Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Fuck.
Fuck!
Fuuuuuuck!

Be sure to remind us when it's time to vote again. This shit is so suspenseful I might miss my cue to vote.

>She sounds calm, but you are anything but, wondering exactly what could rattle the fire sprite so much that she'd not only neglect to lace her speech with profanity but actually suggest running and hiding.

The fairy still thinks she's a nature spirit. That's pretty cute. There's a far more genuine older sister dynamic going on here than there usually is with Yuyuko.

>Mokou clamps down on your hand, threatening to break your bones, and then the far wall disintegrates and flies at you.

This was originally an exercise to test the limits of our authority concerning Family business, but it has become personal now. Fairy is deadweight, yet Mokou is still hauling her ass around trying to keep her alive, when she'd be more "useful" as a diversion.

>You spit until you're no longer breathing mud, then realize you're no longer holding Mokou, cast about for her, and freeze in place as you come face to face with the titanic black eye again instead.

She's dying isn't she? What can be said? Her dance was beautiful.

If Mokou self-immolates in an effort to bring Iku down, she deserves the posthumous appellation of "Aneki".

An alien face of scales and feelers stares at you, eternally fixed in a horrifying calm look, and beyond that, Iku's gigantic true body stretches too far back into the storm to see its end. It shines in a number of colors - red scales, white lightning webs surrounding off-white ribs, and dark black stretches of charred flesh. Whole, the serpent would have been awe inspiring. It bears quite the resemblance to her old scarf, or maybe the scarf always had been an actual part of her. Now the beast is awe inspiring in a different way, wrecked by Mokou's possession to the point that you're amazed something so badly burnt can still be alive. Alive it is, though, and about to eat you. Its - her - mouth opens, producing her unearthly roar again and showing arrays of thin pointed teeth, some taller than your body, standing in rows like the icicles inside Letty's freezer.

Unfair indeed. Ridiculous, even. Yuyuko could kill this in an instant, but you're about to be comically digested, and Mokou killed (if she isn't already), and all the last few minutes for naught. Mokou can throw flame, Iku herself can summon lightning - not even real lightning, but comic book lightning that doesn't even try to obey the physical laws you read about in Kawashiro's textbooks. And for all that you're a fairy yourself, that entitles you to a grand total of what in the way of supernatural power? Flight, reincarnation, good reflexes, and some parlor tricks you never use. Nothing that can hold a candle to the sort of raw strength everything else around you seems to have.

Weak, Youmu said. Staring into a draconic maw, pulled away from your date, and caught in a battle you shouldn't even care about, you decide to prove her wrong.

Things were looking up this morning. Even when Meiling dumped you into a tub of ice, the pain was hilarious, and brought you closer to her. Your wings flutter against the brick at your back, and what you'd thought of as a prank becomes reality. The thunderstorm's chill ratchets up ninefold, and it begins to pound with literal force. Borrowing a page from Youmu's book, you concentrate on the air and the water in it, recalling how every raindrop on your skin when the bucket-girl attacked Letty was a knife cutting your spirit, and the drops become knives themselves. Thousands of shards of hail, sharp as the single shard of glass you threw at Iku before, rain down in seconds against her raw flesh.

The serpent screams in Iku's human voice, magnified immensely, and pulls its head back away from you at a speed nothing that size should be capable of. She gathers herself, swimming and waving in midair out of the reach of your 'stupid parlor trick.' Three, four... five or so city blocks long, you reckon as her tail heaves into view, and you prepare for her to rear up and strike at you again like a snake. Instead, she simply rushes straight for you again, spraying blood all through the air as her body curves horizontally for propulsion. She's really a fish after all, you think, and jump in the instant before her maw reaches you.

Agony, both from electric shock and of the more mundane "oh gods something's biting me" variety, races up your leg - but only your leg. You cling to Iku's draconic face, barely sense sharp scales slicing your skin, and reach instinctively for a weapon. Something, anything, real danger or no you refuse to go out without a fight. Your fingers grope and clutch around something long and hard with a point, and in a frenzy you pull it forth and stab it into the creature's abyssal eye.

Iku shrieks again, unbearable pain and suffering blasting your ears, and the pressure on your leg is replaced by dizzying centrifugal force. Your head snaps around, air roars around you, the flashing sky and ground and buildings and a car smashed by a giant tail and sky and ground again rotate through your vision. You maintain your hold only by stabbing deeper and deeper, burying your weapon and then your entire arm down into the socket left after the black eyeball balloon pops. The serpent's head beats against something with incredible force, and you feel your own ribs cracking. There is nothing to do but stab deeper still, as far in as you can reach, kick at her snout in futility, and think about how you could be sitting placidly at home hugging Letty instead of this.

And eventually, the carnival ride stops. That's good. You want to get off now.

There's darkness in front of your face, and water all around you, but the pain's not stopping and you don't feel the usual stretching of a new body.

That's a shame, you wanted a new body as a prize. Maybe you'll get some cotton candy instead.

A cotton candy face leans over you, reaches down to you.

Mokou pulls you to your feet, and you're forced to face the unfortunate reality that you somehow managed to miss actually dying, and therefore are stuck with all the aches and pains and broken bones in your body starting to complain at you simultaneously. The storm is still exacting its own toll on you, but by now you really don't care anymore.

Iku Nagae, on the other hand, is very, very dead. For good, this time, no two ways about it. Her body floats in the gutter next to you, ruined beyond belief. Her clothes are gone, if she had ever really worn any, but modesty is not exactly a problem for a body with all its skin torn off, most of its flesh burnt, the rest ripped to ribbons that float morbidly in the runoff, and its bones twisted and nearly all shattered. You can't tell if her corpse is even a broken humanoid at all, or a mangled version of her youkai form. The only part that remains reasonably intact is her skull, which stares up at the storm with one bloody eyeball.

