And here we go, the second and final part of Librarian's Day. Introducing more characters.
I'm somehow not completely satisfied with this chapter, but I couldn't say why either, so... meh >_<
Also, a new formatting is used to signal Esifex's 'speech'.
And before anyone asks, I will not translate the non-English parts >:3
Anyway, enjoy~
A Librarian's Day ? Part IINumber Five...Chaore...the girl that doesn't exist.
?Well then, you know what to do, right? Now go get that book for Gpop.?, Ruro said and left for the front desk.
I didn't answer her.
So, I'm going to work with Chaore today?While I had only seen Chaore on one or two occasions, and only from afar, everyone in the Librarian Squad knew about her. Chaore's ability was simple, but very special: she didn't exist.
You know that story about that Schr?dinger guy and his cat? You know, that uncertain kitten?
Number Five was similar. She only gained physical form when someone was concentrating on her, watching her. Without an observer, no one could say whether she was there or not.
Well then, I guess that's a good chance to finally get more friendly with my fellow Librarians. Now, where is she?I looked around, but there was no one to be seen.
?Hello? Chaore? Are you there??
Silence...
?Uhm.... hello??
No answer...
Well, if she's not going to answer...??Then I can't do my work as well. Guess I'll have to ask Ruro to get that book herself. Don't you think that's incredibly rude to Chaore???
I jumped at the sudden voice in my head and ??The girl turned to the tuna floating behind her, looking at it with suspicion in her eyes. No, your tuna doesn't talk, it is me over here.??
I turned around a bit more and saw a girl standing a few metres behind me.
?Oh, it's you. You're here too, Esifex??
The one standing behind me was Esifex, another member of the Librarian Squad. It was said that she had read most of the works in our library before we even started organizing it. She was a diligent reader, and very quiet when it came to talking about herself.
The only thing I knew about her was her ability: Telepathy, the ability to read other people's thoughts, and project her own thoughts onto them.
Well, her ability is kind of useful, since she doesn't speak English like the rest of us, but....??It also has a nasty side effect. She always goes around narrating everything that happens, especially people's thoughts. Now you're being rude to me as well. You should work on your manners.??
?Geh... I'm sorry. But could you please stop reading my mind? It's making me uncomfortable.?
??Not as long as you're having entertaining thoughts.?? Esifex chuckled, ??Oh, and by the way, your tuna thinks you look quite attractive in that uniform.??
?What?? I screamed out, and immediately slapped my tuna as hard as I could.
??Just kidding. It doesn't have thoughts.?? Esifex walked past me, looking at the gate to the NSFW-section of the library. ??Anyway, Chaore is wondering what kind of stupid things you're doing over there when you have a job to do.??
?Huh??
I was confused.
?But Chaore isn't here, is she? I've been calling for her and she...?
??Have you been concentrating on her? Imagining her in your mind???
?Uh...? I was at a loss of words.
??Come on now, let's do it right this time.?? Esifex told me in my mind, before she spoke some words in her native language. ?Meine G?te. Ich frage mich wie du jemals Bibliothekar werden konntest? Nun mach endlich, wir haben nicht den ganzen Tag Zeit!?
I had no idea what she had just said, but still, she was right. I had completely neglected the most basic rule regarding interaction with Chaore, and I had to fix that right now.
I closed my eyes and began imagining her from the things I had heard about her looks.
A girl with long blonde twin-tails.
She was probably wearing the same lime green Librarian uniform as I and Esifex.
And she had bunny ears.
Large and fluffy bunny ears, ehehehe~?Na bitte, geht doch.?
When I opened my eyes again, Chaore was before me, just as I had imagined her. She was looking at the form I had just given her, examining her uniform first.
?Hm, not bad. Though the skirt could be a bit longer. Ruro's order?? she asked me.
?Yes, she doesn't allow them any longer. The legs, you know...?
