[x] "Would I be able to see this project later on?"
Rikako turns to look at you, a slightly confused expression on her face.
"You sure? It's not exactly exciting. At least with Nitori's engineering there's some kind of flashy parts to play with and you're generally always guaranteed a result of some kind. I wouldn't want to ask you to dedicate time to something that might be boring to watch." she says, clearing her thorat at the end. "Though if you do want to come see I'd be glad to have you. I'll be leaving once I finish these notes, and I should be occupied with my project the rest of the day. Feel free to drop by any time."
You smile and nod as an affirmation of her offer, and she returns your nod.
"I'll be by later then." you reply, turning to leave the room. You step out into the hallway as the sound of typing starts up behind you again. You pass Nitori's room and see she's still asleep, laying face down on her bed. Probably best to let her sleep for now, you decide to head downstairs and see if you can find a way to pass the time until she wakes up. As you descend the stairs, you have a flash of memory from Hina. You haven't been back to Hina's house in roughly two days now, and you recall occasionally people make trips up to the Youkai Mountain to request Hina's help, usually a customary 'blessing' of sorts for large projects and building endeavours, to drain any bad luck and help ensure a smooth operation. People would start to get suspicious if a curse goddess simply vanished with no explanation, wouldn't they? You should probably head back, if even to clear your conscience.
Several minutes later, you're floating along the treetops near the rivers edge, approaching the small cottage surrounded by paper dolls. You circle to the front door, and find two small folded pieces of paper, tacked to the door with push-pins. Only now do you realize a small container of the pins hanging from the front of the house along with a small charcoal pencil and small sheets of paper. They must definitely be there for leaving messages while Hina's out. You remove the papers and place the pins back in the receptacle. You open the first message, a fairly short letter requesting attendance at the village hospital, with very sparse details other than 'your abilities have been requested'. The second message is a slightly more verbose letter asking for help in purifying a patch of land intended to be farmed. Bones were recovered when being tilled, and the hopeful farmers fear the land is cursed. In any case, it would be best to check out either of these, but you should do both just to play the part. Which to do first though?
[] The farmland seems more pressing, go there. [] The hospital might be urgent, you should hurry.
As much as a hospital gives the impression of urgency, a letter may have no guarantee of speed (depending on the courier). Surely it wouldn't have hurt to take the time to actually write down the details then? The failure to do so makes me suspicious.
[] The hospital might be urgent, you should hurry. The hospital is more likely to be a life or death situation. Besides, the lack of details may mean this letter was written in a rush.
[x] The hospital might be urgent, you should hurry.
If it's a hospital, it might be a life or death situation. You feel a little pressure in your chest at the thought of being absolutely required for a life or death situation. How often does Hina get contacted like this? It's a little unnerving for you to think about being such an important figure, you've never really stopped to consider that you might be an important part of a lot of people's lives. You feel a little regret over all the time you've spent with Nitori now, as you feel you've been neglecting duties that Hina would usually respond to without a problem. You head off from Hina's home, in the direction of the village.
You fly quickly, reaching the outskirts of the village in a few minutes, when it dawns on you that you don't actually know where the hospital is. Great. You touch down on the edge of town and start walking, giving yourself a little time to think without buzzing around idly. Being unfamiliar with the town as well, you're not sure if you could spot the hospital from the air even by accident. You dip into Hina's memories, trying to recall anything you could about the town. The first thing to come to mind is Hina had been here once before to do a spot check on the Dragon Statue in the middle of town in the middle of the night. Hina had stood nearby, and- That was it! There was a building near the dragon statue that had a sign on with with a symbolization of a cadeuceus. With this knowledge, you take a short hop into the air and quickly spot the Dragon Statue, lowering yourself towards it. You look towards the building you remembered, the same sign hanging from the front of the building as Hina had seen it. You're a little bit nervous now, unsure how to handle yourself. Now's not the time to be worried however, and you slide the door open and step in.
A receptionist looks up at you from a desk. It seems like a fairly small building, nothing much like hospitals you were familiar with. You faintly recall distant knowledge left over from Alice that such was the state of this world, and only now you seem to truly understand just how low tech they are. The receptionist recognizes you immediately.
"Ah! You've come! I'll fetch the doctor right away!" she says, standing from the desk with a bow, before hurrying off to find the doctor. You take a few steps towards the door she went through out of curiousity, and the receptionist returns with a middle aged man in a long robe.
"Oh, hello Ms. Kagiyama. I'm surprised you made it so quickly. I only sent a nurse to post a message earlier this morning." he says. You feel a little relieved at this, you were a bit worried the note had been sitting for a day or so. "I hope you don't mind the lack of details, we're pressed for time dealing with the patients as I'm sure you can understand, and having a case like we do here is most time consuming for staff."
The doctor leaves the room, and you follow him. He continues to explain as he walks.
"We received the patient in a bad state. He had been complaining about feeling nauseous, and he had been sweating profusely. Initial diagnosis was made more difficult by his growing apprehension of medical staff. We decided to give him some bed rest, but he's only gotten worse. Aside from vomiting, he's been refusing to take nourishment or medication offered, and any attempt to force medication is met with violence or vomited out. We initially requested help from the pharmacist in the bamboo forest, but she could only spare some medications and her assistant, both of which have been of minimal help." he continues, leading you down a hallway of room. The farther you go on, however, the more you begin to notice a familiar pull, drawing you towards the end of the hallway. You think you know why Hina's been requested. "The rabbit from the forest offered the suggestion that it might be a curse, and offered to soothe the patient while we wait to explore further treatments. That is to say, we believe he's fallen victim to a curse."
"That would be why you sent for my help then." you say, receiving a nod from the doctor.
"Indeed. If it is a curse, we hope you can relieve it." he says, with a small smile. "I'm aware it would be absurd for me to believe in the power of magic and curses as a man that's devoted his life to science and medicine, but in such a world as this I guess we all need to be ready to accept the impossible."
