[x] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

Lawful Evil fairy? Arms dealing? Drug smuggling? Pimping? Racketeering? Gambling? Hit man? As much cash as there is danger? Why not!

[] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

Simply 'cause it's cool.

[X] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

No time to read it, but voting what others are voting so it will update faster.

Yay, another VN!

>Retrospective and Astronomical Narraration
>RAN

Oh shi-!

[ ] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

[ ] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

Sounds fucking awesome!! But...

[x] a freelancer, doing odd jobs for everyone, yet answering to no one but yourself (and your drive to outdo that black-white)?

Versatility!

[x] a techie for one of the Eientei divisions, hanging out with the rabbits and able to test Yagokoro's latest miracle inventions for free?

SCIENCE!

>>2021
The Strongest Cannon!

[ ] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

[+] Field agent of the Muenzuka Bureau of Law Enforcement

[x] A travel agent.

[x] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

To perfect to skip.

[X] a member of the Saigyouji crime famil- er, a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing Homes who does absolutely nothing interesting, no sir?

Yes, who indeed? Certainly not the others, still living in the wilderness. You can still hardly believe it yourself, thinking back to one of your first, utterly naive days in the city, when you had the silly notion to go to a concert...

"Ladies, citizens and youkai, the PRISMRIVER SISTERS!" the emcee boomed one last time, straining to make herself heard over the thundrous applause as the trio exited the stage. Their performance had been mind-shattering, everything advertised and more, jolting you into wondering if you even understood what music was. You remember thinking at the time that they had to be cheating, or some sort of musical youkai. Certainly no mere human poltergeists could play that well! But they had, and they did, and oh my, Merlin's trumpet had come floating back to play an encore by itself.

Thoroughly overwhelmed by the experience (and perhaps a little drunk), you'd given in entirely, whirled and danced in the afterparty with anyone who crossed your path. Most of the night is a jumble in your mind. You remember neither names nor faces from that evening, except for two. Some time well after the concert had ended, when only the serious revelers were left, you'd spied an odd girl standing by the wall. Short, white hair - not that that meant anything in Gensokyo, you've seen the rainbow and more in hair colors - and dressed in an unusually formal black and green suit, the girl managed to stand out a bit. She seemed at first to be leaning against it, looking for someone, or perhaps taking a break from partying, but a few seconds of observation dispelled this impression. Her posture was ramrod straight, like a flower planted against the wall, and her eyes a cold blue as they flicked over the dancing throng. She was looking not for someone in particular, but for something, watching as though she needed to absorb the entire scene.

To this day, you can't quite remember what you thought of her, or what exactly drew you towards her. You only vaguely recall skipping over to her and shouting something barely coherent about how she should come dance with you. What happened next, however, was quite memorable. The girl turned her head the barest fraction, and STARED at you, for less than a second, before her gaze flicked back to the room at large. Suddenly all the haze of drunkenness and adrenaline washed out of your mind, replaced with the cool certainties that no, she did not want to dance, and no, you should absolutely not bother her anymore,, and yes, the consequences for ignoring this would be dire, and yes, you should go away, get drunk again and forget this ever happened. You remember understanding then why nobody else had gotten the girl to dance.

The moment after that is another blank spot in time. Maybe you felt sorry for her. Maybe you were intrigued, somehow. Maybe you were just an idiot. For whatever reason, you shook your head, rejected logic altogether, smiled, mouthed another invitation, and reached for the girl's hand. Closer, closer, almost touching her unusually pale skin as her eyes flicked back towards you once more, and - contact.

"Maybe you wish to die."

Neither that whisper in your ear nor the hand that had grabbed yours belonged to the girl by the wall. They came from another woman, a presence who'd come up behind you unnoticed. You recall turning to face her, and your first impression of her, dismissing her as just another goth raver girl with a bad pickup line. She was, or seemed to be, a human with disheveled, pink hair, wearing a bit too much makeup and a flowing blue dancing gown with small butterflies and crude, almost goofy spiral symbols on it. Even then, you could tell something wasn't quite in place, but you immediately chalked it up to the lingering presence of the wallflower, dismissed her, and offered raver girl a surprised greeting. She giggled.

"Call me Yuyu. Come on."

The next thing you remember is being outside, looking up at the stars and winding through alleys, the club's throbbing only a faint background pulse indistinguishable from your heartbeat. Yuyu seemed to know where she was going, and you followed her until you arrived at a small Zen garden by a pond, somewhere on the outskirts of the city. There, she'd stopped and begun to talk to you.

"Hey, why were you trying to talk to my friend, back there?"
"Friend?" Dumbly, you looked back, and saw that the wallflower girl had silently tagged along behind you. Nothing about her demeanor had changed. "Oh. I, uh... I don't really..."
"Aren't you afraid to die?" Yuyu murmured, cutting off your stumbling thoughts. "Even you, fresh and innocent, should know better. You don't know who we are, but you know what we are. You can't look at her and not know. So, I'm curious. Why'd you do that?"

This part, you can never forget. Yuyu turned around, holding up a harisen and fanning herself, and the tiny voice in the back of your brain finally caught up, panted, and began to scream warnings at you. Warnings like 'She's not pale, she's DEAD! Those butterflies on her dress are moving!' and 'Where are you? Why did you follow two strangers you met in a club out to a secluded area?' and 'Oh my god, look behind you, those aren't two glowsticks in her suit pockets!' You felt the stoic girl's icy gaze boring into your back, clearing your mind once more, and recalled the threatening impression you'd received from her minutes before. And then you decided your fate, and answered.

"Because I'm not afraid to die."

Yuyu smiled, and a black butterfly detached itself from her sleeve, fluttered towards your nose, touched it, and vanished.

And then - you were hers. Your life, your existence, your connection to the world, all were snuffed out in an instant. It would have been the most painful experience imaginable if you had been capable of feeling it, this you're certain of. Perhaps fortunately, though, death brings with it a certain cessation of the senses. All you remember is an aching emptiness, filled only by the knowledge that this silly, dead raver girl with an odd friend had ended your life in less than the flap of a dead butterfly's wings.

Then you pulled yourself, naked and gasping, out of the pond, and sprawled out on the grass. Yuyu grabbed your shouldera and gently pulled you into a sitting position, bringing you face to face with your old body. Exhausted, you barely had time to notice your corpse's expression of shock before it dissolved into flickers of quickly extinguished light. The first clear thought you recall after rebirth was a muted wonder at how Yuyu didn't mind your rudeness. Eventually, she spoke again.

"I guess it's true, you can't kill a fairy completely just by killing its body. I like to check every now and then." She nodded and sat next to you, nearly purring in satisfaction, while you gasped out.
"You- you- who are-"
"Yes, Yuyu is who I am. Yuyuko Saigyouji. They call me the Princess of the Netherworld." Now, THAT name you'd heard of, in a thousand rumors and whispered, surely-not-really-true stories among friends. Outside the law, the few who did as they pleased without fear of answering to the Yama... You remember thinking how funny it was that you didn't have to be afraid of her killing you, since she already did.
"Pleasure to meet you," you wound up replying, introducing yourself as best you could. Yuyuko nodded again in acknowledgement.
"You're new in town, aren't you? We usually know everyone at these concerts. Hey, do you have a job yet? We're always looking for those who aren't afraid." She spoke to you nonchalantly, as though it was the most natural thing in the world to ask of someone she'd just killed. And perhaps it was, after all. You knew exactly what she was offering.
"I'd love to."

Yuyuko - Yuyu, to you, you never did shed that first impression - grinned once more and stood up, tossing her head back towards the stoic girl who'd watched the whole thing.
"Great. You should probably get home, I'll call you in the morning. Hey, Youmu, wanna grab some food? I'm hungry."
Youmu studied you once more, eyes sliding over your body to your dress, lying on the ground, then back to you. Her lips parted, and in a surprisingly high, clear voice, uttered the only words you ever heard her say.
"You just ate."

It's been a bit over a year since that night, but thinking about it never fails to send chills of excitement down to your wingtips. Though you rarely meet them for formal business, Yuyu (with Youmu unfailingly at her side) tends to pop up in the most unexpected places for fun. At least, she claims it's for fun, you can never really be sure. In the end, though, who cares? It really is like being in a family, you believe. A large, extended family that sometimes calls you to do tasks ranging from boring to wacky to grim, though you've mostly avoided the grim to date. And sometimes big sister Yuyu appears under your kotatsu and wants to throw a sleepover.

Mm, thinking about that reminds you that you don't have too much time today to spend reminiscing. You do have an aboveboard occupation at the nursing home, or retirement center, or elder youkai care facility or whatever they call it these days, and tomorrow you'll probably be heading in for a boring day there. Unless, of course, you get an assignment. For now, though? The sun's just setting, the night's still young, and you've finally worked up a good mood. What to do with the remainder of the evening?

[ ] Go out, of course. Grab some friends and head to the usual source of all culinary and possibly alcoholic delights!
[ ] Go out, of course. Let's be a little adventuresome and try a, shall we say, less formal establishment!
[ ] You're in the mood for some closer companionship, see if anyone wants to hang out.
[ ] Something else entirely? (Ye Aulde Write-Inne)

======

Man, this writing business is harder than I thought. My productive hours are rather limited, as well, so expect occasional walls rather than rampant short updates (though those may come at times). Hope it's enjoyable nonetheless.

[x] You been slacking on your martial training. Grab your butterfly & COP .357 and get your fairy butt over to the Saigyouji dojo. Pray Youki is in a good mood.

[ ] Go out, of course. Let's be a little adventuresome and try a, shall we say, less formal establishment!

Soo... many... words... @ 7:30am.

[x] Something else entirely? (Ye Aulde Write-Inne)
- [x] You been slacking on your martial training. Grab your butterfly & COP .357 and get your fairy butt over to the Saigyouji dojo. Pray Youki is in a good mood.

Lawful Evil fairy? Superb.

[x] You been slacking on your martial training. Grab your butterfly & COP .357 and get your fairy butt over to the Saigyouji dojo. Pray Youki is in a good mood.

Holy shit a CYOA worth keeping an eye on in /other/? I don't believe it.

>Then you pulled yourself, naked and gasping, out of the pond, and sprawled out on the grass. Yuyu grabbed your shoulder and gently pulled you into a sitting position, bringing you face to face with your old body. Exhausted, you barely had time to notice your corpse's expression of shock before it dissolved into flickers of quickly extinguished light. The first clear thought you recall after rebirth was a muted wonder at how Yuyu didn't mind your rudeness.

I had to re-read this a few times to realize that the fairy was literally respawning from the pond rather than becoming a ghost or something metaphorical. It presents a very dramatic image. Having to reincarnate naked from the closest large enough body of water upon death sounds like a fun game mechanic to run in a cityscape.

>>2073
>Grab your butterfly

The signature weapon of the Saigyouji Crime Family is the butterfly knife? How apropos.

>& COP .357 and get your fairy butt

You are imagining this derringer on the fairy in its holster about the inner thigh. You are also imagining how nicely the gunmetal and tanned leather will contrast with against the pale skin, white stockings & garter belt.

>a perfectly normal aide at Hakugyokuro Nursing

You are imaging the above, complete with candy striper uniform. Manually.

>>2076
Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, hombre.

>>2078

...

brb fappan.

>>2078
Theme to The Soprano's is now playing in your head while you walk down the nursing home hallways in a candy striper uniform with tools attached. Manually!

>>2081
>with tools attached.
You are now imagining this fairy to be futa.Automatically. Also, THE GAME.

Huh, Yuyuko as a raver. That's surprisingly awesome.

[x] You been slacking on your martial training. Grab your butterfly & COP .357 and get your fairy butt over to the Saigyouji dojo. Pray Youki is in a good mood.

That's a fine wall you have built there, sir. I think I will enjoy this one.

[x] You been slacking on your martial training. Grab your butterfly & COP .357 and get your fairy butt over to the Saigyouji dojo. Pray Youki is in a good mood.

Voting this because I people is voting too.

[x] You been slacking on your martial training. Grab your butterfly & COP .357 and get your fairy butt over to the Saigyouji dojo. Pray Youki isn't in the mood for THAT.

Grit? In MY Gensokyo? If the word "chummer" is ever used in this story, I may well shit myself.

[X] You been slacking on your martial training. Grab your butterfly & COP .357 and get your fairy butt over to the Saigyouji dojo. Pray Youki is in a good mood.

Because Youki doesn't get enough screentime.

[X] Something else entirely? (Combat training)

No. No, after allowing yourself that amount of wallowing in memories, there's no way you could stand going out and pretending to be the fairy you were before that night. You're in the mood for - you absolutely need - something else entirely.

Grabbing your wallet and keys, you pop out of the apartment, lock the door and descend to the street, joining the trickle of people flowing through the sidewalks. You have to work to restrain yourself from breaking into a run, or worse yet flying - you'll need all your energy soon. Fortunately, the sedate evening allows you to distract yourself with peoplewatching and sightseeing. A businesswoman walking here, a pair of lovers holding hands, some youkai floating calmly above the tops of the planted trees... As the sun creeps lower and lower, you notice fewer humans and more of everything else, but nearly all the people you meet seem oddly content. Your route quickly winds away from the skyscrapers of the inner city to the hills on the outskirts of town, and in time you find at your destination: Nirvana, Gensokyo's uncreatively named largest gym and community dojo. The day's last classes seem to have finished just before you arrived, as a crowd of young human children and teens file out and nod politely to you as you slip inside.

Perfect timing. Yes, she'll be here.

You slip through the lobby, waving to the tired receptionist, and proceed through a series of increasingly inobtrusive and out of the way passages. Past the gym, past the ball courts, and past the front dojos you go, walking into a little nook that looks like a janitor's closet but actually leads to a small inner lobby, with a fountain of all things. You've never understood why that's there, but who cares? What matters is that through the next door, exactly one of the lockers, the one labeled "Konpaku" in a sketchy script, is closed and in use. Just as you thought. She's always here on weekends.

