?

"Um, so this was called ?curry??" you ask, having finished your meal and placed your spoon neatly on top of the plate.

"Yup," Sanae replies, nodding. "Was it good?"

"Yeah," you say with a bright smile. "It was spicy, but also kind of sweet."

"Wait here, I'll go get some dessert," she says, standing up from the table and heading inside the kitchen again.

The moment she mentions ?dessert?, however, you spot the two Gods exchange a fearful look with one another. Seconds later, you hear a distressed cry from the kitchen. Sanae hurries back out soon afterwards.

"Lady Kanako, Lady Suwako!" she calls their names angrily. "Did you two eat the pudding!?"

"It was her idea!"
"She's the one who ate it!"

Lady Suwako and Lady Kanako frantically point at each other, trying to shift the blame away from themselves.

"Geez, you two knew I was saving it all this time. I was really looking forward to eating it!" Sanae says in an irritated tone. "I even wrote my name on the top in marker!"

"S-sorry, Sanae," Lady Suwako says in a quiet voice.

Sanae lets out a heavy sigh. "Oh well," she says in a disappointed voice, taking her seat at the table again. ??Sorry," she says, turning to you. "I thought you might like to try a bit of it, but?"

"No, no, it's fine," you say hastily, holding up your hands.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hm?" Sanae turns her head to the door. Taking off her apron and carefully folding it up before placing it on the floor, she walks over to the door and slides it open.

A fellow tengu stands at the porch, sparing you an inquisitive look past Sanae's shoulder before clearing his throat and speaking to the wind priestess. "A couple from the human village at the foot of the mountain requests to speak with the shrine maiden," he says.

Sanae nods as she steps out of the house, carefully shutting the door. You debate on whether to follow her outside or not, though by the time you've decided to do so, she's returned with a troubled look on her face, taking her place at the table again.

"What was it, Sanae?" Lady Kanako's the first one to act.

"Um?" Sanae frowns, clasping her fingers together. "They came to request a ?job? for us."

"A job?" she repeats inquisitively.

"Yes," Sanae nods glumly. "Um, their son has gone missing while playing near the Great Youkai Forest for a few days now, and they're afraid that a youkai might have gotten him. They organized a small search team to look for him, but they haven't returned yet either. So they want a youkai exterminating specialist to find the missing people, and they heard about the new shrine up here, so?"

"I see," Lady Kanako says gravely, narrowing her eyes. "They want to hire you as a youkai exterminator."

"I said I would do it," Sanae says hesitantly, ??but can I really do something like that?"

"it's a part of a shrine maiden's duties, Sanae," her god tells her. "The wholesome gods hunt the wicked youkai. Still, it's a bit worrying to send you by yourself?"

[ ] Remain quiet.
[ ] Volunteer to escort her.
[ ] Try to dissuade Sanae.

[X] Volunteer to escort her.
I walk a road paved with good intentions.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

Mikio knows the lay of the land better, and it'll help in preventing Sanae from becoming overzealous.

[x]Remain quiet

You're just gonna get roped into it eventually, best not to be nosy.

[X] Volunteer to escort her.

'Galm Team, we can not authorize a retreat; intercept them.'

'I'd figured you'd say that...'

[x]Remain quiet

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

WE'RE COMING FOR YOU RUMIA

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

>>13660
Contrary of what the rest may say, that road doesn't lead to hell. Intention and not results is what you'll be evaluated in the end.
...or so that guy in my doorstep said.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.
This won't end good

[X] Volunteer to escort her.

[ ] Volunteer to escort her.

Swallow your pride (and your dark side) and help her out (ignore the lout).

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.

[+] Volunteer to escort her.

>>13674

Rather clever...

[X] Volunteer to escort her.

>>13670
Did he wear a scarf?

[x] Volunteer to escort her.
Jumping into the bandwagon.

[x] Volunteer to escort her.
------

"Um, if it's alright," you speak up, timidly raising a hand. "I could go with her."

Lady Kanako gives a small jump at your suggestion, apparently having forgotten that you were here. Well, you do have a pretty small presence among outspoken people like her, anyway. She looks over to you, appraising you with narrowed eyes for a second or two, before grinning.

"Good," she says. "I'd be more at ease if a tengu like you accompanied her."

You turn your head to Sanae, who still looks somewhat reluctant and hesitant, though she certainly looks a bit relieved. She tries her best to smile as she looks back at you and nods.

"If it's not too much trouble?" she says, trailing off at the end.

"it's fine," you say, standing up from the table. Your hand drifts to the hilt of the sword at your side, giving it a firm squeeze before you speak again. "It might be less dangerous with two people, after all."

"Ah, okay!" she nods, standing up. "Um, I'll be right back, then. I need to prepare and make sure I have everything I need before I set out." Looking a bit excited, she hurries to her room. A few seconds later, she rushes back out, holding her gohei in her hand.

You step toward the door, opening it and putting on your shoes as you step down from the porch. From behind you, you hear Sanae call to the Gods of the shrine.

"I'll be off then, Lady Suwako, Lady Kanako!"

"This'll be your first youkai extermination," Lady Kanako says with a deep, majestic voice, her expression serious and firm, though you think she still looks a bit worried. ??Be careful."

"Do your best, Sanae!" Lady Suwako calls back, waving an extended thumb toward Sanae.

Sanae nods, and then skips out the doorway, sliding the door shut before putting on her own shoes and stepping down next to you. She's definitely a bit more confident now, a little. Grinning brightly, she asks you, "Shall we go?"

"Do you have everything you need?" you ask. "Haven't forgotten anything?"

"Let's see?" Sanae says, rummaging in the pockets of her skirt. She pulls out a stack of spellcards, spreading them out in her hands to read them.

"Ahhh!" she cries as a sudden strong gust of wind blows them out of her hands, scattering them in the air. She scrambles to pick them all back up, roughly shoving the cards back into her pocket. She blushes from embarrassment as she looks back at you. ??Ehehe, sorry about that," she says sheepishly. "I'm ready."

"Alright, let's go," you say, nodding.

The two of you rise into the air, and in a rush of speed, take off into the sky.

?

You land just at the edge of the Great Youkai Forest. According to Sanae, the couple from the village had said that the child disappeared while playing near the field at the outskirts of the forest. So, you concluded that whichever youkai kidnapped the boy is probably taking refugee inside the dense thicket of trees.

"-Wow, from above, you can't see a thing in there," Sanae says, looking nervously at the direction of the trees, hesitant to approach any closer.

"Yeah, we'll have to go on foot from here," you say. "Wait for a moment." You turn toward the mountain. Taking two of your fingers into your mouth, you sound a shrill, piercing whistle, using the wind to carry the sound to the mountain. You wait for a moment, and then sound the whistle again, at a lower pitch this time.

Sanae looks about, puzzled by your actions. But soon enough, a large, white wolf answers your call, swiftly running toward the two of you. It slows to a walk when it's close to you, casting a cautious look to Sanae as it sits down in front of you, emitting a deep, low growl.

"it's okay, Ami," you say as you crouch down next to the wolf, stroking its head. "She's with us."

The growl becomes lower in volume, though it's still there, as the wolf continues to stare at the girl. You stand back up to speak to Sanae.

"She'll help us track down the humans," you say.

"Oh, right," she says, a bit intimidated by the wolf, but also? "Um? is it okay if I pet it?" she asks you, looking longingly at the wolf.

"Oh, uh?" you exchange a look with the wolf. ??I think she'll let you."

In a shy, awkward manner, Sanae squats down next to Ami, placing a shaking hand on its head. She strokes its head a few times, and the wolf tolerates her, even wagging its tail a little. Sanae grins fondly. "Good girl," she coos. She stands back up, in a better mood now than before. "Alright, let's get going."

?

You walk through the forest, following Ami's lead as it sniffs the ground, searching for the scent of humans, or possibly their spilled blood. Beside you, Sanae looks about, slightly frightened and jumping at any odd sound, though she hasn't completely panicked. it's a bit eerie even for you, though. There's absolutely no hint of life around at all. No wildlife, no youkai, no missing humans?

Suddenly, Ami begins to run, having picked up something. You follow swiftly after the wolf, grabbing Sanae by the arm and dragging her along when it seems like she might lag behind and be separated from the two of you. You find Ami crouched over something. Letting go of Sanae, you run on ahead. The wolf raises its head when you approach, and you're able to see clearly what it is that's on the ground.

it's a severed human arm, big enough to belong to an adult and looking as though it was brutally ripped away from the body. So this is what you're dealing with?

"Oh my gods?" you hear Sanae gasp behind you, and you turn back. She stands there, her face completely pale as she looks down at the dismembered arm with eyes of shock. She wasn't prepared to see something like this, was she? Then again, neither were you.

it's strange, though. You thought you would be more disgusted to see something like this.

Sanae gulps hard, tearing her eyes away from the sight. ??Let's keep going," she says in a quiet voice.

[ ] This is too dangerous for Sanae. Try to dissuade her from continuing.
[ ] Keep going.

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

We don't have much time to waste, and I think Mikio can hold his own in a real fight with Sanae's help. But Headgames' influence is evident by his lack of shock to that arm.

[x] This is too dangerous for Sanae. Try to dissuade her from continuing.
[x] Keep going yourself.

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

Agreed.

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

>it's strange, though. You thought you would be more disgusted to see something like this.

This bit worries me.

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

[ ] Keep going.

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in Gensokyo that won't be as nice as the tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

[x]Remind her not all youkai are nice.
[x]"Like me."
[x]Tear her to pieces.

No witnesses, we can get away with it and pin it on some random youkai.

>>13691
actually, considering what we almost did to sanae as hoshuu, it might come to this anyway. After all, we are relatively alone in a place where people are known to just disappear...

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

>?Um? is it okay if I pet it?"
Damn, she's suicidal. I like this Sanae

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in Gensokyo that won't be as nice as the tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.
'Don't believe in yourself if you don't want. Believe in me who believes in you!'

>>13692
You make a disturbingly valid point.

[x] Keep going.
-[x] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[x] Assure her that she's not alone in this.

>Believe in me who believes in you!
And we all know how this ended.

>>13698
Hey it wasn't THAT bad: I'd love to die such a death. With pride and GAR on my side, knowing that I did my best and that the rest, is up to the living...

>>13699
But be sure to have fun with the girl before you die.
Being a hero and all does nothing for you if you are dead.

Or you could end up even worse.

>>13696
>>13698

Not yet, Kids. He hasn't kissed her yet.

[X] Keep going.
-[X] Remind her that sometimes there are wild feral youkai in gensokyo that won't be as nice as the Tengu.
-[X] Assure her that she's not alone in this.
-[X] Ready your weapons

[x] Keep going.
------

You open your mouth in an attempt to try to dissuade her from going any further, but you shut it shortly after taking a glance at her expression. She's scared. She's doubtlessly scared out of her wits, and you can see how much she's straining herself not to show fear in her eyes or movements, but even so, you know that she'd refuse to back down from this.

"Alright," you say, nodding.

It feels a bit wrong to leave the dismembered arm where it is, but the two of you move on, following a trail of blood leading away from the severed limb. So, the situation's this grave. Then the child who went missing, and the search team that didn't return, were they all?"

