Author Topic: Double Exposure [Revised Edition]  (Read 5421 times)

Zelinko

  • The Wandering Mind
Double Exposure [Revised Edition]
« on: April 23, 2017, 11:46:40 AM »
Comments and criticism extremely welcome
Revised edition below

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With another day of hard work done, Hatate took to the skies once more, this time heading home.  The tengu found the late day thermals and soared, with long flaps, she flew over the Scarlet Devil Mansion, hand half covering her camera just in case someone moved to pick a fight.  She knew just enough how far she'd have to go in order to know that she was safe from any fights needed for entertainment for the Vampire of the Mansion.  So once she flew over the clock tower and over past back wall she knew she was safe.  With the mansion fading in the distance, Hatate sighed in relief.  She really wasn't in the mood to deal with that Gatekeeper, much less the Maid.

Through the skies, Hatate moved until she could make out some of the fortress. She took a deep breath. She was almost home.  Of course with how much work she had to do this wasn't the end of the day for her.  She had to check through the photos, start to write the outline for her articles, and maybe even get a chance to have a proper meal and then maybe have to get some time to actually relax.

Her pleasant thoughts were ruined by a sudden realization.  This wasn't the best day to take a break.  It was getting close to print day and she needed to get this finished.

Soon she passed the wolf tengu guards on patrol and then closed upon the Fortress proper.  There were guards at the main entrance that barely paid her any notice as she walked to her house.  Even though it was a bit late in the day, Hatate had to wander through some of the more busy areas of the fortress in order to get home.

Once inside, she pulled out a stack of papers and set one down on the workspace before she took out her phone and flipped it open.  Her fingers swiftly moved and she quickly had the images of the day up.  She flipped through the images looking for the ones she needed for the story as she drew upon her power.  The picture on the phone seemed to develop on the paper, first starting as a faint outline but soon darkening as more details came through.  Soon enough it was fully developed.

"Why do all the stories always seem break this late in the month," The reporter grumbled to herself. She shifted around one of the completed images, "Let's see, 'Aki Sisters Hold Harvest Festival in the Human Village', not a scoop but definitely news.  Might get on their good side if I put it in and that can't be a bad thing."

Hatate shifted the image onto the page and with a well practiced hand outlined the image to create the template for the layout before she quickly wrote the title of the story. She next shifted to another sheet laying another image onto it.  She shook her head as she moved another image in, "Of course it's this one, 'Moriya Shrine Holds Harvest Festival,' I still don't why they're being copycats again..."  Hatate said with a sigh as she repeated the process.

After she had setup a few more pages, she rocked back slightly onto her chair, wings spreading slightly.  She started to tap on the desk.  "None of this is worth being headline news.  How am I going to go to print with nothing to be on the cover?  Why couldn't there be an incident or something?  That always gets plenty of good photos and headline material...

She rocked back on her chair with a bit of frustration, and young reporter's eyes caught sight of the calendar on the wall  and when she rocked back, she put her head to the desk in resignation. She knew it the Newspaper Competition was coming up and the last thing she wanted was to have a few bad issues before the judging. 

Hatate couldn't have a repeat of last year with some upstart a few decades younger than she managed to jump past her.  "That was just beginner's luck, and her family is more known than mine," the tengu rationalized.

She closed her eyes as she tried to stave off what felt like an oncoming headache. Hatate shook her head as she finally let her hair down, the usual twin tails becoming a lengthily mess behind her. She walked to the kitchen area to set a kettle and stretched her wings softly sighing. She reached for the ceiling as the tengu twitched her wingtips before she folded them back down. 

"Just what am I going to do?  How does Shameimaru do it so often?" she asked herself as she shook her head a little. Even though that tengu was much older than her, Hatate just wanted to beat her. Just to be better than her and hold up her desire to beat her rival.  It wasn't just beat Aya it was also so people stopped viewing her as some kid with a fledgling paper and in the shadow of parents' own paper.

She knew she couldn't ask for help from her mother about the business because it'd just be admitting she just wasn't ready and the last thing she wanted.  She didn't want mother to suggest she start doing guest columns for their paper, again.  She had done enough of that for a lifetime before she founded her own paper!