Of course, there are good reasons why this section of the dojo is so hard to find. Many reasons, very good, very sharp and well oiled. Pushing aside the section of apparently blank wall next to the lockers, you reveal a few of them and look them over. Choosing a sword would be folly, and they aren't really your style anyhow, but you feel a little more comfortable picking up one of the ornate butterfly knives stored in the cabinet. Not that you'll likely get a chance to use it, but it's something of a signature weapon for the family, and having a melee weapon of some sort is always wise.

From there, you move to the guns, skipping straight over the danmaku weapons to the real slug-spewers in the back, and pull out your beautiful, beautiful babies. Your children are fully automatic pistols, altered just a bit to fit fairy hands, firing from two adjustable, magically miniaturized caches of bullets, discrete enough to slip into a sleeve or pocket yet with enough stopping power to take down a charging hakutaku if need be. They're very, very illegal, definitely illegitimate children fathered (or mothered?) by some nameless craftsman in the service of the Saigyoujis. You aren't sure of the technical details, or even their proper names, but you know exactly how to use them, and that's what counts. Two at once would be flashy and unnecessary on a real assignment, but you aren't here to practice being discrete. You're here to beat a single girl with a very particular style.

Youmu Konpaku is sitting at the far back end of the dojo as you enter, sitting in some crazy cross-legged meditation pose and looking out of the soundproofed windows at the night sky and peaceful bluffs below. In her green training robe, she would be indistinguishable from a tea-sipping grandmother were it not for the two swords sheathed at her sides. In complete silence, you raise your gun, aim it at the back of her head, and fire.

Youmu's hair ruffles a bit, and in the corner of your eye you see two perfectly symmetrical halves of a bullet, most of their momentum lost, tap the windows and fall. Your heart catches in your throat for a second, the same way it does every time you begin to train with her, and you squeeze off a second burst of shots as Youmu stands up, turns around, and charges.

You're academically aware that her charges happen in the barest fractions of a second, but in the middle of a fight, that hardly matters. Youmu isn't even looking at you, her eyes are closed for god's sake, but that eerie feeling of absolute concentration is nonetheless overwhelming as she runs at you. Though your eyes can barely process what's happening, your mind and body know what to do, and before she makes contact you've lept away. As she passes by, reality briefly returns and the air stops feeling like thick sludge. You gulp in a breath, roll away from the return charge, and continue to fire. In your past fights, you learned that she cannot change her momentum easily, so it's better to lead your shots. This lesson serves you well once again as her leading blade is forced to be diverted from slashing your neck to cutting the bullets that Youmu would otherwise be running straight into.

Three, four, five, six slashes pass in this way. You have no time to wonder at how little real time must have passed, you're already lathered in sweat and having difficulty lining up your shots. The seventh slash nicks your sleeve. The eighth draws blood, and Youmu breaks her rhythm slightly to deflect some of the hovering azure droplets from hitting her face. This is what you've been waiting for, the briefest hole in her back and forth angular slices giving you an opportunity to leap straight up, high into the air.

Your wings twitch, flapping with effort even though your jump is powered by mana and far too brief for them to physically suspend you. It was with this moment in mind that you chose the weapons you did. The pistol in your right hand fires nearly of its own volition, spreading fire directly towards, then to one side of your hopefully confused opponent, while your other gun does the same. The bullets are thinnest in the center, and you catch a glimpse of Youmu's eyes and know she realizes it. Her irises gleam a feral red, rather than an icy blue, as she realizes what you've done, and she flies for you.

Except that Youmu doesn't realize what you've done, not quite. Your grip on your left pistol loosens, almost vanishes, as you prepare to flick the butterfly knife out of your sleeve and meet her charge with the last thing she expects. You've gone over this move in your head nearly every night since you thought of it, shortly after the last time you sparred with her. As she deflects the two bullets in front of her, but before she brings the swords to a cutting position, you'll drop, and stab, and win. You'll WIN, for fucking once. Even a partial strike would count as a greater victory than you've ever had against her, though.

Everything is clear. She's coming, staring at you with red eyes, concentrating so hard that you're sharing in it, but not watching for your trick. Too late now, she's turned her blades, cutting the bullets. This is the time, you've dropped the gun as it fires. Will it hurt her? Will it kill her? The Saigyouji family isn't afraid to die. You're absolutely sure it will work.

[ ] Strike.
[ ] Hesitate.

===
First vote wins.

[x] Strike.
Unlike Youmu, I am NOT too soft.

>>2123
[X] Strike. Writing.

I'm getting some serious Joker vibes from Yuyuko here. Keep up the good work!

[X] Strike.

No hesitation. You whisk the knife out and drop straight into Youmu, pressing the flats of her swords back with your right arm and stabbing deep with your left as she slams against you. The dojo spins, weapons fly past your face, and you feel your back strike the ceiling, then seconds later the floor, while an unhealthy sounding thud reaches your ears from somewhere behind. You're alive, you're intact, you're rolling to your feet, and Youmu?

Youmu is face down, sprawled against the wall. She isn't moving, and there's a trail of red splotches on the floor following her flight path. One of her swords lies next to her, forlorn. The other must have been flung off somewhere. You aren't concerned with looking for it right now, though, and just let a little time pass as you catch your breath. The whole fight must have taken maybe ten, fifteen seconds.

It worked just as planned. You won. You won! Finally, after a year of trying, you managed to not only hit Youmu but take her down altogether. Yuyu's own bodyguard, knocked out by a lowly fairy, ha! Wait till she hears about this! Maybe it'll even make Youmu open up a bit and talk to you, when she gets up.

She is going to get up. Right?

Any second now. You're sure.

Right?

... right?

A small scraping noise from behind startles you nearly out of your skin. Your thoughts alternate between rough approximations of 'Oh good, someone who can help, we may need to take her somewhere' and 'Oh shit, a witness, did someone stumble in here and see that?' Keeping one eye on Youmu, just in case she's playing dead and planning to rush you, you turn to face the sound, and find - Youmu?

Wait, but Youmu's by the wall. But Youmu is also behind you, alive and healthy, and with her other sword in hand. But Youmu's by the wall! But, but, but, oh, Youmu, darling, that's just not even remotely fair.

Your scholarly meditation on and reevaluation of the meaning of the word "Konpaku" is cut in half, along with your body, as the Youmu behind you charges. Her eyes are an icy crystal blue again, the same color as the spray of your blood that fountains onto her as you crumple. As always, her grim expression betrays nothing, not even a sliver of surprise or concern. She sheathes her sword, and a few blue droplets rain down on you...

... rain, rain. A pale, cold rain batters your face while consciousness slowly floods back. Something hard presses on your back, or perhaps you're lying down? You gather your strength, push up, and realize where you've reincarnated.

"So," you sigh, exhaling to test your new lungs. "That's what the stupid fountain's here for."
This is followed by a few choice curses, directed at yourself, Youmu, the fountain, guns, swords, that other Youmu, and your own gratuitous stupidity.

You stand up, holding on to the fountain base to aid your dizzyness, and spy your dress lying on the bench by the fountain, clean and neatly folded. Slipping back into it, you peek inside the locker room and confirm that your weapons have been cleaned and put back, and Youmu's locker is empty. You trust she cleaned the dojo, too. She better have, since you really don't feel like looking in there if she didn't.

Indulging in one last stream of oaths, as you pass the fountain, you realize that it must be quite late now, and wonder where Youmu went.

[ ] Look for Youmu around here. She must be close, even that girl wouldn't be so cold as to walk off after what you did to each other.
[ ] Bah, don't kid yourself, she's long gone. Still, perhaps you should find her again and say something. She must be... (write in somewhere else to look for Youmu)
[ ] Just go home. It's late, and you're sure she wouldn't want to see you again tonight. Frigid bitch never talks anyways, why would she start just because you shanked her?

====

You people and your going for action right off the bat. Thanks for the compliments, though.

[ ] Look for Youmu around here. She must be close, even that girl wouldn't be so cold as to walk off after what you did to each other.
[ ] With cookies.

Good news! We finally hit her.
Bad news, we finally hit her.

[x] Look for Youmu around here. She must be close, even that girl wouldn't be so cold as to walk off after what you did to each other.

Maybe now Youmu and us can have a Mokou/Kaguya sort of relationship, only more chummy when we're not trying to kill each other.

[ ] Look for Youmu around here. She must be close, even that girl wouldn't be so cold as to walk off after what you did to each other.

[x] Look for Youmu around here. She must be close, even that girl wouldn't be so cold as to walk off after what you did to each other.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Find her? Rage uselessly until voice expires. Don't find her? Rage uselessly until voice expires.

Either way ends with you going home all pouty to eat an entire package of Double Stuff Oreos.

[X] Look for Youmu around here. She must be close, even that girl wouldn't be so cold as to walk off after what you did to each other.

Even if Youmu never says a word, cracks a smile, or even looks straight at you, you've always been sure there's some sort of connection at work. Outside the dojo, she completely ignores everyone but Yuyu. That's normal for her, yet every time you've come in and sparred with her, she's fought back. Not once has she ignored you, or dismissed you with that frozen glance and walked away. Granted, you've lately taken to surprise attacks that don't give her much of a choice.

Or do they? No matter how you try to look at tonight's events, the conclusion is inescapable. You're still not sure exactly how Youmu managed to split herself, but if she was able to do that even after being stabbed, cut you down, and then get up and clean everything, it must not be too taxing. It's impossible for you to dodge a single Youmu's slashes for more than a few seconds, so if she'd just done that from the beginning, it's obvious you'd never stand a chance. Not to mention that if she's been sparring with you for a year, and never did even this much... what other techniques has she been hiding?

All this time, she's been going easy on you. And you've still lost.

A bit of rage wells up in your chest at this realization. Just a bit, though, and it's quickly counteracted by puzzlement. Youmu could beat you easily, or walk away, or do whatever she wanted. Why toy with you? Not much chance that she actually cares about helping you train. The family has much better tutors for that sort of thing, and your duels with her don't afford the chance for learning anything except twitch-dodging straightforward slashes. Even though you've learned a bit about how she fights, her odd two-bladed style and that aura of concentration, that ability to stretch time and motion that washes over you when you fight her, make the knowledge useless against any other opponent.

Perhaps she likes you, or at least enjoys fighting you? Ha! Even more farfetched. She must enjoy it somehow, that's for sure, but not in the spirit of normal, friendly competition. You aren't sure you can see her as sadistic enough to taunt you, either, but that's more probable than anything else you can think of.

Damn it, you can't stop thinking about this. You have to find her, you have to say something to her. Her locker may be empty, but you're sure she didn't leave immediately. That dress didn't clean itself. For that matter, it didn't mend itself, either; you don't recall exactly how she cut you down, but it couldn't have left your clothes unharmed, could it? Glancing down, you notice a new line of prim, diagonal stitching that wasn't there when you woke up this afternoon, and for a moment the absurd vision of Youmu sewing with that same concentration entertains your thoughts. If she went to that kind of effort, she's probably still here, in the one place you didn't look.

Gathering your thoughts, you head back in, take a deep breath, and push open the door to the dojo, knowing she'll be sitting in the same place as she was before, and break the silence.

"Hey, Youmu. Good fight. Thanks for cleaning up. Uh, can we talk? I see what you're doing, now, and..."

She's not there. Your voice trails off as you take in the empty, clean space, with only the newly risen moon greeting your words. Mood quickly reverting to rage, you turn around and stalk out, continuing to talk just for the sake of hearing yourself.

"Right. Of course you're not there, you went home to Yuyu, you've got things to do, dammit dammit damm-"

The door to the fountain flings open as you punch it, and swings a fraction of a centimeter past the statue of a girl someone had the bad manners to block the passage with. You attempt to find something to say, while Youmu, as usual, does the exact opposite and simply stares toward the empty space behind your head.

Was she listening to you, to come back here now, or was she simply returning to meditation? Her position gives you no clue, and while you're still frantically trying to guess how much she heard, the swordwoman executes a perfect pivot and strides out, heading for the front lobby and presumably the exit. Her quiet footsteps don't seem any longer or faster than normal, but she's out of view almost before you can move. You know exactly how fast she can travel, when she wants to.

Well. That's that, and the clock's pointing well past midnight.

[ ] Go home and catch some rest.
[ ] Do something else (specify)

===
Surprise! Unusually timed update!

[X] Go grab a quick bite to eat. Gotta be someplace good open nearby.

[X] Go grab a quick bite to eat. Gotta be someplace good open nearby.
This sounds good

[x] Go grab a quick bite to eat. Gotta be someplace good open nearby.
Cool off our rage with tubs and tubs of ice cream.

Astonishing how every choice so far has been nearly unanimous towards a direction I wasn't planning on. And excellent, that's what the choices are there for. I'll be performing this one for real, then writing more.

[X] Go out and catch a bite to eat somewhere.

Slowly, you step out of the gym and walk away, letting your shock and frustration dissipate in the cool night air. As expected, neither Youmu nor anyone else is visible. Most humans don't care to walk the streets at this hour, their instinctual paranoia outweighing the Yama's assurances of safety, and youkai tend to fly. That leaves the street to you, and you couldn't be more thankful for it.

The simple pleasures of hopping from streetlight to streetlight, imagining them as days and nights passing, let you take your mind off the night's events and try to return to your usual self. Your new body isn't tired, exactly, as its muscles have barely been used yet, but you do feel quite hungry. Just as well, it'd be depressing to go straight home, and you seem to be fairly close to one of the city's hidden culinary gems.

