so will be another matter. Best just take things methodically for now.

>>2220
So, we should act like defenseless drunktards in front of the guys who are planning how to kill us?
Brillant.

We've heard enough possible things to be wary of, so going back inside is the safest option.

the Stay were you are option isn't too bad if you want to have some risk, but it's still kinda risky.

So I take it that it will be another 2 weeks before another update? It's too early to expect something understandably but still...

>>2289
We'll be fortunate if we get another before Halloween, but at least we know glasnost is good for a couple more before the end of the year. Better than what we can say about some other writers.

Update's coming as soon as Gmail comes back up for me (it's stored as a e-mail draft there, which seemed like a much safer idea than local storage back before Gmail started going down like ninepins).

>>2223
Daily WTF reader, or just poor speller?

>>2402
Your patience is admirable, but I really don't want to go that slow. I did some tabulation a little while ago, and I'm at about 75000 words of actual story (that is, removing choices and comments) up to now over approximately 300 days, giving me an average speed of 250 words per day, which really isn't optimal at all, even taking MoaV into account. As always, I'll try to speed things up in the future; it's rapidly approaching one year since I started writing this, and under no circumstances do I intent to make it to two (or, if I can help it, one and a half) without finishing this.

[X] You've got a plausible excuse if you're found here, but none if you're found eavesdropping. Stay where you are and try to listen in.

This is definitely something you want to hear. Maybe you can get closer and use the pretense of being drunk if you're caught? You pull yourself to your feet and move towards the corner of the building... only to stumble as the ground tilts under you, sending you back to your knees and nearly making you fall off the porch.

Oh, right. You are drunk. You cradle your head in your hands, trying to stop the world from spinning, when you hear a loud laugh from the direction of the conversation you had been overhearing. You close your eyes, blocking out the throbbing noise in your ears, and focus on listening to the voices again.

"...gotta go take orders from the human..." The first voice returns, louder than before, and sounding a little angry to boot. Orders from... is this one of the oni you're supposed to be commanding?

"...meet another time, then?" The second voice again. They're getting farther away now, out of the range of your hearing, and you crawl down the length of the porch, straining your ears to make out a few more words.

"..after the search... same place as usual is..." The rest is inaudible, too quiet to make out. Dammit, this is the important part! You manage to bring yourself to a standing position and stagger across the porch, listening for more, but you don't even hear the murmurs, now. By the time you manage to make it to the corner of the building, grabbing onto the brickwork for dear life, there's nobody there to hear, just an empty alleyway.

"Taizou?" You turn around to find Yuugi there, leaning out of the door and scanning the porch for you, a cup of water in her hand.

"Over here," you call, and she smiles, walking over and holding the cup out to you without a word. "Thanks," you say, taking it from her hands and taking a long gulp. Drinking something is really the last thing you want to be doing right now, but extra fluids now should give you a headstart on getting rid of the hangover you're sure to have tomorrow. You finish the water and hand the cup back to her, and she sets it down on the porch.

"Let's head back now," she says, clapping a hand around your shoulders.

The trip back home with Yuugi goes about as well as can be expected, under the circumstances; you have to lean against her rather heavily to manage to walk in a straight line, and you stop midway to stagger off of the road and throw up again. You apologize to her for being a burden at least once (and probably multiple times; your memory isn't at its best, and you're better safe than not sorry), but she seems to take the situation in good humor. Eventually, you make it back to the house, and Yuugi keeps a firm grip on you, leading you back to your room (Was this hallway always this narrow? You don't remember bumping into this many walls last time you were here) and waiting at the door as you stagger to your futon, too tired to do anything but collapse atop it in a heap.

"You gonna be alright?" she asks gently, and you manage to raise your head far enough above the pillow to let out a muffled "yeah". She stands in the doorway for a moment longer, saying nothing, before taking a step back and sliding the door partway closed. "'Night, Taizou," she calls, before snapping the door shut and leaving you to yourself. Yawning and messily pulling a few covers over yourself, you flop over onto your back and let sleep take you.

---

"I say go fuckin' get him!"

You jerk back to consciousness, snapping your head forward slightly, and your stomach immediately protests with a spasm of pain. Groaning with the effort of going against the wishes of your abdominal muscles, you pull yourself out of your slouch into a proper sitting position, peering over your breasts at the bandage wrapped around your midsection. The bleeding seems to have stopped, at least; even if you can't get rid of it completely, at least changing it will...

...

...Something's not quite right here.

A few moments of less-than-calm reasoning brings your identity to the front of your mind again: Taizou Hori, human of Gensokyo, currently living underground, and, by most definitions, a non-breasted individual. It takes your brain another second to put together the rest of the picture: this is another dream, like the one you had last night, and the body you're currently inhabiting is Yuugi's, not yours.

That solves that problem, then. Unfortunately, your sudden desire to examine any unfamiliar additions to your anatomy (that's a normal reaction, right?) is curtailed by your inability to move your body according to your own will. You're a spectator here, just like last time, to what you're increasingly sure is another scene from Yuugi's memories, or dreams, or something like that.

Knowing just that much doesn't help much with figuring out where you are, though. Your immediate surroundings are pretty obvious, at least; you're in a forest at night, sitting around a small campfire with three other oni. You recognize them as the same three from the last dream; the little redhead -- Suika, was it? -- is sitting across from you, cooking a cut of unidentified meat over the fire.

"You're blowin' this way outta proportion, Kogane," she says to the girl on your left, biting off a mouthful of meat from her stick. It's the girl from before, all right; you can see her wince and press a hand to her midsection as she shifts position, washing her food down with a swig from the gourd at her side. What you can't see, though, is her midsection itself; everything from her waist to her shoulders is... hazy, like she's surrounded by a thick fog, and you can't see through to her body. "It was jus' one guy."

"It's not just one person." This time, the one on your right speaks up; a gentler, more refined voice than Suika's. Its owner seems to match it, somehow; a girl with dull grey hair cut at jaw height and wearing a pair of round glasses, a short pair of horns poking out from over her eyebrows. "This latest one may have been the only one with a weapon, but more and more of them are trying underhanded tactics."

"So there's a few cheaters, nothin' new. They're still humans, after all," you say (Yuugi says? Either way, you suppose), laying yourself back into a comfortable slouch.

"Perhaps. But there's something wrong here on a fundamental level," she continues, reaching into a pocket and removing something small, too small to make out from where you are.

"It was just a fast-moving piece of metal," she says, holding it up to the light of the fire and turning it from side to side. "Nothing that should be able to hurt any of us, Suika least of all."

"What are you trying to say?" Suika asks, eyes narrowed.

"You know how beings like us function. Humans sustain us in more ways than one. If we're feared, we gain strength to warrant it, and if the legends fade, so do--"

"Give that shit a rest, Ongyou," Kogane interrupts sharply, digging her fingers into her short black hair. "You expect me to believe I'll just fade away if people just pretend we don't exist?"

