/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46924751—(2/3)
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Those words were dangerous. But also truthful.

Sweat drenched my nape as I clutched tighter to my gohei, waiting any odd bodily movement, a stare too violent, or just… Any indication of a severe reaction. An entire head taller than me, Mokou stares blankly, her hands trembling and tucked in her pockets. The gunshots below and the sickening sulfurous plumes of smoke multiplied my anxiety tenfold, but I refused to give in. I met those red eyes as they scrutinized me, slightly narrowed with an uncountable number of thoughts, my bleeding eye remembering that not one second is safe for either me or my maidens.

Gosh, I just wanna go home and hug Hana, eat something tasty and play some gunpla.

I hate this! I hate this so much…

… But those are my responsibilities as shrine maiden. Never again stay put; back down out of fear. You already failed Hana and Anon… “F-Failing the people you love is terrible; to know they suffered while you could've done something…” The revelation of Hana's rape still tastes like battery acid. “… Those are scars that never heal—but it's not the end! You can still honor their memory and do better with what you still have! The Keine that Suzu told me the history of: that stood against all odds and saved those kids; that thought about improving life for people around her; that made amends with a great friend…” Mokou visibly winces. “Would she want you to kill innocents in her memory? Children that have yet to be born?!” Though I barely know her, my words pierce her armor, her mighty posture staring to crumble—dude, do I look cool? I hope so, because if words from the heart look embarrassing, what would that say about me…?—her face tumbling into deep thought, the backdrop of red death gleaming with gold.

If I can get to the bottom of this and calm her down enough so she can speak to the revolutionaries; explain the situation and allow me to freely deal with the Hiedas…

I draw in closer, wishing I could place my hand on her shoulder for a personal touch—it calms people to know someone is physically there for them—but I can not due to my broken arm and the gohei in my other hand. Hopefully, my soft smile will comfort her enough. “I’m a living goddess, Mokou; I know what people want and don't want… And you do not want to carry this weight.” The crux of the question; what is making hands capable of wiping out Gensokyo off from the map shiver.

My apprentices watch with held breaths; some of the younger ones cannot bear the situation anymore and openly and loudly wail, nigh drowning the volleys of bullets and anguished screams below—do they cry from the pain of the fight? Of the terrible, traumatic sights? All of it, probably… Mind goes back to Hana, breaking down in front of us before being viciously hugged. I'll hug each of them after this shitshow is over—older apprentices flocking to them to offer comfort and get them back into condition, my heart melting—from the corner of the eye, I notice Mokou staring too, gaze beyond here; maybe thinking about her children?

I am not sure, but I will make these poor maidens the greatest feast the Moriyan Shrine has ever seen, complete with all the meat we have in stock and a boatload of desserts!

So close—so very close…

… If Mokou just understands, this can end without any more dea—

—The world suddenly shakes with massive explosions.

Wide eyes turn to the golden pillar as burst after burst of huge eruptions shakes the ground below and rains over those desperately running towards safety, the clouds and fires melding together into a raging wave of terror that engulfed and, apathetically, proclaimed annihilation.

W-What?!

What the fuck is happening?!

Seconds of breaths held passed like torture, though not without reaction: Mokou's eyes were the largest I've ever seen, the trembling of her hands traveling up and shaking her entire being… Her friends and their families are behind those walls…

If the explosions destroy them all—

—More, more and more?!

W-What's with this speed?! What kind of weapon is shoot—

More explosions, but instead of aiming at the golden walls…

… The people fleeing into them disintegrate in a surge of inferno and sulfur, a panic unlike any other rising inside as the cataclysmic understanding of what Mr. Hieda is doing overwhelms me.

B-But not only fire; what's that green-yellowish cloud…?

As rockets descend from the sky, the golden walls begin to expand fiercely to safely envelope the injured and maimed, ejecting the clouds of poisonous coloration that leak from the bombs, charring and vaporizing everything in their wake—

—Another batch of callous death erupts, rattling the walls.

… scattered all over the auric light's surface: large, multiple fractures.

The immortal mumbles, catching my attention and, with shivers that run up my spine, I notice something, her eyes away from mine: she's not shivering anymore. “… Get the fuck out of the way, Sanae.” There is no sentimentality behind her words.

Fuck.