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Autumn in Kyoto brought with it a subtle chill in the air. Nothing too severe, but it was enough to provide a subtle reminder that winter was right around the corner.
Within the autumn-colored metropolis, two friends are currently chatting at a coffee shop while they await your arrival.
"Renko, I'm telling you, there's a spaceship parked deep within the nearby forest! I wasn't able to get a good look, but I don't think it originates from this world OR Gensokyo! This could be a huge discovery!"
Renko takes a long sip from her coffee and sighs.
"Merry, even if we actually found this alleged spaceship, I'm sure someone else already owns it, and they won't be happy about us trespassing. Besides, what do either of us know about piloting a spaceship?"
Maribel giggles. "Renko, you study stars, remember?"
"There's a difference between stars and rocket science. Wouldn't it be easier to just visit a local shrine? We already know they're a consistent entry point to Gensokyo."
Right after she says that, you finally arrive at the coffee shop, and the two girls turn to you.
"Ah, [Name], it's good to see you! It would appear we're in need of a tiebreaker, so..."
"Where do you think we should go?"
[] - The (alleged) spaceship
[] - The local shrine
(By the way, what do you guys think our name should be? I don't wanna use Y/N L/N cause that's really lame lol.)
(Probably should've asked this during the setup, but I forgot)
[-] Medical treatment received.
"That's the last one," Reisen said softly, tying off the final bandage. "How are you feeling?"
Sitting listlessly on the gap, you looked down at the results. Your injured tails outnumbered the healthy ones, with no fewer than five wrapped up in makeshift casts. The pride and joy of any kitsune, the mark of their power and experience... well, they certainly marked something, alright.
How did it go this wrong? How?
"Ran? Is there any pain?"
You wrenched your eyes shut, barely holding back the dam of tears. It wasn’t like despair was anything new to you. In fact, it was a foundational experience - your current life as a shikigami began amidst the shattered remnants of your past self’s life, leaving your early days swamped by the emotion… and despite your progress in both control and stability, you could never truly seem to leave it behind. Sooner or later, no matter what tactics you tried or how promising your efforts seemed, you’d find yourself here.
Useless.
A hand gently pressed against your forehead, and you sucked in the breath at the unexpected touch. "There's no fever, at least."
You blinked, realizing the moon rabbit was watching you with open concern... and then her question from before finally registered. You blinked a few more times, focusing until Reisen's face came into view.
"Sorry. Can't feel the breaks, they just ache a little. Painkillers must be kicking in." And definitely not any other reason for your mind to be in tatters.
Reisen nodded, her red eyes leaving gleaming afterimages. "Could you rate it on a scale from one to ten?"
You reached for the glass of water, taking a drink as you marshalled your thoughts. "My tails are all between zero and three. Can't feel those two at all." You pointed in the vague direction of the ones most thoroughly wrapped up. "Main body... call it a four. Six if I move the wrong way."
Your nurse gave you a sharp nod, pulling out a small container of pills. "In that case, some painkillers are in order. I used a light
Nice look into how the politicking of Youkai Mountain works via working exclusively with implication and helping keep others images up to earn favours. Too bad Sumi might have up and readied the thing to implode, and if not Seija certainly will.
>…and now you were reduced to clinging to scraps from your past. Of begging and pleading for orders that would let you pretend.
That entire paragraph was such a mean stab.
>(including a full set of the Gensokyo Chronicle, dating all the way back to Hieda no Aichi)
Hypothetically, if Mamizou was active while the book was being authored, and it some how got outside her bedroom…
We are running of empty displays for all the guns from Chekhov and I already forgot where half of them were displayed.
SHE HAS A FULL APARTMENT??? The most i'd expect was her to pop out of an alley or two with her facadé here and there. The me 4 months ago would never realise how wrong I was. That does raise the question of how does she keep out of the way from lunarian implants (or governmental people in general from noticing discrepancies) but she has the power of boundery hax on her side.
Eternal has been bugging me to crosspost this here, and since I'm getting close to finish editing the second and third chapter I've complied. Be warned, this is a JJK crossover.
