[X] Head on off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion

[X] Head on off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion

[X] Head on off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion

>>16470
>>Pic

Argh, MY EYES!!
And my hearNNNNNNNNGGG

[X] Head on off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion

Marisa's dad won't move from there anyway

Small little rewrite here of
>>16162
This update had been keeping me awake at night. After rereading through the story, I realized that this update had some of the worst cliches so I felt it extremely urgent and necessary to completely rewrite it and give it a much better and natural feel than it had originally.

Also I'm about halfway done with the next proper update for the story. I'll try to have it up sometime early later tomorrow (technically today). Please wait warmly as girls are preparing.

------------------

[X] "She's pretty cute I guess."

You sit for a moment as you stare at your cup of tea. You hadn't really thought much about what Marisa means to you just yet. She's been a great host to you so far--letting you stay at her place after crash landing here in Gensokyo, then saving your life from a darkness youkai that seemed so much less threatening when it was staring at you from your computer screen. Your thoughts then wander to Marisa's personality instead of just her actions. She's rather childish in the way she acts around you and tries not to show you her soft side. Also she has such an interesting way of speaking--ending all her sentences with "~ze." You find it cute. That's a good word for her: cute.

"Marisa... She's a pretty cute girl." You begin to say before taking a sip of tea. "She's been so nice to me in the little time that I've known her, and she's kind of childish from time to time but she's fun to be around. I mean I don't hate her at all, if that's what you were getting at, and I'm really thankful for her and all she's done for me since I've arrived in Gensokyo.

"I see, so that's what you think of her. Fair enough. Since you're spending time around her though, just be careful with her." Rinnosuke says holding his tea in his lap. "She isn't a fragile girl by any stretch of the imagination, but if you find a way to hurt her, you won't have just her to deal with just her--although I'm sure that would be worrisome enough without me there." As Rinnosuke finishes giving his warning, you notice a little flash of black and white in the reflection of his glasses. You turn back to the doorway behind you but nothing's there--was Marisa listening in on your conversation?

"Thanks for the warning, I'll keep that in mind." You say as you continue to drink your tea.

"In any case, here." Rinnosuke says as he hands you the Mini-Hakkero, his voice has returned to his normal calm tone. "It really wasn't that badly damaged so I fixed it up while I was making the tea. I think Marisa just needed an excuse to come here other than showing off her new friend. Anyways, could you call Marisa for me, a letter came from the human village with very important news pertaining to Marisa."

You nod as you head off back into the main part of the store. Again you trip over the various odds and ends scattered about as you search for the ordinary black and white magic girl. You continue to notice items from the outside world that Rinnosuke didn't have you identify for him yet. Eventually you come across a narrow aisle that Marisa happens to be at the end of.

"There you are! I'd been looking for you. Rinnosuke says that he has a letter with some very important news relating to you." You call out to Marisa down the aisle. "Also Rinnosuke had finished fixing your Mini-Hakkero." You explain as you hand the little octagonal box over to her. "What were you looking at anyways?"

Marisa turns around as she hears you calling to her, a sword resembling a western broadsword with a gold encrusted hilt lays in her arms.

"Just this. It's a sword that Rinnosuke took off of my hands~ze. He calls it the Sword of Kirisame. I had been trying to get it back for a while because I hate getting rid of my stuff." Marisa explains as she looks down at the sword. "But you said Kourin has some urgent news for me~ze?" She asks as you nod in response. "Here, hold this." She says as she hands the sword over to you. "I'll go see what's up." With that Marisa runs off to the backroom to talk to Rinnosuke.

After watching Marisa run off your attention turns to the sword that's now laying in your arms. It's a rather heavy sword but it seems very beautifully crafted. The gold across the handle weaves itself along the hilt and forms an ergonomic looking handle. The sheath of the sword is similarly adorned at the top and the bottom with some odd looking symbols and text written across the middle of the sheath. As you continue staring at the sword--either from sheer curiosity or some other force--you can't help but feel compelled to pull the sword from its sheath. As you wrap your hand around the handle of the sword you hear loud shouting coming from the back room.

"...and so what If he's my father~ze?! I told him I'd never go back to the human village!" Marisa shouts angrily at Rinnosuke.

"But Marisa, please. This is your father we're talking about and he's very ill. If you don't visit him now, you may not get a chance to later." Rinnosuke tries to plead to Marisa, his voice still as calm as ever.

"I don't care~ze!" Marisa shouts as she storms out the front door. "Hey!" She shouts at you. "We're going now~ze!" She shouts harshly at you, it seems she's unintentionally taking her frustration out on anyone right now.

As you walk towards the front door a hand places itself on your shoulder from behind.

"And where do you think you're going with that?" Rinnosuke asks as you suddenly realize that you're still holding the Sword of Kirisame.

"Oh, sorry!" You begin as you offer the sword back to Rinnosuke. "I had forgotten that I had it still."

"That's alright. Before that little spat that Marisa and I had, she had mentioned that you were pretty defenseless right now. I'm a little hesitant to give that sword up, but it might be a good idea for you to hang on to that sword for now. It used to belong to Marisa first anyhow."

------------------

The sword of Kusa-... Kirisame
[X] Take the sword.
[ ] Don't take the sword.

Marisa
[ ] "Marisa, we should go visit your father if he's sick."
[ ] "Marisa, we don't have to go if you don't want to" (suggest somewhere else)
[X] "Marisa, can we go to the human village? We don't have to visit your father there if you don't want to."
[ ] "Marisa, let's just go back home."

Sorry about that small little interruption to our story, here is the proper update, now with more ~ze.

------------------

[X] Head on off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion

You think to yourself for a moment about what to do next. You need to eventually check in on Marisa's dad at the Kirisame-ya, but as you look towards the sky you notice the sun is still pretty high in the sky so you've probably still got quite a bit of time before the end of the day. There's lots of different places in Gensokyo that you could probably visit but seeing Patchouli yesterday reminds you of somewhere that might be interesting to visit.

"Say Marisa?" You begin as Marisa turns to you, anxious to hear your answer.

"Yeah?" She replies.

"Do you need any more books?" You ask with a smirk.

"No, not really I was just at the Scarlet Devil Mansion a few..." Marisa pauses and thinks to herself for a moment. "Oh! We could go there~ze!"

"The Scarlet Devil Mansion?" You ask.

"That's right!" She then turns to you and points a finger with a somewhat serious expression across her face. "If you're going to be hanging out with me, then you need to start coming with me on raids~ze."

"Raids?" You ask, slightly feigning ignorance.

"That's right~ze! I run out of books to read very quickly and need to restock all the time. So we have to go... uhm... borrow some books from Patchouli~ze. It'll be more fun with someone else going with me." Marisa says as she looks over at you with a wink.

"So you're going to go do that then?" Reimu asks in an uninterested tone. You had forgotten that she and Mima were still there watching as you made a fool of your self attempting to cast danmaku.

"Ooh... that sounds like fun..." Mima says as she leans forward, her face filled with intrigue. "I'd love to go... but I'd hate to be a third wheel..." She says with a giggle.

"Please be discreet, Marisa. I'm getting tired of Remilia and Sakuya coming over to my shrine to complain about you every time you cause a typhoon in the library and most of the rest of the mansion when you go on your 'raids.'"

"Can't make any promises," Marisa says as she straddles her broom and motions for you to do the same.

You mount your now familiar seat and wrap your arms around the girl you've come to think of as a very good friend. You wave to Mima and Reimu as the broom starts to hover in the air.

"See ya later~ze!" Marisa shouts as she waves towards the two sitting on Reimu's porch. With that you and Marisa zoom off into the sky, the shrine below you slowly becoming a small speck as you and Marisa start flying off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Your trip takes you over a vast lake. You notice little ice drifts along the lake--Hmm, that's odd. Ice on the lake? But it's summer, isn't it?. You shrug off the thought as you recall who happens to live on this lake. There are fairies flying about below the two of you, it seems like they're playing about around the snow ice drifts below, some of which look like they're casting danmaku at each other. As you two continue you start to see odd looking columns jutting out of the water. The columns are segmented with various round looking orbs that taper to a point. Looking ahead you notice a grand castle of a mansion before you. It's red coating of paint radiates in the afternoon sun.

As you approach the mansion, Marisa takes her broom a little lower in altitude and you notice a large metal gate in front of the two of you. A little ways below the two of you, you see a girl with red hair dressed in green and a blue-haired girl in a blue and white dress. It seems like they're both doing some synchronized movements somewhat resembling martial arts. That must but Hong Meiling and Cirno.

[ ] Go down to meet them and see what they're up to.
[ ] Have Marisa start a fight with the two of them.
[ ] Ignore the two of them and fly over the gate, into the mansion.

If you do go to talk to them:
[ ] China
[ ] Hong Meiling

[X] Ignore the two of them and fly over the gate, into the mansion.

[X] Go down to meet them and see what they're up to.
[X] Hong Meiling

[X] Go down to meet them and see what they're up to.
[X] Hong Meiling

[X] Ignore the two of them and fly over the gate, into the mansion.

[X] Go down to meet them and see what they're up to.
[X] Hong Meiling

>>16498

Told you this CYOA is hilariously terrible.

>>16514

Terrible? That's too harsh. Yeah, there's an awkward line here and there, but it's not terrible.

>>16515

Agreed. I think this CYOA's biggest weakness is the writer's lack of experience, which occasionally leads to bland devices and dialogue. Nothing worth hating on so strongly.

It is, however, consistent in being annoying.

I am a picky fuck and do get annoyed over the little things, but there really are a lot of little things.

I don't find this CYOA bad, but it still have some akward moments, nothing extremely serious..

[X] Go down to meet them and see what they're up to.
[X] Hong Meiling

Curious to see what exactly the two girls below are up to and hating to miss a chance to meet more touhou girls, you tap Marisa on the shoulder.

"Hey, do you mind if we go greet those two down there?" You ask Marisa as you point downward.

"Hmm, I guess~ze. It could be fun to mess around with China and Cirno while we're here." Marisa replies with a smirk.

You gasp as you suddenly feel the sensation of falling for a moment as Marisa brings her broom down towards the two girls who look like they're practicing martial arts by a large metal gate. They seem to not notice you until you and Marisa land. As you hop off the gate, Meiling waves her hand to Cirno for her to stop; Cirno seems rather disappointed that her session was interrupted.

"Oh hi there!" Meiling greets the two of you quite cheerfully as she walks up to you.

" 'Oh high there' isn't a very gate guard like greeting for someone who beats you up all the time~ze." Marisa retorts to Meiling's greeting.

"Oh! You're right, I-I'm sorry!" Meiling replies as she bows towards you and Marisa.

"Don't apologize to your enemy~ze!" Marisa ridicules her more.

"Oh! You're right! U-Uhm... sorry! I mean... uhm...!" Meiling stumbles continuously over her words until she finally composes her self and puts her fists up in a fighting position. "Oh, this doesn't feel right at all. I'm a horrible gate guard." Meiling finally gives up and droops her head and arms down.

Marisa begins laughing to herself at Meiling's failings as Cirno rushes up to Meiling and tugs on her skirt.

"Miss China! That's not how to act to an enemy! If you want to be strong like me you've got to show her who's boss!" Cirno shouts energetically at Meiling as she makes punching motions at the air.

"Y-Yes... I'll try that..." Meiling begins as she starts to put her fists back up. "B-But stop calling me China...!" She whines as she slumps down to her kness, her hands falling to her sides as she cries. While Meiling is busy crying, Cirno busies herself by punching at the air and a butterfly passing by.

You study her features as you watch her crying. She seems decently tall for a red-headed Chinese girl, though it's difficult to tell with her sitting on the ground like that. On her head rests a green hat resembling a beret with a star shaped pin attached to it. The green and white chinese dress that she wears clings tightly to the curves of her very voluptuous body. You catch yourself staring and quickly turn your gaze to her face.

"You... You're Miss Hong Meiling, right?" You ask as you offer a hand to her.

"No, my name is Hong Mei-" She does a double take as she processes the words you just said. "You said it! You said my name!" She shouts as she hops to her feet and embraces you. As Meiling hugs you, something that feels like two soft pillows presses up against you. It's a nice feeling. After a moment, she releases you from her embrace and smiles at you.

"I've never seen you around here before. How'd you know my name? Have we met before?" Meiling asks as she tilts her head at you, her face bears a look of curiosity.

"He's from the outside world~ze. Apparently we're quite popular out there according to him." Marisa explains to the Chinese girl.

"Well, only really popular among certain circles, I suppose." You correct Marisa. "Anyways, what were you two doing?"

Meiling tilts her head at you blinking for a moment. "Well, this is my good friend Cirno. She's-" Meiling begins as Cirno steps forward wearing large grin on her face.

"The strongest in all of Gensokyo! I'm Cirno!" Cirno begins as she sticks her tongue out. "So who are you?" She asks you with a finger pointed towards your nose--She apparently didn't hear anything that you or the girls had just said. "Anyways, who you are isn't important! For making Miss China cry you're going to have to face me!"

"But I didn't..." You try to explain, but Cirno is already up in the air with her spellcards drawn. "Hey! I can't fly!" You shout up to her. She seems to hear you and floats back down to the ground.

"What? You're no fun! How can you expect to stand a chance to the strongest in all of Gensokyo if you can't even fly?" Cirno whines to you as she floats around in circles around you.

"Well, I was just trying to tell you that I didn't mean to make Miss Meiling cry." You explain, Meiling perks up as she hears you say her name again. You then turn to speak to Meiling. "Uhm... Miss Meiling, I was wondering if we could gain entrance to the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

"Well, uhm... you don't have an appointment do you...?" Meiling asks as she runs back to her post and comes back with some papers. "No, Miss Scarlet doesn't have any appointments today..." Meiling looks at you with a slightly apologetic face. "But since you're such a sweet boy... I guess I could make an exception, just once." Meiling says with a wink as she unlocks the gate.

You and Marisa begin to walk through the gates when Meiling stops in front of Marisa.

"Sh-She can't go inside! Sh-She's-" Meiling stutters as she waves her arms frantically.

"She's with me." You reply. At that, Meiling's face takes a dejected look.

"Bu-But... Aw... Well, I guess it can't be helped..." Meiling says as she looks at you and Marisa. "But if you ever need someone else more... mature..." Meiling says as she plants a kiss on your cheek.

Marisa's cheeks suddenly flush red and suddenly grabs your arm and quickly drags you into the mansion. Once inside the front doors of the mansion you take a look around at the main hall. It's very victorian in its design.

"Psh! Are you done flirtin' around now~ze?!" Marisa shouts at you, her face still flushed red.

About Meiling
[ ] "Well, I just have that effect on people."
[ ] "Th-That didn't mean anything, she was just being polite."

Where to go now
[ ] "Let's raid the library!"
[ ] "Let's go check out the kitchen!"
[ ] "Let's sneak into the main bedroom!"
[ ] "Let's go see what's in the basement..."

[X] "Th-That didn't mean anything, she was just being polite."
[X] "Let's sneak into the main bedroom!"

We've got some raiding of our own to do in the mistress' bedroom.

[X] "Th-That didn't mean anything, she was just being polite."
[X] "Let's go check out the kitchen!"

[B] "Well, I just have that effect on people."
[B] "Let's go see what's in the basement!"

[X] "Th-That didn't mean anything, she was just being polite."
[X] "Let's go check out the kitchen!"

>[ ] "Let's go see what's in the basement..."
Everyone here knows what's there...

[X] "Th-That didn't mean anything, she was just being polite."
[X] "Let's go check out the kitchen!"

[X] "Th-That didn't mean anything, she was just being polite."
[X] "Let's go check out the kitchen!"

Noticing Marisa's apparent annoyance with the way Meiling acted with you, you feel that you should apologize to her about it.

"I'm sorry about that Marisa. I wasn't trying to flirt with her..." You try to explain to Marisa. "Really! Th-That didn't mean anything, she was just being polite."

Marisa turns her back to you with a pout.

"Really...?" Marisa asks as she turns her head to you, a soft pink resting upon her cheeks.

"Really! I-I mean... i-it wasn't anything special to me." You continue fumbling over your words as you try to explain yourself. Marisa giggles to herself as you try to regain your composure.

"You're funny~ze." Marisa says as she turns and smiles to you. "Anyways, now that we're here, what part of the mansion should we explore now~ze?"

You think to yourself for a moment--you originally came here to raid the library, so you're going to probably end up doing that anyways. Why not explore the rest of the mansion right for now? But where..." You think for a moment as you feel a slight twisting feeling in your gut and a low grumble emits from it. Hrmm... there's an idea.

"The mansion has to have a grand kitchen or something right?" You ask as Marisa's looks at you curiously. "I mean, we haven't eaten since before training at the shrine, and I'm sure it's already past lunchtime." You explain with a embarrassed grin.

Marisa thinks to herself for a moment before nodding.

"Well, I suppose we could. I think I've flown by the kitchen once or twice, so I've got a general idea of where it is~ze." Marisa thinks aloud. "And I am kinda hungry... Sounds like a plan~ze!"

Marisa hops onto her broom and motions for you to do the same. You wrap your arms around her and the two of you start off towards the kitchen. It's a scary feeling flying through such close quarters, but the hallways in the mansion are huge. As the two of you continue flying along, you notice what looks like fairies in maid outfits. Some of them squeak as you pass by--there sure are a lot of them. You eventually start to see a few fairy maids heading out of a doorway with trays of tea and cakes in their hands--that's got to be the kitchen. You tap Marisa on the shoulder and point towards that doorway, Marisa nods, but it seems she was already heading there anyways.

Marisa lets you down off the broom as you both enter the kitchen. It's rather large and it seems fairly well stocked from what you can tell. You and Marisa look around checking cabinets when Marisa squeaks.

"They... They have... Truffles~ze!" Marisa squeals as she holds up the mushrooms, her mouth drooling a little bit.

Marisa brings one up to her mouth and bites down, but only the sound of Marisa's
"What the heck~ze?! That hurt! Did you take my mushroom!" She shouts at you accusingly. After a moment she notices that you're currently situated on the opposite side of the room, she tilts her head and thinks a moment. "If you're over there... then that means... that..." Marisa thinks to herself when suddenly a knife is held to her throat by a pale white hand.

"Marisa! Watch out!" You shout at Marisa who freezes in place as you suddenly notice who the knife wielding hand is attached to.

The figure holding the knife to Marisa's neck is clad in a blue maid-like uniform, a white apron falling just short of the hemline of the skirt which rests above mid-thigh. The hair of the assailant is a brilliant silver with two long locks tied into braids and tied off in green ribbons. Upon her head rests a maid cap. This can be only one person.

"Miss Sakuya! Please let her go!" You shout in pleading to Sakuya. She tilts her head at you as she becomes aware of your presence.