Then she became distracted by something dangling in front of her face. She followed it as it swung left and right for a few moments, then suddenly lashed out, grabbed the object with both hands and pulled it down. The force of the sudden pull on her head almost made her lose balance and she barely managed to stay standing.
?What?? she screamed in suprise. ?Are those...my ears? Since when are they so... big??
?Oh, they are not only big, they are also fluffy. I made them that way. Aren't they cute? Come on, let me touch them, ehehehe!? I stepped forward, reaching for her ears.
??They are too big and fluffy! Do you know how much those things weigh? You could have made them a bit smaller, you know? I'm not a dress-up doll! Is what she's thinking. You overdid it, Sakana.?? Esifex was laughing at the scene before her. ?Aber ich muss schon sagen, niedlich sieht sie aus.?
?Uh...I'm sorry. Should I fix it?? I asked, angry at myself for doing something that stupid.
?Nah, it's okay. They're not that bad, but I prefer them smaller usually. I'll get used to it. Anyway, hello to you two, Esifex, Sakana.? the bunny-girl greeted us.
?Eh? Ah, oh right. Good afternoon, Chaore.?
?Guten Tag, Fr?ulein Chaore.?
?Okay, now that we're ready, let's go. Ruro's waiting for you to bring back a book, right?? Chaore asked me and then turned to the gate.
It's not like I really want to go in there, but...
?Yeah, it's time. We've got a job to do.? I stepped in front of the gate.
?I take it you're going to come with us?? Chaore turned to Esifex, who was following close behind us.
??I have nothing else to do anyway, so I guess I shall accompany you.?? Esifex's voice sounded in my mind. ?Und ausserdem glaube ich nicht, dass ihr alleine weit kommt.? she added.
What did she just say?
??Nothing, now if you would please open that gate.??
Alright, let's do it.
I stretched my hand to the gate and stopped shortly before I touched it.
??It's not going to happen, you know???
?Eh??
??You were just thinking how this would be the time for some dramatic music to start playing while you open the gate. It's not going to happen.??
?Ah...uh...I wasn't...? I stuttered and started to blush, quickly turning back to the gate.
When I touched the gate, my hand and the gate's lock shone with a lime green light for a moment, then the gate swung open. The way into the NSFW-Section of MotK's library was free.
-----------------------------------
I was once more amazed at the way Ruro had redesigned the library.
We had been walking for almost fifteen minutes already, and there were still no signs that we were getting close to our target. I glanced once more at the small scrap of paper that I had pinned to my tuna before. It held the name of the book Ruro told me to get for Gpop, a book about a certain 'Komeiji Koishi'.
The shelves are sorted by names. Let's see, over there is 'Hakurei Reimu', there's 'Patchouli Knowledge'. So I guess... we've got to turn left next?If there was any kind of system to the way those shelves were arranged, Ruro was probably the only one capable of understanding it.
And knowing her, she will never tell it to us. How about we try a right turn next?Once again, endless rows of books stretched out before us.
??We're going in the right direction. Don't worry. And yes, I know this because I know almost everything in this library, as you are assuming correctly. And I do not approve of the term 'book freak', thank you very much.??
?Sorry, I really appreciate you helping u-? something caught my attention ?Wait, you want to tell me you even know this section here? But it's...?
Without answering me, Esifex just passed by, a light smile on her face.
?Es gibt Dinge, die du vielleicht gar nicht so genau wissen willst.?
As we neared the next intersection, suddenly something changed.
Before, the air around us had been undisturbed, the only sounds to be heard had been those of our footsteps.
But now it was different. There was a sense of activity and disturbance in the air, sounds of rustling pages and creaking wood. It seemed to come from everywhere around us.
But there shouldn't be anyone here besides us. Wait...don't tell me...??The books? Yes, it seems you are correct. Those sounds are most definitely the books around us.??
?Oh my, and I had hoped we could avoid that. I wonder what got them so agitated?? Chaore stated calmly.
I looked around. Some of the books on the shelves were definitely moving. They were trying to get out of the place they had been stuffed into.
