Lucky Lulu

"As I said." Masako felt the line go taut in her hands as the little fairy gave her little tugs. She waited a moment more, watching the ghost draw a little closer to her prey. Then she gave a pull, and the fairy was yanked several meters back, bouncing upon the ghostly soil. Again, as Yuyuko drew closer. And again. And again. Drawing her towards their hiding spot--and towards the box. Just a few minutes more, and then... "Fishing." Masako twisted the twine, turning and spinning, sending the fairy soaring (and, likely, screaming) through the air, until she land

"Oh, she'll be fine," said Masako, casual as ever, still holding the end of the unraveling twine as LOTUS sailed through the air. "Even if she dies, it's not as though she'll be injured by it. She is a fairy, and they always bounce back from little things like death, as healthy as ever. Physically, at any rate, but I can't be expected to gauge the possibility of emotional trauma as a result of being eaten by a ghost or crunching against a window or what-have-you for everyone I deal with. If I did that, I wouldn't get anything done." She paused, tilting her head. LOTUS had apparently re

Masako nodded back at Youmu, then returned to her final preparations. The box was already opened in the trees, the ropes tied and the feast laid out within; a splendid repast (albeit primarily of cooling street food) that few mortals could resist, let alone a (literally) hungry ghost. The hiding places for the rest of the party were prepared nearby, little good as it would do should the mistress of this place fail to take the bait, and much as she'd refused to explain her idea to the others beyond the most basic details. Masako hardly appeared concerned about that outcome, though. Possibly

"That's quite alright," Masako said, nodding along. She wasn't terribly surprised; LOTUS hadn't demonstrated much in the way of mobility, so far. She'd probably have to fix that, depending on how long she was stuck as a fairy. "I do have an alternative, after all. We haven't the time to let the rest of you learn, so I'll have to explain it to YOU on the way. But let me see..." After a few moments fiddling around in her pockets, Masako pulled out a large ball of twine, tossing it from hand to hand. "I do hope you like fishing."

Beyond an expression of mild disappointment in the botanist, the tengu didn't react to Isobel's bewildered rage. All she did was shrug and provide a simple statement. "Ghosts and soup are roughly the same thing, metaphysically speaking. Especially in this case. If your hand can't tell you how, then I see no reason why my explaining it would help you." "In any case," Masako said, giving LOTUS a glance of acknowledgement before turning to float after their half-soup guide. "There's no need to keep her from using her abilities; quite the opposite, in fact. But I am glad you ask,

Masako pulled out what appeared to be a small, watertight container. She pulled off the lid. And she promptly dumped a bowl full of udon soup into Isobel's gloved hand. The broth ran quickly and wetly, running down and dripping from the soggy noodles that still clung like particularly depressing snakes to her fingers, until only the noodles and a few stray scallions remained clutched in the girl's palm. "There," Masako said cheerfully, tossing the bowl aside. After a moment more of watching the liquid drip away, and a moment more examining the solid remains, she regarded Isobel once m

If LOTUS meant to chasten Masako with her question, it didn't seem to work as intended; for all any of them knew, lacking experience with youkai, the tengu might be incapable of experiencing shame. But that isn't to say it had no effect at all. As the fairy finished, the detective's contemplative expression shifted to one of mild annoyance. Her gaze lowered, focusing on IP, on UB-65, on LOTUS all in turn. It seemed, for a moment, as if she were about to go on another somewhat-bewildering tirade. Then she sighed. Not the sigh of someone who'd finally realized the errors of her

Masako blinked at IP, glanced back at Rory and the box, then shook her head. "Is it not obvious? I thought it would be perfectly clear to any sensible person. Although..." The tengu paused, tapping the corner of her lips in thought. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't expect you to match me in this regard, even if the pieces are all right in front of you. Still, the explanation may be lost on you. Particularly if you don't have any experience thinking outside the box, so to speak."

"Well, you could have had a bit more patience." Fortunately, with the return of the tengu, a potential explanation for the sinister feeling swiftly presented itself. Masako floated swiftly along after the rest of the team, a single bag dangling from one of her hands. Behind her trudged what appeared to be a large, wooden box--though presumably the legs walking it along belonged to the Rory, invisible on the opposite side of it. Despite the blind stumbling of the latter, the former had no trouble whatsoever catching up. "In any case, I assume you've made your peace wi

"Excellent." Masako cheerfully accepted the coins, shoving them into her coat pocket, before turning and walking off towards another part of the village. "Now, I need to buy a few things... I suggest the rest of you get ready. Most of you will maybe probably die if this doesn't work, so I suggest making peace with that before I get back!" She paused a moment, then turned. "Except you." She grabbed Rory by the shoulders, rising off the ground a little as she used her wings to help drag her along. "YOU I need to carry something, so you'll have to make your peace with your tr

"I'm entirely serious." Masako continued to hold out her hand, expression unchanged. It really looked like she was. "I have a plan, and I need the money if I'm to save your mistress. Without getting these humans killed, anyway. Though, if you're unwilling to help her, I suppose I can find a way to manage without."

"Great," said Masako. She held out her hand. "I need about ¥350."

"In other words," Masako muttered, "we'll need a careful and cunning plan if we are to succeed, especially if we can't be sure Saigyouji will adhere to the spellcard rules. Even with me here, it might not be easy. Fortunately, I do have a plan, but..." The tengu examined the half-phantom gardener. When she spoke, her voice was oddly solemn. "Youmu-san. If we are to have a hope of succeeding here, there is something I need from you. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to save your mistress?"

