半死半生

oh, wasn’t that quite a reaction? the poor girl’s reaction speed was quite good in danmaku, so it’s no surprise that it would stay consistent upon surprises.

no wonder yuyuko found this so fun; it’s much more entertaining instigating the surprise rather than just watching it happen. leaning on the gap in space, yukari gives the half-ghost an amused smile.

“ oh, i’ve been behind you for a while, if that’s what you’re asking. ” she doubts that was what youmu meant, but she couldn’t resist but tease the poor, flustered girl for a bit longer. “ really, you walked right past me. of course i couldn’t resist but surprise you a little, hm? ”

"Well then why didn't you just say hi like a normal person?!" She was still working on coming down the excitement. It took her a moment to realize her tone and who she was directing it to.

            The mention of food perked this elezen’s ears up. “ Ah, might you be a culinarian? You should have said so sooner! ” Lycelle pouted. “ I would have loved to try one of your dishes sometime. ”

            At that moment, an idea bloomed in her mind. A way to get Youmu to cook for her, and a way to wile their time away. There’s no use in wasting their time like this when there were no jobs to be had.

            The dark knight clapped her hands, her eyes glimmering with mischief. “ Mind going for a spar then? It would help in keeping our skills sharp. Winner gets to treat the other for a meal. ”

"Ah, well, I wouldn't say that. At least not anything special. It was something I just kinda fell into." As were many of the other variety of skills she acquired when working with Yuyuko.

"Spar? That's… probably a good idea." It was difficult to remember when she last swung a blade. And given the city's track record of odd occurrences, staying out of practice only hurt herself.

“ P-Path? Path? Wait, path? What path? “ Hearing the girl speak of another path, Morgan glanced off to the side and realized that his attempts to struggle through the bamboo were lost on him due to the fact there was a very clear cut path to his left. A damn shame, really, he almost made it. Upon realizing his rather embarrassing mistake, he was quick to back off from the stalks and take the path accordingly, stepping across with a small laugh to try and hide his embarrassment over the matter. 

“ My bad, I haven’t quite explored these parts yet. I hadn’t realized they were more for walking around and thought you might’ve gotten lost. At.. least the road was paved with good intentions. “ He scratched the back of his head, trying to make light of the incident but it was a bit of a nuance to be caught doing something like this. “ Still, what’s a girl your age doing out here alone in these parts anyways? It almost looked like you had full recognition of what you were doing for a moment, there. “ 

She could only silently watch as he withdrew from the bamboo stalks and emerged from the proper entrance. She was at a loss of words for the current situation. Only glad that it wasn't her making a fool of herself this time. "A-ah, don't worry about it. Happens to all of us sometimes, right?"

"Nothing really, just sort of taking a break from everything?" It wasn't like she had any reason to be here, it just happened to be a nice spot. Any longer and she may have dozed off.

♔ —• Despite seeming like a small city, there was an oddly expansive amount of land to it that ranged from sights he would have to travel to other states just to see. In just the few short hours of him walking just to get an idea of the scope of the city, he had seen so much it was almost baffling. Almost like someone tried to take a bit of every country and state and put it all in one place. Impressive in some regard really, but equally nauseating in trying to find something specific. 

♔ —• So it was no real surprise when Morgan had gotten himself only partially lost, finding some sort of bamboo grove in the deeper parts of the city. There he would push some of the stalks out of the way just trying to find a way out, and getting rather disgruntled as a result, sighing to himself. “ If I never see the stuff in my life again it’ll be far too soon. “ He would however, stop himself momentarily when he spotted the figure of.. what looked to be a young girl, sitting by herself in the middle of the place. Curiously, he quickly approached her. 

“ Hey, are you lost as well? Hold on, let me just–get closer..! “ 

netherblades

Sometimes it was nice to get away from the crowded, busy streets of the city. It was strange to believe that there was even a place this quiet hidden away here. To her it felt as close to home as she could get here. A place that she could forget about her struggles of being tossed into a modern world, at least most of the times.

            Some days are just bad days – she learned that lesson early on as an adventurer. Being frugal became a necessity in case of bad days like this, and Lycelle thanked her foresight for such a thing. Still, she wasn’t going to give up anytime soon, so it came to no surprise to her to come across a fellow odd jobber along the way.

            Lycelle gave a shortwave as a means of a greeting. Connections were important, more so if a friendship is forged in the process. Youmu was delightful company especially in times like these – perhaps she should invite the swordswoman to some tea later.

            “ No such luck here either, I’m afraid. ” She gave a disappointed shrug. “ It is just one of those less busy days, it would seem. ”

"Yeah… and it seems like there's been more of those lately too." So many that she was debating whether or not she should start skipping meals to save some money. Never a fun situation to be in.