In 2007 stories of spiriting away have been passed down around an isolated Japanese village. In that village, two girls have been wrongfully identified as the culprits behind the recent uptick in disappearances.
This is their story. (Cirno and Dai take the place of the Hasaba sisters)
August, 2007
"Cirno." Daiyousei muttered, hugging her sister closer to her.
Cirno and Daiyousei Hibana huddled close within their stone cell with its iron bars, their blue and green hair intermixing. They had broken through the wood one on their first day, but the guard outside had caught them. It just made everyone else angrier and Daiyousei hadn't been able to fight back when Cirno was out cold. There had been disappearances happening since either of them could remember, people who were called uncles, aunts, and grandparents despite only having a vague relation to the community. Their mama, who Daiyousei couldn't remember the face of. She didn't know if their mama's disappearance was why everyone hated them, she didn't know what they had done wrong. They'd never made anyone disappear like mama had! They didn't do it, someone else was taking people! It made her tear up just thinking about How could they be responsible? Just because Cirno knew what 'Jujutsu Sorcery' was, didn't mean she did anything wrong. Cirno was her big sister, and a part of Daiyousei believed that if they just treated her nicely then they could all get along.
"It's okay, Dai, just follow my lead. You remember what I taught you?"
She nodded, muttering under her breath as she shook. "Take a deep breath, feel the cursed energy, take it into your gut, breathe out, feel it move through you, wrap your body in a shell of cursed energy, circulate it through your brain, and activate your technique."
She nodded, following her elder twin sister's command, remembering the days when they had first s
Forgot to mark the above as an update. Also, in other news, I really like Mechamaru from from JJK and the doujin RAINMAKER.
Renko nervously kicked her feet back and forth, pressing her hands against the seat of the car as the streets of Tokyo passed them by. The clean up efforts were moving swiftly, although from what Yukari had said one of the big Jujutsu Clans, the Zenin, were raising a fuss and had sent some people out to bother Reimu and Satoru again.
She had wanted to help, but apparently Reimu had it handled, and Yukari had said that interrogating Kosuzu about the status of the girls had been more important.
Arriving at the same time as the girl's parents had been a surreal experience. There she was a seventeen year old teen working alongside Nanami–a blonde delinquent looking seventeen years old–acting as police officers, doing their best to soothe the parents and interview a witness. For the interview itself, despite Kosuzu only being three years her senior, it felt as if they were decades apart. It was far too reminiscent of how she had been after Koishi had turned her into a sorcerer but she hadn't yet been formally inducted into Jujutsu Society but everything had not yet gone wrong. Apparently she and the leader of some big clan–who was the same age as Kosuzu somehow–had gotten into some trouble the year before Renko had met Reimu and company.
Reimu had never mentioned Kosuzu to her, and the Reimu she described was so different from the one Renko had met even a year ago. Heroic, inspirational, cool, daring, and kind. Renko shook her head. It wasn't that Reimu didn't have those qualities, but to Renko she always seemed untouchably, inhuman. Like she wasn't even real.
Although she had been in the room, she had been unconscious when they had their falling out. And all three of them, Reimu, Satoru, and Suguru all refused to speak of it. Yukari herself was enigmatic, but beneath that she was too reminiscent of Merry for Renko to be comfortable with. Just like how they still didn't like to speak of those who had fallen last year: Marisa, Suguru's youkai Meiling, and for Renko, her best friend, Maribell Hearn.
Either way, the two girls they had been chasing had apparently been caught by Heida no Akyuu–another friend of Reimu's–and so Yukari an
Golden-green leaves floated through the sky, scattering the early morning sunlight like rain down onto Tokyo.
Cirno forced a youkai to the ground with a bang. It was a small thing, insect-like, barely bigger than her hand, fly-like and dull with bulbous eyes and undersized wings. She estimated it was dumber than a dog, cat, or rat. Sukuna wasn't fond of insect-based food, so no recipes came to mind as she inspected it. In her off hand, she held the hexagonal device she had plundered from Akyuu's desk. It was as long as her wrist to her hand and a quarter as wide, with a hexagonal pointed tip at the end, pointed away from her, while on the other end a hexagonal button matched it.