The draw from the room is almost unbearable now. You are already aware of the room, and you lock your eyes on it. The doctor enters the room first, and you hesitate a moment before entering. The entire world around you flashes, and you can hardly see anything but the swirling dark mist that fills the entirety of the room. This is something else indeed, definitely a powerful curse. You step into the room, and are slightly surprised by the sudden sense of resistance the mist offers against you. Rather than hearing the faint whispering as before however, you can hear a very distinct single voice speaking, though you can't make out the words. As you push through the mist towards the bedside, you can slowly make out a vaguely human form, hovering over the bed looking down at the man. An emaciated, almost skeletal being comprised of the dark mist hovers above him, mist flowing from it's open mouth and washing over the man, spilling to the floor, then rising back up into the air. You don't even feel the slightest hint of concern, completely overrun with the sense of duty.
Your hands rise up, not entirely within your control, and the ribbon wrapped around your left arm unravels, floating into the air with a faint glow. On it's own will, it floats towards the misty entity, which makes no move to escape, and forms a loose spiral. It slowly begins to spin, and as it spins it gives off a faint glow. The speed slowly picks up as you notice that the mist at the edge of your vision is retreating, drawn in towards the entity and the ribbon. A stream of the mist flows from the spiraling ribbon and flows into your hands. You feel a pulse run through Hina's body as the mist seeps into your hands, the sensation almost crawling through your arm. In only a minute, the excess mist has vanished, and the ribbon contracts around the entity, confining it in a tight coil. The ribbon floats back to you and unfurls slightly, exposing a tip of the compressed mist. You lay your hand on it and are shocked by the force that overcomes you briefly, a pulse of force unlike any you've felt yet as the cursed spirit is absorbed. The ribbon begins to wrap itself around you arm as the doctor approaches you. You feel slightly woozy, like you're going to faint.
"So it was a curse after all," the doctor says with a smile, offering a slight bow. "I hope it wasn't too troublesome?"
"That was a little intense," you reply. "It was definitely an experience."
"I'd bet." a female voice says, and startles you slightly. You only just noticed the woman sitting next to the bed, a woman with rabbit ears and a rather... well, modern looking skirted suit. "You looked like you were going to fall over for a second there."
"Ah, Ms. Kagiyama. I'm unsure if you've ever met this lady. She's the assistant to the pharmacist in the bamboo forest, Ms. Udonge." the doctor explains, eliciting a slightly dismayed expression from the woman.
"Please don't use that embarrassing nickname, doctor." She says with an annoyed tone, looking at you. "And don't you use it either. Please, just call me Reisen."
You offer a weak smile, still feeling a little shaken from that curse just now. You try to think of anything Hina might know about this woman, but nothing comes up.
"You're from the Youkai Mountain, right Ms. Kagiyama?" Reisen asks idly scratching a spot near the tip of one of her ears. She really can feel them, wow.
"That's right. You can call me Hina if you want."
"Do you know of a woman named Rikako Asakura? She lives somewhere out there now. My boss had been offering her help on a certain project she was working on, and she was wondering how it was turning out, but hadn't the time to check in herself, or even send me to look into it for her."
She must be the assistant of the person that Rikako mentioned giving her help, but she was introduced as the assistant of a pharmacist. You're not sure that genetic science and pharmaceuticals overlap much, but now your interest in piqued. Just who is this woman?
[] "Yes, I know of Rikako." [] "Yes, I know Rikako." [] "No, I don't know anyone by that name." [] "What would a pharmacist have to do with genetic engineering?"
[X] "Yes, I know Rikako." While [] "What would a pharmacist have to do with genetic engineering?" makes me curious, it's clearly an "out of character"-trap.
Happening sometime. All I've felt like doing lately is staring at my screen like it's going to do something for me. I can't even bring myself to waste time with a game to make a feeble excuse for why I'm not updating.
>>48214 Grab a discography after Wikipedia surfing. Works for me.
Actually, I just got a Tokyo Jihen discography a couple days ago, and it's been playing constantly since then; just pruning copies and things I don't like now (Few and far between, by the way.) Try them, maybe?
Part of the problem might be that I haven't had a decent meal for at least a week now. Getting groceries today will allow me to have more than a bowl of ramen. Hell, if I could even have pork, or eggs or something to add to ramen I'd be better off. I'm feeling okay today though.
Never mind me, I sometimes forget that most people don't "enjoy" music like I do.
But yeah, man. It's good to hear you're feeling all right, at least, but now I'm kinda worried for ya. Can't do much more than cheer you on, but it's something I guess.
>>48233 You know, man, just, like...take a walk, or something. Take some time, get a little introspective, or outrospective, or whatever. Try and see beauty in everyday life, and shit. That always gets me refreshed and ready to get shit done, but then again I'm kind of a hippy.
"Has she mentioned anything about a project of hers?"
"Hmm, yes, she has actually. About the-"
Reisen gives a startled little jump and shoots you a glare that cuts you off in surprise before returning to a more neutral expression. You see the doctor had looked over for a moment from the side of the patients bed.
"Please don't say anything about it out loud."
You hear Reisen's voice, but you don't see her talking. Her red eyes shine with a bizarre luminescence as she sets her gaze on you. You feel a slight shiver run up your spine, it's surreal, her words are almost echoing in your ears. You'll have to wait to ask her about that later.
"Er, ah... She's going to be starting up the final steps later today." you say, casually skipping ahead in what you perceive to be the direction the conversation would head. Reisen purses her lips slightly.
"Do you have a particular time?" she queries. You respond with a shake of your head.
"Probably in the afternoon sometime."
"Hmm, I'll have to inform Eirin, she'll likely want to be there to oversee it." Reisen says, turning her head towards the doctor slightly. "Well, we should leave the doctor to his work. Shall we?" Reisen asks, gesturing towards the door. You suspect she has more to say that she doesn't want anyone else to hear. You leave the hospital room, and you can hear Reisen behind you. In the hall, she starts ahead of you slightly.
"So she's that close to finishing?" Reisen asks.
"I'd assume so, she was waiting until she finished writing her notes before she continued."
"Has she told you any more information about her project?"
"Not really," you say, idly playing with the ends of the hair tied at your chest. "All I know is what she's seeking to achieve."
