"Hikki… what… why… where have you been?!" Yuigahama Yui cried out after confirming that I was indeed me. Her face was mix of frustration and relief that left me feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Faced with this situation, I honestly wasn't sure what to say in my defense. Despite having several days to do so, I hadn't even tried to think of a cover story for myself. I was busy! Sue me! Gee, it sure would be nice if my power acted up now and saved me from this awkward conversation by sending me to Gensokyo… No? Nothing? Terrific. If there was any blessing in this situation, it was that Yuigahama brought her dog with her. Suika was occupied with playing with the dog, meaning she couldn't make this situation any worse than it already was. Shit… I just jinxed it, didn't I? Better keep her in my peripherals. Just in case.
"I'm not actually sure what to say right now." I decided to go with blunt honesty. It had little to do with believing it to be the best approach, and more to do with a lack of better ideas or time to think of any. Even I needed time to come up with a good lie. I would have settled for a bad lie as well, but I didn't even have that much. "I could just tell you the truth, but it's so ridiculous that I would actually think less of you if you believed me," I said wryly while watching Suika play with her intellectual equal.
"Ehh~? Why would you think less of me for believing you?! That's so mean!" Yuigahama pouted, completely missing the point of what I was actually telling her. Please try to keep up, Yuigahama. This is hard enough as it is. "Come on, tell me! Tell me!" She stomped her foot and screwed her face into what I'm sure she thought was a glare, but even that display was too much to maintain as her expression quickly melted away into one of trepidation. "And um… Who is that, Hikki?" She pointed nervously at Suika with her eyes fixed on her horns, while Suika was lying on the ground with Yuigahama's dog hopping on her chest. Confusion was an understandable reaction on Yuigahama's part, although I'm surprised she was so focused on the horns. Her outfit deserved just as much ridicule as the rest of her. Honestly, what was with the chains and shapes?
"That's… Well, she falls under the 'ridiculous' part of the story," I said in lieu of explaining. And wasn't that an understatement? "I don't suppose you'd buy cosplay as an excuse?" I asked without actually expecting anything. They were pretty obviously not fake no matter how you looked at them. Yuigahama's eyes widened in shock.
"Huh…? You mean they're real?!" She exclaimed. Damn it! I overestimated Yuigahama's observational skills! This situation was bad enough without shooting myself in the foot, so why did I insist on doing it anyways? "Hikki…" Yuigahama tentatively started after noticing my panic. "It's… You… I don't know what's going on!" She started out softly but quickly lost patience and snapped at me. "I don't know what's going on… but if you need help, then I'll help you. So quit trying to keep it to yourself and let me help you!" I guiltily averted my eyes from the frustrated tears in her eyes. Her emotional attacks had only become more potent after opening up to the service club that day. Now she knew exactly where to hit for critical damage.
"I… Look, this isn't something you can help wi- Oi, Suika! Knock it off already!" I snapped in Suika's direction. My diligence towards her had paid off in the end. Sure, my train of thought was now completely derailed, but that was a small price to pay for stopping her shenanigans in the early stages. Suika jumped from my shout before hiding her gourd behind her back and whistling unconvincingly, as if I hadn't just caught her in the act of trying to get Yuigahama's dog to take a drink of sake. I glared for a moment longer to illustrate that I was watching her before turning back to Yuigahama, who was now staring intensely at me. "What?" I asked, prompting Yuigahama to shake herself out of her stupor.
"…Nothing." She said unconvincingly. My father warned me on the danger of girls saying nothing is wrong when prompted, but he never taught me how to confront the issue. Even worse, I had no choice but to let the issue lie, lest I invite further rebuke towards my own subject dodging. "So her name is Suika?" She asked rhetorically. "Where did you meet- No, I mean, how long have you guys known each other? I don't think you've ever talked about her before, so…" Yuigahama seemed as unsure what to ask about as I was about how to explain. Good to know I wasn't alone in my confusion. I suppose this was a safe question, so I decided to answer honestly.