All of this thinking was fine, but there was times where life just refused to give her the big story. It was almost the end of Hazuki meant that they were going to be making the final subscriber counts for the contest soon. Hatate knew that if she had an issue that just wowed people she could get a spike of subscribers, even if only temporary, could just catapult her up the charts.  The only problem was that every other paper knew about this trick so she had to have make a bigger impact than everyone else did during this publishing rush.

"But there isn't any news!"  Hatate frustratedly shouted as she went back to her stack of images and her phone. It had been almost too quiet lately. No big incidents, no real drama on the mountain, and not even those mountain goddesses were doing some stunt to try to get worshipers.   

Everything she covered and had available were things that at least four others were reporting on or at least had familiars gathering information. She couldn't even get away from everyone and try and get unique photos. She quickly thumbed in the proper term and found that there were plenty of images from the other reporters who went to the festivals. Maybe there was something they missed that she could write about.


Image after image flashed by before she noticed one image had something odd in the corner of a shot. Hatate's eyes went a little wide as she quickly sifted through the other images.  It wasn't consistent enough to be in the center of any one shot but it happened in both festivals.  A girl with purple cords around her wearing a yellow shirt and a green skirt.  This one had to be that satori girl that showed up during that incident with that Menreiki a few years ago. And when she was taking pictures of Danmaku before that!


But why was she back and going to festivals?  Another quick check revealed that she was even in some of Hatate's images.  The reporter shook her head, "Why can't I remember seeing her? She sticks out just so much but why didn't anyone notice her?" 

She ran her hands through her hair as she tried to figure out what was going on.  Why hadn't anyone one noticed her? Would they even notice her in the photographs, and, more importantly, would they even care if they did?

But if that girl was still on the surface, it meant that Hatate could get an interview! And that had to be a scoop right there! 

Well no time to make tea, it's time to take flight and chase the news!

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

Hatate all but ran out of the fortress and past the guards who barely got out a word before the rushing tengu dashed past.  With a wing-beating jump, she took to the skies and quickly climbed into the dusk air.  She turned towards the lights of the Moriya Shrine to try to reorient herself.  Once she did that, she turned slowly in air to try to find her destination, the Geyser Center.

If she had to guess, the satori was going to go back home after the festival and this was probably the fastest way back.  Well at least the most direct one since she wouldn't have to go past that hashihime and through the city.  And Hatate wasn't going to risk taking THAT route just for a possible story.  Even if she got past the bridge, there was that city and the oni inside it.  The last thing she wanted was to be pulled away from her target by one of them insisting she drink with them.

Her wings beat steadily as she flew low over the mountainside, camera out and her looking through the viewfinder.  If she couldn't notice that girl with her eyes maybe looking at the camera might cancel out whatever she was doing.

A snapshot here and there where she thought she saw a glimpse of something that seemed just a bit off.  A picture with some fairies seemed to be a wasted image but there was a a smear of green and yellow in the background.  That had to be that satori!  She continued to fly and another snap of an image and there was that darkball running into a tree and that same splotch of yellow and green was there meaning Hatate was still on the trail.

A little faster and she might be able to get past that satori and finally be in a position to cut her off and get that interview she needed.

The glow grew brighter as she could see the mist of the geysers, as it grew thicker, which forced her to land.  Hatate held her camera at eye level as she landed slowly turning as she tried to guess just where she'd be if she wanted to be sneaking up on someone.

The sound of bubbling water was all she could hear.  "Where are you now..."  Hatate said to herself as she quickly turned to the side, her geta grinding against stone, and snapped a picture.  The sound of her phone taking a picture stood out against the relative silence surrounding her.

On the display was something very odd, it was a satori girl directly in front of her!  Hatate peeked up over her phone to see that girl standing right there.  Her wings flapped a few times as she jumped backwards in surprise! that girl had managed to get right in her face without Hatate even having the slightest idea she was there. She tried to quickly get her composure as she hit the ground.