Letty's icy flower blossoms in her other eye socket, its stem rooted somewhere down where something like her brain probably was. You stoop over the body and brace it with your foot as you pluck the flower, then rinse it as best you can in the rushing black water. Then you throw up a few times. Mokou holds your hair in a meaningless gesture, and at long last you hear a commemorative siren sound in the distance.

>>8063
Certain parts of the story get longer than I think they will. Sorry about that. There might be a choice at the end of the next post... I think. Depends. Lots of choices everywhere just isn't how I roll. Apologies if folks don't like that. If it helps, consider that the choices you do make are all meaningful, and all the discussion posted in the thread is definitely taken into consideration, especially when people say they like or don't like certain things or really want to see this or that happen.

>>8069

What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of how fucking awesome that scene was. You do not fuck with the nineball.

>chill ratchets up ninefold
I see what you did there.
I approve.

>>8069
Oh, I wasn't complaining about the lack of choices. I'm too busy trying to keep my hold on the edge of my seat.

But if something is to be taken into consideration...
[x] "Shit, the fuzz! We've gotta get out of here, fast!"

Someone's going to be pissed when they hear about this.

Also, good job, Blankfag.

So, was Mokou off ordering a pizza or something? Still, I loved it. If I were to use two words to describe this I would go with "wicked awesome."

Superb.

>>8068
>Then you throw up a few times. Mokou holds your hair in a meaningless gesture

I lol'd. Then d'awwwww.

That was fucking amazing, and brutal. I think this is the first time she's actually murdered someone intentionally. About time we saw some Icicle Fall, too.

Cirno and Mokou make a pretty good team. I wonder if she'd be willing to do work for the Family--not as a member, but like as an outside contractor?

Anyway let's get Mokou the fuck to Hakugyokurou, get mindfucked by Yuyu, go back to the apartment and with a few pints of Ben & Jerry's doing the whole holy-shit-I-just-fucking-killed-somebody crying bit, while Letty tries her best to comfort you, Youmu looking on you with disbelief & alarm.

And when Letty sees how injured we are, there's really no going back. We'll have to bring her in, at our own pace.

HOLY LIVING POGOSTICK JESUS CHRIST IN A SHITBAG

I CAN'T MAKE UP ANY MORE EXPLETIVES TO DESCRIBE HOW UTTERLY FUCKING AWESOME THIS IS

HOLY SHIT

>That's a shame, you wanted a new body as a prize. Maybe you'll get some cotton candy instead.

The last time she respawned was back in Hakugyokurou, which means she still has the thin, sickly body. Respawning now would probably feel like a level-up.

>>8070

Most appropriate response on the thread.

[x] Ask Mokou to kill you.

Free body, whoo!

>>8116
That's...
actually a pretty good idea.

>>8116
It would have negative consequences in some form. Supposedly 'sensible' suggestions like that always do.

>>8116

I'd wager that the pain that accompanies a death via immolation is too much a deterrent for our hero.

May as well wait for the sirens; Mokou is a public figure, so she can't be going into hiding. In fact she's probably safer in custody, and now she'll get as much news coverage as she wants.

Normally if you're in a crime syndicate and just killed somebody, you don't want to be around when the cops show up. However we don't have a record, Mokou is almost certain to claim responsibility and support our alibi as a bystander, and we do need to talk to Lilith Black about Letty.

>>8224

In before we are reading a noir genre story, and half the cops are crooked. Remember how Kaguya's supposed to have tons of public officials in her pocket?

>>8225

I can't believe Siki's commission would allow much room for corruption in the force, considering the harrowing first impression she made on our fairy.

>>8224
>In fact she's probably safer in custody
ahahahahha

>"How about I get you to security? Commissioner Shiki was around here earlier."
>"Seen any cops back here?" Mokou waves her hands. "No fucking coincidence. Unless you can find the bitch herself, not a broad on the force you can trust..."

Holy fuck.

>>8230
So if we DO find her, it's fine. Probably.

>>8224
Mokou wants to go into hiding. Don't see a hard reason she can't.

And... we don't WANT a record. Or to implicate anyone by association, like Letty. We don't want to be nearby when the interrogations happen, at all.

At last you turn around and survey the collateral damage. The tenement house has been flattened into a lopsided morass of rubble, along with most of the buildings neighboring it. Even across the street, it looks like some giant monster scratched and tore lines through the sides of the structures. Possibly because that's what's happened. Iku's car is crushed as well, and the sidewalk (along with, no doubt, the submerged street) is cracked from impact in a few places.

"Kid..." Mokou shakes her head slowly, eyes fixed on the flower until you tuck it back into the remaining shreds of your dress. "Wow. Stone fucking cold job. Had me fooled for a while with all that 'I can't do anything' talk. I thought I should be covering you..."

"Oh, shut up." You drag your arms and legs through the water, letting its chill numb some of the pain. "What happened to you?"

"Hit the building when it came down, then you dropped me into the water." She waves off your grunt of apology and kicks Iku's corpse for good measure. "Just, surprise! Giant fucking fish, and a hailstorm all of sudden! I was set to burn it again, but I saw you sticking on its face, and then it started moving so fast I couldn't get a bead on it till you dropped the fucker... hey, you gonna be okay?"

"Fine in the morning. You?"

"Tch, fucking fast fairy healing. I'll be good, long as I don't actually fucking die." Mokou sits on the sidewalk by you, waiting for the crescendoing sirens to arrive.

"Yeah? What are you, anyway?" A normally rude question, but you don't think she'll mind.

"Human." Or maybe she will, and brush you off.

"Uh. Huh."

"No, really."

"I see."

