/jp/ - Otaku Culture

[All entries of the HSE here in chronological posting order!]
>>47155400 | Part 1-22
>>47065336 | Part 23

[Last thread chapters]
>>47075953 | 10-13-Utsuho
>>47075960 |
>>47083563 |
>>47083570 |
>>47094494 | 38-Yukari
>>47096199 | 178-Yamashiro/Seija
>>47104920 | 212-215-Hana
>>47104927 |
>>47104941 |
>>47104944 |
>>47107827 | 39-40-Yukari
>>47115699 |
>>47125056 | 179-181-Yamashiro/Seija
>>47125062 |
>>47125072 |
>>47128467 | 216-221-Hana
>>47128481 |
>>47128493 |
>>47128508 |
>>47128554 |
>>47128560 |
>>47134937 | 21-22-Meiling
>>47134949 |
>>47170675 | Patchouli E-Elden Ring special…?
>>47173529 | 24-25-Marisa
>>47173535 |
>>47178984 | 222-227-Hana
>>47178989 |
>>47178997 |
>>47178999 |
>>47179007 |
>>47179011 |
>>47195752 | 2-4-Mystia
>>47195762 |
>>47195769 |
>>47195781 | 228-230-Hana
>>47195786 |
>>47195792 |
>>47196485 | 182-183-Yamashiro/Seija
>>47196497 |
(1362 entries)

[for phoneanons that can't access the dead threads, here's the last thread. Link to all others in the 'all entries']:
>>/jp/thread/47065324 | 29th thread

There we go, now don't be so silly next time and bake a bit after we hit ten, please!

RECAP!
—
“Wanna see man-made horrors beyond your very comprehension?” Mr. Hieda said to Hana, and the traumatized girl whimpered. The man removes his mask and, with it, his face. “Wanna see it again?” He pulls out his sword and starts to slice the powerless girl's face off. That's not a good day for Hana Hakurei.
—
Last time in the HSE:
>Anon sexs some random dry hag while the village burns;
>Yukari garners her Hag Council (and Remilia) to talk about the future while, in the background, the village burns. They have some small talk before Yukari announces she'll be choosing between them (Yachie, Remi, Konn, Seiga) who's gonna be the third sage after Okina is slain during the Solstice, all a ploy aiming to have them fight over the power and have Remilia and the SDM killed during the Solstice and the blame to not fall on her, meaning Flandre will be heartbroken and vulnerable and Yukari can come and swoop the girl as to form her perfect family, and is extremely confident in the success of that since she thinks that Sekai would've warned her if something went awry. Remilia does notice something's wrong but doesn't comment. Before that whole ordeal, though, Yukari has her bath interrupted by the Jaku Duo and teaches them a bit about the arts of not being mentally challenged before stuffing them into the Hyperbolic time chamber;
>Hana does Hana things, like finishing her sperg with Suwako and, after some back and forth with the frog goddess, getting a better understanding of herself and her standing on the power play mess that is the HSE as a victim. Suwako manages to get through her thick skull and cements that notion before Hana goes to Keine's festival and has a massive sperg about the quantity of Youkai living their lives and enjoying themselves with humans that, for once in their lives, can go about a day without fear. But that's heresy for the shrine maiden, who chooses LITERALLY the weakest Youkai in Gensokyo to let loose her waves of racism and ends by threatening to kill the people there after rambling like a madwoman for minutes as a publicity stunt for the shrine, wasting good food AND not tipping Mystia and (Yuu)'s good and quick service. Absolutely foul behavior. Later, during the genocide portion of the Festival, watches as Sanae is tagged, goes ballistics on old man Hieda, witnesses first-hand an eldritch horror; nearly dies but is saved by Kanako and Suwako. Inside the revolutionaries' barrier, finds Sanae survived due to Mokou and has a tender moment with her;
>Marisa is a second away from fucking her own reflection. Finds Aunn on her way out of Alice's house and the two have a thoughtful conversation about Reimu and her change, with Marisa convincing the Komainu to visit Reimu together with her and see it for herself;
>Mystia powers through the trauma of customer service with (Yuu)'s help, even sealing the deal with a kiss. Cute~; helps Yams with her fucked-up shoulder and watches as the most gruesome parts of the Festival unfold. Miko holds things up until Mr. Hieda comes barrelling forward after fully transforming into an oni and unlocking his ability, though he doesn't seem aware of its existence nor how to control it, but so far it's made him intangible and removed Hana's power of non-euclidean movement for a short while and, like the schizo Chad he is, emotes in front of the entire revolutionary force the same emote he did before killing Keine, which ends with their defenses destroyed;
>Goro and Seija talk a bit after Goro's Benedryl episode and together they go to Yukari for some lessons. Yukari, bathing, finds time to lecture her goons; Seija finds within herself to apologize to Yukari and thank her. They discover that just saying "lol, lmao" and fucking things up is the way to go around Gensokyo and then are thrown into the HTC, much to Sagume's thrill;
>Meiling worries about Sekai's future, her overwhelming power and the life she'll have after the HSE. Ends up harassing Sakuya about pregnancy for a while;
>Takane goes to ask her man in marriage and things goes awry when he makes the mind-boggling decision of not meddling with powers way beyond his comprehension. Yet, by pure schizo powa, Takane hallucinates Anon and Goro who double-team-raw-dog her some knowledge about marriage (great examples of happy marriages) and things end nicely for the midget;
>Utsuho has an IMMENSE retard moment after Satori comes back from the meeting of the frens, basically searing in anger, and confronts Suika about doing nothing to help Hana, Reimu and Kasen, with Okina "calming" her by joking about rape, to which Okuu responds with a nuke. Okina nearly kills Okuu if not for Koutei, who, in a stand-off with the goddess, wards her off. Okuu accompanies Satori back to the Palace, where, at a safe distance from everyone, pukes and passes out. Okuu takes care of her and they discuss about what's been happening in Gensokyo and Satori opens up to Okuu about sex and rape. Okuu comforts Satori after that… man :(

>>47210941
my silliness got the best of me...

pls stop

>>47210951
will think about it. Return in 2 weeks for an answer.

>>47179011

The cold night air left Hana feeling like she was on cloud nine, this festival was pretty damn great after all~ At least, that’s what she figured as the wind whipped around her hair and pulled her woolen scarf behind her like a kite’s runner. When else has all these youkai, expecting a free meal and an easy time of things gathered so arrogantly? Hana had only heard of a few of the grand incidents openly violate the balance like this, and even then, the times were peaceful unlike now.

Below Hana’s feet the festival still thrived with music and chatter, past the chill winds and below the dancing lanterns. Above the alleys and side roads of the village, where her merry little stroll had ended before she sought the call of the sky, Hana had hoped she was far enough that she wouldn’t be made out easily by the naked eye. She didn’t want anyone unneeded to see what was about to happen!

Panting and hot, Hana freed her hand, stripping off her glove and exposing the trembling thing to the cruel wind. Quickly now, she’d need to plunge her hand ‘forward’ into her skirt and- ah there it is! Nearly chuckling as she looked on ahead of her, gaze focused and wild… Oh gods she needed this! She could feel her legs twitch as she coaxed that stiff little thing out of its pocket, she’d have to be carefu- there it is! With near ecstasy she pulled worked them and lined her fingers just right…

Driven by a mad passion she exposed herself to the world, it was wrong and terrible but it was the only thing she could do in this moment! Listening to the faded sounds of the Prismrivers’ set, and letting the sparks of the fireworks dazzle her eyes and body she could only vaguely have guessed to how quickly her night would escalate…


It had started like always, when one of the many hags of Gensokyo befuddled Hana for no good reason. This time it was a face she had met only a few days ago, a tanuki by the name of Machihachi Futan- Before Hana could recall her name the loud raccoon in front of her raised her smelly pipe and interjected, “Wait a moment! I can tell you’re thinking something insulting, It’s all over your face, girlie!”

A little frustrated at the intrusion of this old woman into an otherwise solid night, Hana tsked openly as the rodent furled her brow under the shadow of the tight alleyway, “you know, you were a lot cuter the first time we talked~”

A note of frustration entered into the voice of the dirty sock-tail leader of the tanuki as she stared down at the next Hakurei miko. Without letting the tables turn, Hana exclaimed with all the annoyance she could muster, “That’s big words from someone who got her girls to pretend to be a little old lady getting attacked by a youkai, played by you~!” She stressed that last bit and pointed her finger accusingly, “All in order to prank me and get snow down the back of my blouse!”

Letting out an, “ahahah~ Was that me~?” the smug leader of the tanuki, Mamizou Futatsuiwa, waved that damn smelly tail of hers around like it was an incense stick; wafting the tobacco smoke around her like a monks’ burner. Silently shrugging smugly, she watched Hana try shaking her outfit to dislodge the last of the ice before it melted, she whistled as Hana had resort to changing the world lines just to go where the ice was not, “Impressive, I hear the rumors were true~ So you finally woke up to an ability all your own, huh brat!”

Feeling like a fool, namely for revealing her power carelessly for such a trivial reason, she groaned and nodded while knowing that at least Kanako and Suwako were listening closely, “Yes, I did… Now what, did you draw me out to this little hole to make small talk? I know you Tanuki always go all out with your pranks, but really now! I swear you tricksters always go around making just enough trouble for me to deal with but never get paid for!”

Physically resisting the urge to stomp, the angry miko could already see the smug grin on her face form, this damn-! “Sorry Hana-chan, it’s important for humans to remember that the Tanuki are always around and even though their friendly-“

Cutting her off, Hana sighed as she rolled her eyes, “Yeah yeah, I heard all about how you try still lead people into real trouble sometimes. That youkai nonsense where you keep everyone a little scared but happy to see its ‘just you’, right?”

>>47211465

Waving her hand in front of her face she wasted no movement as she flicked the spent tobacco from the long pipe, “Just you…?” She shook her head and dismissed the slight, ”What I mean is that it’s important to maintain enough of a bite while balancing how happy humans are to see you! It won’t do if they throw rocks on sight, but just taking you for granted like a normal cat and treating you like a pet... Well, it just won’t do if human’s break down all barriers between all barriers between us, too many of my cute little followers would lose their tail~! Or at least that was the old way of things~” Her looks sharpened, appraising the girl, “I’m sure you’ve heard the reasons, Keine-san thinks she can truly change the way the wind blows. What do you think little Hakurei?”

Hana wanted to sigh and go back to talking with her friends, did this scheming hag really just bring her in for this nonsense? “It’s clearly a trap, even if some of you lot aren’t man eaters there are plenty of idiots and ferals that’ll slip in and take advantage. Tonight’s been well so far, but I’m sure we’ll be missing a few tomorrow and finding bodies after the thaw in spring. Keine’s idiot’s have thoroughly begun to believe they have a place among everyone, and way too many people are blinded by their good looks to care! They just want a place to stay and mate for the night!” Hana’s cheeks warmed a bit, “Disgusting… Honestly…!”

Mamizou chuckled at that, that sharp look betraying her casual tone, “Right on the money for some, though you’re underthinking things greatly don’t you think~?” Hana couldn’t read this annoying beast, so she simply answered honestly with a shrug and half-shake of the head, “You’re missing the point: this isn’t just driven off of greed, plenty of the feelings involved on both sides are genuine. It’s too late to go back no matter how many threats are made; do you know the… full extent of things? Of how much human and youkai have mingled?”

Thinking for a moment under that discerning gaze, Hana couldn’t help but feel like once again, she was lacking something vital. Though that was the status quo when dealing with hags, it was impossible to tell exactly what they were trying to say and she was sure that they didn’t even know. Nearly exasperated she blurted out, “Yeah yeah, lots of ladies are pregnant cause nobody can keep themselves from running off into the woods and… and doing that! A-and thanks that damn place” Hana vaguely pointed in the direction of the HSE, “all these youkai think they can just stroll on in and live off human kindness, just because they found out how amazing my father is!”

Belatedly realizing her slip of the tongue, Hana cleared her throat and ignored those last words to the best of her ability. She was sure the flush on her face from the chill was from would mask her face if the scarf didn’t, “L-like I said, Keine-sensei’s feelings are being used and those idiot youkai are just here for a free meal and easy stay, a-and at this rate there won’t even be a balance to maintain! At least you civilized youkai took care of each other and played in the shadows, like this no one can tell what’s going on!”

Letting off a smirk, dammnit… the tanuki boss couldn’t hide her smug, “Well, I suppose the new Hakurei miko isn’t humble in the slightest~ Still, you’re only partially correct, but I’ll leave the nature of things aside for now; The true issue is as Keine-sensei would put it, there is no balance and no authority to keep the peace. Those with the leadership skills to see it do nothing like the Heida, the sages have turned a blind eye and ignored everyone’s suffering. That it’s her and her peaceful youkai that can redeem the others like me, bridge the gap between the beast clans, tengu, tool spirits, and Kappa. A kind notion if not a tad bit insulting… In truth, we all look at the village like the prize it is and I doubt that’d change even afterwards, we’ll still need something to feed off of even if not superstition and fear. Before this, do you know what the goal of most factions of youkai was?”

Hana didn’t like her words in the slightest, but she knew of it. She knew that the Kappa had pop up markets in the docks and canal-side, she knew that the beast youkai would trade material for goods with the merchant clans and private businesses, she knew tengu and earth spider walked the streets and privately conducted big business behind closed doors. No one, including Hana, interfered as long as no one wound up missing and it remained secretive, but that was before. She shook her head cautiously, better to just let her talk if she wanted to know… Hags loved talking others to death…

Continuing after Hana gave a vague affirmation, “It was my dream for Tanuki to be openly celebrated as cherished deities like there are still in some places outside, You know I’m actually quite popular in some places~? Why some even still revere me as a deity!”

>>47211470

Ugh, Hana could practically see the Tanuki’s nose grow even in the shadows, “Haha~ But anyways~ Most factions were the same, the foxes…” she furrowed her brow a bit at their mention, “were the same for the most part, but they’re too tricky for their own good to get far. Kappa are much the same, but their pride keeps them from doing getting along easily and really moving things. The Yamawaro, disgruntled tengu, the remaining yamabiko, and many of the other beasts all desire the same safety and warmth that only human hands and minds can provide.”

The levity that was in her voice dried up just like her eyes had sharpened at the start of this conversation, “But without the safeguards the sages had in place and we agreed upon under pain of mutual violence, without the balance we upheld… It’ll be a free for all in the village as everyone stakes out a claim, entire clans will try staking sections of the village and you’ll see much conflict till something gives. Keine-san has no hand ready to deal with it, she knows nothing of the balance… Nothing of survival like the true outcasts know, nor the fierce competition that the small-time youkai live as a matter of life... She doesn’t understand it like we do…”

Eyeing the women suspiciously, as if she was never not suspicious of a hag with a silly hat, this one a near-tasteful poofy hat that was as green as the forest was. Hana carefully asked, “What are you suggesting exactly? That I start ignoring when you tanuki go to far on your pranks?”

Shaking her head lightly, letting her ears hair bob lightly, “No, not exactly anyways, you see Hana-san as the Hakurei miko you’re not suited to this kind of sly information gathering, are you? Peacekeeping and maintaining the balance of power in the village isn’t what you’re trained for and you’ll need someone that can, that is where my tanuki will excel at!” Seeing the confusion on her face, Mamizou elaborated, “Ah, you see the idea is simple; we know how to talk to tool spirits and I’m quite good at befriending them. As the youkai move into the village it’s simply unavoidable that more and more are made, more eyes will be birthed naturally as youma energy increases and of course I’ll be there to shepherd them as I have been~”

Without missing a beat, and before Hana could interject, Mamizou continued, “The idea is simply that, I can keep an eye on the other youkai, and when they go too far in harming or seizing power from the humans, we’ll inform you properly and let you maintain the peace of the village without having to act beyond your intuition!”

Hana wanted to reject the idea out of hand, she wanted to give a big fat ‘NO’ and slap her with a seal for being so silly. However, there was a nugget in gold somewhere in her suggestion… “You’d help me investigate incidents in the village and snub down youkai when they get too uppity…? For what? What would you even gain, and why would I even want you in here!”

Sighing, Mamizou repacked her pipe, took a drag, and exhaled all while leaving Hana waiting, much to her chagrin, “don’t be stupid, you know as well as I do that not a single soul can truly stop what’s happening here tonight, Old man Heida has been going out for a long time now. His decedents aren’t his directly and the Spirit of Miare will be reincarnated into a branch family… or if I know my history, she won’t at all once his clan is gone… The tides of time stop for no one.”

Hana grimaced at her words, she thought they were bombastic and overblown… but there was truth to them she couldn’t deny, father had tried telling her a bit of the history of the outside world. Something she never cared for, always falling asleep on his lap instead of listening and reading along. Still, she absorbed some of it, namely the idea that if things can go wrong they will; and do so horribly if possible.

She let out a simple question, “So, what do you gain out of this…? Couldn’t you just work with Keine-sensei? Won’t you wind up spying on her as well like this…?”

A slight smile spread over her lips now, her eyes even lighting up as if she was happy Hana finally got it. Hags… Hana swore she’d bash a good few over the head before the year was up… “That’s right~! However, Keine-san is only one of the groups after all, one who’s powers can slip away right from under her hands like the Heidas. Once it’s their turn, no one would be able to stop their downfall and for upstarts like her, it’ll only emboldens others with ambitions of all kinds. It’s the nature of things to roll downhill without stop~”

>>47211484

Letting the words wash over her, Hana realized what she was saying now; oh, it was clear that the tanuki were going to rumor monger and use their position to better themselves. Mamizou was never shy in her scheming from what she understood, sometimes tanuki could be worse than tengu in how friendly they could act while whispering lies. The fact was that she’d never handled a case where the tanuki got someone killed… not in truth, though there was this one prank when some kids game of hide-and-seek went too far and he didn’t come home for three days… “So, you want me to listen to the tanuki and just trust you that you’ll be honest about things? Are you truly asking me to trust a tanuki at face value?”

