/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45833643
Suwako’s expression was hard to read. Was she waiting for Aya to reveal something she could report to Okina, or was she waiting to see if Aya was trying to draw something out of Suwako? Bah, enough of this mind-guessing recursion! “I haven’t exactly had the best relationship with Okina before now, but I don’t believe a word she says.”

“You mean you don’t have faith in your god? It’s pretty rude to take her blessing without giving her any faith.”

“Her whole shtick is being a secret goddess, she doesn’t need faith and yet she’s still this powerful. Once I’ve taken out the tengu, she has no reason to keep up her deal with me. Worse, nobody will be able to stop her once Yukari’s been dealt with. We know nothing about her, yet she’s been watching all of Gensokyo since the barrier went up.”

The short goddess rested her cheek on her hand. “That’s all pretty obvious isn’t it? She’s had it out for the tengu for a- wait once you’ve ‘taken out the tengu’?” Her eyes went once she realized what Aya said. “You realize you have more tengu inside your body, right? What exactly do you mean by that?”

“I’m just going to throw around enough bombs for Tenma-sama to cut ties with Yukari. Only a few printers will be hurt if it’s necessary. Now, I think you and Kanako can—”

The goddess’ cool demeanor had fallen. “Hold on, that’s not enough! How many people are you planning to blow up? How the hell did you even come to this conclusion?!”

She convinced Momiji, maybe she could convince Suwako! The tengu had to try. “Nobody ‘needs’ to be blown up, just a few machines and some clusters near residential areas as a bluff. Maybe some printers will get hurt if its necessary. Look, I’m just trying to weaken Yukari’s forces so we can save Anon and stop Yukari from doing something even crazier. She already made a demonic sword and plunged it under the mountain for who knows what reason. The oni seem to like it and the tengu won’t do a thing about it just in case they upset Yakumo. In a way, Yukari planted a bomb. My bombs are actually a tool for achieving freedom—“

“Stop! Stop! I get what you’re trying to do, but I don’t think it’ll work. What are you going to do if Tenma refuses to negotiate with a terrorist, blow ‘em up?”

Thick silence filled the air. Aya struggled not to answer the goddess, but that in itself was enough of an answer for Suwako to regret letting Aya out of the hole.

As gently as she could, Suwako tried to reject the tengu. “*sigh* Y’know, I was beginning to think we could work something out about Okina, but I’m not sure your alternative is much better. It’s nothing personal, just that Sanae has had a really good time here on the mountain. Your heart seems to be in the right place, but I’m not sure the shrine would do quite as well sitting in a crater… I wonder how much faith it would take to move everything back to Nagano...”

At the very least, it seemed like Suwako wouldn’t squeal to Okina about this conversation. The rejection still hurt Aya’s plans “I see. Just one more thing: Could you take a look at this cut? Eirin said it’s caused by a curse, but wouldn’t elaborate. She’s being really weird. You know about curses, right?”

Eager to get this crazy bird away from her home, the earth goddess agreed to inspect her. With just a touch from her hand, she knew exactly what ailed the tengu. “Oh boy, this one’s quite a doozy. Tell me: Do you know who gave you this curse?”

“Nope. They were invisible. All I saw was a shadow of a sword coming at me.”

“You sure it was a sword? Could have been something else that’s sharp—nevermind that! This here is a blood curse. As long as the person who cast it has even a stain of your blood, you’ll bleed as long as you trigger its condition.”

Touching her right cheek, Aya felt an uncomfortably familiar wet flow. “And that condition is?”

“Trying to figure out the caster’s identity. It’s a real bastard of a spell. I heard onmyoji learned it by studying the magic used by the denizens of Makai. It’s a good thing they were sealed away if they dabbled with these kinds of curses.”

Spilling blood all over the grass, Aya grasped Suwako by the shoulders, smearing her white sleeve with red liquid. “You said Makai, right?! Kasen isn’t from Makai! I knew it! That slut fox is dead meat!”

Now thoroughly frightened, Suwako tried to squirm out of the tengu’s hold. “R-Right! Now if that’s all, you can leave now!” Aya’s grip only tightened.

“Just listen for one more minute, I’ve got it aaaaaall figured out now!”

(Part 72)