"Hi hi!  You were soo wanting to find me so you could do things right?"  The satori said as she moved around Hatate to try to look at the picture, "Oh yea that looks familiar.  Most of you crows use the blocky cameras though," the satori's hands moved to mimic the pose used to snap a picture.

She seemed to vanish for a moment before appearing in front of Hatate once more.  "Still I wonder why you're looking for me.  Is it to play a game?  Or maybe for one of those boring interviews where you go on for a while until you get what you want and make up the rest."  The girl shook her head, "If you're wanting something like that you're gonna have to earn it.  Find me if you can!" 

Hatate was about to interrupt the petite girl, but before could the gray haired girl turned and ran away, vanishing from sight.  Was this all a game to that girl or was Hatate just going to spend the entire night chasing after shadows?  The reporter followed off in the direction she last saw the satori going.  "WAIT UP!"  she called out as she moved to chase.

She couldn't fly because if she had Hatate might lose track of her target and she wouldn't know if she had overshot. Her camera was in hand, as she snapped picture after picture.  The tengu kept running as she kept checking to see if she could see the colors of the satori in those images.  She couldn't stop fully to focus on the images unless she wanted to lose track of that girl.  Keep snapping, keep chasing.  Something about this just had an odd thrill for Hatate on a level she couldn't fully understand. 

The forest started to thin out as Hatate realized where she was.  She had chased that satori all the way to the waterfalls!  But why did the girl in yellow go there?  Sure, she seemed to do things for no real understandable reason, but made about as much sense her wanting to play tag in the first place.

The reporter came to a stop as she took a few deep breaths and found that the green haired girl was actually visible.  "Okay so I found you, now what," She said as she raised her camera and took a picture, thumb furiously moving to take note of what a caption could be. 

"Well you followed me for a reason," the girl said as she adjusted her hat and rocked back on her heels slightly.

The tengu stood completely upright and quickly took out her notepad and brush, "Oh yes, I was wondering why you were at the festival in the human village and why exactly you were getting in everyone's pictures."  She started quickly to write down the question and waited for the answer.

The gray haired girl put her finger to her chin as she thought about it, "That's easy!  I was there because people where having fun and then I started to have fun because everyone else was having fun.  And I wanted to get in the pictures because getting your picture taken is fun!  Big sister gets the paper sometimes and if I were in the pictures, she'd know I was there and okay.  It just makes sense."

Hatate brushed down that response and wondered if she was being messed with at this point. 

She looked up from her pad only to see nothing, then the girl, then nothing again.  It was as if she was flickering in and out of existence.  Hatate tapped her foot anxiously, "Why do you keep blinking like that! I just don't get how you're doing that and it's really weird."

The glowing green eyes came close as Hatate found that she wasn't having her personal space respected.  "I thought I told you last time!  Or was it that other crow..."  She looked down at Hatate's skirt and shoes, "Nope!  It was definitely you."

The sound of a loud splash caught Hatate's attention as she unknowingly shifted her attention to whatever made that sound before looking towards where the mysterious girl was only to see nothing again.  Her pointed ears twitched as she could hear a voice behind her.  "But how do you keep doing that!"  Hatate shouted as she turned around to look for the girl.

"Doing what?"  the voice was behind the tengu again. 

"Doing that invisibility thing!"  Hatate said as she turned around to try to face this vanishing youkai again. 

Again there was nothing there as Hatate heard the footsteps leading away once more, "Hey I'm not done yet!"

Just like was earlier Hatate was now chasing someone who was easily able to give her the slip.  Hopefully she could catch that girl and actually get some answers this time!

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

To Run or Fly.  What was she going to do.  If she went into the air she might lose her prey in the trees, if she was on ground the girl might be able to outrun her.  She gambled on going on foot as that satori hadn't really taken hard to the skies and considering how thick the forest was at times she couldn't fly in these confines.

Hatate's camera was up as she snapped another image.  Each image she took had that green and yellow outfit in frame.  Just where was she being lead now?  Her heart raced as part of her just felt a thrill of the chase.  She had to get closer, this was HER scoop after all and she wasn't going to let it just run away from her. 

