Kirisame Magic Shop

[Anonymous No.]

Thread 15

Previous thread: >>>45400914

[Anonymous No.]

Aya-chan needs to get her shit together, the Eientei incident is old news at this point. Does she really not have anything new to report on?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45489120
Ayaya is trying her best, its just that all her kin are philistines and don't understand solid reporting to save their lives!

[Anonymous No.]

We were so close to getting the 'anon gets abducted and raped by tengu' doujin spin-off.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45489120
That was the Plan B, if no-one is interested anymore by the Eientei incident she can always just write and sell an explicit guide to sex with humans for the tengu tabloid press.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45490795
By the way he was behaving it would not have been rape.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45490795
Tengu don't rape human males, they always get consent after!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45488471
Previous:
1 >>44121508 >>/data/jp/img/0445/50/1694087896359134.png
2 >>44290289 >>/data/jp/img/0445/50/1694087962441371.png
3 >>44383367
4 >>44437040 (3&4) >>/data/jp/img/0445/50/1694088027969245.png
5 >>44487600
6 >>44550620 (5&6) >>/data/jp/img/0446/22/1694614997949247.png
7 >>44622465 >>/data/jp/img/0447/13/1695377031281683.png
8 >>44713561 >>/data/jp/img/0448/28/1696349152839840.png
9 >>44828419 >>/data/jp/img/0449/36/1697321219911751.png
10 >>44936122
(10 - P1) >>/data/jp/img/0449/36/1698587659569048.png
(10 - P2) >>/data/jp/img/0449/36/1698587725286314.png
11 >>45089529
(11 - P1) >>/data/jp/img/0450/89/1699714714961830.png
(11 - P2) >>/data/jp/img/0450/89/1699714780422589.png
12 >>45217874 >>/data/jp/img/0452/94/1700478578465096.png
13 >>45294792 >>/data/jp/img/0454/00/1701525572592441.png
14 >>45400914 see picrel.

Apologies for rushing things out yesterday. I didn't realize it'd take this long for the other thread to die.

[Anonymous No.]

So, regarding the last few updates. Anon is a bit of a wimp sometimes, isn't he?
Tengu territoriality isn't a secret for anyone in Gensokyo, therefore the way he was brought to one of the higher-ups after trespassing falls within the realm of possibility. Megumu did little more than ask him about his true intentions, and she was fairly understanding with him once he complied. Aya (mostly) tried to collect the exclusive that Anon agreed upon (back when he was still living with Kasen), after he showed up to the tengu's home, uninvited, at the most inconvenient of times.
Frankly, he should be grateful that he's treated the way he is despite having the odds stacked against his species.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45491118
>"It's hot in here." Shameimaru told me, shrugging. I really didn't think it was, so I decided to just stare at the ceiling and try to ignore the pit in my stomach.
>When she let go, her fingers slid across my hand slightly, which was uncomfortable in a way that made me skin crawl
>Do you want a drink?" She asked me, offering the bottle to me. I looked down at it for a moment, then shook my head. No, I said. Probably best not to. "Are you sure...?" She trailed off, staring at me. After a moment, it started to become clear that I wasn't really being given much choice in the conversation, so I sighed and took the bottle.
>It was also strong, far stronger than sake from the village would have been, and I wondered why Shameimaru hadn't mentioned that to me beforehand.
you're right, it would have been giga-rape

[Anonymous No.]

>>45491142
I consent!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45491334
despite it all, he's still more or less a dumbass from the village who's stuck in a place where he knows he's not welcome. Aya really shouldn't have started offering him drinks and generally getting a little rapey like asking him if he wanted to see her bed and refusing to do her shirt up, but she was probably drunk and will apologize for it next time
he didn't seem all that afraid of Megumu, but he was probably still wary of her

[Anonymous No.]

>>45491452
>but she was probably drunk
Do you know how much alcohol a tengu needs to drink to get drunk? She must be going through a difficult time

[Anonymous No.]

>>45491334
He is non-confrontal to a fault is all.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45491539
to be fair the tengu seem to have stronger alcohol (probably oni alcohol actually since they used to live on the mountain now that I think about it) since anon did notice how strong it was

[Anonymous No.]

>>45491539
She was in the middle of her "get drunk and cry" day

[Anonymous No.]

I hope all the Hearn fanboys are ready, cause I bet she is going to get the same treatment as Aya when she accidentally gaps him in during their monthly hag meeting with Okina, Kanako and Yuuka.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45492371
But how does Reimu get into the hag meet if it's in Yukari space or the Outside World?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45492787
Anon disappears during a nice evening with Yamame.
Yamame sees a glimpse of the gap as it closes and heads to Reimu
???
Hags get beaten up

Or alternatively Hearn leaves a note saying "Borrowing your hubby for a night <3 Hearn"
Yamame does NOT wish to share and sacks Reimu on them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45492371
Yuugi feels out of place here, but i guess someone needs to supply them the cheap wine.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45492970
you can tell it's an older picture from yuugi and ran's presence
the hag population of gensokyo has risen wildly in the intervening years so we should really be adding keiki, okina, misumaru, junko, and urumi to the group

[Anonymous No.]

This image was not altered in any way

[Anonymous No.]

>>45492371
It is absolutely vital to the story's progression that Hearn gets charisma broken at least once.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45456983
I had been waiting for Kisami for some time and was starting to get bored. As soon as I came to the surface I couldn't stay for more than a few moments without looking around suspiciously, not only because there were tengus keeping an eye on me but I had a frighteningly high frequency of being kidnapped and this seemed like the perfect time to someone do this. But no, I just sat on a rock in the cold for several minutes, which was a little disappointing. Then I immediately regretted thinking that after hearing someone approaching. When looking to the side I saw a girl with short blonde hair, her shirt was red and her skirt started the same way but ended in an orange tone, like autumn, the cutouts at the end of her skirt and collar that had leaf shapes confirmed it. Honestly, she seemed too innocent to hurt me which made me feel more relieved, but not completely because afterwards she had a slightly angry expression on her face as she looked at the horizon. "Oh, I hate it so much, why does it have to come to an end? Seeing all my hard work destroyed by that bitch." My first impression of her kept proving wrong, at leat I could see that she is the goddess of autumn leaves. "But why doesn't anyone seem to care? Nobody cares about autumn leaves?... I paint them so carefully." She went from angry to sad very quickly. I then decided to say that I appreciated her work, but as soon as I started talking she gave a strange scream and kicked towards me, which I - miraculously - dodged. Miraculously because her kick was strong enough to send a blast of air at me which made me fall, and I don't think even the peach could protect me from it. She seemed much stronger than she looked but I was already used to that. "W-what? a human? I'm sorry you scared me." So she hadn't noticed me? I thought she was talking to me but apparently she was talking to herself, which I found a little strange. As I stood up I introduced myself and asked her name. "Shizuha Aki, goddess of autumn leaves. But who cares?" I already suspected it, but why is she still here? Wasn't it winter already? As soon as I asked her this, an expression of anger appeared and I became afraid again. She must have misinterpreted my curiosity, so I added that I was also sad about the end of the season. Her expression changed to a weak smile which made me feel relieved, and then she explained that she would only leave in 9 days, on the solstice. "Tell me, why is a human on this mountain alone? Don't you know it's dangerous here?" I then remembered how sad she looked and so I decided to give a noble lie saying that I was here to enjoy the last leaves that remained. She blushed at this and seemed to be amazed, stammering incoherent things. She didn't seem to get many compliments. "O-oh, re... really? Thank you, I... I don't get many compliments." I imagined. "Usually the one who gets all the praise is my sister Minoriko, she's very popular." A family intrigue? Maybe I could use my experience with the Kurodanis to help, but she kept talking and didn't give me a chance. "Okay, I love her and I'm glad she gets so much affection, she might be important to humans being the goddess of the harvest and such, but there are like a million of them. Now, have you heard of another goddess of autumn leaves besides me? No. And..." And she just didn't stop. I couldn't do anything but nod because she didn't leave me space to talk, I think she really wanted to talk about it with someone. It seemed like a few hours had passed and then the topic of "conversation" got a little... strange. "...And it's not fair that her breasts are so much bigger than mine! I'm the older sister! Why are they so small?" She said this while she grabbed and shook her own breasts with her hands. Luckily she seemed to realize what was happening and stopped immediately. "Er... I'm sorry, I think I got carried away." She said while looking down and blushing. "I didn't want to bother you, I don't know many people to talk to, I think I just wanted to let it all out... Ah!" A gust of cold wind passed us which made Miss Shizuha shiver. I think she felt much colder than me because of her thinness, I didn't say that out loud. I took off one of the sleeves of my coat and put the other half of the coat over her, placing my hand on her shoulder in a kind of half-hug. "T-thank you." She said, having a little trouble looking at me, she seemed shy. I told her she wasn't bothering me and that I liked helping people with their problems, even if it was just listening to them. So I let her free when the wind stopped, only for her to truly hug me.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45493525
sorry for any mistakes, im the google translate anon

[Anonymous No.]

>>45493533
Retard.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45493525
>she explained that she would only leave in 9 days, on the solstice
Ayy, nice. December is a month of autumn and I'm tired of pretending it's not.

>>45493533
You did pretty well, all things considered. The most immediate issues that come to mind are some excessively long run-on sentences, and you should be splitting things (eg. shifts in topics, rising/lowering tension, new lines of dialogue) into different paragraphs. But as far as spelling, wording, and general sentence structure goes, it's actually quite solid, sans a few oddities. Definitely easier to read than some other writings I've seen here.
It doesn't seem like you used google translate for anything more than a bilingual dictionary. If you did, either machine translation has improved beyond recognition, or you got me real good.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45496696
thanks
>some excessively long run-on sentences
noted. Also I forgot the existence of paragraphs
>It doesn't seem like you used google translate
I used it, so I fixed what was wrong with my knowledge of english

[Anonymous No.]

I explained what had happened to me in the time since Reimu had last seen me over a cup of tea and sat under Reimu's nice, new kotatsu. She'd taken particular interest in the big party that the Kurodani family had hosted in the Hot Springs Town, mostly to smack me on the arm and tell me off for not inviting her, since it was an opportunity to eat a lot and get drunk without having to tidy everything up again afterwards. I'd not actually been to a party that Reimu had hosted, but I'd certainly seen the aftermath of one so I understood her point.

Since Yamame hadn't yet arrived, Reimu took the opportunity to question me some more. "So...this marriage plan of yours..." I awkwardly scratched my head with a slight laugh and got to explaining how I'd broken the news to Kisami, who'd immediately taken it to an extreme. "So, that Kisami is a jeweller?" Reimu asked me. "She can make rings? That's why you were on the mountain, isn't it? For materials? She tried to explain some of it but she really wasn't in much of a state to make sense, so I didn't really get much out of it." I took a sip of my tea and once more marvelled at how good it was. “Had any ideas about the rings?” Reimu asked me. I thought about it. I’d had an idea about asking Kisami if she could somehow incorporate the golden bands that wrapped around Yamame’s dress into it, but I didn’t know if it was a feasible idea yet, let alone if she would like it. Maybe when I actually got a chance to talk to her properly, I’d know for sure. Then, I asked Reimu just how Kisami had been when she'd shown up.

Reimu laughed a little. "Never seen someone so panicked before, and I've seen a lot of panicky youkai - Kogasa's still freaking out about you, by the way. Still thinks that you're a ghost coming to haunt her despite me telling her that you were fine." That sounded concerning and a little sad. I wondered if I should try and find her myself so I could set the record straight, but I supposed that it would have to wait until I had the time. Given everything else I was trying to get done, I doubted that the time would come soon. “She’s not usually fixated on something for this long, actually.” Reimu continued, resting her chin on her interlocked fingers. “I think she’s still convinced that someone’s going to attack her.”

"Anyway, Kisami showed up here, tears streaming down her face and banging on the door to the Hall of Worship instead of my actual living area. I guess she's not been up around here before." I supposed that made sense. "I thought she was some youkai who'd gotten lost or something, so I just came out and yelled at her until she calmed down." That was very Reimu, I decided. "Once she had, I asked her what exactly she thought the point of a youkai coming to the Shrine way since officially my job is to exterminate youkai who cause trouble." Reimu scratched her head and shrugged. "Good think I didn't. She was babbling about being up on the mountain or something, but she did get your name out." I breathed out happily. I knew that Kisami was reliable, even though she seemed so flighty and airy at times. "Then that fox showed up, I beat her up for a bit because she's always doing something to deserve it, and she revealed that the tengu had arrested you."

I nodded sheepishly. It really had been a bit stupid of me to assume that there would be no repercussions to walking straight through tengu territory to reach the Rainbow Dragon Cave, especially when I had known that I didn't actually have a way to get through the cave. "Oh, yeah...About that. Why didn't you just come and ask me?" Reimu demanded an answer and when I was unable to give one, she slapped me in the back of the head. "Oh, you stupid-" She cut herself off and sighed heavily. "I was right here! I was stood out by the torii gate when that big booming sound happened by the mountain! You could have had that Kisami fly you straight here, and I've - Look!" She got up and stomped off down the hallway, though it didn't stop her from shouting at me. "And you didn't tell Yamame where you were going! What were you thinking!? What if you'd gotten lost and froze somewhere!?" I didn't really need Reimu making me feel worse than I already did, but I knew she cared. She stomped back into the room, brandishing a card. It was exactly what I'd expected, with a magatama design on it. "This is all you needed!" She told me crossly, dropping back down next to me. She slammed the card on the top of the kotatsu, then threw the blanket that she'd wrapped around my shoulders around both of us. I wondered if that had also come from Hearn's box of tricks, since it looked newer than most of the things in the Shrine. I supposed Ran could have supplied it too, though. "Honestly, I'd like to keep you safe, but I can't really do that when I never even know where you are."

[Anonymous No.]

I decided that I'd just hug her instead. It always made me feel better, after all. "And I should really go and beat Aya half to death for all of that stuff she tried with you. You know what she was doing, don't you?" I had an idea, yes. It wasn't exactly a nice thought, though I had a feeling that she'd already been terrifically drunk before I'd even got there. "Yeah, it looked like it. Smelt like it, too." I laughed a little. I hadn't really noticed it when I was there, but she had smelt quite strongly of sake, too. But then I thought about it a little deeper. She'd clearly not actually been in a good state. Her home was a mess and looked like she'd barely been able to keep the place together. The way she'd kept that one framed scrap of money clean, too... "Oh, I can see what you're doing." Reimu muttered, pointing an accusatory finger at me. "You're thinking that you feel sorry for her, or you want to help her, right?" I stammered some sort of rebuttal. "No lying to me! I can see it in your face." I did owe her, I said. I'd promised her an exclusive and so far I'd failed to actually provide it. She was probably worried that someone else would beat her to the story, or that I was going to die some other way before she could release it. "Yeah, well, she should have tried a bit harder before having an alcohol-fuelled pity party." Reimu clearly wasn't looking to be sympathetic. Maybe I was being too sympathetic, but I couldn't help it. I was just that sort of person.

I was going to ask Reimu some more questions about weddings, but I didn't get a chance before Reimu twitched. Frowning, I looked down at her and asked her if she was okay. "No - There's something..." She shot to her feet in a flash and swiped her gohei up from where it was leaning against the wall, then threw the door open, taking to the air to avoid wasting time putting her shoes on. "Hall of Worship!" She yelled at me as she took off. Now a little worried myself, I hurriedly pulled my boots on but skipped lacing them up, instead just following Reimu out of the door as quickly as I could. I pulled it shut behind me and headed for the Hall of Worship as quickly as I could, where I could already hear Reimu shouting indistinctly. Once I'd got there, I paused.

There was Reimu, her gohei in hand and pointed threateningly inside the hall. She'd pulled a stack of ofuda from her sleeve, too. I slowly joined her, wondering just what had happened. With her legs crossed and a scowl on her face, Lady Misumaru Tamatsukuri frowned at me. "Kisami's friend." She said quietly. "Perhaps you weren't lying."

"You - You're that god from the mine! What are you doing with my Hakurei Orb!?" Reimu yelled, pointing the gohei more threateningly. "I don't care how important you are. I swear I'll-"

"My Hakurei Orb." Lady Tamatsukuri replied sharply, cutting Reimu off neatly. "Because, as I previously told you, I made it." She went back to messing around with it, leaving Reimu growling and me looking between the two in some mild confusion. I'd known from our previous meeting that Lady Tamatsukuri had created the Hakurei Orb, but I'd just assumed that perhaps she regularly went to the Shrine. Now, it was looking like I'd been wrong. "And I'm - quite frankly - a little perturbed."

"You're a little - I'm a little furious!" Reimu looked about ready to stop forward and start hitting everything in sight. "What are you doing here? In the Hall of Worship? You - What's your name again? Misu...Er, mara?"

"Misumaru. Misumaru Tamatsukuri." Lady Tamatsukuri replied sharply. "And I'm very disappointed in you, young lady." Those words really got me raising my eyebrows. She sounded like a stern mother. "You've not been taking the slightest care of my poor Hakurei Orb!" She spun the orb in her hands around very gently but with the care of someone who knew exactly what they could and couldn't do to it. "We will be having words." She told Reimu gravely.

Reimu looked mutinous. "What words!? You barge into my Shrine, mess around with my Hakurei Orb, and then you try and reprimand me!?" Her voice was starting to increase in pitch which I figured probably meant that I should step in soon, if only to stop Reimu before she went into fight mode. "What do you think I've done that's so wrong?"

Lady Tamatsukuri looked back down at the orb. "My pride and joy, this. You barely take care of it. You don't even know the name of the god that I created it for."

At that, Reimu actually did try and dive forward, but luckily I was close enough to wrap my arms around her waist and pull her back before she actually started a fight. "What are you- Get off me! I'll kill her!" I dragged her back slightly while she tried to hit Lady Tamatsukuri with her gohei. "She's got no right-!"

[Anonymous No.]

"Hush, Reimu!" Lady Tamatsukuri commanded. "The fact that you're so upset is proof enough that you know I have a point. Listen to your...What did you say? Family. Yes, listen to your family." She nodded at me. "Now, I fear this poor relic is in need of some maintenance, so I'll be taking it with me. You'll have it back once I'm done." Reimu froze for a moment, then finally pushed me off. "Is that a problem?" She asked sharply, looking at Reimu as though a parent might when they were disciplining a child. At least, I assumed that was what it would look like.

"Wh- Yes, it's a problem! I don't care if you did make it, you're not taking it!" Reimu stomped forward, though she did manage to keep her gohei arm still. "Put it back. Right now." Ah, I thought. She'd only kept her arm down so that she could raise it dramatically to go with her words. Lady Tamatsukuri didn't look particularly impressed by the gesture, but I wondered if that was because she was exceptionally strong or if she didn't believe that Reimu was actually going to attack her.

Lady Tamatsukuri looked down at her for a moment. Then, something happened with her eyes. They seemed to soften slightly, for a split second. Curious. "Hm. A different approach, then." She took a step backwards, then tossed the orb behind her, seemingly without much care. Despite that, it landed perfectly where it had been enshrined. I wondered if that had been because she was just very good at the theatrics or if it was because she could command the orb similar to Reimu. "I will return here." She stepped back up to Reimu. She was taller than her, but much like my impression, she gave off such a commanding air that the height difference between the two seemed much more dramatic. "And I will work to repair my Orb with your gracious permission." She stepped past Reimu, her arms clasped behind her back, then came to me. "It is good to see that you have been taking care of Reimu. She looks far healthier than she did when I first saw her in the Rainbow Dragon Cave. Perhaps it is because she is not suffocating." Lady Tamatsukuri tilted her head, which was a good thing because an ofuda passed through the space a moment later and just missed her. "I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about in the future." She said, bowing slightly. Then, without a word or what looked to be a care in the world, she strode out of the hall of worship and floated off into the darkness.

Reimu and I stared after her, but I imagine that both of us had very different thoughts running through our minds. I was wondering whether or not Lady Tamatsukuri had an ulterior motive, while I imagined that Reimu was hurling abuse at her within her mind. I'd only been in the Hall of Worship a few times, but I had looked at the Hakurei Orb on those occasions, and it had never once looked like it needed maintenance. And now I was thinking about that look that had passed across Lady Tamatsukuri's features when she'd been looking down at Reimu. She had softened slightly, and then acquiesced to Reimu's demand that she not take the Hakurei Orb with her. I liked to imagine that I was getting at least a little bit of a handle on this family stuff now, and I thought that the way she'd looked at Reimu was a bit similar to the way that Hearn looked at Reimu. Like there was some level of care there that she was keeping quiet about. Maybe, I thought, that was why she was planning to come back. She wanted to see Reimu again.

"Ugh." Reimu grumbled, drawing my attention. "What is it with these women? Her, Yuk- Er, Hearn, Kasen...They're all so weird." I snorted. Just about everyone I knew was weird in some way. "What, including me?" I stared at Reimu for a moment, then tilted my head. "I'm going to smack you again if you say yes, by the way." She frowned and turned to look back at the Hakurei Orb while I tried to stifle a laugh. "It looks fine...What's she so worried about?" Shrugging, I asked her if we could get out of here for now, since it definitely wasn't warm, and I'd left my coat behind. Perhaps Lady Tamatsukuri could stand it since she was a god, but Reimu was barefoot too, and she was shivering a little. "Oh, er...Yeah." She finally said, though she looked distinctly less pleased about things now.

So, we made our way back out of the Hall of Worship and around to the Shrine. It had started snowing again. "Not even the solstice yet...I hate Winter." Reimu seemed to have decided that she needed to complain about everything now, because she started with the snow, then went to the fairies, followed by the encounter with Lady Tamatsukuri, then back to the snow, and so on. I did wonder if Winter had come slightly early this year, though. We were just about to enter Reimu's room again when I heard a noise.

"Hello~!" Someone was calling from the darkness over by the Shrine's torii gate. "I've brought my cute little sister!" Well, I supposed that cleared up who was calling in a flash. "She's determined to make everything better!"

[Anonymous No.]

"She really is just like that all of the time, then." Reimu muttered, shaking her head and stepping back into the warmth of the Shrine. I turned my head to look at her, leaving me no time before Kisami crashed into me, sending me stumbling backward. She hugged me tightly but let go after a few seconds. "Either come in or go away!" Reimu shouted from inside.

Finally managed to get Kisami out of the way, I saw that Yamame was stood behind her, with her warmest clothes on and that scarf of hers trailing down her back. She looked more than a little confused and slightly worried. "You're - Okay?" She asked me quietly, reaching out a hand to touch my face. I nodded weakly. "You look..." She trailed off, then took on that determined look that I found absolutely adorable and took my hand. "Come on." She said, leading me inside.

"Should I just-" Kisami started, pointing vaguely in the direction of the Shrine's torii gate as if she was thinking of leaving.

"Oh, just get in here!" Reimu yelled from where she was trying to wrap the blanket around herself. "Or you're all staying out there!" Looking a bit uncomfortable, Kisami followed Yamame and I inside, pulling the door shut behind her. "Ugh, good think you pulled the door shut. It's freezing outside." She punctuated the point by shivering slightly. "Well, don't just stand there." She told us all, so I sighed and sat back down, and after a moment, Yamame joined me. Kisami, looking a little awkward still, took a seat on the opposite side of the kotatsu.

"Um, so..." Kisami began, running her hands through her hair. "Sorry about how I showed up earlier." From the explanation I'd gotten, she'd been a little scattered at best and halfway to hysterics at worst. "But, er, thanks. For helping."

"Well, I wasn't going to leave him up there, was I?" Reimu asked Kisami with a frown. "So, you're one of Yamame's sisters, huh? What's that like? I never really had any siblings growing up. Did you get into arguments a lot?" That, seemingly, was enough to get Kisami over her uncomfortable hurdle and start talking more normally.

While Reimu and Kisami conversed, Yamame - Who had stayed on my side of the kotatsu - quietly spoke to me. "Ki wouldn't tell me why you were there, but...She said that the tengu arrested you?" I nodded which led to Yamame giving me a hug. As expected, I felt a bit better already. "Please, don't do stuff like that without telling me. When you hadn't returned after hours, I started to get...worried. And then, Ki showed up and told me that you were in desperate need of 'the love and care only a Kurodani could provide', which sounded a little weird, but she looked stressed, so..." I nodded quietly. I really didn't have much to say about it, but I still felt a little weird about the things Shameimaru had tried on me, so I mostly just wanted physical contact from Yamame. "I think we can make that work." Yamame told me with a small smile. She pulled me into another hug, but this one was more like she was just holding me as long as she could. My head rested on her chest, where I could hear her heartbeat. It was comforting. More than that, it was relaxing, and I felt sleepy before long.

"Seems like we're being ignored." Reimu muttered, and I opened my eyes to see that she was leaning her elbows on the kotatsu and watching Yamame and I with a smirk. "Shame, that." I unwillingly disengaged from my spider's cuddles, and looked between Reimu and Kisami, who were both watching us with similar smirks.

"Massive shame, I think." Kisami added. "They're both too self-conscious to go any further while we're in the room, Reimu." It looked like I'd missed some personal developments while I'd been with Yamame. "But they're just adorable, aren't they?"

"Ki, don't-" Yamame began, shaking her head and trying to do some sort of gesture with her hands, but Reimu cut her off very loudly.

"Oh, definitely. Absolutely adorable. Almost makes you want to join in, doesn't it?" Reimu's smile was growing, so I told her that she really didn't need to tease me like this, but this time, Kisami cut me off halfway through.

"Why, I think I might just have to. What do you think, Reimu?" Kisami and Reimu looked at each other, then both dived across the kotatsu at Yamame and I. Reimu came with the blanket, which she threw over everyone during the resulting struggle. By the end of it, all four of us were buried under the blanket and I found that I couldn't move anymore. Kisami's hair had gotten absolutely everywhere, but I didn't really mind. Rather, I felt a lot better, with a very warm and comfortable feeling in my chest. I certainly felt a lot warmer.

"So," I heard Reimu begin, her voice muffled. The blanket had landed over my face at some point so I couldn't see or hear very much. "Anyone for hanafuda?"

[Anonymous No.]

>>45497507
the pic

[Anonymous No.]

"Wait...that wasn't a dream?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45497750
Kek, but did she do that just because she was drunk or did she really have some kind of hidden feeling?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45497776
She barely met the guys and she's very hellbent on the whole not being like the original tengu shtick, it was likely the alcohol and the disbelief of not only a human being dropped to her house but exactly the human she was looking for

[Anonymous No.]

>>45497576
What a coincidence, same time of night as the last one I forgot

[Anonymous No.]

>>45497776
Opportunity makes a thief as they say, I think it was mostly just the weirdness of the situation that had Aya completely unhindged. And the Tengu booze of course, if our anon said it felt strong then one sip of it might have knocked out your average villager and Aya had clearly been drinking for a while.

[Anonymous No.]

You need to let go, Kogasa. The accident wasn't your fault.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45499309
>The accident wasn't your fault.
yes, it was your fault

[Anonymous No.]

>>45500947
It was actually the Kurodani's fault. They built these tunnels with the intention of getting their hands on unsuspecting males.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45499309
Kind of hard to let it go when he keeps haunting her. Honestly he should stop tormenting the poor girl and properly thank her for making him fall down that hole.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45501800
she is the guest of honor to the wedding

[Anonymous No.]

>>45502964
Wrong. She's going to crash the wedding and object to the marriage, as it should be HER responsibility to marry Anon and make up to him her grave (ha ha) misdeeds.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45503247
There will be dozens of women objecting to the marriage trying to run away with Anon like in these romantic movies.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45503269
none of them would get close before ibaraki-douji beats them half to death while bawling her eyes out because the wedding is just so romantic

[Anonymous No.]

>>45503247
You're implying that I won't marry Kogasa first.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45503287
A human-youkai wedding without at least a dozen kidnapping attempts is considered a dull affair

[Anonymous No.]

Reimu didn't seem convinced of Lady Tamatsukuri's intentions. "She's gonna try and steal it!" She insisted, poking my arm with the handle of her broom to punctuate each word. "My Hakurei Orb! That thing's been in my family for who knows how long, and just because she says "Well, I made it so really, it's mine!" She gets to take it away with her?" I frowned and blocked her broom attacks with my own broom. She'd agreed to leave it with Reimu, hadn't she? "She's lying!" This time, I turned and caught Reimu's broom before she could hit me with it again. She'd decreed that Yamame and I - And Kisami, though she'd taken some encouragement - Were to stay with her at the Shrine overnight. We’d even spent several hours playing hanafuda, though it turned out that Reimu’s luck was just too supernaturally good for Kisami or I to stand a chance. Yamame did slightly better, but even she couldn’t prevail over Reimu in the end. At first, I'd thought the whole thing rather sweet, until she'd thrown a pillow at my head before the sky had even begun to get light and dragged me from my warm and comfy, spider-filled blanket to come and help her clear the courtyard of snow. Sighing heavily, I'd agreed, because she was family and she'd asked.

So, shivering, off we went, my coat from Yamame and her coat from Hearn wrapped around the both of us. Hers looked very stylish, which made me ask if it was actually warm, but she'd assured me that it was definitely very warm and toasty. Hearn really had gone to great expense, I said. All of the clothing items that she'd gifted to Reimu couldn't have been cheap. "Yeah, well...I think she's probably got more money than she knows what to do with. She's like, a thousand years old or something." Perhaps I'd have to ask her if I saw her anytime soon. Reimu's eye suddenly took on a bit of a haunted look. "I wouldn't ask her any questions like that. Really." She sounded so serious about it that I found any desire to ask the question that I might have had rapidly dwindling. Besides, I had no idea when I might see Hearn again. Reimu had mentioned when she'd appeared at the Shrine that she was probably going into hibernation, which meant that she might not show up until next spring, some three months or more away.

As far as Lady Tamatsukuri went, I doubted that she had anything nefarious on her mind. I didn't have any particular reason for thinking it, but there was just something that stuck in my mind about the way she looked at Reimu that I couldn't quite get rid of. It wasn't the look of someone with something bad planned, but more like...I almost wanted to say nostalgia? I wasn't sure. "Your determination to see something good in just about everyone is going to be the death of either you or me at this rate." Reimu pouted, then slapped the broom against the ground to shake the last bits of snow that had built up on it off, which I then swept off to the side. We'd opened up the path leading both toward the Hall of Worship for any potential visitors from the village, as well as the path to Reimu's rooms, though I doubted that anyone would need to use them considering Reimu could just fly over it. The snow had stopped at some point in the night, and the cloud cover had finally broken, showing the stars above. It also meant that it was even colder than it had been, but my coat was fairly good at counteracting that.

I looked out across the valley, then over to the mountain, where I'd been yesterday. I shivered then, and it wasn't from the cold. I knew that she'd been drunk and not in her right state of mind, but the experience at Shameimaru's home had been unpleasant. But at the same time, I knew that letting things lie wasn't going to be a much better solution. I probably needed to get through that exclusive with Shameimaru soon, especially since I'd already left it so long. "Well, you're not going to be getting much out of her any time soon. Didn't you say that she already had an empty bottle when you got in there?" I nodded. She'd made me finish it off. "And then she got a second one out?" Another nod. "Then, those two, plus the third one she almost definitely got afterward...And it was stronger than you'd expected?" Three nods.

"Yeah...The alcohol those tengu have got is even stronger than the village stuff. Somewhere near the oni level. She's not going to be doing much for a few days." I thought that tengu were really strong drinkers, though. "They are. That's why it's so strong, so they can get drunk off of it without needing to go through enough of it to drown a kappa in. I guess she's a horny drunk." I whipped my head around and stared at Reimu, who looked at me and shrugged. "What? It's true. Actually, it's really true. I think she tried it on with another villager here, once. Some guy who got attacked by a hunger god, but offered to distribute fliers for me since there was a festival I was running after we got rid of it. She was around for the afterparty once the festival was done."

[Anonymous No.]

I didn't remember that. "Why would you? It was well before we properly got to know each other. Anyway, I smacked her until she apologized, and that was that." Well, that was about the most Reimu-like thing she could have done. But wait, how had she gotten so drunk if it was a festival at the Shrine? "Oh, there was a massive surplus of alcohol from the last party here. Some - Actually, a lot - was the strong stuff. Anyway, we're getting really off topic." We really were, but my point still stood. I thought that Lady Tamatsukuri wasn't going to do anything bad, and Reimu thought that she was.

There was a boom in the distance. "Wow, they're starting early today." Reimu muttered, squinting into the distance. The sun was just starting to come up, the brilliant light of day just barely starting to crest over the horizon. The sound had come from near the mountain, so I already had an idea of what it was most likely to be. The kappa and yamawaro's war, still going on. "I think they've started to forget what they're actually fighting about." Reimu remarked, examining the thick mittens she was wearing. They were red and white, and I thought they looked quite cute. "I went over there the other day, just to make sure that the whole thing wasn't threatening to turn into a full-scale incident, and both sides swore that they were keeping it under control, but got a bit cagey when I asked what exactly they were fighting about. I think it was probably just some disagreement about some technology thing which got out of hand." I agreed, but the fight had been going on for a long while to be just about that. "I guess it escalate..." She trailed off, so I turned to look at her. "And then, it changed." She told me, staring at me very pointedly. I could only respond with a very blank look. "Then, Marisa got captured, or whatever. Maybe she just thought it would be fun. And off Tenshi went to join the opposite side."

I asked Reimu what she was getting at. "Then, they somehow both became high-ranking members." I was starting to reach my limit for things I understood. "I barely understand myself, I'm just repeating what they told me. But - The point is, I think Marisa and Tenshi are running more of the show than we think." ...So? I really didn't get where she was going with this. Reimu frowned at me for a moment, then moaned and pressed her mittens against her forehead as she leaned back against the torii gate. "Ugh...I think they're fighting now because Marisa wants to know who you're seeing, and Tenshi won't let her." My very blank look became a very blank stare. Then I told her that she'd just said about the most far-fetched thing that I'd ever heard. "I know!" She answered, exasperated. "But that's what the Kappa and the Yamawaro I spoke to told me!" She looked very annoyed. "Honestly - We only didn't tell her as a joke! She just so happened to miss out because she was all hopped up on mushrooms or potions or whatever, and then it just seemed funny!" I definitely remembered. She'd shown up barely coherent and Reimu had to take her outside to get her sorted. "So...I think that's where we are now. Maybe it's just a rumour those lot are spreading and neither Marisa nor Tenshi think that, but..."

Reimu and I stood there, watching the mountain as the sky began to lighten. the Sun had yet to make an appearance, but it couldn't be far off. What were we supposed to do about it? "We...Reveal it?" I imagined that Yamame wouldn't mind all that much. "Well - Actually, you're planning to marry her anyway. Big wedding ceremony?" I...supposed so? I hadn't even gotten to the rings yet. "About that. You know how it works, right? Engagement ring, wedding rings, ceremonies, the biggest party you've ever thrown in your life, all that stuff?" I did have some idea. I might have repressed half my life and had an extreme lack of certain life lessons, but I wasn't completely clueless. I'd seen married couples before. "Yeah, well...I think you've got an advantage. Not many in the village have much hope of a really nigh quality ring like you might get from Kisami." I smiled a little. Reimu seemed to have quite a bit of faith in Kisami, considering she'd only met her the previous day. "What? Well - She's quite...What are you implying?" Reimu asked me sharply, frowning at me. I was just happy to see that Reimu's old hatred of Yamame hadn't resurfaced with Kisami. "Shut up!" Reimu smacked me with her mittens. "Look, I got over it. She's Yamame's older sister, and I'm your older sister. Plus, watching her embarrass the two of you is fun. I should do it more often." That, I sternly told Reimu, was not to happen. Still, at least Reimu and Kisami were getting along.