"Just a couple of days. I met her while…" I trailed off. Hm. I suppose I can't just say 'while I was drinking,' can I? So much for a safe question. "…I was at a food stand. We talked a bit and now she's following me around." Yuigahama seemed completely unimpressed with my obvious omission of the truth. I was equally unimpressed with it myself. Alright, well, I was already sick of this. I decided to leave it as another problem for future Hachiman to deal with. Sucks to be that guy. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you everything later, alright? Now is a really bad time. Give me some time to think about how to talk about it." I nearly begged, even though such an act was clearly beneath me. To my utter relief, Yuigahama's face lit up in satisfaction. Good, I wouldn't need to go from 'nearly begging' to 'actually begging.'
"Stupid Hikki… You should have just said that from the beginning." She pouted, but the corners of her lips pulling up betrayed her true feelings. Nobody could accuse Yuigahama of being hard to read. She eyed my school uniform for a moment before immediately brightening. "Hey, let's go to school together! Ah, but I have to drop Sable off at home first…" She mumbled, seemingly losing her nerve immediately. Nice save. In a normal situation, you might have accidentally committed yourself to the unfortunate fate of being seen walking to school with me. Nice to see Yuigahama was finally learning some self-awareness.
"I'm not going to school today," I bluntly stated. "Suika is an absolute disaster of a person, so I'm not letting her out of my sights." I shuddered at the thought of what kind of hell she would raise if left alone in a heavily populated area like Chiba. I could see it now… It would all start with being arrested for underaged drinking and snowball from there when the nice officer tries to confiscate her gourd. There would be anarchy in the streets.
"Um… Hikki?" Yuigahama hesitantly spoke up, breaking me out of my thoughts as nervously pointed over my shoulder in Suika's direction. It was about that time that I realized I had taken my attention off of her for more than a couple of seconds. You know, like an idiot. I took a deep breath and resolved myself as I turned to deal with her latest bit of chaos… only to be greeted by the sight of Yuigahama's dog sitting patiently and staring me in the eyes. Its' tail thumped the ground slightly when it saw that I was looking. Sadly, Suika was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah. Well. That's… Hm." I floundered as I stared into the unoccupied patch of air, feeling the remainder of my hopes and dreams for an easy day slip through my grasp. I mentally slapped myself and bolted down the path into town. "Gotta go. Every second counts. Later, Yui!" I shouted frantically over my shoulder as I sprinted down the pavement.
"Y-Yui?!" I heard her shriek in embarrassment as I turned the corner out of the park without pausing. Great, now I would have to apologize for slipping and being overly familiar with her later. Gensokyo's loose standards for familiarity were rubbing off on me. I shoved those thoughts away and focused entirely on the current situation. Knowing Suika, she would be seeking the nearest source of alcohol. With that in mind, the logical choice would be for me to check the bars while asking around in case anyone else spotted her. With an appearance like that, it couldn't be that hard to find her.
I sighed dejectedly as I passed yet another closed bar. I hadn't factored the time of day into my plan. Only the seedy bars would be open at this time of day, and I hadn't the foggiest idea of how to find one. Maybe if someone hadn't stolen my phone, I could have tried searching for them online… Not that it would have done me any good in the first place. Trying to locate a hard-to-find bar defeats the whole purpose. If I, a local, have no luck finding this place without resorting to online searches, then what are the chances of a fish out of water like Suika finding it? Well, assuming she doesn't have supernatural means of finding it. I wasn't writing that possibility off, but I refused to build a plan around something that idiotic.
The streak of bad luck continued straight into the other part of my plan as well. The only people walking around at this time of day were the poor corporate slaves making their way into the office. Now, you may be wondering why this is a problem. Let me ask you this. Have you ever tried asking a no-nonsense man in a suit if he's seen a little girl with horns and chains drunkenly stumbling around? I assure you, it's not easy to do. It's even worse when you make Charisma your dump stat like I did. Everyone I tried asking so far just kept walking without looking twice at the suspicious character they no doubt saw me as.
And so, just like that, I was out of ideas right from the get-go. What was with my plans and immediately falling apart today? With that plan scrapped, I didn't even have enough material to work with to form a plan B. The problem was a fundamental lack of understanding. While I would begrudgingly admit that Suika and I had been getting along, I didn't actually know much about her. Certainly not enough to guess her next move like some evil mastermind out of a cartoon. Grimacing, I resolved myself to fruitlessly asking around in the hopes that someone had seen her. Maybe I could tell the police there was a lost child? Ugh, no, the whole point is I'm trying to keep the police away from her.
