VOTE RESULTS
[X] Accept
[X] Bring Koishi to Yamame’s Poison House as fast as possible.

Just in case if you people are wondering… These are the paragraph separator for all characters, as requested by >>6080 .

---: Seo / New Sequence Breaker
^^^: Kisume
===: Yamame
***: Yuugi
///: Parsee
###: Satori
333: Orin
☢☢☢: Self Explanatory.
<3<3<3: Koishi (Don’t mind the emoticon, I’m still finding the heart symbol)

---

You tap your temples while trying to decide which of Koishi’s requests that you’re capable to accomplish. “I’ll…” You paused for a bit.

“Well?”

You made up your mind about her request. “I’ll accept your challenge, and I’ll carry you on my back all the way to Yamame’s Poison House.”

Satori’s younger sister beamed in joy. “Great!”

Orin however didn’t look too enthusiastic. “Uh, mister… there will be a bit of a problem.” The kasha started. “Early mornings like now are when the Underground City will be full of people, so getting around them on foot could be hard.”

You frowned. This will be tough. “Got any good ideas?”

“I’ll show you the way through the market areas.” The kasha said. “Oh, by the way… mister, please give me anything that is weighing you down. It’ll ease you in running a bit.”

“Sure thing.” You said. The only things that you have in your mind are the ammo pouch and your battle rifle.

The kasha unhooked the ammo pouch and the SCAR-H from you and she put them on. At this point, Koishi jumped onto your shoulders and it took a little bit of swaying around for you to get used to her weight on your shoulders.

When you finally stabilized yourself, you asked Koishi. “Is there a time limit or something?”

“I’ll start the timer once you run out of the gate. I presume we can get there in less than half an hour if you took a couple of shortcuts through the market~” Koishi shows off her watch, but instead of showing the hands of a watch, it shows numbers instead. You begin to wonder where she obtained the watch as you compared hers with your tritium-lighted watch.

“Are you ready, mister?”

[b]08:29:40[/b]

“GO!” Koishi yelled, before you and Orin quickly started the sprint to Yamame’s Poison House.

--//Underground City//--

As soon as you, Koishi and Orin reached the Underground City, Orin jumped on top of a roof as a lookout for crowded area.

“Turn right into the alley!” Orin yelled to you while she ran on the rooftops. You made a quick turn to the alley on your right, and you went through to a different row of shophouses. More people walking around in this area, but less packed.

“Mister! I saw an opening dead ahead! Hurry!”

“On it!”

You sprinted through the amount of market goers, but Koishi’s weight on your shoulders are making your turns much difficult.

“There are too many people blocking the front area! Side step and take the alley on the left for the roof!”  The kasha yelled at you.

Koishi kept humming a song as you ran to the left, but it’s a dead end with wooden boxes.  Fortunately, the boxes you are stepping on are rather solid – they didn’t break when you step on them.

“Follow me and watch your step! The roof tiles are not strong enough to hold your weight!”

You followed the Kasha right behind her so that you won’t fall through the roof.

///

Being a girlfriend to an oni is somewhat very troublesome. You have to spend time drinking with her a lot and somehow

“Follow me and watch your step! The roof tiles are not strong enough to hold your weight!” You hear Satori’s pet yelling, before she ran past you on the rooftops, with the human guard and Koishi on his shoulders. The latter is happily flailing her arms around – trying to mimic a bird in flight.

“Now what were those three up to now?” You stopped walking and wondered aloud.

“Oh? Isn’t that Seo?” Yuugi said as she stopped walking. “Looking kind of energetic today, isn’t he?”

“I don’t care.” You said, glancing away. “Why should I care about a human anyway?”

Yuugi laughed as she slapped your back.

“That hurts, god dammit!” You yelled at Yuugi, but she grinned at your response.

“Y’know, you really need to loosen up a bit.” Yuugi said while sipping sake from her dish. “It’s not like we often see a human around here.”

“What’s so important about him anyway? He looks like a weakling to me.” You replied. “Geez.”

“You’ll know. Humans are interesting creatures.”

“Whatever.” You pouted.

///

At this point, you began to feel that your body, especially your legs started to strain. You hope that you would reach Yamame’s Poison house before fatigue takes over you.

“The clock is ticking~” Koishi spoke with a sing-song voice despite the fact that you’re beginning to feel the strain.

