---

It was dark by the time I finally regained my senses, though, in that time all the snow seemed to have melted. That was odd, it shouldn't have gotten warm enough for all that snow to have melted, and if it had, I would have been soaked. My head was still rather groggy, and I pushed myself unsteadily to my feet. It was much warmer now than it had been earlier, though there was still a chill to the air. Odd. Looking around, I seemed to be standing in some sort of forest. I was really beginning to panic now. I had no idea where I was and how I had gotten there. A quick check revealed that I still had everything that I had when I left home this morning, though my cell phone had no reception. An odd thing, considering that I had only ever lost reception with it once, and that was when I was in the subway.

It seemed that there was some sort of bustle going on nearby, so I trudged through the woods to investigate. Upon reaching the edge of the woods, I glanced out into the clearing. It was filled with many people, mostly girls it seemed though, running around working on setting up what appeared to be festival booths. There had always been a harvest festival at Sanae's shrine, but this looked nothing like the shrine I had made myself so familiar with. There was also something strange about all the people hurrying about.

thinking with temporal displacement


i'm going to guess it's writein time.
[X] Get your bearings and acertain the situation: look around.

Good start for the story.

[X] Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.
This vote is subject to change, as I suck with options.

[X] Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

Wonderful. May we learn what really motivates our protagonist in his search for Sanae.

[X] Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

[X] Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

[X] Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

[X] Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

[X] Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

{X} Nevermind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

Cool story. My only peeve is that you use the word 'odd' a little too much near the end.

[ze] Get your bearings and ascertain the situation: look around.

[ ] Never mind their weird looks, get closer and try to get some idea of where you are and what's going on.

Never mind the fact that these people look weird. People are people, right? I shouldn't be so freaked out, despite not knowing where I am. For all I know, I'm the one who looks weird. But enough of this. A deep breath to calm my shaky nerves and I'm stepping out of the woods onto the shrine grounds.

The very instant that I clear the woods and walk out onto the shrine grounds, all work around me stops. The people stand there, staring at me like I was some kind of monster. You could hear a pin drop. It was rather unnerving.

"Uh... Excuse me?" I begin, hoping to break this awkward silence.

A girl screams while pointing at me, a horrified look plastered on her face. "RUN!"

All around me was a blur of movement as materials were dropped, people fled, and booths were abandoned. It was complete and total chaos. I simply stood there, dumbfounded at the seemingly overdone reaction to my presence. A scant few moments later I was standing alone surrounded by half built booths and various materials strewn about the ground. A lose pamphlet blew across the now-empty grounds on a light breeze. Well. That was certainly an... unusual reaction.

A quick movement catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. There seems to be a girl hiding near one of the booths. With no other options available to me, I begin to walk towards her hiding place.

"Excuse me? I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just lost and I don't know where I'm at, so if you could-"

The girl jumps up and scrabbles off to the side, several others follow behind her. She runs over to another nearby booth with the others in tow. They all form up like they're trying to hide behind the first girl. They seem to have realized that they've followed the first one into a dead end. The group all begins whispering to one another.

"Uh. . ."

"STAY BACK!" The girl in front shouts, reaching into a side pouch and pulling out a bendy straw. The girls behind her follow suite. "Don't make me use this!" The girls place the straw against their lips and start sucking air through them. I simply stand there staring at this strange behavior.

"Uh..."

The foremost girl pulls the straw away from her lips long enough to call out to me, "I mean it! Stay back!."

How is one supposed to respond to something like this? it's just too... it's absolutely absurd is what it is. Threatening a person with straws? What kind of nonsense is this? But before I can contemplate this bizarre turn of events any further, a hand clamps down heavily on my shoulder.

"Oi. You shouldn't be here, scaring the kappa like this! Do you have any idea how long it's going to take to find them all?!?

I mumble a quick apology and turn to face the speaker. I'm surprised when I see that it's actually a rather short, and young girl. From her admonishment, I had expected someone older. She looked to be in her late teens, shoulder length black hair, with that funny little hat that Yamabushi used to like to wear, and she's wearing those freaky one pronged geta like in the olden-days. Not something that teenagers around where I lived would wear. The most striking feature about this girl, however, would have be her startlingly red eyes. Contacts like that must have cost a fortune.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" The girl quirks an eyebrow.

"Ah, N-no, no, nothing like that. I'm sorry for staring. I've just never seen someone dressed like you normally. Around festivals, yes, but that's usually at the festival, not during the set up." I tilt my head to one side. Other than the skirt, she looks like something out of a historical play. Some bizarre Yamabushi girl. I wonder how much those fake wings cost, they look really well done.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" The girl gives me a blank stare. "Well, anyways, there'll be plenty of time for staring once the festival starts. If it gets started on time this year. Really. You couldn't just wait a few days for it to be finished setting up?" The girl shakes her head ?Humans are so impatient. Go on, get! Go back to the human village. You got up here on your own, so you can get back down, I assume." The girl pulls me along with surprising strength. I don't think I could break away if I tried, dragging me to the stairway at the entrance to the shrine grounds. A slight, but forceful push, causes me to stumble forward to the first of the steps.

"Go on. Shoo." She waves my hands at me, indicating I should leave.

"Aya? Is that you? Why did all the kappa go running into the shrine all of a sudden?" A familiar sounding voice calls out.

"Oh. it's ?cause of this creep here." this ?Aya? girl scratches the back of her head while jerking her thumb in my general direction.

As the girl comes closer, I realize that it's Sanae. The girl that I've been looking for, after so long here she is before me.

"S-Sanae?" I stutter.

Sanae walks up next to ?Aya? and looks at me and tilts her head to one side, "Hm? Do I know you??

[x] Sanae! It's me, Kanzaki! You know, from highschool?


Feel free to pick a better name.

[x] Sanae! It's me, Kanzaki! You know, from highschool?
Eh, might as well.

[X] "Only two years gone, and you don't even recognize me anymore. Guess I never stood out like you, though..."
[X] "We went to high school together. Sat side by side at graduation, even. I don't really expect you to remember me, after all, you're the one disappeared - you were probably on my mind a lot more than I was on yours after that."

[X] Sanae! It's me, Kanzaki! No?
[X] "Only two years gone, and you don't even recognize me anymore. Guess I never stood out like you, though..."
[X] "We went to high school together? Sat side by side at graduation, even. I don't really expect you to remember me, after all, you're the one disappeared - you were probably on my mind a lot more than I was on yours after that."

[X] "Only two years gone, and you don't even recognize me anymore. Guess I never stood out like you, though..."
[X] "We went to high school together. Sat side by side at graduation, even. I don't really expect you to remember me, after all, you're the one disappeared - you were probably on my mind a lot more than I was on yours after that."

[X] "Only two years gone, and you don't even recognize me anymore. Guess I never stood out like you, though..."
[X] "We went to high school together. Sat side by side at graduation, even. I don't really expect you to remember me, after all, you're the one disappeared - you were probably on my mind a lot more than I was on yours after that."

[X] "Only two years gone, and you don't even recognize me anymore. Guess I never stood out like you, though..."
[!/] "We went to high school together. Sat side by side at graduation, even. I don't really expect you to remember me, after all, you're the one disappeared - you were probably on my mind a lot more than I was on yours after that."

>Kanzaki

Haha. FUCK NO

I laugh inwardly. A thousand times this scene has played out in my mind. Never happened like this, though. Happy, sad, angry, surprised, even hatred, I had imagined her reacting in as many different was as was possible for a person to react... but never -NEVER- with blank non-recognition.

"Only two years gone," I find myself speaking before I realize it, "And you don't even recognize me anymore." Taking a seat on the step I continue, "Guess I never stood out like you though..."

Neither Sanae or ?Aya? make a sound, so I simply resume speaking. "We went to high school together, you know. Sat side by side at the graduation ceremony, no less." My eyes find their way skyward as my mind wanders back through the past. "Though, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you don't remember me. After all, you were the one who disappeared - you were probably on my mind quite a bit more than I on yours."

I look around at the shrine and the grounds. "You seem to be doing quite well for yourself - if this shrine is any indication."

The clack of wooden sandals on stone draws my attention. Sanae strides forth, purposefully, towards me. She climbs down several stairs until her face is just about level with mine. With surprising speed, I suddenly find her face directly in front of mine, screwed up in concentration. Up and down, her eyes criss-cross my entire face, like she's trying to discover some element she finds familiar. Seconds feel like an eternity as I continue to bear the brunt of her scrutiny.

"AH!" She cries as she jerks fully upright. "I know who you are! You're... you're Yamada-kun!"

I stare at her blankly, a look of triumph on her face.

"I never forget a face!" A haughty laugh escapes her lips as she climbs the stairs again. I sit there dumbfounded.

"N-no. I'm not Yamada..."My shoulders sag, crestfallen. This girl, this girl that I spent so much time looking for, that I put so much effort into finding, she really doesn't remember me at all...

Sanae giggles. Nothing like the haughty laugh of moments before, this is more an amused laugh. Looking back at her, she's wearing a soft smile on her face.

"I remember you... Koizumi-kun. You sat third row from the door, middle seat. Yamada was two seats behind you. I sat next row over, two seats up."

I think for a moment... She's right though, and I know it. Honestly, I'm amazed atthe level of detail that she remembers. I shake my head at this girl, laughing slightly myself.

"It's good to see you, Koizumi-kun, but what are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you for these past two years. You just up and vanished with out a trace, after all. There were quite a few people looking for you."

Sanae's smile shrinks slightly, but remains firmly affixed on her face. "Oh? So they were out looking for me?"

"The whole town turned out at first. It was amazing, really. I've never seen so many people turn out for one singular goal."

Sanae looked surprised at this. "So, how long did they keep looking?"

"The bulk lasted several months... but really, most have given up by now. I'm one of the few who didn't." I trail off.

This seems to surprise Sanae more than the fact the whole town turned out to look for her. "... Why did you keep looking?"

"I had to. I had something very important to tell you." Standing up, I walked over to where she and ?Aya? were standing. The small black notebook I always carried with me was retrieved from my back pocket and opened to the proper page. "I made sure to write it down so that I wouldn't forget. "The library book you checked out is two years overdue. You owe 7582 yen in fines. Please remit.?" I close the notebook and tuck it away in my back pocket again.

Sanae stares at me, dumbfounded. I laugh.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist after the Yamada bit, though.."

She glares at me and sticks out her tongue. "Aya? chuckles quietly to herself.

"Oh, you've got yourself a funny one here, Sanae."

Sanae, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of red, simply glares at ?Aya?.

"Really, though, I couldn't accept that you had just vanished. I needed to know what happened to you for better," I wave my hands around at her opulent shrine, "or for worse."

A sigh escapes Sanae's lips as she shakes her head at me. "Honestly. What AM I going to do with you." She laughs again. "C'mon, let me get you some tea. I want to hear about what's been going on in the outside world."

"Outside world?" I don't understand what she's talking about.

"Ah, well, err... back home! What's been going on back home since I left?"

"Aya? clears her throat. "Sanae, are you forgetting something?"

Sanae turns to face ?Aya?, who's gesturing around at the festival grounds, devoid of people working on the booths. "Huh?" Sanae looks around the festival grounds. It slowly dawns on her what's wrong ?Oh... OH! Oh, right. Just let me get him situated and I'll be right back out to help."

"Really," ?Aya? sighs, "Just hurry up, I'll round up as many as I can while you're getting him settled." With that, the ?Aya? girl vanishes.

"What the...?!"

"Ah, don't worry about it, she's just really fast. Anyways, come on. I want to know what's been going on with everyone..."

---

A short while later, I found myself seated in a very modern looking sitting room. A small-ish TV with several gaming systems hooked up to it, as well as a DVD player, a nice little kotatsu, and several small bookshelves. it's quite cozy. Sanae emerges from the attached kitchen, moments later, carrying a tray with a teapot and a cup on it.

"Here you go. You'll have to finish telling me that story about Matsuki." she sets down the tray in front of me. "I should be able to sneak away again once all the kappa are back at work." A brief smile at me and she's gone again. Well, at least she shouldn't be going anywhere else anytime soon. Hopefully. So a little bit of a wait after meeting up again is bearable.
As I sit there sipping the delicious green tea she prepared, someone else apparently entered the shrine, shouting loudly.

"Sanae! Sanae! Are you in here?" A very young looking short girl with blue hair peeking out from beneath her green cap walks into the room. A one piece dress with a key in the middle? What kind of bizarre fashion is popular in this area? This new girl gives me a strange look. "You're not Sanae." She states quite bluntly ?I didn't know she was having visitors. huh." She tilts her head to one side. "I'm Nitori. Kawashiro Nitori. What ?cha doin here??

[X] Er, I'm sorry. Am I not allowed down here? Should I leave?
[X] Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I guess I should, um...

[X] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[X] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

Yes, quite, very much so.

[X] Er, I'm sorry. Am I not allowed down here? Should I leave?
[X] Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I guess I should, um...

[X] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[X] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

[x] "Just a schoolmate of Sanae's, came looking for her. You?"

[X] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[X] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

[x] "Just a schoolmate of Sanae's, came looking for her. You?"

[X] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[X] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

[Q] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[Q] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

It's so awkward, it just might work. Or rather, I like this character, maybe.

[z] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[e] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

[X] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[X] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

Is it just me, but isn't this write-in a bit doctor who'ish?

>>11238

Now that you mention it...

Now we need a sonic screwdriver and a tardis.

[X] "Reminiscing. Or rather, waiting to reminisce. Or rather, waiting to help Sanae reminisce. Or rather, we'll be reminiscing together, that is to say."
[X] "In any event, I'm, ah, here for Sanae. To find her, I mean. Which I did do."

"Ah, well, uh, see..."Rather startled by the directness of this brash young girl I flounder for a moment," I guess I'm reminiscing." Wait, that's not quite right. "Or maybe I should say that I'm waiting to reminisce. No, not that either... Well, I'm waiting to help Sanae to reminisce. Err... that is to say, we'll be reminiscing together." Well, that was quite the obtuse answer. I should probably give my answers a bit more thought before I speak, leastwise I end up with another verbal bungle again.

"In any event, I'm ah, here for Sanae. To find her, more specifically, which I already did. I think..."I've now succeeded in confusing myself as well.

As I sit there with a confused look on my face, my inquisitor simply stares at me, a slight grin playing on her face. "Do you always talk like this?"

"Err... No? Well, maybe? Perhaps sometimes." You watch as the girl's slight grin expands while you're speaking. Sighing dejectedly, "Yes?" you venture hopefully.

"Ah! You sound just like my uncle! ... Or was it dad that talked like that. Grandpa? Mom maybe... Or was it my second cousin twice removed who married my brother's sister in law?" The girl turns, obviously lost in thought.

"In any event! You talk like my uncle!" The girl nods definitively.

"Um... Is that a good thing?"

"Well, he was the all-kappa water sliding champion - seven years running! ...Until that nasty incident with the sheep and the watermelon..." She turns back to face me.

"Now he spends his time chewing on the carpets. You don't chew on carpets do you? it's kind of gross." A look of disgust passes over her face, her tongue sticking out between her lips. "I wonder if it really tastes that good. I mean, I've never tried it my self, that's nasty. Say, do you like cucumbers? I might try chewing on a rug if it tasted like cucumbers... But how would you make it taste like that... OH!" Nitori looks as if she's remembered something important, "Do you know where Sanae went? I needed to tell her that all the kappa ran off! "Cause there was some bizarre creepola running around on the shrine grounds terrorizing them all! Say, you wanna help me track the psychopath down?"

Before I even had a chance to reply, I found myself being dragged out of the shrine by Nitori. Such a strange girl. Once on the shrine grounds, there's a rather large group of people gathered around seemingly in some sort of heated debate. One of them looks up at Nitori and myself approaching.

