Idyllic Life Thread 2 EZMode !iIyIHD.1G6 2010/03/01 (Mon) 12:55 No. 25668 ▼ File 126744815591.jpg - (58.23KB, 439x600 , only_tsukiko_has_more_hair.jpg)
[x] Accept the invitation, you want to meet her too.
Why not? The more people you know, the better.
“Sure, I'll go back with you. I want to meet this Satori,” you say, and Rin rolls up her wheelbarrow again. Right.
“Well get in then!” she exclaims, smiling broadly. You really need to work on increasing your spiritual power so you can fly properly one of these days, but for now you can bear this situation a little more. You drop yourself into the basket of the handcart and Rin lifts you into the air alongside Utsuho, and the three of you are off. The flight doesn't take too long, just a few minutes, and you find yourself looking at a large mansion-like estate past the edges of the subterranean village.
“We're home!” Utsuho calls out, flying in through the large open doors rather than landing outside like Rin. You let yourself out of the wheelbarrow and walk alongside Rin as she enters. You're greeted by a veritable army of youkai and animals, all of whom seem curious about your presence. You can hear some muttering among them, the topic naturally being about you. Lead through them all, you're brought to a small door across the entry lobby, and Rin opens the door. Inside is a rather well decorated room, a sitting room of some kind. A lone girl sits inside reading, short pink hair, blue shirt, and some... kind of eye and tubes running everywhere. What.
“Hello Rin,” the girl says, looking up from her book, then looking at you, “and hello to you too.”
“This is Satori,” Rin says, gesturing towards the girl. She barely looks out of her teens, and she lives alone in a place like this? With all these pets?
“I was interested in meeting the man that had taken on the job of helping my pets,” she says, standing up while gesturing to a chair across from her. “Please, take a seat, I shall return with some tea.” Might as well. You take a few steps towards the chair, leaving Rin by the door. Satori heads over to a second door in the back of the room and exits as you take a seat. Before you can even start to get bored of waiting, she's returned carrying a tray, bearing a pot and several cups.
“That was pretty quick,” you say, to which Satori nods slightly.
“Thanks to Okuu, we always have hot water on hand, it's just a matter of steeping the tea,” Satori explains, setting the tray down on a table and pouring out cups. As she does, you realize the smell of the tea, a kind you use at home yourself. Tsukiko got you into it.
“This is pretty convenient, making a tea I'm familiar with,” you say with a grin as Satori pushes your cup towards you.
“I figured you'd appreciate it,” she says with a smile of her own, “far from home as you are, little comforts go a long way.” That catches you by surprise for a second, until you recall something Rin had said earlier, a joke she was playing on Utsuho by calling you a mind reader 'like Satori'. So she's been reading your mind? Satori averts her eyes, taking on a guilty expression. Yes, she is. “I'm sorry,” she says quietly, “I'm just accustomed to doing it, I don't mean to pry.”
“I'm not mad,” you say, taking a sip from your tea, “I just forgot that you were able to, it must be pretty convenient.” Satori takes a few seconds to drink her own tea, then sighs.
“It's a blessing and a curse,” she says, “animals without their own voice are happy to be understood, but humans and other youkai get scared and angry at my power. That's why... we live down here.”
“We?” you ask.
“My sister, Koishi, had the same ability, but she's since shut her third eye,” Satori explains, tapping the eye... thing over her chest. “She no longer reads surface thoughts, her power extends much deeper into the mind.”
“I don't get why people would be so troubled by it,” you say, reclining slightly in the chair. Feels good to just relax after the work you've been putting in.
“You're one of a rare few that feel that way,” Satori says, “many people are troubled by having their thoughts read. They hold their privacy as sacred, and take great offense at the knowledge that I might know their secrets,” Satori pauses, looking down into her tea. “It also causes me some trouble, seeing what others are thinking. Their unsavory thoughts and desires. It frightens me just as much sometimes to see what some people consider doing, to me or to others.” That would be hard, you imagine. You think to yourself over the tea, how you would handle such a thing. Granted, it would make your dealing with people much smoother, being able to act on whatever they might want to resolve issues quickly and efficiently, but how far would you go? Your mind wanders to Tsukiko, you know you'd like to know what's going through her mind at times.
