>>Lady Yasaka grabs your arm and eyes it intensely.
>>"Interesting arm, you have there. You're one of the cool youkai!" She says. A goddess gave you a compliment, awesome.
>>"Say, wouldn't you want to drink with me? 's boring to drink alone." Lady Yasaka says.

I detect a trap. And not the delicious kind, either. As much as I'd like to believe we're so awesome that we inspire such intimacy at first meeting... her reaction to our arm makes me doubt her motives.

We should at least be armed before taking her up on her offer. I don't care what the hell happens after that; the ridiculousness that is the Exceed System kicks logic to the curb harder than Marcus Fenix kicks heads to it.

I know, I know, this thread isn't really the place for such paranoia... but after that April Fools update, isn't it fair to expect something a bit more serious?

[] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places"
-----[] You should look for your sword. At the waterfall, was it?

[x] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places"
-----[x] You should look for your sword. At the waterfall, was it?

[x] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places"
-----[x] You should look for your sword. At the waterfall, was it?

[x] Drinking with a goddess. Divine!
[x] Suggest to the goddess on your shoulders that she could prank Yasaka when she's drunk.

We need more write-ins for maximum stat gains per level, remember?

[x] Drinking with a goddess. Divine!
[x] Suggest to the goddess on your shoulders that she could prank Yasaka when she's drunk.

Voting this until something more interesting comes up.

>>9584

Meh. Though it technically isn't a write in, I think the logic behind >>9577 makes it just as good as one. But if you insist...

[x] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places first."
-----[x] You don't trust this woman quite yet. Better go look for your sword at the waterfall before you take her up on that offer.

[x] Drinking with a goddess. Divine!
[x] Suggest to the goddess on your shoulders that she could prank Yasaka when she's drunk.

[x] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places"
-----[x] You should look for your sword. At the waterfall, was it?

[x] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places first."
-----[x] You don't trust this woman quite yet. Better go look for your sword at the waterfall before you take her up on that offer.

[d] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places first."
-----[a] You don't trust this woman quite yet. Better go look for your sword at the waterfall before you take her up on that offer.
-----[?] "I need my sword to drink, because of all the crap that happens after I drink."
-----[z] "It's hard to fend off the advances of elder gods looking for a challenge and women throwing themselves at me.. and... clinging... to ...me."
-----[e] Trail off, looking at the woman before you and the girl on you, back and forth between them. "...What the hell?! It's happening again! And I'm not even drunk yet, this time!"
-----[~] "Oh, I'm definitely going to need that sword first before I do anything. Pity I've got nobody to help me look..."

>>9608
>advances of elder gods
>elder gods
Ph?nglui mglw?nafh Cthulhu R?lyeh wgah-nagl ftaghn.

>>9608
>advances of elder gods

I am the origin of Life-- the devourer of Death. I am the hub of the Wheel, the purifying cycle to which all souls must be drawn.
You may ponder the futility of your ambitions as you spend a deathless eternity beneath a mountain of rubble.
You and your Devil Bringer will go equally mad as the eons pass... The Shrine of Moriya will become your living tomb.

>>9584
Vote changan'

[d] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places first."
-----[a] You don't trust this woman quite yet. Better go look for your sword at the waterfall before you take her up on that offer.
-----[?] "I need my sword to drink, because of all the crap that happens after I drink."
-----[z] "It's hard to fend off the advances of elder gods looking for a challenge and women throwing themselves at me.. and... clinging... to ...me."
-----[e] Trail off, looking at the woman before you and the girl on you, back and forth between them. "...What the hell?! It's happening again! And I'm not even drunk yet, this time!"
-----[~] "Oh, I'm definitely going to need that sword first before I do anything. Pity I've got nobody to help me look..."

Sage for my own lack of creativity.

Calling it with the sword option. Writing after I eat.

You're overdoing with the write-ins. Rewording choices, how clever.

>>9616

Orbs. I NEED them!

>[x] "Hah, sorry, I have to check a few places"
>-----[x] You should look for your sword. At the waterfall, was it?

"Hah. Sorry guys. I have some other places to be, and some places to check." You say and free your hand from the divine grasp.
"I lost some of my stuff, you see." You explain.
"What a pity, it's not often people like you visit the shrine." Lady Yasaka says. Sanae smiles at you apologetically.
"Well, see you later then, I might visit you guys some day." You throw the Lady and Sanae a demonic salute as a farewell. You follow the path back to the shrine building.

It's nice to walk next to the lake like this, the wind is nice, the ground feels pleasantly soft, and it's easy to walk on. The noon-claiming sun and its lake reflection barely entering your eyes. It's only somewhat heavier than before. As you reach the front-side of the shrine building, your extra weight begins ruffling your hair. Oh, you've been carrying a goddess. Suwako was her name, no? You forgot her last name! How insolent! Well, she does look and act like a kid, maybe she's a childish god?

"Bearing the weight of a goddess is certainly a divine gift, will you be accompanying me?" You ask.
"Daha, I thought you didn't notice!" And she ruffles your head even more, this time painfully even.
"Ow ow ow!" You exclaim and instinctually grab her ruffling hand with your Devilbringer and lift her entirety off yourself.
"Hey, it hurts!" You say.
"Woow, you're strong. You just peeled me off like that." Suwako says as she hangs above the ground since you're holding onto her hand. She weighs like nothing now, it's the Devilbringer! Shouldn't her weight atleast somehow stress the muscles around your shoulder? Physics are wrong here.
"I'm amazed myself." You release Suwako from your grip and she lands on her hands and her legs as if a frog. Humorous, since she wears such a hat as well.
"Well, play with you later then, Suwako." You say, hoping that the goddess desires no extreme formality.
"You better come tomorrow. Or I'll make you suffer from-" You receive threats from a goddess, you're doomed!
"- a thousand pranks!" Pranks. Divine pranks. This could be equally bad.

This time you take the real entrance to the shrine, the waterfall was quite a bit away, but armed with knowledge learned from mistakes, you'll surely find the waterwall without trouble.
[...]
There's a path leading to the waterfall, wonder why? Perhaps it's an awesome sight, or some events are held here. Ah, you can hear the water gushing sound, sounds massive already. You hasten your movement a bit, a little more, and you can see the waterfall. It's just around this protruding cliff formation.

"Halt!" You hear.
[] Ignore it. You must get your sword.
[] "I am unarmed." Raise your human and demon arm to prove it.
[] Write-in.

[Z] Punch the ground with Devilbringer, causing rocks and dirt to fly up at the target, then escape.

....Okay, seriously.

[Z] "I am unarmed." Raise your human and demon arm to prove it.

>>9619
>[Z] Punch the ground with Devilbringer, causing rocks and dirt to fly up at the target, then escape.
I so want to see this happening. But anyway:

[x] "I am unarmed." Raise your human and demon arm to prove it.

[x] "I am unarmed." Raise your human and demon arm to prove it.

[x] "I am unarmed." Raise your human and demon arm to prove it.

[x] "I am unarmed." Raise your human and demon arm to prove it.
[x] "Completely, totally unarmed." Turn around to face this other person.
[x] With your arms still raised, use your devilbringer to snatch any weapon they have out of their hands.

>>9626

No points in grab.

>[] "I am unarmed." Raise your human and demon arm to prove it.

"I am unarmed." You say. Abandoning all the lame puns and jokes you could do with the word 'arm' you stick your arms up, both human and demon. You slowly turn around to get a look at your possible enemy.

The person who you're raising arms up into the air isn't very intimidating. Her outfit resembles that of a shrine maiden's one, detachable sleeves, exposed armpits. However the motif is entirely different, somewhat reminding you of a flower. Her hair is long, and on her head is a red hat, much like Aya's. The hat is accompanied by a set of ears, dog ears or something of the like. She is holding a curved sword, a scimitar in her right hand, and a shield with a maple leaf emblem in her left.

"What is your business here?" She asks.
"I am looking for some of my possessions." You reply.
"Your possessions?" You wonder if Aya's interview would be this awkward.
"Yeah, I'm looking for my sword, it has a red theme, seen it?" You attack with a question.
"Er, well.." She remains in thought, and becomes nervous.
"I'm not supposed to answer that! Ah, er, who do you work for?!" She has lost her aura of steel.
"I work for no one, but if you ask me how I knew to come here, I guess I got help from a Kappa." You answer and drop your tiring hands, or well, one of them is tiring.
"Kappa? Who? Get your hands back up!" She is getting into a stance, of sorts.
"Her name was Nitori." You quickly say. To the mention of Nitori, she calms down, sheathes her sword and sticks the shield on her back.
"Well, if Nitori told you, I guess it's okay then." She says. She sticks her right hand out.
"I'm Momiji Inubashiri. I'm sort of a guard here. Pleased to meet you." You accept her right hand and shake, gently.
"Sorry, can't sort of remember my own name, feel free to call me whatever you want." You say.
"Ah, I see." She falls into thought.
"... What should I call him?" You barely catch her mumbling.
"You don't have to think too hard about that." You say, startling her.
"Uh, what, I didn't, I'm sorry." She quickly blurts out and takes a bow.
"You don't have to do that." You say to which Momiji reacts.
"So, about that sword." That sword, you must have it.
"Uh, this is going to be complicated." Momiji explains.
"We, the Tengu, have your sword. But... you getting it is going to be difficult. You see, the Tengu find your sword very interesting. I don't think they would give it back easily. We can try and go negotiate. But I don't think they would listen to me. I'm just one of many Tengu."
"Negotiations, those sound great. Can you take me to them? Ah, but you have a guard shift." You say.
"Oh, don't worry about that, it's my duty to accompany you!" She says as a hint of red hue appears across her face.