"Just a health nut that runs a yakitori stand and sings on the side. Any weird shit I may or may not display comes from eating good chicken." She chuckles. "Phoenix tastes like chicken. Long story. Immortality thing's a longer story that starts with 'fuck Kaguya' and ends with 'fuck Kaguya.' I don't wanna go into it."

"Fair enough." You lapse back into silence, staring at the tempest above and trying to figure out if it's actually morning already. Probably around 3, if you were only out for a few minutes. All this time, all this fighting, and no one else around. It's odd, actually, how none of the buildings here have lights on or people inside them, apparently. Iku must have driven you to a totally abandoned section of the city. It's surprising such places even exist... though perhaps somewhat less so now that the creator of the metropolis is gone.

Not long later, a black and red ambulance screeches around the corner and hydroplanes like a street racer. It tilts, nearly flips over, swerves the other way to right itself, bounces over one of the unseen craters in the street and finally brakes to a halt a handsbreadth from your face. You blink into the headlights as the driver pops her door open.

"Hey, sis! You got any stiffs for me?" She jumps out into the rain, and you tense and nearly call out to Mokou before reconsidering. All the paramedics you've seen drive white and blue ambulances and wear uniforms, not green-black glowing dresses and ribbons straight out of Yuyuko's fashion sense. It is only logical, therefore, to conclude that the lady before you is not a real paramedic, and her clothes may actually be straight out of Yuyuko's fashion sense.

"There a reason you want the stiffs first?" you snap back, eying the girl. Clearly a youkai. Her twitching black cat ears and split tails are a near mirror of Chen's, but the comparison ends there. Chen doesn't sport shockingly orange pigtails, and no one you know would chew pink bubblegum while driving an emergency vehicle (poorly) in a thunderstorm.

"Coz that's always all there is when I come round." She mumbles through her bubble, then pops it and offers a handshake to you and a tail to Mokou. You shake, cautiously; Mokou gives the tail a polite tug. "They're all 'Orin, you're supposed to get there before they die!' but man, that just doesn't produce the same degree of tragic romanticism. And not enough lulz. Well, sis, load em up!"

Without further ado, she splashes over to Iku's remains and starts throwing them over her shoulder. Her eyes, you note, never quite focused on you, and you've no idea what 'lulz' are, but this open strangeness is positively welcome after what Nagae put you through. Shrugging, you help her carry the body to the back of the ambulance, which she throws open and lobs the corpse into.

"And let's roll!" the cat cackles when done, waving her tails at the front of the vehicle. Mokou gives you a "What the fuck" glare and joins you in the cab. She shuts the door behind her, muting the storm again, and in short order you're riding out of the area as you rode in - in the backseat behind two potentially lethal near strangers.

>>8257
>Orin
\o/

>And not enough lulz.
щ(ﾟДﾟщ) y u do dis mokou

Although it was amusing, how does Mokou pronounce 'lulz'?

>>8258
You mean Orin

>Immortality thing's a longer story that starts with 'fuck Kaguya' and ends with 'fuck Kaguya.'

Good God, I love this line.

jesus fucking christ. I'm in awe, blankfag, completely stunned.

>>8262
I understand the action scenes getting a reaction, but what about this post is stunning? Thanks, though.
>>8258
It's pronounced "lulz." Don't worry too much about it.

Taking a bit of a break now, next post will be up in probably an hour or so, may or may not have a choice but as you can see I should know by now to not make promises like that.

>"Coz that's always all there is when I come round." She mumbles through her bubble, then pops it and offers a handshake to you and a tail to Mokou. You shake, cautiously; Mokou gives the tail a polite tug. "They're all 'Orin, you're supposed to get there before they die!' but man, that just doesn't produce the same degree of tragic romanticism. And not enough lulz. Well, sis, load em up!"

She called us "sis" and Blank did say we were going to meet more members of the Family. Probably one of Saigyouji's "cleaners" that we haven't met yet. No surprise really. As the fairy said, Yuyu is never "gone" and probably sent those visions for a reason, and Letty very well might've found Meiling.

>>8263
>I understand the action scenes getting a reaction, but what about this post is stunning? Thanks, though.

That nothing out of it particularly grabs you speaks more I think of why you're so good at writing. What you consider standard, we consider fucking awesome.

>>8260
Reading it again, I did mean Orin. Sage for namefag being a huge derp.

"Orin is me, if you didn't know. Yuyu said I should look for trouble from my lil fairy sis. Oh, you can call me... oneenyan!" She snaps her gum again after confirming your suspicion, and Mokou finally starts laughing.

"Orin, you're a fucking perv. Mokou Fujiwara, pleasure, good show." She gives the driver a friendly punch, again echoing the earlier drive. Orin nearly spins out from it and grins in the mirror. "You the usual driver? We going to this Haku-whatever place?"

"Nah, I actually never met her before. Workin the graveyard shift and all." She takes a hand off the wheel and points back at you. "Heard aboutcha though! You're her favorite, y'know?"

"Rrrright. Nice to meet you. Um, Orin, shouldn't you turn on the wipers and headlights?" You make your best effort at a joke, though you're not really in the mood for levity, and Mokou cracks up further.

"Oh, yeah! Knew I forgot something." Completely serious, Orin does as you ask. Mokou stops laughing. You just slowly shake your head.

"Can you turn the siren off, too?"

"Ain't on." Orin moans in disappointment and slams her foot to the floor of the cab, throwing you into the back of Mokou's seat. You decide complaining about this would be unwise as the source of the other siren pulls up behind the ambulance. "Why do you always do this thing, traffic cop?"

"License and registration, pl - uh. Ma'am, who are you, and should you really be driving this vehicle?" Lilith Black's voice floats in through the window with her flashlight beam, catching you off guard. Her again? On traffic, at this time of night, after working the concert? No, she must have been called to around here somehow.

