Ryukuza Quest: Protector of Smiles and Youkai Hunter

Answer as honestly as you can.

I would copy paste but I'm on mobile, apologies.

That must be why you missed your quote too user! I know your pain.

Life is suffering.

No worries. I'm adaptable.

Answer honestly, disregard my earlier post, too lazy/difficult to link it, double apologies.

>Be polite and introduce yourself, then ask her her name

>[] Touch fluffy ears. It works for other weird critters you know.

>[] Answer the question as honestly as you can.

>Ask if there is a problem with it and that if yes, try to have her explain calmly, while keeping this encounter as discreet as possible.

There is nothing wrong with answering honestly from a rational standpoint, and the answer wouldn't make us an hypocrite, because Ryukusa is not an hypocrite, be it in thoughts, speech or actions. Aside from comedic things.

It is just that she might react badly for some reason, and that can trigger Himeyuri's protections, which is bad.

Little bit of a slow start huh, for some reason Fridays often seem to be slower than usual.

>[] Well, you might as well ask her name for a start.
[] Answer the question as honestly as you can.
Maybe back away from Himeyuri's apartment and beckon the girl to follow for a bit in case the cat does something loud enough to alert the shikigami?

I am a mess.

Thanks XS, you're the best.

Hi XS! How are you?

Missions with no Good Stuff sure are a wild ride, eh?

I'm just wondering if there's a reason beyond the cruelties of fate/chance that brings her near Himeyuri's dwelling, if not an actual association between the two, but a symbolic one? Well, we'll find out when Ryukusa gets her bearings.

It feels like it's been a while since XS ran twice in a week, though I hope it's not because she had to cancel something else she wanted to do and thus had more time.

Nope. Just slow recovery time and personal madness.

That's true, of course I'd imagine various complications are more likely to blame for that myself.

Is it fashionable madness you can put in your memoirs or just garden-variety stuff?

This Quest is worth making a book out of it.

Yes, but they wouldn't be XS's memoirs user.

Unless XS has an even weirder life than she has given the impression of anyway.

[XX] Well, you might as well ask her name for a start.
[X] Answer the question as honestly as you can.
[x] Touch fluffy ears. It works for other weird critters you know.
[x] Try and find out where she lives, hoping she's not as insane as Rie.
[+] Introduce yourself, you dork.

You and she together pet the weird little insubstantial ball-and-tail of catness that is an unmanifested cat youkai as she holds it on her arm. Trying to wrap your head around this situation is difficult so you start with the basics. “What is your name, neko-chan?” It's the safest thing you can think of to call her.

She only has eyes for the glimmering ball of catness on her arm, which is good because her glowing golden eyes are seriously disturbing to look into for too long. You're not used to innocence. “Cuisidhe,” she replies immediately.

“Kutse? Well, it is certainly appropriate. My name is Ryuu Ryukusa” You kneel and smile at her sadly. “I killed the colonel because he was trying to hurt some people who are very important to me.” You don't complicate the answer by explaining it was really his daughter that killed him, given that he was feeding her human remains at the time. “His daughter was just someone else he had hurt, so I tried to help her. Then your onee-sama came and took her away.” Really oversimplified....no, actually that isn't oversimplified at all, that's almost exactly what happened.

Kutse looks up at you and blinks those lanterns she calls eyes. With a smile you shrug. “There is only so much that a person like me can forgive, Kutse-san.” She nods slowly, thoughtfully. Carefully and slowly you reach over and stroke her hair, letting your fingers brush along the base of her ears firmly so as not to tickle. She lays her ears flat but her eyes close and she immediately starts purring. “Do you live near by Kutse-san?”

Kutse looks up but does so carefully so that she doesn't dislodge your hand, which you take as encouragement. “I live here.” You blink and point at the alleyway and she shakes her head. “In Chiyoda. Onee-chan says I'm allowed to live here as long as I like.” Your heart leaps into your throat, and you carefully continue to pet the cute little innocent abomination that has been tasked with patrolling Emperor Akihito home district. Gathering the cat youkai into her arms she lifts it up and offers it to you with both hands, which rather forces you to stop petting Kutse herself.

Shit just got even more complicated. You need to talk to Rie about this, seriously.

[] ….you know, she can keep it. Every little girl needs a pet.
[] Carefully accept the youkai back from her and let it sink into your aura.
[] Ask her if she would like to let it go free.
[] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.
[] Ask if you can come visit her later.

>Cuisidhe
>sidhe
>dwelling place of the Aos Sí
>the fucking FAE
Well shit

Is the cat really Ryukusa's to give away?
Also we in crisscrossing mythology trouble now!
>[x] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.

What;s really bad is if it's a cooshee then she's half faery dog and half demon cat.