But why???Hey bunny, could you explain to our fish-girl here what's happening at the moment? She doesn't seem to know.??
?Oh, you haven't heard about it?? Chaore looked at me with suprise ?Didn't Ruro expl- oh wait, if it's Ruro she might not have done it for the fun. Okay, let me explain: Words hold a lot of power, that much you should know, right??
I nodded.
?For that reason, books with their high density of words hold even more power. Books that were written with a certain feeling hold additional power on top of that. And if all that power is condensed enough, a book can develop a kind of 'life'.?
?You mean those books are...alive??
?More or less, yeah. Because most of them uh...'focus' on only one special character per book, all the power from the words and feelings in them has a clear center. And that makes it easy for the book to become 'alive'. All of that wouldn't be a problem, but the books have a bad habit of trying to act on their content, you know...?
What???She doesn't understand, Chaore. How about we show her??? Esifex spoke to our minds, walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a book. She then handed it to me with a grin.
What is all that abou- I opened the book on a random page
xxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxXXXXxxxxxxxXXxXxXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXxxxxxxxxx
?Wha? Wha? Wha? What is that?? I turned to Esifex and Chaore, who were obviously trying hard to keep from laughing out loud. I looked back at the book and turned a page.
XXXXxxxXXXXXxxxXXxxxxXXXXxxxxxxxXXxXXXXxxxxxXXxxxxxxXXXxxXXxxXXXX
?Hiiiiiiiiiii!? With my face turning beet-red I slammed the book shut, ran over to the shelf and pushed it back to where it belonged.
??Ahahahahahahahahaha!??
?Ahahahahahahahahaha!?
?Hihihihihihihihihi!?
The other two girls had broken out laughing and were holding their stomachs. Esifex used her telepathy to let her laughter not only sound in my ears, but also in my mind.
Damn it. Don't abuse your powers for stuff like that!??Oh, come on...hihihi... you should see your face.??
?A...Anyway...what Chaore was saying before. Those books will try to do that kind of stuff?? I tried to hide my embarassment as I asked the bunny-girl.
?Well, kind of. It's not like they really can pull it off, since they're only books, but if you're not careful they might touch you in some weird places. We're in that section after all.?
Phew, don't get me worried like that! So it's not that much of a problem after all.?So, how about we check out the source of all the ruckus? Something must have woken the books, and whatever it is, I don't think we want it to run free in our library.? Chaore stated with determination and started walking again.
I followed close behind her. After a few steps, I turned around and glanced at the shelf we were standing at the last few minutes. The sign read 'Reisen Udongein Inaba'.
??Gotten interested? You can just get one of the books later when you've finished your job.??
?Eh? Ah, no, it's not like that. I just....uh...? I turned red again.
??Hey Chaore, watch out. It seems our tuna-girl here has a thing for bunnies.??
?Stop saying stuff like that! It's not true!?
??Oh? Shall I perhaps cite your thoughts directly? You had some really interesting ones regarding big fluffy ears, fufufu.??
?St-?
?Stop! Be quiet for a moment, you two!? Chaore interrupted me and signaled us to halt our steps.
We were now near the next intersection and Chaore was standing close to the corner, eyes closed, concentrating.
?I can hear something? she whispered. ?It's coming closer. It sounds like several books...and... a person? I think I hear a scream...?
We held out breaths and listened. Certainly, there were sounds of someone running in our direction and the fluttering sounds of flying books, accompanied by a girl's scream.
?
Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?
I slowly stepped closer to the corner, passing Chaore.
Preparing my mind for whatever might happen next I grabbed the tail of my tuna with both hands, readying it like a sword.
?
Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?
The sounds had almost reached us.
I took a deep breath and raised my tuna.
?Aaaaaaaaaaa
aaaahhhhHHHHHH?
And then I swung my tuna with all my might, taking a step forward at the same time so I could reach around the corner.
?
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-BUH!!!?
There was the sound of something soft being hit and crushed against the wooden shelves.