"HE TOOK NITORI HOSTAGE!" The girl screams and points at us. "DOn't WORRY NITORI! WE'll SAVE YOU!"

The group quickly disperses, causing Nitori to skid to a halt. I nearly go flying over the much shorter girl. In short order, the group surrounds us, straws once again at the ready.

[X] "Fuck."
[X] Run back inside the shrine.
[X] Cue Benny Hill-esque chase, with music

>"I might try chewing on a rug if it tasted like cucumbers..."
I now have the mental image of Nitori chasing down Hina while brandishing a cucumber. I don't think I want to lose it.

[X] Whisper to Nitori "What do the staws do?"
[X] "Oh."
[X] Wasn't Sanae supposed to be looking for these guys? Where is she? "Sanae! Tasukete!"

[X] Whisper to Nitori, "What's with the straws?"
[X] "Oh."
[X] Run back inside the shrine.
[X] Cue "Yakety Sax"

Bonus points if we can get one of those Scooby-Doo hallway gags going.

[x] Whisper to Nitori, "What's with the straws?"
[x] "Oh."
[x] Run back inside the shrine.
[x] Cue "Yakety Sax"

[Q] Whisper to Nitori, "What's with the straws?"
[Q] "Oh."
[Q] Run back inside the shrine.
[Q] Cue "Yakety Sax"

[X] Whisper to Nitori, "What's with the straws?"
[X] "Oh."
[X] Run back inside the shrine.
[X] Cue "Yakety Sax"

Oh man, I like this. This is great.

[X] Whisper to Nitori, "What's with the straws?"
[X] "Oh."
[X] Run back inside the shrine.
[X] Cue "Yakety Sax"

[X] Hide behind Nitori.
[X] Close eyes.
[X] Cover ears.
[X] If you can't see or hear them, they aren't there.

Normally, I would vote for something more...Doctor Who-like, but since I saw this in a New Who episode, it'll do.

[x] Whisper to Nitori, "What's with the straws?"
[x] "Oh."
[x] Run back inside the shrine.
[x] Cue "Yakety Sax"

Oh, and in case it's possible:

[x] Insert random Sonic Screwdriver Madness.

[x] Whisper to Nitori, "What's with the straws?"
[x] "Oh."
[x] Run back inside the shrine.
[x] Cue "Yakety Sax"

I hope you enjoy this. I've been really worried about capturing the essence of the write in, so please, enjoy.
---------------

My eyes scan across the crowd. Again with the straws, always with the straws! What on earth could possibly be going on with those straws? They couldn't be used as blow darts, bendy straws would never work like that. At the end of my rope, I whisper to Nitori. "Hey, What's up with all those straws?" Nitori obviously didn't hear me though.

"Eh? Hostage?" Nitori looks around with a blank look on her face. "What are you talking about? I'm not a hostage."

"he's USING MIND CONTROL! EVERYONE! TINFOIL HATS ON!"

In a single, unified movement, every single person surrounding me pulled tinfoil hats out of pouches or backpacks that they were carrying and adjusted them over the various hats that they were wearing. Really, it was quite the disturbing scene to watch.

"HA-HA! NOW YOU CAn't USE YOUR EVIL MIND CONTROL RAYS ON US! WE SHALL DEFEAT YOU VILLIAN!"

"What are you talking about?" Nitori's obviously extremely confused at this point.

"he's THE PSYCHOPATH THAT ATTACKED US EARLIER! GET HIM!" The circle rapidly closes in on me.

"... Oh." I look at the hastily approaching wall of people. "Well, crap." And with that, I dash towards the shrine, breaking through my would be assaulters.

Now I was really wishing that I'd have paid more attention when Sanae lead me through the shrine before. As it was, I was running blind through it. I'd round a corner to find a few stray people here and there causing me to run off in a different direction as they joined in the chase. It felt like I was running in circles. My theory was quickly confirmed as I found myself among the maze of half finished festival booths once again. There was shouting nearby. I couldn't believe how quickly they were catching up to me. A nearby booth provided cover as the mob stormed past. Somewhere they had apparently picked up pitchforks and torches. It was like something out of an old move. The ludicrousness of it all almost made me laugh aloud. Thankfully, I didn't. Giving away my position just because of the crazy situation I found myself in would be the worst idea ever.

The sounds of the mob died away while I listened intently. Well, maybe I'd finally lost them. Crawling over to the edge of the booth, ever so slowly, I peeked out and took a look around. It seemed like they'd finally gone on to some other area. I leaned back, preparing to stand, when someone next to me spoke.

"So... What are we hiding from?"

I almost yelped in surprise. Catching both my balance and my tongue, I whirled to face the speaker. A child with blonde hair, a jumper with frogs on it, and a basket hat with googley eyes finished the ensemble. Was everyone here dressed in some crazy outfit? The girl continued staring me, an excited grin gracing her girlish face.

"Well?" She asked, somewhat impatiently.

"Uh...Err..."The girl's sudden appearance and reaction threw me for a loop. I stumbled back slightly from her.

"THERE HE IS." A cry was raised from nearby as the mob homed in on my position.

"Crap!" I bolted out from behind the stand with out even bothering to answer the small child.

The mob then proceeded to chase me into a nearby building. Rushing down the hallway I reached the end of it and realized that I'd just trapped myself in a dead end. I ducked into a nearby room and hoped that they wouldn't find me here. Outside, several of the doors opened and closed as, I presumed that people went in or out of the rooms. A quick glance out into the hallway revealed that it was now empty. Lucky! I slipped out into the hallway and began to creep towards the exit when one of the nearby doors began to open. Into the nearest door I went. The group moved out of the room they were in and down the hall a little further before going into another room. Hearing the door slide shut, I snuck out of the room I was in again. This kept up for several minutes as I crept closer and closer to the exit. However, My luck decided to give out on me, just before I made it out.

Pandemonium broke loose as I slid open the door to one of the rooms that was being searched. I ran from room to room, the mob hot on my heels. Doors were opening and closing almost faster than I could keep up. At one point, I'd even swear that I was chasing the mob, instead of the mob chasing me. As the chaos grew, and nobody was really sure who was chasing who anymore, I took the opportunity to run towards the exit. As I was about to leave, I cast a glance over my shoulder. Never for as long as I live will I ever forget the things that I saw. There were people running from room to room, as was to be expected, but there were many other things involved that shouldn't have been.

Several people ran from one room to another, chased by a giraffe ducked low to make it through the doorways. At the far end of the hall, a shark swam lazily through the air down the hallway, entering a room near me. A group of four teenagers, two boys and two girls, and a large great dane ran across the hallway as well. I stood there, stock still, in shock and awe. Never before had I seen anything like this. The revelry ended quickly as one of the people realized what was happening and the chase was on again.

Or, it would have been if I hadn't collided, face first, into a mirror. Well, it was more the woman that the mirror was attached to than the mirror itself. The people behind me skidded to a halt as I fell back onto my ass, staring up at this woman with a red shirt and dark blue hair. She seemed to have the most normal fashion sense of any person I'd seen so far.

She also looked quite angry.

"What. Is. Going. On. Here?" Each word was it's own sentence, hissed out between her clenched teeth.

The mob that was chasing me mumbled something.

"Enough. Get out of here and get back to work." The woman commanded.

The mob, now far less angry and looking quite defeated, shuffled past me, their heads hung low.

The woman now turned her full attention to me. She was obviously still angry, and seemed to be giving off some immense pressure from her stare. "You. Come with me."

>Several people ran from one room to another, chased by a giraffe ducked low to make it through the doorways. At the far end of the hall, a shark swam lazily through the air down the hallway, entering a room near me. A group of four teenagers, two boys and two girls, and a large great dane ran across the hallway as well.

FUCKYES.JPG

>>11268
[X] "They started it!"

[X] "They started it!"

[X]"Thanks for getting those people to stop trying to lynch me. What was up with them anyways? All I did was be visible and they started calling me a villan. Do they just not like guys or something?"

[X]"Thanks for getting those people to stop trying to lynch me. What was up with them anyways? All I did was be visible and they started calling me a villain. Do they just not like guys or something?"

[X]"Thanks for getting those people to stop trying to lynch me. What was up with them anyways? All I did was be visible and they started calling me a villain. Do they just not like guys or something?"

>>11276
Oh god, I only now got it.

[x] "Thanks for getting those people to stop trying to lynch me. What was up with them anyways? All I did was be visible and they started calling me a villain. Do they just not like guys or something?"

[X]"Thanks for getting those people to stop trying to lynch me. What was up with them anyways? All I did was be visible and they started calling me a villain. Do they just not like guys or something?"

>>11283

Slowpoke of the Year.

I scrabbled quickly to my feet. Bowing deeply, I voiced my thanks to this woman. "Thank you for getting those people to stop trying to lynch me.."

The woman simply snorts at this.

"What was with those people anyway?" I asked, righting myself. "All I did is show up, which is apparently some horrible crime, and they were out for blood. Do they just not like guys or something?"

Another snort from the woman. "it's not that they don't like men, it's that there's a particular man that they don't like." She turns away from me and takes a few steps forward. "But you would know all about that already, wouldn't you.... RINNOSUKE!" In the blink of an eye the woman jumps at me and twists my ears. "What a horrible disguise you have this time, Rinnosuke! You didn't even try any of your usual tricks! Just dressing up like some outsider and thinking you can waltz right into the temple! HAH! I'll show you!"

"Ow! OW OW! STOP IT!" I slap at this crazy woman. Figures, the most sanely dressed one around here is absolutely nuts. Is there some sort of law that states that the more crazy you dress the less crazy you actually are? Another sharp twist to my ears draws my attention away from my musings. "OW! REALLY! QUIT THIS! I'm NOT this Rinnosuke character!"

"Oh? Really now! Then why can I still sense Rinnosuke in the area, Hm?! Your lies won't trick me! We have ways of dealing with you!" I'm dragged out of the building by my ear. There's no way I could escape from this woman's iron grasp. I simply can't understand how people around here are so strong.

The woman drags me only a short distance, but it seems like it takes an eternity. Moments later, I'm manhandled into a large wooden bowl. A quick glance around revealed it to be a catapult. Rather large one to boot. Panic began to really set in as the woman gave the wheel a few cranks. My attempts to scramble out of the bowl were quickly quashed as the woman forced me back in. I was about to give up all hope when I heard a familiar voice.

"KANAKO! What do you think you're doing?!" Sanae yelled as she ran up.

"Getting rid of Rinnosuke." With that she pulled the lever.

"AYA!" I thought I heard Sanae yell as I was flung into the wild blue yonder. I never really expected it to end like this. Launched out of a catapult on the side of a mountain. Well, at least I'd get a nice view before I went. Looking down I watched the trees below me rush up quickly. This is it. My eyes slowly close. Good bye cruel wo-

A sudden jerk causes my eyes to fly open. Below me treetops whiz by. My ankle is held in a tight grip. Looking up I see that I'm being held by ?Aya?, and she appears to be flying.

"Whew. Second later and Sanae'd have had my head on a plate.? ?Aya? Takes notice of the fact that I'm not staring at her my mouth agape. "You're lucky that she sent the fastest in all Gensokyo to catch you. I doubt any other tengu could have done it." A smirk plays across her face.

"We... We're flying."

"A-yep."

"In the sky."

"That's generally where flying takes place, yes."

"With nothing holding us up."

"Weeeeeeell... Not exactly."

"With nothing obvious holding us up."

"Uh... yeah, I guess?"

"But... but... That can't.... But..."My mind keeps going in circles. This can't be possible, but obviously it is. I blink a few times. Unsure of anything at the moment, my mind simply shuts down.

----

I awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright, and tossing the futon covers to one side in the process. I was there in the dark, an electronic clock proudly proclaiming the time to be a little after 11 pm. Man, that was one crazy dream. Going to where Sanae was? It surely was a dream despite how real it all felt. I mean, It couldn't have been REAL... Could it?

As I sit there, debating this, from somewhere in another room I hear the sounds of an argument.

[X] Alright, something potentially harmful to your Weltanschauung just occurred. Denial is unhealthy, but let's just try to avoid the whole thing altogether for now. In other words, don't think about it.
[X] Focus on this, instead: You found Sanae.

[X] Alright, something potentially harmful to your Weltanschauung just occurred. Denial is unhealthy, but let's just try to avoid the whole thing altogether for now. In other words, don't think about it.
[X] Focus on this, instead: You found Sanae.

[X] Alright, something potentially harmful to your Weltanschauung just occurred. Denial is unhealthy, but let's just try to avoid the whole thing altogether for now. In other words, don't think about it.
[X] Focus on this, instead: You found Sanae.
[X] Try to find the room the voices are coming from.

[X] Alright, something potentially harmful to your worldview just occurred. Denial is unhealthy, but let's just try to avoid the whole thing altogether for now. In other words, don't think about it.
[X] Focus on this, instead: You found Sanae.

[X] Alright, something potentially harmful to your Weltanschauung just occurred. Denial is unhealthy, but let's just try to avoid the whole thing altogether for now. In other words, don't think about it.
[X] Focus on this, instead: You found Sanae.

Oh yeah, this one's getting better and better

[X] Alright, something potentially harmful to your Weltanschauung just occurred. Denial is unhealthy, but let's just try to avoid the whole thing altogether for now. In other words, don't think about it.
[X] Focus on this, instead: You found Sanae.

[d] Alright, something potentially harmful to your Weltanschauung just occurred. Denial is unhealthy, but let's just try to avoid the whole thing altogether for now. In other words, don't think about it.
[a] ...Yet.
[z] But do be prepared to accept some downright weird crap. Somebody's going to be explaining that, somehow, and you don't want to pass out again, do you?
[e] Okay, okay. Focus on this, instead: You found Sanae.

Have you thought of a name for your story?

>>11353
I've had several suggestions, but nothing's really stood out. So, No, I don't really have a name for my story yet. You could feel free to suggest some. If you do, however, please do it in the other thread.

Also, currently writing. I'm hoping to turn out something better than the previous post. I was not at all happy with it. You guys seemed to like it though, so I suppose it's all good.

This story? It's awesome. Very, very awesome. You pulled off that chase scene spectacularly.

This story looks incredibly promising.

Apologies for the delay. It's been a rough couple of days. So, with out further ado, the update.
-------

Alright, alright. Focus. Something strange has happened here. Something VERY strange. I sit on the futon taking a moment to collect my thoughts. Strange looking people, girls who can fly, the impossible strength these women seem to possess, the wings on the girl who saved me... All of this was impossible to believe, but yet, given that I'm obviously not anywhere near home and that it all seemed to have happened... I shake my head. I have no idea if I can even trust my memories. There is one thing though, I may not have a clue as to how I arrived at my current location but, I found Sanae. What that means... I'm still unsure of. I attempt to push such thoughts from my mind. Focusing on it right now isn't going to help anything.

I barely notice as the door to the room slides open. A quick glance to the side reveals that it's the young girl from before.

"Ah. Good to see you're awake now." She slides the door shut silently.

"You!" I all but shout.

The girl just about jumps out of her skin. "Keep it down, would?ja!" I wanted a few minutes to talk to you in private before the whole shrine knew you were up, Kentaro-kun?

What? Who IS this girl? The airs about her belie her childish appearance but... I blink a few times. My mind seems to be stuck over analyzing everything here. But when nothing is as it appears to be... A quick shake clears my head slightly. "I'm sorry, but you have me at a disadvantage, miss...?"

"Moriya." From somewhere unseen Moriya-san pulls a cigarette and lights it.

Ah... That's the same name as the shrine. So, Maybe it's a cousin of Sanae or someone from the branch family...

The girl takes a long draw off of the cigarette before speaking.

