/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45576478
Anon simply sat down at the edge of the cliff, staring into the stars. “This isn’t a decision. I’m staying in Gensokyo, no matter what happens. I can’t leave my daughter, my wife, my friends… They haven’t left me yet, so it isn’t fair to leave them.”

A moment passed before the words rang through the little girl’s head. In complete contrast with her behavior, the girl turned and hugged Anon. “Thank you.” The hug felt multilayered: He felt the warmth of Aya’s wings, Momiji’s fur, Ran and Chen’s tails, Hana and Aunn’s arms, Yuuka’s hair in his lap… it felt as if everyone came together to touch him.

“What happens now? I’m still nowhere, so I’m not in Gensokyo anymore…”

“You will be. Soon. You belong to reality. If you will not leave through one door, another will take you back.” As she finished speaking, the glowing threads appeared from within Anon’s body, wrapping around his form. A familiar numbness began to overtake his mind.

“Wait! You never told me who you are! Are you even real?” Anon felt himself losing control of his body-his figment of a body-and forgetting how to move. How to speak. How to think. He resisted, holding onto a shred of reckoning as long as he could.

“Goodbye, until we meet on our real Solstice. I will be-” There was nothing. Anon stopped seeing the girl before he could stop hearing her. Pure light caressed his being as he was ferried back to his rightful place.

----
The little girl walked back towards the tree to touch it one more time. Not quite a hole between reality and borders. More of a wrinkle or crease: Sometimes big enough to cause a tear, sometimes not. Soon, she too would be jettisoned back to her own inexistance, waiting alongside her sisters for some grace to give her the boon of reality. As she extended a hand to the tree, she released a shriveled, withering petal. One deliberately taken from the bouquet. Sure of its demise, Hata faded from the island adrift in space, accepting her own.
--
Once stable before him, the paradise became unsustainable without him. Panic gripped the Sages that searched for the lost man as nobody could find him in or outside of Gensokyo. What was once an oasis of magic and myth fell into a sea of fire as violence raged between factions, vying for power or simply striking out of lost restraint. The land cannibalized itself as the forces of nature and reality were torn asunder, barely contained in the Great Hakurei Barrier before an almighty force descended to wipe it clean. Without anything left to contain, the barrier simply dissipated.

Alive through sheer will, obsession and resentment, a lone survivor located the man she once built and destroyed an empire for. He had fallen through time and space into his previous life, unaware of the strife his disappearance caused. It was likely her existence hinged on his memory alone. With little power and little love left, the shadow of a once-great youkai concocted one last convoluted scheme for her vengeance before fading away.

Years later, Anon would be convicted and arrested for multiple counts of sexual harassment and assault. Though he had no recollection of the crimes, the forensic evidence was irrefutable.
----
Waking up, Anon felt a chill in the air. Winter was supposed to start soon, so it made sense for Yukari’s barrier to emulate it. He let out a heavy sigh, not looking forward to the elements piercing his thin clothing. He could have sworn he heard the shrine sigh with him in sympathy. Maybe it’d be worth giving the place a good once-over to make sure none of the winter air seeped in.



____
“Is this stuff really real, Muge?” A girl wearing a red dress inspected the dead tree growing out of a big rock in the middle of space.

“Ehhhhh kinda not really. It doesn’t exist unless someone wants it to. Times like the Solstice just make them come really close to reality.” A girl identical to her sister, wearing a blue maid’s uniform, picked up the desiccated to inspect it. It had no power left.

“Huh. Yeah, these string-thingies won’t last another day. Sure hope they didn’t have a permanent effect on Anon, Yuuka would probably freak out or something. By the way, you said the Solstice lets it come close to reality. But it isn’t the Solstice in Gensokyo yet.”

“No, but it’s the Solstice here. So it kinda did it on its own.”

“Oh. That’s kinda lame. Wanna get outta here before we can’t leave ever again?” The girl in red’s curiosity was sated, so she was ready to leave immediately.

“Sure. I wanna see how Anon makes tea again. I’ve almost got the taste right last time, I just need to get that aroma!” The twins left the lonely island through a world of dreams, all attention turned towards the next entertainment.

Haha, (late) Winter Solstice Special! I felt like a meta-story be best. There wasn't as much Yukari bullying as I usually include, but I did my best.