… You'll deal with it later. Test Aoi, and then see if you can find out where Youko is staying and go see her.
You take a long breath, inhaling and exhaling, and hand the camera back to Aoi. You've seen youkai do stupid things before, and you'll undoubtedly see youkai do stupid things again. The girl is still staring at you, and though she seems confused by your response she's still expecting an answer. "... Well, I'm sure she told them she wasn't going to break anything, so it should be fine. I don't suppose you would mind performing a little test for me?" She stares at you, confusion overtaking her Reimu-like bluster.
"Huh? I … what? Wait, hold on! Mom, Dad! What's this about?" She spins to face her parents, and Hiro frowns thoughtfully.
"Our guest requested that we participate in an experiment of hers. I am not sure whether it was successful …." He trails off awkwardly, and you clear your throat. Aoi spins again, almost falling due to forgetting just how close to you she was standing, but you catch her easily and let her get her feet back under her.
"Will you participate?" Aoi scowls at you, as does Hana, but Takeru shakes his hand uncomfortably. Could he feel it? Interesting.
"... Oh, fine! Test me!" Aoi sets her shoulders and glares, and you just smile and take a half-step back as you focus.
"Now, in front of you, a spread-hand's dist-"
"The swirly blueish orb thing, right? Looks like a poison cloud from one of Takeru's old games?" You blink and look up. She can see it? You can't see it, most magicians can't see it without using a spell. It's interesting that she ascribes a color to it, though …. "What about it?"
"Well, I want you to attempt to manipulate it. Move it, swirl it, that sort of thing." She gives you a look, but you replace your smile and wait, and after a few seconds she huffs and tries waving her fingers through the ball of air. Nothing happens, of course, and you nod and let it disperse. "Interesting. Takeru is the only one who managed to manipulate the air, and I believe Aoi is the only one to see anything unusual?" Aoi's eyes bug out and she looks to her family for confirmation, while Takeru hunches his shoulders and lowers his head. Hm, did old Youko have hopes for him?
"S-so, my children …?" Michiru's voice creaks, and you take the three steps you need to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's only a natural talent, like being good at using a bow without training. Without instruction and a source of power, Takeru can cause no problems. Young Aoi – if she has thought she had seen things that no one else had, then she has perhaps seen stray magical currents. Without -"
"How come I didn't get anything?" You aren't the only one to look at Hana after her outburst, but you are the only one who finds it amusing.
"Who knows? It may be that you are not special – and it may be that whatever uniqueness you have is not something I can test. I am no magician; I can merely see if there is an already-present natural talent, and even in that I am limited." She looks even more upset, and crosses her arms in a huff. She would look cute, if she were cute to begin with. "More importantly – the fact that you have talents means that there's a chance youkai could come back." Hiro and Michiru inhale sharply, Aoi stares blankly at you, and Takeru pales slightly.
"Miss – Miss Tengu, what – what do you -?" You pat Michiru's shoulder again.
"I can't be certain – as I said, I am not from this land – but if people here have the ability to use and see magic, then magic probably exists here. And if magic exists, youkai should exist as well. But … well, I don't know. In any case, I would like to speak with Youko." The atmosphere chills just a bit, but Michiru nods dully.
"Yes, we can take you there tomorrow." Hiro frowns at his wife, and you clear your throat.
"I'd like to see her tonight, actually. Immediately. So if you will simply give me directions to where she is …?" You look around expectantly, but four stony faces greet you. Only Hana seems interested, but you can't tell if she's pleased or upset. "Ah, let me … explain. I can find her myself, without your help. It will, however, be much simpler and easier for everyone involved if you let me know where she is." Ah, good, there's the fear. You've gotten there attention, someone will break ….
"Take me with you!" Once again, you aren't the only one to stare at Hana. "If you don't take me with you, I'll give you the wrong directions!" Takeru cuffs his sister.
"All she has to do is ignore your 'wrong directions,' idiot!" Hana rubs her head and glares at her brother, then looks at you.
"It – it would help Grandmother if someone she knew went along," Aoi murmurs, and Michiru sinks lower, leaning against the table. Hiro looks around, torn between anger and concern for his family. You just stand and wait; either you'll get a guide, or you'll get directions. Or you'll have to check each asylum and hospital individually, which will be irritating, but doable. The older siblings argue with increasing hostility – Aoi in favor of letting Hana go with you, Takeru against – and when it becomes clear that Hiro won't intervene or just give you directions, you turn and walk away. Hana catches up to you, thanks to her sister tackling her brother, and a brief glance shows both parents still unreactive. Hm. Very peculiar ….
