Chaper 2: Negative Party Outcome
I sat down on Mystias stand and the night sparrow smiled happily at me as she continued to clean glasses. Nanatsu sat down aside me, greeting Mystia after such a long time. Mystia smiled at us. "You´re throwing yet another party? I have recently heard that you just had two.", snickered Mystia as she put the glass aside, looking for the grilled lamprey she was preparing in high ammount.
"Yep. Though one of them wasn´t a real party, more a night I spend with some friends after an exhausting battle.", I smiled. It was true, the party at Kaguyas hadn´t really been a party. "So you thought you come to me, and prepare a big party~!", hummed Mystia, breaking out in another song. I smiled and nodded.
Indeed, when I ran into Mystia on my way home from Akyuus, I told her of my idea to throw a big party at her stand. Mystia was more than happy and agreed. And here we were, waiting for the guests to arrive. "I wonder when the first guests will arrive...", muttered Suika.
Both Nanatsu and I sweatdropped as Suika suddenly sat next to me, looking all down. I even know why she was so down... she was waiting for the party to begin. And if she waited for a party, knowing it hadn´t started yet, Suika was all sad. Mystia smiled and served the Oni a grilled lamprey, which Suika happily accepted.
I had already paid for the food... I don´t remember why or how, but I found a wallet in a hidden pocket in my shirt after Mokou ripped it, and the wallet was full with money... Before I had vanished for threehundred years, I got a lot of money from somewhere. But I don´t care at the moment. All that mattered now, was to ask Suika that very important question.
"Say... Suika...", I began. The oni looked up at me, her face flushed from all the sake she´d been drinking. Seriously, Suika Ibuki doesn´t ever sober up. If she should... run. "I need to ask a friend of yours something very special. But I have only heard about your friend, and would like to know where I can find her."
I didn´t need to turn around to know that Nanatsu was giving me a sceptical look. "Friend? I have many friends!", asked Suika. I almost fell off my stool in a comedic way. "Let´s see... there´s Yukari, but you won´t mean her, you know her yourself... uhm.. Then there is that celestial which is my neighbour in heaven... nah, you won´t mean her...", Suika trailed off, counting a few more friends on her fingers.
"Celestial? What Celestial? Akyuu couldn´t have ment her, could she?" Suika didn´t even bother that my thoughts were audible, she was to busy to count her friends, and Nana hadn´t noticed, she was talking with Mystia.
"Then there´s my fellow deva Konngara, but you won´t mean her, heck, I don´t know where she is since she was beaten by Reimu... said she´d train somewhere. And then there is Reimu, but you know her, so it isn´t her..." Seriously, was there a person in all Gensokyo Suika didn´t count as her friend? Probably she does mistake 'friend' for 'one that I have partied with'...
"And there is Yuugi Hoshiguma, my fellow deva living at the place all Oni and other beings who were shunned by humans have retreated..." "JACKPOT!" "That´s her, Suika, I mean Yuugi.", I grinned. Suika glanced at me. "Ya wanna meet Yuugi?", grinned Suika back. "You´re not her type..." I fell off my stool in a comedic way. Nanatsu send Suika an unbelieving glance.
Quickly, I sat back onto my stool. "I don´t wanna date her or something! I need to ask her an important question, so where can I find her? Where is the place all shunned youkai retreat to?", I asked Suika a little annoyed. "Where lives who?" This was going nowhere, was it? "It´s the underground, Chô.", replied Nana all of sudden, and I turned around to her, ignoring Suikas cry of "Ya wanna meet Yuugi? You´re not her type."
"Underground, you say?", I asked Nana. Nanatsu nodded. "Sure. It´s at the foot of Youkai mountain, there´s a cave which serves at the entrance to it." "Youkai mountain? Foot? Cave? Why does this sound familiar?" I never got to think further, however. "Hey ladies... Am I early?", chuckled a certain angel of death as she plopped down next to Suika.