The sound of her geta echoed through the forest once more as she chased. She deftly avoided roots and other obstacles as she continued to snap images.  She was getting so close, "Why are you running!?" She shouted out to seemingly no one.  If that girl can become invisible she should be still able to hear the reporter at least.

"Because it's fun!" echoed out the gray haired girl as she seemed to flicker into existence once more before vanishing just as swiftly.

The Tengu's teeth tightened as she pushed herself harder. Her shots were blurry and out of focus, but as long as she could just see those two colors she knew she was closing in more and more.  A tengu's speed is unmatched even on foot!

A kick off a tree and her wings flaring out to help her regain her balance as the reporter snapped another image. Was the satori girl was running backwards?!  Hatate's eyes went wide in the darkness and she half stumbled. She wasn't chasing a girl on foot. That satori was mocking her by flying backwards! This was an insult that couldn't stand and Hatate continued her chase with more intensity.

The forest started to thin out and started to become rocky as the tengu saw the opening of a cave.  Not just any cave, but the one she that she remembered dropped down to that abandoned hell. If that satori managed to get into that cave it'd mean that Hatate couldn't chase anymore!   Time was running out and she had to take desperate measures.  The Tengu's legs tensed as launched her forwards into a diving tackle, arms spread wide. She hoped to at least slam into the girl and knock her to the ground.

Hatate effectively hit what seemed to be thin air, as her arms snapped closed grabbing the satori.  But to her surprise the tengu had found things hadn't gone the way she expected.  Purple cordlike veins wrapped around her and drew her to her prey in a most odd embrace. 

Was this a trap?!  She couldn't move as she was now face to face with the satori. Hatate squirmed and shifted around trying to free herself, but was firmly stuck in the grip of the girl in front of her. What happened next was strange, even for today.

"You caught me!  I thought you'd neeeever do that!  I mean I was even telling you where I was too!" the satori said as her eyes seemed to light up. 

The fact that this gray haired girl claimed that she let Hatate catch her was baffling and insulting.  "That's nice?" the reporter said as she tried to free herself from the trap she was caught in.  "I don't know how you were telling me anything with you vanishing all the time like that."

The hat wearing girl put a finger to her chin, "Oh... I was doing that?  I was trying really hard to make sure you noticed me too," a look of realization flashed across her face, "Oh you did! Your camera was seeing me, so you were seeing me!"

The more this satori spoke the less Hatate understood. She wished she grab her phone or at least her notepad. The reporter's leg was firmly wrapped as it seemed the more she tried to break free the tighter the veins grew.  "What? How does that work?  Why are you doing this to me." 

A giggle was the response to her questions, "Because I wanta keep you close and I was making sure you noticed me.  But I wanted you to notice me but you only noticed me with your pictures." 

This only added to Hatate's confusion as she tried to move her arm enough to at least slip her camera out, but like her leg this only acted to bind her further. 

"Let me go!"  Hatate cried out as she only got herself more tied up by struggling. 

But as suddenly as she was grabbed, the tengu found her dropped unceremoniously on the ground.  "Wait I was holding you?  You where holding me!" the satori said as she had one of the heart shaped tips of the tentacles touched her chin as she tapped her foot.

The reporter was back to her feet quickly as she looked at the floating orb that seemed to be staring at her even while closed shut.  It took a bit of effort for her to not stare as she pulled her notebook and brush out again.  "You were definitely holding me.  And where were you leading me all this time?" 

A long pause, "OH!  I was!  That makes sense now.  Still I wanted to show you a good place to go and then I was going somewhere else.  But I had to keep you around so I started to go home because you were bad at chasing then you grabbed me!  That was actually pretty fun." 

And this is when Hatate realized she really wasn't sure if this was really someone she could interview without people thinking she had gone mad.  "What do you mean keep me around?" the tengu said as she bit her lip slightly.

"Well you were going to give me an interview like you did the last time we played around," Koishi said while she rocked back on her heels.

Hatate was confused at this as she realized they had met before and she had an interview with that satori girl.  "We did? I uh... I should write it down this time." 