Masako promptly gave IP a good, hard bonk on the back of the head with her kiseru. Best thing to do, before she ended up starting a fight. And a bad one, for that matter, if her threat to ignore the spellcard rules was any indication. "Ignore her." Masako floated forward a little, then leaned upon the air as she examined the half-phantom gardener. Unlike most of the others, she didn't seem overly concerned about the girl waving her sword all over the place; she was more than content carefully brushing the tip aside with her pipe before plopping it back in her mouth. If anything, she wa

"Well, you're right to be skeptical." Masako floated on over and past IP, ignoring the unconscious human. "The man's claims of a ghost with a sword are clearly absurd. There's maybe half a ghost around here who'd do that, at the absolute best. Though, assuming that's true..." Masako paused, floating to the ground and letting herself settle stably on her oddly-unstable geta. The tengu rested her cheek against her knuckles, thinking. "Well, it both is and isn't surprising. She's definitely the sort to go a little crazy and start chasing people around with a sword, and she's also the so

"That IS how it usually goes," Masako agreed, apparently unconcerned about the imminent risk of getting thumped in the head by something or another. "Scarlet may not know what she's talking about in the slightest, but that doesn't mean she's not right. So the goal, now, is just to beat up and/or interrogate whoever or whatever is running around the human village and then go off wherever the trail leads next. It will all make perfect sense to the rest of you eventually." The tengu paused, then shrugged. "Well, I assume, anyway. One can never tell. I can use you to resolve the

"Oh, no, that's quite alright." Masako waved her hand at Sakuya. "I'm not hungry. That being said..." Masako rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm, adjusting her glasses for a moment before peering intently at the vampire. Given her earlier behavior, and something in her tone, the tengu doubted the vampire really knew much of anything regarding the situation. Else she'd just tell them, if only to get Masako and co. out of her hair. But, even if based on absolutely nothing, and even if completely untrustworthy, that didn't mean Remilia's suggestion was actuall

"You're welcome, of course," said the tengu, as smugly as ever. With everyone fully aware of what her contribution was and the efficacy of as much. Ignoring the new arrival--another sort of boat tsukumogami, she could hazard, like that American they'd seen earlier, albeit built more compactly in such a way that she would guess she was meant to travel underwater--Masako reached over and helped herself to tea, not even bothering with subtlety as she dumped a not-inconsequential helping of both cream and sugar in her cup. She was more of a coffee person too, honestly--even if it was often tric

Masako completely ignored Lotus's (patently false) claims. Though she still seemed rather offended by the robomaid's question. "The tengu and humans," she said, as stuffily as a bird could manage, "are hardly comparable. It's like asking the difference between a crow and a half-shaved squirrel! Sure, we interact with them more than a lot of other youkai, but-" It sounds like a rant is building up. While no doubt interesting for scholars of youkai in general and the tengu in particular in what it could provide, someone really ought to stop her.

Somehow even smugger in her recent success (as she chose to interpret it), and decidedly unruffled from her recent tossing, Masako gave the occasional flap and floated along with the others. She brushed off IP's confusion with a wave of her hand. "Nonsense- I was perfectly professional. Scarlet simply needed a proper push from someone clever enough (me) to see it, and she'd take Izayoi back without any problem whatsoever. Which she did! And without reducing any of my humans to a fine red paste, too." Masako swooped down, just enough to give Isobel a prod on the nose. "Not tha

Isobel, though, had made a potentially fatal mistake. So concerned was she with telling off Rory, Empi, and Lotus, that she forgot the biggest (metaphorically and metaphysically) problem in the room. Fortunately, she would quickly be reminded. "Oh, this is plainly silly." The tengu landed sharply atop the cap of the vampire, in full defiance of literally everyone in sight. She leaned over, hands on her hips and wings flapping to stabilize herself in the face of any flailing, glaring down at the Scarlet Devil herself. "And shameful! You really call yourself a youkai

"Oh, don't be silly. She'll be fine." Masako waved her hand dismissively. "Her boss will probably hire her back in about five minutes once she realizes she only has fairies and hobgoblins and China around to serve tea, and if someone trying to stab her (Scarlet really ought to be used to people trying to stab her by now) is enough to stop her, then she has bigger issues. Besides, none of this is my problem, and it's not like there's anything worth the time of Gensokyo's finest here to distract from the bigger issue. Unless..." She paused, considering. She COULD probably rumma

Masako, meanwhile, was thinking. Sure, she'd ignored Patchouli's warning for a little, but her rapid return after what looked like some trashy wizard romance novel verbally threatened to eat her wings had given her the opportunity to overhear the magician's claims. Certainly, it raised some interesting questions. Possibly, even, a new avenue of investigation. Though from what they'd learned so far... "There's definitely weirder stuff here," she mused. Goodness knows her past investigations and recent incidents were pretty messed up. "But the evidence doesn't suggest that this

"To answer the fairy's questions-" The tengu had been flying up to do a bit of what might be called aerial reconnaissance investigation after growing bored listening to Rory's panicking over the weird maid robot meat metal(?)-shield. Though, given the usual conditions around the lake, it hadn't really accomplished much. So with things turning back to the proper investigation (and local gossip, she'd come zooming right back. "-a vampire, a vampire, and because she breaks everything. And is a vampire. Mostly because she breaks everything, though." "In any case..." The tengu land

"What, the fairy? Don't worry about it." The tengu shielded her eyes and peered out at the lake, where the gray object had plopped not moments before. Then she shrugged and settled herself down next to the second of the presumably evil objects. "They die all the time. And whatever crashed just now is probably alive, maybe. More importantly, I've somehow solved the second part of the investigation! So we can move on once we deal with the evidence."