The Library of MotK 47 ~ Magical Librarian Squad 5-1

[Dead Princess Sakana]

The Library of MotK ~ Stories from a World of Books

Here we go, my first try at an interpretation of the Ijiyatsu life of our Librarian Squad.

NOTE: Due to some recent events, I have decided to not call this an Ijiyatsu-work anymore.
Rather, it is supposed to be a, well, Touhou-fication of this forum and its members, especially those known as the Librarian Squad.
Some people may say that this doesn't make any different, but I have my reasons 
The works in here will still borrow from the Ijiyatsu-personifications of some forum members, as long as those represent the forum-persona of the member.

This short story is an introduction to my own character, the others will follow later.
I hope I didn't make it too boring and self-centered, I still have to learn a lot about the other Ijiyatsu-characters and the world itself.

Edit: From now on, this thread also contains contributions from other people. All works in this thread will be listed below.

Index:

A Librarian's Night
A Librarian's Day - Part I
A Librarian's Day - Part II
Magical☆Librarian Squad - Intro
Episode 1: Gather, Magical★Librarian Squad!
Episode 2: Move out, Magical★Librarian Squad
Episode 2 Another: Darkside
Episode 3: Fight, Magical★Librarian Squad - Part I
Episode 3: Fight, Magical★Librarian Squad - Part II
Episode 3: Fight, Magical★Librarian Squad - Part III
Episode 4: Charge, Magical★Librarian Squad
Episode 4 Another: Cool Ace
Episode 5: To the Final Battle, Magical★Librarian Squad - Part I

Sakura Wedding - Bloody Cherry Blossoms Intro
(by Sakana)


Know Your Librarians
(by Chaore)

The Librarian Appointment Ceremony
Purgatorio
(by Ruro)

Submerged Library - The obligatory bikini episode~
(by Roukan)

What makes a Librarian?
Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
(by Esifex)

A Normal Day
Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
(by IcedFairy)

The Outsider Who Looked In
(by Jana)


A Librarian's Night

Three more steps. Okay, concentrate, ready....JUMP!

I jumped over the gap between the two roofs...

Alright, that looks good, prepare...

...landed safely and continued to run.

I don't have any idea what I am doing here.
Isn't a librarian's job to sort books and sit around all day?
Then, why do I have to run along those roofs like a ninja in the middle of the night?
Thinking back, I should have been less curious.
If I hadn't asked, I might sleep peacefully in my bed right now, like every other normal person.

If I had known how it would turn out, would I still have talked to her?

"We've got ourselves into quite some trouble, eh?"

There was no answer. Well, of course there wasn't. What my words were directed to, wasn't a human, nor any other kind of being capable of speech.
It was a big tuna, floating in the air beside me. Really, I can't explain how that happened either.
You've probably heard of half-ghosts, right? Well, I'm similar. Only that my ghost-half... is a fish-half.

It's not like having an animal with you is something unusual in this world.
I had already seen girls walking around with giant ferrets and snakes, but still... a tuna, and one that's part of yourself at that?

I wanted to curse the gods for my fate, but held back my words.
Cursing the gods is generally a bad idea in a world where many of them were running around everywhere and might just be able to hear you.

Also, the girl in front of me might have taken it badly.
She was a person of power, similar to a god, and my superior.
She was also the reason why I was running along those roofs.
And she was flying, but that was probably the least noteworthy thing about her, considering how this world worked.

I had first seen her those few days ago, while walking through the town.
She had been in an argument with a homeless man living in a trash can.
Out of curiosity, I had listened in on their talk.

"What, you want to make that 'reading' stuff popular in a world ruled by idiocy? What a naive girl."

"You can't understand the feelings of those poor authors that write works that noone will ever read, can you? They are stories that their creators, people unaffected by the idiocy-" she paused to think for a moment "well, mostly unaffected by the idiocy, have poured their hearts and souls into"

"You're trying to mess with me kid? I ain't never seen any of those stories you're talking about."

"What? But they are everywhere. Why don't people notice them? Is it the idiocy's fault?"

"You know what, girl? If you're so passionate about this stuff, why don't you try and convince me? Come on, gather all those stories, if there's really that much of them, and show them to me. Then I'll believe you. Hey, they might at least make for a good blanket on cold nights, gahahaha-"

"Yes.....yes, I might just do that"

"-hahah....huh?"