"They may not have to pretend for long," Ongyou shoots back, a hint of anger entering her voice. "Like it or not, Suika could have died this morning."

"So if the solution to all our problems is puttin' the fear back into humans, why didn't we go after that guy and do it?"

The group falls silent for a moment, letting the question hang in the air.

"You're talking about killing humans," Ongyou finally says; it's not an accusation, but it's not a question either.

"What, you're gonna tell me that's wrong?!" she yells. "You said yourself that he was tryin' to kill Suika!"

"You really wanna lower yourself to his level?" you ask, and Kogane makes a dismissive noise, standing and turning away.

"Fuck this. I've got better things to do than get a lecture in morality from Yuugi the Strong," she spits, walking away from the fire into the darkness.

"Hey!" Your response is immediate, shifting from your seat in an attempt to stand, but you're forced back down before you can rise, a spike of pain from your midsection making you bend double. "Get back here, you asshole!" you shout ineffectually at her retreating form, voice weakening. "Don't you walk away from--"

"I'll go after her." Ongyou cuts you off with a hand at your shoulder, rising from her own seat around the fire and dashing off in the same direction as Kogane. You try to follow her with your eyes, but the pain from your stomach is getting worse now, and your eyes swim.

"...You think she'll come back?" Suika asks, a frown in her voice.

"I don't..." You cut yourself short, feeling yourself silently bite back 'care'. "...I don't know."

Neither of you speak for a minute, and you focus on the crackle of the fire, trying to block out the pain.

"How'd things end up like this, Yuugi?" Suika asks. You prop yourself onto your elbows to look over at her, but her head's tilted back, looking up at the stars with her hands tucked behind her head, and you can't see her face clearly. "Seems like we never had to worry about things like this in the old days. Go stake out a village, have a little fun messin' around with the travelers, move on before they try takin' us out with their little armies. What happened to that?" she asks, her voice cracking slightly over the last syllable.

"I guess..." You lay back on the ground, closing your eyes briefly. Now that you look, you can't really see the stars from here, after all; it's just a canopy of trees. "...humans changed. We changed. I dunno." Another spike of pain hits, white spots dancing in your vision, and you give in, scrunching your eyes shut and letting your conscious mind fade away.

---

You ease your way back into consciousness this time, the pain in your stomach slowly receding as you settle back into your own body. It's replaced by an equal pain in your head, though, and you groan audibly, rolling over onto your chest and burying your face in your pillow. You're not particularly surprised at how bad you feel, considering how much you drank, but it doesn't feel any better for having expected it.

That dream doesn't make you feel any better, either. You still don't know what's giving you these dreams, or if they're even accurate, but the picture they paint of Yuugi's past is less than pleasant.

Covering your face with your hand, you ease your eyes open, peeking through your fingers at your darkened room. Even with your precautions, the light in your eyes makes it feel like your eyes are trying to dig their way out of your skull, and you quickly close them again, massaging your temples and letting your head fall back to your pillow. Based on the light level, it looks like it's still pretty early; not before sunrise, but still a little earlier than you'd normally get up; you could probably fall back to sleep without too much trouble if you just stayed in bed.

[ ] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.
[ ] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

Chances are if Yuugi caught us she'd tell us to get back to bed.

[??] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

Sooner better than later.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[X] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[X] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

Probably will be summoned to do yet another search at the Earth Palace pretty soon; you know the head cheese wants it done asap. Rather be up and ready to deal with it than suddenly dragged out of bed for it.

Unless of course they had planned to wait a bit more before and I missed that part?

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[X] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

[ ] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[X] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

Wake up Taizo, WAKE UP!

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.
[x] Try and dream about Yuugi again. This time, something more pleasant.

[X] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

[+] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.
[+] In fact, water would make your hangover disappear faster. And maybe some coffee, if there is any.

8-8 tie; next vote wins, or I'll just choose myself if nobody votes by the time I finish the MoaV update.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

let's see what happens when we do nothing

[x] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

[x] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[x] Stay in bed. You've got nowhere to be, and moving around isn't going to be any more pleasant than staying still.

[x] Get up now. It's not as though laying around in bed will make your hangover disappear any faster.

>>2715
Shit gets boring, that's what. Just like in real life!

"Stay in bed" wins; hopefully this'll be a quick one. Writing does usually go faster when the choice I prefer wins, after all.

>>2756

The choice you prefer doesn't get picked very often then.

>>2760
Oww man, oww. The burn.

>You still don't know what's giving you these dreams

Oh, I do think I know what the reason is. And I don't like it. Curse you glasnot, if I am correct; I was planning to use this idea for when I finally started my own /undergoud/ story.

57 pages of Yuugi pictures on Danbooru, and would you believe not one of them shows her lifting something heavy?

>>2760
I said "faster", not "fast". It's a fine distinction. what? It looks like porridge of some sort, but it's an unnaturally dark gray, nearly black, with flecks of an unidentifiable white material sprinkled over it. It's thick, too; pulling the spoon out of the bowl is practically a struggle, and you have to work your arm muscles to stir it. It might make a good spackle, but you're not so sure about eating it. "Yamame, what... is this?" you say, as diplomatically as you can.

"I don't know!" she says, still beaming.

"Um..."

"Miss Yuugi made it special for you," she explains. "She says it's good for getting rid of your headache after you drink too much."

So it's a hangover cure? "What's in it, exactly?" you ask, prodding the surface experimentally with your spoon.

"I don't know that either," she says, smile temporarily replaced with a confused frown. "Miss Yuugi said people who eat it are usually better off not knowing."

This is getting better and better. "Are you sure it's safe for humans?" you ask half-jokingly, taking a spoonful and holding it up to your nose. You smell herbs, and a hint of citrus scent; not a combination that you suspect goes well together.

"Of course! Miss Yuugi wouldn't tell you to eat something that wasn't safe for you!" Yamame says sternly, the joke half of your question flying over her head. "You should have some!"

"If you say so," you say, staring the substance down one last time before popping a small spoonful into your mouth. It tastes... not as bad as you were expecting, really. Despite the strong smell, the two main flavors are 'rice' and 'salt', and the white flecks, while still unidentifiable, are cloyingly sweet, but it goes down easy and the flavor doesn't stick to your tongue. Nothing you'd eat on a regular basis, but about par for the course for a hangover cure.

"Is it good?" Yamame asks, and you nod dutifully, taking another small bite.

"See? I told you it wouldn't be bad for you!" she says with a 'told you so' lilt in her voice, and you can't help but laugh a little.

"Anyway, let's go outside!" she says, bouncing up onto her feet and extending a hand down to you. "Miss Yuugi's workout is almost--"

BOOM. You nearly drop the bowl as a sound like a building collapsing echoes through the walls, shaking the floor with enough force to rattle your teeth in your skull.

"What was--"

"Ah! Let's go!" Yamame grabs your free hand, pulling you up from your sitting position, and you follow along, cradling your bowl in one hand as she practically drags you out your door, down the hall, and through the back exit, not even giving you time to put your shoes on before sitting you down on the edge of the back porch. Ah, there's Yuugi, standing out in the yard with...