[Anonymous No.]

And then, much like yesterday, something began happening at the mountain. I could see a tiny light in the darkness near the base of the mountain, somewhere near Genbu Ravine. "What's that...?" Reimu asked me, squinting. "There, in the sky." She pointed up well above the mountain and off to the side slightly. I followed her finger and frowned. There was something up there. Another light, this one a deep red. "Oh, I've got a really bad feeling about this." Reimu groaned. "I'm gonna go get my gohei. I just know-" And then, it happened. First, there was a sudden quiet, like everything in the world was holding its breath, and the lights seemed to grow in intensity. And then, the light in the sky shot downward, in a massive beam of energy. "That's Tenshi!" Reimu cried, shield her eyes. At the same time, another beam, this one from the ground and lit with every colour of the rainbow shot upward. "Marisa's Master Spark!" In the middle, the two beams hit, exploding into a massive sphere of clashing energy. Even from here, I could hear it. "What the hell are they doing!?" Reimu shouted. The two clashing beams of energy seemed to be struggling against each other, pushing one way and then the other. "If that hits the surface, it'll rupture the whole planet!" I wondered if Reimu was perhaps being a bit overdramatic, but at the same time, looking at the two beams, I wasn't all too sure. Then, Marisa's Master Spark suddenly intensified and shot skyward, completely enveloping Tenshi's attack. The massive beam launched upward into the sky, disappearing into the distance. For a moment, it seemed to light everything up before it faded, but I belatedly realised that the sun had started to rise above the valley.

All in all, it was a very impressive start to the day. Reimu, however, didn't seem to think so. "That..." She growled. Her hands were clenched and shaking slightly, and I could see the rising anger on her face. "That's it!" She roared, taking to the air. She shot off back toward the Shrine, and I jogged after her, pleased that we'd cleared the path already. Before I was even halfway there, she was launching back out, her mittens gone and her gohei clutched tightly in her hand. Surrounding her waist were four yin-yang orbs, which rotated around her as she flew. "I'll kill them both!" She shouted, pausing in front of me. I tried to calm her slightly and remind her that she probably shouldn't kill them, but she didn't seem very capable of listening. At the very least, I shouted, just put them in Eientei. She launched off into the morning sky so fast that it sent me stumbling backward. I watched her go and wondered how long it would take for Marisa or Tenshi to recover from the injuries she was probably about to inflict on them.

"So...Er, was that the moment when Reimu snapped?" I heard a voice ask, so I turned. There was Yamame, pulling her ribbon into place and scratching her head. "I mean, the only time I've seen her angry like that, it was when she thought that I'd killed you." I asked her what Reimu had done as I stepped closer and straightened her ribbon myself. "Er, just came flying through the door, grabbed her gohei, and shot back out while ranting about how she was definitely going to kill someone - No, er, two people." I nodded. Marisa and Tenshi, it seemed, had gotten a little overzealous. "Yeah...I could see that from here." She pulled me back over to Reimu's room. I blinked. In the corner was the blanket, bundled up in a way that definitely didn't look natural. It was trembling slightly. And...Kisami was nowhere to be seen. I looked at Yamame, then pointed at the blanket. "Oh, er...Yes. I'm afraid that Ki had a bit of a fright when Reimu burst in." Yamame whispered to me. That, I muttered back, was adorable. I tiptoed over to the blanket, crouched down, and gently pulled at the edge of it. A tuft of red hair popped out, followed by another, then another, until it looked more like a blanket with red hair. I looked over at Yamame, then tentatively said Kisami's name. That stopped the trembling, and I pulled the blanket down further, revealing Kisami's face. She was white as a sheet and her hair was falling in every direction, which only made her look even wilder. "Ki...?" Yamame asked gently. "You okay?"

[Anonymous No.]

"Um..." Kisami replied weakly. "I - Um, maybe?" She didn't look quite okay. She looked around. "Is, er, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden gone...?" Yamame and I both nodded. That seemed to calm her slightly. "O-Oh. Good..." She swallowed thickly. "Haven't had a scare like that in a long while..." She breathed in, squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then exhaled. Slowly, she seemed to relax. Yamame looked over at me, then gently pulled her into a hug. After a moment, I joined in. That really seemed to do the trick, and Kisami seemed much calmer afterward. "Not - Er, used to being the one who gets scared." She said, shaking her head and trying to pull her hair into some semblance of normality. "Usually, I'm the one doing the scaring." Yamame rolled her eyes and mouthed to me that it was because she just rushed at people and jumped on them. "Also not seen the Hakurei Shrine Maiden much, I guess. Does she get angry like that...Er, often?" I shook my head. It seemed to be at least fairly rare. Yamame had seen it before, though. "That's why you were ill for a while, wasn't it? I heard Yu and Rei talking about it."

"Yes, well...It was a misunderstanding that's been cleared up. I got her back, anyway." She'd done more than that, I thought privately. "So, er, what do we do now? Reimu's off to beat people up. Do we just...Sit here?" Yamame looked at the two of us. "I'd like to go home, if it's possible." I said that since Reimu would probably gone for a while, I'd go and look for Aunn, since she was probably around somewhere. She could take care of things until Reimu got back. "Her? Wasn't she chasing little Chen around the last time we were here?" Well...Yes, I supposed, but it was probably fine now. Plus, she'd done this sort of thing before. "Right...Okay, you go and do that and I'll, er, get Ki sorted." I smiled and nodded but stopped for one last moment before leaving to push some of Kisami's hair from her face, since it was still sticking out every which way. Then, I got up and stepped out onto the veranda, which the sun was shining brightly onto. I began heading down, calling Aunn's name.

After a few moments, I was at the back of the Shrine, and I saw that Genji the giant turtle had already climbed up onto the rock that he'd been sunning himself on the last time I'd seen him. I watched him for a moment, then muttered to myself that it couldn't possibly be that warm just because the sun was there, considering all the snow surrounding him. One of his eyes cracked open, and he slowly raised his head and looked at me. Now feeling a little bad for possibly waking him up, I asked him if he had seen Aunn, though I wasn't exactly expecting an answer. I was surprised, however, when he turned his head toward the other side of the Hall of Worship, where I hadn't seen yet. He definitely was intelligent, I thought, though still unwilling to speak. I thanked him awkwardly, then followed the path around the back of the Shrine. Happily, Genji had been correct, because there was Aunn and Aunn, both of them making identical snow sculptures which looked like komainu statues.

[Anonymous No.]

The happier one looked up at me when she heard my footsteps crunching in the snow. "Ah! Miss Reimu's brother!" She called, hopping up from her statue. She'd equipped a much longer and thicker looking version of her usual shirt, and a slightly threadbare scarf was wrapped around her neck. The less happy Aunn had a similar shirt on, but didn't seem to have a scarf of her own. "Did Miss Reimu leave?" I nodded and explained briefly what had happened, then asked Aunn if she could look after the Shrine until Reimu got back. "Yep! Wow, Miss Marisa and Miss Tenshi shouldn't have done that..." She shook her head and cheerfully continued. "I'll keep all intruders away until Miss Reimu comes back!" The other Aunn looked up from her sculpture at me, frowned slightly, then went back to work. Still, it was something, and I thanked Aunn profusely before heading back around the front of the Shrine to reach Reimu's rooms again.

This time, there was no need, because Yamame and Kisami were already waiting and shivering in the courtyard. Neither of them looked particularly well-suited to the weather. "D-Done?" Kisami asked me, her teeth chattering. "So cold..." She stepped over to Yamame and clung to her tightly. "Ah, it's no good...You're cold too..." She shook her head. "Are we leaving, then?" I nodded, and Yamame sighed in relief. "Good!" Kisami took to the air immediately. "C'mon, Yams, grab your human and let's go!" I sighed and spread my arms so that Yamame could lift me into the air properly, mostly because I was worried that she'd fall into a coma like she did after the Grassroots Youkai Meeting we'd gone to. Just before we left, Kisami turned back to me. "Oh, and...We'll get together for our little secret project soon, okay?" I looked over my shoulder at Yamame, who asked us what exactly we were talking about. "Sorry, Yams! Total secret! He's my assistant now, and he's helping me out! Maybe I'll return him when I'm done." She grinned, then shot off into the morning sky. Yamame and I stared after her for a moment. Yamame shook her head, muttered something about my keeping an eye out around Kisami, and then took off too.

In the air, I looked over toward the mountain. Even though I didn't know where Reimu, Marisa or Tenshi were, I could tell that something was happening over there. "I swear Ki's being even more scattered than usual lately. Maybe she's..." Yamame trailed off, her gaze following mine toward the mountain. Now I knew exactly what was happening, because I could see massive streams of danmaku and huge, almost electrical barriers in square shapes stretching across the sky above Genbu Ravine. That, I was certain, was Reimu. And attacking her, I could see a sort of rainbow effect glittering in the sky, which could only be Marisa, and large red beams of light every few moments, which I thought was likely Tenshi. "That's...Very dramatic." Yamame commented. "What did they do?"

I shrugged, then said that they had nearly blown up the planet. "Nearly blown up the - Wait, sorry...What?"

[Anonymous No.]

>>45507597
the pic
just kidding

[Anonymous No.]

Much like Yukari, Reimu felt left out and forced herself in.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45507705
Like mother like daughter.

[Anonymous No.]

Day 284
Got rid of the clothes, they had a tracking spell on them, let's see how Reimu stalks me now
The wolfgirl saw me on the bamboo forest, tried to offer me clothes, i knew she was working with Reimu
Had to steal a grilled eel from the bird for sustenance
She was too intimidated to react
I crafted enough beartraps to resemble a metallic lake i shall set a perimeter around it and my bed in my new home cave
I also have strings wired to dart traps on the walls
Let's see Reimu catching me now
Time to rest but first i must tie the string with the bell to my left toe i don't trust my right one

[Anonymous No.]

Dₐᵧ ₅₈₃
𝓌ₕₐₜ 𝓌ₐₛ ᵢ ₛₒ 𝓌ₒᵣᵣᵢₑ𝒹 ₐᵦₒᵤₜ? ᵢ'ₘ ₐ ᵧₒᵤₖₐᵢ ᵧₒᵤₖₐᵢ ₖᵢₗₗ ₕᵤₘₐₙₛ ₜₕₑᵣₑ 𝓌ₐₛ ₙₑᵥₑᵣ ₐₙᵧₜₕᵢₙ𝓰 𝓌ᵣₒₙ𝓰 𝓌ᵢₜₕ ₘₑ ᵢₜ'ₛ ₜₕₑ ᵣₑₛₜ ₒ𝒻 𝓰ₑₙₛₒₖᵧₒ 𝓌ₕₒ ᵢₛ 𝓌ᵣₒₙ𝓰

[Anonymous No.]

ʄཞɛɛ

[Anonymous No.]

>>45508643
>>45508576
Thats enough of that now

[Anonymous No.]

>>45508656
Sorry, got a bit nostalgic there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45507597
The komainu population explodes in the winter.

[Anonymous No.]

>I guess she's a horny drunk." I whipped my head around and stared at Reimu, who looked at me and shrugged. "What? It's true. Actually, it's really true.
Damn why don't more humans appreciate that, I know I'd go to more festivals at the shrine if it's such an easy way to pick up horny tengu.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45509821
I don't think you understand who's going to be doing the 'picking up' in this situation.
>>45508539
Poor girl was first terrified that Reimu was going to *pichuun* her when she gave that human a good scare and he fell ON HIS OWN down that hole.
Then right after it seemed Reimu hadn't gotten wind of the whole affair and she'd dared to approach the village again the spirit of the villager himself came to haunt her, what was the shinigami doing letting spirits wonder around like that?
Kogasa would have demanded that Reimu do something about him, but then she'd have to explain why he was haunting her.
Truly it's quite the pickle she has found herself in, is there anyone who could help our poor umbrella excorcise this specter?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45510301
I consent to being hit on by a drunken tengu so it counts

[Anonymous No.]

>don't tell her this but I would like to reward you for keeping reimu company
>make me a magic fishing rod.
>ah? ...er, ok... but I can make much more valuable and powerful objects, like a-
>make me a magic fishing rod.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45507602
>they had nearly blown up the planet
But was Bruce Faulconer's score playing?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45512348
An everything proof set of armor wouldn't be a bad idea considering what's happened to anon

[Anonymous No.]

[Anonymous No.]

>>45514770
But he needs a magic fishing rod to fish in the sanzu river to we have a komachi chapter

[Anonymous No.]

>>45515813
He needs to learn to fish first. Who would teach him? Koishi?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45516001
Me.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45516001
the fish will teach him how to fish

[Anonymous No.]

>>45516001
Yamame's strange cousin from the river
But only if Yamame goes bowling with her

[Anonymous No.]

A day had passed. Yamame had complained a storm when we'd made it back to the cave entrance to find it covered in snow. Again. This time, she didn't seem inclined to wait for a delicate solution, so with one large danmaku blast, she was stomping through the caves towards home and dragging me along with her, complaining the entire time. I got the impression that she didn't particularly love Winter. Once we’d got back to her house, I asked her what she was planning to do about Kagerou’s hood. “Oh…” Yamame rubbed her eyes. “I’ve got to get it to her soon. She’ll be freezing in that thing she was wearing.” It hadn’t exactly looked resistant against the cold, I agreed. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll go back to the village, as soon as Ki frees you from whatever this project of hers is that neither of you will tell me about. That café…Where I met her before. If she comes there often, maybe I’ll run into her again. Otherwise, I’ll have to…Try and get to her house through the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.” That didn’t sound all too appealing, especially in the snow, but if we had to, I’d accompany her. “Yeah, I don’t exactly want to do it, either.” Yamame replied dryly.

After a quiet night in - So, not particularly quiet - Kisami appeared the next morning, looking like she'd recovered from her experience the previous day. I supposed that she wasn't the sort of person who'd let things affect her for long periods of time. She also continued to be entirely unconcerned with Yamame's privacy, since she burst into her bedroom early in the morning. Yamame had been screaming anyway, but then she was screaming for a very different reason, and it was a bloody and bruised Kisami who finally begged Yamame to let her take me with her for work on our "super secret project". After she'd sworn that Yamame would be happy with the results, and after I'd taken Yamame aside to remind her that beating up her elder sister wasn't the best way to deal with her problems, she'd finally agreed, with the added stipulation that beating up her elder sister had been a wonderful way to deal with a ruined morning. I couldn't exactly argue otherwise, I guessed.

So, bidding me farewell with a steamy kiss, I'd left Yamame's house and followed Kisami through the network of underground tunnels, heading in a different direction than I'd ever taken before. At one point, Kisami had to carry me over a large chasm, but apart from that, it was mostly just a lot of twists and turns. On the way, Kisami had explained to me that her home was deeper than where Yamame lived, but it was somewhat closer to the Hot Springs Town. It explained why I hadn't seen Kisami before coming down there; She had no reason to take the usual path to the surface and she could take a different route to reach the Hot Springs Town that didn't intersect with the path that Yamame and I took. Her house, in comparison to Yamame's, was less house-like and more cave-like. Not to say that it wasn't nice and comfortable, but despite her appearance, Kisami seemed to put less value in the clean and furnished surroundings that made up the bottom floor of Yamame's home. Instead, her house was more in line with the top floor - That of Yamame's workshop. "Everyone's got a couple things going on." Kisami explained to me, ushering me inside. "Yams is a seamstress, but she's also in charge of handling a lot of the woodworks for construction. Reiko manages the whole thing, but she also does a lot of the cleaning up after we're finished with construction. Yura negotiates with whoever we're working with, but she also works on the construction itself. Anyway, you get the idea. So, I help out with all of the...Uh, relationships when we're working, like yelling at the oni and the like, but I'm also a jeweller." I nodded along with the explanation, stepping inside. Kisami certainly could yell with the best of them, given what I had seen her accomplish while yelling at Yuugi, Lady Kasen, and Raki.

It was darker down here, though it looked like the deal the Kurodani family had made with the kappa had extended down here too, because Kisami flipped a switch on the wall and the room lit up, though it wasn't quite as bright as it was in Yamame's house. Kisami's home was only one floor, her bedroom somewhere behind the doors at the end of a long corridor. “Oh, er, leave your shoes on. Floor’s probably a little…sharp.” Kisami told me as she ushered me inside. I wasn’t sure how a floor could be sharp, but I decided that she was telling me for a reason. There was one door just to the left of the door into the home, and Kisami was pushing me in that direction. Inside, I found Kisami's workshop.

[Anonymous No.]

The majority of the room itself was taken up by her massive work bench, far larger than I would have thought anyone would need. The entrance seemed to be at the side, and it curved, starting at the wall and then curving into the centre of the room until it seemed more like once you sat down in the centre, you'd see nothing but the bench. Yamame had a fairly large bench at the back of her work area, but it was usually covered in fabrics and materials to manipulate said fabrics. Kisami, meanwhile, had...Well, it was slightly hard to explain considering I recognized all of zero tools on said bench. The centrepiece of the bench seemed to be the section that faced toward the door. There was a large section that was cut out in an half-oval, and a second workspace sat below it. Kisami motioned me forward to have a closer look. Edging around the side to see in, I saw rows and rows of tools hanging from a wire rack inside that lower section of workspace, with all sorts of pliers, hammers and things I didn't recognize. The whole thing looked well-used, with dirty rags hanging from nails hammered into the side of the desk and a general sort of dirty look to the whole thing.

"Er, it's probably going to be a bit beyond you, sorry." Kisami told me, scratching her head as she entered the room behind me. "I could hardly explain it myself, I just know what does what and how to use them." Well, that seemed promising. "No, it's fine! It's like - You know when you're good at something, and it just sort of becomes muscle memory?" My blank stare probably answered the question handily. "Well...It's like that. I got to a point where I know how to work with all this stuff so well that trying to explain it would actually throw me for a loop." Kisami pulled me back out to the open space and approached the desk herself. "Probably needs a bit of a clean, huh?" She shook her head. "Guess it'll have to wait." She muttered.

"So, did you have any ideas? I mean, it's a big thing. An engagement ring!" Turning and leaning against her desk, Kisami drew in a breath with a smile, watching me scratch me head and laugh nervously. "Two engagement rings? Are you planning to wear an engagement ring too, or just the wedding ring?" I was drawing a bit of a blank on that front - Well, on many fronts. "What about the design? Do you have a gemstone you want? I heard that in the Outside World, its usually diamonds, but we don't have all too many of those, so we might have to make do with something else, though there's still quite a lot of pretty stones here. What about the wedding itself? I assume Shinto, since Reimu will want that, but-" Finally, I had to raise my hands and beg for a moment's respite. There were far too many questions coming my way. "Oh. Er, right. Sorry. Not my department, anyway." She scratched her head. "But you probably should be thinking about it." I nodded, but said that I was hoping to get Reimu's help to work it all out. It seemed to be her area.

"Right, right. So, you want a tour of my house?" Kisami asked me, spreading her hands. I looked around the workshop, then back at her. "How about a tour of the bed-" I rather sharply cried 'Ki!' without thinking about it, and Kisami's face lit up like nothing else. "Ah! You said it! You called me by the nickname that Yams uses! You even said it like her!" And then, in a move I really should have seen coming, she dived at me with the hugs and kisses that she hadn't been able to deliver earlier thanks to Yamame trying to beat her to death in a rage. "I knew you'd do it eventually!" She cried, completely ignoring my ineffectual attempts to push her away. "Aw, you really do love Yams, don't you!?" After what seemed like hours of humiliation, I finally got the excited spider off of me. "Ahem, anyway." She seriously continued - though her frizzy hair from where I'd tried to push her away and the wide smile still present on her face made it less serious, "Let's get through some ideas." She hopped over the bench with what I assumed was a bit of magical assistance and took the seat in the centre, spinning it around to face me. "Here's my workstation!" She told me cheerfully, rummaging through some drawers. "Here's a ring I made earlier..." She pulled out something, though she held it in a closed hand and reached it out toward me. I put my hand under hers curiously, and she opened it, dropping a ring down.

[Anonymous No.]

It was...Shiny. "Seriously? That's the best you've got?" Kisami's complaints were tuned out so I could focus on the ring she'd just given me. It was golden, completely smooth, and slim in width. the surface gleamed without the slightest trace of dust or anything that would impede the shine. I wasn't exactly knowledgeable enough to make any real judgments on the quality, but it certainly looked beautiful, and I felt like I'd better be far more delicate in holding it. At what I assumed was the top, the ring's curve went slightly upward and connected to a small section to which a tiny stony was fitted. The stone, too, was beautiful, a tiny purple thing, but as I held it, it caught the light and reflected it back amazingly. Feeling now like I owed Kisami a slightly better response, I amended my answer to say that it was incredible craftsmanship. She beamed, stood up, then offered me a low bow. "Three days, that took. Gold from the Rainbow Dragon Cave, and the stone came as part of our payment for a construction job with the tengu." I gingerly handed the ring back to Kisami before I somehow damaged it, and she grinned, placing it in a drawer.

"So," She began, sweeping her work surface clear. "Got any ideas?" I thought for a moment. Did I have anything I could make use of like that? As I shifted my balance, I heard something knock into something else in my coat pockets, and suddenly, a memory crossed my mind. In my pocket, there certainly was something. I reached in, rummaging through various little things I'd picked up at one time or another, and eventually I felt it. The smooth surface of a stone. I pulled it out and examined it, holding it up to the light. A deep, vibrant green, and definitely too large for any ring, but it was certainly pretty. "Ooh!" Kisami cried, leaping up from the desk and leaning over. "Give!" She threw an open palm out and began gesturing. Curious, I slowly dropped it into her waiting hand, and she dropped back into her chair. Then, she gently placed the stone down on the work surface and began to rummage from her drawers, before extracting a small, black object with a glass lens. She attached it over her eye, pulling her hair out of the way so she could do...something with it, then looked up at me. I slowly asked her what exactly she'd gotten out. "Monocular!" She replied. "It's kind of like binoculars, but for close up things." Simple enough an explanation for me to understand, for once.

Kisami lifted the stone gently, then began to examine it, squeezing her normal eye shut. "This is...Exceptionally pretty." She told me, her voice falling into something I'd heard before. I liked to think of it as the appraising voice, one I'd heard from various people in the village who worked with different crafts. when they were explaining something, or examining something, they all took on this sort of voice. "Not quite clean, but...Traces of basic cleaning, like...Water?" She looked over at me again. "Did you try and clean this?" I nodded. "I see..." She turned back to it. "Highly transparent - Some inclusions, but they're fairly symmetrical. It's a rough emerald and needs proper cleaning, but...It's a very intense green. That's really good, wow..." She turned back to me. "Seriously, where'd you find this? You'd be hard-pressed to find something like this in the Outside World, let alone here." I'd been given it as a gift, I replied. From the mermaid who lived in the Misty Lake. She'd had plenty more stones, and she'd also said that there were plenty more down in the depths of the lake. "There's a mermaid in - No, sorry. Getting distracted. So, it came from the depths of the Misty Lake? I guess it drifted in..."

[Anonymous No.]

Kisami pulled her funny monocular thing off and looked back up at me. "Why'd she give it to you? It seems like the sort of thing you'd want to take care of." I tilted my head slightly. "Yams was very clear about your propensity for injury." I felt like I should be offended, but at the same time, she wasn't exactly wrong. I was then forced to admit that Wakasagihime had given me some strange parting words, as well as making me promise to invite her to something which she hadn't explained. "Something - Ah. I see." Kisami smiled widely. "She must be very good at reading people." I still didn't really get it. "No, that's fine. I get it. So - Here's the question."

She raised the stone so that it caught the light again. "This could be the stone. You could use it for the engagement ring. It'll be something similar to the one I showed you, A band of gold, with the ring set in a bezel on top. Do you want to make an engagement ring out of this?" I was somewhat hesitant, mostly because I was worried that Wakasagihime would be upset if I used it for something like that. Plus, wasn't it too big? "Yeah...We'd need a small piece, probably smaller than your little fingernail. Big, gaudy pieces just look like you're trying too hard, rather than being elegant or even exceptionally pretty. But - and I'm fairly certain that I'm right about this - It's what the mermaid who gave it to you intended for you to do with it." I wondered how she'd known. Maybe she was clairvoyant?

Still, I was hesitant, though I was aware that it was probably for frivolous reasons. How did she know that the ring would fit Yamame? What if it was too big and just fell straight off? "Oh, that's not a problem. I can resize it, but even then, I definitely know my own little sister well enough to have the right idea anyway." And here, after a few moments of Kisami being rather serious, she reverted back to normal. "I mean, I could probably tell you her measurements from walking in on-" I shouted Kisami’s name again, but just like before, I’d said ‘Ki’ without thinking. "You did it again!" She cried, clapping her hands together with a wide smile. I scowled and took on a very serious frown. Clearly, Yamame and I needed to find a way to get her back, soon. Not by frightening her, though. That would be mean.

At least she hadn't gone for the hugs this time. Perhaps the key to Ki was to keep a solid object between her and whoever she was liable to assault with hugs. "The wedding ring is a separate question, but Yams might want some input on that. She'll love this, though. Trust me. So...Back to the question. Should we make the ring out of this?" She asked me, her voice turning serious once more as she raised the stone again. I stopped for a moment. I thought about Wakasagihime's words. Her request to be invited. The way she'd looked between Yamame and I, and how she'd said that she had an eye for something but wouldn't explain what. I think she'd seen it before I had. In fact, she probably wasn't the only one.

So, I looked back up at Kisami and said yes.

[Anonymous No.]

due to some unforeseen consequences I was playing monster hunter with my friends, this one's had to come out a little short. Plus, I'm not sure I'll be able to update tomorrow at all, sorry.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45516863
Take a day off writeanon. You've done so much good already.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45516863
That's ok man
Fatalis?

[Anonymous No.]

Anon may have to invest on a mobile pool or something for waka

[Anonymous No.]

>>45517661
I thought that Wakasagihime being unable to fly was a fanon only thing.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45519190
Pretty sure we don't know either way in regards to canon.
But hasn't Waggy stated that she can't leave the lake already in this story?
The typical answer is to just full a big tub of water and have Kagerou push it around, or a smaller sheelchair tupe of thing if she can survive without water.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45519190
>>45520308
Waggy can fly, it was shown in the game she appeared in where she flew around shooting danmaku.
Now can she last long out of the water? maybe, maybe not. Though as a youkai she most certainly has the durability to last out of it for a time and did in her debut.
Now cuteness? Its much cuter if she has to dip into water and thus have a cart with water in it so she can last in the long term. Hence, that is the most correct interpretation

[Anonymous No.]

>>45519190
>>45520348
Actually, if you look closely, Waka never leaves water in DDC. Her tail remains submerged at all times and she keeps making waves with it.

Which kind of makes it more impressive that she's capable of engaging in danmaku with all that HUGE WATER RESISTANCE in the way.

[Anonymous No.]

So we just need to spongebob it and put a bowl of water on her head

[Anonymous No.]

>>45520381
I'm fairly sure that's a kappa thing.

[Anonymous No.]

In this story it was already said that she cannot leave the lake

[Anonymous No.]

>>45520632
there was also this line
>"Oh, and Kagerou's offered to try and take me to some of the other lakes in Gensokyo!" She told us, looking very excited.
I think the issue is probably less that there isn't a way to get her out of the lake, and more that even if they get her out of the lake, it's not exactly like being able to walk around freely
I'm imagining this, but the giant fish tank idea is probably fine too

[Anonymous No.]

>>45520348
You reminded me of this image.
Although wise and mature waggy-chan is fine too.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45520838
Imagine the boat fight but instead of harpoons Leon is throwing Reimu's needles.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45297966
Have this improved version I've made a few weeks ago.
(Yes, I'm 20 days behind on the story)

[Anonymous No.]

>>45516832
>I rather sharply cried 'Ki!' without thinking about it, and Kisami's face lit up like nothing else.
it's kind of cute how anon's started to mimic Yamame's mannerisms even more

[Anonymous No.]

I woke up with the cold sensation of steel on the back of my head and the restraining feeling of ropes around my arms and torso, from above Aya Shameimaru was staring at me with a devilish smile, as soon as she saw me open my eyes she turned around and yelled "He's awake". I could make a familiar voice chuckling from behind her followed by slow metallic steps approaching me. To my slight relief Marisa was now also looking down at me. "Long time no see huh?" I asked as calmy as i could what she was doing "Yeah sorry about the ropes, we just know that things don't go as planned around you so we are taking precautionary measures, but enough about that" She clapped excitedly "Turns out Aya and i have been DYING to asks you some things, so we decided to work together to finally put both our minds at easy" "Indeed" Aya continued "It's been a little...MENTALLY TAXING trying to get answers out of you, so without further ado" she took out a notepad and a pen while Marisa helped me sit up "By the way don't think anyone's gonna save you now" Marisa began approaching one of the walls of...are we inside an iron cube? "Correct!" Marisa affirmed while knocking on the wall "Kappa technology is amazing isn't it" "Yes yes we can talk about that later!" Aya was pressing the top of her pen impatiently "His luck will activate any second! We must..." Aya's voice began to sound distant as i began to notice the eyes surrounding me- "NOT THIS TIME" Marisa yelled while pressing the button of a strange apparatus, and just like that the eyes went away and now it felt like a balloon was behind me "You're not doing your little disappearing trick anon, i had my Yamawaro hag proof this room, that Yu-Hearn is not saving you this ti-"
Marisa couldn't finish that sentece when i heard the sound of an opening door under me
"No...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Aya reached for me but before she could grab my face what seemed like a door blocked her hand, as i landed...somewhere i could make out muffled screaming from the other side of the door as it began floating away
"HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA...haaa" that laughter came from in front of me, worryingly i've never heard this voice before
"Curse my weakness, a woman approached while sitting on what appeared to be a chair with wheels on it's sides, with her clothes and hairstyle she oddly resembled Hearn "I was trying so hard not to get involved but when i saw the opportunity of aggravating those two even further i just couldn't fight back the temptations anymore, oh and don't worry, i'll be sending you to your fiancee right away, unlike who you're thinking about i actually know a thing or two about secrecy" and before i could even open my mouth i landed on Yamame's bed like nothing ever happened, even the ropes where gone somehow

[Anonymous No.]

>>45525900
By the way i'm not write anon, just thought i'd bump the thread with a little something while he's playing monster hunter

[Anonymous No.]

>>45525900
I love these little side stories, it makes a good appetizer in between writefag's posts

[Anonymous No.]

>>45525900
With Anon being tied like that i thought this was going to be smut.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45525900
Imagine the mindfuck of getting abducted for only seconds by someone who has obviously been watching you closely for a long time.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45526964
Makes you wonder how many people are watching the show when Anon and Yam are busy.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45527423
Okina, like with every other couple does a betting show on who finishes first

[Anonymous No.]

>>45525900
Unlike a certain HAG who kidnaps Anon, crazy backdoor lady instead saves him from kidnappers. How can Hearn even compete?

>>45526790
Same. I'm glad to see an aside devoid of any sexual assault this time.

[Anonymous No.]

Did you know that "playing monster hunter" is a slang for gay sex?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45534213
Don't blaspheme the writeanon

[Anonymous No.]

>>45534316
>>45534213
What do you do in monster hunter?

[Anonymous No.]

With my decision made, there were apparently a whole bunch of other decisions that I had to make as a follow-up, though Kisami having Yamame as a little sister helped to ease the way for some of them, such as the size of her hands - Kisami knew that almost perfectly from all her hours spent getting pushed away by Yamame whenever she jumped on her for a hugging session - The size of the stone, the width of the ring, and a whole host of other questions that went over my head, but Kisami told me that she knew exactly what to make a note of, so it didn't seem to be an issue. Then, she took me through her workshop and pointed out some of the materials, though they seemed a little sparse and I wondered if she had enough to work with.

Kisami told me that I wasn't allowed to watch as she crafted the ring, because "You'll just stand around frowning at me and asking me what I'm doing, and I already know that I'm no good at explaining, unless you want me to tell you to 'hand me the thing' or 'put the thing in the thing', and I'm sure you have much better things to do with your time." Personally, I thought that she'd probably be better at explaining than she thought, but once I'd hesitated, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Go, seriously. This is...Ooh, a week or so of work. Not just me, either. I'll have to call in some favours..." I asked her what she was referring to. "Huh? Er...Need a lapidarist - Don't worry, I know a guy - to do the stone, need to find a blacksmith for the ore - I know a girl for that - need to find all my materials...You know, stuff like that. Don't worry, it'll all be fine." Kisami spun her chair around to the desk once more, then rummaged through some piles of what looked like junk to me, before pulling out a pair of goggles. "Hey, I forgot I had these." She pulled them over her head and let them rest around her neck, then spent a full minute pulling her hair out of the way so she could actually try them out without the hair getting in the way. "What do you think?" She looked completely mad. "Really!? Cool!" I supposed I should have expected that response. “I think it gives me a ‘mad genius’ sort of look!”

Regardless, Kisami decreed that I'd be more hinderance than help, and thus I was of better use on what she called 'Embarrassment Duty', which meant that I was to go back to Yamame and do my best to tease her in some form on Kisami's behalf. She saw my face at the instruction and told me that Yamame would hardly break if I teased her once. So, grumbling about it all the while, I took the list of directions that Kisami wrote out for me so I could actually find my way back. That was before I remembered that Kisami had been forced to carry me over a chasm on the way, which only made it her turn to complain as she came with me all the way back to said chasm, carried me over, then finally bid me farewell, leaving me in the middle of a dark cave with nothing but a list of scribbled directions.

Fortunately, the cave wasn't that cold and what the instructions lacked in handwriting, they made up for in clarity, and before long I was already back in parts of the cave that I thought I recognized - Which, in itself was a strange thing. The tunnels seemed quiet too, especially since Yamame had once been very careful leading me through the same tunnels to prevent me from running into any of her sisters who probably wanted to beat me up for breaking through all of their webs. Perhaps they were all busy with the final push to finish the Hot Springs Town? I felt like I knew a fairly decent number of the Kurodani family by my estimate, though I suspected that those I knew accounted for barely even a figure worth mentioning. I was still curious about Yamame's mother. Kisami had been a bit evasive about her, and I'd heard no word of a father, but from what I knew of most spiders in the wild...Well, I supposed that I would just have to cross that bridge when I got to it, though it was likely that my invulnerabilities would render that whole scenario rather pointless.

Before I knew it, I was back in front of Yamame's house, and it felt like it had been no time at all since I'd left, though I was fairly certain that I'd somehow been gone for a fair while. It seemed like Kisami's ability to talk anyone's ear off had taken more time than I'd expected it to. Still, nothing seemed to have changed, so I stepped up to the door and pulled it open quietly, before stepping inside. I wondered if Yamame was up to anything fun.

And at that point, I got punched in the face and sent spinning straight back outside, where I painfully slammed into the ground. Fortunately, it didn't really hurt as much as I imagine a punch like that would, most likely because of the peach, so I was more confused than anything as I tried to get my bearings and wait for everything to stop spinning.

[Anonymous No.]

HahahahaaaaAAA!!!!!

[Anonymous No.]

It did ache a fair bit, though. Perhaps even slightly less than the time that Reimu punched me in her sleep. I registered a voice and pushed myself up onto my elbows so I could see what was happening. Of course, by that time I could already hear someone rushing over to me. "Argh! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I heard Yamame cry, and I squinted enough to see the yellowish blob crouched in front of me. "I thought you were someone trying to break in!" She came into focus then and I saw that she looked worried, so I reached over in a slight daze and ruffled her hair. "Wh- Hey!" She pawed at my hand, but soon gave up. "Are - Are you okay?" I confirmed that yes, I seemed to be fine. At that, Yamame fell backwards onto her rear and sighed in relief. "Phew...I thought I might be dragging you to Eientei."

