Hey there everybody! Look at this, I totally didn't take 3 months this time! See? Haha, it's a new record for me! That aside though, sorry for taking so long, I actually ran into a bit of a slump while writing this chapter, but hey, it's here now and that's what matters right? I suppose I'll try to be a bit faster with getting the next chapter out, but good lord, I don't think I have it in me to do some of what I did back in December. Also though it's March, I'll still say Merry Christmas and all that. It just feels like the right thing to do. Anyways enough rambling from me enjoy the chapter.
"What do you mean you don't have a computer?!" John roared as he shook a girl wearing a blue dress vigorously. If he were a bit more rational, he'd probably note how funny it was that she had so much blue on. Heck, even her hair and eyes were blue. The only piece of clothing she had on that wasn't blue was a green cap with a white wispy symbol on it.
"I-I told you I don't know what that is? What do you want anyway?!" The girl shouted pushing John off of her.
Sighing in defeat, the young man could only calm himself and move on to why he was actually supposed to be here.
"Sorry. I'm John Graham, I'm the human staying at the Moriya Shrine."
"Oh so you're the one Momiji has been talking about!"
"Momiji has spoke about me?"
"Yeah, she talked about how you led her and some tengu to kill an undead dragon or something like that?"
"Bone Dragon." John corrected
"Yeah that. Anyway, I'm Nitori Kawashiro, and I need some extra hands for something I'm working on. It's nothing hard, I just need you to lug around some stuff while I work."
"That's all, you don't want me to help out with the actual machine?"
"No thanks, it's more than likely way above what you're used to working with."
"Oh...right then." John said holding back from insulting her, the haughtiness with which she spoke definitely rubbed him the wrong way, but he didn't want to go and start off on the wrong foot. Besides, maybe she just misspoke or it really was something he really didn't have any idea about?
"So where's your work space anyway?" John asked
"I'm glad you asked! Now tell me, how long can you hold your breathe?" Nitori asked
"Hold my breathe? I dunno...maybe a couple minutes?"
"That'll do."
Before he could say anything else, Nitori grabbed him by the hand and dove into the nearby river. John didn't know what was happening, all he could feel was Nitori holding him tightly as she swam surprisingly fast through the water. He could feel parts of his body bouncing off of a rock here and there, but just as he could feel himself hitting the limit on holding his breathe, the two of them were now on dry land at the mouth of a cave.
"Uh, what's this?" John asked as he dried the water from his eyes
"Oh, this is just the entrance to the Kappa settlement. We're relatively safe since you have to travel through the water if you want to get here. Follow me, I'll show you to my workshop."
Trailing behind her, John could only stare in awe at the kappa's 'settlement'. In truth, it wasn't a settlement at all. It looked to be a steampunk like city more than anything. The buildings seemed to be a bit more modern, there were some that were clearly made of metal instead of the usual wood and off in the distance, John saw something that caught him entirely off guard.
"Excuse me Nitori, but is that a freaking tank over there?" John asked
"You bet! Though that one is merely for display, we have a few more laying around as well, though they haven't seen use in a while."
"What do you even have tanks for?"
"Oh, we'll only ever use them if there's like a big youkai war or something. Hopefully, they'll be enough to scare the enemy in submission."
"I-I see." John said with a nervous chuckle, he had to wonder just what kind of enemy they'd ever end up fighting that'd require them to bring out weapons like this.
As the two continued walking through the kappa settlement, John noticed that he was getting several stares from other kappa. He didn't say anything, but the fact that he was being stared at like a zoo animal did bother him just a bit.
"I take it the other kappa don't really see humans too often?" John said as they rounded the corner and stopped in front of a small building.
"Well that's one thing, but then there's the fact that you've got a reputation as well." Nitori sighed
"A reputation?"
"Remember, you killed that dragon. Word has most definitely gotten around, especially here on the mountain. I won't be surprised if the other parts of Gensokyo find out soon as well. What you did is no small feat. You managed to get access to the tengu village, then you saved them from a potentially extreme threat, that kind of thing doesn't go unnoticed. You just better hope the Hakurei shrine maiden doesn't come knocking, or that magician friend of hers."
"You mean Reimu and Marisa? I've met them already."
"Ouch...I'm sorry you got hurt."
"Huh...hurt?"