Reisen maintains her pace, but stays silent.
[] Press for more information [] That's enough for now
>>48249 "It's a trap" doesn't really explain why Reisen didn't want the doctor to hear about it. At the least, I'm interested in asking her what that was about, rather than merely conjecturing.
"Why didn't you want to let the doctor know? He seemed a distinctly unsuperstitious fellow." you ask.
"The doctor is a good man, though there's a big difference between traditional medicine and modern pharmaceuticals. I'm not unaware of the technology of the outside world, and neither is my Master. In fact, we would be much farther beyond that." Reisen says, rather matter of factly. "Science of this kind, this nature, would be frowned upon by many people in this village. The doctor is a good contact of ours, and we'd hate for him to cut his ties to us."
Reisen falls silent again as the two of you exit the hallway and pass by the reception desk, the receptionist nodding to you as you pass. Reisen holds the door as you approach, and allows you to step through first. The streets are mostly empty, which is something Reisen seems thankful for.
"As far as this village knows, Master is a skilled doctor living in seclusion in the bamboo forest for her own purposes, and a brilliant pharmacist. There doesn't need to be any more information then that, it would be bad for business. The nature of Rikako's tests are beneficial to both Gensokyo, and even Lunarian interests. While the theory for the creation of a living body outside of nature exists, Master Eirin's knowledge lies primarily in drugs and medicine, not machinery. Eirin's knowledge of theory, with Rikako's experience, and with help from the kappas, is the only way something like this can be possible. Well, aside from the Lunar capital."
Lunar capital? Lunarian? You'd have a harder time believing all this talk about aliens and superscience if it weren't for the fact you were possessing a curse goddess and talking to a woman with rabbit ears. Reisen looks away for a moment, turning her head towards the sky. You follow her gaze out of reflex, not really sure what you're supposed to be looking for. You look back down, and Reisen follows soon afterwards.
"I should be going, I have things to tend to, and I still need to come back for my daily rounds to sell medicine." Reisen says, taking a step away from you and offering a small bow. "It's been nice meeting you Hina." she says, turning away from you before lifting into the air and floating away across the rooftops.
Well, with that out of the way, you only have one thing left, the farm. Though, you could always brush that off for later.
[] Go find the farm [] Fly around the village a little [] Go back home, shirk the farm for now
lol, I got banned for trying to make this post twice already.
Because of a certain word I was using that happened to contain another, blacklisted, word. The initial post failed, then another try got me an hour ban. After editing it and reposting, I got another ban, apparently for the same thing. Thankfully, the only actual ban that can keep me out of a site is one that bans my entire ISP, since my individual IP changes twice when I disconnect from the internet. Once when I disconnect, and I can browse on a slower, almost LAN like connection to the internet, and it changes again when I log into my ISP service.
Best to get everything out of the way for now. You float up into the air and refer to the letter, it had general instructions on how to find the place, and with following them, you find it rather easy to figure out, being that you can soon see the patch of land half dug up past the edge of the town. You near the land, but don't see any considerable signs of threat. You don't see much of anything, in fact, aside from a small house nearby. Might as well check that place out at least. You fly down and knock on the door. A minute or so later, the door creaks open, and a young woman sticks her head out.
"Ah, are you the goddess?" she asks, opening the door a bit more. You see a young man walking up behind her, and he pokes his head over her shoulder.
"Yes, that would be me." you say.
"Glad you showed up at least," the man says as the woman steps aside. You can't help but notice the man giving you the once over, and you're subtly reminded you're probably supposed to be offended or upset, but you honestly can't blame him. "We think the land is cursed, we dug up some bones."
"Could you show me the spot?" you ask, to which the man nods and steps outside, walking out into the semi-tilled fields. He leads you to a shallow hole, and inside are some chipped and cracked bones, just as said, but you see no signs of any sort of curse. You do, however, have a sneaking suspicion.
"Was there a second man here before?" you ask. The guy looks a bit surprised, and scratches his head.
"Yeah, father was with us here when we uncovered it. He went to the hospital though, wasn't feeling too good."
So that's it. Sure solves that problem at least. You can't help a small smile.
"Well, I'ms orry to say this, but your land was cursed. Your father had been chosen by it, and was given a bed at the hospital. He was in a pretty bad shape, but I got a message this morning to go there, and I helped him out already. Anything cursing your land is gone now, you can move the bones."
The man looks a little startled, as it's certain he never realized the connection. Not many people likely have your unique perception abilities however. He heads back to the house, where the woman is waiting. He relates the story to her and she seems just as surprised. You follow up behind them as they're getting on some heavier footwear.
"Thanks for telling us, we thought he was just feeling some chills or something. Thanks for coming here as well again, we'll find some way to make it up to you." he says as the woman starts towards the village ahead of him. You float into the air as the man turns away and catches up to the woman. Well, that's settled, and you're left with nothing to do.
[] Head back [] Fly around a bit, see if you can find anyother problems [] Fly around a bit, see if you can find anything interesting
[] Fly around a bit, see if you can find anyother problems Random exploran tiems, should be safeish as long as we don't stray too near Moriya shrine. Well, unless the curse we absorbed is enough to mask us...
Eh, I'm packing it in for now. Horrible sleep schedule is horrible and I'm getting tired in the early evening. I'm going to need to take it easy in order to push my schedule further if I have any hope of recovering and sleeping normal hours. I'll be back tomorrow to update regardless of how I feel.
>>48285 Well, the clue token hint DID say that if we were hopped up on curses, Sanae wouldn't see us within. I just don't know how many or how strong they would need to be.
>>48346 We did remember, vaguely. At a visit to the shrine, one of the torii broke and Sanae was all like OH NO YOU DI'INT and then Hina was driven off.
Updates coming tomorrow, doing quite well on correcting my sleep schedule so I'll sleep like someone that could pass themselves off as a normal member of society. I'll be starting early too.
I was 'pleasantly surprised' to find that I had to help with some landscaping, because mostly inaccessible land behind the pool and deck being uneven is an eyesore and it must disappear under a fresh new layer of dirt.