The girl's eyes started to burn with determination on her next words.

"Yes, I will do it. I will gather the works of all the authors MotK in one place. I will establish this world's first library!"

And then, I made a mistake.
I found the girl's spirit commendable, so I wanted to cheer her on.

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of work you'll have there. You'd better get some help, or you'll never get that done. Well, good luck, I'm looking forward to visiting you lib-eh?"

I noticed that the girl, hearing me speak, had turned towards me, her eyes still determined, a smile on her face.

"Yes, I will need help. And you look like you don't have anything to do."

"Eeh?"

"Okay, it's decided."

"Eeeh?"

"You're hereby the first member of my Librarian Squad!"

"Eeeeeh-urgh!"

Before I could even comprehend what had happened just now, the girl had grabbed me by the collar and risen into the air.
On the ground, the homeless man turned back to the kids sitting around him. Their game had been disrupted by the argument with the girl, so they were looking at the man expectingly.

"Alright, where were we...oh yeah...*ahem*.... You are Reisen Udongein Inaba...."

---------------------------------

What happened afterwards can be summarized easily.
The girl introduced herself as Sakura Rurouni, one of the so-called 'Mods', powerful beings that controlled MotK.
Hearing that, I realized that refusing her orders might be a very bad idea, so I gave in to my fate.
After talking to her for a bit, her plan didn't sound that bad, actually it promised to be pretty entertaining.
The Librarian Squad had quickly grown to eight members, amongst them even a deity, that all shared one passion: reading stories.
And so, my days as a librarian began...

--------------------------------

Which brings me back to the present, to the night, to this roof and to this next gap I would have to ju-

"Wooaaaaahhhh-oof"

That was a bit close.

I had almost missed the next jump because my thoughts had drifted off, which led to me messing up my landing, tripping and hitting the floor.

"Ouch, Damn..."

I struggled to get to my feet again.

Having heard the sound of my falling, Ruro stopped and turned around.

"What are you doing back there? Come on, we're almost at our destination!"

"Hey, maybe you forgot, but I can't fly like you, Ruro. Actually, why don't you carry me like back then? That would be much faster."

The girl floating a few metres away from me looked displeased.

"I don't wanna~. You're heavy and your fish is scary~"

"Wha...why you. By the way, could you tell me why we are playing ninja here? I still don't get it!"

"Aww, come one, I already explained it, didn't I? We are on our way to get a new work for the library. It was written just a few hours ago. And the person who wrote it is supposedly hiding even more stories she has written, so we'll get those as well~"

"And why don't we just ask her to hand us a copy of her works? Or even better send her a letter asking her to bring her stories to the library?"

"Because I said so! We're going to save her all the trouble and take the stories without her noticing it at all, just like usual~"

"So, we're breaking into her house and stealing stuff, you mean."

Without answering, but with a mischievous smile, Ruro turned around and continued flying towards our goal.
I started running again as well, jumping over two more gaps.
I was nowhere near athletic, so doing this was bringing me to the limit of my physical capabilities, but I just had to concentrate on running and jumping for a little bit more.

Run...
Run...
Run...
Mind the gap.....
Get ready....

"Nyaahh~"

Apologize to the cat I almost ran ov-"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

And then I fell down the roof.
The hard landing knocked the air out of me, but fortunately the fall wasn't too deep.
It didn't seem like I had more than some scratches when Ruro came flying over.

"Oh, what are you doing? You can't just fall from the roof like that! Oh well, forget about that, we've arrived."

She pointed to the house in front of us.

"This is where she lives. Are you ready?", she asked me.

I stood up slowly, groaning because of the pain from the fall. Then I looked at the house in question.

"Wait, Ruro. The lights are on. Doesn't that mean she's awake?"

"Oh, now that you mention it, it looks that way. Hmm...."

Ruro looked like she was thinking about something intensely.

"So, we can't just barge in, right? We can nicely ask her to give us her works, right?"

I started to get my hopes up...

"Of course we are going to barge in!"

...only to get them smashed immediately.

"Well then, it's your turn, Sakana", Ruro said, turning to me with an expecting look.

