Notice: There will be open spoilers for both Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 8: Village going forward. This will be the only warning you'll get.
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Everything is dark, and everything is numb.

You can tell your eyes are open, at least, but there is nothing else observable to you. Your mind is as blank as your senses, your only emotion being a complex mixture of lingering sadness and relief... and a hint of anger?

Slowly, feeling begins to return, and your entire body feels sore.

That soreness quickly evolves into pain, and you close your eyes. Not that it matters. Everything is pitch black, wherever you are.

After a moment, the deafening silence of the void is broken by a woman's voice.

"My, my, still holding on, after all that? You certainly never disappoint."

You open your eyes again, but the source of the voice is too far away to make out clearly. You recognize the color purple, but little else. Which is strange, since it sounded like she was right next to you.

Enough feeling returns for you to realize you haven't been breathing, and you cough violently. You feel flecks of... something come up when you do so.

The voice continues, still as if she was only a foot away. "You certainly are in bad shape, though. Here, allow me to help."

You feel a tingling sensation across your body, followed by a second of intense pain. You only have enough energy to gasp and close your eyes again in response.

Once the pain subsides, it does so entirely. Even the earlier aches you felt are gone. You open your eyes again, and inspect your body. Despite the black void around you, you can clearly see that your body is unharmed.

You look back at the woman in the distance and finally find your voice. "What... Who are you? Where am I?"

The woman giggles. "I take it you're feeling better, now? Good. And to answer your questions, I am nobody, and you are nowhere."

The cryptic reply annoys you, but you move on to

[-] Meet Sakuya's mistress.

You knew Sakuya would be back with her mistress, she'd promised as much. You also knew someone with the ability to stop time could show up quite literally out of nowhere. It would not be inaccurate to say you were dreading whatever it was she had in store for you, and yet when she showed up with several people in tow, you were focused enough on Satori that it still caught you off guard.

Which is all a longwinded way of saying, curse Sakuya's sudden yet inevitable arrival.

The moment the door cracks open, Satori pushes away from you, making a show of getting up and dusting herself off. For lack of a better idea, you do the same as you survey the people entering. You don't see the guard from earlier, but Sakuya ushers in a purple haired woman wearing what you're pretty sure are pink pajamas, and... a much younger vampire than you were expecting. With wings that could be best described as rainbow crystal windchimes, but that's surprisingly low on the weirdness scale these days.

You can see Satori tense up at the vampire's presence, but she gives the group a flat look and a nod. "Patchouli. I'm glad to see you've fully recovered from last time."

The purpled haired woman stares coldly back, and if her pale face and the bags under her eyes count as recovered, you'd hate to see what sick (injured?) was like. "Satori. I'd say I'm pleased to see you, but you're difficult to lie to."

As your captors take seats around a table in the center of the gazebo, Satori returns fire. "Not as difficult as usual. I take it I have you to thank for that?"

It's then that you place Patchouli's name, and you grimace as you remember the context. "Please tell me this isn't another grudge match with someone who broke into your house."

Sakuya looks amused, the vampire looks impatient, and Patchouli looks downright offended. "I take it she didn't mention her nuclear-powered pet preparing to lay waste to the surface?"

Satori doesn't give her a reaction. "You were amiable enough when I was in

Hello everyone! And welcome to a new episode of 'Chimata Says'!

Today we are in the Human Village. One of the most beautiful places in Gensokyo.

It has very beautiful canals that the fishermen can enjoy, great markets people can enjoy, tourists from many places, but unfortunately also... pickpockets

Pickpockets are a really big problem here in the Domstad. In fact, it is the largest form of theft that occurs here in the Human Village. Rivaled only by the amount of fairy murder but the latter isn’t a crime.

But what exactly is pickpocketing? What are the tricks of the pickpockets?
And most importantly, what can you do about it?

You can see it here today on 'Chimata Says'!

Pickpocketing is the unwanted removal of things from, for example, your jacket pocket or from your bag.
This often concerns your wallet, money, or your very clothes. Annoyingly, the victim often doesn't realize it's gone. So that person can go to the store, look for his wallet in his bag and can't find it. Not only did you not notice that it was taken, but someone else now has your cards and your money.

I myself have already been pocketed twice. I didn't notice anything both times, so they work very smart and fast. How do they do that and what are their tricks?