[] Topics, write-in, charisma abuse, talkan gaems.

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

Huh. Not bad.

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

[z] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored." Take a bow.
[e] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

>>9613
That's great.

In the meant time, all I could think of was the opening of Breath of Fire II.

>[x] "Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself. In fact, I would be honored" take a bow.
>[x] "By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?"

Such an adorable guard, accompanying you? It's a privilege!
"Why, I'd love to be escorted by a lovely, young lady such as yourself." You say. Miss Inubashiri paints her visage red and takes a whole step backwards while maintaing eye contact.
"In fact, I would be honored." You finish with a bow. However Miss Inubashiri feels the need to do the same.
"No, it's my duty." She insists. You rise, seems like Miss Inubashiri is the extremely lawful type. She is still bowing.
"You don't have to bow that long." You say. Inubashiri quickly straightens herself.
"Right, ofcourse." She says, now that her blushing cheeks have retained their original colour, was that her plan?
"Please lead the way, Miss Inubashiri!" You say in an exaggerated manner. Such a woman as a guard? Impossible.
"That's right! Please this way!" She seems to be well-motivated by your exaggerated speech.

You go around the cliffy corner and you see the massive waterfall. It's certainly massive and very impressive. You have seen waterfalls like this only in movies, it looks mesmerizing. The water isn't exactly violently gushing out as if from a wound, it's peacefully flowing off the cliff, or so.

"This way, mister." The guard Tengu (she must be one) brings you back to reality. She is touching the cliff? A few misses but on the third try something materializes out of the cliff. It seems to resemble a door.
"Optic camouflage, cooperation with the Kappa." She simply states and opens the entrance.
"This is the Tengu Fortress. We prioritize our security." She explains.
"But, I just saw the entrance, wouldn't-"
"That entrance will be moved next week." Moving entrances? That'll definitely work. You two enter the cliff.

It's dark, very dark. The only illumination currently is your Devilbringer, but you can't really see anything else other than your arm. An orb appears out of thin air, somehow suspended above Inubashiri's hand, magic? The orb reveals a very plain cavern corridor, there isn't anything special.
"What's that, that orb, magic?" You ask. Maybe you can do it, too! That sounds ridiculous, and you remove that idea from your mind.
"Huh, you don't know about danmaku?"
"Danmaku?"
"What, are you new?" A barrage of questions.
"Sort of, yeah." You admit.
"Well, it's sort of like magic. But not really. Danmaku is something like 'harmless projectile magic'. It's the preferred fighting method in Gensokyo. Some do it to solve problems, others just do it for sport. And there's the whole spell card technicality, it's all a pain to explain, I'll tell you later."
"Wow, that's kind of cool. And you're using it for lighting." You say.
"I found it clever, too."

While navigating the cavern corridor, or now resembling a labyrinth, you notice Miss Inubashiri's hat reflect the light. Didn't Aya have a similar one?
"By the way, that hat, I've seen it before. Do you, by any chance, know a miss Aya Shameimaru?" You ask.
"Huh, uh, yeah, she's my superior. She doesn't really hang around the fortress that much, obsessed with her newspaper." She explains.
"I think she invited me to an interview earlier." You say.
"Oh no, you're doomed." Miss Inubashiri acts dramatically.
"What, is her newspaper that bad?"
"It's biased, very biased. Oh, don't tell her I said that!" She is genuinely worried.
"Nah, don't worry."

"I think it was this way." The Tengu says after taking another right turn.
"Yes, yes it was." She mutters to herself.
You come to a room, which isn't very large but somewhat big. In the middle there is a stone slab that serves as a table. There is a pair of Tengu who look similar to Miss Inubashiri, it seems the clothes are uniforms. The Tengu are engrossed in their work on something on the table.

"Hey guys." Miss Inubashiri shouts out. The Tengu ignore her.
"I said HEY GUYS!" She repeats. You take a step closer to see what the Tengu are working on. It's... your sword, it's Red Queen.
"Hey, that's mine!" You say involuntary as you're surprised by the sword. It feels so familiar to you, as if it's part of you. You know exactly how the handle would feel in your hand.
You get the Tengus' attention without any trouble.
"Yeah, seems like I found the owner of Project Crimson." Miss Inubashiri says.
"Crimson? It's called Red Queen." You say, as if possessed. It's just a sword!
"So, you're her owner? How exactly do you wield it? Do you feel attachment to it? Which hand do you use? Is your right arm somehow designed to wield this sword?" A cascade of questions.
"Eh, yeah it's my sword, can I have it back?" You only answer the first question.
"Oh sorry, can't do that, have to figure out the transsubstance system, how it works, what's it made of..." The other Tengu's questions fall into a whisper, but never stop.

[] Insist. Write-in. -Tengu
[] Compromise. Write-in. +Tengu
[] Give up.

Considering every Tengu has the capacity to fly (as do all the significant Gensokyo residents, for that matter), while we lack any sort of counter for that, it would be prudent to try and avoid irritating them at this stage in the game. We need at least the Devilbringer Pull, if not Blue Rose, before we can go around stepping on toes with impunity.

[X] Compromise. Find out if there is any way to expedite their research.

Now, it is entirely possible that their demands are unreasonable, at which point we can blow them off. Let us attempt diplomacy first, though. Tengu allies could be worth something later.

>>9683
[X] Compromise. Find out if there is any way to expedite their research.
[x] Ask if they can upgrade your weapon while they're at it.

[X] Compromise. Find out if there is any way to expedite their research.

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness".
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology".

MILK THAT CHARISMA COW, BABY. MILK IT.

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness".
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology".

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness".
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology".

Changing vote. So much better.

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness".
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology".

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness".
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology".

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness".
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology".

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defense on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness."
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology."

Woah. I like this.

[x] Compromise.
[x] "How about a deal. I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness".
[x] "How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology".

This, please.

>[x] Write-in of the gods.

No, you need that sword, it's your only possible chance at a means of defence. But going against the Tengu fortress might be a bad idea. Better to try and reach an agreement.
"How about a deal." You start.
"I've found myself to be stranded here for the time being. I am an outsider and I have no form of defence on me, and from what I've encountered, this place can be rather dangerous. Not only that, but the sword bares much sentimentality to me. I have one more weapon - Blue Rose. It is a gun; much more effective than a sword. It can be used long range, like a bow, but also in hand to hand combat, and is incredibly deadly; even more so as it is of a special kind. If you let me have the sword until I can find my gun, I will let you research the both of them. Of course, that is only under the condition you won't break them to pieces while doing so. I can even share with you any knowledge I am capable of giving, for you to better understand their make and usefulness". And you offer up both of your weapons for the Tengu scientists.
"How about it? I am sure that two exceptionally skilled craftsman such as yourselves would bring much joy to your people, and would even be hailed as the great inventors of your time to bring forth such advancement in technology." You end your argument with one of your favourite words which you've used many times in your sci-fi novels: Technology. You said the word with clear inspiration, 'technology' is awesome in your mind.
"Hey, brother, imagine that, the great Tengu inventors! We'd surpass the Kappa!" One of the Tengu says to the other.
"Yeah, maybe we'd be written in Shameimaru's newspaper!" The other one fantasizes.
"What, why would you want that, we're inventors not-" You disregard the scientists' ongoing fantasies and walk close to the stone table. You reach your hand for Red Queen which is somewhat covered by sketches and diagrams about the sword, herself. No, you're not supposed to hold it in your right hand, you reach out for the sword again this time with your left hand.

=You gain Red Queen=

Ah, the sword is light, for its ridiculous size. The handle is all too familiar to you, you've only used it once, when you arrived in Gensokyo, but you weren't exactly self-aware then. Taking a moment to close your eyes, you can visualize a string of moves which all connect to eachother, all taking three glorious seconds. It feels like you can see the future. You certainly feel a lot more safe with this sword. Now, where do you put this gigantic thing? You answer yourself with apparent muscle memory as you place the sword on your back, waiting to be drawn by your left hand. How does that work? You don't rememember having anything resembling a sheath, nor can you imagine a sheath for such a thing.

