Before anything else: shower. You reek. After you don't smell so bad, but before you step out of the shower, you check injuries as best you can. Shoulder seems... it might have opened up a little bit, yeah. You can definitely feel it, now. Doesn't seem to be bleeding much, though, and it's not incredibly painful, so you guess it didn't open back up all the way, at least.

Your finger... doesn't seem broken, at least. Looks like you managed to catch it in a door, though, and smashed it some. Eye is definitely swelling up, you step out to check in the mirror, yes, that's really purpling. Ugh.

You try to have Alice deal with food this morning, but she's sluggish and slow to respond, as are the rest. You don't get it, even if they were 'working' yesterday, it's not like most of them had to do anything but just stand there, so... wait, or it could be that it doesn't matter if they did anything or not? You take a step back and discard logical considerations of simple physical ability to look at it from a new angle, stripping away the sort of logic that would apply if these were human workers.

Okay, clearly they are exhausted. That's a fact and there's no getting around that. So, ignoring that they didn't actually do much that would have tired them, it's clear that 'working' will tire them... you have to think about that for a moment. Maybe it's a psychological thing, but acting on the physical body? A conviction and belief that 'working makes you tired', which is logical enough, but kicks in even if the 'work' is to just stand patiently in one place and not exert yourself in any way that would actually tire you out?

... Ugh, or it could just be that they can become physically exhausted by the weight of boredom, or something. You're thinking too hard about this. In any case, it might not be the best idea to keep having one set of waitresses cover both shifts, and you might want to adjust the shift hours so that they're a little more even. In any case... you have to adjust prices, too. Cookies bumped up to .6M, hot cho

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Run little white wolf, run. You die today.

She was already leaving. The same time, every day. Her schedule had been mapped out in advance. There were no details left unchecked. Seven days a week, every morning an hour after sunrise. Like a faithful dog, she left her companions in the quaint home, returned at the same time every day, did not deviate from her schedule.

Today, there would be a slight interruption.

Your fingers probe the glock’s muzzle, feeling the machine-carved barrel. It was almost orgasmic, the way the Austrians manufactured them. And the iron sights! At only 60 meters, you could fire right into that window, kill that crow… But that would make it difficult to confirm the kill, wouldn’t it? No, better to get in close, where it’s better. More enjoyable.

Besides, you don’t want to waste the ammo. One extended magazine, that’s all you have. Thirty-three rounds. Thirty-three rounds to kill god knows how many Tengu. This will require the use of your fists, your knife.

You always did prefer the knife.



You’ve waited long enough. You lower yourself out of the tree used as your safe spot, bottles clinking together on the back of your belt, handgun swaying on its line.

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>>	Anonymous 12/05/01(Tue)02:53 No. 43771 >>43770 Ok ok, I apologizing for jumping all over you. Seriously though? We can't even use it against China?

>>

I wanted to make a glocknade joke, but it blew up in my face. Treia!P0dSPtgivA 12/05/19(Sat)11:30 No. 44052 File 133742701060.jpg - (114.27KB , 835x1008 , 25975182_p14.jpg ) [iqdb] You discard the savage, scattering it in pieces across the ice as you walk. It’ll be little use inside the courtyard walls, and you’d rather not have anyone else have it. Its barrel plunks into the water, reminding you that ice melts rather quickly in warmer water, and to hurry up. You skitter across the last of it, reaching the sandy shoreline of a new island. A hip and a skop later and you run straight into the wall that now protects the mansion. At almost 12 feet tall, you have to wonder just what it was meant to keep out. You stab at it a few times with your knife to give yourself a starting handhold, and begin to climb, pausing to create new holds every few feet. You wish you had brought a utility knife, rather than one meant to stab somebody’s heart through their rib cage. Walls, unfortunately, have neither rib cages nor hearts. When you reach the top, you barely lift yourself up and plant your ass on the tiled top, staring down at the 12 foot drop. The pack has fragile stuff, so- A crash and a thud as your legs, then your should and ribs absorb the impact. Never doing that again. On the way out, you’re blowing the wall or going under, but not over. Certainly not over. Maybe it’s the pain, maybe you’ve cracked your gasmask, but something is definitely different inside the walls. Youmu lands gracefully next to you with a roll, and you can’t help but wonder aloud. Something is… “Something is different.” “We’ve entered the vampire’s domain.” You stare Youmu down, incensed by her ‘insightful’ comment. “Quiet.” Message too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>	Anonymous 12/05/19(Sat)14:14 No. 44057 >>44052 Definitely worth the wait. More to come?

