[X]Hit
Hit me baby one more time! At the very least, we can't lose in one hit.

>>158904
You have no idea how to play blackjack do you?
The book says to double on 11 except when the dealer's up card is an ace.
Because face it, the chances of getting a 10-value card are much higher than any other individual value.

That being said:
[X] Double down

Harden the fuck up.

[X] Double the fuck down.

[X]Double

doubles man them doubles...

[X] Double down

[X] Double down

“I'll double,” you say.

Chen hits you with a nine. That's a hard twenty. That should beat her hand, but its not like you can hit any more. You take your hands away from the table, satisfied. Chen then hits Momiji with a three. That brings her up to sixteen. Chen hits. It goes around again. You have to stand since you doubled. Momiji asks to be hit again, and you frown at her choice. She gets a five and goes bust.

“Alright, time to see my hand,” says Chen playfully.

She reveals a six, queen, and a three. You beat her, if only barely.

“Good job, Mister.”

You smile, but then you realize that she can't actually see it.

“Thank you. It's just luck of the draw. I can't predict the cards,” you say, giving her a thumbs up.

You play for a few more hands. Over them, Momiji gets better as you coach her along the way. She becomes a decent-ish blackjack player. By the end, Chen won, winning four of nine hands, you were next with three, and poor Momiji won only two.

“Where are you going anyway?” asks Chen as the game finishes.

“To hell,” says Momiji flatly.

Chen gives her a strange look. It's your turn to chuckle at this joke.

“We're going to visit the Yama. Though it might not appear that way, I'm a long dead spirit grafted into a suit of armor.”

It's not quite correct, but it works. Chen has stars in her eyes as she thinks of another plan.

“If you want to travel quickly, you can talk to Mama Ran, and Mama Ran can talk to Aunt Yukari, and Aunt Yukari can get you there in no time at all.”

Momiji looks somewhat comfortable at the thought of dealing with Yukari. You must admit to yourself that the reputation of this Yukari fascinates you.

“Besides,” Chen bashfully admits, “I want to introduce my new friends.”

That's actually quite adorable. You try, but can't help be reminded of your own daughter. And her face as you... You don't want to remember that, not again. You still want to show the catgirl that you care

[X]Accept Chen's offer
[X]Decline

And

[X]Write-in (How to be nice to Chen)

Well the first part is easy... not so much the second as I don't want any boundaries crossed.

[X]Accept Chen's offer
-[x] Offer her a ride on your back while she points out where to go

[X]Accept Chen's offer

Incidentally, I'm really glad to see this story back! Please never leave again.

>>159035
is it even safe to be on his back as I remember his armor being pretty spikey in places.

[X]Accept Chen's offer

>>159039
Yes, there are sharp bits on his shoulders

[X]Accept Chen's offer

Is there really any other option?

Yes, actually. You can walk and adventure that way. It's not like interesting stuff wouldn't happen. Admittedly, I have something fun planned should Yukari be chosen that I'd like to write.

[X]Accept Chen's offer
-[x] Hold her hand

It's the best I could come up with that's safe.

>>159045

>>159043 here. I meant that in more of a joking tone (i.e. along the lines of "The cuteness of Chen compels you!"), but I'm glad for the clarification.

Sage for already voted.

>>159065

No problem, I just wanted to address perceived concerns about railroading.

Given the "and," the cuteness of Chen does compel you.

On that note, I'm looking for a few more votes on that end. If nothing else comes up, I'll just come up with something else on my own.

I thought this story was dead. Glad to see I was wrong.

[X]Accept Chen's offer
It's whether we go voluntarily or involuntarily. :P

>>159103
>:P
No.

[X]Accept Chen's offer.
-[x] Slaughter her enemies
-[x] Piggyback ride.

Chen can use the spikes as handholds.

Closing votes. Chen will be getting a piggy-back ride somehow. Please wait warmly.

On a minor note, his armor isn't spikey. It is just Gothic style armor with a somewhat rougher quality. I posted a picture of 16th-ish century Gothic plate armor, which is fairly close.

Sending this from my nook. My computer is having some troubles with installing the newest long term ubuntu and isn't rebooting properly. Posting the next part will be delayed until I fix it. Sorry about this.

Sorry about being late. My computer problems are over, and I'm back in the groove. Here is the story:


“Sure, I’ll go with you. What about you, Momiji?”

“I'm afraid not. I have duties back at the village.”

“I understand.”

“Thanks, I hope we can meet again.”

Momiji smiles and walks off. You hope you'll see her again.

“Hey, Chen,” you say, “How about a piggy-back ride?”

She gives you funny look.

“It looks kinda' sharp up there.”

She has a point. But a solution comes into your mind. You were a dad, once.

“You can stand on my shoulders, and I'll hold your ankles. It'll be like surfing.”

“What's surfing?” asks Chen.

You recall some fond memories of the beach. You put up your board just after getting married, but you have a fondness for the sport.

“Think of it as riding a big wave on a long plank. It's pretty fun.”

“Sounds crazy,” remarks Chen dryly.

“Do you still want to do it?”

Chen smiles and nods eagerly. You lift her up so that she's standing on your shoulders; sharp bits are avoided. She spreads her arms wide to find her balance. She points you in a direction and cries out, “Charge!”

You do exacly that and Chen squeals in childish joy as you run around the village. Her balance is, should you forgive yourself for the pun, catlike. You spend quite some time running around. Chen hops down and gives you a hug.

“Thank you. That was a lot of fun.”

“No problem. I enjoyed it myself.”

You feel a presence around you. The axe is a split second from your grip, not quite corporeal. Before you is a blonde youkai whose nine large tails twist and writhe in the air. Chen happily runs to her, but you are still feeling cautious. Is this perhaps Yukari?

“Mama Ran! Look who I met today. He was here with Momiji, and we played a game, and he wanted to play with me, and I stood on his shoulders, and it was awesome!” she says, excitedly stringing the words together.

Ran gives her a motherly hug before turning to you.

“Who might you be?”

[X]Be open

[X]Be humble

Well its been awhile since I've really read this story, but we aren't really the boasting type are we?

[X]Be humble

Hence the humble vote. Well, I assume the open one is more along the lines of boasting and bragging.

[x]Be humble.

I'll need to go back and reread everything prior to this but, as I remember, his background wasn't exactly something he'd go telling/bragging about to everybody .

[X]Be humble

D'aww, Chen.

>>160154
No, it really wasn't.

[X]Be humble

[X]Be humble

[x]Be humble.

Too bad Momiji had to leave.