"Hikki! There you are!" Yuigahama's voice rang out from down the block, snapping me out of my thoughts. I stood in place as she caught up to me, where she proceeded to hunch over with both hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Finally, she raised her head and glared ineffectively at me. "I finally found you! I can't believe you ignored my calls!" I opened my mouth to respond and was immediately cut off. "Don't you dare say your phone was turned off. Komachi already told me you always keep it on in case she calls you." Betrayed by my own sister! Unbelievable! No, wait, that's pretty much the norm. Komachi is lucky she's so cute.
"What are you even doing here?" I asked stupefied. Yuigahama sighed and rolled her eyes. Kids these days. No respect, I tell you!
"I'm here to help you, stupid. I mean, you looked so freaked out before! What kind of friend would I be if I just left you alone?" As someone without friends, you really shouldn't be asking me. She looked away and twirled a strand of hair with her finger. "I'm sorry… It's all my fault she wandered off. You must be so worried about her…" She trailed off. Sorry, but you've got it completely backwards. I'm worried about everyone else around her.
"No, I pretty much expected she would do something like this. Anyways, shouldn't you be in class right now?" I tried. She sighed and rolled her eyes again. Yes, I suppose it was a long shot appealing to Yuigahama's scholarly side.
"Shouldn't you?" She fired back. Well, she had me there. More importantly, when did Yuigahama get this sassy? Was this a consequence of hanging out with Yukinoshita too long? If I was facing the possibility of two Yukinoshita's in the service club, then maybe I should just stay in Gensokyo. Faced with Yuigahama's stubborn nosiness, I felt my resolve crumble. I slouched over and sighed in resignation.
"Fine, fine. If you're so dead set on helping me, then I'll put you to work. You better not slack off." I sighed. Yuigahama snapped off a sloppy salute with a happy grin. That's a good attitude, soldier. In that case, let's use this as a learning opportunity. I'll have her ask around while I supervise her efforts. This experience with lazy management will prepare her for the brutal reality of life as a wage slave. Never let it be said that I'm not a generous friend. If you think about it, then I'm actually helping her more than she's helping me. Well, I won't hold it against her.
"So… Do we have any clues where she could be?" Yuigahama spoke up from my side as we aimlessly walked down the row of stores just beginning to open for business. "We could call her… Do you know her phone number?" She asked with the kind of voice of someone that already knows the answer but feels the need to ask anyways. Even if she did have a phone, why on earth would I have her number?
"Not a clue. I thought she might be at a bar, but nobody is open right now. The only thing I can think of is to ask around if anyone has seen her. No luck so far." I admitted, letting some of my frustration leak out. How hard could it possibly be to find an oni in my hometown? Suika was quite literally the least subtle person I had ever met in my life.
"Mmm… That's a shame. I wanted to ask Yukinon for help, but I don't want to get her in trouble with her family for skipping class…" Yuigahama sighed. Obviously. Good kids don't skip class, Yuigahama. It's not too late to turn away from the delinquent lifestyle, you know. "Wait. Why would she be at a bar? Isn't she like twelve?" She asked.
"Well… she's older than she looks. I told you it was complicated." I pointed out. Thankfully, Yuigahama took my words at face value this time.
"Ehh, so that's how it is… Still, wouldn't everyone else see her as a kid? I don't think they'd even let her into a bar. They're pretty strict about that stuff." She pointed out. What a reasonable conclusion. Why is it that I needed Yuigahama to point this out to me? I must be losing my touch.
"I guess not. That doesn't really help us, though. Besides rampant alcoholism, I don't actually know anything about her. I can't think of anywhere else she'd want to- Ah." My voice leaked out at the end as a thought popped into my head. That's right, she did say she wanted to go somewhere… but that's so stupid! Wait. "Right, I forgot I was dealing with an idiot." I mumbled. Trying to use logic and common sense was the exact opposite of what I should be doing here. "Alright, I think I know where she is. Let's go." I stated and quickly walked off without waiting for a response. The place was only a few blocks away from where we were standing. I couldn't hear police sirens, so it must not be too late yet.