"Cirno?"
"It's okay, Dai, I think I got this."
The tiny youkai squirmed beneath her as she pressed the pointed end of the 'Mini-hakkero prototype' into its fat head. "Now I just gotta," Cirno pressed down on the button. With a camera-shutter-click, the needle extended straight through the youkai's head and into the floor below with a soft thunk. The fly-headed thing only managed a gasp before disintegrating in a puff of black. Cirno frowned, getting up from the floor and reading the flip of the device's paper tag again: 'Press base against youkai subject and engage needle to forcibly activate Cursed Technique.' Beneath it, in different, more elegant handwriting was: 'Do <b>NOT</b> use on human subjects."
"We'll have to find a stronger youkai." She put the prototype back into the backpack.
In retrospect, the flyhead youkai was probably too weak to even have a cursed technique. She'd need someone with a cursed technique to really check. For some reason, a part of her didn't like the thought of strapping down a stronger youkai, or a sorcerer, and stabbing the needle into them. The other part of her–Urame–was already listing the ways to kill and then butcher a human. As if she'd ever have any use for that. Besides, you couldn't even prepare youkai as food, so–
Cirno put her hands on her hips. She didn't care about that; Urame did. It was like all he though
Awake from its three-year hibernation!
On the road which leads to the Temple, taking refuge among the many stone sculptures, the beast once again finds its slumber disturbed.
"How long has this been here?"
An inquisitive tone accompanied a prod to the beast's side.
Apart from irritation, the beast felt that this scenario was somehow familiar.
[] - - What is a lazy lizard to do?
Author’s Note: Full disclosure, this is a crossover with the mobile gacha game Fire Emblem Heroes plus my fanfiction ideas for it. I’ll, of course, try to write this so you don’t need any prior knowledge and explain stuff as necessary, but do ask questions when you don’t understand something. It’s also my first CYOA, so… Let’s see how it goes, huh?
“Begin documentation. Eitri, the Eternal Sage speaking. Preparing soul transfer #3784. Standard operating procedure. The new vessel is male, adult, athletic. Brown hair, brown eyes, fair skin. Alias will be Will Thompson. Beginning after recording end. End documentation.”
“Begin documentation. Loki, the lovely trickster god speaking. Preparing soul transfer interruption prank #0001. Question: How angry will Eitri get when I mess with her experiment? Hypothesis: She will throw quite the fit. Materials: Eitri’s lab equipment, plus one vessel, […]
Sex:
[] Male
[] Female
Age:
[] Prepubescent
[] Adolescent
[] Adult
[…], alias… Well, I suppose I have no say in that… Procedure: While Eitri is unconscious, I will pause the soul transfer process, reprogram everything to put her in the wrong body, then drop her off in my little pet project world. Beginning after recording end. End documentation.”
Author’s Note: So, whenever I thought about starting a CYOA, I always ran into the problem of “Does my idea for this MC feel like it’s the audience’s or the author’s?” Now, of course it should be both, but my fear was that with me at the helm, it might feel like I’m either trying to make the MC so much the audience’s that there’s a choice every paragraph, or so much mine that it might as well not be a CYOA. I thought this might be a happy medium between the two: The MC has a preestablished personality, past, and goal, but you get to pick the appearance and actions to reach the goal. Also, in case it wasn’t clear, in addition to choosing the age and sex, you are also invited to create na
>>215651
Thaumaturgists be talkin' mad shit 'til the toddler cloaked in fuligin rolls up
[2] Stay focused! Lady Mima needs you to stay on task.
[10] Stop for a visit. You’ll make it quick…
Why would any of them miss me? I never really made an effort to connect with any of the other devils. Did I really misjudge things that bad? Your cheeks heat up with shame as you consider that uncomfortable possibility.
