wordswords[truncated] - Let's Play Aoi Shiro

Looks like "Keep looking" won, so onward, Syouko!

Geez, what just happened? My mind was a jumble and I couldn't get it organized. But I clearly remembered my goal.

Syouko wipes away what remains of her tears and takes a look around.

If the Tokosaki no Tsubaki was her aim then I thought she'd be in the mountains, but if she had some other goal and was going to meet with someone, it might be better for Migiwa go down the mountain. The beach had good visibility and you could see at night. If you walked a little deeper, your shadow should be hidden by the shade of the rocks.

Since she isn't here, Syouko decides the next best place to search for Kyan would be the beach. After all, even if she went back to the temple, Syouko doubts that she'd be able to fall asleep. Not after meeting that Spirit.



Syouko recalls the story Sensei told on the bus, about the island Onigashima (now Urashima). It spoke of stepping stones as well.

I went past the courtyard, down the long stairs and to the salty-smelling ocean.

At first the sand crunches beneath her feet, but eventually Syouko arrives at a rocky area. The moonlight over the stones casts shadows that forces her to step carefully over the uneven terrain. Finally Syouko gets close enough to the tip of the cape to make out the stepping stones. There's a bit distance between each step, which would make it difficult for a human to cross, but Syouko thinks the long stride of an oni wouldn't have much trouble.





Syouko: This is----

I seemed to remember this scene---- long ago, so long ago, along this road----I went past it and----

Syouko: -------- (takes a breath)

What exactly was that? I didn't know. I shouldn't know. This was like when I was in the mountais, a memory that wasn't mine, something like deja vu... No, this belonged to me. It wasn't that I didn't know, it was that I couldn't remember. Though I couldn't remember, I felt that it was buried somewhere, deep within me. If it happened a long time ago, I should've been a kid and I shouldn't have gone across by myself... Back then I was always holding on to someone's hand...



Not "was it someone?" Who was it? I couldn't remember something I should know. And then...

That challenging voice that asked who it was sounded familiar.

Syouko: It's me... Osanai Syouko.



Syouko: A waste...

Kyan nimbly hops across the rocks to stand in front of Syouko.

Migiwa: Exactly what are you doing here at this time and place?
Syouko: What about you?
Migiwa: My time is my own, right? As to what I'm doing...
Syouko: That's enough. As for me, I didn't see you so I came searching for you. Geez, when I went to the forest first and it turned out not to be Migiwa...



Syouko snaps out of her thoughts and focuses back on Kyan.

Syouko: Did you come here to relax with a bit of night fishing? If you're going out, you should tell someone so we're not unnecessarily worrying.
Migiwa: I'm not a team member, right?
Syouko: If you think that way, then you shouldn't be chomping down our food. Those who don't work, don't eat. Leaving out practices, I'll have you participate in the cleaning.
Migiwa: Okay, okay, I got it. However, depending on the situation I might have things to do. I'll compensate you, so could you excuse me then?
Syouko: What are you going to give in exchange?

In response Kyan sits down and casts her fishing rod forward. The string stretches out and Syouko hears the lure hit the water, but it's dark to see where the little lure landed. Looks like Kyan's idea of compensation is fish proving she is a cat. If she were feeding the whole team, though, she'd either have to catch a lot or one big one. Syouko asks if she can, and Kyan admits that she's not quite that good.

Syouko: If you're going to fish, lend me a rod sometime, too.
Migiwa: I don't mind lending you a rod, but... Osa.
Syouko: Hmm?



Fishing CG!

The names sounds familiar to Syouko, but she doesn't quite remember.



Syouko: Ah, I remember now.

Umisachiko (from here on referred to as Umi) let his younger brother Yamasachiko (Yama) borrow a lure, but Yama lost it to a fish that got away. To make it up to his big brother, Yama broke down his favorite sword to make many other hooks out of it, but Umi wanted HIS lure back. Jackass. Eventually Yama goes to the Palace of the Dragon God, married the daughter, and retrieved the hook which was still stuck in a red sea bream. Apparently he got a gift of two pearls that could control the tides for being such a dutiful brother.



