[X] Stand next to Sanae.

ATMOSPHERE? WHAT'S THAT?

[ ] Stand next to Sanae

[X] Stand next to Sanae.

[X] Stand next to Sanae.

[X] Stand next to Sanae

[X] Stand next to Sanae.

We're going to win her back.

Unanimous. Writing.

Sorry about that post, and advance apologies for the next. I really should've known better than to stop at such an awkward point, so now I'm kind of having to get back on my feet.

You adjust your course to move towards Sanae. She glances over to you as you get closer, but doesn't say anything and just turns away to stare into space again. At least she doesn't seem as openly antagonistic as before, just indifferent. Actually, you're not sure that's any better. You stop next to her and turn to look across the path, or where it would be, at Hina and the Akis. Something about Sanae's appearance bugs you, though. Her clothes seem different. You cast a few quick sideglances at her, but can't pin it down. It looks like the same miko outfit she usually wears. Eventually, she notices and tries to catch you at it, but you manage to get your eyes facing front again in time. You can't think of anything to say at the moment, and she doesn't say anything to you, so the next couple of minutes go by fairly slow.

Finally, Kanako arrives, coming down in the middle of everyone. "All right, everything's just about set. This shouldn't be too hard. Just one thing to take care of before we go." She turns and points at you, her expression serious. "You. You're dead weight. I'm not floating you all the way down there, and I won't have Sanae carry you again. You're just going to have to fly there yourself."

SIGH. Not this again. "With all due respect, I can't fly. I told you at the shrine. I can just take the hidden tunnel down and meet you inside."

Kanako shakes her head, adamant. "Nothing doing. We're all going in the front, it's the only way. And don't give me that self-pity line, either. If you can do all those other things you told me about, then you can fly just fine." She steps back and smiles at you, extending with one hand in a "go on" gesture. "Just... think 'up'."

...uh-huh. You have your doubts, but then again, you haven't honestly tried at all. Everyone's watching you, but you try to block that out by closing your eyes. Think "up". Is it really that simple? You give it a shot, but nothing seems to happen. Maybe you're being too literal, thinking of the word "up" instead of the concept. So, you try that, meditating on what it means to be "up". You still don't feel any different. You try picturing yourself from the outside, as the others are seeing you now, eyes closed and concentrating. You then move that picture up, floating off the ground. The image seems so vivid that you open your eyes and... nothing. Still just standing on the ground with everyone watching you. Damn it, what does it mean, "up"?!

[ ] Ask for some clearer advice
[ ] Try again
[ ] Say to hell with it

[ ] Ask for some clearer advice
Ask first, then try.

[ ] Ask for some clearer advice and try again.

[x] Super Jump.

"You can fly?!" "No, jump good!"

[ ] Ask for some clearer advice and try again.

[x] Super Jump.

Why fly when you can jump?

[X] Ask for some clearer advice and try again.

I guess if that doesn't work, we can always jump our way down the mountain.

[x] Try again
The problem is just that we don't believe in ourself!

[ ] Ask for some clearer advice and try again.

[z] Ask for some clearer advice and try again.

[x] Try again
"Ask for clearer advice?" What is this? Logic? In MY hocus-pocus?

>Stand alone, like the cheese
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKK

I HATED that book so much.

>>1837
Book? Didn't know about a book. Sorry if I dredged up any unpleasant memories.

>>1828
FUCK YEAH SAMURAI JACK

Anyway, yes, logic in your hocus-pocus. Writing.

You know, I think flying is downright out of the question.

But...

If Lancer has Agility at an A+ rank, then I think we could/should/might possibly be able to do that long-range hop-and-land thing between tree branchs and the ground and covering like 800 feet every hop, like in Inuyasha or Naruto, or... probably any ninja anime.

Self-sage for using crappy anime as a reference. I'm very sorry for doing that, but they were the only examples that sprang to mind.

[ ] Ask for some clearer advice
[ ] Try again

>>1839
>like in Inuyasha or Naruto
Now i can't read this anymore.

In case anyone else was wondering, "the cheese stands alone" is actually the last verse to "Farmer in the Dell". Look it up if you don't believe me.

>>1839
What about Mario?

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

>>1841
I know, I know...

If you can give me the names of some good anime (that you think people here have seen) with that in it, then I'll delete my old post and use the provided anime as a reference instead.
Although it pained me to use those other two, I chose them because I'm pretty sure most people would see it and know exactly what I meant, even if they cringed.

>>1842

Get back to work.

[x] Ask for some clearer advice

Just think happy thoughts?

>>1844

Kara no Kyoukai.

>>1841
Your will is weak.

>>1844
Basilisk?

"It's... just no good. I don't get it." You sigh and lean on your spear a little. Everyone in view slumps down a little, disappointed, but you can't help that. "I mean, 'think up'? Can't you be any clearer?"

Acting again in unison, everyone opens their mouth and/or raises a hand, starting to explain, but your view changes suddenly as Sanae grabs you by one shoulder and spins you around to face her. She keeps her hand on that one shoulder (a bit tighter than you think necessary) and looks up into your eyes, expression still neutral, closing in and speaking softly. "Think of it this way: you have a joystick, like on a video game machine, right here." With her free hand, she points one finger into the center of your chest, at the bottom of your sternum. As she continues to speak, that one finger slowly draws a small circle on your shirt. The incongruous intimacy of the action against her chilly exterior makes it hard to concentrate on her words. "Just focus on the joystick, and move it in the direction you want to go. It's simple." Saying this, she stops her circle and lays the hand flat against your chest for a second, before releasing your shoulder and pushing herself away, backwards to where she was.

Ahem. Well. That certainly seems simple enough. You look back over at the others; Hina has politely averted her eyes, Shizuha and Minoriko are fidgeting a little, and Kanako just grins at you. Did it just warm out here?

AHEM. Well. You shut them out as best you can and close your eyes again, focusing on the spot Sanae pointed out. You can still feel the circle she drew on your skin. You start to shy your mind away from this distraction, but have a sudden idea and let it pour into that spot. Yes... you think you can feel something there, now. Your body reacts involuntarily to your concentration, closing in on itself. You picture it in your mind the way she said, an image of a joystick. Your chest begins to feel different, hollow and airy, like a new attic. The image in your mind gets clearer and clearer, until you finally feel like you can reach out and grab it and move it...

Up.

You gasp and open your eyes in instinctual panic. The ground is no longer under your feet. Looking down, it's... actually about a foot under your feet. You grip the spear with both hands, knuckles white. You're flying. You're still panicking a little about it when Kanako comes up to join you, still grinning. "That's a start, kid. Can you move at all?"

Swallowing your fear, you concentrate on the joystick again, finding the connection is still there. You manage to move it slowly, completing a halting, jerky circuit around Kanako, ascending, descending, turning in midair, coming to a stop in front of her again. "N-not very well, but... yeah." The panic finally starts draining out of you as you grin weakly back at her. "I can fly."

Hina flies up next to you, beaming from ear to ear. "Well done, Master Chulainn!"

Minoriko and Shizuha come up on your other side. "Awesome! Now we can REALLY play together sometime!" "YEAH!!"

From below, Sanae dampens the mood. "So, are we leaving now, or what?"