"Hey, how does it hang on my back?" You ask Miss Inubashiri as the Tengu scientists are considering how to approach Tengu of the female kind using fame as a tool.
"Uh, it just.. Hey, that's a good question. How does it stick to your back like that?" She asks.
"No idea, it just sticks." Well, given that you have met creatures like Kappa and Tengu, and seen magic in action, this is hardly something that amazing.

[] You're eager to test this baby out. Find something wild, like a bear.
---[] Invite Momiji
[] Didn't Nitori say she was investigating about your gun? Go to Nitori's cave.
[] Aya wanted an interview.
==
Homework is being thrown at me like danmaku. I'm forced to hold shift for focused movement, and most likely to bomb in the near future. Updates will be difficult.

[x] Didn't Nitori say she was investigating about your gun? Go to Nitori's cave.

[x] Didn't Nitori say she was investigating about your gun? Go to Nitori's cave.
[x] If you find a boar or rabbit along the way, smash the little fucker.

[x] Didn't Nitori say she was investigating about your gun? Go to Nitori's cave.

[x] Didn't Nitori say she was investigating about your gun? Go to Nitori's cave.

[x] You're eager to test this baby out. Find something wild, like a bear.
---[x] Invite Momiji
---[x] TEST THE FUCKING EXCEED SYSTEM NOW

I'm not really in a rush to get Blue Rose... being as though we'd just have to relinquish it for study. Unless...

[x] Momiji and You. In a duel. Right now.

[x] Didn't Nitori say she was investigating about your gun? Go to Nitori's cave.

As much as >>9758 tempts me...

[ze] Didn't Nitori say she was investigating about your gun? Go to Nitori's cave.

Sure.

Okay, changing vote...

[x] Momiji and You. In a duel. Right now.
--[x] ...But seriously, TEST THE FUCKING EXCEED SYSTEM.

Exceed moves are made of win, awesome, gasoline, and more win.

[x] Momiji and You. In a duel. Right now.
--[x] ...But seriously, TEST THE FUCKING EXCEED SYSTEM.

[x] Momiji and You. In a duel. Right now.
--[x] ...But seriously, TEST THE FUCKING EXCEED SYSTEM.

Changing vote as well:

[x] Momiji and You. In a duel. Right now.
--[x] ...But seriously, TEST THE FUCKING EXCEED SYSTEM.

And taunt, if necessary. Gotta have the stylish gauge filled up.

[x] Momiji and You. In a duel. Right now.
--[x] ...But seriously, TEST THE FUCKING EXCEED SYSTEM.

Updates?

[x] Momiji and You. In a duel. Right now.
--[x] ...But seriously, TEST THE FUCKING EXCEED SYSTEM.

This sword. It needs testing. You grab your Red Queen and point it at Momiji.
"Duel me!" You say. All of the Tengu look surprised.
"Huh, what, me?" She points at herself with both of her hands.
"Nah, I'm just kidding. Though I want to test out this sword. There was some kind of system involved, if I remember correctly." You state. The Tengu scientists quickly start discussing something in whispers.
"Uh. Yeah I can help you with that. Let's go to the training room, no one should be around currently." Miss Inubashiri proposes.

After a short trek through cavern hallways where you would easily get lost you reach a relatively large room, with training dummies set up in a line against the wall. They look ridiculous, they have faces drawn on them.

"Training dummies, huh?" You ask.
"Yeah, we don't use them that much though. We prefer actual combat training." You walk up to one of the dummies. How did this Exceed thing work again? Ah right, the handle is a motorbike accelerator. And if you rev it, you would 'inject' gasoline all over the sword, or something. It didn't make much sense in the video game. But it looked awesome. So, better rev it up. You can feel the pressure working against you. Just release the handle for a second, and repeat. The Tengu scientists shout, they must have followed you here, and it must mean that you succeeded in getting the Exceed to level 1. Right, how much effect can 'gasoline on a sword' have.

You decide to do an uppercut with your sword. Everything goes casually, until your sword is about to hit the training dummy. The sword bursts into flames, rips through the training dummy, there's hardly any resistance, no, the sword actually accelerates even further. You aren't swinging your sword anymore, it is pulling you with it. You go airborne and rip through the air with your flaming sword once more, violating gravity. Only then the sword decides to stop, and you land on the stone floor. You flew high, nearly hitting the cavern ceiling.

"Whoa. This sword pulled me." You state.
"What's up with that sword?!" Momiji bursts out. Is she jealous? The Tengu scientists are putting down notes at ludicrous speed. This sword is ridiculous! You want to fight something live with this!
"Hey, Inubashiri, think you can take a few blows from this? No, no duel. Just a little swordfight." You ask the Tengu guard.
"Uh, yeah I can do that. Hang on." She accepts, and begins equipping herself with her shield and sword she has strapped onto herself. It takes a bit too long, considering her job as a guard.
"Come on then." She says, and lowers herself into a stance.

You're too eager to test the sword, and you lash out a full frontal attack, expecting a shield. Momiji raises her shield up, and you slam Red Queen into the maple leaf-shaped shield. The impact sends both of you off balance, Momiji however is quicker to regain hers, and brings down her sword, flat faced. Her intention isn't to kill, and she's certainly trained to punish openings of her students with the side of her sword. Momiji's sword isn't a problem, you dash to the left, getting a nice view of her back. She is defenseless from this angle. You hit the sword on the floor next to her, you aren't going to attack her with such a deadly sword. Your intention was to check out the instant-rev features of the sword. With timing, you can quickly push the Exceed level up inbetween attacks. This time your timing is flawless, and your sword is charged with the supposed gasoline. Momiji has begun her recovery, and she has spotted your sword, and your opening. She's hesitating whether to use that opening, or prepare for your flaming Red Queen.

You ease her dilemma by spinning your sword around yourself, counter-clockwise, plenty of time for her to raise her shield. Moments before hitting her shield, your sword bursts into flames, and the sword gains its own extra momentum, you could release the sword if you wanted to, and the effect would be the same. The sword slams into the shield with such force that Momiji and her shield is being blown away. She stays standing however. The flames of your sword are extinguished.

"What the hell is up with that sword?!" Momiji states.
"I shouldn't have taken it so easy. I could've negated that last attack, you know!" She defends herself.
"Don't worry about it." You say and return Red Queen to your back.
"I challenge you to a real duel!" The Tengu Guard points at you with her sword.
"But not now! Maybe later. I should get back to my post." She says. The Tengu scientists are still taking notes.
"You should leave, too. You aren't exactly supposed to be here."
Yeah, it's probably getting late.

[] Nitori mentioned asking about your gun.
[] Write-in

Forgot trip.

[x] Nitori mentioned asking about your gun.

Momizi
Tenshi
Youmu

Needs more sword duels.

[x] Nitori mentioned asking about your gun.

>>9818
Awesome fight scene is awesome.

[x] Nitori mentioned asking about your gun.

[x] Nitori mentioned asking about your gun.

"Yeah, it's getting late." You say and punctuate your sentence with a yawn. You follow Momiji out of the training room, the scientists bow down in your presence. You must have really impressed them, or the sword did that.
[...]
"Right, I'll be going off then. Guess I can find you again around here if I need to see you?" You ask.
"It wasn't you who found me, you were too easy to sneak up to." She says and laughs. You just smile and wave as you leave.
[...]
Nitori's cave is full of stuff as usual. You make out a few patches of floor where there isn't anything you could break by stepping on, and take that path through the stuff. Do these gadgets multiply? Ah, there's Nitori tinkering again. Wonder if she is capable of hearing you this time?

"Intruder! Alert!" You shout imitating a robotic voice as good as you can. Nitori jumps and turns towards you at lightning speed. She grabs a gun from her waist and points at you. No way, Nitori is going to shoot you? Is this how it's going to end? There's no hope in dodging a bullet! You close your eyes and quickly review your life. It wasn't so bad. To die to a mythological creature, it's kind of romantic.

Your face is wet. Your hair, too. You open your eyes. Nitori is giggling and trying to muffle her laugh with both of her hands.

"A water pistol?" You ask. Nitori bursts into a full-blown laugh. She's trying to say something, while pointing at you.
"GYAHAha, that was so worth it!" That damn Kappa. You pick up the water gun she dropped and...slam down the hammer of judgement.
"Hey, stop that! Give it back! Don't break it with that hand!" She shouts through the stream that occasionally enters her eyes and her mouth. That's right, a precious gun. You're looking for one. You toss the gun back at the dripping Kappa.
"Talking about guns. Any luck in finding mine?" You ask.
"Yeah, I met a Kappa who has it." She says.
"Really? Where is she, or he? Wait, there's some price, isn't there?"
"Well. His name is Brin. He's one of the weird Kappa." Weird Kappa, isn't that like, normal?
"He has your gun. And he insisted that you would fight in his arena-thing. He gets bored easily, and when he starts building stuff, it's for fighting! But he doesn't get the chance to use it."
"So he wants me to fight his contraptions?" You ask.
"That's right. I sort of mentioned your strength. I'm sorry!" She says.

[] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[] No way you're going to fight 'things' because some selfish Kappa is bored.

[!/] Arena fighting. It was made for you.

[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.

[~] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[z] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
[e] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
[x] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
[x] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
[x] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
[x] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

This write-in it calls for me

[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
[x] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
[x] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
[x] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
[x] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
[x] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
[x] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
[x] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
[x] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

>[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
Add that onto >>9830.

>[x] Arena fighting. It was made for you.
>[x] "Arena Fighting? You just made my day."
>[x] "He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he?"
>[x] "'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that."

Hah. An arena fight? How many fights have you've had already? Seems like it's one a day, atleast. Well, you just have aquired a sword, too. This fits all too well.
"Arena fighting? You just made my day." You grin.
"He doesn't want those things in one piece afterwards, does he? 'Cause it'll be sorta hard to make sure of that." Nitori understands your implications and grins in return.
"I'll make sure to bring everyone!" And the Kappa gives you a thumb-up.
"I'll take you there tomorrow, it's getting late." She says. Yes, it's getting late, you're rather exhausted. You give Nitori a nod, a wave and head through the silly door in a cave. The furthest room had a nice comfy bed, and a cupboard that deserves death.

You open the door and step inside without noticing any difference in the room. Then you notice her. A lady is sitting on the bed, wearing a very fancy red dress, that must cost a fortune. She has green hair and red bows in her hair. Her presence is quite overwhelming, it must be the dress.

"Ah. Evening. I'm Hina Kagiyama, the Curse Goddess." She says. Ah, another goddess. Curse Goddess, at that. Is that bad?

[] Write-in for the write-in god.
[] Orbs for the orb throne.

[x] Whisper to yourself "The owner of that diabolical cupboard... I see. Hm, pretty cute- ah"
[x] Smile, half-bow, and greet her in an overzealous tone "Nice to meet you, miss Hina Kagiyama! You must be the real proprietor of this room, correct? Nitori has told me about you, but I didn't expect you to be such an attractive beauty. I'm, ah, um..." scratch your chin "well I don't quite know exactly who I am, but please, feel free to call me however you like"
[x] "I'm sorry, I'm not disturbing you, am I? Nitori has sort of let me borrow this room for the time being, so..." in deep thought "maybe I could work it out with her for another room..."

[x] Whisper to yourself "The owner of that diabolical cupboard... I see. Hm, pretty cute- ah"
[x] Smile, half-bow, and greet her in an overzealous tone "Nice to meet you, miss Hina Kagiyama! You must be the real proprietor of this room, correct? Nitori has told me about you, but I didn't expect you to be such an attractive beauty. I'm, ah, um..." scratch your chin "well I don't quite know exactly who I am, but please, feel free to call me however you like"
[x] "I'm sorry, I'm not disturbing you, am I? Nitori has sort of let me borrow this room for the time being, so..." in deep thought "maybe I could work it out with her for another room..."

[x] Whisper to yourself "The owner of that diabolical cupboard... I see. Hm, pretty cute- ah"
[x] Smile, half-bow, and greet her in an overzealous tone "Nice to meet you, miss Hina Kagiyama! You must be the real proprietor of this room, correct? Nitori has told me about you, but I didn't expect you to be such an attractive beauty. I'm, ah, um..." scratch your chin "well I don't quite know exactly who I am, but please, feel free to call me however you like"
[x] "I'm sorry, I'm not disturbing you, am I? Nitori has sort of let me borrow this room for the time being, so..." in deep thought "maybe I could work it out with her for another room..."

>[x] Whisper to yourself "The owner of that diabolical cupboard... I see. Hm, pretty cute- ah"
>[x] Smile, half-bow, and greet her in an overzealous tone "Nice to meet you, miss Hina Kagiyama! You must be the real proprietor of this room, correct? Nitori has told me about you, but I didn't expect you to be such an attractive beauty. I'm, ah, um..." scratch your chin "well I don't quite know exactly who I am, but please, feel free to call me however you like"
>[x] "I'm sorry, I'm not disturbing you, am I? Nitori has sort of let me borrow this room for the time being, so..." in deep thought "maybe I could work it out with her for another room..."

"The owner of that diabolical cupboard... I see. Hm, pretty cute-" You whisper to yourself. Ack, hope she didn't hear you. You smile at her, and bow, not too much, but enough to be defined as bowing.
"Nice to meet you, miss Hina Kagiyama!" You say, exercising your acting skills. This is kind of nice, you aren't exactly acting, but you wouldn't do this normally.
"You must be the real proprietor of this room, correct?" You ask the fancy goddess in the fancy dress.
"Yes, that is correct." She replies and stands up, giving you a bow as well.
"Nitori has told me about you, but I didn't expect you to be such an attractive beauty." You're really a devil, aren't you?
"I'm, ah, um..." Ofcourse, you can't introduce yourself, you don't even know your name, that cursed slip. Ah, she was a curse goddess, maybe she has something to deal with it.
"Well, I don't quite know exactly who I am, but please, feel free to call me however you like!" You exclaim. She smiles, and says nothing. She takes a good look at you, and then opens her mouth.
"Your garb is blue, no, azure. I shall take the liberty to call you Azure, or would you prefer to be called Mister Blue?" You chuckle at her naming, it's simple, yet so charming.
"Whatever you wish." You say.
"Azure, it is. Ah, you can, ofcourse, call me Hina. It must be bothersome to say Kagiyama." Hina says.
"Ah. I'm sorry, I'm not disturbing you, am I? Nitori has sort of let me borrow this room for the time being, so..." Maybe you really should leave this room for this goddess.
"maybe I could work it out with her for another room..."
"That won't be necessary. You can have this room. It's not that a goddess needs to sleep. I just sometimes come here to unwind. I find it even easier to do so, in your presence." The Curse Goddess 'unwinds' easily in 'your' presence. You don't know what to make of it. Atleast you have secured the bed.
"Ah, apologies, you must want to sleep. I will leave in a moment." And she bows down again, this time more intensively. But she doesn't leave instantly. She keeps staring, no, gazing 'in' you. What's up with her? She isn't cursing you, is she?

"You are cursed." YOU KNEW IT. She cursed you! All that formality, out of the window!
"I didn't notice it at first. But you have been cursed for quite a while now." Oh, she sees your curse. Well, that changes everything.
"It's as if.. your entire existence is entangled with that curse, it has become part of you. I'm afraid it is unremovable." She says.
"Unremovable?" You repeat the end of her sentence.
"Well, it is possible to remove, only that you wouldn't survive. Have you experienced severe misfortune?"
"No, not really. Not that I have noticed." You explain.
"Bizarre. Oh well, I hope we meet again, Azure." She says, and.. she takes a spin, and vanishes. Goddess stuff, huh? You set your sword next to the bed and you decide to get some rest.

Day 2 End.
You earned 2 orbs. (+8 orbs from write-ins).
10 orbs
[] Dash Upgrade 2/3 (2 orbs)
[] Charisma 2/3 (2 orbs)
[] Perception. 0/3 (3 orbs)
[] Basic Devilbringer grab attack. (3 orbs)
[] Basic Devilbringer Pull move. 0/3 (3 orbs)
[] Danmaku. 0/1 (4 orbs)
[] Double Jump. 0/1 (7 orbs)
[] Devil Trigger. 0/1 (10 orbs)

Choose route lock
[] Pick a character you've met. Can't pick Rumia, Sakuya, Tengu scientists, Yukari, Ran, or anyone else not on Youkai Mountain.
==
Jesus christ, those write-ins.

[2orbs] 1 Charisma
[2orbs] 1 Dash
[6orbs] 2 Perception

With Max Dash and 2 Perception, along with our natural strength and ability, should serve us well through whatever this Arena can throw at us. Might as well max Charisma as well.

[x] No route lock

Seems kinda early to me, but if you insist.

[x] Hina.

[x] 1 Charisma
[x] 1 Dash
[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

What the hell is perception?

Frankly, I think we should upgrade the arm already, at least once.

[x] 1 Charisma
[x] 1 Dash
[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

[x] 1 Charisma
[x] 1 Dash
[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

[x] 1 Charisma
[x] 1 Dash
[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

Charisma and Speed maxed lets us do the CRAAAAZY stunts, now we need the offensive to back it up.

[x] 1 Charisma
[x] 1 Dash
[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

[d] 1 Dash
[a] 1 Charisma
[~] 1 Perception
[z] Devilbringer Pull

[e] Hina

[x] 1 Charisma
[x] 1 Dash

Perks for maxing styles are always awesome.

[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

Vital for stylish combos.

We'll have to get Double Jump next. No hunter worth his salt has only one jump.

[x] Nitori

Do it, faggot!

Update Rumia's Haunted House.

That last update seemed rushed.

[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.
[x] Danmaku.
[x] No route lock. Way too early.

While I would like to max out Charisma and start on Perception, we are about to enter a fight. Let's pull out all the stops.

[x] No route lock. Way too early.