Migiwa's name has the character for water in it and mine has the character for mountain, so that's how we're being cast in the story...

Syouko: I see. That's fine, then.

I'm sure Migiwa knew that the mean Umisachiko chastised his brother Yamasachiko, who had returned with the treasures, until right before he died by drowning.

Don'tcha just love mythology? That's almost as good as what happened with Orpheus.

Anyway, Kyan's disappointed by Syouko's weak reaction, but Syouko says she can't tay long. Since she's captain, she has to wake up early tomorrow to make sure everyone else is up. Syouko begins to head back, telling Kyan not to stay out too late, either, when Kyan calls out,

Migiwa: Ah, wait a minute! Did something happen in the Sal Forest?
Syouko: Eh?



Uh-oh. Do we tell Kyan about what we saw? Maybe see if she doesn't possibly have some idea as to who or what that apparition was? Or should Syouko keep the encounter to herself?

Tell her. Let 'er think we're crazy. :D

Tell her. That spirit's gotta be connected with whatever Kyan's ultimate objective is and it might crack open some plot.

Looks like we're confiding in Kyan. She seems to know a lot about fairy tales and folklore, so even if she hasn't heard of this particular spirit, there's a chance she may be able to tell us a thing or two about it.



Migiwa: Huh? A Tsubaki Spirit?

Well, something like that. Maybe that wasn't the best word for it. For a moment, Migiwa looked dumbfounded.

Migiwa: In the Sal Forest behind Shoushinji, eh?
Syouko: I don't care if you laugh.
Migiwa: I wouldn't laugh.

Her eyes looked like they wanted to say something which belied her words.

Kyan resists to urge to tease Syouko (for now) and begins seriously considering what Syouko is saying.

Migiwa: Could it be that you mistook some team member that went for a walk?
Syouko: I talked to it face to face for a while.



Syouko confirms this by saying that if it were someone from the team, even from a distance, she'd be able to tell by their build.



Migiwa: Hrmm, a Tsubaki Spirit, huh... What was it like?
Syouko: It was like a tsubaki flower and wearing red clothes like a kariginu or a suikan, period-type clothing like that.
Migiwa: Heh... A weird one, for sure, wearing such a thing these day, at that time and place.



Syouko: What----?

I suddenly turned red and without thinking I put my palm to my face. Since it was a dark night, she wouldn't have been able to see the change in color, but I had just dug my own grave.

A little laugh bubbles up; Kyan can't keep her laughter contained anymore. Syouko can't tell if it's because she's angry or because she's embarrassed, but her face burns even brighter.

Syouko: B-believing in fairy tales... what do you mean by that?!
Migiwa: Just because you saw one weird person, why would you think it was a Tsubaki Spirit? You'd normally think of cosplay, right? Or else a ghost or a monster, right? But you went ahead and thought it was a Tsubaki Spirit... Heh... Hehe... Was it some sort of fairy?
Syouko: ... It's cause I heard that story from the monk.
Migiwa: About the Tokosaki no Tsubaki?
Syouko: That's why I thought about that.
Migiwa: Heh...

Kyan's evil eye will never not scare me.

Syouko: Hmm?
Migiwa: If it's right eye was red, what about the left one?
Syouko: The left one was continually closed.
Migiwa: The one, red eye...
Syouko: Migiwa, do you have some sort of clue as to who it was?
Migiwa: No, not really.



Maybe she knew something? This was Aoi-sensei's field of expertise... or perhaps more her hobby. I'd probably heard about this from Sensei. Migiwa also seemed to be that type of person...

Syouko wonders aloud whether it might reference Yorimitsu's defeat of an oni known as Shuten Dougi. Migiwa explains a bit about that particular legend before saying,

Migiwa: Osa might've unexpectedly seen the vengeful spirit of an oni. Not sure if it was referring to the onikiri that killed Shuten, but if you'd nodded yes, you might've been killed by a curse.