Shaking her head again, this time with vigor and a lighthearted expression, “No no, Hana-san is too sharp that! I’m sure you don’t trust my words that I want the village, and Gensokyo as a whole, to prosper and keep us safe. Not entirely, right?” seeing Hana nod, she continued, “Well I can make a promise as the boss of the tanuki, and I shall once you accept, I’ll tell you where the location of one of the youkai that had been exploiting your father is~”

Hana’s eyebrow raised, one of the youkai…? Before she could ask Mamizou sweetened her tone, “That’s right Hana-san~ You know how terrible it is for youkai to lose their reputation, yes?” She didn’t wait for Hana to nod, instead a teasing grin seemed to overcome her face, “Even if merely among humans, a loss of reputation is a terrible thing~”

She could feel the aura around the figurines intensify, Hana’s feet grew cold but she kept her gohei ready to use and let out a ‘huh…?’. Her heart was staring to pound before the dirty sock youkai continued, “Ah- Ah~ no no no~ Not like that you see, this lady is a tengu, a tengu by the penname of JP, the same tengu that has been dragging everyone through he mud!”

The aura of a viper’s wrath receded and she swore she heard an undignified squeak ring out, Hana’s blood flowed back unobstructed into her chilled limbs. She was once again thrown off balance by the change of pace, hags… not even once! “Am I supposed to know every youkai on the mountain or something? What does it mean to me?!”

Feeling a little agitated now, the tanuki smiled and reached into her yukata. Pulling out a small envelope of course brown paper tied in twine, a parcel it seemed. The women tossed it with a slight spin, letting Hana snatch it out of the air from its gentle parabola. Hana looked down and for some reason heard the voice of the mountain leak out of the figurine, “w-what the heck is that and what does it have to do with t-that tengu?!”

Groaning, Suwako openly let her voice leak as well, Mamizou seemed surprised for the first time as well, “Well well, you have a little communicator do you~! Look at that, you have a good few surprises after all huh?!”

The tanuki seemed genuinely pleased at least, but Hana quickly rallied at Kanako’s mistake, understandable but still strange… did she know this tengu? Well, it wasn’t important, Kanako would say it if was important!

Tearing off the twine from it’s wax seal, she broke the seal of what seemed to be a private tengu’s mark that wasn’t worth remembering. Opening the simple flap and pulling out a bound bundle of papers, a manuscript? She’d never actually held one outside of class before, it was a little heftier than she’d realize… What was this thing? Over 40 pages worth judging by weight, it was at least that much. Subtitled was the name ‘Jade Parakeet’ and the large print title on the otherwise blank cover read, ‘The Hakurei Shrine Special! Non-Stop Dono Banaza! Ultra Mega Semen Fountain!’

>>47211499
Oh shit the doujin side plot has gotten plot relevant!
Also this all takes place before the festival goes to shit right?

>>47210523
He and Gaius were the only bosses yo give me real trouble and Gaius fell after I found the fire golem summon in a forge, it's big and tanky enough were Gaius gets stuck on him.
Miquella himself is only weak to bloodloss and frostbite so I used a blood infused Bloodfiend's arm to proc hemorrhage every other heavy attack, combined with a mimic tear to distract him.
Although bleed and frost weakness is more vulnerable to something like dual wielding rivers of blood and a frost katana in the other hand.

>>47212992
Ye

>>47211499
>>47211484
>>47211470
>>47211465
Hana really did just masturbate over an entire crowd of families and couples...? Jesus Christ, Hana.
And look at that! Her first major conspiracy of her life as miko; Reimu's was Yukari, and look where that one got her. Surely this won't back fire monstrously when Miko comes into play and singlehandedly creates an empire from a doomed social movement~
But damn, the comics return! JP's death was foretold and will become a reality, poor woman... I should make another one before her eventual demise. Like, her true magnum opus (it'd involve all lolis that never experienced the Anon)
thanks for the chapters!
>Captcha: DADRKK
wtf do you mean by that, Sekai....?
>>47212992
>Also this all takes place before the festival goes to shit right?
no one is exploding and dying yet, so yes.

>>47213523
>Hana really did just masturbate over an entire crowd of families and couples...?
Well she was certainly excited...

>>47213523
>>47213940
Yukari has truly raised her into a lewd woman.

>>47214549
I'm sure this is all a massive misunderstanding...

>>46666202 78

It’s terribly cold, the sun has long sunk below the horizon and even the dim light of the moon is blocked by the thick tree coverage. Still, he marches on.

The path he walks has been cleared of snow and is illuminated by lanterns. Their light is reflected in the dark by countless tiny eyes watching from the trees. Are they Youkai? Spirits of the dead? Hallucinations? He supposes it doesn’t really matter, they do not impede him.

Ahead of him, he can hear the hushed chattering of a group. He could hurry forward to join them, but he does not. It would be… improper after what happened. Neither does he slow or turn back, behind him is only death and fire. He must continue forward.

The forest is silent, it sets him ill at ease. In the silence, he can hear screams and roar of rifles. The cold, still air brings the taste of sulfur to his tongue.

Briefly, he wonders what awaits him. His hope is a distant one, a desperate play by a man who has nothing else. He does not know even what shape his hope could take. What could provide absolution? What could provide salvation?

The mystery is almost comforting. If he finds his deliverance, surely that is the best outcome possible. If not, he can take comfort in the knowledge that he’s merely a dead man walking.

The shrine is familiar, though he is confident he has never been here before. So why is it that… ah, it’s quite similar to the Hakurei Shrine. When he was a boy, his father had taken him there on occasion to ‘pay respect to the proper authorities’. What would his father think if he had seen what those ‘proper authorities’ were willing to do?

Lost in thought, he failed to notice the cloaked figure sitting on the edge of the veranda. She, as the voice was distinctly feminine if somewhat deep, called out to him. “Tell me, have you come here seeking shelter or guidance?”

The answer was rather obvious, “Both if you will give it.”

The figure replies, “We shall see. Sit, speak of your woes.”

He walks forward somewhat hesitantly, though he can not see the face of the hooded figure he can feel her judgment. Somehow, it feels colder than the snow.

Taking his seat, he begins. “I have committed a crime for which there can be no forgiveness.”

Her reply is rather brusque, “That much is obvious, you are a murderer.”

He pauses for a moment, staring at the strange miko. “H-How?”

Unmoving, the miko’s reply comes matter-of-factly, “I can smell the blood upon your hands. Still, I can sense your remorse, that is why you are not dead. Speak, let me judge thee.”

R-Right, he should have expected this. It was what he deserved really. Though as he’s not dead, does that mean there could be hope that? ... He should answer the woman before she loses her patience. “By blood, I am a samurai, bound to the Hieda clan. My family had always served our lords faithfully. I held myself to the same standard. When those youkai lovers first began parading their perverse ‘love’ across the village I was disgusted. That Keine was doing it made it worse. I had always looked up to her y’know? When I was younger I may have even-ahem, but that was until her cruel mockery of lord Hieda came to light.”

Besides a slight tension arising when he mentioned his profession, the figure remained silent and unreadable. However, upon the mention of mockery the miko interjected. “Mockery?”

His blood began to boil at the thought. Even after everything that happened, it remains Keine who drove his lord to madness all for some foolish game that only a youkai could understand. “Keine feigned pregnancy. The lie had delighted many, the good lord Hieda especially. One day out of the blue she confessed it was all a fabrication and… the lord Hieda did not take it well. She was rightfully driven out of the village for this…”

He hesitates for a moment before adding, “She may have… been bearing the reincarnation of Akyuu and aborted her. I had not doubted him when he first said such, but… he was troubled at that time and would only grow worse.”

It is silent for a moment, allowing him to once again feel the terrible chill of a winter’s night. After what was presumably silent deliberation, the miko orders him again. “Go on with the rest of your story.”

>>47215046 79

Nodding he continued, “She returned to sow dissent against the lord Hieda. Youkai and humans ate together, partied, and engaged in debauchery. When we arrived to drive away the monsters, she and her cronies dared invoke the name of the late Child of Miare against him and scorned all his efforts at rule, after their dog from the forest threatened the entire Hieda clan. This… hurt the lord Hieda and we had to pull him away so that he could recover his wits and take a more strategic course of action. As we did so, the crowd dared to sneer at and mock their lord.”

The voice cuts in again, “This scorn of his rule, what was said?”

He huffed, “That he failed his people, that keeping the youkai away was somehow damaging or repressive, and that we should have killed ourselves acting that den of impurity the youkai erected.”

The miko asks, “You disagree with the last point?”

He shakes his head, “Had I the strength of the heroes of old, I would stormed that building the day it was built and torn it down. That is, however, not the case. We do what we can and protect who we can. A true leader understands that they cannot sacrifice the many for the few, as terrible a realization that may be.”

The figure is again inexpressive, “And the second point, coexistence is impossible?”

He nods, “As far as I can see it. Youkai are maneaters, predators and enemies of humans. There’s a reason the only people who live outside of the village have magic powers. Nothing good comes when a fox tries making friends with a rabbit.”

The miko pushes, “So it is impossible?”

He shrugs, “It’s as likely as all the stars in the heavens falling to earth at once.”

The miko seems unsatisfied, “There have been winters without end, hail has fallen in summer, temple ships have flown from the air, saints have risen from the dead, urban legends have manifested en mass, and countless other incidents have occurred. Is it truly impossible?”

He looks out into the snow covering the courtyard. “Most of those incidents were youkai or gods screwing around, right? I wouldn’t equate the two. One is strange magic and the other a matter of natures. Even if, if it was possible, a bunch of sex proves nothing. So what you’ve fucked a youkai, that doesn’t mean she won’t eat you and the babies come next season.”

The figure concedes, “It does not, but we grow distracted. Finish your tale.”

Yeah, they have gone on quite the tangent. Where did he leave off? Ah, Keine’s lies. “They came again the next day. There was more arguing, Keine I believe demanded the lord Hieda abdicate and… he gave the order to fire upon the assembled.”

Silence again, it was terribly cold.

After a moment, the miko asks, “You obeyed?”

He nods, feeling a tightness in his throat, “You were right to call me a murderer. I tried to aim only for the Youkai, but when the fires started and in all the chaos… we failed them. We let youkai whisper poisoned words into their ears and then rather than guide them onto the correct path… we killed them.”

Even with the hood, he can feel the miko staring at him, silently asking him what happened next. He had no choice but to continue, “As mortars began to fire and the fires consumed the village, I fled. I was supposed to go grab more ammunition, but as soon as I was away from the killing line, I knew I couldn’t go back.”

The figure asks, “And what now?”

>>47215051 80

He looks down, “I do not know. I had always prided myself in my service, in protecting the village but that’s a lie now. We abandoned our sacred duty, committed a crime that may never be forgiven.”

The figure asks again, “So why have you not killed yourself?”

It is a fair question. Surely, it would be the proper and honorable thing to do. Killing himself would not remove the stain of his actions, but it would surely lessen it. Still, he has not done so. “I do not know.”

The figure guesses, “You seek the judgment of a god. All your life you have given yourself to a supposed higher power and now that you are disillusioned by him you seek a new figure to replace it. You are uncertain and lost without a clear leader.”

Hesitantly he nods, he has no proper object to her words even if they sting.

The figure sighs before pulling back her cloak, revealing green hair and tired eyes. “I am Mima, the goddess of this shrine. Your crimes are severe and your penance will be the same. I order you to look upon the extent of the damage you have wrought, to see all those whom you have hurt. Furthermore, I order you to acknowledge that the harm you have caused while serving your lord remains your own fault, simply following orders is no excuse. While doing so you must help them to the best of your ability and attempt to undo all the damage you have caused, this is an impossible task but you must persist. As you do so, I will not demand you set aside your hatred of youkai but do not let it interfere with your task. You have every right to remain guarded and cautious around them but do not seek confrontation unless they harm you or your fellow man. Do you accept this punishment or do you prefer death, the coward's path?”

It’s a reasonable punishment, though he had been expecting something more punitive. Oh, she’s a goddess too, not a miko. That’s… honestly not that surprising given everything that’s happened today.

Bowing to the goddess, he accepts her judgment. “It will be as you say.”


Even failed as he has, at the very least he may still people from the youkai menace when the other shoe inevitably drops and in the meantime, he may in part atone for his actions.

Mima ever impassive even with her hood down, gives another order. “Now go inside and do whatever it is you’re told. It would be a waste if you froze.”

As he turned to go she added, “And when you begin to doubt, return to me. I will set you straight again.”

>>47215061 81

As soon as he enters the building, he’s struck by the wonderful warmth. It’s unnatural, as though someone trapped a piece of summer amid this winter night.

As feeling slowly returned to his extremities, he noticed the considerable number of people sleeping on the floor in futons. Villagers by the looks of it.

There’s a lit fireplace on one wall, but most of the heat seems to be coming from glowing runes carved into the building's supports. The sleep villagers seem to be packed together particularly around said runes.

Tip-toeing through the room, he idly wonders where they got all the futons. There are a lot of villagers crammed in here and they all have one with the exception of those who seem to be sharing of their own volition. Did they just have them handy?

He couldn’t ponder this for long as his tip-toeing quickly led him to a kitchen where a blue-haired girl in a similarly blue dress was whispering to the cloudy upper body of what seemed to be an old man.

The old man (youkai? Divine spirit?) was cutting vegetables as the girl stirred a boiling pot. In a quiet voice, the girl says, “The kids were clamoring for something sweet. Do you think we could bother Lady Shinki for more of that mochi iced cream?”

The cloud man is about to reply, but upon seeing the disgraced samurai, hides behind the blue-haired girl.

Rather quickly realizing there was another person in the room, she asks. “Hello? Can I help you?”

Finding it suddenly hard to form words, he stumbles for a little before replying. “The ah, the goddess Mima for me to help in here. Is there anything I could…?”

She blinks, “Ah, another one wandered in. Yeah, I’m almost finished with this, could you carry the pot over?”

Over where? Asking feels stupid so he just nods, “I can do that, yeah.”

Sure enough, the soup is finished and he has the unenviable task of carrying the heavy thing quietly down a hall to another large room.

Inside it seems to be where those who can’t sleep are gathering. A woman with purple hair the Buddhist monk he thinks is giving a lecture on one end of the room while there’s a puppet show… no a puppet show doesn’t really give it justice.

There’s a stage with a large box affixed to the back where dolls are acting. There’s a blond-haired girl narrating to a crowd of predominantly kids. There are quite a few children not even counting the ones sleeping out in the other room. Hopefully, they’ll be with their parents. B-But if not they’ll be reunited soon surely.

Ahem, speaking of dolls, they’re also flying about offering drinks and refills from two large closed metal containers sitting on a table. Some upon noticing him try to help carry the pot, but they don’t accomplish much.

As he enters, the room turns to stare. He stiffens for a moment, ready for spite, but the children just begin clamoring for the first bowl.

Ignoring them, the blue girl who has yet to give him her name says, “Set the pot on that table over there, we’ll get the big ones set up.

In short order, two long tables are taken in from… somewhere and set with bowls and chopsticks. The cloud youkai begins ladling out portions for the swarm of children before him. He seems rather pleased with himself.

Seeing all his well, he turns to go and see if anyone else could use his help, however, he’s stopped by a light tug on his sleeve. Looking down he sees one of the little dolls emphatically pulling with both hands. “What do you want, little one?”

Staring up at him, the doll continues to pull while pointing to an empty seat.

He shakes his head, “I’m not hungry.”

That was a bold-faced lie.

The doll, uncaring or unfooled continues to point and tug. Finally, he relents, a small break is fine.

The soup was terribly warm.

>>47215067
There I return, I could ramble about why I got burnt out and whatever in a note, but I don't think anyone really cares.

This takes place the night of the festival but obviously isn't going to interact with anything.

Hopefully, I've not gotten too rusty.

>>47215067
>>47215061
>>47215051
>>47215046
the consequences of the HSE are far and wide, damn... Good to see Mima getting followers; acting as a proper goddess with kindness and patience but also ruthlessness and helping whoever she can. Interesting too that here is where the Myouren group is -- all around, welcome as another point of view of the chaos that is the revolution. That poor samurai, hope Ichirin helps him find his way.
thanks for the chapters!
>>47215082
it's okay, burn out is very real; hey, I care! Though it's understandable if you don't want to comment.
>Hopefully, I've not gotten too rusty.
it was a very nice read, had the feeling of someone so jagged and disoriented, not understand still the lengths of the things he has done but feeling remorseful still, and Mima's portrayal is what one would expect of an emergent goddess~

>>47215082
Welcome back, it was a good read and conveyed the magical tone very well before switching to the eerily mundane. Mima is a lovable autist, as always.

>>47215046
>>47215051
>>47215061
>>47215067
I can't believe Mima-sama is gaslighting the villagers like that... I feel it in my bones, it's a ploy for her to do the big evil!

>>47215082
I would prefer if you just blog posted instead of whining about theoretical negative responses said blog posting.
But I'm happy to see more of Mima and the Myouren Temple, hope we get to see more of them as well.
have any plans for them in the future since nobody else has any?

>>47218063
>I would prefer if you just blog posted instead of whining about theoretical negative responses said blog posting.
That's fair, yeah.

>>47217357
>have any plans for them in the future since nobody else has any?
I do, though things will depend a bit on how all the village stuff plays out for obvious reasons. I could see the Myouren Temple attempting to check Miko's influence in the aftermath of the revolution, presumably from getting involved in the clean up. They're also as established going to be propping up Mima as an allied Buddhist deity (contrasting with Okina who is completely unreliable). I have no plans to bring them into the battle, however, besides maybe making sure villagers don't get hit in the crossfire.

Past that there's just a lot of character interactions I'd like to write. To run it down by character:
Alice: Definitely needs another visit to anon. Some doll shenanigans with Hana are definitely in order since she'd like to become her mother in law (maybe she can make her clothes to parallel the HSE uniform thing).
Mima: Needs more time with Byakuren discussing buddhism and how to move forward politically. A chat with Murasa about their natures as hateful spirits would be interesting. Definitely needs a some quality time with Marisa and the spirit babies. A scene establishing her worship and her gathering followers is in order. Some more time with Hana would also be nice but isn't super needed (maybe with Marisa too). A chat with Reimu is definitely needed however.
Yuuka: Anon seggs is pivotal to the plot. She needs to give Hana a flower crown and teach her about gardening and plants.

It's a good bit, but I've been writing at a faster rate after taking that break so I'm optimistic I can get most of it out at a reasonable pace. I really need to just grab Hana at some point though.

