Proofed6

Uh, better not push your limits. You shake your head and tell her that you don't want to risk yourself getting drunk. She frowns for a moment, then nods.

“Good. Just like that!” Suwako also smiles. “You'll develop better alcohol tolerance if you occasionally drink it, so it might be a good idea if you drink some sake with us everyday from now on, just as a refreshment after meals.”

“I'm worried about his health if he frequently drinks it...”

“Just one or two cups of sake from the village, it won't hurt him! Tengu's or Oni's, on the other hand...” Suwako pours another bottle of sake into her cup. “How about you Sanae? Do you want another cup of sake?”

“No thanks, I think I have enough for today. I don't want to get drunk too, I have bad memories with that...”

“You mean back in the outside world, when one of your friends secretly brought some booze when you were in that karaoke place?”

“Please don't remind me of that...”

“Hihihi, you don't want Nobu to know that?” Suwako raises her cup. “Anyway, cheers!”

She drinks the sake in her cup, along with Kanako. After a while, Sanae gets out from the bath.

“I'm going back to the shrine now, or the air will be freezing on the way home. I have to cook dinner anyway...”

“Don't worry, just prepare some water, we'll eat instant noodles for our dinner. I'll be here with Kanako for a while,” Suwako rearranges the shogi pieces. “Last game!”

“Suwako, can't we wait until we finished bathing?”

“What? And only sit on the edge of the bath like an old geezer? No way!” She turns to you. “Uh Nobu, I think you should go with Sanae, or you'll catch a cold when you walk home. Me and Kanako will bury this building when we're done with our game, since I doubt the disguise will fool the guards for long...”

“Next time, tell us before you want to build something, we can ask one of the Kappa to cloak the building beforehand.”

*Tk!*

Kanako moves a shogi piece. You rise from the bath and walk back to the changing room quietly, letting them play their game.

“Oh, don't forget to blow out the candles when you're done with the changing room Nobu!”

Suwako yells when you enter the room. You dry yourself with another towel that you stored in the stone locker and put your clothes back on. Too bad that they have to bury this place. Well, at least it has served it's purpose.

*Phoof!*(Note: This supposed to be Nobu blowing out one of the candles. Need another suggestion for blowing sound...)
(I think "phoof" sounds pretty good, as long as you just add a line to show the context. Last time the "water sounds" were in the middle of talking about the taps, so it made sense. As long as everyone knows that its about the candle, "phoof" is fine.)
---

“...Damn, I thought I could convince him with some sake...”

*Tk!*

“You know, I was going to offer him sake too if you didn't ask to him that. What a shame... If he does accept your offer, I'm sure Sanae will drink with him too. Getting her drunk, however, will be a different story...”

*Tk!*

Suwako pours some sake into her cup and drink it.

“What do you mean with 'getting her drunk'?”

*Tk!*

“Well, since she sees him more as a brother than a man, it'll be hard to make her interested in him. So I thought perhaps some alcohol will make her... see him from different angle, and you know the rest...”

“You tried to intoxicate our own shrine maiden so she can mate with him?”

“Look Kanako, it can solve two problems at once. One, we don't have to find another suitable man for her, we need her to continue her bloodline to collect faith for three of us. He's suitable to be with her because he's an outsider, which means he's familiar with our gadgets and lifestyle, and he's nice. Two, we can... 'concern' him with that 'accident' so we can ask him to take responsibility, forcing him to forget his past and focus on his current family, which is us, so you don't have to worry about his memory whatsoever. I couldn't force them to drink with us earlier after they reject your offer, or either he or Sanae would get suspicious of my plan. I will ask them to drink with us someday... I probably have to prepare some sake from the tengu village...”

*Tk!*

“I'm not sure he'll be a good addition to our shrine. You saw it earlier, he refused to carry out my request to hide the fact that the Kappa is fixing the console.”

“If you want him to follow your orders, be subtle about it! If you force your 'request' on him, of course he won't follow you. Geez, you should know more about how to convince people than me...”

Suwako wants to move a piece, but her hand stops when she looks to the board.

“Kanako, it's already checkmate. You forget to call it...”

“Then consider it so. Shall we begin hiding this place now?”

“Certainly.”

---
Next day...
---

*Chrip Chrip!*

You eat your breakfast with everyone in the living room. Today's menu is grilled fish. The taste not really terrific, but it smells nice. Reminds you of your first meal-

*Hek!*

Argh... One of the bones stuck in your throat...

“Nobu?”