[x] Fly around a bit, see if you can find any other problems
Taking a sweep of the town shouldn't be too bad. Seeing if you can spot anything blatantly out in the open that would present a problem shouldn't take too long, especially if you buzz over areas most likely to be affected, such as businesses. Where those are though, you can only guess. You float along above the town, looking around for any signs of business. You spot a clearing towards one edge that has a lot of booths set up. Even from here, you can smell the various smells of food, and you realize that they're all food stands. Well, if there's any chance for something bad to happen, it's with food.
You feel a stong pulse as you see a dark streak bolt from behind one of the stalls, and your eyes lock on it as it ascends a stack of crates, making its way onto a roof before anyone can stop it. You can only barely hear people's voices, calling for the capture of a thieving cat. You close in on the moving dark ball, seeing more of the cat and less of the mist it releases as it runs along the rooftops before jumping down onto the street and scurrying into an alley. You'd lost sight of it by the time you reach the alley, but you can still feel the direction it in, and slowly float along. You find your way to a run down looking building, surrounded by more buildings and connected to the alley. It looks like a small house, though why it would be facing the alley is beyond you. You can sense a strong misfortune over the entire building, much stronger than a single cat. You decide to play it safe and peek into the house through a window.
You're hardly surprised to find the building is full of cats, several of which have two tails. You are surprised, however, at the two-tailed girl laying on her stomach in the middle of the room, idly playing with several kittens. The lot of them exuding the dark mists you've come to recognize as negative energy. This could definitely be a problem if it wasn't already, as from the looks of it, every living thing in the building was a walking curse all of it's own. You're a bit hesitant to take this on, though you don't think you could consciously leave this discovery behind, especially given your temporary role as curse goddess. The fact that you're strongly compelled to enter the room and absorb the energy doesn't help much either, as Hina's body is only just barely within your control.
[] This is over your head, you're not even sure they wouldn't run away. [] You could probably handle this, so long as you're careful and explain yourself. [] You have to deal with this right now, you're glad you found it.
Probably the only update for today. I'm already tired and making a lot of stupid typos, most of which I manage to catch, but still.
Having a bit of a second wind, but the votes are tied. Getting a winning vote soon would get another update while I'm still awake enough to read the screen.
[X] You have to deal with this right now, you're glad you found it.
Though could be detrimental to a lot of people, you have to take care of it now. You almost can't restrain yourself as you swing around to the door and slide it open. The clatter it makes draws everythings attention, and severl dozen sets of eyes turn on you, including those of the red dressed girl with the two tails, flicking idly behind her.
"Eh? Who're you?" she asks, rolling over in a fashion that leads to her sitting on the ground. Your vision dims as you focus on her, she's the strongest source in the building at the moment, she needs to be handled first. You feel more in control this time however, as you willingly extend your hands this time, the ribbon on your arm unfurling once more and taking to the air, surprising the girl a little.
"Nya~!" she cries as the ribbon closes in on her. She strikes out with one hand, which you only notice now has long nails, but only manages to get her wrist bound by the ribbon. Further attempts to strike at the lacy strap of fabric gets her more entangled, until she's managed to tie her hands together. Running short on options, she proceeds to kick at the loose ends, flailing helplessly as this otherworldly ribbon entangles her further. By the time she's given up struggling, the ribbon has bound both of her hands and feet, and wrapped around her body several times. Subconsciously, you're aware it's to prevent her escaping while you work on absorbing the misfortune. The girl lays on the floor, her struggling leading to her having kicked her dress up over her waist, exposing her paw print bloomers. You're not quite sure if the red in her face if from frustration or embarrassment, maybe a little of both.
"Nngh, weirdo woman, coming in here and tying me up like this,." she whines, struggling against the ribbon tying her up some more as you float towards her. She sees your approach, and rather than voice protests again, she simply hisses and growls as you would expect from a cat. It's not intimidating enough however, as you reach out and place your hands on her, one on her stomach and the other on her face.
"Wah~ Wh-what are you doing!?" she cries, you can already feel the tingling running up your arms as a prelude to the absorption. The girl's breathing picks up a little as she strains her hands against her bindings. "Stop, you- Ah~!"
You feel the first pulse of energy up your arms as the dark mist flows into your palms from her body. Her face turns a little more red as she squirms slightly.
"Wha- Sto- This feels weird. Nyaa~!" she whines again, ending with a cry as she arches her back. You withdraw your hand slightly, then place it back as you continue to withdraw the energy. Her breathing gives away to shorts gasps of air, broken intermittently by minor twitches in her body and half hearted cries. You can see a light sheen of sweat on her face, and her expression has changed from frustration to something closer to pleasure. Could this really feel that good?
"Ah-ha~n!" she cries again, her stomach contracting as she curls her legs up, her tails flicking momentarily before settling under her legs again as she relaxes, the last of the energy flowing from her, she seems to fall limp almost immediately, breathing a deep sigh. You're slightly confused at the moment, having never expected a result like this. The girl opens her eyes slightly, looking at you weakly.
"S-stupid..." she croaks weakly, sounding like she's just barely awake. The ribbon begins to unfurl as you move away, removing your hands. She doesn't move as the ribbon comes loose, but her breathing has returned to a normal rate. She still seems a bit out of it though. You notice a slight shimmer in her form, and watch in slight bewilderment as she shrinks, transforming into a cat, the only distinguishing feature being that she has two tails, and a small golden earring in one ear. One of the kittens she had been playing with earlier comes over and nuzzles her, and receives a weak pat on the face. You hope you didn't do any permanent harm, but as more of the kittens come over, she begins to slowly grrom them as they roll around, batting at each other. She seems fine enough, though you can see she occasionally looks at you every once in a while.
You look around the room at all the other cats, each producing a small amount of the dark mist. You should probably get around to each of them as well, and set about the task of gathering up all you can.