"Moriya Suwako. Formerly the Patron Goddess of this shrine. Before Kanako stole it from me that is."

My mind grinds to a halt. Goddess?

"G-Goddess?" I stutter, spitting out the now unfamiliar word.

That can't be, this girl has to be joking. You can't just talk to a goddess! It doesn't work like that...

"Yes. Goddess. I've been around long enough to see you grow up, Kentaro-kun.

There it is again, that accent she puts on the honorific. Like she's purposefully trying to emphasize the difference in our stations.

"Also, I know what Sanae means to you. From the first time your parents dragged you, all but kicking and screaming," She smirks at this, taking another drag, "Not that they had to force you once you had finally reached Junior High..."

This can't be. How does she know so much? I-is she really a goddess like she says? She doesn't look old enough to have been more than three or four when I would have been in Junior High... But if she really is a goddess, as she claims to be...

"I'm dead." My voice sounds as lifeless as I surely must be. It must have been that ?Miracle? bag. Something inside of it must have killed me...

"Hm?" Suwako looks at me quizzically. "What are you on about?"

"I-I must be dead. How else could someone like me casually converse with a Celestial Being...?" It strikes me, then, that if I found Sanae here she must be dead as well... My head falls backwards as I laugh madly at the absurdity of it all. She really WAS dead. All this time I clung desperately to the hope that I could maybe find her again some day. It was all for naught! NAUGHT! I may have finally found her but...

"Oi." Her comment breaks me out of my reverie and I turn to face the approaching Suwako. She stops, barely an arms length awa-

A sudden sharp force applies itself to the back of my head such that I almost go face first into the futon.

"OW! What was that for?!" I instinctively rub the sore spot on the rear of my skull.

"Two things!" Suwako jams two fingers into my face. "One, You were annoying the hell out of me... Ok, so it's three things." She rubs side of her hand." One, You were annoying the hell out of me. Two, you needed to be brought back to reality. Really, thinking like that isn't going to get you anywhere. THIRDLY, you felt that, right? It hurt, didn't it?"

"Yes! It really did hurt!"

Suwako smirks, "Well, If you were dead, You wouldn't have felt it. Would you?"

"That?s... but..."A half formed defense attempts to escape my lips but... She has me there, I suppose. There is something really strange here, and it may have just shattered my weltanschauung but... I'm not sure ?but what? just yet. Someone is going to be explaining it, and explaining it very soon if I have my way. Supposing that Suwako's supposition is right, and I'm not dead, then there's one very important up side to this. I finally found Sanae. Found her alive and kicking despite what anyone else said. That's what I need to focus on.

Suwako chuckles. "Good. Now, are we a bit more calm?"

I nod.

"Alright. Now maybe we can let the rest of the shrine know you're awake now. Unless there's anything else...?" She takes another drag from the cigarette before making it vanish into thin air.

[X] "Where am I?"
[X] "If you were the former patron, then who replaced you? Your sister or something?"
[X] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word?"

[X] "Where am I?"
[X] "If you were the former patron, then who replaced you? Your sister or something?"
[X] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word?"

[X] "Where am I?"
[X] "If you were the former patron, then who replaced you? Your sister or something?"
[X] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word?"
[?] "You said that you know me and my relationship with Sanae... does that mean...???"

Try to ignore the 4th choice... it's bugging me though.

[Q] "Where am I?"
[Q] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word?"

The second question is answered to some degree already.

>Formerly the Patron Goddess of this shrine. Before Kanako stole it from me that is.

[X] "Where am I?"
[X] "If you were the former patron, then who replaced you? Your sister or something?"
[X] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word?"
[X] I'm Sanae's stalker, i must stalk her, tell where she is to continue the stalking

I wonder how I managed to miss this so far.

[X] "Where am I?"
[X] "If you were the former patron, then who replaced you? Your sister or something?"
[X] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word?"

[X] "Where am I?"
[X] "If you were the former patron, then who is Kanako? That large woman that thought I was a 'rinnosuke'?"
[X] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word? There were alot of people worried about her."
[X] "Why would this Rinnosuke want to sneak up here?

[X] "Where am I?"
[X] "If you were the former patron, then who is Kanako? That large woman that thought I was a 'rinnosuke'?"
[X] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word? There were alot of people worried about her."
[X] "Why would this Rinnosuke want to sneak up here?

[z] "Where am I?"
[e] "Why did you and Sanae disappear without a word?"

Important things first.

"Yeah, I had a few quick questions that I wanted to ask you."

"Ok. Shoot."

"Where am I?"

"The spare room."

... What. She can't be serious. I give Suwako a blank stare. "Uh... What?"

"Well," Suwako smirks, "You did ask ?Where am I?" And, well, Here you are? she sweeps her arm in front of her, obviously indicating the room I was in. "The spare room." She nods sagely as she finishes her explanation.

"But... uh... That's not really..."I'm not sure if she's messing with me, or if she's being serious. Could a goddess be stupid? I wouldn't think so but...

"OH! You meant in a more general sense! Well, in that case..."

Suwako takes a step back, spreading her arms wide, before speaking in an overly grandiose tone, "On behalf of all beings on this world, let me be the first to welcome you to our lovely planet - Earth."

I glare at Suwako, who simply scratches the back of her head, laughing slightly. She has to be messing with me. There's no other explanation.

"Heh... Sorry. Too much?" She sighs. "I know what you're getting at, but I also know that I can't really answer that question in the way you want it answered. This place... it IS, well, "somewhere?. Where that is... it's neither here nor there, nor anywhere really. Honestly even I'm not sure where ?here? is myself, so I'm probably not the best person to ask that question of. I'm sure that soon enough one of the idiots'll show up and you can get a better explanation from them." Her face screws up in a look of annoyance.

"Idiots?" My curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, "idiots?. Either the idiot who oversees this place or the idiot who keeps it up."

Well, that was a disappointing answer. "Oh."

"So yeah, again, sorry. Wish I could help you, but I was asleep when we moved the shrine here." Suwako sighs again.

"That reminds me." Her statement reminded me of one of the other questions, "Were you the one who took Sanae away?"

"What? Did I-" Suwako's features darken, and her voice takes on a hint of anger ?No. I most certainly did NOT. This is not at all how I would have dealt with the situation..."her features soften a bit, "Though... I must admit, it did work out far better than my plan to just fade away was working." Yet another sigh escapes her lips as she slumps back against the door. "You know, I don't think I much like talking to you. Getting me all upset like that.."

A roguish grin spreads across her face.

"You're gonna have to make it up to me somehow. But anyways," She waves her hand in an offhand manner, "That would have been Kanako who decided to move the shrine here. Especially with the way-"

The door behind Suwako suddenly slides open. With nothing to support her, she falls backwards into the hallway, looking up at a very surprised Sanae. I guess even goddesses are bound by the laws of gravity.

"Oh. Hey there Sanae. Would have been nice if you could have knocked first, but hey, this is fine too." Suwako chuckles as she stands up.

Sanae covers her mouth in surprise. "Oh my goodness! Suwako, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were in here. I heard talking and thought Koizumi-kun might be awake.."

Sanae glances into the room. I wave back at her.

"Oh! So he is awake! Err, I mean you are awake! it's good to see you. Ah! That you're awake that is. Feeling better after your little ah... trip?" Sanae slides past Suwako into the room. "Nothing's hurt anywhere is it? You don't feel sore or have a headache or anything?"

I laugh at Suwako's fussing. She sounds like my mother. "Yes, yes, I'm fine, I'm fine. Honestly, I'm fine." I thump my chest to show that I'm fine. "All the blood must have rushed to my head or something. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Oh thank goodness. I was worried that you'd hit a tree or that something else had happened to you. Aya may be fast but..."Sanae smiles brightly at me, "In any case, I'm just glad that you're ok."

Sanae is kneeling next to me, fairly close. One of her hands is on the futon. She's close to me. Very close. Awfully close. Terribly close. I can feel my cheeks redden as I glance away from her.

"Hm? Are you sure you're ok? Your cheeks look red. I hope you're not getting a fever." Sanae reaches up to feel my forehead and I turn towards her. Her face is right there, almost in mine, a concerned look on her face. She seems to suddenly become aware of how close we are to one another. I-

"Oh hey Kanako! Don't be shy!" Suwako calls out.

Sanae and I jerk apart.

Looking up, Suwako is pushing a flustered Kanako into the room. She's trying to swat at Suwako rather ineffectively.

"Eh?" Kanako looks between Sanae and myself. "What's going on in here?"

"N-nothing!" Sanae asserts. "Kanako! Don't you have something to say to Koizumi-kun?"

Kanako jerks back as if she had hopped that Sanae had forgotten that. A moment later her hangs her head in despair. "I... I'm s- s- sor..."She grinds her teeth for a moment before speaking again. "I'msorryItriedtolaunchyououtofacatapult. There. I said it." She crosses her arms in defiance. "Happy?"

Sanae laughs. "I'm sure that's the best I'm going to get out of you. Anyways, shall we-"

My stomach growls. That's right I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast. My cheeks redden again, this time in embarrassment over my gastronomic outburst. "Sorry... I haven't eaten all day."

"Well then! We should get you something to eat." Sanae stands up and holds out her hand to help me up. it's warm as I take it, and my blush deepens again. "Ah! Er... Yes, well!" Sanae whips her hand out of mine and turns away. "Let's get you dinner then!"

----

The four of us were soon gathered around the table in the sitting room. Sanae had made what was apparently a ?quick? meal, but it was quite large. I was seated directly opposite Kanako, and Sanae was opposite Suwako. There was some idle conversation going on, mostly from Kanako, Suwako, and Sanae. I mainly sat there, half listening as I ate. Glancing up from my plate, I caught Kanako staring at me. She quickly looked away when our gazes met.

>>11422
Oh, and the patronage questions are tabled, as they'll be shown soon enough. The Rinnosuke question will be dealt with in the next post along with any other choices.

[X] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[X] Compliment Sanae on the meal.

Can't think of anything else to add, so I'll try to see what I can come up with tomorrow.

[X] "...This tastes good."
[X] "..."
[X] "..."
[X] (If you finish eating first, fold your hands in your lap and look at the tablecloth.)

[X] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[X] Compliment Sanae on the meal.
[X] Small talk (I think asking Sanae about that bag back in the real world would be too soon)

This sounds good.

[X] "...This tastes good."
[X] "..."
[X] "..."
[X] (If you finish eating first, fold your hands in your lap and look at the tablecloth.)

>>11425>>11429
stop that

[X] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[X] Compliment Sanae on the meal.
[X] Small talk (I think asking Sanae about that bag back in the real world would be too soon)

[X] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[X] Compliment Sanae on the meal.
[X] Small talk

[X] "...This tastes good."
[X] "..."
[X] "..."
[X] (If you finish eating first, fold your hands in your lap and look at the tablecloth.)

[X] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[X] Compliment Sanae on the meal.
[X] Small talk

[~] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[z] Compliment Sanae on the meal.
[e] Small talk

You know, I think I like this jaded Suwako.

>>11440
This Suwako reminds me of Neko Arc Chaos.

>>11440

Yeah old lady in a loli's body, such a version makes you wonder how Sanae ended up as she did (a very nice, good girl)

[X] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[X] Compliment Sanae on the meal.
[X] Small talk (I think asking Sanae about that bag back in the real world would be too soon)

>>11449

Yes, yes she is.

>>11431

Wait, what? Being quiet and polite is autistic now?

I might have misworded it but it's no cause to imply there's something wrong with Sanae (Sure she might be over enhusastic in UFO, but there's not very many Touhou characters with dispositions as sweet as hers)

In short, she's closer to an ideal Miko than Reimu is (Though Sanae is inferior to Reimu is sheer power and armpit appeal)

[X] "So, um, apology accepted if it wasn't clear." Ahem.
[X] Compliment Sanae on the meal.
[X] Small talk

Let's get some updates.

>>11448
I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult...
>>11449
You also have to remember that Suwako ended up spending most of her pre-gensokyoan time either asleep or sealed into the center of the shrine. So really, Suwako wouldn't have had much of an effect on Sanae before Gensokyo.
>>11469
Updates will be coming sometime in the next... ah, how does it go. Sometime in the next 7 minutes?

I swear. This is the last time I agree to work a triple shift.

>>11482
Its a compliment, I think its refreshing to have her different from her common depictions.

>>11493

Such a depiction makes her stand out from the other Touhou lolis

Though this is a recent trend of having a rather worldly Suwako in stories.

"Um..."I venture, casting sidelong glances at both Sanae and Suwako before continuing, "In case it wasn't clear before, ah... apology accept-"

"Ahahaha!" Sanae suddenly burst out laughing, drowning out the end of my sentence. "Oh Suwako! What a joke!"

Suwako looks confused for a moment. "But I didn't-"

"What." Kanako's gaze-- no, glare--now focused directly on me. The air around me felt like it was pressing down uncomfortably.

"H-he didn't say anything," Sanae turns to face me, desperation beginning to show on her face, "Right Koizumi-kun?" She tries to defuse Kanako's ire but to no avail.

"Of Course the apology was accepted. The very idea that it couldn't have been! You," Kanako's finger now mere centimeters from my face, "Were apologized to by a Goddess!"
I stared in disbelief of this woman. Goddess or no, that arrogance was astounding.

And starting to annoy me.

"Then maybe I won't accept your apology then!" Spite dripping from each word. I turned my head and crossed my arms.

"Koizumi-kun!" The shock is evident in Sanae's voice. "Surely you don't mean that!"

"... No, I-"

"It doesn't matter if you do or not! it's not like I did anything wrong!"

"...You launched me OUT. OF. A. CATAPULT!"

Kanako crosses her arms. "And it's not like you even got hurt."

"I COULD HAVE DIED!" I roar, slamming my fist on the cable in anger. Sanae and Suwako are taken aback by my sudden outburst. My hand is quickly drawn back as I realized that I may be making too much of a scene.

"But you didn't. Aya caught you easily, so no harm, no foul. Besides, it's my shrine. I can do whatever I please here." A head shake followed by a shrug punctuate her words. "The only reason, the ONLY reason I apologized to you was to appease Sanae. The festival is coming up and I need my priestess in high spirits."

"..."Anger seethed inside me. This woman, this Goddess was insufferable. She was reminding me of Sanae's parents in all the worst ways.

"Now, now, everyone needs to just calm down..."

"The kid's right, you know."

Kanako stares in shock at Suwako, who leans back slightly emulating the head shake and shrug Kanako had provided moments earlier. "You did almost kill him, your shrine or not. It was only a happy coincidence and luck that kept him from having his innards providing colour and local flavor to the woods. And, really," Suwako leans forward resting one arm on the table, the other upon her hip, ?your shrine? "cause last I checked it was my shrine."

"You might want to look around then. This is MY shrine now. Has been for quite some time." Kanako settles back with a smug little smirk.

"Yet," ?it's still MY name on the shrine, no?"

"Tch."

"The only reason that it may be yours, for now, is because you stole it. it's even my descendant who is currently your priestess. Not like you ever turned out any descendants of your own~? Suwako counters with a smirk of her own.

A blush rapidly spreads across Kanako's face, she sputters a moment trying to get out a response. "A-and just w-WHAT are you insinuating?!"

"That you can't even make an heir of your own! You have ta. steal mine, just like the shrine. You're nothing more than a goddess of thievery." A look of concentration crosses Suwako's face. "Oh! Hey! Maybe you should make that witch girl your priestess. What?s-her-name... Marisa! That's it. You should have her be your priestess, or become her patron god or something. From what I hear, she's quite the little thief. You could give each other pointers!"

Sputtering with anger, Kanako slams her hands down on the table, driving herself to her feet. "You're QUITE free to challenge me for the ownership of MY shrine. Any time."