I know it's effectively going to be a shrug of "enough". But how much time is there going to be between the festival and the solstice? Two weeks?

>>47218337
Seems about right
>December officially started with Yukari at the SDM and the ladies' night. Next day, it was Hana's party and it's been 5 days since then
>Meaning we're around December 7~, and the Solstice is on December 22

>>47218337
as always, two weeks.

>>47218275
>Anon seggs is pivotal to the plot. She needs to give Hana a flower crown and teach her about gardening and plants.
I had a scrapped yuuka/hana chapter I never got to push out during the Hana Yakumo build up, I had an idea with that in regards to teaching Hana how to care for her plant, though you're more than welcome to write it instead. Can't say if I'll even be able too, shame cause flower mom needs love too.

>>47219412
>Hana Yakumo
I really fucking liked how the birthday arc killed that and setup possible reconciliation between Reimu and Hana but man... That whole 'split loyalties' thing would have been an amazing bomb to drop when the solstice arc came.

>>47220441
It would've been pretty fun to have as a climax, but I'm satisfied with the Hana therapy stuff. Having Hana snatched away thanks to nobody intervening and giving her the one thing she needs would've been very thematic and appropriate

>>47213288
nice build, I liked the new perfume bottle weapons and tried them out, though I ended up sticking with the busted shit of the lighting bottle + rolling sparks. 'Twas the touhou way...
am finally done with the DLC today and did my share of jolly co-op, so will be back on track with chapters~

>>47224115
Yeah, I've been seeing those builds as well, it's funny to me the best strength weapon from the DLC is bleed while the best dexterity weapon is a faith lightning hybrid weapon.
When usually people bitch about dex's bleed, although Rakshasa's great katana will give people plenty of things to complain about in multiplayer.

>>47222159
I do like the idea of Hana Yakumo as a meme, but in practice it'd be nearly impossible to keep any semblance of cohesion between the Jobbers as they'd tear each other apart on who's guilt it was and the possibility of taking Yukari's offer with the statue; Reimu wouldn't have had her moment to concretize all the struggle she's been through to redeem herself; Yukari wouldn't have had met an actual challenge to her rule and so have had such an emotional breakdown with Yuyuko and her meeting with Sekai would have had less impact as, from the start, nothing stood up to her hard enough to give sense to her paranoia and Hana herself could've been watered down into becoming her mindless drone, since there's nothing challenging her ideas of Yukari being good and loving her rather than manipulating and using her as a means to an end. Facing the harsh truth about Yukari and what she was becoming worked better for the project, but who knows what else we'd have gotten?
It's an interesting study thinking about the stuff we might've cooked if we had followed that direction.

>>47225153
Honestly, yeah.
The Hana Yakumo thing was sealed away as a possibility when the birthday arc was written.
Only way it would still be a thing would be if the birthday didn't escalate as much but well, the escalation into reimu reconciliation was kind of what made it so good in the first place.
Act 2 would need to have gone completely different for it to really work.

>>47222159
>It would've been pretty fun to have as a climax
I'm sad I never got to write this bit:
>Hana-chan, you're wearing Yukari's robes wrong, here let me fix it.
>Why do YOU know how're they're worn Goro?
The birthday party definitely made the correct thematic decision, but there's a whole universe of jokes we missed in the more poorly written version.

>>47225752
If only we could've avoided certain poorly written things entirely

>>47225752
I could see a whole joke that like with Anon, Goro is only able to interact with Hana as a girl.

seeing most of the time we get special chapters for important days, I wonder: are we getting a 4th of July special? What would it even be about if yes?

>>47229116
It depends of whether someone wants to write a Heca ending.

>>47229116
I'll do a 4th of July thing. The Yukari is British-adjacent enough for what I'm thinking of. It'll start with some group drafting a Declaration of (Anon's) Independence, then I'll see how it devolves from there.
The Lunarians were conquered by Armstrong, so they might have absorbed some democracy. There's Junko and her westaboo daughter, too. Perhaps the village (pre-Hieda's senile moment) finally decides to take back one of their own. Or maybe experienced writers, like the tengu, send an airtight declaration... Or Seiga brings the Founding Fathers back to life.
I'll do one of these and continue the great tradition of inserting American holidays into the HSE.

>>47229620
>the great tradition of inserting American holidays into the HSE.
good God...
... Like the Founding Fathers intended~

>>47224115
look at her, playing so casually with her little toys... And anons think she's impossible to be redeemed

>>47215067
So Mimi really is capable of acting with kindness, her future as a goddess is looking bright.

>>47211465

>>47211499

First spotting the dead-bird skulking around the seedier alleyways where the ill reputed traded and got their kicks on the southern side of the village, Hana had an easy time of tailing the distracted bird. She was in her own world, not expecting attack and walking around with her wings bobbing about as she was subtly bragging to all the avian brained idiots... She loathed dealing with tengu; even if Aya was kind of alright if you ignored how long she tormented her family, raped her father, stole her- I mean his children! And uh… Kept trying to act all friendly when they meet!

With will, Hana pushed the memory of that cruddy crow out of her mind, she no idea how father could tolerate her constant presence… She focused on the stocky crow tengu in front of her, guess she wasn’t the same caste as Aya if she was this poor at taking in her surroundings. A proper reporter tengu should’ve detected her by now, and Aya herself could catch her by listening to the wind. Which was why Hana wasn’t even downwind of her, she wasn’t in the wind and certainly wouldn’t reveal herself till she had the drop. Instead of tracking her like an amateur, the hidden miko took to watching from behind the wall of a musty warehouse belonging to some merchant family or another.

It took a bit of effort at first to not sneeze from the dust, but she was satisfied that she’d be able to leap out from even here and bash her over the head till she stops moving. The dumb bird was having to search slowly, her night vision clearly not on par with a wolf or even a fox youkai. Still, it was leagues better than Hana’s and she could only make out the dark-feathered tengu’s form thanks to the bright full moon.

She was waiting for something; she wasn’t sure what but it kept her watching silently. Maybe for the bird to move somewhere a bit more isolated? Probably, even if she’d happily slay a youkai in public there was still manners to uphold, and it didn’t help that the nature of the offense must match the punishment; If she’d move so openly on such a night, it was only right that she’d have the evidence to back up such violence…

Hana groaned lightly and pinched the bridge of her nose, who was she kidding? The only thing she didn’t want getting out was this! This damned 53-page work detailing her and- and mother running some kind of perverted brothel shrine! It was insane that she was about to meet with some human publisher in a bid to openly sell in the village! Once Hana learned from Mamizou that she was acting like it was some kind of grand event she couldn’t stand it! It wasn’t merely the embarrassment that made her cheeks flush, it was rage that yet another slutty tengu was using her father’s, and her own, visage!

Disgust didn’t even begin to describe how she felt! I-I mean her mother and Hana forcing poor father, in this story a man seeking refuge from youkai after they started harassing him, to shelter in their shrine before taking advantage of him! They bring him into the main shrine to free him from a witches’ curse that make youkai lust after him only for it to backfire and it affect them as well! Hana couldn’t even get past the first page where they p-push him down onto the futon covered altar a-and-! W-with mother?! N-no way that was how it’d ever happen! No way!

The frustration at how she boiled over at the sheer depravity within the first four pages was enough to make her squeeze her eyes shut and demand the name of the bird. It was all Hana could do to keep her rage in check as Suwako agreed to the deal under the understanding that the tanuki would be cursed straight into new hell if they crossed either shrine and lied. Hana had felt guilty for standing in the way of a better deal after she felt Suwako groan at how easily the younger miko got goaded; though Hana couldn’t say it wasn’t justified if she was about to print that abomination. As well, it was worrying how Kanako was strangely silent after discovering this thing, but she was sure it was that sweet consideration that kept her from venting psychically at her.

Of course, there was simply no way she could risk the village at large knowing such a thing existed! Hana would have to destroy it, after she examined it to make sure that the tengu weren’t trying to push youma books or something… It was simply too dangerous to let it slip out of her grasp! So dangerous not even Aunn could find it… ugh, it might be a problem if she didn’t find a way to get her approval to keep it, if she found it anyways…

Sweeping the alley with a lazy flight, Jade kept her vigil on staring at the dirt as she drifted further into the maze of alleys and isolated backroads. The tall walled, dark alleys that made up the nightscape of this sliver of the village invoked a claustrophobic mood. Hana was sure she could make her move now, with Suwako and Kanako silent there was no other considerations.

>>47233440

It was trivial to simply relax and let go of the stress-induced tension till she felt almost at peace, masking her presence and intentions. She had her eyes and ears picking up light and sound from behind the worn wall, hearing nothing but a sigh escape JP’s lip as she pouted while looking over some stacked paper trash. The slightly-stocky-for-a-crow tengu seemed to already be giving up and would be at her lowest about now, mentally Hana already won! Or maybe Hana was getting bored and wanted to do something already...

Letting her voice carry so it bounced from both sides of the alley, the vengeful miko spoke with a false joy, “JP-san~! I found that manuscript you lost!”

She saw the bird jump as her wings lifted her on reflex towards the moon-laden sky before she reasserted herself and realized she wasn’t under attack, yet. Undoubtably the avian was already reading the air to figure out if it was a cheap parlor trick or not. Hana was ready, and used her powers to keep the sounds coming from random places; she’d have to keep moving if she was to trick a tengu with sound.

Lowering herself back down to that lazy hovering height, the Coal Pidgeon called out with alert in her voice and tension animating her frame, “A-ah is that really the case? Wow, how lucky am I~” She kept tracking, but predicably couldn’t pinpoint the elusive miko, “I wonder, who do I owe my thanks to…?”

Hana couldn’t believe the lazy tengu couldn’t keep the enthusiasm in her voice for more than two seconds, “I’m just a fan you know~” Getting into position, she watched how even this failure of a tengu let the wind blow against her back and watched downwind with her eyes, “To tell the truth, I saw you drop a little envelop when you were wondering about and just had to take a peek before I returned it. It was quite a surprise to read~”

It took a good bit of willpower to keep her voice under control, namely to keep herself from sputtering like a fool. She was glad she spent so much time with Aunn practicing her work persona. There was no way Jade bought any of these bold-faced lies, Hana doubted she’d be so easily disarmed, “Oh, I see…” it was like the tengu was searching for something in her mind as she spoke slowly, “Yeah, I’m glad if you enjoyed it. It’s supposed to be the big flagship doujin that’ll launch my name in the village properly… Lined up a human printer and there’s no youma energy thanks to having a human make the plates…”

She felt the anger rise up behind her voice despite herself, it helped her channel her gift but she was growing rash, “Wow~ big first sale in the village? Must cost a lot to set all that up~ I’m surprised the miko was okay with it all!”

Pride was evident in her voice, even if tempered by wariness, “That’s right, it was quite lucky to find a printer that got enamored with the daughter of a wolf tengu. Didn’t think those prudish pups had it them! Funding wasn’t too hard to find either, some of these printers really wanted in on the tengu doujin scene~” Seeming to recite the next words as if she’d practiced them, “As for the Hakurei shrine and any other party I use the likeness of; it is merely a parody of reality and has nothing to do with any actual peoples or places you see, no one featured in any work ever did any of those things… Well, except Anon I suppose! Can’t have a doujin series without the prime stud of the entire youkai world, right~?”

She just needed a second more, a few more seconds and the trap would be just right~ But good gods did she need to bash her face open, it was already bad enough knowing that she was one of the many stall owners taking advantage of her father outside the HSE. Having to see her hawk her wares openly to other youkai, now knowing exactly what she was building up to… it made it really, really hard to maintain her façade. Just to know that she was intent on continuing her madness using Keine’s foolishness to attack her father further was infuriating!

Breathing in deeply, letting the kinks that arise from getting overly excited pass before they crack her voice, Hana responded, “Right? Though isn’t it risky selling something like that to the human village? You might just make the wrong person mad~”

With a seal over-powered to the point it’d it look like a flare to any youkai that wasn’t entirely drunk; Hana let it pass through the world lines so that it dangled just below the top of the alley. It had the intended effect, making the bird panic and choose anything but the stars above as refuge. Instead, the muddy chicken chose to barrel upwind where the wind told her the path ahead; exactly the path Hana expected her to take. Mamizou was right, this little bird had little practical combat experience.

>>47233447

Not many fantasy seals must have found their mark, nor did the decoy seal hit her and truly sap her strength. Hana learned that the hard way as she leaped out of the wooden walls herself, gohei flashing and aimed at the heart of that shitty bird with a powerful thrust. For some reason she felt Kanako try to say something that didn’t materialize into so much more than an ‘ah, um-‘, before the damn thing thrust her fan up and just barely avoided having her soul shredded! Hana was a little miffed as she traveled ‘up’ and away from any surprises the tengu had in store.

The seals still chased the tengu, and would till Hana let up on the chase and they lost their homing ability. So instead of chasing her down like a hound, she followed along her trail and waited for another chance, she didn’t have to wait long. Looking for a way out, her magic being sapped by lucky strikes that disrupted the stability of her being, the crow burst into a side street and flew towards the stars for refuge. Letting the few youkai and humans milling about jump back in surprise as a black blur, hoard of translucent seals, and blur of red and white passed by at speeds hard to follow.

Hana couldn’t believe the trap failed so easily! She was told this bird wasn’t known for danmaku and spent all day drawing and stalking people for ‘material’, those damn tanuki must have forgot to mention that she had senses just as sharp as the more outgoing of her kind!

Her blood pumping along with her heart, the adrenaline surging through her body as she chased the tengu through the sky, Hana trembled with excitement knowing her second chance was close. While she couldn’t keep up in speed, she could use her powers to make a long jump ahead of her in to time at all. Once the bird was in the open air, didn’t matter where as long it was far enough from the people below, she could make a jump to cut her off and use the seals to force a- Now!

The world lines relaxed, and it only took a moment for Hana to suddenly find herself high in the sky, on level with the bird in the distance who suddenly found herself floundering in the air as she was repulsed by a suddenly erected barrier. A wall of seals flew along strange lines in the vague pattern of a yin-yang orb, it surrounded the girls in a large circular arena.

Knowing that she had her prey in her sights, knowing that she had no where to run and that finally she’d have the fight she’d been pining for all night. Hana couldn’t help but let the excitement show, hands fumbling along strained world line to pull out that stiff little needle from its pocket as she let out a single thought: ‘This festival was pretty damn great after all~’

Last little aside before we segway directly in pain and suffering!
Fun fact: I accidently wrote it all the night before but was too drunk to remember, so when I woke up today to finish it found all I had to do was check it over and bridge it to earlier!

>>47233455
>>47233447
>>47233440
I can't believe that's how poor JP-chan die... She just wanted to share her art, but the oni-miko doesn't see it like it, assuming Banana and Zeimu Barakurei as pieces of reality instead of the fiction they are. Owari da...
Thanks for the chapters!

>>47233455
Just realized I made a mistake on this chapter, I forgot a whole paragrapgh so I'll repost it quickly.

With a seal over-powered to the point it’d it look like a flare to any youkai that wasn’t entirely drunk; Hana let it pass through the world lines so that it dangled just below the top of the alley. It had the intended effect, making the bird panic and choose anything but the stars above as refuge. Instead, the muddy chicken chose to barrel upwind where the wind told her the path ahead; exactly the path Hana expected her to take. Mamizou was right, this little bird had little practical combat experience.

However, underneath the floorboards and inside empty rooms where nobody took residence, an ephemeral hoard of fantasy seals brewed and fluttered without disturbing a a grain of dust. Traveling along the lines that Hana now rushed down herself, following the chubby dove along the linear path she chose, the seals burst out of what must have seemed to be nowhere. The transient things pelted the bird before she sped up in a burst of speed and wave of her yellow fan, her instincts were still sharp, she was a crow tengu after all…

Not many fantasy seals must have found their mark, nor did the decoy seal hit her and truly sap her strength. Hana learned that the hard way as she leaped out of the wooden walls herself, gohei flashing and aimed at the heart of that shitty bird with a powerful thrust. For some reason she felt Kanako try to say something that didn’t materialize into so much more than an ‘ah, um-‘, before the damn thing thrust her fan up and just barely avoided having her soul shredded! Hana was a little miffed as she traveled ‘up’ and away from any surprises the tengu had in store.

The seals still chased the tengu, and would till Hana let up on the chase and they lost their homing ability. So instead of chasing her down like a hound, she followed along her trail and waited for another chance, she didn’t have to wait long. Looking for a way out, her magic being sapped by lucky strikes that disrupted the stability of her being, the crow burst into a side street and flew towards the stars for refuge. Letting the few youkai and humans milling about jump back in surprise as a black blur, hoard of translucent seals, and blur of red and white passed by at speeds hard to follow.

Hana couldn’t believe the trap failed so easily! She was told this bird wasn’t known for danmaku and spent all day drawing and stalking people for ‘material’, those damn tanuki must have forgot to mention that she had senses just as sharp as the more outgoing of her kind!

Her blood pumping along with her heart, the adrenaline surging through her body as she chased the tengu through the sky, Hana trembled with excitement knowing her second chance was close. While she couldn’t keep up in speed, she could use her powers to make a long jump ahead of her in to time at all. Once the bird was in the open air, didn’t matter where as long it was far enough from the people below, she could make a jump to cut her off and use the seals to force a- Now!

The world lines relaxed, and it only took a moment for Hana to suddenly find herself high in the sky, on level with the bird in the distance who suddenly found herself floundering in the air as she was repulsed by a suddenly erected barrier. A wall of seals flew along strange lines in the vague pattern of a yin-yang orb, it surrounded the girls in a large circular arena.

Knowing that she had her prey in her sights, knowing that she had no where to run and that finally she’d have the fight she’d been pining for all night. Hana couldn’t help but let the excitement show, hands fumbling along strained world line to pull out that stiff little needle from its pocket as she let out a single thought: ‘This festival was pretty damn great after all~’

>>47234529
>spoiler
i-it happens to the best of us...

>>47234529
After fires die down, the village will mourn the loss of their greatest martyr. Not Keine, the revolutionary. Not Hieda, the traditionalist. They will mourn the greatest poet of our time, JP, and her sacrifice to bring art and culture to Gensokyo. Her doujins will be canonized as the greatest works of literature to be put to paper and will be taught in history classes for generations.
All because Hana was disgruntled by a harmless parody.