“That does sound like a lot of trouble,” you say after a while.
“That's why I live in seclusion from the rest of the village. The animals that come to me are always grateful and happy, and aside from their bouts of troublesome behaviour, their minds are simple and straightforward. The oni as well are fairly pleasant to deal with, being honourable and honest,” Satori say, “the oni don't appreciate it though most of the time. It's the other youkai that are the most troublesome.”
“Let's not worry about all this anymore, right now,” you say, moving to change the topic. “I can understand why people might be upset over your power, but right now that's not a problem. In fact, I feel a little jealous.”
“Oh, there's nothing to be jealous of,” Satori replies.
“Sure there is. It might be a hassle to deal with being able to see everyone's thoughts, but at the same time you could make so many people happy with your power,” you say, “look at your pets, for example. They're happy to be understood, you said. If I could read minds like that, I'd try to use it to help people's wishes come true.” Satori doesn't reply, instead taking a long sip of her tea.
“I suppose that would be true,” she says, “it would be possible.” You finish off your cup of tea, and lean forward to put the cup back on the tray.
“If you could show that you are not to be feared, eventually, opinions will change,” you state, sitting back again. Once more Satori is silent.
“You take on quite a number of odd jobs, it seems,” Satori says after a few moments silence. “It's just the two of you?”
“Ah, yeah,” you reply, caught a little off guard by the sudden change of topic.
“Perhaps something like that might be good for me too,” Satori says, smiling slightly.
“Hey, I'd be glad to help out if you're going to be looking to help people,” you say, to which Satori chuckles slightly.
“I already knew you'd offer help,” she says.
“Well, I suppose you would,” you retort with a smirk.
“I should let you go now, it's been nice talking to you, you've given me something good to think about,” Satori says, setting her own cup down. You slide out of your chair, give a slight bow and head back towards the door to the lobby. Rin is still standing by, and she opens the door for you and follows you out.
“Seems like things are going to get busy around here,” Rin says as you walk back across the lobby. The group that had gathered before has mostly dispersed, and those that remain are no longer as interested in you as they had been at first.
“I'd imagine so,” you say, and the rest of the short walk is made in silence.
“I'll bring you back to Yuugi, and she can take care of you from there,” Rin says as the two of you exit. You're less than eager to get back into the wheelbarrow, but at the very least you're pleased with the fact that this should be the last time you'll have to travel like this.
A short flight later and you're dropped off back out front of Yuugi's home. Rin departs with a wave, and you head back to the building to find the making of another party underway already. Yuugi is at the front of the house thankfully and notices your approach, and moves to intercept.
“Yo, completed the job?” she asks, to which you nod.
“Took a while, but I managed to help track two of them down, the third was caught on her own,” you explain, and Yuugi laughs.
“Ah, well that's good. How do you like the underground?” she asks next.
“It's... interesting,” you say, “a village of youkai? It reminds me of the surface, except we don't have a roof.”
“It's a pretty rowdy place down here at times, especially on festivals,” Yuugi chuckles, “you caught it during a quiet time. Well, mostly.”
“Mostly?” you ask, though you're sure you already know where this is going.
“We're having a party here tonight, as usual,” Yuugi comments with a grin, “if you want to have a true taste of the underground, you could stick around for it.” A party in the underground, huh? You'd likely be the only human among a bunch of rowdy, drunk youkai. That would definitely make for an interesting experience, but you've already been down here for one night, and if you do stay, you'll probably end up being down here for another.
[] Stick around and party, why not?
[] You'd rather pass and go back home.
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Decided to just start a new thread, since it was less than 20 away from autosage, and I wanted to actually give it a title + picture.