"Name's Orin. I work for the hospital." Amazingly, Orin is able to produce her documents without trouble, and even spits out her gum. Out the window, past Lilith's shadow, but be that as it may. The flashlight beam bobs down, and you slide down a bit in your seat.

"This license is for a medical student named R. Kaenbyou. Is that you?"

"Uh, nope, I'm Orin. I mean yes! Rin Kaenbyou. Byou Rin. Orin. That's me. Yep." Mokou slides down a bit further in her seat, too. There is a long pause before Lilith asks something you'd been wondering for some time now.

"Miss Kaenbyou, are you on drugs?"

"Oh, hells yes!" she chirps immediately, patting the glove compartment. "Got three bags of the good stuff right here. Great batch, really pure!"

"Thank you. Not many people actually answer yes," the officer quips. "And what exactly is this good stuff that you've been taking?"

"Nip, obviously! What else would anyone take? Uh, it's not illegal, though, so you can't have any. Sorry. Can we go now?" Orin's hand twitches for the ignition key, but fortunately for all involved she does not turn it.

"Miss Kaenbyou, could you step outside the vehicle, please? Who else is in there? Miss Fujiwara? What are you doing here? And..." Lilith pokes her head through the window, her soaked cap dripping, and blanches as she looks your way. "You?!"

"Yeah. Me." You crane your neck and check out your own reflection to see what might have caused her reaction. The answer turns out to be 'anything.' In contrast to Mokou, who actually looks mostly unscathed, you're caked in blood, muddy ash, and water, your face is scratched and swollen with burns, there's an uncomfortable looking crack in one of your wings, your dress is a write-off and a fair bit of your hair has been lost to one hazard or another. And you're tired.

"Lilith, what are YOU doing out here?" you ask, too weary to snap at her or Orin or this insanity, and she's startled enough to answer.

"We recieved a call about unnatural lightning strikes in the area. Do you know anything about that?"

"Take your flashlight and look about a block down that way." She does as you instruct, backing away from the ambulance in the manner of someone trained to watch for weapons, and exclaims something too soft for you to hear over the storm.

"We have," you pointedly continue, "taken care of THAT for you. We're on business, and I've had enough for tonight and really, really just want to get home. We'll be fine, Orin will be fine, she's only risking her own life, so please get back in your car and go."

You're finished. You close your eyes, and expect to hear Lilith start pulling people out into the rain. Instead, you hear just the rain, and a while later, a car door slam and two engines start.

"Holy fuck," Mokou swears again. "Stone fucking cold all the fucking time."

"That worked?" Orin mews curiously as the ambulance lurches into erratic motion again. "I didn't think that would work. I gotta remember that!"

"Not that surprising, I guess." Mokou speaks. "She knows she can't tangle with Stone Cold. Cops know they've got no fucking bite, never had any, except for Shiki Stickupherass. She hadn't been there tonight, Scarlet never would've gotten cuffed. Just another crazy youkai and her personal army when you get down to it. Times don't fucking change."

You keep your eyes closed and rattle off your address. If they're going to look at you that way, might as well take advantage of it. Mokou can fend for herself - your desire to face Yuyuko or even set foot in Hakugyokuro right now is below zero. Except for Orin's off-key humming and gum popping, the rare pithy comment from Mokou, and one jarring crash ("Whoopsie!" is all the explanation you get), the journey home is quiet.

Step by step, you walk up to your apartment, reach for your keys, and remember you gave them to Letty so she could get in. You knock on the door softly, and it opens within seconds, revealing the heavenly face you've not seen nearly enough of tonight. Letty looks you over head to toe, and has a washcloth out by the time you've staggered inside. Youmu is nowhere in sight. She holds you, sets you down on the couch, and starts cleaning your wounds. It stings, badly. You don't care! You're home.

"What happened?" she asks, showing just enough curiosity to make it clear that you need not answer her. You do anyway, of course.

"Business came up."

"For the Saigyoujis?" Your head jerks up at her question, and she forces it gently back down. "Shh, shh. It's fine. It's fine."

"You figured? Sorry. I shouldn't have stayed once I saw them there. And..." You sigh. "I should have told you."

"No." She shakes her head, and the corners of her lips curl upward. "I may be heavy, but I'm not dense. I guessed it a while ago. Before today." Before I took you out, she means, and I knew it when I gave you the flower and I don't care. Emotional overload prevents you from doing anything but tearing up. You add making that up to her later to your list of resolutions.

[ ] "Just... hold me."
[ ] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[ ] Tell her everything that happened tonight.

>>7940
>Every fucking friend I have...

Keine?

[x] "Just... hold me."

We've kinda already killed someone, so yeah. Also, we've impressed Mokou. Awesome.

[X] "Just... hold me."

Tell her anything she wants to know, in the morning.

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."

Confess. Then weep, because the woman you just killed was one of Letty's friends.

[x] Tell her everything that happened tonight.
"Hey Letty, you know that dancer you're good friends with? Well, funny story..."

Seriously, somewhere down the line she's going to realise that Iku isn't around anymore, and it'd be much better to tell her our role in the proceedings now rather than letting her find out through other means. Say, through a careless comment of Yuyuko's (and she would, you know she would).

I'd be okay with voting [x] "I had to kill someone tonight" IF it includes our mentioning Iku specifically.

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.

If Letty hears about Iku's death through another source after only describing what happened as business, she'll assume it was an assassination, rather than justified self-defense.

We've seen from her interaction with Lilith that she has a bitter, resentful side; don't chance getting on it by letting her think that you murdered her friend for pay.

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.

For the reasons in the last two posts. I know there's a risk of Letty also being a double agent, thus making our telling her everything a bad idea, but the way I see it, we just can't conduct ourselves in this story as we're suspicious of her. We'd never stay sane; she's too important to us for that.

