/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I run by Suzu's side, my eyes wide as plates and ruffled wings pressed hard against my back, Mokou's shields of fire cloaking us in the form of small, orbiting embers—the moment any bullet threaded too close, the embers would track and explode the metallic projectile into slag that'd corrode the ground below, the smell unbearable, but that doesn't matter! All around us, the world burns, the festival—my Izakaya, the Prismrivers stage, everything—crumbling into a noxious pile of rubble, the air blistering and smoke heavy, lungs suffering as our run demanded greater effort by the second…

Suzu ran in front of me like a madwoman, covered in sweat and her hair all disheveled, the bells chiming endlessly… Because on her back she carried Keine's body, the consuming flames and poisonous smoke mere obstacles. I tried questioning her why, but all I got was a stare that reflected the same determination Keine emanated. This revolution is over without Keine, the one who cared for our dreams and safety… But deeds live on, as does inspiration—gulping down the temptation to cry tastes like acrid smoke.

There's still people to help! You have three children!

Be strong, Mystia!

I look around as people run in desperation amidst the raging flames, silhouettes in the crisp smoke, exacerbated by the rotten smell of burnt flesh—

—eyes suddenly lock on a vision of a spider youkai carrying a slew of children on her extra limbs, a group of men and women following as she leads the way through the inferno. That's Yamame Kurodani… “Mystia!” A familiar voice comes from her group—Yuu, and he bears the wildest eyes I've ever seen.

However, in the corner of my vision, a silver glint shimmers through the smoke, the world falling deaf for but a moment…

I recognize it.

Those glints hunted my species for generations.

The ball of Danmaku is created without proper thought aside from reflex, but aim aligns with incisiveness nonetheless, the thing thrown a moment too late as the bullet—just another of many—explodes. In the corner of my vision, I spot Yamame’s body jolting forward with a spray of blood… Her shoulder was burst, but she was still alive, breathing.

Suzu stops to look at me after the sudden change in atmosphere, Mokou's embers exploding bullets of retaliation. The stare we share is weird, almost as if I can talk to her over this explosive cacophony and asphyxiating smoke of basalt.

… Panting, she glances towards Yamame's group, some concerned kneeling down to check on the non-fatal wound, then to Keine on her back. “I need to find my family…” She mutters and I, a mother too, can only nod. Suzu reciprocates and, by the next second, she resumes running to 'safety' and I change course to Yamame's group, Yuu meeting me, brain expecting frantic words or questions—

—he lifts me in a tight hug. B-Bwuah?!

“Good Dragon God, you're alive! Don't ever do that again, you goddamn birdbrain! I thought I'd have to take care of our children by myself!” He chastises me before putting me down, his tone betraying the gravity of the situation. Just what is this man…? “No time; can you give me a hand here?” He rushes to Yamame, children's cries filling the air as her back limbs lose strength and she kneels down to keep the kids from plummeting.

“It's not bad, but she needs this closed soon…” A human man says, sweat covering his brow as he studies the Youkai's wound. The other people take the scared and shocked children in their arms or, in the case of some brave heroes, ransack the environment and rapidly build a makeshift cover amidst rains and heat waves of lead. There aren’t enough of us, so some children and those wounded stay on the ground. My embers move and orbit in a broader circle—there's not as many as before; it's reaching its limit…—protecting us from stray bullets.

“I-I'm okay; I just need…” Yamame tries, but frowns deeply in pain as the doctor, mumbling for her to not move too much, wraps a torn piece of cloth around her pungent wound.

Yuu kneels down to the spider's side. What's he…? “We need to find a safe place; that's—” A beam of pure, golden light suddenly shoots to the skies; ‘safety’ whispered in my mind. “—Huh, that does it~”

And, suddenly, he divides into three in front of everyone.

I blink, utterly perplexed.

… Those are the three men that hit on me that night. One picks up Yamame, struggling a little with the weight of all the extra limbs; other picks up various children; and the last picks up two of the most seriously injured humans, who don’t look surprised—too much for one day, huh?

The one with the children walks up to me, a smug look in his face despite the panorama of sulfur and death. “What's with that stare? Humans can have powers like you too, silly~” He passed me two of the little ones. “Let's move to the convenient golden heaven, people!” So, carrying half the group, he leads us to safety.

He’s one guy that’s three at the same time…

… My cheeks go red.

N-No time for that—our revolutionaries need help!