You grit your teeth, a chill running down your spine. You feel sick. You don't know if the shock of seeing the bloody arm is just now catching up with you, or if your body's just not feeling well, but either way, you feel like you're going to throw up. This might be a lot more dangerous than you first thought it would be. it's a good thing Sanae didn't go alone.

"Um, Mis- I mean, Sanae?" you call her name.

"Ah!" she lets out a frightened squeak, surprised by the sudden sound of your voice. "Oh, um, yes?"

"Please be careful," you say, frowning. "Not all youkai are as friendly and civil as the tengu and the kappa are. There are a lot of wild, feral youkai that won't hesitate to attack a lone human."

"R-right!" she says, nodding, though she lets out a bit of a shudder. Taking a deep breath, she attempts to calm herself. "it's okay?" she mumbles, "I'm a living god, so I can definitely exterminate youkai? I'm not scared?"

"That's right," you say encouragingly, nodding. "And I'm with you as well."

"Mmm," she nods back, smiling. "Thank you."

"Well, even with that said, whoever is behind the disappearances? they might not be willing to settle something like this with a spellcard duel. Normally, youkai would kidnap or terrorize humans, prompting youkai hunters to defeat them in a danmaku battle and ?exterminate? them, with neither side really coming to harm. But in this case? you'll probably have to prepare yourself for a real fight, without danmaku or spellcard rules.

Rustle, rustle.

"Eh?" you lift your head up, looking about the branches of trees above you. What? was that sound? Is it the youkai you're after? or.

You hear Sanae let out a shocked shriek beside you, and you frantically turn yourself to look at her. She has an absolutely terrified look in her eyes, her face blanching white.

You shift your attention to what she's looking at, and you're treated to a very grisly sight. The body of a man hangs from the branches of a tree nearby, his head jerked back and his lifeless eyes staring down at the two of you. The corpse looks like it's been completely ravaged and torn apart, with one leg clearly broken in half, the fractured end of a white bone jutting out of the thigh. he's missing an arm, as well? so the dismembered arm back there belonged to this man?

"Yo, thanks for bringing dessert," a man's voice echoes throughout the forest. Clumsily, you turn toward the voice, just in time to see a slim, lanky man wearing a dirty kimono leap down to the ground, presumably from a tree.

"Those other guys were bad meat," he says with a sneer. "Tougher to chew through than rubber. But she," he turns his eyes to Sanae, who freezes up, "looks like she'll be softer. A more delicate meal. it's like eating a child, but with more to eat." He licks his lips as he finishes saying this.

"S-s-s-so you're the one who's been? who's been terrorizing the village!" Sanae stammers, trying to harden her expression despite her fear as she points her gohei toward the man. "O-on behalf of the Moriya shrine, I'll exterminate you!"

"Shrine? What, ya think you're some kind of shrine maiden?" the youkai scoffs, cleaning his ear with a lean, bony pinky. Wiping it on his robe, he completely ignores Sanae and instead turns his attention to you, instead. "You. I remember you," he says, narrowing his eyes.

"-who are you?" you ask, not knowing what he's talking about.

"Man, fuck you," he spits out in a disgusted voice. ??I'm in a good mood today. Hand over the girl and buzz off, or I'll kill you with her."

"I won't do that," you say coldly, drawing your blade.

"Then die."

He growls, hunching over like a wild beast. His skin grows darker and darker, and begins to sink, his body growing slimmer and slimmer, as though all of his fat and muscles are being absorbed into his bones. What now stands before the two of you can only be vaguely called human, with pitch-black skin, glowing red eyes, two prominent, pointed fangs and a disproportionate, skeletal body.

"I am Jizai!" he cries out in a distorted, echoing voice. "Nothing will keep me down! Not humans, not tengu, and especially not those fucking stupid rules!"

Ami takes action before anyone else does, rushing at the monster. The wolf jumps up, heading straight for the skeleton's throat, but Jizai effortlessly elbows it out of the air before its fangs can reach him, sending it skidding on the dirt below with a sharp yelp. Ami tries to stand back up, but falls back down to the ground, unconscious.

"One down."

"You?!" you snarl, though you manage to keep your emotions in check. It would be reckless to rush in.

Jizai laughs at you as he draws a hand back, as though he's about to throw a punch. he's ready to attack, but what's he going to?!

You quickly move your head to the side as his hand shoots out like a speeding bullet, and you can feel the rush of air as his outstretched fingers fly past your head. His arm? can extend? That came out so fast, you almost didn't have time to dodge it, but? oh no, Sanae!

"Ahh!?" she cries out as Jizai's still flying hand grabs her by the face, sweeping her off her feet. His arm continues and continues to stretch at an incredible speed, stopping only when it slams the girl's head against the tree behind her. Releasing its grip, the hand travels all the way back to the youkai like a length of a rubber band. Sanae falls limply to the ground, knocked out.

"Two down."

"Sanae!" you yell, wanting to rush over to her to make sure she's okay. As you turn around to run, however, you feel a bony hand grabbing your ankle. A rush of air overtakes you as you're lifted up from the ground by one leg, dangling in the air. You curse, looking down at Jizai, holding you up with his incredibly elongated arm.

"You should worry more about yourself," he says smugly.

And then he slams you against the ground. As you're reeling from the effect of the blow, seeing stars fly around before your vision, he twists his grip and mercilessly throws you into a nearby tree. You slide down the length of the trunk, coming to a rest at the foot of the tree. Ugh? just two hits and you already feel like you're going to faint. Dazedly, you manage to prop yourself up with your sword, standing up on trembling knees.

"Still awake?" asks the youkai mockingly.

"Shut up?" you hiss, wiping away blood from a small cut on your cheek.

[ ] Attack.
[ ] Magic.
[ ] Flee (with everyone else, of course.)
[ ] ????

[X] It doesn't matter what happens to you.
[X] Guard Sanae with your life. You have to, because...

[x] ???"

The mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat!

[x] ????

I'm sure this will go well!

[x] ???"
hmmmmmm

[x] ???"

Use the darkness within to crush him.

[x] Magic.

[ ] ???"

Profit

[x] Magic.

>>13708
But won't the darkness within consume him as well?

[x] Magic.

[x] ????

>>13708
>>13712
You can't necessarily say that it's the darkness. It could be a combination of physical and magical power, a disarming tactic(no pun intended), or a call for help from nearby Tengu or other friendly individual.

We are "awake", now, and spitting up the black bile. If it is the darkness, I doubt it has any power left to cloud our mind, as we are now one with it. Summoning a bit of power when our comrades were knocked out so easily isn't the worst thing in the world, and it may be the quicker we descend into madness, the quicker the storyline gets to the point where we're in a position to cure it. Tayasumi didn't die, so he may still be there to lend us his power, if not pull us back from Hoshuu's.

[x] ????

[x] ???"

gogogo

>>13715
>You can't necessarily say that it's the darkness. It could be a combination of physical and magical power, a disarming tactic(no pun intended), or a call for help from nearby Tengu or other friendly individual.

Oh right." stands for random option, how could anyone forget that?

[X] ????


TAKE THIS! MY LOVE! MY ANGER! AND ALL OF MY SORROW!

[x] ????

[x] ????

[x] ????

[x] ????
------

You won't lose. You won't lose. You won't lose.

Jizai draws back his fist again, ready to extend his arm again. You're ready this time, preparing yourself for the incoming attack. Your quick and nimble feet eagerly kick off the ground as the youkai's hand reaches out for you, shooting out even faster than before. You swiftly shift your body so that the youkai's arm just barely flies past you. Carrying through with your momentum, you rush at Jizai, sword ready in your hand.

He snorts as he sees you charging at him, drawing back the other hand to launch it at you while his right arm's still retracting. With a spring in your steps, you jump off from the ground, narrowly avoiding being caught as the outstretched hand shoots past your feet.

Kicking at the still extended arm below you, you jump further into the air, pointing your palm down below at the youkai, gawking up at you. You fire off a quick succession of green blasts of magic. Jizai leaps from the ground, evading them in time. You rocket towards him, hoping to score a clean hit while he's still in midair.

"Pathetic!" he yells as you approach him, sending an elbow crashing into your face.

The blow sends you reeling back with a loud crack, wobbling in the air as you struggle to regain balance. A small piece of the mask covering your face crumbles off, and you can imagine that the already damaged and worn mask probably has even more cracks in it now. You watch the youkai land back down on the ground, trying to recover a bit before going after him again.

Gritting your teeth and steeling your resolve once more, you dive at the ground, swooping in and slashing at the youkai. He ducks under the sword, surprisingly speedy for something with a body that looks awkward in several places. Catching you by the wrist as you bring your sword up to try to attack from overhead, he slams you into the ground again. You cry out in pain, feeling several of your bones creaking and cracking.

"Just stay down there," Jizai says gloatingly. "It'll be less painful that way."

You attempt to lift yourself up, struggling to move your limbs. it's not the pain that's keeping you down. If it's something like pain, you can easily ignore it and move on. But it's different. Your limbs feel heavy. Your lungs feel like they're burning. You've been feeling this way since morning. You can't fight like this. You can't fight like this? but you have to, or else?

"Hah, I'll be taking my meal now?"

no more play

You close your eyes, and effortlessly stand back up. There's no reason to hold back.

"Eh?" Jizai turns around, looking at you with an annoyed look in his eyes. "You're still up and about? Guess I didn't hit ya hard enough yet!"

He extends his arm at you, but you make no movement. His fingers grip themselves around your head as you're launched back, your body limp like a ragdoll as he smashes you against the trunk of a tree.

But as he makes to retract his arm, you grab his wrist with one hand.

"Wha-!?"

He struggles against your grip, trying to pull his arm back. You don't give an inch. Instead, you pull his hand away from your face, and twisting yourself around, you drive your sword through the back of the youkai's hand and into the trunk, pinning it against the tree. You let go of the youkai's wrist, calmly watching his reaction.

"Aggghhhh!" he howls in pain. He rips back his hand, pulling the sword out from the tree as his arm contracts back to its normal size. He hurriedly removes the sword from his hand, tossing it aside while blowing on the wound it left behind, veins popping out of his head. "You little shit?!" he curses at you.

You stare at him in silence. And then, in an instant, you appear before him. You watch his eyes widen in shock as you stand there quietly, waiting for him to make a move. Surprise turns to fear and next into anger as he takes a swing at you with his undamaged hand.

duck

You duck past the blow, and before he can recover from the swing, you clench a hand into a fist and rise up with an uppercut to the bottom of the youkai's chin. Blood spills out from the youkai's mouth and nose, his teeth smashed and broken. Following up, you deliver a punch to his gut, knocking the air out of him. Doubling back to wind up for your next attack, you rush forward and send a kick to his chin, launching him up into the air.

Following up after him, you further attack him with a rising knee to the abdomen while simultaneously elbowing his back. You then grab him by the back of his neck, holding him below you as you plummet back down to the ground, driving his head into the earth below.

You stand over him as he grovels on the dirt, muttering curses under his breath as he struggles to stand back up. You reward his efforts with a stomp to the head, grinding his face against the ground. Planting your foot under his body, you kick him back up into the air, where you grab him by the front of his kimono, keeping him dangling there.

