/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46786409
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There are few moments in life when you can confidently claim to be the stupidest person on the planet.

I am the stupidest person on the planet.

Gravity takes hold and I, the broom and my poor children begin an ever-quickening descent according to the laws of gravity towards becoming, respectively, a red splatter on the ground, a pile of wooden rubble and a soul-crushing mistake. The buffeting winds impair my unprotected eyes and leave tears on my pale skin, hair disheveled and swinging like crazy, yet all focus is on the tightly sealed jar and broom on opposite sides of my vision, limbs flailing all around, trying my hardest to stop the sudden panic.

The upside-down sunset serves as a backdrop for my harrowing screams of guilt, ears bleeding, and brain bursting with rage: Why did I do any of that? What was I trying to prove? That I, idiotically, can fly high and irresponsibly, ultimately endangering the lives of my unborn kids?

That the past cannot reach me and am immune to growing older, weaker…?

By a stroke of luck, my flailing arms managed to touch something solid—my broom! I desperately cling to it, and, under the many protective spells that layer it, the air soon becomes more palatable, and though my ears buzz and balance is all over the place, I do not slow down, feet pressing on the wood, pumping magic like crazy and violently rocketing me towards the small, shining glint that'd just crossed the cloud barrier, blood and thick, streaming tears suddenly flowing up from the speed, gums clenching together as if trying to crush something between my teeth.

Haven't I grown up? Am I not an adult?! Letting myself be blinded by nostalgia, by the sheer light of what I once accomplished…

The cloud barrier blew open as if the seas, Marisa Kirisame darting towards the jar far away containing her children, quick calculations agonizingly whispering they'd hit the harsh tree gorge before she could catch it…

At this speed, Marisa Kirisame will lose everything once again.

Reimu's words that night—forgiveness—; Anon's calm smile—acceptance—

Before a conscious thought makes itself known in my mind, one shaking hand reaches and rummages through a painstakingly familiar pocket.

Fear, inactivity, doubt, all which controlled my life for decades, sprinkled through this mess of a mind—I may die in the Solstice, may I not? I could've done more; I should've done more. I’m not good enough; I'll die alone—the tears abundant, yet the speed never once diminishing…

A preventable past; no pain needed to be burdened…

— 'I am proud of you, Marisa'.

… Still, that's it. The past. The unchanging past.

From the pocket, the mini-hakkero shines on the light of the upside-down sun; eyes flick again to the ground each second more and more on the nose, the broom shaking with intense, deafening speed. If I do this, I'll build immeasurable velocity and won't be capable of changing course or slowing down…

Only dodge.

These frail mortal hands cannot change the past, and time will not reverse itself. What’s done is done: horrendous mistakes; tears shed; laughter shared; love made; and so much more—what a long, long life!

For this ordinary magician, time is short as she; she regrets much of her long life—

My eyes focus entirely on my children, moments away from meeting death.

—But that doesn't mean Marisa Kirisame can't still build a future!

To this mighty wind, be cast all doubt, all fear and all worry!

Together was also cast the mini-hakkero, a tiny fragment of magic making it sparkle as lit gunpowder, one split second of silence…

… Then, the Master Spark is shot to the skies, ripping the clouds apart and sending the small thing clashing into the end of the broom—all that inertia transferred to the broom and doubled, tripled my speed!

I had one fraction of a second.

I caught my kids.

The rampant tree gorge of Youkai Mountain meets me.

My eyes completely dilate.

I dodge.

Flying at speeds I cannot even fathom, a massive shaft of light thrusting me forward and eclipsing the setting sun, I dodged the seemingly interchangeable blur of green, gray and brown that encompassed all my vision, mind not swift enough to pick many details as my hair flung around; arms clutching my children and my feet guiding the broom so fast I thought I was twenty again!

Branches at top speed often graze my cheeks and clothing, adrenaline muffling everything, not an ounce of brain power used aside from dodging…

… No, not all of it…

Because this fucking idiot brain decided to save some for a loud laugh, which echoed across the entire Youkai Mountain.

It was something only a lunatic could dodge~

The Master Spark soon died and, unscathed, I left the death trap to the sprawling clear skies of Gensokyo, huffing like crazy and holding for the life of me onto the jar containing my children… Next thing I know, I am smiling, one certainty swimming in my mind: I'm not dying on the solstice.

Marisa Kirisame will build a future for herself.