...What.

She's got... a rock. More of a boulder, really, considering its size. In fact, it's the same boulder from her bedroom, you realize after a moment's observation, the one that you guessed weighed half a ton.

And she's lifting it over her head.

As you stand dumbstruck, she bends her elbows, bouncing the rock up and down a few inches on the tips of her fingers like an oversized volleyball. Eventually, she spots you and Yamame on the porch, and she rolls her shoulders, shifting the rock into one hand (what) and giving you a wave with the other.

"Hey, Taizou," she calls. "Just a minute, 'kay?" She leans back, shifting the boulder back into both hands as she pulls her arms back behind her head, stretching backwards slowly, the muscles in her arms and back growing tenser and tenser.

"Hah!" And then, with a shout, their tension releases all at once, her whole body moving as she swings her arms forward, throwing the boulder up into the air. You head swings to follow its path, but it's already so high, practically a speck against the dark background of the cave ceiling and getting smaller by the second. Is it even going go come back down, or will it just break through the ceiling and onto the surface?

Thunk. Your attention snaps back to ground level at the sound of wood against wood, right next to you. Yuugi's there, you realize, crouching next to you; she must have jumped the distance to the porch.

"Mornin', sleepyhead," she says with a chuckle, hand clapping you on the shoulder. "Feelin' a bit better today than yesterday?"

"Ah..." You try to answer, but your mind can't form the words; it's still up in the air with the rock, wondering how any living being can be capable of doing what you just saw Yuugi do.

"Make sure to eat all that, now," she warns, pointing a finger towards the bowl in your hands. "Believe me, it'll do wonders."

"Ha..." Your tongue finally manages to unknot itself enough to get a single syllable out. "How--"

"Hold that thought!" But she cuts you off before you can finish, one hand bracing herself against the edge of the porch as she shifts in her crouch and jumps, flying away from the building, back to the lawn, about the same place she had been standing before. She lands upright, taking a few steps to balance herself, and stretches, arms over her head as she looks up to the sky.

Or maybe she's not stretching, given how long she's holding that position. You follow her gaze back up to the sky--

BOOM. A sound like... well, like an oni catching a boulder speeding toward the ground with enough force to level a city. The sound resonates deep in your brain, loud enough that you feel the world rumble along with it, and you scramble backwards involuntarily as the wind from the shockwave whips past you, muscles twitching without coordination as your mind screams at you that this is dangerous and you need to get as far away as possible, the sooner the better.

It only lasts a second, though, before the noise is gone, and you curse yourself for letting your fear get the better of you, easing your way back to the edge of the porch and looking back towards the site of the impact. Yuugi's standing there, still in the same pose, a small crater formed around her feet and the boulder resting in her hands. After a moment, she heaves her shoulders, shrugging it onto the ground with a boom that sounds positively quiet compared to what you heard just a second ago.

"Yaaay!" Your foucs is broken by a cheer from your right as Yamame claps wildly, eyes wide with excitement. After a moment of consideration, you do the same, shifting your bowl into your lap and applauding lightly. Whatever you could say about what you just saw, it was definitely impressive.

It doesn't look like she's done yet, though. As she turns away from the boulder, you see that her eyes are closed, and she drops into a fighting stance without opening them, pointing herself towards the two of you on the porch. You can see her muscles slowly tense again as her feet slide apart, and by the time she stops moving, her body seems like a stretched slingshot, ready to fire.

Nothing moves.

Then, she raises her head, and you see a flash of bright red eyes--

and then she's gone.

You recognize this instantly; it's just like when you fought her. Even removed from the process, though, you still can't understand it; she's nowhere on the horizon, and you didn't see her move at all. Did she make herself invisible? If she's not here, where did she--

Fwoosh. A small rush of air as she appears, not more than a few yards away from you down the length of the porch, fist drawn back and prepared to strike at an invisible enemy in front of her. Even as far away as she is, you jump a little as she lunges forward, letting out a small shout as she punches through thin air.

Her shout gets louder, though, as her foot misses the ground on her follow-through step, and her lunging motion turns into a tripping motion, arms grabbing at nothing as she falls forward, head impacting the edge of the porch with enough force to make you cringe.

"Miss Yuugi!" Yamame calls, worry in her voice, and the two of you leave your positions simultaneously to make sure she's all right. She's up before you get there, though, quickly pushing herself up to sit with her back against the porch and raising a hand to signal that she's okay.

The look on her face tells you that she's felt better, though. "Dammit!" she yells, gritting her teeth and slamming a closed fist into the ground. "Concentrate, stupid!" she mutters to herself, loud enough for you to hear, and you slow your approach, giving her a moment to herself before you get to where she is.

"Miss Yuugi! Are you all right?" Yamame, on the other hand, speeds past you, running and kneeling near Yuugi.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she says, the harsh expression from a moment ago replaced by a half-smile as she ruffles Yamame's hair. "Just, uh, overshot my landing a bit. 'S what I get for tryin' to show off," she says with a chuckle, looking up at you.

"If it helps any, I'm still impressed," you say, offering her a hand, and she takes it, pulling herself to her feet.

"Thanks," she says wryly, brushing herself off, and the three of you walk back to where you had been sitting, Yuugi taking up a position on your left.

"So the council head came by this mornin', while you were still sleepin'," she says conversationally, dangling her legs off the side of the porch.

...Oh, right. You had managed to avoid thinking about your commitment to search the palace today, but Yuugi's reminder brings it and all the associated unpleasantness to the front of your mind.

"No, this is good news," she says, apparently catching the look on your face. "See, the plan was that you were supposed to be raidin' the palace starting..." She looks up towards the palace, like someone trying to tell time by looking at the sun. "...'bout a half hour ago, buuut everybody else on the investigation team just happened to go and get themselves hammered last night, so he decided to put it off 'til 'round dinnertime." She gives you a sly grin. "Now ain't that a shame?"

"Just terrible," you say, grinning back at her. So this was part of her plan last night, too? "Thanks, Yuugi."

"No problem. What that means, though, it that we got nothin' on the agenda this afternoon!" Yuugi says, suddenly standing up and turning to face you. "So, what do you wanna do?"

[ ] Write-in.

[x] Spend time with Yuugi, perhaps have a bit of a sparring match if you're recovered enough. Just don't get yourself broken before duty calls.
For the lack of anything better.

[x] Spend time with Yuugi, perhaps have a bit of a sparring match if you're recovered enough. Just don't get yourself broken before duty calls.
For the lack of anything better.

[x] Ask her what she wants to do.
[x] If she doesn't have anything in mind, how about just exploring the town? Relaxing, snacking, maybe play a few games.
[x] Is there a local pool body of water nearby where you can go to swim?

Yuugi & Yamame in swimsuits.

>>2898
>57 pages of Yuugi pictures on Danbooru, and would you believe not one of them shows her lifting something heavy?

I don't suppose you tried other places.."