Kanako glances down for a moment and puts a hand on your shoulder. "She's right about that. Celebrate later, for now, just follow me. Got an appointment to keep." Turning, she moves slowly away over the torii. It only takes a thought to move after her, just as slowly, but you can tell you're already getting better. As you hear Hina and the Akis behind you saying their good-byes, Sanae flies up and takes a position between you and Kanako. That bug about her clothes starts buzzing again, and as you are led in a downward curve around the mountainside, it hits you that they seem to be hanging looser than before. But why? One bug replaced by another. Great. You frown and push it away for now, just following the leader towards entrance to the mountain.

===

God damn. This should not have taken so long. I'm truly sorry, I was looking forward to writing this next part, but I just cannot think properly tonight. On the logic that getting it done well > getting it done soon, I'm signing off until my brain sorts itself out.

Oh, and hey, just had one good thought: if I ever leave on an open point like this, feel free to write-in something for Ku-chan to do in the meantime.

>>1850

[ x ] Fly around, upside down!

Inverted controls go!

>>1851
[X] Fap in the air.

>>1851
Write-ins, eh?

[x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

Something to chat about while flying. I'm wagering Kanako will give short and possibly unhelpful advice. But hey, maybe we'll be lucky and it'll give us hints on how to keep Chulainn from accidentally screwing up the meeting with Lord Tenma. It's possible the whole meeting may be auto-pilot, but this is a countermeasure in case it's not.

[z] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

Going with this for safety.

[ ] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

>>1854
[x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

[x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

>>1853
>[X] Fap in the air.
Hahaha

>>1859

But Ku-Chan is a fucking gentleman and a half when he not impaling thousands of soldiers on his spear in battle! Goddammit, Anonymous.

NO, GENERIC DRAWFAG, NO!

>>1859
Do it.

>>1859

Make sure some of it lands on Sanae's head.

>>1862
>Make sure some of it lands in Sanae's mouth.

Fixed.

>>1862
Aha, so THAT'S what the twisty white curl on that one separated lock really is.

[x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

>>1850
>As she continues to speak, that one finger slowly draws a small circle on your shirt. The incongruous intimacy of the action against her chilly exterior makes it hard to concentrate on her words.

SANARU!/

Congrats on being the first VN protagonist to actually fly Cu-chan. Also:

[x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

[x] Do a barrel roll.

"Spin the sky, reverse the gravity, invert the control, transpose the reality, twirl the world, and spin, spin, Spin, SPIN, SPIN, SPIN, SPIN...."

>>1852
>Inverted controls go!

I HATE THAT

>>1850
FUCK YES SANAE! YOU ARE THE BEST TSUNDERE EVER!

Flying? Blah. Next time were doing it our way, the Lancer way, the dragoon way, the frog-god way: Jumping!

Running start and Jump against DC whatever (depends on the weather), Balance against DC 125 check to walk on clouds at full speed, and Tumble against DC 100 to ignore all falling damage.

To deny not the ground's gravity, but rather the cloud's consistency: It makes the point to Kanako that we serve an earth goddess, not a sky goddess.

[x] hum superman song

>>1872
FUCK YES
[x] hum superman song

[x] hum superman song

Simply to see Kanako and Sanae's reactions.

I would have suggested the theme to The Greatest American Hero, myself.

"Believe it or not, I'm walking on air..."

[x] hum superman song

Damn, I didn't want Cu Chulainn to fly. Jumping would have been much cooler.

>>1877
Nothing says he can't do both.

[x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

[x] hum superman song
[x] Do a barrel roll.

[x] Fly behind Sanae and see what she's wearing underneath

>>1881

This anon know what he doing, vote zig.

[x] Fly behind Sanae and see what she's wearing underneath

>>1881
[x] Fly behind Sanae and see what she's wearing underneath

[x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette

>>1882
At least hum something while doing it.

Okay, first
[x] hum superman song
then
x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette
and finaly faking exhaustion
[x] Fly behind Sanae and see what she's wearing underneath

[X] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette
[x] Fly behind Sanae and see what she's wearing underneath

At the same time. And f we get to see what she's wearing, we can [X] hum superman song

>>1877
Ditto. Maybe we can jump better than we can fly...

And for all you superman hummers...

CAN LEAP TALL BUILDINGS IN A SINGLE BOUND

I think it's time Cu Chulainn started jumping instead. It's only natural.

Why are you so excited about jumping?
I don't want to make him look like faggy Mario.

The objective was looking like the Lancer, but unless Cu likes blue armor-tights, were screwed there. Jumping will probably be better in combat if you consider our flying ability at the moment.

[x] hum superman song
then
x] Ask Kanako for suggestions regarding how to behave, and/or etiquette
and finaly faking exhaustion
[x] Fly behind Sanae and see what she's wearing underneath

YAY!

>>1891
Hmmm, jumping as a superior combat choice to our poor flying? Probably slightly. A quick leap might take out an aerial opponent, though we'd be horribly vulnerable to bulletrape until we landed, and we'd risk leaping into bulletrape if we don't have the element of surprise and/or if there's too much distance between us an our opponent.

Flight is shit. Super Speed and Super Jump are the best travel powers.

>>1893

Why has no one figured this out.

Simulate Jumping by flying. Bend your legs, and Jump. While jumping, fly up, and when you want to land, just arc downward.

Simple.

Also, I forgot to mention

>With her free hand, she points one finger into the center of your chest, at the bottom of your sternum. As she continues to speak, that one finger slowly draws a small circle on your shirt.
>Yes... you think you can feel something there, now. Your body reacts involuntarily to your concentration, closing in on itself. You picture it in your mind the way she said, an image of a joystick. Your chest begins to feel different, hollow and airy, like a new attic.

Received Item: Hitbox

>>1894
Certianly.
if we have to fly in some fashion, i'd rather have an awesome jumping/kicking power, so we can kick fasy enough to actually impact the air itself, this giving us a thrust even while in mid-air
(Yeah, i know, animu physics n' such, but it's a hell of a lot cooler than "oooo i'm flooooating using my inner joystick" )

>>1896

Wow. You got a point.
His hitbox looks pretty big, btw.

At least he can graze now that his lifeforce if concentrated into his hitbox, rather than the whole of his body.

>>1895
Superjump probably has superior acceleration and speed to anything we could presently achieve with simulated jumping. Still, I do like the idea of Chulainn using simulated jumping.

Ah well, no worries if we're slow. Cu Chulainn can be all about focused movement, slipping through bulletspreads like...uh...Chado Reimu, or something.

>>1896
Genius.

ultimate foot chip

he double jumps and flies by wall-kicking off his spear

It'd be awesome if he threw the spear, flew downward towards it and kicked to add more force to it. Or kicked it and flew down and drove it straight through something.

KICKING a spear at someone while in midair? I suppose some artists could pull that off without destroying suspension of disbelief if they've immersed/desensitized their readers enough, but I can't help but think it sounds terrible. As bad an idea as Death the Kid holding his guns upside-down. Achieving accuracy would be atrocious.

>>1903

Yeah, that is true. But with enough faith points I bet it could work out. Once Cu manages to perfect flying anyway.

>>1902
Throw it from the air, your opponent gets ready to dodge it but you're already flying down to grab it and throw it at twice the speed you're moving. Just to fuck with them.

>kicking a spear

Fun fact: The secret method of using Gae Bolg that Cu Chulainn learned involved holding the spear between the big toe and the second toe, and kicking it at the enemy.

