The farmland became like patchwork below us as Suwako took to the skies. She'd spent the night leading the Mishaguji over the fields, drawing wide winding furrows into them. With the serpents' blessing – a reward for great faith and donations – those fields would yield bountiful harvests.

“Hey.” Suwako said, a humorous lilt to her voice, “Remember what Kanako said about how we should till the fields?”

I chuckle. “Yeah, yeah, I do.”

“I want it more serpentine!” Suwako slammed her fist into her palm, launching into an impression of the other god. “It’s iconic branding, when their straight-plowed neighbors see how much more productive the faithful’s Moriya-plowed fields are, heh, they’ll know who to come to.” A group of yokai below were startled by the outburst and scattered in different directions.

“She always manages to turn things into schemes, doesn’t she?”

Suwako gave a croaking chuckle in response – I loved that sound. “No wonder where Sanae gets it from, eh?”

I laughed again. “Aye.”

The laughter trailed off, and we both went quiet. This would probably be one of the last clear nights before the rainy season came, so it’d only be right to appreciate its silence.

As we approached home on Yokai Mountain, the only sound was the air rushing past us.

Suwako swooped and landed in front of the main shrine’s torii gate. She walked the middle path, as was her right as a god, with a skip in her step.

The shrine grounds were completely empty at this late hour, and a harsh wind had picked up; it whistled over the towering onbashira on the grounds and made the ancient cedar forest surrounding the shrine shiver and roar like a raging ocean.

Through centuries of experience, I knew that winds like this were Kanako’s way of letting the world know she wasn’t very happy with it. I refrained from sighing.

On the contrary, Suwako reveled in the menacing atmosphere. She walked in a zig-zag like a drunkard past the main shrine, the enormous shimenawa rope hung from the entrance remaining still in the quickening wind.

The residential building behind the main shrine was completely lit up. *I think Kanako’s in a mood.* I spoke directly to Suwako’s thoughts – I didn’t want to be overheard.

*Wow, really?* she shot back, waltzing up to the entrance. *How’d you pick up on that? She’s normally so reserved.* With that said, she pulled the front door open and entered.

While Suwako was taking off her shoes, someone – Kanako, by the sound of the footsteps – could be heard storming around in the direction of Sanae’s room. *She really is in a mood.* Suwako said, adjusting my fit on her head. I imagined under my brim she had on a resigned smile.

*I don’t hear Sanae, she should be in her room this late.*

*Yup.* She sighed, made her way to Sanae's room, and peeked inside. The shrine maiden was absent, but Kanako was there, her back turned to us while she was bent over Sanae's computer desk.

Suwako slid the door open, and the other god perked up at the noise. She looked over her shoulder at us.

“She’s out late again, is she?” Suwako said.

The other god gave whatever she was messing with on the desk another glance before turning to face us fully. She straightened, taking in a telltale hissing breath and letting it out in a huff. “I checked all over the shrine for her, she’s nowhere to be seen… She’s went out without telling us where again.” She glanced at the bare floor where she normally laid her futon, breathed in sharply, and clenched her fists. “I’ll bet that brown-nosing fox is involved.”

Suwako sucked in air through her teeth. “How much?”

The other god faltered for a moment, then snorted and turned away. “A night out. I’m going to stay at the shrine. Go out and see who’s going to be obliging who.”

Suwako licked her lips loudly. “I’ll take you up on that. There’s this new grill that’s just opened in the Human Village, and I hear they do great grilled fish…” She slid the door shut as she slunk out of the room, leaving Kanako to her devices.

She walked back the way we had came, retrieved her shoes, and lifted off as soon as she was outside.

“My god, where are you going?”

She took in a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. “There’s a couple of places where Sanae could have gone, and they’re all equally likely.

[X] There’s the Tengu Village. Its likely they’ve seen where she’s gone, or that she’ll just be there.”

“The Tengu.”

“Yeah, I know. We’d have to deal with Tengu. Politics and paparazzi and other pleasantries.

[X] Or we could check the Human Village.”

“There’s a bustling yokai nightlife in the Kamocho district, as I recall.”

“Yup. Compared to the Tengu we’re much less likely to find someone who knows jack anything, though.

"And Kanako would probably think we were slacking off if we went there. Actually, she'd probably think we were slacking if we went anywhere other than the Tengu. Seems like it’d be a bette- easier time, though.”

She snort-croaked. “Yeah, yeah. Anything’s better than dealing with crows and long-noses. Anyway, other than that

[X] there’s the underground and the reactor.”

“If she’s gone underground it’s likely she’s mucking around with the reactor techies. Can’t imagine her going around the Old Capital. Public sobriety’s a misdemeanor down there and she hates drinking.”

“True. But she might have been dragged there by Suck-Assa.”

“Suck-Assa. Good one.”

Suwako hovered still in the air. Gensokyo was laid out still before us, the waning moon’s pallid light making the mountains and hills look frosted over. The walled-in Human Village, lit up red and amber, looked like a smoldering firepit in the night.

“So?”

“Oh! My god, you would like my input?”

“Yeah.”

Hey guys :DDDDD This is my first time posting a CYOA so if I've fucked anything up pls tell me so I don't do it again!

TIME TO VOTE!