Migiwa: In ghost stories, this is a common pattern that occurs with a kuchisake onna in the bathroom, right?
Syouko: It didn't seem like an oni, though...
Migiwa: Is Osa the type to be easily deceived by appearances? Shuten Dougi didn't appear in front of Yorimitsu and company as a frightening oni, but as a pretty child, you know?
Syouko: A pretty child...

It occasionally happened in stories that oni disguised themselves as harmless beings such as pretty women and children.

Migiwa begins explaining about the origin of Shuten Dougi, making Syouko stay a little longer than she meant to.

I was planning on returning quickly, but because she called out to me, I ended up staying a while.

Syouko begins to head back to the temple, but stops as she sees something unexpected.



Syouko begins to suspect she was talking to Kyan longer than she'd thought. There aren't any rules against going out at night, but it still isn't exactly the best example to be set as captain.

Syouko: This'll be trouble... or should I say, I'm in trouble?

Walking inside, Syouko goes to the room which still has the lights on.





She can tell the monk is inside by his gigantic shadow and the distinctive shaved head. Syouko notices a few other shadows before overhearing Aoi-sensei tell monk Yuukai that this is certainly a problem. Syouko decides to find out what "this" is by sliding the screen door open and stepping inside.

Syouko: Excuse me.
Yuukai: Oh, Captain.

As the monk makes room for Syouko, she notices he wearing a white robe. Something must have caused him to get out of bed. Before Syouko can find out what, however, Aoi-sensei asks where she's been.



Aoi accepts this, but someone else sounds a little upset by the news.





Lookit that pout. Ain't it adorable? Anyway, Syouko had noticed a futon laid out when she first entered, thinking it might've been for Yasumi. Apparently not. So, then, who's sleeping there?

But before we answer that, Aoi-sensei has another question.



Syouko: She's set out a fishing line at the far end of the rocks. It looks like she'll still be there a while.
Momoko: Did she catch any big ones?
Syouko: Not at all. Since she went all the way out there at this time of night, I thought it'd be a good spot, too.
Yuukai: The far end of the rocks... at the Oni Stepping Stones?
Syouko: I think they were called something like that.
Yuukai: Ah, well, it's not a good spot for fishing around this time.
Syouko: Is that so?
Yuukai: Close to the Oni Stepping Stones is Kurou-sama'a forbidden land... even the fish are scared and don't swim near there.
Momoko: You might catch a big one near the beach. Speaking of which, we had a big catch, though.

Yuukai explains that manager-san (Yasumi) couldn't sleep and so went for a walk along the beach's sandy shore (a little further off than where the Stepping Stones are). And while she was walking, she found a girl, washed up on the shore by the tide. Everyone turns to look at the girl laying on the futon. The girl is tucked into the futon so that only her head stuck out. When Syouko sees her, she feels her heart thump and takes a breath.

The breath I swallowed turned to something unfamiliar in my chest.



Syouko describes the girl as "white as the sheets and covers" adding that "her sleeping face was too pale". Her long, wavy hair is a strange colorless shade. Despite herself, Syouko finds herself murmuring,

Syouko: She... resembles...?

I finally let out the breath in my chest and I lightly shivered. Yasumi might've had good hearing because she even noticed my shiver and asked.

Yasumi: Eh? Syouko-sempai, who does she resemble...?
Syouko: Who...
Yasumi: You just said she resembles someone...
Syouko: No, that's...

It's not that her countenance resembled someone I knew. I just said "resembled" without thinking. Looking closely, the eyes, mouth and nose were different. But still the impression I got was...

I sense a love interest.

Syouko thinks aloud about how Migiwa said it might have been an oni, getting Momoko's attention immediately. She ends up telling them about her experience in the Sal Forest.

In the end, I told them about how it disappeared in a gust of wind and then shut my mouth.

Yuukai: I see. It really is like saying "Gone with the Wind"... Yes, this "Scarlett" person is worthy of respect.
Momoko: ......?
Ayashiro: Momoko-chan, the hint is in the name.
Momoko: Name, name, name... Oh!! Monk-san, you came up with a good one!