>>1906
Interesting...throwing it with one's toes would allow for some aiming, I suppose. Still strikes me as horribly absurd though, except as a one-time trick. "Hold this spear between two toes and practice attacking with it. This is clearly superior to the power and control you can achieve by wielding the spear with your hands."

>>1890
>I don't want to make him look like faggy Mario.

Mario skips and bounces.

Cu Chulainn JUMPS.

[X] Do a barrel roll.
The power of Tom Green compels you.

>>1909

I think you mean Tom Bombadil.

[X] Hum superman theme.
[X] Try to see Kanako's underwear. Just in case it's red.

>>1899
Does that mean we can do stuff like grab red hot metal or defend sword strikes with our bare arms, as long as we don't get hit in the chest?

>>1912

Nope. It'll just go right through us, but if we maneuver our chest away and it doesn't hit, we won't get hurt. We'll also get Bonus points for it when we're done.

>>1913
Theoretically then we could just have Sanae or someone aim to the left of the hit box and let loose danmaku for an hour until we have full lives and bombs.

>>1907
The original context (from the Book of Leinster) is as follows:
"The Gáe Bulg had to be made ready for use on a stream and cast from the fork of the toes. It entered a man's body with a single wound, like a javelin, then opened into thirty barbs. Only by cutting away the flesh could it be taken from that man's body."

>>1915

Irako Seigen?

>>1915
must be a pain to extract from a corpse

>>1918
Our Hero could probably just yank the sucker out. Messy is fun.

>>1917
Sanae is a /fit/ girl?

[X] Pull a Wallachia

You know,
1. Random talk
2. KATTO
3. More gibberish
4. Spin this,r everse that
5. ??"
6. SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN

>>1920

Fi/tg/irl

Tetrominon has left me in despair.

Goddamn 7 minutes, need more cool and spicy Sanae.

While I'm not all "there" yet, I'm not gone, either. It's an awful old joke, but I don't like this any more than you.

>>1925
Lies.
Writefags feed upon despair

>>1926

Not just writefag, drawfag too.

>>1927
（　・ω・）

>>1926
>>1927

Everyone Feeds on Despair. Some just have more options available to them than others.

Writefags are the Anti-Spirals?

>>1931

And we shall pierce them with our awesome write-ins.

DAMNIT TETRO
WHERE ARE OUR UPDATES?
YOU PROMISED, TETRO!

>>1933

see: >>1926

Overdue RL obligations and creative differences with myself have intersected. I can try to work around the former, but the latter's going to have to resolve itself somehow before I go on.

Short form: update I don't know when the fuck. But work continues, one way or another.

>>1936
Just write something and we will decide if it's good or bad.

>>1937
Motherfucking seconded.
We will tell you if you suck. Until then, keep at it!
Write the unwritable!
Post the unpostable!
Pierce the depression with your Gae Bolg!

>>1936

WRITE WRITE
FIGHT DA WRITER'S BLOCK

>>1939
Right back at you, WRITE WRITE WRITE.

>>1940

Later today.

Damn. Slowpoke award to me, I just now read this series today.

Tetro, I didn't even realize you were such a great writer. Fun setting, well flushed character interactions, excellent descriptions, and a very clean and easy to follow writing flow. Even the brief H scene was win.

You deserve 10 Fondz points and 3 Interents!

in before new post.

Nothing new here to see, move along people.

bump

Just thought I'd take the less popular mindset here.

I know what it feels like wading through knee-deep creative shit, man. Don't feel bad about keeping people waiting or anything, the world doesn't revolve around this getting done, so just take it easy.

When you come back, you'll be as welcome as ever.

>>1942
Yeah, I decided to start reading this when you mentioned how Tetro's writing style was how you imagined the VN to be. I have to say that I definitely agree with you there.

Awesome story, Tetro. Keep up the good work.

>>1946

Agreed. If you force yourself, it will just make the product worse. I'd gladly wait for good content over getting crap now. Especially since the quality has been pretty high so far. So, yes, take it easy.

>>1946
>>1950

Good sentiments, terrible delivery

Take as long as you want? lol no
That's almost always a ticket to never getting anything done.

Obviously, if he can't come up with anything, he can't come up with anything. But he should get back to work as soon as he can.

>>1951

This

You should at least throw something out there for us to catch, even if it's just to keep us interested long enough to keep checking back once in a while.

Besides, the best way to work through a writers block is to just plow into it and walk right through.

Or, you could just fold your wings in and walk through the door...

>>1952
In before "Back to work, nigger."

>>1952

Imo, the best way to get over a writer's block is to FORCE yourself to write something and then your writing tubes will get unclogged and the rest will come naturally.

At least that's how I get over my blocks.

>>1954
GET BACK TO WORK NIGGER

Forcing myself wouldn't work, it never has, but I also know if I just walked away I'd never find my way back. So, I started writing again Friday night. I'm still not done with that post now, but I am still working on it. Superman, Sanae's panties, and Kanako as Ms. Manners. In that order.

Pic? I dunno.

Toubooru has a loooooooooooooot of pictures you could use. But you've been doing just fine without pictures, it's just difficult to identify (well, for me it has been) when your next update pops up.

The important part, of course, is always the writing itself.

>>1956

Sounds awesome.

>>1956
I had to read this post a few times to understand you were speaking figuratively.

If you post it, they will come.

Some time later, you are broken out of this reverie by a knock at the door. "Master Chulainn?" Well, speak of the devil. Your smile widens as you find you can easily imagine exactly how she is standing outside that door. "Lady Kanako wishes you to know that she is very nearly prepared."

"I'll finish up then, thank you." You walked to the door and open it. Approaching Hina naked. She gasp in surprise with your appearance and also the roaring dragon you have between your leg. You just can't help it. Hina is here. Why fap when you can get the real thing?

Your hand is gripping both Hina's arm tight, slowly dragging her inside the bathroom. Hina squirms and trying to yell but you closed her mouth with your own, following by some hot French action. Goddammit. Bless French for inventing French kiss.

Both of you fall in the bath and you both soaking wet. You're fine since you don't really wear anything, But Hina's clothing gone transparent. You can now clearly see everything inside that frilly dress she wears. Her fine curves, her delicious thighs, Her sensitive private parts. Hina pant like she have been running for miles when your mouth break up, but you won't let her rest for long. She bend like a bow when you bury your head between her leg.

"K...Kyah~~!!... Master Chulainn, don't !!" Hina protest.

"Why? You seems to enjoy it."

"I am not acting as if... Kyaaaahn~~!"
You don't give Hina chance to retort. Your tonguework continues to give Hina ecstasy. The taste of her juice mingled with sweat as you runs your tongue along it, tease it and grinding it with your tongue's every move. Hina is gripping your arm very tight. So tight it might leave a fingernail mark on your skin.

"M...Master Chu...Chulainn... I'm in the verge of....of..."
Hina weakly said while blushing furiously. The temperature of the goddess might exceed the water in the bath already.

"Go ahead." It's not like she needs your permission or anything, but you said that anyway.

You slide and spin your tongue like there's no tomorrow. Hina jerks like there is an electricity running through her. Her sweet thigh grab your head between them while she reach the point.

"I'm gonna... I'm gonna... I'M GONNA CU----KYAAAAAAAAAAHH~~!!"

The goddess screams out while she reach her climax, Arching her back. She looks blankly at the ceiling, gasping for air. You satisfied somehow. You won't stop only this. There will be more in store for those goddess and the inhabitants of Moriya shrine. Who should be next target? Your mind starts planning...