"Hmm? Have we met before?" She asks as she continues holding the knife to Marisa who seems now more willing to struggle. Sakuya's voice comes out very smooth and elegantly.

"No, but... I feel that I know you pretty well." You say as you remember countless game overs against her when you first started playing Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil.

"Oh, is that how it is?" She asks, Marisa continuing to struggle in her arms.

"Oh, hey Sakuya. I don't think I need a shave, but my outsider over there is starting to get a little peach fuzz that you might want to take care of, okay~ze?" Marisa comments sarcastically at the head maid. Sakuya only sighs at the comment as she releases Marisa and she skips over to me.

"Do I need to ask why you are here in my kitchen? Shouldn't you be in the library trying to steal books from Patchouli, or playing with the young mistress in the basement? Sakuya sighs as she puts her hands to her hips.

"Sakuyaaaa... What's taking you so long to get my lunch ready...?" You hear a voice from the entrance to the kitchen.

A little girl in pink steps through the doorway and puts a hand to her mouth as she notices that she has more company than expected. She wears her wavy lavender hair to about her shoulders. Her pink dress could almost be considered a gown. It's filled with frills and laces and is adorned with a broach resembling a caduceus. You can also see what looks to be wings sprouting from her lower back. You would recognize her anywhere, this is the head of the mansion--Remilia Scarlet.

"Mistress! I'm so very sorry. As you can see I've become a little bit sidetracked." Sakuya apologizes to Remilia as she bows deeply.

"Oh, I see that." She responds with a giggle. "Well, since we have guests over, how about we entertain them?"

[ ] Tell them, that you were just about to leave anyways.
[ ] Make a break for the library.
[ ] We have some time to play.
[ ] Something else?

[X] We have some time to play.

[X] We have some time to play.

[x] We have some time to play.

[X] We have some time to play.

[X] We have some time to play.

Sorry for the lack of updates guys, life/work has been kicking my ass. I'll try to get working on this again tomorrow night or latest, the next morning. I really appreciate everyone that still reads this story!

[X] We have some time to play

"Yes, that would be a wonderful idea mistress." Sakuya replies as she bows deeply. You notice a glimmer from her hands as she bows--several more knives appear in her hands.

You gulp a bit as you notice how happy Remilia and Sakuya seem about "entertaining" their guests. You turn back to look at Marisa who bears a smile that welcomes this challenge. Marisa notices your worry and just smiles at you with a wink. The confidence Marisa shows in her smile eases your worries and you nod back at her.

"Hey Marisa, I suppose we have some time to play... wouldn't you say so?" You ask Marisa.

"I think we've got some time to play~ze!" She smiles as she responds. "But two against one seems hardly fair. Three on one would be even grounds~ze!" She boasts loudly to the two mansion residents.

"Mistress, it would seem that we have ourselves a match here. Shall I dispose of them?" Sakuya asks with a stoic face.

"Not immediately. Not just yet, first lets have a little bit of fun with them." Remilia says as she waves off Sakuya.

Marisa motions for you to mount her broom as she does so herself. As you wrap your arms around her, you feel a tense feeling in the air. It's like watching a stand off in one of those old spaghetti westerns. You all wait silently for someone to make their move.

"Excuse me, but I would not wish to create a mess in my kitchen. My food is prepared here after all." Reimilia finally speaks up.

Suddenly Remilia and Sakuya fly off into the adjacent hallway. A wind pushes past the two of you as they go.

"Hey! Don't run away~ze!" Marisa shouts as you both fly after them.

As you and Marisa fly down the hallway, you notice Sakuya slipping around a corner. You get Marisa's attention and point towards the direction you saw Sakuya. As you both take the corner, you're both suddenly faced with Sakuya and Remilia waiting on the two of you with spellcards ready.

"Uh...Oh..." Marisa mutters as you both float back a bit on her broom.

Suddenly Sakuya and Remilia both flash cards before them which each shine with a glowing rune before each of them.

Marisa then turns to you and shouts. "Hang on tight~ze!"

Bright explosions of light seem to burst from the two girls in front of you as you feel the jolt of Marisa pulling the broom down to dodge some of the incoming danmaku. Red bolts and knives fly just past the top of your head. Marisa seems much more tense than she usually is.

"This is no good~ze..." Marisa says mutters under her breath. As she continues to dodge bullets while firing off a few lasers of her own. Something's wrong here. Marisa doesn't seem to be just barely dodging bullets to graze against them. It's like she really is just barely getting past them. This doesn't make sense... Marisa is one of the fastest in all of Gensokyo.

Marisa continues to dodge bullets. But she's not firing back much. You suddenly see a burst of stars fire out from Marisa's hand, causing all the bullets around you two to disappear, but it seems to be too far away from Sakuya and Remilia to effectively attack them. Then it dawns upon you. Marisa is being weighed down by you sitting on her broom. Crap.

"What's wrong little witch... You're being much less aggressive than you usually are." Remilia says with a giggle to Marisa.

"Heh, I'm just... playin' around right now~ze." Marisa replies.

"Well then... Let's see if I can't get you to start playing seriously." Remilia muses as she pull out another spellcard and holds it above her head. "SCARLET SIGN - ?SCARLET SHOOT?"
Sakuya also sets a spellcard into play "ILLUSION EXISTANCE - ?CLOCK CORPSE?"
This is getting to be more than either of you can handle. Maybe you should try to help out.

[ ] Try to use some of Marisa's spellcards to help
[ ] Suggest you run away
[ ] Marisa's got this under control

[X] Try to use some of Marisa's spellcards to help

[X] Try to use some of Marisa's spellcards to help

[X] Try to use some of Marisa's spellcards to help

Two votes since when? Holy shit.

[X] Try to use some of Marisa's spellcards to help

[X] Try to use some of Marisa's spellcards to help

You feel as though you are being dragged around on a very rough roller coaster as Marisa pulls hard turns and spins on her broom to avoid the oncoming danmaku. A couple knives and bolts brush past you and Marisa, a couple of which rip and Marisa's and your clothes.

"That was too close~ze!" Marisa shouts as she swings her broom around.

This doesn't seem to be going well, you've got to do something! Anything to help out... Something then pops in your mind.

"Marisa! Hand me some of your spellcards!" You quickly shout.

"What?! Now isn't the time to practice danmaku~ze! This is serious ya know!" Marisa shouts back, her voice sounds panicked and frustrated.

"Just do it!" You shout back. Without thinking, Marisa just hands you a couple of spell cards.

You quickly glance at the cards. This should be enough to help her out. You drop one of them as Marisa drags you down with her broom to dodge some of the oncoming bullets. You're still left with one--This one should be good enough.

"Marisa! I'll disperse the bullets and you try your strongest spellcard on them, okay?" You quickly say to Marisa. She nods in response as she readies herself.

Red bullets seem to be coming at you from everywhere. You blink for a moment and suddenly dozens of knives surround you and come at you--this is your chance.

You quickly hold the spellcard before you and shout, "LOVE SIGN - ?NON-DIRECTIONAL LASER?"

Suddenly three lasers shoot out from you and spin around for a second before suddenly fizzling out. Just as you had hoped it was enough to disperse the danmaku bullets long enough for-

"LOVING HEART - ?DOUBLE SPARK?" Marisa shouts in front of you as a giant laser bursts from Marisa along with a flurry of glowing stars. You get a glimpse of Sakuya and Remilia's face filled with shock as the beam suddenly swallows the two of them.

The onslaught of bullets seems to have stopped as smoke clears from the spot where Remilia and Sakuya stood.

You and Marisa pant heavily as you look onward. You feel about ready to pass out--perhaps you exerted yourself too much using all those spellcards today.

As the smoke clears Remilia and Sakuya appear, their clothes seem to be a little torn. Remilia seems amused.

"Hmph, it seems that you've developed new tactics. That was quite fun for a little bit." Remilia states, her voice sounds a little cheerful. Her expression then turns as she looks toward Sakuya. "Sakuya, I have grown bored. See me to my room--I require a change of clothes and a fresh bath." Sakuya looks at Remilia with a surprised expression upon her face.

"B-But Mistress! W-What should we do with them..." Sakuya asks as she motions to you and Marisa.

"We will leave them to Patchouli, I assume that's why they're here anyways." Remilia replies with a 'hmph' and begins to leave the kitchen, but not before winking towards you. "Sakuya, let us depart."

"Yes mistress!" Sakuya replies as she quickly and elegantly follows Remilia.

As they walk off you and Marisa look towards the door then to each other.

"W-We won..." You wearily say to Marisa. She smiles to at you.

"That was awesome~ze! We make an amazing team!" She shouts to you excitedly. "Although you still need some more work with spellcard magic~ze." She lectures you as she pokes at your nose. "But lets get going to the library, kay? Or did you have something else in mind~ze?"

[ ] Yeah, time to do what we came here for
[ ] I would still like to check out the basement
[ ] Maybe we should just get going to [insert place here]

[X] Yeah, time to do what we came here for

[X] Yeah, time to do what we came here for

Update

[X] I would still like to check out the basement.

No one said it wasn't a good time to check it out. And imagine the smile on Flandre's face.

Remarks: Sure it's not the most techinically well written story, but this does a decent job of filling in the gap that FoM LA was going to.

Definitely a fun romp with everyone's favorite magician thief.

>>16899

Thanks for your input. We're going to visit the library finally. Sorry about the lack of updates. I'm still working out the story and pacing--you guys may have noticed that I've decided to take much more time going through each destination now, so expect a slower paced CYOA from here on out. If you guys keep commenting and voting, I'll be more motivated to continue. I'll try to post more often like I used to, however work has picked up and I'm getting a lot more hours lately so please wait warmly for each update.

Also update later tonight.

[X] Yeah, time to do what we came here for

You start to let your little victory over Remilia and Sakuya get to your head--I mean how many people can say that they fought a real danmaku battle with Remilia and won? You then realize that Marisa has been waiting for your response as she tilts her head at you.

"Yeah, I think it's time we do what we came here for in the first place." You finally say. Marisa smiles and nods toward you.

"Alright~ze!" She bounces up and down with excitement. "Let's get going! Those books aren't going to borrow themselves~ze!"

With that you feel a strong pull, pushing your stomach into your throat. Marisa seems much more determined than she usually is for anything else. Now might not be the best time to ask questions, but you decide to anyways.

"Hey, Marisa?" You begin as you tighten your grip on the little witch.

"Yeah?" She asks, her attention still focused on flying through the narrow hallways of the mansion.

"How long do you keep the books that you 'borrow' from Patchouli for?" You ask, half expecting the answer.

"Till I die~ze." She replies as she turns to you and sticks out her tongue. "See, magician youkai like Patchy and Alice live much longer than humans, so it really is just like borrow books from her~ze! Patchouli can have 'em back after I'm dead." She explains, she adjusts the brim of her hat as you two continue zooming past numerous halls and rooms.

"So you're really just borrowing them without returning them." You sigh; you knew the answer from the beginning but you needed to hear it from her yourself.

"Jeez, it sounds so bad when you put it that way~ze." She shakes her head. "What matters is that she gets her books back eventually." Marisa continues defending herself. You can feel the sheepish grin that she has plastered on her face.

You decide to drop the subject for now as you and Marisa come upon a large pair of decorated wooden doors. Marisa holds a hand before her and the doors immediately swing open revealing the mother load. As the two of you jet past the threshold of the doorway you immediately feel insignificant compared to the massive sea of shelves and books around you. The air around you carries a musty and slightly moldy smell of what must be millions if not billions of books all around you. Bookshelves. You cannot fathom exactly how many of them surround you and Marisa but they are absolutely everywhere, many are scattered about the floor but hundreds of others are floating before you and even above you. It feels like this library is miles long and the murals that adorn the ceiling seem to go on for ages.

The two of you dive into the sea of bookshelves below you and weave your way through several shelves. Marisa hands you a burlap sack and has you open it up. As she passes by a couple of the shelves, Marisa waves her hand and an entire row of books file themselves neatly into the sack. Marisa guides the broom up towards another shelf floating above the two of you and repeat the process again. The sack seemed much smaller before Marisa began filling it but it still seems mysteriously light still for having at least fifty books filling it, with more along the way.

As the two of you make your way towards another floating shelf a figure dressed in a long black dress and bat wings on her head and back appears before the two of you. She doesn't seem all that angry with the two of you--her expression looks almost, sad. She speaks something in a soft whisper of a voice before presenting a spellcard which shoots out a plethora of glowing, violet orbs towards to the two of you which Marisa expertly dodges.

"Ah, Koakuma! How are you doin' today~ze?" Marisa cheerfully beams towards the succubus before you and fires a volley of lasers towards at her. Koakuma makes no effort to dodge the oncoming fire and an explosion erupts from where she stood. As the smoke clears you see Patchouli standing before her familiar with a hand held before her. A glowing pentagram spins slowly before her hand. Patchouli holds a book in her other hand, a little ribbon of a bookmark sticks out of it and a pair of crooked glasses balance delicately on her nose. She looks more bored then frustrated or angry.

"Please don't take any more of my books." Patchouli asks in a monotone voice.

[ ] Make a break for it now!
[ ] Time to show her what a great team we make.
[ ] Something Else? (write-in)

[ ] Time to show her what a great team we make.

"Which books do you need?"
"All of em!"

Grab the nearest biggest stack you can manage and run.

[X] Time to show her what a great team we make.

[X] Time to show her what a great team we make.

[X] Time to show her what a great team we make.

Marisa clears her throat before speaking to the magician in front of her.

"We aren't 'taking' any of your books Patchy. We're just 'borrowing' them~ze!" Marisa explains as she smiles at the seemingly uninterested magician.

"Borrowing until one's untimely demise is not what one would consider 'borrowing'. That is what one would consider stealing." Patchouli replies in a monotone voice. She pulls a book from under her robes and begins to flip through pages. "...Looting, swiping, pirating, ransacking, thieving..." She continues speaking in an uninterested voice, you realize that she's reading out a thesaurus.

"O-Okay... I get it, I get it..." Marisa waves her arms as she attempts to ease Patchouli's ranting.

"Uhm... I don't think Patchouli is going to go easy on us with these books." You note as Patchouli begins to pull some spellcards from her robes. You marvel at how they can act as friends over a cup of tea on one day and then fight each other as enemies another--Gensokyo truly is a strange place.

Patchouli adjusts her glasses with her free hand and coughs as she floats in the air. "That would be quite the astute observation. After all these repetitions I'm sure that we know that there is no chance that you will hand over my books willingly, is there?" She asks knowingly.

"Well... lemme think about it for a sec~ze..." Marisa replies as she readies her spellcards and mini-hakkero.

You then tap Marisa on her shoulder and whisper into her ear. "Marisa... Let's try showing her what a great team we make." She looks back at you and smiles at you with a wink. You then feel something being slipped into your hand, it's spellcards. You smile at Marisa and give her a little squeeze. She then turns back to the annoyed librarian.

"Nope!" Marisa quips before fire lasers at Patchouli.

Patchouli quickly dodges the lasers and fires back some spells of her own. "I see there is no helping it then..." Patchouli plainly says as she fires more spells at you and Marisa. She then turns to her succubus familiar. "Koakuma, I would like to not lose my books to this black white for once." Koakuma quietly nods and bows to Patchouli. Patchouli then pulls out another book from her robes and begins to flip through the pages. "Let's see... how to effectively chase away two thieves with your familiar... MAGIC SIGN?RAGE TRILLION?With that a flurry of purple and yellow magic bullets begin flying your way from the duo before Marisa and you.

Marisa dodges around with her broom, to the left. To the right. Suddenly there's a bullet from the left. There's no way to alert Marisa to dodge it.

"MAGIC SIGN?STARDUST REVERIE?"

A storm of glowing stars begin flying out from you dispersing the magical bullets that were coming at the two of you.

"Thanks~ze." Marisa quickly shouts to you as she continues her barrage of stream and illusion lasers on Patchouli and Koakuma.

After several minutes the battle comes to a stand still and you all sit around panting. "Well... that... got us nowhere..." You pant as you all look around at each other. "How about we call this a draw for now..."

Patchouli sighs and begins coughing hard. "K-K-Koakuma... P-Please... get my medicine..." She then turns to the two of you. "Just... take the books... and please... leave my library in peace... I don't have the patience or endurance for this right now."

"Oh, you're too kind~ze." Marisa replies with a toothy grin. She then turns to you and smiles. "I guess that's mission accomplished then. Let's get out of here~ze." She smiles at you with that magical grin. You feel your heart skip a beat as she smiles at you--something's changing in you. Something about that smile of hers. "I think it's time we head back over to the human village now~ze."

[ ] Alright lets head to the human village... It is getting late...
[ ] Wait there's something else in the mansion I'd like to check out (specify)
[ ] Let's just head back home.
[ ] Let's go somewhere else... (specify)

[ ] Wait there's something else in the mansion I'd like to check out (Basement)

Time to get vaporized~

[X] Alright lets head to the human village... It is getting late...

Let's not press our luck messing around in the mansion; guess Flan's going to have to wait until another day.

[X] Alright lets head to the human village... It is getting late...

[X] Alright lets head to the human village... It is getting late...

[X] Alright let's head to the human village... It is getting late...

You watch as patchouli floats off to some other part of the musky, dust-filled library and disappears beyond the sea of bookshelves. You consider your options for a moment--there's other places here in the mansion to explore, but you've already done what you came here to do. You can't really think of anywhere but the human village to go right now and besides, you two should check up on Marisa's dad and see how he's doing and see if you can't mend the bonds between the two of them.

"Yeah, I think you're right, we probably should head over to the human village. It's getting pretty late." You say as you lean into her shoulder. "Besides, we should check to see how your father is holding up after the operation that Eirin performed on him." You recall last night, all the drama and screaming... Was it really only a day ago? That's right... that's also the first time that you saw her smile at you like that; when she was thanking you for helping out her father. You smile to yourself at the thought.

"Alright... Sounds... like a plan~ze." There's hesitation in her voice as Marisa responds. You can feel her tremble a bit as she speaks.

"Marisa..." Are you okay with that?" You ask her, your voice starting to show a hint of concern.

"Well... I-It was just pretty scary last night. All that happened~ze. And... and you were there with me through it all so..." She begins as she sighs, her voice is a little bit shaky. "Well, just thanks~ze." She then pulls down the brim of her hat and brings the broom up to speed.

You both fly back through the sea of bookshelves all about. Marisa sends the broom towards a brightly lit spot just a little ways off in the distance. As you both break through the threshold of the library and back into the main mansion. You have to squint as you enter the mansion proper as the rest of the mansion feels so much brighter than the library and the air feels more refreshing. You take a deep breath as the corridors zoom past you. Fairy maids squeak and chatter in confusion as the two of you rush past. Marisa takes the broom through various different corridors and turns, you feel the tiniest bit claustrophobic in these narrow corridors but eventually you find the front doors which--hold on, they were just closed a second ago. You didn't blink, but the doors were instantly opened. That must've been Sakuya's way of encouraging your exit.