"Eh- Hikki!" Yuigahama scrambled to keep up with me. "Where are we going?" She asked after several quiet moments, only to receive an answer in the form of stopping in front of a building and pointing at a sign. "Saizeriya? Oh, are you hungry? Come on, this isn't the time for that! Didn't you say every second counts?" She questioned. I gazed at her with pity in my eyes before entering the restaurant, completely ignoring the angry complaints thrown at my back. I glanced around a bit and immediately knew I was in the right place. I couldn't see her, but there was no need to in the first place. The way every last customer was craning their heads in the same direction and whispering to each other under their breath told me all I needed to know. Without hesitation, I walked in the direction of the disturbance.
"-need to pay for that, miss!" Snippets of a conversation reached me as I drew close to the soda fountain. I shoved my way through the ring of gawking bystanders and was greeted to the sight of Suika holding down the dispense button on several different drinks on the machine. Her eyes were practically sparkling as the various drinks poured endlessly and overflowed onto the ground and a poor employee's shoes. Steeling my heart, I approached her uncaring of the bystander's gazes and the quickly spreading puddle. She noticed my arrival just as I was within arms reach of her.
"Hachiman! Hachiman!" Suika looked up at me with wonder and glee in her eyes. "This place is amazing! Look, they've got infinite drinks too! How do they do it? Yukarin said the Outside doesn't have magic and the employees won't tell me! These aren't alcohol, though… Hey, do they have any with alcohol? My gourd only does sake! Can we find one with bourbon? I wanna try it! Let's go find one! Come on!" The questions and requests spilled out of her mouth as endlessly as the booze from her gourd. Finally, I had enough and decided to take a page out of Ran's book and lift her up by the back of her neck. She went completely limp as if she was an unruly kitten, but her endless chatter never paused once. Prize in hand, I hastily made my way out of the restaurant with nothing but an apologetic nod to the employees and some sticky shoes for my troubles. Whatever Suika got up to, I needed to get away before they snapped out of their stupor and made me pay for it.
"At least tell me you didn't break anything." I begged her as we made our escape through the front entrance. Yuigahama remained silent as I conducted my interrogation. Tellingly, she refused to make eye contact. From someone who refused to lie, this was as good as a confession. I sighed heavily and set her back on her feet. "Fine, then don't tell me anything. I only have to deal with it if I actually know about it." Suika just nodded wisely as she stroked her imaginary beard with her fingers. I glanced over at Yuigahama with half-lidded eyes, who had done nothing but stare at Suika since leaving Saize. "Satisfied? If you leave now, you probably won't be too late for class." I pointed out. That snapped her out of her stupor long enough to send another harmless glare at me. Thankfully that was one skill she had yet to learn from Yukinoshita.
"I'm not going to school unless you're going!" She folded her arms and looked away. I was hoping this bout of insanity would have scared her off. I know I certainly would have left by now. "So? What's it gonna be?" She gave her ultimatum. Suika looked amused at the byplay but elected to say nothing. Filthy traitor.
"Not happening. As I have just demonstrated, Suika is not to be left alone under any circumstance. I'm dragging her to my house and squeezing some answers out of her," I denied her. "Stop being an idiot. There's nothing you can help me with right now. Just go to school and forget about this. I'll tell you about it later." I pleaded. Unfortunately, Yuigahama only became more stubborn as I talked.
"Yeah, like I'm believing that! You wouldn't tell me even if you were in trouble, so I don't have a choice but to stay either way," She pouted.
"I'm not-! Listen, it's complicated!" I tried again, but Yuigahama was having none of it. Suika, quit snickering over there!
"You already said that! If it's complicated, then explain it to me! Do you think I'm too stupid to help you? Is that it?" She raised her voice. I dragged my hand down my face in frustration.