"Well, come along," you say as you lift your bag. Hana runs up to you, once again tiny thanks to your geta, and you reach down to pick her up, then fly into the air. The crow you leave behind, and you frown as you look around. Despite the falling sun, it's still so bright … and Aoi is still keeping her brother from coming after you. Those are not nice words either of them are using.
"Um, we have to go to Setagaya," Hana says, more curious about flying than anything else. You run through locations in your mind, and don't move. "In Tokyo!" Hana flaps her arms grumpily and points toward Edo.
"Edo? Why didn't you say so?" You immediately start flying to the east, and Hana's startled squawk turns to gasps of awe and joy, and a few minutes later you find yourself slowing down as you reach the city. "So, where is this Setagaya?" Hana looks down, searching for some landmark, and you drift south until you're over the largest road that comes from the direction of Yatsugatake.
"Oh! Um, that way! Not so fast, it's hard to see the hospital," Hana says, and you follow her directions. It only takes you fifteen minutes and two stops to ask store-owners for directions. You land inside the gate and let Hana guide you, opening the locked doors for her. "Her room is this way!" You look around, wondering if you'll actually find her here; the fighting hasn't come this far yet, but you don't see any staff or guards. There are feelings of fear and despair in the building, too … it isn't a pleasant kind of fear. Some rooms are open, with signs of inhabitants having been moved in a hurry, and others aren't, and are still occupied. Hana leads you unerringly to a room at the end of a hall on the second floor. "I … I'll let her know you're coming in, okay?" You nod, and when she's stymied by the locked door you open it for her. She nods, smiling in thanks, then enters the room. "Grandmother? It is me, Hana." You glance at her, taking note of her excessive politeness.
"I can see you," comes an old, old voice. "You didn't open that door yourself." Hana shakes her head.
"No, Grandmother. There … there is a tengu here that wants to talk to you." Several long seconds pass before she scampers forward, and you wait, politely ignoring the sniffling and murmuring. "... Miss Aya? You can come in now." You step into the room, noting how starkly empty it is, and the locations of restraints attached to the bed itself. At least not everything has changed. You bow to the old, old woman sitting up on the bed. Reimu, in sixty or seventy years. She smiles and waves you closer, and closer still – and when you're in arm's reach her hand whips up and slaps you. A strike full of power, enough to burn your cheek, and you flinch back a step.
"Damn you! Damn you, monster! Why now?! Why?" You let the old woman rail at you for over a minute, as Hana ducks her head, and finally Youko catches her breath and chokes back a sob. Hana tries to hold her, tries to force down her own emotions, but after only a few seconds both are crying into each other. You look around and silently float to the one cabinet that stands in the corner directly ahead of the doorway – it's locked, but you simply shield it so they aren't disturbed. Inside are, as you guessed, a couple changes of the dead-looking white clothes Youko is wearing and some towels, and you take a couple of the latter and set them on the bed. A few minutes later, they both calm down, and Youko uses one of the towels to wipe Hana's face before clearing up her own. "... Thank you, merciful tengu." You resist the urge to feel your cheek; the stinging pain was only momentary, and there's no sense bringing it up right now.
"Hello, Youko Hakurei," you say, your voice as pleasant as it always is, as if she hadn't struck you and then had a minor breakdown. "I am Aya Shameimaru. If you don't mind, I have some questions for you." Youko takes a deep breath, pats her granddaughter's head, and nods, brown eyes still clear and bright. "Do you have any guesses as to how many people like yourself and your elder grandchildren there are in Japan? People who can either sense or manipulate spiritual or magical energy." Her eyes widen as she stares at you, but then she looks down at the bed and shakes her head.
"... I do not know any more. Twenty years ago, there … may have been a hundred? It … it was always hard to tell, with people who could not do anything. Most did not have strong senses; they could – could feel something different, but not do anything." You nod; if you can't see something, it's harder to manipulate, and if you can only see something – or hear, taste, or touch it – then it's hard to believe that you're dealing with something real.
"Did you believe in the existence of youkai?" She nods dully.
"More than that. I could see them. Tengu, with wings and hawk faces. Kitsune and their foxfire. Bakeneko and inugami. But all they did was … watch. They never did anything, not – not when, when … when …." She trails off, fighting back another onslaught of tears, and you wonder what tragedy she's referring to. A personal one, or something more widespread? More importantly … magic, and the people who can use it, exist. Youkai … may or may not exist. And that's certainly far more than you knew before.
What do you do?
[ ] Keep talking with Youko.
- [ ] Ask her about whatever event she's referring to.
[ ] Right, time to deal with Hatate.
- [ ] Take Hana back to her family first.
- [ ] Take Hana and Youko back to the shrine first.
[ ] … You're not up to dealing with Hatate right now.
- [ ] Go bar-crawling.
- [ ] Go to Edo Castle and see how the preparations are progressing on both sides.
[ ] Other?