You leave the bathroom and get dressed, leaving Hina to drown in her own pleasure.


-______________________________________-


Not a writefag here, but want to try it somehow.
and I have to apologize for any grammatical error beforehand. English is not my first language.

>>1961
>spin

>>1961
>roaring dragon

Chulainn. Not Shirou.

>>1961
>Why fap when you can get the real thing?

WHY WALK WHEN YOU CAN RIDE?

>>1961
Not nearly enough spinning or Hina-talk.

>-______________________________________-
ಠ_ಠ

>>1966

I think that was just supposed to be a formatting marker, not an emoticon.

>>1961
It was posted, and I came.

Only fault I could find with it was that I can't see this Hina saying "Kyaa." Tetro's writing doesn't seem to use those weeaboo-style screams, but I could be mistaken.

But Hina getting sexed is Hina getting sexed, and that is good.

Kanako said no celebrating, but you can't help a little. I mean, hot shit, man! You're flying! Really flying! YEAH!! You extend your fists straight out in front of you and start humming the theme from "Superman" (da da da DUN dun DAAAH, dada DUN da dun DAAAAH), grinning like an idiot. Closing your eyes, you listen to the wind whistling past your ears... wait, where's the wind? Your hair's barely even moving. You open your eyes and take in a harsh dose of reality. While your mind was elsewhere, your body started drifting, and now the mountainside is brushing your shoulder. Limbs flailing, you try to push away at the rock face with the butt of your spear, finally managing the presence of mind to fly away and back into formation behind Sanae. Hopefully, nobody saw that.

You sigh in exasperation, watching your shadow pass on the mountain. Speeding bullet? Shit, you can *walk* faster than this. And now your arms and legs are just hanging down, that "center" in your chest is the only thing keeping you up. You manage to straighten them back into a more dignified position, but it seems like you'll have to hold them there. That'll get tiring real quick. It looks easy to see everyone else do it, but flying is really hard work. Practice makes perfect? Still, you wonder if there isn't a better way to get around than this.

Practice, hey. Two ideas join up in your head, and you start concentrating on moving faster. It doesn't do much good, the increase in speed is barely appreciable. But you refuse to just accept that. Focusing completely on your "center" (but keeping your eyes open and position steady), it almost feels like there's something physically there in your chest. (Even though it still feels strangely empty, but you don't worry about that for now.) You can feel it there, you grab it with your mind, and pull on it with a single idea: FORWARD.

That works a little too well. You move faster, all right, almost smashing your nose into Sanae's feet before you stop yourself. Okay, so you CAN move faster, but only at full throttle. As you back up for another go, you try to get a peek up Sanae's skirt. It's not even an idea, merely a natural extension of being in this position. But nothing doing, her legs are closed and just enough excess from her long skirt is gripped between her knees that all you get is a glimpse of her calf. Figures she'd be used to this kind of thing. You glance up at her face, but it's turned forward, so no way she saw you, good news there. Her arms are still crossed, though, is she ever going to get over that? But wait, they're not crossed like in anger, each hand is placed on the opposite shoulder, making an X across her chest, more like... she's cold? With that stick-and-paper deal whose name escapes you held in one hand, she kind of looks like how pharohs are always drawn in cartoons. Whatever, you don't get her at all anymore.

Back to business. You maneuver yourself back above where you were, clearing the air ahead of you to try again. Focus, grab, and PULL. Your body rush forward, but the burst dies down quickly, leaving you in the air between Sanae and Kanako. For a second after, you're moving even slower than before, then you get back to cruising speed. Looks like you can dash okay if you need to, but as for just flying around... yeah, you'll have to figure something out for that. Anyway, for now you just descend forward to take a position next to Kanako.

She doesn't move or look at you, keeping her eyes forward and her arms back. You can see now that large rope ring is actually attached to her belt. And you thought walking with high heels looked difficult. "Still getting the hang of it?"

"Yeah." No doubt what she means. "I don't know how you all make it look so easy."

"'You all' who?"

"Well, all of you. You goddesses, Sanae, the tengu."

"See? There you are." Kanako turns and looks at you now, smiling a little. "'We all' can fly this well, because none of us are human."

"What? Sanae's human."

"Oh, well, yeah, she's human, but she's still been able to fly since she was born. Anyway, my point is, YOU're human, and humans aren't generally meant to fly. So, only natural you'd be having a hard time with it at first. Don't sweat it." She smiles at you again, then turns back ahead. "But that's not what you came up here to talk about. What's on your mind?"

Ah, right. Idea two steps up. "You wanted Sanae and me to come along for this negotiation. I'm not even going to ask why, just... I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"I'm sure I already told you why, just a show of strength. You don't have to *do* anything, just stand there and look tough."

"Okay, I get that. What I meant was, how should I act, here?"

"If you really got it, you wouldn't be asking me that." Her voice turns serious, and just a bit hard. "But if you want it spelled out, fine. Don't. Do. Anything. Unless I tell you to do it." As you're about to apologize for asking a dumb question (but surely it wasn't THAT dumb?), she continues, half talking to herself. "This guy, Lord Tenma... 'Master of the Mountain'. I doubt that's a name he just came up with for himself, either. Absolute power, but not some tinpot... more like a well-loved king, or... I don't know what. I don't know." One hand is brought up to her mouth and she starts chewing on the thumbnail, staring into space.

[ ] "Are you... worried?"
[ ] Stay quiet, let her ramble.
[ ] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.
[ ] Bring up the rear again.

===

Not much considering the wait, but it's finally done. We'll see how over this hump I am tomorrow when I'm not as dog tired.

[x] Bring up Kanako's rear.

By which, of course, I mean complement her ass.

>>1970
Oh dear. I'm very tempted to pick this, but I will not.
[X] "Are you... worried?"

...
Oh, to hell with it, this later.
[x] Bring up Kanako's rear.

[ ] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

Yay! You're back!

[x] Bring up Kanako's rear.

>>1970

This man sounds like he has an idea of what he's doing.

[x] Bring up Kanako's rear.

[x] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

Must figure her out.

[x] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

[X] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

[+] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.
Gotta find some way to knock the tsun off her dere, if you know what I mean.

[x] Stay quiet, let her ramble.

Time to practice not doing anything.

>>1979

Really? If she's stressed, we should do something to relieve that.
Like, Grope her.
but I vote [+] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

Also, Yay !! Tetro is back !!

_________________________________________

>>1967
Yes. It's a separator. It's just look like Emoticon by mistake. My apologies if it's an eyesore.
>>1966
I'm just a stupid Asian who tries to talk English anyway. That's the best I can do.
>>1968
I just can't imagine some nice scream, so I go with the first translated H-manga scream I found. Duh.

[x] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

You're over the block, it reads very good.

[x] Talk to Sanae about Kanako's rear.

What?!

Also fuck yeah Tetro updates!

[x] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

Welcome back Tetro.

[x] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

YOU'RE BACK! FUCKING AWESOME.

Could use more jump.

BUT STILL FUCKWIN ALL THE SAME.

Oh, and:
[x] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

Can't wait for Kanako route.

>You leave the bathroom and get dressed, leaving Hina to drown in her own pleasure.

That line is amazingly hot.

I'd drown Hina in something... if you know what I mean...

[x] Bring up Kanako's rear.
[Y] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

[✓] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

[X] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

[x] Bring up Kanako's rear.
[x] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.
We'll have our rear and eat it.

