[X] Leave the headband. Even if I wear it, I'm just inviting trouble when I get to school.

This should be good. Kicking it off with the less obvious choice.

[x] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

Girl's gotta accessorize.

[x] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

[x] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

Need to Suwako

[x] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

[X] Leave the headband. Even if I wear it, I'm just inviting trouble when I get to school.

Teenage girls tend to be the biggest fashion critics.

Also, don't enter your e-mail address. That's just asking to get spammed.

[x] Leave the hairband.

I like invisible pest Kanako and skeptic Sanea

[x] Take it.

Because fuck high school drama.

[] Leave the headband. Even if I wear it, I'm just inviting trouble when I get to school.

[X] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

Public opinion is overrated.

[x] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

Headband! I choose you!!!

[X] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

Oh, just take the headband already.

[] Leave the headband. Even if I wear it, I'm just inviting trouble when I get to school.

Headbands went out of fashion ages ago.

[X] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

You can't resist it Sanae, it is your destiny.

[X] Leave the headband. Even if I wear it, I'm just inviting trouble when I get to school.

[x] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

>>22410
Noooo I forgot important internet rules. But I'm sure nothing will go wrong because you are all wonderful people. </optimism>

[X] Take the headband. It's worth looking stupid to keep that old hag off my back.

>>22423
Is that a "votes closed" announcement or did you just vote in your own story=

Votes closed! I wouldn't vote in my own story. Except to break a deadlock. >_>

I clip it on without hesitation!

Well, maybe a little. Nobody else can see Kanako, and the longer I go with this thing on, the more depressed and needy she'll be when I eventually remove it. She might only be a phantom of the mind, but it's impossible to ignore it completely. Still, she's out of my head today, and I can be relaxed.

I'm gonna have to hurry if I want to make the train on time, so I dash for the kitchen. Father is there, eating his morning waffles (none for me, thanks. I've got a figure to watch.) A tablet lies on the table by his plate, dangerously close to the maple syrup that threatens to pool off the rim. Looks like he's reading the news.

'Spirited Away', the headline reads, accompanied by a picture of a girl, smiling winsomely up at the camera. She has flowers in her hair, great big bright sunflowers that look freshly picked. Is that her daily wear, or was this an occasion? Well, I can't talk about her taste.

"A search party has returned empty-handed whilst looking for Kamina Yui, who went missing in the woods on the outskirts of Nijino Town yesterday evening. Police fear another suicide..." I read with a frown, and Father looks up, as if noticing me for the first time.

"This is the fourth time this year, if she did indeed take her own life," he remarks. "At this rate, the woods will become legendary."

"And you'd like that, Father?" I reply, heading to the fridge to grab something quick- quick food being a hallmark of the Moriya Shrine's kitchen, owing to the lack of competent cooks.

"It wouldn't be all bad! It might bring traffic our way," he remarks. I suppose it might, at that. We live at a shrine just within those woods, and we don't see too many visitors as a rule. Still.

"I hope not. They'd probably start calling us the Suicide Shrine," I reply, grabbing a couple of riceballs from the fridge. "And I would be the Suicide Priestess, who the poor souls come to have one last chat with before they end it all. Who'd want that kind of pressure? It's not for a part-time miko to handle something that heavy."

"I don't know," he replies. "I think you'd be good at it. Life counselling," he muses. "If you're not going to stay as a miko after you graduate, how about a psychiatrist?"

I want to tell him just what I think of that idea, but he's my father and I need to moderate myself. Instead I settle for a firm farewell, and start to head out, breakfast still in-hand; no time to waste if I'm to make the train.

The house is to the side of the courtyard, a traditional single-story affair that's really just side-dressing to the shrine's main buildings. The hall of worship stands at the top of the courtyard; it's where we hold the meetings and perform the services. It's not much more than a lecture theatre when you get down to it. Behind it looms the divine sancutary, a sealed-off building that's the largest on the property. Services are performed in the hall; the latter was only ever opened during festivals, but nowadays it's just never open at all. Ostensibly, Kanako lives there when she's not bothering me.

I'm halfway across the courtyard when I see someone by the purification fountain, a girl in an unseasonable sweater. She's cupping the water in her hands and drinking, one, two, three gulps down. Come on, it's meant to be used for cleaning, not drinking! I'm not a big stickler for ceremony, but honestly, this bugs me a bit. It's our fountain, after all. I-

[] Don't spare much time for her, I'm so very close to being late for my first day as things are.
[] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.
[] Demand an explanation for this behaviour.

[x] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.
These things stick on your head for the rest of the day. Like a 'bang bang bang' sound near the school's garden.

[x] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

>>22427
>Like a 'bang bang bang' sound near the school's garden.

That takes me back.