Many people, mostly humans, have remarked to you at one time or another that the city's mutable nature can be a little unsettling. As the only true metropolis in Gensokyo, it neither has nor needs a name, and its precise geography changes from day to day or even hour to hour in ways nobody can predict. Regions and relative areas tend to stay the same, but all bets are off on specifics. Its erstwhile creator (and president, when she's actually around), Yukari Yakumo, just shrugs whenever someone asks her about it. When prodded, she's been known to babble things about the border of urban and rural, and how the city is perpetually as large as it needs to be, but it's an open secret that she really doesn't know what she's talking about. Even Vice President Ran gave up on studying it, pegging it as self-perpetuating, and she isn't a woman to be easily dissuaded.

The only thing that makes day to day life possible is that everyone's memories of the city are just as mutable. If you learn the location of a particular place once, you'll find that you always know where it is, even if that 'where' is now blocks away from its previous location. This, perhaps more than the city changing itself, tends to weird out newcomers and the closed-minded. Like most fairies, though, you're quite used to reality being just a little bit shaky. Occasionally it provides you with pleasant surprises - like tonight, when you find the Late Spring Diner sitting right on the path back to your home.

"Salad, please!" you call out as you push open the door. The place is empty, and you know full well that the owner is in the back somewhere, not expecting any patrons.

"Salad!"

She's probably asleep, too.

"LETTY! YOU WANT MONEY, THEN GET OUT HERE AND GET ME A SALAD!" That should do the trick. Sure enough, Letty Whiterock stumbles out of the kitchen a moment later. As she notices it's you, the plastic customer service smile splashed across her face turns genuine, and her posture wilts. Yep, she was sleeping.

"Right, right! Coming right up!" True to her word, moments later you're able to sink your teeth into a pleasing concoction of vegetables and spices. Letty, generally oblivious to etiquette, engages you in conversation as you eat.

"Haven't seen you around for a while. How's life?"

"Same as ever, coming up just a bit short. So close, and yet so far..." You attempt a sigh, and end up comically blowing out a piece of lettuce. Letty giggles soberly.

"Still working with all the old humans, hm? I can't imagine why someone as energetic as you would take a job like that in the first place. Really, try and relax more, there couldn't be a more soothing occupation in the city." She trails off, and looks you over again, raising an eyebrow. "Or perhaps you're talking about something else?"

"No." You take another bite, counting on chewing to keep your face straight. "Nothing interesting going on."

"... you're lying."

"I'm not." You flatly deny her.

"Your hair's damp." Letty pokes it to demonstrate. "Anyone can tell, it turns a darker blue. Just showered, hmm?"

"Be quiet."

"Hey, your dress is wet, too. I wonder how that happened? Lover dump you in the lake?"

"S'waterproof, doesn't cling, doesn't matter. Shut up and lemme eat, here, take my money or something." You toss a bill onto the counter, beginning to feel genuinely annoyed.

"Hmmmmmmm, so we're Miss Grouchypants tonight." Letty clucks, picking up the money, then thinks better of it, reaches across the counter and hugs you, derailing your train of thought towards why you became friends with her in the first place. "Hey, whatever it is, don't worry. Tell me as much or as little as you want, I'll listen. Here, have some ice cream on the house."

"Mmf. Thanks, Letty." You relax into her shoulders, tension draining as she pats the back of your neck with the cold pint. "Just this girl at work. I keep trying to outdo her, not sure why, but it's like she's untouchable... I don't really want to talk about it, it's not important." That's a bit of a lie, you do sometimes wish you had someone outside the family to talk to. Letty's surely picked up enough over the course of your acquaintance to gather that your work is more than that of a simple junior caretaker (how would someone be untouchable at giving backrubs and changing sheets, anyways?), but she's never pried further, and you've no desire to expose her to the truth. A look at her figure is enough to tell anyone that she's the sort of person who believes in answering life's problems with food, not bullets.

Still, you have to admit that she's got the knack for nurturing, and it takes you some time to break contact and head home in a sweet daze. Idly recalling the morning/afternoon's resolutions, you add "Blame Letty for my sweet tooth" to the list as you stash the ice cream in a cupboard and stumble to bed.

... still, the expression, or lack thereof, on Youmu's face as she killed you haunts you as you lie in bed. How many people has she killed in her lifetime, you wonder? What IS her lifetime? She isn't a ghost, you've encountered enough of them to tell that, but you do get a similar vibe of the grave from her. She's obviously not a normal human, and doesn't display any youkai tendencies. Yuyu once told you she was a half-ghost, and that's the only thing that really makes sense, but you can't fathom how something could be only half dead. Whatever. It's her life, or half life, right?

Except where it concerns you - and from there you find yourself unsure of what to think about how she's treated you. As you drift off to slumber, you leave off thinking that...

[ ] _____________

=====

This is one of those choices that affects nothing but how the protagonist will be written, so have at it. Took a while to write this, apologies. Probably another update in a bit.

[X] I wonder what kind of money Youmu could make pulling tricks in the city if she can split herself in two?

>>2164
Guess it bears mentioning, since I deleted the old thread, but I'm not going to write choices like this no matter how many votes they get. By all means, give funny answers if you like, but don't spam for em.

[X] How Youmu can move like that. Even a "half-ghost" should have limits...right?

[ ] Whether Youmu would open up if you brought her a freshly baked plate of cookies.

[X] I wonder why I get hungry? fairies don't need food.

Also guess I wasn't clear enough. Looking for some sort of conclusion here, not more questions. What you think about Youmu, or events so far, or some other pithy philosophy.

[x] Letty really would make a wonderful mother.

>>2174
I like that much better.

[x] Letty really would make a wonderful mother.

>>2169
>>The moment after that is another blank spot in time. Maybe you felt sorry for her. Maybe you were intrigued, somehow. Maybe you were just an idiot. For whatever reason, you shook your head, rejected logic altogether, smiled, mouthed another invitation, and reached for the girl's hand. Closer, closer, almost touching her unusually pale skin as her eyes flicked back towards you once more, and -


[x] ...how funny it is in that in a different gesture, you're still reaching out for that girl's hand, and you still don't know why. How could such such an indistinct feeling in a chance event change your lifestyle so completely? Your thoughts disjoin into images of butterflies, hurricanes, pink cherry blossom petals falling as a haze over the brown-green of torn earth & nature.

[X] I wonder why I get hungry? fairies don't need food.

[x] Letty really would make a wonderful mother.

[X]Sex option

Btw, we are female, right?

>>2180

No, we're a guy who looks FABULOUS in dresses.

[x] Letty really would make a wonderful mother.

Letty~

[x] You left a lot behind when you turned to a life of crime, and you may never get any of that back again. You'll never be able to strike a peaceful balance between your life of crime and normalcy.

Because right now Letty and Youmu seem to be perfect foils of each other. Personally, I want to see what happens when they meet. Just sayin'

[Y] You left a lot behind when you turned to a life of crime, and you may never get any of that back again. You'll never be able to strike a peaceful balance between your life of crime and normalcy.

[X] You left a lot behind when you turned to a life of crime, and you may never get any of that back again. You'll never be able to strike a peaceful balance between your life of crime and normalcy.

I don't know about Youmu and Letty meeting each other, though...

>>2209
>You'll never be able to strike a peaceful balance between your life of crime and normalcy.
>between your life of crime and normalcy.
>crime and normalcy.
>normalcy.
THIS IS NOT A WORD.
IT'S "NORMALITY."
YOU ARE A MASSIVE FAGGOT.
SO IS WARREN G. HARDING FOR FUCKING UP THE DAMN WORD IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Cruise control is off.

Finally obtained some peace and quiet. Writing.

>>2180
We're Cirno, duh.
Blue hair? Fairy?

>>2249
No. We don't have a name.
We are Nameless Fairies.
We do not forgive. We do not forget.

... you leave off thinking that you've left something behind. All the centuries you've lived before are melting in the mists of memory, and no matter how long you'll live in the future, you may never be able to return to that peaceful life by the lake. How could such such an indistinct feeling in a chance event change your lifestyle so completely?

And how funny it is in that in a different gesture, you're still reaching out for that girl's hand, and you still don't know why?

Your thoughts disjoin into images of butterflies, hurricanes, and pink cherry blossom petals falling in a haze over the brown-green tones of torn earth and nature.

-------

"So, we meet again. You may have defeated me in the past, but this time, I'm better. Stronger. Faster. Take THIS!"

Your strike instantly vanquishes your nemesis, silencing its hellspawned voice! But at what cost, at what cost?! You have won only a pyrrhic victory, as made evident by the piercing headache striking you as you stand up from sleep.

"One of these days, clock. One of these days." So swearing vengeance, you begin a new week.

The Hakugyokuro Nursing Home is a three story building truthfully named the Hakugyokuro Elder Care Facility, but not even its inhabitants refer to it as such unless they have impressionable family members visiting. You must admit that Letty was right, older humans really are peaceful, and usually surprisingly pleasant to care for. Today, however, as you walk into the staff room and prepare to change into the facility's uniform, one of the other attendants taps you on the shoulder.

"You'll be working on the fourth floor today."

Her words send a trickle of apprehension through your body, and you slowly put the uniform back on its hanger, walk to the elevator, and tap all of its buttons in a complex, perfectly memorized sequence. There's only one patient on the fourth floor, and they don't care how you're dressed.

Nine seconds later, the doors open upon a paradise. The fourth floor is tiny, really not that much larger than your own apartment, but compared to your place or the rest of the home it's an entirely different world. Dozens of tame butterflies flit around in the sunbeams filtering through the windows, and the soft trickle of water over rocks nearly makes you forget you're indoors. The floor's sole inhabitant is currently seated at his small writing desk, surrounded by calligraphy pens and sheets full of the poems and haikus he's constantly writing, never to be viewed by any but a select few. You are one of the few, and as the old man turns to you with that familiar twinkle in his eye, your worry from before evaporates in an instant.

"Master." Immediately bowing, you greet the patriarch as respectfully as possible. You've never learned his real name, but there's no need for it.

"Ahh, my most capricious little girl has arrived." His ancient, breathy voice carries a lilt of humor as he shuffles over to you. You feel a few withered fingers gently ruffle your hair, then gasp and collapse as the Master gives you a sudden thwack in the ribs with his cane.

"Now, quit doing that! Have I not told you every time we meet that formalities don't suit you?" He laughs and gives you a hand up, and you laugh back, raising your head enough to face his snowy beard.

"As you wish, Maste- oof! Fine, fine, whatever you say, Gramps! Whine to Yuyu 'bout it, she's the one that insists!"

"Ahh, does she still? Well, at least she respects her Family, even if that makes her a hypocritical flutterby herself." His trademark soft, disarming wit continues to lighten the atmosphere as you pull up a chair and bashfully accept a cup of tea. Whatever else he may be, this aged man is more than anything the true father of the Saigyouji family. Surely, he wields immense power over the lives of everyone in and beyond the City, but as far as you've ever seen, anyone in his actual presence is his beloved child with no questions asked.

Even Yuyuko, the few times you've been here with her, acted like a daughter rather than - rather than what, if he's the father shouldn't she be the mother? You suppress an automatic shudder at the ridiculous thought of Yuyu being anyone's mother, and another at the not-quite-so-ridiculous thought that this might not actually be far from the truth for Youmu. No, Yuyu definitely fits better as a daughter. Now that you think about it, that's not so terribly farfetched, either. If any human's lived long enough to be her real father, this man is surely it.

But all that can wait; for right now you've got flower arrangements to look at and poetry to read. For nearly two hours, the two of you make small talk about poems, literature, art, nature, beauty, and similar highbrow topics, then move straight to the lowbrow when you happen to discover a copy of the Bunbunmaru tucked into the desk and tease him about it

"Are we being a dirty old man again? Reading up on all the juicy affairs? Can't tell me you actually believe the stuff they print in here!" Nearly unconsciously, you sit straighter as you note a small change in the master's demeanor. He's still chuckling at your jibes, but his next words can't help but jar you.

"Oh, but I do, I very much do. Even Miss Shameimaru cannot spin gossip completely out of the air. Look hard enough, little one, and you can find a mote of interesting truth in even the most outlandish rumors. This one, for instance." He taps a small sidebar, headed "SDM PLOTS TO ADDICT FAIRIES TO CASINO GAMBLING!"

"Ehhh, but that's old news!" You pout. "Sure, Miss Richy Rich Remilia really controls the company, and she makes Izayoi go in for her crazy stunts, everyone knows that. Doesn't count, find another one."

"Not that, girl." Tapping the page again, he points out a line towards the bottom. "This."

"She is speculated to have drawn massive funds from SDMcorp to support the casino." Furrowing your brow, you read the line again. "I don't get it. Please enlighten me, oh great Maste-ow!" Your foster father removes his elbow from your side, then replies.

"I have known Remilia Scarlet for, oh. Quite some time. She is a vain lady, but not a stupid one. By the gospel of Shameimaru, we know that she is planning to build this palace of gambling, but by our common sense we can tell that such a feat is akin to creating a new business, and would require a truly vast sum of capital to start. Never, never would Remilia endanger her company's position and finances by removing such a sum from it. So, my dear, how did she suddenly stumble upon so much money?"

You have a bad feeling that you know where this is headed.

"I dunno, Gramps. Do you?"

"Ohh, perhaps, perhaps not." He leans back, shutting his eyelids. "There are certain friends of my family that would have access to similar amounts of liquid funds. One lady in particular could have taken it upon herself to withdraw her pension early, and seek, well, who knows what with it? But the young are often foolish, and if she did do something of this nature, it would be so very nice if her pension could be returned, so that her future - financial, of course - would be secured."

"Yes, that would be, um, prudent. If that were to happen." This, too, is how he always is. Never asking you directly, but...