I sighed and stepped near the door. Then I grabbed my floating tuna by the tail and readied it for a strike. I took a deep breath..... and charged.
The door lasted only one blow.
The power of an accelerated tuna is nothing to be underestimated, and the simple wooden door had just learnt this the hard way.
As soon as the door I had just knocked out of its hinges had fallen down, I rushed in and pointed the tuna at the surprised girl inside.
This had to be the writer of the works we were after.

"Sorry for the intrusion. We heard you are a creator of literary works, so..."

I took a deep breath again and straightened my posture.

"In the name of the Maidens of the Kaleidoscope Librarian Squad, I, Sakana, as-" "Moe Moe"

"Huh?"

Ruro was standing behind me and seemed to be pouting.

"You forgot the 'Moe Moe' part", she said.

"But that was invented by you. Why do I have to-"

"I like it."

"Wha-"

"Say it."

"I don't wan-"

"SAY IT!"

Ruro's hands began to shine with her power.

"Alright, alright, don't shoot any danmaku in here, you'll blow up the house! I'll say it!..."

I once again faced the still shocked girl, readying my tuna.

"In the name of the Maidens of the Kaleidoscope Librarian Squad, I, Moe Moe Sakana, ask you to hand over all the stories you have written! This includes the one you have just finished. Sorry, you won't be able to keep a copy."

"Wha- Wha-"

The girl started stammering.

"What the hell are you two doing in my house at this time of the night threatening me with a fish! Get out at once, Ruro, Sakana!"

"Eh? How do you know our- wait- aahhhh! Rou!", I shouted in surprise.

The girl in front of me was Roukanken, a deity of this world, a member of the Librarians and a passionate writer herself.
Right now, she was in her nightgown, obviously angry at our intrusion and readying her pencils, quills and various other writing tools for combat.
Suprised and confused I turned to Ruro, but she wasn't there anymore.

"All right, you have ten seconds to leave my house, or you'll regret coming here. Ten, nine.."

"Hey, Rou, wait! Can't we just...uh...talk this over somehow?"

"Five, four..."

"I'm sure that was just a misunderstanding, so...."

"Two, one..."

"Oh dam-"

"ZERO!"

The next thing I remember is landing hard on the street outside of Rou's house.
Several pencils and quills were stuck in my tuna, which I had raised as a shield in the last moment.
All over my body were papercuts and spilled ink, and standing in the doorway before me was Rou, still looking at me angrily and readying more projectiles.
With the bit of energy I had left, I stood up again, turned.... and ran.

That was the only sensible action right now.
Running through the night air once again, I heard some more angry shouts from Rou, but at least she didn't seem to want to pursue me.
When I felt I was far enough away, I stopped to catch my breath.
Just then, Ruro appeared once again, landing gracefully in front of me.

"Hey.... so there you are.... what were you thinking, leaving me all alo-", I started to complain to her.

That moment, my eyes spotted the huge stack of paper that Ruro was carrying in her arms.
I let my gaze wander to her face, which showed a mischievous and triumphant grin.
In the distance, once again a scream of anger could be heard.

"You.... crazy girl."

Even though my body hurt, I couldn't supress a smile.
Ruro smiled as well, and then said:

"I told you before, right? I will gather every story in this world. Nobody can escape from the Librarian Squad!"




That's it for now.
If any other member of the Librarian Squad wants to write a short story, you can put it in this thread as well if you want.

Also, any tips on formatting the text are welcome, I feel I'm not doing it right yet.

[Sen]

I like it! Although I think you should write in more paragraphs, it's kind of distracting when every sentence is its own line. Also, is there a reason why you put quotes as ?wordswordswords" instead of "wordswordswords?"

[Dead Princess Sakana]

I should have a look at how other authors do the paragraphs then, thanks.

And for the marking of quotes, that's the way Open Office is configured for me. Is is better the other way?

Edit: Aaaand, done. Yep, definitely looks better now, thanks for the tips 

[Chaore]

The tuna-half made me giggle. Well done.

[Sen]

And for the marking of quotes, that's the way Open Office is configured for me. Is is better the other way?

Well, I don't know about Open Office since I write in MSWord, but "words" is how dialogue is always indicated in English-language literature. I've never seen that lower-quotation mark thing before.

[Dead Princess Sakana]

English-language literature

This probably clears it up. The down-up version is how it's done here in germany by standard.

[Alfred F. Jones]

No one expects the Librarian Squad! \o/

Oh, this is a fun start. Can't wait to read the rest. My favourite part was probably the "Moe-Moe" snippet.