[X] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

>>1990
>[Y]
Looks like a manbutt

>>1994

ಠ_ಠ

[ ] "Are you... worried?"

Also, WHERE ARE SANARU PANTIES TETRO
YOU SAID THERE WOULD BE PANTIES

>>1996

Just get back to work, you... you... DOUBLE NIGGER!

[ ] Drop back and try to talk to Sanae.

>>1994
FUCK
CANNOT UNSEE

>>1999
Just as keikaku'd.

>>2000
Note: Keikakku means plan

Also, GET. i have mixed feelings about that one.

GET BACK TO WORK NIGGER!

>>2000

Just as keiku'd.

Heavy hangs the head, so they say. Your first instinct is to talk to her, maybe try and lessen that weight, but that second thought points out that politics never were a prime interest of yours, affairs of state like this'd probably just wash right over you. Good ol' second thought. Braking lightly, you leave Kanako to her pondering and move on to a problem more on your level.

The moment the green of her hair enters your peripheral vision, you let yourself get back up to speed, matching pace with the suddenly hard-to-predict shrine maiden, moving on in silence for a moment before turning your head to her. Her head is turned pointedly away from you, looking at the bare stone passing by, her face only just obscured by her hair. Also noticed, her hands have moved from her shoulders to under her armpits, arms still Xed across her chest. It really does look like she's cold, but that doesn't make much sense; it's crisp, but not... well, then again, you don't really feel temperatures that keenly. Still, though.

"Hey," you offer by way of greeting. No reaction. White noise in the distance grows more persistent with each second; the waterfall is getting close. You sigh inwardly. Those peacemaking diplomatic issues are suddenly looking much easier.

[ ] Say something, stupid. (Write-in option)
[ ] Let the time pass.

>>2004

[ ] Fly in front of her, upside down, see her reaction, also hum Superman's theme

[X] Say nothing, put an arm around her and hold her a little close to you. If she asks, tell her she looked cold.

Oh, Sanae, being so cold to us. It just makes me want to warm you up.

[x] "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for yelling. You believed in something in me even when I didn't. I wouldn't have been able to experience something this amazing without you. I've never felt so excited and happy in my life. Thank you.

I just wish I could experience it WITH you..."

[x] "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for yelling. You believed in something in me even when I didn't. I wouldn't have been able to experience something this amazing without you. I've never felt so excited and happy in my life. Thank you.

I just wish I could experience it WITH you..."

[x] Say nothing, put an arm around her and hold her a little close to you. If she asks, tell her she looked cold.

There's a time for words, and there's a time for action. This is a time for action.

>>2009
then
>>2007 as backup.

Not words, certainly not touching her.

[ ] Hum Superman's theme

We need to make her laugh.

>>2011

I don't know. Body language and physical contact can convey quite a bit. Sometimes that sort of thing works where words will fail.

[x] "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for yelling. You believed in something in me even when I didn't. I wouldn't have been able to experience something this amazing without you. I've never felt so excited and happy in my life. Thank you.

I just wish I could experience it WITH you..."

[x] "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for yelling. You believed in something in me even when I didn't. I wouldn't have been able to experience something this amazing without you. I've never felt so excited and happy in my life. Thank you.

I just wish I could experience it WITH you..."

[x] Say nothing, put an arm around her and hold her a little close to you. If she asks, tell her she looked cold.

[X] Say nothing, put an arm around her and hold her a little close to you. If she asks, tell her she looked cold.

I'm not too sure about using honeyed words when she's pointedly ignoring us. She sure as hell can't ignore us touching her though, and I think making her react in some way is what we want to do right now.

Why not do both?

[X] Say nothing, put an arm around her and hold her a little close to you. If she asks, tell her she looked cold.

What Would Cu Chulainn Do? Not whine like a sissy, that's for sure.
>I just wish I could experience it WITH you...
Are you kidding me with this shit.

>>2017
Hmmmmmmm. I count only one vote separating them...

GATTAI DA?

[ ] Yeah.
[ ] Naw.

[ ] Yeah.

>>2019
Should have pointed out, failure to pass this vote would give single victory to the Arm option.

[X] Naw.

Wordless gestures, that's the way to go.

[X] Naw.

Not the time for whiny heart-to-heart talk. Save that for when we confront Sanae on the roof tonight.

Seriously though, sappy speeches like that are wasted on those who are angry at you, while actions are not so much...

[ ] Yeah.

[x] Naw.
Save the talk for tonight, I guess.

[X] Naw.

Lets try not to push it too much.

[x] Naw.
[X] Say nothing, put an arm around her and hold her a little close to you. If she asks, tell her she looked cold.

[ ] Yeah.

[X] Yeah.

[X] Yeah.

[x] No.

[x] Naw.

Still not liking the whiny speech. Not his style.

[X] Nah.

A "nay" vote in the end. Writing.

Aww, Anon didn't go with cheesy KISU KISU FA IN RAVU.

I'm still holding out on "Anon becomes gravely injured" to break the tsun barrier. Injury ALWAYS trumps tsun. Like in UBW when Shirou threw his arm out to protect Rin, despite her attacking him. A worried tsundere is always worth it. Great stuff.

>>2036

>A worried tsundere is always worth it. Great stuff.

Agreed. 100% agreed.
I want to vote for physical contact, though. But damn slowpoke me.

Delay: had to drive out and jump start someone's car so they could bring the food which I am now eating. I'll actually start the actual writing once I'm done doing that.

>>2038

TETRO LIED
ANON WENT TO BED

Words form on your lips, a heartfelt speech of gratitude and reconciliation, but it is there that they die. You can tell just by looking that her ears are closed to anything you might say. The heart having failed, the brain takes the stage. She won't listen, eh? Well, that's fine. There are other, better ways to make oneself heard.

Edging closer to her side, you reach one arm around her and place your hand on her shoulder. She stiffens and begins to shake a little, but does not struggle or pull away, as you pull her body into contact with yours. The action is no sooner completed than her burning, furious face is rapidly brought to bear on you. "What the HELL do you THINK you're DOING!?" Sanae hisses at you.

Your voice, your face, your eyes, all are as clear and smooth as glass when you reply, "I thought you looked cold."

All color leaves her face for a second, and she seems to have trouble keeping her mouth closed. Then, her jaw snaps shut, the color returns with a vengeance, and she frowns vehemently at the ground below, her whole body trying to retreat inward from your touch. Those words from before try to rally themselves, but disband in favor of holding this moment. Could this be progress? After all, you're not holding her tightly at all. As experienced a flier as she is, she could easily es--

"Hey, lovebirds!" Kanako calls back in a teasing voice. "Break it up, we're almost there."

And just like that, one arm is hovering uselessly around an empty space. You glance over one shoulder and see Sanae back in your original spot in the line, upright but still moving forward with the group, facing away. Folding your arm back to your side, you allow yourself a little smile. You do believe that counted as progress.

You turn your head back around and, sure enough, right there's the waterfall. Amazing how something that loud keeps sneaking up on you. Kanako comes to a stop, straightens to a "standing" position and turns to face the waterfall at dead center. You follow suit and take a position just behind and to the right of her. Working yourself upright proves to be a lot easier than you feared it would, but you fidget with your spear for a moment, uncertain of how to hold it, deciding to keep it close at your side as if standing at attention; in a sideways glance, you see Sanae float easily into a relative position opposite you, arms hanging down her sides, admirably composed. She catches your eye with hers just before she turns, but her expression remains neutral. That WAS progress just now, right?