"Ugghhaaaagh?" he groans, blood leaking from his mouth, his nose, and the cuts on his face. What an ugly sight. He feebly struggles against you, but he's in too much pain right now to inconvenience you.

You lift him up higher and higher, flying up with him in your grip. You continue to rise until the forest is below you. A crackle of electricity briefly runs throughout your body. And then in the next moment, a lightning bolt crashes down from the sky above, striking Jizai. His screams are drowned out in the resulting thunder. That's not enough. More lightning strikes, the youkai writhing in your grip with each subsequent bolt hitting him. The pungent smell of scorched flesh fills the air, the youkai now motionless.

You allow Jizai to slip from your grasp, watching him fall to the ground without even so much as a twitch. You slowly drift down after him. You walk over to your discarded sword, snatching it up. You briefly glance at Sanae, still unconscious. Good. You didn't want her to see what you just did. Nor do you want her to see what you will do now.

You walk over to the fallen youkai, sprawled out against the earth. You switch to a reverse grip on your sword, pointing the tip down at the youkai's head, ready to bring it down and finish off the youkai. Your arm begins shaking.

what are you waiting for

kill him kill him kill him

its the only way to end this

the only fate fitting for him

kill him

[ ] kill
[ ] I don't want to.

[x] I don't want to.
You are no the boss of me

[X] I don't want to.

Why did we pick ???, again?

[x] I don't want to.

>>13725
Because incredible power at the cost of sanity is fun.

[X] I don't want to.

[x] I don't want to.

[x] I don't want to.

You just had to pick the mystery option...

[ ] kill

[x]kill

feral youkai must be exterminated

[x] I don't want to.
Expecting mercy from a feral youkai? Yes, we are THAT stupid.

[x] I don't want to.

[x] I don't want to.

[x] kill

Are you really going to let him go? He's an unrepentant murderer and a child-killer. If you let him live, he's just going to keep attacking humans.

Voice or no, wild animals who threaten a human populace have to be put down.

>>13742
>>13741
>>13740
>>13739
>>13738
>>13737
>>13736
>>13735
Ho-ly fuck. Those are a lot of posts.
Are you the guy who keeps double posting even though he presses reply once? Goddamn, this is your best work yet.

[X] I don't want to.

Death is only a set back for a Youkai; better to leave him cripped and reeling for a while.

>>13744
I think that the Living god will be able to seal him up... if she ever wakes up, that is.

>>13743

Holy shit, my bad. Can a mod clean it up?

[x] I don't want to.

>>13743

Something interessing, noticed the time of post?
>15:10
>15:14
>15:17

Normally, the posts are all at the same time, with the server duping them. This time something went seriously wrong if the delay is any indication.

>>13743

No, the double posting guy is me. I'm glad this is happening to someone else, though, as it means the problem probably isn't on my end.

[x] kill

It's time to end this bastard already. He's a murderer, and if we spare him he'll go right back to chewing up innocent humans.

Listen to the voice just this once and do what's necessary.

[X] I don't want to.

Hmm... listen to the voice and kill him, and risk going into a frenzy because the voice gains power every time we listen to it and possibly killing or severely harming Sanae who happens to be nearby? No thanks.

[X]I don't want to.

Does anybody besides me remember what Shikieiki said about Mikio?

[x] I don't want to.

>>13753
Before or after she tried to hump his inmaterial leg?

[x] kill

[B] kill

>>13755

Thread ten [X]Awaken:
>When the darkest hour arrives, you must fight; not to kill, but to show your conviction.

Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe I'm overthinking things, but don't you think this at least kind of fits the bill?

[ ] I don't want to.

I think getting the shit beat out of him was enough.

But I think Kanako will want to have a word with us about that random lightning...

>>13725

Desperate times calls for desperate measures that's why. But at the same time, not getting carried away with our superpowered evil side.

[x] I don't want to.

[x] kill

This asshole tried killing us twice in the past, again now, hurt both of our friends, and has slaughtered countless villagers.

I do not want him coming back for revenge, nor with friends of his own. Some Youkai can be spared, he cannot. Finish him; put him out of his misery.

>>13762

Dude, we've been trying to not give in to the voice all this time, now you want to?

If we give into the darkness now, which in Hoshuu's route CLEARLY has some kind of grudge against Sanae that hasn't been elaborated on, yet, who's to say that Headgames won't convince us to turn on Sanae and finish what he tried to make Hoshuu do X amount of years ago?

And then there's the possibility of if we kill this youkai, Sanae will wake up oh so conveniently to see us finish the guy off, go into total panic mode and end up being afraid of us, or worse, try to exterminate us?instead? I'm sure the darkness won't miss the chance to end her right then since there'd be reason to actually fight against her.

Point is, Mikio is trying to show Sanae that not all youkai are inherently evil. How would it look through Sanae's eyes if after beating this guy around as bad as we've done already, she wakes up in time to watch us kill him in probably one of the worst ways possible? His blood is all over our hands already. That'ds the kind of impression of youkai we were aiming to DISPROVE by helping Sanae out in the first place.

>If we give into the darkness now, which in Hoshuu's route CLEARLY has some kind of grudge against Sanae that hasn't been elaborated on, yet, who's to say that Headgames won't convince us to turn on Sanae and finish what he tried to make Hoshuu do X amount of years ago?

And then there's the possibility of if we kill this youkai, Sanae will wake up us instead? I'm sure the darkness won't miss the chance to end her right then since there'd be reason to actually fight against her.

Point is, Mikio is trying to show Sanae that not all youkai are inherently evil. How would it look through Sanae's eyes if after beating this guy around as bad as we've done already, she wakes up in time to watch us kill him in probably one of the worst ways possible? His blood is all over our hands already. That's the kind of impression of youkai we were aiming to DISPROVE by helping Sanae out in the first place.





Fixed, I hope. I must have been typing way too fast to catch those spelling errors.

>>13745
Here

Killing a Youkai is a waste of time and pointless. Wait until the good girl wakes up and make her seal away that Youkai.
Otherwise, he'll just keep coming

>>13766
>It seems that youkai, like fairies, may not be able to die permanently; Hieda no Akyu, Reimu Hakurei and others regularly discuss 'extermination' of youkai as if it were only a temporary measure.

>>13767

I think these youkai die when they are killed.

[x] But I don't waaaannaaaa

>>13763
I've been wanting to give into the fucking voice from the start. Now it's only common sense.

"We" does not include all of us. You'd be wrong to assume that everyone shares your ideals.

>>13764
>>13765
Alright, 1: This is a magical land filled with deadly creatures and just as deadly humans that need to do what they can to survive and protect their loved ones. If she does wake up, she'll just need some time to recover from the shock - that is, if we do kill him horribly - which we won't, because it's just a fucking sword through the head. She has to learn to deal with these things if she wants to make it as a priestess in this world, and if something this softcore is going to make her become a mute, she needs to pack her shit and leave.

2: This isn't Hoshuu's evil. This is Tayasumi's. Big difference, recognizable by the absence of pain, the heat, the brutality against the Youkai and the desire more than the need to kill it. Tayasumi hasn't yet lost his mind, and probably we won't either until his arc is finished or hits the point where it confirms the danger. Until then this may as well be the voice of reason, and he'll be there to pull us back. We're still in our right mind; and if it were Hoshuu's evil, he wouldn't care about what Sanae thought of him.

You can kill without succumbing to the voice. You can ignore outside influence and kill for your own reasons. Our reasons are simple and justified - our friend is in danger, and so are countless others. It is a threat to human life and must be eliminated.

>>13774
>Tayasumi hasn't yet lost his mind

You mean Honshuu, right?

And about killing the youkai, there is also the matter of what comes after. He kills them and eats them too.

>>13775
>Honshuu
God damn it.
>He kills them and eats them too
What?

>>13776

Well, not exactly eat. It's more like aborbing them?

>>13777
That's by using the spiritual power - it's not going to happen by killing him with the sword. I don't believe Tayasumi even absorbs them, either. That would be counterproductive. His evil feeds just from killing them, no matter how, much like simple belief would feed a god. He just burns them.

So far only the thoughts that become reflexes have transferred over. None of the actual power. And to answer your previous question, no; neither of them have lost their minds, yet.

Again, until at least one them succeeds or fails to overcome the madness, I doubt Mikio is going to suffer any repercussions. His future is governed by his past, and until we've uncovered what happened to them, Mikio is pretty much in state of limbo.

That's my theory. Even if it's not the case, you all act as if giving into the voice is the absolute end, as if there's no fighting it if we give it so much as an inch. Have a little more faith in human willpower.

[x] I don't want to.
Not going to let headgames have his youkai and eat it too.

>>13774

Whatever's going on started with Tayasumi, and ended up affecting Hoshuu and Mikio. But killing now with headgames making himself known would only worsen the slide.

>>13780
Power corrupts, and given that this is Gensokyo, a land where mystic forces concentrate, this evil can gain a foothold with more ease than in the past. The more we go into the dark hole, the harder it will be to get back out.

[x] Kill the creature, and kill it of your own accord. Don't blame the demons in your head, don't blame karma, don't blame the machinations of some malign outside influence. The only impetus is circumstance and the desire to protect what yet lives.

We've had more than one lifetime of 'I-don't-want-to'-but-being-forced-to-do-it-anyways.

Sanae, this is what it means to exterminate a youkai. This is what it is to end an incident. This is what you have to do sometimes just to survive. It's not all flares and laser-light shows; sometimes it's dirt, and sweat, and blood, and tears.

[x] Kill the creature, and kill it of your own accord. Don't blame the demons in your head, don't blame karma, don't blame the machinations of some malign outside influence. The only impetus is circumstance and the desire to protect what yet lives.

I just finished reading from the beginning and have decided to voice an opinion. This is a fantastic story, but the choices almost never seem to have the intended result. As such, I will refrain from voting. On the other hand, the lack of instant bad ends and other such 'fuck you' devices leads me to believe that the story will still end on a positive (or at least satisfying) note. I could of course be entirely wrong and Lion could just be waiting for the right moment to kill us all. Either way I'll read to the very end.


This has all been said before, hasn't it? I'll post this anyway so the effort spent typing won't be completely wasted. A 'tl;dr' version of this message should be treated as full endorsement of this great story.

>>13776
He has to be doing it on purpose now. He has to be. He was being an unreasonable, butthurt little shitball about it beforehand, so I can totally see him doing it deliberately for some petty, retarded reason only he cares about.

That or it's some other person trolling. in which case: fag/10, Would not care again.

[x] I don't want to.
------

do it

You lift up your sword, ready to drive it through the youkai's head and finally finish him off for good. The tip of your sword trembles about erratically. Why are you hesitating? This should be easy. All you have to do is bring the blade down, and then it's done. But even so, why won't you do it? He hurt you. He hurt your friends. Even so, you can't bring yourself to kill him?

Slowly, you lower your weapon, quietly sheathing it. You back away, clutching your throbbing head. Ugh. It hurts. What were you doing just now?" You look at the motionless youkai, bleeding a great deal from his mouth and his already dark skin charred black. Did you? do this to him?