EDIT:

"I said it before, right? I will gather every story in this world. Nobody can escape form the Librarian Squad!"

I didn't know that we were such legalists that you have to fill out a form for everything from us :<

[Dead Princess Sakana]

I didn't know that we were such legalists that you have to fill out a form for everything from us :<

Gaaaah~~~~~~ *Fixed*

[FinnKaenbyou]

You could have just asked me rather than breaking into my house ;_;

[♛ Apher-Forte]

Cuteness! I like! Thing is, you would narrate better with better separation between sentences and such, it feels jumbled at the moment but I am sure you would make it better the next turn!@

<3 that Tuna.

[Sana]

Who knew fish were such powerful weapons!? :O

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Cuteness! I like! Thing is, you would narrate better with better separation between sentences and such, it feels jumbled at the moment but I am sure you would make it better the next turn!@

Could you give me some concrete examples how I could do it better? That'd help me a lot.

Also, yeah, it could have been fleshed put more, for this one I just threw together all the ideas I had to make an introduction that contains all important info for the readers.

[♛ Apher-Forte]

To begin with, what I find lacking is comprehension, this probably depends on how involved the reader is with the story, sometimes I dunno who is talking to who because you sort of forget to reinforce whos was in the talking position.

>>Run...
Run...
Run...
Mind the gap.....
Get ready....

"Nyaahh~"

another example, I think some italics and such to help your readers understand at which part is a monologue or something... cause I seem to have to reread the previous sentence to get say something like the suggested example. I think my critique is limited, but what I see is something like this.

it helps if you give it more obvious-ness, so to speak, that people will get it the first time around. Hope that helps.
(mentioning as well, I am not a good writer myself, so even I do this sometimes)

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Okay, I think I get it, thanks. I'll try to work on those points.

This one was also my first try with a first-person-perspective, so I'll blame the comprehension problems on that 

[Drake]

okay

Giant-Tuna-Half-Person wins so hard.

Also, I don't think Rou's character has ever been so awesomely depicted as to launch flurries of writing tools and paper. I am the bone of my quill, etc.

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

No one expects the Librarian Squad! \o/

In that case, Muffin's going to have to manipulate you at some point. Y'know, since her power is "manipulation of the unexpected" ...

[Alfred F. Jones]

In that case, Muffin's going to have to manipulate you at some point. Y'know, since her power is "manipulation of the unexpected" ...

I expect you to do something with the airspeed velocity of an unladen tuna, then. =D

[Tengukami]

Wow. First person is my weak point, so this was really nice to read. Your slapstick hits the spot, too.

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

I expect you to do something with the airspeed velocity of an unladen tuna, then. =D

Then I won't~

[Kuma]

I enjoy this!

[Chaore]

Sakana wanted some info on the 'specifics' of some librarians. He used Stories as a viable form of answering for him.

I went for a dialogue. Worst thing that happens is I get a court order to never write anything ever. Tldr version; Don't actually care what Iji-Chaore is characterized as. In fact, make as many different versions as you want. I'll choose one eventually. :V

Warning: Below is a bunch of boring talking heads and a few in-jokes that will never be explained. Reading may cause aneurysms.
------------------------------

"Writers are under siege. These days, so much as write a poem to your loved one, and you won't see it again. Priceless works of literature are being stolen by a band of ruthless... librarians? Yes, they call themselves the 'Librarian Squad', and they're here to steal your literature. Crappy or a masterpiece, no one is safe. The only thing you can arm yourself with is knowledge, and we're here to help. So, welcome to

KNOW YOUR LIBRARIANS

I'm your host, Jane Doe. You know, every now and then you hear those librarians refered to by a number. We've come to identify them as such ourselves, but you'll never hear anyone say they were robbed by member number five. In fact, a lot of people say there is no fifth member, and they just skipped the number! The fifth librarian has become somewhat of a legend, nearing a myth really. So, what do we have to say? IS there a fifth librarian?

Well. We're still not sure, but there is reason to believe so. The stories are inconsistent, but they've all got a few key elements. One, you will never see the fifth librarian robbing you. It just doesn't happen, some say they're just too fast for you to see, some say they're too skilled, some even say they turn invisible! The most popular explanation however, is that the fifth member DOESN'T steal. A good number of claimed sightings come straight from the library, and the only artistic rendition of the fifth member was done by an art student at the academy.

