/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>47033051

For a second the crimson miko froze, a strange fear overcame her as she listened to the complaints of the stomping goddess, so she was mad after all! Both of her hands gripped the sides of her dress, grasping it like it would fly away in the breeze. She couldn’t meet the gaze of Suwako, wetness formed in the corners of her own eyes and her eyes darted to the clearing the footpath emptied into. Ah, the lake shimmered rather eye-catchingly in the yellow sunlight…

A strange affirmation crept up in her, it was par for the course, as her father sometimes said, that she’d wind up alienating everyone once her mask inevitably slipped. Suwako was never protective of her, they played happily and all but she knew better than to believe that what they had was comradery. She didn’t think Sanae and Kanako would abandon her or anything, this was essentially a little prank and falling out. However, a loneliness rose in equal measure of her shame in knowing just how isolated she so easily could be.

She’d just apologize and get this over with, tonight she’ll ask Kanako how to apologize to Suwako, then after she endures whatever curse as punishment; and if there’s any trust left she’ll make it up an-

With an abrupt and sharp pain that shot out from her forearm, Hana back-jumped straight off the edge of the pillar and into the blue sky. She had warped the world lines subconsciously, wriggling herself out of whatever grip she was in. Her eyes shot down like her other hand did, ready to slap a charm onto the wound and keep herself alive. However, there was no blood, just a skin-deep imprint where a human shaped pair of teeth dug in.

Looking up from her wound, and resisting the instinct to start firing back out of guilt, she saw that the goddess hadn’t moved much at all in the last few seconds. The small girl stood cross armed and with her legs wide, as if she was one step away from throwing a tantrum, but her eyes told a different story.

That squint overcame her eyes again, but her mask remained human, her pupils became round. While Suwako stood there in the tell-tale posture of a cross child, she didn’t scowl or frown, the jeer and rebuke Hana expected just didn’t come. Confusion set in as she wavered lightly in the breeze, as she realized something Suwako blinked and her posture relaxed.

Like a storm rolling in the distance, Hana couldn’t tell whether the clouds were coming or going. However, she did feel that the danger simply wasn’t here; With a voice lacking the childish petulance the appraising goddess called out, “Are you done acting defenseless now? See, I even went out of my way to bite you and you’re fine, the worst of whatever you’re thinking of is already over with!”

The words rang out from the goddess’ mouth with the tone of a rough pep talk, as if Hana were one of those little terrors she commanded! It gave her the mental image of Suwako being her big sister, of her surreally acting Hana’s senior while acting on such childish logic simultaneously. She realized now how hard her heart was thumping, she realized that she still was in that tense pose as if she was expecting violence. She realized she was acting like a fool.