[x] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

Maybe Sanae isn't fussed about being a Miko, but she probably has more attachment to things than she realizes.

[x] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

[X] Demand an explanation for this behaviour.

She's DRINKING the ceremonial water. I mean...come on! Who does that?

>>22432
someone desperately thirsty?

>>22433
A godless heathen thats who. Smite her.

[] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

>>22425
You should read this >>/gensokyo/6052. It's a list of the site's rules and how we operate around here.

Also, don't vote on your own story even if it is to break a tie. Either wait for more votes to pour in or flip a coin, just don't vote yourself because it just reeks of bias to me.

>>22433

Nope. Not buying it. Being "desperately thirsty" is a thing of the past bro. There are water fountains literally everywhere. She is an uncouth savage and needs to be smitten as such.

>>22436 Well... We're in Gensokyo and all. About anything could happen there

[x] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

>>22436 Well... We're in Gensokyo and all. About anything could happen there

[x] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

>>22436 Well... We're in Gensokyo and all. About anything could happen there

[x] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

Darn it... I am sorry i accidently sent multiple posts. Spamclicked the post button because it didn't seem to work...

>>22436
I like how you went from modern-citizen to savage barbarian in the same sentence.

>>22436
do you live in japan or are you just assuming things? In the US there's mainly water fountains at parks and if your trip has no such things, then you're shit out of luck.

That and being nice to her would get her grattitude and a donation.

Clear winner by far.

[X] Greet her, politely, and ask if she knows the proper conduct for being on a shrine.

---

"Good morning to you," I call, approaching swiftly. The girl starts, whipping her head around to face me. She's dropped a small backpack to the side of the font, and I can see her clothes and hair are flaked with dirt, twigs and leaves. An intrepid one, is she?

I bow. "Do you need any assistance? I'm afraid we don't have morning services, but personal prayer is quite alright. Do you need me to show you the ropes?"

She shakes her head, hastily. "Um, no, no. I just, um, needed to rest for a bit," she replies, peering at me with heavy, bloodshot eyes. Little spots adorn her face, bite marks from bugs or something by the look of 'em. She's breathing hard, and looks a bit unsteady on her feet.

"Did you come through the woods? What on earth were you doing there?" I ask, a little concerned. She looks around my age, definitely a student. But you can never really tell for sure at a glance, can you? She brushes off her hair in some attempt at recovering her dignity.

"Camping," she replies, straightening up. "Late nights out, ghost stories, and stupid, stupid tests of courage," she adds, rubbing her head, but her demeanour seems put-on. If anything, it looks like she's about to cry. "I lost something, and spent ages looking for it. All night, even after my torch ran out and my throat was dry. I'm not used to this kinda exertion," she admits, a little croaky.

"Lost something?" I echo. "Lost someone, maybe?" She looks at me a little sharply. "Yeah, how did you know-"

A buzzing cuts her off, a little fly or something that's buzzing around her ears. She lunges at it, but it darts out of her way like flying insects are want to do when confronted with oncoming palms. "God damn bugs!" she yells, angry, now, and her hands clamp down on the edge of the fountain. "They're the only thing I found in there. That, and dirt, and not a single trace of her. I just... I-" She shudders, and lurches against it a little.

"I need to keep looking," she says, fumbling for a plastic bottle. "Can I refill my stuff here?"

I look at her pitiably. Well, it is pitiable, isn't it? "You look like you're dead on your feet," I say, and she grimaces. "I just need to rest for a little bit. The rescue teams are kind of useless, you know? So it's up to me to find her," she insists. I-

[] Shrug, and show her the tap.
[] Try to dissuade her.
[] Encourage her.

[x] Encourage her.

Dunno. Just rolling with it.

>>22451
Go with the flow.
[] Encourage her.

[x] Encourage her.
Because she'll always regret it if she gives up now.

[x] Encourage her.

[X] Encourage her.

[X] Try to dissuade her.

This is such a bad idea. I know it won't win but someone has to register the screaming voice of caution.

[X] Try to dissuade her.

How would she avoid getting lost as well in her current state?

>"Lost something?" I echo. "Lost someone, maybe?" She looks at me a little sharply. "Yeah, how did you know-"
Shouldn't this be two paragraphs?

[x] Try to dissuade her.

Her chances of success are slim, and she's overstretched; for her safety and overall chances it's best to stop and plan calmly.

[X] Try to dissuade her.

Stop drinking the fucking ceremonial water. How the hell are we supposed to perform the Star Ritual to Call the Godly Winds if some hobo drinks all the damn ceremonial water.

Gonna call it here, update shall proceed within a day or two.

[x] Encourage her.

> torch

A British Or maybe Australian writefag?

>>22468
Could be Kiwi or South African