Second, popularly the fifth member appears to have bunny ears. Its open in the air if these are real, but a lot of people report these, and the only artistic rendition has them as well. A few people have claimed to see the librarian without them, but when I say few, I mean -few-. This is part of the legend itself, so really they're either the few who see otherwise, or crazy people who think vampires can sparkle.

Finally, they're almost never noticed. Even the librarians don't seem to notice her. It isn't uncommon to hear of a slapstick scene where five and another librarian are in the room, and the other turns to look at five and says 'Wait, when did you get here?'. Sometimes, the other librarian even forgets who five is."

"Normally, we'd bring in a bunch of eyewitnesses to the scene, but this time we don't know who to trust. We even tried asking the librarians themselves, and half of them didn't recall which one five is! We were at our wits, but then we managed to find a specialist at the last moment. Please welcome the esteemed... Uh..." "Dr. Ninja Clan, if you would." "Wait what? How the hell is your-" "My middle name is 'Of the'." "How the hell are those viable names?" "I'm from the Ninja Clan, you see." "What the hell? When did you get here, anyway?" "I've a PHD in Ninjatronics, Do the math." "Hold the hell on, isn't a PHD a doctorate in philosophy?" "Yes, I've one of those as well." "I'm just going to stop trying to make sense of this." "That would be wise."

"Anyway, Doctor, whats your professional opinion in this matter?" "I'm glad you ask. You see, Chaore, or 'Five' as she has been taken to being called, appears to be a manifestation of the basis behind one of the old ninja tricks. The vanishing. See, while most of us tend to screw the actual fine arts of changing or matter into smoke and appearing elsewhere in lieu of throwing eggs filled with glass at people, some of us actually attempt this task. Mostly, we do this by no longer existing." "So she just stops existing at points?" "No, more accurately she doesn't exist." "So she ISN'T real, then." "No, she very much is." "But you just said she doesn't exist!"

"Because she doesn't. Simply put, the being known as 'Chaore' doesn't currently exist, but the idea of 'Chaore' is very much alive. Most denizens of Ijiyatsu skip this stage and go straight into being. However, for some reason 'Chaore' seems to be a free floater who has appeared. I'm not sure why this has happened, it could be due to someone messing around, or because the concept itself seems to think it exists, but they're whats known as a tangible concept. They're no doubtedly here, and grounded to certain things, like the librarian squad, but they're at the whims of perception. Whatever reality 'wants' to perceive them as, they become. It means they essentially can be anything, based on what reality wants them to be." "Uh, Wow. That sounds pretty heavy. Dangerous, really. Anything we can do to tell what they are currently?"

"Not at all, until they 'finalize' themselves and take on permenant attributes, you might want to expect anything." "Wait, Finalize themselves? When will that happen?" "Whenever we start getting definite facts." "Okay. Now you're just full of crap." "One of us has a doctorate, the other one is a show host for morons. Take a guess what I'm not." "Well, folks! Thats all we've got for today's episode. Tune in next time for when we explain the mysterious flying tuna!" "Thought so." "Shut up, you."

[Alfred F. Jones]

Writers are under siege. This day, so much as write a poem to your loved one, and you won't see it again. Priceless works of literature are being stolen by a band of ruthless... librarians?

"These days". Also, I am liking this interpretation of the Librarians as being a bunch of literary pirates >:3

[Chaore]

"These days". Also, I am liking this interpretation of the Librarians as being a bunch of literary pirates >:3

FFFFFFFFFfffff-

I grammar badly. >:

[Nine West]

interpretation of the Librarians as being a bunch of literary pirates

Lead by a... uhh, Sword Nut?

[Moerin]

Lead by a... uhh, Sword Nut?

Ruro obviously specialises in stealing books on weaponry and botany~

Also I remembered that Iji-me apparently sells books.  Must remember to ramp up the security at some point.

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Hey, nice one Chaore. I see a lot of potential for your character already, especially with the 'non-existant' concept 
(Wait, 'non-existant' character? Damn, we'll have to hide you from Moerin!)

Also, wow. I'm honestly surprised how much positive responses this thread got. Thank you so much, everyone ;_;

I am liking this interpretation of the Librarians as being a bunch of literary pirates >:3

Well, normal librarian work woudn't make for a good story, and we kinda do take every new work without asking for Let's Tour MotK, right? 