"The Hakurei shrine maiden has a penchant for...punching first and asking questions later so to speak...I know from experience." she said rubbing her shoulder as if she'd felt an old wound
"Well uh...she didn't attack me, she did ask a lot of questions of though...now Marisa and I had a more...troublesome meeting."
"What happened?"
John explained about what transpired between himself and Marisa and how thanks to her he was basically trapped in the Scarlet Devil Mansion until he managed to get the stolen books back. At first, Nitori could only shake her head in condolences, but once John mentioned how he managed to get back at her by stealing back even more books, she couldn't help but let out a laugh at the entire thing.
"Not bad, good on you for getting her back. Now then, let's move on to why you're here." she said taking him inside and into what looked to be a garage. Sitting inside was what appeared to be the early workings of a bus. The bottom half was completely done with wheels and what appeared to be an engine sticking out of some framework, but there were no seats and it pretty much looked like a metal skeleton with some wheels attached to it.
"So uh...what are you working on a bus for?" John asked
"Oh, you actually know what a bus is? Well, you are an outsider, so I guess it's only natural you'd know at least something."
And there she goes with the uppity attitude…
"I'm working on this thing to try and start up some bus tours around Gensokyo. The humans generally stick to the village and only the village, so they're worldview is pretty limited. I think these bus tours will help me get some more cash to help fund future projects. It's just that moving all this metal is tough, so that's what I need of you. Perfect for someone like you right?"
"...Sure." John replied, a part of him wanted to go off on Nitori, it was clear that she was making assumptions about his intelligence, and assuming that he was mostly dumb muscle and nothing more. It reminded him of the 30-50 monk quests in FFXIV, within that questline was an NPC named Erik, and he was extremely condescending in the same vein as Nitori, always insulting your character's intelligence in nearly every interaction, regardless of what other jobs you may have leveled. It was honestly pissing John off the more he thought about it.
"Alright, first things first. Get me the sprocket wrench from the back." Nitori said "It's the one about this big." she made a motion with her hands to which John quietly complied, heading to the back of the workshop and grabbing what she needed. The next few hours would continue this way as Nitori had John bring her several things as she worked, while John would simply sit around and watch her work.
It was really boring for him, so much so that he decided to try and tinker with the rook turret from his machinist job. A quick transformation, and he had the small thing sitting in front of him as he looked it over. To his surprise, he understood the inner-workings of it perfectly as he began to take some tools and tinker with it. It had to be the job crystal making things easier for him, as he wasn't a mechanic back home.
"Maybe if I adjust this then I can increase efficiency by 12%..." he muttered to himself
"What's that thing?" Nitori said eyeing the floating turret up and down
"It's an automated rook turret. It helps me in battle by periodically opening fire upon the enemy, it also has a hypercharge ability which allows it to tear through enemies with increased firepower for a short while while also leaving them more vulnerable to attacks." John answered back "There's also the bishop variant, that is meant to deal with groups of enemies at once by eliciting an electrical shock within a certain radius."
"Huh...and it just floats there while doing all that?" Nitori asked rubbing her chin
"Yeah, it's pretty useful actually and pairs pretty well with a ninja's trick attack and-oh uh, sorry, I'm rambling."
Nitori for her part paid him no mind and continued looking at the turret, a grin growing ever wider on her face.
"John, you're a genius!" She exclaimed suddenly
"I am?" He replied with a raised eyebrow
"That thing floats right! So I just thought...instead of making a regular old bus tour...we'll make a flying bus tour!" she exclaimed excitedly
"Well, I guess that could be cool, I don't think the humans in the village know how to fly."
"No they don't and that'll be the draw! Being able to see Gensokyo from so high up will definitely be able to spark interest! Now how does this thing stay afloat exactly?"
John wasted no time in explaining the inner workings of the rook turret, Nitori listening intently as she began taking notes on everything he said.
"So basically, it works by using magic from the environment to keep afloat. Hmmm…I think I can make that work...all I need is a proper regulation device so it doesn't overload..." Nitori was beginning to become lost in thought again, leaving John sitting there looking at her, before he could say anything, another kappa girl entered the room.
"Hey Nitori, we need you to check out the fires, they're a bit higher than usual."
"The fires? Oh great, that can only mean that the hell raven is sleeping again...and frankly I hate going down there, way too hot..."