Several minutes later, task completed, you find yourself slightly laden down with suddenly affectionate, purring cats, each seeming to want your undivided attention. No matter how hostile they had been before, once you began to drain the negative energy, they almost immediately began to purr, and as you moved across the room to help more, ones already helped would follow you. The only cat that didn't follow you was the one the girl turned into, who recovered fine, but spent the rest of the time sitting on a windowsill watching you. It's odd how much more threatening she looks as an animal rather than a person, though considering she had looked like a child that's not particularly surprising. You step over to the door, preparing to leave as your task here is done.
"Hey, what's your name?" you hear the girls voice ask. You half-turn to look over at the cat, sitting on the windowsill. She can still talk as a cat? Well, you did... well, you did something to her. It would probably be rude not to answer.
[] Don't answer. [] "My name is Hina, I'm a Curse Goddess." [] "I'm Nobody, I solve people's problems."
"Hina? Hmm..." she says, craning her head a bit. Seeing a cat actually talking throws you off more than seeing a girl turn into a cat in the first place. "I'm called Chen."
Chen, well, that's easy enough to remember. You give her a small nod.
"Are you okay, Chen? I didn't hurt you did I?" you ask, still a little concerned. Chen looks away suddenly, though it's a little obvious she's trying to avoid eye contact.
"N-no, but Ran told me that kind of thing is improper before marri-"
"Whoa whoa, wait." you blurt, derailing Chen's train of thought before she goes on too long. "What do you think happened there?"
"Why are you asking me!" You're the one that did all that weird stuff!" Chen snaps back, her tails flicking erratically behind her. "All I know is it was weird and... kinda good." she continues, looking down at the ground. Well, you're a bit relieved she's not hurt, but also a bit put off by her misunderstanding of the situation. Then again, she did look pretty young, maybe it's not too much of a stretch to assume she doesn't really know much other than what she's told.
"Anyway, I need to go." you say, tugging at the door a little. Chen gives a long meowl, and all the cats scurry back towards her, leaving you free to move again. You give Chen a small wave and step outside, closing the door behind you. You issue a deep sigh, that was slightly awkward. You make a mental note to yourself to consider the possibility of avoiding doing such things in the future in order to avoid any more uncomfortable interactions. As strange as it was though, you couldn't help but think about Nitori, and as soon as the thoughts come back to your mind, you feel your cheeks heat up a bit. Bit embarrassing to be thinking that way, but you can't help it.
As for now, you're feeling a bit more reassured in your minor patrol of the village, and managed to nip a potential problem in the bud. You could always look for more, though you already have sort of went above and beyond the call of duty already.
[] Maybe just one more time [] That's more than enough for today
Okay, this is definitely the last one for the night. I'm running out of steam now, and you're threateningly close to the Hina/Nitori scene, so I don't want to end up writing it while running on fumes, or I'll take shortcuts.
>As strange as it was though, you couldn't help but think about Nitori, and as soon as the thoughts come back to your mind, you feel your cheeks heat up a bit. Bit embarrassing to be thinking that way, but you can't help it.
You know, originally before I edited it up, I was going to include a line after
>"Are you okay, Chen? I didn't hurt you did I?" you ask, still a little concerned. Chen looks away suddenly, though it's a little obvious she's trying to avoid eye contact.
It would have been along the lines of:
"I-I'm fine. Next time you plan on doing something like that though, I want you to marry me first."
So, it was a while in the making, but I plowed through this hurdle as a man on a mission.
Brace for walls.
[x] That's more than enough for today
You've done enough for one day. After the hospital and this, you're feeling a little light headed, probably as a side effect of some sort. You lift into the air and orient yourself back towards the mountain. Nothing of any particular interest happens along the way, giving you some time to enjoy the weather. This place is really nice, really calm and peaceful it seems. You never realized how little you stopped to enjoy everything on the outside, and now you're unsure if you'll ever get to again. You're not really sure you want to in the long run. After all, who would want to go back to a stuffy, crowded city in reality when you could live happily in a peaceful countryside? Granted, you wouldn't be doing much 'living' as it were in your condition, but you'd rather be dead and still enjoy this world than reincarnated back into the sprawl.
You arrive at Hina's house after a few minutes, coming back to see if anything new had been stuck to the door in your absence. Finding no messages waiting, you don't even bother to touch down, and float back up into the air, coasting along. Coming up to the river, you look up ahead to the spot you remember first meeting Nitori, the spot she was sitting with that whatever-it-was she was working on when it exploded on her. Since then, the remains were cleaned up, but the area still remains surrounded by charred undergrowth. Who cleaned it up anyway? You didn't even think of it at the time, leaving behind broken wreckage of a machine on the edge of a mountain river. You wonder if Aya or Momizi knows anything about it.
You realize your mind is wandering after a few seconds, you keep thinking about Nitori. She's really been growing on you, though you're not entirely to blame. Hina's feelings for her as well are building within you, and it's her emotions and desires that are guiding your thoughts, even as slight as they might be. Your mind jumps to Chen suddenly, and you can feel your face heat up again, in hindsight of thinking about her reactions to your treatment. Your train of thought synchronizes the two, and replaces Chen with Nitori, and you feel even more embarassed than before, though you're unable to shake the image of Nitori writhing in joy from your mind. Not that you particularly want to. That was simply a fluke though with Chen, you weren't expecting something like that to happen. Unless Nitori's suddenly come down with some negative energy as well, you wouldn't be able to recreate such a thing. Well, not without... she probably wouldn't be up for it anyway.
You shake your head, trying to chase away the thoughts for now, going so far as to pool some water from the river and splash it on your face. You wonder what Nitori would think if she knew what you had been thinking. She doesn't seem to be against the idea of being with Hina, but being together like that? You lift back into the air, looking along the face of the mountain. You should at least go see if she's woken up yet at least. You make your way along the mountain face, finding your way to the cave opening after a minute or so. You pass through the cave without tripping the lights, no real need after all, not at this time of the day.