The more she thought about it the more she realized that she knew this youkai but should couldn't remember why she didn't know this earlier, "Wait, this is just like how you were vanishing!!" She put her hand to her head as she was feeling a headache suddenly coming on, "What are you doing to me?!"  The reporter demanded as her vision blurred for a moment.

Koishi tilted her head and bent forwards a bit, "Oh, I'm making sure you remember what we did last time. If I'm going to give you an interview I should make sure you remember what happened last time.  There we go!"  A few giggles from the satori as she stood up again.

The headache soon passed as Hatate. "You're Koishi Komeiji, sister of Satori Komeiji.  You come topside to play around and look around for new food to try out," the tengu spoke before half jumping back in shock, "Wait how do I know this!  You can't read minds, wait what?  What did you do to me?"

An exasperated sigh from the black hat-wearing girl, "I told you that already!  I made sure you remembered things!  Most people forget about me because uh..." her hand moved to her chin as she tapped her foot, "What did sister say?  Oh yea!  I subconsciously make people subconsciously not notice me most of the time.  It's complicated.  I think Sanae said something about it but I didn't understand it.  I don't know if it was even Japanese.  But Interview time right?"

The sudden whirlwind of information had Hatate stumbling over her words as her head started to clear, "Uh... yes?  I mean yes!  Yes it is.  So can I first ask you about what drew you to the surface to visit this festival?"

A broad smile was on Koishi's face as she eagerly explained everything hoping that at least this time Hatate would properly remember it.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2017, 04:41:35 PM by Zelinko »
This Space For Rent

Zelinko

  • The Wandering Mind
Re: Double Exposure [Pending Major Rewrite]
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2017, 04:40:54 PM »
Revised Edition!  Hopefully it won't suck as much!

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With another day of hard work done, Hatate took to the skies once more, this time heading home.  The tengu found the late day thermals and soared, with long flaps, she flew over the Scarlet Devil Mansion, hand half covering her camera just in case someone moved to pick a fight. With the Mansion becoming a distant spec on the horizon Hatate let out a sigh of relief, she had things to do.

"Why do all the stories seem to happen at the end of the month?"  Hatate muttered to herself as pulled her phone out.  She knew she had a long flight ahead so the reporter decided to spend trying to cut down on the amount of work she'd have to do.

Her fingers deftly danced across the keypad as she put down some notes, "'Aki Sisters Host Harvest Festival in Human Village', not the biggest headline but I guess it'll have to do."  She said with a sigh before she started to cycle through the pictures she took, eyes locked upon the screen as she flew.  "To think this is the best I got this month.  Stories like this won't help at all for the competition!"  Hatate said with as she grumbled.  She had to do better this year, especially since last year she was passed by some new reporter who just started her own paper.

The reporter drew upon her Spirit Photography as Hatate brought up images that others took at the festival. She tried to see if they found anything else to write about or if they at least took some more interesting pictures to use.  Photo after Photo flicked by as the tengu glossed over each image as they went past before she hit the end of the collection.  It was one of her pictures showing the Harvest Goddess and her sister.

"Good enough," Hatate said with a sigh as she looked ahead towards the mountain, the image blurring as her focus shifted.  Only for her to notice a blob of green and yellow, which stood out, compared to the usual dull colors of human outfits. 

The reporter brought up another image trying to get a better picture of this oddly dressed person.  "Wait, she's in a lot of them and not even the pictures I was taking!"  Image after image had this girl in it before Hatate came to one of her pictures. 

This mysterious girl was in plain sight and was most definitely not human, a pair of purple cables led to a floating orb, but why were the humans not reacting to her.  Hatate shook her head, "This doesn't make sense why aren't the humans reacting."  A flash of insight came to her, "Wait she's that satori from that incident with the Menreiki a few years ago!"  The tengu remembered reporting on it and that time when she took pictures of that girl's Danmaku the time before that. 

