Vents, Door, or Window.

Either option will suck, but that’s al you’ve got in front of you at the moment.

+++

[] Vents

[] Door

[] Window

The first thing you notice when you wake up is that you're dead.

Well, not really 'wake up,' per se. But it's definitely very noticeable for you.

Ah, so you're... well, 'awake' perhaps isn't the right word, is it? a voice says inside your mind.

You're pretty sure being dead means that you're supposed to have lost any sense of consciousness or anything like that. And that you can't hear things.

Ah, did you really think it would be that simple? Just... cessation of existence? Because if you did, ha! There's no way you're getting off that easy.

You feel something indescribable, as if you're getting twirled through a blender or something...

And then you wake up.

[ ] Something feels fairy suspicious about what just happened.
[ ] This really seems out of the ordinary.
[ ] You aren't feeling very merry right now.
[ ] Something's really bugging you.
[ ] There are gaps in this that aren't really adding up.

Continued from >>201537, new thread since I can finally give the quest a name.

For one thing, you can tell now why walking was so much harder. Your legs are long. You weren’t exactly the peak of masculine stature before, but you were at least a normal height. It’s immediately apparent, however, that you’ve gained at least half a foot overnight.

You’re not wearing your old clothes, intact or not. Instead, you’re wearing some kind of a… robe? (Not a dress, definitely not a dress.) There’s four colors to it, winding down from the top to the bottom, side by side. White to your front, a sandy yellow to your left, a deep brown to your right, and you can see a trailing stripe of red curling in from the back.

You try to move what you thought for a moment was a third arm, but it’s difficult and confusing to consciously use it. Instead, you reach behind yourself with both hands and force it to bend to your front. What you find certainly isn’t an arm. It’s a wing. A big wing. The white feathery appendage is easily as long spread out as you are tall.

Finally… you glance with trepidation towards your chest, gently poking at it. It’s soft, squishy, and most certainly protruding more than it used to. With shaky hands, you lift the bottom of your oh-god-it-is-a-dress-isn’t-it and look underneath. You fall back on to your back, close your eyes, and take a moment to have a silent mental breakdown.

...

……

………

…………

…………...Okay. You’re okay, you’re fine. It’s not all that bad. You’re like, some kind of a huge bird lady or something now, right? It could be worse. It could be a lot worse. And, like, you’re probably cute, right? So it’s fine.

Once more, you bring yourself onto your feet, this time paying close attention to your legs, and walk towards the light. It’ll take a bit to get used to this, you think. As your eyes adjust to the light, you g

Hello, T-P. I’d like to play a game with you.
Before that, however, I have to ask you a series of questions. Let's say it's... a more interactive way of character creation than rolling a few dice. Don’t worry, they won’t be hard, and there’s no wrong answer. On the other hand, the effects your answers will have will be a little obscured. We can't throw out all the uncertainty, can we?

First, what is your favorite flavor?

[]Water
[]Ketchup
[]Caramel
[]Smoke
[]Artificial banana
[]Leaf
[]Raw Flour
[]Tangerine
[]?
[]Coffee

And while we’re at it, what is your favorite color?

[]Denim
[]Grandma's Refrigerator
[]Puce
[]Chocolate
[]Nacho Cheese
[]Anonymous
[]Mayonnaise
[]Corn Silk
[]Chartreuse
[]Dragon’s Blood
[]New Age

THREAD 1 >>200549

++++++++

[X] I’m going to ask him about Inaba Tewi, and then... and then I’ll decide!


Alright. Goodbye! If you run off after he returns, don’t forget to go shopping...!

... And so she’s off.

You’ll tell that Inaba about this, won’t you?

Your secret is out; I think you should just go. Hurry on. I don’t like preparing meals myself, but my stomach is especially weak to temptation. Fare well, little rabbit. Honestly: fare well.

Hm.

It’s snowing again...