"Well someone's got to do it, and you're the only one with the heat resistant suit."
Nitori let out a sigh before her eyes trailed over to John, that same grin as before appearing on her face.
"Oh Jooooohn~!" Nitori said in a singsong voice "I have a job for yoooooou~!"
"Denied." John said flatly
"H-hey, come on! Hear me out first!"
"Nope."
"Ugh...look, all I need you to do is go down into the fires and wake the hell raven up. It's a simple job and I'll even loan out my heat suit to you."
"Still don't want to do it." John replied
"Ugh...fine, since you did give me a good idea, I'll split some of the earnings I get from the bus tours with you...in fact, I'll even allow you to 'work' for me and get some positive press from the villagers."
"But I already have more than enough of that."
"True, but more never hurts right?"
"What are you talking about?" he said with a sigh, really, John did not like where this conversation was headed.
"Well, what if during the bus tours there's a…youkai attack? It sure would be good if someone such as yourself or whoever works with you just happened to be there wouldn't it?"
"So let me get this straight: You're saying that for going down into these 'fires' you'll have staged youkai attacks, which either myself or one of my friends will 'fend off' just to make us look good?"
"Hey good, you followed along pretty well!"
"Isn't that kind of dishonest?"
"It's just business. You do know that that goddess you're staying with does the same for her tramway right?"
"You're kidding right?"
"Nope, it works out for everyone really. The youkai get to come off as scary, the goddess gets her faith, and the humans don't recklessly attempt to explore and possibly encroach on youkai's lands."
"Huh...well, I guess that's fine then? I mean, there is a bit of logic to what you're saying at least."
"There ya go! Now I'll grab the heat suit and we can head on over."
Nitori moved to the back of her work area and after a few moments of rummaging she pulled out a gray suit with a zipper that ran all the way to the bottom. Tossing it to John, she had him put it on before they made their way over to the 'fires'.
Or what could only be seen as a massive freaking hole in the ground.
"Nitori...what the hell is this?" John asked flatly
"The entrance to the Hell of Blazing Fires of course!"
"The what of Blazing Fires?!" John exclaimed
"Look, it's easy, just head down there and wake up the hell raven. Normally she'd attack you, but that shouldn't be the case since you have that suit on. She'll probably just think you're me and leave you be for the most part. After that, she'll open the skylight and things will cool off. I can feel the heat getting worse by the second so you should hurry along already."
It was true too, even with this suit on, John could feel that things in the kappa settlement were a lot more warmer than before, almost insufferably so.
"Are you sure this suit will actually work? I mean-"
Before John could say anything he was pushed off the edge and was quickly falling down
"I'll see you later~!" Nitori's rapidly fading voice called out to him
"Crap crap...S-Scholar!" John yelled in panic as he continued falling, he managed to catch himself, hanging in the air for a few moments as he caught his breathe. Oh Nitori was going to pay for this, of that he'd make sure. But for now, since he'd already fallen down, he may as well keep going. Though he couldn't see the bottom yet, and it made John wonder just how far down this place really went.
The answer as he'd found out literally 3 hours later was far. Very, very far. So far in fact, John was sure that'd probably gone well below the earth at this point. Well, it was called The Hell of Blazing Fires, so that much should be expected. Having finally reached the bottom, John was now surrounded by flames. It was so hot down here, he could feel himself sweating even with the heat suit on.
"Christ this is awful..." John muttered "Okay, all I have to do is fine this hell raven and I can get out of here..."
He began looking around through the dancing flames, attempting to find someone who fit the description. To his luck, far off nestled on a little alcove of land sat a woman who was clearly dozing off, just as Nitori had said. Flying over to her, upon closer inspection she had long, dark brown hair, wore a white shirt with a bright red eye in the middle of her...rather large chest and a green skirt to match the green ribbon that tied up her hair. She was also wearing a cape that looked to have a sort of space pattern on the inside that John was only able to see thanks to her wings holding it open. The biggest thing of note about her though was the odd looking like cylinder thing on her right arm and the stone like material that covered her right leg. Wanting to be rid of this heat, John stopped examining her and began to lightly shake her in the hopes she'd wake up.
"Huh...wha...what time is it?"
"Er...are you the hell raven? Can you uh...open the skylight?" John asked
"Huh...O-oh! You're that kappa girl! The skylight…?" she replied looking around at all the fire "Oh, I must have dozed off again, sorry !"
