/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45717964
Tucked underneath the blankets with Anon, victory coursed through Aya’s veins. She won! She beat the incense! All of that worry and concern was for nothing! Here she was, lying in bed with the man she loved and reveling in every second. Even if Yukari and Okina walked in at this moment, nothing could bring her down. She was beginning to drift into a wonderful dream about her four darling children flying around the house...

“Do you really never plan to come back here?” The voice was low and just a little muffled, but Aya could hear him just fine. It seemed this dream would have to wait a bit longer.

“What’s the matter? Like I said, we’ll meet again away from this place.” The tengu rolled around, trying to recover the comfortable position that was carrying her into the world of dreams.

“But what if it takes longer than expected? Shouldn’t you make plans just in case something goes wrong?” Aya abandoned all hopes of slumber and opened her eyes to see Anon sitting up, a morose look on his face. This was too serious to ignore. The tengu joined him, giving him just a little bit of personal space to let him feel comfortable.

“I made a promise to you. I fully intend to keep it, no matter what it takes.” This was clearly more of an emotional issue than a logical one. She just had to support him as much as it took.

Anon’s expression still darkened. “I know you’re doing everything you can, but it’s just… there’s so much that can go wrong. The barrier, the guards, the building… Yukari has a plan to keep me here for a long time until she’s satisfied. I don’t know when she’ll stop, but I can’t help but believe that she’s planned out as many countermeasures as possible. The chance that I’ll ever escape, it’s just…” The light in his eyes that she found to find was starting to fade. No way! Not tonight! Not after so long!

Taking a commanding posture, Aya got off the bed and walked in front of Anon. “I don’t think you heard me correctly. I said I made a promise to you. Are you doubting the word of a Tengu?” Standing firm, she stretched her wings out fully, engulfing Anon’s vision in a field of black pared by Aya herself. A sinister wind began brewing, lightly lifting the sheets. “That’s not working out for me. I’m afraid I’m going to have to put a curse on you.”

“Hold on, what are you doing?” The display of power certainly got Anon’s attention. Most youkai knew better than to display their power so aggressively against the Shrine Husband. The tengu guards would be on them faster than light. Unfortunately, the reporter wasn’t afraid of a few dogs yipping at her. Her pupils glowed crimson as she gazed intensely on the foolish human.

“You’ve been getting too comfortable around powerful creatures, unable to see how truly threatening they are. I’ll have to rectify that by putting a curse on you even Yukari could never hope to lift!” From the tip of her wing, Aya plucked a single onyx feather, brandishing it to Anon’s face as it swelled with power. Slowly, Aya moved her face towards Anon’s neck, pressing the feather against his chest and breathing slowly as she moved upwards to his ear. She could hear his heart beating in his chest. Perfect.

“I believe in you.”

With her curse laid, the tengu folded her wings and knelt down on the bed in front of him, replacing her serious expression with a happy-go-lucky smile.
“That’s it? You didn’t- What was the point of that?” A shame. Anon clearly didn’t understand how this curse worked.

“The point? The point is that I believe in you. Since you don’t believe in yourself, I’ll have to do it. And now that you believe that I believe in you, you believing that I believe in you means that you HAVE to believe in yourself because you know for a fact that I believe in you! And if I ever stop believing in you, the fact that you believe in me will force me to believe in you again!” Aya was proud of herself for giving her explanation without a single slip-up.

Anon was surprised, confused and a little angry. “That doesn’t make any sense!”

“That’s right, it doesn’t! But because I said it, it will never go away. A phenomenon that makes no sense when explained and nobody can stop no matter how hard they try: Doesn’t that describe a curse perfectly?” Anon didn’t respond. He simply grappled with the winged woman, reinforcing the curse that he laid on her heart without knowing it. They wrestled in the bed before Anon leaned over Aya, victorious over the devious enchantress.

“If you’re handing out those kinds of spells, you better make sure you stay safe. It only works if both of us can still fuel it, right? Hey, every spell has it’s magic source. What fueled your spell?” He had the cockiest grin on his face, knowing exactly what Aya’s answer was.

Instead, he heard the chime signaling the end of Aya’s night.

(Part 66)