You are making the final preparations for the upcoming launch of colony ship Homeward Bound, the last checks being performed, the engines warming up; the slight hum of electricity fills the room. Standing at the bridge you find yourself looking out the front view port. The other forty-nine crew members settling into place, one announces, "All systems within operating limits."

The captain, behind you, calls out, "Good, enter the coordinates Fragile."

You interface with the computer as you devote the majority of your body’s processing power towards rechecking your thrice checked coordinates. You're already certain that you've perfected the math on the jump, but one final check isn't time wasted. Well, not more than point-zero-two seconds anyway. "Entering coordinates now." You inform the others vocally while logging the data in the group chat. Your dexterous fingers dance unnecessarily over the analog controls while you use your direct computer connection to input the data instead. Appearances must be maintained, of course.

"Jumping in five," Captain Sharp calls out, "Four, Three, Two, One."

The ship lurches forward, its engines thrumming into overdrive, pushing the ship into faster than light travel. Everything is going as expected until your optical sensors pick up an abnormality, a body you haven't seen before with blonde hair and a purple dress plastered on the front view port of the ship. Alarms go off, signifying atmospheric reentry detected, the safeties activate, engines go back to a quiet hum, and the ship is telling everyone you have 10km to impact.

You can feel a vaguely disapproving glance behind you as the captain says, "Does anyone recognize that body on the view port? Also, please initiate proper landing procedures."

You find yourself feeling rather annoyed at the implication that it was your calculations that caused this, which is completely impossible as you made sure that they were perfect for entire minutes.

"It is not a body in my database." You inform the crew over the logs and

"I'll be back in just a moment, then." She doesn't seem like she's here to cause harm, but that could change; Just because a law is abolished doesn't mean people stop following it. Then again, they probably don't care about all that if they're on the roof in clear daylight...Still, this is a matter of the shrine itself. Kanako should be there, at least. Unless...No. Stop. No time for this. They're adults, they can make their own decisions.

Informed decisions.

Can't afford to waste any time. My steps are light and measured for only as long as it takes to break from their sight – the second I'm sure I can get away with it they leave the floor completely, being tossed about with each strained corner. It's a bit dangerous, but by the time I know my path I've arrived. Just being here this fast is somewhat disorienting, let alone the ride over. I wonder how Daichi deals with it?

Peeking over the side of the roof proves a mistake. Don't need to see any of that, thank you. "Excuse me, sorry for interrupting." A pair of sighs, one deeper, longer, and a second later.
"Twenty-five minutes too much for you?" I understand your frustration, but this is kind of important...
"Yes." Wait! "No." Well... "There's complications." Stop stumbling over yourself and
"Spit it out, woman!" No need to get all hostile on me!
Kanako coos softly, trying to calm him in the second I take to collect myself. "There's a reporter here asking about what happened and I don't know what to tell her."
It takes a long moment to get a reply, made even longer by the fact that I'm looking away. It's a lot easier to wait when you can see someone's at least thinking. "...Is her name Aya, by any chance?" And it's Kanako that finally comes through.
"Aya Shameimaru?"
"Fuck." Is there just something about this shrine that makes people answer simultaneously? "We'll be down in a minute. Thank you, Hina." I wish I could take some

"Sanae! You're going to be late!"

Ah. That annoying voice that isn't real. I roll over in bed and ignore it.

"Hey, stop ignoring me! What kind of priestess are you? You're still pretending I'm not real? But whether you believe in me or not, time is marching on. You'll regret it if you don't get up now."

"Shut up! You're just an imaginary friend! Just drag me out of bed if you're really there!" I retort, grabbing the covers and pulling them over my head. As expected, nothing of the sort happens. There's just a sigh.

"You were better when you were a kid, you know. Never talked back, always paid your respects to your elders. I've never seen such an ungrateful shrine maiden! Slovenly, too! You know, if you abandon your gods, they won't be there when you really need them!"

Says the goddess- the imaginary goddess- who never did a single useful thing for me. And it's not like she hasn't had the chance, either. I don't say anything more; she usually stops bothering me for a while if I don't acknowledge her. By the time I throw off the covers and have a panic attack at the clock, she's faded away. I hope she fades away for good, because having an invisible woman berate you over everything from posture to diet gives you a complex, mark my words.

Don't get me wrong, having a god around to play with was great fun back when I was a kid, but I'm a senior now. A god who can't do anything but annoy me over trivial things is a god that shouldn't even bother to manifest.