Back outside of the mansion the sun is low in the sky now, and has painted the sky a brilliant series of oranges, yellows, blues, and violets. As you sail into the sky you notice Meiling down below, there's a big bubble inflating from her nose--asleep on the job again.

The two of you sail along the sky, Marisa's hair tickles you as it brushes past blowing in the wind. You continue going through the sky in silence for a little while. Marisa shutters suddenly, startling you.

"You okay Marisa...?" You ask her, something must be bothering her.

"I..." She hesitates for a moment before continuing. "W-What if... What if he's okay... but doesn't appreciate what we did for him~ze... or... doesn't even realize that we helped him out~ze... or..."

"Or what if everything is okay and you can make up together and settle your differences." You cut her off and lean into her shoulder and nuzzle into it a bit as you try to comfort her.

"But... what if..." She begins again.

"Everything will be completely okay... alright?" You continue, "What's gotten into you. You're usually a lot more chipper than this."

"Well... It's just... I'm scared... I mean... It's my father~ze... and..." You feel her shudder again.

"Marisa..." You hug her tightly as you continue sailing through the skies. Suddenly the landscape beneath you transforms into a village suddenly. You've passed through the magical barrier that hides the human village. The sun has already set by now. The last traces of sun are beginning to fade down past the horizon. A figure flies up to greet the two of you. It's Keine.

"I see that you've finally returned." She begins. Marisa opens her mouth to speak but is cut off by Keine. "Before you ask Mairsa, your father is fine. Last I checked he was resting peacefully in his bed." Her smile is very comforting as she calms Marisa.

"Thank you Keine~ze..." She smiles and lets out a sigh of relief.

"Would you like me to lead you over to the shop." Keine offers as she holds out her hand to you and Marisa.

"Thanks Miss Keine~ze." Marisa responds. At that Marisa brings the broom in for landing as Keine leads you back to the Kirisame-ya.

Keine heads into the shop ahead of you, Kotori peeks out from the front door and smiles at the sight of you and Marisa.

You're about to head into the Kirisame-ya when you notice that Marisa isn't following along with you.

"Marisa... It's going to be alright." You begin as you offer a hand to her.

[ ] Come on... we'll go together...
[ ] Do... you want to be left alone?
[ ] It's okay, I'll wait out here with you if you want.
[ ] Something else?

[x] Come on... we'll go together...

[ ] Come on... we'll go together...

[x] Come on... we'll go together...

[X] Come on... we'll go together...

Marisa stares at you for a moment, with one arm holding her other. She bites her lip and sighs.

You extend your hand more before saying, "Marisa... I'll be there with you. It'll be alright, okay?"

Marisa sighs for a moment and looks down at your hand, then up at the Kirisame-ya. "Okay~ze. Thanks." She replies as she puts her hand into yours. She looks up into your eyes and smiles. "Alright then, let's go~ze."

"Alright." You comply and reciprocate her smile.

The two of you walk towards the front door of the Kirisame-ya where Kotori waits with a grin on her face, her cheeks flushed pink. You can just imagine what she's thinking as she opens the door wider for the two of you to come through.

"Miss Kirisame, allow me to lead you upstairs. Your father has been expecting you for some time now." Kotori says with a bow. She leads the two of you up the stairs of the shop. The narrow stairway leads up to a single door. Marisa stops before the door and looks up at you. You nod at her and she turns back to the door, sighs, then takes a gulp.

You both walk through the door and enter the living quarters above the shop again. The room seems much more brightly lit today. It feels much more lively today versus the gloomy state the room was it yesterday. Marisa's dad is positioned in a sitting position today, he almost seems happy to see his daughter today.

Marisa steps forward towards the bed and takes a seat next to the bed. "H-Hey Papa...~ze..." Marisa stutters at her father who just looks at her.

"Marisa." He sternly begins to his daughter. "Come closer to me." Marisa hesitantly complies and rises from her seat and sets herself on the bed. The two of them sit there for a moment, Marisa just stares down at her lap while her father looks towards his daughter. After a few moments Marisa turns to her father and motions to speak.

"Papa I-" Marisa begins and turns towards her father before being cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around her. "~Ze?!" Marisa squeaks as she's wrapped in her father's embrace.

"Marisa... I had heard 'bout everything that had happened last night from Miss Keine." Marisa's father began as he started to rub his daughter's back. "I was rather concerned 'bout bein' treated by them non-human types. But after findin' out that they cured me, I didn't know what to think anymore. I had lost my appetite for a bit. I didn't know what was up or down anymore... I mean, I thought all those youkai and whatnot where all garbage. But... I mean... They cured me! Then Miss Keine told me that she was a half youkai thing... and well..." Marisa looks up at her father as he continues speaking.

"What are you sayin'~ze?" Marisa asks in surprise.

"What I'm tryin' to say is all you magical types... Well, Marisa... If you want to continue doin' magic... Well, that's okay."

Marisa gasps and takes a double take at her father. "W-What? A-Are you serious~ze?!" Marisa asks in surprise. Her father nods in reply.

"Maybe I'm just hopped up on them drugs but Marisa... You saved my life, and after all these years... I just wanted to tell you... I'm proud of you no matter what you do. 'Cause you're my flesh and blood. You're all I've got Marisa." He holds Marisa closer and kisses her on her forehead.

"Oh Papa~ze..." Marisa cries as she nuzzles into her father's chest.

You feel tears well up in your own eyes as you watch this beautiful scene between a father and her daughter. You're glad you decided to go inside with her. Marisa and her father hold each other for awhile and begin to cry. You decide it best to leave them alone for a little while. You decide to head downstairs and leave the shop for a little bit. You stare out at the moon. It's ever closer to becoming a full moon. Probably a day or two now before it's full. It's beautiful... You begin to think about all the things that have happened up to you here in Gensokyo. All the things that happened to you up until now... Marisa showing you how to use magic and taking care of you up until now. And that smile... that beautiful smile of hers... You don't ever remember even seeing a smile like that even in the fan art you had seen of her in the Outside World.

Eventually Marisa appears from the Kirisame-ya. She seems much happier than the last time you saw her when you chased after her from the Kirisame-ya. In fact she seems almost ecstatic now.

"Thank you~ze!" Maria shouts as she wraps her arms around you. Suddenly without warning she presses her lips against yours. After a moment of shock she quickly breaks off the kiss. You stare at Marisa in a dazed stupor as you try to reevaluate everything that's happened up until now. She stares up at you shyly pulling the brim of her hat down, almost completely over her face.

[ ] Reciprocate her kiss
[ ] Have her leave you alone for a bit
[ ] Marisa... there's now way this can work out.
[ ] Just head back inside
[ ] Something else?

[X] Reciprocate her kiss

I kinda like cheesy romance.

[X] Reciprocate her kiss

Though Marisa's reaction is so cute.

[X] Reciprocate her kiss

Mission accomplished.

[x] Reciprocate her kiss

>She stares up at you shyly pulling the brim of her hat down, almost completely over her face.
Take her hand and gently lift her hat back up.

[X] Reciprocate her kiss

"Oh... uhm... ~ze..." Marisa stutters from underneath her mushroom of a witch hat. She fidgets as she tries to verbalize what she wants to say.

You're still in shock as you try to convince yourself that what transpired between you and Marisa actually happened. You look towards Marisa and step forward and tenderly take her hand into yours.

"U-Uh... ~z-ze...?" Marisa squeaks and shrinks back a bit as you grab her hand. You then gently lift her hat up from her face. She looks up at you shyly as you remove her hat, which falls softly to the ground. Her cheeks are flushed red and her eyes show a neediness that you've never seen from her before. You gently release her hand and softly place both of your own on her cheeks and bring yourself closer to her. Marisa's eyes widen briefly as you close the gap between your lips and hers.

For a moment there is nothing but Marisa. You are filled with her sweet scent, the taste of her lips, the feel of her petit arms wrapping around your back. You feel a brief moment of bliss as you both share this moment together.

You could've sworn that you heard a faint click coming from somewhere but quickly shake off that feeling.

It's too soon when you both break away from your kiss. Your mouth hangs open wanting more.

"I uh... Marisa..." You fumble over your words as you try to find the right ones to say. Marisa backs away from you for a moment and kneels down to pick up her hat. She brushes it off and replaces it on her head, bringing the brim down over her eyes. She then goes over and picks up her broom and mounts it. You catch a glimpse of a girlish grin from under her hat as she sits on her broom.

"So uhm... l-let's head back home for the night~ze." Marisa finally speaks up plainly. The mood seems to have changed quite a bit.

You hop on the broom and Marisa sends the both of you sailing off into the sky. As you begin your ascent, you see Kotori and Keine step out from the Kirisame-ya and wave up to you and Marisa. You wave back down to them as Marisa brings the broom up to speed and zooms off towards the Forest of Magic.

The flight back to Marisa's house was unsettlingly quiet. You feel sort of awkward on the way back, although at the same time you feel closer to her than ever before. You don't know quite how you feel about Marisa. You had just met her two days ago but you've been through so much together: she saved you from Rumia, she taught you how to use magic, she took you along with her on one of her book raids, and now you've both shared a kiss together. What does Marisa mean to you?

As you think on this, Marisa lands her broom. You're already back at the familiar little shack that you've come to call home. Marisa quietly walks toward the humble little house.

"Marisa..." You begin and reach out towards Marisa but she just ignores you and continues into her house and to her room.

You walk inside the claustrophobic house and settle back down on the couch that has become your bed. As you settle down on the couch your thoughts return to the kiss that you and Mairsa shared. Her lips were so soft. Did she just kiss you because she was caught in the moment and happy that her father was okay. She got awfully quiet after you kissed her. Another question then pops into your head. What does Marisa think about you?

------------------
End Day 3
------------------

You dream about that woman again... Something about her seems... so familiar... She seems much more clear tonight. You see her many blond locks tied in ribbons and a frilly bonnet atop her head. She sits in her purple dress upon what looks like a hole in the middle of the air tied up with ribbons. She seems so familiar... but you can't remember from where...

"Ufufufu... How sweet... I never thought that you two would come along so well together... This is turning out to be more fun than I thought... Ufufufu... Well, well... I'll leave you little lovebirds for now... See you later..."

She slips into the hole that she's sitting upon, that ominous laugh echoing in your head. That hole looks familiar... As you stare into it, millions of eyes from inside it stare at you, chilling you to the bone. Suddenly you recall why that woman seems so familiar to you... That woman's gotta be...

"Yukari!" You shout as you wake up with a start. A cold sweat drips down your brow as you sit up in bed.

What was Yukari doing in your dreams? Did she bring you here? But why? You look around the house but there's no sign of Marisa's mushroom stew, and no Marisa for that matter either. You check around the cramped house, stumbling over books and other odds and ends. You check her room and still no witch. Where has she gone?

You head back into the main room and notice a note left on the front door that reads:

Hey~ze!

I went out for a bit to gather some more mushrooms for some of my experiments today (and a couple for soup). I should be out for a few hours so just make yourself at home. Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone~ze.

-Marisa

Well, Marisa's going to apparently be out for several hours. You try to decide what you want to do until then.

[ ] Stay put, and just wait for Marisa to get back.
[ ] Go out and explore on your own (specify where)
---
If you stay at Marisa's house
[ ] Try to make something to eat with Marisa's mushrooms
[ ] Go through Marisa's things
[ ] Check out some of Marisa's spellbooks

[X]Stay put and wait for Marisa to get back.
[X] Check out some of Marisa's spellbooks.

[X] Go out and explore on your own (Visit Alice)

I don't know why we'd visit Alice, but it might be interesting.

[X]Stay put and wait for Marisa to get back.
[X] Check out some of Marisa's spellbooks.

[X]Stay put and wait for Marisa to get back.
[X] Check out some of Marisa's spellbooks.

I doubt the best thing to do is visit Alice, since the whole kissing incident will be revealed and chances are... what happens next will not be good.

>>17106
>the whole kissing incident will be revealed
Howso?

>>17107

>You could've sworn that you heard a faint click coming from somewhere but quickly shake off that feeling.

That's howso.

[X]Stay put and wait for Marisa to get back.
[X] Check out some of Marisa's spellbooks.

[X] Stay put and wait for Marisa to get back.
[X] Check out some of Marisa's spellbooks.

Better stay inside and wait for Marisa to return you think to yourself as you put down the note. You're still wanting to ask her about last night. Just the thought of it, makes your heart skip a beat. Since you've probably got at least a couple of hours before Marisa gets back from her little mushroom hunt, you decide to explore around the house.

As you begin climbing through the piles of books and other odds-and-ends scattered about you find various little trinkets. You don't find anything all that interesting, just a couple of charms and some talismans--probably won off of Reimu during a danmaku battle.

You continue searching around Marisa's piles of things but don't find anything of much interest, that's when you notice that the door to Marisa's room is open--maybe there's something interesting in there. As you enter Marisa's room, you take it all in for a moment. You've been here at least a couple times before but really didn't take the time to appreciate it properly before. Her room has a cozy feel to it, it's small but not so small as to feel cramped. There are some books and such scattered about, but overall her room is much tidier than the rest of the house. Her bed is set across from the door, right underneath a window. There's an empty hook next to the head of her bed--that must be where Marisa keeps her hat. There's what looks like a wand at the foot of Marisa's bed with intricate loops and curls--interesting, you don't ever remember seeing Marisa ever using a wand in any of the games. You shrug at that thought and continuing rummaging around Marisa's room.

You eventually come across a pile of books stacked oddly neat beside her bed. They're numbered by hand along the spines--it looks like Marisa's handwriting. Upon closer inspection you find that on the cover of each they read "Marisa's Awesome Book of Magic volume 'x'." She's up to volume 11 it looks. As you begin flipping through the pages you begin to realize that these books aren't books of filled with magic spells or mystic runes but accounts of her day to day life. You realize that you've somehow stumbled upon what amounts to Marisa's diary.

You flip through the pages of the most recent volume:

...Today I was approached by three wierdos~ze. They all wanted to help me after hearing about Reimu going down underground to take care of those hot springs popping up everywhere. I really wasn't in any rush to go help Reimu out 'cause we had finally gotten a hot spring nearby~ze...

You flip through some more pages:

...and today I experimented around with some new phantasmal mushrooms and came up with a way to power up my Master Spark. It was annoying that Reimu hadn't wanted me to use it during our last two incidents~ze...

You eventually notice, what looks like a makeshift bookmark made up of one of Reimu's spellcards. You flip to that page and begin reading:

...Today was a really eventful day~ze. I taught him to use spellcards today after heading over to Reimu's shrine. Also I saw Mima there today too~ze! I had missed her a bunch! But there she was trying to steal away my... well... it's too embarrassing to write down~ze... Anyways he's so amazing and did so well on a book raid with me. He helped me out by using my spellcards for me during 'maku battles in that vampire's mansion to keep bullets from hitting us~ze. Then afterwards we went back to visit Papa, he's doing really well now and I finally made my peace with him~ze! Can you believe that? He's okay with my magic and stuff now because when human doctors couldn't help him, moon doctors did!...

Your hands begin to clam up and your heart races as you continue reading, the next part is what you've been waiting for:

...After making up with Papa, I was just so happy and... well... you'll never ever guess what happened next~ze. I mean, it was just a spur of the moment thing, 'cause I was so happy but I found my friend outside and... I kissed him~ze! Hey, Awesome Book of Magic... just between me and you... As far as he's concerned... I think that I might have a...

You suddenly hear a dull thud at the front door and slam the book shut out of surprise. Crap, Marisa must be home. What'll she think if she finds out that you've been going through her "Book of Spells." You quickly set the book in it's place and go to check the front door. After opening the door you look around expecting to see Marisa, but instead all you see is a newspaper sitting before you. This must be Aya's infamous "Bunbunmaru" newspaper. You pick it up and suddenly your blood runs cold up as you look over the picture on the front page. It's you and Marisa kissing last night in front of the Kirisame-ya. Shit. The header reads "YOUKAI HUNTING WITCH IN LOVE? MYSTERIOUS MAN, MARISA'S LOVER?"

You hear footsteps before you and notice Marisa coming out from the forest towards the house. You instinctively hide the newspaper behind your back.

[ ] Keep the news from Marisa. No good could come from this.
[ ] Tell her about the news. She's gonna find out sooner or later.
[ ] Ask her about what last night meant.
Also...
[ ] Try suggesting that you go visit somewhere in Gensokyo (specify)
[ ] Stay in and help out Marisa with her experiments.
[ ] Go for a walk with Marisa.

[ ] Tell her about the news. She's gonna find out sooner or later.
[ ] Ask her about what last night meant.

Chances are Marisa won't be that shocked since it's a typical Aya stunt. That and it's not as if anyone takes that paper seriously. (Good news: I doubt Alice would bother to read such a thing)

then

[ ] Stay in and help out Marisa with her experiments.

I doubt being outside in the wake of such a thing is a good idea....
Interesting way to name a Diary, and it's funny how Marisa remarks on MoF and SA.

I wonder if that wand is from the PC-98 games.

[X]Tell her about the news, she's going to find out anyway.
[X]Stay in and help Marisa with her experiments.

>>17125
Marisa used a wand prior to EoSD in the PC-98 games. Then from EoSD onwards she has her mini hakkero. It makes me wonder exactly where she got it from though.

[X]Tell her about the news, she's going to find out anyway.
[X]Stay in and help Marisa with her experiments.

[ ] Tell her about the news. She's gonna find out sooner or later.
[ ] Try suggesting that you go visit somewhere in Gensokyo (Alice's House)

>>17126
Maybe this CYOA is happening between SA and UFO

[O] Tell her about the news. She's gonna find out sooner or later.
[O] Try suggesting that you go visit somewhere in Gensokyo (Alice's House)

HEY ALICE! HEY ALICE! LOOK WHAT'S IN TODAY'S NEWSPAPER!

[X] Tell her about the news, she's going to find out anyway.
[X] Stay in and help Marisa with her experiments.

[X]Tell her about the news, she's going to find out anyway.
[X]Stay in and help Marisa with her experiments.

>>17126

I think the PC-98 wand was something Mima made for her

The mini-Hakero was something Rinnosuke made (and to this day makes occasional upgrades when he repairs it)

not sure about the UFO one

[X]Tell her about the news, she's going to find out anyway.
[X]Stay in and help Marisa with her experiments.

[X] Tell her about the news, she's going to find out anyway.
[X] Stay in and help Marisa with her experiments.

Marisa waves at you as she emerges from the woods of the forest.