Rubbing my jaw, I staggered around and up to my feet, then held out an arm for Yamame to pull herself up with. She accepted it gratefully. That was a funny coincidence, I said, because I'd just been thinking of asking Yamame if she wanted to go and look for Kagerou's house so my spider could deliver the wolf's new hood. "Huh? Aren't you supposed to be Ki's slave?" Yeah, I said. That whole thing was sort of...ongoing. "And you still can't tell me about it." Unfortunately, I said out loud. Privately, I very much wanted to reveal the whole thing. "Hmm..." Yamame watched me suspiciously. "Nothing weird, right?" Right. I nodded and gestured back toward home, then asked Yamame if she did want to deliver Kagerou's hood. "...Yeah, I guess..." I had a feeling I knew what she was hesitating for. "It's practically Winter now. It's...an old instinct. Basically, hibernation. I really don't want to go outside, but..." She was pouting, so I took the opportunity to steal a kiss and satisfy Kisami's request for me to embarrass her, which I knew I'd accomplished because she began stammering. "U-um, well...Okay, fine. Let me just...wrap up warm.“ That, I agreed, was probably a good idea.

Into Yamame's house we went, and she hopped up to the workshop, presumably to rummage through her large array of clothing that didn't get regular use. You know, I called up, she should really put a stepladder or something in here. After a moment's silence, I sighed, crouched, and jumped as high as I could, just barely catching the edge of the floor. Thanking Lady Kasen in my mind for all of her lesson, I pulled myself up and got to my feet in time to watch Yamame drop her overalls to the floor, leaving her in her shirt and underwear, which was a very lovely look. "Gah!" She cried, turning around to see me. "Warn me when you do that!" She shook her head with a long exhale. "Scares the living daylights out of me." I scratched my head and apologized, then asked her what she was planning to wear. "Well," She began, stepping toward me and undoing the buttons of her shirt slowly. I did my best to remain steadfast even though I could strongly feel my resolve weakening, "I've got some thoughts about that..." She finished undoing the buttons and stretched her arms behind her, shrugging her shirt off. At this point, she was close enough to me that I was able to reach out and catch it before it fell to the floor, though I then tossed it onto Yamame's chair which wasn't exactly better treatment. She gave me one of those smiles that almost wiped every thought from my mind then and there. "I was thinking about every single warm thing I own, for a start." She suddenly said languidly, spinning on the tip of her foot and walking back to the wardrobes next to her desk. I was left standing there breathing in heavily and struggling to comprehend the whole thing as she put her hands on her hips and looked over her shoulder at me with a smug smile. "Now you're embarrassed too." She said, then bent over to throw a few more items of clothing left and right, a move which rather heavily emphasized her...rear.

I breathed in heavily, cleared my throat, then walked over to the chair, lifted her shirt from it and collapsed into it. The article of clothing was still warm, and it smelt like Yamame. Before I could do something weird, I shut my eyes and willed some self-control back, then just let myself relax into the chair and listen to Yamame muttering to herself about colour coordination and "That won't go with that." or "No, that's too bright." Just when I felt like I was about to nod off, I heard her tell me that she was finished. Getting up and placing her shirt back on the chair, I turned to look at my spider.

[Anonymous No.]

She'd switched the shirt for a turtleneck sweater exactly like my own, though it was black and matched her the colour of her shirt. With her overalls gone, she had opted for a skirt that came down to her calves, and as my eye followed her figure downward, she lifted the hem of the dress slightly to show that she was wearing tights, which I assumed went all the way up to her waist. Her shoes had been replaced with thick, heavy looking boots, the sort of thing that could hammer through the snow with ease. She turned and pulled her scarf from the door of the wardrobe, followed by the coat that she had worn in the past. "What do you think?" She asked me. I nodded and said that it looked very cosy and warm. Yamame nodded, then stepped close to me and snaked her arms around my hips. "Mhm. Feels that way too. Not as warm as staying in bed all day with you, though." I smiled unconsciously.

"Well..." Yamame sighed, letting go, then turning back and proceeding, this time, to the desk. She picked up a large package that had been sitting there and pulled the lip off to show it to me. "Her hood. Good?" It certainly looked good. Red, with fur lining on the inside and a fur trim on the outside, the sort of thing that would be perfect for the cold. "I made the trim detachable, see?" Yamame pointed it out and I saw that there was a thin strip of fabric with buttons that connected to the hood, so it could be pulled off when the weather got warmer. "Below there, there's a version without the fur on the inside for the Summer." I nodded, impressed but not really surprised by Yamame's skill anymore. My own clothing was a testament to her high quality.

Finally ready to go, we hopped down from the upper level and stepped outside. Yamame closed the door and off we went down the tunnels. Here, Yamame tried to needle the answers from me about what Kisami and I were up to, but I managed to remain silent even when she gave me her most pleading eyes. It was hard work, but I hoped that it would be worth it in the end. As we approached the surface end of the tunnel, I felt pleased because the light bouncing into the tunnel looked bright enough that the entrance hadn't been buried under the snow again. I was less pleased when the entrance itself came into view and I realised that the reason for that was because it was still snowing outside. Heavily, in fact. I looked over at Yamame, then threw my hand out to grab the back of her coat as she tried to spin around and march away. "Wh-, No! Let me go!" She cried, but I dived forward and wrapped my arms around her to stop her. "It's too cold! I don't want to walk through all that snow! You can’t do this to me!" She struggled in my arms, but clearly didn't have her heart in it because I was sure I couldn't compete with a youkai's strength. "Oh..." She groaned. "Okay." I nodded cheerfully and released her, reminding her that she was so wrapped up in clothing that she'd be complaining about being too hot before long. "I...Don't believe you." She muttered defiantly.

Now ready for a second attempt, we waded into the snow. Well, I waded and Yamame floated above the snow. I looked up at her, betrayed. "Look, I sympathise, but I'm not walking through all of this. I'll have to walk in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, anyway." So, I muttered something under my breath about unfair advantages and carried in. Fortunately, the snow was more densely packed after getting some ways from the cave entrance, and progress sped up after that. There was little wind, too, so while the sky was completely full of snow and visibility was poor at best, it wasn't impossible and it could have been far worse, so I remained cheerful as I fought through in the direction of the village.

Yamame, however, was not cheerful. "It's so cold, and I already feel all wet from the snow, and - Urgh, it's getting in my hair and-" She yelped at this point. "Ah! It's going down my back! Oh, I hate this so much! I hate you. You did this to me! I just wanted to hide under my bed for the next three months, but no! My stupid human thinks that I need to go out in this miserable weather just to deliver this stupid hood! I hate you so much!" No, she didn't, I replied absently as I scooped up a pile of snow and formed a snowball, which I aimed at the small of her back. "Gyah! That was - Did you just throw the snow at me!?" I innocently replied in the negative. "You did! That’s so cruel! Don't lie to me, you little-" And it went on for hours.

At least, it felt like hours. At some point, I started tuning the ranting out somewhat, since there were only so many ways Yamame had found to express how much she hated me and how much she hated the snow. Finally, as we came into the village, I was forced to pull Yamame back down to the ground since it would be even more conspicuous than we already were if I walked through the village with a floating girl at my side.

[Anonymous No.]

That is, if her ranting didn't already make us conspicuous enough. Finally, I had to turn through a back alley and kiss Yamame until she forgot what she was complaining about.

Not that I was particularly upset about that. It worked, too, since she remained quiet as we headed up the streets and past my house, which was looking the same as always. That, I thought, was probably suspicious in itself. The roof had even been cleared of snow at some point, because the pile that was forming now was definitely not quite as large as I'd expected. I wondered if the tengu I'd seen during the storm had a hand in that.

And then, finally, we were at the entrance to the Bamboo forest of the Lost. "Are you...Sure you know where you're going?" Yamame asked me, sounding a little worried. I breathed in a lungful of cold air and nodded. I knew the direction, at least, so as long as we stayed on the same path, I thought that we would probably be fine. If worst came to worst, I hoped that we'd be able to find Eientei and get someone to guide us. "That's...Not the most fool proof plan I've ever heard." Yamame told me doubtfully. I shrugged. I wasn't exactly a fool proof person. I looked over at Yamame, who smiled at me lightly. "Me neither." She said, offering me her hand. I took it and - Taking a moment to plead under my breath for things to work out - We entered the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

About five minutes after that, we both fell into a hole, together. Except, it definitely wasn't a hole, because holes in the ground usually just led to more ground slightly further down, not into a swirling void of bloodshot eyes. I think I yelled something about this happening again, then had to throw my hand out in midair to catch Kagerou's package after it fell from Yamame's grasp. She had latched onto my arm with her entire body, presumably from her spider instincts kicking in. This time, the whole thing seemed to be taking slightly longer. Long enough that I heard something else entirely. "Whoa! It's Miss Yamame and her human!" I tried to turn my head - Difficult when spinning out of control in a weird nightmare world - and just barely caught a flash of red and white that I assumed had to be Chen. "What are you guys doing inside the Boundary!?" I shouted something back about falling through a gap in the Bamboo Forest, but I wasn't sure how much of it got through. "B-But, why did Lady Yuk-?" Chen didn't get a chance to finish asking that question, because a second later, the world of eyes had disappeared and we'd both been spat out into...A bedroom. I crashed into the floor, bounced, rolled twice in the air, then crashed into the wall and fell to the ground, while Yamame was knocked into the air from which - I presume - She had launched herself at the nearest corner of the room.

Silence reigned, until I started to hear a soft breathing, like that of someone sleeping. Restricting my groaning to be as quiet as possible, I whispered Yamame's name, then caught her eyes from the corner of the room above me. Staggered upright as quietly as I could, I looked around for Kagerou’s hood, and thankfully found the box also in the corner of the room, perhaps slightly worse for wear, but the clothing inside was undamaged. After a moment, she managed to lower herself to meet me, and I caught sight of her spider limbs once more, though they faded after a moment. Looking around, the gap that had brought us here had disappeared, leaving the room in darkness apart from the vague light coming from the one window which ran from the ceiling to the floor which was covered by a thin curtain that restricted it to just vague suggestions of shape and light. Now more confused than worried, I looked around again. Clearly, this hadn't been a scheduled visit. If it had, I doubted that we'd have been flung into a wall at high speed. Plus, I could still hear the sound of someone sleeping. Looking away from the window, I saw the large bed, and the shape of a person sleeping on it.

Yamame and I exchanged a glance, then tiptoed around to see for ourselves. I imagine that we both already expected what we saw, but there was Hearn. Asleep, in what looked like purple pyjamas made of silk and embroidered with a fancy looking ‘YY’ on them, and her floppy hat on the table next to the bed. I had no idea what ‘YY’ stood for, but it was hardly the most pressing of concerns at the moment. Her mouth hung slightly open and there was even a thin line of drool running down her face. She shorted, rolled over, then continued sleeping without a care in the world.

Even though it was a potentially dire situation, and even though - Or perhaps, because - We'd essentially just been sleep-kidnapped, Yamame and I looked at each other again, then both slapped a hand over each other's mouths before we could burst out laughing.

[Anonymous No.]

LOL what will her reaction be when she wakes up?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45534739
She won't, Ran will make sure of it, again.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45534739
Hag charisma breaks are always spectacularly over the top and Yukari is the haggiest hag of all. I'm talking waterworks, accusations of impropriety, unsubtle questioning on whether you wanted to do some impropriety and all of this in a stuttery, half-coherant voice

[Anonymous No.]

>>45534739
Yukari simply want to see her favorite human and his spider, nothing to be embarrassed about... right?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45535002
*sigh* a very disgruntled Ran enters the room "I'm very sorry about this, she does this in her sleep sometimes, stand close to each other, i will send you ba-"
Another person gapped in by Yukari lands on Ran
"OW! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHERE AM I?!" a very angry Mokou fell on top of of Ran's head knocking her unconscious, despite Mokou's screaming Yukari was completely oblivious to what was happening in her room, so finally me and Yamame break and we start laughing our asses off at the whole situation

[Anonymous No.]

>>45534539
>to watch Yamame drop her overalls to the floor, leaving her in her shirt and underwear, which was a very lovely look
It's been a while since this story gave me an erection

[Anonymous No.]

I wondered if there was a guidebook for what to do when your kidnapper isn't aware that they've kidnapped you. Maybe Agatha Chris Q would be interested in a novel about that experience? I was fairly certain that Miss Kosuzu from Suzunaan could pass the idea along, though perhaps revealing that I was being kidnapped by a major figure and without her even realising it was happening wasn't a good idea. Was I supposed to wake her up and inform her that she'd kidnapped us? Just try and sneak away? I already had a suspicion that wherever we'd ended up, it was not within walking distance of Gensokyo. The only real positive to the whole situation was that Chen did know that we'd disappeared somewhere, and hopefully she could inform Ran, who could then hopefully try and get us home. Not that I expected a particularly swift response. Given my luck, I half expected to be stuck wherever we were for a long while.

Once Yamame and I had managed to get ourselves under control, we got right back to figuring out just what the hell had happened to us. "Can she do those gap things even when she's asleep?" Yamame whispered to me. It appeared so, I whispered back. I'd figured it was something she needed to be awake to do, but clearly not. I wondered how we had even ended up here. Even for me, a gap opening up right in front of us in the middle of the snow somewhere in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost seemed a little bit improbable. Perhaps not entirely improbable, but definitely fairly improbable. "Should we, er, try and wake her up? Ask her to send us back?" Yamame whispered again. It was an appealing prospect if only for the fact that we could go home, or at least go back to being lost in the snow outside the Bamboo Forest of the Lost instead of being lost in who knows where.

Still, I thought that waking up the definitely powerful youkai so she could see two figures standing over her in the dark was probably an awful decision. At best, she'd freak out. At worst, she might try and kill us. No, best leave her be for now, I finally whispered, then signalled Yamame to come with me instead. There was a bedroom door, and it was thankfully slightly ajar, so we could try and leave the room without being heard. Just before we did try and leave, I looked over at the window again. The curtain was still covering it, but I could see some sort of lights out there. I wanted to go and take another look, but at that moment, Hearn rolled over in the bed and mumbled dreamily. "You're late, Re..." But she seemed to slip back off into the Dream World before she could finish speaking. I wondered if she was talking to Reimu in her dreams. Thankfully, she hadn't woken up, so I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to gently push the door open, wincing every time it let out a slight creak. After a few moments, it was open enough for us to slip through, and Hearn hadn't woken up, so Yamame and I tiptoed through the door and out into a dark corridor.

The corridor we'd ended up in wasn't entirely dark. There was moonlight spilling across the floor and onto the wall through a large window at one end, and at the other end the corridor opened up into a large room. There were doors across the corridor, and a staircase just a little to the right from the door that we'd exited from, heading downward. I looked over at Yamame and pointed at the staircase, but she shook her head. "There might be other people here." She whispered. That was a good point. Even if Hearn was asleep, it was entirely possible that Ran could be downstairs, and if we scared her, I imagined that we'd be in for a world of hurt before she got herself under control.

Instead, Yamame pointed toward the open room at the end of the corridor. Tiptoeing over, I was surprised by what I saw. It was a fairly spacious living room of sorts, though there wasn't a kitchen, and the building was clearly not made out of any materials I regularly saw in the village. The floor here was tiled, white slabs that I couldn't imagine would be very warm at this time of year. The room itself was cool, but not overwhelmingly so. I felt comfortable enough in my normal clothes, though I imagined that Yamame might be uncomfortably hot before long. The entire wall here was taken up by glass, though there was a door and it looked like it led out onto a balcony. A large couch was against one of the walls, with a small table and a big, rectangular box opposite it. I had no idea what the thing was, but it looked like the front of it was made of glass too, and it was dark at the moment. Maybe it lit up. It was a strange place to put a light, but I assumed it was some weird Outside World custom.

[Anonymous No.]

There were some articles of clothing strewn about the place, too. What looked like Hearn's tabard had been tossed on the couch, and Her dress on the floor in the corner, as if she had tossed it in that direction carelessly on her way to the bedroom. I couldn't figure out what the actual purpose of the room was. If it was a living room, why was it upstairs? Why was there a balcony here? Yamame already seemed to have skipped to finding an answer, because she'd snuck over to the door to the balcony and quietly unlatched it, pulling it open and stepping outside. A little worried, I rushed after her and pulled the door shut behind us, so we were both outside, where hopefully we wouldn't need to be quite so quiet. "Where are we?" Yamame asked me. "It's not as hot as last time. Maybe we're somewhere different..." She trailed off, staring out over the balcony. After a moment, I did the same. "I...Assume we're not on a beach somewhere, right...?" She asked me faintly.

I looked out over a city, much like when Yukari had kidnapped me to Tokyo. This was not the same, though, because there was no rain lashing at us and I could see the snow lying on every surface, illuminated both by the moon and countless other sources of lights coming from the city below. We, it seemed, were at the top of a large building. Cautiously, I took hold of the balcony's edge and poked my head other the side, then swallowed nervously when I saw the long drop down to the ground below. Looking upward, I saw the stars above, but no more of the building itself, so we had to be somewhere on the top floor. The buildings spread outward as far as I could see, with few as tall as the one we were in, all the way until they were nothing more than twinkling lights on the horizon. I squinted off into the distance and tried to make out any sort of end to the city, but failed. No, I whispered to Yamame. I didn't think this was a beach. It looked like a winter city more than anything. Every surface seemed to be either white, or coloured by the lights from the city, like the orange which ran through what I assumed were the city streets. It was a little overwhelming, I thought. With Tokyo, it had been too dark to see anything, and with Australia, most of what had been visible was the ocean. Here, I could see all the buildings, and it was a little hard to comprehend. Yamame, it seemed was struggling too. "It's - It's a little, um, overwhelming." She seemed to be drawing into herself as if she was slightly nervous. "Can we...Go back inside?" She mumbled. I nodded, pushing the door to the balcony open once more and letting my spider slip back inside before me. Once inside, she began to calm down.

I decided that we should probably head away from this room, so we began to creep down the corridor. At Hearn's room, I paused and peeked through the door, just to check if she was asleep. She seemed to be, but there was something of more important. A curious light, emanating from around the door. I reached my hand back behind me to try and catch Yamame's attention, but misjudged where she was and ended up hitting her head instead. "Ouch!" She harshly whispered, and I turned back sheepishly to say sorry. "What's so important, anyway?" She asked with a frown, and I pointed into Hearn's room. "The light? Could it be another of her gaps?" Yamame asked me, her voice quickening slightly. "Let's check." Carefully, I pushed back into the room, hoping that the creaking would remain at a minimum. Once we were inside, I sighed in relief. There was another of Hearn's gaps open, and through it I could see the Shrine. It was still light through there, and I thought I even spotted Reimu in the courtyard, but the gap was positioned in such a way so that she couldn't see it. I looked over at Yamame, who already looked ready to hurl herself through.

And then, it flickered. Just for a moment, but it was enough for both of us to immediately break into a run. We needed to get through before it shut. And for a moment, it looked like we'd make it. But, of course, my luck had the last laugh, and it closed at the exact moment we reached it, sending both of us at full speed into the wall. Of course, that was that for the stealthy approach. I smacked headfirst into the wall, then stumbled backward and fell onto something soft, and Yamame smacked into it bodily before falling straight backward and curling up.

[Anonymous No.]

From there, things got worse. The soft thing shifted. My vision began to come back together, and I saw Hearn's eyes open. Ah, I thought. I appear to have my head on her chest. I saw her eyes widen. I could already feel what was about to happen, so I just put my arms over my head and braced myself. Hearn, it seemed, didn't want to disappoint, because she screamed at an extremely high pitch that made me wish I'd covered my ears instead, then struck out with her arm and slapped me clear from the bed. This part, I decided, made it worth covering my head. Especially when I crashed into the wall for the third time in the space of about ten minutes. What happened next was the more surprising bit. I'd assumed that, given every previous meeting I'd had with her, Hearn would remain composed and aloof even in a situation like this. "Wh-What are you doing here!?" She cried. "I-In my bed?" She was stammering now. I mean, I'd expected that perhaps she'd be slightly rattled by the events, but she was surpassing my expectations. "H-How's you even get here!?" She threw herself out of bed and, even though she was clothed, threw one arm over her chest and another over her crotch. I staggered up, holding my sore head and whining in pain.


"Ooh..." Yamame groaned, so I stumbled over and lifted her up so we could at least commiserate our pain together. "I don't wanna play anymore..."

"You're here too...?" Hearn stammered. "But I - But....You, but..." She looked between us. Then, she got a look in her eye that I thought might mean that she'd made up her mind about the events that had led us there. That made sense. She would probably know her own gaps better than- "You were trying to m-molest me!" She accused, pointing a finger at me. "And you were helping him!" She moved the finger to Yamame. There were tears in the corners of her eyes which were already threatening to turn into full streams. We looked at each other, then back at her blankly. "I- Um, I mean, I-I'm flattered, b-but..." Well, now I just felt horrified. "I-If you, um, l-like me, you should have said something!" That, I decided, was a bridge too far, so, with a hand pressed against my head, I tried to tell Hearn that we hadn't, in fact, come to try and molest her. "H-Huh? Really?" To my horror, while there was a lot of relief in her face, I could also make out more than a fair bit of disappointment, which was only slightly horrifying. "But - My bed, you - My chest, and I - And-" She was back to the stammering, her hands waving around aimlessly. Personally, I thought that leaping off the balcony and driving my head first into the ground sounded like an attractive possibility right now. It wasn't like anything could get - Wait, why was she... "S-So, um, how have you two been doing?" Oh, that was it. Headfirst. Out of the balcony. Or straight into the first sharp object I found. She'd just undone a button of her nightwear. "I, er, wasn't expecting you to drop in on me like this. I would have...prepared." There was definitely a suggestive sort of eyebrow raise there.

"Is this real life?" Yamame muttered to me. I turned to look at her and I could see my own pleads for mercy reflected in her eyes. "I think I'm having a panic attack." Me too, I replied, clutching Kagerou's hood to my chest like it would protect me from Hearn's suggestive looks.

"Ahem!" Hearn called our attention back. It seemed like she was beginning to get herself together, which was a small mercy. "How exactly did you end up here? A lodge in Turku, Finland isn't exactly close to the border of Gensokyo - In Japan." The comparison meant nothing to me and it didn't look like it meant much to Yamame either. "S-So, did you come all this way...For me...?" There was still some hope in her gaze, so I shook my head very emphatically. We'd fallen through a gap. "Through...? How did that...?" Hearn looked between us, then took in a breath. "Let's just..." She walked toward the wardrobe that I hadn't noticed in the room since my attention had been rather occupied, and then drew out a large. fluffy looking robe, which she pulled on and tied so that it hung open just enough to leave her cleavage visible. I sighed and wondered if Reimu had to deal with these sorts of things from her too. "Come along. And keep your hands to yourself." She walked to the door beckoning us to follow. "Well...Unless you simply cannot resist..." I turned to Yamame, who rolled her eyes at me. I wondered when the last time Hearn had tried to flirt with someone who she hadn't kidnapped was.

[Anonymous No.]

She led us out of the room, then down the stairs and into a larger kitchen, with the same tiled floors and a raised sort of block in the middle with seats around it. "Sit." Hearn told us, waving a hand toward the seats. Imagining that Yamame was probably feeling about as bemused by now as I was, we both took a seat. "I'll get you something." Hearn told us, turning to the complicated array of tools in the kitchen. And then...She just stood there. Staring between all the things. After a moment, she began to bite at the fingernail of her ring finger on her left hand. I saw Yamame open her mouth, so I elbowed her in the side and shook my head. For a while longer, we just watched. I had a suspicion that she relied on Ran for so much that she wouldn't actually have much idea about what to do with herself, and I wanted to see how she would handle it. The answer, it seemed, was not well. A few moments later, she finally clapped her hands together and span. Her face looked like she was straining to keep it together. "As a matter of fact, I think I'd be better served just getting you back home!" She said brightly, like it had been her plan the whole time.

She sat down opposite us, her robe spilling open even more. Tiredly, I reminded her. "You're the ones who barged in on me, remember?" She told me, doing absolutely nothing about it. "Is it embarrassing you? Hmm?" Privately, I decided not to mention second-hand embarrassment. "Now, it's...Rather early in the morning here in Finland. Sunrise isn't until sometime after nine in the morning - The Hour of the Snake, and it is currently late into the Hour of the Dragon." I looked out of the window here, which looked out onto the snow-covered land beyond the house, and saw that perhaps the sky looked slightly lighter. "Of course, that means most of those funny little regular humans out there are already up and about."

I wasn't really sure where she was going with this, so I changed the subject and asked her again how we'd ended up here. She got a little...fidgety at that. "A-Ah, well...You see..." She seemed to be stalling. "So, have you ever fallen asleep and woken up feeling like your arm wasn't there anymore?" Every time I slept in the same bed as either Reimu or Yamame, but I imagined that wasn't quite the point she was trying to make. "It's like that, but with non-Euclidean geometry and spatial travel, if you can imagine that." She frowned. "No one can imagine that. Forget the arm." Done and dusted, since I didn't get it in the first place. "I believe my dreams may have caused a feedback loop triggering a cascade in my brain that caused a spontaneous activation of my ability to create gaps." That sounded like something she'd made up. "That's because I made it up. I think I actually was just having a dream that you two were in and I subconsciously opened a gap to where you happened to be at that moment." Well, I thought, that was much simpler.

"So, er, why are you here, Miss Hearn?" Yamame asked tentatively.

Hearn watched both of us with some amusement. "You may recall the conversation in which Reimu mentioned my coming hibernation?" We nodded. "Something of a lie, I'm afraid. Personally, I'd rather not reveal it, but you've forced my hand somewhat. I do have some business to attend to out here, but mostly I'm here because I like to spend some time in the Outside World. It helps...Remind me of what Gensokyo is for. I came here once, a very long time ago. With Re-" She clamped her mouth shut at that moment. I decided not to ask her any questions about that. It seemed like there was some sort of personal history there.

At that moment, there was the click of a door opening. "Lady Hearn, Chen told me that-" Ran, her tails and ears hidden and a beret on her head, froze. Her outfit had been replaced with another dark suit, and her hand still rested on the door handle. Her other hand held a bag which seemed very weighed down, though I couldn't imagine what the delicacies of this 'Thin-Land' were. She looked at me, then at Yamame. Finally she looked at Hearn. "Ah." She muttered.

I turned my head back to Hearn. "Yes, good morning, Ran. As you can see, we have two uninvited guests!" Hearn rather dramatically pointed out. "Fortunately, they're adorable enough that they could stay, if they wanted, but I rather suspect that they would like to be off, hmm? Finland's climate might not be quite suitable for a spider." She looked between Yamame and I, and we both nodded eagerly. "Oh, what a shame. I shall have to wear less to bed for the next attempt." That, I decided, was not something I wanted to participate in. "Now, where shall I send you? The caves?" I shook my head and hefted the package I was still holding.

[Anonymous No.]

"Um, if you don't mind, Miss Hearn, we were going to say Kagerou Imaizumi." Yamame piped up. "I think she lives in the Bamboo Forest, but..." Yamame did a funny sort of gesture with her hands, and Hearn stared at her for a moment. "It was, um, snowing hard."

"Yes, I know, dear." Hearn told her. "Ran? Probabilities, if you please." She looked over at Ran, who had entered the room and placed her bag on the counter. "Where is our lost little wolf?"

Ran stepped forward, her hands behind her back. She stared for a moment, a scowl on her face. "Seventy-eight-point-four percent chance that she stays home."

"And the rest?" Hearn had a slight smile on her face, like she was enjoying showing off Ran's calculative abilities.

"Twenty-two-point-six percent chance that she goes to the village." Ran continued. "From there, a thirty-six-point-nine percent chance that she goes to the café. A twenty-four-point-one percent chance that she goes to the bookstore." She paused for a moment.

"And the forty-nine?" Hearn prompted, though I was certain that she already knew the answer.

"Forty-eight-point-eight percent chance that she goes to the Hieda mansion." The Hieda? I asked why. "Ninety-eight percent chance that she is asking when Hieda no Akyuu will produce another instalment in the Gensokyo Chronicle." That old history book of hers? I only felt more confused now. "She is worried that her-"
"Okay, that's enough, Ran. It's not entirely relevant, and I believe that Akyuu's not planning any work of the sort at the moment." Hearn said lazily. "Now, that's a few possibilities." She waved her hand and several gaps opened up. "Home...Empty." One of the gaps snapped shut. "Bookstore...Empty." Another shut. "Café...No. Hieda...No. Hmm..." She thought for a moment longer. "Ran, what was that point-two percent chance that you didn’t mention?"

Here, Ran's scowl increased in severity. "Point-two percent chance that she is accosted by the villager known as Kotohime." I felt my jaw drop. Surely it wasn't that?

"Ah, there she is!" Hearn cheerfully told me, pointing out a new gap, through which I could see Kotohime performing one of her signature interrogations on Kagerou in a snowy alley somewhere in the village. As I stared, Kotohime began to try and pin her to the floor so she could attach handcuffs to her. "What fantastic odds! Perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket, Ran."

"Your chances of winning are zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-ze-" Ran began.

"Yes, yes, I get the point." Hearn waved a hand dismissively. "You never win, it's an idiot tax, blah-blah-blah..." She looked at Yamame and I and rolled her eyes like we were in on the joke. "Well, off you pop, you two. Remember, tell Reimu once you've got a date picked, so she can tell Ran."

"Wait, a date for wh-" Yamame began, then disappeared through a gap placed on the very seat she was sitting on. I opened my mouth, but was immediately given the same treatment. This time, as I fell through the Boundary, I spotted Yamame ahead of me, and then I spotted Chen chasing after her. I yelled a thank you for telling Ran that we were gone, though I didn't get a chance to hear a response before I was slamming into the cold snow. A second later, what I assumed was Yamame slammed into my back. I groaned as my body registered the ache, and she wasn't all too far behind me. Fortunately, the arm holding Kagerou's hood had managed to avoid being crushed, though I wasn't sure how snow proof it was, either.

Sighing, I looked up and saw that Kotohime was currently clinging to Kagerou's back, her handcuffs clutched tightly, and Kagerou was trying to throw her off. Neither of these things were actually happening at the current moment, because both had frozen and resorted to simply staring at us like we'd grown extra heads. "So," Yamame began painfully, "I've got your hood." I weakly lifted the box before letting my arm fall again.

I consoled myself by thinking that, as far as delivery methods went, slamming face first into the ground was at least fairly entertaining for the recipient.

[Anonymous No.]

That... went so much better than I was expecting.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543218
Don't worry, gappy will take this as a win and will brag about getting a man in her bed at the biweekly hag meeting
I think its really because it's hard to thread the needle between her being a powerful youkai getting charisma broken and just making her seem desperate for cock
I mean, she is, but she's trying her best to be subtle about it

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543039
>With Re-" She clamped her mouth shut at that moment
That's some mood whiplash

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543787
I didn't understand this part, when did she go to Finland with reimu?

[Anonymous No.]

And right after they left Yukari covered her face with her hands and screamed at the top of her lungs

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543832
She meant Remilia you fucking donkey!

[Anonymous No.]

So yazaka, how many men have you had on your bed this month?

[Anonymous No.]

Nice detail showcasing her scientific prowess, most people like to forget about that.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543046
>>45543039
>>45543028
>>45543022
>>45543012
Gappy charisma break was delicious, I can't believe my mysterious gap youkai is such a dork! She's so cute...
Also, I'm glad kaggy is finally going to get her hood

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543845
Damn, did Yukari nearly just reveal Remilia is originally from Finland?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543039
>Sunrise isn't until sometime after nine in the morning
Off by one hour, but that's fine.
Also, the great gab youkai who could presumably lodge anywhere on earth for winter and she chose in the middle of Turku? Come on Yukari, that's like taking your vacation at some random hostel. At least rent out a private winter lodge innawoods.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45547105
if you want the truth, I really wish I hadn't included the line about being able to see lights through the curtains when they got kidnapped in the first place
I was going to have her go stay in some fancy ski lodge somewhere on a nice mountain but the line tied my hands too much, so I just started looking for snowy towns and picked the prettiest one I saw. Turku propoganda team was working overtime last night.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45547149
Nooo writefriend you caught the consistency autism

[Anonymous No.]

>>45547149
Should have just picked literally any city up north is all.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543055
>>45543038
Another spider fact has been found out, they like to play with water.

[Anonymous No.]

Honestly i prefer the idea that she actually hibernates during the entire winter. Makes her cuter imo.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45547655
I prefer the 'gappy just blows everything off to go on vacation' interpretation. Lazy gappy is the cutest

[Anonymous No.]

>>45543028
>"I- Um, I mean, I-I'm flattered, b-but..." Well, now I just felt horrified. "I-If you, um, l-like me, you should have said something!"
Meanwhile, Yamame watches this with a (' _ ') face

[Anonymous No.]

>>45548670
The best part is when she saw yams there and assumed they were both into her and she just went with it

[Anonymous No.]

>>45548675
kek

[Anonymous No.]

>>45547149
If you want an actual justification, she was in Turku for the declaration of christmas peace that was done on 6.12.

[Anonymous No.]

I didn't think it was possible for a regular human villager to successfully woo Yukari Yakumo, the millenia old, all powerful genius who founded Gensokyo--and of all things one might imagine would win her heart, it was sexual harassment that captivated her.
If only we had known sooner. Imagine what a Yukari route would have been like.

>>45547655
>>45548563
I don't see why these two aren't reconcilable. She goes on a four month long vacation, spending about 80% of her time sleeping in.

[Anonymous No.]

"Halt! Just what sort of villainous behaviour do you call this!? And you've managed to convince Miss Reimu to vouch for you? Blackmail? Is that it!?" It had taken all of three minutes. Three minutes for Kotohime to go from handcuffing Kagerou, to handcuffing both Yamame and I, to having all three of us lined up in the snow while she paced in front of us and shouted random accusations which didn’t make any sense at us. Yamame and Kagerou had tried to fight back a little, but they'd not ran into Kotohime before, so I doubted that they actually knew how strong she really was. I didn't resist, because I both knew that it was a lost cause, and I found myself with a bit of a distaste for the idea after Reimu had told me about her.

"H-How'd this happen?" Yamame faintly asked, her teeth chattering. She looked like she was freezing cold, and I couldn't imagine that being forced to sit in the snow and listen to Kotohime rant at all three of us was helping. "I thought ending up with Miss Hearn like that was enough of a dose from your amazingly bad luck. Not this!" I just shook my head and told her to bear with it for now. It would be fine. At least Kotohime had been kind enough to leave me with Kagerou's new hood, even if I couldn't actually do anything with it since my hands were cuffed behind my back.

"I was just trying to go and meet-" Kagerou tried to interject, but was - Rather rudely, in my estimation - Interrupted.

"How dare you talk over me!?" Kotohime shouted, kicking a chunk of snow at Kagerou's face. The wolf cried and shook her head to try and get the snow out of her eyes. I shouted for Kotohime to stop it. "She is resisting arrest, and you'll be joining her if you're not careful!" Gritting my teeth, I kept quiet. At the very least, I knew enough about Kotohime now that I wasn't quite as worried. "Now, how about you all go and cool off?"

"I think I'm pretty cold already." Yamame muttered under her breath despite the chattering of her teeth and her shivering, which only resulted in her getting a mouthful of snow for her trouble. Wisely - In my opinion - I decided to keep quiet.