"Hey Rumia.", greeted my wife somewhat casually. Uh-oh, I swear I feel the dark clouds coming, the dark aura growing, and all my problems of finding Yuugi Hoshiguma so she can tell me where Akyuus friend lives were completely forgotten... Rumia and Nanatsu hadn´t met since before the certain event in which Rumia kissed me...
"How's it going?", asked Nanatsu casually, yet not looking over to Rumia. Instead, Nanatsu drunk her sake and looked straight forwards at Mystia. "Oh, you know. The usual. Did stuff for Enma-sama. Gathered some unfortunate souls who tried to evade their fate.", replied Rumia, actually doing the same.
I shared a glance with Suika. Suddenly, the oni jumped off her stool. "I´m gonna look for the guests. Rumia, why don´t you take my place? You look pretty lonely over there~!", sung Suika. I paled. She was enjoying being sadistically to me now as well? How did I deserve this? Suika jumped backwards and used her ability of manipulating density to become mist, which slowly flew away.
Rumia sat down onto the stool aside me, and returned to drinking her sake and staring at Mystia. I sweatdropped. "Yeah, Enma-sama is in the middle of a bunch of work. But guessing from her eagerness and her motivation, she´ll finish it quickly. I guess there´s a war going on in the outside, as quite some souls are send to her.", informed Nanatsu, still not looking at Rumia.
That feeling of tension in the air increased. Mystia looked rather disbelieving at me. "What did you do, Chô~, they´re growling so~?", sung Mystia silently as she leaned closer. "Oh, he didn´t do anything at all.", replied Rumia and Nanatsu in synchro. Mystia sweatdropped. And I flinched and tightened up, slowly getting the feeling of being so small... Literally. I had my head pulled in.
"So, Rumia..." As I heard Nanatsu saying that, I knew she was going to drop the bomb. "...I heard you go around and kiss random married man?" I fell off my stool backwards, but not accidently, rather to search shelter somewhere. Mystia ducked behind the counter as well. What worse was going to happen than the Angel of Death No. 42 and the shinigami of seven sins fighting?
"Hello~! I heard my student throws a party~?" I paled. This time, I was dead. Without doubt. Emerging from the tree line was a woman which hadn´t appeared since a long long time, since months to be exact. And exactly at this time, she had to receive the message of me having a party... Fate was really cruel to me.
Rumia and Nanatsu tensed up, then turned around on their stools in synchro, glaring at the newcomer. The newcomer bowed down, about to introduce herself. Shadows (Though it could´ve been the dark aura emitting from Rumia and Nanatsu) covered Rumias and Nanatsus eyes, yet they glowed in the darkness. Also, the wind picked up. I began to crawl away backwards reaaaaally slowly as the tall woman opened her mouth to introduce herself. "I am Ryoko Jigoku." And as fate wanted it, there was suddenly a tree behind me, blocking my escape.
A while later, the party was in full swing. Looking over the clearing the stand stood on, I saw for example the Yakumo Family and Reimu, Marisa and Alice, the netherworld dwellers Yuyuko and Youmu, as well as the SDM inhabitants. Even Patchy came~! How rare! Well, Koakuma mentioned that Patchouli liked grilled lamprey very much, so it was an explanation why the shut-in of 500 years isolation came out.
Team (9) (I called them that since I saw the paper back in the pub), missing Rumia and Mystia of course, was dancing wildly, the Eientei guys came as well, and even Mokou and Keine were around here somewhere, avoiding Kaguya at all costs.
Mima and Yuuka were here as well. I guess they didn´t kid when they said they were rivals and yet somewhat friends, in the last few days, I´ve seen them quite often together. Sometimes, I also heard from villagers that they saw some beautiful, yet insane woman without legs (some say they saw legs) fighting against the beautiful flower devil. Without a doubt, Mima and Yuuka going at it. And I don´t mean making out.
Well, at the moment they were friendly again, sipping sake together and talking about someone named 'Shinki'. I swear I heard that name before... wasn´t that the goddess of Makai? They knew her personally? And I overhead Mima saying she was maybe going to live with Yuuka at the Garden of the Sun for a while. Would be to Reimus advantage, because I overheard her complaining about "grandma Hakurei being troublesome all day since Chôzen moved out."