Here's Yuugi smashing one of Kanako's Faith Pillars.

Oh yeah vote:
[x] Ask her what she wants to do.
[x] If she doesn't have anything in mind, how about some practice sparring.
[x] Is there a local LAKEbody of water nearby where you can go to swim?

[x] Ask her what she wants to do.
[x] If she doesn't have anything in mind, how about just exploring the town? Relaxing, snacking, maybe play a few games.
[x] Is there a local pool body of water nearby where you can go to swim?

[x] Ask her what she wants to do.
[x] If she doesn't have anything in mind, how about just exploring the town? Relaxing, snacking, maybe play a few games.
[x] Is there a local pool body of water nearby where you can go to swim?

>>2912
>>2914
>a local pool body of water
do you people even read what you're copypasting?

>>2915
Because after the first few votes, nobody feels like entering the tags or removing the word that's crossed out.

That's anon for you.

[x] Ask her what she wants to do.
[x] If she doesn't have anything in mind, how about just exploring the town? Relaxing, snacking, maybe play a few games.
[x] Is there a local body of water nearby where you can go to swim?

Updates ready, get voting people.

[x] Ask her what she wants to do.
[x] If she doesn't have anything in mind, how about just exploring the town? Relaxing, snacking, maybe play a few games.
[x] Is there a LAKElocal body of water nearby where you can go to swim?

>>2991
I'm confused... What?

I hadn't been expecting another update till next month.

[x] Ask her what she wants to do.
[x] If she doesn't have anything in mind, how about just exploring the town? Relaxing, snacking, maybe play a few games.
[x] Is there a local body of water nearby where you can go to swim?

>>2999
>I hadn't been expecting another update till next month.

It always comes when you expect it the least.

Where'd the rest of Underground LA disappear to!" I recall it starting in /Youkai/ but...

Actually, it started in >>/others/13294. You can follow the linked list to the following threads from there.

>>3011

Well aren't I a genius?

Thanks.

Slow vote this time, huh? Maybe I shouldn't have been so lazy and provided choices. wasn't what you were thinking at all. Now, though, you're having a hard time getting the image out of your head; Yuugi in a bikini, stretched out in a deck chair, droplets of water still clinging to her skin... Or maybe she'd wear a one piece; she's probably as competitive with swimming as she is with everything else, and those are supposed to cut down on water resistance.

...Of course, if she really wanted streamline herself, she wouldn't even wear--

"That was not what I was thinking when I suggested it," you deny adamantly, shutting that train of thought down before it has a chance to get started and trying to ignore the blush rapidly spreading across your face.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep tellin' yourself that, Taizou," Yuugi says with a leer, shoving your shoulder lightly before turning to walk back into the house. "C'mon, spider-girl, let's see if we can find you something to wear that won't get Taizou too excited."

"Okay!" Yamame replies happily, apparently oblivious to Yuugi's jabs at you, as she jumps up from her seat at your side and runs into the house.

...Well. You stay outside for a minute longer, finishing off the remainder of your meal, before going back to your room to get something to swim in. You grab a pair of shorts with a drawstring off the top and quickly change clothes, leaving the ones you had on yesterday in a pile by the door, then head out to wait by the front door.

Yuugi and Yamame come out after a few more minutes; carrying towels, but still dressed as they were when you last saw them. Maybe they've got their suits on under their clothes? At any rate, you're certainly not going to ask about it, with Yuugi as intent on making fun of you as she seems to be.

The first part of the trip passes quietly, the three of you chatting about nothing in particular as you make your way into the city. You take a different path than usual once you get into the city proper, and Yuugi points out a few places of interest, mostly businesses and houses of people on the council. Surprisingly, you find that you remember the places you visited on your shopping trip yesterday fairly well; it seems like the city is becoming less and less alien to you with every passing day.

"Oh, wait, wait a second!" Midway through the trip, though, Yuugi stops the three of you, veering off the street towards what looks like a small open-air food stand, jutting out of the misshapen row of buildings. She's hungry this soon after breakfast? You shrug, following her up to the counter and taking a seat.

"Ah, don't sit, we aren't stayin' or anything," she says, looking back at you once before leaning over the counter and calling out into the shop. "Yoohoo! Customer here!"

You hear someone call out something indecipherable from the back room, but nobody comes out, and Yuugi flashes a grin back to you. "This is gonna be great," she murmurs excitedly before turning back to the counter. "Hey, shopkeep! You comin' or what?" she shouts again, a hint of amusement entering her voice.

"Hold on a damn minute!" The response shouted from the back room is louder and accompanied by a a loud banging noise this time, followed by a series of smaller thumps that sound like whoever's back there stomping their way across the floor.

"Okay, okay, what can I get--" 'Whoever's back there' apparently being Aoki, who staggers out of the back room, stopping his greeting short as his bloodshot eyes land on Yuugi and you. He's... well, you can tell he ended up on the losing side of a drinking contest; based on how he looks, he either just woke up from being passed out, or just finished puking.

"Well, fancy meetin' you here!" Yuugi booms, louder than you think is really necessary for talking to someone across the room, a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. "Hell of a fine mornin', ain't it?"

"...You didn't come to buy anything, did you?" he says quietly, massaging his temples.

"Yes, sir, woke up this mornin' and thought, 'Damned if this isn't gonna be one hell of a good day'," she continues, still talking loud enough to make your ears hurt.

"Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system," he grumbles, throwing himself into a short chair behind the counter and burying his face in his hands. "Fuckin' sandbagged me anyway, ya bastard," he says, looking up at you now. "I was already halfway gone when we started, y'know."

"You're the one who suggested a drinking contest," you say mildly; you don't think he's actually upset, but there's an edge to his words that puts you a little off balance.

"Ah, he's just pissed 'cause now there's proof that he's a lightweight." Yuugi doesn't seem to feel the same way, though, continuing the barrage of high-volume insults. "Ain't that right, lightweight?"

Aoki's only response to Yuugi is a raised middle finger as he looks up at you, staring you down as best as he can through half-lidded eyes. "Rematch," he says abruptly, thrusting a hand out to shake. "Me and you, next time there's a party. Take as big a handicap as you want, I'll still drink you under the fuckin' table."

He's... pretty serious about this. "Deal," you say, taking his hand and shaking.

"Good." With that, he pushes himself away from the counter, standing unsteadily. "Now, unless you have somethin' to do here other than pissin' me off, I'm goin' back inside," he says, staggering towards the back door.

"Yeah, take it easy," Yuugi replies, turning away from the counter and motioning for you and Yamame to follow.

So she really did wake him up just to make fun of him? "Is it really okay to get on his back like that?" you can't help but ask as the three of you set out back down the road. "He looked pretty pissed."

"Nah, he's cool," she says, waving a hand dismissively. "Had to get you two a rematch, anyway, otherwise he woulda just felt worse. 'Sides," she continues, grinning to herself, "he had it comin', the way he was struttin' around after the last football game."

"Football?"