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.
For the reasons previous commenters gave.

>your desire to face Yuyuko or even set foot in Hakugyokuro right now is below zero.
>below zero

oh u

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.
[x] One last matter before you drift off to a sob-wracked sleep or possible coma: "Oh gods, please tell me that you've been more responsible with my friend than I was with yours?"

I assume she's asleep on our bed under pile of blankets, but it feels like our fairy should be displaying maximal despair here.

>And not enough lulz.

I'm not sure if I should approve of this characterization of Orin, but she's certainly being of good cheer.

>Byou Rin.

Clever, but don't you need like a year of Japanese to get the joke?

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.
[x] One last matter before you drift off to a sob-wracked sleep or possible coma: "Oh gods, please tell me that you've been more responsible with my friend than I was with yours?"

>>8295
Mind explaining the joke?

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.
[x] One last matter before you drift off to a sob-wracked sleep or possible coma: "Oh gods, please tell me that you've been more responsible with my friend than I was with yours?"

Hoooooooly.

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.
[x] One last matter before you drift off to a sob-wracked sleep or possible coma: "Oh gods, please tell me that you've been more responsible with my friend than I was with yours?"

This is getting better and better. Praise you Blankfag, for I haven't felt this involved with a story for years.

>>8298

"Byouin" is Japanese for "hospital," although Iku sure as hell isn't getting a ride to one.

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.
[x] One last matter before you drift off to a sob-wracked sleep or possible coma: "Oh gods, please tell me that you've been more responsible with my friend than I was with yours?"


I'm still reeling over the whole Iku fight, never thought much of her until her appearance in this story.

Made of awesome, FAWK YES, etc.

[x] "I had to kill someone tonight."
[x] "Stone Cold..." Laugh through the tears. "That's what Mokou called me. And here I am bawling."
[x] Try to calm yourself down; tell her everything that happened tonight.
[x] One last matter before you drift off to a sob-wracked sleep or possible coma: "Oh gods, please tell me that you've been more responsible with my friend than I was with yours?"

>Byou Rin

Say have the Japanese made this joke yet? Because if they haven't then that is just plain SAD.

Writing after dinner. Don't look at me for the byouin business, ZUN named the character.
>>8316
Glad you liked it. I was disappointed that she didn't really get any screen time in SWR. Just felt kinda thrown in. Actually, she's kind of thrown in here as well, but I hope it was an interesting diversion at least.

"Letty? I had to kill someone tonight."

"Mm-hm" is all she says. The wall clock ticks away seconds, blending with the taps of rain on glass and brick.

"Stone cold." You laugh a bit through the tears, a particular mania seizing you. "Mokou called me that, but look at me now."

"That sounds nice." Letty dabs at your leg, backing off when you jerk in pain, and pointedly ignoring your bout of self-deprecation. "Did Iku say anything?"

"Iku..." Sighing, you try to find the best way to break it to her without coming off as a maniac. "Iku's the one who got killed. It was self defense, mostly. She turned into a giant, um, fish thing..."

"Oarfish," Letty absently corrects, and your next flinch comes not entirely from the pain. They'd been getting along so well. Direct approach, take three.

"Oarfish. Right. Kaguya Houraisan's turning some tricks to win the election. Assassinating Mokou was one of them. She found out, and asked me to get the Saigyoujis to help her. Turned out Iku was the assassin..." Noticing Letty's eyebrows creeping up into her hairline, you sigh again. "The Dragon Palace allied with Kaguya, or something like that. Mokou burned her up some, and then she turned into a giant oarfish and started demolishing things to try and kill us. And she tried to eat me. So I, ah, had to finish her."

"I see." Taking a break from sponging you, Letty sits back and thinks. "It must have been quite the adventure. How did you manage to win?"

"Got at her eye and stabbed her to death through it. With your flower. Sorry about that. I tried to wash it off afterwards." Only after automatically answering does it occur to you what you're saying. And how you must sound. Well, so be it - you did it, after all, and there's no sense lying. If she's offended, you'll - you'll think of something. Like getting Meiling to chart your schedule so Letty never has to see your lousy face again. Yeah, that might work for a start.

"Good god. You're serious?" Letty's expression shifts, and you brace yourself. "That's... hilarious."

"Hiwhat?"

"Hilarious," she repeats, covering her mouth to stop herself from giggling. "And so very fitting!"

"Fitting. You're not even mad." You start laughing too.

"Mad? Some people would take a present like that and put it in a glass case and never touch it. You, though," Letty breathes, suddenly very close to your ear, "you do interesting things with it. Then you come home to me, covered in the blood of your enemies, and of all things apologize to me for leading such an exciting life. This is you. I'm not sure you understand just how much I love you."

"Fitting," you say again, trying to muster enough emotion into it to convey the same message back to her. It is, you have to allow, perfectly in character for Letty to respond like this. You just hadn't allowed yourself to hope for it.

"Fitting." Letty's eyes waver a moment, suddenly lost in some memory. She cryptically adds "She'd have approved, too," jogging your own memory into recalling other people in the world exist.

"Where's Youmu? Please tell me you've been more responsible with my friend than I was with yours." The question launches your love into an open lilt of laughter.

"Friend? Hardly. We spoke a bit, that's all, and I thought something was a little off with her. If she's such a lapdog that she'd kill her partner, she's no friend of mine." Letty resumes patting you down. "Youmu is sleeping in your bed. I hope you don't mind. I had to practically force her to take it, she wanted to sleep on the floor."

"Great. She needs it." You shake your head, not sure whether to laugh or feel queasy about the prospect of Letty being able to force Youmu into anything at all.

"Which means you'll have to sleep on the couch," she continues, "and that's the part I'm sorry for, and really hope you don't mind. If I'd known you'd be back in this condition, I'd have saved the bed for you, but... oh, how do I put this..."