"Ah, but don't worry about that girl. I am sure she'll be fine." The Master laughs it off like nothing, and you fight back a sudden empty feeling in your stomach. "It is merely a curious article for that paper to print right now, is it not? Imagine all the twists Miss Shameimaru could write to follow it up in tomorrow's edition. Perhaps a mischevious fairy could make the money disappear, right under Lady Scarlet's gaze! But it is no more than a story, one of many I find entertaining at times. Here, perhaps you would enjoy taking this home to read?"

"Thanks, Gramps. I'd like that." Not for a second do you dream of telling him that you already have a subscription. Accepting the paper from his frail hand, you notice an address and the name of a warehouse written in neat calligraphy at the top of the page.

"Good, good. The young and spritely should keep themselves occupied! Now, if you will excuse an old man his rest, I am quite tired. Take the rest of the day off, my treat." Dismissing you with a happy wave, your father calls back a few last words. "I have heard young mistress Konpaku is also free today. Perhaps you should take her somewhere and play? She does have trouble thinking of things to do, at times."

Ah, now it falls into place. You're just there to play point for the real muscle. Slightly miffed, but simultaneously excited, you bow once more and dodge a swiftly thrown cane as you duck back into the elevator.

"Farewell, Honored And Oh So Ancient One!"

It isn't till you reach the street, and find Youmu nonchalantly waiting outside, that your heart rate soars.

[ ] No sense in procrastinating, come up with a plan to steal the money from that warehouse. (Insert plan here. Do try to make it at least moderately plausible.)
[ ] You've never actually worked with Youmu before, and surely she can't keep ignoring you on business. Ask her for a plan.
[ ] Can't think now, and too many unknowns anyway. You'll figure something out when you get there.

=======

Sorry that took so long. Also sorry about the last choice kinda sucking. My bad, I should've been clearer about the type of response I was looking for (something to influence how to write the protagonist in general).

Oh, and all I can say regarding the protagonist is to read the story. If you can't tell gender and other details from reading, I'm doing something wrong.

>>2255
It's not so much "can't tell" as it is "denial".

>>2255

...female, right? Please, say it's female. I can't imagine a male fairy, it simply does not compute.

>>2258

Ignore that, just noe I started reading the last update >"Ahh, my most capricious little girl has arrived."

So anyone got any ideas for a plan?

>[ ] Can't think now, and too many unknowns anyway. You'll figure something out when you get there.

Don't know if wanna vote this. But I can't think of anything, and Youmou won't say a word, will she?

We need backup for this, we need to recruite 9 more people and steal the money pretendiong to be part of the Yama.

...hey, we could sneak in pretending to be the Yama. But there are too many flaws in this...like uniforms, and all...

>>2260

Maybe we should ask for people in /th/ to pay a visit here? RAN seems to be enough for most people's standard, I think (it was for me). I just hope the retarded masses don't come here, we only need that cool write-ins guy.

>>2262

Better idea, let's ask Sakuya tripfag to plan something.

[x] Can't think now, and too many unknowns anyway. You'll figure something out when you get there.

All we know now is that it's a warehouse. I would at least like to confirm my suspicion that China will be the one on guard duty before I start drawing up any plans.
If she is, though, then I say we put Youmu in a box and fast-talk Meiling into believing we're delivering it.
Apart from that, given the similar hair color, Youmu might be able to pass for Sakuya in really poor lighting. Just get her a similar outfit, a few knives, and a pair of sunglasses and there we go.

Just throwing out ideas over here.

>>2265

The delivery idea sounds good. But what to do once we're in?

So, uh... I don't feel the need to ever spam for votes, just a few is fine, but only one? Tell me if I'm doing something wrong, here.

>>2266
No clue.
My best guess would be along the lines of grabbing the money and creating a diversion so we can escape during the chaos. A fire might work, particularly because the guards should probably be more worried about saving the goods inside than anything else.

>>2267

We're trying to form a plan. It's not easy what with being on a slow board.

>>2268

That'll do.

[ ] No sense in procrastinating, come up with a plan to steal the money from that warehouse. (Get a truck from somewhere, drive up to the warehouse and say we have a delivery. Once inside check for any guards, kill them if necessary, load up the cargo while Youmu starts a fire on the other side of the warehouse. Escape in the truck while the guards panic over the fire.)

How about relying on stealth, sneak in via some back-alley hatch/window/door/whatever is available and if it comes to fighting, have Youmu create a distraction while we get away. (Assuming she can easily run away, she's very, very fast, right?)

Since apparently a client gave them the money, so SDMcorp would be on the look-out for us and with have armed guards. We may get by, but Youmu would be too recognizable for going incognito.

We need to create a scene; if the local authorities get involved, the goons will have to attempt to leave with the money or try to prevent their entry. Otherwise SDM activities could get pulled into it into the public.

The reason Youmu is with us is probably both insurance & observer. In light of our partial success over facing her, the higher-ups may be testing us if we have officer potential.

[x] This is a stealth-sneaking mission. Tell Youmu we'll need sneaking suits, night-vision goggles, silent weapons (her swords are fine, but we need knives or a silenced gun), an untracable cell phone, and a remotely triggered incendiary explosive. A crime syndicate as large as this should have at least access to these items. Acting at nightfall, we scope out the site security from surrounding buildings. Phone the fire department to the scene. Wait until sirens are heard, then cut the power, so they goons can't run off with the money before the firemen arrive. Enter the building from the roof. Set the explosive among the flammable storage. Locate the money. Blow explosive, take money & escape out the top while the guards try to prevent firemen from entering.

[X] No sense in procrastinating, come up with a plan to steal the money from that warehouse.

"Ready to go? Right, then." You nod proudly in Youmu's direction. "You know those camo suits the kappa have been working on? We'll need two of those, some night vision goggles to go with 'em, some long range firepower with silencers, an offgrid cell phone, and some remote incendiaries. Oh, and a really big truck. You know where we can pick all that up good to go, right?"

After an uncomfortably long moment of stillness, Youmu produces a set of keys from her pocket and tosses them at you. She walks to the passenger side of a large, unmarked van parked on the side of the street and gets in.

"Right," you sigh, following her lead and starting to drive. "At least we got the truck. Okay, here's the deal. I'll drop you off behind the place, then I'll go say there's a delivery and you, uh, do something distracting at the back. Very distracting. Try to be noisy, I know that's hard for you but do your best. Maybe start a fire. Guards'll run back to you, I'll take care of whoever's left in front and load the money. Sound good?"

Youmu cranes her neck to stare directly at you. You consider apologizing for the crack at her silence, but then notice her stare is directed at your arms. A less generous soul might describe them as "scrawny," or "toothpicks," though you prefer "in excellent shape for my species, and yes I eat enough thank you."

"Okay, fine, we'll both load the money. Geez, lighten up a bit."

Apparently satisfied, your silent partner pops open the glove compartment and removes a couple of black objects. You recognize them as your guns just as Youmu reaches over and drops them into the appropriate pockets in your dress.

"Buh, wha, hey..."

She demonstrated clinical precision and detachment, but even so, isn't that going a little far, Miss Konpaku? Aren't you capable of arming yourself? And how did she even know where you sewed those pockets in? The short drive remaining is spent in awkward silence, till you pull over in an alley a block behind the warehouse and let Youmu out. You keep an eye on her in the mirror, but she neither looks back at you nor gives any hint of what she plans to do. Pulling the van around to the front of the building, you remind yourself that deliverypeople ought to be humble, and lean out of the window to address the only figure there, a tall redhead sporting a black suit and sunglasses.

"Heya, miss! Got the next load for you here, wanna open the loading doors for it?"

She doesn't respond, standing ramrod straight. For a second she reminds you of Youmu, but...

"Miss? HEY! Delivery!"

No, definitely more like Letty than Youmu, you decide as the guard jolts slightly and notices you.

"Ah! Delivery? But she didn't say we were expecting anything more!" She peers at you in curiosity, and you play it up a bit more, taking an informed guess at who her superiors are.

"Scarlet changed her plans, found a little more at the last minute, and the puppy said fine. You know how she goes."

You drawl at her, trying to sound cynical, and amazingly enough it works. The guard grabs a radio from her pocket and mumbles, and soon enough you're backing the van into a discrete loading dock. In the mirror, you can see the large door roll upward, revealing the dusty interior of the warehouse. It seems to contain a number of shelves of shoddy cardboard boxes, nearly falling apart. Your heart skips a beat as you contemplate the probability that those actually contain money, and the suddenly not insignificant possibility of this being a setup. It takes your full force of will to move slowly as you exit the vehicle and walk towards the guard, praying fervently that Youmu will do something.

Your prayers do not go unanswered.

One moment you're stepping forward towards the redhead, watching the sun glint off the star insignia on her breast, and the next you're flat on your back, ears ringing from a headsplitting sonic boom of heavenly salvation. As you raise your head, you note that daylight seems to be shining into the warehouse from the other side, now.

"What was that? Someone's attacking!" The guard's hand suddenly grabs yours and yanks you upright with fearsome strength. You tense, and nearly go for your gun before her next words register. "Come on and help! We have to go fight them off!"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah!" You nod enthusiastically, and the guard starts nearly dragging you towards the back.

Then all hell breaks loose. You, and the misguided lady clutching your arm, are nearly thrown back to the van again by a titanic blast that rips apart the remainder of the back of the warehouse. Your vision whites out for a second, blinded by the dazzling white-rainbow energy beam flashing in front of you, and the world returns in a swirl of kaleidoscopic afterimages. You think you can see figures running towards the source of the blast(s). Next to you, the front guard has released her grip, and seems even more dazed than you. Youmu is nowhere to be found.

[ ] Stick to the plan. Ignore the fireworks, get out of the guard's view and get working.
[ ] That guard's too strong to be human. Could be trouble, better make sure she stays down before you start loading.
[ ] Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature. Convince her to help you load the boxes up, on the grounds that you're protecting them from the attackers.
[ ] You told Youmu to be noisy, but wasn't that second blast overkill? Change of plans, better see if you can find her.

>>2289

This was a triumph.

[x] Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature. Convince her to help you load the goods up, on the grounds that the enemy seems overwhelming.

"Whatever did that is nasty, Miss. But it can't compare to what Scarlet will do to us if we lose the goods."

We can't load the boxes on our own; given Youmu's appraisal. However, we don't know which boxes the money's in, and we don't know if the money is really in them (maybe there's a suitcase or something of the like). Goods is a more neutral way of putting it.

We shouldn't go back there; as it's possible Youmu's fighting Sakuya. And if we stay with Meiling, we can make excuses as to why we have knowledge of the money or why there's no boxes in the van (e.g., Remilia was given the tip-off, but it looked like an inside job, so she contracted outside insurance).

Then we can pop her or send her to hold up the enemy while we escape.

[ ] Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature. Convince her to help you load the boxes up, on the grounds that you're protecting them from the attackers.

Haha that was great.

☞ Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature. Convince her to help you load the boxes up, on the grounds that you're protecting them from the attackers.

[X] Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature. Convince her to help you load the boxes up, on the grounds that you're protecting them from the attackers.

Sorry, Meiling, but business is business.

[+] Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature. Convince her to help you load the boxes up, on the grounds that you're protecting them from the attackers.
THIS CANNOT FAIL!

[X] Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature. Convince her to help you load the boxes up, on the grounds that you're protecting them from the attackers.

[X] Try to take advantage of the guard's dense nature.

You might not have any idea what Youmu's doing back there, but it'll sure do for a distraction. Seizing the initiative, you grab the guard's face and shake it.

"Whatever's back there is too strong! Help me get stuff into the van, we can drive it back to somewhere safe!"

"Ah, ah..." Her sunglasses fall off, and she looks back at the chaos and squeaks. "Yes! Open it, open it!"

Perfect. You hoist open the back door of the van, while the guard begins literally throwing the cardboard boxes in. The entire vehicle shakes when they land, surprising you, and upon trying to lift one yourself you find you can barely move it. Setting the box down with a grunt, you can't resist moving one of the top flaps and peeking inside.

"They're heavy, let me!"

The object of your curiosity is quickly snatched away and thrown, but not before you get a look at its contents: gleaming, solid metal discs, almost the size of your head, with holes in their centers and strange engravings. There must be hundreds of them in every box, but they're surely not any recognizable modern currency. In fact, they're really too large to be coins of any sort, though they do seem like they'd be worth a fair amount as bullion, or perhaps collectables. Hm, haven't you seen something like these before? You strain to remember, and at least try to look helpful, as your sweating companion finishes loading the van.

Another explosion rocks the warehouse, this one knocking out the overhead lights. In the sudden dimness you can see fires flickering in the back, and a bass roar from that direction promises more chaos to come. Meanwhile, a lesser report from the van notifies you that some of the less sturdy boxes have broken their sides. The guard doesn't seem to care about the few discs that spill out as she slams the back doors shut and runs around to the passenger side.

A few problems occur to you at that point.
1: She's going to want to come with you, isn't she?
2: Youmu should really have shown up by now, shouldn't she?
3: Come to think of it, you didn't ask where you should deliver the payload after picking it up, did you?

Trusting in Youmu to solve all three of these any second now, you hop back towards the driver's seat. One of the fallen discs rolls into your foot on the way, and as you nearly trip on it, you make the connection. Back when you first came to the city, you toured some of the museums, and saw some of these discs - no, they really are coins, after all! - in one of the exhibits. An exhibit on the archaic workings of Muenzuka, to be precise, and their acceptance of spiritual payments from souls seeking passage to the afterlife.

Your eyes widen as you realize exactly what you're carrying, who (or rather what) must have taken it, and why the Master wanted you to get these back so badly. Then they widen some more as another large van crashes straight through the remainder of the warehouse's back wall. It continues to burst through the interior shelves till it skids to a stop not far from where you were loading boxes, and a scruffy human girl in an absurd black hat jumps out of it, laughing ecstatically. Having run into her on some of your wilder nights on the town, you immediately recognize Marisa Kirisame, general petty thief/mercenary/ne'erdowell/whatever she feels like, and quickly redouble your efforts to start the van.