It feels like sacrilege to dwell on it at all, let alone for as long as you have been. But these were people you knew. Maybe not very well, but they were still acquaintances. You can’t let them continue thinking you had been permanently exorcised like Elis did. If they remember you, even slightly, then you owe it to them to clear things up, don’t you?
“Ten minutes,” you manage out after a long battle with your inner demons. “In and out. Just to let them know that I’m okay.”
A triumphant grin explodes across her face. With how suddenly her newfound vigor took hold, it’d be impossible to tell she was so sentimental seconds ago. “Glad to see there’s still a little bit of the girl I knew in there.”
Grimacing, your fingers dig deeper into the rope. Lady Mima surely understands. I’m just tying up loose ends before getting back on track. This is a necessary diversion.
She would understand that. Right?
The weightless rock suddenly feels very heavy in your arms.
Elis seriously wasn’t kidding when she said Vina had been expanded. What had once been an endless field of marble rubble, cracked pillars, and crumbling archways has been transformed into a veritable cityscape of weathered statues, dry fountains, and winding roads carved with elaborate patterns. All of it is in a state of deliberate decay, constructed to look ancient rather than actually be ancient, no doubt designed to impress foreigners with the illusion of a rich and storied past.
And, at the center of it all, still towering over the ruins as proudly as it had back then, stands the temple. There is no official name for it, or if there is, you’ve never known it as anything other than j
>“Tamamo-no-Mae, a nine-tailed fox youkai legendary to the outside world, was imprisoned in stone for her misdeeds long ago. Centuries later, a wandering Buddhist approached the stone and exorcised the spirit trapped within. When Tamamo's spirit admitted to her sins, the man struck off the stone’s petrified tails and released Tamamo's spirit from captivity, who he subsequently laid to rest. Over the years, the stone tails each began to take up new life. They individually transformed into new fox youkai, each retaining an aspect of the original Tamamo-no-Mae. This poem, written by famed outsider historian Hieda no Aya and donated for preservation by Makai’s court magician Kiyomi Tsubaki, recounts the fates that befell each of them.”
This wouldn't happen to be a stealth fate crossover would it?
I think the Makai you wrote is the most interesting one I've ever seen!
You described a wonderful but empty world, which is very interesting.
Besides, I'm really curious about what kind of story would unfold if Koboshi met Marisa again?
(Setup Phase)
Before we begin, we need to figure out who we know and what we are doing (name will change depending on what type of story we are doing)
So with that being said, what are we?
[] - Tourist with Louise (Starting in Makai, we're immune to the Makai miasma so this is possible)
[] - Sumireko's friend (Starting in modern day Outside World)
[] - Hifuu Club member (Starting in the RenMerry timeframe)
[] - We're all alone (for now) (Starting in modern day outside world)
(This is my first time hosting a CYOA here, so I hope I did the format properly. We're playing as a human OC if you're wondering)
>>215604
it is an immaterial and missing matter, physiology, morality, reason, it will not hold us back from marrying the 2hus and having children with them.
[X] WAKE UP
She woke up to a pounding headache and a horrendous pain in her chest. Even with her eyes screwed shut, she could still make out a blinking light throbbing in perfect time with her head. Had she gathered a bajillion fireflies all at once or something? Didn’t matter, that was prob’ly what woke her up, so Wriggle hid her face in her arms, only to moan when that somehow made it worse. She briefly considered getting up to turn it off or shoe them away or whatever, but it’d probably stop if she waited long enough. The metal floor might be cold and uncomfortable, but it was less painful than getting up.
Wait. Metal? Dirt she could kinda understand, but what in winter’s name was she doing on metal? Where even was she? There’s no way she just passed out somewhere randomly, right?
Admittedly, it was the sort of thing that could happen to most youkai. Sake and post-incident parties were the sort of crap everyone did, and half of them would eventually wake up whining about hangovers and hunching over the nearest toilet. But not Wriggle Nightbug! She’d always tried her absolute best to avoid alcohol. Because she didn’t like the taste, definitely not because she was as lightweight as her beloved bugs! And if anyone ever saw otherwise, it was because Mystia gave her a dozillion drinks whenever she ate at her izyka- isekai- restaurant!