So, after a few embarrassing minutes of being forced through the streets, there sat Kagerou, Yamame, and I. In a prison cell. It was hardly the way I wanted things to go after being sleep-kidnapped. "Just so you know, I didn't actually attack anyone." Kagerou told us as we stared at the blank wall on the opposite side of the bars. "I really was just minding my own business!" I nodded and reassured her that I believed her. This, it seemed, was just something Kotohime did. "I'm not even sure she realised that I was a youkai..." Kagerou was still wearing her hood. The ragged one that she'd been wearing for who knew how long. As for her brand-new hood, it was sat in the same room as us. On the other side of the bars. At least Kotohime had been kind enough to handcuff our hands in front of us instead of behind us before she'd left to inform Reimu about 'suspicious figures doing suspicious things in a suspicious manner' after I'd casually mentioned that Reimu would probably be pleased to know how serious she was about her job. "So, um, I've never been kidnapped before." I forced myself to bite my tongue before I could say anything, but Yamame surprised me by being the one to break out in laughter. "O-Oh, um, is that...Funny?" The poor wolf looked very confused and more than a little bit scared by the whole thing, and I didn't blame her one bit.

"N-No, no...Um, it's just...If you want an authority on getting kidnapped, well..." Yamame motioned toward me, trying not to start laughing again. I just sighed and shook my head in despair. I really wasn't sure how my life had ended up like this, but it was a little concerning. "S-Sorry, um, I think we'll be okay." She tried to look a bit more reassuring there, but I supposed that her ability to comfort her sisters didn't much extend to other youkai from the surface. That was partly why I wanted to get her into those Grassroots Youkai Network meetings, after all. Yamame looked at me. "Right?" Slowly, I nodded. Once Kotohime had fetched Reimu, she could free us all. I knew she had something of a soft spot for Kagerou, too. I wasn't entirely sure why, but she'd even chosen to bring the wolf to Eientei. So, I figured that we would be fine. Maybe that, coupled with not being in here on my own, was why I wasn't panicking in here like I had the last time.

[Anonymous No.]

"Oh...Er, okay." Kagerou didn't look entirely relieved, but I figured that it would have to do. "So, um...Who exactly is that girl?" I sighed, wondering how much of what Reimu had told me was safe to reveal and how much was private. In the end, I decided to just say that she thought that she was in the right, and wouldn't care what anyone else thought. Reimu would sort her out. "Well, um, that's good." She tried to scratch her head with one hand only to find that the handcuffs made that an issue. "Why'd she have to do this, though?" I heard the jingle of the chains and sighed before falling onto my back. It was part of her act, I said. "...Huh." After a moment, Yamame joined me, and a few moments after that, so did Kagerou. "So, I guess we just have to wait?" That sounded about right, I replied as my eyes slid shut. "Well...Yamame, you said that you had that new hood, right?"

"Oh, er, yes." My spider replied. I Felt her shift so she could look more to the side. "I hope you'll like it. Er, if you ever get to wear it." She laughed very weakly. "I made it red, like your brooch and the bottom half of your dress. And um, it's got detachable fur..." She trailed off, and I cracked an eye open to see that she looked a little worried about what she'd said. Fur. Though, I didn't think that Kagerou seemed like the type of girl to be up in arms about that sort of thing.

"...Yes?" Kagerou slowly asked, confirming my suspicions.

"Oh, um, detachable fur. Right. For the Winter or the Summer." Yamame sounded relieved. I imagined that she was probably screaming in her head about nearly making an awful conversation mistake like that. I definitely wasn't much better, though. I'd made more than my fair share of mistakes relating to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, and I had a whole host of scars all over my body to prove it. "I made it plenty long, but if you think it's going to be getting in the way, I can always shorten it down for free." She continued to go over all of the work that she'd done for the hood, but most of it went over my head anyway, so I just crossed my arms and kept my eyes shut. I hoped that Reimu would show up soon. Even with company, being stuck behind bars like that was doing nothing at all for my nerves.

I wasn't entirely sure how long it did take, in the end. It was rather hard to tell time in an enclosed room, but my sense of time had been mostly demolished by living with Yamame in the caves, so I was doubly clueless. But finally, I heard the door open, and Kotohime stormed through, followed by - To my great relief - Reimu, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "-Absolutely crossing the line. They're suspicious! I can't believe you just want me to let them go!" Kotohime's left eye was swollen and she had a split lip. It seemed like Reimu had needed to give her a more thorough talking to than I'd expected. "What if they do it again?"

"Yeah...Do what, exactly? Your own explanation seems to be that she," Reimu pointed her gohei at Kagerou, "Was minding her own business, and they," The gohei swung over to us, "Appeared out of nowhere. I know exactly who was responsible for that, and it wasn't them, so stop your whining and let them go. I'll give them a proper talking to, if it'll make you feel better." It didn't look like it would make her feel better, and she got as far as opening her mouth again before Reimu placed a finger on Kotohime's lips. "And, more importantly, I warned you last time to stop trying to arrest people yourself. It reflects badly on me if you start yelling that you're doing my job, you know. And I definitely told you that he," The gohei was now aimed directly at me, "Was under my protection. Did you forget that part?" Kotohime, I noticed, paled slightly.

"No, no, I didn't!" She replied very quickly. "But I just thought that, with him and the suspicious blonde girl that I had eyewitness testimony for-" Reimu sighed in exasperation and Kotohime's mouth stopped moving just like that. "A-Are you going to punish me...?" She sounded very unsure of herself now. I supposed that her fantasy had reached its limits. It made me feel...Bad. I didn't feel vindicated. I felt sad that she was like this at all.

[Anonymous No.]

"Oh, I don't know..." Reimu said, shrugging. "How about desk duty for a while?" Given the way Kotohime's eyes widened, I assumed that it had been a very effective punishment. "You go and write up some of these arrests you've done. I'll deal with these three. Sound good to you?" Kotohime opened her mouth. "Good! Now, Officer Kotohime, open the door." She nodded satisfactorily, and Kotohime, looking like a marionette who's strings had been cut, shuffled forward and opened the door. Once we'd all struggled to our feet - Well, I struggled. Yamame and Kagerou simply floated to their feet - And stepped through the door, Kotohime opened our handcuffs. All three of us sighed in relief at having the blood flow back to normal. Reimu stepped up to me. "That luck of yours, honestly..." She quietly whispered to me. A ghost of a smile crossed my face. "Alright, I'll deal with these lot. You, Kotohime, go and do your reports."

"B-But, Rei-" Kotohime tried one last time, but she didn't get very far.

"No, Kotohime. Go, now, before I lose what little of my patience remains. Do you understand?" Reimu's voice was far harsher here, and I wondered just how much patience she had for Kotohime in general.

"...Yes, Miss Reimu..." Kotohime mumbled despondently, turning and trudging out of the room. It seemed that she was still just child-like enough to submit when an authority figure's voice got sharp. I was happy about that, because she was rather hard to deal with. I really had no idea how I would have convinced her to let me go without an angry Shrine Maiden big sister to bail me out.

"Alright, you three, let's get out of here." Reimu told us. "Don't really want to hang around...Being stuck behind there doesn't look too fun." We began to follow her out of the door, but Yamame paused to grab Kagerou's new hood from the desk. Fortunately, Kotohime hadn't been too interested in it. "Come on, come on!" Reimu urged us, and finally, we stepped back outside. The sky was darkening, but the snow was coming down still, just as it had been when we left. It didn't seem quite as heavy as it had been, though, and fortunately the village still seemed to be mostly okay. Reimu sniffled. "Ugh, I hate having to come all the way out here in this weather. Alright, so...You," Kagerou was the newest recipient of the gohei pointing, "What were you doing here? I'm going to be very upset if you actually were causing a scene."

"Me? Um, no, I was just going to that café..." Kagerou looked confused. "I even kept the hood on." She suddenly remembered the box in Yamame's arms. "Oh, um, Yamame..." She gestured toward the box, so Yamame made a little noise of recognition and handed it over, pulling the lid off as she did so. There was the new hood, just as she'd described, and Kagerou delicately ran a finger over it, being careful to keep her sharp fingernails out of the way. "Wow..." She breathed. "It's lovely." She looked from the cloak to Yamame. "May I?"

"Er, of course." Yamame replied. "It's yours, after all." She nodded slightly stiffly. "So, you like it, then?" She asked, though I noticed that she didn't sound that worried now. Plus, I was sure that she had enough pride in her work not to get terrified over one customer's opinion.

"Oh, I do." Kagerou replied. "Let me just..." She reached up and pulled the hood she'd been wearing off, allowing her fluffy animal ears to stick up properly, and I even spotted them flick slightly as Kagerou ruffled her hair. Draping the old hood over her arm, she pulled the new one from the box and allowed it to unfurl, and a smile began to overtake her features. At the same time, I could see that she was already looking slightly cold, since she now had her bare shoulders exposed to the snow, as well as most of her collarbone and cleavage. The red was a rather deep shade, darker than the red of her dress, but the inside seemed to be lighter. I wondered just where Yamame had gotten the fur from, but I decided that asking such questions would be best saved for later. Kagerou dropped the old hood into the box and held it out, looking around the three of us apologetically. "Um, sorry, but would you mind...?"

"Fine, fine, just be quick about it." Reimu muttered, taking the box and motioning something with her hands that I took to mean "Hurry it up."

[Anonymous No.]

Kagerou held the hood - though it really was more of a cloak that just happened to have a hood - aloft, then swung it around her so that it came over her shoulders. She fastened the clasp in the middle, then reached up and pulled the hood over her head, concealing her ears from view once more. "Wow, it's...Really warm. And heavier than my old one..." She smiled widely again. "You've done a really good job, Yamame!" I looked over to see that Yamame had broken into a wide smile too, and they began talking animatedly about the whole project, and the part that no one wanted to talk about: Payment.

So, while that was going on, Reimu came over to my side. "You know, I blame you for the Shrine." For what, I asked incredulously. I hadn't had anything to do with the Shrine recently. "Oh, you know what I'm talking about." I really didn't, and I was sure that my face made that fact very clear. "Misumaru!" Reimu told me sharply. She looked very disgruntled. "She showed up again and she won't leave my Hakurei Orb alone!" Reimu looked rather upset about this fact. “She’s been taking it apart in front of me! I didn’t know you even could take it apart! What if she – She damages it, or puts some sort of mini-bomb inside, or-“ I raised a hand.

Ah. Lady Tamatsukuri had said that she was planning to come back. "Yeah, but I thought it would be in a month or something! Not...A few days. And she's so - So preachy!" Preachy? " She said that I would catch a cold if I didn't dress up more, then told me that I should have already had tea made before she'd even arrived, like I'm just supposed to see the future!"

That did sound fairly annoying, but I got the sense that there was something that Reimu hadn't said. "Fine, she - Look, I don't really know what to think about it." She led me slightly further away and stepped a little closer. "She said that my great-grandmother always knew exactly when to start making tea." I raised an eyebrow. Her great-grandmother? "Yeah...She knew a lot of my family, apparently..." Reimu looked troubled, so I gave her a quick hug before asking her what she was worried about. "Well, it's just - I don't even know anything about most of my family. I know that Y- Hearn, er, does, but I wasn't ready for someone else to suddenly reveal that they know more about my family than I do. She's like - An aunt. Or maybe an older sister?" She wasn't much like Reimu, I replied. "Ha. Seriously, though, she keeps telling me how to look after myself and how I should look after the Hakurei Orb as well as my other possessions. I'm not a child! Urgh, I feel like I'm about to snap." I wondered if this was actually motherly behaviour, but neither Reimu nor myself were well-versed enough in how mothers acted to identify it. I barely remembered mine as it was, and Reimu's mother had spent most of her time tied up with her duties. "What am I supposed to do about this?" Reimu finally asked me with a frown that looked very much like she was dying for someone to complain to.

[Anonymous No.]

I thought for a moment, then asked Reimu if she was upset because Lady Tamatsukuri was treating her like a child, or if she was just nervous because she wasn't sure how to deal with it. "Huh? Er...The first one? No, maybe a bit of the second one? What are you trying to say?" I wondered if Reimu was actually just worried about how to deal with this sort of thing. "Well - Um, H-Hearn does some of that stuff too, but she's even more annoying, so..." Well, I definitely knew that already. "But this doesn't feel like when she does it. It's like...Serious concern?" After a moment, I shrugged. Perhaps she needed to make the boundary clear? Either that, or try embracing it. "Embrace it? Um, I'm not sure I want to do that..." All I could say was that just because she was unfamiliar with it didn't mean that it was necessarily a bad thing. For all she knew, she might come to appreciate whatever it was that Lady Tamatsukuri was trying to do. "...Right..." Reimu finally said, nodding slowly. "Er...Well, I guess I'll think about it." She didn't look entirely convinced, but I supposed that it was a start.

"So..." Reimu said, scratching her head. "Why exactly was Kotohime arresting you and Yamame, too?" I stammered a little, but I clearly had no way out, so I tried asking Reimu if she'd ever been to a place called 'Thin-Land'. "Fin...Land?" Reimu repeated in confusion. "Er...No? I think I'd remember a place with a name that dumb." Huh. I had been trying to work out who Hearn had been talking about when she'd been mumbling in her dreams, as well as when she'd nearly said that she'd been to that place she'd been staying at in the past, with someone who's name began with 'Re'. "Wait, why are you asking?" I tried to get evasive for all of a few seconds. "No, I know why you'd suddenly be asking me about weird places I've never heard of before. When did she get you?" I sighed, then was forced to admit that it had been some time earlier in the afternoon. "Alright, come on. We're going to the café so you can tell me the whole story." I sighed but acquiesced. Then, I said, Reimu had to tell me how dealing with Marisa and Tenshi had gone. "Oh, definitely. It's always a good story when I get to beat Marisa up for being stupid, and Tenshi's just a bonus." She called to Yamame and Kagerou, who were still going through the cloak. "Come on, you two! Café time!"

"Huh?" Kagerou asked, trying to pull the hood down further so she could see the lining properly. "O-Oh, um, okay? I was heading there anyway, so..."

Yamame, meanwhile, bounded over to me. "Right, er, Reimu. Let's go. Though I'd love to get home soon..." That part seemed to be directed more toward me. "Kagerou's paid me, anyway." She pulled an envelope out of her coat pocket, and I could already tell that there was money inside. "Some of it's yours." She told me, and I frowned. Why would any of it be mine? "Call it a founder's fee. You are the one who put Kagerou and I together, and you helped me deliver it."

"Can we get going?" Reimu asked pointedly. "I'm freezing every part of my body off over here, and I've got an excellent story about beating Marisa to a bloody pulp to tell." Well, I thought. Despite her worried about Lady Tamatsukuri, at least she seemed to be in a good mood because she'd gotten to beat up Marisa and Tenshi.

Now, I could turn my attention back to wondering who this ‘Re’ figure that Hearn had mentioned was.

[Anonymous No.]

Time to make Reimu choke on her spit again i guess

[Anonymous No.]

The fact that she took on Kagerou and Yamame makes me think she could have solo'd the Eintei raid

[Anonymous No.]

>>45552100
98 Koto was the protector of the human village and would crack youkai heads for breakfast before bullying shrinemaidens so it fits

[Anonymous No.]

>>45551966
>Now, I could turn my attention back to wondering who this ‘Re’ figure that Hearn had mentioned was.
Do not.

[Anonymous No.]

Now anon has met most of the hags there's only one missing one from completing the set

[Anonymous No.]

>>45551966
>Now, I could turn my attention back to wondering who this ‘Re’ figure that Hearn had mentioned was.
Renko!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45555368
>

[Anonymous No.]

I wonder what kind of dream the gap hag was having with Anon.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45556820
Anon is quite a hunk of man meat, it's no surprise a lot of 2hus are attracted to him.
Thank you granny Kasen for training him and big sister Tenshi for doping him up.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45556831
G-Granny!?
she's an auntie at best!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45551966
>"Renko? Yeah, that was my mother's name. What about it?"

[Anonymous No.]

>>45556831
don't call my wife a granny until she's actually a grandmother, please and thank you!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45556179
Wow, Hearn also knows someone named Renko? Just like that other Hearn from the music CDs that take place some 150 years into the future? Funny how history repeats itself so uncannily sometimes.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45558903
She was certainly trying to be one

[Anonymous No.]

>>45559616
Yes!

[Anonymous No.]

The laughter was expected. The slamming of Reimu's fist on the table, not quite as expected, but still fairly likely. The coughing, slightly less likely, but not entirely unexpected given the laughing and the amount of tea that Reimu was drinking. The choking? Well, that was a bit less expected. And once Reimu's face started turning red and she began slamming her fist against the table in a rather different manner, I leapt over the table to thump Reimu on the back for a while, hoping that I wasn't about to become the envy of all youkai by killing the Hakurei Shrine Maiden by way of making her laugh just a little too hard.

Kagerou had panicked a little and offered to take her to Eientei, and Yamame had ran to get some water, but I figured that would only make the problem worse and trying to run through a load of snow to Eientei would be just as bad. Fortunately, Reimu started to recover a little after I'd been pounding on her back for a minute or two. "O-Okay, I-" She broke into another coughing fit, but it didn't progress any further this time. "I-I'm fine. F-Fine!" She took in a shaky breath. Yamame rushed back at that point with some water, and Reimu took it gratefully. "Thanks..." She forced out, taking a drink that thankfully seemed to go down just fine. "Ouch...I think you've broken my back! Might need to do that a little more gently in the future." I laughed awkwardly and apologized. I'd panicked, too. "Yeah, I get it...Thanks, though." That made me feel a little better. "S-So...She, uh, sleep-kidnapped you...?" That did seem to be about the size of it. "To some place in the Outside World called Finland?" Yamame, it seemed, had grasped the name far better than I had since I'd thought it was called 'Thin-Land'. "And..." Reimu cast a glance at Kagerou, then leaned in closer. "She really thought that you - You, I mean..." Yeah. I was fairly certain that she'd thought exactly that.

And off Reimu went into slightly unhinged laughter again.

She eventually recovered, though it took longer than I would have thought. "Sorry, just...I swear these stories get funnier each time. You should start writing them down." I had a feeling that Hearn probably wouldn't actually appreciate that much. "Ugh, no fun at all, she is." Deciding to change the subject, I asked Reimu what her story about Tenshi and Marisa was. "Ah. That." She nodded seriously. "So, you know how they were basically commanders in that war thing of theirs?" Yamame and I nodded, since Kagerou had laid her head down on her arm and seemed to be close to falling asleep. "Well...When I went over there, I found them having a fist fight in the middle of a big fight between the kappa and the yamawaro." Yamame and I had seen some of the way this had escalated, and privately, I wondered if she was just mad that they hadn't bothered to involve her in their escalating war game. "So, I beat them up all." Well, that was a given. "Then, I beat up Tenshi and Marisa." I had a feeling that she was simplifying the whole thing slightly. "And it was great! Since they're both idiots, you can whack them in the head a bunch and you don't have to feel bad about it at all!" I was more curious about all of the massive danmaku I'd seen being fired off everywhere. "Oh, er...Well, they both attacked me, so I just decided that I should probably stop them before they escalated again. Seemed to work out okay." Privately, I thought that this was because of Reimu's ability to do really good in fights when she was steaming mad. I'd heard about some of that from Lady Kasen in the Summer. It seemed like the more Reimu thought about what she was doing and wondered if it was the right thing to do, the worse she did.

"So, that fight we saw..." Yamame asked, sipping her drink. We'd been in the café for a while and gone through a fair number of drinks and some food by this point. "You won, I guess?"

"Obviously." Reimu replied, smirking. I asked her what she'd done with Tenshi and Marisa after that. "Well, see, that was the funny part. Did you know that they were both wearing weird experimental kappa and yamawaro gear? For all I knew, they were going to blow up the planet regardless of whether or not those attacks had hit. So, I broke it all." ...All? "Yeah. All the stuff they were wearing, then everything I saw that was made by either the kappa or the yamawaro. Can't trust those lot. Anyway, once I'd smashed everything I saw to pieces, everyone suddenly seemed a bit more friendly to each other." I blinked. Had Reimu just ended a war by walking in and simply breaking everything being used? I supposed that was one way to do it. "I don't think it was a very satisfying end for them." Reimu told me. "But at least it should prevent any problems in the future."

[Anonymous No.]

What had she done with Marisa and Tenshi, then? I'd half expected to see them with her now. "Oh, they're a bit tied up right now." Curious, I asked what they were doing. "No, I mean...They're a bit tied up. I tied them both up to a post and left them in the Shrine. Clearly they can't be trusted to be left to their own devices." I...Wasn't entirely sure that was the best way to deal with that. Reimu shrugged. "Well, it was the easiest. Now I can yell at them and they can't leave." Privately, I had a feeling that even if Marisa couldn't, Tenshi could probably break out of the ropes without much trouble. Just to be sure, I asked Reimu if she'd tied them up inside. "Oh, yeah. I'm not a monster, you know." I wondered if Marisa would answer the same.

By the time all of that was over with, it was dark outside and I had spotted Oseki staring at us from time to time like she wanted us to leave. "Hey, do you need anything more?" She asked, stepping over to us. "It's nearly closing time." Okay, I thought. I guess she really did want us to leave. "No? What about you?" She nudged Kagerou, who'd started to doze off at some point. "Lazy w- Er, Lazy human." I wondered what she'd been about to say. Woman? "Do you need help getting home?"

"Whuh?" Kagerou stirred, lifting her head. One of her ears had managed to poke out from under the hood. "Er, sorry...What did you say?"

"I said, do you need help getting home?" Oseki's voice was surprisingly sharp for a waitress. "You must live nearby, being a villager, right?" Kagerou stared at her, her brow very furrowed. "Nice hood." Oseki continued dryly. Kagerou blankly looked on for a few seconds more, then blinked.

She felt up at the top of her head. "Ah!" She cried, hurriedly pulling the hood back down. "W-Well, um, it's just - It messes my hair up, that's all! Makes it all stick up like that!" Oseki watched her for a moment, then nodded. "A-And, um, I'll be fine. I can just - Just stay with, um..." She was staring at Oseki for a moment. "A...Friend of mine...?" I looked between the two, feeling thoroughly mystified. There seemed to be a second conversation going on underneath the conversation I was actually watching, but I had no clue what it was about.

"...Right." Oseki replied stiffly. "I'm sure they'll be happy." Kagerou gave a wide grin, so I assumed that whatever the hidden subtext was, it went well. I almost asked her if she could have stayed with Sekibanki, but I didn't really know anything about her, so I wasn't sure there was much point. For all I knew, Sekibanki lived out in the woods somewhere. Maybe I'd run into her again one of these day. "Anyway, it's about time to close, so-"

"'Seki!" I heard the old man who ran the place shout. "Stop chasing people out, y'hear!" For once, he actually came out from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a rag. "My wife'll have a fit if she hears yer up to that sorta stuff." Then, he looked toward me. "Ain't seen yer face in a hot minute. S'posed to be dead, ain't ye?" That was a bit of an over exaggeration, I replied. "Right. Best try and keep it that way, eh?" I nodded with a thin smile. Curious, I asked him where his wife was. "Ah, she's got a sister who's gone and had a kid, so she's off helpin' them out. Luckily," He slapped Oseki on the back, and she let out a little noise of surprise as her head tipped forward followed by her body before she righted herself, "I've get 'Seki here to help me out. Ain't that right?"

Oseki looked very annoyed by the action as she rubbed her head. "Y-Yeah..." She grumbled. "Seriously, can you not do that?" It looked like an argument was about to occur given the way the old man started laughing, so I looked around and decided that it was probably time to make ourselves scarce. Reimu went to stand up, then groaned and clutched her stomach, so I helped her up.

"Er, I'll just...Stay here, shall I?" Kagerou said. The wolf looked a little confused about the argument brewing between Oseki and the old man, but otherwise, she seemed fine. "It was nice seeing you all again. And, um, thank you again for the hood, Yamame. Oh! Er, I think we were planning on another meeting of the, er, Network. In three days."

Yamame stopped about halfway off the table, so I pulled her up the rest of the way and placed her down on the floor in front of me. She absentmindedly turned back and slapped me on the arm for it, but then got herself together. Personally, I thought it was very cute. She wasn't particularly tall, even compared to her sisters, nor was she too heavy. "Oh, er, I'll try and make it. Is it at the same place?" She asked Kagerou.

[Anonymous No.]

"Um...Yeah. We'll probably have to clear some snow away, though." Kagerou ran a hand through her hair. I got the feeling that it was something she did without thinking, because it immediately pushed the hood down, revealing both of her ears. Fortunately, both Oseki and the old man were too busy arguing to notice. A moment passed before she realised, because she yelped and pulled the hood back up. Perhaps her old cloak had been slightly looser, so when she did that, it hadn't caused it to fall down. "U-Um, yes. Er, probably clear some snow and, er, build a fire or something...? I know you said that you don't do too well with the cold."

"No, not really..." Yamame agreed. "Well, I hope it'll be fine. Er, probably." This didn't really seem to be going anywhere, so I finally just said that I'd try and be there too unless something came up, or I got kidnapped again. It did seem to happen with alarming regularity, so it was more than a joke. Then, I turned to Reimu, who was still slightly doubled over. Figuring that I'd best help with that, I supported her so we could get out of the door. At the last moment, I turned back to say goodbye to Kagerou and tell Yamame that I'd wait outside for her. She nodded with a smile, so I turned back to helping Reimu out of the café.

Once we were outside, trudging back through the snow, I helped her lean against the wall of the café. Fortunately, it had stopped snowing for a bit, and the sky was halfway clear. "Urgh...I think I pulled something. Too much laughing." I thought that laughter was supposed to be the best medicine. "So's pills from Eientei, but you don't see me downing twenty at once." I couldn't exactly argue with that. "Maybe if you stopped getting kidnapped by the biggest disaster of a youkai I've ever laid eyes on, I wouldn't be struggling to breathe."

Frowning, I asked her exactly how I was supposed to avoid that. "Have you tried telling her no?" I didn't exactly think that she was the sort of person who'd take no as an answer. "Oh, er...Probably not. And she's not around, so I can't threaten to beat her up..." Reimu scratched her head, then shrugged. "Well, um, just tell her to send you back very firmly? Honestly, I'm not sure what you could do. I mean, I'd offer you some ofuda or something, but I don't think it's going to be all that effective on her..." I sighed in some form of despair. Would Reimu ever tell me what her real name was? "Me? Er...Probably not until she reveals it, I think. It's funny seeing how long she keeps it up for." Fantastic, I replied dryly. I asked Reimu if she had any ideas as to who that ‘Re’ person that Hearn mentioned was. “Uh…Remilia, Reisen, the other Reisen...There’s Utsuho Reiuji, but…No, I doubt it’s any of them.” There was Reimu herself, but she’d already told me that she’d never been to wherever Hearn was. I supposed it didn’t have to be anyone I know. A youkai as old as Hearn likely knew a lot of people.

"Oh, don't be so upset." Reimu reached out and patted my cheek. "Go home and hug your spider. You'll feel better tomorrow." I hoped so, anyway. Sighing, I offered to come back to see Reimu tomorrow, at the very least to make sure she hadn't attempted to murder Lady Tamatsukuri. "Oh, sure. No promises, though. She's so smug that I just hear 'hit me' whenever she's talking." Frowning, I asked if that wasn't the sort of thing that'd just get her talking more. Maybe she could try and intuit when she was arriving and prepare tea, like she said that Reimu's great-grandmother used to do. "...Maybe." Reimu looked a little more pensive. "I really don't know how I feel about that." She sighed. Turning to lean against the wall next to her, I asked her if she couldn't just think of it as an opportunity. "For what?" She asked me. I reached out and took her free hand, then said that she could try and learn about her family, if only a little. "Yeah, but...I just wish I - No, I think I just wish I could have learnt about them from my own family rather than from someone else." I let go of her hand so I could pull her into a hug instead. Orphan's lot, I said. I'd love to have had more time with my parents. Reimu and I had each other. It was as simple as that. "...Yeah. Thanks." Reimu mumbled into my shoulder.

Curious, I asked Reimu how long she was planning to keep Marisa and Tenshi captive. "A day or two, probably. They'll just get annoying after that." I wondered if Reimu was enjoying the whole thing just a little too much. "What? No, don't be silly. It's a punishment. Plus, they should have involved me. Whole thing would have ended much sooner." Privately, I took that as a yes to the enjoyment thing. "Look, I'm not going to tie you up, but I bet I can get Yamame to do it for me if you keep asking me questions."

[Anonymous No.]

I stared at her for a few moments. "Oh, fine, I'll leave you alone. Do come and visit, though. Poking them both with a stick is fun." I decided that the best thing to do was probably give her another hug so she wouldn't get any funny ideas about convincing Yamame to tie me up. It wasn't like Yamame couldn't come to that conclusion on her own, anyway. She'd already wrapped me up in her blankets, after all.

"Eugh, it's still so cold out here! C-Can we-" Yamame's voice surprised me a little, but I saw her emerging from the café alone, already wrapping her arms around herself to try and keep warm. "Um, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" I shook my head and let Reimu go. I tried not to think about it very often, but every now and then I did think about my parents. It usually hurt, but I did my best to move on. To think about the friends I had now. I would think about Yamame, and her family. What I hoped would one day also be my family. So, I pulled Yamame into a hug too. She seemed a little surprised, but relaxed after a moment. Once I'd released her, she took in a shaky breath. "Can we...Go home now?" I nodded, but looked over at Reimu again first.

"Feeling better?" She asked me. I was, actually. But my main concern was whether or not Reimu was going to need help getting home. "Pfft. No. I know you're a worrier, but I've gotten home after much worse, and while less sober. Get going, will you?" I felt a little chastised, so I nodded and returned to Yamame. "Oh, and...Have you seen Kasen recently?" I thought about it. The last time I'd seen her was in the Hot Spring Town in Former Hell. She and Raki had both been there since that party that they'd all had at Lady Kasen's dojo. "Wait, that long? Whoa." I'd thought the same sort of thing. Why was Reimu asking? "Well, it's just...She stopped showing up at the Shrine. The only time that's happened before is the year after the whole arm incident had happened." Somewhat teasingly, I asked Reimu if she missed her, but she didn't immediately reply, and the way she looked at the ground made me feel a bit bad. "...No! Definitely not!" Reimu told me, clapping her hands together and nodding vigorously. "Just curious if anyone was taking care of her pets, that's all." I imagined so. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if they were smart enough to take care of themselves, even in Lady Kasen's senkai. "Yeah. See, it's fine." Reimu smiled, though it seemed a little forced. "Well, I'd best be going. I'll see you tomorrow?" I nodded. "Okay, good. Yamame, take care of him."

"I'll do my best!" Yamame replied, waving as Reimu took to the air. I waved her off, and she disappeared into the darkness almost immediately. "Is she okay?" Yamame asked me. I sighed. I thought so, but I think she liked it when Lady Kasen came to lecture her more than she let on. "I wonder if Nai's ever said that about me." I looked over at her, then said that I didn't think any of her sisters would ever need an excuse to say they liked having her around. "Aw. Sweet." Yamame told me, kissing me on the cheek. "Shall we get going?" I nodded, since it was really very cold, and I could already see clouds on the horizon that would probably mean more snow.

The place was a little more treacherous to navigate at night, but eventually we reached the caves, which were only half covered in snow, so it was possible to slip through without needing to smash apart the whole thing. I didn't hold out much hope for tomorrow, though. "I'll help you smash through." Yamame told me. "But, er...I might stay at home. The cold's just...A bit much." I understood. It wasn't hugely pleasant to me, but I could bear with it better than Yamame could.

Finally, we were home. It seemed like it hadn't been all that long, but we'd been halfway around the world, imprisoned, and spent hours at Oseki's café before getting back here. "I was going to make food, but..." Yamame opened the door and stepped inside, then hopped up to the upper floor so she could hang her coat up. I draped my coat over the chair and wandered over to her bedroom, where I pulled off my sweater before getting straight under the covers. It was cold, after all, and I was tired. All that kidnapping had a way of draining the energy right out of me. "Oh, what have we here?" Yamame's voice asked, so I mumbled something and lifted the covers, then sighed in relief when she slipped in beside me, only to yelp when she touched me. Her hands were freezing cold. "Well, maybe you should go and complain to whoever convinced me to go and deliver Kagerou's hood today? Who was that, exactly?" I grumbled about sarcasm, then grabbed her hands so I could try to warm them up. "I think they'll warm up plenty soon enough." Yamame told me playfully, wrapping a leg around me and leaning in for a kiss.

I wondered if I should ask Eirin about energy supplements or something.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45559639
let's not give up hope yet! now that we have a third mom entering the fray, Reimu's bound to get hitched with a good man soon! as soon as Yukari is done hibernating, I hope to see the three of them join forces for the greater good of continuing the Hakurei bloodline

[Anonymous No.]

I see Reimu was doing some kidnapping of her own

[Anonymous No.]

Tenko?
Yeah?
I really have to pee

[Anonymous No.]

>>45560805
and Tenko is thirsty. Looks like they have a common goal!

But in all seriousness, they've definitely gotta be much closer after fighting each other in war, being beaten up together, and then being tied up to each other in the cold, forced to huddle closer for warmth...

[Anonymous No.]

>I wondered if Reimu was enjoying the whole thing just a little too much. "What? No, don't be silly. It's a punishment.

It gets more 'fun' when Reimu decides the best way to have them make it up or at least thinks the funniest thing to do after fighting a war against each other is to tie them together for a day or two and see how crazy they go.

[Anonymous No.]

I like to imagine that the old man who runs the café is aware of Sekibanki's true identity, but turns a blind eye to it because she's that good of a girl.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45559986
>I tied them both up to a post and left them in the Shrine
t-this brings back some memories...

[Anonymous No.]

>>45565379
All I remember from your image are cute noises and happy slice of life moments, I don't think this is related to Marisa and Tenko being dumb bitches who excluded Reimu from their games.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45566976
anon...

[Anonymous No.]

That night, I had a strange dream. I wasn't quite sure if I was me or if I was one of the people in the dream, but I was both standing by, and sitting at, a large table. It was the sort of table you thought supervillains sat around, with each at one end because they didn't trust the other as far as they could throw them. This was a round table, though, with three women sat at equal distances. I knew them, but as I wasn't sure if the dream was from an outside perspective, my own perspective, or one of their perspectives, I didn't know why I knew them. One was Lady Kasen. "Alright, ladies - Oh, I hate that. Er...Team?" Her bandaged arm seemed to flow around her, despite the fact that I could see it looking completely normal on her arm. "Alright, team. Let's-"

"Not a fan of team, I don't think. It's a bit...Too sporty. Cabal?" The second, strangely enough, was Lady Tamatsukuri. The thing on her head had somehow become a living creature, though I didn't get it and she didn't seem to care. "Regardless, I think it's high time we moved onto-" She was interrupted, and I found that I was not in the least surprised by the last member of this strange group.

"Cabal? We're no secret society trying to take over Gensokyo." That, it seemed was Hearn. "We're just three girls joined by our feelings toward Reimu Hakurei." Although I probably should have been at the very least interested in this revelation, what I could only assume was dream logic took precedence, and I didn't seem to put the slightest interest into it. At some points in the dream, I was standing at the side of the room and watching over the meeting, and at others, I was one of the participants.

"Girls?" Lady Kasen repeated incredulously.

"Yes, girls! We're all girls in the prime of our life and we're worried about poor Reimu's loneliness!" Hearn insisted. "We need to find her a boyfriend!" I wasn't really sure how they'd come to this conclusion instead of a much more logical conclusion to spend more time with her, but I wasn't exactly an active participant in this dream except for the parts where I was. Still, that seemed like the sort of logical leap that Hearn would make.

"No, no, she needs to take a more rigorous approach to her duties as the Shrine Maiden!" Lady Tamatsukuri replied, tapping a finger against the table. "Who's ever going to be suitable for our Reimu, anyway."