"Hm?" Yuugi returns your inquisitive glance with one of her own, quickly shifting to shock as she realizes that you really don't know what she's talking about.

"Oh, man, you don't know about football up there?!" she gushes. You spend the remainder of the trip trying to take everything in as Yuugi goes through the rules, history, and highlights of the last few games (apparently, 'sacking' someone hard enough to dislocate their jaw is a good thing). It sounds.... worse than a fight, really; at least a fight stops after you get knocked down enough times. Kind of a strange name, too, considering you're only supposed to hit the ball with your foot under special circumstances. Still, you must admit that it seems like the kind of game oni would like, and it could be fun enough to watch, given enough assurance that you wouldn't be made to participate.

As you walk, the urban landscape along the road gradually fades away until the buildings of the city are off in the distance behind you, the road under your feet gradually changing from the even layer of ground-in dirt in the city to the harsher rock and rough terrain of the rest of the underground. It's as you come to the top of a hill nearly steep enough to be called a cliff that you finally see the lake, an irregular depression a few hundred feet wide, seemingly carved out of the rock below.

"Ah!" Yamame gasps at the sight and immediately takes off running, breaking away from you and Yuugi and stripping off clothes as she goes. By the time the two of you make it to the edge of the water, she's already wet from head to toe, treading water from the middle of the lake.

"Come on! It's not even cold!" she shouts, smiling broadly and waving you in. She's wearing a bikini with a pretty conservative cut, in the same earthy tones as her usual wardrobe. In fact, taking a closer look, it looks like something from outside; that fabric definitely isn't something they make in the village. How did Yuugi end up with something like that? For that matter, why'd she keep it? It certainly couldn't fit her.

Speaking of which.

You take off your shirt, casting it aside, and turn around just in time to see Yuugi pull her own shirt over her head, revealing...

...Wow.

In place of a bikini top, she's got something like a sarashi; a thin, white strip of cloth wrapped around her body, starting at the top of her abdomen and ending low enough to give you an eyeful of milky white cleavage, squeezed into a garment not quite large enough to contain it. Your eyes drift south to her stomach (perfectly toned, with just a hint of muscle evident under the skin), then farther down to her legs and a white bikini bottom, tied on with big bows in the thin strings on either side of her hips.

"So?" Oh, crap, you're staring. You drag your eyes back up to Yuugi's face, bracing for that smirk of hers and another round of jokes at your expense. All you get, though, is a small chuckle as she raises her arms above her head in a stretch; you have to struggle to keep your eyes on hers as the action thrusts her chest even farther forward.

"Any choice words?" she asks, a playful lilt in her voice.

[ ] Write-in.

[x] "Amazing."

[x] "Oni in, happiness in~!"

[x] "I'm speechless."

[x]"Is there a word for "jaw-dropping" that isn't, y'know, "jaw-dropping"?"
[x]"...I've got nothing."

[X] Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."

Not that I am complaining, no.

[X] Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."

Heh.

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no sir"

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no maiam"

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no way"

So do you mean football or handegg?

>>3061
Considering the descriptions, it seems he's referring to American Wuss Rugby.

[+] Say nothing. Plug nose with one hand, give a thumbs-up with the other, try to shift position so that the inevitable hardon is less obvious.

[x] Make an appreciative growl and whistle. "Oh, mama!"
[x] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."

[Q] Say nothing. Plug nose with one hand, give a thumbs-up with the other, try to shift position so that the inevitable hardon is less obvious.

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no way"

lul

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no way"

[x] "Holy fuck."

Simple, clear, and forceful.

>>3062
So, handegg.

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no sir"

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no ma'am"

[X] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[X] "Not that I am complaining, no way"

[x] "Now I'd really like to know what you would be wearing, if you hadn't picked something that would not get me too 'excited'."
[x] "Not that I am complaining, no sir"
I would have preferred a competition swimsuit myself though~.

I gave you a week of new month. Harassment must now recommence.

Updates where?

I have to admit, for a decent story with a plot that could involve treachery underneath a relationship plot among other issues to be bogged down by month updates is really discouraging at times.

Just treat this story as a nice little present that comes once a month...

Ignore Suika; she's not in this update, but it would be a shame not to use this picture just because of that.

Write-in reworded to eliminate double negatives.

>>3279
>>3282
It depresses me too, honestly. It seems like every Sunday evening, I've got both ULA and MoaV updated, the votes are tallied, and I'm bursting with ideas as to what to write next. "This Monday," I say to myself, "will be different." Then I remember that I've got homework due, or papers to grade, or a meeting with my adviser, who likes to see that I've actually gotten real work done on top of everything else. Remember: friends don't let friends go to graduate school. jiggle -- as you struggle to keep your eyes on hers. "I was just talkin' about Yamame." Another step, within arm's length now, and the look on her face is positively predatory now.

"You can get excited over me all you want."

"Bwuh." A meaningless sound leaves your mouth as your brain jams in neutral, trying frantically to process what it just heard. She's... flirting with you, right? Does that mea--

WOAH okay she's definitely flirting with you, you decide, as she takes another half-step forward and reaches a hand towards you, placing a single finger lightly against your chest. A strange warmth runs the length of your body, starting from where she's touching you, and your thoughts jumble over one another, fighting to decide what exactly you're supposed to do in this situation. Or, rather, what to say in this situation; your body seems to think it knows exactly what to do, and is currently in the process of doing it rather noticeably. You really, really hope Yuugi doesn't look down right about now.

No, no time to think about that, focus! That ever-growing smirk of hers tells you she's enjoying the effect she's having on you...

...so why not strike back?

"You sure that's okay?" you ask as you step even closer to her, mouth running ahead of your thoughts as your head fills with a strange confidence. "As pretty as you are, I might not be able to control myself, you know."

...Okay, maybe that's trying a little too hard to be smooth. That definitely got her, though; her eyes widen for a moment, and her grin breaks for an instant before reappearing even wider, joined by a faint blush on her cheeks and her finger trailing a lazy path down your chest.

"You worried about me? Sweet of you," she asks, leaning her head towards you, her warm breath hitting your neck. She's close, now, close enough for you to feel the warmth radiating from her body, but still not touching you except through that one finger, the sole link between her body and yours.

"But, y'know..." Her voice is barely above a whisper now, but you hear every word like it's the only sound in the world.

"...I think I can handle you all right."

And then you're flying backwards, the nervous butterflies in your stomach replaced by the very real sensation of gravity acting on you as you trip backwards over nothing at all. You hit the water on your back with a stinging splash, followed up by the shock of the chilly water soaking through your body. This is what Yamame calls 'not even cold'? You're practically shivering already and your head isn't even underwater! (Though this does solve the problem of your... physical responses, a part of your mind notes detachedly.)

And what the hell just happened, anyway? You turn your attention back to Yuugi, who's standing back on the shore a few meters away (how far did you fall, anyway?), still holding up a single finger on her right hand, but laughing so hard into the other it looks like she might choke.

"S-see?" she manages, wiggling the digit slightly before giving up on restraint altogether, wrapping her arms around her midsection and bending double as she hoots with laughter.