We've only met most of the notable mountain-dwellers.

[?] 1 Dash
[?] 1 Charisma
[?] 1 Perception
[?] Devilbringer Pull

[?] Hina

>>9869
Maybe when May starts. And when I figure out how exactly to write horror.
Writing two stories turned out to be quite taxing, and with school on top of that.
Also update today is probably impossible.

[x] 1 Charisma
[x] 1 Dash
[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

[x] Devil Trigger.

No need other skill when we have this. And no route lock.

>[x] 1 Charisma
>[x] 1 Dash
>[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
>[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

Ah, a good night's sleep. You need it, because there's a fight tomorrow. Your haven't been half a week in this crazy world and body, and you're already signing up to fighting arenas. You pick up your sword, Red Queen. Wow, the illustrations on the side, they give a majestic feel. Probably why the sword is named 'Queen' afterall. You consider swinging the sword around a bit for practice, but you disregard the idea, as the room isn't wide nor high enough for you to do such a thing. You place the sword on your back, sticking to it like magic. Guess physics are becoming less and less important to you. A sword that just sticks to you, and has its own momentum. Your hand that is so strong it nullifies weight.

You squeeze your devilish fist. You can feel a pulsation in your arm and it isn't created by your heart in the arm. Hmm, more magic? Momiji seemed to know a bit about magic, maybe you should ask her. Then again, since magic sounds like an everyday object, everyone might know about it. You take a few morning(or so you think, you're still in a damn cavern) minutes to speculate how magic could work, and if bloodlines are involved.

Another pulsation, this one felt quite intense. And it felt like it had a direction. The only other thing in the room besides the bed and you, is that cupboard.

[] Grab it.
[] Open it.
[] Ignore it.
==
This week will be difficult again, so you can try and find out my identity so you can lynch me wait warmly.

[] Grab it.

[x] Grab it.

Thought I was joking about us being enemies, did you?!

[x] Grab it.

[x] Grab it.

[x] Ignore it.
[x] Grab your clothes, a toothbrush, the morning paper...
[x] Nonchalantly walk out and- whatthefuckohmygod.

[x] Ignore it.
[x] Grab your clothes, a toothbrush, the morning paper...
[x] Nonchalantly walk out and- whatthefuckohmygod.
wait... do we even have a toothbrush?

[!/] Grab it.

Secret Mission?!

>>9923
Oh, come on. We're Nero; we're the charisma king. It wouldn't do not to practice good hygiene. We'd look like a dirty, ol' pervert every time we hit the flirt button. And do you think Nitori would really let us stay with her if we were gonna stink her out of house and home? I'm sure she's shown us to the shower and toiletries, it just hasn't be presented to us in an update. A behind-the-scenes if you will.

[X] Grab it.

>[x] Basic Devilbringer grab attack.
>[x] Basic Devilbringer Pull move.

Oh lawd, is dat sum obligatory move tutorial?

[x] Ignore it.
[x] Grab your clothes, a toothbrush, that letter falling from the sky...
[x] Nonchalantly read it and- whatthefuckohmygod.


...

[x] Grab it.

If this is Hina's, we'll make her a new one that doesn't mock us, and tell her we broke this one in the middle of discovering a new power of ours.

Because oh god I want some delicious Hina.

>>9935

I for one wouldn't mind a Kanako.

>[x] Grab your clothes, a toothbrush, that letter falling from the sky...
>[x] Nonchalantly read it and- whatthefuckohmygod.

I don't get it. Also I'm writing.

>[x] Grab it.

Yes, your hand is feeling awfully itchy. No, that's not right. It isn't your physical hand that has this sensation. It's somewhere else, stored away. It scares you. Are you going insane if something in your head feels itchy?

Eh, who cares? The only thing that matters is to get rid of that feeling. You walk up to the cupboard and slide your demonic hand across it as if to soothe your victim. There there, little cupboard, everything is going to be fine - painless, and swift. After quelling the fears of the cupboard and giving it a little bit of hope, you take step back. The cupboard is out of your immediate reach. Out of reach for your physical hand.

You reach for the cupboard, a spectral hand appears on top of your Devilbringer. It looks the same as your own, but much larger. And with its size it also reaches the cupboard, it easily fits in the palm. You bring the cupboard above you, hitting the ceiling.

"Ehahaha." You chuckle unwillingly. You send your spectral hand against the wall, where the cupboard stood, and crush it between the wall and your palm with a loud crash. This power, it feels great. It even feels ridiculous. What if this power was in wrong hands? Or well, hand, in this case. You walk to the remnants and look at your sure kill. Only bits of wood, and... a doll? You bend down and pick it up.

It has lots of bows on it and has a red dress, too. It has no face, though, which creeps you out a bit. What, it's glowing now. It's sort of painful to hold it in your han- IT'S VERY PAINFUL, IN FACT.
You try to shake it out of your hand, but the doll sticks to you. You try slamming it against the wall causing cracks in it. It isn't working! Ah, it's digging, no, simply entering your hand. There it goes, you see the faceless doll 'stare' at you, as its head and bow enter your hand. The pain stops.

Your Devilbringer.. it no longer glows. It feels weak.
The door opens.
"Mister! Are you okay?" The Kappa says as she barges in. She notices the remains, and your pained hand.
"What, what happened?" Hina also enters the room, looking at the mess and then covering her mouth with her hand, as if in shock.

[] Write-in
==
>>9939
FFFFFFFF

[x] Grab your arm from the pain.
[x] "I- I'm sorry, it- it just..."
[x] Kneel down and hold your head in confusion. What the fuck just happened?
[x] "My arm just suddenly..." shake your head. You can't think straight right now.

>>9940
Oh my. Did we just acquire a newfound ability?

[x] Grab your arm from the pain.
[x] "I- I'm sorry, it- it just..."
[x] Kneel down and hold your head in confusion. What the fuck just happened?
[x] "My arm just suddenly..." shake your head. You can't think straight right now.

[x] "I underestimated... that cupboard."
[x] "Mark my words though, I WILL see vengeance."

[x] Grab your arm from the pain.
[x] "I- I'm sorry, it- it just..."
[x] Kneel down and hold your head in confusion. What the fuck just happened?
[x] "My arm just suddenly..." shake your head. You can't think straight right now.

[!/] "I underestimated... that cupboard."
[!/] "Mark my words though, I WILL see vengeance."

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM

[x] "I underestimated... that cupboard."
[x] "Mark my words though, I <b>WILL</b> see vengeance."

[x] Grab your arm from the pain.
[x] "I- I'm sorry, it- it just..."
[x] Kneel down and hold your head in confusion. What the fuck just happened?
[x] "My arm just suddenly..." shake your head. You can't think straight right now.

[d] Grab your arm from the pain.
[a] "I- I'm sorry, it- it just..."
[z] Kneel down and hold your head in confusion. What the fuck just happened?
[e] "My arm just suddenly..." shake your head. You can't think straight right now.

I ACCIDENTALLY JOSTLE GRAB THE CUPBOARD

But yeah, seriously. I guess we have not a God Hand, but a Doll Hand.

...I'm not sure if this is good or not.

>>9966
>Doll Hand
>not sure is this is good or not

Come to think of it, so did Shiki Ryougi.

[x]I accidentally... the whole cupboard.

[x] Back one choice.

>[x] Grab your arm from the pain.
>[x] "I- I'm sorry, it- it just..."
>[x] Kneel down and hold your head in confusion. What the fuck just happened?
>[x] "My arm just suddenly..." shake your head. You can't think straight right now.

It hurts. It still sort of hurts. You grab your Devilbringer by the wrist, holding its weight entirely with your left hand. What the hell happened?
"I- I'm sorry," You respond with your polite reflex.
"It- it just..." No, you have no idea what happened. Maybe you should sit down. Eh, but the bed is far away. You drop any ideas of moving from your location, something ridiculous might happen again. You just let your legs bend and drop on the floor to kneel. Ugh, this pain. It's not exactly pain, but whatever it is, it's annoying.
"My arm..." You take a look at your Devilbringer. It looks like it's dead. Well, you can still move your fingers, but the glow is gone. This seems bad. Very bad. It could be some kind of infection, it might spread!
"My arm just suddenly..." You continue explaining as you try to recall what the fuck just happened. There was the thing with the cupboard... And that doll. Dolls possessing you? Don't kid around! You only shake your head at Hina and drop your look in front of you. You let go of your Devilbringer, which falls in your lap, and bring your human arm to your forehead. Right, let's take this all over again.