"Hey! G'mornin'~ze!" She seems happier than usual today. "Sorry to keep ya waitin'~ze. I got a really good haul today!" Marisa shouts out excitedly as she holds a basket full of mushrooms above her head. She stops in front of you and smiles up at you. "Anything ya wanted to do today in particular~ze?" She asks.

There's that smile again, it sets your heart aflutter. "Well... I was hoping to help you out with some your experiments today, if that was okay with you." You suggest as you fidget with the newspaper behind you.

"Oh that'd be awesome~ze! I've been wanting a guinea p-... I mean lab assistant for awhile~ze! I-I mean if that's okay with you." She replies, she's being oddly considerate of you. You decide it'd be best to tell her about the newspaper.

"Marisa...?" You begin with a gulp as you bring out the newspaper from behind your back. "While you were gone on your errand, this was delivered to your front door." You say as you hand the paper over to Marisa.

She looks over the newspaper for a second before gasping and putting a hand to her mouth with a blush.

"Sh-She got a picture of us~ze?!" Marisa shouts in shock. "I uhm..." Marisa blushes as she stutters and looks down at her feet. "A-About last night~ze..." She takes a gulp and looks up at you. "Th-That didn't mean anything, okay?! I-I was just happy that my Papa was doing well, okay?!" Marisa shouts at you with a blush.

"O-Okay... Alright. I-It didn't mean anything." You reply a little disappointedly, although thinking back on that diary entry she had gives you some hope. "But what do you think we should do about it?" You ask as Marisa who puts a hand to her chin.

"Hmm... I think we'll have to give a visit to Youkai Mountain eventually to remind Aya what happens when you mess with the fastest witch in Gensokyo~ze." Marisa grins mischievously at the thought of her scheme. "There's not much we can do about it now~ze. She could be anywhere by now, but we'll get our vengence on her later. For now, I think I've got some experiments I'd like to run right now~ze."

Marisa leads you back inside the house and sets her self down by a table in the middle of the room filled with vials of liquids, powders, various mushrooms, and a small cauldron. Dust flies up from the table as Marisa sets her basket of new mushrooms upon the table. She then sets down her mini-hakkero upon the table a places the small cauldron upon it. After pouring some of the liquids into the pot, Marisa then starts pouring a dash of one of the powders into the mix causing it to smoke. Marisa checks the concoction with a ladle and takes a whiff of it.

"Mmmm... Almost ready. Marisa then takes a couple of the mushrooms and starts mincing them before dropping them into the cauldron. This causes a small eruption from the pot and causes the smoke to turn violet. Marisa coughs a bit and continues stirring the pot. After a few more minutes the smoke again changes to green. Marisa draws another ladle of the mixture from the pot, sniffs it, and exhales with a smile on her face. "That should be just about ready~ze." She smiles as she offers the ladle to you. "Here try this~ze. It should increase your potential for magic~ze." You take the ladle from Marisa's hand and stare into the green liquid before you. It's got to be safe right? You trust Marisa, she wouldn't purposefully give you something that would harm you, right? You decide to take a leap of faith and down the liquid from the ladle. It tastes awful, like what you imagine rotten fish tastes like. You have force yourself to not vomit.

"Well... How is it~ze? Do you feel any more magical?" Marisa leans in and asks anxiously.

"Well, I'm starting to feel a little bit warm, not anything uncomfortable, but nothing particularly magical." You say as you place a hand to your forehead.

"Well, that sounds like a good sign. Hold on a moment while I record this in my Book of Magic~ze." Marisa says before running off to her room and returning with volume eleven of her "Awesome Book of Magic" series. You gulp as Marisa opens up the book and starts jotting down the results in her book. She then grabs a few other herbs scattered about and minces them before pouring them into one of the vials of liquid. She then swirls it around and hands it to you. "Here, now try this one~ze. It should help cool you down a bit."

You take the vial and stare at it for a moment. Well, that last one wasn't so bad, so this one's probably fine too, you think to yourself as you quickly drink the liquid. This one tastes a little bit better than the previous one, with a tiny hint of sweetness. Marisa leans in again and checks for your reaction, but something feels different this time. Your shirt suddenly starts to feel tight. You place a hand to your chest and feel something soft. Marisa's eyes widen as she looks at you. Your chest begins to feel heavier as your chest seems to balloon under your hand and the realization of what's happening finally occurs to you.

"B-Boobs?! M-Marisa, what in the hell did you give me?!" You shout at her as you grab your chest. You then check your trousers and sigh in relief, thank god, it's still there.

"Z-Ze?! I-I have no idea how that happened~ze! Th-That was just supposed to cool you down a bit~ze!" Marisa shouts in reply as she frantically starts flipping through the pages of her 'Awesome Book of Magic.' "Uh oh... I gave you the wrong vial, I think I had them labeled wrong~ze." Marisa confesses, with an embarrassed look upon her face. "I-I'll find something to fix that up." Marisa quickly starts mincing up herbs and mixing them in another vial. "Try this one~ze!" She shouts as she hands you the vial.

You take the vial, then suddenly feel an itchiness on your back. Suddenly you feel something protrude painfully from your shoulder blades. "Ahh, wh-what's happening to my back?!" You shout at Marisa.

She squeaks and covers her mouth in surprise. "Y-You've sprouted wings~ze!"

This charade continues on for a couple of hours as Marisa continues giving you vials, each of which you take, curing one side-effect and causing another. At one point your fingers turned to claws, another vial caused your ears to enlarge, and another vial caused you to really become a complete girl--you were eventually turned back, thankfully. Eventually, Marisa gets you back to normal after several exhausting hours.

"I'm sooo sorry~ze. Th-That kind of thing has never happened before." Marisa apologizes.

"I-It's okay." You begin. "I just have to rest for a moment."

"Okay... Sorry again. I'll just leave you to rest for a bit. I'm gonna go run a couple errands, okay...?" Marisa says as she leaves you to rest on her couch.

After several minutes, you feel sleep begin to take you once again. You feel consciousness slipping from you, but you also feel more than that. You feel as if you're slipping through a large hold in the couch. Everything then goes black.

[ ] 1
[ ] 2
[ ] 3
[ ] 4
[ ] 5
[ ] 6
[ ] 7

Picking at random

[x] 3

[X] 7

The lucky number.

>>17224

On the bright side, Yukari could perhaps cure that ailment, but who knows what her real intent is.

>>17226
The Marathon number, to boot!

[X] 7

Durandal is laughing.

[X] 7

>boob potion

we should slip Marisa some of that.

>>17246
I dunno, something about a large-breasted Marisa sits wrong with me.

>>17224

>turn completely female potion.

If they ever get together this could be fun for kinky times.

Gotta have an antidote though.

>>17248
Well, our Anon did manage to somehow get turned back eventually, so there's got to be some sort of antidote. Also I've been writing on and off for the last couple of hours. Update likely in a hour or two, I've just been wrestling with this one for a bit.

>>17247
But i like large breasted Marisa.

[X] 7

In your dreams this time you don't see the silhouette of Yukari, in fact you don't see any figures at all. Everything is a dark abyss. Wait, what's that? Is that a light up over there? You see a red light beyond the darkness, it flickers for a moment, then it flickers once more. Another light appears above it and to the left, it begins to flicker at you as well; then another and another. You then realize that the lights around you aren't lights at all. They're eyes. You suddenly feel naked as the eyes' gaze pierces you. It feels as though their gazes are going straight past your fleshy body and straight into your soul. You feel as though you're about to go insane, like all your secrets, desires, hopes, and fears are being announced over a loud speaker in a loud deafening noise.

Then, there's a light.

You reach out to the light to escape the darkness and gazes around you. It feels so far away, but you continue reaching and grasping for it until...

You wake up with a gasp, you're covered in a cold sweat. You see a red blur of a figure sitting beside you suddenly shriek and scamper off into another room. You look around at your surroundings and try to take everything in. This isn't Marisa's house, this room is much too clean and tidy to be Marisa's, and also this room has a distinctly Japanese feel versus the the more western feel that Marisa's house bears. The wooden door that mysterious figure fled through looks to be a sliding door. You turn to your side and look to the floor; you notice that you're lying down on a fairly flat futon laid out upon a tatami covered floor.

You sit up in your futon and try to reevaluate how you might've ended up here. The last thing you recall is being in Marisa's house and becoming the guinea pig for her personal experiments, testing out various elixirs and potions. Then you must've blacked out on her couch. Did one of those potions magically send you here... where ever here is.

A shapely woman walks through the door dressed in a white robe with a blue panel of cloth draped on top of it. Atop her blonde head sits a white and frilly hat that bears what looks to be a pair of animal ears. She looks at you suspiciously and as a pair of black cat ears appear from behind her, belonging to a smaller girl who's head is topped by a green bonnet.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" The taller woman asks sternly, the ears atop her head twitch as she stares you down. "And why are you in Lady Yukari's bed?"

"Well, I would be asking you the same thing but I have no idea how I got here." You put a hand to your head and shake it as you try to remember anything of relevance between when you last saw Marisa and now. "Although I do remember falling through... what felt like a hole in space, but that felt like it was all part of a dream." You try to recall.

"R-Ran! Ran! H-He j-just appeared from one of Yukari's gaps!" The smaller girl shouts in a somewhat worried tone as she tugs on the taller woman's skirt. "M-Maybe she sent him here!" She starts to bounce excitedly as she speaks.

"Really...?" She suddenly takes a more genuine interest in you and steps toward you. "Have you seen Lady Yukari? Did she say anything about us, or where she's been, or what she's been doing?" She asks you, her face bears a look of concern.

"I uhm... I think I have in a dream. Or at least, I think it was a dream." You try to recall.

"Did you? What did she-... I'm so sorry, please forgive my rudeness. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm-" She begins to introduce herself before you cut her off. You already know these two quite well.

"-Ran Yakumo, and Chen. Am I right?" You interrupt her introduction. Ran blinks for a moment and her ears twitch before responding.

"Y-Yes, That... That's correct, but how did you know that? Did Lady Yukari tell you? Please anything you could tell us about her would be greatly appreciated." Ran pleads with you.

"W-Why? Did something happen to Yukari?" You ask curiously.

"Yes, she suddenly disappeared without a word about three or four days ago. She didn't tell us where she went, or even let us know that she was leaving. It's been hard for me to search for her as I've had to take care of this little one." She replies and motions over to young Chen by her side.

"I can take care of myself..." Chen pouts quietly.

"Well, I don't know if I've seen her directly. I mean, up until now I've been with Marisa in the Forest of Magic. Although, I've seen Yukari in dreams every night since I got here three nights ago. She keeps talking about me and my ties to Marisa, and keeps laughing about it." You explain as you strain your brain to remember the finer details of your visits. Ran thinks on your explanation for a bit and then looks toward you again.

"Well, that does sound like something Lady Yukari would do. But I have no idea what she would want to do with you in the Forest of Magic. The only business she goes out there for is leaving the occasional relic from the Outside world for that second hand shop owner with glasses." Ran thinks aloud to herself. "Anyways, we would greatly appreciate it if you could stay and tell us anything else you know about Yukari, and if you could, possibly help us find her."

[ ] I'd love to help you out, Ran
[ ] I'd really like to get back to the Forest of Magic, Marisa might get worried
[ ] Uhm, do you mind if I rest for a bit?
[ ] Something else?

[ ] I'd love to help you out, Ran

[ ] I'd love to help you out, Ran
[ ] But first, I'd like for a note to be left at Marisa's, since she might get worried about me.

>>17247
Medium-sized, at least.

>>17258
Medium sized is preferred

>>17259

I think most folks see Marisa as lolish to small busted. Of course that's not taking into account shady things of Eirin's or Marisa's own design.

[X] I'd love to help you out, Ran
[X] But first, I'd like for a note to be left at Marisa's, since she might get worried about me.

>>17259
Agreed. Anything larger would make her less aerodynamic.

[X] I'd love to help you out, Ran

It'll be more fun without a note.

[X] I'd love to help you out, Ran

>>17266

Is having Marisa worried sick looking everywhere, causing massive havoc, and generally giving Aya more stuff to write about really that fun?

I think Anon and Marisa's kisses were their first, so I can imagine Marisa might end up really worried.

[x] I'd love to help you out, Ran

[x] I'd love to help you out, Ran

Ran~

[x] I'd love to help you out, Ran
[x] But first, I'd like for a note to be left at Marisa's, since she might get worried about me.

No making Marisa worry.

NEWS FLASH

>>17274

Nice but I don't think Marisa has an Adoge like that, maybe Mouse-Marisa when she's stealing stuff from Inu-Sakuya's place.

[X] I'd love to help you out, Ran
[X] But first, I'd like for a note to be left at Marisa's, since she might get worried. (Really liked, this write-in)

"Sure Ran, I'd love to help you out. I mean if it was Yukari that brought me here then I'd like to thank her for letting me meet..." You begin to say, but you're suddenly reminded of Marisa. You really should let her know where you are and that you're okay. "Hey Ran?"

"Yes?" She asks as her tails wave back an forth behind her.

"Do you think that we could leave a message for Marisa? Just so she knows that I'm okay." You ask Ran timidly, you feel the warmth of your cheeks reddening a bit as you ask her.

"You know what, after you help us out you can tell her yourself." A knowing smile crosses her face. "I'll take you back to the Forest of Magic if it's all the same to you."

"Well, I guess that'd be okay." You think aloud to yourself, you feel a little bit hesitant as you respond. "Although I would like a note to still be left for Marisa." You feel that warmth creeping up your face again as you try not to blush. Ran just smiles at you, you know that she can see it in your eyes--there's obviously something there. She then puts a hand on one of your own and sighs.

"Alright, I'll have a fairy deliver a message to the Forest of Magic if it really means that much to you." She smiles and rises up and turns to Chen. "Please, bring our guest a piece of paper and a pen." Ran asks Chen who skips off to another room. She quickly returns with a piece of paper filled with doodles on one side and a ballpoint pen. You're surprised to see a modern ballpoint pen at first, but then you realize that you are sitting in Yukari's house afterall, she probably picked it up on one of her trips to the Outside world.

"Thank you Chen." You smile at her as she hands you the paper and pen, she quickly scampers behind Ran again and peeks her head out at you with a toothy grin. You look down at the paper, one side is filled with doodles of what you can only assume are Chen and the rest of her family at Mayohiga. As you look down at the piece of paper the words eventually come to you:

Marisa,

I don't know how, but when I awoke I found myself in Mayohiga. I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay, Ran and Chen have been very hospitable. I should be returning after trying to help them find Yukari. I'm sorry if I worried you.

After finishing your note you hand it over to Ran who summons a fairy to deliver it. The fairy stares at Ran with a puzzled look for a moment as Ran explains the instructions several times over. The fairy eventually nods at the instructions and flies off. "There we go." She smiles at you as she sends the fairy along it's way. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" Run asks you abruptly.

"Wh-what?" You feel your face flush red at Ran's question.

"You don't have to be eight hundred years old to be able to see how you feel about that witch." She smiles at you and pulls out the Bunbunmaru newspaper from her robes and looks at it. "I wasn't sure when I first saw this, but seeing how concerned you are for her confirmed it for me." You think on Ran's comment for a moment. Well, sure you care about Marisa, but is there anything more than that? You can feel your cheeks flush again as you think about that kiss last night. Ran smiles at your reaction but then her face takes on a serious look.

"Now that's settled, if you could again please tell us anything that you remember about seeing Lady Yukari. Anything at all would be helpful." Ran asks as Chen jumps into her sea of tails. At this Ran squeaks a bit as Chen begins to curl herself up her personal sea of softness. "Ch-Chen! G-Get out from there." A blush crosses Ran's face as she tries to pry Chen from her luscious tails.

[ ] Help out Ran
[ ] Help out Chen
[ ] Just leave them to sort it out on their own

[x] Help out Chen

What if she gets lost?

[X] Just leave them to sort it out on their own.

Admittedly, trying to help either Ran or Chen would probably result in a TAIL FEELS SO GOOD moment, but standing idly by allows us to witness a longer-lasting scene of pure moe.

[ ] Ask if Ran wants help
[ ] Then tell her what you know if she doesn't need the help.

I figured we should ask first, and as cute as Chen sleeping in Ran's tails is, chances are once you inform Ran, she'll be moving about and such, and it's better to interrupt Chen before she gets too comfortable.

Thanks, I was just trying to cover the angles well (and I figured Ran could at least drop a note off easily)

[X] Just leave them to sort it out on their own

[X] Just leave them to sort it out on their own.

[X] Just leave them to sort it out on their own.

Chen rolls around in Ran's many tails, causing Ran to squeak and twitch as she tries unsuccessfully to remove the young cat shikigami from the tangle of her nine tails. It's rather amusing to see Ran fumbling over herself as she grabs at Chen in an attempt to get her to stop her fooling around. Chen isn't making this easy, she keeps crawling around in her tails, clinging to one before changing positions and clinging to another.

"Ch-Chen... W-Would you just... ...please..." Ran pleads with Chen, it seems that Ran is losing this battle. Ran's tails must be ticklish, you think to yourself as you imagine tickling Ran yourself; you quickly shake off that thought as you remember the current issues at hand.

"Uhm... Miss Ran? You wanted me to tell you everything I remember about Yukari, right?" You begin to ask as Ran squirms. "Uhm... Did you need a moment?" You ask hesitantly as you watch the tumbling mass of girls and tails.

"O-Oh no. I-I'm listening i-it's alright." Ran struggles to say as she continues rummaging through her tails, you can feel her lying between her teeth, but she seems to think that she has it under control so you leave her to her own devices. "Ch-Chen please, not now!" She says with a blush to the little one as she squeezes one of Ran's tails to herself with a purr.

"Well, alright then let me think about where to begin again." You think aloud as you try to recall every instance that you think Yukari was involved. "Well the first time I remember seeing Yukari was my first night in Gensokyo, or at least I think it was Yukari. She had said something about causing trouble for Marisa, whatever that means." You tell Ran who seems almost too distracted to listen.

"Oh, th-that... Oh! Chen please." She suddenly shrieks as Chen shifts her position in Ran's tails. "I-I uhm... Oh! Ch-Chen... Sorry, I don't recall Lady Yukari mentioning any plans involving... Oh... Marisa." Ran struggles to say to you as she continues wrestling with the young cat, she's somehow still listening to you despite her distraction.

"Really..? Hmm... I would've thought that of anyone she would tell you about her plans. So you're sure she didn't mention anything about plans involving Marisa." You ask her, you feel a bit of disbelief that Yukari didn't mention anything about it to Ran.

"Uhm... Oh... Oh my! P-Please Chen... S-Stop it... M-My apologizes, L-Lady Yukari doesn't tell me very much about her personal matters." Ran apologizes as she seems to start getting a hold of Chen.