"Of course I don't mind. I like my couch." You thump it to demonstrate and choke back a scream. Your arm did NOT ache that much a minute ago, damn it. Letty wraps the wet cloth around it and squeezes, somehow removing most of the pain. Breathing heavily, you nod in thanks and repeat. "The couch is fine. Staying on the couch is very fine. I'll fold it out so there's room for you, or you could share the bed with Youmu."

"Oh, I really can't do that. That's what I was trying to say. I tried to give her a hug after I tucked her in, but it wasn't, ah, safe? Wasn't safe." Letty nods to herself, unable to find a better description. It suffices; you've experienced firsthand Youmu's reactions to unwanted intimacy. "I was going to offer to go home..."

"But you better not even ask, because if you do, I'll have to smack you, and that would hurt too much." Again, you laugh, and again your eyes cloud up. You've no intention of clearing them. "Just... hold me."

That she does - after she finishes washing your numerous scrapes and punctures, folds out the couch, and conjures up another set of five or six blankets from somewhere in your room. Their warmth, and Letty's as she tucks in next to you, mix with the air's chill in ways indescribably comfortable. You could get used to this.

Things are looking up.

... you are looking up, heart pounding in the predawn darkness, unable to see but aware of someone standing, watching you. Letty snores daintily under the blankets. A bolt of lightning flashes silently outside, missing its thunder and voiced only by the wind outside the window. The fixed grey and black figure, cast in a monochrome night's breeze, fixes its eyes on your face before silently slipping back towards the bedroom.

[ ] Trust her. Go back to sleep.
[ ] Speak to her.
[ ] Call her over.

{X} Trust her. Go back to sleep.

Chill~ option.

[x] Trust her. Go back to sleep.
Early morning talkin games with Youmu would wake Letty. Besides, I'm sure she means no harm.

On the flip side, you have to wonder whether the sight of such a warm, close, caring couple might cause Youmu to go back to bed and cry into her pillow. Love's not exactly something she's had a lot of in her life.

[X] Trust her. Go back to sleep.

Youmu wouldn't kill Letty in her sleep if she felt Letty knew too much, right?

Damn, Letty sure is accepting.

WHAT

That was a nice change of pace after those ACTION PACKED LAST FEW POSTS.

[x] Trust her. Go back to sleep. Dream pleasent things.

[x]Trust her and go back to sleep.

[ ] Call her over.

Why ignore her?

[x] Call her over, ask if she's alright.

[x] Call her over.

Hey, you. I stabbed a gigantic fucking oarfish to death last night. That's means I'm strong. So there's no need for you to be ashamed anymore that you lost to me one duel out of a hundred.

[X] Trust her. Go back to sleep.

>>8406
>>Why ignore her?

Because it's the middle of the night and we've got a snoring Letty next to us? It's not like Youmu's going anywhere - she's heading back to the bedroom, so she'll clearly still be around in the morning.

>>8415

Hey, we could have a snoring Letty AND a wounded Youmu!

[x] Call her over.

[X] Call her over.

I wonder if she'll come.

>>8436
I'd make her come if you know what I mean.

[x] Call her over, ask if she's alright.

[❖] Call her over.

I'm afraid she might just leave through the bedroom window in an attempt to not wake anyone. She can go, just like a word first.

Youmu's voice is barely audible even when she speaks in normal situations. I don't think we'll awaken Letty if we talk.

[x] Call her over.

[x]Call her over.

She's probably got something to say.

[x] Call her over, ask if she's alright.

[X] Call Tewi over.

updates?

>"Mad? Some people would take a present like that and put it in a glass case and never touch it. You, though," Letty breathes, suddenly very close to your ear, "you do interesting things with it. Then you come home to me, covered in the blood of your enemies, and of all things apologize to me for leading such an exciting life. This is you. I'm not sure you understand just how much I love you."

Remember, Letty runs a restaurant now instead of a mafia family or shady corporation, but she is an old-school youkai. She grew up when eating humans and having danmaku duels to the death was still kosher.

>>8589

She sounds like she would be a great gangster or the like. We should talk to Yuyuko and introduce them.

>>8590
I believe that's exactly what most people are trying to avoid here. At least, that was the case a few threads ago.

>>8593

We didn't yet know Letty was cold as ice nor did we know she knew who we worked for. Yuyu and Letty seemed to get along fine enough at the concert, and Letty's interaction with Youmu is too perfect to give up. Letty's conversation that Yuyu allowed us to overhear showed that she doesn't get jealous easily, so there shouldn't be any problems on her side.

>>8594
Still, better not to get her too close. We don't want sparks to set any of us on fire, now.

[+] Call her over.
[+] Offer her a spot next to you and Letty.

Crowded? Yes. Cozy? Probably. Comfortable? Maybe not. Full of the intimacy Youmu needs and secretly craves more than anything? Oh yes.

Just to let folks know, updates delayed on account of health issues. I can barely breathe, let alone talk, let alone get in the mood to concentrate on anything creative, and as seems to be the trend when I think it's going to go away it just gets worse. Was trying to bang *something* out and not have to post this but it just wasn't working. I won't lie, there's also a little burnout/where the heck do I go from here happening, but that's a problem for the future, not this scene. I should be able to come up with something better than two paragraphs of dreck about how Youmu is cold and sick because I'm cold and sick.

So the usual self-flagellation ensues. On the upside Patchouli's Sick Writer Moe Club is fantastic as always.

I suggest reading UN Owen's story in /sdm/, saging this thread so it does not interfere with other stories, and if you must post something discuss Youmu or how you're feeling about Mokou/Yuyuko/that background politics stuff.

>>8681

Fail sage, lol. Hope you get better Blankfag, you're my favorite writefag here, don't you dare to die on me.