"No," I grit out. "It doesn't matter! It's just not something that…" My words were stolen away by the sight across the street. Yui noticed my distraction and followed my gaze, only to freeze in place as well. On a familiar bike, there was someone with a very familiar body riding the bike with an even more familiar little sister riding on the back with her head turned away from us. However, the rider was not looking away. The rider wearing my face was looking at us with an absolutely dumbfounded look, but they managed to tear their gaze away to focus on their riding. I couldn't blame them for prioritizing Komachi's safety. Extra points on that impersonation of me.
"Huh," Suika spoke up in the heavy silence. "Looks like Ran got a head start." Way to state the obvious, Suika.
"Yeah. Looks like it." I nodded dumbly, taking a moment to look for the silver lining. "Guess that means we can head to my house then. There shouldn't be anyone else home. It's the middle of the week, so my parents probably didn't even come home last night." Those poor souls. Gensokyo didn't seem nearly as bad as the hell they were stuck in. "No, wait, that's no good… My neighbors might see 'me' coming back and get confused-"
"Why are you so calm about this?!" Yuigahama finally snapped out of it and delivered a timely tsukkomi. "Why did that person look like you? Wait!" She gasped and took a step back before pointing a finger at my face. "How do I know you're the real Hikki? Show me proof!" She demanded with narrowed eyes. I see. My apologies, Yuigahama. You leave me no other choice but to stamp this out before it escalates further. My idiocy quota for the day was reached several hours ago.
"For your birthday I gave you a collar for your dog as a present and you wore it thinking it was for you." I said flatly. Suika folded over laughing with both hands on her stomach as Yuigahama's face turned bright red.
"OK. I believe you. Please never mention this again," She squeaked. Huh, I thought for sure that would earn me a beating. Lucky break. "That still doesn't explain why you have a dopplerganger though," She spoke after taking a moment to calm herself down.
"It's doppelganger. Please pick up a book some time, I feel it would be beneficial to everyone who talks to you," I said dryly. Suika snickered while taking a drink, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes. "It pisses me off that you're the only one having fun here, Suika," I fired at her.
"Oh? I can give you a drink if you want!" She magnanimously offered the gourd to me. Tempting… but I'll have to pass. Yuigahama saved me from needing to deny the pushy oni.
"Hikki! I read too! Just because I'm not smart like you or Yukinon doesn't mean I'm a total failure!" She said with emphasis on 'total.' The fact she needed that qualifier in the first place spoke volumes. "And you're dodging the question again!" She accused.
"Yep. Sure am. Suika, we should probably get back to Gensokyo now. How do we do that?" I asked Suika, deciding to just ignore the problem of answering Yuigahama for now. She was already upset with me, so what was a little more? More importantly, I probably should deal with the actual life-threatening situation of not accidentally crossing over to somewhere dangerous in Gensokyo.
"We should be able to cross over at the Hakurei shrine on this side. I think there's other ways in, but that's the only one I know," Suika hummed. Alright, a clear and concise solution! We were finally getting somewhere.
"Fantastic. Where is that?" I asked with a budding hope. Suika just shrugged with a dumb look on her face. Great. Wonderful. Just perfect. This is what I get for having expectations, I guess.
"Hikki, what are you two talking about? What is 'Gensokyo?'" Yuigahama insistently made her presence clear. However, any further stalling for time on my part would have to wait, as Yuigahama's phone began to play some generic catchy pop song. She took her phone out of her skirt pocket and froze after looking at the screen. "Uhhhh," She eloquently stated before turning the phone towards me. The screen read 'Incoming call from Hikki.' Idly, I wondered if she would be less or more surprised if it was actually me calling her of my own volition. She shakily answered the call. "H-Hello?... Oh. Um. OK. I'll put you on speaker." She pressed a button and the familiar voice of Ran came through the speaker.
"-does that mean? Hello? Are you still there? What do you mean by 'speaker?' Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?" Ran was hitting us with rapid fire questions faster than anyone could reasonably be expected to answer.
"Um. Hey, Ran," I cut her off before she could continue. "That means we can all hear you," I explained, saving her from further embarrassment.