No, that's not important right now. Sanae. Is she still unconscious? Is she okay? You look about, searching for her. You find her collapsed at the base of a tree. You breathe a sigh of relief. She doesn't seem to have gotten any further injuries. You begin to walk over to her?

you idiot

"Ugh?"

You turn back around, standing in place as the youkai groans, sluggishly standing back up while wiping at his mouth with one of its sleeves. Immediately, he lashes out with his arm, launching a hand towards you. You're able to dodge it. You should be able to dodge it! All you have to do is lean a little to the side and the youkai's hand will harmlessly brush past your head.

"but you can't move. You're paralyzed by pain. Why?" Why now? Why is it that at this moment, you've lost control of your body? You can't move. You can't move you can't move you can't move you can't move you can't move you can't?

"Nnn!" you grunt as the youkai's fist connects with your face, ripping your mask off from your head. Flung to the side like a ragdoll, you roll through the grass and dirt, feeling warm blood trickle down your face. Your vision goes completely red. So much red that you can't help but force your eyes shut. Move?! Move! WHY WOn't YOUR BODY MOVE!?

You can barely gasp for breath as you feel slim fingers wrapping themselves around your ankle. Before you can realize what's happening, you're flung up into the air, your limbs completely limp and useless. You crash into the ground, smashed against the hard earth. With no time for reprieve, you're lifted up again, only to be thrown to the ground again. Why? why? why? why?You're whirled about, your body thrown around in a loop before being smashed against a tree.

Snap!

The impact breaks the leg you're being tossed around by. You let out a silent scream, still unable to budge even a finger. You try to open your eyes, but as soon as you do you're assaulted by the red vision, threatening to blind you, to overwhelm your sight with a sea and a sky of blood. Your breathing is reduced to ragged, pained, desperate gasps for air. You almost can't even feel anything anymore.

hahahahaha

You're finally allowed to drop to the ground, landing on your face. You're painfully aware that your broken leg is now sticking out at a very awkward angle, even though you can't see. You hear footsteps approaching. The youkai moving in to finish you off the way you were going to earlier. Or maybe he wants to make you suffer more.

A swift kick to the stomach. it's the latter, then. You hear Jizai's angry grunt as he winds back his foot to kick you again, this time, onto your back. He can barely stand right now, but he still has enough strength to kill you. He stomps on your ribs, and you can feel several of them crack as he presses down with his foot.

"Y-you? you you you you!" he grunts, lifting up his foot and stomping on you several times, becoming winded. He kicks in the stomach again, forcing you to your front and stepping on your back. You can't even respond to him. You can't even gasp out in pain. "Die! Die! Die! Di?Gaaah!"

You hear warm blood splattering on the ground. Jizai lifts his feet off you, stepping away. What?s? happening?

"Damned bitch!" you hear the youkai curse. "Shitty shrine maiden! Attacking me from behind!"

Sa?na?e.

You feel your fingers give a twitch.

"So you got me once!" the youkai continues to ramble, his voice cracking and sounding near-hysterical. "But you won't be able to kill me with half-assed attacks without killing intent, you slut!"

The youkai roars, and his feet leave the ground. From somewhere nearby, you hear a frightened gasp. But?

"Uaaagh!?"

The youkai suddenly yelps in pain. He screams as you hear the sounds of blood splattering on the ground and trees and blades cutting through flesh. You hear him drop to the ground, followed by a set of hasty footsteps toward you.

"Mikio?!" you hear Miss Aya's voice, high and trembling. ??Oh gods, you look like you're half ?dead?!"

You try to open your mouth to say something. To assert her that you're alright. But all that comes out is a wet, bloody cough, you head drooping back down to the ground.

"Sshhh, don't talk," Miss Aya hurriedly says.

"M'my?" you croak out.You roll onto your back, lifting up one of your hands to cover your face with it. "My? mask? my mask? I want? my mask?"

"Huh? That?s, that's not important right now! You need help right away, or?"

"-my mask? please?"

"Alright?" After a pause, you hear footsteps shuffling away and returning a moment later. "Here," Miss Aya's voice returns, and you feel your mask on the back of your hand. You take your hand off your face, and allow her to secure the mask around your head. You breathe a sigh of relief.

"Miss Aya?" you croak out again.

"Oh, Mikio, don't speak! You look like you're dying when you're trying to say something?!"

"Is? is Miss Sanae? okay?"

"Yes, she's fine! She's right over there, and?"

"And?and Ami?"

"Yes, yes, they're both fine, so please, stop overexerting yourself!"

"-hah? I'm? glad?" you say, letting your body relax a little.

Miss Aya paces about, her footsteps tense and nervous. ??I've sent a message to headquarters. A crow tengu squad will be right over here, and they'll pick you up and lift you to the infirmary, and you'll be okay then. You'll be okay, Miki. You'll be okay?!" she says that last part seemingly to assure herself rather than you.

You give a slow nod, before parting your lips to say something.

"Miss Aya??"

"What? What is it?"

[ ] "Thank you."
[ ] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "Thank you."

Let's not have a defeatist attitude. Perhaps what we did was foolish, but better this than risking turning into a bigger monster.

[X] "I can't open my eyes."

The whole thrust of the latter part of the story has been that we don't need Headgames because we have friends and family supporting us. It's time we let someone know that all is not right in Mikio-land, and if not Aya, then who?

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

>>13789
I agree with this guy.

[X] "I can't open my eyes."

[X] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

halp

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[X] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

Farmer End.

Well, at least now we're a good example to Sanae: How not to exterminate youkai.

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

Kinda pointless to vote now since I'm sure it already won, but eh.

>>13800
Speaking of which, we're lucky that Sanae was too preoccupied to pay attention to his face. He tends to have the unfortunate tendency to leave it unatended.

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."

[x] "Thank you."

[x] "I can't open my eyes."
------

"I? I can't open my eyes," you gasp out.

?" What?" Miss Aya's voice is in a hush. "What did you say, Mikio?"

"My eyes? my eyes won't open," you say, your breathing quickening as a sense of panic begins to set in. You frantically try to touch your hand to your face, to rip off your mask and pry your eyes open with your fingers. Why won't they open? Why aren't they opening?"

"Mikio, Mikio! Stop!" Miss Aya says to you, holding your wrists down. "Stop moving, or you'll aggravate your injuries! Please, you have to calm down!"

You struggle against her, but her grip on your wrists is strong, and you have no fight left in your arms. You pant heavily, letting your arms go limp. Your eyes won't open. They hurt. they're burning. they're itching. they're hurting. But they're not opening. Why? Why why why? Why won't they open?

"Listen, Miki," Miss Aya says, trying to sound calm, though her voice is almost cracking, "Just hang on, okay? You'll be treated soon. And? and they'll figure out what's wrong with your eyes, too. Here they come."

Miss Aya releases your wrists from her hands, and a few moments later, you hear several pairs of feet hit the ground beside you.

"Whoa," one of the crow tengu says, crouching beside you. "Damn, that looks bad."

"Cut the chatter and load him up here," another says.

You're gently lifted up by several hands, your body placed on top of something soft and comfortable.

"There are some human bodies here too," a third crow tengu says to the others. "they're probably the search team the human village down by the base of the mountain sent here.."

"Well, we'll have to send a few others to retrieve and return the corpses to the village, but for now, getting this kid to the infirmary is top priority. We'll take care of him. You, accompany the priestess back to the shrine."

"Got it."

The two crows lift the air-stretcher you're lying down on, carrying you to the sky. You relax, enjoying the sound of their wings flapping and the gentle rocking of the cloth beneath you. Your body feels numb. Your injuries don't hurt anymore. Staring into the darkness of your closed eyelids, you feel your conscious slipping away from you, flickering out like candlelight?

?

You wake with a start on a comfortable bedroll, though your eyes remain shut. You try to move your limbs, and you succeed, though it's tiring and takes a great deal of effort to move around. Sitting up from the bed, you immediately notice that your broken leg is being held straight with a cast, and you can feel bandages wrapped around almost every part of your body. Were your injuries? that extensive?

Slowly, you open your eyes. Ah. You can open them now. You can see. But something's wrong. You can see, but everything looks blurry and out of focus. Has your eyesight diminished? You look around the hazy scene in front of you. You're definitely in the infirmary. You can tell that, despite your limited sense of sight.

red

A flash of pain jolts throughout your head, and you wince, closing your eyes and touching your hand to your bare forehead. You open your eyes again. This time, you can see clearly, except? except everything is red. Your hand, your clothes, the blanket covering you, the entire room. it's all red red red. You blink again. Everything's back to normal, and you can still see things clearly. That's good. Your eyes? are back to normal, then.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake, Mikio," a voice breaks the silence, startling you.

You glance at the direction the voice came from, and find Miss Momizi walking toward you, looking considerably relieved. She kneels down by your side, her hands in her lap. "Erm? how are you feeling?" she asks.

"-Fine," you answer in a groggy voice. That's a lie. You're not feeling fine at all. But you don't want to worry her, so?

"So, um, you can open your eyes now, right??" Miss Momizi asks, averting her gaze. "And? can you see well?"

"Huh? Um, yeah? why?"

"Well, that?s, um?" she fumbles her words, and you can definitely see that she's trying not to look directly at you. ??You should take a look for yourself," she finally says, handing you a small hand mirror.

You take it from her hand, looking into the glass. Your reflection looks back at you, your face all bandaged up and pale. You look into the eyes of your reflection. they're blood-red like before, but there's something different about them? Before, they were hollow and empty, lacking any pupils at all, but now?!

But now a narrow black slit rests in the center of your irises.

"Mikio??" Miss Momizi calls your name nervously.

You let the mirror fall from your hand, and look down at your hands. No. This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong this is wrong this is WRONGTHISISWRONGTHISISWRONGTHISISWRONGTHESEAREn'tYOUREYESTHESEAREn'tYOUREYESTHISISWRONGTHESEEYESAREWRONGthey'reWRONGEVERYTHINGEVERYTHINGEVERY
THINGABOUTTHISISWRONG.

You whimper as you clutch your face with your hands. Closing your eyes, you claw at your eyelids with your fingers. You'll gouge them out. You'll scratch them away. they're wrong. they're wrong. What you saw in that reflection. WHAT YOU SAW IN THAT REFLECTION WASn't YOU.

"Mikio, what are you doing!?" Miss Momizi says frightfully as she grabs your wrists, wresting your hands away from your eyes. You struggle like a wild animal against her, your fingers still reaching out for your eyes. "Mikio, stop!"

You let your eyes go limp, your breath coming out in sobs as you lower your head. Miss Momizi doesn't let go of your wrists until she's sure that you're not about to try to gouge out your own eyes again. You look up at her, looking at her worried face. She's? gazing into your eyes.

"Don't look at me," you say.

"What?"

"Don't look at my eyes," you repeat, lowering your head again. ??I want my mask."

She silently heads off elsewhere, not asking any questions, thankfully. She returns with your mask in hand, offering it to you. You take the mask into your own hands, staring down at it. it's gone through a lot of abuse in the years you've kept it. You run a finger through the cracks in it, stroking the surface fondly. it's alright now. You'll be you as long as you wear this. You'll be Mikio? You smile faintly as you put it on your face and sink back into your pillow, sighing peacefully as you close your eyes, drifting back into sleep.