"Hooo boy, how bout them boxes'a stolen monnahs? Won't be mindin if Inspector Mari takes a few home for taxes, woudja now?!"

Marisa's incoherent shouting nearly distracts you from the events at your side. Youmu, thank god, has finally appeared out of nowhere, hopped into the van and closed the door, all without regard to its other occupant, and is now crouching and facing off with the frightened guard over the passenger seat. Her hair is singed and her eyes still have a touch of red in them, but she looks otherwise healthy. Meanwhile, the guard is nearly frozen up and frantically trying to ask you questions.

"Who's that? Wait, who are you? W-w-wait, weren't you coming in for a delivery? How come your van didn't have anything in it when we were loading it? Where are you going?"

You're a little lost on that last one yourself, but you're also surprised why Youmu hasn't just tossed the poor girl out the window yet, and almost motion for her to do so. A pause in Marisa's racous monologue draws your attention, however.

"So I'll just be taking... zeh? Where'd all the loots..."

Something akin to Youmu's slow motion concentration sets in as you feel Marisa take in the now empty warehouse and the few coins scattered behind your van. Her eyes reach the van's mirror, and meet the reflections of your own.

"Aw hell no. Aw you fuckin' did NOT."

Your frozen fingers turn the key in the ignition, and the vehicle roars to life and jerks forward just as a single, pencil-thin beam of energy tears a path straight through its interior and burns a hole in the windshield, missing the guard's head by centimeters. She cowers as the beam persists, and you realize in a panic that it's about to widen to match Marisa's wrath at being one-upped.

[ ] Floor it! She can't have much range on that blast if she's using it in the city... can she?
[ ] Swerve to the side! A chunk of the van might get carved off, but you'll get out alive!
[ ] Reverse and run her down, fast!

Second choice, assuming you'll be in a condition to make it:

[ ] Tell Youmu to toss the guard out, into the spark's blast area.
[ ] Tell Youmu to knock the guard out, you'll dump her somewhere else.
[ ] Tell Youmu to leave the guard alone, better not start a fight in the cab.

[x] Floor it! She can't have much range on that blast if she's using it in the city... can she?
[x] Tell Youmu to knock the guard out, you'll dump her somewhere else.

[X] Swerve to the side! A chunk of the van might get carved off, but you'll get out alive!

I'm assuming Youmu and the guard will duck to avoid the beam.

[X] Tell Youmu to knock the guard out, you'll dump her somewhere else.

[x] Reverse and run her down, fast!

If that's a Master Spark she's starting up, she won't be able to move around quickly. Plus, she's a fragile human.

And risking a "chunk out of the van" is a lot of lost money.

[x] Tell Youmu to leave the guard alone, better not start a fight in the cab.

"Hey uh, you want a job? Because I'm thinkin' you really don't want to see Sakuya after bungling up this big."

>>2306

Seconded. Do not want to hurt Meiling, but fuck Marisa.

[x] Reverse and run her down, fast!
[x] Tell Youmu to leave the guard alone, better not start a fight in the cab.

We don't die when killed, fuck it, let's take some awesome risks.

...Wait, how would we even get a BAD END in this story?

>>2308

Disowned by the Family? Or keep us in a tiny "Detention Room" with a bucket of water in it.

[x] Reverse and run her down, fast!
[x] Tell Youmu to leave the guard alone, better not start a fight in the cab.

[X] Swerve to the side! A chunk of the van might get carved off, but you'll get out alive!
[X] Tell Youmu to leave the guard alone, better not start a fight in the cab.

Considering we have a load of very heavy boxes in the back, I don't think that will do any favors for the van's acceleration/top speed.

Afterwards, with any luck we can persuade Meiling to distract Marisa while we try to get away... though chances are, Youmu might have to be the one to deal with someone as powerful as Marisa.

[x] Reverse and run her down, fast!
[x] Tell Youmu to leave the guard alone, better not start a fight in the cab.

>>2308

fates worse than death etc

[X] Reverse and run her down, fast!
[X] Tell Youmu to leave the guard alone, better not start a fight in the cab.

Forward? Not enough time. You'd die. Sideways? Not enough time. You might escape, but the back half of the van would get vaporized, so what's the point? You're staring down imminent death, same as you were last night. Okay, technically you're staring away from it, but the answer is still the same - strike. Shifting into reverse, you try to ignore the thumps and protests of the load in back, brace against the seat, and jam the gas.

You hear several crashing sounds and a surprised scream that cuts off as the laser piercing the cab suddenly jerks up, cutting a neat scar through the roof before vanishing. You can't see anything moving in the mirror, and you can't see Marisa at all. An eerie quiet settles, persisting as you throw the van back into gear and peel out, until it's comically interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone.

The guard girl unfreezes and reaches for her hip, but Youmu is faster, snatching her phone and throwing it out the window. She has one hand on the girl's shirt and the other on the door handle before you surprise yourself by speaking.

"Let her be."

Both passengers glance at you. Youmu surprises you further by releasing her grip and reclining into an uncomfortable-looking position, squeezing between the door and the seat, while the guard seems to regain some of her confidence. She extends one leg foward, and stammers.

"T-tell me who you are and what you're doing, right now, or I'll k-kick out the engine. I mean it!"

You flash her a shaky grin, secure in the knowledge that Youmu would stop her if she tried any such thing.

"Nah, you won't. We're just a lowly delivery squad, taking these boxes where they need to go."

The girl looks between you and Youmu, perhaps unable to decide which side is scarier. Eventually, she decides to just sit back and glare.

"What are you going to do with me, then?" Some of the tremors in her voice fade as you fail to answer her question, wondering much the same yourself. "Kill me? Throw me in a ditch? Put me in your dungeons? You wouldn't dare. You'll never get away with this, you know, you should turn around now and go to the Scarlet building. No, no, turn around! It's back that way! Turn around... turn around."

You swing the wheel in the opposite direction of the girl's urgings, deciding that Yuyuko's pagoda is the best bet for a dropoff spot. She changes tack.

"They'll come looking for me. I'm not afraid of you, you know! I'm Hong Meiling! Personal assistant to Sakuya herself! Y-yeah, I call her by her first name! I've been in much worse places before! So you should let me out, right now!"

Meiling? Oho. So that's who she is.

"Yeah, 'Agent China.' I've heard of you. Best muscle SDM's got to offer." She brightens at your recognition and starts to speak again, but you talk over her. "Except for all the reeeeal youkai, and the demons, and nasties like that. Not bad for a door guard, I guess, but that was pretty pathetic back there. You're right, I guess we should take you back. Drop you on the dog's doorstep, let her take it out on you a bit before she comes after us."

As you expected, that shuts her up while you turn off the main street into a ghostly driveway, bordered by four pillars, that didn't exist a moment ago. Secrecy isn't on your mind as you rattle up the way to the true Hakugyokuro Estate. After all, China's already seen your and Youmu's faces, and anyone of any note could recognize Yuyuko's mute swordgirl at a glance. As you pull up in front of the pagoda, you note with relief that while Yuyuko is nowhere to be seen, a number of ghosts are already rising out of the mist and gathering behind the van to unload it. One more assignment completed, one less thing for you to worry about.

Youmu opens her door and roughly yanks your prisoner out with her. China breaks free of the grip immediately, tripping over herself from expecting more resistance, but then turns pale as she sees why Youmu made no effort to hold on. In all directions around the pagoda, nothing but formless, eerily glowing mist is visible.

"Hakugyokuro," you caustically observe, "technically lies in the realms of the dead. Feel free to wander off! Escape all you want! You just won't really be escaping with your life."

The spirits, not subject to bodily concerns, quickly float all the boxes away. One hovers over the cab of the van, noting the large slash made by Marisa's laser. As you look more closely and note the bubbling, melted metal spread across the roof of the vehicle, any feelings of guilt you harbored about running the witch over are replaced by shock that she would use such recklessly lethal force to begin with. Youmu deftly plucks the keys from your hand and approaches the ghost. You neither hear nor see either of them do anything, but after a few seconds, the spirit floats away, and Youmu casts a final look at you and heads into the pagoda.

Thus leaving you alone, outside, with a subdued China. And, you realize a moment later, no keys, so you can't just drive back across the gate and leave her here. Well, you could walk, but that wouldn't have the same dramatic effect.

"Well..." she murmurs. Genuine fear registers in her voice, but then, shockingly, she stands up straight and you see steel in her eyes. "What are you going to do with me?"

Good question.

[ ] ________________________

======

Getting into the swing of this a bit. I'd like to update somewhat more frequently (shocking, yeah), so I guess don't be amazed if something wins on one or two votes. Feedback always appreciated, thanks for reading, etc. You won't be running into any abrupt, arbitrary bad ends, but some story paths may be grimmer than others. Don't overthink it, I'll be trying to stick to the directions people indicate they want to see.

[ ] You are now my slave. You will wear cat ears and greet everyone you meet with "Konichinyaa." Understand?

[X] Blindfold her so she can't effectively scope out the area. Lead her to Yuyuko so you can inform her that you picked up something a little extra from the warehouse. Suggest you lock her in a room somewhere so she can be monitored. Meiling could very well be used bartering tool if Remilia finds out about the warehouse job.

>>2329

And by finds out about the warehouse job, I mean finds out who was behind it. She obviously is going to find out about it. We could somehow coerce Meiling into pinning it on Marisa.

Poor Meiling, not really as planned. We can't just let her go now, it's too good an opportunity for someone in our line of work to pass up, but I don't want to hurt her either. Can anyone think of a use for her that would be beneficial to both parties?

>>2330
That depends on whether Marisa was able to escape after we RAN HER THE FUCK OVER. God I love this story.

>>2327

EVERY WALL, A TRIUMPH

[x] "First thing I'm going to do with you Meiling is take you out to dinner. I'll pay of course, after all..." You look guiltily at the ground and kick at any rocks, "...it's my fault you weren't just knocked out and left at the scene. Sorry."
[x] Introduce yourself.
[x] "I guess I'm responsible for you now. Youmu apparently doesn't need to silence or extract information from you, and there's no possibility of framing the situation so that you won't be summarily executed as a traitor if you return. But on the bright side you definitely looked like you could use a vacation!"

This is awesome. We ran Marisa over!

...Alice and the others are gonna be soooo pissed.

...actually, now that I think about it, we should avoid Flandre. Forever.

[X] Blindfold her so she can't effectively scope out the area. Lead her to Yuyuko so you can inform her that you picked up something a little extra from the warehouse. Suggest you lock her in a room somewhere so she can be monitored. Meiling could very well be used bartering tool if Remilia finds out about the warehouse job.

>"What are you going to do with me?"

[x] "That's not for me to decide. That is a job for Lady Yuyuko. In the Mean Time, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Do we really need blindfolds?

>"Well..." she murmurs. Genuine fear registers in her voice, but then, shockingly, she stands up straight and you see steel in her eyes. "What are you going to do with me?"

Yeah, that steel in her eyes part? That's your reminder that one punch would ruin your whole day. And I doubt browbeating her is going to net us anything except animosity.

Right now she's uncertain of our motives & likely afraid of punishment from Sakuya. The reason we got her to come with us instead of knocking her out in the first place was to try & convince her to work for us, right?

>Meiling could very well be used bartering tool if Remilia finds out about the warehouse job.

You guys know the response is going to be "keep her", right?

[x] "I'm going to bring you before Yuyuko to try and gain you some sort of asylum, before Youmu falls into one of her 'rending' moods."

Bring her to Yuyuko immediately. Make a comment to Yuyu on how China'd probably make an excellent chef. Hope she gets the hint and offers Meiling a position.

Pity has moved this fairy's capricious heart.

[x] "That's not for me to decide. That is a job for Lady Yuyuko. In the Mean Time, I'll be keeping an eye on you.

[x] "That's not for me to decide. That is a job for Lady Yuyuko. In the Mean Time, I'll be keeping an eye on you.

[X] "That's not for me to decide. That is a job for Lady Yuyuko. In the meantime, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

>Make a comment to Yuyu on how China'd probably make an excellent chef.
brilliant.jpg

☞ "That's not for me to decide. That is a job for Lady Yuyuko. In the meantime, I'll be keeping an eye on you."
☞ Make a comment to Yuyu on how China'd probably make an excellent chef.

[x]☞"That's not for me to decide. That is a job for Lady Yuyuko. In the meantime, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

WE MUST WARM HER HEART WITH..something.

[X] Take her to Yuyuko.

"Oh, I've got a plan for you, China." You smirk as she steps back, laughing inwardly at the mighty youkai being terrified of a fairy half her size. "A foolproof, one hundred percent guaranteed plan, aw yeah. Want to know what it is?" She nods.

"I'm going to pass the buck. Come on, let's talk to Yuyuko."

Leading China into the estate, you marvel once more at its construction. A low, elegant pagoda seems to rise out of eerie nothingness, though you know that at least some of the mist is just for show. Somewhere behind the household lies a vast, walled-in garden of ghostly cherry trees, silent testament to the fact that Yuyuko's tastes are more elegant than they appear. You can't even be sure she's here right now, but if Youmu came in, it's probably a good bet. The long, empty corridors of Hakugyokuro absorb your footsteps, and you can sense China glancing nervously at the paper walls.

"When you said Yuyuko..." she tries to speak, swallows and starts again. "Y-you don't mean Saigyouji, right? Sakuya told me that was just a story, she doesn't really exist, and said I shouldn't listen to the fairies when they tried to scare me. I guess, um, do you live here? Is it always this quiet?"

You decide to let her work things out for herself, and continue forward, catching a glimpse of something. A single butterfly, flying near the ceiling, flits into a side passage, and you smile and follow it.