"Well, I certainly tried my best with-" Lady Kasen tried, but Lady Tamatsukuri coughed loudly over her and pointed a finger to a brightly glowing sign that hadn't been there a moment ago, but at the same time, had been there the whole time. It showed what I thought was an outline of myself, and a spider sitting on my head. "Yes, well...How was I to know that they'd consider each other family? Perhaps if you had actually shown up at some point in the Summer instead of doing your mysterious and aloof act, you could have done something about it." Hearn went to open her mouth, but Lady Tamatsukuri interrupted her.

"As it stands, he is no longer on the table." She said sharply. "And I believe he is too moral to ever betray Yamame Kurodani like that. Put the idea out of your mind." She looked between the two. "And I think you should consider whether or waking up?" I frowned. That didn't make any sense. Lady Tamatsukuri looked at me, but it wasn't her voice I was hearing now. "Your, uh, grip. It's too tight. Hey, c'mon. Wake up!" And then, through a door that had appeared on the centre of the table, Doremy Sweet emerged, looked around, then rolled her eyes and hopped down before slapping me in the face. She always seemed to do that in my dreams.

I jerked and just about managed to avoid accidentally headbutting Yamame, who sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was going to have to start biting you again to wake you up." That, I groaned, wouldn't have been the first time. "So, er, can you release me, please?" I looked down groggily and saw that I had indeed wrapped my arms around her and then refused to let go, so she couldn't move any of her upper body. "Apparently, you in your sleep can defeat practically any youkai in strength." Yamame muttered as I released her. She rolled onto her back and sighed gratefully. "Not that I don't enjoy it, but I do like to change position from time to time, you know." Well, I replied, I knew that much already. "Cute." She replied dryly. "Aren't you supposed to go and see Reimu today instead of trying to crush me?" I rubbed my eyes and told her to at least let me wake up first. I needed some water desperately. "Oh, fine. C'mon, lazy bones, up you get." She rolled out of the bed and stretched, going up onto the tips of her toes and stretching her arms as high into the air as she could. Given that she wasn't actually wearing anything, it was an image that left me feeling quite invigorated. Especially the way her back arched just as she reached the peak of the stretch...

[Anonymous No.]

If it wasn't for the fact that I could feel how dry my mouth was already, I'd probably have pushed her down right then. Instead, I sighed and staggered out of bed too. "Wash?" Yamame asked me. I agreed, but I needed water now or I'd turn into a husk, so I stumbled first into the kitchen, drank as much as I could handle, then stumbled straight to the bath that Yamame was running. Unlike the Shrine, which currently got its water from the runoff of a hot spring that Reimu and Marisa had apparently built when a massive geyser had erupted from underground, Yamame's home had the water pumped straight up from the Hot Springs Town. That, then, meant that there was always hot water available, which was absolutely a joy now that it was so cold. She was already in the bathroom with a bucket of water that I could already see steaming when I stepped inside. "Wash my back?" She asked me, so I nodded and took a seat behind her, beginning to run my fingers down her back.

It was probably the better part of an hour before we made it out of the bathroom, but I felt very refreshed once we had. "Ah...Nothing quite as relaxing as a warm bath. Hot Springs are good too, but it's better when it's in your own home, right?" I nodded, running my hands through my damp hair. The only downside was that while Yamame was going to stay inside all day due to whatever spider instinct she was feeling, I was going out into the cold to visit Reimu and see just what she'd done to Marisa and Tenshi. Given that she'd apparently tied them up for fighting a war, I wasn't expecting amazing things. My hair was wet, too. "You'll catch a cold if you go out like that." Yamame told me. I looked over at her; She was hanging one-handed from the second floor, dressed in her shorts and turtleneck. Her free hand kept scratching her neck and as I watched, she slipped it under the turtleneck to continue. I asked her what she was doing. "Just - Uh, itchy. I knew it was probably going to start up soon." What was? "Um..." She trailed off, looking at me. "You know how spiders have hard exoskeletons?" I sort of knew, but it wasn't like I was an expert. "Well, er...Actually, it'll probably be fine for a day or two, and if I get into it now, we'll be here for so long that Reimu will come and beat me up again. Just, er...Try to keep your worrier tendencies to a minimum, alright?" ...Okay...? I wasn't really sure where she was going with this, but I assumed it was probably okay. She didn't seem all that concerned about it, anyway.

"Anyway, come up here. Definitely not letting you out like that." I complained that she made it sound like she was my keeper, but I climbed up to the second level anyway. "Am I not?" She asked me, crouching down in front of where I was hanging from the ledge, then offered me a wide grin. She offered me a hand, pulled me up, then brought me over to the wardrobes at the back. I wasn't really sure this was necessary, but she definitely wasn't letting me leave without something. "Alright, let's see...Try this?" She tossed me a white, frilly thing, which turned out to be a mob cap like the one Hearn wore. I immediately threw it back and told her that I'd rather catch the cold then go out wearing that. "Aw, but it's cute when you're embarrassed." I glared at her and she pouted. "Oh, fine, let's find something for your extremely refined and discerning tastes..."

Four hats of varying ridiculousness later, including a floppy hat with a wide brim, a coarse and thick thing that clung to my hair and made it stand on end, something that looked like a bigger version of a tengu tokin, and Kagerou's old hood, I gave up. Why did she even keep the old hood? "Oh, well...Uh...Spider instinct...?" I stared at her and then told her that I didn't believe her. "No, it's totally that! Honest!" I began to wonder if I was going to have to have a talk with her about hoarding. I was fairly certain that she'd used my old clothes for material by this point, too. Either way, I just shook my head and told her that my hair had mostly dried now, so I'd probably be fine without a hat. "You sure? I've got loads more." She held up something that looked like the sort of thing I'd see Doremy Sweet wearing, at which point I turned and jumped straight down to the first floor without another word. "You're missing out! I'll improve your fashion tastes if it's the last thing I do!" I heard her yell. Pulling my coat on, I yelled back that if I ever did, I'd start a fist fight with an oni to put me out of my misery. I heard her cackling as I headed for the door. "Take care, alright!? Love you!" She called, coming back over to the ledge and crouching down again. She was scratching her leg now, too. I told her that I loved her too, then headed out of the door and closed it behind me.

[Anonymous No.]

The tunnels were still frigid, and I rubbed my hands together as I walked through. It was a good thing that Yamame had chosen to live so close to the surface, because I couldn't imagine how I'd manage if she lived as deep as Kisami. Speaking of, I wondered how she was doing with the ring, but it wasn't like I could easily go and ask her, so I would just have to wait and see. Turning down the tunnel, I saw that it had been entirely blocked by snow yet again. I slapped my head. I convinced myself that everything would be fine. Then, I turned back to ask Yamame to break through the snow for me.

Several minutes later, I wanted to die. "There!" Yamame said cheerfully, now illuminated by the white light of the snowy morning. "How's that fit?" She asked me with a very victorious look. I had a mutinous one to give her in response as I lifted the very wide-brimmed hat that I'd seen the head monk at Myouren Temple wear from time to time. Awfully, I replied. I thought I'd best leave it behind. "Sorry, that's the price for my help. Wear the hat." Scowling, I put it on and told her that she would pay for this later. "Hmm...Looking forward to it." She hopped closer, gave me a kiss, then turned and took off back down the tunnels. I sighed and began to negotiate my way through the powdery snow right where Yamame had broken through until the snow became densely packed enough to stand on. Maybe I needed something like snowshoes, the kind that I'd seen Miss Sanae wear in the village one winter. Or maybe, I reflected, I needed to take Lady Hecatia's offer, assuming it was even available anymore. I hadn't seen her in quite some time. It was something I'd let slip between dealing with Lady Kasen and Raki, then Yamame, Reimu, Marisa, and Tenshi. It was hard to keep everything balanced.

I felt like I was already being laughed at with the hat on, but there wasn't anyone around, and I made it out of the village and onto the path toward the Shrine in short time. I might have even made it all the way to the Shrine itself, but I got as far as the fork in the road that led up to the mountain when I spotted something in the path. Quite a way up, I could see a figure. They were too far away to make anything out, but I was sure that they were in trouble, because they weren't moving in any real direction, but they were certainly moving around in a very small area a lot. I looked in the direction of the Shrine, then shook my head and started on the path toward the mountain instead. If someone was in trouble up there, I'd best go and try to help.

Of course, once I got closer, I found myself more confused than anything. The girl on the path wasn't barefoot, but her shoes didn't look particularly suited for the snow, which was concerning enough, but she wore a dress with the entire bottom cut in the shape of maple leaves, along with her collar. There was another leaf in her hair, too. She was like the perfect picture of Autumn...Here in the middle of a snowy Winter. "Hello?" She said to me. "Are you okay? You're staring." I frowned, then asked her what she was doing up here. "Here? I live up here. What do you think I'm doing up here?" She sounded a little annoyed already. Usually, it took me longer to say something wrong and get beaten up by a girl. I raised my hands and said that I saw her from the bottom of the path, and I was wondering why she wasn't moving. "Good!" Rather sharply, she cried. "Good, yes. Er, can you help me out? Please?" I blinked, then asked her what exactly she needed help with. She did look like she was worried about something, though she was trying to remain calm. "Well, er, it's easier if I show you. It's my little sister, you see." I wondered why I seemed to run into so many people who had troublesome little sisters. Yamame was one thing, but Satori Komeiji, too and the Yorigami sisters. The girl began leading me further up the path, then pointed toward the woods.

I felt a little cautious at this point, so I asked her for her name and what exactly I was doing. "Surely you know who I am?" She replied, her brow furrowed. I probably knew, since the Autumn-themed dress was a bit of a giveaway, but I wanted her to confirm it. "Shizuha. Shizuha Aki." She replied, sounding very put out. I supposed I understood that. She was one of the Aki sisters, the gods of Autumn. Her sister, then, was Minoriko Aki, the god of the harvest. I asked her what the matter with her little sister was. "Well, she's got a bit of a one-track mind. Doesn't notice things. That's why it's me that does the leaves, and she does the harvest, since she'd never be able to handle it. Anyway, she, uh, wasn't paying attention to where we were walking, so..."

[Anonymous No.]

She pointed toward the treeline again, but this time, I realised that it wasn't the treeline she was pointing to. Rather, it was the bottom of the tree. Where there was a bare foot and an arm sticking out. Blankly, I turned back to Shizuha, who had headed over to the arm and grasped hold of it. "It's okay, little sister. I found someone who can help." She looked back at me, so I sighed and stepped over, then crouched down. I'd been a little worried that I was about to be kidnapped, robbed, or worse, but I didn't think these two seemed like a big threat. Shizuha looked a little listless already.

I crouched down and - Really wishing I had gloves - began to scoop big armfuls of snow out. While I was doing so, I asked Shizuha if she and her sister stayed out all Winter. "What? Er, no, no way. It's not Winter yet, anyway. Starts...Uh, in a few days. Solstice should be early morning on the day after tomorrow." I asked her how she could possibly know that. "I'm an Autumn god. Of course, I know when my season ends. Not that it's really even worth it in the run up to Winter, since all the leaves are gone." I scooped away another big handful of snow, then found that I could...Er, see her little sister's bloomers. "Oh, for - Hey, Minoriko, this guy's looking at your butt. Should have fallen on your back, huh?" At that the leg which was sticking in the air kicked out and I yelped, falling backward. "Whoa, relax, little sis. Unless you want to stay there until the snow melts in Spring."

The kicking stopped, thankfully, so I got back to digging the snow away. I was focusing on where I thought her head probably was, since I wasn't entirely sure she could breathe. I asked Shizuha how she'd gotten so stuck, anyway. "It's...Have you never seen a tree well? Er, a spruce trap?" I was familiar with the concept. One of the big things that Miss Kamishirasawa had made certain to warn everyone at the Temple School about every Winter were tree wells. At the bottom of the tree, underneath the branches, the snow wouldn't pile up like the surrounding area, and would instead create a space underneath. Anyone who walked near it would then fall - Usually face-first - into the void and very quickly be buried under the snow, just like Minoriko had been. Since they were falling face-first, they might even get injured or knocked out, and unless someone was around, they wouldn't be able to get out. The snow would pile over them densely and that would be that. You'd likely suffocate, but it would be slow. If you weren't knocked out, you'd...Know it was happening. It wouldn't be a pleasant way to go.

All of that was the horror story that Miss Kamishirasawa had told us, and I'd been terrified of stepping anywhere near trees during the snow for years afterward. I'd wondered if she had exaggerated, until a few years prior, a villager had died and been found in a tree well, just like Miss Kamishirasawa had described. "So, er, she was talking to me about hibernation until next Autumn, and she wasn't looking where she was going, and...Yeah. Straight in." That'd do it, I muttered as I scooped yet more snow out. Shizuha helped, but she didn't seem particularly strong, so it was mostly up to me. It was exhausting work, far more than I'd initially thought, but finally, I saw a tuft of blonde hair and knew I was close to her head.

A few seconds more, and I'd uncovered part of her hat and her face. She breathed in gratefully. "Oh..." She took in another deep breath. "Th-Thank you..." She told me, sounding exhausted and cold. "Th-That was h-horrible..." I told her that she was going to be okay as soon as I'd had a second to catch my breath. "Um, okay..." I fell back slightly and focused on getting breath into my lungs, and Shizuha took my place.

"Hey, little sis." She muttered. "Really need to watch where you're going, huh?" She did look relieved, though. She was shivering, now that I looked at her properly. I couldn't imagine that either of them were very warm, so, feeling a little bad, I took my coat off for a moment and dropped it on Shizuha's shoulders. I was sweating from the exertion regardless, so the cold was helpful more than anything. "H-Huh?" Shizuha looked at the massive coat. "Um, thank you...?" She did seem to draw some warmth from it, so I took that as a win. I was certain that I was going to get that cold now, since my hands were freezing cool too, and I was lying in a pile of snow. At least my silly hat was keeping my head from getting cold again. After a minute or so, I felt like I'd recovered enough to have a second go, so I got back up and fell to my knees, then started scooping out snow again.

[Anonymous No.]

"I-I need to w-watch where I'm going, Shizuha?" Minoriko said, her teeth chattering. "Y-You were the one who was b-bragging about how well you'd painted the leaves this year! Th-That's why I was d-distracted! I was t-telling you how w-well the harvest was!" I wondered if this was going to turn into an argument, so I asked if we could free Minoriko from the potentially fatal tree well before they started fighting. "I-It's not a f-fight..." Minoriko told me. I continued to scoop snow away, uncovering her other arm and some of her clothing. I had a feeling I knew what was happening, anyway. Both of them seemed to have a superiority complex over the other, which I couldn't say I'd ever seen before. I wondered if Eirin had even seen that sort of thing happen before. I thought that Jo'on Yorigami probably had something going on toward Shion Yorigami, but I'd only really encountered them once, so I wasn't all too sure.

Finally, after what felt like hours but was likely no more than half an hour longer, I'd pulled away enough of the snow that Shizuha and I could drag Minoriko free. She was shivering terribly, and Shizuha offered my coat over to her for a few moments. "Oh, thank you!" Shizuha told me, and I was surprised when she hugged me, albeit briefly. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up..." I wondered if she could have used danmaku, like Yamame did to smash through the snow, but in a situation like this, I wondered if it would only pile more snow on top. "Well, uh...We're not all that strong..." I nodded and said that I was just happy to help.

"I-I'd offer you something, b-but it's so close to Winter now that we've not got much to give..." Minoriko told me. Since my coat was so big, she'd practically wrapped it around herself, but I could see that her clothes were soaked. She needed to get home and out of the wet clothes, I thought. Outwardly, I said that I was fine and asked them if you would be safe getting home. "Y-Yes, I think so...Home's not far from here..." I imagined that she'd probably be fine once she'd warmed up and got some rest, though it wasn't like I was an expert. "Um, I'd better give you this back." She got to her feet - And I couldn't imagine that walking on the snow barefoot was particularly fun either. I'd never been crazy enough to do something like that. She handed me back my coat, which I pulled on gratefully. Her outfit was indeed soaked.

"Okay, um..." Shizuha said, looking between Minoriko and I. "Thank you, seriously. I don't know if she'd have died, but I definitely couldn't have pulled all that snow out by myself." I said that it was no bother, though I privately worried that I would have a cold tomorrow. "I, um, I'll remember you. Next Autumn, I'll pay you back somehow." That was very kind of her, I replied.

"A-And I'll, um, give you a blessing! F-For next year's harvest." I wasn't a farmer, so I told her that it was okay with me if she just remembered to bless the village's crops instead. "Ah, um, okay..." She nodded weakly, and I said that they should probably get inside before they froze. "Y-Yes, I think so. Okay, Big sister, let's get going." I got a hug from Minoriko for my troubles before they left, hand in hand and floating above the snow this time. I had no idea why they hadn't done that the first time, but I supposed that some people just appreciated the scenic route. Either way, I hoped that helping two gods down on their luck would have a knock-on effect of some sort. It was always good when there were more nice things in the world.

I exhaled, turning and making my way carefully down the snow-covered mountain path. Back on the path to the Shrine, then. I went slowly, since if I tripped now, I’d be rolling all the way to the bottom, and while I hoped the peach would keep me from being too injured, I’d be so dizzy at that point that I’d probably stumble into a tree well myself. Luckily, I was able to hold out long enough to reach the bottom, where the path levelled out, though I did skid a little bit. Thankfully, the path to the Shrine was mostly flat ground, though this was because the cruel people who’d picked the place to put the Hakurei Shrine had decided that it should go on top of a steep hill rather than a sloping one, so it had the extremely long staircase upward.

And, even better, the staircase was slippery. In the end, I had to go extremely slowly and at some points, use my hands to keep myself steady by placing them on the steps above me. As a result, I was just as out of breath by the time I reached the top as I had been digging Minoriko out of the snow. Once I did make it to the top, I was doubled over and gasping for breath, leaning on the torii gate. After a few moments, I’d recovered enough to stumble onwards. I was dying to find out how Marisa and Tenshi were doing. Hopefully, before Reimu got on the war path because I'd been side-tracked for so long.

One war at a time seemed like enough for Gensokyo, anyway.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567232
>this was the only picture I could find with kasen, misumaru and yukari
i understand that feel too well

[Anonymous No.]

And with this he met all of the sibling duos

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567245
Didnt Anon met her before already or that was someone elses fan fanfic?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567253
>"Oh, for - Hey, Minoriko, this guy's looking at your butt. Should have fallen on your back, huh?"
kek, thanks for the akis
>>45567441
it was a spin off I did, I don't know if this chapter is a reference to it but if is i'm happy

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567260
>I privately worried that I would have a cold tomorrow
Hmmm the classic healing chapter.

[Anonymous No.]

Anon will smell like sweet potatoes because of Minorikos hug and for sharing his jacket, so many women trying to imprint themselves onto him.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567441
I might be misremembering here but I think that Anon previously saw them from afar, without actually interacting with them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567232
>Hearn insisted. "We need to find her a boyfriend!"
I volunteer

By the way, what happened? The sages were meeting in the dream world and doremy took anon to see?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45573231
I'm pretty sure it was just a whacky dream, not something that actually happened
doremy showed up in his weird harem dream to wake him up once too

[Anonymous No.]

>>45573231
Merely Anon's subconscious telling him that he needs to get his 'mu hitched

[Anonymous No.]

>>45573830
Anon needs to introduce her to his old friend: Anonymous.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567239
>Either way, I just shook my head and told her that my hair had mostly dried now, so I'd probably be fine without a hat.
No, don't do that! Your days will be numbered!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567245
I'm a dumbass and posted >>45573988 before I finished the chapter. Our boy is a real 2hu now. And he'd better be grateful to his wife for saving him from impending doom.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45567239
Anon probably looks like a JOJO character with his silly outfits and muscles. Next chapter Yam will try to make him wear lipstick.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45574043
She already has, what do you think the thing she likes anon to do is?

[Anonymous No.]

"You look like a Buddhist." Reimu told me. Her gohei tapped against the ground very casually. "Makes me want to beat something up." Like me? "I thought about it." She said, very guardedly. A moment later, the façade broke, and we both cracked wide smiles, then rushed up to hug each other. "Feeling better?" She asked me. I nodded, then returned the question. "You know, better than I expected, actually." I asked her what had changed. "Oh, there's a surprising number of visitors today. Misumaru wasn't quite as annoying, Marisa and Tenshi are still being punished, and Ran showed up with Chen to do some sort of barrier maintenance that I don't understand. Oh, and Aunn's been having fun in the snow." Lively, then? I could already see Aunn over Reimu's shoulder, constructing some sort of igloo. "Really lively." Reimu did look like she'd suddenly found a hidden store of energy.

I'd found Reimu up on the roof of the Shrine after I'd managed to make it all the way up the steps. I was already pretty exhausted, but she'd then tossed a few icicles that she'd been knocking off of the Hall of Worship at me, shouting "Danmaku Practice!" as she did so. Happily, they'd all been fairly weak and poorly aimed throws, so I didn't have to dodge too much. After that, she'd finally deigned to come down and speak to me properly, which had resulted in the standoff about my hat.

"Seriously, why are you wearing that?" Reimu asked me as we headed around from the Hall of Worship and toward her rooms. "Did you lose a bet?" I growled and muttered that I'd been tricked into it by a cruel, heartless, irredeemable spider. "Yeah? What'd you do? Not satisfy her in bed?" I looked down at Reimu and asked her if a Shrine Maiden should really be saying those things. "What? Because you're that worried about my religion? Not that worried, with that hat on." I sighed and pulled the hat off. Yamame would just have to come up with something better, though given the selection of hats she'd given me, I wasn't sure I was looking forward to it. "Ah, that's better." Reimu said, reaching up and ruffling my hair. Here, I started to gain an appreciation for why Yamame found it annoying. Not that it would stop me from doing it. It seemed like every Kurodani had hair that was made to be ruffled. Muttering about retribution, I put the hat back on for now.

I could hear something. A noise, growing in volume as we got closer. "Hey! Reimu! Get this damn cat off of me!" Well, Marisa shouting her lungs out was about as recognizable as anything got. "Seriously, she - Hey, you little - Ouch! I'm not your damn toy!" We got onto the veranda and I kicked the snow from my boots, wondering if Reimu was still having too much fun to consider releasing Marisa and Tenshi from their imprisonment. "Seriously, she keeps chewing on my hair, it's so gross!" I...Couldn't really imagine Chen doing that, since she was still human shaped. I looked over at Reimu, who rolled her eyes and kept on walking. We passed Reimu's room and headed toward the spare room, the one I'd once woken up in with Reimu yelling at a whole host of people while she was recovering from her illness.

I opened the door and stopped. When Reimu had said that she'd tied Marisa and Tenshi to a post in the Shrine, I figured that there was probably at least some level of exaggeration at play. Some sort of joke, and I'd get here to find that maybe she'd tied Marisa and Tenshi up and left them at a post in the Shrine for a while. Maybe their hands would be tied, or their feet.

I wasn't really expected that they'd be actually immobilised, tied up in so many knots that I couldn't even begin to understand why Reimu even had the rope for it. And more importantly, I wasn't expecting the post Reimu had referred to would turn out to be the central beam across the ceiling in the middle of the room. She must have created a hole with the needles to feed the rope through. The end result, as baffling and difficult to believe as it was, was Marisa and Tenshi, bound in so many ways that I was amazed they could even breathe, hanging from the ceiling. They were tied so that the blood wasn't all going to their head, and while it was undoubtedly uncomfortable and probably slightly painful, it didn't look like it would be dangerous unless they were kept there for a long time, and even then, I wondered if it would only be dangerous to Marisa, since Tenshi was a celestial, if an exiled one. Marisa was swaying slightly, because she was shaking her head a lot. The cat, it turned out, was not Chen. It was an actual, normal cat, a small thing with white fur that was pawing at Marisa's hair from where it dangled down to the floor. As I watched incredulously, I saw the cat try to take a bite of Marisa's hair, and she shook her head again.

[Anonymous No.]

"Oh. Hi." Tenshi said, looking over at me from the awkward angle she was hanging at. "It's been a while, huh?" Her hat had long since fallen on the floor, and her hair flowed down in a way that was somehow graceful, even though it shouldn't have been. "Welcome to my greatest shame. I think Reimu's knocked my brain loose, because I'm certain I should be able to break these ropes." She struggled slightly against the ropes, then gave up. "Urgh." She sniffled. "I don't suppose you're here to untie me, are you?" I faintly replied that I was mostly just curious about how Reimu had dealt with the two of them. "Fantastic." She sounded very...Alright, about the whole thing. “By the way, what in the name of sanity have you got on your head?” I flushed, then said that I was just testing it out. “I think you’d best go and sign up for those Myouren Temple guys if you want to wear something like that.” I wasn’t sure about that.

"I think Reimu's going to need her brain knocked loose before I'm willing to forgive her for this. Two days! I've been hanging like this for two days! I'm not even sure I have legs at all anymore!" Marisa told me, still trying to dislodge the cat that had taken an interest in her hair. "And this morning - this stupid cat showed up, and it's been messing with my hair ever since!" I stepped in the room and crouched down, reaching my hand out toward the cat. It looked between Marisa's hair and my hand for a moment, then came over to me. I stroked its head and wondered out loud who its owner was. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just leave me here." I looked up at Marisa, who glared at me.

"Kuro!?" I heard a voice call, and then I heard someone run into the room from behind me. "Is she - Oh, there she is!" It was Chen, who was covered in scratch marks and plenty of torn clothing, but rushed over to the cat I was stroking. "Wow, you sure worried me!" She said, but the cat hissed and tried to swipe at her when she reached out. "Wah!" She cried, pulling her hand away. "Why do you keep attacking me? Is it because I asked if you'd put on weight? Lady Ran says that you look thin, not me!" Chen reached out again, and got a bleeding cut across her hand for her troubles. "Ouch!" The cat hissed at her again, then returned to my hands. Shrugging, I kept stroking her. Chen seemed to finally take notice of me at that point. "Oh, you're Miss Reimu's...Um, brother?" I nodded, then asked Chen if this entirely white cat was really called Kuro? "Y-Yeah...Er, I was just trying random names, and she responded to that one. I-I'm not stupid, though!" I shook my head and said that I'd never said that. "She, um, followed me through one of Lady Ran's gaps to here, and then I couldn't find her!" I looked back down at the cat and asked her why she was scaring poor Chen so much. The cat, like most cats did, ignored me and began grooming itself instead.

"Uh, hello?" Marisa asked, trying to look down at us. "Can I finally go home? I'll even promise not to swap all of Reimu's sugar with salt if you untie me right now." I looked at the vast multitude of knots digging into Marisa's skin, then was forced to concede that I had no idea what they were or how to untie them at all. "Urgh..." She cried, letting her head fall back. "Where the hell is she, anyway?" That, I replied, was a good question. I looked back down at the cat and told her sternly that she should go with Chen. The cat, predictably, didn't seem to care for what I said all that much, but I decided that I would just have to hope that was going to be alright, so I stood up and backed out of the room, listening to Chen's yelps as the cat, even more predictably, didn't listen to me.

I found Reimu outside and a ways down, near her own rooms. She was leaning against the wall and having a conversation with Ran, who still looked slightly annoyed, just as she had when she'd arrived in Finland yesterday. "Ah, there you are." Reimu said to me. Patting my hands on my coat to try and shake the bits of cat hair off, I asked Reimu just how she'd learnt to tie quite so many knots. "Oh, you know...It's definitely for religious reasons." She told me. It didn't sound very convincing. Personally, I thought that she'd probably spent plenty of time tying various youkai - And Marisa - up over the years, and what she'd done to Marisa and Tenshi was just the culmination of all her efforts. "Yep, completely religious." She nodded cheerfully. "Ran's just been telling me more about your little trip yesterday." I sighed and scratched my head.

[Anonymous No.]

"Yes." Ran replied. Her voice too sounded like there was an undercurrent of annoyance to it. I wondered if this was just how she got during Winter. "I have several tasks that I am to complete during Lady Hearn's absence. Crossing continents to see that my master has accidentally - In her sleep - taken you through a gap to Finland is not an effective use of my time. I was in the middle of an important situation in the Outside World , just a few miles from here on the other side of the border. Chen informed me." I shrugged and said that I hadn't had much choice in the matter. I'd wondered why she had been dressed in the way she was, though. "There are some occasions where a more discrete approach is necessary." She stared at me for a few seconds longer, then sighed. "Ah, my apologies. I may seem a little...Short, today. It's - Lady Hearn's Winter absences are always a stressful period, made worse by - Well, by..."

Ran trailed off, and I got the sense that this was something embarrassing. Seizing the opportunity, I told her that she didn't have to tell me if she didn't want to. "No, it's..." She took a deep breath, grit her teeth, and narrowed her eyes. "Every Winter, I begin to experience...urges." I raised my eyebrows. "Yes. Those urges. It is an annoyance, but one that I can deal with as long as I am left to do my work in peace. Not," She gave me those sharp eyes again, "When I am constantly forced to deal with unexpected scenarios." I raised my hands and told her that, again, it really wasn't my wish to get kidnapped by Hearn. "Yes. I do apologize." Ran replied, nodding stiffly. I decided that I'd best change the subject before she got mad again. So, I turned back to Reimu and asked her if she was planning to untie Marisa and Tenshi any time soon.

"...Oh, I suppose...I'd have loved to leave them there for a while longer, but Marisa's making it hell to sleep at night. Keeps shouting at me! 'Oh, I didn't mean to escalate a disagreement over who got credit for a joint invention into a massive war, Reimu! Please, let me out of this rope, Reimu!' She just shouts stuff like that, and Tenshi doesn't seem particularly bothered at all. It's a little unnerving, to tell the truth." I wondered if they were both conspiring with a plan to pay Reimu back, but I wasn't smart enough to think of what it was, so I just told Reimu to be careful. "Well, obviously. I'm not an idiot." Reimu looked at me like I was stupid, then headed off across the veranda to go and free the two war veterans. "But they're still stupid for not including me!" Reimu called back as she disappeared into the punishment room. "What the - Huh? Hey, I'm not your master, c'mon..." I heard her say. I wondered if it was that cat, white fur and apparently named Kuro. Had she taken a liking to Reimu?

"Wow, Miss Reimu, she really likes you!" I hear Chen say. “She’s scratched me sixteen times!”

"Well, I don't!" I heard Marisa shout at the top of her lungs. "Stop messing about with that cat and - Let - Me - Down!" She was so loud that I thought I saw the doors shake. "I've probably lost the use of my legs by now, anyway! You’re going to be pushing my wheelchair, Reimu!"

"Push you off a cliff is what I’ll do.” Reimu muttered. “Oh, stop your whining. I know exactly how tight I'd have to tie that rope to do any sort of permanent damage." Reimu replied lazily. "C'mon, you, go back to Chen." Presumably she was putting the cat down. "No, to - Ugh, never mind." I was really curious about what was happening over there, but I didn't think I should just wander off and leave Ran standing here, so I turned back to the shikigami, who tilted her head slightly.

"My Chen has something a pet project, you see. I mentioned it on my last visit, if you remember. The abandoned settlement of Mayohiga. She has brought - With some catnip and food - A large number of cats to live in the village. I believe she had planned to pick the strongest cat from the group as her servant, but...Well, it's yet to come to fruition." I couldn't imagine a society of cats running very well. "It doesn't." Ran told me dryly. "Still, between dragging home dead corpses and trying to order the cats, my Chen stays busy." Dragging...I slowly repeated the phrase, wondering if I had heard her correctly. "Oh, yes. Much as a regular cat may bring its owner a dead bird, my once cute Chen has learnt from the kasha of the Palace of the Earth Spirits to find and bring home corpses." That was rather unnerving, I thought privately. In fact, it was a little scary to think about. "I...Sense that you would prefer I hadn't told you that." Just a little, I weakly replied. "...It seems I am having to apologize for a lot today. Forgive me, I sometimes forget what an irregular human Reimu is, compared to someone like you." It was okay, I said, as long as she didn't tell me anything more. It was probably good to get a reminder from time to time that these really were youkai and not just strange animal women.

[Anonymous No.]

"Ah!" I heard a shout. There, dressed in a thick coat and a scarf, was Aunn. She was running for the Shrine. "There's a cat! And a cat person! I'll defeat them, Miss Reimu!" In fact, both of the Aunns were running for the Shrine, and I started to wonder if I was about to see a massacre. Even though I knew that a komainu wasn’t, strictly speaking, a dog, it seemed that some of those instincts still existed. “I’ll save you!”

"Oh no, not a chance!" I heard Reimu yell. I saw her hand for a split second as she slammed a piece of paper - An ofuda - down on the floor at the door. With a flash of orange light, I bright barrier formed right in the door's opening, leaving Aunn to bounce right off of it and crash face first into the snow. "I've told you a hundred times, Aunn! No chasing poor animals around!" She didn't dispel the barrier, which was probably for the best when Aunn pulled herself out of the snow - Though the snow still remained on her head and lodged in her hair - and jumped up onto the veranda. "Nope, not dispelling this until you calm down." Reimu told her.

I looked back at Ran. "I fear that I've contributed to this situation." She told me. "But my work here is done, so perhaps it is time for me to make my exit." She waved her hand and a gap opened next to her. Through it, I could see Marisa and Tenshi, still hanging there, so with Ran's ushering, I stepped through and found myself behind Reimu, who spun with a needle clutched between her fingers. "Reimu, I've finished with my barrier maintenance. You know what to do from here. Chen, it's time we left Reimu to her business." I wasn't sure why, but something about the way she pronounced the word 'business' was sticking in my head. It was a strange thing. I'd heard it before, somewhere. From someone...With a similar sort of accent, but only the barest trace of it left. Business, business...'Oh, that's my business.' That was it. It had been from the girl with the spork. Yuuma Toutetsu. And, now that I thought about it, Ran had mentioned the name once upon a time. When she'd gotten upset at me, and she's slipped into an accent that was far rougher, she'd almost said the name of 'Toutetsu.' That was...Interesting. I wondered if Ran had dealt with Yuuma in the past, but that wouldn't explain why they both had the accent.

"Ah, coming, Lady Ran!" Chen replied cheerfully. "C-Can we, um, go and see Miss Ya-" I was worried that Chen was going to give away the game to Marisa by revealing that she knew Yamame, which would lead to a whole bunch of questions that would undoubtedly end in her realising that I was seeing her, but fortunately, Marisa chose that moment to loudly make her displeasure toward her ongoing confinement known, so she ended up missing out on the truth yet again. "Come on, Kuro!" Chen tried to call the cat, but it ignored her. Instead, it began moving between Reimu's legs and rubbing against her calves.

"Uh..." Reimu looked down, confused. "Why's this cat refusing to leave me alone?" She looked back up as Aunn struck the barrier again. She seemed to have taken the whole thing as a sort of game, now. "C'mon, Chen's right there..." She nudged her with her foot. "Go..." She tried pleading.

"Ha!" Tenshi said, swinging her rope prison around so she could see the situation more clearly. "Looks like someone's made a friend. See that, Marisa? You could learn something from this."

[Anonymous No.]

"You can talk!" Marisa replied sharply. "You're not exactly bursting at the seams with friends, are you?" There seemed to be a lot of things happening at once here. Ran and Chen were trying to leave, Marisa and Tenshi were arguing over whether or not Tenshi had friends, Reimu was being distracted by the cat at her feet, and Aunn was outside, trying to break through the barrier that Reimu had put up. I wondered if the cat might like to stay with Reimu.

"Huh?" Chen said, looking at me. I hadn't realised that I'd said that bit out loud. "B-But, she's..."