---

every step you take to get away from me only brings you closer

do you really think youll be able to escape by resisting me

that wont happen

do you know why

because you are inconsistent

you throw away your past and yet youre still bound to it

thats why you suffer

thats why its inevitable that you wont escape me

or your own oblivion

so

how long do you plan to struggle futilely

the longer you fight

the more you will be hurt

[ ] As long as I can.
[ ] i cant take any more

[x] As long as I can.

Well that didn't go as planned.

[x] As long as I can.

Keep fighting.

>>13810
[x] As long as I can.
Actually, the last option was intentionally meant to break the status quo. 'Mikio' needs to fight and win against himself or die trying.
In reality people aren't bond to their pasts. Their actions make the self that exists in other person's mind but you're whom you want to be. Until our MC doesn't understand that he isn't responsible nor bound for what he may or may not have done in the past, his other self won't lose its grip on him.
At least, that's what I think.

[x] As long as I can.

[Q] As long as I can.

Fight!

[x] As long as I can.

[x] As long as I can.
I'm sorry to say this to you, headgames, but we aren't going to become more consistent by changing strategies this late into the game.

[x] As long as I can.
Until my bones are rendered to dust i will resist.

[x] As long as I can.

Well, damn. That wasn't what I was expecting at all. Way to keep us on edge here, Lion.

[X] As long as I can.
[X] Find some way to tell Momizi about what has been going on.

If he does tell her...

[X] Make her swear up and down not to tell any of the other tengu, not even Aya.
[X] Ask Momizi to check on Sanae and Ami later.

I think we can confide in our surrogate mother at the very least to keep this a secret. Momizi knows us better than any of the other tengu, plus her mouth is a LOT less loose than Aya's. If this were to reach Tenma, Mikio would probably be confined somewhere to prevent him form freaking out until he'd eventually give in to the darkness on his own. Besides, it's not exactly safe to leave Mikio on his own right now. He's already tried to scratch his eyes out twice, and he's in total panic mode now. Keeping at least Momizi close will at least keep his sanity in check. She won't let him go insane.

Aya's leaving me with mixed feelings though. Obviously she cares deeply for Mikio, despite her antics with him earlier on. She's shown that despite her "reputation" as a reporter, she has actually shown remorse for every time she gets Mikio in trouble. She may be our surrogate aunt and clearly sincere with us, but still I wouldn't be so willing to trust her with extremely sensitive information like this. Though I would trust her more to hold us back were we to totally freak out and attack Momizi. We're in traction right now, so that isn't that big of an issue yet. But still, if the KILLKILLKILLKILLKILL part of Headgames comes back, I'm thinking that Momizi will be too reluctant to hurt us. Aya...I doubt would be willing to hurt us either, but she'll be better suited to keep us from hurting anyone else.

[X] Make her swear up and down not to tell any of the other tengu, not even Aya.

yes that is smart
something is going on with us that might possibly make us a danger to others so let's keep it a secret yes

>[X] Make her swear up and down not to tell any of the other tengu, not even Aya.

yes that is smart
something is going on with us that might possibly make us a danger to others so let's keep it a secret yes

>>13820
Well, this is an ugly surprise.
Could a kind mod delete this post please? Thanks.

>>13821


How do you think the tengu will react once they find out Mikio has something inside him that could drive him to kill his own brethren? It won't exactly blow over too well. The tengu are still split on how they feel about him, and knowing of Headgames' presence inside Mikio gives less of a chance that anyone would be willing to help him out with this situation. Right now, Mikio is totally freaked out about this and is in total panic mode. What he needs is someone close he can trust with this information and someone who can keep him sane. I think he can trust Momizi at the very least with this. Aya, on the other hand...not so much.

On the other hand, telling Aya of this as well gives some leverage with Lord Tenma about what to do with Mikio. While Aya isn't the most subtle person in the world, I doubt she'd break a promise to Mikio despite her antics that have gotten him into quite a bit of trouble.

If they do keep Mikio confined, Momizi will no doubt want to be the one to watch over him personally. But if Mikio does indeed lose it and try to hurt Momizi, she will probably be too reluctant to hurt him. Aya on the other hand, would be better suited to stopping him if Mikio goes crazy. It isn't a problem now since he's injured, but still...it's something to consider.

>>13824
You bring up a very good point, but what I figure is this: it's going to get revealed anyway, so you might as well come clear now.

Actually, that's what we should do. Come clear to the major characters--the trusted characters--about the whole youkai-killer thing, stat, before it kicks one of them in the ass square.

It's okay if we don't tell any of the other youkai, though, 'cause they're not important. If they were important, they'd have names. But they don't have names, so, you know, Q.E.D.

>>13819

I think you're over doing it, the current vote deals with the attitude of dealing with headgames, what to do after that will most likely come up next.
Take it easy!

[x] i cant take any more

>>13826

Thre is a time for everything.

>>13829
There is a time for everything, sure. The problem is, I'm running on caffeine standard time, and my brain thinks I'm very clever.

[X] As long as I can.


No Surrender. No Retreat. No Regrets.

[x] Bottle up that sickness, that pain. Keep running away from your past. Keep pushing away your loved ones. Keep showing compassion for the monsters that wish to make you suffer even more. Become a shut-in. Cut off your hands because you obviously have no will to use them. Gouge out your eyes because the truth is too much to handle. Make everyone else suffer because you can't deal with your problems. Make everyone else hate you so you can feed your masochist tendencies. Keep telling yourself this is the way it should be, because you have no desire to live and no right to.
[x] Bad End.

I AGREE WITH ALL OF YOU. LET'S DO THIS MAN.

>>13832
Given the choice, suicide is a better alternative to become a monster. Or did you think that surrendering Mikio's self to 'it' will make him want to chase rainbows and grow flowers?

That said, you suck at sarcasm and reading comprehension. Next time read the whole story, several times if you need, before shitting a post like that.

>>13833
Yeah, I'd really fucking like to hear you say that if you were in such a position. Do you find your life is really that worthless, or are you some religious extremist? "I'd rather me and my friends be crushed to death than go through with the simple act of killing a monster currently much worse than the voice in my head. Common sense? What's that? DUUUURRRRR"

Feeding this thing to keep it at bay is much better than a futile fight that ends with us either dead or in agony, and putting everyone else through grief. Keep it from everybody, try to fight on your own, or place a burden on someone's shoulders that's probably the furthest from being able to help you. This is what I see in these last few posts.

Yes, everything is black and white in this world. Don't think of any other options to deal with this; the only choices are the ones given. Kill or be killed. Well you know what? That sounds very much what a wild beast would think. I guess he's already a monster, then.

I agree with >>13826 yet I don't see anyone going with it. There's a time for everything you say? Bullshit. Just keep putting it off, it'll all go away, right? Show a little concern, but don't make any noticeable effort, that gets things done. Why not instead put him through hell? Fun times!

If not now, when? When it's already too late and we've ripped out Momizi's jugular? Take a break, chat with the voice, grow fangs, kill Sanae, have tea, etc.

Right now he should be in a straitjacket, receiving any type of help he can get his hands on - and so should you.

>>13834
Cool false dichotomy, bro. The choice here isn't between "fight the voice in our head AND keep hiding our illness from our loved ones" and "give in to the voice AND seek help". Yes, choosing to spare the youkai was a dumb move, and I voted for 'kill' then because it made sense, but this time, we're asleep, with no external threats, and the voice in our head who wants us to kill everyone we love is telling us to give in. Now is exactly the time we should be resisting, and hopefully, we will continue to resist once we wake up by admitting that we can no longer deal with this shit on our own and seeking help.

I'm starting to get the feeling that Lion might troll us. It's hard not to get such a feeling when Mikio's showing no signs of trying to get someone else to help.

>>13837
Nope. I think that's how he is.
In fact, it's good to see a character with a consistent personality for once.

>>13786

Actually I'm not that guy. I just knew I would get some kind of reaction and thought it would be funny.

Of course it was not funny for you. For me, however...I had some laughs.

You know at first it seemed like we were being all heroic by resisting Headgames, but it's starting to look increasingly grim as things go on. I hate to be all 'SNOW END' about this, but it's just a gut feeling.

What do you guys think?

>>13840
I do not know, it's not as if Lion says much about anything in the thread, so we have no idea what he's thinking, especially with increase in vague choices.

I don't think Lion is trying to troll us as much as he is demonstrating the classic tragic hero in his story.

Mikio's strength and folly is that he knows he is human and he refuses to play the part of a youkai, even when his own persona and Headgames demands him to. To admit that he is even partly becoming a youkai is horrifying to him - all our choices have steered Mikio into delaying, not dealing with his problems.

It's difficult to choose between [x] running away, and [x]surrender because there's no choice to fight back. We should resist Headgames as much as possible and seek as much help as possible from Momizi.

[X] As long as I can.
[X] Find some way to tell Momizi about what has been going on.

>I don't think Lion is trying to troll us as much as he is demonstrating the classic tragic hero in his story.


And these are the kind of debates writefags thrive off of, throwing off the readers and making them think about each action. 'Tis not trolling, but probably suggesting to think abut each decision more as we go along.

>>13833
This is all, of course, assuming that "Headgames" is indeed malevolent and is a threat to everyone. But what if that's not the case? What if he intends to antagonize Mikio--and only Mikio?

Without taking the dream memories into account, Headgames has really only tried to make Mikio kill an unrepentantly murderous youkai that posed a threat to him. He's never tried to make Mikio attack his any of his friends or loved ones. What if that's not his intention at all?

>>13844
A very interesting theory, but I don't know how much water it holds.

Also, is Headgames sounding a little familiar to anyone?

Pic related.

>>13844
I can think of few better ways to antagonize Mikio than harming his loved ones. Besides, the voice in Mikio's head is almost certainly related to, if not the same as, the voice in Hoshuu's head, and we know how that ended up.

>>13844

Have you forgotten the tale Aya told Mikio? About the one human who, after killing countless youkai in revenge, became a monster so big he couldn't discern humans from youkai and killed everyone? It's basically Tayasumi's story.

>>13846
We don't quite know what happened after that birthday in Hoshuu's story.

>>13844
I think Headgames is trying to get him started on an easy to kill target before twisting things to go after other 'non-humans' (Such as his friends and family) Since as Tayasumi's story is going, that voice in his head (no doubt headgames) is driving him to take out both youkai AND gods.

[x] As long as I can.
------

As long as I can.

That's fine.

Go ahead and struggle all you want.

It'll be so entertaining to watch you stumble around and fall.

I don't even need to do anything.

I can see it.

What? do you see?

It wouldn't be very fun if I told you.

but for now

enjoy a brief reprieve

hahaha

------

"Ah.

It doesn't hurt anymore.

You touch your hand to your head, your mouth gaping open slightly as you sit in silence, the sudden halting of your thoughts sending you into slight shock. The pain in your head is gone. You no longer feel like you're going to vomit. Your body feels slightly more tired out than before, but? there's life in your body now. You can feel warmth spreading out from the center of your torso all the way to the tips of your fingers and toe. It feels? so comfortable.