"No, not always this quiet. If you listen carefully, sometimes you can hear the dead talking to you. It's kind of like they're talking in their sleep, but they'll never wake up again. Maybe you can hear them?" The poor girl's quaking in her boots, now, and you decide to ease up on her a little as you turn the corner. "Hey, chill. I'm just a fairy trying to scare you, right?"

Looking back, you see China round the corner with you, glaring in relief, when a handful of wisps drop down behind the guard and whisper in her ear.

"Boo."

China's scream pierces the silence of Hakugyokuro as she whips around and kicks at nothing. You put on an innocent face as she turns back to you.

"W-w-w-what was that! Something was trying to-"

"Boo!"

A chill passes through your gut briefly as Yuyuko Saigyouji materializes, appearing to step directly out of your body. Stepping back as China screams and flails again, you breath a sigh of relief at the ghost's appearance. She's appearing in a less formal, pale azure kimono, matching the hue of your own dress. That probably means you didn't wake her up. In due course, China stops attacking once she notices her moves pass right through Yuyuko. She's nearly gibbering.

"Hi-iii~" Yuyu purrs in a silky tone. "Don't mind me, I'm just a story that silly fairies tell in the dark. And you?" China whimpers. "I see. Hong Meiling, the hound dog's bark. Fancy meeting you here. I didn't think she'd really go that far... or are you just a little extra that my delivery girl picked up?" You have no idea what Yuyu's talking about with that first part, but it seems not to matter, as the guard finally snaps and bursts into tears.

"S-stop it! Please, just stop it! I'm a little extra, I don't want to die, you win you win you win!"

"Don't you?" Yuyu sounds disappointed, but then pats China's shoulder. "Bad trip, huh. Yell all you want, relax here. We won't stab you for it, now will we? You should go lie down, my treat." On cue, Youmu appears from behind you, picks up the sobbing girl, and carries her down the hall. Yuyu watches them go, then turns around to you, a smile playing across her lips.

"Such a fun afternoon you must have had, playing with Youmu! She told me all about it, and you even brought a playmate home!" Her grin widens. "We knew you'd have wonderful ideas."

"Ah. Yes. Thanks." Anything you can say seems inadequate, after watching your lady - your friend - break that girl down. Now, as ever, you can't tell if she was purposefully being cruel, or just oblivious. In any case, it seems that China's out of your hands now.

"But," Yuyu adds, returning to the casual manner you prefer, "You must be tired after all that, and I believe you were promised the rest of the day off. Have some fun, do what you like! My house is always open to family."

Her last word echoes through the halls, whispered and repeated. You weren't actually joking when you told China about the spirits.

"Whatever you do, though," she continues, "be sure and rest up. Sorry to impose, but the next week or two are going to be busy. I'll be having lunch. See you, and thanks." Yuyu blows you a kiss, wavering between motherly and sisterly, and floats off.

[ ] Mission complete, huh? Time to take your leave.
[ ] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here.
[ ] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Pick a room and rest.
[ ] Follow Yuyu and eat with her.

===

Hopefully more tonight.

[ ] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here, maybe show Meiling around.

>"Don't mind me, I'm just a story that silly fairies tell in the dark. And you?"

I love it.

[X] Follow Yuyu and eat with her.

Random vote!

[X] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here.

[X] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here.

>[ ] Follow Yuyu and eat her.

{X} Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here.
I want to check up on Meiling~

[X] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here, maybe show Meiling around.

On one hand, Meiling may become part of the family after that bit.

On the other, we just basically treated her like Sakuya does in many doujins.

Hollow victory.

[X] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here, maybe show Meiling around.

Well, aside from being scared to near-death by Yuyu, she'll probably be treated better here than anywhere else.

>>2375

Very true. I'm just too soft.

[X] Take Yuyu up on her offer. Find something to do here.

Dammit, Yuyuko, don't just float off like that! Inwardly wondering if she, or perhaps Master planned all this from the start, you wave to her and turn around, trying to remember where Youmu went. The spirits of the halls seem to have woken up, and whisper to you as you navigate them. You do your best to tune them out most of the time, having learned from disturbing experience that Yuyu is actually on the high end of the ghost sanity scale. One voice in particular seems loud today, crying in one of the corner rooms.

Waaaait a second.

Sliding the door open and peeking into the room confirms your suspicion. China is huddled the furthest corner, face buried and arms shaking. You're astonished she found the courage to shove the kotatsu to its current position against the near wall. Watching the girl shudder, your wings vibrate, resonating with her sobs and betraying that, well, you do feel a little sorry for her. Sighing, you walk over and sit down next to her, proving her paranoia useless as she fails to even notice your presence.

"Hey." She shakes more violently, and one eye peeks out between her arms. Upon verifying your identity she scrunches up tighter. You sigh and continue.

"Whatcha tryin to do, be the Great Ball of China? Come on, at least get out a pillow and cry into that or something. Nobody here's going to hurt you."

"She'll kill me! You'll kill me! Just being here feels like I'm already dead!" Well, the statements included in her muffled wail aren't entirely incorrect, but...

"At least think about it! If we wanted you here dead, you'd be here dead. Lady Saigyouji knows what she's doing, and even if she did decide to kill you, it wouldn't hurt a bit. You barely even feel it, trust me, I know." You do your best to reassure her. Perhaps a little morbidly, but hey, it's the truth, and she can't exactly get worse. It seems to work, and China lifts her head up to talk to you. Her face is a mess.

"Really? T-they're not really going to come for me. I think. Sakuya said- she said if I screwed this up, Miss Scarlet would be upset. Personally. But it was just a bunch of boxes andIthoughtthey'dbeokay." She goes back to crying, and you go back to wondering what you're going to do with her, then catch yourself and curse at how easily you were snared back into dealing with her.

Then the door slides open, and Youmu walks into the room, carrying a tray with three tall glasses of milk. At least, you hope it's milk, it's cold, white, opaque, and milky and you don't think Yuyu's ghastly humor would extend this far. Youmu sets the tray down on the floor in front of China, then sits down with her, on the opposite side of you, and stares into space. This reverses the situation rather nicely; the chinese girl seems to appreciate the company and gulps the drink down, but your skin begins to crawl as you wonder how exactly Yuyuko put her bodyguard up to this. Cautiously testing the milk yourself, you decide to push things again. Worked out fine so far, after all.

"So, I guess you're fired, huh. Congratulations! I hear the Scarlets kill you if you work for em too long. Over here, we take care of that first."

"I guess." China actually manages a bitter laugh. "Don't really wanna die, but if this's it, better here than going back."

"Huh." You still can't quite believe it. "Is it really that bad over there?"

"No..." She takes a long time to answer, staring into her glass. "It's pretty good, most of the time. I was just scared earlier. Miss Scarlet, you know, they say she's a monster, but she's really nice to her friends. Even if they screw up, she's just mad for a while. Maybe Sakuya would throw some knives. But," she adds, almost defiantly, "they wouldn't ever kill me. Not even for this."

"Then what are you worried about? Already said, we're not gonna kill you. Probably Yuyu's just gonna extort the crap out of em and give you back." This seems to hit a nerve, and China flinches and mumbles.

"They might not pay. They don't... she doesn't kill people that let her down. She just forgets about them."

".... Ah."

You can't think of anything else to say to that. China wipes her face on her sleeve and stands up.

"I'll be okay. I won't break anything, I promise, so you don't need to stay in here."

Youmu stands as well, picks up the tray and walks out of the room. She pauses in the doorway, and your heart freezes up again as you hear a high, girlish voice speak. Just like the first time you heard it, you can scarcely believe it comes from the Saigyouji's most dedicated fighter.

"Stop crying, Meiling."

Then she's gone, and you can breathe again. China, or Meiling, nods futilely after Youmu, completely unaware of the significance of what just happened, and waves for you to leave, too.

1.
[ ] Say something to her before you go. (You should specify what, for choices like this.)
[ ] Just go.
2.
[ ] Time to go home.
[ ] Youmu talked?! Follow her!
[ ] Find Yuyuko, she's probably still eating.
[ ] Do something else.

[X] "I'm sure Remilia would do anything to get you back. We'll be meiling you back to her in no time."

[X] Do something else.

>the Great Ball of China

Oh god, that was so cheesy I laughed.

[X] "Just so you know, Meiling, the Saigyouji never forget their family members."
[X] Find Yuyuko, she's probably still eating.

[ ] Say something to her before you go. (You should specify what, for choices like this.)
[ ] Youmu talked?! Follow her!

I can't think of anything good but say something about the significance of Youmu actually saying something.

>>2386
[X] "Looks like she has taken a liking to you. That one sentence was more than Youmu has said to me in all the time I've known her."
[X] Youmu talked?! Follow her!

[X] "Looks like she has taken a liking to you. That one sentence was more than Youmu has said to me in all the time I've known her."
[X] Youmu talked?! Follow her!

[X] "Looks like she's taken a liking to you. That one sentence was more than Youmu has said to me in all the time I've known her."
And as we're at the door:
[X] "...Just so you know, Meiling, the Saigyouji never forget their family members."
And then
[X] Find Yuyuko, she's probably still eating.
because Yuyuko is win.

[x] "Looks like she has taken a liking to you. That one sentence was more than Youmu has said to me in all the time I've known her."
[x] Youmu talked?! Follow her!
[x] "...Just so you know, Meiling, the Saigyouji never forget their family members."

We should definitely get Meiling to join the family. They'll be smart enough to have her work with a partner to avoid screw-ups like this. Plus we get her calling us Senpai.

[x] "Looks like she has taken a liking to you. That one sentence was more than Youmu has said to me in all the time I've known her."
[x] Youmu talked?! Follow her!
[x] "...Just so you know, Meiling, the Saigyouji never forget their family members."

[x] "Looks like she has taken a liking to you. That one sentence was more than Youmu has said to me in all the time I've known her."

Exasperated compliment. What the hell Youmu.

[x] "...Just so you know, Meiling, the Saigyouji never forget their family members."

I didn't see what you did there until I reread:

>"They might not pay. They don't... she doesn't kill people that let her down. She just forgets about them."

It's over. Meiling may as well start calling you "Aneki".

[x] Youmu talked?! Follow her!

BUT SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL YOUMU
(╬ ಠ益ಠ)

There would normally be an update here, but the next section is not coming well due to various things, so sleep is here instead. Sleep, and angry mutterings about how I'm giving out choices too frequently and allowing too much freedom.

>>2402
Rest them writing muscles well.

[x] "Looks like she has taken a liking to you. That one sentence was more than Youmu has said to me in all the time I've known her."
[x] Youmu talked?! Follow her!
[x] "...Just so you know, Meiling, the Saigyouji never forget their family members."

[X] Youmu talked?! Follow her!

"Is something wrong?" Meiling fidgets as you don't leave immediately, trying to process what just happened.

"Yeah. No. I mean, maybe. That's more than she's ever said to me."

Leaving her with that, you slide the door closed and then break into a run, looking down every corridor hoping to catch a glimpse of Youmu. The ghosts go nuts as you run, but their laughing racket fails to penetrate your thoughts. Where'd she go? You have to catch that girl and settle this, but she isn't here. Nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here, nor here. Rounding a corner, you see a panel sliding shut, and dive for it, throwing it back open and bursting through.

You find yourself outside, on a second floor balcony overlooking the cherry gardens, though you don't recall climbing any stairs. Youmu is walking into their midst, clearly visible. Triumphantly, you vault over the railing and let yourself fall, enjoying the ride and landing on the not quite solid ground below. She does not pause as you run towards her.

"Youmu!" You pause, realizing your lack of a plan beyond this point. "You said something!"

She gives no indication of having noticed your presence, hurrying deeper into the rows of trees. You're almost out of breath now, and if Youmu keeps up this pace you won't be able to match her for long. Unsure whether to be angry or disappointed, you decide anger will produce more immediate results.

"Cut it out, Youmu! I know you can hear me! I know you've always been able to hear me!"

Nothing. Youmu doesn't even break stride. You try to jump into her, and she keeps on walking as though you aren't even there, bowling you over with ease. Spitting out a mouthful of wispy grass, or perhaps grasslike wisps, you grimace. At least now you know this isn't one of Yuyu's horrid practical jokes.

"Damn it, what's your problem? I'm talking to you, here! You'll tell her to stop crying but you won't even look at me? Is that it?"

Apparently that is indeed it, as the subject of your cries fails to respond. If anything, you'd swear Youmu's pace has been quickening, but that's probably just your frustration playing tricks on your mind. Your frustration and the unnatural effects of the Netherworld, that is - glancing back, you can't even see Hakugyoukuro through the mists anymore, and you've never really gone out into the gardens before. This far in, the cherry trees seem more like people than plants. Their branches hang heavy with blossoms, some pale and others dark pink, nearly red, in a pattern that no doubt stretches across the entire garden. A few look like faces, heads hung in prayer or sorrow, while others seem more like grasping hands of branches hidden by the petals' glow. Unnerving, but then, what isn't in this place? Youmu seems to know where she's going, though, and the path's been straight, so you aren't too concerned about finding your way back.

Gathering your strength, you concentrate and vibrate your wings, launching forward in a straight, low burst of flight that leaves you in front of Youmu again. As before, as always, she completely ignores you, and in desperation you give her a feeble punch. Your fist sinks into the layers of soft fabric covering the girl's chest as you scream out in her face.

"Will you just drop the act and pay attention to me for once?!"

You brace yourself for the knee about to impact your face and knock you down again, but it doesn't come.

Youmu has stopped dead in her tracks. Her hand moves to her side, where you hit her a moment ago, and she carefully pulls the fabric of her shirt outwards. Then she staggers and nearly falls to one knee before righting herself. Surely you couldn't have hit her that hard. Stunned once again, and now a little frightened, you step back.