"I see… How useful!" She said with a 'so that's how it is' tone. Who knew Ran had a cute side? "More importantly, just what are you doing here, Hachiman?! I thought we reached an understanding about this! It's not safe for you to be here just yet!" And just like that, the cute side vanished completely as she switched straight to reprimand mode. I winced as Yui sent a glare with actual heat at me, likely for not mentioning that bit about it being unsafe for me to be here. I was getting to it! Probably! "Honestly… If you had simply told me you were that homesick, I would have been more than happy to escort you for a short visit. There's no need to sneak around behind my back like this, young man." I could practically see her wagging her finger at me on the other end. My ears were burning bright red while Suika wheezed with laughter.
"It's not like I planned on it! Last thing I remember I was drin- I mean, I was engaging in Suika's pastime of choice." Yuigahama had yet to stop glaring at me since the beginning of the call. In fact, her displeasure had only intensified at my near slip of the truth. "In fact, please blame her for this. She's been getting off way too easy in all this." I shamelessly shifted the blame. Rather than get angry, Suika actually seemed to agree with my judgment. "Wait, what are you doing here? I don't remember agreeing to Yukari's deal." I accused. Was this why Yukari stole my stuff? Admittedly that's less frightening than what I thought she was doing with my things, but still!
"Rest assured, Suika's impending punishment will be swift and merciless." Ran sharply stated, to Suika's apparent dismay. A weary and troubled sigh came through the phone afterwards. "As for this situation… I do apologize. I am here under Yukari-sama's orders. In her exact words, 'It will be funny whatever he decides, so let's just go ahead and get started now.' I fear she will only feel vindicated once she learns of today," She spoke in a near monotone. Stay strong, Ran!
"Ah, I see… Sorry about that." I apologized. For what, I didn't know. I just felt that someone needed to apologize to her, so it might as well be me. "Well… enough of that. Like I was saying, I don't know how we got here, but-" I was cut off by Suika shoving me away from the phone and speaking excitedly into the speaker.
"I know how we got here!" Suika chirped. Oh, this should be good. As expected, this was all Suika's fault. "We were partying all night at Reimu's and I was getting tired but Reimu wouldn't let me sleep in the shrine! Can you believe that?" After seeing your idea of bonding with her? Yes. Yes I can. "So then I made Hachiman carry me since he doesn't sleep anyways. Lucky guy, right? Too bad his sense of direction is terrible though, so he walked right through the border and then we were at a park, and then he dropped me on my head and fell asleep on the bench. Poor guy had way too much to drink. Some people just don't know their limits, ya know?" She said proudly and without shame. As expected, this was all my fault. I shamefully averted my eyes as Yuigahama's glare threatened to burn a hole in the back of my head. Meanwhile, Ran just gave an exasperated laugh.
"Yes, of course he just walked right through the Barrier. Accidentally. While heavily inebriated. And carrying a youkai. It's not as if the barrier was built specifically to prevent such a thing, or that it's an incredibly difficult process that even gods would balk at." Wow, I'm pretty amazing, huh? "I see now that training you will be a full-time job, Hachiman." She said with tired resignation.
"…I'll be in your care, Sensei?" I said half-jokingly. Ran was silent for so long that I wondered if she had hung up on us. I could hardly blame her if that was the case. I wanted to leave too. However, that was when I noticed she was quietly mumbling to herself on the other end.
"Sensei… Sensei… Yes, that has a nice ring to it… Ran-sensei…" She mumbled to herself over and over again with frightening intensity. Scary! "Yes! I won't let you down, Hachiman! I will do everything in my power to ensure you have a proper upbringing as a member of society!" Ran spoke with passion in her heart. Damn it, not another one! If she tries to sign me up for a club against my will, then I'm running in the other direction.
"Uh. Right. Thanks." I responded awkwardly. What happened to my awkwardly aloof sensei? Bring her back! I glared at Suika as if this was her fault, to which she shrugged as if acknowledging I was probably right. "As I was saying, I don't actually know how to get back to Gensokyo. Any help?"