Getting to her feet, she flew towards the middle of the area before pointing her cylinder arm up towards the sky. A brilliant light shot out from it, traveling all the way up before the area began to cool down significantly. It was still pretty hot, but the temperature had definitely dropped.
"And done! Thanks for waking me up !"
John merely nodded, not wanting to give away that he was in fact not Nitori. If he revealed himself, she may end up attacking him or something and he really didn't need that right now.
"Oh right! Lady Satori said that should thank you properly next time you wake me up like this." The girl said clapping her hands together, "Follow me !"
Feeling as if he had no choice in the situation, John followed behind her. They were heading up again, but this time it was out of a different hole that lead into what appeared to be a courtyard that was filled with a surprising amount of flowers that appeared to be well looked after.. Looking to his right, John could see that this led into a mansion. Really, what was it with Gensokyo and so many of the residents residing in mansions? Following behind the raven girl, the two walked through the doors and into the hallway. There were numerous stained glass windows and the floor was surprisingly maintained as well. John was led into the kitchen, where a girl wearing a light blue shirt and a pink shirt with short purple hair stood with a cup in hand. The oddest thing about her was an eye that was on her chest...and how it turned and stared at John and the hell raven as she took a sip.
"Ah, Lady Satori! Look, it's ! I'm going to reward her for waking me up again!"
"I see...that's good Utsuho, you remembered what I told you." She said calmly "However...you aren't Nitori are you?"
"Oh Crap..." John said out loud
"It's not ?! L-Lady Satori get back!" Utusho said jumping in front of her master and pointing her cylinder arm at John
"H-hold on, don't shoot! I'm not Nitori but I was sent here by her!" John said unzipping the suit and tossing it to the side.
"Who are you?!" Utsuho growled not taking her eyes off of John
"I'm John Graham, I was sent here by Nitori like I said!"
"So you're the one...Utsuho, stand down." Satori commanded
"B-but Lady Satori..."
"Stand down...I actually have something I wish to speak about with this man."
Utsuho eyeing John warily, puts her arm down, while John stares at her confused
"You want to talk to me about something? What's that?"
"Follow me, Utsuho, be a dear and bring us some tea would you?"
"Yes Lady Satori..."
Leaving her behind, Satori led John out of the kitchen, the entire time, she kept looking at him from time to time, in fact, she was practically staring at him the entire walk towards the small area they finally arrived at a small office.
"Please take a seat." Satori said as she sat behind the desk, John did as told and took a seat in the chair sitting in front of the desk.
"Before we begin I have one question." Satori said calmly
"Shoot." John replied instantly
"What are you?"
John gave her a sidelong look "I'm sorry...what?"
"What are you? Do you know what my race is known for?"
"Uh...no?"
"We Satori, yes, my name is the same as my race in general, mother and father weren't good with names. Anyway, my race are known to be able to read the minds of other people that aren't of the same race as us."
"Really? That's pretty cool!" John said with a chuckle
"That's...not how I would put it, but thank you."
"To answer your question, I'm human. Nothing more than that."
"Is that so? But when I try to read your mind...everything is jumbled, there are at least a dozen voices thinking different things all at once. I have to focus pretty hard to even begin reading you."
"A dozen voices...maybe it's because of this?" John said holding up the bracelet that held his job stones in it. Satori took a closer look at it, her eyebrow raising as she stared at it.
"That's interesting...the voices are coming from those crystals. Just what on earth did you do to imbue part of your being in them?"
"That's...kind of a long story. Let's move on now, what do you want from me?"
Satori eyed him for a moment, but decided not to press him any further. "Very well, I am aware that you run a business that handles requests regardless of if someone is a youkai or human."
"That's right...but how the hell do you know about me?"
"The tengu actually deliver the paper here as well. I've very much wanted to speak to you for a while now as I have a request. The problem is well...the humans would not take kindly to one such as me appearing out of nowhere. And you saw how Utsuho gets, sending her there would probably not be the wisest choice."
"And so, what is it you want from me then?" John asked crossing his arms
"I would like for you to watch my home for a few days." Satori said
"What...that's it? House sitting?" John asked in surprise "I was expecting something a bit more out there."