You wave your hand around in front of your face, watching it with a strange sense of wonder. Your mind suddenly feels clear and sharp; an almost crippling sensation after passing through days with clouded thoughts in an insufferable stupor. What? have you been doing for so long here? How long has it been since you were brought to this infirmary?" You can't remember. The time between your arrival and your present condition is shrouded entirely in haze. But? it must have been a long time. Maybe even a few months.

Shaking your head, you look to the side and see a hand mirror lying face down not far from your bedding. You reach out with your hand to take hold of it. You point the face of the mirror at yourself, looking into your reflection. The glass surface shows a pale, cracked face. Your mask. You undo the straps behind your head, letting the mask fall into your lap. You gaze into the mirror?

A pair of hellish, sinister looking red eyes gaze back at you.

Immediately, you put the mirror down, putting your mask back on. Unacceptable. This is unacceptable. You're?

You hear footsteps approaching, and you turn your head toward the doorway leading into the infirmary. Not long after, Miss Aya and Miss Momizi walk into the room, discussing something animatedly, though you're a bit too distracted to catch any of their words. You look at them inquisitively. They fall into a sudden silence when they notice you're up, looking surprised.

"You're up!" Miss Aya says with widened eyes.

"-is that strange?" you ask, not comprehending.

"-You've been near-catatonic!" Miss Momizi says, hurrying over to you and crouching down next to you. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you say, nodding. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Miss Aya asks concernedly, her arms crossed together while she looks at you somewhat skeptically.

"I'm really okay," you say, smiling. You lift up your arm and grab hold of one of the bandages wrapped around your wrist, ripping it off. "I'm ready to leave."

"Ready to leave??" Miss Momizi repeats, almost shocked by what you said. "You can't, Mikio. You're still hurt."

"I'm fine," you say again, more firmly this time. Taking a deep breath, you lift yourself up from the ground, standing tall on your two feet. "See?" you say with a smile. "I'm okay now."

Miss Aya and Miss Momizi look at you with a look of disbelief, their jaws dropping. Miss Aya's the first to gather herself, standing up while still staring at you with a shocked look on her face.

"Um? Miki," she says nervously. ??How are you standing on your leg? Your broken leg? You've only been in here for a few days; there's no way it could have healed up already!"

Oh.

That was a stupid mistake.

You sink back down, lowering your head. Why did you assume that months had passed? That was a stupid assumption to make when you had no sense of time for as long as you can remember of the period spent in this room. But? your leg. Even though it should be impossible, your leg's already?

And now,

"Mikio?" Miss Momizi begins slowly. You look up at her, slightly alarmed as she continues to speak. ??What's happening to you?"

"I don't know," you say in a hollow voice, lowering your head again. You don't know. You can't know. You can't let them know. If they knew. If they knew?!

An uncomfortable silence washes over the infirmary, with you staring down at your hands, Miss Momizi looking away, and Miss Aya fanning herself with a detached look on her face. Finally, she decides to break the silence with a grin.

"Aaaanyway, it's good to see you doing so well already," she says brightly, trying to dispel the uneasy aura surrounding the three of you. "Listen, Miki. it's alright if there's something you don't want to tell us. Just focus on getting better, okay? And?"

"...Don't be afraid of yourself. No matter what you become," Miss Momizi interjects in a thoughtful tone, "We're still family. You're one of us. Don't forget that, okay?"

You nod.

?

Eventually, they leave the room, leaving you sitting there alone. You look down at the shell-like cast around your leg. You don't need this anymore. You'll go have it removed?

A few hours later, after the confused and puzzled resident doctor removed the cast, you're formally discharged from the infirmary. You change into your normal set of clothes, your sword hanging at your side as always. You give your neck bones a good pop or two. Aside from some light fatigue, your body feels the best it's been in a very long time. You're a bit worried about what kind of rumors might spread if the other tengu learned of your unnaturally quick recovery, but you figure something's probably already flying around anyway.

"well, since you're alright now, you should go check if she is as well.

[ ] Take a rest first.
[ ] Head outside.

[x] Head outside.

We are extremely well-rested.

[x] Head outside.

[X] Head outside.
-[X] Go see about Sanae.
Keep fighting. Gather allies.

[x] Head outside.

[x] Take a rest first.

[x] Head outside.
-[x] Go find Sanae.

[x] Head outside.
- Seek out Hina.

Better see Hina, even if she can't help with this curse, she might be able to direct us to a goddess who can.

>You don't know. You can't know. You can't let them know. If they knew. If they knew?!
God damn it, Lion, is this a CYOA or not? How clear do we have to make it that we want Mikio to seek help from the people around him? I understand if you're holding out for the dramatic conclusion or something, but how about a little nod to indicate that you've done more than just count the votes in your thread? Or was there some hint earlier in the story that >>13836 is wrong, and we can't seek help from our friends before giving in to the voice?

Or are you just trying to give your readers a sense of Mikio's despair at apparently being powerless to change himself by making them unable to change Mikio? If that's it, then congratulations; it is working pretty fucking well.

>a monster so big he couldn't discern humans from youkai and killed everyone

>he couldn't discern humans from youkai

>humans from youkai

>Sanae
>human

>Momizi
>youkai

>and killed everyone

I'm seeing a trend here...

Now all we really need to see is a red-eyed snake appearing in Tayasumi's path. Hoshuu already started coughing up the black blood like Tayasumi did back at >>13417...though it strikes me as ood that Suwako seemed to know something about what that "snake" tried to make us do.

Maybe I'm theorizing a bit too much, but still...it's been lingering on the brain fora while.

[x] Head outside.
-[x] Go find Sanae.

>>13857

If you want easy mode you should go read AG over in th.

>>13857
It's been pretty clear so far that Mikio doesn't want anyone to find out about his condition. In fact, he's a bit of an unreliable narrator; Headgames once accused him of knowing exactly what's happening to himself.

[X] Head outside.
-[X] Go see about Sanae.

[X] Head outside.
-[X] Go see about Sanae.
We need to do something NOW. Asking two (three?) gods for help seems like the best idea possible.
That sonova bitch gave him a little more time just to enjoy his suffering, let's turn his arrogance against him. Y'know, like it happens with 90% of all stories with an antagonist.

>>13857
Just because we can influence the main character's decisions doesn't mean we have full control over his personality. Some stories have a blank-slate avatar of the audience, this isn't one of them. Mikio does not want to tell them.

[X] Head outside.
-[X] Go see about Sanae.

I think if anyone could have an idea of helping it'd be the two gods, now that they're in a position of more power. I wish he wouldn't overreact since it's not as if Momiji or Aya was going betray him or anything.

>>13858
Sanae might be considered a God just due to her lineage.

>>13860
Decisions in that are anything but easy, but at least they're clear.

>>13857
Is it any wonder I suspect Lion of setting us up for the troll? It's pretty similar to how things are in THE Game in /th/, vague decisions and a character that's slow to get help. There's even scenes of despair.

[ ] Head outside.

[X] Head outside.
-[X] Go see about Sanae.
Duh

[X] Head outside
-[X] Go see Sanae

We need to let her know we're alright. After all, the last she saw us, we were about to die.

>>13857

Oh no, I certainly didn't mean to give off the impression that I don't listen to reader input, but Mikio has his own reasons for not wanting to tell anyone about "Headgames", and it'll all become clear in time (or a bit sooner, if you're particularly attentive.)

>>13837
>>13840

Oh no. No. I'm not going to SNOW END you guys. It would be bullshit to punish readers for not knowing everything while I hold all the cards.

>>13869
I am glad that we agree that Kira is a faggot.

>>13869
That's all I wanted to hear. Thanks for replying, and sorry about the rage.

>>13870
Used to be a faggot, his new story shows no signs of that kind of faggotry.

So far.

>>13872
We all know that it starts with being nice and friendly and suddenly mindfuck followed by snowend that leaves you screaming WHAT THE FUCK

>>13873

Os shut up. Snow end only happened once.

Hiatus end is a more probable outcome.

>>13874
Unfortunately, that brand of faggotry seems to spread around.

>>13869

This is why i think you are one of the awesomest writers here like Patchwork and Hungry Youkai

>>13876

Judging from the fact that you have a name despite not being a writer, and the nightmarish construct resembling what may have been a sentence with proper grammar and punctuation, I think I'm entirely justified when I tell you either stop making stupid posts, or get the fuck out and go back to pooshlmer.

>>13876
>like Patchwork and Hungry Youkai
Poor Lion.

[x] Head outside.
------

"Yes, that's right. You should check on her. You should check on her now. You begin to head toward the door at a slow and steady pace, your body relaxed and comfortable. Your legs have no problem supporting your weight. You've undeniably made a full recovery from your injuries, no matter how impossible it may be for a human's body to heal in such a short amount of time.

"It'll be almost impossible to conceal the changes now. They'll become suspicious. Already, they must be whispering about you where you can't hear them. But it can't be helped. You can't undo what's already been done, no matter how much you try.

------

Why don't you ask for help?

That's because I?

I know you won't.

You'll smile. You'll tell them not to worry about you. You'll pretend everything is okay. Because that's what you've been doing this whole time, isn't it? All this time, you've been hiding your sufferings behind a smiling face.

I?

Why?

I don't want to trouble them with my own proble

You liar.

it's not for any idiotic, self-sacrificing reason like that.

it's because you're a coward.

Stop it.

Because you know that any plea for help will mean the end of the peace you so desperately want to cling to.

"Shut up.

But you already know that this can't last, don't you?

That it's inevitable.

?

So instead you scrape at what you can.

Do your best.

hahahaha

------

You step out into the wilderness of the mountain, covering your eyes from the sunlight as you take a deep breath of the cold, chilling air, burning your lungs. You let out a sigh, as you rise into the air and turn toward the direction of the shrine, located near the mountaintop. It takes you a while to get used to flying again, but you manage it, drifting at a gentle speed toward the Moriya shrine.

You land just above the steps leading to the shrine, looking about the shrine grounds. She's not out here. She must be inside, then. You take light steps through the walkway in the snow you opened up only a few days ago. Your eyes drift to the offering box sitting in front of the shrine building.

"Well, while you're here, you might as well part with some loose change. You step up to the donation box, reaching into your pocket for your wallet. Picking out a few coins, you drop them into the box. Come to think of it, you did the same thing on that day as well, didn't you? Shrugging, you snap your wallet shut, pocketing it as you turn around.

"Yo."

You look down to see Lady Suwako, squatting down with her arms and hands between her knees, much like a frog.

"You here to see Sanae?" she asks, leaning her head back to look up at you from her position, looking even more childish than she usually does.

"Huh? Oh! Uh, yes, Lady Suwako, if that would be alright?" you say, fumbling your words a bit.

"-Course it's alright," she says bluntly. "Buuuuut she's out shopping at the village way down there right now, so you'll have to wait." She cocks her head to the side and pauses for a moment, studying you, before speaking up again. "You wanna come in and wait for her?"

"Is that okay?" you ask nervously.

"Sure, sure!" she replies enthusiastically, nodding up and down. "You don't need to be so shaky about everything, you know. You should relax a bit!"

"Ah, s-sorry," you say, rubbing the back of your neck sheepishly.