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~　~　~　~　~　~　~

~ ~ ~

~ ~

~~

Previous thread: >>200500

Comments, thoughts, feedback and general interaction from the audience is encouraged and appreciated. Feel free to let me know what you think at any time. It doesn't matter whether it's critique or something you might feel could be silly—I'll try my best to address it.

The bottom line is that this story is built with your input in mind!

---

Shinji felt lightheaded. Try as he might, it would be unfair to place all the blame on the deliciously bold drink. His host was also at fault; Remilia had not shied away from behaving familiar and her audacious—if not borderline salacious—extended physical contact had him off balance. That said, he was not uneasy. Merely wondering just how much of what he saw and felt was spontaneous and how much a stratagem. His mind would not yield so quickly to the mechanical pleasures of the moment.

Remilia seemed pleased with the situation. Her small body had come to rest ever more firmly against his own side. The wing that had begun to wrap around him had extended further and began to pull him even closer. That pink and black canvas felt as smooth as the material on the loveseat; its tip acted like prehensile limb and gently dug into his back. A glimmer of what could best summed up as pure devilry was found in her eyes. Secondary glints of of more carnal enjoyment also made themselves known.

Were he a mere human, perhaps he would have been wholly overwhelmed. There was no denying that he felt tested and pushed to a limit. And yet, his resistance was more coherent than even he expected. His thoughts were his own. As great as Remilia’s personal charm might have been, he was only swayed by that and not by any preternatural abilities. She may have tried to employ tricks on him but he was having none of it.

That, that, yes, that! That realization was thrilling in and of itself. It completely overrode his previous realizations. There was no reason for temerity, he told himself. The proof was in his own body. Even as he wondered whether or not he could consider himself truly alive or not, he

He stared blankly ahead without a care in the world, waiting to be acknowledged. Yes, something inside him knew that that was unusual. Maybe even wrong on some level. That didn’t matter, however. Even if he had tried to whip himself up into a less static state he had no idea what else he could be doing. It wasn’t like anything around him looked familiar at all. Not to mention—most importantly—it would be rude not to have some tea.

“There we go,” Yuyuko said with a perfectly courteous smile as she made sure every last drop of tea made it safely from the teapot to the cup. Had he not been so out of it, the man might have complimented her on her preternatural grace; nary a movement she made seemed sudden or unnecessary. He stared at the contents of the cup quietly, thinking little as the steam rose gently and his host sat across the table from him.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, finding the sound of his own voice somewhat unfamiliar. It was a good voice, mind. Lower on the tenor range with a quiet dignity to it that made people stop and pay attention subconsciously. Not that he was aware of it at that point. After all, he couldn’t even remember his own name.

“Please help yourself to a snack if you like,” the host motioned towards a small tray full of sweets. They looked pretty good but he wasn’t very interested.

Instead, he politely declined and reached for his cup. The tea smelled really good, unlike anything he had experienced before. It smelled of springtime and the delicate aroma of flowers. The taste mirrored that assessment, he found, as he let the first few drops of liquid sit on his tongue for a few moments before swallowing. “This is really good tea,” he said with a nod, feeling a warmth spreading quickly through his body.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s been a struggle to get Youmu to learn how to make it just right. That girl can be so hopeless when it comes to the simplest of things...” Yuyuko lamented with a good-natured look in her eyes.

“She’s done a good job,” the man said after taking another sip. “I feel like I’ve been revived by this tea.”

Yuyuko giggled, her

“What did you think would happen?”

Gripping the sheath of my master’s sword, I turn to look at her. Her eyes are, of course, on the sky. She’s right. She was right, but...

“I won’t say I don’t admire you,” she says, lifting her tea cup from its top, drinking it with her eyes closed. “But I’ve told you. I’ve told you and told you: that age is over. What did you think would happen?”

“... I want to have a dream,” is how I answer. “Can’t I have a dream?”

“Hm,” is her reply.. until she calmly says, “no.”

She gazes on the sky again, and I follow her stare.

“You’re no Hakurei, you’re no Konpaku.”