Sanae looks to your uneasy expression. You squeeze some of the rice in your bowl to form a ball, then shallow it. The pain goes away from your throat. Fuh...

“A fish bone stuck in your throat?” Suwako guesses, to which you nod. “You should be careful Nobu. Do you want your fish cleaned from its bones the next time we eat?”

Nah, you don't want to bother her more. You shake your head and continue eating.

*Srrrrk!*

“Bad news.”

“Whoa, easy Kanako, we're eating here. What's wrong?”

“Here,” She puts down the paper that she's holding. 'Moriya's secretly build a bath house out of stones.' The photo on the headline shows the exterior of the bath house, before Kanako and Suwako disguised it. “It seems one of the tengu reporters spotted us before we able to hide the building. We can expect a letter will come soon from those great tengus...”

“You speak like you never dealt with them before,” Suwako puts a bowl on the table, and Kanako put some rice into it from the cooker. “You can deal with them as usual, right?”

“This is your fault,” Kanako eats her portion of rice. “You're coming with me later when the letter comes.”

“Eeh!? You know... I have to go with Nobu today, he needs my help to talk to people, right?”

Suwako elbows your ribs. Ow.

“Don't back out Suwako. You are always accompanying him by sending a facet of yourself with him. And Sanae will be with him too, so you don't have to worry if he's in trouble, and if they are, she can always summon us.”

“But... I'm not good with people like them...”

“Just explain what you know. I'll handle the rest of the discussion.”

You put down your empty bowl and pat your stomach. Let's hope that fish bone will be digested.

“Thanks for the meal,” Sanae has finished with her food too. “Shall we go now, Nobu?”

You nod, the faster you deliver the fixed console and teach them how to properly play it, the better. Suwako poofs in another frog and put it on your head. Kanako stares, but she doesn't say anything.

“Speaking of which, Sanae, go to the market after you're done. We need to restock our rice now” She finally talks, but not to you.

“Eh? Didn't we receive some offerings two days ago? I remember there was a bag of rice...”

“We need to restock anyway, because of the picnic that we had yesterday,” Kanako stares at you again. “Nobu, please-”

Suwako stares at her too. Uh...

“...Please be careful out there.” She finishes her sentences. Thanks? Somehow you feel that she wants to say something else...

“See you later Sanae, Nobu!” Suwako waves her hand as both of you leave the room.

---

You and Sanae land by the lake. There's only Nitori at the edge of the lake when you land.

“Hello friends!” She welcomes you. “Here, it's done!”

She presents the boxy thing on her side. The portable television's antenna has been removed, and on it there's the console, both of them held together by four metal clamps, so it can't be moved from it's position. She pushes the power button on the console, and both the console and the television starts up. The console logo shows up, then the company logo...

*Wuuuung!*

It shows a plane, transporting the well-known plumber with the princess. Yep, it's working.

“Good job Nitori!” Sanae praises her. She smiles and rubs her own head. It seems she's proud of her work.

“It took some time to modify the television, but nothing that my hands couldn't handle. Is it all fixed, Nobu?”

You take the controller and play the first level, which doubles as tutorial. Looks fine... Yeah, the kids will like it, they better. You turn it off and carry it.

“Nobu...” Nitori taps your shoulder. “Tell the kids to treat the game well, please?”

“Of course Nitori, we'll tell them,” Sanae tells her, then lifts you again with the wind. “Thanks for the help!”

---

“Hey, Nobu,” Sanae stops once you and her arrives on the village. “Do you know where the boy is right now?”

Uh... Good question. He's probably near that dragon statue. You write your ans- Crap, your hand's full.

“Let me carry that,” she takes the tv-console from you. You write your answer, and she takes you to the place. There are some pedestrian here, but you can't spot the kid- or any children around.

“Hmm... Excuse me!” She heads to a nearby flower shop. “Did you know where the kids usually play now? I'm looking for a boy, about this tall, black hair...”

“There are many boys like that around here... But most kids are probably in Miss Kamishirasawa's school right now.”

“Thank you! I'll take that tulip too.”

The florist gives her the flower. Sanae opens her purse and pays for it, then walks back to you.

“I forgot the kids have a school to attend... What should we do now Nobu? I think it'll be a while until the kid is finished with Miss Keine's lesson.”

[]Go to the school and wait there. Maybe you can observe their lesson too while waiting.
[]Go to the market first and buy the rice that Kanako asked Sanae for. It shouldn't take too much time anyway.
[]Write-In.