?Gotcha!?
I immediately swung the tuna back to my side and looked at the place I had just hit. Now we would know who was causing that ruc-
?Huh??
I was confused.
Nothing? But I definitely hit something. Where...?That moment, a high-pitched voice started screaming beside me.
?That hurt! That really hurt! What are you doing? Did you want to kill me? Stupid fish-girl!?
Looking at the source of the voice, my mouth fell open in suprise. I looked around for Chaore and Esifex, who were both looking suprised as well, but had also trouble to keep themselves from laughing.
Because, hanging from my tuna... was a small girl.
She was about the height of a child, with long straight hair. What was most noticable about her were her hands. On them she wore giant retractable claws, shaped like those of a wild bear. Those were what held her suspended on my tuna at the moment.
She must have activated them the moment I hit her. Nice reflexes, I wish I was that fast. No, wait, that isn't the point here.?So, mind telling us what you are doing here, Kuma-tan??
Chaore was the first one to regain her composure and spoke to the girl.
?Looking for books, obviously. This is a library after all. And then that brutal woman here hit me with her scary big fish all of a sudden!? the girl declared with a pouting look on her face.
Kuma-tan was well-known throughout CPMC Academy. There were rumors that she was one of the educators as well, but no one had ever seen her in a class to prove that. What she was most known for, however, was that she prided herself with the title of 'The Gayest' in the whole world of MotK.
?I think I know what you have been searching for, Kuma,? Chaore answered her ?and I think I already told you that you wouldn't find that kind of books here. Not even in this section. There are simply not enough men in Touhou for that kind of stories, you know that.?
?Muh...?
??She apparently thinks you were just hiding those works from her and went to search for them by herself. And it seems she did something rather unfortunate in the process, isn't that right, Kuma???
?Geh...?
The bear-clawed girl uttered a sound of surpise and tried to take a step back, forgetting that she was still hanging in the air. Her claws retracted from my tuna and she fell to the ground.
?Ouch!?
?Urgh, finally! She was starting to get heavy!? I sighed with relief.
?You could just have set her down yourself, you know? Anyway,? Chaore turned to Kuma again ?What happened? The books are all worked up about something. And don't try to lie or we'll have Esifex read your mind.?
??Well, she's doing that all the time anyways. You could have spoken that last sentence out aloud as well, Chaore, if you were already going to think it.?? Esifex stated calmly. ?Es ist ja immerhin die Wahrheit, hehehe.?
?There was that big book with all those locks back there. And I thought it might be what I was looking for, so...? Kuma blurted out.
?So you removed the locks, the books came alive and then chased you?? I asked her.
She nodded silently.
?Urgh, looks like we've got some trouble now.? Chaore put her hand to her face. ?Kuma, go back to the main section of the Library and get Roukanken, we'll need her.?
Upon hearing those words, Kuma immediately jumped up and started running back to the safer parts of the Library. Then Chaore turned to me.
?I suppose Ruro didn't tell you about that either??
?Oh, no, she did, in fact. The sealed books, right? I've never seen one myself.?
The Sealed Books. Those were books that were dangerous not because of their power, but because of their content. It was said that some of them could turn a strong, healthy man into a crying, twitching lump of flesh in a matter of seconds.
One was sealed here in the Library. A collection of NSFW-works, written hundreds of years ago by an anonymous fairy. They had been declared too dangerous for the public and the Mods had used their powers to cast a Lock on them, sealing them for all eternity.
And now that the seal has been broken, it's the task of us Librarians to fix it.I turned to Chaore, and the sparkle in her eyes told me that she was thinking the same.
That book won't let itself be sealed without a little fight.I wasn't especially keen on fighting, I avoided conflict whenever possible. But beating up some books didn't sound too bad.
Just have to be careful not to damage them, or Ruro will be mad.??And it's a nice chance to finally test out the powers Ruro gave us at the ceremony. Oh my, you girls are quite brutal, aren't you? Well, go ahead, I shall watch your efforts from a safe distance. And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't interpret that as 'make sarcastic remarks from the sidelines', Chaore. Thank you very much.??