Not even waiting for Suwako to respond, Kanako storms out of the room.

"Suwako!" Sanae admonishes, "Why must you always goad Kanako like that?! Are you still so angry about something that happened so long ago?"

"Nah. I really don't care about that. I was just keeping pretty-boy over here," Suwako jerks her thumb in my general direction, "From saying something stupid. He was getting rather upset about Kanako's blatant disregard for his general well-being. Doesn't really know how things are here yet." Suwako pushes herself up from the table. "Anyways, I'm off to bed now. Later?

Suwako strolls out of the room. It looks like Sanae wants to call out after her, but doesn't. Silence passes between the two of us.

"So...um..."I venture with no response from Sanae, "Well... this tastes really good." I bring some of the now cooled food up to my mouth and eat it.

The only reaction from Sanae was to shake her head before brining it to rest cradled in her hands.

I sat there, silently eating the rest of my food, hoping that this wasn't a regular occurrence. When I had finished eating, I folded my hands and placed them neatly in my lap. After a few minutes, Sanae looked up and saw that I had finished eating.

"Oh! I... I'm sorry, Koizumi-kun. I didn't see that you had finished... I'll get one of the kappa to show you to the guest house." Sanae pulled a small device that looked similar to a garage door opener from her sleeve and pressed the button. Moments later the door slid open revealing a tallish man with grey hair and a bowl attached to his head. He slid into the room and positioned himself next to Sanae. As he got closer, I noticed that he was wearing spectacles as well.

"Yes, Priestess- kappa?" he asked around a yellow beak glued to his face.

"Please show Koizumi-kun to the guest house... I'm sorry, I don't believe that I've met you before..."

"Kappa Kappa Mc Kappa, is my name-kappa? He bowed, revealing the garbage can lid tied onto his back.

"Er... riiight. ANYways, please show Koizumi-kun to the guest house."

"Immediately, Priestess!" He bowed again. "Err... -kappa?

Moving to the door, "KK McK? motions for me to follow him. The two of you exit the room and proceed down the hall, and shortly, outside the building. While walking along, "KK McK? leans in close. "I heard," He begins in a quiet gentle voice, "That you made Kanako upset earlier. A most... unwise thing to do." A solemn nod, "Kanako is... very important to me, and I do not like to hear of her being distraught. While Suwako may occasionally incite Kanako's fury, there is little I can do against a Goddess. You, on the other hand, I can do something about. Understand?" His unnerving smile peeks out from under the beak glued to his face. "And here's the guest house. Remember what we discussed!"

The strange man who just... uh... possibly threatened me quickly disappears, leaving me alone at the guest house.

So, Rinnosuke's taking disguise pointers from Team Rocket now? That's what it reminds me of.

Uhh? Is this a point where we're supposed to vote? If so:
[x] Well? What are you waiting for, go check inside already!

Voting time? Then...
[x] Well? What are you waiting for, go check inside already!
[?] After checking, try to find Sanae. You still want to talk to her after a very long time.

OR

[?] You need to calm down at least a bit. Reflect on the things that just happened.

> The two of you exit the room and proceed down the hall, and shortly, outside the building

Sorry, but I felt like I had to point out the switch in perspective.

Otherwise, nice update. Very unexpected, really...


[x] Well? What are you waiting for, go check inside already!
[X] After checking, try to find Sanae. You still want to talk to her after a very long time.

[x] Well? What are you waiting for, go check inside already!
[x] "Kappa McKappa? No one- Damn it, That was Rinnosuke! Gotta tell Kanako (and maybe mend things over)"

[x] Well? What are you waiting for, go check inside already!
[?] After checking, try to find Sanae. You still want to talk to her after a very long time.

OR

[?] You need to calm down at least a bit. Reflect on the things that just happened.

AND

[x] Realize aposteri that had you simply smiled roguishly and winked at Kanako, things would have turned out better.

She's a tsundora, guys.

[x] Well? What are you waiting for, go check inside already!
[X] After checking, try to find Sanae. You still want to talk to her after a very long time.

And I was thinking,

[?]Since we exchanged some pretty harsh words with Kanako earlier maybe we should go mend things out with her.

Very nice story, but I guess the author got lost in the transition... ;_;

>>11620

I wouldn't nay say like that since many writers are finding their way back here.

No, I did make it over, however my muse did not. Various other circumstances have affected me as well. Namely, My grandfather is dying of kidney failure. While I wasn't particularly close with him, he's one of my last remaining grandparents. Hopefully I should be able to pound something out by the end of next week.

Please wait warmly.

>>11648

Damn that must really suck. I hope your grandfather gets better. Take your time and take care man...

anon >>11620 here.

>>11648
Well, shit. I'm just an ass. Please do take your time, and take it easy. Hopefully, everything will be fine.

Don't mind it. I hadn't put anything up and since I dont use a name or a trip, it's easy to think that I might not have made it. I suppose I should get one in the near future.

Wow, reading back over my last post, I'm a twit. I realize that I forgot to copy over the last two paragraphs that I had written. Now the odd votes make much more sense. Enclosed are the final two paragraphs that I missed. You can vote again, if you like, otherwise I'll just go ahead with the votes that have already been placed in a day or so.
------------------------------------------------
Thus began my strange days living at the Shrine.

-----

The next morning, sunlight streaming in through the high windows of the guest house, brought yet another moment of disorientation. After a few moments to re-orient myself. I looked around the smallish guest house. Sparsely furnished, with little more than the futon that I had slept on and a few unopened boxes. It was likely that they used this place as overflow storage of some kind. Oh, and there was an umbrella in one corner too. A bit odd that it was sitting there by itself, but no more odd than anything else I'd seen so far.

>>11667
[x] Poke the umbrella.
Kogasa~

[x] Poke the umbrella.

[x] Ignore the umbrella.
[x] Take it easy.

[X]Prod the umbrella

THERE'S A DIFFERENCE

>>11667
[X] Nudge the umbrella

[?]HugProd the umbrella.
[?]Take it easy.

[x] Examine UMBRELLA
[x] Add UMBRELLA to inventory

[x] Examine UMBRELLA
[x] Prod the umbrella.
[x] Add UMBRELLA to inventory
[x] Take it easy.

Combo~

[??] Prod the umbrella.

My grandfather passed away this evening. Not sure on the time, exactly, as I wasn't able to be there. As an unfortunate casualty of this, the story is giong to be put on indefinate hiatus as I'm unsure as to when I'll be able to continue working on this. It was already hard to try and write something light and cheerful with my grandfather ill, and I. I don't know when I'll be able to work on this again. Apologies to all who enjoyed the work so far.

>>11745
no problem, take as much time as you need

That umbrella. Something about it was just off... but that would have to wait, as there was a far more pressing concern demanding my attention at the moment. A few moments of frantic searching later revealed the small attached bathroom. Thank god. I was afraid that I'd have to go find some outhouse, and with the amount of attention I was paying it was unlikely that I would have found it in time.

My morning business complete, I was now free to focus all my attention on the umbrella. Seemingly normal, I was still wary of it. Who knows what anything is here, really. So I felt that my caution was quite justified. There was some sort of a legend with abandoned umbrellas, but I couldn't quite recall it. Never did pay too much attention to the legends of youkai and the like...

This, however, appeared to be nothing more than a normal umbrella. For, when I gently poked the umbrella it fell to the ground. None the less, I jumped back in shock and my head whipped around quickly, making sure that nothing was going to jump out and grab me. Good, good. I grasped the umbrella in my hands gingerly, having retrieved it from the floor. It seemed to have a purple cover over it, but the umbrella itself was white. Opening it up revealed that it was a plain white umbrella with several little pictures of Kero-chan on it. I smiled. Sanae had always loved frogs, even still in Jr. High. She was always wearing that frog hairpin too.

A loud knock on the door interrupted my reminiscing, however. I quickly closed the umbrella, vaguely remembering some old superstition that opening an umbrella indoors was bad luck...

"Hey! Anyone in there?" The loud knocking again.

That voice sounded familiar, but in the confusion of the previous day, I couldn't quite place it. I slid open the door, umbrella still in hand to a rather smallish fist now knocking on my chest. It was that girl with the blue dress and green hat from yesterday. What was her name... Neet? I vaguely remembered something about carpets...

The girl looked up from the small book she had been looking at when she realized that she was hitting something other than the wood of the doorframe. As she realized that she was rapping upon my chest she whipped her hand back, a flush spreading across her cheeks.

"Err... ah... Ni-Nitori is sorry..."She seemed a little flustered. Shaking her head, she tries again. "Err.. I mean, I'm sorry!" she fidgeted a moment, "Ah! That's right! I'm here to get you. The priestess asked that I bring you to the dining room for breakfast, even though breakfast was over several hours ago. Though I suppose the first meal of the day is breakfast but now it'd really be more of a brunch... Strange word that. Brunch? Is it a combination of breakfast and Lunch? I've never been able to figure it out. And why does it even exist? I mean, you needed a name for a mid-morning meal that wasn't breakfast and wasn't lunch, but why not give it a more interesting name than just jamming two others together?"

She seemed to honestly be pondering this. "Uh... Weren't you supposed to be taking me to Sanae?"

The girl looked at me quizzically, I could still see the gears turning. Does her mind ever shut off? That would drive me nuts!

"Oh. OH! Right, right! Right this way!" The girl jumped down off of the small porch surrounding the guest house, making a display of it and trots a few steps away before turning to see if I was following. I slid the door shut behind me and walked down the short set of steps to the ground. Satisfied that I was following her, Nitori took off ahead of me.

-------------

"Hey, Sanae! Look what I found!" I twirled the umbrella behind me as I entered the room before moving it around for her to see. If it hadn't been between her and myself, I could have seen the look of shock that crawled onto her face.

"No, no, no, no, no, not that umbrella. It can't be that umbrella. I thought I told the kappa to throw it away!" Sanae flailed at the umbrella for a moment. "Quick! Quick! Put it down, we have to hide it! Hurry! Hurry!" The anxiety heavy in Sanae's voice.

I fumble with it for a moment, trying to comply with Sanae's frenetic demands. Succeeding in the task, she all but rips the umbrella out of my hands.

"Good good, now we have to get rid of it some..."

"G?rid of what?" a bleary eyed Suwako wanders into the room. Sanae freezes. Her back is to Suwako, so it'd be impossible for the small goddess to see what Sanae has in her hands... if normal laws of line of sight even apply to goddesses.

"N-Nothing!" Sanae whips around to face the groggy goddess. "Ah! I've to.... I have to... go check on the shrine grounds! I'll be back in for breakfast!" With that, Sanae rushes past Suwako, presumably out onto the shrine grounds.

The sleepy spirit stares slowly out the sliding door after her successor succinct style of slipping away.

"Wh?z tha all ?bout?" Suwako mutters to herself more than anyone while wandering into the kitchen.

I simply stood there in shock, wondering what had just happened.

Suwako wandered out of the kitchen, munching on a bowl of cereal. "Wh?z up with you?" She seemed to be waking up more now.

>>11879

FFFFFFFFFffffffff

Welcome back, hope you're doing well~!

Sooo...

This a choice point, or what?

Ah, yes, indeed it is. I'm sorry if that wasn't exactly clear, I seem to be stopping on bad notes lately. I could continue on fromt his point if there's a general consensus to do so, of if you'd like to vote, I can do either.

>>11883
I'll bite

[x]"Oh nothing really, just got called up for 'brunch' I believe. Hey Suwako, has the storm calmed down so to speak?"

Considering what happened the previous night, eh he may want to stay away from Kanako for a bit longer unless she's calmed down enough to be tolerable.

He could just rat out Rinnosuke to Kanako to get on her better side, but first make sure you have him spotted of course.

>>11886

I think we did spot him (What kind of kappa uses "McKappa" as a last name?) Our lead can't be that stupid.


[x]"Oh nothing really, just got called up for 'brunch' I believe. Hey Suwako, has the storm calmed down so to speak?"
[x]"May I ask why she's so upset about that umbrella?"

This may hint at the point where Kogasa comes into being...

>>11887

Better yet how the fuck did he pass off as a kappa and fool everyone else? Probably more to the costume than simply being aesthetically fitting look of a kappa.

[x]"Oh nothing really, just got called up for 'brunch' I believe. Hey Suwako, has the storm calmed down so to speak?"

>>11883
Hmm, I think I wouldn't mind continuation, this just doesn't seem like a place for a vote. Btw, you should probably add "[] Write-in." or something at these places to make it clear you want a vote.

>>11888

But I doubt he gave anyone else that VERY fake name. (The Kappa and the Shrine folks would know better.)

[x]"Oh nothing really, just got called up for 'brunch' I believe. Hey Suwako, has the storm calmed down so to speak?"
[x]"May I ask why she's so upset about that umbrella?"

[x]"Oh nothing really, just got called up for 'brunch' I believe. Hey Suwako, has the storm calmed down so to speak?"
[x]"May I ask why she's so upset about that umbrella?"

Good to see you again man. Life treating you well?

[x]"Oh nothing really, just got called up for 'brunch' I believe. Hey Suwako, has the storm calmed down so to speak?"
[x]"One more thing then I'll stop bothering you, have you seen any surprisingly tall kappas"

inb4 it turns out Rinnosuke was inspired by the 1957 film 'Man of a Thousand Faces' to stalk Kanako. Yeah I'm pushing the thought of Sanae being something of a movie buff.Or at least he managed to find the film and watch it at his shop by chance

>>11895
Yoink!

Writing will commence upon the morrow, but I doubt I'll be able to upload it then. Updates hopefuly on Friday at the latest.

Still in shock from Sanae's hasty departure, it takes me a moment to formulate a response. In the meantime Suwako had found herself a seat at the table and was munching away happily at her breakfast.

"I was uh..."My mind still not quite focused on answering the question, "apparently called up for ?brunch?.? I replied, still staring at the door. She seems to be a much different person than I knew those scant few years ago.

? ?m sure thaz all t?was." Suwako, despite the fact that she's obviously still half awake, comes off sounding knowing. She giggles a moment later.

I never knew Goddesses got tired, much less slept. Or ate for that matter. My head shakes back and forth as I take a seat opposite of Suwako, who had started humming to herself while eating.

"Oh, K?ntr?o-k?n, Mind scootin over? I w?nna watch TV." Suwako picks up the remote and flips on the TV. A girl in a strange looking suit comes onto the TV and starts talking about ?various affairs on the mountain?. Not that I really have any idea what that's all about. Speaking of things that I have no idea what they're about...

"So, Can I ask you a question?" I scooted around the table a bit to be sitting off to Suwako's right.

"Shoot.."

"Why was Sanae so upset about that um--"

The door to the room flies open before I have a chance to finish asking the question. Sanae strides back in, seeming much more calm than when she left. Suwako and I just sit there and stare as she does so.

"So uh... What was that all ab--"

"I'm sorry, have you eaten yet, Koizumi-kun? I sent Nitori to get you quite some time ago, but she usually gets sidetracked. Give me a moment and I'll prepare something." Sanae smiled brightly as she walked into the attached kitchen and put on an apron.

Artfully dodged.

"O-ok..."I didn't? seem to have much choice at the moment anyway.

Glancing over at Suwako, I'd swear that there was an intense look of concentration on her face, but after I blinked, it was just the same sleepy face with the silly little grin plastered on it.

------

The meal was nothing fancy, some steamed rice, a bowl of miso soup, a nice sized grilled fish, and a small block of fried tofu in some sort of broth. The only difference between my meal and what Sanae had made for herself was that she had some natto with it. "If I remember, You don't like natto, right Koizumi-kun?" She had asked half way through preparing the meal. Her memory never ceases to amaze me, given that I had never gotten used to the taste of natto.

