/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>43379395

The crowd starts to converge towards the descending figure. You need to see who lost, your life depends on it. You hear the other viewers muttering and whispering to each other as you squeeze through the crowd. Some of them to turn and look at you, their faces unreadable. Squeezing by a stone-faced wolf tengu, you find find the loser hoisting herself off the ground.

"How?" Megumu says to herself as she stands to her feet and finds her footing. "How could you beat me?" Aya doesn't respond as she is too budy catching her breath. A tengu standing off to the side steps forward to examine both combatants. Judging from her formal choice of robes, you assume she's a judge of some kind. She claps her hands to quiet down the crowd and adjusts her glasses.

"The duel is over. Winner: Shameimaru Aya!"

Silence reigns for a bit longer, then the crowd bursts out into a frenzy of muttering and gasps. You feel like a massive weight has been lifted from your chest. You look towards Aya to see how she's feeling, but she just waves you over. She leans on you for support when you arrive, her breath still ragged and her knees weak. This has been a tiring day for her after all. She waits to regain her strength as Megumu and the judge chatter on about something in private. Aya waits for them to finish before she speaks to Megumu. "I think we could use that apology right now"

Megumu glares at her with a look that could have turned Medusa to stone. "Here? Right now?" she says she she looks around to the crowd. Aya nods, a small smirk forming on her face. Megumu grunts and moves forward a few steps. She gets down on her knees and bows her head. "I, Iizunamaru Megumu, have wronged you and I have failed in my duties as a Daitengu. In order to right the wrongs against you, I promise to pay for all the damages I have inflicted against you and..." she swallows, as if what she was going to say would make her sick "you have my word that no further harm will come to you or the human. I will allow him safety as a guest of the Tengu"

If this were some kind of children's movie, the crowd would go wild at this and break out in applause. But there's only a lone "Yeah!" that's quickly hushed up. As the crowd starts to talk among themselves, Megumu gets up, walks over to Aya and whispers something into her ear before making a quick exit with the judge. With everything over, the crowd slowly starts to disperse and you and Aya make your way to a quiet spot under a tree away from the eyes and ears of everyone. "What did she tell you?" you ask Aya as the two of you rest under the tree.

"She told me to never expect anything from her every again and that if we ever step out of line she'll be sure to punish us" Aya says with a shrug. "But I wouldn't worry too much. With her position as a Daitengu and her and as a loser of a former duel, she can't break her promises without losing a lot of face. Besides, if she has tries anything underhanded, we still have the blackmail on her. We won" She flashes you a genuine smile. "But I'm exhausted, we can worry about the future later"