For starters, pickpocketers often work in groups. So you are not dealing with just one, but with a whole network of handy thieves. They often put on a play together to distract you. A well-known trick is to ask for directions. While you are helpfully explaining the right route, an accomplice just takes your wallet away. Or you are walking down the street and see someone trip and fall. While you come to the rescue, someone else is emptying your pockets.

Furthermore, pickpockets often strike in crowded places. Such as at the center, in a busy shopping street, or here, at the market. They do this for a reason: it's so busy here, it's not weird that someone bumps into you.
Pickpocketers 'accidentally' bump into you and then take things from your cases. This goes so fast,

Spring, the season of new beginnings, a time of happiness and joy with countless festivals and traditions to go along with it. Ironic, because right now you are meeting your end, and you are not happy about it.
You never have any interest in Japan, the land of the rising sun, you only went there because your friends basically dragged you there on their holidays. Not going to lie, the trip did have its moment, eating across the land and seeing your friends make a fool of themselves along the way. Sure, you may not know Japanese at much as some of the others do, but being a social person isn’t one of your perk anyway.
Unfortunately, looking like a bunch of foreign idiots making every one look helpless and easy target for mugging, which it did
After a particular night which involved a lot of drinking, betting and dancing around (The alcohol is one of the few things you genuinely enjoy) with your fellow “adventurer”, you decided to wander the street a bit to clear your head and enjoy some alone time. Midway through your journey of “self-discovery”, trouble find you in the form of a group of four people surrounding you with knife, pipe and…. a gallon jug? At first you thought that they were a prank orchestrated by your friends, that thought is out of the window the moment you got bash across the head with the pipe. Normally you would’ve ran away or at least put up a good fight (This isn’t the first street fight you’ve gotten yourself into). But with the influences of alcohol and the mind council in shamble because of it, your body can’t even work properly to put up a proper block, getting beaten down and stabbed felt pretty bad, whatever was in your system at the time can’t numb the pain enough, your body lie on the cold ground, the only warmth that the body felt is on the pool of blood that is forming around you… dying a stupid death like this just….
When you finally wake up again, you never truly expected where you ended up, it isn’t on a hospital bed with equipment, personnel and friends surrounding you, rather it is on a rocky ground… god, my back hurt…
Getting up and looking around, you notice that where you are is a riverbank with souls, both human

[-]Why are we even talking about this? We both agree Satori's our best bet for getting home, so we should concentrate on cracking the urban legend puzzle. If that doesn't pan out, then consider other options, but we shouldn't split our focus.

You're still a little off balance, from your injuries to dealing with Koishi and Satori to everything else going on in Gensokyo, but you do get where Sumi's coming from. It's a serious situation, one where she can't blast her way out through pure magical firepower, and she feels responsible for it. And she has a point in that what's best for the two of you would be to get home, regardless of how that's accomplished. You don't blame her for that, but at the same time, you can't agree. Satori needs your help, and you're her best if not only chance of fixing Koishi. What good is magical power if you can't make a difference with it?

But you won't make any headway with that argument against Sumi. She'd roll her eyes, call you an idealist, and point out that you've known Satori for less than twenty-four hours total. Which would all be true without doing anything to change your mind, and leave both of you arguing past each other. Fortunately, you don't need to have this fight now, because the right thing is also the strategic thing.

Sumi, keeping options open is one thing, but let's not risk plan A because you have to have a plan B.

Well, of course not. I'm not doing anything like that.

Really? Because as you may have noticed, Satori's a mind-reader.

Which is exactly why I went to these lengths to have this conversation in private.

Let me finish! She almost certainly knows you don't trust her, and while I don't think that actually bothers her, if you start making plans on how to escape Gensokyo while ignoring her sister, she would absolutely notice, and probably take it as a betrayal. And honestly, you think such a reaction would be justified, but let&#

Previous >>201720

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The image of the merchant’s fat face was one that seemed to be burned into Kenji’s mind. For a moment, it was all that the beast could think about. Why? Well, jumping a little back in the story, Gotoh—if the name is to be recalled—had entered a fruitful partnership with the self-exiled gangster. Both had profited immensely, with Kenji skimming off the top of lucrative new ventures fomented by a mixture of beastly cunning and ingenuity. Indeed, he had been one of the main beneficiaries of the festival and would profit from a multi-layered scheme of brokerage fees and commission. Even if sales were abysmal, as they might be after the youkai-initiated brawl, the venture had already generated sizeable earnings.

In other words, Gotoh would win no matter what.