>>47233440
>>47233447
>>47234529

The porn bird is in for it now. It's a good thing JP was made for getting bullied.

>>47238916
>>47236886
it's okay, even if she dies her dead mantengu-switch will trigger a mechanism that'll print and post like one of Goro's rancor messages hundreds of copies of her secret masterpiece which shall pierce that frontier which no one dares breach!
In death, her art shall finally reach apotheosis!

>>47239075
Heh, that would be such a fucking great asspull to broker her life with

happy 4th of July to all 'muricans in the thread!

>>47241087
Happy 4th my friends!

happy 4th!

did a little thing for the Americans!
I'm sure this is an accurate representation of the commemorations around there~happy Independence day to you guys!
https://files.catbox.moe/pfi11u.webm

>>47244725
That Cirno is hilarious, I'm glad they've lynched her.

Of the many surprises today brought forward, the Hakurei daughter—who, at least now, is not touching herself passionately, thinking that, just because she can't be seen or heard physically, the same would be true for her desires. It wasn't—summoning the Moriyan goddesses wasn't on the cards, yet felt very welcome as I approached Suwako Moriya, her eyes on the rebuilt Hieda State. Kanako glanced over at me for a moment too long before streaming her way to our makeshift medical ward. “You, of all people, helping with this revolution… Guess it makes sense why I have heard nothing of you between the ones opposing Yukari.” The frog goddess comments, the people that cared enough about gods amidst hell staring in either awe or undisguised contempt.

I huff, pulling my shaku and placing it in front of my mouth. “Don't be salty about whom I decide or not to land my help to; unlike other temples, I found myself sane enough as to not play directly on the hand of the devil and accept its invitation.” Suwako states… Then tsk's and returns gaze to the Hieda State. The Myouren really fell for something as one invitation, getting themselves handicapped for the war to come. Well, not that it matters now, but it's nice to think of others' mistakes as form of amusement. It eases hell. With an expressionless expression, I resume. “… What do you make of our situation?” I try to stop the creeping smidgen of fear of a soul unbecoming of a saint, but it haunts my voice anyway.

The shelling has stopped for a couple of moments now…

… The anxiety of what's to happen is as lethal as the killing blow.

“Problematic.” Suwako says simply, “There are ways to become an Oni.” The feeling of simplicity did not follow, my throat drying. So it's true… “Most Oni are born; others are humans who used objects or were so bad in life they became Oni in death… But for a man to turn into one naturally while still alive?” Her gaze turns to me, nigh iron-like; those words weren't meant for me, but Suzu, trying her darn best not to stop our conversation but wanting to speak up anyway. “I have my priorities, Miko; I'll gather my flock and Hana and immediately leave—I'm not dying today.” Those words, however, were meant for me and thus stirred an… Ugly feeling inside.

A full-fledged goddess, running from a malformed monstrosity who fermented under everyone's noses for decades. “You're facing Yukari in a few weeks, aren't you? Does a natural-born oni scares you so much compared to our sage?” Words spoken with crossed arms, heart thumping yet face remaining neutral. There's a lot hinging on this revolution, and this development has thrown a massive wrench into it—Keine's demise was remediable, as were all these nameless deaths. With Kosuzu leading as figurehead and people believing the essence of what moved them at first, no matter what, I'd have something good to reap from this mess—but as always, the cards have changed unexpectedly, and so did action and reaction.

If that oni isn't dealt with by our hands, if we run and hide after sacrificing so much… We'll be nothing but opportunistic frauds, and that's a terrible connotation that will hardly die with time, making most efforts sunk into leading this village and pursuit of immortality wastes of energy.

… Yet to face an oni that even Suwako Moriya doesn't want to waste her time with?

Her reaction, of course, was one of scorn. “Don't be foolish, Miko. She’s one problem; that man is another one entirely. Reimu, Yukari, Okina and Kasen—those people can fix your problem. Are any of them here now to help us? No, they’re not… Tsk, you'll die if you choose to stay around, and you know there's barely anything to be won here today—”

“—I-I…!” Finally, Kosuzu finds it within herself to step forward, frowning and conflicted, shoulders slumped with the heaviness of the cloak, physical and not. But the tiny goddess's deadly stare gets a hold of her throat, freezing her words. It wasn't the fact the librarian interrupted her nor a superiority complex—it took Suwako moments to see through the humble librarian: Supplied with her friend’s body, a great blue flame framed her trembling silhouette. A thousand eyes stared.

“Don't dare, please. My shrine maiden and her disciples nearly perished in this enormous mess, and whatever that teacher attempted to accomplish here today crashed and burned…” Noticing the apathy of her words, Suwako gulps supple breath before resuming, her eyes softening as she stares at the librarian, who’d coiled in the blood-soaked cloak as if comfortable briars. The toll grows unbearable, I see… “Staying here is putting these innocents in danger. It’s not worth it. I and Kanako can open a path for them to get to safety while Hana goes and fetches Reimu—”

“I-I understand, Moriya-sama!” Kosuzu interrupts. A lot of eyes are on us, and the librarian looks on her limit—but who'd blame her, as cremated corpses cling to the walls of cracked gold? “… B-But I'm not leaving. Not until I see this through.”

And so silence meets the battlefield; glares of surprise and confusion, of fascination and awe, of dread unlike any other, are directed at the woman who almost crumples, that black, torn cloak keeping her in place like the skies above Atlas; her skin pale, her hair stripped of its luster, her tiny bells eerily still.

She looked about to pass out.

Kosuzu is a quaint woman, as I've come to notice. Gullible, a little too passive, and unpleasantly reactive. Aside from the immortal, she and Mystia were Keine's closest counselors and confidants, but neither of them behaved as such or carefully considered her plans. Mystia's mistakes were more understandable because her livelihood was dependent on the outcome of the revolution, whereas Kosuzu's wasn't. Despite this, she never felt driven to confront Keine or, if she did, chose not to. She couldn't—chose not to—see past the gilded glasses of things just working out… Perhaps her wake-up call came with Hieda's visit, but by that point it was already too late; she couldn't flee her moral compass—or maybe not, how'd I know?

All in all, it was easy to see her as the tool I thought she was—

… But here she is: baffling a goddess maybe half her size, but powerful enough to sink this village in moments, hand clenched tightly to her chest, eyes wide and burning with unfathomable hope. A very human soul. “I beg you that yes, you do take our ill and innocent to safety, Moriya-sama!” The flame grows stronger and the immortal moves her eyes away from the ashen corpse, if for brief curiosity. “B-But as it stands, me and—m-my revolutionaries will stay here and hold fort… Awaiting Keine-san!” There's a despair in her pupils as she turns to me, one simmering and powerful, born from either her crushing defeat, loss or trauma. Despite the immense idiocy of her statements, stares of non-revolutionaries filling with disgust, and a diabolical desire to see her fail… Despite Mokou tearing her eyes away, Kosuzu Motoori feels nothing but emboldened in her own misery, that mantle I put over her shoulder likely feeling like a drape of briars. “I-I know Keine-san will return! She might have died, but she'll return! She has two sweet babies awaiting her—a marriage we whispered about—a revolution to finish…” Mokou flinches, raising a hand to her face. “Keine died fighting for the weak, and by it, she’ll return, and together we’ll make Gensokyo better for everyone that stands behind us! And I… I am certain that if someone is capable of resurrecting, it'd be her!”

—Yet… something stirs inside.

Perhaps because it was I who placed that crown of thorns on her head? Or is it a motive twin to the blood dripping down my nose and my burst hairline—the effort to protect everyone inside these walls insane—? Whatever it was, all I could feel was duty as I watched Kosuzu pour her heart out into words that spelled her death.

Of course, it'll be rationality that'll keep me here—I’ll not be 'opportunistic', 'liar', 'failure' before being leader—and face the natural-born oni, but…

When I gently nod to Kosuzu, relief spreads across her face, as though she had been plucked out of a dark river and could breathe again.

… It's nice to see her resolve.

The revolutionaries must have felt the same way because, for the first time since their leader bled to death in front of them, I can sense their burning desire to be able to believe in someone.

“So, please, I'll be more than glad to help you! Take my husband and children to safety; everyone who so desires, I beg of you—we'll hold our ground until Reimu-san comes and saves us… and we'll greet Keine-san when she returns to us.” Thus, the librarian bows sternly, the cloak following her motions…

Before Suwako can say anything more, one of the revolutionaries, drenched in the gore of battle, lets out a war cry that causes Kosuzu to jump in place and open her eyes wide enough to give me a small smile.

“K-Keine-sensei will return!”

His words were simple: desperate… And it proliferated like fire on grain, the morale, diced and gray as the cadaver it was, erupting into frenzied flames that rumbled upon every individual that today lost a friend, family member, or lover—each man and woman with a history. Each human and Youkai thirsting for vengeance after the atrocities.

Everyone desiring a change.

Better than stomaching our failures.

The ill reacted; the nurses seethed as their patients tried to move and join the sudden and febrile commotion of people ensnared by death; Mokou didn't move; Kanako hummed about future opportunities, lusting for money. Hana Hakurei looked beyond words.

And Suwako Kochiya facepalmed so hard it echoed. “These idiots…”

I jest, hands covered in gold. “You, a goddess, unfamiliar with how a soul works?” And she lowly hisses at me… But, even sulking, she knows I'm right as we watch people flocking to Suzu, her eyes broad as she trembled like a fish out of water—

—Suddenly, a wave of despair swept over me, and I turned.

I wish I hadn't.

It was like staring at a demon, one beyond those lurking beneath Youkai Mountain—a demon of human stories, rather. On a hand, clasped firmly, was the blood-stained katana, oni mask removed to let what lay beneath take form, armor a crimson red and wavering hair undisturbed by the flames and noxious fumes, boots crunching upon those that'd died. The menace stood there motionless, and it didn't take long for the cheer to die down and give way to nearly deadly silence and horror, those electrifying eyes scrutinizing us, yet their emptiness made it look like the man wasn't even here… So this is what a naturalborn oni looks like, huh? Decades of simmering in rage and dread, in guilt never addressed… It took lots of effort not to show the tremble of my hands glistening in gold—

—More and more when the demon moved and, in front of everyone, took that same pose before Keine was shot dead.

I could only watch. Suwako mumbled, “What in the world…?” Perplexed. Kanako's desires for money were muffled, onbashiras rising from the ground around the medical ward and a haunted Hana, the goddess stepping forward as bulwark. The revolutionaries seethed in magmatic rage, and it was the first time meekness hadn't painted Kosuzu's desires.

Mokou stared for a single moment…

An unquenchable desire to kill.

… A 'whoosh' brought me back to reality, body reacting immediately as the shelling restarted, trying my hardest to pour as much magic into the shields as possible. But it was already too late, and I forcefully knelt as the wrath of gunpowder met the battered walls, shattering them in a million pieces and exposing us to the world outside, blood cascading down my face…

And Mokou's fire raged in a tsunami that bathed the entire area, consuming everything in bright blue flames—gods, the ground, people—

—NO!!

… Yet, somehow, hurt no one.

“CURSE YOU, HIEDA!” A dance of unbridled fire elapsed into bloom, sweeping away the toxic smoke and throwing back the previous flames as if a volcanic eruption, Mokou flying above our heads and pummeling where oni stood with a geyser of blue fire. Suwako watched in incredulity, her iron walls half erected to protect the people useless as Mokou's fire bore no damage to flesh, revolutionaries and common people watching as they waddled through the harmless overflow as if water, Hana springing from somewhere in utter shock, watching as Sanae breathed just as well as before.

And it was Kosuzu Motoori who reacted first: “Run! Everyone, run away from the fight!!” The revolutionary leader screamed, her hazelnut locks and cloak swaying in the turquoise embers, eyes fierce as she ran towards her man and children.

Ah… such determination.

The desire to protect and save.

Bathed in the blue tsunami that had just hit the walls of the Hieda State, I lifted myself up, scabbard popping in heavenly gold light around my waist as a hand quickly drew Shichi-sei ken from its slumber, the auric metal a guiding light amidst the typhoons of fire. “Hear her: anyone who cannot fight, move to safety! Let Fujiwara's fire guide you!” I yell, Suwako staring between me and Kanako, Hana Hakurei to her side as, alone, the goddess of winds lifted every single one of her shrine maidens with both arms and back.

Her voice was thunderous, air currents guiding Mokou's fire and opening a clear way between the raging red flames, tumbling buildings and sulfurous plumes. “I'll take care of our maidens and Hana!”

“Tsk… No need for a heads-up.” Suwako mumbles to herself, sharing a glance with me before pacing back towards those unable to fight, who run away for their lives. “You better not die. I'll have a lot to say to stupid heads like you and your delusional leader.” And so she moves at speeds that betray her stature, iron walls sprouting from the ground, cleaving the way and stopping the environment, like crumbling buildings and melting ground, from posing a threat. Together, the Moriyan goddesses guided the frail and scared out of the battlefield, amidst a sea of fire, wind and iron that held the barbarian world away from them, Hana Hakurei watching all of this by the purple goddess. With the skies cleared by rumbling eruptions, she watched Youkai of all kinds soar, their desires clamoring to save this village, their only chance at a good life, and the fiery Danmaku that surrounded them. Having put her family in the care of that human doctor, Kosuzu stood behind the warriors, crystal-clear fear visible and understanding of her nature as someone unable to fight yet remaining to guide anyway, the presence of a leader flashing in those eyes.

The entire revolutionary force—together…

… What a sight to behold~

Moving my gaze to Mokou's fight, it was unsettling to see the oni weaving across the flames as if nothing, letting them phase through him without an ounce of care, the elusive swiftness of his curved sword centimeters away from ripping the immortal to pieces.

More, when it did cleave her arm off…

… And it didn't grow back.

>>47245940
>>47245945
>>47245953
releasing these three separated from the main batch because just now I remembered Ayaanon saying he wanted to do something with Kanako and Suwako, so altered a bit of events -- though nothing major as I already wasn't intending on using much them -- and will be posting the rest of the batch tomorrow
wanna avoid another one of that mistake recently with Patchyanon...
for Ayaanon: you still intending on writing chapters on them?
for Suzuanon: sorry for the Suzu bullying, I swear it'll only get worse~but it's the rollercoaster! The rollercoaster! Things will become better! Trust me, bro!

"Anon, I've come to see you." Yukari said sweetly, a hand placed on the door.
Anon turned, a nervous spark in his gut. He had grown apathetic to her presence long ago, but something was wrong this time. Yukari never used the door, she never gave him this much space, and...
"What's wrong? You looked like you've seen a ghost." She asked.
"Nothing, I uh... I-"
"Your overworked, being all cooped up here..." She said, placing a gloved hand on Anon's arm. "Where is it that you felt most free?"
But before Anon could answer Yukari placed a finger on his mouth. "Don't say it, just picture yourself there and close your eyes."
Anon Looked at the woman, too surprised to be scared, only confused, but he did as she asked. When he next opened his eyes he was saw the vast expanse of Gensokyo and felt the evening breeze upon himself.
"One of the Youkai mountain peaks." Yukari mused " I should've guessed, villager borderers often boast about how far they've snuck up this mountain."
Anon didn't say anything, he just took a deep breath and gazed out over the wide open scenery, eyes wondering from the Forest of Magic, to the Human Village, which looked a little different from last he saw it, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the Hakurei Shrine, and everything in between. Then, a small spark made itself known on the ridge opposite of them and shot into the air until it exploded with a colorful bang. Other lights shone as well before they joined the first emitting their own vibrant colors.
"Fireworks." Yukari said. "It's a small test run for the Solstice celebration."
Anon didn't say anything, he just continued to gaze out into the night sky and watched the colorful lights dance among the stars.
"If I might ask, do you regret getting married? Here's were you once felt most liberated, before-"
"I don't regret it." Anon said. "Freedom is never a given and I... I can only hope she can know that feeling one day, what I was unable to give her, even if I can never know the outside of that building again." He closed his eyes. "Take me back."
And when Anon opened his eyes he was back, back in the HSE, his gilded cage.
"That will be all for today, I have much else to do, you however can enjoy the rest of your day off." Yukari hummed as she made her way for the door.
Anon didn't say anything. He wanted to, badly, but he bit his tongue. He couldn't endanger the plan by being proud, couldn't speak freely if it meant others would lose their freedom because of it...
"Oh and Anon..." Yukari began as she neared the door. "Nobody dies alone, take care not to let your corpse be the weight that drags poor Hana to hell." She smiled and left.
---
"I can't believe that worked." Yukari said as she walked into the room.
"That was amazing! Just like Yukari-Sama!" Chen cheered.
"It really was just like Kari, that line about corpses dragging people to Hell sounds just like her." Flan said, smiling and nodding.
"I'm not so convinced, Yukari would've at least tried to seduce him..." Ran said.
"Fuck... don't tell me it's true what they say about foxes sharing their mates. Listen here you Vixen that shit might fly in your little communes, but my family tree is fucked enough as it is!" Seija yelled, grabbing Yukari by the arm.
"I think Ran-san means I should've made a token attempt and not push the issue after the first rejection." Yukari added.
Seija looked at her. "Goro, if you flip into a fruit I'll turn your manhood inside out."
Yuakri shook her head. "Then turn me back already, having a woman's body is strange enough, let alone taking on Yukari-Sama's personage, I feel like I'm being groomed for something awful."
"It would be convenient to have someone that looks like Yukari and can imitate some of her abilities while she hibernates." Ran mused.
"Yeah! And then there can be two Kari's to play with!" Flan said excitedly.
"No." Chen said.
Everyone turned to the cat.
"I don't think it's right to force people to do things at other's convenience! Anon has to put up with that every day after all!" Chen added.
"Aren't you forgetting that YOU'RE the one who put this plan together and asked MY man if he could play the starring role in our deception?" Seija poked.
"I...did, but I asked! I didn't demand anything!"
"But you knew I wouldn't say no, so isn't that the same as making a demand?" Yukari asked, placing a hand on her chin. "My, my, my.... my shikigami's shikigami is truly becoming a cunning kitty."
"My apologizes Lady Yukari, I shall make sure she goes the next week without milk." Ran spoke up.
"Hey! This is a violation of my Shikigami rights!" Chen cried.

