Youkai Quest: Unknown Adventure! (The Adventure Begins!)

[Berzul]

>"Nya, what do you do for "living~" Yuyuko-Shama? The dead seems to be rather harmless, and it must be rather boring with the TV box around here...."

>Whisper to Yukari, "That Youmu Sheems to be the one we are looking for, Nya... Do you think if I can help her gardening she would us teach you cooking?"

[Kasu]

> "Is she a superhero like on the TV?!"
> Excitement!

[Hanzo K.]

>"Don't worry Ponga... You don't have to show yourself if you don't want to..."
>"Earlier I saw her, then she disappeared. How can she do that?"

>You try to calm Ponga down, but he's not having any of it, so you just put the hat back on your head.
>You mention that you saw Youmu earlier, but she vanished. This perplexes you, so you also ask how she did it. "She's quite fast, her speed is such that she can travel all throughout Hakugyoukurou in an instant."

> "Is she a superhero like on the TV?!"
> Excitement!

>After hearing this, you ask excitedly if she's a superhero like on TV! Yuyuko of course, laughs in a vaguely familiar manner. Where have you heard that laugh before...Maybe it's someone you know?
>You're fair to bursting with excitement!

>"Nya, what do you do for "living~" Yuyuko-Shama? The dead seems to be rather harmless, and it must be rather boring with the TV box around here...."
>Whisper to Yukari, "That Youmu Sheems to be the one we are looking for, Nya... Do you think if I can help her gardening she would us teach you cooking?"

>You ask Yuyuko what she does to pass the time, and she smiles in a rather familiarly mysterious manner. "All kinds of things~ Painting, Sewing, and many more~"
>You whisper your thoughts on cooking and gardening to Yukari, and she just laughs enigmatically. "Who said that I was going to be the one to learn how to cook~? You are, my dear~" That Yukari, she's trolled you yet again! That's the four-hundred-and-sixteenth time this month.

>As if seemingly inspired by something, Yuyuko lashes out an arm to grab something from the air, and surprisingly enough, that same girl from earlier is rather forcibly halted, and left hanging in midair by the collar of her dress. Of course, she does shout rather surprisedly when this happens. "Myah?!"
>Of course, you see a larger version of those little marshmallow-looking ghosts careen into the very same tree Yuyuko collided with earlier. Surprisingly enough, it too hit the tree like something living would, and the girl noticeably winces like she herself hit the tree. How strange.

[Berzul]

Damn you Yukari!!!!

>"Nya, are you all right? seems to me that hitting tress has become a habit in netherworld..."

>"You must be... Youmoe right? I hope I got your name right... I am Hibatchi Yakumo, pleased to meet you, Nyan!" *hold out our hand for an possible hand shake*

To be honest... canonicly  , is there any connection that Chen is a Yakumo family member by any means? hmmm

>Turn back to Yukari "Me? Ke? Nya?...."

[Kyo Tanaka]

>"Y-Yukari!?" Slightly panic. "I-I can't c-cook! Last time I touched that pot-looking thing it bit me!"

[Hanzo K.]

Damn you Yukari!!!!
>"Nya, are you all right? seems to me that hitting tress has become a habit in netherworld..."
>"You must be... Youmoe right? I hope I got your name right... I am Hibatchi Yakumo, pleased to meet you, Nyan!" *hold out our hand for an possible hand shake*
To be honest... canonicly  , is there any connection that Chen is a Yakumo family member by any means? hmmm
>Turn back to Yukari "Me? Ke? Nya?...."

>"Y-Yukari!?" Slightly panic. "I-I can't c-cook! Last time I touched that pot-looking thing it bit me!"

