/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>44523238

“Two more loops. Now slow down. Not gradually, on a dime! It’s about precision!” Marisa barked orders to me from the grounds as I controlled my flight to her specifications. I slowed down my flight, slowly drifting to the side. “Too slow! It’s not about making yourself a target, it’s about giving yourself the control to duck and weave through the shots! Focus your movement!” I sped up a bit as I continued to fly in a pattern. “Better!” Marisa shouted up. The very first thing Marisa noticed when we went outside to start training that my flight was all wrong. The way she explained it was that good movement was the foundation skill of Danmaku, and my current skill level was good for nothing but flying around on errands. So begun a few hours of foundational training. “Good enough!” she said, waving me down “Take a breather”

I set down on the ground and rested for a bit. I needed to work on my stamina, I was already getting tired. I’d never be able to handle the intensity of flying all over Gensokyo and getting into fights if this was tiring for me. “I’m already seeing some improvement, but you’ll need to work on it” Marisa said as she handed me a cup of water. I took it and gulped it down. “You can practice it even when I’m not around. Get more used to making gradual movement, I noticed you jerking around too much up there” I nodded as I finished up my drink and handed it back to her.

“Alright, that’s enough rest. You’re not going to have the time to take breaks when the real deal happens. You’re not an old lady like me after all. After getting involved in last years incident, I just went back home and went right to sleep only to wake up to a sore back for the rest of the day” She shoke her head. “Well that’s all the more reason for you to train hard. The sooner you take up the mantle, the less work frail old crones like me are forced to do. Now get up there” I went up and was surprised to see Marisa had followed me.

“What’s next?” I say as I watched her circle around me. Marisa paused, then zipped up suddenly so she was right in my face. I admit that I flinched. Her smile widened a bit, a teasing look on her face.

“You gotta work on that. Being jumpy ain’t good for your relaxes. It’s getting late, so why don’t we practice some dodging? I’ll go easy on you, do your best!” Before I could give a response and darted back a distance. She raised up a hand, then everything happened at once. Stars. Bright colorful stars appeared out of the air and circled towards me. My eyes darted around, looking for a opening. There? No it just closed. Here? I barely squeezed through, and I felt the heat of the stars on my skin. I had no time to rest, as I saw another wave coming in, I stopped and waited for an opening, and that’s when I saw the laser.

It was hard not to see it, being roughly the size of the street. I had no chance. I remember being surprised that Marisa would kill me like this when it passed over me. It certainly hurt, like someone had jabbed me with hundreds of hot needles. The pain made me lose my balance and I wobbled to the ground, collapsing in a heap. I noticed my clothing was frayed and slightly burnt. “Fuck” I said, not really being in the mood to be poetical.

Marisa landed on the ground next to me “You okay? The pain should wear off soon, there’s no lasting damage” She gave me her hand and I took it, standing up “Maybe I overdid this a bit, this is your first time after all. I haven’t had a proper spar in a while you know. Reimu never really had a problem with this...” Marisa caught herself and frowned as she realized what she brought up “Ah. Sorry, sorry. Maybe we need to take it down a few stages before I have you dodging spell cards you know? The path to Danmaku is hundreds of hours of blood, sweat and tears, you know. That’s enough for today. We can pick this up from tomorrow”

“Thanks Marisa” I said before setting off on my way home. This certainly wasn’t going to be easy. As soon as I got home, I went right to my room and flopped right to bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered how long and difficult this path would be.