"Well there must be someone she tells everything to." You think aloud to yourself, "but who...?"

[ ] She's really good friends with Reimu right? Let's try the Hakurei Shrine
[ ] She's Yuyuko's best friend right? Let's head to Hakugyokuro
[ ] I think I heard something about Yukari and Rinnosuke being business partners, let's go to Kourindou

[X] She's Yuyuko's best friend right? Let's head to Hakugyokuro

Sisters in mischief.

Reimu's not it because she hates having to do more stuff (which always certainly happens with Yukari's stunts)

With Rinnosuke, it's more of a matter of the outside world (and maybe more wink wink nudge nudge)

[X] She's Yuyuko's best friend right? Let's head to Hakugyokuro

[X] She's Yuyuko's best friend right? Let's head to Hakugyokuro

[X] She's Yuyuko's best friend right? Let's head to Hakugyokuro

[X] She's Yuyuko's best friend right? Let's head to Hakuygyokuro

You think to yourself considering the possible people who Yukari might share her secrets with. She has helped out Reimu solve a few incidents and they seem like they get along very well, although Reimu probably wouldn't care to listen to Yukari's schemes even if she told her. She also delivers outside world relics to Rinnosuke, so they're at least business partners, although you read somewhere that they possibly might be an item. Who does that leave? You think on it for a moment, there must be someone else that Yukari spends time with, who else was in Perfect Cherry Blossom? Oh!

"Yuyuko! Yukari spends a lot of time with Yuyuko in Hakugyokuro, I mean they're best friends aren't they?" You chime in as Ran finally removes the rambunctious little cat from her tails.

"Gah! Finally, oh? Uhm, yes Lady Yukari does spend quite a bit of time in Hakugyokuro with Lady Yuyuko, they both get along quite well with each other, it's almost as though the two of them were sisters." Ran sighs with a blissful grin upon her face, she then shifts her attention to the wriggling cat shikigami nestled in her lap. "Chen, what did I tell you about playing with my tails and with a guest in presence on top of that!" She lectures Chen and raises a hand, threatening to bring it down upon the poor little girl's rump.

"I-I'm sorry Ran, b-but they were just so soft and comfy a-and..." Chen pleads to Ran, Chen's eyes waver with the onset of tears welling up in them, if cuteness could kill, the apocalypse has just occurred.

"I-I...Chen... I-I've warned you before th-that this would happen... so... s-so..." Ran's hand and voice trembles as she looks into Chen's eyes, she hesitates for a moment before lowering her hand with a sigh. "Fine... Just don't let it happen again." Ran sighs as she releases the little cat youkai with a light pat on her bottom. Chen runs off into another room with a cute little giggle, Ran's such a softy when it comes to Chen. "Anyways, I think that it would be a good idea for us to head off to Hakugyokuro and meet with Lady Yuyuko, perhaps she is aware of Lady Yukari's whereabouts." Ran seems to have regained her composure and begins to readjust her appearance.

"Okay then,but..." You hesitate for a moment.

"Is there something wrong?" Ran asks as she readjusts her hat.

[ ] Do you think we could wait for Marisa to get here..."
[ ] Do you think Chen could stay here to tell Marisa where we've gone if she drops by?
[ ] Nevermind, let's get going

[ ] Do you think Chen could stay here to tell Marisa where we've gone if she drops by?

[X] Do you think Chen could stay here to tell Marisa where we've gone if she drops by?

This would mean less trouble for Ran as well.

[x] Nevermind, let's get going

[X] Nevermind, let's get going

I like a deredere worrying Marisa.

[X] Do you think Chen could stay here to tell Marisa where we've gone if she drops by?

[BONK] Do you think Chen could stay here to tell Marisa where we've gone if she drops by?

[X] Do you think Chen could stay here to tell Marisa where we've gone if she drops by?

You hesitate before speaking, something inside of you tugs at your heart as you think about leaving. What if Marisa tries to find you here at Mayohiga? She would probably get even more worried to find that you're not there, and after last night that's the last thing you'd want to do to her.

"Uhm, Ran?" You ask hesitantly, Ran's ears immediately perk up as you begin your query.

"I was just thinking that if Marisa gets that note you sent her, she might come looking for me here, and she might get even more worried if I'm not here when she gets here." You begin to say, Ran just looks at you with a curious albeit understanding face.

"So you want us to wait here in case she shows up...?" Ran asks questioningly and tilts her head to the side a bit.

"No, not exactly, I just mean it might be less of a hassle for her if someone's here to let her know that I've gone with you to visit Yuyuko." You suggest to her. "What I mean to say is do you think that Chen could watch over Mayohiga while we're away?" As you finish your sentence Ran's face contorts to a look of unrest, she obviously has a problem with your suggestion.

"Well that is... well... I'm a bit uncomfortable with leaving Chen by herself, I mean she's still so young and can't defend herself all that well..." Ran explains as she starts holding one of her many tails to herself, as she does so you notice a pair of black cat ears poking out from beyond the doorway.

"Ran..." You hear a meek voice coming from beyond the doorway as Chen properly emerges from it and tugs on one of Ran's tails. "Why can't I watch over Mayohiga by myself? I'm a big girl a-and..." Chen whines to Ran

"And the last time you watched over Mayohiga by yourself you got hurt." As Ran tries to reason with Chen she gets down on her knees and puts her hands upon the young youkai's shoulders.

"But last time I watched over it by myself Miss Yukari and everyone also became friends with Marisa and Reimu. S-So... It'll be okay! S-So can I stay Ran please? Pretty please...?" Chen's eyes well up with tears again and she starts to tremble as she looks into Ran's eyes.

"But Chen... what if you..." Ran begins as she tries to resist Chen's cute pleading face. "...get...hurt..." You can tell that Ran is going to lose this fight as well.

"Please...?" Chen's cuteness attack is relentless, she's even begun batting her eyelashes at Ran. "Pretty pretty please...?" At this Ran sighs and puts her arms around Chen.

"Fine... you can watch over Mayohiga while we go and meet with Lady Yuyuko but... make sure that you stay put here, understand?" Ran concedes with a sigh and starts to begin another lecture. "Also don't talk to strangers, a-and you know where to find us if there's an emergency. Oh, a-and please don't get into a fight with anyone on purpose Chen..." Ran's laundry list of warnings and restrictions continue for at least another five minutes, all the while Chen sits patiently, scratching herself behind her ears every once in a while. "Did you get all that?" Ran asks hoping for a sign of acknowledgement, at which Chen gives a blank and slightly confused smile. "N-Nevermind then..." Ran sighs with an exhasperated look upon her face as she turns to you. "Alright then, let's get going."

You follow Ran through Yukari's house at Mayohiga not forgetting to pet Chen on the head as she follows the two of you out. You remark at how big the house actually is, it feels more like a mansion than a small residence. You eventually come to a clearing outside the house, as you turn back to look at it, you notice that it looks no larger than Reimu's house, but that can't be right could it? You reason to yourself that Yukari has somehow altered the border between the inside and outside of her house to make it larger on the inside.

Ran begins to ascend into the air and looks back down at you, likely waiting for you to do the same. You look up at her with a sheepish grin on your face and Ran stares back at you, half expecting your words. "I uhm... I can't fly."

"Is that so?" Ran replies with a sigh and slowly floats back to the ground. "I had figured as much, but I'd never expected Marisa to enjoy being around such a normal human, w-well a normal one without much in the way of magical powers, I mean." She explains as she approaches you. "N-No offense to you of course."

"None taken." You reply. "Although I think Marisa would appreciate my company just fine whether I was highly adpept in magic or not." You add for emphasis.

Ran takes one of your hands into her own and turns to you. "Hang on, alright?" She asks you as you both begin to float off of the ground, this experience is unlike any you've had in Gensokyo thus far. It no longer feels that you are being pulled down by gravity and just hanging on to Ran's hand, it's more like you've become immune to gravity along with Ran. You're curious to see if you would fall back to earth if you let go of her but at the same time you're almost too terrified to try. Ran turns to Chen as you both continue to float higher and higher. "Chen, please take care of the house while we're gone, and don't talk to strangers and don't-"

"Chen will be fine." You try to comfort Ran with a smile as you cut her off, you would place your hand on her shoulder but you're afraid of what the consequences of releasing Ran's hand would be were you to do so. Ran turns to you and nods, a her eyes still show a hint of worry.

"Alright..." She sighs as she gives up on lecturing Chen again. "Then let's be off."

As you both sail into the sky, you look back down towards Mayohiga to see Chen waving goodbye to you and Ran. Before long Mayohiga is but a speck on the ground and you look towards the horizon before you. It really is a different feeling, flying freely through the sky, the wind blowing across your entire body rather than having most of it being blocked by Marisa sitting in front of you. Along the flight you pass by a field of flowers, there's several fairies flying around there, you also notice some sunflowers and what looks to be some sort of purple haze moving about the fields.

On top of the sound of wind blowing past you, you begin to hear someone shouting from behind, it's getting closer and closer. Someone must be chasing after the two of you. The shouting gets louder and you can make out what they're saying over the sound of rushing wind now.

"-ing...! -pring...! Spring!" The voice shouts out to you. Oh gods no.

Suddenly a white and red blur rushes past you and Ran and stops in front of you forcing you and Ran to abruptly stop. The figure before you is a girl with long blonde hair, and a pointed white hat with a red bow on one side of it. Her dress is made up of several layers of white fabric with red zig-zag designs across the hems of her dress. You can see six, feathered wings poking out from behind her. You and Ran collectively sigh as you realize who you're currently facing: Lily White.

"Lily... we really don't have time for this right now." Ran sighs at the excitable herald of Spring. "Besides, spring has already passed, it's summer now."

"Yes, I know but spring is only two-hundred twenty-one days away!" Lily sings happily at the two of you as she begins to sway back and forth cheerfully. "Spring! Spring! Spring!" You notice glowing bullets shooting out in every which direction from her wings as she sings happily. Not good.

[ ] Suggest you try to fight off Lily
[ ] Just run for it, she's not worth our time
[ ] write-in?

>>17448
Also spring really is 221 days away: March 20, 2010.
The more you know!

[X] Just run for it, she's not worth our time

[X] Just run for it, she's not worth our time

[x] Just run for it, she's not worth our time

[BONK] Just run for it, she's not worth our time

[X] Just run for it, she's not worth our time

"Spring! Spring!" Lily continues to dance along the air as her feathers shed themselves causing a torrent of danmaku bullets.

"Ran, we don't have time to play around with Lily, let's make a break for it!" You quickly shout to Ran as she drags you jerking along through the sky as she dodges the oncoming bullets.

"I agree, Lily isn't worth our time." Ran replies and you suddenly feel your stomach jump into your throat as Ran dips you and herself underneath the hail of danmaku.

You're dragged along as Ran dodges underneath the bullets, Lily seems to not notice that you and Ran. Looking back up at Lily you see... ahem... Anyways you and Ran continue along when you begin to hear that familiar incessant shouting from behind you.

"...ring...! Spring...!" Lily shouts at you from behind, she's chasing the two of you now, doesn't she ever give up.

"Ran!" You shout at the shikigami to your side but it seems that she's already taken notice and begins to pick up speed. You can feel your eyes dry up almost instantly as you cut through the sky; you can't help but close your eyes but you gradually hear the sound of Lily's voice fade away although that may be also due to the deafening sound of the wind rushing past you. Eventually the wind dies down and the pressure from it seems to lighten against your face, you must've slowed your pace. After looking back behind you it seems like you've lost her, for now at least.

"Thank goodness." Ran sighs as you continue through the sky. "I cannot tell you the number of times that herald caused trouble for Lady Yukari and myself. I cannot understand how one can be so obsessed with one thing as that girl, no other embodiments of seasons are nearly as bad as her." Ran sighs loudly as she recalls her encounters with the fairy of spring. And you thought Lily was a pain in the games, she's even more so in person, although that flash you caught of her panties left you with some sense of appreciation for spring.

Your journey eventually brings you to a large gate with a glowing seal upon it surrounded by several pillars, this must be the gate to Hakugyokuro where the Prismriver sisters can often be found, although as of right now they're nowhere to be seen. Ran looks up at the gate and stares in awe.

"To be honest with you, I have no idea how to get past this gate." Ran apologizes as she stares up at the massive wooden gate, the seal upon the gate emenates with a dim light as you both stare at it. "Lady Yukari would always just open a gap anytime we needed to go somewhere, and especially to Lady Yuyuko's residence in Hakugyokuro." You think to yourself as you try to remember the events of Perfect Cherry Blossom. How did Marisa and Reimu get past this gate again? You look up past the gate and then it comes back to you.

"Miss Ran." You say to get her attention to which she turns to you awaiting your suggestion. "You don't think that we could just fly over the gate, do you?"

"Fly over it? No, that wouldn't work, there's a seal over Hakugyokuro." She tries to convince herself as she looks again at the gate then at the space above it. "Although it does look like the seal only covers the gate door itself." She muses to herself as she flies over the gate and hesitantly sticks an arm out to test the air above. "There doesn't seem to be a seal repelling us from it. Looks like it's fine, good thinking. Let's get going." Ran says as you both continue to fly over the gate to Hakugyokuro.

The atmosphere immediately changes as you cross the threshold of Hakugyokuro, the air feels different, an almost empty feeling. As you both fly through Hakugyokuro you take in your surroundings. Hakugyokuro is essentially an orchard of barren trees, you recall them being pink and full of cherry blossoms but the season for that has passed already and all that is left is mostly bare tree branches. The trees are alive in quite a different way; all around you are floating spirits appearing as glowing wisps all around you. Before you and Ran is a long stone stairwell that seems to go on forever. You and Ran continue following the stairs to their end until you hear a large metallic slash and feel a sudden emptiness in the air before you as if something cut the very air before you in half.

"Who goes there?" You hear the voice of a young woman echo from throughout the orchard. Then, yet another slash and a girl appears before you with short silver hair clad in a green vest with a white collared under shirt and a pleated skirt of the same green color. In her hands are two silvery katanas, one about half the size of the other. Her eyes stare at you intensely as she holds the swords poised to strike the two of you. Youmu blinks for a moment before slowly lowering her swords.

"Oh, Miss Ran, what brings you to Hakugyokuro today? Your Mistress Yukari isn't visiting with Lady Yuyuko." Youmu greets Ran with a rather friendly smile. "And who is this boy that you've brought with you?" She asks, you notices that she visibly tightens her grip on her swords as she motions towards you.

"Actually that's what we have come to see lady Yuyuko about. You see this boy here is an acquaintance of Lady Yukari's and is currently my only lead to finding her, he really is a good kid." Ran explains to Youmu, you're relieved that she's vouching for you as well.

"Oh, has your Mistress Yukari gone missing?" Youmu asks surprisedly although you notice that she hasn't yet sheathed her swords yet, much less loosened her grip on them. "Then Miss Ran, what might I be able to do for you?" She seems to be completely ignoring you now, it looks like it'll take some work to win over Youmu's trust.

[ ] Ran, you go on ahead and meet with Lady Yuyuko, I'd like to explore Hakugyokuro with Youmu.
[ ] Let's all go meet with Lady Yuyuko.
[ ] Youmu, do you think you could show us around Hakugyokuro before we meet with Lady Yuyuko?

[X] Let's all go meet with Lady Yuyuko.

[X] Let's all go meet with Lady Yuyuko.

Strictly bidness.

[X] Let's all go meet with Lady Yuyuko.

Get the important stuff out of the way first. That and Youmu'd be impressed (it helps to have her on your side)

[X] Let's all go meet with Lady Yuyuko.

[BONK] Let's all go meet with Lady Yuyuko.

[X] Let's all go meet with Lady Yuyuko

It might be fun to go out and explore Hakugyokuro, being that it's your first time here, however you're not here for fun you're here to help Ran find Yukari. That said, it looks like Youmu is going to lead you and Ran to meet Yuyuko anyways.

"Ah, Miss Ran, Lady Yuyuko is having tea with the Prismriver sisters as of right now but I'm sure they wouldn't mind more company. Allow me to lead you and your guest to them, I'll send word of your arrival." Youmu politely invites the two of you, well politely to Ran at least; you didn't like the way she emphasized 'your guest' when she was speaking to Ran.

Shaking that thought off you follow Youmu as she leads you and Ran up the stairs of Hakugyokuro, flying to your destination of course, still somehow being essentially carried by Ran; you shudder to think how long it would take to walk up all these stairs. As you continue your journey up the stairs to meet Lady Yuyuko, you're struck with the smell of the orchards around you, the air is rich with the smell of dead trees and something else that you can't quite put your finger on, you decide to yourself that if death has a smell, this is what that last smell would be. You travel on for several more minutes before reaching the end of the long stairwell, at the top you come across a massive, barren, cherry tree. There's something quite different about this tree, but you can't quite figure out what it is, then it hits you--this tree has no spirits floating around it.

"This tree is the Saigyou Ayakashi." Ran explains to you quietly to you as you both pass by it. "I am unsure of the specifics of it, but according to Lady Yukari, this tree has some great significance to both Lady Yuyuko and Lady Yukari." You marvel at the size of the tree as you fly past it, you knew it was supposed to be big but the word doesn't even begin to do the Saigyou Ayakashi justice. You feel something tugging at your very core, not very strongly, it's almost like a little kid tugging at your sleeve trying to get your attention, but it feels like it's coming from the tree. You find that you cannot tear your gaze away from the tree unitl Ran yanks you sharply by the arm, forcing your attention away from it. "The tree has some sort of seal on it, but that doesn't keep it's influence from attracting humans to it." Ran warns you as you pass.

The three of you continue on past the cursed tree through some more orchards and eventually come across what you can only assume is Yuyuko's manor, the building is in the style of old Meiji era Japanese houses. The roof bears the familiar sloping curves that are a staple of older Japanese buildings. The three of you land in front of the manor and begin to walk toward it, Youmu steps forward and puts a hand to the front door and turns toward you and Ran. As she stands before you, a ghostly wips comes to Youmu's side, it circles around her and floats by her side; that must be Youmu's ghost half.

"I must ask that the both of you give your utmost respect to Lady Yuyuko as you enter. She is currently enjoying the company of the Prismriver sisters as I said before, but I had Myon let her know that you were coming."

"Myon?" You ask, unfamiliar with that name from any of the games.

"My ghost half." As Youmu explains, the wisp forms into what looks like another Youmu, only her eyes are red instead of her usual blue. "Its a bit hard to explain, but we are both me." As Youmu explains this, Myon nods and mouths Youmu's exact words. Youmu looks back to Myon who turns back into a wisp and continues floating around Youmu. "Anyways, we are pleased to have the honor of your company." She says as with a bow as she opens up the door.