>[] Carefully accept the youkai back from her and let it sink into your aura.
[] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.
There seems like a strong possibility she doesn't want anyone starting trouble, not even us

So...we just go home, or what? I mean, we don't really WANT to fight anyone...

We can try negotiation, since we really -don't- want to make more than a minimum of trouble.

>[] ….you know, she can keep it. Every little girl needs a pet.
>[] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.
>[] Ask if you can come visit her later.

Also I guess
>[] Ask if you can come visit her later.
is just being polite though we'll be busy for a bit

[x] Ask if you can come visit her later.
>writein
[x]See if the cat youkai wants to come back or not, and acquiesce to its desire

That's a fair idea, I'll add the custom to my vote

Is the cat youkai intelligent enough to make that decision, and does its choice matter in terms of our duty?

It is concentrated cat. Honestly I don't think we WOULD be able to give it away if it didn't want to go, or be taken back except forcefully.

>[] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.
>[]See if the cat youkai wants to come back or not, and acquiesce to its desire

Well then if it wants to stay with Kutse, then that should be fine, unless 860 is a really unlucky number

>[] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.

>Ask why she asked her question. Or rather, why she wanted to know the answer

>Ask if we ever interacted with her, before. If we have, apologize for not connecting the dots.

>[X] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.
>[X] Ask if you can come visit her later.
So nice to have more quest time this week.

>Ask why she asked her question. Or rather, why she wanted to know the answer
That IS something I'm really curious about as well, but for some reason I feel like asking could be dangerous or at least rude. Might not be though

>Ask if we ever interacted with her, before. If we have, apologize for not connecting the dots.
Ryukusa would know if this were the case, even if it's another person's spirit or a subsumed identity.

It used to be 862.

[X] Pet the cat youkai, and ask her what she does here, carefully.
[X] Ask if you can come visit her later.
[+] See what the cat youkai wants to do. The Kami know you can't freakin' order the damn thing around, it's a fuckin' cat.
[+] Ask about her asking. Kami help you if it's just idle curiosity, you head might explode.

You let a little smile slip through the forced calm, because she is pretty adorable holding out a ball of can spirit out to you, and you stroke the youkai, wondering how the heaven the silly thing can purr if it isn't actually there. Avoiding the quantum physics experiment of whether or not a conceptualized cat can purr aloud, you ask Katse gently, “Did Rie-sama give you a job to do here, or do you have things you like to do here?”

She nods, which is annoying because you asked two questions, and takes the cat youkai into her arms and hugs it, though not too tight. “I'm supposed to keep people like me from coming around here.”

Hmn. “You mean, other cat spirits?” She shakes her head. “Other dangerous spirits?” She shakes her head again.

….

“You mean like the colonel's daughter or his solders?”

She nods solemnly.

Well, Akihito-tenno sure as heaven isn't going to be on Taisho Ryoga's hit list any time soon, that's for damn sure. “Can I come by later then, and talk with you some more?” The cat youkai she is hugging seems perfectly content to remain hugged and held, despite what looks like the seriously most awkward squishing that any cat should never have to endure.

“Uh huh. You're nice.”

Kamidamnit, you're blushing. “Thank you Katse-sama. I have to go do some more work, so I have to go now. Is that okay?” She nods solemnly, and watches you as you stand up. “It was really nice to meet you, Katse-sama.”

“It was nice to meet you, Ryukusa-sama. Will you come talk to me some more later?” She asks with the solemnity that only the very young and innocent can ask.

“Yes, I will. Maybe not tonight, but soon. I would like you to meet my family. I think you will get along with some of them very well.” Kiki-hime, Yuuhi- and Yui-chan would totally adore her. She nods slowly, accepting your claim at face value. Because, well, innocent. “Katse-sama....may I ask why you wanted to know why I did those things?” Another nod, this time in acquiescence. “Katse-sama, why did you want to know why I let the daughter live and killed the father?”

“Because I wanted to know why you let the daughter go after you killed her dad.” At first it seems like an obvious response from an innocent, but you don't really think that the simple answer is what it is. The Japanese are infamous for holding grudges, even beyond the grave; leaving Melinda alive, especially after she nearly became a bakemono herself, would be foolish. You're not quite sure what would have happened if Rie-sama hadn't shown up, but you're glad she did; it saved you and Akari-niji-chan from having to fight Melinda more.

You're still going to have Er Yin-sensei and Kiku-chan vet Katse-sama thoroughly, because Yomi take you if you have any idea what kind of spiritual mess this could boil over into.

You bow to her and she bows back, still holding the cat youkai to her chest with both arms. She steps away, and then turns around and starts talking to her new pet. Or maybe, new friend. “You can be George. I'm Katse. We're gonna go look at the fish in the river, okay George?”

The ghostly meow from the cat youkai sends shivers down your spine, though you don't let it show.

