Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things.
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The majesties of Ryoshima Coast. The wondrous ocean views. The magnificent mountaintops. The rugged plains of the coastline.
All of that was hidden behind a cursed zone.
(Still beats Kusa Village.)
Keiko prowled the lands, searching for sapling. It would have been a very tricky affair had it not been for the very clear path to the tree. She blossomed it, and…
It was good to be there.
The joy of visiting the wonderful, wondrous Ryoshima Coast in all of its beautiful glory was only a temporary one. Keiko and Miya couldn't find anything worthwhile in this land, and thus entered Sei'an City.
It was suffering.
Keiko and Miya had very little options when crossing the town's fog. However, they did manage to stumble across a young girl being attacked by demons. Keiko slayed the demons without a second thought, seeing as they were mere imps, and turned to leave.
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"Hey! You!" Keiko didn't question who she was addressing. She turned to see the young girl, and her jaw barely wasn't dropped.
"If you're going to save me, then get over here and do it!" The girl took very deliberate steps towards Keiko. She stood her ground and wanted to take a step back at the same time.
"Hm? Those are some pretty gaudy markings you have there. I guess the other dogs pick on you for being different." The girl was exceedingly close to her muzzle…
"Now… take me to the playhouse!" Keiko tilted her head in question.
"You're going to tell me you don't know who I am?" the girl asked.
(No, but I'd like to know.)
"Have you been living in a cave?"
(Snow covered land far away from Nippon.)
"I'm Karin, and I'm the most popular child actress in the land!"
(Hard to not see why.)
"If I tell you to jump, you ask how high in mid-air!"
(Not like I won't.)
"Anyway, take me to the theatre and… wait. This fog… hm… I might want to side with you. What's your name, pooch?"
(I'm called Keiko. One of the most widely regarded Oina warriors of the land of Kamui!)
"And I'm Miya. I'm mostly the voice for Keiko when she doesn't have someone else doing it. And a deadpan snarker when she does."
"Fair point. Now, come along, Keiko. I'll show you the theatre."
"What? The door is locked and I'm not inside?" Karin was genuinely shocked.
(Not to be rude, but what's wrong with that?)
"Mom would never allow someone to do that. She cares for me too much. Might want to find the back way."
(And where might that be?)
"The back, Keiko. By the goddess, you're talking out of your foot. I can't wait for this fog to clear so you can return to normal."
"Miya, you don't have to be so rude. It's more to the side of the building. We'll just have to go around to the back to get there."
Around five or six brush skills later, they got around through the back door. Somehow. They walked through the foyer to Karin's mother's room. Karin's mother was in charge of the playhouse, and she had left a note.
Demons. Taken over. Run, Karin. You can't win.
"Well, she has no confidence in me, doesn't she, Keiko?"
(No. Not at all.)
"It's not like I have a fierce warrior of the north or anything."
(No. Not at all.)
"You're agreeing for the sake of it, aren't you?"
(Yes. Yes I am.)
"…Well, whatever."
The next room over had an example of these demons. They tried their hardest to get the jump on Karin, but she blocked the attack with a burst of magic/electricity. Whichever. The demons writhed in the air for a solid five seconds, before Keiko leaped forward and chopped them up like minced meat.
"…Did I just see that? Karin? What was that?"
"That was… was… nothing. Don't worry about it, Miya."
"No, I want to know."
"And I particularly don't want to blab… or have it blabbed."
"But…" Keiko twisted her head and swallowed Miya.
"Thank you for that…" Karin turned to the ceiling.
"We have to get up there. And I need it done yesterday."
(Got it.) Keiko wandered to the iced stairs, and with a sweep of her tail, the flame from a nearby torch jumped onto the ice. Keiko could no longer take it… she spat out Miya.
"Amaterasu herself, that was not necessary!"
(Yeah, it kinda was.)
The trio found one big issue upstairs. The demons had entered the lioness' lair, found the head lioness, and tweaked her tail. And the head lioness did not like having her tail tweaked.
"Hey Mom! Behind you!" Karin called. Kagura tried to get a slip behind her, but was too slow.
(I'll take it from here. Karin, you go tend to your mother.) Keiko charged at the demons, letting her temper get the best of her and ploughing through the demons like hot butter. She then gave the same treatment to the floor. Luckily, not the whole floor. Just one part.
But a part was all they needed.
"Foolish wolf. We set that trap for you. We knew that you could not resist the temptation to kill things." A crane.
"As fierce as a warrior you might be, there is but one thing that you cannot beat. Renjishi at ultimate power, far greater than that which we faced the young Chibiterasu at." A turtle. The two entered the rubble on the stage, forming a giant mecha.
Keiko took a fiery breath attack to the head, and got right back up.
"No! Why! How!" one called.
"A mindless blood knight couldn't've survived something like that," the other panicked.
(I'm not mindless. I have four goals at present. One should be defeating you!) Keiko then charged through the mecha, dealing some level of damage. Keiko ran towards the front, only to notice that a shape had been drawn. Immense damage was taken.
(Wait, I didn't deal that…) She turned. Karin appeared.
(Karin! Get back!)
"Keiko, don't let your pride get the best of you. You need me here." Keiko thought about it, and it suddenly clicked. She may have already figured it out, but that was her subconscious…
Renjishi launched a powerful flame in Karin's direction. Keiko charged, and knocked Karin out of the way. She took the brunt of the flame.
"KEIKO!" Karin reached for her satchel, but Miya was faster by about a storey.
"I'll take her. You defeat Renjishi."
Karin's prayer slips could only be thrown so many ways. Renjishi, despite being nailed down, clearly had the upper hand. Karin tried a different throw.
"Watch it, Karin! You nearly hit me!"
That was apparently a requirement. Karin brushed Keiko in the wind up, and the blow dealt more damage. Enough damage to finish him off with a Miko drawing. Just in time for Keiko to wake up.
(Karin! Are you all right?)
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry so much."
Kagura came running up by that point.
"Are you all right, Karin? I'm sorry you had to use your Miko powers…"
"Mom, we've been over this. I'm fine with them. It's not a bad alternative to acting, really."
"… As long as you like them, I'm proud of you."
"Anyway, I'm going to see if I can spot the source of this fog. Keiko, you wanna come with?"
(You think I wouldn't?)
"Miya? MIYA!"
(She got kidnapped by the guy that comes along and takes the energy from the corpses of these monsters.)
"If that's the case, take these." Kagura took a rosary, and gave it to Keiko. "These are Exorcism Beads. They are the most powerful beads a non-divine being can legally carry."
(Thank you for your kindness. I normally get these from bosses.)
"Tee hee. Now, fair travels. May you find that Miya girl… and keep Karin safe in the meantime."
"MOM!"
(We're not putting faith in me, are we?)
Yes, I know my update schedule is worse than Proton Jon's. Yes, I now know why I don't write multiple stories. Yes, Mystic Amber is on the brink of getting the shaft. I'd update it, but the Welcome to Mother3 World style would prevent it being updated too close to the massive restart and a major case of the hating-rewriting is stumping me. By that, I mean I got a really good opening on my first go I can't replicate to my satisfaction.
Enough about Harry Potter, let's go into this story. Miya's kidnapping wasn't all that planned, but it's what I alluded to to make writing easier: a minimization of Keiko's temper and less people to refer to.
...Back to Harry Potter, don't expect an update until the thumbdrive situation is resolved, for better or worse. A Tale of Two Geniuses and The Legend of the Oina will be written in tandem because rewriting is no longer an issue: it's now balancing. This is why I don't multi-task in writing.
...Leap before you think!