You see her roll her eyes as she gives a short hop into the air, leaping like a frog as she travels around to the back of the shrine. You follow after her, stepping on to the porch. Lady Suwako straightens herself up as she climbs up the porch and runs up to the door, sliding it open before skipping inside. You accompany her, taking off your shoes in the process.

"Hey, don't run indoors!" you hear Lady Kanako say in a chastising voice, seated at the table with one of the tengu's newspapers spread out in front of her.

Lady Suwako pays no heed to her fellow god's words, continuing to rush inside even as she's taking off her own shoes. "Whateve-Ah!" she's cut off as she trips over her own shoes, falling to the ground on her face.

Lady Kanako masks her laughter with a snort, looking over to the childish god. "I told you not to run around, didn't I?" she says, half-gloatingly.

"Auu?" Lady Suwako whines as she picks herself up, squatting on her knees. "If you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have fallen!" she says angrily, raising her arms.

Her fellow god replies with a shrug of her shoulders, before turning her attention to you. "Oh, the tengu reporter. Welcome," she says, greeting you with that loftier, more grandiose tone she always takes when addressing someone else other than the other members of the shrine. "Come, have a seat." She points at the opposite end of the table in front of her.

You walk in a bit further, taking a seat at the spot she indicated with your hands folded on top of your knees. You glance down at the newspaper spread out on top of the table. it's one of the tengu?s, but it's not the Bunbunmaru. Rather, it looks like an issue from one of Miss Aya's rival reporters. But, um? it looks like Lady Kanako's been reading the Funnies page?

She quickly notices your glance, snatching up the papers and folding them up with a panicked look of embarrassment. Her face flushes slightly as Lady Suwako crawls up to the side of the table, snickering under her breath. Lady Kanako clears her throat as she shoves the paper underneath the table, addressing you.

"Ahem. Well, as you can see, my Sanae isn't present at the moment," she says, attempting to put on a face of dignity. "She's away on, er, urgent shrine business."

"Don't lie," Lady Suwako interjects. "She's just down there to buy grocery."

"Quiet," Lady Kanako snaps at her. "A-anyway. If you have business with her, you're welcome to stay inside here until she returns. We don't show this kind of hospitality to just anyone, you should be aware." She adds a bit haughtily. "Normally, if you wished to see the shrine maiden, you'd have to?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lady Suwako says, lying down on her front and crawling elsewhere, retrieving a small, rectangular device from its place on the floor. Turning back to you, she waves the thing around. "Hey, you wanna play the DS while you're waiting for Sanae or something?" she asks you.

"Dee? ess?" you repeat, confused.

"Oh, don't trouble him with your frivolous outsider toys," Lady Kanako says hurriedly, glaring at Lady Suwako. "He wouldn't even know how to use it, anyway."

"You don't either," she gives a deadpan reply as she unfolds the device, swinging her legs up and down as she begins to press the buttons on it.

"Ahem," she clears her throat away, tearing her attention away from the girl and looking back to you. "In any case, I feel I must give thanks to you for the service you've done for my Sanae," she says in an earnestly grateful tone of voice.

"No, it's nothing," you say, looking down at the floor. After all, you really didn't get to do much. All you remember is getting beaten up really bad. You had to be bailed out by Miss Aya in the end? "I mean, I?"

"Say no more," Lady Kanako raises her hand to stop you. She closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath before opening them again. "I've heard all about it."

"Um??"

"Yes, about your heroism!" she says in a decisive sort of way.

"Huh?

"You were injured while singlehandedly defending Sanae from three ferocious youkai at once," she continues, looking at you with a never before seen level of respect. "I must say, you've exceeded my expectations," she says, impressed. "Of course, I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you were no ordinary youkai. I'm a great judge of character, I'll have you know."

Um?

"Yeah, that's pretty awesome," Lady Suwako throws in a comment offhandedly while fidgeting with the device in her hands.

"There seems to be some sort of a misunderstanding here.

"Um, who told you these things??" you ask.

"The other tengu did," Lady Kanako replies. "My Sanae confirmed their accounts."

[ ] Play along.
[ ] "Actuallly??

[x] "Actually?"
[x]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt."

[X]"Actually..."
[X]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt."

[x] "Actually?"
[x]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt."

[X]"Actually..."
[X]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt."

[X]"Actually..."
[X]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt."
Honesty lol.
Is this some kind of test, I wonder?

>>13884

I doubt it. It was probably Aya who told them her version of the story, probably to save face for Mikio. Though I do wonder though...will Kanako be curious as to where that lightning came from? Hmm...

>>13885
Well we don't want to make Aya sound like a absolute liar.

[X]"Actually..."
[X]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt. But for all I know, it might as well be as strong as three."
[x] "It was probably my aunt that told that; she just wanted me to look not so foolish."

[X]"Actually..."
[X]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt. But for all I know, it might as well be as strong as three."
[x] "It was probably my aunt that told that; she just wanted me to look not so foolish."

[x]"Actually..."
[x]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt."

[X]"Actually..."
[X]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt."

[X]"Actually..."
[X]"There was just one of them, and I got overconfident and didn't finish the fight properly. That's how I got hurt. But for all I know, it might as well be as strong as three."
[X] "It was probably my aunt that told that; she just wanted me to look not so foolish."

Shouldn't we mention that it was REALLY powerful?

I bet it's some sort of test. "Let's see how honest he really is!" Bah.

>>13897
I sure hope it is. We kind of need to earn brownie points with those two. I don't think we'll get lucky though.

>>13891

It didn't really seem like any strong youkai. The only reason Mikio lost was due to the fact Headgames somehow disabled his body after he rejected his influence again. Though we COULD say it was the work of the youkai, since he took out Sanae and Ami without so much as blinking...but Mikio is no liar.

I think it's a test. Kanako said that Sanae confirmed Aya's account, yet she was KTFO for the majority of the fight. She only woke up at the last minute. So...how would she know? Plus, she may have still been dizzy, resulting in the concurring accounts of 3 youkai instead of just one.

That lightning question still remains, though...

Overconfident? Seriously? We fought headgames and spared his life because we're a nice guy. Too nice, sure. But this is just bullshit.

[x] "Actually..."
[x] "There was just one. We beat each other up pretty badly, but I made the mistake of sparing his life in the end, hoping for... I don't know."
[x] "He didn't look like he was about to get back up that soon, and I was too worried about Sanae to pay any more attention to him. He caught me off guard and was about to kill me before Sanae came to and some fellow Tengu finished him off."

>>13919

Guy's got a point. Overconfidence isn't exactly something Mikio would have his better judgment clouded by. Plus we can get away without seeming like we deserved to get our ass kicked due to overconfidence. After all, how would Kanako react if we failed to protect Sanae because we were too sure of ourselves? Kanako wouldn't even expect us to be overconfident in the first place, we've been nothing but humble around the Moriya crew.

>>13883

Changing vote to...

[x] "Actually..."
[x] "There was just one. We beat each other up pretty badly, but I made the mistake of sparing his life in the end, hoping for...I don't know."
[x] "He didn't look like he was about to get back up that soon, and I was too worried about Sanae to pay any more attention to him. He caught me off guard and was about to kill me before Sanae came to and some fellow Tengu finished him off."

This will at least give the goddesses the knowledge that we were concerned about Sanae above anything else.

[X]>>13919

I hate not having copy/paste.

>>13919
I took it as a bullshit line to feed them. Still, your point is a good one.

Changing vote:
[+] "Actually..."
[+] "There was just one. We beat each other up pretty badly, but I made the mistake of sparing his life in the end, hoping for... I don't know."
[+] "He didn't look like he was about to get back up that soon, and I was too worried about Sanae to pay any more attention to him. He caught me off guard and was about to kill me before Sanae came to and some fellow Tengu finished him off."

[x] "Actually..."
[x] "There was just one. We beat each other up pretty badly, but I made the mistake of sparing his life in the end, hoping for... I don't know."
[x] "He didn't look like he was about to get back up that soon, and I was too worried about Sanae to pay any more attention to him. He caught me off guard and was about to kill me before Sanae came to and some fellow Tengu finished him off."

[B] "Actually..."
[B] "There was just one. We beat each other up pretty badly, but I made the mistake of sparing his life in the end, hoping for... I don't know."
[B] "He didn't look like he was about to get back up that soon, and I was too worried about Sanae to pay any more attention to him. He caught me off guard and was about to kill me before Sanae came to and some fellow Tengu finished him off."

[x] "Actually..."
[x] "There was just one. We beat each other up pretty badly, but I made the mistake of sparing his life in the end, hoping for... I don't know."
[x] "He didn't look like he was about to get back up that soon, and I was too worried about Sanae to pay any more attention to him. He caught me off guard and was about to kill me before Sanae came to and some fellow Tengu finished him off."

Desperately hoping this isn't just hand-waved by the goddesses, and that they will see there is a danger to their interests here, and yes Mikio knows about it, and yes he needs help badly.

------

"Um? actually," you interrupt, timidly raising your hand. "That isn't true. There was actually just one youkai there."

"-Hnn?" Lady Kanako voices her surprise, slowly deflating, her bewildered eyes staring at you.

"We beat each other up pretty bad, but I had it down on the ground," you say, lowering your hand. "But? well, I didn't finish him off, hoping for? uh, I don't? I don't really know, but I thought he wouldn't be able to get up so soon, and well? Sanae was knocked out at the time, and I was worried about her, so?" You feel your eyes slowly drifting to the floor, your head lowered.

"-And that's why you were injured?" Lady Kanako asks, folding her arms together and looking at you with much colder eyes.

You give a shrinking nod, unable to take your eyes off the floor under the god's gaze.

"-I see. You're a naïve boy, aren't you," she states in a curt, icy tone. "It seems an age of peace softened even the warmongering tengu."

You give no reply, clutching your knees.

"Your mercy could have resulted in the death of you both," she continues to scold you. "Sanae's safety was entrusted to you. If you weren't prepared to do whatever it would take to ensure her protection, knowing that the situation may be dangerous, you should not have volunteered for it."

"-I'm sorry," you say, not daring to look up.

"-Well, your concern for her was admirable, at the least," Lady Kanako says after a pause, her tone gradually warming up again. "As is your honesty. While I've known some of the tengu to be at times untruthful or deceptive, you don't seem to follow their examples."

You accept her small praises with silence, still not looking up at her.

"I suppose my Sanae's performance wasn't exactly something to boast about, either," she says with a sigh. "She's still inexperienced, in many ways. Sending her to exterminate a youkai so soon was too much."

She falls into silence, and you raise your head in curiosity. Her eyes are narrowed and distant, and slowly, her shoulders begin to shake, as a sudden look of realization falls on her face. At first, it's just a small twitch or two, until it grows into violent trembling. "Sanae lied to us!" she says in a panicked voice, clutching and tugging at her face dramatically. "Why would she do that!" I never taught her to lie!"

"Pipe down, I can't hear the music!" Lady Suwako tears her eyes away from the device to shout at the other god.

"You!" Lady Kanako says bitterly as she scoots herself over to her, snatching the device out of her hand. "Stop playing with this thing already! Our Sanae's integrity is in question here!"

"Ah, hey, give that back!" Lady Suwako says indignantly as she jumps for the device, but the other god quickly moves her hand out of the way, away from her reach.