Hm... Well, who was here also? Oh, the prismrivers. Sly was runnin' around here as well, listening to rumors. Oh, and that girl with the grey-greenish hair from the "party" at Eientei was also here. And I swear I have seen Letty Whiterock... though she stayed away from me.
Lily White flew around too, declaring that she couldn´t await next years spring... well, it was summer after all. But she also stayed away from me. Possibly because of my current situation. I myself would´ve made a large circle around someone if he had been in my current situation.
I really would like to drink some sake as well... but it was hard, hanging upside down from a tree, bound with a rope. "Come on girls, cut me off... It´s my party and I wanna have some fun~!", I whined. "Fun? You mean flirting again?" I flinched when Nana said that. She sat on the ground to my left, drinking her sake.
"Or possibly marrying girls and later regretting it, huh?" Oh, low blow there, Rumia! I looked shocked at the angel of death to my right. "I-I never said that! I wasn´t going to leave you, Nana! I do not regret to marry you, you´re the best that had happened to me! Believe me! Don´t get her wrong!", I said as I squirmed.
Ryoko, hanging in the same state as me, to my right, snickered. "I don´t know what the hell I have done to hang here, but you really have some cool friends, I must say!", snickered Ryoko. She liked this? She wasn´t a masochist... did she get the wrong idea? Did she think this was a game?
A-And why was Nanatsu tightening her fist so much? If she doesn´t stop it will... Too late. The cup broke into thousands of shards. "Oh, Yuuka~!", sung Nanatsu all of sudden with a way to sweet voice. Yuuka Kazami looked over. "Have you ever heard of these festivals form the outside? They´re called fiestas...!"
What was she up too, telling Yuuka of Fiestas? "Do you know what a pinata is?", grinned Nana. Yuuka seemed confused and looked over at me, but then suddenly, she had that sadistic smile and came towards us.
"Pinatas? There are no pinatas here... And even so, where would Nana hang th... OH SHIT!" I began to squirm as I realised that there were pinatas. Living pinatas. Two of them. One was next to me, smirking. The other... was struggling madly as Yuuka came closer. "Y-Yuuka! P-Put that umbrella away!" "We´re screwed...", muttered that voice in my head. "For once, I agree with ya, buddy..."
A few minutes later, I was moving like mad, avoiding an umbrella."This game is fun!", exclaimed Yuuka. I whined, thinking this couldn´t get any worser... But I was wrong again. "What game? Can I play, too?" I knew that voice. And my face lost the last color it had. Yuuka stepped aside and looked at the little blonde girl with the big metal rod. "Sure." "Noooooo Flan, please not!"
And yet, as beaten up as I was that night, and no matter how angry Nana had been... she slept aside me in our bed that night. I didn´t have to sleep on the couch or something...
Name: Ryoko Jigoku (Ryoko Hell)
Species: Youkai / Yami no Youkai
Age: Unknown, tenthousands of years
Ability: Manipulation of Darkness
Occupation: Former Queen of Night-Youkai
Location: Forest of Magic
Description:
Black hair with red highlights, pale skin, dark black eyes with crimson lines. Wears black shirt and black pants with crimson lines on them. Has black nails. Two scarlet belts around one leg. Barefoot. Has canine fangs. Also has six crimson wings on her back. In the middle of her forehead is a painted crimson eye. Has jewels on her the back of her hands and her feets that look like red eyes. Has a heavy crimson chain wrapped around her slim stomach. Around her right wrist is a heavy bracelet with another chain attached onto it. That chain has a metal glove on it´s end. Is about 2,10m tall.
Personality:
Ryoko is quite a careless youkai, though she was depressive for a long time, going as far as having suicidal thoughts, however, after meeting Chôzen Gekido, she has easened up and regained new vitality. She is known to be ferocious and feral if she wants to, but is a mostly peaceful youkai. She has, however, a twisted sense of what is fun and what not...
Relationships:
Chôzen Gekido: Friend, student
Rumia Shisô: Old Friend, once an enemy
Current Spellcards:
Unknown