"So, what was with that um- OW." Suwako kicks me under the table before I have a chance to finish.

"That what, Koizumi-kun?"

Suwako gives me a quick ?shut up? look, which seems to go completely unnoticed by Sanae, as I rub my shin.

"That, um... really tall kappa last night... what was his name..."I knew he had given it to Sanae, but for some reason I couldn't remember it.

Sanae turns her head to one side, giving me a quizzical look. "Tall kappa..."Oh, you mean the one who showed you to the guest house last night? What about him? I didn't think him particularly tall..."

"Didn't he look, you know, a little... odd?"

"Odd? How so?"

She couldn't see? I mean he was... Why did I think he was odd again? "I'm... not sure. I was thinking that he was odd looking, but now I can't put my finger on why..."

A pair of worried stares.

"Are you sure you're feeling ok?" Sanae puts down her dish.

"Yeah. I must have just been tired last night... I'm sorry. Really didn't mean to worry you."

Both look unconvinced but drop the matter.

"Oh, that's right. I need to get back to the shrine grounds. Aya'll be in here soon enough if I don't get back out there." Sanae pushed herself up from the table, picking up her dishes. "Are you done, Koizumi-kun?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," I lift up my tray and hand it to her, "Thank you. It was delicious."

Sanae simply smiles and takes everything into the kitchen. While she's in the kitchen, Suwako nudges me under the table and leans in close.

"Oi, I wanna talk to you later. If you can't find me, ask one of the kappa or the tengu. They should be able to take you to me." Suwako pushes herself up from the table but then stops, "Oh, and you might want to avoid Kanako, she's still in somewhat of a bad mood." she then takes her dishes into the kitchen.

"Oh, don't worry about the dishes, Sanae, I'll take care of them."

"Thank you, Suwako." Sanae emerges from the kitchen, brushing off her skirt. She looks over at me and nods before she heads out of the room.

Suwako is singing in the kitchen.

--------
[ ] choice

[x] See if you could talk to Sanae some while avoiding Kanako
[x] Meanwhile wonder how that 'kappa' could fool so many people.

>>11924
[X] Check out the preparations for the festival; see if you can help out somewhere.

[X] Check out the preparations for the festival; see if you can help out somewhere. Interact with the others without causing a riot.

Kanako will more likely keep an tighter leash on Sanae for now so any quick attempts to talk to her except by chance would probably have her spring into action.

If Rinnosuke's smart or wily, chances are he would have dropped the kappa disguise by now, or at least keep it useful elsewhere.

[X] Check out the preparations for the festival; see if you can help out somewhere. Interact with the others without causing a riot.

[x] Check out the preparations for the festival; see if you can help out somewhere. Interact with the others without causing a riot.

[x] Check out the preparations for the festival; see if you can help out somewhere. Interact with the others without causing a riot.

Ergh. Sorry for delays. Doctor's changed my protocol again, and it messes me up every time he does that. Writing now, and I'll hopefully have something up in the next 12 hours a most.

>>12033

No worries. If you've got health issues to tend to, take your time and see to that you tend to them properly. We can wait ^^.

(it took a little bit longer than planned, but here it is. enjoy)
--------------------

Suwako was still busy in the kitchen so I thought it best to not bother her right now. The remote found its way into my hand and I flipped idly through the channels. Tengu news, Kappa science shows, Tengu daytime dramas, some sort of ?home shopping network?, several animated shows... This was all so... normal. Just like when I had bothered to watch TV at home. Almost impossible to believe that these people were anything other than what they appeared to be, people. And it was almost exactly the same as it was back home in that it's completely uninteresting to me. The original channel resumes occupancy on the TV screen as I put the remote down.

I look around the room, wondering what I should do. I mean, most days I'd either be at work or I'd be out trying to hunt down leads on Sanae, but now that I've found her... I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. Speaking of work, I wonder who's going to end up covering my shifts at work, given my impromptu vacation. My hands pat my lap a couple of more times before I finally stand up. No sense just milling about in here.

The shrine grounds are a flurry of activity as I exit the shrine. I wouldn't even begin to know where to start doing anything, and I have no desire to get in the way. Really, the only option seems to be to look for someone that I knew and have them direct me to somewhere to help. Failing that, I decided to walk around and see if there was anywhere I could readily help. As I walked over towards the booths, the kappa eyed me warily but didn't run off right away. They whispered amongst one another then resumed work like I wasn't even there. Well, that's nice, at least.

I don't want to bother them so I keep walking. Oh look, there's Sanae. I'm about to head over to her when Kanako walks up to Sanae, obviously upset about something. Well, so much for that idea. Moving post haste in the opposite direction from where they were seemed to be the best course of action.

Even after wandering around for quite a while, I didn't see anyone else that I knew, nor anyone that I felt I could bother with out causing a riot. After the mess yesterday, I wasn't in any big hurry to start another riot. Collapsing onto the top step I sigh deeply. I just had no idea what to do with myself.

"RUN!."

I jerked my head up. Oh crap, Had I scared some of the kappa again? I looked around quickly, and while none of the kappa were actually running, they were listening intently.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFES! THE HARBINGER OF DOOM! DEATH! DESTROYER OF WORLDS COMETH! FLEE, FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!"

A teenage-looking girl comes charging up the steps. Quite a feat in that long black skirt, her short cut white hair bobbing to each step and... are those... dog ears? I shake my head and look again, as the girl's nearly on top of me.

"Flee! If you value your life uninjured, flee! She's coming!" The girl runs off shouting as loud as she can. "Miss Aya! Miss Sanae! Where are you?!"

The kappa, upon hearing this dire warning, quickly gather their tools and move into the shrine in a far more orderly fashion than when I had appeared. Bizarre. Wait, wait, What am I doing? If something that horrible is really coming, why am I just sitting here like nothing's going to happen? I scramble to my feet and make a dash towards the shrine. I make it barely more than a few steps before someone else behind me calls out.

"Oi. Boy. Where's Sanae? I reckon that I should holler at her first."

I turn around and see nobody behind me. Where was that voice coming--

"Oi. Up here, ya damned twit." A-above?

I look up to be greeted by the sight of a Miko. Traditional red hakama and the white haori. The only difference from a normal miko is that... she's flying. In the air. Nothing is holding her up. She's really flying. Or well, is descending now. And standing in front of me. All the while I'm standing there like some sort of slack jawed idiot.

"Whatchyall starin? at? Never seen the Hakurei Shrine maiden affore?" The girl looks rather annoyed.

"Uh..? I stutter for a response.

"Well? Whatcher problem, boy?" The girl has now crossed her arms and is tapping her foot in a rather frustrated fashion.

-----
[ ] action/choice/response

[x] "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Bluffing hard.

>>12038
>We can wait ^^.
And we'll be waiting without ever using smilies here, because that is not how we roll at THP.

Please remember this.

[x] "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm new in the area and I must say you must have an amazing way with people"

[x] "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm new in the area and I must say you must have an amazing way with people"

[x] "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm new in the area and I must say you must have an amazing way with people"

[x] "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm new in the area and I must say you must have an amazing way with people"

[x] "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm new in the area and I must say you must have an amazing way with people"

[x] "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm new in the area and I must say you must have an amazing way with people"

floor her with sarcasm!

Shaking my head, I quickly regain my composure. "My apologies, miss." I bow relatively deeply, as this girl seems to feel that she's someone important around her and for all I know, she could be... So, bluff, bluff, bluff my way through this~

"Good afternoon! I must say, it's a pleasure to meet you." I stand upright from my deep bow. She seems rather shocked by my sudden change in attitude. "I'm new around here and I'm not quite used to all of the... local customs. But, really, I must say, You have quite the way with people." In my mind I remember how panicked that white haired girl looked.

"Aw shucks," A flush spreads across the girl's cheeks. She quickly clamps her hands over her cheeks and rocks back and forth ?Ain't you just the li?l charmer! Makin me blush like that, boy."

Wait, she thought I was serious? How naive is this girl? "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you where Sanae is right now, but I believe someone already was calling for her just a moment ago."

"Oh. Huh." The girl seems slightly disappointed. "Oh, lookee here she comes?

I turn around to see Sanae, Kanako, and Suwako all walking towards the pair of us, in a quite determined fashion. The Goddesses stop just behind me while Sanae strides right up to the Miko.

"And what, Great Hakurei Maiden, do we owe the pleasure of your most magnanimous presence?" Sanae curtsies to Hakurei-san.

"Eh? Magma? Whatcha on about?"

Sanae sighs and rubs her temple. "What do you want, Reimu?"

"Oh. Why didn?cha say that in the first place? I'm just here ta chek up on ya." Reimu nods sagely before starting to walk towards the shrine.

"Um... Reimu, what are you doing?" Sanae looks quite defeated.

"Well, I reckon that I came all this way, so the least ya could do is offer me some tea, no?" A brazen girl indeed. With her arms behind her head and a smile that broad, she seems to have come here only to force out some hospitality. "Oh, and by the way, y?all might want to get some better guards." With out waiting for a response, Reimu continues into the shrine.

"That girl, I swear." Sanae shakes her head before chasing after Reimu.

Kanako and Suwako look at one another.

"Guards?" Suwako looks quizzically at Kanako, "We have guar-"

"Oh my, such misfortune!" A new voice calls from behind. The three of us turn to look at the new girl who's approaching.

"Hina! What happened?!" Kanako calls out to the girl. Gothic Lolita dress, ribbons everywhere and green hair. And I thought fashion at home was bizarre. This new girl, who was flying just like everyone else around here seems to be able to do, is carrying two other girls with her. They look like sisters, one in a plain one piece dress which seems to go from red to orange to yellow, with a leaf ornament in her hair, on Hina's back, the other one carried in Hina's arms. Again a simple one piece dress, but with a shirt under it and a frilly cap with grapes on it. Both were unconscious, both seemed to have been severely beaten.

"Such a horrible misfortune," Hina says sadly, "They were minding their own business when they got ambushed by that woman. If only I had been closer, mayhap I could have saved them from this misfortune..."

Kanako presses her hand against her face and rubs her temples. "Take them over to the side building. I'll get the kappa to prepare their rooms again."

"W-what on earth happened to those girls!?" it's quite shocking that they don't seem to really be more worried about the girls, despite their injuries.

"Don't worry so much, Kentaro-kun~? Suwako pats my arm, "they're Goddesses. Give?em a bit and they'll be right as rain."

"More goddesses? How many are there on this mountain?!" The number of deities here was starting to get quite ridiculous.

"Eh, besides Kana-chan and me, There's Hina, she's a goddess of misfortune, and the Aki sisters, they're goddesses of harvest. Then there's Aya, but that's more of a title, as far as I can tell."

"Right." I shake my head while Kanako heads off with Hina, having taken one of the Akis from her.

"Well c'mon, Kentaro-kun~ Let's go see how Reimu's annoying Sanae today~? Suwako skips off towards the shrine, leaving me standing there alone. I'm not sure if I want to deal with that ?Reimu? again today.

--------------

"... You know, we don't care if you show up. So you don't have to beat up every single last Youkai and God you see on your way up." Sanae walked back into the room carrying a tray with a teapot, several cups, and a box of crackers.

"But it's more fun this way!" Reimu rubbed her nose, grinning. She snatched up several of the crackers and shoved them all into her mouth at once.

"Yes, yes, Reimu, We're all aware of your psychopathic tendencies."

Reimu tilted her head to one side, a very confused look on her face, "Mah whaf nao?" Her mouth still full of crackers.

"... Your love of beating up things that have done nothing wrong."

Reimu swallows loudly. "Eh, I reckon since they tried to do a number on me the last time I came here, why not get the drop on ?em now."

Staring at this girl was all the response anyone could muster. Reimu grabbed the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea before grabbing more of the crackers.

"Right." Sanae sighed. "So, would you care to enlighten the boorish masses as to what your intentions are coming up here this time?

"Eh? The bearish marshes? What're those?"

I lean over to Suwako and whisper to her, "Boorish masses? Does she mean us?"

Suwako stifles a giggle.

"What do you want Reimu." Sanae's patience seems to be nearing its end.

"Ohhhhhh... why didncha jus say so? Anyhoo, Somethin smashed through the barrier ah... a coupla days ago or somethin. Reckoned it might have been one?a y?all starting another 'incident'. So I figured ?what the hey? I'll go check it out." Reimu sniffs at the air. "Oooo... something smells good. What'cha havin' fer dinner?"

"Eh? Smashed through the barrier?" Suwako casts a sidelong glance at me, "What do you mean by that? I didn't think that anything could easily do that, other than..."

"Yep. Not much can punch through that, best I know. Got Yukari's panties all in a knot. Hole closed up right afterwards, but she still don't like it. Ain't like her to be so pissy over somethin like this. Figured I'd ask around. Like I said, reckoned y?all might be in on it. Given y?all like to cause trouble ?round here."

"And this after I went out and helped you with that treasure ship."

"Yeah, y?all helped another temple pop up. From what I hear, y?all helped them build that damn thing. Just what I need, more folk stealin my faith."

"Well, we didn't have anything to do with it, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Well, I reckon I should at least poke around a bit?n see what I can see.~?

"Fine, fine. Just don't interfere with the festival preparations."

"Well, I dunno if I can do that, Might be hidin somethin there, ya?kno?"

Sanae closed her eyes. "Look, you don't mess with the festival preparations, and we'll let you stay for dinner."

Reimu's eyes opened wide, and she was drooling a little bit. "Y?all mean that!" WOO HOO!" She literally jumped for joy. "Two meals in two days. I'm damn lucky this week!" With that, she tore out of the room, calling behind her, "Dun ferget to call me fer dinner!"

Suwako chuckled slightly and took a sip of tea. "So energetic, that girl."

Sanae slumped down next to the table and laid her head on it.

"Well, that was certainly.... interesting. I don't believe I've ever met someone quite like her..."I had somehow remained silent through the whole exchange. "You ok over there Kochiya-san?"

"Mn." Is all she manages.

Suwako sets down her teacup. "I would suggest that all the eves droppers get back to work. The show's over." She calls out loudly. The sound of people scrambling to get away from the various places they were hiding came from all directions. It seemed that the Kappa were really quite interested in whatever Reimu had to say.

"Really. Those children are such a hand full." Suwako laughs quietly.

-----
(More coming in a bit, this part just got REALLY long with out me expecting it to be quite this long.)

Ah I can see where things are going.

-Sanae somehow managed to take lead across the border in a crude fashion, making a mess.

-This doesn't escape Reimu or Yukari's attention. (Yukari must be jealous at someone else pulling someone one into Gensokyo)

-Reimu is rather stereotypical (though she sounds like Marisa with her less than perfect 'japanaese')

Country Bumpkin Rural Reimu?

An interesting take on her.

This Reimu is fun. It's an interesting interpretation of her "blunt and unconcerned" sort of persona.

Sorry for taking so long, I really thought this portion was going to be quite a bit longer.
===========================================

"So," I turned to face Suwako, "What was all that about a border, and smashing through it?" Thinking back, it did sound really bizarre. "What was she talking about?"

Suwako pulled down the brim of her hat. "Mn... well, see, that kinda ties into the ?where am I? question you asked the other night. Reimu there, she might be able to explain it better than I could, but the other idiot would probably be best. If only because she set the whole thing up herself..."Suwako pauses for a moment.

Sanae, rousing from her debilitating mental exhaustion, looks quizzically at Suwako. "Explain? Ah... that's right, Koizumi-kun doesn't know where he's at, does he? Did you even tell him where we're at is called?"

"He was kind of a bit distraught at that point, I didn't think it wise to really burden him with what little I knew at that point."