"Chen," Ran said quietly, "She does seem to like Reimu. It might be good for her." Reimu didn't seem to agree, but the cat certainly seemed to, since she still wasn't leaving Reimu alone. "There's still plenty of cats at Mayohiga. If one would prefer to remain with Reimu, there's no harm in that."

Reimu looked over, groaning. "I really don't think I'm cut out to be much of a pet owner. Too broke to afford all the food, anyway."

"Then, how about we leave you with the cat for now, and we'll come to pick her up in a few days. I'll bring you some supplies, if that will help." Ran seemed to think this would be a fun idea, so I decided that I'd best just let her get on with it. "Now, come along, Chen. We can even see about setting up a meeting with your sewing instructor." She bowed to us, then turned and snapped her fingers. That was Yamame, then. I wondered if she would just appear in Yamame's living room. I couldn't imagine my spider would take kindly to that, let alone in conjunction with whatever the itchiness she was experiencing was. I'd meant to ask Chen, but I hadn't gotten a chance. A gap swirled into being, a move far more dramatic than what she'd used with me. "Good day." She said as her parting words, disappearing into the gap. Chen looked back once more at the cat, then followed. The gap disappeared, leaving us alone again.

"Aunn, you better behave yourself. Seriously, I'm not having you causing a bunch of mayhem and terrifying this poor thing." Reimu told the komainu sharply. After a moment, she nodded, and Reimu dispelled the barrier. For a moment, I was certain that she was going to try and pounce on what had apparently become Reimu's cat, but she managed to restrain herself. "Why do these things just seem to happen...?" Reimu muttered to herself. "How am I supposed to look after you?" She asked the cat, who responded with a purr as she rubbed against Reimu's leg again.

"Will someone please let me down!?" Marisa shrieked, struggling in her rope bindings. "I'm going insane over here! How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry for escalating the kappa and the yamawaro's war!?"

"Uh, I'm sorry too, by the way. In case anyone wants to release me." Tenshi added. "I've got a hell of an itch right on my nose." I looked at their bindings and again, had to admit that I had no idea how they worked at all. Instead, I looked over at Reimu, who'd crouched down and awkwardly began petting the cat.

"Do you, er, like rice crackers, by any chance?" She asked Kuro, the white cat.

"Hey, Reimu?" Marisa asked, quieter this time. "Why do you know how to tie someone up like this?"

"Religious reasons!" She shouted back.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575123
it's this before you ask
I noticed that I forgot to attach it right as the auto timer hit zero

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575123
the pic

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575141
ah

[Anonymous No.]

Hah, Reimu is a pervert

[Anonymous No.]

Two days? how... how do they piss......

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575221
I think the writer explained before he planned to make her be into bondage in the scrapped Reimu route. Might have been a different writter thoughie.

[Anonymous No.]

Anon-kun always does his best to help others. Maybe he should help Ran with her heat too?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575504
I'm sure Ran can handle it on her own, it's just that people keep interrupting her when she's almost at the good part

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575515
Its not like anyone else could help her anyway with these math problems she comes up with.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575319
Reimu carries them to the bathroom, why do you think Tenshi is trying to disconnect from the whole thing?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45575504
Do not NTR the Yammy!

[Anonymous No.]

So Tenshi's been tied up tightly for two days without complaining and without breaking out, even though she probably could? Bet she's a total M who's just happy to engage in her fetish with her girlfriend, lol.
If anything, she probably has to hold herself back from asking Anon to tighten the ropes or asking Reimu to keep them there for longer.
Also, it's not been answered how they haven't peed themselves. But maybe that's best left unsaid...

[Anonymous No.]

>>45576369
Its winter, Marisa and Tenshi needs to pee.. Reimu wants another cup of tea...
Common interests, one could say

[Anonymous No.]

>>45576369
I think Reimu's given her a concussion and she's still a bit out of it, which is why she hasn't managed to do much

[Anonymous No.]

>>45576369
Its simple: Reimu has not given them any water or food while they where in there.

[Anonymous No.]

Reimu is just practising on Marisa and Tenshi out of frustration the vampire won't do it to her without leaving it to her maid to do all the work. It's just a shame Reimu didn't invite Alice to the shrine while she had those two tied up, that could have made for an interesting time, especially if she left Alice alone with them for any extended amount of time. Reimu is the easy mode to Alice's level of sadism.

[Anonymous No.]

Go forth

[Anonymous No.]

>>45573988
Is that Satori

[Anonymous No.]

>>45580881
Funny you say that. The image predates SA by several months, so when Satori's design was first revealed, people lost their shit

[Anonymous No.]

>>45582307
I like satori's design, but the way ZUN drew her is one of the worst zunarts

[Anonymous No.]

"What...Exactly am I supposed to do with this?" Reimu asked me. We were sat across from each other in Reimu's room. On Reimu's lap, curled up and apparently snoozing, sat the white cat named Kuro. "Why's she left me with it?" Her, I reminded her. The cat's name was Kuro and she was a girl. "Er...Right." Reimu awkwardly patted the cat's head and she purred. "Er, there, there." Reimu didn't seem entirely sure what she was meant to do with her, but despite that, she seemed to be rather skilled at petting the cat. "Does it - She, just, er, sit there? Why does she have to sit on my lap?" Hadn't Reimu dealt with cats before? "Well - Yes, but they're usually annoying youkai in disguise." She shook her head. "Alright, I'm dying to know. What took you so long to show up? And why were you so out of breath?" Reimu leaned in with a smirk. "Was someone feeling a little pent up?"

I rapidly denied that assertion with a lot of hand waving, shaking of my head, and denials. Instead, I got to work explaining - While being careful not to mention Yamame's name, so Marisa could stay in the dark - My morning, including where my silly looking hat had come from ,and continuing into how I'd spotted something up the path to the mountain, and how I'd discovered Miss Shizuha Aki, followed by what little of her sister was visible above the snow. How she'd been stuck in a tree well, which made Reimu wince sympathetically, and how I'd been by at just the right time to help dig her out. "That's...Good. I, uh, I was on hand when they found that guy from the village stuck in one. A few years back. It didn't look pleasant, so I stay away from the trees as much as I can." I nodded, feeling a little relieved. I didn't exactly expect that Reimu would get trapped in one, but it was still something to think about. "But still, the Autumn gods? I thought they'd be long gone by now." That's what I'd thought, I replied, but apparently Winter hadn't quite arrived yet.

"Eugh...Solstice should be...Uh, tomorrow? The day after? It's very soon, I know that much." Marisa groaned from the floor next to us. "You're so lucky I can't move, Reimu." Finally, after much yelling, Reimu had deigned to untie Marisa and Tenshi. Her fingers had, from my unlearned perspective, seemed very skilled indeed when it came to untying the knots. I really wondered about that, but I had a feeling that it wasn't the sort of thing that I'd ever get an answer to. Eventually, Marisa collapsed to the floor, moaning in pain. As she'd presumed, her legs didn't seem capable of much, and neither did Tenshi's, once she'd been untied. Sighing, Reimu and I had carried the two of them from the room and into Reimu's room. There, Reimu had started to prepare tea, because it seemed to be just her natural instinct when it came to having guests. Kuro the cat had followed Reimu, then climbed over Tenshi's head once we were in Reimu's room.

Tenshi's only real response was a mumbled groan. I was a little worried that she'd actually seriously injured herself somehow. "S'Fine..." Tenshi mumbled, her face pressed against the floor. "Head's just a bit fuzzy." She tried to lift her head, then groaned in pain and gave up. "Why'd you have to hit me so hard?" She asked, attempting to rotate her body so she could see Reimu. "I wasn't actually going to blow up the planet, you know."

"Could have fooled me." Reimu replied sharply. "And that's bad enough. Can't have you two idiots having fights so destructive that half - Actually, all - of Gensokyo can hear you. That light show's probably already inspired at least three new rumours in the village." I knew for a fact that there were two men, probably sitting in Geidontei right now, who'd already be telling each other tall tales about what that light show was. "So, I'm not apologizing." I also thought she was probably mad at them for not getting her involved, but I decided not to voice that. "That's your punishment." She said, sipping her tea. I wondered if Marisa or Tenshi would be walking again any time soon. Then, I wondered if they'd be fighting Reimu for the whole ordeal right after. At that point, I wondered if I should stick around.

I sipped my own tea, and watched Reimu's cat lift her head, stretch lazily, then go right back to sleep. "Hey," Marisa said, trying to poke me with a weak and trembling arm. "Who are you seeing?" She asked weakly. I looked down at her with a frown, then asked why she was asking. "That's what the whole war was. Tenk- Tenshi was blocking all of my attempts to catch you in the act." Seriously, I asked. I'd heard Reimu say that she thought it was the main conflict, but I'd figured that it was just speculation and not the actual truth. "Yeah...It just sort of happened?" She said, smiling weakly. I stared at her in disbelief. "I mean, the kappa and the yamawaro were fighting about, uh, something? I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention." How had Marisa even gotten caught up in the whole thing? "Well, uhh..."

[Anonymous No.]

"Somehow, I have a feeling that she's about to say the stupidest thing you've ever heard in your life." Reimu muttered. Kuro the cat seemed to agree, since she hopped from Reimu's lap up onto the small table and sat down facing Marisa.

Tenshi snorted, rolling onto her back. "You have no idea." She spoke. "Seriously, none."

"It wasn't that stupid!" Marisa retorted, sounding very defensive. "I just thought I'd try and steal some of the yamawaro's inventions! How was I supposed to know that it would explode if anyone other than a yamawaro touched it? And you should really be attacking them too for letting me run around on fire!" There was a second or two of silence after her words, and I muttered quietly that the scenario did sound pretty stupid. "It's not - That - stupid! It's a little silly, at best!" Marisa managed to get her legs to twitch slightly as she said that, and she sighed in relief. "Oh, that's so much be-" Then, she froze, and an emotion comprised of equal part fear and pain crossed her face. "O-Oh, oh no." She muttered, then grit her teeth. "Ouch. Ou- Gah! Ah - No, please- Ah!" At this point, I started to wonder if Marisa had mentally broken while hanging up there.

"Have you lost your mind, Marisa?" Was Reimu's contribution. "I mean, I know there's not much up there left to lose, but what the hell are you doing?"

"P-Pins and - Ouch! - Needles!" Marisa wailed. I winced a little, feeling a lot more sympathetic. I knew very well how much Pins and needles could hurt, given the number of times I'd had either Reimu, Yamame, or on the rare occasion, Kisami, cutting the blood flow to my arm off and letting me suffer for it later. "I told you that it was too tight!" She suddenly displayed a much larger amount of energy, rolling onto her back and pulling her legs up to try and massage them. "Oh, that is the worst..." She moaned. Her head fell to the side to look at Tenshi, who'd apparently recovered enough that she'd already stack her hands behind her hand and crossed her legs, staring up at the ceiling. "What the hell? How come you aren't in pain?"

"You think celestials have to deal with a miniscule pain tolerance like that?" Tenshi asked, looking a little incredulous. "Please, I'm pretty sure even your dear client's got better pain tolerance than you do. Heavenly peaches really do carry their weight." She stretcher her legs out as far as she could, toes pointed outward. "Ah~" She sighed. " I really think two days was excessive, Reimu."

"I don't." Reimu replied dryly.

"Oh, is that right? Any longer, and you'd have had to actually feed us. Or - Feed Marisa, at any rate. I can go for a while without food or drink." Tenshi's eyes caught mine. "I'm sure you've had that experience." I opened my mouth, then realised that I wasn't sure when the last time I'd eaten anything was. Reimu, Kagerou, and Yamame had eaten something at the café when we'd been there, but I hadn't felt particularly hungry. Frankly, I thought I might still be full from the party in Former Hell, and that had been...A while ago. Either way, I told Tenshi that I understood. "Right. And, Reimu, you know what happens after you actually deign to give someone food and water? You have to go to the toilet. Did you want to deal with that?"

Reimu paled slightly. I supposed that she hadn't considered that. It was quite like her, I thought. "...I guess two days was plenty." She muttered. I wondered how long tying the two up had taken. Having to untie them, take them to the toilet, then tie them up again would have been exhausting. Marisa was still complaining about her legs hurting. "She probably needs something to drink, huh?" Reimu hopped up and got Marisa some water, then dragged the witch over to the table by the back of her shirt. "C'mon, you. Drink." She pulled her up into a seated position and offered her the cup.

Marisa, with tears in the corners of her eyes and a very glum look on her face, accepted the cup with a sniffle. She drank it, slowly at first, but then drained the entire thing. She gasped in relief, then offered the cup back to Reimu. "More, please."

Reimu rolled her eyes, but went and retrieved a bucket of water to offer Marisa instead. Marisa, rather amazingly, proceeded to drink the entire thing over the course of about five minutes. "Weren't you with the yamawaro? You're drinking water like you're a kappa." Marisa just gave her a rude gesture in return. "Hmm. Guess you've recovered enough to be a pain in my-" Kuro the cat meowed loudly.

"So," Tenshi said, getting up to her knees and crawling over. "This furball is yours now?" She reached a hand out, leaving it open just in front of Kuro. The cat cautiously sniffed it, then appeared to decide that Tenshi was okay, because she let the ex-celestial stroke her. "There, who's a good girl?" Tenshi whispered cheerfully. "Not many cats get to be pet by a celestial, you know."

[Anonymous No.]

"Ex." Said Marisa, Reimu and I, all at once. Tenshi glared at all of us, but continued to stroke the cat anyway. "What do I do with her? I don't know how you take care of a cat!" Reimu asked yet again, looking a little panicked. "Do I - Er, need to feed her daily? Every other day? What if she pees on the tatami? What about-"

"Reimu, do try and relax, thank you." Tenshi replied lazily. "Does wonders for your mood." She finished stroking the cat, who laid back down in the centre of the table. "I rather think you'll not need to worry yourself too much. I was listening, you know. Had no choice, actually. It sounded like that shikigami's going to send you supplies."

"Yeah, I'm sure it's- Ouch!" Marisa reached out to pet Kuro too, only to recoil when the cat took a swipe at her. "What the hell!?" She cried, trying a second time to the same result. "Oh, so you all get to pet the cat, but if I try, she swipes me? Is this because I kept trying to get you to stop messing with my hair?" She glared grumpily at Kuro, who licked her paw nonchalantly. "If I say I'm sorry, will you let me?" She reached a hand out tentatively, and Kuro swiped at it again. "Oh, for-"

"That's enough, you." Tenshi moved over and grabbed Marisa's hands, pulling them behind her back. "Unless you want to be tied up again." She let go once Marisa didn't seem ready to make another attempt. The cat watched her for a moment, then turned and hopped down from the table and curled up on Reimu's lap again. "Still, she does seem to have taken to Reimu, doesn't she? Perhaps you've got a secret affinity for taking care of cats, Reimu?"

"News to me." Reimu muttered. "I - I guess I'll just keep an eye on her. Hopefully Ran will be back to pick her up soon enough." I had a feeling that Ran was planning to keep the cat with Reimu for a lot longer than she thought. She seemed to have an eye for cats, if Chen was any indication. "So, er, what's everyone doing now?" She said, looking back up from Kuro, who she was scratching behind the ears.

"I should get home and make sure my house hasn't burnt down, exploded, been overrun by fairies, or a whole host of equally plausible scenarios." Marisa said, trying to get to her feet. She got there, but only for a second or so before they wobbled, and she fell to her knees. "Ooh...Reimu, I'm going to get you back for this. This is not a thread. It's a warning." She tried a second time, and though it seemed to take a bit of strain, she managed to stay up. "Where's my broom and hat?" She asked, looking around.

"Hat's over there," Reimu said, pointing to the corner of the room, "And the broom is...Uh, I think I used it for cleaning, so it's probably by the Hall of Worship."

"Wh- You used my broom for cleaning!?" Marisa cried. "Oh, that's it. The second I'm walking normally again, It's on!" Marisa pointed a threatening finger at Reimu, who rolled her eyes. "I mean it!" She then switched the threatening finger to Tenshi, and then me. It was like her temperament had switched on a pin. "And you two! I'm not gonna rest until I find out who he's seeing! I heard! I was listening! It's that centipede from the Rainbow Dragon Cave, isn't it!?" I opened my mouth. "No, none of your lies! I was bluffing! It's - It's that stupid chupacabra thing from Former Hell, right!?" I closed my mouth, figuring that she wasn't worth reasoning with in this state. "No, you'd never- Wait! It's her, isn't it! There, on your shoulder! That's a blonde hair! And your hat, that's something you'd only get from someone who's good at making that sort of thing!" I just watched her at this point because it almost looked like she was about to figure it out. "It's Alice, isn't it!" Or not, I guessed. I'd never even met Alice, but I'd certainly heard of her from a guy at the tofu shop who said that he'd had to stay the night with her once, and found her unsociable and a little unnerving, so he'd fled at the first chance he got. "I'm right, aren't I!?"

"Yes, Marisa. Of course, it's Alice. Who else would it be? There's definitely no one else at all." Reimu told her, calmly.

[Anonymous No.]

"You're lying!" Marisa cried, looking borderline deranged. "It's all a sick joke! And he gets to be-" At this point, Tenshi shook her head, got up and walked around Marisa, who didn't even notice as she was so deep in her ranting, then crouched down and wrapped her arm around Marisa's neck. She squeezed. About fifteen seconds later, Marisa's body relaxed, and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Sorry." Tenshi said quietly. "I didn't realise it was getting to her so much. During the whole war game thing, it was mostly fun. I think she needed to sleep." I leaned over and brushed some hair from Marisa's face. She did look a little unwell. She was pale, and there were bags under her eyes which I hadn't noticed before. "I don't think she's been sleeping all that well lately." Tenshi said. "Probably pushing herself too hard on top of trying to figure out who you're seeing. I'll...Take her home."

"Are you sure?" Reimu asked, no longer rolling her eyes or looking exasperated. She just looked concerned now. "I can keep her here if you want. I'll look after her. I've probably not been making enough of an effort lately. You can stick around, if you want." I felt bad about this, now. I hadn't realised that it was upsetting her so much. "I think none of us did." Reimu replied. She didn't look like she felt good about it, either. "We...Probably should reveal it to her soon, then. What's happening with the ring?" Reimu asked me.

"Ring? What ring?" She looked between Reimu and I. "Wait...You mean...?" Reimu and I both nodded, and she squealed, clapping her hands together. "You're going to marry her?" She asked excitedly. I replied that I wanted to, and I was mostly sure that she wanted to, as well. "That's - Oh, I'm a bit too excited, here!" She sat back and swallowed. "Okay, I'm calm. So, you're getting a ring for..." The proposal, I said. "From what I hear, that's one of the bits that really caught on in the Outside World. You could ask, uh...What's their name...The Moriya? They came from the Outside World, didn't they?" They had, I think. Still, they were a little...Difficult to talk to.

I turned back to Reimu to explain that I'd handed off that gemstone to Kisami - Stopping for a moment to explain to Tenshi who exactly Kisami was - who had turned out to be something of a jeweller. I wasn't sure exactly how long it would take her, but she had promised to have it done as fast as she could. "How about the ceremony?" Reimu asked me. "Are you planning to have a large one?" I supposed it would be large, considering how many sisters Yamame had. "Yeah, but that's her side. What about your side?" I opened my mouth, then paused. Who was I going to invite? Reimu, obviously. Marisa and Tenshi. Lady Kasen and Raki, along with Yuugi and Suika. From there, it became something worth thinking about. "If you want my opinion, you might as well invite everyone you can. If you don’t, they'll probably just gatecrash anyway, except they'll be mad at you for not inviting them." Reimu offered.

[Anonymous No.]

It was a good point. "Also, er..." She trailed off. "This might be a bad question. Is there any, uh, family figure, you would invite?" That gave me pause. "I know, I don't mean - I just..." I shook my head and said that I got it. There was...One or two, I supposed. I'd been more or less raised by the Temple School and the elder women in the village after my parents had died. I didn't really remember the specifics, but I knew that Keine Kamishirasawa had played a fairly significant role in my upbringing even if she hadn't really realised it, and - on occasion - so had Hieda no Akyuu. The Temple School had belonged to the Hieda family, after all, and the Child of Miare had proclaimed that she wanted to know if she was 'as good with kids now as I was when I was Are.' As with most things people declared to me, I didn't know what she meant, but she'd been fairly decent as a babysitter. Of course, the fact that she was younger than I was at the time had made the whole thing feel very strange indeed.

Either way, the answer was yes, I supposed. There were a couple people I could consider family figures that I could invite. But still, I felt like we were getting ahead of ourselves, since I hadn't even proposed yet. "No harm in planning ahead." Tenshi told me. "But I think you'll need some more time to think on it." I nodded. It was a bit too far off in the future at the moment. "Now, I suppose I'll leave Marisa with you, Reimu. I'll stick around, though." She looked back at me, chewing her lip. "Don't, um, take this the wrong way, but it might be better if you didn't stick around for now..." I tried not to look disappointed. I enjoyed spending time with all three of them. Reimu, Marisa, and Tenshi. "It's just...Marisa might, er, have another go at you. She needs to sleep it off, I think. Plus, whatever she's been taking while she was with the yamawaro."

Reimu groaned. "Oh, she hasn't, has she? She's been taking a bunch of weird stuff again, hasn't she?" She sighed, then lifted Kuro the cat from her lap and placed her on the table. "Alright, I've dealt with this before. C'mon, let's move her." Reimu stopped first by me. "Are you going to leave?" She asked me quietly. I nodded, since I didn't want to cause Marisa any more unnecessary stress. Getting to my feet, Reimu accompanied me out onto the veranda. "She's manages to kick it for a while, but she gets some weird idea in her head about potions and starts taking all sorts of weird stuff eventually." She sighed. "She'll be fine. Eventually." I nodded, feeling a little relieved as I stepped off of the veranda. "Go back to Yamame and think about who you're going to invite when you do marry her, okay? Or maybe you should go and speak to Keine now? When's the last time you spoke to her, huh?" Probably...Far longer than it should have been. hopping back up to the veranda quickly, I hugged Reimu and told her to take care of Marisa. "Obviously. Take care of yourself, alright?" She replied gently. I smiled, nodded, and jumped back down.

"Oh, bye-bye, Miss Reimu's brother!" I heard Aunn shout, and I turned to see her waving at me from where she stood next to a very large snow-komainu. I waved back and thanked her for her hard work but told her not to chase around Reimu's cat. "I won't! Promise!" She shouted back.

"Can you two stop shouting!?" Reimu added, sticking her head out of her room. "Got a sick idiot in here!" I thought that both Aunn and I had flinched at that, so I waved once more and headed across the courtyard.

I wondered what Yamame had been up to while I very gingerly negotiated the steps down from the Shrine.

[Anonymous No.]

Well, if he's going to invite everyone then Ran may be good at getting the message across
actually scratch that Ran deserves a break at this point, honestly maybe Aya can get the news to circulate around fast enough.

[Anonymous No.]

Yuuka
Wakasagihime
Yukari
These three are a priority on account that they already asked to be invited

[Anonymous No.]

Whaaat does he already know Akyuu? I didn't expect that

[Anonymous No.]

Reimu has the right idea
At this point half of Gensokyo is going to be there, the Moriyas will invite the earth palace and vice versa
Then there's Suika, Kasen or Yuugi, Suika might end up bringing Miyoi along, this also means that maybe Mamizou will sneak in, if anon doesn't invite Yukari, she's certainly going to catch ear of the wedding through Suika or Kasen, Yamame is already going to bring some underground dwellers and Yuugi might very well end up with the rest of them tailing her.
Then there's most of youkai mountain who anon is already familiar with.
If Waka is coming then Seki and Kagerou are coming too, even Meiling is a possibility, and if Hong is a possibility so it's the entire scarlet mansion minus maybe Patcho and Flan, but Patcho is acquainted with Anon so she may show up too, Jesus, maybe Orange is there too, possibly all of the lotus land story characters could show up, then there's all the failed dates, Junko, Hecatia and clownpiece are a guarantee, Seiga is pretty likely too, so is Narumi and the Prismrivers, i just remembered Doremy may also show up and you know what? Maybe the kappas and the Yamawaro show up, just all of them, and fuck it, may as well bring the tengu in at that point, going back to the dates Iku and Rumia are possible too, Iku may just get invited by Tenshi who may also invite the Yorigamis, they do know anon personally as well! I ALSO JUST REMEMBERED, the earth palace crew is definitely showing up because of Koishi, then there's Misumaru who might just bring Chimata and Sannyo and even Momoyo, and finally there's the people that might not show up, out of them Chiyari and Yuuma are the more likely to go, the rest of the yakuzas may also go as a result and then there's Eirin and her crew and that's gonna be a can of worms of it's own

[Anonymous No.]

>>45583802
>Yukari
Who?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45583710
Finally reimu caring about marisa. Although their friendship in this story is very canon, I prefer it when they are more friends than just rivals.

[Anonymous No.]

Holy shit i just remembered Komachi, she's definitely showing up maybe Eiki and Kutaka too

[Anonymous No.]

>>45583908
It's not all that unexpected. He's stated several times that he got lessons at the temple school, which (from the ad in AFiEU) seemed to be more of a hieda operation than anything else. That, plus him basically being half raised by keine, means he must have had lessons with akyuu and probably met her on more than one occasion

[Anonymous No.]

Anon has to invite Kogasa, it eas thanks to her that he meet Yamame

[Anonymous No.]

>>45584097
Kogasa's clothes were found neatly folded on top of a rock by a lake on Youkai mountain

[Anonymous No.]

>>45584130
well don't move them, she'll want them back when she's done swimming!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45583918
>Misumaru who might just bring Chimata and Sannyo and even Momoyo,
Misumaru isn't connected to Chimata and company. Momoyo will likely get an invite, for providing the ring material.
I think the closest anon has gotten to with Chimata has been the Moriyas who work with her and Megumu obviously.

[Anonymous No.]

I bet the real reason Marisa is so unhindged is because she totally forgot it's Christmas and she's yet to get a gift for Rinnosuke.
Speaking of actually, I think it'd be fun if Marisa took our anon to visit Rinnosuke one of these days, but we already have so many plot threads going on I have no idea when that could happen.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45583703
>I'd never even met Alice, but I'd certainly heard of her from a guy at the tofu shop who said that he'd had to stay the night with her once, and found her unsociable and a little unnerving, so he'd fled at the first chance he got.
I wonder, is this meant to be a reference to one of the other "shitty first date" stories from the first thread?

>>45583715
>maybe you should go and speak to Keine now? When's the last time you spoke to her, huh?" Probably...Far longer than it should have been.
I was wondering when Keine would show up in this story, given how she was effectively his quasi guardian. I look forward to her appearance, especially considering the fairly big role on his life she had.

>>45583918
Anon finding a girlfriend became a full blown incident. Their wedding will be one too.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45585832
No, its a reference of her article in PMiSS

[Anonymous No.]

Where's that spider expert to tell me what's happening to her body?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45590554
Cool bug fact's
Yamame's family is biologically obliged to practice yoga

[Anonymous No.]

>>45590638
WTF DOES SHE CHANGE SKIN? I... I now imagined yamame... hmm... I would have preferred if you hadn't answered me

[Anonymous No.]

>>45590554
>>45590638
>>45590680
I didn't want to say anything, but I was subtly hoping for Anon to get jumpscared by Yamame's shed skin.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45590723
writeanon is writing more cute things lately so I think when he gets home it will have already happened and he will never know

[Anonymous No.]

>>45590758
Plot twist: Yamame manages to hide her slough before Anon gets to see it, but he still stumbles upon Kisami's when trying to fetch the ring.

[Anonymous No.]

I approached Yamame's house, yelling could be heard from inside "GET! OFF! ME!"
I ran inside to her aid, as soon as i opened the door i saw Yamame fully naked lying on her couch on her back, her skin was pale and looking as soft as a baby's, she was raising her arms and legs, her hands and feet stuck in what looked like a Yamame costume, it was also naked
As she noticed my presence we shared an awkward moment of silence
"uh...s-surpriiiiiise!" she gave me an uncomfortable smile "since the truth is out now do you think you could give me a hand?"

[Anonymous No.]

*NOTICE*

*DUE TO ISSUES OF A PERSONAL NATURE, PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB ME FOR THE NEXT DAY OR SO*

**YES, YOU TOO, YOU SNAKE**

***AND YOU, NAI***

****AND ESPECIALLY YOU, KISAMI****

That was the note that greeted me when I made it through the snow and back to Yamame's house. I peeked through the windows, but I couldn't see anything, so I really had no idea what the notice was about. I hadn't noticed anything, and she hadn't said anything to me about any specific personal issues, either. She had, I supposed, mentioned the itchiness, but she'd thought that she probably had a little longer before it became a problem, whatever that meant. I stood there for a few moments, shivering in the cold and wondering if Nai or any of Yamame's other sisters were around to explain what was going on. I even went over to Yamame's work yard, above which were all the webs that I'd fallen through on my first meeting with the Kurodani family, and called up to ask if Nai was there. "She's in the Hot Spring Town!" Someone yelled back down. "Get lost! Big Sis Yamame's not coming out of there for a day, at least!" They continued, so I decided to make myself scarce before someone got upset and decided to air out some old grievances.

I looked over Yamame's house again and continued to see no signs of life. Sighing, I decided that I'd best respect her wishes, so I turned and began to trudge out of the caves once more. I could always go and sit around in the café, trying to make Oseki crack a smile. That girl was notoriously reticent. I'd been there more than enough times to see customers make a pass at her, and if they didn't get ignored, it was because she was scolding them instead. I'd probably gotten about as familiar as one could get with Oseki, which meant that she looked annoyed when I walked in, even if she was still the perfect waitress. I wondered what she got up to in her spare time. I'd never really seen her around. Maybe she was something of a recluse, and spent all of her time outside of the café in her home.

I reached the mouth of the cave and sighed a second time. It had started snowing again. At this point, the sky was just starting to darken, too. I wondered if I would have to get all the way back to the Shrine so I could sleep tonight, since it seemed like I might not be able to return to Yamame. If it was earlier, I might have tried to reach Lady Kasen's dojo, but I didn't know if the route had changed, and either way, it was dark, cold and snowing, so I doubted that I'd be able to follow the route even if it hadn't changed. Plus, once I got there, I might have been in store for Raki having another go at me, so I decided that I'd steer clear of that, at least for now. I still believed in her, but I thought she might benefit from a bit more of a break. I also wondered if she and Lady Kasen were thinking about merging together once more.

What would the original Ibaraki-douji be like? Given all of the hints and clues I'd received from the oni I'd spoken to, I had a feeling that she was extremely emotion and swung between moods quickly. She was also apparently the type to break down in tears during a wedding, which made me really wonder what it would be like if she was the one who came to mine and Yamame's wedding, assuming it happened. At least, I was fairly certain that it would happen. Unless Yamame had decided that she was done with everyone, and that's what her notice had been about. I knew it was irrational and there was no way she'd do something like that, but either way, my mood had darkened as I waded through the snow in the direction of the village.

I reached the village as the sky darkened to a deep blue. Not that I could entirely see it, because the clouds were covering the sky, and I could barely see in front of me thanks to the snow coming down in droves. I found my way, though I had to jump back once or twice to avoid a snowball to the face from some village kids who were having a snowball fight with each other across one of the main streets. I supposed that most people were probably inside, either at home or in the pubs. In fact, as I walked past Geidontei, I saw that it was packed to the brims, with people standing, sitting, or leaning against the wall outside. I could hear a lot of noisy conversation going on inside, and a sudden burst of laughter almost made me jump. For a split second, I thought about going in. About talking to the villagers who I hadn't seen for a long while. A second later, I thought better of it. I wouldn't particularly fit in there anymore. I was the guy who'd disappeared for months, leaving everyone thinking I was dead. Most of the people I spoke to now were youkai. I probably didn't even really count as a villager anymore.

I wished Yamame was here.

[Anonymous No.]

But she wasn't, so despite feeling a little down, I trudged on past Geidontei. Only, now I didn't really want to go and sit in the café on my own, either. I wondered if Marisa would be okay. I wondered if Yamame was currently okay, because I had no idea why she had decided to close off her house for a day. Especially without telling me, which meant that either something sudden had come up, or I'd drastically misinterpreted something. She'd mentioned me by the name that she'd called me a few times, though, so I hoped that it was just the latter. It was too bad I hadn't found a chance to talk to Chen on her own while I was at the Shrine. She could probably have told me exactly what was going on.

I was more or less wandering aimlessly, but my subconscious seemed to have a different plan, because when I finally started to take stock of my surroundings, I was shivering and standing somewhere near the Temple School. I looked down at my hands and noted with some concern that they'd gone almost as white as the snow falling on them, and I couldn't feel them very much. I resolved to turn around and head back to the Shrine. I could always sleep in a different room so that Marisa didn't get upset. So, I turned, my destination clear.

And then, from the door that led to the Temple School, I heard a voice. "Yes, of course, Akyuu. You take care, okay? No over-exertion?" I froze for a second, then swallowed. I knew exactly who's voice that was, and I had a feeling that something bad was about to happen to me. "And no more sneaking out to the pub! With your health…" I saw her step out of the door. Blue skirt, a layer of frills underneath. Simple, black shoes with large red bows. A shirt with a deep cut that showed off her collarbone but just barely avoided showing any cleavage, with strange frill-like things adorning it. Her hair, a silvery sort of colour with streaks of blue, though I was certain it wasn't from greying. Of course, the strangest thing about her - Always had been, in fact - was her hat. Not one person in the village understood what her hat was meat to be. I wasn't even sure if Hieda no Akyuu understood it with all of her knowledge. It looked like a pagoda, but beyond that, no one was sure. And of course, not once was I able to get an answer from her. Miss Keine Kamishirasawa closed the door of the Temple School. She was wearing a thick scarf that wrapped over her neck and shoulders, and a pair of mittens not too unlike the ones that Reimu wore. Despite that, she still looked cold.

She turned. She spotted me. She stopped. For a moment, the only sound was the wind. "Who’s…? Are you..." She said, coming slightly closer. I stood my ground, then awkwardly waved. Hello, I said. "You-" She began, then cut off. She stepped close enough to be within arm's length. "Is that really you?" She asked me quietly. I nodded, smiling weakly. It had been a while, after all. I felt bad about it, too. Miss Kamishirasawa was about as close to a family figure as I'd had for years growing up. Of course, for most of that time, I'd thought of her as more of a guardian than a parent. And then, I was suddenly staring at the sky. I wasn't sure how that had happened. Once second, I'd been looking at her, and a moment later, I wasn't. In fact, I was sprawled out across the snow. And my forehead hurt, quite a bit. I waited for my brain to stop rattling around in my skull, then looked down to see what had happened. There, breathing rather heavily and glaring at me, was Miss Kamishirasawa. Ah, I thought. She'd done the most infamous trick she had in her arsenal. She'd slammed her head against mine hard enough to knock me straight to the floor. It was a favourite of hers, and one she employed to great effect.

"Get up!" She told me sharply, crouching down and hauling me to my feet while the world spun around me. "Look at you! You're freezing cold, even with that coat on! And you’re looking a bit peaky!" She began dragging me along with her. I was probably halfway concussed like Tenshi had been because I didn't seem entirely capable of mounting a defence. Still, I supposed that I was at least thankful that she was dragging me by the arm and not the ear, as she'd done when I was a child. "No complaints from you!" She told me sharply. I was stumbling behind her and trying to ignore the looks I was getting from some of the villagers on the street as I was dragged past them like a scolded child. Miss Kamishirasawa didn't say a word for the whole trip, but I could tell - If it wasn't clear already - That she was upset. Eventually, we turned onto the street that I knew she lived on. I'd had to stay with her on some occasions. It was funny, actually. She had eventually become something of a guardian to me. The one that people went to if I was in trouble. She dragged me toward her house. I thought I saw someone in the street, but I didn’t get a chance to see properly. Most likely, it was just some villager who was on their own way home.