"N-no, that's all I want...you see, there are a group of oni that have been having constant parties at night and they're so loud I can't get any sleep. I've been wanting to take some time away from home in order to finally relax."
"Okay...why haven't you just asked them to take it easy with the parties?"
"They're oni. Asking them to stop is nearly impossible without getting wrapped up into one of their silly challenges." She replied with a deadpan look "Can you do it? I'll be sure to give you proper compensation."
"Well, I guess I can, how many days do you plan to be gone?"
"10 days at most. I just really need some proper rest." The tiredness in her eyes was far more more noticeable now, so much so that John couldn't help but agree to her request.
"Fine, I can do some house sitting, but I'll need to let Sanae know where I am."
"Sanae from the Moriya shrine? Do not worry, I can have Rin send word to her that you'll be working for me for a while."
"Thanks, what duties do I have to attend to while you're out?"
"Oh nothing much, just keep the pets fed and make sure Utsuho is awake to keep the fires from getting too hot. Everything else should be self-sufficient for the most part. I'll make sure they know not to harm you."
"Alright then, I guess I'll make myself at home?"
"That would be ideal."
The next few hours were spent with John being shown around the Earth Palace by Satori and Utsuho who had returned a little while later, the entire time giving him info about old hell, the fires, and what tasks her pets had assigned to them. Utsuho for her part was pretty saddened to see her master going on a trip for a little while, but she promised to help John out as much as she could (so long as he gave her some extra helping of food on the side) before returning to her work. Once that was done, it wasn't long before Sanae showed up and tried to convince him that he shouldn't hang around since the underground youkai were pretty dangerous. Of course, he declined, telling her that he'd already accepted the task, and he wasn't about to give up the job.
"Ugh fine...but I'm staying with you." Sanae said with a huff
"Really? I'll be fine on my own." John said
"No you won't! This place is dangerous and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt."
"But what about Suwako and Kanako, won't they get worried?"
"Don't worry about that. I can commune with them at another time and let them know what's going on."
"Well alright...what should we do first then?"
"Don't worry about that!" came a voice from behind them. What greeted them was a cat girl with two tails, two pairs of ears and wearing a dark green outfit, smiling at them from ear to ear.
"Er...who are you?"
"I'm Rin Kaenbyou, but please just call me Orin. I'm one of Lady Satori's pets and I'll be sure to help you out as much as I can!"
"Great, so...what do you do? I know that some of the other animals guard the gates and all that."
"Oh, I take corpses to the fires, helps keep them nice and warm." she stated casually
A part of John wanted to be surprised, but really, considering that this place was apparently old hell as Satori had told him, he wasn't surprised that some of the denizens of this area had some weird jobs they performed. After all, they are youkai…
"Right well, you just keep doing what you're doing Rin, I appreciate the help."
"That's no problem, why not go see the ancient city? The youkai down here won't harm you if you're under the protection of Lady Satori."
"That sounds like a good idea. What do you think Sanae?"
"I wouldn't be against it, but I've never really been here long enough to explore the city."
"Then I'll come with you and show you around!" Rin said with an energetic smile "Come on, let's go!"
Walking out of the palace, the trio exited the gate as a couple of dog girls bowed at them, nearly falling over as they seemed to be tired.
"We'll be back soon guys, don't worry, try to get in a quick power nap while we're gone." Rin said as she continued leading the way. As they arrived in the ancient city John took note of the buildings and their traditional Japanese style. The streets were lined with lanterns to help keep things illuminated, but the most striking thing so far were the numerous horned humanoids that walked the streets. Many of them staring at John and Sanae as they looked around.
"Jeez, I feel like I'm a zoo animal or something." John muttered as he tried to keep from locking eyes with any of the other townspeople.
"Well, you two definitely stick out, the oni down here haven't seen humans in a long time and the last two to show up were Reimu and Marisa. Not to mention you John with those odd clothes you have on." Rin said pointing at him
"What's so odd about my clothing? It's pretty standard stuff back home. Just some jeans and a shirt..."
"Oh yeah...looking at your face a bit more, you're definitely an outsider. Or well, you don't look Japanese at least, that might have something to do with it too."
The three continued on as Orin pointed out some other notable places, like a shopping district (even though no one bought anything down here) as well as a few statues of some youkai heroes. As the tour was finishing up, John began to hear a lot of loud noise reverberating throughout the entire city.