The village is about the same it always seems to be. People sitting around on their porches, or in clusters in unusued space, tinkering with different machines and objects. One group you pass by gives you a little glance, then goes back to their work tinkering with what appears to be a pair of mechanical legs almost as tall as they are. They building some kind of robot? Do they even have the technology to pull something like that off? You look at more people working, everyone seems to be doing something different, from simply pullet and lever technology, to combustion engines. Then there's the memory of Rikako, and whatever machine she's going to use for her project. It blows your mind to think of all the potential this tiny cave village could have, not only for the rest of this world, but the outside as well if it ever got outside.
You walk up to Nitori's house finally, letting yourself inside. The house is quiet, which seems to you that Nitori's probably still asleep. You remove your boots at the door, and make your way ito the house, heading upstairs. As you near the top of the stairs however, you can hear some sounds echoing down the hall from the rec room. Seems Nitori might be awake after all, and went right back to watching movies. As you pass her room and note she's not in bed, you assume your guess is accurate. You also notice Rikako isn't here and the computer is off. She must have finished her notes and went home. Your initial guess proves correct though, when you reach the door to find Nitori sitting on the floor again, a plate of cucumber slices on her lap. She hadn't even changed back into normal clothes. She quickly notices you and gives you a wave and a smile.
"Hina! You're back!" she says, shifting her position slightly and patting a spot in the nest of cushions next to her. "C'mon! This movie is getting good!"
Well, wouldn't hurt to join her after all. You go to take your seat next to her, and she immediately leans her head on your shoulder.
"Where'd you go?" she asks, eyes fixed on the screen.
"I thought it would be a good idea to go see if anyone had placed any requests for my help and take a little scan of the village. I am a curse goddess after all, it's what I need to do." you reply. Nitori replies with a crunch of cucumber and a small nod.
"I thought it was something like that," she says, setting the plate aside and adjusting her position a little bit to wrap her arms around you. "I was a litle surprised when I woke up and found you had left. I knew you'd come back though."
Her action prompts you to place one arm around her shoulders as well, and she reacts to this by nuzzling up to you more. You can't help but enjoy the situation, even though you've only known her for a few days. Then again, this is making use of existing emotions already. You're not so much forcing such a situation as you are simply removing the obstacles blocking it. You find yourself idly stroking Nitori's hair again, much like you were this morning.
"I'm really happy things are like this," Nitori says, lifting her head. "I always thought I was just being weird, wishing for something I couldn't even imagine happening. Though to know you..." Nitori trails off, her cheeks turning a light pink. "You feel the same way, I just..."
She trails off again, looking like she's trying to piece together the right words. She keeps glancing between you and the floor, growing redder as time goes on. Right when she looks like she's ready to break down, she closes her eyes tightly and move in, pressing her lips to yours in a rough kiss. It surprises you a little, but you take it in stride, moving one hand to cradle her head. She loosens up a little bit as she breaks the first for another, and you press it a step further by pushing your tounge into her mouth. Nitori loosens up more and returns the gesture, as you move your arm around her waist. The two of you kiss like this for a few minutes, the movie continuing on in the background. Nitori pulls back, her face as red as you've ever seen it, and a big smile on her face.
"Things are better this way, don't you think?" she asks, tilting her head to the side. The motion causes the rather loose neck of her shirt to slip over her shoulder slightly. Your mind jumps back to earlier, imaginging Nitori in Chen's position, and you return the smile.
"It really is," you say, sliding her closer to you with one arm, leading into a position where she's sitting on her haunches. "I saw something earlier today by chance that made me think of you." you say, sliding your arm down Nitori's back. She shivers a little as you run her fingers along her spine, and gives you an crooked smile.
"Really? What was it?" she asks as you slide your arm off her. She doesn't seem to notice that you're moving your hand towards her legs now.
"I saw a girl in ecstacy." you say, running your hand under the edge of her T shirt, which is currently bunched up over her thighs. She only manages to catch on at the last second as your fingers make contact with her. She stiffens up immediately with a small cry, which only serves to move her against your advancing fingers more.
"Hi-Hina...!?" she says, reaching a new world record for redness.
"I thought it would be nice to see you like that too." you say, as you press a finger between the lips, causing Nitori to shudder slightly and move back a little as a reaction. She settles back down again, and you slip your finger back into position, a small sigh coming from Nitori's closed mouth. She's already quite wet, which isn't so much of a surprise. She was probably having the same thoughts as well, and she's definitely not protesting as she closes her eyes and spreads her legs slightly. You work with one finger for a while, rubbing back and forth, and tickling as the small nub of flesh at the hood.
Despite all this, Nitori remains rather quiet, only offering a few quiet whimpers to all your efforts. Perhaps it's time to try something else, and so you add a second finger, and press them against her opening. As soon as you do, Nitori replies with a whiny moan. You take this as an invitation, and slide your fingers in.
"Haa~!" Nitori cries with a shiver as your fingers enter her. You're unsure if the ensuing contractions are voluntary or involuntary, but you slowly begin to stroke the interior walls despite them. Each repetition gaining a gasping sigh from Nitori, who has begun to regulate the contractions into a recognizable rhythm. You push your fingers in farther, slowly working in past the second knuckle. Nitori leans forward and rests her head against your chest, pushing her hips out as you intrude deeper into her. As your fingers enter as far as you can get them, Nitori arches her back with a ragged sigh, opening her eyes for the first time since you started. She has a glassy look, locked directly onto your eyes, a mixture of intense happiness and unbelievable satisfaction.
"Hina..." she manages to gasp, stretching forward to enter another open kiss as you slowly and repeatedly penetrate her with your fingers. You add your thumb to the process as well, rubbing it against the clit in rhythm with each thrust of your hand, which quickly causes Nitori's quiet, sighing cries to build into to more vocal crying gasps. You feel a shiver run through her body as she pulls away from the kiss, leaning back slightly and pushing her hips downwards. With your free hand, you lift Nitori's shirt, which she assists the rest of the way, pulling it over head head and dropping it to the side. You run a hand along her side enjoying her soft, smooth skin, from her waist up to her chest, where she grasps your hand and slides it onto a breast. You take the cue and pinch the nipple, causing her to cry out between her building moans.