Also I remembered that Iji-me apparently sells books.  Must remember to ramp up the security at some point.

If you sell them, it must be copies, so they're safe. But if you got something unique....fufufufu :3


Oh, and I will add a list of the works in this thread to the first post, to make navigation easier once things pile up.

[Kuma]

what if I wright a story, right here, right now? will you steal it?

[Dead Princess Sakana]

what if I wright a story, right here, right now? will you steal it?

I object to you wrighting a story here  [/stupid pun]

Since this thread is already part of the library, if you write a story in here, it will be considered stolen from the start, fufufu~

Also, look forward to the next story, there'll be a bit of Kuma in there~

[Kuma]

I object to you wrighting a story here  [/stupid pun]

Since this thread is already part of the library, if you write a story in here, it will be considered stolen from the start, fufufu~

Also, look forward to the next story, there'll be a bit of Kuma in there~

Whoa, that's some Pen of the North Library stuff right there!

also, yaaaaa~y <3

[Dead Princess Sakana]

And her we go with the first part of my next story, this time focussing more on the library itself and including more characters.
(Sorry Kuma, you'll only be in the next part)

Part II will not come today, and maybe not even tomorrow, so regard this part as independent for now.

Well then, enjoy~

EDIT: I think I'll add the current number of stories this thread has to the thread title, so that people who want to can keep track of new works popping up.


A Librarian's Day ? Part I

Only a few more pages to go, then I'll be done with this one as well. Yay.

I was sitting at the front desk of the library, reading in a thick book we had...'borrowed'...yesterday, my trusty fish-half floating behind my back. It was part of the Librarians' job to read all works we had gathered and write summaries for them, and even though it was a tedious work, I had fun with it.

The library that had recently become the base of our Librarian Squad was located in the CPMC Academy, an educational institution known throughout all of MotK.
Much to my suprise I had learned that the one who had brought our team to life, Ruro, was one of the Academy's educators.
Using, or probably abusing, her position, she had made some arrangements that had allowed us to take over the Academy's neglected library and use it as we want.

Aaa~nd done! Now for the summary, let's see...

I prepared an empty sheet of paper, a bottle of ink, and then reached behind me for my writing tool: my tuna.
It was a habit of mine that many could not understand, but I had grown accustomed to using my always available fish-half for pretty much every task. A tuna was a far more versatile tool than most people would believe, once you found out the proper tricks.
Let's take writing as an example. Whenever I tell someone that I use my tuna as a pen, they assume that I write with its front end, which is of course stupid.

Trying to dip a tuna's mouth into an ink bottle will only lead to a mess. It's the fins! You have to use the fins as the tip of the pen! They're nice and pointy, so it's perfect. Why doesn't anyone ever understand that?

Sighing at the ignorance of the people around me, I finished the summary and put it onto the pile of finished summaries that had already accumulated. Then I grabbed and turned around to put it back onto its shelf that was just behind me.

?Wha...wha...?

Or rather, that should have been behind me.

?What is this??

The one I shouted the question at was Ruro, who was standing in the middle of a giant hall that had definitely not been here before. She looked suprised by my shouting.

?What are you talking about? It's our library, silly. Look at all those bookshelves, doesn't it look beautiful??

?That's not wha- I mean, yeah, it kinda... it looks nice, but...?

Okay, calm down. Maybe I'm dreaming. I was reading a dull book after all, so it would not be weird if I had fallen asleep. Let's eliminate this possibility first.

I slowly reached for my tuna once again, raised it before me, and...

?Oww!?

Okay, that hurt, I'm obviously not dreaming. Wait, maybe I fell asleep and was taken somewhere else.

I turned around to the desk again. Beyond it I could see the half-opened entrance to the Library that was definitely the same one that I had come in through some hours ago.

Well, so much for that theory. Then there's probably only one chance left. Let's ask her directly.

I turned to Ruro again, who was looking at me worriedly.

Understandable, since I just hit myself with a giant fish that is a part of me...

?Ruro, have you been fooling around again?? I asked her flat-out.

?Eh? That's so mean! You could have phrased that more nicely, you know? It's not fooling around, it's called redecorating. We couldn't keep small, dirty storage room as our library after all.?

?Well, that's true, but...how? I mean, it was so small, and now there is this large...?