Taking a moment to put all that weird stuff – which is saying something coming from you – out of your head, you turn and narrow your eyes at the edges of the two headed snake shikigami Himeyuri has left to guard the roof of the apartment building she's in. You do a slow check and make sure no one else has arrived to cause trouble for you, and you withhold the sigh of relief because you're not going to jinx yourself that way twice in one night.

[] Leave the snake-charm in place and hope it can't shrink and get into the house.
[] Take out the double snake shikigami before infiltrating.
[] Leap up and catch the shikigami in a Barrier that doesn't include the rest of the building.
[] Try and use Water Eyes on it.
[] You can get into the building the hard way to avoid all detection but it stinks.

That went...well? Hopefully? Maybe?
>[x] Try and use Water Eyes on it.
None of these options sound very palatable.

>Cuisidhe
>Kutse

Wait, since Cuisidhe would be pronounced Coo-Ee-Shee, wouldn't the closest pronunciation in Japanese be Kuishi?

>[] You can get into the building the hard way to avoid all detection but it stinks.
Annoying but probably best to avoid more trouble. Unless it has a very high cost in addition to being unpleasant.

>[] You can get into the building the hard way to avoid all detection but it stinks.

>[X] Try and use Water Eyes on it.
>[X] Try other eyes if it would help.
>[X] Take it out if we think she will not wake up

>[] Take out the double snake shikigami before infiltrating.

>[] Try and use Water Eyes on it.
>[] You can get into the building the hard way to avoid all detection but it stinks.

From someone eager to show off everything from tits to thighs, she sure is well covered up where the rest of her body is concerned.

>Japanese actually notice the nearly silent 'thee' in sidhe - so it's 'tse' not 'shi'.

[] Try and use Water Eyes on it.

That is the best kind of way to cover up

Hello XS. I hope you're still doing alright despite running two nights in a row.

I don't disagree user. It's like a nice frame for a beautiful work of art.

...

This quest has the best taste.

>[] Try and use Water Eyes on it.
If we don't learn something useful:
>[] You can get into the building the hard way to avoid all detection but it stinks.

But there's no "tse" sound in the language, which has the "eh" vowel sound, not "ee", the hard t sound group is Ta Chi Tsu Te To, "chi" would be the closest then.

Makes you wonder about Ryukusa's native tongue, doesn't it.

[XX] Try and use Water Eyes on it.
[X] You can get into the building the hard way to avoid all detection but it stinks.
[x] Take out the double snake shikigami before infiltrating.

You open your Water Eyes and study the snake-shikigami, not entirely certain what to expect as it is mostly a spirit imbued with the will and power of the maker of its shell. Nevertheless, you do get an interesting understanding of the make. Meticulous in execution, the creation was painstaking and slow; this was a crafting that took more than a few days of effort, and she wouldn't have used it unless she felt the need was critical.

It's nice to be appreciated.

The spirit is vigilant and wary, but at the same time it is not entirely something that is focused on its task. You can sense the frayed threads of its attention as it strains against the power that holds it to Himeyuri's will. It is supposed to waken her, but it wants to shed blood, preferably Himeyuri's.

….this changes things a little.

You could easily enter the building through the drainage system, and as unpleasant as that might be, it isn't like you can't clean up thoroughly when you're inside. On the other hand, if that thing breaks free before you finish what you have to do, it would be a rampaging bakemono, not a youkai or a shikigami. Not that you doubt Himeyuri's skills, but its a distinct risk that you would be ignoring.

Void Eyes only helps you understand the problem more clearly: Himeyuri invested a lot of power into making it a guardian that could take on a senior member of the clan or three, maybe a single elite, but that much power has given it a measure of desire that was detectable through Water Eyes. It doesn't have autonomy or self-will – yet. The strands of power holding it in check aren't fraying continuously or anything, but they're damaged, certainly. Should Himeyuri lose control , they will snap all at once.

She's no two bit hack of a sorceress, that's for certain.

[] Isolate it in a Barrier and then destroy it.
[] End it physically and prevent the power backlash using Matagama-no-Shitoki.
[] It's similar to a ward or a talisman – your left arm can snuff the magic entirely.
[] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.
[] Leave it – if Himeyuri can't cope with her own power, it's on her.

That seems rather a risky summon then.

XS mentioned the kind of magic used to make shikigami was unsafe after a certain point last thread..

>[X] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.

Hmm...
>[x] It's similar to a ward or a talisman – your left arm can snuff the magic entirely.

>Use Fire Eyes on it, unless this would blow your cover or cause other side-effects

>Think about which methods of taking this guardian out would alert Himeyuri or another person.

Remember, guys, Fire helps us with curses and the like.

Shouldn't she have some kind of connection to it that would warn her the instant it's taken out, however we do it?
Still, Fire Eyes isn't a bad idea.

>[] Fire Eyes

Every single option makes it clear that Himeyuri won't notice. Ryukusa scouted the whole area, twice. There comes a point where asking for more assurances is counterproductive and ends in us never doing anything.