Then, finally, Youmu looks directly into your eyes. The normal, crystal cold feeling of concentration doesn't come to you this time. She's just staring at you, face expressionless, not even a hint of accusation or a trace of that battle red in her eyes to make things simpler. Her body trembles occasionally, almost invisibly, in ways you'd attribute to wind, were it possible for there to be any wind in the land of the dead. You can't bring yourself to break her gaze, wondering what she's going to do, or if she's going to do anything at all. Perhaps not. Every second that ticks by, Youmu looks a little paler, a little less lifelike. A little more like a dead girl. Just as your thoughts begin to wander, the corpse grants your wish. Her mouth moves, speaking directly to you at last, articulating five syllables with the same precision evident in her swordplay.

"Go away, fairy."

You stare back at her, thoughts crashing to a halt. Imagining Youmu saying this in a fit of pessimism is one thing, but actually hearing her say it is a different story. Her voice carries no particular emotion, other than sounding like it should come from a girl half her age. It's a single, clear command, utterly dismissive in its simplicity. She didn't even call you by your name. Of course, if you could bring yourself to obey her, you'd have never come out here under the trees in the first place.

"That's it, 'go away'? Why?"

Words lamely tumble from your lips, attempts to explain, apologize, and defend yourself. Whatever her reasons are, she either doesn't want to tell you, or doesn't care. You could guess at several reasons why she wants you to leave, but what you're truly seeking are the reasons she doesn't tell you her reasons. As Youmu fixes you with her gaze, you get the distinct feeling that most or, more likely, all of your words are futile. You search her face, her eyes, her body for clues, but find none. Everything about her is held perfectly straight, concentrated, except for those shivers. Which, come to think, are almost certainly your fault.

".... I mean. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'll go." Suddenly feeling very much an interloper, you shrink back and inch around Youmu. The cherry blossoms ruffle and bend in the wind, nodding to your decision. You sense Youmu shift position behind you, about to resume her march forward into the garden. Before she leaves, she gifts you with a second order.

"Leave me alone."

It's delivered in the same tone as before, but at a slightly lower volume, from behind you. Wish granted. She finally talked to you of her own volition, and more than that, asked you to do something. The trees strongly agree that you should obey. You cannot.

"Why? Aren't we family?!" You whip around and yell again, suddenly frantic to seize the moment and converse with her at any cost. But by the time you turn around, Youmu's already vanished, and only the garden remains to answer you as you walk back to the house of the Saigyoujis.

[ ] Do what Youmu says. Leave.
[ ] Stay. Find Yuyuko.
[ ] Stay, but leave the dead alone.

====

This took far too long and I'm still not very satisfied with it. Ah well.

[ ] Stay. Find Yuyuko. Complain about Youmu.

[ ] Stay. Find Yuyuko.

[X] Do what Youmu says. Leave.
[X] Run to Letty's arms.

Letty! Heal my broken heart!

[+] Stay. Find Yuyuko. Complain about Youmu.

{X} Stay. Find Yuyuko. Complain about Youmu.
Stoic ℳℴℯ~

[X] Stay. Find Yuyuko.

>>2441
WTF happened to the other two options alongside that?

[X] Stay. Find Yuyuko.
Damn
Youmu is a cold-hearted bitch, as I knew all along.

>>2446
>>2445

"Yuyukoooooo, Youmu was meeeeean to meeeeee."

[X] Do what Youmu says. Leave.
[X] Run to Letty's breasts.

[X] Do what Youmu says. Leave.
[x] Letty really would make a wonderful mother.

[x] "...Just so you know, Meiling, the Saigyouji never forget their family members."

>>2459

Slowpoke, old chap! I daresay you yet draw breath!

☞ Stay, but leave the dead alone.

[x] Do what Youmu says. Leave.
[x] Run to Letty's comforting bosom.

Letty, my coworkers are mean~.

[X] Do what Youmu says. Leave.

I guess the second option didn't get enough votes in time. Shame.

>Youmu has stopped dead in her tracks. Her hand moves to her side, where you hit her a moment ago, and she carefully pulls the fabric of her shirt outwards. Then she staggers and nearly falls to one knee before righting herself. Surely you couldn't have hit her that hard.

>Every second that ticks by, Youmu looks a little paler, a little less lifelike. A little more like a dead girl.

Maybe we punched her where we had injured her in our duel? It would explain why she shifts into a more ghostly form.

>"Leave me alone."

Youmu isn't soft. She's cold as ice.

[X] Stay. Find Yuyuko.

We have to ask her what Youmu's deal is.

>>2490
Naw, dude. We nailed her right in the hitbox. That's why she flinched and fell.

[x] Stay. Find Yuyuko.

I have a bad feeling about leaving Meiling here without knowing what they're going to do with her.

[X] Stay. Find Yuyuko.

At length, Hakugyokuro emerges from the mists, and you are able to slide a paper door between yourself and those maddening trees. A part of you, crushed and angry, wishes you could leave, but it's countered by the voice of etiquette telling you that you should really at least pay your respects to the mistress of the house. And, of course, the voice of instinct telling you to spite Youmu until she learns her lesson, but you try to ignore that one. It must be late afternoon by now, more like dinnertime than lunch, but you're well aware that it's all the same to Yuyuko. She eats for pleasure.

While you used your eyes to search for Youmu, the surest way to find her employer is with your nose. You sniff the air inside deeply, and follow the universal aromas of food and springtime to a room deep inside the pagoda. Yuyuko grins lazily as you enter the room.

"Want a cupcake?"

"Cupcakes? Where?" She might not need to eat, but you do, and you're suddenly aware you haven't had a thing today save breakfast and that glass of milk.

"Right here. For you." Yuyu tosses the confection at your face, and you pluck it from the air and flop down, facing her across the room's low table. It's quite rare for her to offer you food, particularly dessert, but delicious as the cupcake is it can't distract you from what you came here to ask.

"I was talking to Youmu, just now, and she was, um..." Rude? Cold? Mean? Yuyu simply blinks for you to continue. "Standoffish," you decide. "Look, what's the deal with that girl? Seriously now, you know her pretty well, right?"

"As much as anyone." With a wave of her hand, butterflies descend and begin to clean empty dishes off the table. "She's a hard worker, very Type A. Not usually my type, but she understands, you know? It." You look up as Yuyu rolls on, and gape.

The entire ceiling is covered with the ghostly creatures, their wings vibrating in alien rhythms.

"She is a little frumpy today, now that I think about it. Seems like she pulled a musclewhile she was at the gym this weekend. Youmu takes her physical fitness very seriously. I always tell her it's not like I'll be in any danger, but she thinks she has to keep in perfect shape anyway."

You take another bite of the cupcake, quietly watching the butterflies. A pale green one flaps its wings, and you think of piercing a small pin through it, how it would shudder as it tried to fly, how it would cover its wound and pull its scales loose if you pressed them in with your finger.

"Do what you want to her. I do. She doesn't really mind. I admire her dedication. It's so charming. Like yours." Yuyuko's image across the table fuzzes out, and you feel her cool hand stroke the hard edges of your wingtips as she reappears behind you. "Thanks for helping Father today. Oh, I know, don't say it. It only took a few minutes, no problem, too easy, of course you'd do it for the family, right? Still," she whispers, pressing your head back into her lap, "you did well. Just a few minutes make all the difference."

The mass of butterflies shift around to the sound of her voice, arranging themselves into shapes, and a few of the most brightly colored ones stand out in your vision. You amuse yourself by watching them flit, reassured that Yuyuko already knows what you wanted to say. She's the queen, or the princess, or whatever she cares to call herself.

"Like them?" Yuyu notices the direction of your vision, and giggles lightly.

"Mmhm." You nod, swallowing a mouthful of frosting and fluffy cake, and indulge your curiosity. "Are they really real?"

"Just ghosts. The best behaved of them, not like the spirits of the building. Those tell lies, but if you listen closely, the butterflies tell you stories." Stroking your forehead, Yuyu murmurs further. Ghost or not, you appreciate her touch, especially after escaping the possessive hands of that garden. You concentrate on the butterflies, wondering if they'll tell you a tale. Yuyuko tells one for you.

"They say Yukari really isn't coming back. Ran will hold elections, soon, and everyone wants a piece of the action. Dancing and dancing and wasting time, trying to get ahead."

You watch two of the butterflies, a large one flying around angrily and another tending to it. Mentally, you tag the large one as male.

"Always trying to get ahead, never thinking, never listening. What was she doing?"

"I never liked dancing for politics." Yuyu's childish side reminds you of your own. "Dancing for fun, now, that's where it's at. The Prismrivers have another concert coming up, want to come with me?" You nod, feeling your scalp tingle as some of your hair passes through her.

"Never would come back home with me. Damn it, she should have come back, not kept running around with those lowlifes!"

"Stop it. Just stop. It's not your fault, it's not our fault. It can't be. She chose her life, she was happy with it." The smaller butterfly seems soft spoken. Many more fly in circles, spirals around a point.

"Didn't she think? Always messing around with magic, dangerous stuff, hooligans. She's only human! Didn't she know she'd end up- like this?"

"No. No one knew. It... it happened. I wish it didn't, but all we can do now is pray."

"Prayers go up, Reimu collects them. The new ones, too, Moriya or whatever. Both of them are trying to capture the people's faith. But not too many people believe in gods these days. Yukari was the useful god, making all this and keeping it up. Now she's gone, so they trust in things. I like that. Like music, you know? Why settle for classical when you can have death metal, house, psi, hard stuff that talks to people now?" Yuyuko drones on.

"Talk to us now. Please. Don't tell us to wait. Just tell us how bad it is." You imagine the small butterfly pleading to the spiral as they fly. They answer in unison, and her wings beat harder, while you drift backwards into drowsiness.

"Massive trauma. Internal bleeding. Doesn't look good."

"Doesn't look good for either of them. Eientei's going to be throwing in as a surprise contender. Why not, right? Kaguya's got a pretty face and promises to keep things as they are, forever. People will overlook a lot of things if you tell them the good times will last forever." The Saigyouji mastermind chuckles at this. "Scarlet isn't running. Neither are we, of course." You grin up at her wryly, glancing away from the cluster of butterflies.

"We? Nobody else around here would do something like that, Yuyu. Only you."

In the upper corner of the room, looking in on the mass, one insect with blue wings and yellow antennae tipped with red waits alone. You imagine it being entirely outside the room, not daring to enter, watching through the window as it always has and whispering to itself, a sole player in your ghastly dream.

"Only you. Only you. Only you. Only you. Please don't leave me alone."

"Those cupcakes are delicious, aren't they?"

Your eyes widen, and Yuyuko suddenly clasps your hand and pulls you upright, diverting your attention from the butterflies. You glimpse purple shadows in her eyes, contrasting with the pink in her streaked hair. Something sinister glimmers far back in their sockets, and the queen mother of your family, not your audacious friend, compliments you again.

"Good job today. Forget what you heard, for now. It'll be public soon enough."

She turns, leaving the room in absolute quiet, and with her the butterflies on the ceiling begin to vanish into dust, returning to death one by one. The precise spiral breaks up, powerlessly, and in its center you see what they were tending to - a single, strange butterfly, colored only black and white, but fragile as the rest in Yuyuko's rooms. It lingers alone for a moment as you wake up.

[ ] Silently leave the room.

[X] Silently leave the room.

Dude.

[X] Silently leave the room.

Oh fuck, I think Marisa got hit a little too hard. She did provoke the attack though, not completely our fault.

>>2541
Provoked? She was about to vaporize the entire fucking van. We'd reincarnate, Youmu probably would have ghosted out somehow, but Meiling...

[x] Silently leave the room.

My god, it's full of butterflies.

>>2538
>"Cupcakes? Where?"
Not fucking funny.

>Seems like she pulled a muscle while she was at the gym this weekend.
And guess whose fault that was.

In the meantime, however:

FUCK.

[X] Wonder how much "pixie dust" Yuyuko put in those cupcakes.
[X] Silently leave the room.

Marisa's mindfuck eulogy. Is this Nameless Fairy's first actual kill?

>a single, strange butterfly, colored only black and white
So, how'd that bumper taste? Mwahaha.

[+] Silently leave the room.
Only one option? Bad form, blank.

I call nameless trippers Hanyuu or Sacchin, myself.

blankfag, don't leave me on hold like this

>>2573
Was there really only one option?

Writing now. Sorry again about the slow pace, I'll try and pick up some now (but every writer says that all the time). Probably a new thread soon too.

>>2599

Your wall, I'll be reading it.

[X] Silently leave the room.

Enough of this place.

The spirits are silent as you leave Hakugyokuro, and the van is nowhere to be seen. Walking out into the mists, you brace yourself for the customary twinge as you pass between the four pillars and return to a world of solid objects and real colors. You emerge on a quiet side street, far across the city from where you entered, just as the streetlights are blinking on to hold their nightly vigil. Home calls to you again, as it has all day, and at last you can no longer hold out against it.

After securely locking your apartment's door, you slump against it and sigh, wondering what the coming days will bring. An election to replace the Yakumos, and half of Gensokyo's power players scrambling to win? That would be the most important event in the city since, well, its creation. Perhaps since before its creation. Even back in the old days of wilderness and war, for as long as you can remember, you could always count on Yukari Yakumo's stabilizing presence in the background. Well, occasionally, and in the land of the living, at least. Yuyuko's quite the flake, and she's even wrong about business sometimes, but you know better than to doubt her when she talks about death. Although come to think of it, she didn't actually come out and say Yukari was dead...

A meaty knock on the door interrupts your thoughts, vibrations running through your wings and chattering your teeth. You jump, and try to open the door without unlocking it, then fumble with the chain and bolt before finally throwing it open. Letty stands outside, clutching multiple pints of ice cream in her large hands and fidgeting.

"Hi! I saw you walking down the street and just popped over to see how you were today!" She gives you one of those happy, uncaring smiles, eyes closed.