Wait, there's another possibility. This could be an illusion and that vast space over there doesn't really exist. I should try walking over there to test this.

This was one of my great flaws: logic. I always tried to explain things with logic, no matter what it was. But relying on logic in this world could get you killed, in a metaphorical sense. Well, actually it could in a literal sense as well, because your brain would explode if you tried to understand how, for example, a danmaku fight works.
Anyway, I pulled off my last attempt at solving this mystery with logic...and failed miserably.
After having taken a few steps towards Ruro, I was now standing on solid ground in a place where an equally solid wall had been just some hours ago.

Okay, I give up.

Finally accepting the truth of my situation, I decided I might as well have a more thorough look at the changes.
What was before me certainly deserved the term 'Library' more than its predecessor. I was standing in a large entry-hall with a wooden floor and a seemingly infinitely high ceiling. I couldn't spot any light-sources, but there was still some pleasant illumination just right for reading a book. On one side of the hall stood the front desk, which seemed a bit dull in contrast to the rest, on the other side there were some coffee tables and comfortable-looking armchairs.
And directly in front of me was the real core of the library, the endless rows of bookshelves that disappeared into the dark both in length and height.
There was still lots of space on the shelves, but that would change soon. However, the amount of works that our library contained was already pretty impressive.
All in all, the library looked like it came straight out of a fantasy tale right now, elegant and vast.

?Okay, I admit I like it. It looks wonderful. But still, Ruro, how? And when??

?Hehe, it's a much better place to work at than before, isn't it?? she said with a grin. ?As for the how, I had some of my friends form the Academy help out. And the when. Well, it was obviously while you were reading that book. You didn't notice anything around you.?

?Well, next time you decide to break the rules of time and space for redecoration, please inform me beforehand and don't do it literally behind my back.?

?Aww, you're no fu- Oh, a visitor!?

I turned around to see who it was. Walking through the door, letting her gaze wander through the entrance hall, was a woman with pink hair and a large red ribbon on her head.

?Ah, Moerin-sensei. What brings you here??

Ruro greeted the woman, who continued to look around curiously, as if she was searching for something.

?Sakana, take care of the front desk if more visitors come. I'll see what Moerin-sensei wants.?

?Huh, wait. Why should there be more visitors? We're not officially open yet, are we?? I answered in suprise.

?Of course we are! Do you think I made the library look like this just so we could let it stay closed? We're open since a few hours ago. And now get to work.? Ruro responded before she walked over to the pink-haired teacher.

?Eh? But, we haven't finished the summaries. And the others are not here. And I have no idea where which books are anyway. And...and...you're not listening, are you??

Silence.

?Thought so.? I sighed and sat down at the front desk, then I watched Ruro as she walked over to Moerin-sensei.

?Well, you look like you are searching for something. Can I help you?? Ruro asked the woman.

?Not something, someone~. There's someone here I want to meet~.?

?Oh, is there? And who would that be??

?I don't know her name, but I heard there was a girl in this library that doesn't exist~.?

?Oh my, really. A girl that doesn't exist sound interesting indeed. But I'm afraid I know of none such person, which might be because, uh, she doesn't exist?? Ruro said, a bright smile on her face.

?Come on, I know you are hiding her somewhere in here, Sakura-sensei~.?

?Even if that was the case, what would you want with her??

?Isn't it obvious? I want to make her one of my imouto~. She would make a nice sister for my beloved Rin, ehehehe~?

?Oh really, you and your obsession with non-existent girls.? Ruro shook her head ?Anyway, there's no such girl here, so is there anything else you want??

Moerin looked around and spotted me.

?Well then, if the girl I'm looking for isn't here, can I take the one over there~? Because with her name, if she became my imouto, I could name my fighting style 'Moe Moe Moerin~'?

?My name is not Moe Moe!? I responded.

?Of course it is~. It says so on the nameplate~.?

Huh? Wait...what?

I looked to the nameplate in front of me, then to Ruro.

She wouldn't have...

I looked back to the nameplate, stretched out my hand to grab it, and turned it around so I could finally see the name on it... and sighed.

Of course she would. What did I even expect?

?I won't change it, just so you know!? Ruro said looking at me.

Can she read my thoughts now?

Then she turned back to Moerin.