--------------------------------------
A few moments later, Chaore and I were standing in the corridor between the bookshelves from which Kuma had come before, grinning at what was to come.
Floating through the air of the corridor were a number of books, and in the darkness beyond them was that freed Sealed Book.
The plan was simple, we were going to beat our way through those books and then stall the big one long enough until Roukanken would arrive to help us with sealing it again.
?Chaore, you ready?? I asked the bunny-girl.
?Ready when you are. Let's kick some a-...uh...pages!?
But first, let's create some atmosphere.There were no sounds apart from the fluttering books.Somewhere in the air, music started to play.My hands glowed lime-green for a moment, while I concentrated on my surroundings.
This was one of the powers Chaore, Roukanken and I had gained from Ruro, the power of Editing. It allowed us to alter reality inside the Library, as long as that reality was definite, which means it usually excluded future events.
?Alright, that's a lot better. Now, on three. One...two...three!? I shouted and dashed forward at the same time.
After a few metres, I could see the first book turning to attack me.
Too slow!I tightened the grip on my tuna and swung it sideways at the book, smashing it into the shelf to the side. The impact made some more books fall from the shelf which buried the aggressive one beneath them.
One down. Where's the next?I ran further through the corridor, swinging my tuna left and right to knock books out of the air, occasionally kicking one that came flying low to get under my skirt.
Damn those perverted books!Suddenly my advance was halted.
Floating in front of me were about ten books, more than I could handle in one strike. Two of them broke from the group and flew straight at me.
I immediately reversed the grip on my tuna and slammed it onto the ground in front of me, ducking behind it. The tuna-shield was effective, as I could hear the dull sound of books hitting on fish.
Just when I wanted to lift my tuna to counter their attack, the next two books flew at me.
So they want to nail me down here? Damn, isn't there anything I can do??Leave it to me!?
The next moment I saw something moving above me. It was Chaore, who was charging at the books.
Is she running along the shelves? Wow!Chaore passed by the group of books and then jumped. In mid-air, she turned around and fired a number of white projectiles. The books were knocked out of the air and hit the shelves and the floor. With a sigh of relief I stood up and examined my tuna. Some of the white things Chaore had thrown had hit it and were sticking out of its skin now.
Don't tell me, that's paper? But the way it's folded...?Origami shuriken?? I asked in suprise.
?Oh, you recognized it? Yeah, they're a pretty nice weapon and paper's available practically everywhere.?
?What are you? Some sort of ninja??
?Oh, I wouldn't call it that. Let's say that being non-existent has its positive sides. You've got a lot of time to perfect some techniques when no one is watching you.? She answered with a wink. ?Well then, let's go. The boss is just ahead.?
I nodded with determination as we walked further along the corridor. Soon we reached a more open area.
This must be it. The place where the Sealed Book is kept.In the middle of the area stood a pedestal, chains and a lock lying next to it.
And above the pedestal, slowly flapping its pages, was a large book.
?That's the Sealed one?? I asked Chaore.
?Definitely looks like it. Be careful not to look at its pages too closely, it might cause some irreversible damage.?
Chaore's hands were already moving rapidly, folding new origami shuriken for the fight.
?Well then, I guess it's time for some flashy final battle.?
I readied my tuna again.
?Or we could just end things with a quick effective strike, you know??
?Eh?? I turned around at the sudden new voice.
Walking towards us from the dark was Roukanken, her quills and various writing utensils floating around her. Following behind her was Esifex.
?Aww, come on Rou, that's no fun at all. We need to have an epic battle with the final boss.? Chaore greeted her.
?This isn't about fun. Ruro's getting angry at how long you are taking here, so I suggest we end this quickly? Rou said calmly.
?Eeeh.... oh well, whatever. Let's get this over with. Sakana, get into position.? Chaore sighed.
