/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46545321

Was the voice in my head right or was I just going crazy? It was possible after doing the deep dive I did, but I couldn’t outright deny it. I was doing something wrong. That’s why all couldn’t get anything out of the readings or they were nonsensical nightmares. Was I approaching this in the wrong way? I was doing my best and steeling my ground against what the readings sent at me. It’s not like I could push back any harder then I was-

I suddenly remember an old story I once read. An oak and a reed stand up to the storm, but the oak is too rigid and breaks while the reed survives. I was trying to be like the others. They had the strength and bravery to stand up to forces like her. They could bust through any obstacle if it meant reaching their goal, all they had to do was tap into that power. I was just flailing against the storm, hoping it would obey me. A direct assault wouldn’t work. Mima was wrong, Yukari’s mind was too much for me. Too complex, too different. We had nothing in common.

Or did we? I saw how she acted during the party. Her threats, her sick desires. How she puffed herself up when things were going well and twisted the knife when everyone learned what she did to Hana. As bizarre and awful as they were, Yukari had emotions just like a human.

When you write something, even if its just a list of things to buy, a part of you rubs off. Sometimes a lot. Sometimes a little. Something like this, where everything she planned laid bare, should be overflowing with it. It was wrong to charge in and try to directly get information. I put my hand over the paper. All I had to bend to the wind and feel-

-It’s cold. I’m standing outside, staring at towers of metal and glass, lit up so brightly. I’m waiting for someone. I hear their voice and turn around. I’m so glad but I also feel the stabbing pain of loss-

-I’m clawing at the frozen dirt with my bare hands. I’m not making any progress and my hands are filthy, but it doesn’t compare to the pain I feel at this moment. Why did I fail her? There was so much I could have done for-

-I’m watching a man and his young daughter walk down a forest path. He looks injured. I don’t like seeing him like this. But I can’t do anything about it. Not yet. The daughter starts to cry and the man unsteadily bends down to reassure her. How nice-

Any other time I would have been thrilled to get a glimpse in the mind of a Sage. But now, these are just useless memories. I don’t push them aside. I let them float past. Feeling a tinge of pride somewhere in the paper, I try to coax things along. The feeling of pride gets stronger and stronger and then it’s like a fog has lifted. No more memories. No more confusing intricacies. Just pure emotion. I look over to where my hand is, some mess of lines with an inscription next to it. But the pride I’m getting from tells me Yukari must think it’s something very clever. I grab my pen and jot down everything I’m getting. Like a woman possessed-and I should know what that feels like- I move from impression to impression, writing down what I was picking up and what part of the diagram it corresponded to. Annoyance, worry, happiness. It wasn’t as good as directly picking up her thoughts, but the emotions she left left behind worked wonderfully. Hell, even I could make sense of it. With a speed I thought was beyond me, I had picked up on the strongest feelings. There was no time to be complete, so I got up and hurried to the cabinet. Did I have seconds or minutes? I was so lost in the diagram I couldn’t tell. Back goes the diagram. Here turns the lock. There goes the key, back to its place. I hurry back to the table and pick up the paper to see what I wrote down.

Names and shapes I couldn’t quite recognize, but I assumed they were some sort of magic or traps. Next to them I had written the impressions I had picked up. Things like ‘Anger: Why can’t they get this to work properly?’ It would have to do. Rolling the paper up, I stuffed it down my shirt. Now I should get back to work.

---

It was a few minutes later when the tengu returned. “Sorry I’m late. Got dragged into a dispute by two white wolves playing shogi. I swear they love bickering over rules more then playing. How’s this coming along?”

I had made some progress here, but there was still some work to be done. “It’s coming along, but I think I should get going. I’ve got dinner to cook, you know” I start to edge towards the door, heart thumping face starting to pale. If I get caught now it would-

“Oh, I getcha, you did it for out of kindness anyways. Thanks for the work” she heads back to her desk, starting to leaf through some documents.

I didn’t have to be told to leave. My feet were already moving. Down the hall, through the lobby, it looks more natural that way, I push open the doors to the street outside. The paper held close to my chest, a treasure. My feet keep moving until I’m far away.

I did it. I fucking did it.

>>38386792
well, she is now a half- human half youkai. just like Rinnosuke.
she is now aware of the situation outside the human village. and she has the power to read any type of writing.