/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46674093
"Senkai." I struggled to say, my throat feeling torn apart.

"Ah! No way! I imitated Mother Seija's voice perfectly didn't I? How could you tell?!" She moped, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"It becau- ehah, Seija plays meaner games." I struggle out, banging my chest like I'm trying to cough up a hair ball "Perfect disguises don't exist, so it's best to put your own spin on things instead." I explained, thinking about how fastidiously the Kappa had made their skin suits, when a cloak would've sufficed. Maybe they could've used the extra time to come up with a cunning plan, but Kappa will be Kappa.

"Ehehe, I guess Father Goro knows a thing or two about impersonation." Senkai giggled.

She was behaving much less elfin and more child-like then I remember. Did whatever happen change her personality as well? Or maybe this was just natural child development for her. Even with how studied Youkai were, there were many mysteries to their child development and every lineage had some secrets. When I was at the temple I made it a small game to figure out as many as I could, a decision I came to regret since Hijiri put me on midwife duties after noticing my investigations. I felt the same urge now to pry into this girl's being, but feared a similar result.

"What did you do just now?" I asked, rubbing my face.

"I sent my Mothers home! Or I guess I did that a day or so ago, I'm not used to existing. But it was so fun Father Goro! I had my first play-date with my Mothers! I got to see them do all sorts of ki-manipulation and spells and I showed them my own inherited abilities and..." She continued excitedly rattling off a whole confusing series of events that I could loosely correlate with the visions I'd seen. "...and so then I got to speak with Mother and Father! They know about me now!"

"Yeah, but if Yukari-Sama had a flaw, it would be too much focus." I said, alluding to her complete delusion about Senkai being the child in her belly in the future and not a separate development of the HSE itself. Although one could be forgiven for the confusion as there were quite a few more 'alternative' fetuses floating around.

"She'll understand soon enough! Oh and, sorry I hurt your ears back then, I knew it was coming, but Mother is just so frustrating at times! And speaking of, you've been ignoring me too haven't you!" She remarked.

"Pardon me young lady?" I asked.

"You and Mother Seija have been spending all your time with each other and sending gifts to Oiwa and Tsukuyomi! But you forgot all about me!" She pouted.

"I'm talking to you now aren't I?" At least I think I am. I still haven't ruled out this being an illusion brought on by severe trauma.

"Not good enough! Pamper me like you did with Mother Koishi and Mother Seija!" She demanded.

"Fine then." I relented, pulling out my comb and patting my lap.

Like a cat, she nimbly dodged under my arm, over my leg, and into my lap, her hat already removed and hair ready to be combed. "Heh, I've taken Mother Seija's special seat." She snickered.

I sighed and got to my work, taking my comb and gently gliding it through her short hair. It was difficult to say the least, everyone's hair is different so you have to adjust your force and direction accordingly, but after each stroke the texture and resistance of Senkai's hair seemed to change. Curly to straight, thick to thin, yellow to black to red, and all the variations in between. Eventually I gave up doing things the sensible way and started to magically target the hair, what I found surprised me.

"Hmmm." Senkai hummed happily as I finally found a rhythm.

Senaki wasn't here, not really, it was more like a diffused reflection, an emission of all the parts that composed her. Koishi's impulsiveness, Chen's catlike nature, Flan's bratty neediness, all rolled into one and it occurred to me, what about Yukari and every other evil Youkai that had set foot in this place? Would she suddenly rage like an Oni or play tricks like a fox? How much had Seiga influenced her?

"Watcha thinking about?" She asked, looking up at me with eyes that shined like Opals.

"There's something you want isn't there? Something besides pampering that is." I asked.

At the question her head lowered and she swayed back and forth. "I'm not sure I want to tell you yet, it'll make you worried and ruin the mood."

"Well then tell me what else is on your mind kid and please, a little slower this time, being real means your words can outrun your mouth." I said, rouging up her hair and ruining the work I'd just done so I could do it all over again.

"It was really fun playing with Mother Patchy and Mother Meiling, both of them have such a nice sense of self and even if I know what they're going to do next, it still makes me happy to see it. Now that they're gone, it feels really lonely and, even though I know I'll see them again, it just makes me feel more alone."

"Hmmm and have you tried thinking about something else?" I asked.