"Sanae! You're going to be late!"

Ah. That annoying voice that isn't real. I roll over in bed and ignore it.

"Hey, stop ignoring me! What kind of priestess are you? You're still pretending I'm not real? But whether you believe in me or not, time is marching on. You'll regret it if you don't get up now."

"Shut up! You're just an imaginary friend! Just drag me out of bed if you're really there!" I retort, grabbing the covers and pulling them over my head. As expected, nothing of the sort happens. There's just a sigh.

"You were better when you were a kid, you know. Never talked back, always paid your respects to your elders. I've never seen such an ungrateful shrine maiden! Slovenly, too! You know, if you abandon your gods, they won't be there when you really need them!"

Says the goddess- the imaginary goddess- who never did a single useful thing for me. And it's not like she hasn't had the chance, either. I don't say anything more; she usually stops bothering me for a while if I don't acknowledge her. By the time I throw off the covers and have a panic attack at the clock, she's faded away. I hope she fades away for good, because having an invisible woman berate you over everything from posture to diet gives you a complex, mark my words.

Don't get me wrong, having a god around to play with was great fun back when I was a kid, but I'm a senior now. A god who can't do anything but annoy me over trivial things is a god that shouldn't even bother to manifest.

Maybe you think I'm being harsh. Maybe you think I'm being delusional. I've seen Kanako, after all, a mighty storm goddess garbed in the ancient way; why should I ignore the evidence of my own eyes? But you don't live with her or know how she works. She's just sound and thunder in the end. She's got no bearing on my life, no way to effect it save with words. Even if I believed in her completely and made offerings, performed the dances and the rituals, she still wouldn't be able to do a single useful

The journey felt like punishment, though I knew it was not.
Nevertheless, I continued trudging through the narrow, sinuous path overgrown with vegetation. My ankles and feet flared with the dull pain of walking through treacherous terrain for far too long. I feared to look downwards, as it felt like I'd be bruised and drenched in blood from the knees down. I stopped for what seemed like the hundredth time, leaned against a tree, and looked round yet again.

The Youkai Forest, I realized then, was named such not only for the obvious reason. Certainly many youkai lived there, but if you spend enough time in the heart of the woods, you can feel a curious effect: It's easy to imagine that entire forest itself was one enormous, malicious being. The trees were twisted abnormally like none I'd seen before: their blackened roots rose above the floor and made great arches large enough for a man to pass under, thick vines decorating them with colorful and enormous flowers. The canopy was so dense that a ray of light was a rare sight; it was not unlike traveling at night. Mushrooms of impossible sizes glowed, changed colors and pulsated according to some rhythm unknown to me; fruits and bulbs hanging from the contorted parodies of trees bloated and withered even as I watched, and of course, I cannot forget the incessant growling, snarling, screeching, and just about every other kind of noise the unholy youkai of the forest could manage to unnerve me. The scenery went against everything I took as normal. In an odd sort of way, it was quite beautiful, though I wouldn't realize this until I was safe and well outside the range of its horrifyingly large variety of poisons and dangers.
After resting and marveling at the shuddersome forest once more, I gathered myself and again took the same cramped path, assaulted on all sides by the hostile flora. The aforementioned youkai kept hidden well enough that I did not even catch a glimpse of them, thanks to a set of charms given to me by the village elders who saw me off. I had no doubt I would've been little more than a nice little snack as soon as I set foot in this place otherwise. Regardless, I stumbled along the trail. My mis

>>21893

Thanks.

---

Fine. Why not? It's not like you have something to do here anyway.

“Well, okay...” Sanae takes a deep breath. “You better change your clothes first,” she adds, and signs you to follow her. Oh, right. Can't go anywhere in this sailor suit...

---

You enter Sanae's roo- Wait a minute... Modern desk lamp? You remember last night conversation about taking things from outside; You shouldn't be surprised in finding something modern.

“Uhm... Try this,” Sanae hands you a t-shirt; There is a big green frog picture in front of it. It suits her, with that frog hairclip on her head. She also takes long blue pants. They seems small; you don't know whenever they will suit you or not.

Gathered my guts and write.

Plot? Will think about that later.

----
"Where did you find him?"

Your head feels hurt.

"At the forest. Already like this when I found him."

Stratch that. Your entire body feels hurt. You can taste blood inside your mouth.

"Attacked by a wild youkai?"

A new CYOA. I won't say this is my first nor will be my last so I'll pretty much be depending on experience for this once. You can give some tips of course and I'd prefer that. Title may not have any relevance at all depending on where the story will go. Never mind, vote for the following first, before we can get the fun started.

[x]Name
&
[x]Gender
-> Gender will have great effect on how the story will play out.

Oh yeah, our MC's attitude and personality will be based on how this CYOA will play out.

Dear Renko,

You know, I've been writing these letters for a year now. I know you won't receive them, and yet I write anyways. Isn't it weird? I feel like I'll never see you again, and somewhere, deep down I know that, and yet I still refuse to believe it. Gensokyo is my home now. Is that fine with you?