Wait, is she saying she... With a single finger?!

...Now that you notice it, your chest does hurt a little, like a bruise, right at the point she touched you. You force yourself to a sitting position, hands stinging from underwater sand ground into them during your landing, and gape at Yuugi, finding yourself reminded again of just how strong she is compared to you.

"Okay, okay, that was a cheap shot," Yuugi says, recovering from her laughing fit and wading out into the water after you, extending a hand to help you up. After a moment of hesitation, you reach out with your own to grab it, but she reaches past it, grabbing you by the forearm and pulling you up in a single tug.

"Sorry, Taizou," she says, apparently catching the stupefied look still stuck on your face. "The mood was just gettin' too serious not to, y'know?" The light blush you noticed before returns now, and she looks away from your face as she speaks, her laugh sounding a little more forced than usual.

"Anyway!" she suddenly shouts, turning away before you have a chance to reply. "I'm goin' in!"

And with that, she's gone, barely bothering to bend her knees before jumping straight up, high enough that you have to crane your neck to follow her. If you hadn't seen firsthand how strong she really is, you'd think she was cheating by flying, the way she hangs in the air at the top of her arc like that.

"Incomiiiiing!" Yuugi lets out a yell as her descent begins, and you cast a glance back towards Yamame, who's motoring away from her current position as Yuugi falls towards her. She's gaining speed now, knees tucked to her chest and spinning head over heels, and you watch as she gets closer and closer to impact, bracing yourself for the splash as she--

...hits the water in a perfect dive, barely making a ripple as she breaks the surface of the lake.

Show-off.

After a long moment, her head breaks the surface again as she rises for air, throwing her wet hair back over her head and letting out a long laugh. "C'mon, Taizou, get in and I'll race ya!" she yells out to you, waving her hands above her head and grinning like a fool.

Not a sign of the flirtatiousness from before. Was she being serious just then, or just making another joke with you as the punchline? You can't help but think back to your little massage adventure, and the drunken kiss you shared at the council house (you were drunk, at least; was she?). Between the hints that she might like you in a romantic (or, hell, at least a sexual) way and, the ones that seem to indicate that she just likes seeing you embarrassed...

...Well, no point worrying about it now. "Take it easy on me, okay?" you reply, swimming out to meet her and Yamame in the center of the lake.

---

An hour or so later finds you floating along lazily on your back, resting your muscles and watching Yuugi zip across the lake at a faster speed than most people could manage while running on land. Naturally, you lost all of your 'races' without much of a contest, and the fun quickly became trying to think of the most ridiculous handicap Yuugi could give you and still win. (You're pretty sure you could have won the 'right hand grasping left ankle' race if the pose it forced Yuugi into had been less... distracting.)

"You nearly won that last race, Mr. Taizou!" Suddenly, your vision is filled with Yamame as she appears behind you, close enough that you nearly run into her stomach with your head. She really has no familiarity with the concept of personal space, does she? "I wish I could swim as well as you!"

"I'm sure you can," you say, laughing slightly. "Yuugi was just going easy on me."

"No, you really are good!" she insists, voice rising slightly. "The only thing I can do is float on my back, or I end up swallowing water," she says, tilting back once to demonstrate before returning to treading water next to you.

...Wait, what? "But... you're swimming now, aren't you?" you ask.

"Nope, I'm just flying underwater. See?" Raising her arms above her head, she slowly rises in place, floating out of the lake until the water only goes up to her knees.

"...Oh." That... makes sense, you guess; it really is hard to get used to the idea that apparently everyone you know down here is capable of flying.

"Ah! That's right!" Yamame says suddenly, dropping back into the water with a splash. "You were going to learn how to fly today, right, Mr. Taizou?"

"Huh?" Were you? The idea isn't particularly disagreeable, but you don't remember making any plans like that.

"Yeah, and then I can show you how to play danmaku, and Miss Yuugi's here so she could play too, and we could have tournaments and stuff and I bet we could even win against Miss Yuugi if the two of us teamed up and--"

"You think so?" Yuugi paddles up from behind you, apparently done with her laps. "I'd still bet on myself in that one," she says, flashing you a quick look and a cocky grin.

"Miss Yuugi! Can you help teach Mr. Taizou to fly, too?"

"Depends. I told ya this mornin', didn't I?" Yuugi asks. "If he's still got a hangover, the only thing he's gonna learn is how hard flyin' is when your head feels like it's gonna split open."

"Ah! I forgot about that," Yamame says, enthusiasm dimming slightly as she turns back to you. "But you're feeling better now, right, Mr. Taizou?" she asks, giving you a shot of the same puppy-dog eyes she used on Yuugi not too long ago.

"'Sides, just goin' straight into flyin' lessons might be a little too much," Yuugi interjects, sparing you from having to answer that loaded question. "If he's gonna learn, he oughtta start with just danmaku and work his way up from there." Wait, danmaku is easier than flying? That's not what you would have guessed from watching.

"But danmaku isn't as fun if you can't fly," Yamame says, a little petulantly.

"Well, it's up to him, anyway." As if on cue, Yuugi and Yamame both turn to you at once. "You think you're up for it, Taizou?" Yuugi asks.

[ ] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.
[ ] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.
[ ] You're here to relax, right? The hard stuff can wait for later.

[x] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

Coy Oni is Coy.

[X] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

Better to learn to graze than to shoot first. Obviously he won't be pacifist running anything anytime soon but how hard would you get if you just sat there shooting damnaku without moving. Best to add a third dimension to our avoidance area before we get the bullets.
Plus the practicality of it.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

[x] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

[x] You're here to stare at naked flesh, right? The hard stuff can wait for later.
[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

>>3295
Must resist urge to make bad joke.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

>>3304

You lost me

[Q] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

Where does 'sex' fit into this order, Glasnost?

>>3308

Considering Yamame is often around, the chief back in town demanding results with the excursions within the palace, Yuugi toying with Taizou in more ways than one...

I'm surprised he hasn't wandered off somewhere to take care of that issue; I know I would If I felt Yuugi just planned on being one huge tease to the point of merciless torture.

>>3306
Coy Oni is Koi

I feel horrible now.

>>3313

I still don't get it, and I'm being absolutely serious about that.

I don't think I've ever heard it used before.

>>3293
[X] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

Super Orinrin Land:
>"Of course, you could avoid this sort of situation by getting stronger, right~? The way things are going, it looks like you might have to defend yourself sooner than you think~"

I think learning danmaku is a step in the right direction.

Also, I am really happy we're on a Yuugi route. Even if we never get much past flirting, she's just a pleasure to be around.

[X] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

>>3309

Perhaps it's to show that getting somewhere with her won't be as easy as her hard drinking, party loving attitude suggests.

>>3315
Moonspeak. Koi in Japanese means love.

Therefore, "Coy Oni is love."

