/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46643529

It would have been much warmer and cozier inside, with plenty of company and food, but I was too anxious to wait inside. This was going to be an important moment, and I didn’t feel like holing up inside. I wanted to see everything as it went down. From outside Keine’s house, things were calm, displaying no signs of the tensions to come. The only sign of something off was a small group of people milling around, wanting to see what came out of the revolutionaries house.

Then a massive stream of fire rockets into the sky. Gasps and cries erupt from the onlookers as they see it fly into the air. But the expected death from the skies never comes and instead the sky erupts into a rainbow of colors. The gasps and mutters from the crowd soon melt into “Ohhs” and “Ahhs” as the fireworks go off, painting the landscape in a myriad of colors. On such a cold and still winter’s day, such a display would have been seen from all over Gensokyo, which is what we wanted.

It didn’t take long, They stood out easily among the bright and colorful backdrop in the sky. The many Tsuchigumo flew towards the village, white flags in hand. The white flags were necessary to show their intentions, but I still heard some muttering from the crowd that was growing by the minute. Not even a year ago, a sight like this would be seen as a disaster. Villagers would have run panicking into their homes and cowered until someone came in and pushed them out in a flashy display of power, and even then the fear left from such an intrusion would have lasted for months. But so much had changed. The crowd didn’t run off at all and instead stood there as the youkai made their descent. A far cry from years ago when a mere rumor of a youkai visiting the village would have left many terrified. There would also be nobody swooping in to chase off the Tsuchigumo-or so I hoped. All the women that were capable of doing such a thing were indisposed of at the moment and even the one on the scene was reduced to being a bodyguard for an old man.

There certainty are a lot of them. I had heard from Keine that they were all one family- one mother and her many sons and daughters. Hearing about it is one thing, but see them all in the sky like a flock of birds was another. A while ago the idea of someone having so many children would have been ridiculous but it’s something I know is all too plausible. But still, a hundred and ninety something children is something amazing. I suppose Tsuchigumo pregnancy might be different from ours, but that’s not discounting the work of her husband. You don’t get that many children without a lot of enthusiasm.

I see Keine coming done the street towards us. I guess it was time for us to move. I duck back inside, squeezing my way through the crowded interior. Everyone is chatting among themselves, doing some last minute preparations, or standing around nervously. It doesn’t take long for the door to open again and Keine step through. Taking a moment for the chatter to die down she addresses the crowd “In a few minutes time we will move towards the festival. I’m sure all of you have heard by now, but the patriarch of the Hieda family is opposed to our efforts. He’s brought his forces against us for this day. I don’t think it’s likely he’ll launch an attack when it’ll endanger the village, but I urge you all to show some caution as his behavior has been” She pauses as she decides on the best way to explain that the man had lost his mind “- a bit irrational lately. If any of you have any questions, now is the time to ask” All over, hands rose up.