"Mmm." Sanae gives Suwako a hard stare. "I suppose that's for the best. Though, he's going to keep asking until he gets an answer of some variety, you know. Even if it's not the best one that can be mustered, we should probably tell him. Or," She turns to face me now, "If you think you can handle it, you could go ask Reimu herself."

"That might not be the best idea either, y?know? She's looking for ?what caused the disturbance.?" Suwako jerks her head in my direction.

"What?" A confused look is plastered on Sanae's face. "I don't ge-- Oh. OH. Right. But that would mean that she'd have to make the connection between the two. I really don't think she would."

"Um... Excuse me, what are the two of you going on about?" This whole conversation is quickly going far over my head.

"That girl's sharper than you give her credit for, Sanae-chan. You shouldn't underestimate her. She may not have the blood of the Gods flowing in her veins like you do, but the holy blood she holds, diluted as it may be, still confers quite a bit of power."

"I really don't see it. She seems little more than some miko from the sticks. Yes, yes, I saw her go toe to toe with Byakuren and her followers, but still..."A deep sigh escapes her lips. "It was almost like she was another person."

"And that's why you can't underestimate her."

"Excuse me? Kochiya-san, Moriya-sama? What on earth are the two of you talking about?"

The pair turn to face me, confused looks on their faces.

"Kentaro-kun? What... oh. OH. I'm sorry!" A light flush spreads across Sanae's cheeks. "I almost forgot you were here. Ah well, see, There was this ?incident? with a flying treasure ship... well, it turned out that it wasn't a treasure ship, but I didn't know that when we set out and..."

"Ahem." Suwako cleared her throat. "I do believe you're getting ahead of yourself there, Sanae. Kentaro really doesn't understand how things work here, so we need to decide. Should we be the ones to tell him this, should we get Reimu to give him the ?introduction?, or just wait for her to show up. If Reimu's here, you know she's not going to be too far behind."

"Oh, oh, right, right. You're right as usual, Suwako." The flush on Sanae's cheeks darkens. "Well, maybe we should let Koizumi-kun decide?"

=========
Who do you want to explain?
[ ] Sanae & Suwako
[ ] Reimu
[ ] Wait for an explanation

Or, ignore the choices presented there and go nuts with a write in. I won't mind. (Also, I'm taking suggestions for a name for this story. We may have 100~ish posts to go before it reaches auto-sage, but it's become difficult to converse with others about my story with out it having a name)

[x] Sanae & Suwako

Figured that folks he knows some explaining it would be best at first.

Mind if I ask what the general flow of the story will be, since the story name I thought up of would be

Fated Reunion and Curious days

Sure not the greatest idea, but one that can be refined.

Name it "The Sanae Story in Youkai"

TSSiY.

[x] Sanae & Suwako

[?] Wait for an explanation.

Will Yukari ever bother explaining this in any satisfying detail? Well, I guess only time will tell.

Can't come up with a title, atm, as I'm usually not very witty. It doesn't help that Shakespeare is messin with my brain, either.

[x] Sanae & Suwako
[x] Mostly Sanae

[x] Sanae & Suwako

[x] Sanae & Suwako

>>12089
[X] Reimu

This Reimu needs more excuses to talk.

[x] Sanae & Suwako
If only to get the readers digest version of what the hell the place is. Then we can pull the "kinda new here, mind giving me a bit info on the way things work?" from
[x] Reimu

[x] Reimu

>>11163
I've been saving it as The Search for Sanae

[x] Sanae & Suwako

"Well, I think it would probably be best if the two of you explained it to me. It may not be the best explanation, as you've said, but having something to go on is better than nothing. Besides, it may keep me from slipping up in front of one of these other two that you mentioned." I nod sagely. Best to get it from a familiar source before going to the unknown. What was that saying, "the devil you know over the devil you don't?" Not that I consider either of them devils, to be certain, it just seems applicable in this situation.

Sanae suddenly perks up. "Ah! Excellent Koizumi-kun! Suwako, come with me, we have to do this right! Koizumi-kun, wait here a minute, ok?"

With out even waiting for a reply, Sanae grabs Suwako and drags her out of the room. Several minutes pass and Sanae walks back into the room, wearing green overalls, a blue and green horizontally striped shirt and a green cap with an L emblazoned on the front. She smiles brightly and gives me the V sign.

"Um... Sanae, d-do we really have to do it like this...?" Suwako's still out in the hallway for some reason.

"Yes! Of course we do! It'll be fun! Come on Suwako. Please? Do it for me?"

"A-all right... Th-this is only for your benefit." Suwako shuffles into the room. The outfit... No the costume she's wearing is... it's a giant frog suit. It looks like the one from one of those old Mario games. Her face is red as a tomato and she's standing there, fidgeting, trying to look at the ground. A feat made quite impossible by the design of the costume.

"Priestess, we have the fence, where do you want us to put it?" Two girls walk into the room carrying a small length of picket fence.

"Over by the kitchen door, please. Thank you for brining it so quickly. I never thought we'd actually get to do this! Come on Suwako! Places~"

Well. This is certainly turning out to be... interesting. If nothing else, it should at least be entertaining.

?3!"

?2!"

?1!"

Several confetti poppers go off, releasing streamers and confetti all over the place.

"WAI~!" Sanae calls out and jumps over from the side landing in front of the fence.

"Hello! I'm Sanae-oneesama!"

"D-do I really have to do this Sanae?" Suwako looks about ready to die of embarrassment.

"Of course! Now hurry up, you've already missed your cue!"

Crestfallen, Suwako takes her position behind the fence. "A-and I'm Su-Suwako-kero."

"And we're going to explain all about Gensokyo!" A bright smile from Sanae, and another V sign. Sanae couldn't be more energetic if she tried.

The two kappa who had earlier set off the confetti poppers quickly clean up the mess. That complete, another one sets up a stand next to Sanae and places a large picture upon it.

"Now, As you can see from this picture," Sanae points to the picture on the stand. It appears to be some sort of a disc riding on top of four heads that look like Reimu, with the whole mess on the back of a turtle, flying through space. "This is Gen- Hey!" Sanae looked at the picture she had been pointing at, "This isn't the picture I told you to get!"

"Sorry, Priestess. I'll change it right away." The kappa who had placed the picture on the stand slid in and quickly switched it with another. The picture that replaced the drawing appears to be satellite images of a remote region. A portion is outlined in red.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Sanae claps her hands after making sure the right picture was now on the stand. "This is Gensokyo. At least, how it appears to the outside world. The highlighted section is where it should be, if it were visible from the outside. It appears to be a barren and remote area, but..."Sanae nods to the kappa on the side who switches the pictures again, "This is what you can see from the inside."

The new picture is a very detailed aerial view of what appears to be the same area. There's a mountain in about the same place, a large forest, and even the acres of bamboo that appeared on the satellite image. However, there's several things that most definitely were NOT on the satellite image. A rather sizable village, several large towns on the mountain, what looks to be a mansion in the bamboo forest, and another one by the side of a lake, the shrine I'm currently in, as well as another large shrine.

"Aya really is quite the artist. When'd she have time to draw this?" Suwako seems impressed with Aya's handiwork.

Her fists placed firmly upon her hips and a haughty laugh upon her lips, Sanae turns to Suwako, "I had her do it while we were changing. She's not the fastest in all Gensokyo for nothing!"

"Really?" Suwako whistles, "That IS good. Never knew she could do something like this that quickly."

"Well, I just had her fly up and take the picture is all. Nothing fancy."

"Wait," I stop them, "That's a photograph? It looks like a drawing?"

"Oh, I get it now. it's that magic camera of hers." Suwako seems sufficiently less impressed now.

I blink a few times.

"Don't worry about it. You'll hear about more things like that, it's best just to nod and smile in these situations, Kentaro-kun."

"If you say so..."

Sanae clears her throat. "If I may continue?"

"Sorry..."Suwako and I reply in tandem.

"Anyways, As you can quite plainly see, the two are quite different. Almost like night and day. Gensokyo itself is separated from the rest of the world by two notable things." Sanae nods to the kappa who changes the pictures again. "There's the boundary between here and the outside, and there's the Great Hakurei Barrier. Neither of which I can really explain in great detail." Sanae sighs. "Basically, the boundary keeps things out, and the barrier keeps things in. And the barrier makes keeping the boundary easier... I think."

Suwako leans forward onto the fence. "Not the greatest explanation, but I can't give a better one. Though, you may want to skip ahead a bit to the more... practical things. Things he's going to encounter more frequently here."

"A-alright... Anyway! This place, Gensokyo, is a mythical land! it's full of Youkai! Magic! Intrigue! Mystery! Most legendary species of youkai emigrated here quite some time ago. Some are even still coming here today."

"Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that ALL youkai are here? Don't some... Don't some EAT humans?" I suddenly became very worried about my well being.

"Oh, to be sure they do. However, many of the more powerful youkai... well, any youkai of about an average level can easily go outside the barrier for short periods of time. However, with out the strong faith that is centered on this area, they become weak quite quickly. There are several means of providing them with the ah... ?food? they need, so to speak." Sanae looks a bit squeamish about this part. "Some of the most powerful youkai go out and collect ?those whom society will not miss?. Suicides and the like... They bring them back here so that the human population doesn't have as much to fear. Ah... Also anyone who happens to ?wander? into Gensokyo. they're considered fair game unless they can reach the Human Village or the Hakurei Shrine."

"F-fair game?" I gulp loudly, "S-so I have to worry about being a-attacked?"

"Oh! No, no, no! You don't have anything to worry about Koizumi-kun. You're safe here, and if you go out anywhere, it'll be well known that you're under the protection of not only this shrine, but the Kappa and the Tengu. See, most groups here aren't willing to stand against the mountain. Far too many powerful and ancient youkai reside here. One of the benefits of Kanako choosing this location for the shrine."

"Um... Shoot, I'm not sure where to go next with this. Koizumi-kun, Did you have any specific questions about what I've told you?"
==================
[ ] Choice point.

>>12124
[X] "Why are you here of all places?"

This hasn't been addressed yet, right?

[X] "Why are you here of all places?"

Let's dial up the drama to eleven, shall we?

[X] "Um..."
[X] Look away.
[X] "I think I understand what you're saying, but..."
[X] "Why...why did you leave?"
[X] "You just...vanished, all of a sudden. One day you were there, and the next day, you were just...gone."
[X] "...Nobody could find you."
[X] "..."

[X] "Um..."
[X] Look away.
[X] "I think I understand what you're saying, but..."
[X] "Why...why did you leave?"
[X] "You just...vanished, all of a sudden. One day you were there, and the next day, you were just...gone."
[X] "...Nobody could find you."
[X] "..."

[X] "Why are you, Sanae, here of all places?"

I'm all for drama but unless that's meant to be intentionally funny, melodramatics would only make him look foolish.

As for the question, Koizumi can probably surmise that Kanako and Suwako came to Gensokyo for their well being but Sanae? Sanae could have very well lived life as any other girl rather than become a demigodshrine maiden. Had it been her choice.."

[Q] "Um..."
[Q] Look away.
[Q] "I think I understand what you're saying, but..."
[Q] "Why...why did you leave?"
[Q] "You just...vanished, all of a sudden. One day you were there, and the next day, you were just...gone."
[Q] "...Nobody could find you."
[Q] "..."

[X] "Why are you here of all places?"

>>12124
>V sign
I began to feel a sense of vague, inexplicable unease, here.

>the costume she's wearing is... it's a giant frog suit.
Unease turned into a faint suspicion that I was only hazily aware of. But something was very wrong.

>?Priestess, we have the fence, where do you want us to put it?"
...At this part, I knew exactly what was coming with crystal clarity. Suspicion turned into icy dread.

I hate you so much.

Forgot my vote.

[X] "Why are you here, of all places?"

>>12136
No, don't twist the knife just yet.

>>12147
Is Nadesico really that bad? I rather enjoyed it. Though, I suppose the 'Naze Nani Nadeshiko' has gotten a bad rap because of Megatokyo. I never even knew that they'd done a parody of it until I was looking for a picture to use for this portion. The more you know, eh?

Also, Feel free to ask multiple questions about anything that's been covered so far, and well, just about anything you can think of. I'll try to work in as many as I can.

And if you REALLY want to turn the drama up to 11, I'll go for it. Just not really sure how well it'd turn out.

Lastly, that's not the question to be asking if you want to turn the drama up to 11.

>>12153

Not sure if many folks seen the original version of it other than the Megatokyo one. (IN SRW W for the DS, some of the Naze Naze bits are quite funny since other charaters join in)

I'm personally against the whole drama to 11 vote, since it'd be cheap drama. And if I wanted to see folks emo out, I'd watch Gundam SEED.

He's found her, and despite a few small problems, things are going great.

[x] "Why are you here of all places?"

[X] "Um..."
[X] Look away.
[X] "I think I understand what you're saying, but..."
[X] "Why...why did you leave?"
[X] "You just...vanished, all of a sudden. One day you were there, and the next day, you were just...gone."
[X] "...Nobody could find you."
[X] "..."

[?] "And I was... really worried about you. It was like... years since... I last saw you."

[x] "Why are you here of all places?"

[x] "Why are you here of all places?"

please at least wait till the drama doesn't include a Sanae cosplaying as Luigi and Suwako nearby to interrupt; let alone in a frogsuit;_;

>>12153
>Is Nadesico really that bad?
It was okay.
But the "Naze Nani Nadesico" parts, like most things that the Japanese designed to be "cute" ...

It makes me want to stab something cute and lovable.

>>12198

I believe those parts were meant to be groan inducing even in the show itself (Case of Yurika's whacked out thinking), but everyone puts up with it because she's the captain.

"Yeah, Just one, really." Yeah, the one question burning in my mind. "Why are you, Kochiya-san, here. In this place of all places... why?"

"Eh? Oh. Well, I guess I did kind of skip over that." Sanae scratched the back of her head. "In the outside world, faith is fading. With the small amount of faith that Kanako and Suwako were receiving... it wasn't enough to sustain them. They were little more than shadows of their former selves. So, Kanako, who had long ago heard about this mythical place, decided that moving to Gensokyo would be the best way to save both herself and Suwako."

Suwako snorted but said nothing.

Sanae coughs then continues. "ANYway, She used quite a bit of her own remaining power, quite a bit of Suwako's remaining power, and some of mine to move the shrine here."

"Ok. So, that doesn't answer why YOU had to come, Or why you didn't tell anyone that you were leaving."

That gets me a firm stare from Sanae. ?I had to come because they were still using my power. Less of it than theirs, but still enough that I was needed for the whole trip. Besides the fact that when they landed in this place they would be almost powerless and even less able to affect things here than they had been on the outside. They needed someone to protect them and keep them safe from whatever may lie on the other side, as neither Kanako nor myself had any idea of what would be here or where we'd land."

"As to the ?why did I not tell anyone?" Who would have believed me? "Oh, hi. I'm going to be leaving to go to an illusionary world with the gods of my shrine. They told me to do this so, this'll probbally be the last time we'll meet." Yeah. They would have locked me up in the psych ward faster than you could blink, Priestess or no. Would you have believed me if I had come up to you and said that? You have laughed it off as some silly little delusion of my own, that, or you would have been polite and pretended like you believed me. Either way, it wasn't something that I wanted from people.."

"The most important reason I didn't tell anyone, though? I didn't want my parents to find out."

"So. Do you have any other questions, or should we call this a wrap for the day?" Her arms were folded in front of her, and her whole demeanor gave off an air daring me to ask another question.

"Uh... I... Don't think so..."

"Good." Sanae snapped her fingers and the kappa began cleaning up the props. "I have other matters to attend to. Good day." She stormed out of the room with the kappa in tow.