There was one problem.  "Just who are you..."  Hatate said as she closed her eyes, why couldn't she remember her name.  She kept trying to remember but it kept slipping her mind.  Whatever it was it was actually News!  The headline started to form in her mind 'Underground Dwelling Youkai Visits Surface Party' Hatate's fingers swiftly moved to tap that into her phone.

The reporter's eyes went wide for a moment as a plan schemed in her head, sure, others just have photographs, but if Hatate had an interview, it'd be something that Shameimaru didn't even have!  It'd be something that'd propel her up the Newspaper rankings!

But there was a bigger question now, how was she going to find and interview with this girl? She had a hunch that even if she couldn't see the satori girl but she had a hunch that her camera would work.  But the first thing of course was to figure out where to meet.

If she had to guess, the satori was going to go back home after the festival and this was probably the fastest way back.  Well at least the most direct one since she wouldn't have to go past that hashihime and through the city.  And Hatate wasn't going to risk taking THAT route just for a possible story.  Even if she got past the bridge, there was that city and the oni inside it.  The last thing she wanted was to be pulled away from her target by one of them insisting she drink with them.

Her wings beat steadily as she flew low over the mountainside, camera out and her looking through the viewfinder.  If she couldn't notice that girl with her eyes, maybe looking at the camera might cancel out whatever she was doing.

A snapshot here and there where she thought she saw a glimpse of something that seemed just a bit off.  A picture with some fairies seemed to be a wasted image but there was a a smear of green and yellow in the background.  That had to be that satori!  She continued to fly and another snap of an image and there was that darkball running into a tree and that same splotch of yellow and green was there meaning Hatate was still on the trail.

A little faster and she might be able to get past that satori and finally be in a position to cut her off and get that interview she needed.

The glow grew brighter as she could see the mist of the geysers, as it grew thicker, which forced her to land.  Hatate held her camera at eye level as she landed slowly turning as she tried to guess just where she'd be if she wanted to be sneaking up on someone.

The sound of bubbling water was all she could hear.  "Where are you now..."  Hatate said to herself as she quickly turned to the side, her geta grinding against stone, and snapped a picture.  The sound of her phone taking a picture stood out against the relative silence surrounding her.

On the display was something very odd, it was a satori girl directly in front of her!  Hatate peeked up over her phone to see that girl standing right there.  Her wings flapped a few times as she jumped backwards in surprise!  That girl had managed to get right in her face without Hatate even having the slightest idea she was there.  She quickly tried to get her composure as she hit the ground.

"Hi hi!  You were soo wanting to find me so you could do things right?"  The satori said as she moved around Hatate to try to look at the picture, "Oh yea that looks familiar.  Most of you crows use the blocky cameras though," the satori's hands moved to mimic the pose used to snap a picture.

She seemed to vanish for a moment before appearing in front of Hatate once more.  "Still I wonder why you're looking for me.  Is it to play a game?  Or maybe for one of those boring interviews where you go on for a while until you get what you want and make up the rest."  The girl shook her head, "If you're wanting something like that you're gonna have to earn it.  Find me if you can!" 

Hatate was about to interrupt the petite girl, but before could the gray haired girl turned and ran away, vanishing from sight.  Was this all a game to that girl or was Hatate just going to spend the entire night chasing after shadows?  The reporter followed off in the direction she last saw the satori going.  "WAIT UP!"  she called out as she moved to chase.

She couldn't fly because if she had Hatate might lose track of her target and she wouldn't know if she had overshot.  Her camera was in hand, as she snapped picture after picture.  The tengu kept running as she kept checking to see if she could see the colors of the satori in those images.  She couldn't stop fully to focus on the images unless she wanted to lose track of that girl.  Keep snapping, keep chasing.  Something about this just had an odd thrill for Hatate on a level she couldn't fully understand. 

The forest started to thin out as Hatate realized where she was.  She had chased that satori all the way to the waterfalls!  But why did the girl in yellow go there?  Sure, she seemed to do things for no real understandable reason, but made about as much sense her wanting to play tag in the first place.

The reporter came to a stop as she took a few deep breaths and found that the green haired girl was actually visible.  "Okay so I found you, now what," She said as she raised her camera and took a picture, thumb furiously moving to take note of what a caption could be. 