Just so that was clear. Besides, this couldn’t be a hangover, that should be a pain in her stomach, not her chest!
… unless it was a heart attack. You couldn’t get a heart attack from those fizzy blue drinks, right? Surely Mysty wouldn’t give her so many if that was the case! Reflexively she moved her hand up to touch her chest, and immediately yelped at the pain. It didn’t even have the decency to be the same sort of stabbing pain as her chest; her entire arm felt like pins and needles, and moving it burned.
Gingerly she lowered it back to the ground, trying to massage some feeling into it with her other hand. It helped a little, but her skin felt hot, like her arm had caught a fever or something! Just the l
[X] Takane’s facility did have a back exit into Chimata’s domain. They’d be forfeiting their mechs, but it would completely dodge the inchlings’ trap.
Sometimes, a little sacrifice is necessary to avoid something worse.
...
Unless it brings us closer to Mystia.
[X] Let Sanae have her way, try to blast through.
>215521
Wished Worlds War
WorldWideWeb
im onto you -_- (that cover is fucking GORGEOUS holy shit)
anyways uhh votr
[X] Takane’s facility did have a back exit into Chimata’s domain. They’d be forfeiting their mechs, but it would completely dodge the inchlings’ trap
Prologue - Collision Course
The streets of Kyoto were far from quiet. Constant arrays of neon signs and streetlights blocked out the stars above with a thick haze of light pollution. Down on ground, the scenario wasn't much different. Cars lined the streets in all directions like a river of metal and smog.
Despite the constant noise of the Outside World, one building happened to be relatively quiet. It was the apartments attached to Kyoto University, where students were busy sleeping, or cramming for exams while their body was being kept conscious by an influx of caffeine that held them upright like pristine strings on a decaying puppet.
However, lurking in one of these cramped, overpriced boxes was a hardcore gamer in the midst of her evening activities. The only light in her apartment was emanating from her television screen, painting her living room in a muted crimson red with occasional flashes of artificial lightning. Empty drink cans had formed a metropolis of tin and lingering sugar on the kotsatsu, and a half-eaten bag of shrimp crackers had fallen in-between the couch cushions.
Chiyuri herself was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her controller locked in a firm death grip as her eyes tracked the falling moon-like objects that fell from the sky. She had cleared this vertical shooter hundreds of times before, but at this point, she wasn’t doing it for the score. It was a moment of meditation; the muscle memory of dodging and the predictable(ish) rhythm of stage bosses all gave her the illusion of control in her life, which was mostly filled with halffinished lab reports and the constant insane ramblings of the professor.
A familiar “pichuun!” Noise followed a small explosion. She had clipped a bullet, allowing for her opponent to win.
“Tch. Screw you too, final pattern.”
That’s when a loud knocking nearly gave her a heart attack. It wasn’t the polite rap of a neighbor checking up on their friend, this was three rapid-fire impacts that rattled the chain lock and threatened to wake up the entire hallway.
“Chiyuri! I know you’re awake! Your light is on and the spectrum analyzer in the lab registered a phosphor decay signature consi
(Sorry for the short chapter, this is meant to be buildup for the finale).
The room was silent, but the silence spoke louder than words. Renko and Maribel were hovering over the unconscious Sumireko while Renko gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Sumireko’s torso had been bandaged up, but she still suffered traumatic injuries as a result of Konngara’s attack.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group was in a state of unease. Rika and
Rikako were both tending to devices outside, Eirin was ensuring that Sumireko healed properly, and everyone else was trying to maintain some form of order.
“Who… Who even was that?” Sanae asked, her voice wavering as she tried her best not to break down.
“I’m not sure…” Reimu said, receiving a cup of tea from Yumemi. “She didn’t say much, and she didn’t look familiar. Whoever she was, she seemed… angry. Even going so far as to accuse me of genocide…”
“Genocide?!” Chiyuri looked flabbergasted by this accusation. “Where’d she get THAT idea?!”