Well, Chen's a member by way of being Ran's shikigami, who in turn is Yukari's shikigami.
>You ask the girl if she's alright, and she nods faintly. After that, you comment that hitting trees must be a common occurrence here, which causes all present, except for yourself and the gray-haired girl, to start laughing...Hey, when'd Ran get in on it all? Because there she is, laughing it up with everyone else.
>You introduce yourself to the girl, and ask if she's Youmu. She nods, but gives you a puzzled look. "I wasn't aware that there were two Nekomata in the Yakumo family. Although Myon did report seeing a person fitting your appearance." Myon? Who the heck's that?
~BGM: Lightspeed Blade~
>Of course, your inner question is quickly answered by that larger ghost floating over to rest at the girl's side. "I am Youmu Konpaku, gardener and bodyguard to Lady Yuyuko." She then gestures towards the ghost floating beside her. "This is my other half, which many refer to as 'Myon'. Of course, I can't remember when I started using it."
>You turn to Yukari and kinda flip out a bit when she mentions that you're the one who'll be learning how to cook. "Remember earlier? you were the one who wanted to cook~" Yuyuko of course just laughs to herself. Youmu however, looks quite puzzled, despite her initial business-like response.
>Ow, she's got you there.

[Berzul]

That's an adventure we got in.. oh well...
>"Nya? I got reported? For what? That's does not mean of course I am going to turn into a ghost by any means, right?"

>"So your Myon is kinda like him, *show Ponga*? Your other half? *confused*"

>*nudge Yukari* *whisper* "Yes but I am doing this for the sake of both of us, so you are going to help me, yes? Let's move to the kitchen first."

[Kasu]

> Compliment Youmu on her handiwork regarding the garden.

[Kyo Tanaka]

>Stare at that half-ghost thing.

>...Play around with it as if it was a ball of yarn.

[Kips McKipzerson]

Eye'm back baby!

>Poke the ball.
>Try not to hurt it though, That'd be mean.
>"Why is this marshmellow following you Miss Youmnya?"

[Hanzo K.]

That's an adventure we got in.. oh well...
>"Nya? I got reported? For what? That's does not mean of course I am going to turn into a ghost by any means, right?"
>"So your Myon is kinda like him, *show Ponga*? Your other half? *confused*"
>*nudge Yukari* *whisper* "Yes but I am doing this for the sake of both of us, so you are going to help me, yes? Let's move to the kitchen first."

Eye'm back baby!
>Poke the ball.
>Try not to hurt it though, That'd be mean.
>"Why is this marshmellow following you Miss Youmnya?"

>You ask if you'll turn into a ghost by any means, and Yuyuko shakes her head, Youmu does too. "No, Myon simply keeps an eye on things while I perform my regular duties. Like a watchdog so to speak."
>You confusedly ask if Myon's like Ponga, while poking it intermittently, and everyone but you and Youmu start laughing, while Youmu just blushes a bit. "I-it's not quite the same, Myon is my ghost half. It's me, but at the same time not....Even I'm kinda confused, and I've been around for a lot longer than it seems." Another one who's older than they look? You get the feeling this is going to be a recurring thing.
>You nudge Yukari and whisper that you're doing it  for everyone's good, and that we should take the conversation to the kitchen, but Yukari simply smiles at you enigmatically.
>What could be going on in that mind of hers? You'd have to be a mind-reader or something to find out, too bad you don't know any!

> Compliment Youmu on her handiwork regarding the garden.

>You compliment Youmu's handiwork on the garden, and she nods. "I've been doing this for about...50 or so years? It's easy to lose track of time here. Time passes differently here in Hakugyoukurou, if at all. But gardening isn't all that I'm good at."

>Stare at that half-ghost thing.
>...Play around with it as if it was a ball of yarn.

>You stare at Myon. It looks fluffy, like a yarnball...It couldn't hurt to just...could it?
>Oh what the hell, you decide to play with it like a ball of yarn, but remembering to be gentle. Youmu of course, blushes profusely. "A-ah..."
>Maybe she can feel everything Myon does? That's so weird! Everyone's getting a laugh out of it regardless. Except Youmu, who's blushing a lot.

[Berzul]

>"Nya, I finally understand now! That thing that follows you.. is also you?"

>"...and sorry about that.. I am not used to ghosts at all."

>"Sho to speak...." *Explain the cooking crisis in Yakumo family again.