Unlike Yukari's house at Mayohiga, Yuyuko's house is the exact size that it looks to be, which is not to mean that the house is small, but its just a bit bigger than Reimu's house. The house is what you would expect of a older styled Japanese manor, throughout the main corridor is several rooms on either side, each with paper doors, not dissimilar from Yukari's house.

Youmu leads you through the house and eventually stops before a door and kneels down before it, she places her hands on the door and slowly slides the paper door to the side revealing a low Japanese table with Yuyuko on one side of the table facing the three multi-colored Prismriver sisters on the other side. The group of them all turn to face you as you enter. Yuyuko's mature body is shown off very nicely by her light-blue kimono full of white frills and blue ribbons. Atop her rosy pink-haired head is a familiar blue bonnet with a red swirl on the front of it. Also you notice that there are numerous spirit wisps floating about Yuyuko, she seems to give them no mind. The Prismrivers are garbed in their usual black, red, and white matching uniforms and pointed hats.

"Oh! It looks like our other guests have arrived, welcome, welcome!" Yuyuko exclaims excitedly at you and Ran as she motions for you to sit down. "Please, sit, sit!" It seems that Yuyuko is much more of a pleasant person than the uptight Youmu. "Lyrica, Lunasa, Merlin, you have all met Yukari's shikigami, Ran?" Yuyuko motions towards you and Ran as the two of you sit down at the table, to which the Prismrivers nod. "And you are a new face!" Yuyuko smiles as she takes a good look at you. "We were actually just talking about you! It's so nice to see that rogue Marisa is finally settling down with someone." You blush at Yuyuko's last comment when you notice that a copy of the Bunbunmaru newspaper is sitting at the center of the table. That reminds you that you and Marisa were supposed to give Aya a little visit later today. "Anyways, to what do we owe your presence here today?" Yuyuko asks warmly.

[ ] We came to ask you about Lady Yukari, you haven't happened to see her lately, have you?
[ ] Uhm... That newspaper... It's really not what you think it is... Although concerning Marisa...
[ ] First why don't we get acquainted with each other, I'm still rather new here in Gensokyo.
[ ] Something else?

[x] First why don't we get acquainted with each other, I'm still rather new here in Gensokyo.
[x] We came to ask you about Lady Yukari, you haven't happened to see her lately, have you?

[x] We came to ask you about Lady Yukari, you haven't happened to see her lately, have you?
[x] Ask about any flower viewings in the future

First thing is business, then ask about the flower viewings since it'd be something nice to have Marisa go to and such.

[X] First why don't we get acquainted with each other, I'm still rather new here in Gensokyo.

[x] First why don't we get acquainted with each other, I'm still rather new here in Gensokyo.
[x] We came to ask you about Lady Yukari, you haven't happened to see her lately, have you?

[x] We came to ask you about Lady Yukari, you haven't happened to see her lately, have you?
[x] Ask about any flower viewings in the future

[x] First why don't we get acquainted with each other, I'm still rather new here in Gensokyo.
[x] We came to ask you about Lady Yukari, you haven't happened to see her lately, have you?

[X] First why don't we get acquainted with each other, I'm still rather new here in Gensokyo.
[X] We came to ask you about Lady Yukari, you haven't happened to see her lately, have you?

"Well, first I think it might be a good idea for all of us to get properly acquainted with one another, as I don't think we've all been properly introduced." You reply to Yuyuko as you try to get yourself comfortable at the table, you're still not quite used to these really low Japanese tables, and your feet have a tendency to go numb after sitting down at them for awhile.

"Oh forgive me." Yuyuko begins, putting a hand to cover her mouth in shock. "How very rude of me, here we have a new guest and we haven't all been properly introduced yet." Yuyuko clears her throat, straightens herself up, and motions to herself causing the wisps around her to become more active and animated. "I am the head of this manor, Saigyouji Yuyuko, the 'ghostly girl of the netherworld'." She playfully introduces herself with a giggle, the wisps circle around her for effect as she smiles and winks at you, causing a cold shiver to run up your spine. Yuyuko then turns to Youmu and waves at her. "Youmu, don't be rude to our guest, come and introduce yourself to him properly." Youmu reluctantly shuffles over to a spot behind Yuyuko and bows shallowly before introducing herself.

"I apologize for my rudeness, honored guests. My name is Konpaku Youmu, I am the head gardener of Hakugyokuro and Lady Yuyuko's attendant." As Youmu speaks, she seems to be purposefully avoiding eye contact with you.

"Oh Youmu!" Yuyuko shouts merrily as she quickly wraps Youmu in an embrace, "Don't be so uptight, you don't have to be so formal! We're all friends around here." Yuyuko musses up Youmu's hair with a giggle, Youmu blushes and turns away from everyone as she tries to detangle herself from Yuyuko. Yuyuko then motions over to the Prismriver sisters to introduce themselves. "Alright, why don't you go next girls." Yuyuko seems to be enjoying this quite a bit.

The prismriver sisters look at Yuyuko with a confused look on their faces for a moment before arguing amongst themselves for who should go first. Eventually the sisters both nudge on Lyrica's shoulders from both sides, since she happens to be in the middle and seems to reluctantly go first. She tries to sit up straight and readjust her red uniform which seems to have become disheveled from her sister's pushing and clears her throat.

"I'm Lyrica, this is Merlin, and Lunasa." She motions to herself then to her sisters to the left and right of her. "And we're the Prismriver sisters, uhm... I suppose you could think of us as a ghostly band. And uhm... that's all I've got." Lyrica, says sheepishly as her sisters urge her to continue. Eventually Merlin gives up and speaks up, "Please excuse my sister, she's a bit timid. Like she said, I'm Merlin and it's a pleasure to meet you. We thought it might be a good idea to have Lyrica introduce us since she's a friend of your girlfriend, but a lot of good that did us. Anyways, like she said, we are ghostly musicians and often play in concert before the gate to Hakugyokuro, and we were just talking about you with Yuyuko, you've made quite a splash here." The Prismrivers and Yuyuko all nod in agreement, Yuyuko then begins to speak up.

"She's right you know, you've caused quite a buzz lately young man, especially since Aya left this newspaper." Yuyuko speaks to you in an almost sing-song voice. "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" She leans in with a curious look on her face as she asks you.

"I... well... where to begin?" You think aloud to yourself, it's a bit hard to think up something to say now that you're the one on the spot like this. "Well, I first got to Gensokyo about three days ago and-" You begin when suddenly everyone in the room gasps at you, well that is, everyone except Youmu and Ran, neither seem all too engaged in the gossip making.

"Do you mean that you're from..." Yuyuko pauses for a moment, "...the outside world?" You nod in reply to which Yuyuko giggles to herself, she does seem to love gossip. "Of course Marisa would like a boy from the outside world! She's the kind of girl to think that boys here are too normal." You blush at Yuyuko's last comment.

"I-I'ts really not like that!" You stammer as the girls begin to giggle and poke fun at you. "N-No really! Marisa was just... She was just caught in the moment!" You continue trying to defend yourself and Marisa but seem to be failing miserably, the girls just continue giggling and mumbling to themselves.

"It's alright, you have to be so modest with us," Yuyuko giggles, "Unless you're just playing with that girl's heart..." The girls all become quiet and look intently at you, you notice that Ran is becoming a bit irritable.

"N-No I would never!" You shout, the whole room remains silent and you sink into your seat sheepishly, your face warm with an embarrassed blush. Ran clears her throat loudly so as to get your attention and you remember why you've come here in the first place, that's right, you're here for business. You try to straighten yourself up and regain your composure. "Ahem, sorry, but we actually didn't come here just to catch up on the latest gossip; Miss Yuyuko, we actually came to find out about Lady Yukari, because it is to my understanding that you and Lady Yukari are good friends, so we were wondering if you had happened to talk to her lately?" Yuyuko seems a bit taken aback at your sudden change of subject, but it really is why you're here, isn't it?

"Well, is that so? Hmm, It has been a little while since I've last seen Yukari... Probably three days or so by now since she last visited." Yuyuko recalls, as puts a hand to her chin, obviously deep in thought. "Yeah, must've been three days at least since she last visited Hakugyokuro. Now that I think about it, she's usually over at least every other day unless there's some incident that needs to be taken care of."

"Three days ago... hmm... You don't think that my coming here to Gensokyo and you having not seen her since then are related do you?" You ask curiously to Yuyuko who seems to catch on to what you're getting at.

"It could be, I mean there's very few other ways that you could've come to Gensokyo from the outside world." Yuyuko replies.

"Lady Yuyuko," Ran interjects, she seems less annoyed with everyone now, "Did she... pardon me, I mean did Lady Yukari happen to mention anything to you about leaving, or any plans that she had lately?"

"Hmm... the last time she was here..." Yuyuko thinks to herself for a moment, "...she did mention something about having to go gather something from the outside world, but I didn't think she meant a person. Something about finding a replacement for something..." She explains to you in fairly cryptic words.

"A replacement?" You ask, who or what does Yukari want to replace, and why?

"Yes, but I'm unsure of any plans beyond that." Yuyuko bites her lip. "She hadn't really mentioned going anywhere else to me." She seems a little bit unsure of herself.

[ ] "I see, thanks for your time. Let's head back to Mayohiga." We should figure out our next move from there.
[ ] "You're her best friend, she must've said something else to you." Push the matter.
[ ] "So... about that article, what exactly does it say about me and Marisa?" You really didn't a good chance to read the article all too thoroughly earlier.
[ ] "Lady Yuyuko, do you think that we could get a grand tour of Hakugyokuro, while we're here?" Since you're here already, why not?

[BONK] "So... about that article, what exactly does it say about me and Marisa?" You really didn't a good chance to read the article all too thoroughly earlier

[X] "So... about that article, what exactly does it say about me and Marisa?" You really didn't a good chance to read the article all too thoroughly earlier.
[X] Ask if you could get the tour at a later date, this is a good spot to remember in the future.
[x] Bid your farewells and return to plot out the next course of action.

I wonder what needs to be replaced...

[X] "So... about that article, what exactly does it say about me and Marisa?" You really didn't a good chance to read the article all too thoroughly earlier.

[X] "So... about that article, what exactly does it say about me and Marisa?" You really didn't a good chance to read the article all too thoroughly earlier.

"Oh... I see..." You say, wondering what she meant by replacing something, you're left with a rather uneasy feeling as dwell on Yuyuko's response. What on earth could Yukari be planning? For now you just accept that you'll find out sooner or later. While dwelling upon that thought your gaze drifts back to that now infamous newspaper sitting at the table's center, something about it piques your curiosity. You have to know. "Lady Yuyuko? Might I ask what exactly does that newspaper say about Marisa and myself?" A bemused smile crosses Yuyuko's face as she hears your question.

"Oh, What's that?" Yuyuko feigns ignorance while she giggles and places a hand over her mouth as she giggles, such a proper lady that Yuyuko is. She then picks up the paper and playfully waves it around. "Oh, you mean this? Why don't you find out for yourself." She slides the paper across the table to you which you fumble to grab at.

You slowly scoop up the paper hesitant to look upon its contents. You unfold the offending paper and take a look at the front page article. As you glance at the picture of you and Marisa again, the feeling of her lips against your own, the smell of her scent, it all causes an indescribable eruption of feelings within you. Marisa Kirisame. What does she really mean to you? That's not something that you think can answer just yet, you think as you begin reading through the article, your hands already becoming clammy from anticipation.

"YOUKAI HUNTING WITCH IN LOVE? MYSTERIOUS MAN, MARISA'S LOVER?"

"Day X, in the month of X just a little past midnight the infamous thief and part time youkai hunter was discovered in the human village with another human man, or is it? Surely a normal human would not be able to tame the wild heart of this ordinary black and white witch?

"After getting an anonymous tip, the Bunbunmaru's number one reporter began an investigation of Marisa Kirisame (human), who lives in a disheveled little shack in the Forest of Magic. Our newspaper has been tracking down the elusive witch for the past two days and now has an exclusive scoop on the happenings of the youkai hunting witch and this mysterious stranger.".

"Who is this mysterious stranger that recently accompanies the mischievous burglar around Gensokyo. In an interview with a youkai, who for privacy reasons will remain unnamed, had this to say about the young man. "I have no idea who you're talking about. If Marisa has a boyfriend, good for her." A shocking conclusion, is it not? It is now apparent that Marisa Kirisame now has a boyfriend, could it be that she is now cheating on her other lovers in her love triangle, Patchouli Knowledge and Alice Margatroid, both of whom we reported about several issues ago?"

"There is much speculation surrounding the origin of this young man, his clothes are very odd and overly simple, it's assumed that he could possibly be an alien. This is conclusion is backed up by the sight of strange flying ships seen over the skies of Gensokyo recently. Speaking of which, shrine maiden, Hakurei Reimu has yet to act upon the recent appearances, although the newer shrine maiden, Sanae Kochiya, seems eager to treat the situation as an incident, but more about that in our next issue. Speaking of incidents, it is believed that this inidividual and the flying ships have appeared as a possible result of the geysers from Gensokyo's latest incident, this is as of yet unconfirmed."

"There are a few residents of Gensokyo who believe that this individual is an ordinary human, these accounts are currently considered to be baseless conjecture as of right now. Besides, who would believe that Marisa Kirisame would ever be interested in a normal human, as odd as that girl is. This leads us to the point of this article. What IS the relationship between Marisa and this mysterious man."

"The Bunbunmaru has an exclusive scoop on this matter. It would seem that these two have a rather close relationship as evidenced above. This is in fact the first known photo of Marisa caught in a public display of affection. Is this kiss the result of a blooming love between these two? Or is it perhaps a fluke on the part of the mysterious man, using the poor girl as he pleases. What truly are the intentions of this stranger, and how does the thieving witch feel on the situation, we will bring you more on this story when it becomes available."

Aya Shameimaru

What the heck. Is what you want to say, but you're left speechless as you look across the table at Yuyuko, Youmu, and the Prismriver sisters. As you look at her, Yuyuko raises an eyebrow to you.

"Well, are you fini-" Yuyuko begins but is cut off by a loud boom coming from outside. "What in the world was that? Youmu could you please investigate that ruckus outside?" Yuyuko asks to the waiting gardener who in the blink of an eye has vanished from sight. Wow, she's fast. "I apologize for that interruption. Anyways, as I was saying, you did read the article in its entirety, yes?" You nod in response. "Well, then concerning the last part of the article, there are some silly parts in it but there was one part that interested myself and the sisters in particular. So, will you let us know what the is truth behind it?"

"The truth behind what?" You ask, praying that she's not asking you what you think she's asking you about.

"Oh, no need to play coy with us. This is what we were just discussing before you and Ran came in to visit us. Would be so kinda as to tell us 'what truly are the intentions of this stranger?'" She giggles along with the Prismrivers.

You open your mouth to speak when suddenly the sliding door is slammed open and revealing the ordinary black witch herself with poor Chen hanging onto her legs, her clothes are slightly burned and torn and tears are streaming down her face.

"I-I'm s-shorrwy M-Miss Ran... Sh-she was so forshful..." Chen cries at Ran, slowly unclamping herself from Marisa's leg and scampering over to Ran's waiting embrace.

"Well, well you couldn't have better timing Marisa. We were just talking about you. Your young friend was about to tell us very important." Yuyuko giggles as she and everyone else in the room turns to you. No pressure.

[ ] Write-in Only.

[X] "I like your dress."

I do like Marisa's dress.

>>17686

[x] "While that tengu was exaggerating things, I would be lying if I didn't like you. I'm sorry if my little stunt created problems for you."

>>17688
>>17710

This kind of comes off as a bit dickish (Sure, it's a word).

>I'm sorry if my little stunt created problems for you.

And I really don't like the way this sounds.

[x] "While that tengu was exaggerating things, I would be lying if I didn't like you. I'm sorry if my little stunt created problems for you."

Could be worded a bit better but I like this option.

[x] "While that tengu was exaggerating things, I would be lying if I didn't like you. I'm sorry if my little stunt created problems for you."

I'd like to vote AGAINST this until it's reworded. This is an important moment, don't screw it up.

>>17731

Marisa is aware that Aya has already distributed her paper to damn near everyone.

[x] Anemia option

>>17731
Still sounds awkward. We can't just calmly rattle off an explanation like it's nothing, we need to express that she does mean something to us or at least try to make her feel like things aren't going terribly wrong. "I'm sorry Aya saw us" isn't going to cut it.

[x] "I like your dress."
For now I'm going with this, at least it's disorientingly off-topic and an honest compliment, but I think we can do better.

Final reword: "Marisa, that was just me getting carried away with the moment, but I do find myself falling for you the more I think about it."

I thought about the dress option but my heart tells me go this route; I change my vote to this.

[x]"I like your dress."
[x]"But I absolutely love your hat."
[x]"...Have I ever mentioned that?"

>>17736

Still not convinced.

Going with the dress~

[X] "I like your dress."

Something important to tell everyone? Thanks a lot Yuyuko, you think to yourself as you face the panting black white before you. You walk over to Marisa as you strain your mind for something intelligible to say to her. It looks as though she's gone through quite a lot of trouble to come here and find you. Got to come up with something to say, anything. Something that tells her you how you feel, that says what Marisa means to you, something...

"I-I uh... I really like your dress Marisa!" You suddenly blurt out. Really? That's the best you could think up? Marisa's face contorts from one of exhaustion to that of frustration at your reply.

"Th-That's it?" Marisa shouts at you, her hands now quivering and face flushed red. "Y-You disappear suddenly without warning, making me worry about you. Then after scouring the Forest of Magic for an hour I come home to a letter telling me that you're at Mayohiga. I drop everything to fly off to find you and Chen tells me that you're not there anymore. Th-Then I fly with her trying to stop me to Hakugyokuro, having to deal with Lily White on the way, just to find you here having a conversation with w-with these ghosts, and all you have to say to me is that you like my dress?!" As Marisa punctuates her point, a deafening slap echoes through the room and you feel a hot, sharp pain across your cheek.

"M-Marisa..." Is the only thing you can manage to say as you try to come to terms with what has just happened.

"S-Stupid!" Marisa chokes loudly as she runs out of the room. As her footsteps disappear down the adjacent hallway, so too does the sound of her sobbing. You stand in shock, what the hell just happened?

The whole room is filled with silence for what feels like a few minutes before Yuyuko speaks up.

"Oh, I-I... I don't know what to say. I'm terribly sorry, I didn't expect that it would turn out like this. I've never known that girl to become so emotional over anything like this before, but perhaps that says something about you as a person." Yuyuko apologizes to you as she rises to her feet. "Perhaps it'd be best if I went out to her and try to calm her down a bit?" Yuyuko suggests while walking over to you and placing a hand upon your shoulder. Ran looks up at you, her face filled with concern.