No, I can't stay the same girl I was, Renko. Thank you for being the shoulder I could cry on. I don't know how you could be strong, and even now, when I still struggle to stand on my own two feet, I look up to you. Thanks for everything, friend.

Oh, that reminds me! I met someone interesting today! She was an odd girl: She wore fruit in her hat, like the Chiquita girl on the bananas you like to eat. She introduced herself to me out of the blue while I was fishing, and I ignored her. I needed to focus today.

I thought she left, so I was surprised when she began talking out of the blue. "Why do you fish," she asked. "Why do you fish?" I never really thought much about that, so that's what I told her.

And then she said the strangest words: "When I fish, it's because fishing is life."

Grandfather always said, 'When you fish, the fish is life', so I thought that's what she said. But she said it again.

"When I fish, it's because fishing is life." Then she continued. "The mere act of fishing is unspectacular. You put bait on a catch and throw it into the water. If a fish stupid enough to try and eat the bait goes after it, then you catch it." I didn't have to look at her to know she was smirking; her voice said it all. "It's also boring. You can sit there, hours at a time, only to find out that you ended up wasting a day doing nothing."

"Mng. Five more minutes."

Of course, there's nobody actually here waking me up, and my alarm clock isn't even set, so I'm really just talking to myself, but it's the little everyday things that are important sometimes, you know?

"Out of bed right this instant, young lady. It's a school day, you know." My grown-up voice needs some work. Is it actually a school day? I have no idea.

"Mmmng. I'll eat breakfast while I'm brushing my teeth. Gimme five more minutes."

"If you're going to have such a hard time getting up in the morning, then I suppose we'll just have to institute a curfew rather than letting you sit up 'til who-knows-when watching those cartoons of yours, hm?"

That's a low blow, adult me.

The ritual complete, I stretch hard, shoulders rolling backward until my back is completely arched up off the floor, then relax, letting the air leave my lungs as I hit the deck with a whumph. I sit up, take one last shake of the head to clear the cobwebs out, and then I'm ready to go, or at least as ready as I ever am.

Right, I had plans, didn't I? First thing I was gonna do when I got up was--

[x] Keep the upper hatch closed.
[x] Pull to the center of the road.

“Should I go up top?” Nitori asks, looking a little nervous. “If they have more of those rockets...”

“No. Let's not attack them till they attack us.” You hope this passive approach will work.

If you pull to the center of the road, you're more likely not to be knocked off into the fatal ditch. This vehicle has enough weight that they'd be hard-pressed to move you over a few lanes.

“So, we're not fighting, then?” Suika asks from your side. She's leaning forward between the passenger and driver's seat, trying to get a better view of the front screens. “These are the bad guys, right?”

“They might be. We'll see.”

The opposing cars close in, as expected. Upon closer inspection, only two of the people are without uniforms. Each truck has exactly four people in it; two inside the cab, and two in the open bed in the back. Only two of the people are not uniformed. They're both in the back of the truck behind you.

The passenger in the vehicle to your side, a uniformed man, looks at your vehicle. He's not directly looking at the camera embedded in the vehicle, but it's obvious he's trying to look at you. He shifts between looking at you and looking ahead at a sign hanging above the highway, pointing at said sign the entire time. The expression he's wearing is serious, but not entirely hostile.

He's clearly trying to get your attention. The sign is for an exit leading to some random road, not one you recognize. It's not a major route to anything. The gap to your side makes sense now... they're leaving you an opening so that you can turn.

They've really got no way to make you turn, it seems. They're all armed with weapons, AK-47's mainly, but no heavy weaponry that you can see. Nothing immediately threatening, but... you're field of view is still below the beds of their trucks. You can't see what's inside them.

[ ] See what they want. Take this next exit.
[ ] Screw them. Push through the opening between the lead car and the side on

I'm gonna try and make this a short story considering that I'm trying to daily update two other stories, but considering how out of control the Orin story got I can't make any guarantees so...hey, forgive me if I'm biting off more then I can chew

"Really? He did that?"

"Yeah! I was like, so shocked too, ya know? I mean, what kinda guy does that these days?"

"Oh you know it, sister. Guys these days, major blech with a capital B, am I right?"

"Totally, but this guy, omigawd, he knew his way around with a tongue like--"

"Hey! What're you girls doing?! Back to work!"

Yep...gossipy crow tengu, doing what they do best. You tire of it so. It's grown weary on your tastes. You used to be such a womanizer. When you were younger, anyways. After a while, the crow tengu all...seemed the same. As did the white wolves as well. They were stuck up, while the crows were just too loose. Too...dumb to live, at times. That slut Aya is the worst of them, being ever so obnoxious and annoying. She likes to party, but she does seem to get in your way quite often, for some odd reason. You can't put your finger on it, but that woman has a personal vendetta against you.

However, while the crow tengu are loud and obnoxious, and the white wolves are strict and overbearing, there's one woman that stands out amongst the both of them, one absolutely perfect female that is the combination of everything good about both parties and has none of the downfalls of either. This delicious specimen of the estrogen bearing has been your current target for a while now, and no matter how much you try and refine your tastes, your tact and your habits, you just can't seem to snare her...yes, the crow known as Hatate Himekeidou.