>*Whisper to Youmoe* "Honestly I wanna get out of the house, it's too crowdy there..."

[Yonowaaru]

>"So if your ghost half were at the Yakumo house and you were here, I could speak to you anytime?"

>Ponder all those possibilities!

[Kyo Tanaka]

>Blush a bit once we asked that the Myon is also her.

>Do we know anything... about this feeling? It feels so warm...

[Kips McKipzerson]

>"Hmmm? Is that a myon in your pants or are you just happy to see me miss youmu?
>"Do you... ah, want me to stopnya?"

[Hanzo K.]

>"Nya, I finally understand now! That thing that follows you.. is also you?"
>"...and sorry about that.. I am not used to ghosts at all."
>"Sho to speak...." *Explain the cooking crisis in Yakumo family again.
>*Whisper to Youmoe* "Honestly I wanna get out of the house, it's too crowdy there..."

>"Hmmm? Is that a myon in your pants or are you just happy to see me miss youmu?
>"Do you... ah, want me to stopnya?"

>You say that you finally understand that Myon is in fact, Youmu too! And Yuyuko nods, seeing as how Youmu's out of it, she's practically giving off steam from how much she's blushing!
>You ask Youmu if you should stop, and she weakly nods. So you do so, much to her relief. "Well, that was quite amusing~" "Indeed, reminds me of the time with the duck." "And the roll of tape, can't forget that!" "Ah yes, though I never did figure out what we were going to do with 20 yards of copper wire." "I was wondering what the albino dockworker was for personally, we never did find out what happened to him after we sent him back." "A-ah, not with the kids around..." Yukari of course, pouts. "Oh poo. Ran, we're only having a little fun~ besides, if I remember correctly, it was your idea in the first place~" Ran of course, starts fidgeting and blushing. "W-well, y-yes...B-but that was centuries ago!"
>Wonder what they meant by all that...? But no time for that though, there's bigger fish to fry! Figuratively, and literally.
>You decide to explain the situation as best as you can, and Yuyuko seems quite amused. She looks over to Yukari with that same strange look she's been giving you ever since you and her met, it almost reminds you of Yukari in a way... "I see you still haven't figured out what's wrong with your cooking Yukari~"
>You make an aside to Youmu that it's getting crowded at the Yakumo residence, and she nods faintly. "That's not the first time something like that's happened..." ...Wonder what that was about? What you said? Or something else...?
>Everyone is just so strange sometimes. But at any rate, it seems Youmu's mostly recovered from Myon having been played with like a Yarnball...Maybe you should get a Yarnball later on, just in case.

>"So if your ghost half were at the Yakumo house and you were here, I could speak to you anytime?"
>Ponder all those possibilities!

>You ask Youmu if that means that if Myon was at your place, you could talk to her whenever. But she just shakes her head. "Not quite...Myon can only go so far away before both Myon and myself start feeling funny. Last time we tried that I nearly wound up becoming a full ghost. So i don't want to try that again anytime soon.."
>There could've been so many possibilities, if only she could do it.

>Blush a bit once we asked that the Myon is also her.
>Do we know anything... about this feeling? It feels so warm...

>You blush a little, which is natural.
>Feeling?


Parser's Corner: It took me all day and all night to type up this update. Parsing for some of you guys gets tricky at times, but I try my best to power though it all!
Why do Berzul's posts always require the most text response...? ^^;
I haven't typed this many words in a long time...Feels good man.

[Berzul]

I don't know why either...

>*Continue with Youmu* "I figure... I am not quite that old in this world, but I certainly learning fast, Nya. Just... hey look, this sword of your, you use it for cooking? We should move on before... things get even stranger here...."

>"Chen you know anything about this...?"

[Kyo Tanaka]

>"Yukari, what were you, Yuyukao, and Ran-Shama talking about?"

[Kasu]

>"Yukari, what were you, Yuyukao, and Ran-Shama talking about?"

> Throw in a head tilt as well.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Yukari, what were you, Yuyukao, and Ran-Shama talking about?"

> Throw in a head tilt as well.