"Actually I think it would be best if you spoke with her in private." Ran chimes in. "Maybe this is something that only you two can work out yourselves." Her tails swirl behind her as she pet's an exhausted Chen.

[ ] Allow the girls to chat amongst themselves to see if they can't calm Marisa down.
[ ] Maybe having some one-on-one time with Marisa will help sort this out.
[ ] Let's just let her cool down by herself, perhaps she was just overreacting.

[x] Maybe having some one-on-one time with Marisa will help sort this out.

>>17743
just stop, please

[X] Maybe having some one-on-one time with Marisa will help sort this out.
[x] Explain what's happened so far with Ran's errand first. Then go into the other topics at hand as it seems fit. Among the first would be apologizing for the response.

I figured this'd be better malleable.

[x]Go talk to her, one on one time.
[x]"Hey. I just sorta froze up when put on the spot. But the truth is... I was really happy to see you, you know?"

[x]Go talk to her, one on one time.
[x]"Hey. I just sorta froze up when put on the spot. But the truth is... I was really happy to see you, you know?"

Sounds good enough.

[x]Go talk to her, one on one time.
[x]"Hey. I just sorta froze up when put on the spot. But the truth is... I was really happy to see you, you know?"

[X]Go talk to her, one on one time.
[X]"Hey. I just sorta froze up when put on the spot. But the truth is... I was really happy to see you, you know?"

[ ] Maybe having some one-on-one time with Marisa will help sort this out.

Damn, we should have complimented her shoes too.

[X]Go talk to her, one on one time.
[X]"Hey. I just sorta froze up when put on the spot. But the truth is... I was really happy to see you, you know? Although the paper was a bit exaggerated, in all honesty I really like you Marisa... "

[X] Go talk to her, one on one time.

We'll get to what to say to Marisa in an update or two.
------------------

You're still a bit in shock, the repercussions of your actions are starting to sink in. Marisa was really pissed off at you, you should try to find her and work things out on your own. In a weird way you started this whole mess so you should probably try to resolve it yourself. You turn to the girls and take a deep breath being sure to chose your words carefully this time.

"I... I'm going to talk to Marisa..." The girls look up at you suddenly alerted to the break of silence, Yuyuko looks ready to say something, "...alone." You quickly cut off Yuyuko who just as abruptly shuts her mouth before nodding at you.

"Alright then, do what you want," Yuyuko pouts at you playfully in response, "...but do be careful with what you say to that girl. We wouldn't want her going off on an angry rampage over a boy, now would we?" She lets out a little giggle.

"Indeed, we would have to call for the shrine maiden and report it as an incident." Ran adds with a small chuckle from her seated position with a now sleeping Chen in her lap. She then clears her throat and straightens herself, at least as much as she can with the little nekomata resting on her. "I must apologize, you wouldn't be in this predicament had I not brought you here, and-"

"No, you're wrong." You interrupt Ran shaking your head. "You were worried about finding Yukari, you don't have anything to apologize for. It's my fault, I should've been more thoughtful of Marisa..." You pause for a moment looking towards the door that seems to have been derailed due to Marisa's fit, "I should get going..." As you begin to walk off, Ran speaks up.

"Good luck, and thank you for the help."

"No problem." With that you head towards the front of the manor where you hope Marisa is. You beat yourself up mentally as you run down the main corridor of the manor. How could you say something so stupid and insensitive? You definitely have to make it up to her somehow.

The sun shines brightly as you leave the manor, no sign of Marisa out here, but you can only hope that she's still somewhere around Hakugyokuro. Searching around the grounds around the manor you start to shout out her name, the spirits around you seem to react as you call out. In some places they seem to gather around, and in others, they seem to create a clearing almost as though... Are they trying to lead you to Marisa or somewhere else..."

[ ] Follow the path outlined by the spirit wisps
[ ] Trust your gut instincts to find Marisa

[x] Follow the path outlined by the spirit wisps

I think they know Marisa's name

[X] Trust your gut instincts to find Marisa

NEVER GIVE UP, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS.

jamesmccloud.jpg

[x] Follow the path outlined by the spirit wisps

[ ] Trust your gut instincts to find Marisa

[x] Follow the path outlined by the spirit wisps

[x] Follow the path outlined by the spirit wisps

I don't remember clairvoyance or witch radar being part of our skill set.

[X] Follow the path outlined by the spirit wisps

You still don't know your way around most parts of Gensokyo so you reason that following some sort of path would be better than wandering around on your gut instincts, despite how much that hurts your pride as a man.

These glowing wisps seem to give you just that, a path. You're reminded of a fun house as you follow the path laid out by the spirits--at parts the trail is clear, but then suddenly spirits will gather around creating a wall, guiding you towards clear parts of the veritable labyrinth of wisps. Perhaps you should be a little disturbed by the fact that you're following the spirits of the dead around a barren orchard, but for one reason or another you're not. Maybe you've been in Gensokyo too long, you think to yourself, leaving a small tinge of regret in you. What is going on back home?

Shaking that thought off, you continue around for a good several minutes noticing the barren tangles of the tree branches which serve to bother you a great deal more than the glowing spirits surrounding you. This place seemed so much more colorful and lively in Perfect Cherry Blossom, but that's because Yuyuko and Youmu had stolen all the spring from Gensokyo and brought it here, isn't it? Although there is something peculiar about the trees outline along this trail--unlike all the trees in the rest of the orchard, they all have a few remnants of cherry petals left in them.

As you continue along the wisps abruptly disperse leaving you more or less alone in the orchards, was it a bad idea to follow these spirits? Just as that thought crosses your mind you begin to hear the soft sound of someone sobbing. You quiet your steps as you approach the source of the sobs, half expecting some sad ghost waiting for you to free them of their last regrets. The sobs seem to be coming from a rather small and inconspicuous tree with a few pink blossoms left in it.

"...Stupid... ...~ze..." Comes a familiar choked sob as you approach.

As you check around the tree your fears are put to rest as you find a little black white sitting at the base of the tree, crying to herself; her broom leaning against the tree and her hat discarded beside her. She doesn't seem to have noticed you yet.

[ ] Write-in Only

[x] announce yourself to Marisa but not in the way that will end up surprising her.
[x] if she tells you to leave her, apologize for hurting her.
[x] talk to her. Explain what has really happened.

[X] Apologize, you were just happy to see her and wanted to say something nice.
[X] Promise you'll make it up to her somehow

eh

[x] stay silent
[x] hug her from behind

>>17840
>>17856
Jesus Christ, you are everywhere. At the beginning it was not so striking but lately i picture you as the little annoying guy who wants to be friends with everyone.
I really wish i had a filter here just for you.

I do like to vote on various stories after all.

>>17858
You are the worst Tripfag here, well you can't really call the others Tripfags because they only took trips so that we can identify them, but you are just bad.
It's like Nipaa and Arcueid Brunestud put together and not even then it would reach your level.
Sage for me and my useless rambling that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread.

[x] Serious and determined, walk out and call her name. Look her straight in the eyes and tell her that you like her. You really like her, and you're sorry you didn't tell her sooner.
[x] Add that you're sorry for making her worry. If you'd had the chance, you would have told her in person.
[x] If she'll let you, help her up and embrace her. Just hold her.

Something along those lines, depending on her reaction.

? Serious and determined, walk out and call her name. Look her straight in the eyes and tell her that you like her. You really like her, and you're sorry you didn't tell her sooner.
? Add that you're sorry for making her worry. If you'd had the chance, you would have told her in person.
? If she'll let you, help her up and embrace her. Just hold her.

>>17859

Sounds like someone needs a timeout.

[x] Serious and determined, walk out and call her name. Look her straight in the eyes and tell her that you like her. You really like her, and you're sorry you didn't tell her sooner.
[x] Add that you're sorry for making her worry. If you'd had the chance, you would have told her in person.
[x] If she'll let you, help her up and embrace her. Just hold her.

Changing my vote to this:

[x] Serious and determined, walk out and call her name. Look her straight in the eyes and tell her that you like her. You really like her, and you're sorry you didn't tell her sooner.
[x] Add that you're sorry for making her worry. If you'd had the chance, you would have told her in person.
[x] If she'll let you, help her up and embrace her. Just hold her.

Talk is cheap.
Actions speak louder than words.

[x]Walk up to her and steal her precious thing. Kiss her like she's never been kissed before.

[X] Serious and determined, walk out and call her name. Look her straight in the eyes and tell her that you like her. You really like her, and you're sorry you didn't tell her sooner.
[X] Add that you're sorry for making her worry. If you'd had the chance, you would have told her in person.
[X] If she'll let you, help her up and embrace her. Just hold her.

I'm going to put my own little spin on this write-in if you don't mind...
------------------

You've messed up big time with Marisa, and saying that you have to make it up to her is a bit of an understatement. It's you're fault that Marisa is crying now and it's up to you to do something about it. Yeah sure, it's not your fault that you ended up in Mayohiga, but you did say something stupid to her after she's likely been worried sick about you.

Mentally rolling up your sleeves, you take a deep breath and confidently step out before her, hoping she'll stop rubbing her eyes and sniffling for a moment to notice you, she doesn't. Well, no turning back now.

"Marisa! There you are, I've been looking all over for you!" Your voice carries a certain confidence that you're not quite used to, but it feels good really like you, and my only regret is that I didn't tell you sooner. You've been nothing but wonderful to me since I've arrived here and..." You pause noticing tears welling up in her eyes again and her face flushing red. "Marisa...?"

"S-Stupid~ze..." She leans in, closing the gap between the two of you and joins her lips with yours. You can only open your eyes wide in surprise as she takes the lead, her arms wrapping themselves around the back your neck as you two are locked in a moment of pasison. She pulls herself away for a moment and looks you in the eyes. "I-If that's how you felt... y-ou should've said so earlier~ze." She mumbles to you, tears streaking down her face.

"I'm sorry... I should've told you sooner." You mutter in reply, to which she wipes her eyes with a sniffle.

"You bet I'll make you sorry~ze." A mischievous grin crosses the witch's face, now that's the Marisa you remember.

Without warning she tackles you, causing you both to fall onto the surprisingly soft grass of the orchard and spilling what looks like cherry blossom petals from a satchel that Marisa was carrying. Locked in a tight embrace with Marisa, you suddenly feel something delicately soft brush against you, and another, and another. Looking up, you gasp in awe as the tree above you has suddenly burst into full bloom with cherry blossoms falling all around you. You look back at Marisa who just smiles brightly at you.

"I-I had been saving bits of spring since an incident a couple years ago~ze. For a special occasion..." She explains coyly.

"I could think of no better time to make use of it." You reply with a smile.

You pull Marisa in for another kiss, to which she gladly complies. You embrace each other passionately as the rest of the world melts away, leaving just you and her, in this perfect moment. There's absolutely nothing that could ruin this moment. Everything is absolutely perfect. Just you and Marisa, and-

*Click*

Son of a-

[ ] Chase her down with Marisa, it's about time she got her just desserts.
[ ] Did you hear something? Let's just head back to the manor to thank everyone for their time and perhaps catch up on more chit-chat.
[ ] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.
[ ] Something else? (write-in)

[X] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

Ayayaya

[x] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

No point in chasing down Aya now; hopefully her story will be more accurate.

[X] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

[x] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

[x] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

She is not going to fucking ruin this moment.

[ ] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

[x] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

[X] Who cares, at least half of Gensokyo knows already. All that matters right now is Marisa.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can ruin this moment between you and Marisa right now. Not even Aya taking candid photos of you. Besides, at least half of Gensokyo probably figures that there's something going on between the two of you, whether they've met you or not already.

Marisa breaks away for a moment. "Mmm... Did you hear something~ze? I thought I heard something like a click." She asks, panting a little.

"I didn't hear anything." You lie between your teeth gasping a bit. "It's probably nothing." You remove one of her hands from your back, and sliding yours up her forearm, you weave your fingers between hers. "Now come 'ere, you!" Marisa squeaks as you take your free hand behind her back to bring her in for another kiss.

*click*

You didn't get a good chance to fully appreciate her kiss the other day, but her lips are so soft and small and the way she kisses you is rather amateurish and awkward. Were you the first to steal Marisa's precious thing from her?

Suddenly Marisa seems to tense up and her grip on your hand starts to tighten. She squirms around before breaking off from the kiss with you, gasping for air.

"Marisa, are you okay...?" You ask, running a hand through her hair, your eyebrows furrowing with concern.

"Y-Yeah..." She gasps in reply. "I-I just couldn't breath~ze."

"Is that all?" You chuckle to yourself and ruffle up her hair a bit. "Breath through your nose, silly." Marisa tries to bat your hand away with a whine.

"W-Well I don't have much experience in th-this sort of thing~ze!" Her face flushes red as she pouts at you. "Y-You're the first person I've ever kissed..." She murmurs as she looks off to the side. So cute.

*click*

You wrap your arms around Marisa in a tight embrace, resting your cheek on the top of her head. She lets out a breath, relaxing in your arms and returns your embrace. This is all you need, just Marisa here in your arms, the cherry blossoms falling around you and-... Actually you don't notice any more cherry blossoms falling.

Looking up you notice that the cherry tree standing over you seems to have expended all the spring that fell from Marisa's satchel, its last few cherry blossoms clinging to the all but barren tree. A breeze comes along and plucks the last few blossoms from the tree.

"There goes that last bit of spring." You sigh as you look up at the empty tree branches. Marisa seems to let out a small sigh into your chest as well.

"Yeah~ze. There's no helping it I guess." She murmurs.

The sound of footsteps breaks a brief moment of calm. Looking over at the source of the footsteps reveals a small party walking over to you. Yuyuko, Youmu, the Prismrivers, Ran, and a Chen rubbing the sleep out of her eyes approach you and Marisa.

Noticing all of them, you tap Marisa on the shoulder, motioning for her to get up off of you. Marisa stirs for a moment before looking up at the advancing ghosts and shikigamis, and in a frantic blur, Marisa pushes herself off of you, picks up her hat and stands up, brushing off the many cherry blossoms on her dress. You do likewise but you take your time as you rise to your feet. Yuyuko covers her mouth with a sleeve as she draws near, a faint blush adorning her cheeks.

"My, my... What lewd things are you two doing in my garden?" The blue clad ghost asks with a playful giggle.

-Speech-
[ ] "N-Nothing! W-We weren't doing anything."
[ ] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[ ] "Wouldn't you like to know?"

-Action-
[ ] Go back and continue chatting at the manor over tea.
[ ] Go back to Mayohiga and continue trying to find clues about Yukari.
[ ] Head back to the Forest of Magic.
[ ] Go somewhere else. (write-in)

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."

And

[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic.

we've done our best, and it's just time to head home and relax together.

And chances are Aya'll get what's coming to her.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[X] Go back and continue chatting at the manor over tea.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[X] Go back and continue chatting at the manor over tea.

This sounds good.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[X] Head back to the Forest of Magic.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[X] Head back to the Forest of Magic.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[X] Go back and continue chatting at the manor over tea.

[X] "Nothing a normal couple wouldn't do out in the open."
[X] Head back to the Forest of Magic.

What are you doing in her garden? You smile, what does she think you and Marisa were doing here. You think on it for a moment, looking over at Marisa who seems to be trying to play innocent by looking off into space adjusting her hat and readjusting it again. Well, honesty is the best policy after all.

"Well, Lady Yuyuko," You begin with a smug grin, "Nothing more lewd than what a normal couple would do out in the open." Marisa gawks at you in surprise and quickly pulls her hat down over her head with a blush.

"Oh my, did you hear that Youmu?" The ghostly girl asks turning to her attendant. Youmu nods in reply, her cheeks reddening a bit.

"Yes Lady Yuyuko, I do believe he said that Marisa and himself are a couple."

Quickly grabbing Marisa around the waist, you pull her to your side with a bright smile. "That's right, we're a couple now. Isn't that right Marisa?" You look over at her with a grin.

"Z-Ze..." Marisa mumbles, still holding the hat down over her head.

"My, my... for once, the little, black-white witch is speechless." Yuyuko giggles into her sleeve. "How cute, I think she's in love."

At that the Prismriver sisters begin mumbling to themselves with a few giggles here and there. "Uh oh Lyrica, it looks like this human boy is going to take your good friend away from you." Merlin giggles as she plucks her sister's hat from her while Lunasa ruffles the pianist's hair.

"H-Hey cut it out!" Lyrica whines, quickly snatching her hat back from her sister her cheeks taking on a red tint.

Ran then steps forward, pulling little Chen along with her; a pleasant smile adorns Ran's face.

"It would seem that things worked out in the end for you, for this I am glad." Ran smiles in approval at you and Marisa. "Again, I do apologize for the trouble that I caused you and Miss Kirisame." Ran bows deeply as she speaks.

"Ran if anything I should be thanking you." You say shaking your head. "If I hadn't gone along with you and spent all that time away from Marisa, I might have never realized how I felt about her during our time apart. So, it's a good thing that I went along with you, although I'm sorry we couldn't find Yukari." Ran looks down at the sound of her mistress's name. "But thank you Ran." You give a warm smile which Ran returns dryly. You bend down and smile at the little Nekomata, who shuffles behind Ran as you get closer to her. "And thank you for waiting at Mayohiga for Marisa, Chen. I'm sorry Marisa gave you such a rough time."

"Y-You're welcome..." She mumbles shyly, her tails twisting themselves around each other as she clings to Ran's dress. Chen really is adorable. You ruffle her hat a bit evoking a soft purr from her.

"If you're all done being mushy out here, I'm getting hungry..." Yuyuko whines, her stomach growling loudly. "Let's all head back to the manor..."

The company of girls all nodded in reply to the mistress of Hakugyokuro's manor. You would have too, had you not felt a tug on your sleeve. Looking down at the witch attatched to your arm, she nudges her head to the side a bit with a frown and a soft whine. It's probably better to go back home with Marisa after all that she's been through.

Home, it's funny that you think about the Forest of Magic as home. You've been here in Gensokyo for all of three days and it's the closest thing you have to a home here. It gets you thinking about your home again. How is everyone back there? Have they even noticed that you're gone? A heavy weight settles on your chest as you think about it.

"Hello? Are you coming or not?" An anxious Yuyuko asks, her hands resting impatiently on her sides. Her voice snaps you out of your slump.

"Oh, sorry. I think Marisa and I are going to head back to the Forest of Magic. Right Marisa?" You turn back to the black-white.

"Y-Yeah! It's been a pretty long day for me~ze." She replies, lifting the brim of her hat over her eyes. Marisa seems to have recovered from her fit of embarrassment.

"Alright fine..." Yuyuko begins leading the rest of the girls off towards the direction of the manor. "Don't stay up too late tonight..." Yuyuko says in a sing song voice.