The tengu don't keep you waiting long. Oddly noiseless for as large as it is, a section of the mountainside raises like a garage door, gradually revealing a partial view of the lit hall beyond. The roar of the waterfall changes pitch as the door interrupts its flow; you realize this must be the same way that Sayo and Momizi brought you in before. Unless they have more than one of these entrances, which strikes you as unlikely. You notice all of the water hitting the door is diverted to either side, leaving the straightforward approach conveniently dry. By design? Clever.

Two wolf tengu come through the entrance, male and female. Guards, probably, but their uniforms are slightly different. The shirts are now solid red, with an open slit in each sleeve halfway between the shoulder and elbow, showing a white undershirt beneath. The man's hakama is just a reversal of the usual, red giving way to black below the knees; the woman's skirt has the same color scheme, but is longer than most you've seen, almost down to her ankles, but not restrictive, loose enough to allow totally free movement if required. The maple leaf shields and heavy swords are absent, neither one is visibly armed. They both stop just outside the entrance and salute in unison. The man shouts out to you, easily audible even over the waterfall: "Lord Tenma is expecting you. If you will please follow us, we shall take you to him directly." The three of you move forward into the cavern, and the man stays a distance ahead, leading you. You see the woman begin to move out of the corner of your eye as you pass her, and know without looking that she is exactly the same distance behind.

Inside, the hall proves to be less wide and high than you expected, not extending much in either dimension past what you saw through the doorway, but just as long. The floor and ceiling is smooth, but the walls are not; looks like this was converted from a natural cavern. Looks like this is the main hall, judging by the number of tunnels leading out of it in all directions, but there is no traffic through here at the moment. At the far end, you can see the entrance to a larger tunnel, about half as wide as the hall. The entrance is arched and decorated all around with carved designs. You hear the door being retracted shut behind you as your guide descends gradually to the floor and everyone follows, walking the rest of the way. From this angle, the view down the passage is clear enough, but the end is lost in the distance. Your can already feel your feet hurting as the procession passes through the carved entrance and begins down the tunnel, heading deeper into the mountain.

===

This is just Part One. I'll try to get Part Two together before I collapse for the night.

Heh, should have gone with words.

>>2042

No, I think we made good progress with that. It may not be an obvious instant reconciliation, but it was a good start, and that's what we needed. If Sanae was really upset/unreceptive to that, she would have pulled away instantly instead of waiting for Kanako to speak up.

Agreed. Words wouldn't have worked; Sanae's modern enough to see that talk is cheap. Actions worked better, here.

The tunnel you're in is much different from the ones you sneaked through last night. There, all four sides were cut smooth, but here, not only are they smoothed but polished in a way that makes the whole thing shine like fine marble, despite clearly just being ordinary mountain rock. Tall, shallow alcoves are set into each wall at regular intervals, and inside each one is a guard tengu at attention, wearing the same red dress uniforms as your escorts, but armed, the swords held point down in front of them. You're no good as a judge of distance, but at this pace, you count about 15 seconds between each set.

Observing the alcoves, you also notice something odd about the walls here. You can't get a good close look at them without breaking the formation, the ceiling gives off the same uncertain vibe with the same inaccessibility, but staring at the floor brings a dawn: through the polish in the stone, you can see millions of tiny veins of light, criss-crossing randomly. The glow from each individual vein is very faint, almost invisible, but there is such a multitude of them that the whole end effect must be the source of that soft, steady light that puzzled you on your way out of the mountain that first time. It's an answer, but still, it's literally incredible. Something like this can't possibly be a natural occurrence, but no science, no magic you can easily imagine, could be capable of laying such a thing through living rock while leaving no trace behind.

You work on the issue from a few directions, but end up at a dead end each time, soon forcing you to abandon it for now, leaving your mind once again unoccupied. Looking down the corridor, the end seems nearer but still distant. Great. Casting around for something else to chew on, your eyes happen on the wolf tail poking through the front escort's pants and hanging down at a neutral angle. Say now, there's a thing. You'd almost forgotten they had tails. Or had you even seen them before? You saw Sayo's ears all right that time on the cliff, but you just assumed the tail by association. Thinking back, yes, you can remember *seeing* them, but guess you just never *noticed* them before since they never seemed to do anything. Are they even real, then? Stuck in this inane thought loop, you almost miss the ending of the tunnel. You have arrived.

The hall you enter is actually smaller than the one you left behind at the entrance, equally wide but not nearly so long, yet it feels larger somehow. Perhaps this is because of the strictly utilitarian feel of the former, while this place has high balconies set out of the walls; lines cut into the floor, creating an illusion of tiling; and regular pillars decorated with detailed carvings of various creatures, only a few of which you can even guess names for, extending up to the ceiling and forward to the throne. The throne... you miss a step when you see it, or rather, the giant seated upon it. Clad in a single, loose-fitting white kimono with the ever-present maple leaf emblem sewn on the chest and shoulders, only the giant's face and hands are visible. The hands grip easily the arms of the throne, and the face looks straight out of a children's story book: ruddy complexion, bushy hair and eyebrows, and a disproportionately long, bulbous nose. Were it not for that jet-black hair and beard (which is actually rather short), you'd swear it was wearing a gigantic mask, but no. As if further proof were needed, you see the lips of the mouth purse together thoughtfully as its eyes appraise your party. What you see here is, must be, its actual face. For every fantastic thing you've seen in this short time, for some reason, this is the first one you actually have to force yourself to believe.

Midway across the hall, one huge hand is raised, and a booming voice echoes through the hall: "Hold!" Immediately, everyone stops and stands in place. The forward escort bows low towards the throne and recedes quickly to some point behind you. Not moving his head, the giant tengu continues to cast his eye over the three of you. The deep, commanding voice sounds out again, quieter but no less forceful. "You are the representatives from the shrine, then. And you, in the red, are their leader?"

Kanako steps forward and nods. For a second time, you hear her use the clear, controlled voice that first spoke down the forces on the mountaintop. "I am Kanako Yasaka, goddess of Moriya Shrine. And you could only be the Master of the Mountain, Lord Tenma."

"Such is my title, and my name," Lord Tenma replies, nodding in kind. "I desire greatly to speak with you, Lady Yasaka, for we have much to discuss. First, however, another matter, smaller yet still important, must be resolved." The eyes turn and stare directly into yours. Automatically, you stand straighter and try to put on as serious a face as you can. "Sir Cu Chulainn. Approach."

Stiff-legged, you march forward past Kanako towards the throne, coming to a halt at what you hope is a respectful distance about three pillars away.

[ ] Stand.
[ ] Bow.
[ ] Kneel.

>>2045

We have lower ranks than Kanako, so we must give lord tenma more respect than her.

[ ] Kneel, like a feudal knight.


also: SUDDENLY, WALL !!

[x] Bow.

Striking a balance.

[ ] Kneel.

[X] Bow.

The guard bowed and I would assume we're on about the same level as that. We are supposed to look tough, after all.

[X] Kneel.
Seems most appropriate. Standing is right out of the question and bowing is either too much or not enough.

[x] Bow.
This is probably the best balance between "Looking tough" and "showing respect".

[ ] Bow.

[x] Bow

Writing.