"Uh... huh." She's so easy to see through. "I see you closed up early, too, and brought a lot of ice cream on your walk home."

"Yes. The Elder Care Facility said you left early, so I thought you might like it." Letty drops her pretenses, but keeps her smile. It wilts slightly as she notices something in your face. "Are you busy?"

"No. No, not at all. Come in, hang out for a while." Making a snap decision, you step back from the door and wave Whiterock welcome. Wintery wind wafts in with her.

"Ooh, you've cleaned up!" Letty stares into the living room, appraising it with pleasure. As you turn around to look at it with her, she quickly hangs an ice cream container on each point of your wings. You squawk and topple backwards, and she catches you, laughing, and sets you on the couch. "There we go! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that!"

"Pick those up before they leak, or I'll have to clean the carpet again!" You laugh as well, grabbing one of the cartons that didn't fall and tossing it at Letty's head in contradiction to your warning.

"ICE CREAM FIIIGHT!"

Minutes later, both of you are out of breath, shrieking with glee whenever you aren't, and liberally splattered with frozen dessert from the holes and tears wax paper cartons tend to develop when thrown. Most of the room looks the same way. Fortunately, Letty, considerate as always, gets to wiping up most of the mess after bopping you on the head with your roll of paper towels. You drop a few ice cubes down the back of her shirt before helping.

"This is-
-really fun."

You and Letty speak in tandem, sitting together after the last rays of sunlight have vanished from the windows.

"Thanks for coming over." You nod to her.

"No problem." She nods back, ruffling your hair. "I just, well, get these feelings about you sometimes. You seemed down last night, so I thought I'd surprise you at work, but then you weren't there. I worry about you too much, indulge me." Letty starts to laugh it off, but then notices you tensing again and eases back.

"I just had to go out and pick up some medical supplies-" you start, but Letty holds up a finger and clucks.

"Don't lie to me, little miss! You really aren't very good at it, and you don't have to. I wasn't born yesterday, I know you're running a little something on the side, but." She ends her sentence there, then gives you another patented LettyHug. Her body is cold, but in a refreshing way, completely opposite to the chills of the netherworld. "I trust you, I don't care what it is, and I won't ever ask, so cool off."

"Thanks." You roll responses around in your head. "You're right, but you don't want to know. I may have screwed up some, today. Dunno."

"It's okay, hon. You're okay." Letty just holds you tighter. "I'll keep telling you that until you believe it. Nobody's perfect."

"Cut the cheesy self-help talk or I start calling you Mom," you gratefully threaten her. "You could pass for one of the ladies in the nursing home, you know! Floppy curls, kinda dowdy..." Letty reaches over for a half eaten ice cream carton and shoves it in your face.

"It's stylish! I'm not dowdy! Augh, you ungrateful little scamp!" Adopting her best old human voice, she continues "Kids these days!" and you can't resist breaking down into laughter again.

Letty's always been this way, always taken care of you. Mother? Older sister? Those are human relationships, not applicable to either of you. She's just your friend. It's in her nature to be this way, and she feels good about having someone to hug, so you can't feel guilty about imposing on her. It's times like these, people like her, that make life bearable.

"Well, I really should be going." You lose your voluminous cushion as Letty stands and gracefully bows out. "I Have to open the diner tomorrow, and all that. Don't be a stranger, we should do this more often!"

"Mmkay. Love ya, Letty. We should!" You wave her off, realizing in the process that she's quite right. You probably really could tell Letty everything, about who you are and what you do, and she wouldn't mind in the slightest. Alas for your wisdom, alas for the voice of cool reason telling you that it's not a good idea. Still, you could at least hang out more and show her your appreciation.

[ ] Invite Letty to come with you to the upcoming Prismriver concert. It'll be safe, Yuyuko doesn't mix business with pleasure.
[ ] You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.

[ ] Invite Letty to come with you to the upcoming Prismriver concert. It'll be safe, Yuyuko doesn't mix business with pleasure.

Let's fall into the same trap as many have before us.

[X] You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.

Can't risk Letty getting hurt.

[X] You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.

Too dangerous. Letty is love~

Next update will go into day 2, storywise, and if all goes well I'll be out doing things tomorrow so it won't come till late. As always, feedback is appreciated - tell me what you like, don't like, want to see more of or less of, what I'm doing right and wrong etc.

{X} You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.
Waaagh

[x] You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.

>>2607
>Waaagh

Yooz doin' it wrong!

WAAAGH!

[x] Invite Letty to come with you to the upcoming Prismriver concert. It'll be safe, Yuyuko doesn't mix business with pleasure.

But the choice said it will be safe so yeah! Bring on the clash of the foils already.

[x] You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.

[x] Invite Letty to come with you to the upcoming Prismriver concert. It'll be safe, Yuyuko doesn't mix business with pleasure.

She's trying so hard to reach out to you. Oh Letty.

[ ] Invite Letty to come with you to the upcoming Prismriver concert. It'll be safe, Yuyuko doesn't mix business with pleasure.

Poor ronery fairy.

[ ] You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.
Letty is a sleeper agent for the scarlet mafia, we must not trust.

[X] You can't bring her that close. Promise to get some other friends together and hang out sometime.

Do NOT bring her too close to the truth. She will probably recognize Yuyuko and Youmou very easily.

Remember our fashback? >>2071

>You don't know who we are, but you know what we are.

It will be the same thing with Letty.

>black and white butterfly

Oh wow, we killed Marisa? Lol, if only we had killed Meiling too it would be FUIG all over again.

But seriously, were WE the ones who KILLED her? Let's not forget that both we and her were trying to STEAl from VERY powerful people.

Think about it, they lost a lot of money because of us, and find Marisa right there at crime scene, unconcious. If I were Remilia, I would be pretty pissed with her.

>>2632

Suspecting the heist was an inside job with Meiling that turned sour, Remi orders Sakuya to extract the information from Marisa. A very angry Sakuya then tortures her to death.

I could buy it.

>>2632
>>2636
Are you space niggers high? WE RAN HER OVER. You're goddamn RIGHT it was us that did it. Did you not see the bit about massive trauma and internal bleeding?

>>2637

Which is why you should never take drugs from a raver, even if she's "Princess of the Underworld".

>>2637
>massive traume and internal bleeding

Uh? Where?

>>2639
>"Talk to us now. Please. Don't tell us to wait. Just tell us how bad it is." You imagine the small butterfly pleading to the spiral as they fly. They answer in unison, and her wings beat harder, while you drift backwards into drowsiness.

>"Massive trauma. Internal bleeding. Doesn't look good."

>>2640

Oh, so that was Marisa's butterfly talking with the others butterflies?

OH! NOW I GET IT! Haha, dude, I had no idea the butterflies were talking about Marisa.

I didn't get it until I saw the bit about "The black and white butterfly."

Then I put 2 and 2 together, and went bricksbricksbricksbricksbricks

Has anyone considered the possibility that this was a setup of sorts, like in the Nazi arc of Black Lagoon, where the client had hired two different groups to retrieve the painting, and whichever one came out alive, he would pay?

Of course, it could be that a rival faction hired her to go grab them as well. But the timing seems a little close.

Marisa ;_;

>>2653

Round up the Usual Suspects, Detective.

[X] You can't bring her that close.

"Maybe later this week we can hang out sometime!" You call after Letty, mouth suddenly dry. If what Yuyuko said was true, you won't really have any time this week, but you need to say something to her anyway. "Get the gang over, and do something."

She hesitates, clearly seeing through your polite lie, then vanishes down the stairs with nothing but a smile and a wave. For a moment you leave the door open, perhaps in a halfhearted hope she'll come back, maybe have a sleepover, but of course it is not to be. For all that you love Letty's nature, it is... her nature. She nurtures life, no matter how you look at it. The strange, alien life that flourishes in winter, perhaps, but life nonetheless. There's no way she'd ever be able to grasp its opposite.

And for you, anything beyond friendly encounters like this, evenings spent in or out, intimate and yet trivial? You sacrificed all that a year ago, gave it up in exchange for a new existence and a loyal (if strange) family. Is it really such a loss, to trade Letty and life and lake for people who will never forget you? Of course not. Meiling would make that exchange in an instant, if what she said today was true. You reckon quite a few people would do the same, given the chance. The catch is that the Saigyoujis don't give out many chances. The impression you gave Yuyuko back then must have impressed her enough to make her want you, and only you, to join her. To the best of your knowledge, not a single other person has been recruited after you. Nor have you heard of any coming in for years before you.

This even makes you feel a little better about what happened with Youmu. Whatever she may think about you, she IS a member of the Saigyoujis, first and foremost. Weren't your attempts to reach out to her what Yuyuko liked about you in the first place? Collapsing into bed, you try to comfort yourself with those thoughts, and drift into sleep feeling secure in the knowledge that you will always have a family.

Visions of blue and black butterflies forever denied one haunt your dreams.

======

You awake to an electric prickle, possibly imaginary, running down your spine. Cautiously, you take a peek towards the enemy position, keeping your recon eyeball mostly behind its lid for cover. Scouting rewards you with the knowledge that the last digits in the foe's code are 59. That's your cue! Springing into motion, you burst forth a mighty arm and punch ALRM OFF, bare seconds before before the terrible device ticks over to 9:00. Flushed with victory, you hop off to shower, change, bring in the papers and eat a wonderfully unhealthy leftover ice cream breakfast.

Your first spoonful of sugary cold goodness almost never reaches your lips. Staring you in the face, the Tuesday Chronicle's front page reads "YAKUMOS TO ABDICATE!" You quickly tear through the paper and find the whole story. Vice President Ran announced the elections publicly at a press conference yesterday evening, saying that Yukari isn't coming back due to confidential circumstances, Secretary Chen could not be found for comment, Reimu Hakurei, Kanako Yasaka and Kaguya Houraisan are making major bids backed by their respective factions, SDMCorp has neither fronted a candidate nor expressed support for anyone... everything is happening exactly as Yuyuko said it would, except that she didn't tell you the date.

The election is scheduled for this Saturday. Four days from now. The future of the entire city, and by extension all of Gensokyo, is going to be decided in just four and a half days. Crunch time, indeed! Spoon in mouth, you peek out through the blinds, and see a few people already passing out political flyers on the street corners. You hastily retreat before anyone looks up and spots you, already afraid of what the atmosphere out there's sure to be like.

The rest of the paper contains the compulsory opening blurbs from the candidates. You return and read them closely.

"The Hakurei Shrine and its social work have served Gensokyo since before the city's founding," Reimu Hakurei said at the conference. "I have a proven track record, I have worked with President Yukari closer than anyone else alive, and I will be ready on day one to take office and keep the peace. I am not worried about the upcoming election. I trust that the city will appoint the most experienced and capable leader."

Closer than anyone, huh? You wonder if Ran caught that comment, and proceed to read Yasaka's grandstanding.

"It is time for a change in the usual politics of Gensokyo. Since coming to this great paradise, I have seen a rift, yea indeed, a great rift in its citizens! Humans and youkai live and work side by side, but they do not live and work together. The city has brought us peace, but it has not brought us unity. But it does not have to be this way forever! When I am elected, I swear on my virtues to every man, to every woman, to every youkai and fairy and everything else that lives here - I will respect you! I will listen to you! Change cannot happen overnight, but it can begin here, this Saturday. Let us make this land whole!"

Rolling your eyes at the oration, you continue to Kaguya's bid, wondering what title they'd use for her if she won. Her comments are much wordier than the others, and roughly follow what Yuyuko told you. One section in particular catches your eye.

"In actual fact, the city is more than capable of governing itself. The late President was often away, yet nothing terrible has ever happened. A strong single leader will hurt us more than it helps. What we need is someone who can preserve our purity as it is now, someone who needs no control or input, but merely smooths the flow of government as we continue our lives and reach for our dreams. I am that person."

Her platform is certainly quite different from the others, but it's that one word, "late," that sticks out, emphasizing her own much flaunted immortality in contrast to - to what? Yukari? In all the speeches, there isn't even a single word of speculation on what might have actually happened to the former President. You're reasonably sure Yuyuko would have told you if Yukari was actually dead, but when Yuyu's in the picture, reasonably sure doesn't always count for a lot.

Flipping through the rest of the paper, you find not much else of note. Just a report on explosions at an SDM-owned abandoned warehouse, injuring several fairies and humans and... you can't bring yourself to read any further. The Bunbunmaru is late to the table for once, and contains a bunch of sneak previews for "something big scheduled for the near future in city politics!" Dutifully recalling the old man's words, you scan it thoroughly, but find no other stories that seem remotely interesting or relevant.

A glance back at your timetelling adversary shows that it's time for you to go. You've no idea what your family's part will be in all this, but you were told it would be... busy. They'll need you.

[ ] Go in to work at the Nursing Ho- er, Elder Care Facility normally.
[ ] Go straight to Hakugyokuro and report to Yuyuko.
[ ] Go somewhere else for somewhy else (specify).

>>2660
[ ] Go straight to Hakugyokuro and report to Yuyuko.

[ ] Go straight to Hakugyokuro and report to Yuyuko.

[x] Go straight to Hakugyokurou, do not pass go, do not collect $200, report to Yuyuko.

I love this story. It somehow goes from Bridget Jones' Diary to Sopranos to OH GOD I CAN SEE FOREVER and back to deliciously cheesy, hardboiled film noir so fast and so well that all I'm left with is "what" and "ha ha oh wow".

[x] Go straight to Hakugyokurou, do not pass go, do not collect $200, report to Yuyuko.

WHAT IF I USE MY GET OUT OF /other/ FREE CARD, L?

New thread please?

>>2668
Agreed, and it's deliciously well written to boot. Don't get your hopes up however writefag, it's not like we like you or anything!

[ ] Go straight to Hakugyokuro and report to Yuyuko.

[X] Go straight to Hakugyokuro and report to Yuyuko.