@netherblades

scaring underlings is much more yuyuko’s habit, she admits – while it’s quite funny to see them stumble around when startled, she’d much rather keep them on focused.

however, seeing youmu pass by, completely lost in thought… with the girl not even noticing her, the thought became tempting. what could she be thinking about, to not notice her when she’s not even hiding, she wonders? perhaps it’s an action that would offend another person, but it was nothing but a small detail to her.

she is planning to say greet youmu, but there was no way she would simply call out her name; that was far too straightforward for a greeting, for her own tastes. if she were to greet the half-ghost herself, it had to be more… memorable, perhaps? well, that’s a word to describe it, if she were to take a page out of one of her friend’s book.

the half-ghost stopped at a junction, seemingly lost. seeing her chance, yukari opens up two boundaries: slowly, as to not make any noise, the upper half of her torso appeared behind the girl… poising herself near the girl’s ear, she whispers.

“ boo. ”

The sudden voice in her ear did a great job at scaring the life out of her. Had it not been for better judgement, she would have taken her chances dodging the cars on the road. Instead opting to to hide behind a street pole. It was the only thing she could find to provide some cover from whatever had snuck up on her. Only for her to immediately regret that decision when she saw who the offender was.

Pearl Street was a little too high end for her. The only products available that really caught her eye were some of the food that was one sale. If there was any reason to come back, it would have been for the Gourmet Boulevard. While she was in the middle of wishfully hoping, a flash of color caught her eye. Searching for it’s source, she found a girl with strange branches protruding from her back. Each adorned with an array of crystals. It was a strange sight to see but what was stranger was that she felt that she knew her, somehow.

It felt like weeks have already gone by with zero luck on finding a job. Oddly enough this scenario felt like something she’s gone through before. Something she probably wouldn’t have thought much of if it wasn’t for being recognized at a few places she checked out. For now, there was little she could do about it, finding a job was a higher priority. Which lead her into running into a familiar face.

ad time.

despite being a reapp, I’m giving her a soft reset so with that mentioned.

Youmu Konpaku - Touhou

a friendly half-youkai that works too hard

fond of swords and gardening.

brings a sword to a magic fight

why does everyone have superpowers while i can only swing sharp sticks?

was supposed to train Yuyuko how to use a sword, got hit with the reverse card and did all her errands. terrible student, 0/10

well intentioned useful idiot, bullied frequently

absolutely terrified of ghosts, despite living with one and being half-phantom

Every now and then it was fun to check out new shops. As long as it fit within her budget, it was great to try something new. This time around, Youmu decided to try out a bakery. Looking around at the variety of goods on display before going to the counter as the customer before her left..

Things will be relatively normal for Youmu for this event. This post is going to count as both a plotter and a starter call, so for those interested. It’ll also be uncapped. Now for the details.

She'll still be a half-human. Only difference is that she doesn't know what the other half is and it’s not apparent. (Would probably still be the phantom, she can’t see it. Most people shouldn’t be able to either.)

She’s fortunate that she can pass as human with relative easy. It'll be a secret of hers that she'll only share with those she's comfortable with.

She's preparing to start college, doesn't know what she wants to do so she's going in blind. Not the greatest student but above average.

Wouldn’t mind picking up a part time job.

She didn’t get time to really know her parents since they left early, she was raised by her grandfather who passed away when she started high school. She’s been on her own ever since.

Has a scar running across her left hand, it’s from a cooking accident. Taught her to be more careful with knives.

“Sounds good to me!” He grins and nods. “If you want, I can take us there instantly with my magic. You just need to tell me your address. Of course, the ol’ fashioned walking method is also good for me!” He winks.

Well, that would be one way to prove that he could use magic. Not like she was really one to doubt the claim that he could but it couldn’t hurt to try. He would find out the address anyways if they walked.

“Wait… What?” she blinked, gazing zone out for a few moments. She knew this city was pretty strange, all things considered. But that was… truly hard to fathom. “This place was in ruins? But it looks so nice…”

“If memory serves correct. They all kinda blend together unfortunately...” She could clearly remember that city getting reduced to ruins multiple times. So maybe she was conflating the two.

With a nod, the Archer sheathes the wooden weapon on the scabbard and sighs. Good thing she managed to get in time, who knows what may have happened if she had got a bit too late.

“That’s good. We should depart from here unless we want to get ourselves trapped with more of them.”

“Ah, are you really okay? That doesn’t look good… More the reason to get out of here. I don’t know how to treat these wounds, but I’ll get you to a doctor. Can you move your arm?” The cool tone from the samurai wavers a bit but manages to compose herself. Grabbing the handle of her wooden weapon a bit more tighter, she nodded before turning to the infested streets.

“Let’s go.”

At the question on her arm, she made an attempt to do so. It hurt when it moved, but it was better that she could feel something instead of nothing. At least she could tell it wasn’t completely gone. With that confirmation, she let it fall limp to her side.

She was going to attempt to wrap the would. Defaulting to using her sleeve as a makeshift bandage. But the call made her stop trying to rip the cloth off. Instead reaching to draw one of her swords. It looked like she would have to keep up if she didn’t want to fall behind.

That’s… a good question, actually. Time feels like it’s been moving both too fast and too slow. “Uhm,” she toys with loose strands of hair as she thinks about how long it’s been. “A couple of months now. What about you?”