"Hmm… I suppose you could go to the Hakurei shrine on this side, but I have a simpler solution. I'm unfortunately preoccupied with this foolish charade, so I can't take you myself." Oi, that 'foolish charade' you're referring to is my life. Even if you're right, you shouldn't say it! "I will send a message to Yukari-sama when she wakes up and request for her to pick you up. Until then, feel free to enjoy a pleasant day to yourself walking around the city. Oh, and try not be spotted by too many people." She said kindly. I grimaced at the idea of killing time wandering around instead of lazing around in my bedroom. Just what kind of person did she take me for?
"Can't we just wake Yukari up and have her gap me now?" I sternly voiced my displeasure. I didn't whine. Absolutely not.
"Hachiman… Trust me. If you think she is insufferable now, then you do not want to see what she is like after being awoken," Ran stated. Suika nodded frantically to the remark. I decided to trust the wisdom of my elders on this one. "Ah, I should be going, but before that… Do you have any requests for breakfast tonight? Allergies I should be aware of?" Ran seamlessly switched tracks.
"Not… really?" I hedged, caught on my back foot. Ran hummed thoughtfully.
"I see… You didn't seem to have any problems with the selection the other night, so that should suffice for now. You and I will have plenty of time to discuss preferences later. This is unrelated, but about your sister-" The sound of the 5-minute school bell rang in the background. "It seems I am out of time. I will notify you when I am able. Until then." She concluded the conversation all on her own.
"Wai-" I was interrupted by the dial tone. Ah well. I had wanted to give her some advice on imitating me, but I doubted she could do any more damage to my reputation than I had. I was curious what she had to say about my sister, but I had seen her safe and sound not too long ago, so it likely wasn't important. "You heard her. We need to kill time for at least 8 hours… Probably more if Yukari is as lazy as I think she is. It needs to be something free because I'm broke. Oh, and nowhere with too many people because Ran is currently impersonating me." I calmly stated. Truthfully I just didn't want to deal with any crowds rather than avoid being spotted.
"…How about the library?" Yuigahama suggested, still looking like she had more to say to me but thankfully willing to hold her peace for now. "Who knows, maybe I'll even read a book or two while we're there." Alright, maybe not quite willing to hold her peace after all. That said, the library seemed like a good plan. However, there was one problem… This all depended on the destructive potential of a bored oni. I glanced doubtfully at Suika to gauge her opinion on the matter, which amounted to a noncommittal shrug.
"Ehhh… libraries aren't really my thing, but I wouldn't say no to catching up on some sleep. It's harder than you'd think to sleep upside down." She replied. Considering how hard I already thought that was, it was quite a feat. Yuigahama and I shrugged at each other before we set off as a group. "But geez, it sure didn't take you long to flip Ran's mom switch, huh?" Suika playfully elbowed my side, nearly sending me to the ground.
"It's not like I was aiming for that… I was fine with the awkwardly distant student teacher thing we had going." I wheezed, subtly probing for broken ribs. "Is there something in Gensokyo's water or something? You guys warm up to people so quick it's disgusting." Suika snorted, but worryingly did not deny it.
"That's just how it is," She shrugged. "Youkai are used to having to work for making friends, so when ya gather 'em all up they either try to kill each other or get all cozy. Usually both," She explained. That was a surprisingly well-articulated point from Suika and gave me a lot to think about. "Hey… you think they have any books on youkai? I bet those'll be good for a laugh!" She cackled. And just like that my newfound respect for her plummeted. The worst part was that it was actually a good idea. I would make that my primary goal as soon as Yuigahama didn't look 10 seconds away from wringing my neck. I silently increased the pace towards the library in the hopes that her desire to stay quiet would outweigh her desire to murder me.
A/N – Hi everyone! Kept you waiting, huh? This time of year is really rough for me, so probably expect slow releases until the spring. This chapter might seem a bit short, but that's less to do with this time of year being rough and more because I decided to split this one in half. The latter half was getting longer and longer as I kept coming up with new ideas, so I realized it was getting to the point that it was best served as its' own thing. The good news is that this means the next chapter is already completely outlined and has a large chunk of it written, so it shouldn't be too much longer to finish it. Emphasis on 'shouldn't.' Anyways, enough of that. What'd you think of the chapter? Yui is good. She is also 100% done with Hachiman's shit after he's been missing for several days with zero explanation. As always, thanks for reading! Next chapter, library shenanigans.