[x] Take a seat. You may be here a while.

Still standing for a few moments, anyway. You soon take your seat, not letting the urge to be difficult get the best of you.

“Now,” She says, “How have you been? Well, I hope?”

“Well enough,” You answer, a million questions all swirling around your head at once. Perhaps it's best to play her game, for now. “And yourself?”

“Well enough,” She smiles, responding in kind. About now, Ran returns with her coffee. The kitsune deposits the cup on the table and leaves, as Yukari continues talking. “So, I see that I haven't scared you off completely. It's not often that someone turns down a deal with me, than seeks me out later.”

“More a matter of timing,” You respond, frankly, “Than a lack of interest. I don't like having my hand forced.”

“And that's why we're meeting like this,” She says, taking a sip from her coffee, “I misjudged you at first. A mistake, on my part.”

“I also don't like being used as a tool in things I don't understand,” You continue, picking your words and tone carefully, “So, if that's what you have in mind, I won't take up any more of your time.”

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A girl rolls around restlessly in her sky blue sheets in bed, her short pink hair swaying across her face and her soft pillow.

"I can't tell if I've slept enough or not," She ponders. "Maybe I'm just really worried..."

The girl turns one last time to stare at the metal door in the darkness. Her purple eyes look like they are drooping, yet her body kept signaling to her that she was not the least bit weary. She exhales and sees her own breath in front of her. Even in her warm lavender pajamas, the girl slightly shivers from the cold.

"If I can't sleep, I could just get ready now."

[ ] Turn back to the wall and try to get some more shut-eye.
[ ] Jump out of bed and get prepared.
[ ] Get up, sit down and think about things for the time being.

[x] Roll with it and play it cool

You can feel the goosebumps rising on your arms as you do a double take. A part of you wishes that it's just your vision failing you, but nope. Your vision is as clear as ever. Aya prods you from behind, waiting with a confused expression. She questions you with her eyebrows, raised up high.

A deep breath calms you down. "Okay Aya, my parents are waiting at my door. Just ignore them and follow my lead."

"What does that mean?"

"Never mind. Just be quiet for a bit and follow me." Unloosening the top-most button of your shirt and popping up the collar, you slick back your hair as much as you can. You would usually never do this in front of your parents, but that's what you're hoping your parents think. One step. Then two. You walk up to your parents, not looking them in the eye and declare, "Excuse me, but I think you have the wrong apartment."

"But isn't this–" Your mom starts to say before you quickly walk past her, attempting to ignore her. The apartment keys jingle as you unlock the door and fling Aya inside as quick as possible. You're about to close the door when your dad says just one thing.

"Taro." He curtly announces with no emotion in his voice.

Instinctively, you turn around to look. But when you do, your father is staring at you so bluntly that it forces you to turn away. Damn it! You were caught by such a simple mistake!

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>>	Anonymous 12/05/13(Sun)15:00 No. 43980 >>43929 You're an idiot.

>>	Treia!P0dSPtgivA 12/05/15(Tue)16:37 No. 43993 File 133709982380.jpg - (610.76KB , 706x1000 , 26393370_p12.jpg ) [iqdb] You guys are too mean to each other. Just going to put some happy Aya here to balance it all out.

>>	Anonymous 12/05/15(Tue)16:53 No. 43994 >>43980 Flattery won't keep me from bumping this thread and throwing a tantrum.

[x] All-out assault.
----

“Alright, Alpha 2, Alpha 3,” I say, finally deciding on my course of action. It’s going to be a bit of a gamble, but at times you just have to go for a whole mile when you’re given an inch, or you’ll never get anywhere. “No need to be so chaste anymore. We’re going to rush in and coordinate attacks from up close with our beam sabers. We’ll overwhelm her using our numbers, but if we don’t want this to end up a disaster we’ll still need to be careful, so pay attention.”

“What do we need to do, Steyr?”

“To prevent ourselves from hacking at one another, we’ll attack two at a time, rotating so we don’t let up on the pressure. We’ll also keep a decent distance between each of our units. Don’t crowd together too close, but don’t let her lure you into rushing by yourself, either. Was that clear enough?”

“Alright, sounds like a plan, Alpha 1.”

“Alpha 3, we’ll go first. Alpha 2, bring up the rear and attack as soon as I pull out. Right, let’s go!”