"What the hell is that?!" John said as his voice began to drown out from all the noise
"IT'S THE ONI! THEY'RE THROWING ANOTHER PARTY!" Orin screamed at the other two
"YOU'RE KIDDING, THIS IS WHAT SATORI HAD TO DEAL WITH?! NO WONDER SHE WANTED TO TAKE SOME TIME AWAY!
"I-IS THERE ANYWAY TO MAKE THEM STOP?!" Sanae hollered now at the top of her lungs
"I DOUBT IT, UNLESS YOU'RE RARING FOR A FIGHT!"
John sighed as he continued holding his hands to his ears. Looks like he was going to have to get into a brawl, there's no way he could sleep during this. He had to wonder how anyone could sleep during this at all and how Satori had managed to hold out for so long. Making his way towards the center of all the noise with Sanae and Orin in tow, the three were now at the center of the city and the amount of oni partying was staggering. From the streets to the rooftops there were oni everywhere, some were drinking, some were dancing, others were singing (horribly off-key) loudly, and some were playing instruments. It was a cacophony of singing, booze, and laughter that under normal circumstances probably wouldn't be all that out of place. The issue here is that when it's a bunch of oni things tend to go a bit overboard.
"H-HOW DO WE FIND WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE?!" John yelled to Orin
"I DON'T KNOW. YUUGI HAS TO BE AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE!" She hollered back
Looking around, John took notice of a bunch of barrels. No doubt by the look of them, they were positively filled with booze, and the other oni were far too busying partying for him to even get their attention properly. That meant there was only one thing to do to try and get them to stop for a moment to get their attention.
"Black Mage." He said transforming into his black mage garb, as he held his pointed his staff at the barrels.
"J-John what are you doing?!" Sanae exclaimed as she looked at him
"H-he wouldn't!" Orin said watching in disbelief at what was unfolding in front of her
John focused on the barrels as they ignited in flames a few moments later. The young man having used Fire II on them. The problem here is that the booze was far more flammable than expected and the resulting firestorm had sent a pillar of flame flying into the sky.
"Ah crap, I didn't think it'd be that bad..." John muttered to himself as some of the oni began to panic and flee
Before he could use some ice magic to quell the inferno, a sudden gust of wind shot towards the fire, putting the flames out with ease.
"Alright, who set my sake on fire?" said a woman with long blonde hair as she walked towards the center of the commotion.
"It was him!" said a random party-goer
Thanks a lot asshole… John thought as he locked eyes with the woman.
"Yeah, that was me, uh...sorry." John said
The woman stepped closer, allowing him to get a better look at her. She wore a surprisingly plain white shirt. Her eyes were a striking red color, sharing the same color as the singular horn that protruded from her head. Her wrists and ankles had manacles on them, though they were broken, making it look like she'd ripped them off of whatever was holding her. All that aside though, there were two(Or three depending on who you ask) things that stood out to John. One was well…
BOING
She was pretty stacked. Probably the biggest woman he'd seen in Gensokyo so far and he had to avert his gaze somewhat as she sauntered over. Another was the semi-transparent skirt she had on. John was pretty sure he could just almost make out her-
"Just where are you looking John?" Sanae asked sweetly, though John could feel some ulterior meaning in her words
"Er...uh, nowhere in particular. Honest."
"Okay, just checking~!"
"Start talking, why'd you wreck my drinks?" The woman asked
"Well uh...who is she?" John asked looking at Orin
"That's Yuugi Hoshiguma, she's pretty much the boss of the oni down here. One of the Four Devas."
"Right er...Yuugi, I just couldn't think of a better way to get everyone's attention."
"So your idea of getting everyone's attention was to cause a firestorm in the middle of a crowded area?"
"Well uh..." John stammered
"That's...FRIGGIN' HILARIOUS!" Yuugi roared with laughter "Oh man, you've got some balls on you. I like that in a person! What's your name?"
"Um...John Graham?"
"Huh...kinda weird. That a foreign name?"
"Pretty much yeah."
"Well who cares? HEY EVERYBODY!" Yuugi said whipping around to the crowd of Oni "This is John Graham, this dude wanted my attention so bad he nearly set us all on fire!"