Fourth of July shitpost, as canon as you want it to be.

>>47246639
Call me stupid, but I don't get what Goro (Yukari) was trying to do.

All was quiet in the HSE. Anon laid in his bed, resting his sore body after yesterday’s deluge of multi-customer appointments. Nobody had come to his room today, leaving his mind to wander: Ran was likely swamped with paperwork, Takane would be inspecting the facilities, Konngara sharpening her blade, and Chen going on some sort of adventure. Kasen and Seija were no doubt on some mission, and Seiga wouldn’t come near the place if it meant she had to help with clerical tasks. He briefly wondered if Tsukasa would swing by, but there was no telling what kind of jobs her boss would task her or how likely she was to abandon it. Even Dolly was absent, leaving Anon all alone.

The boredom was suffocating. Anon swung his legs out, ignoring the pain in his lower back. He staggered through the home, trying his best not to aggravate his muscles. He finally threw open the front door, eager for a change of scenery. The smell of flowers only hit his nose for a moment before being replaced by iron and sulfur. Gunshots roared through the air as two lines of musketeers fired into the air. They stood facing each other, a wide berth left to accommodate the path to the shrine. A tinny trumpet bellowed out a jaunty tune as a young man dressed like a British redcoat came running down, carrying a piece of aged parchment in his hand and hoisting a flag on his back. Just as it seemed he would barrel right into Anon, he knelt at his feet and took off his hat. A shock of blonde hair and a familiar face left Anon even more confused.

“Mister Anon! I am Private Goro of the 27th squadron! It is my honor to relay the Vice President’s words to you, sir!” Anon was speechless. Goro’s words didn’t hold a hint of his usual hesitation and thoughtfulness. After a while, you could tell Goro chose his words carefully. Not anymore. As he looked up to him, Goro’s eyes shone like a polished bell and held a ferocity that reminded him of a bald eagle. Goro’s heart and soul was dedicated to whatever kind of stunt this was. “Sir? Is something wrong?”

Anon snapped out of his thoughts. “No, no. Go ahead. I’m sure ‘President’ Yukari will want my response as soon as possible.” Goro’s face immediately turned to shock, before shifting to some sort of pitying grin. Was it something he said?

“Maybe once you hear the President’s words, you’ll understand. A-hem!” Standing at attention with the parchment stretched out in front of him, Goro began to read.

___
When humanity comes into contact with a wholly inhuman force, it becomes necessary for one people to reach a new understanding of the Laws of Nature and rights to which God entitles them. Our people must reconcile with the dissolution of the bands of mortality and provide a decent respect to the witchcraft which pervades the land we now walk upon.

We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these rights, Men must not be imprisoned within houses of debauchery, mocking the Institutions of Marriage, Faith, Monogamy, Liberty and the rule of Law in manners imaginable to neither Creature nor Man, save the most perverse mind to spawn from the darkest abyss of Hell.

We, the Representatives of the United States of America, in the First Gensokyo Congress, appealing to Yukari Yakumo’s sense of Righteousness and Morality, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the established Department of State, demand the Manumission of our People, Anon Hakurei.”

So signed Third President of the United States of America
Thomas Jefferson
___

“What… what did that last part say? Manumission?” Anon’s mind was spinning. He’s definitely heard some of those words before, but why—and how, was America intervening with Gensokyo?

“He’s going to set you free, Anon! The other Framers have already begun fighting against Yukari and her cronies. Come on, President Adams need the support of you and the People to bring democracy to us all!” Goro turned on his heel and hoisted the red, white and blue flag into the air. The sound of a cannon shook the air as a cannonball tore through reality itself, revealing a broken doorway to the HSE in it’s trail. Out walked a tall, white-haired man with skin paler than bone. His irises glowed a bright amber, but his unnatural appearance could not diminish the human spirit burning within. Unphazed by the sounds of gunfire and bloodshed behind him, he walked between saluting soldiers to the weakened man and extended his right hand.

“Anon Hakurei? The name is Thomas Jefferson. We’re here to free you from this poorly-constructed prison you call home.”

>>47247279
“Men, take point! Our mission is to ensure the safety of our living charge! You have all died once, and so have nothing to fear from a second death! We’re here to ensure this man is no longer oppressed by the tyranny of that witch and her necromancer! Fight for him as you would for General Washington!” With a loud cry, the musketeers charged forwards, leading the way for Anon, Goro and Jefferson to follow. “For a man so close to freedom, you seem confused. What’s troubling you so?”

“I don’t get why this is happening. If you really were an American President, why—how, are you even here? There’s an entire ocean between here and your country, and that’s not even counting the Sanzu!” Fires raged around the entrance to Anon’s cage. The battle cries of men and women filled the air as danmaku was exchanged with hot iron.

“It’s simple, lad. My fellow Congress members and I have been called from our eternal rest by a woman versed in magic manipulating the dead—Sayguh, is it? Curious, the names of Zipangu. Nonetheless, the necromancer and her patron, Yakumo, desired to use us as consultants for a fireworks festival. Tales of our victory over the British Crown seem to have lived on over the centuries and become inextricably tied with explosive celebration. I dare say the celebration seems more important nowadays.” Walking through hallways with Goro and Anon in tow, the dead President seemed almost wistful as he dodged a rouge bullet of light before firing back with a pistol from his coat.

“If Seiga brought you back to life just to make fireworks, how are you guys rebelling? I appreciate the help, but it doesn’t seem like you or your friends have that much to gain.”

“That’s the curious bit: It seems that the presence of American blood snapped us out of that woman’s trance. Once we gathered our bearings and learned what debauchery goes on in this den of sin, we resolved to free the American trapped here. We risked our lives for our ideals, you see. It would only be right to risk our afterlife as well.” Anon’s squadron was halted by a group of wolf tengu, bloodied from the scuffle. With only a nod from Jefferson to his troops, they threw themselves at the wolves, allowing Jefferson and Anon to escape down another hallway while Goro stayed back to command them.

“That still doesn’t make sense. I’m not an American! I was born in Saitama, just like my father and his father before him. Not Chicago! Maybe you’re mistaking me with Goro: He’s got blonde hair, maybe he has a bit of America in him.”

“No, Anon. It’s unmistakable. Upon our revival in this strange land, Franklin—Benjamin Franklin, that is, gained the ability to tell one’s bloodline. And you, Anon, are an American by your father’s birthright.” The walls to each side of Anon began to quiver. He hesitated, the pain in his legs bringing him to his knees. Jefferson threw himself to the ground too, just in time for a beam of pure energy to blast through the air above them. From one hole, Toutetsu grinned at him. Her dress was the same, but her horns were embossed with white stars. Before she could speak, four red and white blurs shot towards her to resume their brawl.

Anon took his time getting up. Being in a warzone where even Toutetsu was struggling didn’t heal his fatigue. Dealing with a sudden revelation didn’t help either. “My father, Akira M. Erikamen? That’s impossible! His lineage can be traced back to the Taira clan!”

“I’m afraid so. Your father hides a secret not even he knows. It’s a deep shame his mother and father hid from him all his life. He wasn’t born in Saitama. During a vacation to Puerto Rico, your grandmother suddenly went into labor, giving birth to your father. By soil, he’s an American citizen and so—by blood, are you!”

Anon’s brain was blown. This whole time, he had been an American citizen? Could that explain his apparent destiny to be sought out by violent women? Perhaps it could even explain why he felt like grilling steaks during the summer.

“That’s… I… If that’s true, how can I help? You and your friends seem to be giving Yukari a good fight. Wouldn’t it be better for me to stay out of the way?”

“Unfortunately, fate isn’t so kind. I was given the ability to speak and understand any word. Hancock, that devilish Son of Liberty, has enough strength to sink three ships alone! But General Washington, the poor chap, was given the strongest and weakest power of us all. Yet, he alone stands a chance to defeat that witch called Yukari. We must go to him, before it’s too late!”

Before they could pick themselves up, the two men witnessed a gap open up down the hall. Out came not the silhouette of Yukari, nor her shikigami. It was a horned woman brandishing her blade and carrying a bundle of muskets.

“So this is were you’ve run off to, coward! Your men are fearless, but their weapons are too slow.” Konngara threw down the firearms, one man’s hands still wrapped around the trigger of his rifle. As soon as he felt danger, Jefferson aimed his pistol. Even if his accuracy was perfect, it was worthless against the swordswoman. Faster than sound, the gun fired and Konngara sliced the bullet in half, flecks scattering to the floor.

“Damn this she-devil! My apologies, Mister Hakurei. This seems to be the end of the line for us.” Jefferson’s words and actions were at odds. While he spoke of surrender, he got up and walked towards the oni, holding a piece of parchment outwards in his hand. “At the very least, you’ll see which is truly mightier: The pen or the sword. Now, Miss Konngara, you shall understand the Laws of Nature!” The paper in his hand began to shimmer and glow until it became utterly incandescent. Konngara began to approach, not letting her foe begin his attack. It was too late.

“The People have full Power to conclude Peace!” Anon couldn’t look away. He expected the oni’s horizontal slash to cleave Jefferson in two. Instead, her blade stopped at his hip. Rage coursed through her eyes as she stared down her foe.

“You… You wimp! History calls you a hero, but you’re nothing more than a glorified bookworm!” Again and again, Konngara swung at the man. Each time, her sword stopped just short of severing Jefferson’s soul from his walking corpse.

“Jefferson, I thought you said your power was to speak any language?”

“Hahaha! Not quite! I told you, I can speak and understand any ‘word’. These aren’t merely the words of man, my boy. So long as they are self-evident, I may speak and the Laws and Nature shall enforce them! One such Right being the pursuit of Happiness—yours!” With Jefferson’s words, Anon’s body felt invigorated and for the first time today, he dared to hope that he might actually escape.

Konngara turned her attention away from the dead President to Anon. “Don’t make me laugh! Law, Rights, Happiness—I’ll cut through all of it. Yukari may want you alive, but if you dare try to pass me, my blade will be tasting the marrow of a living American for the first time!” The oni continued slashing at Jefferson wildly, blocking off Anon’s chances at passing by the two of them. But he couldn’t let that stop him. From behind Jefferson, Anon took a running start. Just as Konngara swiped at Jefferson’s right, Anon slipped past him on his left! He got past the oni! Just past this corridor should be the reception area!

As these thoughts raced through his head, the swordwoman rotated her wrists. It was a feint, of course. Leaving an escape path wide open so Konngara so slice his back open twice as fast. With one step backwards, she extended her range and her cold steel pierced through Anon’s skin, passing through his juban, skin, organs and spine without a drop of blood staining her blade.

And still, Anon kept running. Konngara’s blade phased through the man, completely ineffective against her target. He made it down the hallway and finally turned the corner to the reception desk. Before she could begin her chase, Jefferson spoke up again.

“The Tyrant did Quarter large bodies of armed troops among us!” Under his feet, a magic circle containing the Union Shield spread out to contain the violent swordwoman in it’s perimeter. She was unable to even extend her sword beyond its boundary. Anger filling her mind, she took a deep breath, calmed herself, and turned towards Jefferson, her movements now unrestricted within the circle.
“So this is your final gambit? Your hypocrisy knows no bounds. A cowardly hero and magus that hurls accusations of witchcraft. Now, you boast about your god-given power when the truth is that you can only maintain one spell at a time. And of all spells a lawman like you could come up with, you chose one that makes it easiest to maim you.” The oni threw Jefferson a sadistic grin as she buried her blade into his shoulder, watching in glee as his desiccated left arm fell to the ground. “Congratulations. I’ve never felt this satisfied chopping up a corpse!”

Jefferson winced at the pain of dismemberment, but stood his ground. He kept his eyes on Konngara, as if this show of defiance could help his cause. It did nothing to stop the oni from hacking the author limb from limb, leaving behind only a torso and head. Once the oni had her fill of bloodshed, she cleaved his skull. At last, the amber glow of his eyes went out, and the parchment he once held dimmed. Yet, the circle he conjured remained on the floor. The oni sat down in a lotus position, her sword laid across her lap.

“Tch. Self-evident my ass. That amanojaku better flip this soon if she knows what’s good for her.

>>47247298
As Anon turned the corner, he saw a scene equally hopeful and hopeless. On one side of the room stood Ran, Toutetsu and a young man with white hair. Blocking the doorway were Yukari, Seiga and a balding man around Jefferson’s age. Both men had the same amber glow in their eyes as Jefferson. Yet, only the one on Ran’s side seemed to be winded.

“What’s the matter, Mr. President? You’re as sluggish as a Frenchman!” As if he had practiced Danmaku his whole life, the balding man shot volley after volley at his prey, daring him to dodge each bullet. Meanwhile, Ran traded shot-for-shot with Yukari, neither letting the other rest. Seiga played with her opponent, walking in and out of scattered furniture at her leisure and summoning zombies from thin air to take Toutetsu’s powerful blows for her. Toutetsu herself wore a toothy grin, but even Anon could tell she was getting tired.

“Adams, snap out of it! Both of us have served as President, and both of us are beholden to uphold America’s ideals!” Surrounded by danmaku, a figment of light gathered in his right hand before solidifying into a revolver pistol that looked more in line with the 19th century than the American Revolution. With five shots, he targeted and destroyed the bullets near him before aiming the sixth at Adams. The bullet only grazed his shoulder, provoking a roar of anger from him.

Anon stayed out of sight, trying to make sense of the scene before him. That Framer on Yukari’s side was ‘Adams’, whoever that was, meaning the man fighting alongside Ran must be Washington. How was he supposed to defeat Yukari?

Before Anon could approach the battle, two familiarly-groping hands grabbed him from behind and held him against the wall. “Enjoying the show, are we? But, it would be a shame if you were caught in the crossfire. Let’s just head back to bed, shall we?” Before the hermit could go anywhere with him, Washington fired at the exposed hands, freeing Anon from Seiga’s grip. Toutetsu took the opportunity to pry her out of the wall and slam her down to the floor with her spork. After a direct hit like that, Anon was doubtful Seiga would do much more. Shielded by Toutetsu, the President took a moment to talk directly to Anon.

“Apologies for the delay. Mister Washington, at your service. How much has Jefferson told you about your role in ending this conflict?” The President turned his back to Anon, returning fire as Adams focused his assault on the Taotie between him and Washington.

“Just that you need me to use your power. But why is that guy fighting against you? I thought the Framers all agreed to oppose their king and create America.” As Anon asked his question, Adams knocked the spork out of Toutetsu’s grip with another blast.

“What selfish tomfoolery! No nation can sustain itself without foreign ties, and this land cannot survive off of you alone! Unsavory as it is, Yukari’s administration cannot simply be overthrown, lest all the People of Gensokyo will suffer.”

“That’s where you’re wrong! How can you expect to keep all of this nation’s people from suffering when we cannot save a single one? Neglecting Anon is no different than turning our back on the ideas that made America in the first place. Truth. Fairness. Liberty. These principles are what men die for and tyrants deny!” The construct in Washington’s hand began to shift and change, morphing into something bigger. Louder. Deadlier. “That, Anon, is why I need you to vote for me! Where Adams draws strength from his government, I draw strength from the governed! With your consent, we can overturn Yukari’s tyranny and give you back your liberty. I want YOU for my army.”
Anon barely needed a second to make his decision. “Of course, Mister President! You can count on my vote!” As soon as he made his promise, fear infested Adams’ eyes. His danmaku, fueled by Yukari’s rule over Gensokyo, were shredded to bits as Washington’s revolver morphed into a wheeled gatling-gun. With single-minded purpose, Washington tore the body of his former Vice President to pieces until nothing was left but flakes of skin. Now, it was finally Yukari’s turn.

The gap hag and her shikigami were both fully exhausted. Ran barely had the mental strength left to keep her master’s gaps closed. Without any pomp or flourish, Washington walked to meet Yukari, eye-to-eye. His weapon morphed one final time. Pointing the barrel of a 12-gauge at Yukari’s face, the sage could do nothing to resist. She had only five words left.

“Oh say can you see~”

BAM!

>>47247312
It was done. Finally, Yukari was pumped full of lead and Anon was free to walk out the door. Yet, something felt wrong. This was a victory, but it felt empty. What would happen to Gensokyo without Yukari to lead it? Sure, she wasn’t a good person, but she still handled great responsibilities. Now, she was dead for the sake of Anon’s freedom.

Ran, tired from her battle and likely just as anxious as Anon, tried to make her way over to him. Maybe this is what they fought for: Allowing two people who’ve been controlled for so long to finally make his their decisions once more. Perhaps this is the liberty that Jefferson, Goro and Washington believed in.

Before Ran could actually say a word to him, Anon and Washington were enveloped in a bright light. Yukari and the HSE may have been done for, but the President wasn’t. His gun took on the shape of a massive eagle and wasted no time in flying off with Anon, soaring into the skies as the HSE exploded in a grand inferno that flung body parts and colorful clouds produced by chemicals only the yamawaro knew all over the Village.

“Mister President, what are you doing? I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye!” Anon could barely keep up with the whipping in his face as he clung to the great eagle for dear life.

“This is just the beginning, Mister Hakurei. First, we need to get you naturalized. Then, you’ll look over the Framers’ work in the Constitution, Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers. It’s integral for any leader to know how to understand both himself and his opposition. Only than can he make the correct decision, regardless of his own failings.”

“Leader? What are you talking about? I’m not going to lead anyone, I just want to see my daughter again!”

Washington turned back to Anon, flashing him a wooden smile. “You’ll see your daughter again in due time, Anon Hakurei. But it won’t be as Anon Hakurei. The next time you see your family again, it’ll be as President Hakurei.”

Happy Independence Day, even if you’re likely reading this far after it’s done. As always, only as canon as you want it to be, especially the part about Anon’s genealogy. It felt appropriate to turn Anon American for today only, you can’t celebrate America day without a single red-blooded American.

Proof reading is for Brits and Commies

I forgot there's nothing more American than being illiterate

>>47247334
>the HSE is gay and illiterate
God, we're so fucking American indeed

>>47246853
stoopid
guess they just wanted to show Anon some colorful lights in the 4th, Anon thought it was a manipulation tactic as to why would Yukari take him outside if not to remember him what he cannot have and even there, free from the HSE, running was useless; and the line about being careful to not die could be read either genuinely in Goro's case or with malicious intent, and Anon would always see Yukari as going for the latter
or it was just a meaningless shitpost and Takaneanon just wanted some cute fireworks and Chen moments, I dunno...