Kon... what?

“You’re a Nakahara. Live with that.”

Nakahara... huh.

The sky is covered in pale cherry blossoms, so thorough it’s as if snow was never there. They scatter eagerly, covering Gensokyo with the warmth we’d been missing, missing. The long winter is over, spring returned by the Shrine Maiden. The human who set off before me. She’s human, so what makes us different?

Why couldn’t I have gone?

Under the moon, every petal glows with ghostly light. Even though we’d had so much trouble, even though this had driven so many of us near to death... seeing it, seeing the end... it’s so beautiful, I almost think everything was worth it.

I turn back to walk by my master, back into the dojo.

I’ll practice my swings, and then go home to bed.


What’s your name?

[] Taro.

[] Ken.

[] Ryousuke.


++++++++

Nannerwrammer, two days late, meaning a very short timer

“Alright, fellas,” you say. “Time to go drop in on that Noboru human and tell him the great news. I’m sure he’ll be overwhelmed, as humans do whenever youkai drop by, but it’s better that Daiki gets her family visit out of the way before dropping the whole ‘I want to be the village’s cat youkai-slash-protector’ bomb on the populace.”

“What?” Chen sputters out, shifting her gaze abruptly towards her fellow cat companion. “You’re gonna do… what?”

“Basically,” you say, “Daiki’s going to have the human village accept her as one of their own.”

Chen takes off her cap to frantically scratch the top of her head. The girl’s frustration spreads to her feet as she paces back and forth around the shrine’s front entrance, kicking stray stones on the ground.

“I’m no good at these kinda things,” she groans, “but isn’t that crazy?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“Think it’ll work out?” Tewi says. All things considered, she’s surprisingly composed.

“Me? If I’m being honest, no. But I don’t know those humans.” With a defeated smile, you shake your head from side to side. “Daiki does. Your opinion, cat?”

“This cat thinks it will be alright.” She nods shyly. “She believes in them.”

How deliciously sappy. “Let’s get a move on, then.”
__________

Noboru’s household probably wasn’t expecting an entourage of youkai to greet them come noon. And yet here is Daiki, bringing along a rabbit, another cat, and a wolf to Noboru’s home. To be fair, you’re not really a youkai, but you digress. Things get awkward, and quick.

A woman steps out from the home, only for her to go running back in, yelling Noboru’s name all the while. You overhear Noboru and the woman, presumably his mother, squabble for a bit before the boy unceremoniously peeks his head out the door, pulls Daiki in, and disappears with the nekomata.

A long moment passes before Noboru comes outside with Daiki.

“I’m sorry,” is the first thing he says to Chen as he bows low.

�€

Men are all like that. Why would one be any different? Everyone should know why.

Whether you do or do not know, please begin by observing the girls who had to deal with them. The first three of six, each with a decision to make. Like songs of love, their fleeting stories resound with a lingering taste of life.

Sanae
Hey. Are you doing okay?
It’s been tiring for me.
Ever since we ended it, you know?
It was a break up,
but it was hard on both of us.

Sometimes, I hear you've been doing well.
You’ve found people you can be with, they said.
You have people who love you, they said.
People who really love you.
I didn’t ask, but they said that anyway.

That’s good, though.
That way, you wouldn’t have to endure
all the emptiness that comes after.

You like how it is now?

Yuuka
She’s still living her dream, never telling anyone.
She planted something in her life
tricking everyone.
But she didn’t see yet.

The young boy will show her
for the first time
that it can be seen.
That the door to her secret garden—

—can be opened.

Seiga
A long time has passed.
I am interested to know how much she has improved.
I created the greatest lie by removing everything.
I thought I had done so after my separation.
I regret that day deeply.

There is no such thing as a good separation.
But, if I had let her go more nicely,
maybe she would have found happiness.
Maybe she would have found someone else.
Has she become better than she was before?

Better than those days long ago?

Stage 1
[] Sanae
[] Yuuka
[] Seiga