>You ask what they're talking about, and also headtilt for good measure.
>Ran of course, goes almost as red as Youmu did and starts stammering and muttering! "I, er, that is..Uh..Um...Er..I, uh..."
>Of course, she just falls flat on her face from the stress of it all. And Chen finds all this to be uproariously funny. Yuyuko and Yukari are sitting there laughing like old friends, looks like they're having a good time. "Maybe when you're older dear, you've still got a while before you're ready for it."[/color[

I don't know why either...
>*Continue with Youmu* "I figure... I am not quite that old in this world, but I certainly learning fast, Nya. Just... hey look, this sword of your, you use it for cooking? We should move on before... things get even stranger here...."
>"Chen you know anything about this...?"

>You resume the conversation with Youmu, who of course seems unfazed by it all, seems she's used to seeing others go beet-red, but not so used to that person being her. "I don't use it for cooking, no. There's a set of knives in the kitchen. I just use these to do the gardening mostly. There hasn't been much reason to bring them into a fight in a while. But lately...Well, I'll tell you as we're cooking lunch."
>You ask Chen if she knows anything about what they were talking about, but she just grins at you like she's always been. Looks like if she does know, she ain't telling.
>Youmu then leads you and Chen into the building, and after a short walk you come across what must be the biggest kitchen in Gensokyo! They've got grills, ovens, massive freezers, ovens that you could fit a grown man into, and everything! There's even a...table saw..? Maybe it's for woodworking..? But in a kitchen? Maybe they have strange dinners here. "This is where I do most of my work, I use all of this to prepare lady Yuyuko's meals, as well as the meals of anyone staying here for the time. Including for lunch."
>Youmu then rummages around in a drawer and pulls out something that may once have been a pristine white at one time, but has faded with age. In the blink of an eye, she's holding your hat! But there's something on your head still...Oh. That solves the mystery of what she had, it's one of those poofy hats that those chefs wear that you see on the cover of Ran's cookbooks! And inexplicably, Ponga's still inside the hat. The chef hat, not the top hat. "Since you wanted to learn how to cook, you'll be helping me prepare lunch. I have some spare outfits in the closet over near the table saw that i use to slice meat, you'll want to change into one of those. I doubt you want to get that suit dirty."

[Berzul]

>"Amazing, and you do all this by yourself?.... Nyann! Where did you get all this stuff?"

>"Aha... he he.. I didn't thought too well, going into suit here in the first place, nyah..."

>Oh Yea... change time, at least the cooking "outfit" whatever it is... and wash hands, Nya. So go ahead and change... too bad we don't have Chen.. looking at us? To used to Ran I guess....

[Kasu]

> Compliment Ponga on his hat-warping skills.

[Whatthe]

>Think about lasagna.

>...Wonder why we thought of lasagna.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Amazing, and you do all this by yourself?.... Nyann! Where did you get all this stuff?"
>"Aha... he he.. I didn't thought too well, going into suit here in the first place, nyah..."
>Oh Yea... change time, at least the cooking "outfit" whatever it is... and wash hands, Nya. So go ahead and change... too bad we don't have Chen.. looking at us? To used to Ran I guess....

>You marvel at the size of it all, and ask how she got it all, and if she does it by herself. Youmu of course, is busy taking some kind of large knife to a rather  large piece of meat with almost manic glee! Maybe you should ask later..? She does seem to be getting into it quite a lot...
~BGM: The Gardener's A Chef?!~
>What the? Now she's taking something with a lot of pointy bits to it...and..OHGODTHATTHING'SLOUD!! "Hahahaha! Gonna make some bacon out of this oversized piece of pork!" Maybe you should just leave her to her own devices for now until she cools down...?
>Looks like it's up to you to figure out this cooking thing...At least you have Ponga to help. So you go over to where the saw is, and you open the closet to find a few kinda old-looking green kimonos with white aprons.
>But for a brief moment, one of the kimonos looks brown. how weird. You decide to put that one on since brown's a lot like maroon, the color of your usual kimonos back home....even though this one just looked brown, but is actually green.
>You're sure that it couldn't have meant anything could it? ...Could it?
~Item Get~
Cooking Outfit(Equipped)
This stylish-looking White Apron and Green Kimono set looked brown when you first saw it, but you blinked and it was green like all the others.
Cooking Hat(Equipped)
This poofy hat is a must for any chef, as the Legendary Chef Boyardee can attest...But you kinda wonder just who he is.