Reimu opened her mouth to speak, but then froze. Everything came flooding back at once, and she was suddenly crushed under the weight of her past sins. Before the proper formation of Gensokyo, and before the scarlet mist incident… there were no spell card rules. As a result, there was nothing holding Reimu back…
“Yo, I’m talking to you!” Chiyuri’s voice snapped Reimu out of her trance, leaving her gasping and panting. “What’s going on with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost! …Which wouldn’t even be abnormal for Gensokyo.”
“No, no, it’s just…” Reimu took a deep breath. “I think I know what that woman was talking about.”
Chiyuri looked genuinely dumbfounded. “Wait, WHAT?! You… you actually…?”
“I did what I had to.” Reimu said bluntly. “The spell card rules weren’t a thing yet. It was either me or them. Makai is very different from Gensokyo, you see...”
“Makai…” Eirin spoke up. She had overheard the conversation, but the topic of Makai peaked her interest. “That’s the realm of demons, yes? Where Alice and Byakuren originated from?”
Reimu nodded with a solemn expression.
Prelude: "The Ones Who Witnessed It All"
Yumemi had always been a believer in the supernatural. Her passion shining through in the form of her brilliant mind and engineering skills. She had managed to create all kinds of different devices, gadgets, and weaponry. But most importantly of all, was her crown jewel: the Probability Space Hypervessel. It was a spaceship capable of traversing boundaries and finally exposing the truth to those she viewed as blind; which just so happened to be the very university in which she taught her students.
Despite obtaining undeniable evidence that proved the existence of Gensokyo, something always went wrong with the technology that fudged the results. Whether it be a blurry photograph or altered variables, the result was always the same: nobody could believe the evidence she presented. It almost felt like someone was intentionally sabotaging her, but she could never figure out the culprit. Regardless, her attempts eventually resulted in yhe university president firing her from her job as a professor, leaving her with nothing but her workshop, and with nobody but Chiyuri by her side.
Yet she remained determined. When she dragged Chiyuri along for her most recent Gensokyo expedition, she was confident she could finally acquire the evidence she needed to prove the others wrong, and have the greatest “I told you so” moment of her life. What she wasn’t expecting, however, was more questions than answers, and a disaster that almost resulted in the demise of her and her best friend.
Ever since the beginning of this incident, her views on the world around her have changed significantly. Almost witnessing the demise of her best friend in the inferno that claimed her prized possession taught her that there were some things even she couldn’t accomplish, and that her recklessness will cost her everything. As she’s formed new bonds with unlikely allies, she’s changed her objective entirely; proving Gensokyo’s existence no longer mattered. All that mattered was keeping her friends safe, and protecting what remained of the university she once worked at, even if it were only a few students.
As for Rikako, her backstory begins wit
Section 3: "Their Final Year of School"
Yumemi had prepared herself for a lot of potential scenarios Gensokyo would throw at her. She always knew there was an inherent danger inside of Gensokyo, but she never expected to find another dimension entirely. Especially one as dark and creepy as Makai.
Luckily, when the darkness arrived, Yumemi had grabbed Chiyuri’s arm. She had no idea it would work, but it resulted in the two being separated from the group together, even if the others were nowhere in sight.
“W-What the hell just happened?!” Chiyuri wailed, her expression containing a worried smile.
“I’m not sure…” Yumemi replied while attempting to check her tablet, only to be met with a black screen. “Whatever happened, it’s messing with my equipment. I can’t even turn my tablet on, let alone obtain a reading of our environment.”
“What readings do you need?! Just look around you!” Chiyuri gestured wildly. “We’re in the depths of what’s essentially hell, the rest of the group is gone, and we don’t even know what we’re looking for!”
“While I admit the situation is precarious, panicking won’t help.” She gestures towards the faint silhouette of a crystal fortress up ahead. “I suspect that the rest of the group is likely to regroup at the object that stands out the most.”
“A-Are you sure we should just start wandering around in a place like this…?” Chiyuri stared at the professor like she had lost her mind.