And Youmu = Self insert character?

The admiration Mokou has for "Stone Cold" is fucking hilarious. Still, I don't expect her to live through the morning. Just because the assassin happened to be from the Dragon Palace this time doesn't mean Yuyuko wouldn't have her own reasons for selling Mokou out. Fujiwara may have money, but she can't offer the deals that politicos like Houraisan can.

While it's likely no accident that Scarlet was arrested at the concert tonight, who was openly supporting Reimu, it's tough to know what's real and what's hearsay coming from Mokou. I don't expect Reimu will be really assassinated, rather she'll be missing and presumed dead until near the day of the polling when she pulls an eleventh hour Gandalf the White, showing up in her CtC outfit and claiming to bear the wisdom of Yakumo.

That Kant shit is hard to place. It's too pat to say it's Yukari, but maybe Ran is smarter than we think and this is some kind of below-the-radar, guerrilla effort to halt the elections.

Letty knows what the fairy is involved with now, but I don't expect her to reciprocate in kind; she's the kind of person who will refuse to burden others obstinately. Whatever it is she's involved in, she admitted to Iku it was dangerous.

Alice hasn't been see again yet, but the fairy remembered she had her message to deliver. I was thinking maybe the degenerated body the fairy respawned with, instead of having anything to do with Hakugyokurou, was the result of sorcery, given she showed us a fairy voodoo doll. Given that even Yuyu and Youmu were shaken when the fairy brought her up, this could be well within her power.

Orin was cute. Yeah, even the "lulz".

>>8684

Aoi's Futako's Orin's penis lulz is cute.

It is so frigging hard to place the temperment of our nameless fairy; sometimes she is moe and sweet (like around Letty), and other times she just goes all-fucking-out (backing over Marisa, fighting with Meiling, killing Iku... yeah). Kinda presumptuous, and a little ironic, but I'm willing to declare that our "nameless fairy" is probably the most human of any anons displayed hence far.

For me, it is so helpfull/enjoyable to read updates like scenes from movies as interpreted by different directors. Fight with Meiling? All out Kill Bill/Pulp Fiction Tarrantino. For moments with butterflies, I'm approaching it with the pure "I am vigorously fucking your mind" David Lynch mentallity. I hate to "cheapen" the scene, but our fight with Iku had the kind of summer blockbuster feel that I associate with Michael Bay (don't say shit, "The Rock" was a masterpiece). This kind of bizarre self-reflection after a major event, particularly the ambulance ride home, and I'm channeling Scorsese.

That in mind: when Mokou calls us "stone cold," I feel like replying "You have no fucking idea." Not that we've been even more brutal in the past, but that she has no concept of what it means for us to behave as we did. We spent the formative years of our existence playing games by a lake, and it is only pure providence that finds us in our present position, doing what needs to be done. But that isn't everything about us. What consistently blows my mind about this story are the different roles we find ourselves in: savior, killer, student, teacher, friend, enemy, harbinger, victim, lover, master, servant, etc. Mokou caught a glimpse of that, and I don't begrudge her the "stone cold" inference. But she honestly doesn't understand the underlying element of ourselves that unifies all those aspects. Fuck, I don't even understand, and technically speaking I am her. But that's just about right: think of everything you've done in the past couple days and try to find out what makes your actions consistent. Try to come up with a better answer than "Because I am me."

As for politics, I am far too engrossed in American politics to view this impartially. An elder, powerful, deceptive, and influential party running against a platform of freshness, faith, and change? I feel like Yasaka's slogan should be "Change you can have faith in." Kant = Ron Paul

>>8746
This shit is hard.

>>8705
What.
>>8746
Blankfag is American, I think, so that's probably intentional. I know I've been reading it as Kanakobama vs Hillareimu vs McCaientei.

>>8746
Wow. Thanks.
>>8750
It is.

I can breathe again, a little, so writing now. (Attempting to write now. It's not - not - Gordon, get away from the - !)

>>8752
>(Attempting to write now. It's not - not - Gordon, get away from the - !)

TIME TO LIVE UP TO MY FAIRY NAME AND FACE FULL LIFE CONSEQUENCES

>>8746
>a platform of freshness, faith, and change?
Freshness and change are the same thing in this context, and have nothing at all to do with faith, unless you think a platform based on change is something you could only support through faith that it'll turn out well.

>>8751
Now I feel like throwing up.

>>8751
>Kanakobama

Oh god I can't unsee Obama with giant tits, a tit mirror, and the rope thing.

brb photoshop

Your mouth moves, dry and soundless, as the shade slides away. You try once more.

"Youmu?"

It halts in the window's unlight, gray rain reflections running down its shadow. Replacements in your mind's eye for the tears she won't shed, or can't shed. Fitting, as Letty would say. Fitting, but you still have to do something about it.

"Youmu," you whisper, beckoning to her like a pet and patting the blankets beside you. "Youmu, come here. Sleep here?" The figure glides obediently back, fading from black into gray tones as it nears you. It stoops and merges with the blankets, lying beside you, and only then do you realize your mistake.

You assumed the shadow standing at the end of the hall was Youmu to begin with. It needn't be her. It could be anyone at all, or anything. It could be Meiling, quietly preparing to surprise you again. Or it could be Iku, or one of her compatriots, ready to turn your home to rubble. Or it could be someone insane, an intruder with claws reaching out towards you, towards Letty, or it could be a monster or a demon or or or something very dead and very cold lying unnaturally beside you and blaming you without remorse or relent as Letty throws her arm over it not knowing what she's bedding with and - You grab it, feeling clammy gravedirt and slow maggotlike squirming, and hold it tight, lying still in the hopes that your heart won't burst out of your chest. Letty snuggles up to it, then groans quietly in her sleep as it escapes her grasp and disappears altogether.