>>47247322
>>47247312
>>47247298
>>47247292
>>47247279
man, what an insane read, made my kek. Had that same energy of Peter Griffin opening a door and seeing Donald Trump there or something, but the crazy powers and Baki moments gave it nicely flavor~
hope you had a fun 4th, Ayaanon! And thanks for the laughs!

>>47245953
>… Yet, somehow, hurt no one.
I thought the phoenix's blessing was for people she was bonded too? You know like Aki, Mochi, etc
I'm surprised how she pulled it off without burning anyone nor any buildings, especially when she was going genocide mode just 15 minutes ago.

>… And it didn't grow back.
Ha, see that Eirin?! You and your fancy medicine mean nothing! Fixing the soul in eternity? More like fixing this halfmoon slash! Ha! Take that! Mess with me and I'll simply call a named oni to 1v1 you and literally everything in reality somehow! EX boss? My man Heida is cruising at LUDACRIS SPEED!

>>47246639
I swear to god Goro is so fucking gay, he's 100% in the closet and entirely fell for a dude the age of his dad. Guy just needs to hang out as bros and shoot the shit instead of flirting as Yukari, swear to god.
Honestly it was a strange plan, but that's Chen for you! She'll bat away your sad! Before knocking the cup off the table

>>47247279
>>47247292
>>47247298
>>47247312
>>47247322
Heh, naturally this is 100% canon and the real end of the HSE.
Read it while way too drunk on whisky last night and had a good laugh while cringing. I would love a wild west episode, shootout at the HSC(orral)

>>47248571
>I thought the phoenix's blessing was for people she was bonded too?
not that one in play right now, but something else I've been cooking for a time; and why Sanae and her apprentices didn't evaporate when Mokou “protected” them after escaping her half-done sealing. Gonna be explaining it in her chapters late today~

>>47248669
Ah, my man is cooking a some firey Mokou asspull. I look forward this shonen festival's conclusion!

>>47246853
Chen cooked up a plan to get Anon out of the HSE for a moment of respite and Seija and Goro went along with it. Goro gave Anon some choice words about being self-sacrificial won't make Hana happy in the end. It's also some thoughts on freedom and it's a little confused because I wrote it at 1:00 AM afraid nobody else was going to make a fourth of July special. Thankfully, I was wrong!
>>47248613
He's straight but he'll do anything for the kids and give it 100%.
>>47247322
God bless America.

>>47248613
Remember the aborted crossdressing plot?
I remember the aborted crossdressing plot.

>>47245953
Oh man, Hieda really is as strong as an oni. What an opponent for Hana to face for her first serious fight.

>>47245956
I don't mind the Suzu bullying, things getting worse and her family being burdened by trauma only means things will get better! Guess I should actually get around to writing my bit then

>>47250124
trial by fire
in all fairness Reimu's first serious fights were against either a personification of a yin-yang orb, five giant floating eyes, a devil, and a literal fallen angel, or a personification of a yin-yang orb, a vengeful spirit, a giant bronze mirror with a goddess reflected through it, and the attendant of a buddhist god, so she's really just following in her mother's footsteps by starting her career off hunting a ridiculously overpowered oni

>>47147140
>>47147261
I know this was brought up last thread, but I'm curious about what people's idea for an HSE rewrite it.
Archiveanon mentioned wanting to ride down a curated version and I'm curious of what the writefags and readers have for ideas since I don't have any myself, and just from what I've seen here, some people do seem pretty interested in a best of the HSE.

>>47245956
>Ayaanon
Great chapters, I think it's fine what you're doing with the goddesses. I'm going to use Kanako and Suwako for their status mire than as interventionists. I'm thinking of aping that scene Takaneanon did with Okina and Goro in the crypt, where it's just a minor projection of the goddesses communicating with him while the main goddess is still taking her own actions. There's going to be more to it that just that, but I've got some upcoming chapters with Aya and her partners talking about their plans for the mountain a little more. Aya's going to do the heavy lifting of talking and negotiating, but she's going to use the Moriyans as a source of legitimacy.
>writing
Ahahahahahahahaha

>>47250233
this might sound like a very harsh pill to swallow, but I think in truth very few of the characters in the HSE as we know it are necessary
I think this story should only prominently have features the Hakurei family and Yukari, and everyone else only shows up when they interact with those characters. I'm not entirely sure Sekai is really needed either, but if she is, then I guess Patchouli and Meiling's storyline could survive too.
pretty much every other character could just be cut down to only the scenes where they're interacting with the prior characters
I'd say this story could comfortably shrink by about 400,000 words

>>47250233
The HSE started as a "crack" concept that gained seriousness as it went along. This is kind of core to why the story is so convoluted since it was never intended to be more than a bunch of gags while waiting for Shrine Daughter of Paradise to return from hiatus.
A fully serious rewrite is probably impossible given that the current course of the story is reliant on like a dozen plot lines converging and pushing the tone to where it is now. The best a rewrite can do is maybe try and push individual storylines into their own ao3 story and do as that other anon says to keep the main story focused on Anon, the Hakurei, and Yukari.

>>47248648
imma need the sauce for that pic

>>47250319
Sekai should stay as the extra stage is always a touhou staple and the Patchy/meiling setup for the extra stage fits said extra stage. It's not absolutely required, you could cut it, but I feel it adds to the story far more then it detracts.

I'm completely lost on this series. I read the story from Hana's perspective up until Yukari's threats regarding Anon leaving Reimu. How does the story progresses afterwards? Please don't tell me it becomes a mindless smutpost...

>>47251152
Nah, the project is very story focused although a bunch of meta drama happens later on, read the Ao3 archive for the moderated version and the threads for the raw.

>>47251152
not really, but the roots of the HSE are mostly smut as we began as a more decentralized 'everyone have fun until the main author returns' take on the 'Ana history, then the main author returned, began participating in our crack and here we are, nearly 1 million words into the project and some of the most emotional shit I've experienced reading fanfic; it takes some time before we leave monkeymode and get into the more emotional/serious business. Outside of shitpost/specials, I don't think we've had a smut in almost 6 threads.
follow this here (>>47210933) for the essential links

>>47251152
Sounds like you read up to the end of Shrine Daughter of Paradise. The HSE is a spinoff of that, with multiple authors and character perspectives. You can read the AO3 in the OP to catch up.

>>47251224
Anon, only Shrine Husband of Paradise and Shrine Daughter of Paradise are in the OP, both the flowchart and the ao3 upload aren't in the OP.
Although the flowchart hasn't been updated to be in line with the contents of the ao3 archive.

>>47251380
... Oops, that's my mistake. Didn't even consider it. Though both SHP and SDP are in the HSE collection, so it shouldn't be too hard to find your way around.
but that's no excuse, so will be adding two new links next time, one to the collection and the HSE first chapter.

>no new comments on the AO3 uploads
It's so over

>>47251397
For the main upload, the comments are on manual review so we only see the comments archiveanon approves, assuming he even reviews them.

>>47251393
There's still problems with the collection itself so you should probably just link to the first chapter of the moderated HSE on there.

>>47251397
I still haven't checked the inbox to manual review it, and will likely be doing it tomorrow when I post the next chapter.

>>47251152
Anon POV - Shrine Husband of Paradise
Hana POV - Shrine Daughter of Paradise
Smut POV - Hakurei Shrine Experience
The HSE begins at the point right after Hana talks to Yukari. It does go hard into smut before leveling off into romance, comedy, drama, and non-canon spinoffs. The HSE as a whole is still considered a non-canon, X-rated parody of Hana's original story so no matter what you read here, it does not reflect the characters in the Shrine Husband/Daughter of Paradise stories.
Because this project will never end and Hanaanon will never be allowed to continue SDoP ever again. You'll be 70 before Hana wakes up from her youkai pub nightmare.

>>47251417
TFW no 'Ana fumo

>>47252435
why live?

>>47248613
>Guy just needs to hang out as bros and shoot the shit instead of flirting as Yukari, swear to god.
Wish granted. I hope you're happy!
"Welcome home dear-" Anon began, but instead of one sad woman coming to visit, it appeared to be three Youkai and a blonde man wearing a uniform with Yakumo runes. He tossed a can at Anon, which he barely caught.
"Salutations Anon!" He said happily. "Takane told me you could use a break with brotherly company and, well, I did the best I could! You know Suika, Yuuka, and Yuugi already I take it?" The man said pointing to each Youkai.
Suika set aside a couple of kegs and adjusted her aviator sunglasses before making a devil gesture with her hands and grinning.
Yuuka, who had opted to wear plaid pants instead of a skirt today, set out some low seating chairs.
Yuugi hoisted a massive barrel that she'd been carrying on her shoulder onto the ground, which caused the grass under it to sizzle.
"Yes I do, but who are you?" He asked.
"I'm-"
"Dead meat." Suika said, punching the man in his arm with a chuckle.
"Please Suika, he's more like the brisket we've been cooking in that barrel, almost ripe for the slaughter." Yuuka said, her red eyes gleaming sadistically, uncharacteristic of the kind flower woman he'd come to know her as.
"Hah! We'll have to beat that wife of his to it! Bet she'll be none to happy to know your drinking while you're carrying-" Yuugi began.
"Yuugi, we agreed that there'd be no Woman talk." the man said with a pointed smile.
"Oh, that's right! Lips are sealed mister Goro, yessir, secrets safe with me!" Yuugi said, before she sniffed the barrel. "It'll be another half-hour I think."
"Fantastic, so Anon, your punishments almost over, or so I've heard, how're holding up?" Goro asked as he slumped into a chair and the rest of the party followed suite.
"Well I'm kind of relieved, but also worried that things aren't going to go over well..." He began
The party listened as Anon spilled his guts. He told them about how he felt like he was trapped, but at the same time that meeting so many people was good, but then having lost faith in many of them had also caused him to have some misgivings, even if he couldn't bring himself to hate those people, most of them anyway.
"Yeah, but who're ya gonna re-marry to after this!" Suika asked with a harr harr.
Yuuka turned the other way.
"In my opinion, it's gotta be the fox right? She's strong and tempered that one, could show off more if you ask me, but can't go wrong with someone like that!" Yuugi said.
"That's us Oni for you! And, ashamed as I might be to admit this, but I think that Crow Tengu has been acting more my speed lately! Being a bit less of a calculating bastard and showing her brazen side off you know! She's still a dirty Tengu, that much is still the case, can't help but cheer her on a little though." Suika slurred before shot gunning a beer.
"Bah, you two don't know what makes a man's heart go wild. You should go see that Doll Maker or that Witch I think. Live a nice quiet life in the Forest of Magic away from all the madness." Goro said.
"Hah! As if those two pansies can protect squat!" Suikia laughed.
"You have a point there! Geez, if only there was some nice, powerful woman who lived in a remote place...." Goro began shooting a look toward Yuuka.
The Flower Master's face crunched up in disgust. "Anon, as someone who knows Makai better then anyone here, believe me when I say it's a horrible place and that woman you met, Shinki? well, she's not so nice as she appears and there's a reason she's still single! Don't trust this Brokers opinions, his tastes are clearly warped."
"Ha! Maybe I'm just trying to set up a 'family member'? Still not sure about that one." Goro said drunkly. "But as for MY TASTES, you just don't know how to handle them like I do, just watch next time you see Seija and I together, she'll be rubbing her head against my chest looking like a maiden out of a story book!"
"So when are you gonna marry her?" Suika asked.
Goro rubbed his face, shirking. "Now is not a good time, when this is over I'll talk to her about it."
"You mean you two aren't married yet!? But you're, I mean you two..." Yuugi began, but shook her head. "Ha! Cowardly human can't commit! A tale as old as time."
"Ah, have you had suitors before Yuugi?" Anon asked as he took a sip of beer.
Suika and Yuuka looked smugly at the Oni, who struggled to form a sentence without any trace of lies. "I don't bother with men I consider weak and there hasn't been many men how have bested me."
"Oh? Then maybe you should open a dojo." Yuuka idly suggested. "Train up a spouse as it were."
"That sounds like an excellent opportunity! I know a few guys in the village who've been rearing to learn how to fight proper, and I could partner with Takane to get you something built. All for the sake of a happy family for Miss Yuugi."

>>47252487
Yuugi opened her mouth, but the words wouldn't come out, so she closed it again. "I'm checking the brisket." She said.
The mouth watering meat made it's way around the party and everyone ate veraciously as they chugged down more beer and their lips became looser.
"I really do want a hubby, but guy's today are hella fickle. They all get drunk with me, but in the morning they get those hangover's and remember I'm a youkai so they all scurry off, which is good I guess, being feared, but just one couldn't hurt right?" Suika slurred.
"Bah, at least they drink with you! Even other Youkai think I'm a monster, did you see what they made on those lewd parchments they're selling outside?" Yuuka chimed in.
"I saw a couple of those with me on it! They make me look like I'm some blood-thirsty rapist who goes out of their way to eat helpless men! Why can't some of them show me getting a challenge?!" Yuugi Yelled.
"Oh, you think you've got it bad? You know what they write about Seija and I right?"
All the Youkai turned to Goro and nodded. Anon looked confused. "Yeah, that's right, they show me cheating! I'd never do something so traitorous! Apologizes to present company though." Goro said to Anon.
"No, I think we mean they write about you-" Suika started.
"Getting sodomized, I know. Hey, we got two Oni here, a Flower Master, someone who survived The Hakurei Shrine Experience, and a broker who knows exactly how to most effectively wreck a market. How's about we go mess em' up!" Goro said, pumping a fist up in the air.
"That's the first fucking good idea I've heard out of you!" Yuugi yelled, smashing a fist into her other hand as the other two Youkai cheered in agreement.
"Wait, wait, you guys are forgetting something." Anon said, worried. "I can't leave this place."
All at once, the violent enthusiasm escaped from the party like air through a hole in a balloon and everyone collapsed back in their seats, depressed.
"Uhm, Goro was it? I'm sorry, but are you also the subject of those Hentai comics?" Anon asked, trying to bring back the mood.
Goro waved. "Ugh, yeah. I don't have it nearly as bad as you, but I mean, look at who I work for?" He said, tugging at the Yakumo uniform. "I guess some people are just trying to get back at me without coming out and saying it. Cowards."
"Here here." The two Oni's nodded in agreement.
"Sorry, it just seems like you're angry about something else." Anon said.
Goro rubbed the side of his face and looked at Yuugi before shaking his head. "Seija can flip my sex, which I've done on occasion for virtuous reasons like so I can comfort crying children, get deals at stalls, and espionage, well, some of those aren't virtuous, but you get the point. You take that, the fact that my boss is the most high-status woman in Gensokyo, my lover is an Amanojaku, and I was raised in a temple of mostly female Youkai... well it leads to certain allegations, also I'm pregnant with two girls, completely unrelated to the sex flipping, confusing, but true."
"They're two now?!" Yuugi asked, startled.
"Congratulations. I'll send you some flowers when they're born." Yuuka said with a snicker.
"What's a half-Amanojaku anyway? Do the two of them make a full one?" Suika asked drunkenly.
Anon closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then nodded his head. "Does Seija love you?" He asked.
"Most probably." Goro answered.
"And are you going to love your children?" He asked.
"Most definitely." Goro said.
"Then don't worry about it. A man provides for and protects his family, what anyone else says or thinks is meaningless." Anon spoke before chugging the rest of his beer, crushing it, and tossing it into the barrel.
Goro looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Well said, I wish you luck with that, truly."
"I really want a family." Yuuka said idly, causing everyone to turn in her direction.
"What? Everyone else is spilling their guts? Why can't I? Even when the both of you are worried about your kids it looks like you're still happy in a way. Being happy even when you're sad seems like cheating, I wish I had something like that too, but nobody comes to the Garden of the Sun." Yuuka whined.
"Couldn't you just visit others instead?" Suika asked casually.
The Flower Youkai turned to her, astonished, as if the thought had never occurred to her. Everyone else broke out in laughter at the Flower Masters embrassement. For the rest of the night the party ate, drank, told tales, until everything was eaten and drunk and all that was to be said had been said. Except for one last detail.

>>47252490
"You ain't so bad Broker boy! And don't worry, for little Oiwa and Tsukuyomi 's sake I'll just break a few of your bones at the Solstice." Yuugi said.
"I'll be fine with a couple of scars and bruises, you can tell them stories about it." Yuuka added.
"Oh, oh, let me get one of your fingers or toes at least then! Maybe I can even gouge out an eye?" Suika joked.
"Hey now, don't get all worked up. Listen, if you need parenting advice well, I've done a crummy job of it sometimes, but I'll at least listen to your problems." Anon offered.
Goro knew he wouldn't have the time for raising someone else's kids, but thanked him anyway for it. "Man, what a wonderful night this turned out to be! Haven't had a celebration this good since I got the Kappa drunk on the Tengu's supply and the Tengu drunk on the Kappa's, or was it the other way around? I can't remember!" Goro yelled. "So, it's a real shame that, none of this is real isn't it? I'm sorry Sagume, truly..."
---
I woke up in my office, status reports on the various Youkai littered my desk along with research articles on the impure celebrations of the surface, references to prepare for the solstice(NOT for organizing watch parties OR preparing betting pools). On top was a series of photos of men, in the middle of the woods surrounding a campfire, drinking, eating, talking about their short dreary lives, cooking their foods in large, dirty containers, stained by animal fats and the soot from the thousands of trees that had fueled them, it was all so disgusting and yet, something about it seemed, peaceful.
"Sagume-San?" Reisen asked "Are you well?"
I waved at the rabbit and insisted she get on about her business.
"I got the data you wanted, about the second and third child, the ones called Oiwa and 'Tsukuyomi'." at the mention of the name, the rabbit shook her head. "Such poor taste, using that title, it's so obnoxious of them."
I took the sheets from her and read them over. Sekai was affecting reality before her emergence, this much, along with the emerging sword's influence and gathering of worshipers had been confirmed. Therefore, it was possible that the Amanojaku's and Brokers children could also spread their influence long before they manifested as well. It was one of the reasons I had used my powers to inhibit those two from conveying that information, if people knew about those children, they could learn about Sekai, and if they learned about Sekai's nature, they could modify her for purpose.
The papers confirmed some of my suspicions, visual aberrations and emotional resonances had occurred, but this wasn't out of the ordinary for even normal pregnancies. A mother hearing their child's cries in their sleep, a father miraculously guessing their child's sex before birth, these phenomenon were well-known in Lunarian society and documented, so it was no cause for alarm that these children had already started to interact with the world, yet...
"Is something the matter?" Reisen asked.
I tapped the large packet the rabbit was carrying.
"Oh this? It's nothing Sagume-San! Just some observational pictures of the impure surface dwellers is all."
I gave the rabbit a harsher look and she handed over the packet. I quickly opened it and shifted through the photos, discarding most, until I happened upon the one I was looking for. In a black void floated the Amanojaku and the Broker, who clung to each other, but not so close that two lights could be seen between them, the only luminescence in the space. I placed the picture in my breast pocket and handed the rest back to Reisen to collect. This one would do for now.