For only a split second, you waver on how best to pay your respects. Kneeling sounds good, but it might be overkill. Just a moment ago, it was enough for his servant to bow, so surely that would be just more than enough for an outsider like yourself. Holding the spear horizontally in both hands, you put your feet together and bow to him as low as you can before returning to your initial position.

Lord Tenma continues: "Shortly after your arrival in our world, you were captured by one of my guards and detained, questioned, treated as a suspected criminal. Upon my orders, you were given the opportunity to serve the mountain as our agent in the newly arrived shrine; an opportunity which, I am told, you seized without hesitation, as it also satisfied your own curiosity. Perhaps you did not realize it at the time, but it was a fool's choice: refusal would have resulted in a death sentence, the penalty for trespassing on our territory. In any case, your career in this position, I hope you take no offense but it is true all the same, was an unparalleled failure, as you blurted your mission to the first person who spoke to you. And yet, in spite of this, and in spite of the manner in which we pressed you into the situation, you still seem to have not completely abandoned the interests of the mountain, making what now shows as an honest, although occasionally baffling, attempt to influence a peaceful resolution to the conflict, success of which is proven by Lady Yasaka's presence here. You have done a service to the mountain, a greater one to be sure than we had any right to expect from you considering your treatment at our hands. For this, I do sincerely apologize; for your service, I extend to you our deepest gratitude."

[ ] "I acted in no-one's 'interests'. I, like you, merely did what I felt was right."
[ ] "I accept your apology, and your gratitude, equally. No hard feelings."
[ ] "I do not care for your policies, but I do not wish you ill for them."

>>2055
[X] "All I want is peaceful resolution, sir."

It looks a lot like the first choice, but give the different feeling. I think.

>>2058
I like the feel of that.

[X] "All I want is peaceful resolution, sir."

[x] "All I want is peaceful resolution, sir."
Deleting my post to jump the bandwagon.

[x] "All I want is peaceful resolution, sir."

Do we have to join the band to ride the wagon?

>>2062

Nah, you can be a roadie.

None of those choices really appealed to me, either, but I was too tired to come up with anything better. Sorry about that. Writing the wrap-up.

awwww... I have to go sleep and can't watch the upcoming wrap-up now. Hope you NORTH STAR, WRITING, etc Like this everyday Tetro.

Fuck you, timezone. Fuck you.

>>2040
>>2041

Ok that was just pure bad timing. Good job Tetro, nice to see you're back to writing again.

>>2065
I'm sorry I couldn't write fast enough for you to catch it.

>>2066
Thanks, man. It's good to be back.

===

"All I want is a peaceful resolution, sir," you state clearly, bowing your head a moment later, adding, "For all involved."

The tengu lord smiles broadly at this. "Well spoken, young one," he says in a kindly, relatively quiet voice. "I see now that Commander Takagi was right about you. Place as much wisdom in your actions as you do in your words, and I believe you shall find it hard to put a foot wrong in this life."

A hint of amusement colors his tone in the last sentence, and you smile back, catching it. "I shall try to remember that in the future, sir." Lord Tenma chuckles quietly, motioning a gentle dismissal with one hand. Bowing towards him again, you turn on your heel and march back into place. Kanako remains coolly impassive, but sneaks you a quick wink as you pass by. You notice Sanae watching you, but when you look back, she averts her eyes to the front, reassuming her mask before you can read her expression. Shrugging it off, you stop opposite her and turn back around.

Fixing his eyes back on Kanako, Lord Tenma speaks, "Is there any business you wish to attend to before we begin, or are you all preapared?"

"One minor matter, your Lordship, regarding my two escorts," Kanako replies, extending both hands slightly behind her to indicate yourself and Sanae. "I am sure you understand, but I did not bring them here to aid in the negotiations; I speak for all in Moriya Shrine. If you would arrange for someone to show them out so they may await my return at the shrine, then we may begin."

Tenma nods. "I understand completely, Lady Yasaka, and had in fact anticipated as much, arranging in advance for a guide to take them on a small tour of Home as a gesture of goodwill. Of course, should either of them wish to return to the shrine, this can easily be done as well." With a wave of a single finger, an honor guard appears beside you. Kanako looks over one shoulder, then the other, giving each of you a brief nod. You bow to her, then to the throne, before taking off towards the long tunnel, the guide assigned to you flying by your side. Not far down the tunnel, you hear a loud grinding noise behind you, and turn to see two great stone doors close over the throne room's entrance, sealing the occupants in privacy.

[[[ Path "Friend to the Mountain" has ended. Completion rate: 50% ]]]

Your earlier estimate was just a little pessimistic, it turns out you actually can fly a bit faster than you can walk. You've still got to figure something to do about that, though. In any case, Sanae reaches the end of the tunnel ahead of you, stops there a moment, then lands and seems to be... arguing with her guide? As you approach her from behind, you catch her words in mid-sentence. "...else here, then who?"

You land yourself and walk over to her. "What's the problem?"

She ignores you and turns instead to the tengu with you. "Are you to be our guide, then?"

"Er, no, miss, we were only to take you out of the tunnel, or show you to an exit if you wished to return to your shrine," he says, shaking his head, then looking around with a frown. "Your guide was supposed to meet you here, but--"

"Hiii~iiii!" A friendly, girlish greeting cuts off his sentence. Turning towards it you see a small girl running up the hall towards you, waving one arm in the air. Stopping in front of you and resting both hands on her knees to catch her breath, you take her in. She may not be as young as you first thought, but she definitely fits the criteria for "petite", coming up only as tall as Minoriko or Shizuha. Her hair is an aquatic blue, pulled up at the sides into twin tails and tied in place between two large red beads on either side. On her head is a flat green cap with a white symbol somewhat resembling a question mark on the front of it, and on her back is a green backpack probably twice the size of her actual body, which itself is covered by a two-piece dress the same color as her hair and featuring pockets all around the skirt and on both shoulders. Hanging center on her chest, held there by four individual straps which cross around to her back, is a very generic-looking gold key. Sanae seems equally bemused as the girl stands up straight and introduces herself. "Sorry I'm late! My name's Nitori, Nitori Kawashiro. I'm gonna be your guide!" Smiling brightly, her eyes get a faraway look as she gazes over both of you. "Wow," she breathes nearly to herself, "TWO humans...!"

While you're still trying to process this, Sanae starts to speak. "I..." And then stops again, closing her mouth and unconciously gripping her dress tightly in one hand. After a few seconds she releases it and starts again. "I am afraid... I must decline," she says, turning to her escort. "If you would please show me to the exit."

After watching her go sadly, Nitori turns to you with a light of hope. "Well, hey, one human's better than none, right?"

[ ] Follow after Sanae.
[ ] Go on the tour with Nitori.
[ ] This girl's kinda creepy. Can't you get a tengu guide?

===

And this is good night for now.

>>2067
[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Sleep well and it's good to have you back.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.
Nitori~

>>2066

[ ] Go on the tour with Nitori.

[x] Follow after Sanae.
I dunno, it feels like the tour would serve only as a distraction from the Sanae route. We've got a pretty good opportunity to talk with her now.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

[ ] Follow after Sanae.
Good to see you back, Tetro.

[X]"I apologize, maybe some other time if the offer can be postponed."
[X] Follow after Sanae.

[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Don't wanna crush that light of hope~.

[x] Follow after Sanae, but assure Nitori that you'd love to go on a tour some time in the future.