Hina interrupts you by grabbing your left hand.
"You should lie down. You're getting nowhere if you're like that." The goddess of Curses advises. The bed does seem nice. Hina doesn't even wait for an answer as she pulls you along with her, towards the bed. You drop into the comfy cradle. You don't feel any better until you notice Hina's smile, it's peaceful and soothing. Yeah, this is actually nice.
"Nitori, can you get my needle?" She says to the Kappa whom you managed to forget already. You hear the opening and closing of a door. Needle? What the-" Are the Kappa and the Curse Goddess going to-
"Did you find anything suspicious?" Hina asks you immediately.
"Suspicious?" You'd mention the doll, but she'd think you're crazy.
"Yes, like a doll?"
"Ah! There was this doll! It entered my arm!" Ha! You're not crazy afterall!
"I thought this looked similar. Remember when I mentioned curses last night?" She did say something about you, didn't she?
"Uh, I was entangled by one?"
"It would appear that the doll, which stored a potent curse, has somehow given the curse onto you, or more precisely, that arm. A curse within a curse, you could say. I can remove it, but I am afraid it takes a while to remove it completely." Says the Curse Goddess.
"A while? How long is that?" Guess she's your doctor for now.
"A few days at worst."

Nitori enters the room, holding some sort of case in her hands. She walks next to Hina who then opens the case. Looks like a sewing kit. You expected some kind of hospital syringes. Ah, Hina grabs a needle and holds it between her slender fingers with divine precision. She brings it close to your arm, how creepy.

"This won't hurt." She claims. You stare at the horribly sharp needle closing the distance between itself and your arm.

Lines appear. Dark blue lines. Infinitely entangling itself, and wrapping around your arm. It looks quite disgusting,
"You can see it, right?" She asks, holding the needle above your arm. You only nod.
"It's your curse. You see what I mean by entangled?" It's certainly entangled. And your entire being is wrapped in that? Good you can't feel it, that'd be way too disgusting. You spot a red line amongst the blue ones. And another. And another. There's quite a few here.
"That one. I am not sure if you are able to see if it's different, but it is the doll's curse. I can't remove it all at once, as you see. I have to wait for your own curse to realign itself. Don't worry, it happens quite often. I'll have this curse out in a few days." She says and somehow forces the red line, now resembling a piece of string, attach to her needle. A few quick expert moves, and the string is no longer on you. There's still a bundle of it across your arm. Hina pockets the string, and places the needle back in her case. The lines disappear when the needle is returned.

"There. I can safely say that I can remove another piece this evening." Hina is quite a nice doctor.

"You sure you want to participate in that arena thing?" Nitori asks. You try moving your Devilbringer around. Feels normal. Too normal. It's like your human arm. Probably lacks all the strength too. This could be a disadvantage.

[] You still have Red Queen. A sword will do enough in Arena combat.
--[] Pick people you want to personally invite.
[] What? Without monstrous strength?!
==
Timetables decided to fuck me over. A lot. Updates are horribly uncertain and sporadic now.

[x] What? Without monstrous strength?!
-[x] "Mind rescheduling it? I want to be at my peak when I do this."

[x] "Mind rescheduling it? I want to be at my peak when I do this."

[~] "Sure? Am I sure?!" You bet your trendy blue jumpsuit I'm sure."
[d] "The people in that deodorant commercial don't have jack on how Sure I am. You underestimate how much I enjoy fighting things."
[a] Wave your screwed-up arm. "But, without ol' Rippy working so well, it kinda defeats the point of obliging him his test robot arena whatsits, don't it? "
[-] "So as much as I hate to say it... mind rescheduling it? I need my arm to be just as perfect as the rest of me when I do that, which should tell you just how hard this will be."
[z] Turn to Hina. "And thanks a ton, Miss Hina. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to that cabinet, but that smug wooden bastard had it coming to him back there."
[e] "In fact, If there's any way I can make it up to you for that, as well as for your tender care, you have but to ask." Give her a smile. You flash bastard, you.

I'm disappointed, Anon. Sticking to basic options?

USE THAT DAMNED CHARISMA.

[x] "Sure? Am I sure?!" You bet your trendy blue jumpsuit I'm sure."
[x] "The people in that deodorant commercial don't have jack on how Sure I am. You underestimate how much I enjoy fighting things."
[x] Wave your screwed-up arm. "But, without ol' Rippy working so well, it kinda defeats the point of obliging him his test robot arena whatsits, don't it? "
[x] "So as much as I hate to say it... mind rescheduling it? I need my arm to be just as perfect as the rest of me when I do that, which should tell you just how hard this will be."
[x] Turn to Hina. "And thanks a ton, Miss Hina. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to that cabinet, but that smug wooden bastard had it coming to him back there."
[x] "In fact, If there's any way I can make it up to you for that, as well as for your tender care, you have but to ask." Give her a smile. You flash bastard, you.

[x] "Sure? Am I sure?!" You bet your trendy blue jumpsuit I'm sure."
[x] "The people in that deodorant commercial don't have jack on how Sure I am. You underestimate how much I enjoy fighting things."
[x] Wave your screwed-up arm. "But, without ol' Rippy working so well, it kinda defeats the point of obliging him his test robot arena whatsits, don't it? "
[x] "So as much as I hate to say it... mind rescheduling it? I need my arm to be just as perfect as the rest of me when I do that, which should tell you just how hard this will be."
[x] Turn to Hina. "And thanks a ton, Miss Hina. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to that cabinet, but that smug wooden bastard had it coming to him back there."
[x] "In fact, If there's any way I can make it up to you for that, as well as for your tender care, you have but to ask." Give her a smile. You flash bastard, you.

[x] "Sure? Am I sure?!" You bet your trendy blue jumpsuit I'm sure."
[x] "The people in that deodorant commercial don't have jack on how Sure I am. You underestimate how much I enjoy fighting things."
[x] Wave your screwed-up arm. "But, without ol' Rippy working so well, it kinda defeats the point of obliging him his test robot arena whatsits, don't it? "
[x] "So as much as I hate to say it... mind rescheduling it? I need my arm to be just as perfect as the rest of me when I do that, which should tell you just how hard this will be."
[x] Turn to Hina. "And thanks a ton, Miss Hina. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to that cabinet, but that smug wooden bastard had it coming to him back there."
[x] "In fact, If there's any way I can make it up to you for that, as well as for your tender care, you have but to ask." Give her a smile. You flash bastard, you.

>>10082
Changing my vote to this. Because impressing Hina with our charisma is a must.

I would like to vote like >>10082, but i lack of knowledge of strikethrough and bold tags...

Otherwise, i vote this >>10082

[~] "Sure? Am I sure?!" You bet your trendy blue jumpsuit I'm sure."
[d] "The people in that deodorant commercial don't have jack on how Sure I am. You underestimate how much I enjoy fighting things."
[a] Wave your screwed-up arm. "But, without ol' Rippy working so well, it kinda defeats the point of obliging him his test robot arena whatsits, don't it? "
[-] "So as much as I hate to say it... mind rescheduling it? I need my arm to be just as perfect as the rest of me when I do that, which should tell you just how hard this will be."
[z] Turn to Hina. "And thanks a ton, Miss Hina. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to that cabinet, but that smug wooden bastard had it coming to him back there."
[e] "In fact, If there's any way I can make it up to you for that, as well as for your tender care, you have but to ask." Give her a smile. You flash bastard, you.

>>10077
Impressive... most impressive...

[B] "Sure? Am I sure?!" You bet your trendy blue jumpsuit I'm sure."
[B] "The people in that deodorant commercial don't have jack on how Sure I am. You underestimate how much I enjoy fighting things."
[B] Wave your screwed-up arm. "But, without ol' Rippy working so well, it kinda defeats the point of obliging him his test robot arena whatsits, don't it? "
[B] "So as much as I hate to say it... mind rescheduling it? I need my arm to be just as perfect as the rest of me when I do that, which should tell you just how hard this will be."
[B] Turn to Hina. "And thanks a ton, Miss Hina. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to that cabinet, but that smug wooden bastard had it coming to him back there."
[B] "In fact, If there's any way I can make it up to you for that, as well as for your tender care, you have but to ask." Give her a smile. You flash bastard, you.

>>10077 here.
I'd note that everything I had struck out is of course not actually meant to be said.

This might seem obvious to most people, but you never know.

"Sure? Am I sure?!" You raise your voice.
"You bet your trendy blue jumpsuit I'm sure!" You point at Nitori with your bad hand, almost coming to contact with her forehead.
"The people in that deodorant commercial don't have jack on how SURE I am. You underestimate how much I enjoy fighting things." Well, the only fights you had were a few cases in elementary school, a bear, and Momiji, actually. You squeeze your Devilbringer into a fist. It doesn't look very menacing.
"But, without ol' Rippy working so well, it kinda defeats the point of obliging him his test robot arena whatsits, don't it?" Your speech is all weird now.
"So as much as I hate to say it... mind rescheduling it? I need my arm to be just as perfect as the rest of me when I do that, which should tell you just how hard this will be." You ask Nitori.
"Uh, ofcourse, ofcourse. Just say when you're all ready to knock Brin's stuff over." She says and starts to leave the room.
"Guess you're alright. I'll go back to disassembling." Nitori says and leaves, along with the needle case.