At first I just wanted to make sure the true spirit of Fourth of July was captured, but in the end, I'm still Takanon...

>>47252498
>>47252490
>>47252487
>everyone having a good time and enjoying themselves
>it's a fucking dream
that's the HSE incarnated, damn...

Being sealed is like falling into a dark pit forever.

Scary, but as the fall prolongs, it loses its sparkle and soon it turns to boredom. Time doesn't pass like it does on the outside, and once Sanae completes solidifying the inner seal shell and finishes the outer ones, it should be impossible to see the outside world. My flames burst into violent desperation, trying to escape but failing, and light dimmed as the magic proliferated, foretelling a world of complete darkness.

But that imperishable night never came as I watched Sanae scream in excruciating pain, bullets similar to the one that killed Keine pelting her, the seal abandoned as shock and confusion washed her face and her gaze diverged from me—likely to those squirts of hers…

That is what it boils down to, then? Condemned by that man, dying like flies, services disregarded… Serves you well, Sanae Kochiya.

My woman was shot dead in front of you, and you and your righteousness refused to stand by us—it was your fault, and this should not have happened! N-Never! I m-made a great effort to convince Keine to stop; it's not mine, and… A-And—and since I'll be locked in this dark pit for who knows how long, I yearn to see your misery as you watch those you love die, your despair, and—

… And…

These trembling hands rise from destroyed pockets, marbled in red and, struggling, I clutch my face. The people of Keine's revolution burning; her cold body, my blessing nowhere to be seen; Aki and Mochi without a mother… All could've been avoided! If Sanae hadn't done this—a-and that disgrace of Hieda h-hadn't—a-and if Kosuzu, Mystia, Miko; if they had just—

If Kaguya hadn't told me those foolish words about pursuing Keine's way of thinking…

The blood-red coating my fingers paints my face, the memories devastating; Sanae's screams and her apprentice's muffled, yet they reach me anyway, adding to the raging blue firestorm inside the inescapable hole of her seal.

Who am I fooling…?

… A thousand and three hundred years, and you still act like a child, Fujiwara no Mokou.

Blaming others for what you've done.

I reacted too fast, didn't see the obvious trap lying in front of me—Keine died because of it—I didn't think, merely acted in the crushing violence—so many died, the flames clouding the skies and the smoke acrid, suffocating them—and now… The gutting wails of defenseless lives drawn into this bloody mess fill my ears.

Keine would have taken action by now, with words, violence if so needed—but if I'd done something, I'd only ruin everything…

That minor bruise I inflicted on Mochi comes to mind—his teary eyes and shrieking cry afterwards—one thing so small yet enough to paint nightmares.

Always favoring brutish aggression…

… Always the path of strife… It is a cruel, cruel world anyway.

I cannot bear this anymore.

Losing, trampled—marching on anyway.

Eventually, it'll take away those few friends; my children and their children.

These abyssal flames will consume everything.

Abruptly, the whirling firestorm waned as though drawn in by a larger tornado, a massive mass of rage and vengeance quickly condensing into a small, destructive shape directly above this collapsing heart, tears flowing skyward, eyes closed. The churning apotheosis of sufficient fire to burn Gensokyo to the ground blossomed slowly, hands rising as if to capture it like one does to a fleeting firefly.

It is enough.

The fire coalesces into the image of a phoenix, the ancient promise of vengeance and rebirth—holding that man and his cursed bracelet by the neck, threatening to burn him and that woman whole; harming Mochi mistakenly; being powerless as Keine died in front of me; being powerless to stop Yukari and Seiga…

Killing that man by the carriage and drinking that cursed elixir.

My original sin, the very start of this inhumane, violent monster that I am…

… But it’s also what brought me to Gensokyo—to Keine's arms—to hold dearly to my kids. A violence that protected me, guided me for so very long and made every day a struggle. With them, that fight is of no use anymore…

I could've killed the entire Hieda clan yesterday, and that'd have saved my wife, her friends.

… Keine, would you have preferred that? That I’d slaughter them all…?

Who am I kidding? Of course, you wouldn't.

And now, tired as I am, I don't want to live like this anymore.

It’s been more than enough.

My fall stops.

Sanae's sealing—tenuous and worn-out—starts to dissolve around me and, in its dying state, the kaleidoscopic array of stars is drawn to Prometheus' gift, ancient magic imprinted on my very blood coagulating the fire and magic into a monstrous amalgamation resembling the ever-shifting walls and corridors of Eientei, mixing and matching without cohesion but the one that oozed from within—from this shattered heart that never, ever…

The small phoenix gleams, Sanae's seal absorbed, two extra pairs of wings growing on its back—

… Wants to hurt another innocent soul.

I clap.

—The phoenix explodes.

My sun spanned wide and filled the skies, then moved and crashed onto Miko's golden shields… And not one soul was lost in the process, the swimming blue flames flickering as they rained down on terrified and confused people. They stared at me in shock—at my deep wounds, half of my upper body missing; at my fire; at my deeds—but I ignored them and marched quietly to Keine's corpse, kneeling and picking it up with my only arm, carrying her as the bride she would've been one day.

Kosuzu tried to talk to me, draped in her cloak…

A simmering rage began to flare up as our eyes locked and she winced, but it swiftly faded away… So I nodded once, turned and made my way to a more secluded spot amidst half a thousand people filled with despair; put Keine down and sat by her cold corpse, her expression locked in regret and lips pale and swollen; placed her silly hat to my side; and, holding onto her hand, lit her on fire…

… She did not burn.

I don't know why or how. She simply did not burn.

But that would be a lie. I do know how this came to be… With a hand, I caressed my destroyed half, fingers delicately touching my exposed writhing heart, one side of my face immobile as the flesh reconstructed; the other, though, showed to no one in particular my opaque acceptance: a binding sieged my heart, a star made of faint light and magic. “… I've forsaken the strength of my flames.” I whisper to the serene corpse, brows furrowed. “There's no guarantee this will work, and its implications are yet unknown to me… I'll use my flames to protect, to kill whoever I deem not innocent, and never again I’ll hurt our friends; our family…” I wonder what may have happened if I'd done this before, using different methods for the same result…

I'd have acted more thoughtfully in defending her and so averted all this, right? I'd never have hurt Aya, Goro, or Seija—nor our sweet Kuramochi, would I…?

Changed flames, an inhibition put in place…

… Yet your corpse doesn't burn.

These mistakes of mine will never turn to ash.

Ah…

This is how Kaguya felt when she discovered the bamboo cutter and his wife had died, huh?

… It’s very empty.

Commotion between the others begs my attention once in a while, but ultimately I stay by her, holding her hand and holding back the tears, letting my fire burn restless—Suzu talks of whispered marriage, and that hollowness pulses—unaware of the world…

Until the beast arrives.

I have never felt such anger in a millennium.

Blinding, red, white, and all-consuming, shaking my every muscle and nearly making me drool in anticipation as I stood ever so slightly—that stance of his was the same before my world splintered, my eyes broad in severe bloodlust.

That thing…

… Is not innocent.

The roar tears my vocal cords. “CURSE YOU, HIEDA!” A flood of blue flames envelops the landscape with biblical grandeur and three sets of towering, infernal blue wings unfurl simultaneously on my back, my brain barely processing the world around me next as I unleashed myself to confront the monster of golden eyes in a cyclone of sapphire, Miko's golden walls falling as I spotted the Moriyan goddesses leaving on the edge of my vision, hardly aware with my mind laser-focused on the incarnate monster of a man—

—And it was then that I realized I still held onto Keine's hand, the arm ripped at about shoulder height, the whole thing on fire, as I crashed into the ground and raised a huge torrent of flames around us. It filled me with unbridled rage, Hieda’s truest colors displayed in his demonic force as Keine’s disembodied arm and his katana met, blue fire—a symbol of me and you, Keine—erupting in magnitudes equal to my wrath.

The creature dismissed it all, the flames not even licking his skin or armor.

The rage grew and grew and grew.

“I'LL KILL YOU!” Attacks from everywhere peppered the monster, my geysers of blue and Keine's arm of embers, my own fists exerting a lust to rip him to shreds, yet nothing met the man’s flesh as he dodged and phased through all, his sword inching closer everytime we met in frenzied combat and—

As Danmaku thundered from the skies, my free arm was sliced off—no attack of light had even grazed the man, but I couldn't care; my eyes bulged as I waited…

My arm didn’t grow back. Oh.

… AHAHAHAHA!!

I WAS BLEEDING! LIKE A HUMAN, I WAS BLEEDING!

An exquisite pain coursed my body, making my caged heart thump like nothing else, rage and hatred unfathomable. Suddenly, with the distance having grown, the pouring of Danmaku had grown so intense that the monster vanished amidst the lights.

“Oi, Fujiwara!” Miko spoke to my side, glancing once at Keine's arm ablaze, the embers of pure blue the size of fairies, before staring at my lacking shoulder and frowning deeper. I brushed off the pain. “Are you still here?”

He isn't dead.

I know it in my throbbing heart.

“I won't be going anywhere…” Slowly, he wandered out of the dazzling lights as if they were gentle rain, unbothered. “… Not until I finish this.”

The woman had gone mad; that much was clear. She fought like an animal, her mane of white a flurry that blended together with Hieda's, holding a severed arm as if unable to part ways with its owner and a vengeful glimmer in her eyes, a sole desire to kill him. Fujiwara no Mokou has broken, her ocean of flames at ankle level, wild eyes on Hieda as the man walked off the wall of Danmaku, courtesy of the Youkai flying up above…

But she and her anger are still useful, be it as a bloodthirsty hound or meat wall—though her immortal regeneration suddenly disappearing rises concerns, my eyes turning to meet Hieda's—

—! Wait…

Before I can parse the sudden new information, Mokou explodes forward, uncaring of her missing arm as she resumes ferocious combat, the oni matching her every movement with speed, might—and, what he couldn't dodge, simply phased right through him, my eyes narrowing as my body flickered in gold and I stood behind him, my sword the sharp claw of a bear aiming for an audacious blow to the heart of the samurai—his sword met mine and deflected it, the man spinning and giving his back to Mokou, the immortal enjoying the opening, hands trembling with so much fire I had to squint, but it again phased through the man, alarms blaring inside as I moved Shichisei-ken and deflected a blow aimed for my head, a sudden kick meeting my right shin and throwing me off balance, the katana plummeting—

I teleported away, just in time for Mokou's harmless flames to explode and evaporate the soft drizzle, thinner but more accurate Danmaku pelting the oni-samurai yet nothing had any effect…

Taking us two into direct combat, huh…?

Something became clear to me: the moment I met his pupils of lightning bolts, Mokou's desires dissolved into silence. Is that what also makes him invulnerable…? No, he's invulnerable even without looking at the Danmaku and the Youkai throwing it.

… Tsk. “Don't look into his eyes, Fujiwara!” I scream to her, but the immortal barely listens, her vicious fight with the man rendering her a slash right through the face, her hateful expression dividing into two as blood drenched her fair skin, the oni's dark sockets inflexible as he was about to decapitate her.

Ah, it'd be nice if Futo were here.

I deflected the hit with a teleport bathed in gold, a Spell card in hand burning before bursting into chaotic patterns of arrows of a plethora of colors, none even coming close to doing any damage, frustration springing inside as I brandished my sword again, blood coating my forehead and threatening to drip onto my vision. “Hieda, are you sane still?!” I yell to the oni, dodging his empty glance and focusing on his feet covered in blue flames; my body served as a wall, protecting Fujiwara from the wrathful stare as her healing resurfaced. There was no answer from him. “Know you're facing Toyosatomimi no Miko, a saint, and understand: the moment you die, I'll do everything in my power to annihilate your soul completely! You'll never see your dead daughter in the afterlife!” It was an empty plea, of course, but the man doesn't need to know that.

“… But my Akyuu is alive. She's right there.” His voice is rough, like someone grinding rotten wood on a chalkboard, but I frown as I watch his armored hand point to an empty space to the side. “She's watching our spar with such gleam in her eyes, Hakurei-sama—” What…? “—I know you're a busy miko, and I'm terribly sorry, but could you indulge this one man just one more time?” He raises the tip of his katana, aiming directly at me and Mokou. The healed immortal stood up, her eyes filled to the brim with murderous desire. “It’ll make her day, and I swear I'll not take easy anymore just because you're a lady~” To watch a battered, putrid skull attempt to smile, its eyes lifeless but for those scintillating yellow lights… It fills me with infinite dread—

He's in my face.

A spewed cloud of fire erupts from the ground and fills my vision, yielding me enough time to flicker away before that blade could—

—No… not completely.

I ignore the stinging pain on my punctured stomach, the tip of the blade having made its way slightly into my flesh; nothing significant, but served as a way to remember what exactly this thing I'm fighting is, hand clutching Shichisei-ken tighter—calm down, Miko, calm down… Think, investigate.

You're fighting for these people because you have a long-term goal!

I watch strained as Mokou tackles the man, astute enough even in her grief-induced frenzy to keep her eyes away from his, though… Why is she looking at him after healing?! Is she a psychopath?! No, no, it doesn't matter! What more, w-what more?! He… He was hallucinating his dead daughter, thinking I'm the miko of the Hakurei Shrine by virtue of name or…?

Gah, I have nothing!

The frustration is insane! It's like we're living entirely different stories!

Mokou's explosions of blue cripple my eardrums, yet a sudden war cry still reaches me: “TENNOHEIKA—” My eyes go wide. “—BANZAI!”

A loud chorus made up of desires echoed: be of safety, of victory, of bloodshed of thy enemies and, mainly, a desire to see this end. Emboldened by the fight of their demonic leader, those remaining samurai that hadn't died with shots to the roof of the mouth, sword to the guts or Danmaku screamed at the top of their lungs—a collection of words I myself heard in the past both on the giving and receiving ends—and though here its meaning is lost as Hieda is not emperor, that's not the point… The point is that they all leaped off the defenses, with those who had ammunition aiming at the Youkai flying and those without holding their swords high, fully intending to see this through to the very end. Their boots crushed the blue flames as they charged towards us in a scene from the past, with their few bullets easily evaded by the Youkai sweeping the skies, but, eventually, they were bound to hit…

… Mystia dropped from the skies, eyes wide and clutching her wounded leg, her screeches of pain reaching Mokou and snapping that maddening stare out of her by force, images only the immortal knew of likely flashing through her eyes as her desires morphed from bloodshed to protect: “MYSTIA!” She yelled, but the oni-samurai gave her no quarter, the sword slashing in the shape of a half-moon where she stood and tearing the immortal's body in half, no more smile in her face.

His, however, did not follow. “Watch, scum! Watch what it truly means to fight!” He points at his men approaching, their confidence rising notches in the boisterous cries. “Your poor attempt at mimicry ends today—”

—A fireball of blue hits him square in the face and though it does no damage, he stops his words. What the…

“TOSS THE FIRE!” Kosuzu yells, reaching down onto the ocean of blue fire, grasping it as if a snowball and hurling it onto Hieda, pitiful power behind her throws… But what counted was the action—the capacity for instigation. “Make a curtain so Mystia-chan can be rescued!” She concludes fiercely, and the crowds follow.

Suddenly, dozens and dozens of fireballs are flying over to Hieda and his encroaching men, the damage insignificant but serving as an iron curtain, stopping the bullets from damaging the Youkai, their response to the chorus of the samurai being bellows of unison; a fight shared as was the desire to help a friend.

I smiled wide as the other Youkai descended and caught Mystia midfall, my frustration quelled as I turned back to…

… To Hieda…

Who fixed his gaze in Kosuzu's direction.

No… I must stop him!

“FUJIWARA, PROTECT KOS—” Before I can finish it, the sea of flames beneath the man opens as he sprints, phasing through the immortal without restrictions and beelining to the second revolutionary leader, all color draining from her pale face. The people tried to shield her, throwing fire and bricks and hitting him with wooden planks, but nothing worked, not even when I myself teleported and tried to snatch Suzu away from there, but in that haste, I locked eyes once with him.

I can't teleport.

That sword is aiming for my chest…

… So many plans and ideas to make a better Gensokyo.

All that c-cannot just end—

—Suzu pushed me.

She pushed me away and the man grabbed her by the black cloak, his sword piercing where I stood a moment ago. Hieda didn't ruminate about it a second, viciously pulling the revolutionary leader right from behind our defenses, slashing and killing everyone who stood in his way, the lines opening as if the red sea, fear boundless and all-consuming—all the while his samurai charged at us, their war cries filling the air like drums.

BUT NOTHING OF THAT MATTERS!!

Unable to teleport, I flew at my maximum speed towards the man. Mokou attempted to stop him with impossibly powerful geysers of hellish fire, eyes wide and insane, but nothing worked; it just went through him as if the man wasn't even there! Nothing worked! What is this power?! W-We need to stop him right now!

Suzu screamed in utter horror, not a fighter yet dragged as if one to the open area in front of the entire revolutionary force, not one pellet of Danmaku falling from the skies as it could hit the revolutionary leader. Me and Mokou, together, tried jumping him, but the moment he stopped and locked eyes with us—

—Lightnings boomed from above, eclipsing all light and nearly hitting and electrocuting me to death; Mokou couldn't dodge—drowning in despair; desires a massive flame that begged her to not fail again—and was hit, her eyes exploding and body collapsing.