[Anonymous No.]

"In!" She told me, unlocking her door and pushing it open, followed by pushing me through. I stumbled into her entrance hall and kicked my boots off. Miss Kamishirasawa stepped in after me and slammed the door shut. She stomped past me, in the direction of her kitchen. "Sit down and don't talk!" She shouted back at me. I rubbed my sore head and stumbled my way into her living room, where I sat down cross-legged by the table. Miss Kamishirasawa's home was richly decorated. There were plants, there were little keepsakes, and there were a large number of cards that had been gifts from the children she taught. It was tradition for the kids who were about to graduate to buy some sort of gift for their teachers. I let my eyes travel over the collection, and eventually...Yes, there it was. A handmade card, her name spelt correctly, but with charitably poor handwriting. I'd improved since then.

I was about to go over and look at it when she stomped into the room with a tray laden with two cups of tea, a plate of rice crackers, and a bag filled with ice. She set it down on the table, then stared at me with her arms folded. After a moment, I opened my mouth to ask if I could have something, and that was when she started slapping me. "You - Stupid - Boy!" She cried over my yelps and pleas for her to stop. Each hit was on my arm, and while she wasn't overwhelmingly strong, she did seem to have a knack for making it sting. "Months! It's been months and months! How could you just disappear like that!? They were saying that you'd gone off and died somewhere! Then, they started saying that you were a ghost haunting the village! And - You - Didn't - Even - See - Me!" She shouted, towering over me and slapping me some more. I ended up falling onto my back and trying to cover myself with my arms so she'd stop. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was definitely unpleasant. She finally stopped, breathing heavily and balling her fists up. For a moment, I was scared she was moving onto punching. "Just once! Just one visit so I knew you were still alive! Do you know how much I worried? Was that too much to ask?" Thankfully, she just groaned and sat down, rubbing her head. I slowly returned to my seated position, keeping an eye on her in case of sudden further attacks or potential headbutts. "And stop calling me 'Miss Kamishirasawa!' You're not a student anymore - And even when you were, I told you that you didn't need to call me that outside of lessons."

I lowered my arms slowly and asked her if she was feeling better. "No." She replied immediately. "Yes." She continued. "Shut up." She looked over at me and I was surprised by how upset she looked. "Can't you imagine? I thought you were dead and rotting in some hole in the ground - O-Or, some youkai had dragged you off into the mountains to do who knows what to you!" I didn't say it, but technically, that last one had happened and it had been fairly uncomfortable. "I know!” Keine whined. “You’re young and independent. I understand, but – Just once?” I nodded sombrely, apologizing again. I really hadn’t meant to worry her so much.

Once it was clear that Keine wasn't planning to hit me anymore, I tentatively reached out for the ice pack she'd provided and pressed it against my head, sighing in relief. I'd half-forgotten how bad her headbutts could be. I started by apologizing. I'd really not meant to let things slide for so long, but everything had gotten out of control and I'd not had a chance to even think about it. Plus, while the whole Eientei Investigation was ongoing, I'd been mostly forbidden from going to the village, so... "The...Eientei Investigation?" I took a sip of my tea and said that a lot had happened. "No, I think I heard something about that...Eirin Yagokoro was acting strangely?" I frowned at her and asked her how she'd known about that. "Well, um, I know someone who knew about it." I thought for a moment, and then it came to me. Fujiwara no Mokou had mentioned Keine's name at one point. And...Thinking about it, I was sure that she'd come to the village before. I couldn't remember ever directly meeting her, though. Maybe I'd lost that memory too. Or maybe she simply didn’t come to the village as often as I thought.

"Are you safe?" She immediately asked me. I nodded. Safe enough, anyway. I just wasn't really living in the village anymore. "Your house - It-" My parent's house, I replied quietly. Keine froze, then looked over at me silently for a minute. "...You - You remember them? Your parents?" I nodded. It hadn't been pleasant. "You - We think you probably fell on your head at some point, and that's when you started to really forget what had happened to them." We? "Um, Akyuu and I. She babysat for you on enough occasions." That was true, I remembered. She used to use it as a break from working on the Gensokyo Chronicle. I nodded again, taking one of the rice crackers that she'd laid out.

[Anonymous No.]

"I'm so sorry." She said quietly. "It must have felt like losing them again." I simply nodded, but I relaxed a little when Keine shuffled over and pulled me into a hug. It had been incredibly painful, but I'd pulled through with help.

"Help from who?" Keine asked me. I told her that it was a long story. "I've got time." She said. "You could stay here tonight. Um, if you want. As an apology for hitting you." I thought about the idea of trying to travel all the way back to the Shrine now, and decided that it was never going to happen. Instead, I thanked Keine gratefully. "W-Well, it's not like you didn't stay here plenty of times when you were growing up." She laughed, scratched her head. "So...What's the story?" I told her that I'd get to it, but I wanted to tell her something else first. "What?" She looked a little concerned. "Are you okay? You're looking very...Um, actually, you look quite strong, but…You’re very pale." I told her that I'd explain that part too, but it wasn't the news I was trying to tell her. Also, I probably had a cold or something. I took a deep breath and then said that I was thinking of marrying someone. Keine's face changed to one of shock, but not necessarily in a bad way. There was a little bit of excitement there. "You - Um, marry? Who?" And here was the part I was worried about. For after everything was said and done, I was about to tell a villager that I was planning to marry a youkai. So, I mumbled it, like a child revealing who they had a crush on. "S-Sorry, who?" I tried again, a little louder. "Yamame Kurod-" She stopped, mouthing the name to herself silently. I unconsciously shuffled slightly further away. "The - The youkai? The spider?" Slowly, I nodded. "A-Are you sure?" I was very certain, I replied.

She did hit me, but only once, and not too hard. "And you're really not joking?" I shook my head. "Or...possibly possessed...?" No, I replied. I was serious. "How - How'd you even meet someone like that?" I had fallen down a really big hole. She whacked me on the arm again. "Don't joke about that! That's what the rumours were saying about you dying!" I raised my hands and said that I really had fallen down a hole like that. "But - She - She's the one that spreads disease? How - Why-" She was starting to do that funny gesturing thing that so many people did when they were confused. I'd seen several people do it in just the last week. "A-And you want to marry her...?" She didn't look upset or anything. Rather, she looked worried about me. It was a nice feeling, I supposed. Raising my hands again, I said that I should probably tell her the whole story, or she'd still have questions. "Oh, er, okay..." She furrowed her brow. "But - What about-" I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, yes, er, sorry." I waited for her to take a drink and then added on that Reimu and I now considered ourselves brother and sister.

That, predictably, made her choke, and then I had to quickly rush around the table to pat her on the back before she ended up repeated exactly what Reimu had done at the café. "You - And Reimu - S-Sister...?" I was going to explain, I stressed. "What have you been up to!?" She cried. "You can't just spring all of this on me!" She buried her head in her hands. "I've spent the last several months thinking you were dead, and then you show up and tell me you want to marry a youkai and you're now siblings with the Hakurei Shrine Maiden?" I'd also eaten a peach from Heaven, I supplied. Keine just stared at me wordlessly. It had been a very busy few months, I told her. "And...You're definitely not...Mad? This all actually happened...Right? It's not just in your head?" I frowned. No, I replied. I didn't think I was mad, at least. I'd been living with a hermit for a while, though, which might have driven me mad with all of the running up and down mountains.

She stared for a few seconds longer, than shook her head and sighed. "I-If you say so...?" I realised that I was probably making things worse by saying all these random parts of the story out of sequence, so I decided that I should get into the story properly before I said something worse. I'd thought about trying to gloss over it, but I felt like it would be the wrong thing to do. Keine deserved the truth. But even so, I asked her first if she thought I was making a mistake. “If you really do love her, then I wouldn’t try to change your mind, anyway. Just…Make sure it’s not a mistake.” I decided that she’d have a better idea once I’d explained everything.

So, I began, it all started when I overheard a conversation between Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame about a potential Romantic Fulfilment Service...

[Anonymous No.]

>>45592485
>YES, YOU TOO, YOU SNAKE
Wait, who is the snake?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45592585
It's what she's called anon a couple times, usually when he won't stop messing with her hair

[Anonymous No.]

>>45592501
Ah yes, the chapter where Anon lore dumps Keine for a full night with all the nonsense that went on during this series

[Anonymous No.]

I hope it's not a full moon

[Anonymous No.]

Poor Keine...

[Anonymous No.]

>>45592886
If Keine also doesn't know why Eirin went crazy then she's probably going to pay Mokou an unpleasant visit as well

[Anonymous No.]

This has some interesting implications on how far the animal biology goes, does Chen get the zoomies? Does Aya have hollow bones? Is Suwako's skin always slimy?

[Anonymous No.]

Anon meeting with Keine got me a little teary eyed, as well as anon acting like an abandoned puppy when he can't see his spider for a day.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45594303
Same. I thought Narumi had it rough with the unintentional ghosting, but imagine how awful Keine must have felt.
At least it's clear the two still care deeply about each other. Those with the closest bonds can go without speaking for such a long time, yet pick things up as if nothing ever happened. But hopefully he'll take better care to stay in touch going forward.
...I should call my parents.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45593397
Or opens up even more questions like why do we never see Chen in pure cat form when Orin regularly shifts between her cat form and anthro form? Crow tengu are more curious because in folklore the are anthro crows rather than either humans or animals and cannot change form and become either. But how much further it goes is interesting because the only crow biology they really have in Touhou canon is crow wings and eyes, not talons, avian legs or mostly feathered bodies like their counterparts in Japanese folklore. Although Suwako is just a kami in human form rathe than a frog youkai, she just likes frogs a lot and imitates them somewhat.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45602836
chen vomiting hairballs!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45602836
She would still need hollow bones to fly or at least weight very little, also on the fairies of light comic it's canon that they lay eggs so that opens a whole lot of implications about tengu

[Anonymous No.]

>>45603478
The depictions of crow tengu as tall and slender are likely accurate and reflect avians, but then they can also manipulate the wind so wouldn't need to be that light to make themselves fly easier.

[Anonymous No.]

I had a feeling that I knew how the story was going to go as soon as I started. Keine was far from pleased when I described my various awful dates, and all my times waking up in Eientei from them. It put her back in the bad mood that I'd thought I'd just barely escaped. "Off." She said, pointing at my coat. Sighing, I did as she said and took it off. "Where did you get clothes like these? Nowhere in the village..." She took it from me and laid it to the side. "That too." She continued, motioning at my sweater. I looked over at her and frowned. "Don't look at me like that. Off, off! I want to see them." She motioned again, and I asked her if she was certain. It wasn't...Pleasant. "Yes. Show me." She told me, and I had a feeling that it had stopped being a request.

I breathed in, then pulled my sweater off, exposing my upper body. Instantly, I heard a sharp intake of breath from Keine. I squeezed my eyes shut, not quite wanting to see her face. "All of..." She breathed. I heard her move closer. "Your - Your arm..." She still hadn't seen my back, I realised with dismay. "And your shoulder. That's a bite mark..." I nodded. That one, compared to the whole network of scar tissue on my right arm, was just Raki proving a point in the strangest way possible. "A-And all of that, on the right, that's..." That had been Rumia. "W-Why would you possibly go on a date with Rumia!?" She cried. That, I explained, would require more of an explanation but the short answer was that Marisa had set it up while blind drunk. "...I'll kill her." Keine muttered. I said that she'd already suffered enough for that little mishap. Honestly, I thought that nearly getting enthralled or whatever it had been that Seiga Kaku had been planning to do to me was probably worse. "E-Enthralled!? She's the one with that Jiangshi, isn't she!?" I nodded. "She - She was going to..." Keine now looked very upset, and I couldn't imagine that she was going to be any happier soon. "So...That's it?" I opened my mouth, then closed it again. "It's not, is it?" I scratched my head and wondered if there was any way to make the next one sound better.

Then, Keine got up, seemingly to go to the kitchens, but as a result, she caught a glimpse. "Wait..." I squeezed my eyes shut again. "Y-Your back..." She whispered, slowly stepping round. I heard her breathe in sharply, and then drop back down to her knees. A moment later, I flinched when I felt her cold fingers gently trace the scars left from being scorched by Miss Junko's divine flames. "These are...burn scars..." She whispered. I nodded. It had been the end result of one of the dates. "B-But, this much...?" In fairness, I said, she'd been really upset when I'd mentioned the moon. Then, I stiffened slightly when I felt Keine's arms wrap around me. "Oh, I'm so sorry..." She whispered. I couldn't exactly reach her, so I awkwardly patted one of her hands and told her that I was okay. She sniffled, and then I felt a drop of liquid hit my back, which made me jump. "I-It's just that - I'm still mad at you - But you've got all these scars and - And..." I was a little worried now. I'd been beaten up by a bunch of angry girls and I'd dealt with worries, but here was Keine, crying and hugging me, and I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to deal with it. I decided that the best thing I could do was turn around and hug Keine until she'd stopped crying, however long that would be.

And eventually, she did calm down. She let me go, moving back to sit by me on the table. "Are there any more?" She asked me. She sounded like she was dreading the answer. I thought for a moment, which stretched into a moment more as I realised that I was - Slightly worryingly - Not actually sure. There'd been a fairly large number of situations that could have caused more. Maybe...When Miss Narumi had fallen on me? Or, perhaps, when Marisa had hit me with a fully powered Master Spark. Keine laughed slightly, but it was a worried, nervous laugh. "It wasn't supposed to need so much thought." She exclaimed. I smiled weakly, then, as I put my sweater back on, decided that I'd best continue with the story. Especially since I had a feeling that she would be equally, if not more, upset by Satori Komeiji's treatment of me. The next part was my encounters with Miss Narumi and Miss Iku, which then led to my first meeting with Tenshi. This was also the part that explained Miss Yuuka, Lady Hecatia, and why I was suddenly so durable.

"H...How have you been meeting so many youkai? You weren't like this when you were younger..." That, I still didn't quite have an answer to. "And - You ate that peach, which that ex-celestial girl, Tenshi, gave you?" I had, though it had taken me a few days longer to actually realise what effect it had. "I know Narumi...She comes to Suzunaan sometimes. She's nice." I agreed. She was very pleasant. Keine was less complimentary about Miss Iku.

[Anonymous No.]

I supposed that she had been rather rude, but she'd been the reason I met Tenshi, so I couldn't feel all that crooked about her. "And - Wait...Hecatia? The - The goddess of Hell?" Keine was staring at me like I'd just grown another head. "How...?"I tried explaining in more detail, but it didn't seem to clear things up at all. "She made you clothes?" Popular clothes, I added. "But...I don't - How...?" At this point, I suspected that I was not getting any better response, so I decided to move on to Kogasa knocking me down that hole, and my first meeting with Yamame.

That, happily, led to a much less distressed bit of laughter from Keine about Kogasa. "I've seen her around, you know!" She told me. "You really should go and tell her the truth. It's a little bit sad watching her jump at her own shadow." It was definitely on my to-do list. Especially since I'd decided that I was definitely inviting her to the wedding. She was practically the guest of honour. She was responsible for Yamame and I meeting each other, and I hoped that I'd get to thank her properly. And privately, I told Keine, I wondered if I could get her back by surprising her with the invite. "That's a little mean." She admonished me. "But, I suppose, you definitely will surprise her. Just be careful not to upset her too. "I'd do my best, I replied.

Once I got to Satori's first appearance in the story, Keine almost got up. "I know you went to her yourself, and I know you needed to know, but she had no right to-" Keine, I called, trying to get her to calm down. It hadn't been too bad. Yamame had been very caring as far as keeping me safe went. "Yes, I suppose so..." Keine still didn't look entirely convinced about Yamame. I hoped that the rest of the story would help to alleviate that somewhat. She was a lovely person, I stressed. "I'm just...Trying to get my head around it." Keine replied, frowning. Sighing, I decided that I wasn't going to get a better answer and that I should probably just continue.

It was getting late into the night. The snow was coming down heavily outside, and I doubted that anyone was out. I wondered if Yamame was okay. I decided that I would probably give her at least a full day, so I wasn't planning to head back over there until later tomorrow. I opened my mouth to continue but stopped. "What's..." Keine began, but she trailed off too. We'd both felt something, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was yet. Some sort of...noise. So faint it was barely there, but definitely something. Keine looked at me with some slight worry. "Did you...?" I nodded. I'd heard it. It was like something being knocked over. I pressed a finger to my lips and very quietly got to my feet. Keine followed me up, and it was clear right away that she didn't want me going and checking. I hoped that she wasn't planning to get extremely overprotective now that I was telling her about everything that had happened to me. I pulled my coat back on and tiptoed out into the hallway, where I slipped my boots back on. I knew it wasn't exactly polite, but I didn't want to be caught unaware. Keine didn't look upset with me, either. We both stared up at the darkness of the upper floor of her home. The sound had come from up there. It could have just been something precariously balanced finally tipping over, but I just knew that it wasn't. It never was.

We tiptoed up the stairs. Keine insisted on going first, and while it was comforting to know that she was willing to do that, I was the more durable of the two of us, so once we were on the landing, I edged in front of her, looking for the source of the noise. Obviously, it was her bedroom. Where else would it be? We tiptoed over to the door, than pressed our ears against it. First, there was silence, but then I heard something again. Some kind of shuffling noise. A second longer, and I thought that I heard someone muttering under their breath. An intruder? At this time of night? In this particular house? Keine tapped me on the shoulder, and I looked over to see that she was motioning toward the door. Nodding, I took a breath, then threw it open as loudly and quickly as I could. We both thundered inside, shouting at whoever was inside. Then, we both stopped and stared.

They were wearing red. An overwhelming amount of it. The only part that wasn't red was the trim of the outfit, white and fluffy, and their hair, which was a deep, dark blue. They were facing away from us, but clearly had stopped moving when we'd entered. Keine drew up a ball of light in her hand, much like Yamame and Reimu had done for me in the past, and set it to hover over the room. "Who are you!?" Keine shouted. "What are you doing in here!?" The figure slowly stood. Their hat, I realised, was like Doremy Sweet's. Next to them, by their massive boots which their trousers were tucked into, was a large sack. "Is that - Are you stealing my things!?" I could see something glinting inside it, and the several open wardrobes and cupboards didn't help.

[Anonymous No.]

"Ho-ho-ho!" The person said, slowly turning around. I wondered if I'd fallen asleep at some point. This was about ridiculous enough to be one of my dreams. "'Tis I, Saint Nicholas! You may call me Santa Claus if you wish!" Either I was dreaming, or I'd been hit on the head very hard. It was a woman. That much was clear from the body shape, because the outfit, all red with fluffy white trip, was just slightly too short and too tight, and I could not only see the shape of her chest, but a bit of her navel where the top didn't meet the bottom. She was a large black best with a bright, golden buckle. Her hat was at a weird angle, and there was something poking out from underneath it to the side, but all of this was just secondary to the massive beard and moustache she was wearing. They were both snowy white, and looked like they were probably incredibly itchy. "I am here for the Christmas ritual! It's for children! So, I will be taking these, and I will sell them back to you at a later-" Then, she was forced to dodge to the side slightly as a blue-white laser burnt through the space she'd just been in. Behind her, I suddenly realised that there was a large, circular hole in the wall of Keine's house.

Something about this seemed very...familiar, I thought. "Did you destroy my wall!?" Keine roared. She was looking very upset now. "Who are you!? Not this Saint Nicholas, I presume!?" Santa Claus stopped and watched her for a moment. Then, her eyes shifted to me. Her eyes...Were familiar too. Who? Who was this?

"Fear not, my dear!" Santa Claus replied. She sounded like she was putting on a booming, almost masculine sounding voice, but not very well. "I have left your toys here." She indicated a strangely wrapped present sitting on the floor. "These are my payment!" Here, I started to feel a murderous sort of aura coming from Keine, and I edged slightly further away. "Now, now, dear, there's no need to- Gah!" This time, Keine shot forward, and before Santa Claus could do anything, Keine had grabbed her by the fluffy white collar of her outfit and slammed her head against hers. Santa Claus went straight to the floor, bounced, then rolled before landing on her feet. "Oh, I'm not doing this one." She growled, ripping the fake beard and moustache from her face. Then, my jaw dropped.

I did recognize her. I knew exactly who this was. Seiga Kaku. Miss Seiga. I'd had an ill-fated date that had ended with me nearly turned into a jiangshi. I said her name incredulously, and both Keine and Seiga turned to look at me incredulously. Then, Keine turned back to her, a very dangerous look in her eyes. "You..." She murmured. "You're the one who tried to turn him into your puppet. Enthral him!?"

Seiga scratched her head, only to touch the cap on her head. She tutted in annoyance, then chucked the item to the side, revealed her strange hair style and the long hairpin that stuck through it. "Stupid thing." She muttered about the hat. "Ah, I remember you now! Oh, and it was such a lovely evening we had, too...Did Marisa Kirisame ever tell you that I wanted to see you again?" I took a step back involuntarily. "You've been telling tales." She commented. Her eyes glinted. "Yes, dear, that would be me. It's so nice to have your handiwork be appreciated, don't you think?" Keine's gaze somehow got more murderous. She looked at her sack, then down at her outfit. "Hmm...I smell another hermit's handiwork on you. You've been spending time with that goody-two-shoes, haven't you?" I grit my teeth and didn't answer. "Well, not that it's any business of mine. We hermits love our privacy, after all. We can do...Oh, just about anything without any prying eyes."

"Don't ignore me!" Keine shouted. Her body was starting to tremble, and I had a feeling it wasn't from fear.

"Hush, dear. Stick to school children. You're clearly not ready to talk with the grown-ups." My eyes narrowed too. I wouldn't have anyone talk about Keine like that. "Speaking of, do you have any disposables? Spare kids that aren't being used? I love working with kids, you know. It's so easy to-" With that, they were off. Keine roared and shot forward, her arm reaching out for Seiga, who smirked and tipped backward, grabbing Keine's wrist as she did so and pulling them both out of the hole in Keine's wall. I rushed over to see what was happening and was relieved to see that Keine was okay, though I was a little worried about the fight that was now happening. I turned to run down and try and get someone who could help, but as soon as I was down the stairs and through the front door, I was knocked to the side. I got my wits about me and realised that there was some strange pressure on my arm. I looked over and shouted in shock.

[Anonymous No.]

There was a girl hanging off of my arm. She had deep purple hair and a cap with a star on it, over an outfit that looked like it was meant to go along with Seiga's Santa Claus gimmick. The worst thing was her eyes, listless, dead, and slightly clouded. They were partially obscured by the large ofuda that was stuck to her forehead, on which was written 'keep watch and attack any intruders.' I tried to back up, but before I could, the girl dived forward, her mouth opening wide and revealing sharp teeth. I knew her, too. Seiga had called her a pet, but I'd assumed she was just using a nickname. Now, I wasn't so sure. Yoshika, I think Seiga had called her.

She clamped her teeth around my forearm, and I tried not to scream at the fact that I was getting eaten by another youkai, just like Rumia had done, and...And...? I cracked my eyes open, having squeezed them shut, and realised that I wasn't feeling the searing pain of being eaten. I felt the pressure, but it was pulsating. I looked down, then blinked again in confusion. Yoshika was definitely biting my arm, but she wasn't penetrating the skin. I lifted my arm, dragging her up with me. Her arms - Indeed, her whole body, hung limply as she refused to let go, but couldn't seem to actually bite me properly. In the momentarily overwhelming terror, I'd forgotten that my skin was more or less impenetrable. She gnawed on my arm for a little longer. With the fear fading, I tried pushing her off, but she just kept trying to bite down. I could hear the sounds of the fight that Keine was having, though I saw that they'd taken to the sky. Looking back down, I tried pushing against her shoulder, though that just made her grip down harder. She still wasn't managing to break the skin. I wondered if anyone else had ever been in my position. It was about the strangest thing that had happened to me in a whole host of strange things. Finally, I pressed my hand against her forehead, right against the ofuda dangling there, and pushed, hard. This had the result I was looking for, and her jaw went limp for a split second before she tipped backward, her arms sticking straight upward and her legs stuck straight out, but flailing around. She hit the ground on her back, and I took the chance to inspect my arm. Thankfully, though I could see the points where the teeth had been trying to break through, I seemed to be unharmed.

"Huh~?" I heard a listless, rusty voice say. I looked down at Yoshika, who floated upright, landing on her stiff legs. "Seiga~" She called, though her master was nowhere nearby. "This one's broken..." One of her stiff arms pointed at me. I blinked in confusion and asked her what she was talking about. "I was told to attack intruders~" She told me in the same tone of voice. "But you came from inside..." I wasn't an intruder, then. "Oh..." She said, looking between me and the area of the street that Keine and Seiga were above. This manoeuvre meant that she had to fully turn each way, because her neck didn't seem to turn very well. "Whorgh..." She groaned. I didn't know what that meant. "I'm done for..." She continued, tipping backward and landing on her back again. I leaned down and pulled the ofuda on her forehead off so I could look at it more closely. It said the same thing that I thought it had. "Old~" Yoshika suddenly said. I looked down at her and saw her eyes shift from side to side. They still looked deadened, though. "Old~" She said again. I thought about crouching down and looking closer, but decided better of it. "Old moss' beard..." She finally got out, staring upward blankly.

Lady Kasen's repeated phrase. I'd heard Raki saying it too, while they were drunk. Looking back down at Yoshika, I wondered who she had been, before she'd died and been brought back as Seiga's jiangshi. The next time I saw Lady Kasen, I decided to ask her. For now, though, I decided that I probably shouldn't put the ofuda back, because it would just leave Yoshika to attack others. I shoved it into my pocket, then dragged the jiangshi to the side of the street so that she wasn't in the way. After that, I ran out to see if Keine was okay.

The lights in the sky were hundreds of tiny bullets, whizzing this way and that way. But suddenly, I saw another set of bullets fire from one side. This set joined the lasers that I could only assume were Keine, and after a moment, I was shocked when Seiga suddenly dropped to the ground in front of me. "Lovely to see you again!" She shouted as she shot past me. I spun just in time to see her grab Yoshika and pull her hairpin out from her hair. She slammed it into the ground and suddenly, there was a circular hole there. She dropped into it, dragging Yoshika with her. "Come see me again!" She called as she disappeared. A moment later, the hole disappeared too. No, I resolved. I would do my best not to see her again.

[Anonymous No.]

"Are you alright!?" I heard Keine shout, and she dropped to the ground next to me. Hurriedly, she checked me over, then sighed in relief. "I saw - Did Yoshika...Bite you?" She'd tried, I replied. "But - She can eat anything. I'm not exaggerating. Anything." Frowning, I dug around in my pocket and pulled that ofuda out. "Is that...Her instructions?" I handed it over, and Keine looked at it with a frown. "Ah...I think I see. This doesn't say that she should try and eat you, but her instincts did. So...She just, er, half-tried, then gave up." That was...strange, I replied. "Yes, well...These sorts of things usually are." I sighed, then asked her who I had seen in the air come to help Keine in the fight. "Ah, well-"

"Out of nowhere, a rising star approaches!" I heard a voice say. "Bringing hope to the downtrodden, a master of Noh dance! A romantic with love in her heart!" I had a feeling that this was yet another strange person. I turned in time to see someone fall to the ground in an elaborate pose. She pink hair, pale in colour but very voluminous, and a large fox mask on the side of her head. As she stood, it suddenly shivered and shifted to a mask of what I recognized to be the god of happiness. The girl who stood before me had pink eyes, but her pupils were white instead of black. She wore a shirt with wide, sweeping sleeves that had a pattern similar to the kind that Miss Yuuka wore, but in blue, and a large skirt that ballooned outward, Each segment of the skirt had holes cut out in either a laughing face or a crying face, and I could see through it to her legs, though I resolved not to stare. Her shoes looked like the floppy kind that Doremy Sweet wore, with big bows on the front. Her hand held a massive naginata, which was a ghostly blue in colour. Around her floated three more masks, wreathed in fire of the same shade as her weapon. "Before you stands Hata no Kokoro!" She said, striking another pose.

"Er, yes..." Keine said, rubbing her forehead. "Miss Kokoro here kindly lent a hand." I looked at her in confusion. Despite the way she spoke, her face was expressionless. Her movements, too, suggested that she should be feeling something, but she didn't seem to show it. Still, Oseki was pretty straight-faced as well, so I didn't think much of it. I bowed to her and thanked her for her help.

"I could not bear to leave Miss Kamishirasawa in distress!" She told me, pointing a finger at me. Her naginata disappeared as if it was never there, and her other hand went to her mask, which shivered and shifted back to the fox mask she'd been wearing when she landed. "I wanted to help those in need!" I nodded and thanked her again. "You - You're full of hope..." She said, and the mask suddenly shifted to a monkey, followed by a young woman. "Good! Stay that way." I slowly nodded again. This girl was...strange. "I recognized her - That was the wicked hermit!" The mask shifted, now a Hannya mask. "She's a despicable person who enslaves others! It's awful!" I agreed with her, and planned to stay far away from her. "Good." Miss Kokoro nodded; her face was still as expressionless as ever.

"Well, um, thank you, Miss Kokoro." Keine said. "Please come by the Temple School in the future, and I'll give you a reward, but, er...For now, I'd like to see about repairing my wall..." She looked up at her house, where the hole in the wall had been. "Uh..." It was gone, like it had never been there at all. "O-Or not...I think I need to sleep." I echoed the sentiment.

"Ah, this is a mystery fit for a detective, is it not?" Miss Kokoro's mask changed to Hyottoko. "I shall investigate, post-haste!"

"Um, no, I think it was Seiga, Miss Kokoro." Keine said. "And she's gone, so...I suppose it's fine now?"

"Nevertheless, I will patrol the village for other signs of villainy. Goodnight to both of you!" And with that, Miss Kokoro disappeared into the sky.

Keine and I looked at each other. "Do you mind if we finish the story tomorrow? I think I need to sleep before something stranger happens." She asked me. Personally, I wasn't sure I had the mental strength to recount it at the moment, I replied. "Bed?" She asked me. Bed, I replied.

[Anonymous No.]

It's the 25th in my timezone, so Merry Christmas! Thank God that Seiga canonically dresses up as Santa and steals from people, so this doesn't even have to be a non-canon Christmas update.
Of course, it being Christmas, I probably won't be able to update tonight, but I'm glad that I got this one out in time.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604212
Merry Christmas to you too man

[Anonymous No.]

I don't know why but people don't feel as sorry for Yoshika as they do for other 2hus, she deserved to be able to rest in peace...

>>45604212
>pic
I think writeanon sent a secret message here...

[Anonymous No.]

...Well, I don't think anyone had "getting interrupted by Seiga Clause" on their Christmas list! (;ﾟ∀ﾟ)

And here I was thinking that Keine and Anon were gonna have a tender moment where she asks him why he wasn't coming around the village anymore and he admits it's because he feels like he doesn't really belong here anymore

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604682
I was expecting her to faint at least once

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604675
But doki doki waku waku told me she was fine

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604173
>because the outfit, all red with fluffy white trip, was just slightly too short and too tight, and I could not only see the shape of her chest, but a bit of her navel where the top didn't meet the bottom.
>seiga! what is my gift?
>me
>s-seiga..

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604166
>An intruder? At this time of night? In this particular house?
We were so close to the joke

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604212
enjoy yourself writeanon

[Anonymous No.]

>>45608471
what joke

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604212
I forgot about that "stealing presents" bit from SoPM, so I actually did think it was a non-canon Christmas update at first.
Merry Christmas, my dude. Enjoy your day.

>>45608471
It's as close as you can get while still sounding natural. I'd chalk it off as an intentional reference.

>>45611094

[Anonymous No.]

>>45604187
I'm glad to see my daughter Kokoro has made her appearance and proven herself to be incredibly dramatic

[Anonymous No.]

where were you when writeanon was kill?

[Anonymous No.]

>>45616956
he didn't release the new chapter because it was christmas

[Anonymous No.]

Waggy is making sure she'll be able to see the full wedding.

[Anonymous No.]

"The tengu kidnapped you!?" Keine asked with an extremely shocked expression. "And - You got to speak with the daitengu herself?" She was leaning over the table at me now, and I shrunk back slightly. "I don't think any human from the village has even seen her! What was she like?" I raised my hands and tried to get my thoughts in order. That whole ordeal had been a little...Uncomfortable, even if I realised in retrospect that Iizunamaru had been very respectful, especially considering what I'd heard of tengu. I supposed that I also couldn't judge Shameimaru too harshly, considering she'd been blind drunk at the time.

My room was still there. Keine's home had a spare room, one that I'd spent a fairly large amount of time in as I'd grown up. I had stayed with her on plenty of occasions, when I couldn't stay in my parent's house or when I'd gotten scared of something. Keine would look after me. She'd let me stay with her. She'd taken care of me. And she'd kept the room the same even after I'd stopped staying here and gone back to my parent's house. "Just in case." She'd said. I'd asked her, just in case of what? And she'd looked at me silently before smiling gently and entering her own room. I watched her closed bedroom door for a few moments, then shook my head and headed into my own room to get what little sleep I could before the sun rose.

After a somewhat late start to the day owing to both our late night and the baffling encounter with Seiga Kaku masquerading as Saint Nicholas, Keine and I had finally reconvened in her living room. She'd switched out her usual schoolteacher's outfit for a deep blue juban and had informed me sharply that it was her day off and she'd wear whatever she pleased. After that, I'd finally gotten around to telling Keine more of my story. She'd turned out to be surprisingly invested before long, getting extremely surprised at sudden developments and bemoaning choices I hadn't made. My explanation of Lady Kasen's attempts to push Reimu and I together had garnered particular interest, though I'd been careful to conceal her true nature. It seemed like Keine had been genuinely torn between Yamame and Reimu as the story went on, and only just about made up her mind before I did. Once all of the relationship stuff was out of the way, and I'd gotten through most of what Yamame and I had been up to - Or rather, what Kisami and I had been up to regarding Yamame - I turned my attention toward Eientei. Here, I was a little worried. I knew that Mokou and Keine knew each other. I knew that they were friends. So, I was a little worried that revealing Mokou's death wish would have some major effects.

So, I glossed over the exact causes of Eirin's obsessions, but covered everything else. Keine did get up at that point, and I had to scramble up as well and throw my arms around her waist and drag her back to the table when she began to storm out of the door. "Let go! I'll kill her!" She hit me once or twice until I let go, but thankfully didn't immediately rush off. "What she did was unforgivable!" I told her that I knew that, but I'd heard the reasoning and while I didn't trust her, I did at least understand slightly. "...You always were too forgiving." She muttered, sitting back down and crossing her arms. "I'm not happy about this." I would have been rather surprised if she was. "And - Mokou's involved. She's not said anything to me, but I haven't seen her in a while." I chuckled awkwardly and nodded. "I'll have to talk to her soon..." I really hoped that the conversation wouldn't get...Dark. Keine seemed to care a lot about Mokou, and I didn't want her to find out the things that Mokou had said to Eirin since they would definitely hurt her.

After Eientei, it was easier to get through the rest of the story, and by around noon, Keine was more or less caught up. "So...Yamame Kurodani." Yes...? "She's - She's done a lot for you. And - And Reimu's done just as much. So you're family, now. That's good. And you love Yamame." I do, I replied. "So why," Keine's eyes flashed and my mouth suddenly felt dry, "Am I only hearing about all of this now!?" I paled slightly. "You still haven't given me a proper answer! I thought you were dead for months!" I fell silent. I'd spent a whole thinking about it, in more abstract terms before I'd met Keine the previous day, and more closely the previous night. I'd thought to myself that I didn't have any particular reason. That I'd been stuck away from the village because we had thought that Eientei was looking for me, but I suspected that I was lying to myself. Look at me, with these clothes and these experiences. The sort of thing the typical villager never had. I was stared at when I walked through the village. Most of my conversations with villagers started with them saying that they'd thought I was dead, and then continued into asking what I was wearing or where I'd been.