Ah yes, you should thank your doctor and probably apologize for that cupboard.
"Thanks a ton, Miss Hina. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to that cabinet back there." You lightly bow as you apologize. That bastard had it coming anyway.
"In fact, if there's any way I can make it up to you for that, as well as for your tender care, you have but to ask." You straighten up and give her a, perhaps mischievous, smile.

"Oh my," Is all Hina manages to say so far. She stays silent. You guess she's considering the fact of making you her slave, or something. Curses and all. And you're apparantely a walking curse.
"I-, hmm... " Hina breaks the silence, for only a moment. She seems unsure on what to say, but there's no hint of embarassment.
"I guess you owe me a favour then." She says and gives an equally mischievous grin.

Well, the fight's postponed. You have an abundance of time. Atleast, you should periodically visit your doctor.

"So, when should I show up for my treatment?" You ask the Goddess.
"I guess this evening is a safe bet. As long as you let me have a look at you before you sleep, it should be alright." She says.

[] Talk to Hina some more. Write-in.
[] You could see what Nitori's doing.
[] Or maybe the shrine maiden and her gods in Moriya Shrine?
[] Or perhaps the twin goddesses of Autumn?
[] There was a specific news reporter who wanted an interview.
[] Write-in always a possibility.
==
You guys have no idea how bizarre it is to write Hina's lines while Disturbed is on my playlist.

[x] You could see what Nitori's doing.
[x] Maybe you could help her out with something. Play with her gadgets, create highly advanced thermonuclear weaponry, increase your mind in the knowledge of SCIENCE!

>You guys have no idea how bizarre it is to write Hina's lines while Disturbed is on my playlist.
No, but the very thought made me hard.

[!/] You could see what Nitori's doing.

Hope it isn't a Yukkuri Nitori...thing.

Shit would not fly well.

needs more Hinatalk

Can I call you guys Slowie Joey?
You vote too slow

[x] You could see what Nitori's doing.
[x] Maybe you could help her out with something. Play with her gadgets, create highly advanced thermonuclear weaponry, increase your mind in the knowledge of SCIENCE!

[x] You could see what Nitori's doing.
[x] Maybe you could help her out with something. Play with her gadgets, create highly advanced thermonuclear weaponry, increase your mind in the knowledge of SCIENCE!

Need to talk to Hina but I used all my clever on the last write-in.

Fuck.

>Slowie Joey
I frowned.

>>10171

You are not alone.

[X] Talk to Hina some morOH GOD I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING TO SAY GODDAMMIT O WAIT I KNOW!
[X] Invite her to have some tea with you.

Time buyan' gaems.
Tea always works.

>>10173
Ah, I just had a thought. I'll try and run with this...
Adjusting vote:

[X] Talk to Hina some morOH GOD I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING TO SAY GODDAMMIT O WAIT I KNOW!
[X] Invite her to have some tea with you.
[X] Make small talk / admire her. And when she asks about it...
--[X] "Actually, the truth is that I just wanted an excuse to spend time with you."
--[X] Talk about her.

Not my best write-in, but better than none, I think.

What >>10174 wrote in.

[ze] >>10174

[x] >>10174

Delicious Hina is delicious.

[x] >>10174

Need more Hina.

[x] >>10174

We've never tried to be dashing and roguish before, have we? Praying the 3 Charisma keeps us from screwing it up.

>>10195

You're kidding, right?

>>10195
>>10200
The thought of Nero running with his hips bouncing all over the place, hair blowing dramatically, legs moving in dance-steps; it disturbs me, greatly.

>>10200
>>10202
Then you guys had better come up with something good to say to her.

>>10205
That all depends on the writer; how much time she has, how into she is, etc. Not many can exactly work well with rushed or undetailed updates.

>>10206
>>she

Women, internet, etc.

>>10209
He's definitely convincing if that card is to be called into play.

>>10210
What kind of a sexist comment is that?

Also, these are hard times for writing. Excuse my laziness.

>>10211
And how was that any different than >>10210

[x] >>10174

WRITE LAZY NIGGER

>>10212

I think >>10210 is the comment he/she HE was referring to.
We all already know "what kind of a sexist comment" >>10209 is: the meme kind.

Am I the only one who thinks Hina has some kind of hidden dominatrix side that'll emerge if we persue her route far enough?

>>10215

No, and now I'm hoping.

So, I was writing and walking down the street.

I think I took a wrong turn somewhere. All the street names were famous writers.

Then I realized, I was in writer's block

Update coming later today, or tomorrow, or never.

>>10217

Oh you
... suck.

>>10217
Stop that.

>>10215
*pursue

And already have that kind of Hina in SHaG. Well. She does bondage, at least, but none of the dominatrix crap.

Whatever works.

>>10225

I'm all for a Suwako or Kanako route.

"Hmm..." You wonder loudly and take glances at the corners of the room. It'd be nice to talk to Hina some more, but being alone in this room, where the only functioning piece of furniture is a bed, isn't that a bit awkward?
"So.. how about some tea, Miss Hina? Though, I don't know where to get some." You suggest with a smile on your face. Feels like you've been smiling forever.
"Tea? That'd be lovely. I've been given the permission to use Nitori's stuff, so we can use that. Though, I am not sure how my tea would turn out..." Hina trails off into a sad expression. What, is she unsure of her skills?
"I'm sure you make excellent tea. Go on, please be my hostess, Goddess." You say. Your compliment fires Hina up again and raises her smile levels to maximum.
"Right then, follow me," Hina says and leads you to the room before Hina's. Ignoring a few bizarre contraptions, it reminds you of a kitchen. Atleast there's a series of closets and cabinets...
Cabinets.

After a little bit of fiddling around with Nitori's water heater, which was apparantely designed to be more complex than functional, you managed to get it working. Why the hell does it have a 'condense' setting? Ah, atleast there'll be delicious divine tea soon. You just take a seat at the small table set by the wall.

Hina's finished with the tea, awesome. She places two plain cups, simple cyllinders, on the table and pours steaming purple liquid in them from a... cucumber-themed teapot. Cucumbers? Must be a Kappa thing. You reach for one of the cups and bring it closer. Smells like strawberries, no, oranges. No, screw that, this is some kind of multifruit tea. Well then, now to take a sip.

Hot. Way too hot. You hope you didn't burn one of your senses. That heat incinerated any kind of taste the tea would've had.
"So, how is it?" Miss Hina asks.
".. Hot. I should let it cool." You describe in an awkward accent. Your tongue feels numb, you want to lick an icecube, disregarding any downsides. Hina breaks into a grin, and forces herself to cover her mouth with her hand. Haha, laugh all you want, you will have revenge on this tea... as soon as it cools down.

"So, what does a Curse Goddess do?" You ask, hoping not to insult Hina.
"You don't know?" She asks and raises her eyebrows. You shake your head a little.
"The Curse Goddess manages curses, that is, I remove curses, and place them into dolls. For safety. That is my duty. You got that curse from my doll..."
"Nah, don't worry about that, I'm not worried. Afterall I have a Goddess that tends to me." You give Hina another grin.
"Enough about myself. What is it that you do?" Hina asks you.

[] Write-in
[] Be boring and pick the non write-in option, that talks about your writer past.

[x] Be boring and pick the non write-in option, that talks about your writer past.

[x] "What do I do? Well, besides traveling between dimensions, befriending goddesses, wrestling bears, being used as a guinea pig in science experiments, and destroying things with this strange arm of mine - I, madame, am a writer!"
[x] "While I would love to say that I am paramount in the universe of literary art, cultivating my works with grandeur and finesse, bringing forth new and unseen worlds rought by the miracle of one's own imagination and captivating the hearts of my readers in wonderment and awe, inspiring the nation at large, basking in the praise and admiration of thousands of fans!!" raising your arms, then letting them drop, and quieting down "I am, but a mere freelancer; struggling to get by with what little I can offer the world. It seems, not many are interested in fantasy novels, anymore..." end with a sigh.
[x] Scratch your head and laugh awkwardly "But hey, at least I have an excuse to sleep in from time to time".

>>10226

What? We can't have both?
Oh, right. We're Nero, not Dante. Damn it.

[x] "What do I do? Well, besides traveling between dimensions, befriending goddesses, wrestling bears, being used as a guinea pig in science experiments, and destroying things with this strange arm of mine - I, madame, am a writer!"
[x] "While I would love to say that I am paramount in the universe of literary art, cultivating my works with grandeur and finesse, bringing forth new and unseen worlds rought by the miracle of one's own imagination and captivating the hearts of my readers in wonderment and awe, inspiring the nation at large, basking in the praise and admiration of thousands of fans!!" raising your arms, then letting them drop, and quieting down "I am, but a mere freelancer; struggling to get by with what little I can offer the world. It seems, not many are interested in fantasy novels, anymore..." end with a sigh.
[x] Scratch your head and laugh awkwardly "But hey, at least I have an excuse to sleep in from time to time".