"Um, please calm down!" you say futilely, as the two of them begin wrestling for the device in front of you while shouting names at each other like kids. They? they really are like this all the time, aren't they?

"I'm back!"

The action suddenly grinds to a halt as the door to the house slides open, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching the living room. Lady Suwako takes advantage of the situation, snatching the device back while Lady Kanako's still stunned. She doesn't seem to notice it, and she hurriedly shuffles back to her seat on the table, doing her best to look dignified again.

"Ahem, welcome back, Sanae," she says, clearing her throat.

"Oh, do we have a visitor? There's an extra pair of shoes here," Sanae calls from the doorstep. Soon, she walks in carrying a paper bag stuffed with groceries in her arms.

She lets out a gasp of surprise at the sight of you, but she soon gives you a smile and a wink before heading into the kitchen, dropping off her bag of groceries there. She reemerges soon after, hurrying over to the table in the center of the room. She plops herself down next to you, grinning widely. "Oh thank goodness you're okay," she says in a relieved tone of voice.

"Ahem," Lady Kanako clears her throat again, to catch Sanae's attention. "Sanae, why did you lie to us about the encounter with the youkai?"

"Eh?" Sanae blinks, not understanding the question until a few moments later. "Oh! Ohhh. Well, um, a lot was going through my mind at the time, and I wasn't really thinking when you were questioning me. I was just sort of nodding to everything?"

"Oh," she replies in a dull tone. ??Well, I guess that?s? okay."

Lady Suwako mumbles something about making a mountain out of mole hills, earning a dirty look from her fellow god.

"Actually, this is perfect," Sanae says brightly, turning to you again. "Do you mind if I borrow you for just a bit?"

"Huh? Um, I'm not sure what you mean by that, but?"

"Good," she nods cheerfully, standing up on her feet. "Follow me outside, please."

You stand up with her, and she quickly snatches you by the wrist, practically dragging you along. She rushes you with a ?come on, come on," as the two of you put on your shoes and step outside to the shrine grounds. She leads you to the edge of the lake, where she turns around to face you, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Okay, first of all?" she says, before suddenly bowing to you. "I'm really, really sorry."

"What for?"

"it's because of me that you were hurt," she says, frowning. "I? couldn't do anything against him. I was too scared. I was so scared I couldn't even move. I should have been able to exterminate him, but all I could do was be a liability. I'm so sorry."

"You shouldn't be sorry for that," you say. "You weren't ready. Anyone would have been terrified."

"But?"

"And if you hadn't distracted him at that final moment, Miss Aya might have been too late to save me," you remind her. "Thank you."

"Oh," is all she can say in response, her cheeks reddening a little. "Um? a-anyway. It? was hard, telling those villagers what happened to the people who went in the forest, but? but they thanked us," she finishes with a slight smile. "And they're really kind, even if they're a bit? um, well, youkai-like."

"I'm glad everything worked out."

"-Yeah," she says, nodding. "So, um? are you really okay?" she asks suddenly, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly okay."

"Oh. Youkai really are amazing," she says with a nervous laugh. "Then? I'd like to ask a favor, if you don't mind."

"What is it?"

"Please spar with me," she says, her eyes determined.

"Huh?"

"I have to be ready," she says, nodding enthusiastically. "I can't be standing around next time. So please, I want you to help me train. Not just danmaku, but real fighting."

"Um, is that okay? I mean, don't your gods?"

"Even if I asked them, they'd hold back on me," she says, shaking her head. ??I can't train like that."

[ ] Accept her challenge.
[ ] Decline.
[ ] Recommend someone else.

[+] Recommend someone else.
-[+] Aya or Momiji

From a logical standpoint, most of the other named inhabitants of Youkai Mountain would be a better choice to train with.

More importantly, I don't feel like giving Headgames an opportunity to go apeshit on holy ground. And even if that turns out to be a null issue, I think that even a slight leak of that power might tip Kanako or Suwako off, and then it's good-bye, shrine-mountain relations.

[x] Accept her challenge.
This is a challenge to us. The perfect oppurtunity to get ourself in control.

>>13944
A perfect opportunity to lose control of ourselves

[x]Recommend someone else.
-[x] Aya or Momiji

Like we want to let Headgames get a reason to come back. If it was indeed Headgames in Hoshuu's path, there's no telling if he might try and push us to kill Sanae then and there. No sense in taking an unnecessary risk.

[X] Ask her to show you her moves[/spoiler

...no but seriously.

[X] Recommend someone else.
-[X] Aya or Momiji
-[X] Maybe Nitori is available...

In the unlikely event that Aya's out by now and Momiji's probably on watch, we may need an alternative. Besides, I think they'd be more concerned about us going out again after we've already stunned them by recovering so fast from such severe injuries. Nitori [spoiler]presumably doesn't know about what happened, nor is she remotely aware of what's happening to us as a whole, so that might be our safer bet so as not to worry Aya or Momizi even more than they already are.

>>13945
Are you gonna let him live with fear then? He'll never get over his little problem if he doesn't do anything. Anything like... asking for help.
Let's try this:

[x] Accept her challenge.
-[x] Ask Suwako-only Suwako- to watch your duel in disguise. Put on some mild excuse like 'I want you to see how well Sanae fights when not observed'
I trust the frog goddess will not overreact to a simple fight... and she's powerful enough the beat the lights out of Mikio if shit hits the fan. And if it does, someone will finally see what happens to him on those times and may find a way to help him

[x] Accept her challenge.

While I admit that getting caught may end badly for us, I consider not getting caught at all even worse.

[X] Accept her challenge
-[X] "First things first though; let's see your skill at danmaku first."

This might be a better option. By having a danmaku only challenge, no one would get hurt, and it'd keep close contact to a minimum. Headgames hasn't really come in to play during danmaku battles, only close-range melee. By starting off with long-ranged danmaku, we can accept safely without looking like we can't handle it.

Plus Mikio may be able to legitimately win his first danmaku battle.

Suwako has encountered Headgames' presence before and Kanako is the sky goddess. On top of this, Sanae is a wind priestess herself. Kanako and/or Sanae would recognize when the winds become hostile if not of their own power, and Suwako would probably sense Headgames' presence, causing both goddesses to interrupt the fight ASAP, since they'd be just above the shrine then. On top of all that, Aya may have covertly sent a crow or two to keep an eye on Mikio. It has saved his ass quite a few times, so if Mikio does lose it, the crow will report it to Aya...who would then be much more worried.

Though, I thought it would have been best to tell the ones CLOSEST to us instead of having the relative strangers find out first, as opposed to what pretty much is equivalent to our mother and aunt. But hey...I'm just another Anon. What do I know?

>>13954
You also forgot Hina and Alice, people who might have an idea how to deal with such a thing. Sure Hina can't do much alone, but with Alice's help, I'm sure something can be done. But since this is the case.

[x]Accept her challenge.

If Headgames doesn't show himself, it'd be training for Mikio as well.

[x] Accept her challenge.
-[x] Ask Suwako-only Suwako- to watch your duel in disguise. Put on some mild excuse like 'I want you to see how well Sanae fights when not observed'

>>13955

Thanks for reminding me. Hina and Alice are relatively aware that something is residing in Mikio causing him to go insane. However, right now Alice is a bit too far away to consider as a possible pacifier along with Hina for the problem if Mikio loses it.

>>13947

That could possibly be misinterpreted as disrespecting Kanako. Besides, Mikio doesn't know Suwako knows about Headgames. Yet.

>>13961
Really? I just thought that it'd be reasonable for him to take some measures in case he loses control of himself. It'd be easy to convince her by using some kind of lame excuse like 'Watch how much has Sanae improved!'
And, like you said, he doesn't remember Suwako I know. Still, he do know that Suwako is more laid-back and less propense to overreactions.

[x] Accept her challenge.

[X] Accept her challenge.

>>13961
Not so much about pacifiers in a pinch but for a more long term solution of removing head games from Mikio.

[x] Accept her challenge.
-[x] At the same time, recommend Miss Momiji to her.

[x] Accept her challenge

[x] Accept her challenge.
-[x] Ask Suwako-only Suwako- to watch your duel in disguise. Use some half-assed excuse, like, 'I want you to see how well Sanae fights when nobody's watching.'

>Put on some mild
What the hell? We raised you to speak better than that.

[x] Accept her challenge.
-[x] Ask Suwako-only Suwako- to watch your duel in disguise. Use some half-assed excuse, like, 'I want you to see how well Sanae fights when nobody's watching.'
Sounds legit

[x] Accept her challenge.
-[x] Ask Suwako-only Suwako- to watch your duel in disguise. Put on some mild excuse like 'I want you to see how well Sanae fights when not observed'

>>13948 here.

Add to the vote

[x] "Watch."

For BOTH of the Goddesses. Seriously. How and why the heck would Kanako not watch anyway? Not only she considers Sanae family as well, but it's her shrine. That, and danmaku battles tend to be flashy, take up space, and in any real fight Sanae's not going to have the chance to be shy anyway. Not to mention Kanako can dematerialize at will anyway.

>>13973
Because it seems that Sanae wants to fight alone and Suwako will not overreact if, say, she cuts her finger during the battle?

[B]Recommend someone else.
-[b] Aya or Momiji.

>>13974
Yeah, just think about how overprotective she was when Sanae was so eager to exterminate that youkai...

While the two goddesses are much more 'comical' than they want to let on in this story, they're not THAT bad. Kanako was not raising any serious objections to Sanae's initial offer of going alone. She would NOT suddenly freak out "upon seeing Sanae get a little cut".

Furthermore, to the headgames people, since this is in no way a life-threatening duel, I don't think anything will happen. He seems to me to be pushing more of a "KILL OR BE KILLED RARGH" than complelely unnecessary hostility.

[x] Accept her challenge.

I'm not asking the goddesses to become involved simply because I don't think Sanae wants them to watch. She'd feel self conscious, have pressure put on her, etc. Or maybe she just wants to get closer to Mikio using the duel. Regardless, she called it a favor, so she probably wants us to help her out on this alone.

>>13974

This... doesn't actually answer the question though. Which is : How the heck do you propose Kanako not figuring out we're giving Sanae real combat training? Even if she somehow avoided the occasional cut or bruise, she's still going to end up sweaty and tired by the end of each session. (And oh boy, what would Kanako think about that, coupled that being secretive and going out with a guy?) Or did we forget that training is not a one-time thing?

>>13976

While I agree with most of this, the urge in >>13417 wasn't provoked by anything.

>>13978

And that is what worries me the most about accepting ths challenge.

[x] Recommend someone else.
-[x] Headgames

Whats the worst that could happen?

>>13981
I wonder.

>>13996
Post that picture in The Game thread in /th/, it's strangely appropriate.

>>14000
A bit OT for this thread, but the author has hinted that taking revenge upon Sanae will bring on a BAD END.
So, if I posted it there, it'd be like sending a picture of water to a few guys stranded in the desert. I'm not THAT cruel.

[X] Accept her challenge
-[X] "First things first though; let's see your skill at danmaku first."

>>14001
When the hell did ever I say that?

Updates?

>>14010

yes sir.

>>14014
Gracias