You notice that Nitori's begun moving a little on her own, rising off her haunches a little with each withdrawal of your fingers, and lowering back down with each re-entry. Her gasps and moans give way to muffled cries, through closed lips, though she's quickly losing even that composure as her mouth slips open occasionally with a moaning sigh. Nitori's pace speeds up, rising and falling progressively faster. You slowly give up matching her pace, and simply maintain a position while Nitori moves herself against your fingers, each descent creating a cry of pleasure as she works her hips. She looks at you again, the same glassy expression of absolute joy.
"I-I'm~ ah~..." she sighs to you. You can already feel slight spasms inside her, and they're quickly reflected by her body as she begins shivering again. She leans into you, resting her forehead on your shoulder as her hips fail her and you resume the pace, your other hand massaging a breast. Her spasms get more intense as you work your fingers and thumb, and occasionally her legs press together slightly. It isn't to much longe rbefore her attempts to control her outcries are entirely abandoned, and she lets out a single, long howling moan as her entire body stiffens, your fingers coming to a stop deep inside of her, yet keeping your thumb at work as her legs close on your wrist, her muscles rippling and tensing in orgasm as a fluid seeps down your hand and drips to the floor beneath. Nitori slumps against you as you pull your hand out and away, sinking towards the floor as she hangs off you, breathing in long sighs.
"That was..." Nitori says between breaths, turning her head to look up at you. "... better than cucumbers."
Your attempts to repress your laughter fails miserably, as you immediately crack a smile and break into laughter, and Nitori joins your laughing shortly afterwards. She moves from her kneeling position towards you and straddles your legs, resting up against you, draping her arms over your shoulders.
"That was... wonderful..." Nitori says, pressing her face into your neck and giving you a small peck. You run your hands along her back, then back to her chest again, where your hands find their way to her small breasts almost out of instinct. She offers no attempt to resist other than her quiet sighs as you play with her body a little bit more.
"I'll have to give you a turn some time in the future," Nitori says. "You could teach me what it was you were doing."
"I'll look forward to it." you say, not entirely sure if you'll even still be Hina by that point. You wonder what it would be like on the receiving end, and slowly realize how awkward it is that you're beginning to wonder about sex from the females perspective. Then again, given your current circumstances, it seems more and more like a distinct possibility.
The latest movie winds down, and Nitori slides off your lap and stands up, stretching her back. She had changed into her normal clothes afterwards and removed some of the cushions and a sheet from the room to clean them, since they were at ground zero when the super youkai warhead blew her payload. As the two of you had missed of the the movie that was playing, you both opted to restart it from the beginning and watch it again. Now that it was over, Nitori was going to get some more food before the next one started.
You glance out the window. You can't really see any sky from here, but you've gotten used to telling the approximate time from the amount of light outside, and it was about early afternoon or so now. Rikako was probably getting on with her experiment, which probably meant if you wanted in on it, you'd need to go sometime soon. There was also that business with Sanae you remember, you shouldn't probably look into that a bit more as well
[] Go see Rikako [] Go see Sanae [] You could always go later, like tomorrow.
Even if we're spotted right away and given the boot by Sanae, that's fine. I'm kinda interested in seeing the plotline of the next possessed character.
[+] Excuse yourself Don't want to just up and leave after such a touching moment. [+] Go see Sanae
Gathered curses from a cursed artifact, a curse demon, and several nekomata (including Che~n). If Sanae can see the ghost through all that, I'd be surprised.
[] Go see Sanae Well, da mode said we wouldn't have payoffs without taking risks, and we have hopefully covered our bases enough with those curses that we might be able to pull this off. As long as we don't fuck up otherwise.
I'm not sure I'd write anything in which Anon puts his current body at the time to greater use, since not being a woman makes it kind of hard for me to understand the experience from a first person perspective. Trying to explain something physically I couldn't actually reproduce would be frustrating.
That actually reminds me of something, an H-doujin where Sakuya obtains futa and fucks China, who then becomes the futa and tries to return the favour, but Sakuya chickens out over it.
You feel it would be best to go see if you can try to set things straight and deal out this situation with Sanae at least, since you're remembering more and more details about it and it's starting to eat at your conscience. You stand up and straighten out your dress, walking over to the door. Might as well tell Nitori you're leaving as well. Having to find her isn't a problem though, as she's already in the hallway when you elave the room.
"Oh? Going somewhere?" she asks, a bottle of some kind of alcohol in one hand and another plate of cucumbers in the other.
"I'm going to go see Sanae."
"Oh, alright then~!" she says with a smile, squeezing past you in the hallway. "I'll still be here, of course. Still so many movies to watch, I might even rewatch some of the other ones!" she says, flopping down into a pile of pillows and sheets on the floor. You continue on down the hallway after that, heading downstairs and to the front door. Donning your boots, you're off, coasting your way out of the cave throughthe fissure in the ceiling and head towards the peak of the mountain.
Along the way you think about the incident in question. You don't remember all the details, but you know the ultimate culmination was that the torii broke down and fell. Why, you're not sure, how, you don't know. All you do remember is that expression Sanae had, how she looked like she was trying to hide her anger and doing a really poor job about it.
Your mind wanders off the memories, and you take in the sights around you as you go deeper into the mountain. The view from up here is pretty amazing actually, you wonder what it would look like from the shrine itself.
A few minutes later, you can answer that question for yourself, turning back to look down the road you came across that leads to the shrine. It's such a clear view, you almost can't believe that all of this is real, it all looks so perfect. You spend a bit of time enjoying the scenery, until you hear footsteps behind you.
"Ah, hello Hina." a voice says. Female, no surprise there. You turn around and instantly match Sanae's face to the memories.
"Hello Sanae," you reply with a slight bow. "I was just coming to see how you were doing."
"Mmm, pretty much the same as always," she says, having returned the bow. "Spending most of the day relaxing, paying respect to Kanako, doing my studies..."
Studies? That's right, a faint memory surfaces from Hina's mind. Sanae's from the outside world, she's only been here for a few years at that. You quickly consider thinking of some excuses later to help tie together Hina's amazing technological know-how, as far as Nitori and Rikako are concerned, to Sanae's status as an outsider. Just in case there was any doubt left.