>>3320
>getting somewhere with her won't be as easy

I wouldn't have it any other way, but I would rather not get my hopes up if it's never meant to be.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

>>3321
Yeah, but koi can also mean "carp". Considering how there's swimming going on, perhaps you might see how that joke sounds cornier than it was probably intended to be.

Also, changing vote.
[+] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

I just said "Coy Oni is Coy" as a redundant way or remarking on how she's playing hard to get. That and I made a similar remark in HLA R2 concerning Suika.

Still it seems there's no Easy Modo Oni for us!

>>3336
It is corny, and I was hoping it wouldn't be thought of that way. But oh well.
>>3337
Yeah, I saw that.

[x] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

>>3317
He's got a valid point. Lets listen to Yuugi and do it properly.

[x] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

[X] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

May as well.

[X] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

[0] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

[X] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

[x] Why not start with flying? You can always switch later if it's too hard.

[X] Vote-spam check

>>3375
Stop being so paranoid. A quick combing shows that nothing of the style occurred here.

Need a tiebreaker vote.

[X] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

You've got it. I don't think I've voted yet.

Thanks. Planning to finish the update by the end of the day.

>>3443
Update MoaV when you're done.

I am a horrible, horrible liar and deserve your scorn and contempt.

>>3308
Sex and flying are on completely different skill trees, sadly. I can neither confirm nor deny that maxing out both trees unlocks the 'aerial sex' skill.

>>3336
This is what I thought when I read >>3313. I still laughed.

---

[X] You'd rather do things in the proper order; start with danmaku.

"Sure." It feels like your body's up for it, and you can't deny that you're interesting in learning. "So I should start with danmaku?"

"Yeah, it'll be easier in the long run," Yuugi says.

"But Miss Yuugiiii..." Yamame still doesn't sound too keen on the idea, voice turning to a whine as she turns her pleading look on Yuugi. "This way we won't be able to play until--"

"No buts," Yuugi interrupts, grabbing Yamame by her hair bun (she left it in while she was swimming?) and shaking her head back and forth playfully. "He's gotta learn both before he can play a full game anyway, right?"

"...I guess," she says a little sullenly, floating out of Yuugi's reach.

"Anyway, this'll probably be easier on dry land. C'mon, Taizou," Yuugi says, turning to swim back to shore, and you and Yamame follow suit. You shiver slightly as you step out of the water; cold as it was, you'd managed to get used to it over time, and the gentle breeze that seems to blow though the underground more or less constantly raises goosebumps on your exposed skin.

...As well as raising other things. Thankfully, Yuugi slips her shirt back on after toweling off quickly, and you're able to pull your thoughts away from nipples and back to the matter at hand.

"Okay!" Yuugi says excitedly, smacking a fist into her open palm. "First things first, warm ups!"

It really is like you're back in karate class. You follow along with Yuugi through some quick pushups and situps; nothing too tiring, but enough to get your heart pumping. Yamame still looks a little put out that you're not going to be flying, but she joins in with stretching too after drying herself off.

"So before we get goin', you know what danmaku is, now?" Yuugi asks, pulling one arm across her chest and stretching her shoulders.

"I think so," you reply, mirroring her motion. "Is it just the individual bullets, though, or is the whole pattern danmaku?"

"Huh. Both, I guess," she replies, shrugging her shoulders and rolling her arms backwards. "And you can call a whole duel one game of danmaku, too."

"A whole duel?"

"Yeah, when you use more than one pattern. There's more rules to it than that, but that's for later." After one last stretch, she claps her hands. "Okay, let's get started!"

Without further ado, she extends her hand palm out, pointing away from the two of you, and a bullet... appears, winking into existence a foot away. This one is different than the one you saw on the roof; that one would have come up to about waist-level, but this one is even taller than Yuugi. Its characteristics are different, too; the one you saw earlier had a small 'halo' around it, a few inches deep, that didn't hurt to touch, but this one is almost all halo, with only the inner third of the bullet looking like the solid core of the earlier one. With the bullet scaled up like this, you can see that the halo portion is tinted light purple, in contrast to the bright white of the core, and is dim enough that you can actually see through it to the ground below.

"You said you already got hit by a bullet, so I guess I don't have to shoot you," Yuugi says, with a grin that makes you wonder how much she would have enjoyed 'having' to shoot you. "So I guess the only thing to tell you about is grazing. Here, touch this one," she says, sticking her hand into the halo of the bullet in front of you.

You follow her instructions, reaching your hand tentatively into the bullet and feeling the same rush of energy as before.

"Feel that?" she asks, and you nod. "The energy you get from comin' close to a bullet like this is the same energy you need to shoot one. Here, close your eyes."

"Huh?"

"C'mon, just close 'em!" she says impatiently, and you give her an uncertain look before complying and shutting your eyes. Almost as soon as you do, you feel Yuugi's hand around your wrist, and she tugs you forward sharply, pulling more of your arm into the bullet.

"Hey, wha--" You try to pull away out of instinct, but naturally, Yuugi's grip doesn't give an inch. If you reach in any farther, though, it feels like you might get shocked by the core of the bullet.

"What's it feel like? Don't open your eyes!" she snaps as you peek through your eyelashes, trying to make sure Yuugi doesn't pull you in too far. "It's all about feeling. Just describe it."

Feeling? You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to block out Yuugi's hand around your wrist and focus on the sensation of the bullet around your arm. It's...

"Warm," you murmur, half to yourself. "Like getting into a hot bath on a cold day." Is that feeling just because you just got out of the lake? You really have no idea what she's looking for here.

"Keep going," Yuugi says encouragingly, her grip on your hand weakening slightly as she urges you on.

"There's nothing else to--"

"Yeah, there is," she says plainly. "Focus."

Focus on what? Even what you said earlier was a stretch; it captured the basics of what you were feeling, but it's really pretty different when you focus on the details. "There are..." You pause for a moment, searching for the word to describe this sensation. "Bubbles," you finally say, going along with the metaphor from earlier. "Little... bits of something, hitting me. It's strange." Strange, and a little painful, too; that energized feeling you felt earlier has only grown in intensity, and you feel... twitchy, like a little kid told to sit still for too long.

"Okay, that's good." Yuugi's moved closer, you realize, her arm almost on top of yours. "Hang on to that feeling. I'm gonna move your arm now, so just keep remembering what it felt like, 'kay?"

"Okay," you respond, and Yuugi's other hand touches your opposite shoulder, slowly turning your body away from the bullet. You try to memorize the feeling, forming an mental picture of what you felt even as the actual stimulus gradually disappears.

"Still got it?" Yuugi asks, finally letting go of your wrist, and you nod silently, not wanting to speak and forget the feeling. "Okay, now, real slow, I want you to imagine that feeling goin' the other way. If it felt like little things hittin' your arm before, imagine little things floatin' away from you." The hand that was holding your wrist comes to rest on your shoulder, and Yuugi's voice sounds like it's right in your ear. "Real slow."