As would Yachie. Kenji knew that for sure. That was the brilliance of the Kiketsu stratagem. Appreciating its intricacies was not really at the fore of the beast’s tired mind, however. He was tired, bloodied and a very sharp claw had just penetrated deep into his chest.

It had not been a deliberate lowering of his guard that allowed this grievous injury. Not in the sort of sense that martyrs are lionized for welcoming. In cold, rational terms, he could not resist effectively anymore. His movements were slow. His counters predictable. His zeal lacking. Many facts could be pointed at and used as an explanation. Cold rationality and explanations could not, however, reveal the truth of the matter.

Perhaps the White Lotus’ teachings had had more of an impact on his way of thinking than the beast would care to admit. That revelation would gladden the priestess, no doubt. Certainly the awesome display she had produced when facing Saki had created unexpressed relief in the beast’s mind. He was appreciated and belonged where he chose to be. In summary: Kenji Yajuu had accepted a truth within him that could be described in scripture but only understood by a readied mind.

All of that was why the smirk did not leave his lips even as Yoko delivered a would-be deathblow. That there was no he

Another short outside of /shorts/. One part a day for a week 'til it’s all posted.

Daily updates until we're done. Part of nanowrimo 2020. Be wild when voting~

[x] Forge ahead anyway. There's nothing in particular going on right now, Sumi's occupied with her helicopter flight; this is a chance to understand Satori better.

You give a mental shrug. If you don't ask now, you probably never will. "Does reading minds bother you?"

"If you haven't noticed, reading minds is essentially what defines me, and it's an incredible advantage. You can tell by how I haven't tried to close my third eye."

"Something can be useful, helpful, and overall a good thing, and still be incredibly frustrating at times." Like Sumireko, not that you were stupid enough to say that out loud.

"How many ways can I possibly signal that I don't want to have this conversation? I know you aren't this dense, Greg."

"For crying out loud. You're acting more off than Sumi is, and I'm worried about you."

"By pushing on a sensitive subject? That's a fascinating way of showing your concern."

"It's not that simple, just..." you stop, frustrated. It's that people tend to be more honest when they're off balance. The Satori you know is polite, dry, and witty, with the occasional burst of verbal savagery, and all that's well and good, but you're pretty sure she's burying her own feelings. She doesn't talk about herself, and if you press on it, she either goes clinical, in the same way a medical doctor would talk about a corpse, or she deflects, like she has now. You know she's deflecting, and because she's a mindreader, she knows you know she's deflecting, and she's still deflecting!

So yes, you're pushing. You're pushing bluntly to try and get her to open up, because what else is there to even do? You could try something subtle, but Satori would just read your mind for your motives and call you out on it.

"If you're going to carry on like that, could you go think somewhere else?"

"Sorry, is reading my thoughts bothering you?"

Satori is halfway to answering yes before she stops, apparently remembering your or

Prologue:

His mother was dead.

He didn't know to feel relief or a pity. Ever since he was born in this prison-like body, she had loved him. Shielding him from the worse of his father's excesses, even when he came home drunk and reaching for the belt. Giving him love, smiles, and warmth, in a world of cruel children and neglectful adults. And she was dead.

His father would come home soon. More beatings. More jeers from the other children. And no one would care.

What did he have in this life? Nothing. No friends. Not family. And not even a healthy body. He was going to die. Either starving to death on the street, murdered when his body failed him again, or maybe being beaten to death. Or worse. Sold. No, he would go out his own way. That way, he would have his own choice.

He picked up his crutches and backpack. He didnt have much in this life, but he wouldn't die alone. At least, he would have something with him when he passed into the afterlife. Just a few books, a few precious keepsakes, and a few more mementos.

~

"Well, this is new." he thought. The forest he had walked into now seemed distinctly more dangerous. Old wives tales of ghosts and demons, horror stories children shared with one another, and tales of myth and exploration he had read in the long hours in the library hidden from his tormentors

The winding trail had long since disappeared, and the air had twisted and twitched somehow. It was no longer the humid, warm summer air. No, the air was colder now, biting, drier. It was almost like winter. But how? His sweat dried and stuck to his skin, the cool air now making him shiver. He looked behind him. The path was gone. He was still leaving footprints on the ground, now slightly soggy with dew. But... He leaned down at the point where his footprints began, slowly prodding the ground with his crutch. The ground was soft and would form an imprint. And yet, looking at the marks on the ground, its as if he had dropped from the sky into the middle of the path and then started walking.

The wind blew again, rustling the trees and leaves around him, and he shivered. Something had happened. Something had br