Suwako, having removed the head of the frog costume with some great difficulty, sighed. "Don't worry too much about it, Kentaro-kun She's not really mad, just annoyed. From what she's told me, Kanako didn't really give her much warning beyond coming home one day and Kanako telling her what they were doing. She really does regret not being able to tell anyone good bye..."

"Mn... Yeah," I nod my head, "Kanako does sound kinda-"

"I sound kind of what, human?" A familiar voice from behind me.

I glance up at the rather imposing figure now looming over me, annoyance evident on her face.

"I ask again. I seem kind of... what. Measure your words carefully.."

"Kinda like an old bat!" Suwako chimes in from across the room.

"What did you say!" Kanako whips her head around towards Suwako, "Like anything a little frog of your stature says amounts to much. Now, as I was saying..."

"Oh? So the old bat is just going to ignore me? Trying to steal my thunder? Or maybe you're just too old to hear me~? Suwako snickers.

"Maybe, you should learn to respect your elders." Kanako crosses her arms and stamps her foot. The entire room shakes a little bit.

"Whuzzat Granny? All I hear is ?Blah Blah Blah?. Maybe if you actually gave some useful advice instead of just pontificating about nothing in particular I might be inclined to listen, ya old witch~"

I could almost see a vein throbbing in Kanako's head. This was going to get bad, and I didn't want to be around when it got bad. There was no telling what a fight between two goddesses would be like and I was in absolutely NO hurry to find out. So while the two of them kept arguing, I managed to slip out of the room unnoticed, sliding the door shut quietly behind me. Going in there was not an option, likely for quite some time, so that left me with quite the problem. I was rather unfamiliar with this place and I had no idea where to go next. Could always wander around aimlessly, but whatever I decided to do I needed to do it away from here, and quickly.
====
[ ] action

[X]Just vacating the immediate area is good enough for now, hopefully something interesting that isn't goddess violence will happen.
-[X]Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

[X]Head to the front of the shrine to see if anything interesting is going on.
-[X]Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

It did say getting away from the general area quickly.

And fresh air never hurts.

[x] Head to the front of the shrine to see if anything interesting is going on.
-[x] Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

[X]Head to the front of the shrine to see if anything interesting is going on.
-[X]Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

Kentaro really needs to try being more careful saying anything, or at least not become heavily indebted to Suwakowhich may or may not be a bad thing depending what she'd want as payment.

[?]Try to find Aya or Reimu.
-[?]Ask Aya about her magical camera.
-[?]Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

[x] Head to the front of the shrine to see if anything interesting is going on.
-[x] Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

[X]Head to the front of the shrine to see if anything interesting is going on.
-[X]Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

>>12232
[X] Try to find Reimu and ask about the Hakurei border

Information gathering from the gal with the funny accent!

Everybody gets pissed off over random stuff too often in this one. It's getting old.

>>12244

Yeah Kanako seems to be going off too easily, and there's a limit on how much of that makes good writing.

Hopefully there isn't so many thin tempers in the near future, since that reeks of low quality fanon.

>>12244
>>12251
Yes, I'm well aware of that. This portion was re-written somewhere around 8 or 9 times. Completely. I'm still not happy with how it turned out but it moves the story along.

As to the short tempers, think of it a little bit as 'stirring the waters', bringing up things that people and Gods have put out of their minds during their daily lives. That, and there's more things going on than meets the eye. I assure you, there's a reason for Kanako's current short fuse. It'll be come clearer as time goes on, hopefully. Elsewise I've failed as a writer and am just resorting to a horribly lame plot device. It's in my best interest to avoid that fate.

Writing now, but I don't expect to finish tonight. I'll do my best to have an update out before I go to work tomorrow.

[x]Head to the front of the shrine to see if anything interesting is going on.
-[x]Remember to thank Suwako for bailing you out. Again.

Sorry about the delays. Should have something in the next few hours. Sage for my own inability to keep to a schedual.

Time to get the hell out of Dodge. Kanako and Suwako's ever escalating squabble falling to silence behind me. A noise catches my attentions as I'm walking down the hall, coming from inside a near by room. It sounds like it's being torn apart inside. Curious, I walk over to the door, noticing the small sign hanging on it proudly pronouncing this to be Sanae's personal premises. I guess Suwako was wrong about Sanae just being ?annoyed?. I really don't want to bother her, if her mood is sour enough to be trashing her room. So I just keep walking. Lost in thought.

Maybe being here isn't such a good idea.

I say that like I can just hop on a bus and go home. From what I've gathered, this ?Gensokyo? place isn't normally easy to enter nor exit so it seems that I'm going to be stuck here for a while. Lost in thought I wander aimlessly, finally finding myself standing out past the nearly finished festival booths at the top of the huge stone staircase that leads down from Sanae's shrine. I shake my head as I come to the realization of where I'm at. Mn, it's strange. I wonder why I decided to wander here.

This area is so full of hustle and bustle. People moving to and fro, calling back and forth, materials going here and there, final touches being put on booths. it's a flurry of activity, yes, but it's also orderly and directed. So unlike my current thinking. Maybe that's why I wandered out here again. The more I look at it, though, the more upset it makes me. I doubt that I could match this level of order and directness with the way things have been going for me. I storm off in disgust, off towards what looks like an orchard of some sort.

it's much quieter on this side of the shrine. Fewer buildings and it appears to actually be part of the forest here. There's also some sort of nice stage being built here. Very nice, really, and it seems that it's only being worked on by a single girl. Blonde hair, wearing a blue dress.

Paying so much attention to the stage, I never saw what I tripped over. Picking myself up and dusting myself off, I turned to see what I had tripped over. The sight of Reimu, lying there against a tree, legs spread out (so that's what I tripped on) greeted me. Well. This is certainly one carefree girl, especially to sleep in a place like this. She suddenly leans to the side, then falls to the ground and starts snoring. Wh-Wha-WHAT? I kneel down next to this girl, carefully, quietly, and set her back up against the tree. I don't know if she fell over because of the fact that I tripped over her, which she seemed to sleep through all the same, or if it's something normal for her. I really have no way of knowing.

"Mnnn... n'mor?. I dun w?nna." Reimu mumbles in her sleep, ?? ?mn tir'd."

She then lets out another loud snore.

I glance around, sheepishly, hoping that nobody saw what just happened. However, I immediately take notice of Aya. She's crouched down, looking into one of the windows of the shrine. Occasionally she jots down notes into a small notebook before looking back into the window. Whew. She's paying too much attention to whatever she's working on to have noticed me.

Still crouching down next to Reimu, I hear another voice call out, causing me to instinctually stiffen.

"You there. What do you think you're doing?"

I turn to face the girl working on the stage. Her perfectly purple eyes paralyzed me with her petrifying presence. I could almost feel physical pressure being exerted by this girl just by her dispassionate gaze.

And then she started tap dancing.

Not really, but it would have lightened this heavy atmosphere a bit. Instead she just continued to stare at me, impassively.

"N-Nothing! She fell over so, I was just, you know, setting her back upright. Not good to be sleeping on the ground like that. Nothing unusual there!" I laugh aloud realizing how horrible that explanation that sounds like. Not that I can really take it back...

"Oh." was her flat response. She shrugs, "I thought you were here to help me with the stage. Never mind then." Turning away, she returns to her work.

Ooookay then. Reimu snores loudly, looking as if she's about to fall over again at any moment. Aya's still peeping in that window of the shrine, her hand moving furiously over her notebook. And this other girl, as strange as she is, still seems to be working on the stage.
-------
[ ] Action?

>>12296
Does he have a coat, still?

[x] Make a makeshift pillow for Reimu.
[x] Help the unamused blond girl.
[x] "I wasn't doing too much, so I can help if you'd like."

Hopefully it's not too nippy outside.

[x] Make a makeshift pillow for Reimu.
[x] Help the unamused blond girl.
[x] "I wasn't doing too much, so I can help if you'd like."

>nippy
>Yukari

nice view.

Interesting how Yukari seems to be doing something. (That or Alice in one of her moods)

But both are kinda out of place here working on something for the Moriya shrine. (Yukari would naturally have Ran working for her)

That and if it's a party that mean Suika might be near by.

[x] Make a makeshift pillow for Reimu.
[x] Help the unamused blond girl.
[x] "I wasn't doing too much, so I can help if you'd like."

seems that 3's all I'm going to get. I'll wait until I get back from work this afternoon, and if there's no more votes I'll start writing.

[?] Make a makeshift pillow for Reimu.
[?] Help the unamused blond girl.
[?] "I wasn't doing too much, so I can help if you'd like."

I want to talk to Aya, but more so than that, I want to find out who our bemused blond hair girl is.

>>12332
Either you're having bad timing or anon does when it comes to voting.

Most of us either went to parties and got wasted or went out, got wasted all the while pulling stupid shit.

I did at least

[x] Make a makeshift pillow for Reimu.
[x] Help the unamused blond girl.
[x] "I wasn't doing too much, so I can help if you'd like."

>>12334

I can vouch for that. I barely remember where my pants were when I woke up.


[x] Make a makeshift pillow for Reimu.
[x] Help the unamused blond girl.
[x] "I wasn't doing too much, so I can help if you'd like."

Oh, that's right. I forgot you guys have Halloween. Alright, writing now.

If she wanted help, all she had to do is ask. But it seemed more like she was expecting someone specific. I was just about to go offer her my help when Reimu grumbled in her sleep and began to shift positions again. Just barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground for the second time in as many minutes. If I leave her along like this she's going to end up hurting herself. There was no way that I was going to carry her somewhere else. We had just met today and I didn't want to think about what she might do if she woke up while I was carrying her. Maybe I could make a pillow or something for her? I went to take off my jacket only to realize that I didn't have it. A silent curse escaped my lips. Of course, like the idiot that I am, I left my coat back in the guest house. Otherwise it would have made a great makeshift pillow. As it stood there was nothing else immediately handy that I could use... I looked about, appraising the various things that were lying around, trying to figure out something that could work as a pillow.

"Ahem." That girl again. "You're not planning anything untoward, are you?"

"No I-" Quickly moving to catch Reimu as she squirmed in her sleep. "Ergh. I'm trying to think of a way to keep her from falling or something to use as a pillow so if she does fall there's something soft to land on."

"Oh." She fell silent again.

Maybe I could use some of these leaves... Not the best idea, but it's better than nothing, I guess. Though, my grandma always used to tell me something about never using leaves as a pillow. Maybe it was because of moisture? Or was it because of bugs? I could never really remember...

A nudging at my side pulled me away from my reverie. Next to me a tiny girl floated, clutched in her tiny hands was a pillow. it's comically large for her diminutive stature. It had to be almost three times the size of her.

"Ah! Thank you, this is just what I..."I blinked a few times as it finally sunk in. Tiny girl? What on Earth?

Tiny little blonde girl gave no reaction. She simply dropped the pillow, bowed in mid-air, then flew off.

"I had one of my dolls get a pillow so that you'd stop being so noisy. Now. Be quiet." The girl on the stage admonished not even turning to face me.

It took a while, but I managed to get Reimu situated. She rewarded my efforts with a small contented sigh, settling back against the pillow nicely. Well, that's one problem solved, for now anyway. My knees creaked as I stood up. Must have been kneeling down there longer than I thought. Closing the distance between the stage and myself took only a few steps. I called out to the girl as I approached.

"Hey. Thanks for the pillow. Is there anything I can do to help?"

The girl barely acknowledged my presence as I climbed onto the stage. Glancing at me out of the corner of her eye was the only recognition she gave. "Do you have any skill with carpentry?"

"Like, building stuff? No... I worked on props for a school play once, but I never built anything on a regular basis. That was several years ago too boot. I'm sure it'd come back to me while working though!" The play was fun. I really did enjoy working with my hands even if I was unskilled at it.

"Then no. You can't help. Now, stop bothering me.."

I stood there silently for a moment, just waiting to see if the girl would change her mind.

She just ignored me.

The stage wasn't nearly as empty as I had thought. Tiny figures flew about in a flurry of activity, tiny activity, but activity none-the-less, covering many parts of the stage. There had to be something like twenty of those ?dolls? or more, floating around hanging the curtains, nailing together the frames and various props, some were even painting backgrounds. The whole mess strongly reminded me of the work I did on that school play, except for one major detail. All the work seemed to be accomplished by this one single maestro. Man, the drama teacher would have loved her.

The next few moments passed in relative silence, save for the noise of construction. I nearly jumped when this girl whipped her head around to face me. Once again I was staring into those purple eyes, though they were possessed of a distant look. Like she wasn't even really seeing me, merely looking through me. It was rather disturbing. I waved my hand in front of her face a couple of times. The girl showed no reaction what-so-ever. Far too disturbing for my liking. I headed over to the edge of the stage and was about to hop off when a familiar figure wandered up to the stage.

"Oh! Heya Kenny-boy!" Nitori came over to me, "You here helping Allie-chan too?"

"No I-"

"That's great! I always say that Allie needs to be making more friends. Sure she has those dolls, but that's kinda creepy. Like talking to yourself or something. Or playing with yourself... Though I don't think she does anything perverted, despite how perverted I made it sound. Really, the dolls are neat, I just wish I could figure out how she does it. I mean she lifts a finger and zoom zoom zoom! Dolls everywhere! I'd love having something like that. "cause if I was working and I wanted a cucumber I could just have a doll get it... Or maybe I should make some kind of cucumber dispenser. That'd be neat. Just press a button and WHAM! Instant cucumber. Maybe teleporters? Mn. But how would I keep them cold?"

"Nitori..."This ?Allie? started, "Be quiet, would you. I'm trying to concentrate. Now, would you kindly help me, as you promised?"

"Teleport them from somewhere cold? Maybe I could use an ice fairy... hide a bunch in Cirno's house. Doubt that she'd go along with it..."

"Nitori!" accompanied by a foot stomp.

"What? I don't... Cold places? Hunh? Wait, what was I talking about? Oh! Allie! S?up?"

"Would you kindly get up here and help me?"

"Oh! Right! I almost forgot about that. Sure, gimme a sec!" A pair of hands extended from Nitori's knapsack and hoisted her up onto the stage. "Whatcha want me to do, boss?"

"Would you put up the lighting? I've not the slightest clue what to do with those... electrical devices." Distain was evident in Allie's voice. Bit of a technophobe, eh?

"Oh, Hey, Kenny-boy!" Nitori turned back to me, "Wanna give me a hand?"

"Couldn't you just make your own?" I reply confused.

"eh? My own what?"

"Fridge?"

"A what?"

"... an Icebox?"

"Oh! Why didn't you say so! I already have one of those so why would I...Oh! I get it! That's brilliant! Put a dispenser in the side! That would be so con--"

"NITORI!" Allie seems to really be getting mad now. "I'd like to finish this sometime before sunset, so if you could please focus, it'd be greatly appreciated. Lighting. Now."

"Sorry, Kenny-boy. I guess I'll have to get you to give me a hand later. I like left ones for future reference." Nitori flashes me a toothy grin. A sharp toothy grin.

Yeah, not sticking around here. That freaked me the hell out. I wandered off to the other side of the shrine. Oh, hey, there's those three ?Goddesses? from before... Not that I could remember any of their names. I was about to head over there when a sudden strong burst of wind blew past me. What the hell was that? It almost knocked me off of my feet. Casting a glance about, I saw Aya hiding in the bushes outside ANOTHER window. How much of a peeping tom IS this girl? Though, on this side of the shrine, if I remember correctly, that would be Sanae's window... Wait... is Aya... THAT kind of a girl? I didn't think they really existed. I'd only heard about them in hushed whispers and from porn tapes. Could they really exist? In real life to boot?! What I should do...

------------
[ ]action?

>>12348
[X] Spy on Aya

[X] Spy on Aya
[x] if she gets upset, remark, "How do you think everyone you spy one feels? The fact you're cute makes it all too easy to do so!"