You nod shortly, taking the picture in your mind and slowly, slowly changing it, taking your imaginary bubbles and reversing their direction, one by one. You hear Yamame's voice saying something, and Yuugi responding to her, but you tune them out, focusing all your attention on this one thought. You don't feel anything, though; is it working, or not?

"Okay, keep concentratin', but real slow, open your eyes." Yuugi's voice in your ear again. You ease your eyes open, squinting in the light and looking--

"Augh!" You stumble backwards at the sight of bullets, shooting from your outstretched hand one after the other, almost too fast for you to count. Of course, your concentration breaks as soon as you do, and your arm drops to your side as you watch them zip off into the distance, hardly able to believe what you just saw.

You turn around, prepared to ask Yuugi if that really just happened, but before you can get a word out, you're met with a bone-crushing bear hug that lifts your feet off the ground.

"Hell, yeah!" Yuugi shouts in your ear before practically throwing you to the ground, then catching your unbalanced form with a slap on the back that nearly sends you crashing to the ground in the opposite direction. "First try, too!" she crows, with a smile on her face like she's just won the lottery. Looking over her shoulder, you see Yamame bouncing up and down, arms raised in the air and cheering happily. You... did it?

"Okay, okay, quick! Do it again!" Yuugi's voice calms slightly, but that smile is still stuck on her face as she urges you on.

"Just-- same as before?" you ask, emotions jumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, just like before!"

You close your eyes, trying to forget the joy of success for a moment and remember that feeling again. You take a deep breath in, closing your mind to the outside, and slowly release it, recalling the sensation of bubbles drifting away from your skin as you do. After a long moment of concentration, Yuugi hoots loudly, and you open your eyes, prepared this time for what you're about to see. The bullets are there again, alright, forming in front of your palm and shooting forward towards the horizon, moving faster than you could run.

It's... magic. You're doing magic. You close your eyes again briefly, trying not to let the sudden surge of overwhelming joy break your concentration, then reopen them, determined to take a closer look. These bullets are closer to the one you saw on the roof than they are to Yuugi's, but still different from both; bright white, with a very small halo around them, and pretty small, probably less than waist-height. You move your arm from side to side, watching the trail of bullets follow your motion.

"Aaand stop!" Yuugi commands, and you break your concentration intentionally this time, watching the bullets you've already shot disappear in the distance.

"I... did it." You can't stop a bit of a laugh from creeping into your voice, and you're sure your smile is as wide as Yuugi's. "I did it!"

"Yep, you got the important part," Yuugi says with a grin, clapping her hands once, then rubbing them together. "Now for everything else!"

---

Over the next hour or so, the three of you do just that: change everything else you could think of changing about your bullets. Yuugi explains how to control the size and shape of the bullets, showing you more odd-shaped examples than you think you could remember, and Yamame shows you how to change how they move, from simple things like fast and slow bullets to one type of bullet that guides itself towards your target. You experience limited success in both techniques, and learn a new one besides that; a burst of bullets from your entire body, forming a little semi-circle before shooting away in all directions. It's nothing like the patterns you saw Yuugi or Yamame use during their duel, but you suppose it's a start.

You also learn about your energy supply, and in particular, what happens when you exhaust it: a loud snapping noise and a puff of smoke from nowhere, like something just exploding in front of you.

"Yeah, that happens when you try to force it," Yuugi says. "Be careful there, Taizou. Normal danmaku won't do more than sting a little, but hittin' someone up close with one of those is a good way to put an eye out. Rest up a minute before you keep goin'."

You take her advice, sitting yourself on the ground as Yamame and Yuugi chatter over you about what to teach next. This really is tiring, you realize; you haven't really done anything physically taxing at all, but you're sweating a little and breathing heavily. You flop onto your back, your mind drifting to your plans for later today. Is it okay for you to work out like this just before leading this search party into the palace? You're still not really sure how well liked you are among the oni in general or whether they'll listen to you regardless of how they feel about you (or, for that matter, what you're supposed to do if they decide not to listen).

"You doin' alright, Taizou?" Yuugi asks, breaking you out of your reverie, and you smile and nod, sitting up.

"So you got two choices, if you're up to it," she says, sitting down across from you as Yamame does the same. "You caught onto danmaku way faster than I was expecting, so we can either switch and try to get you flying..." She pauses for a moment and shoots a sidelong glance at Yamame, who you see has turned the puppy dog eyes up to 11. "...Or we've got a little paper, and I think you're about ready to try to write your own spell card." She chuckles slightly to herself, leaning back on her hands. "S'up to you."

[ ] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!
[ ] If you picked up danmaku that quickly, spell cards should be a piece of cake too, right?
[ ] You need to save your energy for later today; better play it safe and call it quits for now.

[x] If you picked up danmaku that quickly, spell cards should be a piece of cake too, right?

Some form of defense will be useful, and as far as I can tell flying isn't that big of a thing around here, though it'll help to learn that eventually.

[X] If you picked up danmaku that quickly, spell cards should be a piece of cake too, right?

Works for me~!

[x] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

Normal bullets, now some dodging. All the power in the world won't help you if you're a sitting duck.

[x] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

[X] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

Cannot resist Yamame's big shiny spider-eyes.

[x] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

{X} You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

[x] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

[Q] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

[x] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

>>3463

Yet if you noticed all the residents walk instead of fly despite being non-human. I also suspect that the Oni are more fond of having their feet planted on the ground in their fighting.

Still Flying might be a good way to run perhaps.

[x] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

[X] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

[x] You've got this down for the time being; time to fly!

Useful utility powers are useful.

[+] Switch to working on flight for now.
-[+] Try making a spellcard or two after that, if possible.

When do we get to gently caress Yuugi's horn?

>>3490
I wonder if it feels like chitin.

>>3496
It feels like cardboard.

>>3490
I'm imagining doing this to Yuugi as a reacharound, of sorts, and laughing my ass off.

>>3496
Horns are made from keratin, so no.

Oh shit I just realized we're close to autosage.

There we go

>>3508
Why did you bump this to autosage? It's almost December and now we have no good way of asking for our update.

Did it in a drunken fit of insanity.

god damn it

>>3545
>>3584
>252 posts and 30 images omitted
2 posts since >>3508, so it was at "250 posts omitted". Autosage is at 250 posts. That is, 247 posts omitted. The final post was >>3505, or >>3506 if I have an off-by-one error on how the stuff is counted.

So don't feel bad, it was already at autosage.

>>3585
Actually, to the best of my knowledge, autosage starts at "246 posts omitted", because OP counts as a post as well.

Trying my damnedest to update by tonight. Holidays are not high-productivity events for me.

>>3585
Actually, to the best of my knowledge, autosage starts at "246 posts omitted", because OP counts as a post as well.

Trying my damnedest to update by tonight. Holidays are not high-productivity events for me.

[x] You've got MoaV down for the time being; time to update!

[x] You've got MoaV down for the time being; time to update!

[x] You've got MoaV down for the time being; time to update!

Ah, I would never ignore this for MoaV. Except when I do. But that's not now.

New thread at >>3671. Every sage is sage sage.