> "Hmm. Can you describe how it feels? I've never been on the receiving end before."

> "The possession I felt was like being filled with a power that wasn't yours, but you felt like you could make use of it like it was, I think. It's been a while. Right now, I guess I feel like something has a hold on me and is taking pieces. Like if I didn't notice, they would've taken a lot more. Ah, it's like eating with friends sometimes."
>_

> Take a brief look back over the numbers just to make sure nothing stands out as obviously incorrect.
> Then head back to the room with our stuff.

> "So are we supposed to just give it a trim?"

> "It ought to grow back thicker after a good trim, at least that's how the peach trees in heaven work..."

> Ponder if there's anything else we could do to make it look nicer?  Youmu mentioned it hasn't bloomed I'm ages.  Is there anything we've learned in all our years as a Celestial that might help?

>Looks at you with a straight face before grinning. "Yes. Yes, we will just give it a trim."
>She then throws away all of her other farming equipment and unsheathes her Roukanken. "Just a trim."
>Something tells you this will be the most stressful trimming of your life.

>Hmm, usually when plants don't bloom for extremely long periods of time it's because the area they grow in is cursed. But considering you're in the Netherworld, it would be a better guess to say it's Sealed somehow. You would guess that unsealing the Saigyou Ayakashi would make it bloom.
>But failing that, culling any dead branches should help.

>You walk with Youmu towards the section that the Saigyou Ayakashi has control over. The roots have spread everywhere, contained by Shimenawa demarcating the Hakugyokurou from the Saigyou Ayakashi's domain.
>The moment you move close to the Saigyou Ayakashi you feel something... tugging you.
>You immediately recognise this as the allure of death and shake it off.
>"Huh, good job. I guess being a Celestial must give you some experience in this."
>"The moment we start our 'trmming', the Saigyou Ayakashi will start resisting with its roots and the enraptured Spirits will attack us to protect its beauty and die peacefully. Flight is Heavily Recommended here. I would rather not have your blood on my hands.
>_?

> "Please do go get Aoi, yeah, but I'd like to also say my proper goodbyes to our host. I still have stuff I need to retrieve from my room anyway."

> Did we leave anything back at the manor?

>The stuff you brought into your room last night, you think, but that ought to be it.

>_