/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46727332
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The Misty Lake has one of the best views Gensokyo can offer, despite its name. Clean and sprawling forests surround it without a man-made construction in sight, with beautiful flowers blooming on its margins throughout this fall. I sit here, pondering with my sword to my side, paper laid on top of a cut wooden beam that'll later be used in the fires behind me, samurai resting together with their horses under the moonlight, drinking sake provided by the always kind Kirisame-san. In their conversations, the men talk about the pleasures a wife can offer when properly pampered, the warmth on their bellies or general nonsense to distract themselves from our reality.

The reality that Minako Hakurei is dead.

It's been three months since she disappeared, leaving behind only torn pieces of her miko uniform in a pool of dry blood in the forest behind the shrine.

Poor little Reimu, forced to conduct the bodyless cremation of her own mother and give blessings she could barely recite, crying nonstop… None of which compares to the responsibility she bears now to protect Gensokyo by herself, armed with little to no training… Just thinking of my Akyuu being forced into such an awful position feeds the flame inside, propelling me to resist one more day.

Sadly, I cannot adopt Reimu, as there's no way to officialize the union of the clans, but may the gods be assured… Until she's fit to be our miko, I'll protect our village for her.

I stare again at the Misty Lake, inspiration drenching me as the mighty waterfall and, rapidly picking up the pen, I prepare myself to transform humble ink into a haikai—

— “YOUKAI!!”

A burbling, wet sound interrupts the yell, and I feel my head snapping back towards the small camp as someone spills their drink in a fire, flames roaring through the night and casting shadows over the now twenty-seven men—the one who cried wolf, sliced in half, his armor and everything, blood feeding the ground. Fluttering black feathers gently fall around the warm body as it crumbles down like building bricks. “Formation! Enter formation!!” I yell, taking my sword in hands and rushing to the men, armor clunking as the air is filled by screams and disordered orders and horse neighing—

—The horses!

I turn to where they're lassoed and, in the span of a blink, three of the horses have had their necks slashed, their heads flying and hitting ground and trees. The frustration burns deep: horse numbers dwindle each day, and their extinction in the lands of Gensokyo may come soon if we must hold until Reimu can deal with the Youkai for much longer.

Men screaming, shooting their muskets and illuminating the night; hitting nothing, making the horses jostle and kick—one man screamed at the top of his lungs, holding onto a bent leg that had felt the might of a horse's kick.

Soft, black feathers all around us…

Chaos, panic, men running for their lives—dying.

… Calm down, 友望 Hieda, calm down…

A sizzling flow in the air, like that of a blade ready to meet the bamboo; Akyuu's delightful laughter, her eyes full of shine…

Watching her idol—her father—swing his sword.

The swing of my sword clashes with a razor-sharp edge, deflecting it from cutting off my head. A second slash comes and the creature flees, though not to become a blur now—my heart pounds, legs tremble, my men watching in either horror or awe what happens before them, weapons unloaded as their hands shake; cloaked night, moon reflecting on the surface of the lake, a fire crackling in front of me…

A tengu woman watches from the other side of the fire, wings of pure darkness, a sword she rhythmically bops on her shoulder.

“My, my~a human deflecting a Tengu's swing…?” The monster murmurs. “I left home looking for food and found gold! Say, would you like to be kidnapped and become my husband? You're a mere human, yes, but we tengu ladies have been experiencing a scarcity in good men~” The fire glimmers on the edge of my sword as I slowly lift it above—

—a searing pain courses through me and, under the shoulder armor, I feel scalding blood oozing… This very single moment of weakness is enough for my men.

The last horses are swiftly taken and ride off into the night, and those without one desperately run deeper into the darkness, likely to fall prey to another monster like this one standing in front of me—Gensokyo is an unforgivable land of infinite beauty…

One I'd like my Akyuu to see more of; one Reimu may clean and turn it into a safe haven for humans.

… And that's why, despite the blood seeping into my clothes, I lift the sword up and high, eyes locked with the monster's.

She scowls, sighs and then shrugs. “Bleh, humans—always the same song and dance… Hm, it wasn’t a question anyway~” She readies her sword, pitch-black wings following the soft movements—

—She moves.

Hope for my children; responsibility to build others' futures.

I move.

Our weapons clash.

Blood sprays from my wound.

She spots victory and dashes forward…

… Reckless.