/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46760534
—
It was quick, mere seconds, yet felt like an eternity.

They saw me taking off my sword and reacted, the immortal pushing the witch back, murder in her eyes as wings straightened so as not to harm Sanae, who, urgently, tried wedging herself between me and the immortal to stop the both of us.

They’re too focused, ignorant. This is not a declaration.

Nothing could've prevented the rifle bullet from flying over their heads and striking its target, lodging in Keine Kamishirasawa's chest and puncturing her heart with a bloody hole the size of a sake cork. Before contact, she was in the middle of taking a step back, the sudden inertia sending her down the fences, hitting first the top of a stall and rolling towards the ground.

In the middle of a shocked crowd that'd opened as if sea, Keine's body landed, sprawled and coughing up gallons of blood in the gravel and mud.

Then it broke with a scream. “KEINE!!” The librarian pierced through the crowd, her eyes wide and full of despair.

Confusion as people begin understanding what'd just happened spread like wildfire, trying either their best to get away from the woman struggling to breathe on the ground or closer in perhaps a sordid curiosity—few were in massive despair, as that one bird—my samurai still in shock and reactless, unsure if they should start shooting or not; same for Sanae's apprentices, the shrine maiden gawking at the rebellious leader, Gohei released as both hands rose to hide her mouth, eyes the size of plates…

… No, my focus was entirely on the immortal.

She turned her back in stunned silence and just… stared in complete disbelief at the scene of a tear-streaming librarian hopelessly holding the witch's hand, her blood seeping into the soft-colored dress, hair and ground.

“Keine…” She mutters, a shy step towards the edge of the fences.

Her voice sounds shattered.

… Doesn't matter because, here and now, my chance of correcting this mistake lies, for few are the men that can stare at their actions, bringing out death and anguish and, within seconds, move.

I move.

The katana's tip sprouts from her chest in a show of gore that rains over the crowd below, the Immortal's body arching forward, face never turning from her wife lying in a pool of blood; Sanae's attention turns immediately to me and I know, at this moment, that the entire of the Human Village is watching, that those vile Youkai are watching…

To them, I send one message and one message only: pulling the katana out of the immortal's body, I take it all the way back, firm my back and, without an ounce of hesitation, swing in the shape of a half-moon…

The lower half of the immortal's body kneels, and the upper half hits the floor, her eyes never leaving the witch. “NOW! SANAE!” I yell to the dumbfounded shrine maiden, armor and sword bathed in blood. The screams get louder and increasingly frantic. “SEAL MOKOU—SEAL HER NOW!!” I yell again. Sanae remains still. “What are you waiting for?! She'll kill us all!!”

Sanae stares.

I clench my teeth harshly—

—the halves of the immortal's body began combusting.

“… What have you done…?” Sanae asks.

I barely have time to jump off the fence before an explosion completely evaporates half of it in a show of flames, and my body rolls across the inner estate’s dirt. The closer stalls instantly catch fire as debris rains over the panicking crowd, instincts telling them to run, but most stay.

And they have blood in their eyes.

—

The plan was to eat history after either having Sanae on our side or knocking her out, to show we have complete power over the situation and, rather peacefully, achieve the goal of the revolution… “K-Keine, don't sleep! Stay awake! Stay awake! Please—a-all will be fine and…” Suzu—sweet Kosuzu Motoori—tries her best, her eyes filled with tears as she attempts anything to stop the blood flow. Her bells ring and it's a nice melody…

It's cold. Too very cold.

Like I'm again beneath those waters.

They pulled me down, demanded my death, my submission—and it'd be comfortable to do so. Everything feels loathsome, hard, unwelcoming…

It's been months since I've rested.

… I should really just let myself sink into these cold waters—

—Suzu's warmth spreads across my hand and suddenly, those dark depths don't feel as nice as they look. “K-Keine!! Stay with me, please!”

Ah, I see… I think I'm experiencing delirium.

I'll soon die.

Shivering dread…

… Without giving my children a good life; without marrying Mokou—without fulfilling the hopes and responsibilities I so loudly proclaimed I'd do…

But that's not Keine Kamishirasawa.

She might have a destroyed heart and barely functional respiratory system right now; she might be bleeding dry on the mud…

… Keine Kamishirasawa never takes the easy way out.

I grasp Suzu's hand, my eyes full of determination on hers. That won't heal my wounds nor fill my veins, but may the world know and know it well: This is not the end.

And Kosuzu Motoori hears it loud and clear.