We swiftly spread out and took positions around the Sealed Book, preparing for the final strike. The book was still floating in place, no different from the moment I had first seen it.
It just waited while we were talking and preparing. Seems it at least knows about the basics of stereotypical final boss behaviour.Without wasting any time, we struck. All three of us jumped up and attacked.
Suddenly, the book showed some activity.
""Watch out! It's going to dodge downward and attack."" Esifex's voice rang in our minds.
What? No way!""Use Edit! All of you!""
But there's no way it will work. We can't change something that hasn't happ-"Tut es einfach, verdammt!"
That scream was the last signal. Without any regard to the consequences, Chaore, Rou and I activated the powers of a Librarian. A lime green light filled the room as time slowed down.
There was something we had forgotten. We may not be able to change something that has not happened yet, but what about a certain event? If something had yet to happen, but would definitely happen in a certain way, wasn't it similar to knowing it had already happened? Whatever the answer to this highly philosophical question is, it worked for us. Because Esifex had already told us what would happen, we could edit it.
Chaore threw her origami shuriken and missedChaore re-adjusted her aim to the place the book would dodge to and hit it with her shuriken.Roukanken let her quills fly and missedRoukanken commanded her quills to fly in a curve so that they would hit the book from all angles once it had dodged.I swung my tuna sideways and missed.I swung my tuna downwards, hitting the book directly with all my might.What happened next was unexpected by any of us. Because we had all changed reality at the same time, but in different ways, all the different possibilities overlapped. For that single moment, every possible variation of Rou, Chaore and me hitting or missing the book existed simultanously.
Eight different possiblities.
Twelve successful hits.
There was no way the Sealed Book could take the force of those hits. Smoking from the force of our blows, it crashed down on the pedestal.
""Now, seal it!""
The three of us ran to the book and each put one of our hands on it. Once again they emitted a lime-green glow.
~Thread Lock~The chains and locks that had fallen to the ground rose up and tightened around the book once again. In a matter of seconds, the book had lost its newly gained freedom once again.
Yes! We did it!"Oh wow, that was more than I expected." Chaore laughed.
"Not bad, that was quite an impressive final strike. Are you satisfied now, Chaore?" Rou asked while collecting her quills from the ground.
"Yeah, I guess that was good enough."
"But in the end it was only thaks to Esifex, right?" I intervened.
""Oh, no reason to thank me. I may not have your powers, but I am a Librarian after all.""
Saying that, Esifex came over to me and handed me a book.
""I believe this is what you were looking for.""
I looked at the book title, then to the note still stuck to my tuna, then at the book again.
"Eh? Ah, yeah, thanks... this is definitely the one. When did you...?"
""It was amongst all those books you two beat down back in the corridor. May I suggest you pay a closer look to your targets next time?""
"Uh, sorry...."
Chaore came over and slapped me on the back.
"Anyway, now that we got the book and things are solved here, let's head back. Ruro is waiting."
--------------------------------------------
Back in the Library's entrance hall, I handed the book to Ruro.
"Oh thanks, so you did find it." Ruro looked at the book, then put it onto a pile behind the front desk.
Wait a second. Isn't that the 'Returned Books' pile? Why did she..."Now that you know where it belongs, could I ask you to put it back tomorrow?"
I was shocked at Ruro's words.
"Wait, what about Gpop? I thought she wanted that book. And she's still sitting over there," I pointed to the pink-haired girl relaxing on the other side of the hall, "so why don't we hand her the book now?"
"Oh, you know. It's just that she has decided to stay away from Koishi for a while. She likes Toyohime now, so if you could get a book on that character, that'd be wonderful. And memorize where that Koishi-book belongs, I'm sure Gpop will ask for it again once her week of abstinence is over." Ruro smiled at me brightly while she said that.
I would've cried, but my body decided that simply collapsing on the spot was an equally good idea.
Did I ever complain about the work we Librarian's had to do at night? Let me correct myself, a Librarian's day is far worse...