Someone else - no, the same person - pads down the hall. She's wearing your largest nightclothes, an old poofy set of pink felt pajamas complete with cap. Large and comfy for you, small for a human, and just right for Youmu. She stiffly falls on top of the blankets, then tucks one leg inside them, then the other, and lies there frozen, shivering and in danger of snapping. You wrap yourself around the icicle and try to thaw it, heedless of the danger. Letty, bless her uncannily accepting heart, does the same. Youmu whimpers once, still iron-taut between the two strangers in her unfamiliar bed.

You put the ghosts out of your mind, peck her on the cheek, and whisper "Sleep tight, Youmu," and she crumples like a rag doll thrown too many times against too many walls. Once limp, she sleeps, and you listen to the rain drum on your own walls.

Youmu's feet churn constant circles in the covers, trying to burrow, running from something. Letty is content to hold her, so she can't get away, but stays safe instead. One by one, the observations continue to filter into your unsleeping mind. You wonder what she's running from. You wonder what Letty dreams of. You wonder what they've both seen. You wonder why you're still awake. One answer comes - because you want to see them. You see Youmu crawling in her sleep. You see her in the garden, never alone, the only person in a paradise she can't enter or a hell she can't escape. You see her fingers twitch, feeling your cheek and your lips in incredible intimacy, and you see the city sprawling out past her, beyond the garden's gates. You see it rusting and dying. You see her hand reach further, behind, and touch your wings, and see how she recoils. You see something she sees in the middle of the garden, barren among the ghosts where only she can go, and it -

Much later, you awaken again, remembering nothing but cool warmth and the softness of your friends. You see Letty rolled over in profile, becoming a blanket for both you and Youmu, with a smile on her face and a bit of drool on her lip, and you see Youmu defenselessly curled underneath her.

You go back to sleep.

Moe~

Well, I didn't much care for Youmu up until now, and now I've changed my mind. Probably the first time a writefag here's been able to do that, so kudos. Your writing is superior.

Cozy.

>(don't say shit, "The Rock" was a masterpiece)

You and I cannot be thinking of the same thing.

So what exactly happened here?

>"Youmu," you whisper, beckoning to her like a pet and patting the blankets beside you. "Youmu, come here. Sleep here?" The figure glides obediently back, fading from black into gray tones as it nears you. It stoops and merges with the blankets, lying beside you, and only then do you realize your mistake.

I got Yuyu vibes from the fairy all throughout this scene. I believe the vision of Youmu's corpse is a message from Yuyuko: Someday she will die, and there is nothing either you or she can do to stop that.

>Someone else - no, the same person - pads down the hall. She's wearing your largest nightclothes, an old poofy set of pink felt pajamas complete with cap.

Like Yuka's? Probably a red herring, but it's cute nonetheless.

>You put the ghosts out of your mind, peck her on the cheek, and whisper "Sleep tight, Youmu," and she crumples like a rag doll thrown too many times against too many walls. Once limp, she sleeps, and you listen to the rain drum on your own walls.

Looking past the D'AWWWWWW here, it's amazing what power of suggestion the fairy holds over Youmu, almost as if she's following a command. Given how Youmu compared you to Yuyuko earlier, this may be the result of an unconscious association between the two of you. The running motions she performs in her sleep could mean she doesn't want to be there, either in reality or her dreams, but is trapped in this cycle of avolition she mentioned earlier in the bathroom, externalized here as the arms you grasp her with.

Orin's comment on how you're the Saigyouji favorite, Youmu's seeming obedience and increasing passivity, Yuyu's contradictory permissiveness in your work and heavy-handed involvement in your personal affairs, the fact that while you should be natural enemies, you are kept as the one toy that Yuyuko can never break--these all add up to something: Yuyuko has a plan for you. I think she's grooming you to become the next head of the Saigyouji family.

>>8772

Not samefag here, but Sean Connery makes any movie good.

>>8782
>the vision of Youmu's corpse
I figured it was Myon.

>>8788
Indeed. I wager a ghost would probably smell of Death. I was expecting long dead, wasted away type Death, not the just died and decomposing kind of Death. Perhaps I need to reevaluate my image of Youmu for this story.

This is one of those posts that I'm gonna be bothering people about when they say the stuff I read all the time is no good.

Yeah, it's me, Jake. Get off my fucking case already.

>>8782
...Thank you, that was awesome but I wondered if anyone thought as I did, like >>8788 did. Nonetheless, plenty of interesting stuff.

>Like Yuka's
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
I did not even make the conn-- wait. This is Letty's house, right?
Very... interesting, then, that she would have some of Yuuka's clothes.
I think Yuuka is indeed the lost incarnation of Summer.

>The long Yuyuko/Fairy thing
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

>>8851
It's the fairy's apartment, I think, so that theory's out. As for the ghost... it could be Myon screwing around, or the fairy having a bit of a delusional attack. The whole post was kinda surreal. I think it's Myon, just because that makes it better when Letty hugs her anyway and gets the real Youmu to come out.

What's much more disturbing in my book is the fairy instantly falling asleep when she thinks about the tree in the center of the garden. We may indeed be grooming to become Yuyuko's successor, but we still have no idea of what her, and therefore the family's, actual agenda is. It's not like she needs money or power, so why does it matter who wins the election?

>We may indeed be grooming to become Yuyuko's successor, but we still have no idea of what her, and therefore the family's, actual agenda is. It's not like she needs money or power, so why does it matter who wins the election?

The agenda is simple: Perpetuity. The changing political landscape to come may create a Gensokyo that does not need or tolerate an organized crime family. That is why we delivered letters to all of the candidates. An introduction, an offer, and a threat: "Will you play ball with us? Or will we have to bury you?"