I take back what I said about Ayashiro being bitchy before playing cards. At least you'll always be genki, Momoko. Syouko is equally disappointed.

I had told them what I experienced, but it seems it was taken as a joke. It's true that even I myself might think that it was just my imagination, or a dream caused by drowsiness.

The only one who didn't appreciate the monk's witticism is Yasumi, but that's because she seems to be thinking about something else after hearing Syouko's story. To her credit, Momoko noticed immediately.

Momoko: Oh? Zawacchi, what's wrong?
Yasumi: Umm, it's nothing...
Momoko: Gee, Zawacchi, you always say that.





Syouko: So, Yasumi, what's wrong?
Yasumi: No, it's just that something bothered me about Sempai's story. The person that Sempai met... You said that it's left eye was constantly closed, right?
Syouko: Migiwa said that made it seem like an oni.



Syouko: Then who is this child that resembles that person...?

Since no one has a definite answer on that, they decide to call it a night. And so we've finished the first day of training camp! Well, not really, since they did spend most of the day traveling. Either way, somehow I'm not surprised it took four pages.

The Force is strong with this one.

MomoYasu OTP.

I'd ship it.

There are still a few minutes before the alarm goes off, but Syouko decides to get up anyway. Rising from her futon, Syouko notices that she's the first one awake. She takes a deep breath and thinks about the day ahead of them.





Before that, everyone has to get up and change into their dougi (the protective gear they wear for kendo). Syouko considers letting the team sleep in a bit, considering the stir caused by the little lady Yasumi found, but the sun was steadily rising through the sky and it would only get hotter outside.

Syouko: Sometimes you can't be merciful...

After changing, I checked the time then opened the screen doors, flooding the room with light...



The monk rings the bell as Syouko calls out, so that the sound of the bell ringing and her command reverberate in the room. At the same time, various cell phone alarms begin to chime. The girls began to wake up, some a bit more slowly than others.



Of course, Momoko is up and at 'em first thing. After greeting Syouko, she turns to Yasumi, still laying down in her futon.

Momoko: Zawacchi, Zawacchi, it's morning.
Yasumi: Nn... Momo-chan... is it already... morning?

Syouko isn't surprised by Yasumi's sleepiness and Momoko's abundant energy. In fact, it's somewhat expected. Syouko finds herself smiling a little before Ayashiro greets her, looking just as sleepy as Yasumi.

Ayashiro: Good morning, Syouko-san.
Syouko: Good morning. Ayashiro, you're also not a morning person?
Ayashiro: I don't think that's the case, but...
Momoko: Zawacchi's also bad at waking up, but it's not a bad thing.
Syouko: Is that so?

This takes the focus off of Ayashiro for the moment and back to Yasumi.

Momoko: Zawacchi, how are you today? Are your hit points green again?
Yasumi: I'm fine. Good morning, Momo-chan.
Momoko: Morning...

That little exchange is so cute I wish everyone could have heard it. Anyway, Yasumi reluctantly crawls out of her futon and greets her seniors.

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai, Ayashiro-sempai, good morning.
Ayashiro: Good morning.
Syouko: You don't seem too well.



Syouko: ... The two of you, what's wrong?
Ayashiro: My body feels a bit sluggish...
Syouko: Yasumi too?
Yasumi: I... I'm fine!

I looked at her to see if she was telling the truth. If I left her alone, she'd push herself too hard, so I need to stop her now.

Syouko: You're a little flushed. Do you have a fever?



Yasumi insists that she's alright, and Syouko doesn't want to push her. After all, she's the one who knows her body best, and if she says she'll be okay, Syouko has no reason not to believe her. All Syouko can really do is keep an eye on Yasumi.

Syouko: How about Ayashiro? Are you still sleepy?
Ayashiro: It's not so bad that I'll fall asleep, but...
Syouko: ... But? Do you have any clue as to why?
Ayashiro: This is really difficult to say, but... Do you... believe in ghosts?