> Compliment Ponga on his hat-warping skills.

>Think about lasagna.
>...Wonder why we thought of lasagna.

>You compliment Ponga on his apparent hat teleportation, but he just stares blankly at you. Wait...when'd he get out from under the hat? Kedama sure are strange...
>You think about lasagna...but then wonder why. You're a cat, lasagna isn't for cats! ...Is it?

[Berzul]

>"And what is that we are making anyway? Do I get something like that too, Nyan? *look at large knife*"

>"Honestly.... let me take care of things, it can't be that hard..... Nya..."

>Still seek an opportunity to take Myon as hostage, if She would resist in teaching us anything and be "in the Zone", as is now...

>Also... see if Ponga smells anything good, maybe we don't need Youmu at all... We can make our own kitchen, Nya?

[Kasu]

> Convenient time-skip go!

[Hanzo K.]

>"And what is that we are making anyway? Do I get something like that too, Nyan? *look at large knife*"
>"Honestly.... let me take care of things, it can't be that hard..... Nya..."
>Still seek an opportunity to take Myon as hostage, if She would resist in teaching us anything and be "in the Zone", as is now...
>Also... see if Ponga smells anything good, maybe we don't need Youmu at all... We can make our own kitchen, Nya?

> Convenient time-skip go!

>Go-Go Youkai Timeskip!
For the sake of keeping things simple, Berzul's command will occur during the timeskip.


>After a little while, You and Youmu manage to cook...something. You're not sure what it is, but it's got a lot of meat and cheese.
>What else is peculiar about it, is that it's very heavy. Even with being a Youkai, and having Youmu's help, it's still quite difficult to lift.
>Of course, in the process of making it, you used almost all the tools in the kitchen. Of course, Youmu used a few more...unconventional tools, like a morningstar, chainsaw. And oddly enough, a squeaky toy. "Well, we finally made it. This should keep everyone full for at least today."

[Berzul]

Sho... we learned anything today?

>"Oh yea... this isn't too big to fit onto Kotatsu?"

>"I guess.. it's better than my mama at least...*complement?*"

>What About Ponga? Is he interested into anything?

>Resist yourself against eating... or puking...

[Kyo Tanaka]

> "Cooking is so fun~!"What are we cooking?

[Hanzo K.]

Sho... we learned anything today?
>"Oh yea... this isn't too big to fit onto Kotatsu?"
>"I guess.. it's better than my mama at least...*complement?*"
>What About Ponga? Is he interested into anything?
>Resist yourself against eating... or puking...

> "Cooking is so fun~!"What are we cooking?

Yes, you learned that beef is very hard to put into a duck. And how you managed to get that roast pig in there, you'll never know.
>You ask what you cooked, and Youmu shrugs. "I, uh....Yeah, I have no clue what we just made. In fact, I don't even remember half of what we put in it."
>You comment that it's probably too big to put on a kotatsu, but Youmu shakes her head. [color=]"You're thinking too small."[/color]
>You remark that it's probably better than Yukari's cooking at least. Youmu suppresses a giggle. "You may be right on that."
>You look around for Ponga, and find him poking himself out of a mixing bowl that looks almost like it would make a good helmet for him. You start to think about those little helmet-wearing enemies from a game Chen mentioned in passing....What were they called again, Metalls? At any rate, you find it hard to keep from laughing at Ponga's antics.
>For all the strange things you put into it, you find it effortless to keep from losing your lunch. But keeping from snacking on it a little proves to be much harder.
>Oh man...meaty, cheesy...and wow. You have no clue what all you put in there, but it tastes awesome!

>_


Parser's Corner: Jeez guys, stop getting probated and stuff.