"Well you followed me for a reason," the girl said as she adjusted her hat and rocked back on her heels slightly.

The tengu stood completely upright and quickly took out her notepad and brush, "Oh yes, I was wondering why you were at the festival in the human village and why exactly you were getting in everyone's pictures."  She started quickly to write down the question and waited for the answer.

The gray haired girl put her finger to her chin as she thought about it, "That's easy!  I was there because people where having fun and then I started to have fun because everyone else was having fun.  And I wanted to get in the pictures because getting your picture taken is fun!  Big sister gets the paper sometimes and if I were in the pictures, she'd know I was there and okay.  It just makes sense."

Hatate brushed down that response and wondered if she was being messed with at this point. 

She looked up from her pad only to see nothing, then the girl, then nothing again.  It was as if she was flickering in and out of existence.  Hatate tapped her foot anxiously, "Why do you keep blinking like that! I just don't get how you're doing that and it's really weird."

The glowing green eyes came close as Hatate found that she wasn't having her personal space respected.  "I thought I told you last time!  Or was it that other crow..."  She looked down at Hatate's skirt and shoes, "Nope!  It was definitely you."

The sound of a loud splash caught Hatate's attention as she unknowingly shifted her attention to whatever made that sound before looking towards where the mysterious girl was only to see nothing again.  Her pointed ears twitched as she could hear a voice behind her.  "But how do you keep doing that!"  Hatate shouted as she turned around to look for the girl.

"Doing what?"  the voice was behind the tengu again. 

"Doing that invisibility thing!"  Hatate said as she turned around to try to face this vanishing youkai again. 

Again there was nothing there as Hatate heard the footsteps leading away once more, "Hey I'm not done yet!"

Just like was earlier Hatate was now chasing someone who was easily able to give her the slip.  Hopefully she could catch that girl and actually get some answers this time!

--------

To Run or Fly.  What was she going to do.  If she went into the air she might lose her prey in the trees, if she was on ground the girl might be able to outrun her.  She gambled on going on foot as that satori hadn't really taken hard to the skies and considering how thick the forest was at times she couldn't fly in these confines.

Hatate's camera was up as she snapped another image.  Each image she took had that green and yellow outfit in frame.  Just where was she being lead now?  Her heart raced as part of her just felt a thrill of the chase.  She had to get closer, this was HER scoop after all and she wasn't going to let it just run away from her. 

The sound of her geta echoed through the forest once more as she chased. She deftly avoided roots and other obstacles as she continued to snap images.  She was getting so close, "Why are you running!?"  She shouted out to seemingly no one.  If that girl can become invisible, she should be still able to hear the reporter at least.

"Because it's fun!" echoed out the gray haired girl as she seemed to flicker into existence once more before vanishing just as swiftly.

The Tengu's teeth tightened as she pushed herself harder.  Her shots were blurry and out of focus, but as long as she could just see those two colors, she knew she was closing in more and more.  A tengu's speed is unmatched even on foot!

A kick off a tree and her wings flaring out to help her regain her balance as the reporter snapped another image.  Was the satori girl was running backwards?!  Hatate's eyes went wide in the darkness and she half stumbled.  She wasn't chasing a girl on foot.  That satori was mocking her by flying backwards! This was an insult that couldn't stand and Hatate continued her chase with more intensity.

The forest started to thin out and started to become rocky as the tengu saw the opening of a cave.  Not just any cave, but the one she that she remembered dropped down to that abandoned hell. If that satori managed to get into that cave, it'd mean that Hatate couldn't chase anymore!  Time was running out and she had to take desperate measures.  The tengu's legs tensed as launched her forwards into a diving tackle, arms spread wide.  She hoped to at least slam into the girl and knock her to the ground.

Hatate effectively hit what seemed to be thin air, as her arms snapped closed grabbing the satori.  But to her surprise the tengu had found things hadn't gone the way she expected.  Purple cordlike veins wrapped around her arms and waist to draw her to her prey in a most odd embrace. 