Ayashiro: Because of yesterday's excitement, I soon fell asleep. I don't know how much time had passed but... It was still dark. I felt something strange so I woke up. After I did, I noticed something was on top of me...
Syouko: Was it a prank?
Ayashiro: I... don't think it was. I didn't feel any weight on me and I felt I could see the ceiling through it.

She talked about what had happened.

Syouko: A ghost girl with long hair... was it?
Momoko: A ghost, huh?
Yasumi: A ghost...
Momoko: Osa-sempai, you're the type of person that doesn't believe in things like this, right?
Syouko: Well, until now, I haven't had much contact wuth such things.

But, still, a ghost girl with long hair?





So, who's haunting our vice captain? Is it the mysterious young woman that Yasumi found last night? Or the Tsubaki Spirit/oni that Syouko met in the Sal Forest? I have no idea! You guys decide!

Ooh, ooh! The person in the sal forest! The person in the sal forest!


eene wheee~

RIGHT IN THE CHILDHOOD.

I miss that show.

ME TOO

The one in the forest doesn't seem to get out much. Besides, we know where she was last night. Maybe the one Yasumi found is a sleepwalker. Some sort of... spirity, see through sleepwalker.

Alright, so far we have one vote for the girl Yasumi found, and one vote for the one in the Sal Forest. Which meeeans... we're tied. Which means I can't really update until we get a tie breaker. But update I will! When we get a tie breaker.

I vote for the Sal Forest spirit. (The one Yasumi found seems to be definitely physically there, not a weightless ghost.)

Alright, here's the update (and a few more to come)! As for who was creeping on Ayashiro last night, Syouko would have to say it was...



Ayashiro said that the ghost was transparent with long hair. The person Syouko saw had her hair tied up, but if it were let down, it would be quite long, right? Syouko quietly muses on this for a moment before Yasumi interrupts her thoughts.

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai...?
Syouko: Eh?
Momoko: What's wrong? Do you have a clue as to who the culprit is?
Syouko: Th-that's not it...

Why did I act surprised, as if they were accusing me of being the culprit? I suddenly blushed and I put the palm of my hand to my face to cool it down and hide.



Psh, who are you to talk, Momoko? You couldn't even figure out a simple movie reference. Hell, I knew what the monk was talking about and I've never even seen the movie. Syouko is almost as defensive as I am, insisting that she really doesn't know who it might have been.

Momoko: Oh my! This seems like a tough matter to resolve.

She shrugs her shoulders and heads out toward the hall. Might as well get the opinion of an expert, right? The other girl are confused by her comment.



Whoo, Sensei CG! Of course, Momoko isn't talking about Aoi-sensei. She points out that there's someone here who's job it is to help those who can't move on: monk Yuukai.

Though Aoi-sensei wasn't there, the monk was nodding his head as he watched the program. It was probably his daily routine.

Syouko: Good morning.
Yuukai: Ah, good morning!
Reporter: Unasaka will most like have clear skies today.



Reporter: Though there aren't any indications of it right not, in the coming days, there's a possibility of heavy rain and strong winds. So it might be a good time to repair any leaking roofs and prepare emergency supplies in the next few days.

Something in the report immediately sounds strange to the girls. Well, most of them. Yasumi's still a little sleepy, so Momoko has to spell it out for her: why prepare for a storm when there's no sign of one? Yasumi's a bit embarrassed to have missed that, but Syouko shrugs it off as morning grogginess. Just then, Aoi-sensei steps into the room.

Aoi: Good morning.
Everyone: Good morning!
Aoi: Good morning to you, too, Suzuki-san.
Yuukai: Hanako-san, too. It looks like you've slept well.
Momoko: Sensei, it seems there's something strange about the weather.

Aoi sighs. Before the trip she had checked the weather forecast for this week and it didn't say anything about a storm.



Aoi: I wonder if someone climbed up the mountain back there.
Syouko: Eh----?

My left hand trembled as if she were directing that statement at me.