A bit of flirting to catch Aya off guard isn't a bad thing.

[X] Spy on Aya
[X] Spy with Aya

[+] Sneak up on Aya
[+] Surprise Aya

Nothing can go wrong with this course of action!

[X] Spy on Aya
[x] if she gets upset, remark, "How do you think everyone you spy one feels? The fact you're cute makes it all too easy to do so!"

[x] Sneak up on Aya
[x] Surprise Aya

I like this one.

[x] Sneak up on Aya
[x] Surprise Aya

[x] Sneak up on Aya
[x] Surprise Aya

[?] Sneak up on Aya
[?] Surprise Aya

Wow. Quite a few votes. Alright then! Writing now

>>12417
No holidays in the US just yet until Veteran;s Day next week Wednesday. If we haven't responded you can guess why.

Slight problems and delays abound. I'm writing, it's just taking longer than I'd like. I blame the time change throwing me all out of whack. In any event. Just a brief status update.
Sageing myself for lack of update.

Not completely happy with this, but it came out decently after several re-writes, and I really wanted to get an update out there. This isn't the whole thing but I felt that you guys deserved something after waiting so patiently. Also, How do you guys feel about time skips? At the rate I'm going it'll take quite a bit of time if every single day between now and the festival is written out.
========================

Slowly. Quietly. Carefully. I inch closer to this unbelievably bold girl. Spying like that, and in broad daylight. A plan begins to take shape in my mind as I creep closer. Thank goodness she's completely absorbed in what she's doing or I doubt that I'd be able to sneak up on her. A few more feet and I'm hiding behind a tree. She still hasn't taken notice of me, thank goodness.

I looked in the window from my vantage point. I couldn't see much from where I was, but a clump of green hair was visible in the corner of the window frame. So, Sanae was sitting near the window, doing something. Not that I could tell from this angle. Looking around inside the room revealed a room full of pictures covering the wall in some sort of montage. I couldn't tell much about the contents from here, though.

Aya shifted again, standing up quickly to peep in the window before dropping back down. It annoyed me that she was spying on Sanae and a plan quickly formed in my mind.

"Urameshiya!" I shouted from my hiding spot. Aya stifled a scream as she dove forward, flailing wildly. She scrambled over into a nearby bush before popping her head out and looking around. It appeared that she didn't see me, despite the fact that I've fallen to the ground in laughter.

"Kogasa! I have no time..."Aggravation plain in her voice as Aya extracts herself from the bushes and finally seems to take notice of me. The look on her face quickly gives way to one of shock. "You're not Kogasa.."

I finally manage to stop laughing enough to reply. "Nope. That I'm not. Don't even know who that is, really."

"Of course you don't." Aya sighs. "Look, why don't you just leave me alone? I've important work to do here. it's not like you have any business bothering me anyways." Aya lifts up her camera and takes a picture of Sanae's room.

"You know, you remind me of a girl named Maki. She always had her face jammed against a camera. Some old thing her parents passed down to her. Liked to watch people too. The park was one of her favorite places to do it. She'd sit there, take pictures of the people, and make up stories. Had a notebook that she wrote them all down in too."

Aya shifted to one side. "Your point is?"

"My point is," I paused to build dramatic tension, "is that she'd get so engrossed in it that she'd ignore the world around her. It was a relatively easy matter to sneak up on her and startle her. It was so cute the way she'd squeak and slam her notebook shut. So I guess you reminded me of her. Your reaction was quite a bit cuter than hers, too." I nodded.

Aya stared at me for a full minute.

Without warning, she burst out laughing.

Why is she laugh-

Oh. OH. CRAP. My face flushed bright red as I realized that could come across as hitting on her. "N-no, I mean... what I mean is..."

Aya patted me on the shoulder, still laughing. "I really have to hand it to you kid, I haven't heard a pickup line that cheesy in... probably about a decade! Hoo!" her laughter finally dying down, she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Thanks kid, I needed that."

"Ahcem." Came from the window above us. We had forgotten that we were supposed to be hiding here and that whole scene had been rather loud. Slowly, both Aya and myself turn to look at the girl leaning out the window. One arm was laying across the windowsill the other hand was grasping the windowsill, not tightly, but the hand was wrapped around it. A smirk played across the young girl's face.

The silence was oppressive.

"And what," Sanae finally spoke, shattering the silence. "Are you two doing outside my window? Hm?"

"Ah... ah..."I couldn't quite get the words to come out of my mouth. I turn to Aya for support. A pale, fading, ghostly image of her remains, hand held up in an apologizing gesture. Well, crap. It seems like I'm on my own for this... Even as Aya's image fades away, I'm unable to formulate a response.

Sanae giggles. "Don't worry about it too much. I'll get back at Aya sooner or later. You want to come in?" Crawling back from the window, Sanae waves for me to come in.

"Through the window? Are you sure?" I could probably easily make it in through the window, but it's such a strange way of going in.

She waves at me again. "Come on, silly."
===========
(Not a voting point. There'll be more, but feel free to answer the questions before the start of the post.)

>How do you guys feel about time skips?
Not a problem, as long as nothing important is skipped.

>>12446

Yeah such as meeting new characters, etc. But I do concur with the guy.

>>12445
Not the biggest fan of time skips, since that's valuable interaction and character development not seen/glossed over. However, if a time skip is the best means of moving along in terms of properly pacing a story, so be it. Still prefer it be the exception rather than the norm, though.

Timeskip's appropriateness depends entirely on how it's done, Lion's story has done them well so far, OTOH klaymen's I youkai completely failed it, with a terse after note of all the great stuff we missed. Well, TL:DR: if you have the ability to pull it off right, do it.

>>12469

Yeah... meeting new characters should never get time skipped over, it's the fault of people going "Plot nao" and not appreciating the story's world as a whole.

>>12469
The timeskip would be basically "I spent the next few days working on the booths. It was hard work and really didn't leave much time for talking to anyone besides getting directions on what I needed to do next. Before I knew it the day of the festival had arrived."

Something like that, or I could include a few quick snippets of things, sort of a montage scene. I just don't want to upset you guys since I've been running into so many slowdowns lately. I'd like to get to where the story picks up so that If I get slowed down a bit, it doesn't seem to drag out forever.
------------------------

"Alright." Stepping up to the window I take a firm grasp and jump.

Boy did I misjudge the jump.

I made it through the window and onto the bed fine, it's what I landed on once I hit the bed that was the problem. Sanae had apparently been pulling out photographs from boxes and the like and had them scattered about all over the bed. It was like a slip and slide when I hit the edge, causing me to slide off and land with a resounding thud on the floor next to the bed. At least I landed on something soft, though I wasn't exactly sure what it was I was lying on.

"Ah! Are you ok, Koizumi-kun?" Sanae was quickly off the bed helping me to my feet. It turned out I'd landed on a pile of UFO catcher dolls.

My back side's a bit sore, I thought as I rubbed it gingerly, "Ah, Nothing more serious than a bruised ego, I think." I laughed. "I'm actually quite a bit more durable than I look."

Sanae laughed as well. "That's good. I'd hate to think that you'd break so easily. Especially with the things that live here."

I blinked a few times.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I meant that? Ah? Never mind?" She sighed, retreating once again to her bed.

I looked around the room while Sanae sat on the bed flipping through the photo album that she had been looking at when Aya and I disturbed her. So this is what a girl's room looks like. I'd never actually been in one before so this was a rare treat. Or it would have been if it was like girl's rooms were made out to be. It honestly looked pretty much like my room at home. Clothing strewn a bout, what appeared to be some figures or model kits on top of the dresser, a computer with the requisite desk. All in all it was a normal looking room. Though there was an unusual amount of green in it, the walls and the bedspread were both the same shade of green. I suppose that it could have been anyone's room, really.

"Say, Koizumi-kun," Sanae sounded rather wistful, "Do you remember this?"

Sanae was pointing at a collection of pictures. As I got closer I realized that they had to have been from one of the class trips. There was dozens of them.

"Where did you get all these? I don't remember you ever having a camera?"

"Ah, most of them would have been from Maki, though, most people were willing to give me class pictures whenever I asked. Mn? I wonder how she's doing now?"

Erk. I started to panic. Answering anything about Maki would only end poorly? Hoping to avoid the question I instead answered her first question. "Wasn't that when we went to the amusement park? Yeah, I think I recognize the Ferris wheel from that park. Didn't Yamada get really sick on the roller coaster?"

"What? Oh yeah! He did, didn't he?" Sanae laughed again. "I remember the look on the janitor's face when he had to clean out that car. Yamada ate like, 6 hot dogs before getting on there. I thought the man was going to cry."

"So THAT's what happened. Yamada wouldn't tell me, and everyone else though it was this great joke that I didn't know. All I ever managed to find out is that he got sick."

We both laughed for a bit.

"So?"

"Yeah. Nice room you have here. Kinda messy for a girl, tough, isn't it?"

"Excuse me?" Sanae put her hands on her hips, a mock look of anger on her face. "Just what are you trying to say?"

"You're a slob!" I sang out.

The pillow flew through the air before I could react. "Why you!."

I fell backwards, pretending to be hurt by the pillow. "Oof! You got me! Now, I die." I faked dying while lying on the floor.

We both laughed again.

"it's nice to be able to talk to someone like this again. I? I wish we had the chance before I left to have talked like this. My parents wouldn't have allowed it, though. They really didn't allow me to do much."

Ack. Have to change the subject quickly. "So, that costume you had on before, that was nice. Where did you get it?"

"Eh? Oh? Hina made it for me. She's really quite talented as a seamstress."

"Hina?"

"Oh, that's right, you probably haven't met her yet. She has green hair, and ribbons everywhere. Really very pretty. Oh, and she's a goddess. There's several of them around here."

"Oh. I think I met her. She was carrying two other Goddesses I think. Just after Reimu showed up."

Sanae's face took on a sour look. "So, Reimu's beating up on them again. She really needs to get a hobby beyond beating up on youkai. Maybe something more peaceful like drinking tea?"

"Mn. I don't know? But you were saying something about costumes?"

"OH! Right. Sorry, Reimu is just such a pain sometimes, but she's very good at what she does. Anyways, Hina is a master seamstress. Anything I can dream up she can make. Spins the cloth out of the misfortune that she absorbs."

"Uh? she absorbs misfortune? Then makes it into cloth? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Oh, not at all! it's how she processes through the misfortune that she absorbs from humans. It used to leak out quite a bit more before we showed up. She'd use the misfortune to make the dolls that people would send down the river in the nagashi-bina rituals. She started adding to her outfit as she began to absorb more and more misfortune. That's why there's so many ribbons all over it. But with me here, and with her helping the kappa make things now, She's getting very good at spinning away the excess misfortune into cloth." Sanae hopped off the bed and toddled over to her closet. "She can even make a wide variety of materials! it's amazing."

Sanae slid open the door revealing a closet full of cosplay outfits. I was shocked. She pulled them out showing me a bunch of them that she had made. Police woman, nurse, bunny girl, some sort of semi-see through thing that looked like it belonged in the middle east, something like a suit of armor, various costumes from anime and manga series. It was a cosplay fetishists dream.

"Uh? Sanae? Why do you have all of these?"

Sanae had been spinning around holding what looked to be some sort of princess dress of an overly fancy wedding dress. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, uh? I never pegged you as the type to be into? uh? that sort of thing."

"I don't get what you mean. My parents would have never let me dress up like this. I just wish I could have gone to Comiket? Especially with the costumes that I have now! It would be just too much fun to run around in costume out there, having people take your pictures, not really caring that you're supposed to be a priestess at a shrine?" She sighed, "No, my parents most DEFINITELY would not have approved."

"it's unfortunate, really. You would have looked good in some of these."

"You think so?" Sanae's eyes lit up. "Do you want me to try some on for you?"

============================================================

[ ] action?

[X] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[X] "I think I'm in love."

Marry this girl. Right now.

[x] "I'd be honored if you did!"

Let's not come on too strongly.

But it's an interesting idea about Hina does with that misfortune.

[x] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[x] "I think I'm in love."

[x] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[x] "I think I'm in love."

[x] "I'd be honored if you did!"

Right, TAKE IT EASY.

Sanae certainly has the right figure for cosplay. Is this a Sanae centered story I take it? (I have no complaints if it is)

[x] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[x] "I think I'm in love."

Yes please.

[?] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[?] "I-...I think I'm in love."

>pile of UFO catcher dolls
Why must you remind me of things that make me rage. Why.

[+] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[+] "I-...I think I'm in love."
Trying not to make a Genshiken reference in regards to Kanako.

>>12600
Genshikin?

Also, in regards to the UFO catcher dolls, I didn't know what else to refer to them as.

>>12607
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genshiken
The character I referred to, Oono Kanako, is a lover of cosplay. The name made a connection for me.

Re: the UFO catcher doll thing, it just reminds me of the part of Undefined Fantastic Object that I hated.

[x] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[x] "I-...I think I'm in love."

This Sanae reminds me of Y?no H?zuki.
This is good.
[x] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"

Sorry guys, I'm in the hospital again. It'll be a few days before I can get up and running again. They just let me have my laptop back. I apologize for the delays.

>>12708
Hospital? Shit, mate, take your time and get better. Nobody wants to have a story end due to the death of the author.

>>12708
Take your time, then.

[x] "... you're actually offering to model cosplay outfits for me?"
[x] "I-...I think I'm in love."

>>12708
Get better soon man!

>>12569
>Sanae certainly has the right figure for cosplay.

yes she does and how!

>>12708
Hope you get better.

Sorry for the short update, I just wanted to get something up after the extreme delays. My aplogies all around.
===========================================
"You're offering to model cosplay outfits for me."

Sanae nodded, smiling brightly. "Yep! What good are having them if you don't ever wear them?"

"You're ACTUALLY offering to model cosplay outfits for me?" I couldn't quite wrap my mind around what she was offering. People don't really do things like that? Do they? I mean, obviously she was, but? what?

"Uh? yes? I'm sorry, Koizumi kun, have I said something wrong?" Her smile started to falter.

"What? No! No, no! Nothing like that, really I? I just don't know what to say?"

"You say, I LOVE YOU, MARRY ME! You idiot!" My mind screamed. "You take that girl off the market and never let anyone even come close to stealing her from you. You treat her well, and you love her and cherish her, because you're never going to find another girl like that. THAT's what you say, THAT's what you do. Now stop being such an indecisive idiot and make a move!"

I shook my head, trying to clear such swirling thoughts from my mind. Sanae stared at me, expectantly, her formerly bright smile fading amidst my inner turmoil.

"I'd be honored if you would." I said finally.

"Ok then!" Sanae hustled me out of the room. "Wait out there, no peeking!."

The door slid shut behind me with a resounding thud.

Minutes passed with nothing but the door between me and the changing Sanae. I could hear the cloth rustling on the other side of the door, indicating that she was indeed changing. Absently I wondered what outfit she was changing into.

======================
[ ] peek
[ ] don't peek

[x] don't peek

Peek? And ruin the surprise? Nah.

{X} Don't peek.

[?] don't peek
nice to have you back OP!

BTW, we have hit the autosage limit!

[x] don't peek

[x] don't peek

[x] don't peek

I hope she's not going to wear the one with a "L" on the cap.

[X] don't peek

>>12817
Would you prefer a W..?

"Koizumi?"
"...Yeah?"
"When someone asks you, 'Do you want me to try some on for you,' ...you say, [i]'YES!'"

[x] OOOOHHHHHHHHHH

[x] Don't peek.

[x] don't peek

It's the least we could do, and if we play our cards right down the line, we'll be getting eyefuls later.

[+] don't peek
-[+] ...yet

[x] don't peek

[x] Don't let yourself get caught for taking a peek

It's past Autosage.