"Uh...I didn't mean to do that?" John said sheepishly
"Aw who cares, it was a hell of a stunt, especially for a human! Most other Oni would snap you in two for something like that, but you did it without a second thought. So with that being the case, tonight we party in your honor!"
The other oni roared in unison as the party began to pick up speed again, with Yuugi chortling the entire time.
"W-wait wait, that's not what I came here for!" John said causing her to turn to him
"What do you mean? You got my attention, what more could you want?"
"Look, Yuugi. I can tell you really like to party." John started
"And drink!" Yuugi added smiling
"Yes...and drink, but um...could you maybe quiet it down a bit? I'm covering for Satori and the reason she left is because of all the noise you guys make with the constant parties."
"Oh, she really went and took a vacation? Well...I'll tell her what I told you when she asked me to stop as well: I'll stop, but only if you can beat me in a contest."
"Contest?" Sanae asked
"Yeah, see, normally I'd be happy to throw down with ya. Fighting things out is a good outlet to decide on things."
I highly doubt that. John thought
"But see you're under that Satori's protection and the last thing I'd want is to sour relations with her. So to that end, I'll stop my party but only if you beat me in a drinking contest."
"A DRINKING CONTEST!?" Orin and Sanae exclaimed in unison
"It's the only thing I can think of that wouldn't end up with John here snapped in half." Yuugi said with a shrug
"But I haven't drank alcohol once in my entire life." John said
"Better get to practicing then. This is my condition, hell, I'll even sweeten the deal for you."
"How so…?" John asked with a raised eyebrow
"I'll stop the parties for the next 500 years if you beat me."
John's eyes went wide at that, No doubt Satori would be quite happy with that bit of news once she returned home. 500 years of actually being able to sleep at night? Sounds like a good deal. Still, John remembered what Kaguya had said: The princess had drank with oni once and died several times over, there was no way he could take her on.
"He'll do it." Sanae said resolutely
"WHAT?!" John and Orin exclaimed in unison
"John will take you on, but I would like you to give us 3 days to prepare, is that fine?"
"Why three days?" Yuugi asked
"Well, like John said, he's not ever drank anything before. So he has to practice. 3 days is fair right?"
"I guess that makes sense. Alright, in 3 days, John and I will meet back here and the contest will get underway. For the sake of fairness, we'll keep it quiet for the next few days so you can come at me fully rested. I'll see ya then?"
"Uh...yeah...sure." John said having gave up on getting himself out of this mess.
"Good, see ya then!" Yuugi said slapping him on the back rather roughly before disappearing back into the crowd. When she was gone, John turned to Sanae
"What the hell Sanae?! I'm going to die! He said through gritted teeth
"No...you'll be fine. Orin, take John home, start practicing with any drinks you can find. I need to head back to the shrine for a bit."
"What are you going to do?" Orin asked
"Just...pray. Yes, that's it." She took John's hand, holding it tightly "Trust me okay? You'll win, I know you will. Do it for me okay?"
John couldn't stop himself from staring at her face. Dammit, Sanae was way too cute, it was as if her eyes were commanding him to agree with her.
"Yeah, I'll totally win! For you and Satori too!" John said holding onto her hands tightly
"A-HEM." Orin interrupted breaking them out of their little moment "Sorry to interrupt you, but we should probably get to training, right John?"
"Oh uh...yeah! Let's go!"
And so the three retreated to the Palace of Earth Spirits, where John's training would begin.
And so another chapter down! I hope you all enjoyed it. Again, I felt like I ran into a bit of a slump, but I hope I can make up for it with the next coming chapters and-
"There he is!"
"Huh? Hey, wait a minu-"
"Ran, restrain him."
"As you wish Lady Yukari."
"S-stop, you can't do this, I'm the-mmmpfh!"
"Oh come now, I can do whatever I please!" Pardon me dear readers, but I've become...concerned you see. This story has been missing something for quite some time that I think it could really use to make things quite a bit better."
"Oh...? What's that you ask? Well simple really, this tale could do with just a little more...me."
"What's that? Concern for the author? Oh don't worry about him, I'll make sure Ran keeps him nice and comfortable. He'll be fine really, now then, I hope you all eagerly look forward to the next chapter! I know I most certainly am~!"
"Well, I have to go for now, our...guest is being quite unruly and I must lay down the law, so until then..."
"See you next time~!"