The sprite actually fades out here, which is a simple but nice effect. Anyway...

Syouko: Aoi-sensei, what do you mean by that?
Aoi: Ah, it's nothing to worry about. It's just something like a jinx.

Aoi-sensei said it was a custom from northern places like Aomori and Akita, so it's not readily applicable to places in the south, such as Unasaka.

Aoi: On the tsubaki-filled mountain, a goddess said to be a tsubaki incarnation or tsubaki deity is worshiped. Climbing that mountain is taboo.



Aoi: It's said that immediately, there will be raging wind, torrents of rains, and the sea will become rough.
Momoko: My, my, that's quite a hysterical goddess.

That comment which implied a disbelief in the god caused Aoi-sensei to give a slightly strained smile.

Aoi: There's a place where you're never allowed to climb the mountain no matter the time. It's a completely forbidden land... Well, at a certain place, the people make a pilgrimage to the shrine after the autumn harvest and do such things as gather hay. At a different place, it's said that if an outsider or traveler climbs up, a storm will occur so you definitely can't go up there. The tsubaki were planted as a windbreak forest but there will be a lot of damage if they're uprooted, so maybe that's related? Ah, but the mountain here is full of summer tsubaki, not tsubaki, so there's no connection.

Good lord, Aoi-sensei, when you start going you really get going, don't you? Anyway, Syouko immediately thinks of the exception to the rule: the Tokosaki no Tsuaki (Ever-blooming Camellia). Of course, that just sets Aoi off on the stories surrounding the Tokosaki no Tsubaki.

Aoi: The Tokosaki no Tsubaki's also been called Kurou-sama's wife. Planted by Yasuhime-sama, it has a deep connection to him.
Momoko: Yasuhime-sama?



Of course, Momoko immediately thinks of Yasumi.

Aoi: Akita-san, I'm not talking about Aizawa-san.

If you've ever read Rumiko Takahashi's Mermaid Saga then you know that eating the flesh of a mermaid can make one immortal. I'm sure there are a lot of stories dealing with it, but that's where I first read about it. Aoi-sensei begins thinking aloud about how Yasuhime's name is read after she explains that bit, leaving Syouko to explain the rest in narration.

Anyways, it's said that Yasuhime-sama was searching for Kurou-sama and crossed from Unasaka ro Urishima. Hence, Yasuhime-sama is seen as the messenger of Kurou-sama. They're also viewed as a couple and regarded as mythological figures nowadays.

Aoi-sensei is pretty upset to hear about this storm, especially since the locals all seem to be well aware it happens every year, yet she missed it when she was researching the trip. She asks Yuukai things such as when the festival is and what size the storm might be. Turns out the festival stretches over the course of four days, but the size of the storm differs every year. If nothing else, the sea will certainly be rough on the last day of Kurou-sama's festival.

Sensei let out a big sigh. She pushed up her glasses and looked up. Perhaps her mood changed a bit since her expression was firm and looked like that of an instructor.

Aoi: Since we've come this far, safety comes first, both as an adviser, and as a teacher.
Syouko: In other words, you think we should end the training camp early?

It may sound a little extreme, but I have to commend Aoi on her leadership and professionalism when considering the welfare of her students. It also leads to another choice, but I'm just gonna skip voting on it. The only reason is because it wouldn't make much of a vote.



The first choice leads an early end. Syouko lives, so it's alright, but nothing happens and the game ends. Pretty boring, if you ask me. So instead Syouko argues that they ought to stay at Unasaka.

Syouko: I can't accept that we're going to go home when there's not a cloud in the sky just because the weather might be dangerous.

Yes. It's not that I was against going home early. I just disliked that there wasn't an acceptable reason for doing so. It's not like I doubted the monk. It's just I felt like we'd been tricked if we went home with no indication f bad weather. I just couldn't cancel the training camp early because of something that was as unpredictable as the weather. First, even if the room fee was dirt cheap, we'd spent a lot of time and money on transportation to come all the way to Unasaka.