Boosters engaged, the pair of Kreuzritters charge forward at the enemy, patiently awaiting their attack. The MK II reaches it first, and it draws its remaining arm back, driving it forward. The Major reacts almost instantaneously. Her machine raises its saber, smacking the other blade up into the air mid-stab, deflecting it. The MK II recovers quickly, bringing its arm down for a vertical slash. The Major evades it, the Commander unit nimbly turning its body so the saber slashes through empty air.

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[X] You still haven’t found a place to sleep this time around, have you? (Request lodging)

Man, you just can’t think of a good price for these things. And since you got them for free, you aren’t sure that it would be the right thing to give them a price. But you should still probably ask for something. Hmm…

“Alright, how about you lend me a room for a few days?”

Eirin looks like she just got the shock of her life. “Wh-what? That’s it?”

“Well, yeah.” You respond. “Last time I was here it was a nightmare finding a good place to sleep. I ended up sleeping in the school my first night in Gensokyo, for goodness sake. I’d rather not go through that again if I don’t have to.”

Eirin blinks for a few seconds before giving a small laugh. “Well I suppose that’s fine by me. Is this alright, Princess?”

“Of course!” Closing the magazine she has open, Kaguya turns to you with a bright smile. “It’s been so long since we have had guests. Udonge, you’ll show our guest to a room when we are done here, right?”

“Ah! O-of course, Princess.” Looks like Reisen was sneaking a peak at one of Kaguya’s magazines while no one was looking. Shoving it back towards the table, she looks up meekly. Kaguya doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest, but Eirin give the rabbit girl a small frown.

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[א] I never did read the paper today...

Flipping the little switch on the portable radio, it falls into silence. Jönsson's rant was a little surprising, but not one I objected to, really. I'm of more or less the same mind on the topic. I understand that in the pre-Flip Outside, there were so many tricky little issues and people you had to keep happy and toes you had to avoid stepping on when dealing with politics and government.

Maybe it was a product of living in a relatively uncomplicated place like Gensokyo for so long, but I don't see the need to be held back from doing what certainly seems to be the right thing. It's not like Ivanov was the Hakurei or anything, and personally went around beating the stuffing out of anyone who looked remotely suspicious.

Admittedly, Kirisame herself was like that, back in the day. But when the Flip happened, she showed an amazing change of character. That woman rose to the challenge of taking charge of over half a million bewildered, displaced refugees, and bringing about order, organization, and sanity. Gone was the lazy, destructive, thieving smartass. In its place was a determined, strong, and resourceful smartass.

....There are some things that not even global catastrophe can change.

Jönsson's mention of the hubbub that would be coming tomorrow reminds me that I hadn't gotten a chance to read the paper all day, meaning it's probably still sitting in its tube outside my door. Today had been rushed at the start, weird a little bit after that, then deviated from my normal routine when I went shopping, so I hadn't even thought to get it later on, either.

Getting up, I wander over to my door, unlock the deadbolt, and then open it up. The slightly warm night air in the hallway is a change from the cooler air of my apartment. I swear the temperature's always a little off, and seemingly never in the right direction. But that's what either bundling up or stripping down are for.

I take the paper out of its tube, and then go downstairs to grab my mail from the boxes in the lobby while I'm at it. Opening up the one marked

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Long time lurker, first time writefag here. This idea has been with me for a while, and I figured I might as well post it and see how it goes.

———

—It’s time.

I draw the final runes on the ground and step back out of the circle.
—Honestly, it looks kind of messy.
Well, that can’t be helped now.

I place aside the book I copied the circle out of aside, and pick up the box lying next to it.
In this box is the catalyst I will use soon.
The catalyst to summon a Heroic Spirit, and participate in the Holy Grail War.

...There’s still a few hours left before my prana level reaches its peak.

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"... Thank you." You mumble, still half awake at most.

Chen stiffens a little at being caught, but doesn't retreat to the floor.

"Sleeping is... off limits." She says, glowering into the dark at the Yukari.

Who shrugs, and winks away, apparently disinterested. Probably wasn't planning anything more than annoyance, but even so... doesn't seem there's any immediate way to bring that one to heel.

You might have done better to pick a more normal sort. Still, the situation could be worse than it is, and it's not like you can go back and undo what's been done. There's probably some benefit to her sticking around, anyway.

"Still... Thanks." You say, patting her for a moment.

You yawn a little, and when it settles down, she's started yawning as well, teeth looking even sharper than before, somehow. Closer and closer to a predatory mouth of fangs.

Well, no matter. You're a little curious how she would turn out, though, if she became something more...

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