“Do you have a better idea?” Yumemi immediately retorted.
“I guess not…”
And so, the two would begin walking along the decaying, ashcovered pathway until a voice made them stop in their tracks.
“Leaving so soon?”
Mima was leaning against a nearby tree with an expectant smirk, her crescent staff resting beside her.
“You again?!” Yumemi asked, her eyes wide with surprise and a flicker of… recognition?
“What else were you expecting? Yuki? That failure of a magician never could’ve reached my level of education. As for you two… I must say that I’m impressed. Really, I am. When I first started this incident, I had created it as an experiment
Our world is ending, I can see it crumbling around me. I always assumed the end would be something more interesting, like an alien invasion, or maybe even a zombie apocalypse. But life isn't some fantasy novel, it's a dreary life that's been corrupted by artificial greed. Food is made with chemicals nobody can pronounce, half of your friends probably aren't real people, and even the delicious flavor of a strawberry cake… is artificial.
The end is not something that is happening suddenly. There is no sudden astronomical event that renders the earth uninhabitable. Instead, humanity has pushed the earth to its limits, and like a bridge with too many people on it, it’s starting to collapse. Nobody knows how long it will take, but humanity is nearing its end. Just like how a candle that once illuminated its surroundings with a beautiful flame is nearing the end of its wick, and it will soon burn away.
Despite the suffocating smog from the world around me, there’s something deep within my soul that’s telling me to keep hold of myself. Optimism is an underestimated force in this decaying world. Even the darkest of nights will eventually end in sunrise, and that’s enough for me. My hope for a better future keeps me going, and it’s what stops me from admitting defeat.
Leaning over on my bed, I take a quick glance at the framed photograph on my dresser. It’s me smiling while wrapping my arms around a girl in an extravagant cloak and plaid outfit, who happened to be taking a selfie of us. We were never a couple, but we were an inseparable duo throughout high school. Unfortunately, everything changed once we reached university. Her obsession with the occult resulted in her skipping more and more classes. I hardly saw her in person, but when I did, she sounded almost insane. She would ramble on about “ley lines” and “mystery spots.” I could barely even recognize her anymore, and I don’t think even she fully knew what she was talking about.
One day, she made a proud declaration during lunch, claiming that she was going to “expose the esoteric” and prove everyone wrong once and for all. She then took off running out of the cafeteria. I tried to stop he
In the middle of the night, I found myself waking up to the sound of frantic pounding on a nearby apartment door. It’s not my own, but it sounds panicked, and loud. Most people would still walk outside and yell at whoever is doing this, but I’m not one to make a scene.
As a result, I end up staring at the ceiling and waiting for the situation to resolve itself. Much to my surprise, the muffled voices sound… familiar?
“Chiyuri? What are you-“
“THERE’S A YOUKAI IN MY APARTMENT!”
“Wait wha- Chiyuri wait stop LET GO OF ME-“
I can hear the sounds of struggle coming from outside my room, followed up by frantic footsteps moving to the apartment that’s right next to mine. Seriously? Yumemi’s associate lives right next to me? Regardless, the adjacent door is practically burst open, and the two fall uncharacteristically silent for a moment.
“…Very funny. Now where’s this ‘youkai’ you speak of?”
“I-It was right here! She was in my bathroom like some kind of pervert!”
“Admittedly, this one is on me. I shouldn’t have entertained this nonsense. So, forgive me for my lack of sleep clouding my judgement. As for you, please go back to sleep before you suffer any other hallucinations.”
“But-“
“Chiyuri, youkai are not present in the outside world.”
“Ugh, fine! So much for trying to prove you right…”
“I appreciate it, but we can worry about this in the morning. Now go back to sleep before we get a noise complaint. Goodnight.”
Their conversation ends after that, and a single pair of footsteps walks past my door before fading away after the sound of a door closing, allowing me to sleep in peace for awhile.
Within my dream, I find myself back in that same forest where this all began. The same green trees, and the same gorgeous landscape all around me, which I’ve come to know as Gensokyo. Standing beside me under the night sky is Yukari, who is gazing up at the stars with an almost sad expression on her face.