[x] "What do I do? Well, besides traveling between dimensions, befriending goddesses, wrestling bears, being used as a guinea pig in science experiments, and destroying things with this strange arm of mine - I, madame, am a writer!"
[x] "While I would love to say that I am paramount in the universe of literary art, cultivating my works with grandeur and finesse, bringing forth new and unseen worlds rought by the miracle of one's own imagination and captivating the hearts of my readers in wonderment and awe, inspiring the nation at large, basking in the praise and admiration of thousands of fans!!" raising your arms, then letting them drop, and quieting down "I am, but a mere freelancer; struggling to get by with what little I can offer the world. It seems, not many are interested in fantasy novels, anymore..." end with a sigh.
[x] Scratch your head and laugh awkwardly "But hey, at least I have an excuse to sleep in from time to time".

"What do I do?" You ask, lifting your hand to your chin. Well, you aren't exactly a writer now, are you? Ending up in this place called Gensokyo as Nero, wow, that's pretty awesome.

"Well, besides travelling between dimensions, befriending goddesses," You tilt your head a bit towards Miss Hina, "wrestling bears, being used as a guinea pig in a certain Kappa's science experiments, and destroying things with this strange arm of mine - besides all of those, I, madame, am a writer!" You lower your head to imitate a bow, even though you're sitting at a table.
"A writer?!" Hina is quite surprised.
"That's right!" You now stand up, and point at Hina.
"That's right! A writer! While I would love to say that I am paramount in the universe of literary art, cultivating my works with grandeur and finesse," you say while emphasising key words with excessive hand movements, "bringing forth new and unseen worlds wrought by the miracle of one's own imagination and captivating the hearts of my readers in wonderment and awe, inspiring the nation at large, basking in the praise and admiration of thousands of fans!" You raise your hands in the air, illustrating the word "thousands". That's right... A writer is all that. You aren't an actual writer.. just a wannabe. You let your arms drop.
"I am a mere freelancer, struggling to get by with what little I can offer the world. It seems, not many are interested in fantasy novels, anymore..." You sigh. If only they knew Gensokyo existed. Such a world, is reality. No, perhaps it would be better if they won't learn of it. If it is reality at all.
Oh crap, this silence is awkward.
"But.. uh. hey, at least I have an excuse to sleep in from time to time! Hehaha." You laugh and scratch your head. Right, great job making the atmosphere better.
"A writer? I certainly didn't expect that from you. But, what did you mean by travelling between dimensions?" Hina asks. Ah yes, she doesn't know you're from 'Elsewhere', or 'Outside' or whatever they referred it to.
"Ah, right, you don't know yet. I'm.. not from Gensokyo." You just say that. Hina's eyebrows rise and hide themselves under her hair, hmph, must be afraid of you.
"Amazing..." Is all Hina can say.
"But, that hand. Aren't you a youkai?" She asks.
"Youkai? I'm not even sure of its definition. But I've had this hand only for a few days. Though... I do have an idea how to use it..." You can't exactly mention video games as your viable source of information.
"But enough of that..." You wave your hand around to dismiss the topic. That divine tea is going to suffer divine retribution for torching you. You raise your cup to your mouth. Ah, there's that odd multifruit smell. Well, not odd, unique. You take a sip.

Bananas... Well, not just bananas. Oranges too. And apples. This actually tastes like a thousand different fruits.
"Hey, Hina.. What do you call this tea?" You ask.
"Huh, I don't call it anything it particular." Hina answers.
"How about... Infinite Medley [A Thousand Fruits]! This is damn awesome!" You yell as you hit your fist in the air and decide to gulp the rest of Infinite Medley [A Thousand Fruits]. You must have more!
"How about some more?" Hina asks. Is she blushing? No, her cheeks just remind you the apples you can already taste.
"Certainly!" You state, and instantly bring your cup in front of Hina, who now holds a teapot. More of that delicious Infinite Medley is poured in your cup.

No way, this is too hot! Curses! Then again, the Curse Goddess made this...
"Actually..." You raise the cup to your face, just for that bit of smell.
"The truth is that I just wanted an excuse to spend time with you." You say that, in a half-whisper.
"Oh..." Is all you can hear from Hina. You only look at the reflection in the teacup.
"Why?" Hina asks.
"Why would you spend time with me?"
"Hmm.. I guess you're kind of fun to stick around with. Never had a goddess friend before!" You look at her and just smile.

Perception check!
Pick an element.
[] Earth
[] Fire
[] Water
[] Wind
[] Void
==
Now you wish you put points into Perception.

[X] Water

[!/] Water

I can feel it!

[ze] Wind

Covers more bases (smell varying parts of an aroma, discern what they are, detect air pressure/current changes...). Wind/Air always get overshadowed by Fire and Water, but damned if it isn't the most generally-useful element.

[x] Void


Just to be different.

[x] Void

Everyone knows "Element X" is always better than all the others.
Also, I read The Book of Five Rings.

[x] Void

[x] The element of sexy

>[] The element of sexy

Tempting, but

[x] Wind

[x] Void

Gah, I told you guy to take Perception, but noooooooo!

Probably could have avoided that doll curse as well.

>>10266
I considered making almost exactly that comment.

>>10266
No, we would have avoided it if we didn't go and destroy someone else's belonging.

>>10266

I regret nothing.
I'd take the ability to dodge bullets over the ability to dodge curses any day.

Update?

Three more weeks of extremely sporadic updates.

Calling vote. Perception check failed. Updating today, maybe.

Tea's cooled enough. Time to drink! You take a manly sip from the cup. Hmm, this doesn't taste like the cup before. Where's all fruit gone? This tastes like liquid socks, or something. You grimace as you force it down your throat. Swallowing however causes an immense pain in your throat. You drop the cup and hold your neck with both of your hands. Ugh, spikes, in your throat. How the hell? Spikes?

Hina rushes to your side, confused and worried. You stand up, too. You can't just sit there.
"Are you alright? What's wrong?" She asks immediately. Well, feels like there's a hairball in your throat, where 'hair' is 'spikes.
"Wa..." Is all you can say. Great, you can't talk properly. How hard can it be to say 'water'?
"Wa...ter..." Hina leaves your sight. Hopefully she got your message. This pain is annoying.

How long is she gonna take? Your throat is being transformed into a pincushion, and you've been sitting here on the floor for weeks.

Wait, weeks? Sitting on the floor? You give your forehead a little punch. Whaddya mean weeks? She was here 2 seconds ago. Did you fall on your knees out of pain or what? Ah, there's Hina, with a glass of water.
You take the glass with your demonic hand. Uh, it feels heavy. You gulp it all down in one go.

Spikes are still there. Though, water did kind of soothe the pain... Ack, spoke too soon. Your throat burns. You can only visualize spikes in your flesh sprouting burning branches. Uh, damn you imagination, you're only making it worse.
"Azure?" You can hear Hina faintly. Oh right, she decided to call you that. What a nice name...

You lose balance. Great, you're gonna pass out. You mutter something reflexively, but you can't even hear what you're saying.
=
You're in your room. Back home, huh? What are you doing here? Bizarre. You take a look outside the window. Normally there's curtains covering it. Right, that's definitely not your neighbourhood. This is one of those dreams, probably.

"Home...?" You ask. You take a look at yourself, your hands. Seems like you're not Nero right now. Well, this is a dream anyway. And you could always use those lucid dreaming powers.

"So, the hell are you doing?" You hear a voice in the doorway. You turn to the door, and you see...
Nero.
"You're weak. It's just spikes in your throat!" Is what Nero says. Huh, insults in your dream?
"How come you didn't even notice that?! It was blaringly obvious! Water, water!" He facepalms.
"You know what? You're way too weak and you expect me to hang around with you. Or, you actually rely on my body, ah yes. Worthless. I can even kick your ass, right now." He says, and grabs his Red Queen.
"You don't have the revolver, too. Pathetic."

[] Will him out of existance.
[] Will yourself Red Queen.
[] Anything else?

[] Will yourself the Devil Bringer.

Always love the Devil Bringer, it's effect always reminded me of that one guy from Guilty Gear.

[x] Will yourself the Devil Bringer.

[x] Will yourself a cup of tea.
[x] "Fuck off".

[x] Will yourself a cup of tea, then sip it.
[x] "Fuck off" Then throw the cup.
[x] Will yourself the Devil Bringer.

[x] >>10375
I suck at awesome write-in/cheesy one-liner, so I'm changing vote to this.

[x] Will yourself a cup of tea, then sip it.
[x] "Fuck off" Then throw the cup.
[x] Will yourself the Devil Bringer.

I can run with this.

[x] Will yourself a cup of tea, then sip it.
[x] "Fuck off" Then throw the cup.
[x] Will yourself the Devil Bringer.

[x] Will yourself a cup of tea, then sip it.
[x] "Fuck off" Then throw the cup.
[x] Will yourself the Devil Bringer.

This.

[~] Will yourself a cup of tea, then sip it.
[z] "Fuck off." Then throw the cup.
[e] Will yourself the Devil Bringer.

I like this.