"L-Like we would~ze!" Marisa shouts out, her face flushing red again. She's so cute when she's flustered.

"Sure, sure." Yuyuko giggles as she runs off to join up with the others. After watching Yuyuko and the others disappear into the distance, you turn to Marisa.

"Ready to head back home?" You ask Marisa with a smile.

She nods happily in reply. "Yeah~ze." She runs over to tree to retrieve her broom and skips back over to you. She gives you a peck on the cheek before hopping onto her broom. You could get used to this. "Well, hop on~ze." You don't have to be told twice. You situate yourself behind Marisa on the broom and wrap your arms firmly around her.

"Let's go." You say returning Marisa's kiss.

With a little giggle from Marisa you both ascend into the air above the the dense orchards of Hakugyokuro. Eventually you're able to see the manor that Yuyuko and Youmu live in; from up here you can tell that it really is a rather large manor, at least three times the size of Reimu's little house.

Marisa turns to you, ready to warn you that she's going to speed up; you just give her a little squeeze and a smile to let her know you're ready. Without another word you're both off, the gardens and orchards of Hakugyokuro soon disappear into the distance behind you as you begin your flight back home towards Marisa's little cottage in the Forest of Magic. Familiar scenery pass by below you, the marshes around Hakugyokuro, the flower fields. You both continue along the skies for awhile in silence before Marisa speaks up.

"Ya know, I should maybe try to teach you how to fly one of these days~ze." Marisa thinks aloud. "That way it'd be easier for you to learn danmaku as well." Makes sense and you wouldn't mind learning how to properly duel. It would definitely help you out if by some chance you get separated from Marisa again.

That seemed to be enough to get some smalltalk going between you and Marisa. As you continue along towards the approaching forest you talk about danmaku and where Marisa had 'acquired' her spellcards from. Marisa is really enthusiastic about danmaku duels, with all the effort she puts into them you're not all that surprised.

You eventually reach the Marisa's humble little home and Marisa sets down in front of it. It's a little difficult to tell the time from inside the Forest of Magic, but before your descent back into the forest, the sun was still only just beginning to set, so you still have some time left before nightfall. You both dismount from Marisa's broom, and after getting herself straightened back out, Marisa waits for you in the doorway.

[ ] "What's for dinner?"
[ ] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."
[ ] "Now where were we...?"
[ ] "I'm getting pretty tired, let's call it night."

[x] "Now where were we...?"

[X] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."

[X] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."

[ ] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."

[x] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."

time to relax and bond even more.That and it'd be better for the mood to return naturally in terms of making out.

[x] "Now where were we...?"

[x] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."

[x] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."

[X] "Marisa, I'd like to find out more about you."

You take a steady stride as you rejoin Marisa at the front door, she looks up to you with that smile that you've grown to love.

"Hey Marisa, why don't we continue our conversation by the fireplace, alright?" Marisa nods in response. "There's so much I still don't know about you." You smile

"Me? Well, I'm not that interesting~ze..." She begins with a giggle. "Aw, who am I kidding, I'm awesome! Alright, I can tell you all about my adventures and stuff~ze!" She perks up with enthusiasm, beginning to jump up and down now anxious to continue. Marisa skips into the main room and flops herself onto her cozy couch, tossing her hat atop one of her many piles of books.

You can only smile at Marisa as you close the front door behind you and follow her into the living room. Getting yourself settled on the couch you've come to accept as your bed, you can feel the comforting glow of the fire that Marisa has brought to life in the hearth.

"S-so, where should I begin~ze?" Marisa asks, she looks eager to begin.

"Well," You pause, taking a moment to yourself to think about it. "I dunno." You frown, "I guess the beginning is always a good place to start, why don't you tell me about when you first started to learn about danmaku?"

"Well... alright~ze." Marisa replies, she puts her index fingers to her temples and scrunches her eyes. She's seems to be putting a lot of thought into this. "From the beginning~ze..." She thinks aloud to herself. "Well, you know about when Reimu first put the spellcard rules into effect in Gensokyo, right~ze?" You think to yourself about it, you know of the spellcard rules, but you're not really sure about the history of it.

"No, not really. I think I know how the rules work for the most part, but as for what happened when they were first put to use, I have no idea." You reply causing the black-white to frown a little.

"Hrmm, that's alright I guess. Well, let me tell you that before Reimu put the spellcard system in place, Gensokyo was a much more dangerous place to live~ze, the youkai used to be out of control and ate people all the time." Marisa begins, becoming more and more energetic as she continues. "That's where folks like me and Reimu came in. Well, Reimu was a youkai exterminator before I was, all the Hakurei Shrine priests and maidens were. Anyways, youkai hunting and exterminating was nothing like it is now, there was a lot more death~ze..." Marisa looks off to the side wistfully.

"Marisa...?" You begin to reach out to her, concerned about her change in mood.

"...We lost Mama to a youkai attack~ze." Marisa continues, now looking down at her lap. "That's why I decided to become a youkai hunter, so that I could protect people from youkai and keep that from happening again... and I... and..." Tears start to well up in her eyes, you'd better say something.

[ ] "Hey Marisa, why don't you tell me more about your mother?"
[ ] "Uhm, we can talk about something else if you want..." (Make a suggestion)
[ ] "...Hey Marisa, if you don't feel like talking about it, we can continue in the morning..."
[ ] Don't say anything and hug her.

[X] "Hey Marisa, why don't you tell me more about your mother?"

[X] "Hey Marisa, why don't you tell me more about your mother?"
[x] offer her something to wipe her tears.

I think it might be better look on the good times than the bad. I also get the feeling her mother would be similarly cheerful and would wish for her daughter not to be sad.

[x] "Hey Marisa, why don't you tell me more about your mother?"

[ ] "...Hey Marisa, if you don't feel like talking about it, we can continue in the morning..."
She'll probably refuse (Keikau Doori) but the 'intention' is what matters, right?

>>17963

Nope

[x] "Hey Marisa, why don't you tell me more about your mother?"

[X] "Hey Marisa, why don't you tell me more about your mother?"
[x] offer her something to wipe her tears.

[X] "Hey Marisa, why don't you tell me more about your mother?"

You lean in towards Marisa and place a hand on her own. She looks up at you, tears threatening to cascade down her face.

"Marisa, I'm sure you've been doing a good job, and I bet your mom would be proud of what you do." You say, giving her hands a comforting rub.

"D-Do you think so~ze...?" Marisa sniffles, a tear streaks down her face as she looks toward you.

"Yeah, you're an awesome youkai exterminator!" Marisa's eyes brighten up as you continue. "I mean, look how many incidents you've solved along with Reimu! Your mom would definitely be proud of that." She seems to be calming down a bit. "Say Marisa, could you tell me a bit about your mother, she must've been a wonderful person."

"She was~ze..." She wipes her tears with a sniffle, a little smile finding its way onto her face. "My dad always used to tell me that I look just like her. From what I remember of her, she had long golden blonde hair and very kind smile." Marisa looks at you wistfully with a lopsided smile. "It's kind of nice to think that I'm as pretty as my mom... She was really beautiful~ze."

You remove one of your hands from hers and place it upon her cheek. "You are pretty, Marisa..." A smile crosses her lips and her cheeks take a pink tinge to them. God you love her smile.

"Thanks~ze." She replies. "It's nice to hear it from someone else for once~ze."

"No one's told that to you before?" You ask surprisedly.

"Well, I don't really spend much time around people all that much other than Reimu and Alice, and it's not the same when it's coming from a girl~ze." She cocks her head with a wry smile.

"Anyways, I really don't remember much of my mom other than that~ze. I was really little when she died." She pauses and sighs, getting up and brushing her off her seat. "Anyways, it's getting late, I'm gonna go put some soup on~ze."

You're feeling a bit hungry too, it's been a long day. After some time, Marisa makes you... Suprise! Mushroom soup, but there's something different about it, the soup tastes different somehow, better; maybe because it's made with love... Or maybe it's just that Marisa picked out some different mushrooms to add to the soup. In any case, you make some idle chitchat as you both eat your dinner, and soon afterwards you're both feeling rather tired and decide that it's time for bed.

Marisa runs off to her room to change for bed as you start to get cozy on your couch of a bed. Sleep begins to slowly creep up on you when Marisa's door creaks back open and you hear the soft patter of feet approaching you. A shy, blonde witch garbed in a white night gown, and holding a pillow in front of her, masking part of her face, stands over you with a blush decorating her face.

"I-I uhm..." She stutters, holding the pillow ever so slightly tighter to herself.

"Is something the matter?" You ask, too tired to properly appreciate the lovely sight before you.

"I-I... D-Did..." She stumbles over her words, then taking a deep breath says, "D-Did you want to sleep on a proper bed tonight...?"

[ ] "No it's fine, I wouldn't want to take your bed from you."
[ ] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"
[ ] "I-I... Uhm... I couldn't... I-It just wouldn't be proper...!"
[ ] "Alright, Marisa, but you may want to lay down some extra pillows on this couch, it's got some lumps on this side."

[x] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

[x] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

Although [ ] SHIROU.JPG is tempting.

[X] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

Marisa's speech impediment is contagious.

[ ] "No it's fine, I wouldn't want to take your bed from you."
They catch me teasin', they hatin'

[x] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

[X] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

[x] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

[x] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

[x] "W-Would that be okay with you Marisa?"

Hey, sorry about the lack of updates, I've been getting a lot of hours at work lately (yay money!). Anyways, I'll try to update hopefully sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Looks like it's time for our protagonist to become a real man... kinda.

>>18051

Thanks, I really like this story.

[X] "W-Would that be okay with you, Marisa?"

"Whu-...?" You ask, sleep's grip on you is a powerful one indeed.

"I-I... I Uhm..." She stutters again, "I wanted to know... I-If... you wanted to sleep with mff... I-In mf... ffmmm... mmfmmm~zm.." She mumbles the last part into her pillow, her blush growing into a deeper hue of red.

"You... wha..." Suddenly the realization of what she's asking dawns upon you, waking you from your drowsy state. "Oh... Oh! I uhm... Y-You want..." Marisa just nods at your stumbling. "I... W-Would that be okay with you, Marisa?" She nods silently, still clinging to her pillow. "W-Well, if it's okay with you then... I suppose..."

"J-Jeez, come on before I change my mind!" She stammers, finally seeming to lose her nerves before turning around and heading back into her room. You eye her as she shuffles back to her room; you've never really noticed before but her thin, pale legs are rather nice. Following her legs up you notice, Marisa's modest rump swaying back and forth under her nightie as she walks. She pauses at the door with a glance back at you, "A-Are you coming~ze?" You eagerly stumble out of the couch, landing on the floor with a thud. Coughing away the dust you've kicked up, you quickly weave your way through the labyrinth of books to Marisa's door, but not without first knocking a few piles over in your somewhat drowsy state.

You look over her moonlit room, Marisa is already sitting on her bed waiting for you, still clinging to the pillow. She looks absolutely lovely sitting there, her blonde hair glowing in the moon's glow. Marisa tenses up as you step toward her bed. Awkwardly, you sit yourself down next to Marisa with a gulp. Marisa looks nervous, almost scared as she avoids eye contact with you.

[ ] Write-in only...

[x] Sleep

[X] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[X] Sleep.

[X] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[X] Sleep.
[x] Snuggle.

[Q] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[Q] Sleep.
[Q] Snuggle.

[x] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[x] Sleep.
[x] Snuggle.

[Q] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[Q] Sleep.
[Q] Snuggle.

THIS.

[x] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[x] Sleep.
[x] Snuggle.

Nice and easy does it.

[x]Fall asleep the moment you hit the bed.

Ow, ow, I was kidding, ow, stop hitting me, ow...

[Q] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[Q] Sleep.
[Q] Snuggle.

[x] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."

We can learn more about spell cards and stuff after the trip.

Seesh, Yukari seems as if she doesn't care about the fact people were worried about her.

[X] Give her a goodnight kiss.
[X] Sleep.
[X] Snuggle.

You look over at the trembling witch sitting next to you and wrap your arms around her, you're much too sleepy for much more than this right now. She shudders at your touch briefly before turning to meet your half-lidded gaze, returning your embrace and placing her pillow on the bed. She relaxes a bit in your arms as you hug her. Resting your head next to hers, you just enjoy the feel of her touch and warmth against your own. This is nice, you should do this more often.

"Marisa..." You mumble.

"Mmm?" She nuzzles against you, her eyes closed as she leans into you. She seems rather content just like this. As she snuggles against you, you catch a whiff of her hair; she smells lovely but not overly feminine, like wild untamed fields of flowers.

"Are you sleepy?" You begin running one of your hands gently through her hair.

"Mmm..." Marisa nods into your chest, her arms loosening their grip around you. She relaxes in your arms, it seems as though sleep has already taken her from you for the night.

As gently as you can, you lay her down onto her bed properly, and cover her with sheets. Carefully, gently, you set yourself on the bed as well. You lean over her for a moment before slipping yourself between the sheets.

"Good night, Marisa..." You say before leaving a chaste kiss upon her lips. A small smile finds its way onto her face as you wrap yourself beneath the sheets and place your arms around her. The soft sound and rhythm of Marisa's breathing, along with her warmth next to you serve to quickly lull you away from the waking world.

------------------
End Day 4
------------------

>Ufufufu...

"Huh, what...?" Are you awake, you wonder. You feel like you're floating, but at the same time you feel so heavy. You can make out the form of a violet dress and blonde hair sitting, seemingly in midair. No, that's not right... she's sitting on a gaping hole in the air. "You... I-It's you..." You strain yourself trying to speak, it's so hard to move any part of you right now. "Yu... Yu..."

>That's right, Yakumo Yukari...

She accentuates each syllable of her name as she speaks it, shifting her position in midair.

"W-What do... you... want...?" Every muscle in your face burns as you try to speak.

>Perhaps you'll find out in time... Dear, dear... You are coming along quite differently than I had expected... You two look so cute together... I'm rather jealous... Ufufufu...

She eyes you over, now beginning to float around you. Once finding herself before your face upside-down, she smiles giving you a wink.

"Yuka... -ri... w-where..." Your throat sears with pain as you speak.

>Oh dear... Don't strain yourself too much...

She says with a smile which she quickly covers with a fan.

>Don't you find it funny that I find you every night... Ufufufu... Anyways... I'm sure we'll meet each other sometime in the near future...

She floats uncomfortably close, so much so that her face is almost touching yours.

>Don't change too much more... I need you to replace... hi-...

She places a kiss upon your lips. It causes you to tingle a bit on the inside... Like something has changed... something...

>...Now... Wake up... Wake up...

------------------

"Wake up~ze!" You're greeted with the sight of Marisa's worried face, her arms firmly grasping your shoulders.

"Wha... I-I'm awake, Marisa." You say groggily, rubbing your eyes. "W-What's wrong?" You realize that your voice is coming out rather nasally. Becoming more aware of your state of being, you realize that there's a wad of tissue jammed up your nose.

"Your nose started bleeding and you seemed like you were in pain~ze." Marisa explains, her voice trembling slightly.

"It's okay, I-I'm alright." You assure her, placing a hand on her cheek.

"You're sure~ze?" Marisa puts her hands on her hips, sitting up on the bed. " 'Cause if you're not, I'm gonna beat you up~ze." She teases, sticking her tongue out at you.

"That'd make me worse though." You chuckle, throwing a pillow at the unsuspecting witch.

"Hey!" She shouts at you, throwing the pillow back at you. "Careful~ze. I'm a seasoned youkai hunter!" She giggles aloud.

"Oh is that so, but I'm not a youkai, so I'm immune to you!" You say sitting yourself up in bed.

"What? That's not the way it works- Ahh!" Marisa pouts before being cut off by you pouncing onto her gently, and showering her with kisses. After a short while, Marisa forces you off of her and hops off the bed. "I was thinking about visiting Alice again today after breakfast~ze." She pauses, looking at you pensively. "O-Or did you want to do something else?"

[ ] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."
[ ] "You have fun, I'd like to hang around here for now."
[ ] "Marisa, could you teach me more about danmaku and spellcards first?"
[ ] "No I'd rather..." (write-in)

Trying a slightly different style for the dream sequence, what do you think? Does it work okay?

Also, It's been three months and two threads now that ORBS has been going on. What do you guys think so far? What do you like? What's working? What isn't working? Anything you guys would like to see in the future?

And thanks guys for following my CYOA, you're why I keep writing.

>>18097
I like the story, but maybe you could try to update more often.

[x] "No I'd rather pay Aya a visit."

[X] "No I'd rather pay Aya a visit."

[x] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."

I don't know if trying to visit Aya is the best idea, since if she sees us coming, she WILL run, and frankly no matter how fast Marisa is, Aya's faster.

As far as the story; it's quite nice, and chances are it'll be the one remembered for providing a happy Marisa ending, and be among the definitive stories for this section. (and this and Norseman's stories will go a long way in calming down the fanbases so they don't go running amok in other sections' stories)

>I don't know if trying to visit Aya is the best idea, since if she sees us coming, she WILL run, and frankly no matter how fast Marisa is, Aya's faster.

At least we could give it a try.

>>18100
>it'll be the one remembered for providing a happy Marisa ending

Now you jinxed it.

[x] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."

[X] "No I'd rather pay Aya a visit."

Payback time.

[X] "No I'd rather pay Aya a visit."

[X] "No I'd rather pay Aya a visit."

You guys are aware of how this might backfire, right? Since who knows how Marisa will react to Aya's pictures of that scene by the cherry tree. (We did kinda dismiss it)

Just warning you.

>>18108

Why don't you tell us how it might backfire?

[x] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."

[x] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."

[0] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."

>>18109

Marisa finds out we lied to her about that clicking sound being nothing

Also the fact the pictures count as blackmail ammo

>>18117
>Marisa finds out we lied to her about that clicking sound being nothing

Are you sure? What if we really didn't hear anything?

>>18119

>*Click*

>Son of a-

This outright implies we heard the click of Aya's camera. I don't know how you could imagine it as anything else when in the next update we heard it two more times.

>>18108
She's going to find out anyway when they're front page news.

>>18121

True, but I think we can claim innocence better when it does hit the paper than if we went about confronting Aya about it. Let's not forget how clever Aya is, she might call us out on the fact we lied to Marisa at that moment.

Also consider Marisa herself expressed no desire for payback with the Tengu.

Our rush for vengeance might be our undoing in this case.

[x] "Sure, it could be nice to visit her again."

Woah, calm down guys. It looks like we're visiting the seven-colored puppeteer after breakfast. I'll probably update sometime tomorrow. Sorry for the lack of an update today, I've got family visiting this week. I'll try to keep a consistent update schedule, shooting for one every other day at least.

Also we're in autosage, so new thread coming up.