Was this a trap?!  She couldn't move as she was now face to face with the satori.  Hatate squirmed and shifted around trying to free herself, but was firmly stuck in the grip of the girl in front of her.  What happened next was strange, even for today.

"You caught me!  I thought you'd neeeever do that!  I mean I was even telling you where I was too!" the satori said, as her eyes seemed to light up. 

The fact that this gray haired girl claimed that she let Hatate catch her was baffling and insulting.  "That's nice?" the reporter said as she tried to free herself from the trap she was caught in.  "I don't know how you were telling me anything with you vanishing all the time like that."

The hat-wearing girl put a finger to her chin, "Oh...  I was doing that?  I was trying really hard to make sure you noticed me too," a look of realization flashed across her face, "Oh you did!  Your camera was seeing me, so you were seeing me!"

The more this satori spoke the less Hatate understood.  She wished she grab her phone or at least her notepad, she couldn't let this chance get away.  The reporter's arm was firmly wrapped as it seemed the more she tried to break free the tighter the veins grew.  "What?  How does that work?  Why are you doing this to me?" 

A giggle was the response to her questions, "Because I wanta keep you close and I was making sure you noticed me.  But I wanted you to notice me but you only noticed me with your pictures." 

This only added to Hatate's confusion as she tried to squirm enough at least to slip her camera out, but with how tightly she was bound, it was impossible.

"Let me go!"  Hatate cried out as she only got herself more tied up by struggling. 

But as suddenly as she was grabbed, the tengu found her dropped unceremoniously on the ground.  "Wait I was holding you?  You where holding me!" the satori said as she had one of the heart shaped tips of the tentacles touched her chin as she tapped her foot.

The reporter was back to her feet quickly as she looked at the floating orb that seemed to be staring at her even while closed shut.  It took a bit of effort for her to not stare as she pulled her notebook and brush out again.  "You were definitely holding me.  And where were you leading me all this time?" 

A long pause, "OH!  I was!  That makes sense now.  Still I wanted to show you a good place to go and then I was going somewhere else.  But I had to keep you around so I started to go home because you were bad at chasing then you grabbed me!  That was actually pretty fun." 

And this is when Hatate realized she really wasn't sure if this was really someone she could interview without people thinking she had gone mad.  "What do you mean keep me around?" the tengu said as she bit her lip slightly.

"Well you were going to give me an interview like you did the last time we played around," Koishi said while she rocked back on her heels.

Hatate was confused at this as she realized they had met before and she had an interview with that satori girl.  "We did?  I uh...  I should write it down this time." 

The more she thought about it the more she realized that she knew this youkai but should couldn't remember why she didn't know this earlier, "Wait, this is just like how you were vanishing!!"  She put her hand to her head as she was feeling a headache suddenly coming on, "What are you doing to me?!"  The reporter demanded as her vision blurred for a moment.

Koishi tilted her head and bent forwards a bit, "Oh, I'm making sure you remember what we did last time.  If I'm going to give you an interview, I should make sure you remember what happened last time.  There we go!"  A few giggles from the satori as she stood up again.

The headache soon passed as Hatate. "You're Koishi Komeiji, sister of Satori Komeiji.  You come topside to play around and look around for new food to try out," the tengu spoke before half jumping back in shock, "Wait how do I know this!  You can't read minds, wait what?  What did you do to me?"

An exasperated sigh from the black hat-wearing girl, "I told you that already!  I made sure you remembered things!  Most people forget about me because uh..." her hand moved to her chin as she tapped her foot, "What did sister say?  Oh yea!  I subconsciously make people subconsciously not notice me most of the time.  It's complicated.  I think Sanae said something about it but I didn't understand it.  I don't know if it was even Japanese.  But Interview time right?"

The sudden whirlwind of information had Hatate stumbling over her words as her head started to clear, "Uh... yes?  I mean yes!  Yes it is.  So can I first ask you about what drew you to the surface to visit this festival?"

A broad smile was on Koishi's face as she eagerly explained everything hoping that at least this time Hatate would properly remember it.
This Space For Rent