?And no, you can't have her. I need her in the library. That goes for the rest of the librarians as well, before you even ask. Well then, if you could leave us now, we have some work to do.?

Moerin looked disappointed, but then flashed a bright smile.

?Aww~. Well, I'll be on my way then~. I still have to work on the defense system for my collection of books~. It seems that some thieving people calling themselves 'Librarian Squad' are stealing books from all around MotK~?

Urgh.

?And there's some re~ally rare ones in my collection. But of course, you wouldn't know anything about something like this, would you, Sakura-sensei~??

Well, it's not really like it's a secret, but still, this isn't good.

?Oh, that sounds like some awfully troublesome people.? Ruro answered with an equally bright smile, ?Maybe we should have a defense system in the library as well. Well then, take good care of your books, Moerin-sensei, we wouldn't want something to happen to them, right??

The two teachers were standing there, smiling at each other and laughing.

There's sparks. There's definitely sparks between them!

?Ohohohohohohoho.?

?Ohohohohohohoho~.?

Ahh, it's getting worse! They're burning! There's a burning aura around them! Someone, hel- oh, nice work with the floor, seems it's completely fireproof. That's some quality wood and good carpentering. Let's hope they don't get too close to the books though.

Just when it seems that the tension between Ruro and Moerin might explode, a voice rang out from the door.

?Uhm...hello??

Both teachers snapped out of their laughing-contest at once and Moerin turned towards the exit and started walking.

Saved.

?Oh, another visitor! Come in, come in, don't be shy. Go to Sakana at the front desk over there and tell her what you want.? Ruro greeted the new girl energetically.

The girl walked through the door and headed for the desk I was sitting at. She had pink hair, just like Moerin, wore a yellow blouse and a small hat. The moment Moerin passed the girl on her way out, the teacher jumped towards her and hugged her for a moment, then jumped back and continued walking as if nothing had happened. The girl didn't seem to be suprised at all and just continued on her way.

What was that?

I looked to Ruro in confusion.

?Don't mind that, it's the way she greets everyone. If she hadn't been so agitated whe she came here, she would have done the same to me. Now let's see what Gpop wants here.? Ruro said casually, motioning to the girl that was now standing in front of my desk.

?Hi, welcome to the CPMC Academy's Library. How can I help you?? I greeted her.

?Uhm, I'd like a book.?

?Of course, what kind of book??

?One about Koishi, of course!? the girl answered cheerfully.

?I'm sorry, what??

?Koishi. A book about Koishi-chan!? She repeated again.

I turned to Ruro with a troubled look. I had no idea what this girl wanted, and even less where I would find it. Ruro smiled and walked over to us.

?Koishi is a character from a world similar to ours that Gpop here likes very much.? she explained to me, before turning to the girl. ?We have some books about her here, but it might take a few minutes to get them, so could you wait over there?? she pointed to the armchairs.

?Yay!? the girl cheered while doing as she was told and making herself comfortable.

?So, where am I going to find that book she wants?? I asked Ruro.

?Oh, it's not that difficult. I have a pretty good idea where it should be. Come over here.? Ruro walked towards the bookshelves and I quickly followed her.

We passed one row after another, until Ruro finally stopped. I looked behind her.

Oh please no. Tell me she's joking again. I don't want to-

?It's in there. Somewhere on the left side, pretty far in if I remember correctly.?

I hate my life.

?Uhm, Ruro, sorry for asking, but what 'is' that??

What Ruro was pointing at, was a giant metal fence. Looking left and right, I could see it going on until it disappeared into the darkness of the library. Behind the fence were bookshelves just the same as on this side, but somehow it gave off an unsettling atmosphere. Next to Ruro, there was a single, massive gate in the fence, which carried a sign saying [NSFW].

?This is the, well, 'special' area of our library. You know, all the stuff you don't want people to stumble across unprepared. Anyway, I'm sure you won't have any problems getting that book, right??

Of course I will. I don't want to enter there. It looks dangerous!

?Uh, well, I'm not so sure, maybe... if you could come with me...? was all I could say.

?Can't do that, someone has to take care of the front desk. But you can take Chaore with you, she doesn't have anything to do anyway.?

?Huh, Chaore??

?You know?, Ruro lowered her voice ?Librarian number Five.?

?Ah?

My eyes widened in suprise.

Number Five...Chaore...the girl that doesn't exist.