Maybe you think I'm being harsh. Maybe you think I'm being delusional. I've seen Kanako, after all, a mighty storm goddess garbed in the ancient way; why should I ignore the evidence of my own eyes? But you don't live with her or know how she works. She's just sound and thunder in the end. She's got no bearing on my life, no way to effect it save with words. Even if I believed in her completely and made offerings, performed the dances and the rituals, she still wouldn't be able to do a single useful thing. She doesn't even

The journey felt like punishment, though I knew it was not.
Nevertheless, I continued trudging through the narrow, sinuous path overgrown with vegetation. My ankles and feet flared with the dull pain of walking through treacherous terrain for far too long. I feared to look downwards, as it felt like I'd be bruised and drenched in blood from the knees down. I stopped for what seemed like the hundredth time, leaned against a tree, and looked round yet again.

The Youkai Forest, I realized then, was named such not only for the obvious reason. Certainly many youkai lived there, but if you spend enough time in the heart of the woods, you can feel a curious effect: It's easy to imagine that entire forest itself was one enormous, malicious being. The trees were twisted abnormally like none I'd seen before: their blackened roots rose above the floor and made great arches large enough for a man to pass under, thick vines decorating them with colorful and enormous flowers. The canopy was so dense that a ray of light was a rare sight; it was not unlike traveling at night. Mushrooms of impossible sizes glowed, changed colors and pulsated according to some rhythm unknown to me; fruits and bulbs hanging from the contorted parodies of trees bloated and withered even as I watched, and of course, I cannot forget the incessant growling, snarling, screeching, and just about every other kind of noise the unholy youkai of the forest could manage to unnerve me. The scenery went against everything I took as normal. In an odd sort of way, it was quite beautiful, though I wouldn't realize this until I was safe and well outside the range of its horrifyingly large variety of poisons and dangers.
After resting and marveling at the shuddersome forest once more, I gathered myself and again took the same cramped path, assaulted on all sides by the hostile flora. The aforementioned youkai kept hidden well enough that I did not even catch a glimpse of them, thanks to a set of charms given to me by the village elders who saw me off. I had no doubt I would've been little more than a nice little snack as soon as I set foot in this place otherwise. Regardless, I stumbled along the trail. My mission was

>>21893

Thanks.

---

Fine. Why not? It's not like you have something to do here anyway.

“Well, okay...” Sanae takes a deep breath. “You better change your clothes first,” she adds, and signs you to follow her. Oh, right. Can't go anywhere in this sailor suit...

---

You enter Sanae's roo- Wait a minute... Modern desk lamp? You remember last night conversation about taking things from outside; You shouldn't be surprised in finding something modern.

“Uhm... Try this,” Sanae hands you a t-shirt; There is a big green frog picture in front of it. It suits her, with that frog hairclip on her head. She also takes long blue pants. They seems small; you don't know whenever they will suit you or not.

“You don't mind wearing these, right? At least better than my school uniform!” Well, she's right, but you are not sure if her size- meh. You are wearing her suit right now. If you can wear it, why won't these clothes fit you? Better try them now. But first...

“Come on, try it. What are you waiting for?” It seems she hasn't realized that you are a man and she's a woman, or she wants to see you naked. Fine. You start taking the upper unifor-

“Hey, what are yo- Oh... I'll wait outside...”

You feel glad and disappointed at the same time. Glad, because she gives you a bit privacy to change your clothes. Disappointed, because she doesn't want to look at you na- what the hell are you thinking? Lusting for a shrine maiden? Who helped you with your life? You better clear that thought before getting zapped by lightning from Kanako.

---

You walk out of Sanae's room with the new look. It's hard to wear the clothes, but you managed it, just like when you have to wear that sailor suit.

“You look much better now with that shirt! Don't you think so, Kanako?” Suwako comments.

“Better than that school uniform...” Kanako sighs. “Although, if you think about it, maybe Nobu can get away with that sailor uniform without much rucku

Gathered my guts and write.

Plot? Will think about that later.

----
"Where did you find him?"

Your head feels hurt.

"At the forest. Already like this when I found him."

Stratch that. Your entire body feels hurt. You can taste blood inside your mouth.

"Attacked by a wild youkai?"

Pain shocks your body each time you breathe. You can feel every ounce of energy that you have lost each time you take a breath.

"Nope, the wounds are unlikely from wild youkai's doing. He is already like that when I found him."

You try to remember what is going on, to no avail. Your mind refusing to coorperate with you.

"His clothes...He must be from outside world..."