In truth, I just didn't seem to belong here anymore.

[Anonymous No.]

But could I tell Keine that? Truly? She'd spent so much time looking after me, even though she'd not been particularly old when I'd lost my own parents. She'd cared for me, and I wondered if telling her that I didn't seem to fit in the village anymore would be a painful blow to her hard work. How could I possibly justify that? What could I- "You're thinking too hard, you know." Keine commented quietly. She yawned. "Oh...I think I need some more sleep. I don't know how you do it!" I blinked, remembering that I was sitting in Keine's home. "You always make a frowning face when you're doing that." I laughed a little awkwardly. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." She told me gently. Reaching over the table, she took my hands and held them tightly. "I think I know you well enough to know when you're worried about something. I'm not going to reject you if you say something that you think I'm not going to like." She gave me a small smile and I felt a bit of the worry fade. "C'mon...Trust me?" She asked.

I said it. I told her that I didn't feel like I had a place in the village anymore. I lived with a youkai, a fair number of the people I saw every day were youkai, and the only humans I interacted with fairly regularly were Reimu and Marisa. It seemed like I wasn't one of the villagers anymore. I was one of 'them', the people who lived outside of the village that everyone thought was a bit strange. And I wasn't sure what my place was anymore. I wanted to stay with Yamame, but at the end of the day, I was still a human, even if I had a bit of a peach-fuelled advantage. I wanted to accept Lady Hecatia's offer, but I didn't know if it would end up with me not being human anymore, and I didn't know what Reimu would have to do then and-

"Hey!" Keine's call brought me out of my spiral. "Calm down. Breathe deeply. It's okay, I've got you." I did as she said and took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "And again..." I did as she said. "There you go. Feel better?" She asked, smiling. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, let's just...Go through that slowly, hmm?" Right. "You feel like you don't have a place in the village anymore?" It felt that way. "Nonsense." I looked up at her with a frown. "I suspect that I've only heard and understood a fraction of what you've been dealing with for all of this time, but let me start by saying that you will always have a place with me. Always. I may not be your mother, but I'd, um, like to think that I managed to bring you up in a way that she would be proud of." I swallowed thickly. "A-And I'd be proud. If, um, you were my son." I watched Keine, who smiled again. "So, you'll always be accepted here. Akyuu made friends with plenty of youkai over the years, too. Just because you live outside of the village doesn't mean that you're not still one of us. Plenty of villagers get along with Marisa, after all. I've seen her talking to the blacksmith plenty of times."

I supposed that was true. But still, I felt like I'd been left in a fundamentally different place to other villagers. "And that's okay. Hey, you know that you're not the only one like that, right?" I frowned and asked her what she meant. "Well...There's people living here who aren't from Gensokyo at all. People who came from the Outside World. There's...Two families, I think, where an outsider stuck around and they're not at all ostracized. You think that you're in too different a place from others to relate to them anymore? They've come from a world entirely unlike ours. You should know! You've seen it yourself." That...was true too. I couldn't imagine having to adapt to life in the village after living in the world I had seen on Hearn's little escapades. If that house she had been in, in Finland, was any indication of the sort of amenities the average person in the Outside World had... "And...You're worried that people think that you're one of those strange people that live outside the village? So what? You've gotten to see and do thing that they wouldn't believe. That's nothing to be ashamed of. Perhaps...You shouldn't listen to them. Do what's best for you." But, I was worried about my humanity. What if I worked for Lady Hecatia and- "Stop. Don't think about it like that. It's not as simple as you think, and I'm sure that Reimu would tell you that too. I think you should just...Ask. Ask her exactly what might happen to you. You might be surprised." Reimu had offered the same advice, I mumbled with a small smile. "See! You know, at first I was a little confused about this whole brother and sister thing that you and Reimu had going on, but it's seeming more and more like a good thing the more I hear about it." I thought so too. I'd probably be in a much worse position without her. Like...Dead and buried, probably. Keine slapped my arm. "Don't say things like that. I don't want you dead and buried for a very long time."

[Anonymous No.]

"Now, what else...Ah, you and Yamame. From what you've told me, her family all love you. They've accepted you. You even said how happy you were about that." I had, but... "No buts. I don't think you'll have anything to worry about there. You know, it wouldn't be the first time." I blinked, confused. "That a human married a youkai. It's a part of many a story, woven through history. Have you met Mister Rinnosuke Morichika? He lives out in the Forest of Magic where he runs an antique shop called Kourindou. He's half-youkai, half-human. I think you'd get along." I...Thought that I'd heard Marisa mention someone called Kourin who seemed to fit the description, but I hadn't met him yet. "Anyway, my point is that I think you've nothing to fear from living with Yamame, either from her or her family. They don't seem to mind one bit that you're human. Maybe it makes you exotic." She said with a small smile. I laughed slightly. I supposed it was true, too. When I'd been sitting with Yamame in the Hot Springs Town and eating just before the party, a group of Yamame's sisters had come up to talk to me about my T-shirt, and they'd asked about me, too. They'd been interested in me, as a human.

"Now...Is that better?" Keine asked, looking me over. "I know you've had plenty of problems too, but from the sound of it, you're in a healthy relationship with someone who loves you, you've gained a sister, plenty of friends, and a prospective job. If anything, I think you're doing quite well!" I was, I thought. Better than I'd really realised. I'd been so caught up in all my worries that I hadn't thought about the positives. Perhaps I'd just needed someone who was outside of it all to talk to.

Sorry, I said. I'd dumped all my problems on Keine's shoulders without really considering it. I shifted myself around the table so I could hug her. She'd been there for me when I needed it. I squeezed tighter and she squeezed back, patting my back. "It's okay. I'm just glad you came to see me." I think I felt a tear coming out of my eye. I'd be proud, I mumbled into her hair. "Proud of what?" She asked, sounding a bit confused. If Keine had been my mother. She was silent for a while after that and I wondered if I'd messed up, but then I heard her sniffle, and her grip got even tighter. I started to feel like my shoulder was getting wet, right where Keine's face was pressed into it. Neither of us spoke for a bit after that.

Finally, we separated. Keine's eyes were red, but I thought that mine probably were a little bit too. I was happy that I had someone like her, even if I didn't deserve it after not seeing her for so long. "I'm still a little bit mad, but it's okay. You can always ask me whatever you need to." She paused for a moment. "Um, mostly. Please don't ask me about, um...C-Certain things." I frowned and asked her what she was talking about. "Oh, you know, j-just, um..." She got very quiet at this point. "L-Lewd things..." She mumbled. It was so unexpected that I burst into laughter. "D-Don't laugh!" Keine cried, but at that point, I was too far gone and wouldn't be able to stop. I laughed until my stomach hurt, then - Much like Reimu learning about a new kidnapping by Hearn - almost started choking, but thankfully I hadn't drunk a bunch beforehand, so I didn't actually choke. "It's not - I-I just don't like - Oh, what's the matter with you!?" She cried, looking a little upset.

It took some time, but I finally calmed down after I started feeling like I was getting stomach cramps. "Feeling better?" Keine asked me. She looked a bit put out, and I hugged her again and apologised. I did feel far better, though. Laughter really was an effective medicine. "Hmm...Yes, I suppose so. I think I prefer when it isn't at my expense, though..." She did smile a little bit, though. "So...When do I get to meet Yamame myself, hmm?" I swallowed, thinking about it. "You can't marry her without letting me meet her first, you know. It's important!" I nodded, chewing on a fingernail. Soon, I hoped. As soon as I could. "Well, as long as it's sooner than the gap between your last visit..." I ducked my head and promised that it would be. I wanted to get back to Yamame. I felt like I'd probably given her enough time at this point, so I told Keine that I should probably head off now. "You'll take care, won't you?" I nodded. "I'm serious. Even with that peach, please take care of yourself. For me?" I nodded again and promised that I wouldn't let her down.

We got up, and Keine escorted me to the door. I pulled my boots on and tied them up, and we hugged one last time. "Oh - Look at your hair!" Keine complained. She immediately dragged me to the stairs and sat me down so she could mess with it despite my complaints and attempts to push her off. "Now, stop fussing. I've had schoolboys who make less fuss than you." Wincing, I grumbled back that she was pulling too hard. "Don't be such a baby." She finished, and I wondered how much of a mess my hair was now.

[Anonymous No.]

"There, much better." I got up and muttered something about not needing her to sort my hair out anymore. "You know, I think I should be sorting it out more often. Perhaps I'll have to teach Yamame to do it for me." I paled, scarcely able to imagine the horrors that Yamame could perpetrate on me as revenge for all the hair-ruffling I did to her if she had Keine's advice. Right there, I resolved to prevent any conversation between the two from ever veering in that direction.

Keine pulled the door open, pulled my coat straight, then gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." She whispered. "For not forgetting me." I nodded shakily, not trusting myself to speak, and stepped outside. Keine waved goodbye as she pulled the door shut again. Suddenly, the only sound was the crunch of the snow against my boots. The falling snow had finally died off overnight, and the sky was white with clouds, so it didn't feel as frigid as it did when the sky was clear. Few people were out, too. I thought about Keine's words. Maybe I really had been overthinking things when it came to my relationship with the village. I still had my parent's house, after all. I still had plenty to tie me to here. Keine herself, if nothing else.

I made it to the caves in record time. It seemed that this quantity of snow had been enough to even keep the most rebellious children from venturing out. I wondered if the pubs were busy, but I supposed that it was still fairly early, and they might not have gotten into the swing of things yet. Of course, the cave entrance was nearly entirely covered in snow, but I could see a tiny gap up at the top and, not wanting to waste any more time, I sighed and prepared myself for a difficult climb. What felt like several hours, a lot of sweat, and one embarrassing fall that had left me buried headfirst in snow up to my chest, I finally made it to the top of the mound of snow and rolled through the tiny gap into the cave. Unfortunately, the wall was a bit more sheer on the other side, and I yelled once before slamming into the ground at the bottom painfully. Groaning, I stumbled upright, having already failed to uphold my promise to take better care of myself. Still, I rather doubted that Keine had expected this sort of thing when she'd asked me to take care, so I consoled myself with that knowledge as I dragged myself down the tunnel. My eyes needed some time to adjust after the brightness of the snow, and it wasn't until I could see Yamame's home that I could see halfway decently.

There was a light on. I sighed happily, then jogged the last few steps to the door and reached out to find that it was unlocked. I pulled it open with some relief and stepped inside. Inside, I spotted Yamame sitting stiffly on one of her chairs. I asked her if she was okay now, but she didn't answer. Curious, I ventured closer, wondering if she was alright. I called her name once, then a second time more forcefully. Still no response. Now starting to feel a little worried, I asked her why she wasn't moving. Or blinking. Or...breathing... Now feeling more than a little nervous, I reached out a shaking hand toward her shoulder, wondering if she'd been possessed or something. I'd have to try and escape to find Reimu if that was the case. Just before it touched, I heard a sound. Sloshing water.

Yamame's bathroom door slammed open, and there she stood, completely naked and dripping wet. "Don't touch that!" She yelled, her eyes wide and wild. Unfortunately, she was a moment too late, because my hand had already made contact with the clothed Yamame's shoulder. She shifted backward slightly at my touch, her eyes blank and staring at nothing in particular. The Yamame at the bathroom door and I stared, her eyes wide and slightly fearful, mine confused, as the clothed Yamame tipped backward, hit the back of the chair, and then flopped off of the chair and onto the floor. She was empty. I stared, my eyes widening as I tried to process what I was seeing. She was - Empty. Her entire back had split open to reveal a hollow interior. Had...Had she died? Had something crawled out of her? I could hear my heart thumping in my chest. Feel the colour drain from my life. Slowly, trying and failing to draw in a breath, I looked up at the Yamame at the bathroom door.

"Um..." She started. "S-Surprise...?" She looked slightly different. Her skin looked far healthier. It almost glowed with a brilliant radiance. Her hair, too, and she was...Slightly curvier, if my eyes weren't deceiving me. I wasn't sure, but her chest looked just slightly bigger too. "Look - Er, don't panic! Very important. I'm still me! It's not...Um, you're tipping. Why - Why are you - No, wait, don't-!" I would have liked to pay attention, but the whole thing had overwhelmed me, and I was unconscious before I hit the floor.

[Anonymous No.]

LOL, I was looking forward to that ending ever since she started hinting she was going to molt. I had thought that she'd probably stopped growing a long time ago, but maybe not...? (wink, wink)
And I'm always surprised with how much I love Keine. Nothing about her in canon implies that she's ever super special, but she's always so lovely in doujin and fanworks. ヽ(´∇`)ノ
He probably won't put together that she's a youkai herself, but I suppose it doesn't matter as far as their relationship is concerned. I only wish she could have showed up earlier as yet another meddling mother.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45622040
>Slightly curvier
So it has begun

[Anonymous No.]

>>45622165
She comes off as a good teacher and good teachers are uniquely good people

[Anonymous No.]

[Anonymous No.]

Man this was one of the cutest chapters (and with this ending one of the funniest)
People say that the best motherhu would be junko but for me it's obviously keine

[Anonymous No.]

>>45622247
Yeah but she's a youkai and probably has enough sense to want a bath first, really relax that post-moult body
It'll be gone when anon wakes up and she'll be very evasive about where it went though

[Anonymous No.]

By the way, I think yesterday was the 5-month mark for this story. Writefriend's pretty crazy for updating nearly every day, and I'm nearly as crazy for checking every single day!

[Anonymous No.]

>>45622983
I couldn't last a month when i tried writing one, i don't know how he can keep it going this long.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45622983
It's just part of the morning routine for me now. No way has it already been 5 months, you are pulling my leg.
That long and the only Taoist we have seen has been Seiga, writefriend will have to give us a lenghty conversation between Kokoro and Futo to make up for this injustice.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45623885
>>45622983
>Jul 25
>>44125410
Christmas day was the 5-month mark

[Anonymous No.]

>>45622040
>Slightly curvier, if my eyes weren't deceiving me. I wasn't sure, but her chest looked just slightly bigger too
god...

[Anonymous No.]

"My, this one's got it all! Fear! Shock! Worry! Confusion! It's a veritable feast!" I blinked once, then twice. Huh? I couldn't tell where I was, but it seemed to be a balcony. I'd definitely not been here earlier. And who was talking? I couldn't see anyone. Wait, no...There, in the distance. There was a light. I tried to run toward it, but noticed that I was moving very sluggishly. I forced myself forward, then burst out into the light and found myself...

On a rooftop. The night sky was a deep blue casting everything in a cool light. There was a slight breeze, enough to ruffle my hair and make my coat billow. Long strings of clouds littered the sky above cast in dark grey and breaking the sky up. I couldn't see any stars despite the clear segments of sky, which I found a little confusing. There was a railing in front of me which I stumbled forward to and wrapped my hands around to ground myself. I could hear noise, and a lot of it, though it was all fairly distant. A blaring noise which increased and decreased in volume, somewhere off in the distance, and the murmur of a thousand voices having their own conversations. Somewhere, I could hear faint music, something that sounded strange and unfamiliar to me. When I'd been kidnapped by Hearn, I'd heard music in the background of the restaurant she'd taken me to, but it hadn't been too unfamiliar to me.

I looked over the railing, keeping my grip tight, and felt my jaw drop. Below me was a blinding number of light, coming from all sorts of sources along the long street. It took my eyes a moment to get used to it, especially with the variety of colours. There was a light dusting of snow across everything, but it clearly wasn't showing. It was nothing like what I'd seen in the village, or anywhere in the valley, for that matter.

It was the Outside World. It had to be. Nowhere else looked quite like this. I could see countless figures walking past below, indistinct and blurry. Opposite me were more buildings, and in the distance, as much as I could see, taller buildings. They seemed to consist of mostly windows, a large number of which were lit up with yellow, orange, or blue light. I wondered what could possible be happening inside them. Could there be people in there, living out their lives? I wondered what sort of problems they had to contend with. Probably fantastical stuff, I imagined, like working with all sorts of strange devices and being able to go anywhere across the entire world. They probably didn't have to deal with their spider suddenly appearing as a hollow shell, though.

Ah. I remembered. I'd passed out, which was a little embarrassing, but in my defence, I'd had a bit of an exhausting conversation with Keine before finding Yamame like that, so I felt like I was allowed some slack. But...If I'd passed out, I couldn't have ended up here, could I? Plus, it was daytime, and the large signs I could see opposite me were still readable, so I had to be in Japan, but if so, it shouldn't have been night. And the sluggish way I'd moved...

A dream.

"Yes, yes, bravo, well done, salutations." I heard from behind me. Spinning, I wasn't surprised to see Doremy Sweet approaching me from the stairs that led up to the roof. I was surprised by her outfit, though. Gone was her sleeveless dress and strange shawl, replaced with a suit like the ones I'd seen on my last trip to Tokyo. The top button of her white shirt was undone, and she looked a little confused about the whole ordeal. "Funny thing, the Dream World." She said, strolling toward me, then spinning and leaning against the railing. Her hat was still the same, and I wondered where exactly her tail was coming from, but decided that I shouldn't stare. "An outsider or two shows up, and they start having dreams about where they've been, or where they wanted to go, or places that are an amalgamation of the two, and the Dream World begins to understand how to put it together. How to complete it. And before you know it, things from your dreams become meshed with things from other dreams. These clothes...I was curious, so I let the dream take control of it. Something from your subconscious?"

I thought about it. I supposed it could be. Maybe...It did look similar to the clothes that Ran had been wearing in Australia. Frowning, I asked Doremy why I'd appeared here of all places. "Hard to say...Something from your mind? Something from somewhere else? I call myself the ruler of the Dream World, but by no means does that mean I know what it's doing at all times. Dreams are malleable. They're just a little bit amazing and more than a little mad." Doremy reached out a hand holding it palm-up, and her book, the dream journal, materialized in a bubble of pink smoke before dropping into her hand. She flipped through it. "No, no, no - Oh, maybe...No. Hmm...Eugh, what's that supposed to be? No, no, mayb- No." I watched her in confusion for a moment, then asked her what she was doing.

[Anonymous No.]

"Hmm? Oh, I'm just flipping through recent dreams. See if I can narrow down where this," She waved her free hand around at the city around us, "Came from." I thought I heard an argument brewing in the street below, but when I looked over the railing, I didn't see anything. "It's an echo of a memory distorted by the dream." Doremy told me. "Perhaps this is the creation of an outsider's time in the big city combined with something from you. Haven't you spent time in the Outside World as well?" Spluttering slightly, I asked Doremy how she could know that. Waving her Dream Journal at me, she smugly smirked. "Ah, let's see..." She flipped it open once more. "Hmm...Oh, here we are. A month ago...Dreamt about being on a beach, lots of tall buildings behind you...You said that it must have been 'Australia' and wondered where Miss Yamame Kurodani was..." I opened my mouth. "And then, when Miss Kurodani appeared, you-" I lunged forward to slap a hand over her mouth. Understood, I said. She watched me and even though I couldn't see her mouth, I could practically feel the smugness radiating from her. Removing my hand, I turned and rested my forearms on the railing. I looked over at Doremy to see that she'd dispelled her Dream Journal and leaned with her back against the railing, looking up at the sky. "Can't see the stars...That's light pollution, I believe. Another term an outsider used." I didn't know what that was, but I decided that I didn't need more weird explanations that I didn't understand.

Instead, I wanted to know why I was here. "Hmm..." Doremy hummed, stretching her back against the railing. I hoped it wouldn't fall. "Well, you heard me earlier. About a feast?" So, that had been her voice. "Of course. You've already had a dream or two, you know. I ate those ones because they looked extraordinarily tasty...Which they were! Happy to see that your quality of dream has been improving greatly." Doremy reached over and patted me on the back, but I couldn't exactly claim to understand what had her so pleased, so I just smiled and nodded. "So, I know that you passed out. Tends to give you weird dreams. And I know it had something to do with Yamame Kurodani. She is a very regular character in your dreams, after all." I looked away and mumbled something incoherent. "So, tell me." I looked over at her with a frown. Tell her what? "Why you passed out. I know you know." I sighed and muttered to the sky that I really wasn't going to get rid of her. "Me?" I rolled my eyes at her. "Huh?" Fine, I said, then explained briefly what I'd seen upon entering Yamame's home. I wasn't sure if I should explain it for Yamame's privacy, but Doremy was the kind of person who'd find out one way or another, since I imagined that at least some element of seeing an empty Yamame shell would be appearing in my nightmares before long. "I do keep secrets, you know. When they're important. Oh, I do like knowing them, though..." I swallowed uncomfortably and focused on the building across from ours.

I could see shapes inside, but they were fuzzy and looked like they weren't really there. "Anyway, that does sound like one of the scenarios I usually see in nightmares." Doremy told me, spinning herself over to lean against the rail in the same way I was. "But, I think I can put your mind at ease." That, I replied, would be lovely. I heard something fall into her hand again, which I assumed was her Dream Journal once more. "Like I said, I do keep secrets, but what I'm about to tell you isn't a secret, so it's probably fine..." I loved her confidence, I replied dryly. "Yeah, me too." She told me - Entirely seriously - with one of her usual smug smiles. "Anyway, if I just...Find it..." She was still flipping through pages. "C'mon, c'mon...'C' for...Chiyari - No, Chiyuri...Wait, who? Um, there's...'China'...No, that's a country," She smacked the book against the railing. "Catch up, come on now." And back to flipping the pages she went. "Ah, there it is. 'Chen'." I looked over at her, raising an eyebrow.

Doremy tapped the rail with her finger, and it suddenly expanded, becoming wider until she could lay the book flat on it and slide it over to me. "Have a look at the marked entry." Feeling like I was doing a horrendous invasion of someone's privacy, I looked down at the book. 'Chen - A book about a spider, read by Ran Yakumo.' I blinked, then asked Doremy what I was supposed to take from that. "What you're supposed to - Oh, for-" She sidled over and thumped her fist down on the book. "Stupid thing's always doing this. Try again." I looked back down. 'The spider moults, taking between fifteen minutes and a full day. This process is...' It went on, but I was already looking up at Doremy again because I still wasn't sure what this meant. It did seem to match the length of time that Yamame had shut herself up inside her home, though. "It means - Okay, so...I'm sick of this, hold on." She stomped a foot against the ground.

[Anonymous No.]

Suddenly, I was falling. Before I could even shout out, I'd slammed into a chair somewhat painfully, though the pain was dulled and felt more like a suggestion of pain rather than actual pain. Perk of a dream, I supposed. Looking up, I saw that I was in...A classroom, apparently. And at the front, now dressed in a very tight shirt with a button undone, a skirt that went down to about midway on her thighs, and dark tights. Her hat was, of course, still present, but I could see an animal ear sticking out from underneath it. In her hand was a long stick, and a pair of round glasses sat over her eyes. I almost asked her if the outfit had come from my head, but decided that I didn't want an answer to that, so I resolved to just look at her face. No matter how hard she was making it.

"There, that's more fitting. Now, pay attention!" She rapped a long cane in her hand against the wall behind her. "Your dear girlfriend is a spider. Specifically, a kogane-gumo. She, like all spiders, moults." I opened my mouth, and Doremy smacked the cane against the edge of the desk that I was suddenly sitting at. "Raise your hand if you want to ask questions!" She shouted. I raised both hands, then tentatively asked her how she knew all of this. "Chen has very detailed dreams." She replied, smacking the cane against her hand. "Now, all spiders moult. That, of course, includes youkai spiders. Yes, youkai spiders like the one you want to marry." I decided that asking her how she knew that was a lost cause. "This means that they grow out of their old skin and need to moult so they can grow properly. I'll leave the details of how such a moult occurs to your imagination. It's a stressful experience, and one that can be dangerous if they are interrupted." So...That was why she'd blocked off her home, I muttered. "No-!" She began, already raising the cane, but she paused. "Actually, I'll give you that one. Yes, full marks."

Thanks, I replied dryly. At her raised eyebrow and poised cane, I raised both hands in surrender again. "What you've come across was her old skin. Your spider, as you call her in your dreams, is perfectly alright. In fact, she's probably feeling better than she has in a good while. It's probably already gone while you've been drooling on the floor, unconscious." I don't drool, I replied indignantly. "Of course not, dear." She said in a voice that told me she didn't believe me in the slightest. Where would it have gone, though? I was a little worried that I'd stumble across a secret room full of empty Yamame shells some day. "It'd be best if you just don't think about it." She replied. I stared at her for a moment, but she didn't seem ready to budge, so I resolved to ask Yamame later.

Doremy blinked, then looked at the edges of the classroom. "Oh, it appears that our time is about to be up." She said, poking the cane against the desk, which was starting to look a little distinct. "You're probably in for a skull-splitting headache, but hopefully a few less issues." I supposed that was true. I did feel a little better about the whole thing. I decided to get up from the chair before it could disappear on me, then had a sudden question. Why, I asked Doremy, was she willing to spend time talking to me in my dreams? I would have thought that she had plenty more interesting things to do. "Hmm..." She hummed, that smug smile still present.

Stepping closer, she poked me in the chest with the cane. "Interesting dreams can be so hard to come by. Interesting conversation, even more so. Dream World residents are so highly-strung, and so intense about their thoughts and feelings, so when you show up, you're nice and simple." I felt like there was a bit of an unintentional insult there. "Plus, you're just so perpetually confused that I get to explain anything to you and feel like I've just solved an ancient mystery." Well, that - for sure - was a backhand compliment. Doremy smiled some more, but she usually did that, so I'd gotten used to it. "And, you do what I say, which is great compared to the other Dream World residents, so-" I raised my hands and said that I didn't need to know, actually. "Really? Er, okay." Doremy looked entirely unaware of what she'd been saying. "I had a lot more, though. Like-" No, I replied. It was really okay.

[Anonymous No.]

And then I wasn't there anymore. With an overwhelming vertigo, I jerked up, flailed my arms, then realised that I was not moving at all. I looked down, then groaned. There, of course, were all of Yamame's bedsheets. Wrapped around me. Again. I wasn't in her bedroom, this time. I was in the main room, on the couch, and my head was killing me. I looked over, then swallowed as I saw the chair that the empty Yamame had been sat on. She - It, the moult, it wasn't there anymore. I didn't know how long I'd been asleep, but I suspected that it had been a while. I couldn't move my arms or legs, and...I was tipping. I knew that the flailing was a poor decision. I was absolutely going to make Yamame pay for this, I thought mutinously as I tipped off of the couch and slammed into the floor with prolonged groan. Thankfully, I'd just barely missed slamming my head into the floor again, but it hadn't made it much better overall.

Thankfully, the fall had managed to break loose whatever it was keeping the bedsheets so tight, and I realised that I had some control over my arms again. With pain in my head and pain in my body, I set to work trying to manipulate the covers enough to throw them off. It took a fair few minutes, but eventually, I succeeded and crawled out of the covers, one hand pressed against my sore head. I'd heard no sign of Yamame, but I was sure that she was still here. Possibly up on the upper floor, engrossed enough that she'd not heard me. Or...Disposing of her moult, whatever that meant. I didn't really want to think about it. I checked the bathroom and found that the floor and the ofuro was still wet, so she hadn't been out for long. The kitchen was empty, though there were a few open cupboards. I then checked the upper floor, though I found that my head hurt too much to clamber up there fully. I was just about able to get up high enough to see that Yamame was not there, though there was definitely more clothes strewn about the place then there had been. It seemed to stem mostly from her supply of clothes that she didn't wear often, but which existed in plenty of sizes from small to large.

Finally, that left the bedroom, so I decided that I should probably knock on the door before blundering in. The last time I'd done that, I'd come face to face with the empty Yamame, and the time before that, she'd punched me in the face. So, I knocked, and I heard a sound from inside the room. "A-Are you awake!?" I heard, and I asked if I could come in. "Um...Oh, yes, I suppose so." I pushed open the door, stepped inside and closed it behind me, then stared. There was Yamame, in the centre of the room. The new Yamame, I supposed, because the observations I'd made before passing out were definitely correct. She'd found some underwear - silk, black, but looked to be fairly comfortable - but hadn't yet managed to find much else. Her hips had definitely widened slightly, and her hair looked longer. She'd pulled it all up into her usual look, but it was long enough that it was hanging slightly now. She still looked very...radiant. "So, um...Feeling better?" She asked me, turning. Her bra, too, looked like silk, but it seemed just slightly too tight. I nodded slowly. "Good...Um, I suppose you have questions." Maybe one or two, but I thought I got most of it. "So, um, that was-" A moult. "A mo-" Stopping, she stared at me. "Wait, why do you know that? You were looking at it like I'd actually died." Shrugging, I said that it had been revealed to me in a dream.

[Anonymous No.]

Yamame stared at me like I had grown another head. "Are you, er, sure you're okay? Like...Really?" I nodded, then winced as my head protested. Mostly okay, then. I promised that I'd explain later, but for now, I was wondering what she was doing. And...What had happened to the moult. Yamame looked away for a split second. "It's gone." She spoke. "Um, that's all you really need to know, right?" I watched her for a moment. "Seriously, it's - It's fine. I don't have a secret dungeon filled with them, if that was on your mind." I thought for a moment, and then decided that I was okay with that, but I'd probably ask again in the future. Was it going to happen again? "Um...Probably, but it's not that often, so..." Slowly, I nodded. I supposed that it would just be something that came with the territory of being with a spider. I was determined to not fall into another major crisis like I had when I'd found out about my parents. "S-So, um...We're good?" We're good, I replied, and Yamame breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew...I - With everything that's been going on since I - Um, met you, it crept up on me. I really thought I had longer." I just hoped that she'd be able to give me more warning next time. "Yeah...I will, promise. I knew it was coming when I started to feel itchy, but I thought I'd have enough time to explain when you got back from Reimu's. Um...Did you stay there?"

Shaking my head, I said that there had been a bit of a mess there and I'd stayed with someone in the village, but I told her that I would explain later. For now, I was more curious about what exactly she was doing in here. "Urgh..." She groaned. "Well, you know how I said that it crept up on me?" I nodded. "None of my clothes fit!" She cried, throwing a shirt from her bed - empty, since I'd had all of the covers - on the floor. "I didn't have time to make anything that would fit!" She did seem to be...A bit restrained in that bra. Sighing, she smiled weakly. "It's the best I could do."

Sighing, she unhooked the bra, pulling it off and revealing that her chest was indeed a little bigger, and as she breathed in deeply, the movement was even more hypnotic. She picked up another shirt from the bed and pulled it over her shoulders, then tried to pull it together so she could do the buttons up. Already, I could see that it was a lost cause. "Why...!" She wailed, tilting her head upward. Stepping forward, I gathered her up in a hug. Her skin felt amazingly soft, with just the slightest give, though I could still see that she wasn't all that far from the spider that had asked me to put cream on her after being hit by Reimu's gohei. "Urgh...And I'll need a while longer before I do anything too...strenuous. Even eating. Er...You probably shouldn't hug me too tightly, either. We spiders get all soft after a moult. Even our fangs, so..." I nodded and released her. "Clothes would be fine, but clearly not this time. Of all the times, just..."

She groaned, then sat down on the bed, and pulled her underwear off. I really wished she hadn’t, because it just made the whole thing even harder. "Um, can I have a bedsheet back? Sorry for - Um, you know. Wrapping you up." I laughed a little, then fetched one of the bedsheets from the floor and gently laid it over her. "Thanks." She said quietly. "I think it'll be fairly quick until I'm all sorted. Overnight, if I'm really lucky." I was not usually so lucky, so I expected that it wouldn't actually be overnight. Could I sleep with her? She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but...Best not. Just for now." She really did look sorry about it. And then, a few moments later, she didn't look any way about it, because she'd fallen asleep. Sighing some more, I nodded dejectedly and trudged back to the couch, then threw the remaining blankets over myself. If I ended up back with Doremy Sweet and her weird classroom dream, I was going to go completely insane. My head hurt enough already.

As I drifted off, it occurred to me that Yamame looked just a little bit more like Kisami now.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45629549
I wonder what happened between her and Miyoi, also a bit rude not to invite her to the wedding.

[Anonymous No.]

I want doremy teacher to appear in my dream now...

did Yamame really eat that then? hm

[Anonymous No.]

>>45629573
>As I drifted off, it occurred to me that Yamame looked just a little bit more like Kisami now.
Speaking of Kisami, is it safe to assume her spider limbs to be super fuzzy, going with her hair?

[Anonymous No.]

Doremy's Perfect Biology Class

[Anonymous No.]

>>45629573
>it occurred to me that Yamame looked just a little bit more like Kisami now.
wait what

[Anonymous No.]

>>45632366
Post moult yamame has slightly longer hair, wider hips, a bigger chest, and is probably a tiny but taller
She's getting closer to what Kisami looks like because she's older, though her hair is blonde and not red
This does raise the question of whether Ki is still moulting too, though...

[Anonymous No.]

>>45632428
This got me wondering, how old is Yamame (and the other Kurodanis for that matter) supposed to be? If she's still molting, that implies she's fairly young, but it's also implied she's a decent amount older than Anon (I'd guess 5-10 years). If we're operating on the common assumption that Anon is roughly 20, that would put Yamame in her mid to late twenties, which seems past the general stage of maturity at which spiders would still molt. Unless I'm understanding spider biology incorrectly.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45635310
I mean, if we were going by spider biology like that, she'd probably be dying soon, so I think you just have to assume that it's a little ambiguous since she's a youkai
not sure about the specific type of spider that yamame is, but female tarantulas continute to moult periodically even after maturity

[Anonymous No.]

>>45635310
She's not a spider, she's a spider youkai, so we don't know exactly what's possible. And in any case, some of us suspect that the sudden growth of her body in certain... areas is not necessarily because she's still young, but because of other reasons.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45635441
How many cycles of molting do you think it will take to be..... ready?
Does this similarity to Ki possibly mean Ki has kids herself?
Actually anon should really try asking Yamame if any of her sisters have or have raised kids if he's still not ready to ask about her mother.

[Anonymous No.]

>>45635441
>some of us suspect that the sudden growth of her body in certain... areas is not necessarily because she's still young, but because of other reasons.
I honestly doubt that; the comparison to Kisami makes me think she's just aging, and neither Anon nor Yamame are even remotely ready to be parents. Anon even explicitly expressed that the time isn't right earlier in the story

>>45635504
>Does this similarity to Ki possibly mean Ki has kids herself?
I think it would have been mentioned at this point if that were the case

[Anonymous No.]

>>45635986
>neither Anon nor Yamame are even remotely ready to be parents
well, sometimes life finds a way!
(that's why you always use a condom, kids)

[Anonymous No.]

>>45635441
I don't have cool bug facts prepared but if you pair a spider and she moults, it means the pairing was a fail and she's not gravid (spider pregnant)
Yams is probably going to wring poor anon dry now that's she moulted and this will be the one, trust the plan

[Anonymous No.]

>>45635986
Look the pic >>45604212
you just don't see because you don't want to...

[Anonymous No.]

>>45636271
her youkai side fixes this

[Anonymous No.]

I just realised we've hit bump limit and the thread's about to die. Jump over to >>>45638142

[Anonymous No.]

>>45638143
we were only on page 9 though
thread probably had at least half a day left

[Anonymous No.]

>>45638165
New chapters when it's going to be archived by this time tomorrow isn't fun though.

[Anonymous No.]

[Anonymous No.]