Aoi: Well, it's true that if you yourself haven't experienced something, it's hard to get a feeling for what it's like.



Oh, Momoko. You so cute sometimes.

Since they've decided to syat for a few more days, Momoko decides this is the perfect opportunity to ask the monk about the ghost Ayashiro saw.



Of course, this catches both Yuukai's and Aoi's attention.

Syouko: Yes, we wanted to ask the monk's opinion about that...

They explain the situation. Syouko wonders aloud if it might be Yasuhime's ghost, since they were just talking about her. Ayashiro asks if Yasuhime had long hair like the ghost she saw last night. With a cheeky smile, Momoko suggests that she was bald, since she was a nun, but Yuukai says



Momoko: Eh?! So it really IS the curse of Yasuhime-sama?

I thought that if there were really a curse it should've hit me, who went to the Sal Forest and met the Tsubaki Spirit.

Momoko: But why Hime-sempai?

Really. Why was it her?

Oooh, you gettin' jealous Syouko?

Syouko: Maybe it's because Momoko kept saying "Hime-sempai" and the ghost came to take a look at Ayashiro's face?
Ayashiro: So it's Momoko-chan's fault...
Momoko: That's an unjust accusation!

Instead of trying to defend herself like a guilty person might, Momoko says with a smile

Momoko: Then, let's confirm it tonight!
Syouko: How?
Momoko: Isn't it true that ghosts will gather when scary stories are told?
Syouko: Because we're talking about them?
Ayashiro: I've... heard of that before...
Syouko: So you want everyone to gather and tell scary stories, right?
Momoko: Don't tests of courage and training camps go together?
Syouko: Is that so?
Ayashiro: We also did that last year on campus.

Momoko's smug expression makes me smile and shake my head at the same time.

Momoko: As a precaution, I've borrowed that wooden sword from the monk.
Syouko: You mean Kumouchi...

Syouko remembers how she thought it might've helped to have Kumouchi if she found a ghost while walking past the graveyard last night.

Syouko: That's fine, but...
Momoko: Yes?
Syouko: If the ghost is really Yasuhime-sama, then the virtue of that wooden sword wouldn't have any effect, right?

Since she was a nun and whatnot. Momoko completely forgot about that, as expected.



Her embarrassed face is pretty cute, too.



I was so proud when I saw this shot, you guys. Probably a lot more proud than I should have been, but whatever.

Syouko: Well, I guess it's okay then...

Though if Yasuhime-sama were an ally, then there was no reason at all to verify the curse.

Damnit, Syouko. You're having a test of courage and that's that. Anyway, that concludes the early part of the morning.

Next update: TRAINING.

I just realized something -- I have no idea what Ayashiro looks like, since you've not once shown a picture of her talking (that I can recall). Though I suppose there might be something back in the first update...

She's the one standing next to Momoko in the "By the way Momoko" picture at the top of the post above yours.

Wait, wut? Seriously? ALL THIS TIME I THOUGHT THAT WAS SYOUKO. D:

Syouko has shorter hair. :) There's some shots of her on the first page but since she's protag-chan she's not on screen much, only in CGs...

Okay, I think I've got it, but just to be clear.
It's...



...like that, right? DAMMIT BRAIN Y U NO GET THIS STRAIGHT THE FIRST TIME ARRRGH

That would be it. Sorry about that XD For further clarification...

Ayashiro's nickname is Hime since she she's so classy and spoiled. Momoko calls her Hime-sempai.
Syouko is called Osa, which comes from her last name (Osanai).
Yasumi is Zawacchi, Momoko's petname for her. Based on her last name (Aizawa).

If there's anything else you're not clear on (or anyone, for that matter), lemme know :)

EDIT: And Syouko will be in a CG in the next update (a scene where Ayashiro and Yasumi are absent). So... yeah. There's that :D

I am le derp. also struck with inspiration and working on a fanart for this lp.

I can't wait :D

A-welp. Here you go, a fanart of questionable quality done with my laptop mouse pad in windows paint, as per what is quickly becoming my signature style.