/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45810256
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I’d left for twenty minutes. Two of pursuit, one of fighting, five of conversation, ten of a panic attack and two to return—and a lifetime of fear.

My kids are the first thing I look for; they’re both safely nestled in a cradle by the rat woman who swung it tenderly. She seems amused at my deep sigh of relief, and I make a mental note to interrogate her on how the fuck she put Mochi to sleep in just 20 minutes. My eyes are then on the other third of my heart, and her eyes are still full of concern, though it doesn't last much—she's good at hiding—before she makes a gesture for me to come closer, the others watching with barely disguised interest.

They were surrounding a dining table where a map of the village lied; the Hieda household was in focus as a big red area, the subtitle in blue being: 'Area of peaceful protest'; while, throughout the entire village, green dots marked 'letter spots’; lines of various colors tagging the routes, each one with two names attached to them. More things were on the map; the details and absolute organization of information a testament to Keine’s decades of teaching.

She was explaining it extensively to anyone who'd ask or had a question, but I barely processed any of it as I placed myself behind her like a shogi dragon tower…

… Though the effectiveness of said tower is dubious after that short meeting with the Yakumo scum…

My stomach turned, but I hid it well, eyes on the stacks of letters by the side… If I burned all of them, Keine wouldn't be able to reach the villagers so easily, and the protest would die before it started. The failure could be used as an excuse for us to run away.

… It took a second for me to digest this thought and when I did it, I wanted to puke. I was seriously considering destroying her work out of fear for the future? What kind of friend, confident—bride—am I?! The flame of shame burned—a sense of helplessness I hadn't felt in a thousand years—as my eyes rushed to my son and daughter.

They were still well. Alive, breathing, cuddling with each other, hiding their lower faces with their cute wings, all warm with the small pellet of harmless fire I planted inside their tiny hearts so they'd always have one of their mothers with them…

… It could end so easily.

It took me minutes to notice Seiga. She wouldn't need minutes.

Only a second…

One second, not enough to save them; to do anything to help—

—a warm hand catches mine, hidden from view with her long cloak. My thoughts slow down as I look at Keine's nape, feeling an urge to kiss it…

… Ugh, gods.

I catch my breath and, with my free hand, clean the few drops of sweat from my forehead—an incarnated phoenix sweating in the winter… If that's not the set-up for a joke, I don't know what it is.

“Any more questions?” Keine's tone is gentle and nonjudgmental, looking around the crowded room—I wonder if this is a teacher's tactic; children do often get ashamed of asking questions…—but it seems the plan was passed on successfully, prompting Keine to nod to herself, cutely satisfied. “Great~! This concludes our meeting. The next one will come in two days so we can have a more in-depth discussion about the protest. Remember to stick to the discussed routes so you don't get caught by patrols; don't get separated from your pair so, if one of you does get caught, the other can set off a flare, and I'll eat that part of history. Tonight, we're going to kick-start a better Gensokyo: none of our children will ever need to suffer as we did. They and their children will look back with pride knowing their parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters fought and didn't give up on this beautiful land, struggling to make it better!” Her eyes on Aki and Mochi bear love strong enough to withstand earthquakes. “Tonight, we build our children's futures… Thank you.”

Nods and words of agreement, inspiration, and excitement spread around like wildfire, the air saturated with sheer resolution as each pair of youkai got a stack of letters.

No way back now…

The youkai streamed out in preparation for tonight and, just as the horizon swallowed the sun and thick winter clouds concealed the skies, I and Keine left Mystia’s house, Mochi in her arms and Aki in mine.

The way back home was silent, Keine keeping close to me all the way—we recovered our basket of fish to store it and flew a bit with the twins to tire them out for them to nap. It was still quiet as we prepared dinner together, filled mostly with Mochi and Aki crying, as it was around these hours they'd wake up and let nature take its course.

With everyone well-fed, it was my turn to put the twins to sleep. Keine went to take bath first…

Just one second, all that it’d take…

… Tears welled in my eyes as I watched them sleep, standing by their cradle, sniffing, my legs trembling.

Keine left the bath and saw my wide eyes and shaking legs—my despair. She didn’t seem surprised, and the smile she gave me felt like home. “… Wanna talk?”

I nodded.