“Hey Yukari, are you feeling alright?”
Yukari turns to me and hides her smile with her fan. Despite her attempts at masking, I can see the sadness in her eyes.
It’s almost time, tomorrow night is when we attempt to enter
Gensokyo for the final time, and maybe even set up a permanent home for the… five of us. Turning over to look at my nightstand, I can see the much more recent framed photo that I took with Koishi. However, one loose end still remains unresolved…
“I haven’t forgotten about you, Sumireko, and I wish that you were here to enter Gensokyo with us.”
I know I sound crazy since I’m talking to a photo, but it helps me feel better. I may never see Sumireko again, but I will keep going and carry on her work. This world may have forgotten her, but I will ensure that her sacrifice will not be in vain.
“I promise I’ll make it to Gensokyo, Sumireko. No matter what happens, I’ll stay with them to the very end, for our sake.”
Isn’t it ironic? I once denied her claims, treated it as hearsay, only to encounter her sister and club which proved her correct. Now I’m left to forever regret my actions towards a girl who could be dead at this point. I think… I’m gonna sleep in a bit longer. Maybe I’ll see her in my dreams.
“YO! MAXWELL!”
Chiyuri’s voice and energetic pounding on my door snaps me out of my depressed trance and causes me to come to my senses, albeit with frantic breathing. Once I’ve calmed down, I open the door. Or, rather, Chiyuri practically runs me over when she dashes inside my apartment with frantic energy.
“OkaysowereallreadybutwestillneedtopackupcertainthingslikecoffeecoffecoffeCOFFEEE!!”
“Woah, slow down! I understand like, maybe one or two of those words?”
Chiyuri (somehow) manages to compose herself, but she’s still buzzing with energy and maintaining an ear-to-ear grin.
“Okay, okay, sorry. So I might’ve been up since 6AM and there might be an almost lethal amount of coffee in my system, but that’s not important! What’s important is that tomorrow’s the big day!!!”
“Indeed it is. So why are you up so early?”
“To help the others prepare, duh! Renko and Maribel are busy making out with eachother-“
“…Seriously?”
Chiyuri bursts out laughing and almost topples over backwards.
“Relax
Sumireko lays motionless on a messy, unmade mattress, save for her breathing, of course. How long has it been since she last saw the outside world? Weeks? Months? Years? Who knows, for she certainly doesn’t. Her apartment rests under a blanket of darkness, a stark reminder of the bills she had avoided paying. In her mind, this would all be worth it. She would move to Gensokyo, live a fulfilling life, and leave behind a legacy that would be remembered.
But has that worked out for her? Absolutely not. She had abandoned her best friend, her club, even her own sister in the pursuit of apotheosis, and for what? Getting beaten up and lectured by a shrine maiden? Her attempts to breach the barrier attracted more attention than she could’ve possibly expected. Even with her occult powers and the occult balls, she was outmatched by the opposing force of Gensokyo.
She was left bruised and beaten, and she had lost her occult balls. One thing was made clear: she was not welcome there. Yet she remained undeterred. One night, while she was researching an occult novel under the soft candlelight, she gazed upon at the night sky, and a brilliant idea came to mind. She would go to the moon. If she could prove that she could handle the vacuum of space, then surely she could handle Gensokyo, right?
And so, she left… hoping to reach her absolution among the stars. Ascending far past human limits without proper protection, she paid no mind to any prying eyes below her. In her mind, this would finally be the proof she needed. This would set her free. Before long, she was surrounded by a vast sea of stars that spread out in all directions. She stared out into space for a moment, and she began to weep. She remembered how much her sister adored the stars, and she remembered the time spent stargazing with Renko.
That’s when she met her. The former greatest magician from a forgotten time… Mima. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, nothing more than a fleeting glimpse into the past. She had made the endless void her final resting place, hoping that she could finally put on one last show. The two beings locked eyes, and a smug grin formed on their face. Two beings that chased their prime, one from Makai, and one