It's been made abundantly clear Ryukuza Quest isn't a safe space and will never be 100% perfectly safe.

>[] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.

>Think about which methods of taking this guardian out would alert Himeyuri or another person.
....are you asking me to define the methods by which Ryukusa can destroy it specifically to GET attention? Because I can do that if you want, unless I misunderstand what you're requesting here.

I think he want to do the opposite of what would alert her.

>[] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.
I don't THINK Himeyuri is anime-villain enough to lay a trap inside the Shikigami to be triggered when we disrupt or absorb it.

I think he's asking if we kniw what not to do.

[+] Fire Eyes
[+] Risk assessment.

Looking at the shikigami with Fire eyes results in astonishingly little information – you can see the spirit bound into the paper construct, but calling it a 'spirit' is actually giving it too much credit. It's barely sentient, more of an 'infused will' that harbors a trace of individual ambition simply because ~so much~ willpower was placed into the spell itself. That doesn't mean it won't be dangerous if it breaks free of the constraints bound into the paper charm. Quite the opposite, it would mean that spirit becomes truly free willed, transforming the shikigami into a full-fledged bakemono.

As far as risks: the only real risks, other than sitting here second guessing yourself to the point someone nearby takes notice and draws attention to you by asking you what you're doing here in the middle of the night looking at what seems like a quiet and unassuming apartment building, is someone catching sight of you as you destroy the invisible and otherwise undetectable guardian spirit that can only be seen by using spiritual Eyes. And since you can detect others using Elemental Eyes out to at least two hundred feet, you would notice anyone watching the creature itself or using Elemental Eyes in the vicinity.

Of course the longer you sit here in your confusion, the more likely it is that Ryuu Yakumo or someone else might decide to check up on their superior.

[] Isolate it in a Barrier and then destroy it.
[] End it physically and prevent the power backlash using Matagama-no-Shitoki.
[] It's similar to a ward or a talisman – your left arm can snuff the magic entirely.
[] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.

>[] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.
Well we deserved that

Void Eyes probably would have noticed a magical trap like that since we learned to use them from Yui who would know what to look for.

>Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.

>>[] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.
Himeyuri will most likely notice that.

>[X] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.

>[x] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.
Yeah alrighty

That's not a good thing if she does

>[] End it physically and prevent the power backlash using Matagama-no-Shitoki.

I think it'll leave less variables if we do it like this

>[] End it physically and prevent the power backlash using Matagama-no-Shitoki.

>[] End it physically and prevent the power backlash using Matagama-no-Shitoki.

I forget, is this the first time we've dealt with a shikigami?

Peta made a minor one that she used as a double of herself in her episode.

[X] Using your right hand to cancel the magics will consume the power and end the spell silently.

While your left hand has the power to overwhelm wards, this isn't, strictly speaking, a ward. You right hand – or your talons and palm at least – can consume the magics sustaining the shikigami, and simply burn the sustaining magics away. Since the spell is self sustaining and the controls that Himeyuri placed on it are essentially little more than a magical if-then set of commands, as long as you kill it before it attacks you, everything should be fine.

Ironically, it's because the spell was worked so well and given so much power that you are able to slip past it; the double headed snake distracts itself constantly with flitting 'thoughts' of bloodshed and mayhem. So leaping towards it – basically, leaping over the apartments – results in a split second of surprise and confusion before you ignite the magics with your talons.

Which also hurts quite a bit, because you still haven't fully recovered from healing Er Yin. But what the heaven, it's worth it to see the entire shikigami burst into pure white flames and vanish without leaving a ripple in the spirit world to mark a sudden demise.

And once on the other side of the building, things are much easier. There are three apartments that you can enter from this side, as well as the required fire exit in the back. The fourth apartment on this side has lights on and someone – two of them, a man and a woman....oh. Well, they're distracted, and won't be a problem. The back door is easy, but she would have left that guarded as well. Other people's homes? Not so much.

She's on the top floor opposite this side of the two story apartment building, if Akari-niji-chan is to be believed; you should probably check all four though, just in case she left anyone to surprise you. There are humans in all the ones over here – you can feel their blood (and in two cases, other fluids) flowing evenly and healthily. Mostly sleeping. Except for those two.

[] Start on the bottom floor, work your way up.
[] Second floor, 'her side' is a good entry point.
[] Second floor diagonally from her supposed apartment.
[] Though the roof might be ideal, actually; roof to attic to living room, sort of thing.
[] You could enclose the house in a Barrier – that way only she and any other spirit-children would be there.

>[] Start on the bottom floor, work your way up.

>[x] Though the roof might be ideal, actually; roof to attic to living room, sort of thing.
Thorough, yet unconventional. Also that sure was easy for how much hemming and hawing we did, haha.