I don't wanna break the poor girl's heart now, after she ran all that way.

[x] Follow after Sanae.

Apologize to Nitori if possible.

Yeah, Sanae might not want us following, but its the best course of action. Why? Well, these are the little things women seem to remember. "Why didn't you come after me" type deals.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Feh, Sanae isn't gonna hold something like this against us. It's a tour not a date.

Do not feel like hanging around Sanae till she bursts out with whatever has been bothering her. Though going back to the shrine would mean seeing Hina again....
Nah, time to spend some time with other touhou characters.

Don't let the gloomy miko get you down, Nitori.
[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Fuck yeah! Nitori! One of my favorites.

Also, I too would like say welcome back. I like this story a hell of a lot.

[ ] Go on the tour with Nitori.
or follow Sanae and convince her somehow to participate.

Remember the second promise you made, Ku-chan?
"I'll never leave you, Sanae"?
Remember what happened to the first Cu Chulainn when he started breaking promises?
Yeah, sit on that one for a while.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.
We've tried to talk to Sanae repeatedly and she's had none of it. Feh! She wants to be that way, fine, we have no reason to bend over backwards for her in the story, just Tetro's word that she is the One True Route. Which is silly, especially if she's going to insist on being a crazy bitch who pushes us off roofs and then sulks when we can't fly.

In the meantime? We are Cu Chulainn, legendary Celtic hero, newly named Friend to the Mountain and all that. Let us embark on some manly tourism.

>>2085
Oh, for crying out loud. This does not constitute abandoning her. Not when she's the one making it clear we're not welcome.

>>2067
[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.

[X]"I apologize, maybe some other time if the offer can be postponed."
[X] "Maybe you can come by the Shrine some time, actually?"
[X] Follow after Sanae.

I like Nitori, but I'd rather not agitate Sanae any further. Plus, this is a prime opportunity to spend some quality time alone with her.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Agitation is this Sanae's most interesting character trait.
Also, it'll be good to know the mountain a bit.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.
Kappagirl is loev.

[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.

[ ] Follow after Sanae.

>>2067
[ ] Follow after Sanae.

THIS IS SANARU ROUTE FOLLOW THE GODDAMN SANARU

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ANON

>>2094

Simply asking Nitori for directions to the Scarlet Devil lake.

[X] Follow after Sanae.

Way to ignore a perfect chance to spend time alone with the girl we're after, possibly obliterating the tiny progress we made with her by spending time with some girl we just met.

Morons.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

We can take this chance to learn a few things. Sanae will always be there, Nitori may not.

>>2096
Sanae route may be the only route, but that doesn't mean we're all interested in pursuing her over anything else. Enjoying a tour with the kappa is fine too, especially when the miko is such poor company.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Leave Sanae to her thoughts. You can't act like some pathetic dog following her around all the time. Its not....manly. Anon nonverbally said his peace and now its up to her to quit being stubborn.

Also how many chances will Anon get to go on a tour? Take it!

[x] Follow after Sanae.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

>>2099
Agreed. If she's being ridiculous and irrational enough to get mad that we didn't follow her, she'd also be unhappy that we skipped the tour just because she did. She'd find another justification to be mad either way.

>>2101
Exactly. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. At least this way we get a tour and interaction with a new character.

I wonder what Sanae would do if we started acting coldly to her...

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Let Sanae see we're not going to follow her around. Also Nitori time!

So which is more likely? Sanae confronts us tonight while she's alone, and tells us what's bothering her? Or she has an enraged outburst where she berates us and the only thing we can do to shut her up is pull her into a kiss?

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

>>2104
I wonder. kana~ kana~

The waters of her emotions will break through her tsun enforced dam and flood over us like so many analogies which are easily turned sexual.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.
DO NOT WANT TO BREAK KAPPA'S HEART

>>2104
>Or she has an enraged outburst where she berates us and the only thing we can do to shut her up is pull her into a kiss?

I like the vision.

[x] Go on the tour with Nitori.

[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Just because this is Sanae route doesn't mean following her is always a good idea. Right now it seems like she wants some time alone.

...Plus, it'd break my heart to let down Nitori like this. ;_;

I think this story has had more named, male, non-Anon characters mentioned in it than any other board CYOA.
And the funny thing is, the total amount of said is only about 3 (Sayo, Commander Takagi, Tenma).

>>2111
This Shrine had Kourin, Red, and... that old guy in the woods with the hammer. I don't remember his name, but he had one.

Then again, Moriya Bulg has had the three you mentioned and the tobacco store man, so it still wins.

>>2112

You forgot the gay clerk and Akyu's father.

>>2114

There's the innkeeper too.

Sanae has been getting more and more pissed every time Cu-chan shows her up. It's both jealousy and fear of abandonment, as in her eyes he's now competing with her for attention from her surrogate family. But she knows these feelings are irrational, and she likes Cu-chan, so she avoids him and bottles up her anger.

Now the lord of the tengu thanks Cu-chan personally, while she just gets brushed off by Kanako without even having her name mentioned? She's so pissed that she's ignoring this opportunity to explore the mountain, Tenma's gift--Kanako will likely be less than pleased.

There is no way of really placating her except to give her time. We just need to keep acting awesome and friendly until she either comes to terms with herself or breaks down in a fit of angry, cathartic tears; only then can a relationship with her truly develop.

Knowing places of importance and establishing friendly relations with the Kappa is in Moriya's interests, while attempting to comfort Sanae instead would be like drawing blood from a stone.

[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.

[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.
Friendly+Cheerful= Creepy?
I don't think so tim.
Sanaru needs some time to sort out her thoughts as well, so we might add [X]Whisper "I don't know why are you so annoyed, but let's both use this time to cool off and discuss it when i return" to Sanae.

[X] Go on the tour with Nitori.

Really now, We need some alone time to talk to her when we get to the shrine. And this time make it aggressive. Like, catch her wrist while she walks away from us again (which I think it will happen). pin her at the wall grabbing both her arm and ask her in the face with serious voice "What the hell are you doing ?! If you have a problem, say it !!" with Ku-chan's face very very close to hers.

This kind of things works in real life. at least in my experience.


vote for [ ] Take a tour with Nitori.
Just can't turn down Nitori's offer. Also, we might get our hands on some of the artefact. like our lighter, lol.

[+] Go on the tour with Nitori.
[+] Whisper "I don't know why are you so annoyed, but let's both use this time to cool off and discuss it when I return" to Sanae.

Knowing how SUDDENLY TSUNDERE WHAT THE FUCK SRSLY she's being, Sanae's bound to take this as Cu talking down to her. But, them's the breaks.

Here's hoping Kanako, or someone at least, has the presence of mind to slap the tsun off her dere.

>>2119

She'd probably wind blast us reflexively if she felt she was in danger. Even if not, the only thing that stays Sanae's anger is that we have Kanako's favor, and man-handling her priestess to that degree would be an act of severe hubris.

>>2121
>the only thing that stays Sanae's anger is that we have Kanako's favor
I'm with >>2116, that's probably the CAUSE of her anger.

>>2122

It's both. The situation makes her angry, but also provides no outlet for said anger.

Touring with Nitori comes out on top. I woke up only to be told I have things I need to do tomorrow morning, so I can't write for too long. Then again, I've said that before...

Also, new thread.

>>2124

Tetro, I can't wait forever. Please, post it before I succumb to sleep.