It seems there are some woman talking around you. You try to open your eyes.

"Hey, he is awake!"

You look around. Everything is blurry on your sight, but you can see two figure here.

"Hey, are you okay?" One of the figure asks.

What kind of question is that? You open your mouth and try to answer her, but you got no energy to do it. You can feel some of the blood in your mouth gets into your throat.

"Oh my..."

You can feel your consiousness drifts away...

---

You open your eyes. The pain was still there, but somehow, you feel better than before. It seems you are on a futon. You cannot move your left arm, so you use the right one.

You check your own condition. Most of your head covered in bandage, including your left eye. Your left arm splinted, along with your right leg.

It seems somebody takes care of you from your wound.

You check surrounding. It seems you are in old japanese-styled room. There is no electronics here.

What would you do now?

[]Stay
[]Wander

A new CYOA. I won't say this is my first nor will be my last so I'll pretty much be depending on experience for this once. You can give some tips of course and I'd prefer that. Title may not have any relevance at all depending on where the story will go. Never mind, vote for the following first, before we can get the fun started.

[x]Name
&
[x]Gender
-> Gender will have great effect on how the story will play out.

Oh yeah, our MC's attitude and personality will be based on how this CYOA will play out.

Dear Renko,

You know, I've been writing these letters for a year now. I know you won't receive them, and yet I write anyways. Isn't it weird? I feel like I'll never see you again, and somewhere, deep down I know that, and yet I still refuse to believe it. Gensokyo is my home now. Is that fine with you?

No, I can't stay the same girl I was, Renko. Thank you for being the shoulder I could cry on. I don't know how you could be strong, and even now, when I still struggle to stand on my own two feet, I look up to you. Thanks for everything, friend.

Oh, that reminds me! I met someone interesting today! She was an odd girl: She wore fruit in her hat, like the Chiquita girl on the bananas you like to eat. She introduced herself to me out of the blue while I was fishing, and I ignored her. I needed to focus today.

I thought she left, so I was surprised when she began talking out of the blue. "Why do you fish," she asked. "Why do you fish?" I never really thought much about that, so that's what I told her.

And then she said the strangest words: "When I fish, it's because fishing is life."

Grandfather always said, 'When you fish, the fish is life', so I thought that's what she said. But she said it again.

"When I fish, it's because fishing is life." Then she continued. "The mere act of fishing is unspectacular. You put bait on a catch and throw it into the water. If a fish stupid enough to try and eat the bait goes after it, then you catch it." I didn't have to look at her to know she was smirking; her voice said it all. "It's also boring. You can sit there, hours at a time, only to find out that you ended up wasting a day doing nothing."

"But fishing is enjoyable, is it not?" The sudden change in her tone jolted me, and I nodded my head dumbly, too surprised to say anything in response. My focus was now split between the bait and this mysterious girl whom I had only given a mere glance a moment ago.

"Mng. Five more minutes."

Of course, there's nobody actually here waking me up, and my alarm clock isn't even set, so I'm really just talking to myself, but it's the little everyday things that are important sometimes, you know?

"Out of bed right this instant, young lady. It's a school day, you know." My grown-up voice needs some work. Is it actually a school day? I have no idea.

"Mmmng. I'll eat breakfast while I'm brushing my teeth. Gimme five more minutes."

"If you're going to have such a hard time getting up in the morning, then I suppose we'll just have to institute a curfew rather than letting you sit up 'til who-knows-when watching those cartoons of yours, hm?"

That's a low blow, adult me.

The ritual complete, I stretch hard, shoulders rolling backward until my back is completely arched up off the floor, then relax, letting the air leave my lungs as I hit the deck with a whumph. I sit up, take one last shake of the head to clear the cobwebs out, and then I'm ready to go, or at least as ready as I ever am.

Right, I had plans, didn't I? First thing I was gonna do when I got up was--

"...This is not my room." I say it aloud more out of surprise than anything else; the realization derails my train of thought completely, and I rub the sleep out of my eyes and wake myself up the rest of the way. The shock fades quickly, thankfully; it's not my room, but I do at least recognize the room I'm in as the...

...The something. The concept's there, it's just the word I'm missing. Uh, starts with an 'S', has like 8 or 9 letters, rhymes with... something...

"Nnngh." What is this, early onset senility? I can't help but laugh at myself. "I'm ninety-two years old," I croak in my best old-lady voice, "and my name's..."

...

...What is my name?

The sweat on my body is cold now. I look down, and I don't recognize the clo