“Shut up and enjoy the wind!” You snapped.

While you can’t see her face, you are pretty sure that Koishi is pouting at your answer.

“Jump for it!” Orin yelled, as she jumped off the roof.

While you are about to follow the kasha and land safely, Koishi kept flailing her arms around to annoy you more.

“STOP FLAILING GOD DAMMIT! YOU’RE THROWING ME OFF BALAN-”

[b]CRACK[/b]

Oh god.

You’re falling.

“WHOAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”

Your whole world turned upside down when you hit a weak roof tile and fell off the roof. Koishi lets go of her hold on you on air, and she landed on her feet gracefully. You on the other hand were hoping that you didn’t fall on your head on this one…

…

…?

“Kii!” A shriek prompts you to snap out of your thoughts of death by skull fracture, slowly.

“Can’t let you fall like that, little ghost!” Orin exclaimed with a look of satisfaction on her face.

As you open your eyes, you felt like something have just broken your fall. You also noticed that you were hovering

And then a hitodama hovered in front of your face.

“Zoffies.”

“That’s a close call, mister! If I didn’t react in time, that fall would be a skull fracture for sure!”

“Okay, okay. I get the point.” You said, breathing out a sigh of relief. “Can you let go of me now?”

Orin grinned. “Sure thing, mister.” She said with a wave of her hand.

At once, her zombie fairies let go of their hold on you, and as a result, you fell on your back with a loud thud. Orin could be heard laughing out loud soon after.

“You didn’t specify exactly [i]where[/i] you want me to put you down, so I put you down on the air instead!”

What a cruel joke. “Very funny, Orin. Veeeeery funny.”

Yamame heard the ruckus and walked out of her bar, standing near your head. “What’s going on here, Seo?” She asked.

“Err, wait. I can explain.”  “Well Koishi asked me to bring her to…” Wait a moment. Where is she?

The spider woman crossed her arms. “What about her?”

“She uh… disappeared…” You muttered. [i]“I knew she’s going to do that.”[/i]

“Come on, don’t be a baby. Just get up to your feet.” Yamame spoke while pulling your arms so that you can stand, but she noticed that you are limping. “Are you okay?”

“Probably.”

---

Yamame brought you up to her room on top of her bar. From here,

“It’s nothing much. You just strained you tendons because you ran without warming up.” Yamame said. “You’d be okay if you rest for a bit. If you’re all okay go downstairs, and I’ll fix you a food. Not for free of course.”

“Sure.”

After Yamame left you with Orin and Kisume, an audible ‘whoosh’ could be heard before Koishi appears in front of you. Kisume apparently ignored the sound, since she was busy petting the sleeping kasha.

“Where the hell did you go just now?” you asked.

“Don’t be angry, I did it just for fun. Here’s your reward anyway.” Koishi then looped a small pendant around your neck.

[b]<<Green Ability Gem Acquired>>[/b]
Marathon – Extend Your Sprinting Time.

“What’s this for?” You asked.

“Next time, try running again with this on.” Koishi then pecked your cheek before she disappeared again.

Yamame had left your ammo pouch and SCAR-H on top of her kotatsu, and you went ahead to grab and loop the tan pouch over your waist. When you are done, you lifted Kisume’s bucket and Orin in her cat form and placed the cat on top of your head.

“Okay, little hat and bucket. We are on the move.”

The kasha yawned before she resumed snoring.

---

“Feeling better now?” Yamame asked when she sees you walking down the stairs.

“I hope so.”

“Give me a minute; I’ll prepare some snacks for you.”

You sat down on an empty spot in the bar. You could see Parsee glaring daggers at you from one corner of the bar. Then, the bridge princess walked up to you with a scowl on her face and she slammed your table which made everyone in the bar stopped drinking and stare at your table. The liquor house becomes quiet in an instant.

“Yuugi said to me that humans are interesting creatures. But for me, you don’t look like anywhere special.”

Okay, that was too sudden. Now what?

“Your point?”

“I challenge you to a danmaku fight outside. I’m going to prove to Yuugi that you’re not special in any way.”

What should you do?

[] Accept Parsee’s danmaku challenge.
[] Decline her challenge
[] How about we do something that doesn’t involve fighting?
> [] Write in.