"How are Kanako and Suwako doing?" you ask.
"They're fine," she says. "Spend msot of their time lounging around and doing whatever it is that Goddesses do, I guess. Kanako spends a lot of time drinking with the tengu though, and Suwako... I actually don't know what she does."
You start to feel a little strange, standing out here. You do feel a slight tension in the air, though. You get the feeling Sanae's trying to drive you away by simply answering your questions.
[] "Shall we go inside and have a drink?" [] "Are you trying to turn me away?" [] Say nothing, just leave.
I need to stop getting so fucking distracted, god damn it.
[X] "Are you trying to turn me away?" [X] Try to look downhearted.
On another note, we need to write out a note to Hina at some point and leave it in her house, explaining all that has happened.
In fact, we ought to make a habit of doing this for every girl we possess. Every few days or so, or before big events, we ought to just jot down a note and leave it in their house or on their person.
[x] "Are you trying to turn me away?" [x] "Shall we go inside and have a drink?"
"Are you trying to turn me away?"
Sanae gives a bit of a start and looks away from you, as if something very interesting is happening in the trees. Bingo, you hit the nail on the head then.
"W-well, Hina... It's..." Sanaes voice fades out, not having prepared an excuse beforehand.
"Can we just go inside and have a drink?" you say, taking a step forward. Sanae matches your step with one of her own.
"P-please, Hina. I'm sorry, but... I know it's not something you can help. It's your purpose afterall, but I can tell you're loaded with curses, and I can even sense some contained spirits as well."
Whoa, what? She can sense spirits then? She doesn't seem to be onto the possession at least, but you have a recollection of Reimu you'd rather not repeat. You should diffuse the situation.
"It's nothing, Sanae, honestly. I'm here to apologize for what I did, and I've decided to prove that I don't cause misfortune."
Sanae bites her lip, turning to look over her shoulder back at the shrine, as if she was considering what would happen if it was damaged.
"I'll believe you, Hina, because it would be terrible not to trust the word of a friend, just..." she trails off, but doesn't return to her train of thought. Maybe she second guessed what she was going to say? You feel a distant nagging feeling, that something is still amiss, but it quickly passes.
[] "I promise, nothing will happen." [] "You have my word, Sanae, that everything will be fine." [] "Let's just let bygones be bygones."
I'm sure you're aware of the lingering memories that remain. Just so you know, you're not losing your mind, and they're not just dreams. I happened to find myself in your body with part of your memories, so I took the initiative to fix your problems and improve your quality of life.
Take care, Nobody.'
"... THAT ASSHOLE"
¯\(°_o)/¯
Also, I think I need to get some kind of pager system or something for this thread, so that people can spam me endlessly with GET BACK TO WORK NIGGER to remind me when I'm supposed to be writing. No sooner did I get the H-scene done then I felt like Fist of the North Star-ing with updates, but my weak negroid mind gets easily distracted by shiny things.
>>49374 I was thing more along the lines of someone other than the person we're possessing finding the note before we switch. We've got a bounty out on us, you know.
There's no turning involved if feelings are already present. Besides, would there be any support at all for a Touhou hooking up with Rinnosuke? Better yet, randomly being shuffled off to a disposable OC created from names drawn out of a hat?
There are only two things I see: 1) Work with accepted/popular fanon relationships and mostly strike out most other romance paths. 2) Create a handful of OC males for the express purpose of supporting heterosexual pairings at all costs.
I too must see that. Even if it doesn't happen naturally in the course of the story (since I pick all Touhou selections at random, except for the next upcoming lot who have been specially selected), I'd write an Extra just to have a scene where she finds such a note.
>Better yet, randomly being shuffled off to a disposable OC created from names drawn out of a hat?
>Fuck that though.
Exactly, so he'd be a one shot deal, but at the benefit that he could add a romance route to characters that wouldn't have one normally with another character.
Of course, there's always Rikako's clone-o-matic machine she's toying with, but then you might end up with a horde of Rinnosuge retard clones, which would be entertaining in it's own right, but this is simply conjecture and not an advertisement of anything you should hope to achieve.
How would you say we're faring if we happened to go for the celestial route? Also is there an option to explore Gensokyo if we become one or is it just a standard end?
I'd say pretty good, considering it's fairly easy to get with a little bit of thought and there are no ridiculously stupid choices. If every route was handled like Cirno, there'd be an issue definitely. Achieving Celestial status is pretty easy in theory for a CYOA since it's easier to pick the 'right' choices to lead you there than it is to actually live it. Given that the path Anon seems to be on is all about helping everyone, Celestial end is pretty much going to be the main end, though it can have varying degrees of success depending on how well you all do. While I would hate to spoil things, it's safe to say that overall, as long as you're not a total fuck up and you keep helping Touhous, you will get the Celestial End eventually. The only truly hard ends to get would be Escape and Escape True, since it involves a lot more work and danger.
Celestial End would be a standard end, though as for roaming around afterwards, I was actually thinking of including a Free Roam option as an Extra which would basically be a New Game + Lite and have it's own loosely defined overall goal. I also have other Extras I've been thinking of.
And suddenly my eyes are starting to itch something fierce, to the point where I can hardly keep them open due to a mixture of pain, minor swelling and desire to scratch them. It'll only get worse from here too, so I'm packing it in for the night and starting a new thread tomorro- Later today.
>You feel a distant nagging feeling, that something is still amiss, but it quickly passes.
Maybe we should pay attention to this little snippet.
[x] "You have my word, Sanae, that everything will be fine." [x] "I've been staying with Nitori for a while, and she hasn't died in a fire yet!" [x] Quietly try focusing on what that feeling of something amiss was.
Pity we didn't phrase that clue token question as "How do we keep anyone at Moriya Shrine from finding us out?" We might be fooling Sanae, but will we be able to pull one over Suwako or Kanako?
[x] "You have my word, Sanae, that everything will be fine." [x] "I've been staying with Nitori for a while, and she hasn't died in a fire yet!" [x] Quietly try focusing on what that feeling of something amiss was.