I gritted my teeth, heart thumping, watching as Hieda stopped and threw Kosuzu forward, the revolutionary leader faltering and gawking at her forces, draped in a cloak too big for her…

Desperation; fear.

And Hieda sliced down, sinking the sword into her collarbone, its cruel bite stopping a centimeter above her bosom.

Inside, it was as if a blossom had wilted.

Having gulped its share of blood, the blade was ruthlessly dislodged, gentle sparkle fading away from her eyes.

Suzu staggers forward, her expression shifting from confusion, fear, and disorientation; the silence excruciating. She knows she shouldn’t be here and that this ending was always possible—it was Keine's, so why couldn't it be hers too?

Realization dawned on her as her body started to shut down, legs shaking and low chimes resonating from the bells on her head across the ravaged landscape. But even as blood poured down and she took another hesitant step forward, as if trying to escape the intimidating, disgusting monstrosity directly behind her, those eyes never lost sight of us… No, no—calm down, Miko! This is salvageable! Keine, Kosuzu! All expendable! It's no big thing; you have more information about the oni! The obstacles between you and taking over this village are few! For heaven's sake, you are fighting for these people on the front lines, so acceptance of your rule is immense!

Stop staring like a goddamn fool, stop that trembling of your lips—stop glaring at that cursed dark cloak you placed so firmly over that dead woman's shoulders!

Focus on what you know and what you've gathered…

… But how with the shrieking cry of the revolutionaries as they watch their second leader bleed, about to collapse and die, her strength quickly ebbing away and her eyes darkening? How with Mystia Lorelei screaming, trying to leave that man's arms, ignoring her mutilated leg? With Mokou watching, abashed, her burning desire to not fail again intersecting with the realization that it had just happened?

My hold on Shichisei-ken tightens as hair covers my wide eyes, lungs overwork, and my mind churns. Reimu hasn't arrived yet; that oni looks each second more invincible…

I doubt he's conscious; no, he's hallucinating. Insane! Most likely has no idea that he is using his power! What kind of lunacy is this?!

Just the thought of fighting this same war, but with him fully cognizant of his actions…

As his soldiers drew closer, the sky above tore apart and violent thunderclaps boomed, raining down swift death onto the gathering crowds of Youkai and spreading chaos, the soft drizzle turning into vapor as it came into contact with the blue fire.

This…

… I-It's just…

“… What was the point?” I watch with no surprise as one of the oldest beings in Gensokyo tears up, her hand clenching her heart and her six wings curling in tortuous matter. Fujiwara continues with: “Of anything—of this? What was the point…?” Whatever answer she expected to get didn't come.

Hieda spoke, his voice thunderous. “This is just the beginning!” An exclamation amidst a sea of fire and a flurry of thunder, his katana pointed high. “Gensokyo will be cleansed of you! Your vile children will be hung; your pregnant trampled! Your perversion of humanity shall no longer be of concern! Watch as your leader falters and dies; watch as your ties hold no meaning! Watch and understand: YOU HAVE LOST!”

Suzu clutches her bubbling wound, her face sickly pale, her legs trembling…

… And doesn't fall.

Kosuzu Motoori stood still for no apparent reason, everyone observing with a range of emotions as she bled dry, regal cloak wafting with the strong winds…

She was still standing.

It was as if a fight against fate, one unremarkable and that'd amount to nothing, with roots presumably in her two sweet kids; husband, this revolution; or maybe belief in something or someone… Whatever it was, those eyes refused death, even if for but a moment, and bore determination unreal enough—strong enough—to stall her frail, small body from collapsing.

Some saw it as a statement; others as a futile fight.

Fujiwara no Mokou couldn't look, one hand clutching to Keine's disembodied arm and the other to her heart, guilt crushing all that was the Immortal.

I wonder if Hana Hakurei saw it; if Yukari Yakumo even cared to watch at all…

… I could only wonder, as my eyes had turned upwards when, suddenly, the moon itself had a desire—

A full moon eclipsing the skies, burning in blue fire.

—A desire to live her life.

“You did well, Suzu, hanging on to life for just long enough…” A voice… A familiar voice made my eyes wide, and me and Mokou stared in pure shock as she stood there, holding onto Kosuzu's shoulders—h-how?! She was by Hieda a moment ago—

With body and mind rejuvenated, Kosuzu stared into her eyes, not even a trace of her jagged wound remaining…

And she smiled.

In unfiltered relief, Suzu smiled. “You are so very late, gee…” Gently, as though realizing something, she removed the filthy, ruined cloak. “Here—this is yours~”

To my side was a silent thud, Fujiwara no Mokou letting go of that hand aflame with one weakly whispered word, not believing her own eyes.

“Thank you for taking care of it while I was away…” Keine smiled softly as she turned, hurling the cloak over her shoulders as if it weighed nothing—a flash and it was pristine, clean once more, rippling in the wind with elegance. “Rest. I’ll handle things.”

On her back, a flaming, crooked swastika of blue blossomed.

>>47258081
>>47258063
>>47258056
>>47258048
>>47258040
And this is Second act done, meaning next batch will be the start of Third arc and so, the end of Keine's storyline!
Took a little while with this because wanted to get the fifth chapter right~
Arc 3 will be very short compared with the previous two, but will be taking a break for a little to let others catch up and end Aunn's and Okuu's storyline (need about 3–4 days)
for Hanaanon: Hana should be with her two god moms now, and made it vague if she saw all of this or not, so you can choose at what point you get the 'Ana into the fray~!
>>47250124
you don't tell me~just hope 'Ana doesn't get her face nearly carved out this time.
>things getting worse and her family being burdened by trauma only means things will get better!
love that perspective on things, she might strike literary gold after these, I'm sure~!
>>47250285
good to know, man! Though that laugh at the end hits close to home...

>>47258081
And so keine enters the fray ready for war. Even with history eating idk if that's enough to stop Mr Hilda, he's literally so damn strong as an oni he could probably cut the HSE in half right now with all the people in it if he wasn't straight up insane.

>>47258309
>Even with history eating idk if that's enough to stop Mr Hilda, he's literally so damn strong as an oni he could probably cut the HSE in half right now with all th--
Gone. Reduced to atoms.

>>47252498
>>47252490
>>47252487
Actually a nice chapter, it'd be nice if Anon's healing post freedom was on the manly side, thanks for the fun chapters... even if it was a lunarian powerlevel analysis in the end!

>>47251599
It do be how it be...

>>47258040
>>47258048
>>47258056
>>47258063
>>47258081
I know we're not at Keine's ending yet, but I find it amazing how the stakes of her storyline rose so drastically. It started with a couple of children in her class innocently spreading a lie, and now there's a Dark Souls boss fight in the village that resulted in multiple important characters being gravely injured. Never would have thought we would have ended up here.

>>47261769
feels a bit like it undercut the tension of the finale a bit if right before the big bloodbath of the HSE there was already a big bloodbath in the village
not to mention it's gone on for so long that it makes me worry that the finale itself (if it ever comes) will go on for half a year

>>47261897
doubtful, considering it involves few of the main players of the Solstice and everything planned for it like the sword in the lake, Makai, Yukari's time stop, Ran's betrayal, Sekai's tree and much more; even the first fight should already mog the entire festival in terms of emotional investment and scale with Kasen, Reimu and Hana
>will go on for half a year
not really? Like, it may or may not, but seeing it's just me and Suzuanon writing the festival with Hanaanon clocking in by the end, compared to the 5-6~ that'll write the Solstice, my prediction is that we'll end in either October or, if the others wanna be funny about it, December in line with the Winter Solstice

>>47261769
In a way Keine's story is basically the HSE in miniature. Funny shenanigans spawning arising from something absurd (Keine pregnancy rumors / Yukari building a massive whorehouse after kidnapping Reimu's husband), escalation, a lot of escalation, and a bloodbath of a finale with consequences for all gensokyo.

>>47261897
You don't understand having a climax before your climax is peak story telling.

>>47262171
if it just had 10% of the sex, though
the lesbo four-fivesome is a distant dream...

>>47247279
>>47247292
>>47247298
>>47247312
>>47247322
This may have been a shitpost, but there is in fact a portion of Japanese living in Hawaii that deify George Washington.

>>47264359
>the chances of a cute George Washington 2hu appearing to canonically help saving Anon are never 0%
Sekai help us all, what have you done, Ayanon.?..

>>47258097
>for Hanaanon
Don't worry about holding up the festival for my sake! After JP bullying is done, Hana banana moment, and getting yoinked by godmoms i'm not planning on anything else beyond that being more than commentary or a confrontation post-fight with the bird(Pink not black). Go ahead and let the outerversal cowe 1v1 the super OP extra outerversal innervsal (pls nerf) oni!
If you have anything earmarked for her beyond getting mama 'mu feel free to use her and i'll write around it!

[sensitive imagery inside lil' edit]
>>47261769
>It started with a couple of children in her class innocently spreading a lie, and now there's a Dark Souls boss fight in the village that resulted in multiple important characters being gravely injured.
Hana could've stopped it all if she was paranoid like Yukari and weren't so busy dealing with massive trauma, that silly miko

>>47262320
This, the Keine arc isn't real because Hana hasn't had the time to molest Keine or Mokou. Until Hakurei he hentai, no canon. You dig, porpai?

>>47266366
I see, ok!

>>47266445
Cute warcrimes!

>>47262262
Asura's wrath my beloved

flowchart of last thread coming through!
https://files.catbox.moe/2bjxc1.png
for writeranons to guide themselves and readeranons to accept death is a natural part of life

>>47270331
Thanks as a always!

>>47270331
every single time I see the "Hana hates vines" thing all I can think of is Vine and the vine boom

>>47270389
Back At It Again at The Hakurei Shrine Experience

>>47270331
You should probably also remove the chapters that archiveanon also removed from the archive as they aren't canon.

>still no AO3 update
so, so over

>>47270865
I'm being a lazyfuck, gomenasai...

>>47270887
It's okay, take your time Archiveanon.

>>47270865
>>47270887
I can't believe it, Archive Anon...
Lazy

>>47250319
I don't think you'd have to remove that much, but the HSE would need some trimming like removing storylines and references to storylines that don't go anywhere.
My idea for a cut down HSE is editing the existing stories that make it to the ending and removing the stories that didn't and having that he its own separate upload.
A sort of more digestible HSE lite if you will.

>>47272064
that's what I intend to do with the curated version after we finish, though in addition would be
>linking chapters into segments, no more "Yukari is having a deep emotional moment with Anon, suddenly three shitposts in the middle before we continue"
>separating chapters by their conjuction, like the Book of Patchy would be its own chapter for example
should make for a better reading experience when compared to the brute archive.

>>47272110
At least you've already started a bit on that process by removing certain unpopular trouble makers from the archive.
So that's less work you will have to do later.

>>47270865
>Only one new comment
>Archiveanon is pisscord gay with a piece of shit
Grim.

JP tries to appeal to a different market~
blame the archive for remembering me of this one. Believe in friendship!

>>47273088
Considering the nature of Youkai, i wouldn't be surprised if there was a subset of hardcore yuri fanatics among them

>>47274158
see the lunarians in the thread and that convo a little while ago about yuri. Despite appearances, the HSE can be often very womanhomo and american

>>47266501
makes sense, hopefully the Hana remedies that soon enough

>>47275603
Nonsense, there is no homosexuality in the HSE!

>>47279714
Goro-kun...

man, I wanted the bump...
not like I'm finishing editing for another 2 hours~

>>47279725
he doesn't count, he's our token trans character. We have a quota to fill, after all

>>47279737
Looking forward to the chapter, can't wait!

(3/5)
—
So it wasn't a dream: the shrine had indeed been restored to its former glory and, if Marisa is to be trusted, Reimu did it all by herself. Torii gates, robust and powerful, withstanding the cold and the stony path as pristine as the—albeit snow-covered—main house it led to… And a tall flame that dwarfed the shrine to the point Marisa herself whistled, her litter comfortably tucked in her scarf. “Show off~” She jests, and I remember after the party when we brought Hana here; was all this hidden by the snowstorm, or…? Guess it doesn't matter, not as Marisa nonchalantly continued her way to the back of the shrine, and I found myself fixing my own winter clothing we got me before leaving Alice's house as I eyed the spots I'd normally be my statute-self as to protect the shrine—before, the overgrown had taken hold and all the moss and humidity made the perfect area for insects and other nasty little pests to make nests. It'd gotten so bad I had to sleep on the roof…

Now, it was spotless—save the blanket of snow—welcoming, even, and nostalgia urged me to separate into two and pursue satisfaction in duty.

… Bad thoughts and memories stop me, and I follow Marisa to the back, eyes filling with the reflection of Reimu's blossom of fire, fingers fidgeting in confusion as Marisa practically ignores it and moves inside the shrine, tossing me her—B-BWUAH?!

She tossed me her jar of children like it was a snowball, and I fought tooth and nail in a cumbersome dance as the slippery glass tried its best to kiss the ground. Soon my grasp was steady, and I sighed in relief… Then l I heard laughter. “Why?! You're their mama; don't put your pups in danger!!” I lashed out at the yellow monster, who only cackled harder, opening the shogi door and about to welcome herself into the kitchen

“Heh, don't worry~it's super glass! It's only breaking with, like, a ton of power behind it—man, you looked so funny!” Red rushes to my cheeks as I cringe, strengthening my hold onto the glass of effervescent light, tail waving furiously and ears pointed up, trying my hardest to glare at the ordinary magician. She was unfazed. “I'll make us some tea; try to take Reimu out of her pupal stage or something—she can't hear anything inside that so, ugh… Throw a rock at her, I guess?” She shrugs and, before I can answer anything, closes the door to deter the cold.

… Hm…

Bleh!

The action of showing me tongue to the closed door amounts to nothing, but soothes my heart as I turn to the huge blistering blossom—the way the fire swam was as if a God had taken a waterfall and used it as whipping cream; the motions almost hypnotic—and swallow cold, holding tighter to Marisa's pups…

I wonder why she gave me them.

I get the idea to throw them at Reimu's bud, but as soon as I lift a small rock off the ground and throw it into the smoldering flower—!! Only to see a lightning bolt of magma sprout out from one petal and instantly vaporize the pebble. The idea vanishes, trembling arms shielding the babies with all the duty a Komainu can muster.

W-What the hell was that?!

A lumbering voice answers, the fire opening: “Gee, Marisa! Don't throw stuff at my fire; I've already told you it's not funny…” A gap reveals blood-red eyes staring directly at me, and I stiff as statue—not in that sense—my eyes bulging. “Aunn…?” There's exasperation in her words, and her eyes glow with a light even the embers cannot equal—a light that jostles my chest.

The last time we saw each other, not even a word was exchanged; her eyes much more focused on Hana and… I'd been left by the wayside.

But now her gaze is fixed on me, and I wonder if I have turned into a statue, as no words come out. I hug Marisa's pups tighter, trying to say something—anything—yet cannot manage a noise louder than a squeak, tail betraying me as it wags back and forth… Excited.

Excited to have her eyes on me.

As her fire unravels, Reimu stands up—skin covered in fire to protect her intimacy. I wonder if she looks like Hana, now that I know so personally how Hana looks in her private parts—with a solemn smile, one that grows after seeing Marisa's jar. “Ah, so she set you up for a scare? Heh, sorry~!” She laughs anyway, and I feel red, pounding heart chastising me for easily forgetting the hatred and loathing towards her born from so many years of watching the gentle Reimu devolve into a monster… But the way she’s so happy to see me, that echoing and carefree laughter…

A conversation by the countertop comes back to me, with Hana's doubts shadowing her expression—her questions about how Yukari was in the past—

“Oi, tea is ready, you two! Reimu, where the cookies at?!” Marisa's abrupt yell startles me, and I blink to see Reimu already clad in her winter-miko attire, the cocoon of flames she used to protect her privacy dissipating as she approaches with only a hint of hesitation.

As she passes by me, she smiles and nods—a sign for me to follow.

… It takes me back to simpler—better—times.

I follow.

>>47280164
next two tomorrow because ya boy needs to go sleep or he won't be waking up for work. Sadge that I couldn't finish editing any of the other two, got caught up writing Keine's chapters~
Tsun Aunn that got it from 'Ana coming next, though!

>>47280164
Such a heartfelt scene, only for Aunn to be infected by the 'ana's lewdness...
Good chapter and thanks for the feels!

>>47282125
at least it's just retarded curiosity
Hana did a number on the dog and almost corrupted her...

>>47282257
The 'ana was set up, she was framed!

>>47282389
bullshit, punishment will be delivered.
the 'Ana WILL pay 3000 hours of community service!

>>47285139
I'm surprised that no one in the project's early days used Kotohime for a 'FREEZE! PUT YOUR FAT COCK WHERE I CAN SEE IT' joke

>>47285254
It was back in the backs before we every started including 98s

>>47285254
>'FREEZE! PUT YOUR FAT COCK WHERE I CAN SEE IT'
kek, this sentence almost made today be a chapterless day: nearly spat my water all over my keyboard
Koto was too busy to make appearances here because she was dealing with the Yamararo's paper trail from the harrowing Lava Incident in the mining operations of the HSE Flowchart. Poor management and neglect of safety laws got that green bitch behind jails~

>>47250285
That reminds me, what's Okina's motive?
A love of chaos, opportunism? Something like, even if Yukari is crazy, I get why she's doing what she's doing, but Okina's just a mystery and I feel like we don't even have bare hints of what she's hoping to accomplish.
For such a integral character she has very little written about her, especially with how she's basically just walking to her death and randomly pissing people off, which seems really odd.

>>47286745
I think you skipped a chapter or two
>>46637037
>>46637049

>>47286796
So she's just evil and retarded?
Is this really one of the final villains? Honestly what a waste of a character I hope she does off screen or something.

>>47286877
>Is this really one of the final villains?
nah, that'd be Yukari alone. Okina is a natural opposition of Yukari and a neutral force in the sage spectrum, kinda like a completion of 'unstoppable force v. unmovable object', meaning she'll shine much more when she ends the cold war and butts head with Yukari; though it's doubtful her importance will be much beyond that, considering the main characters of Yukari, Hana, Reimu, Kasen and Anon already strike a good balance between each other and have much more emotional depth to their interpersonal conflicts.
We could've used her more in the past if we had the foresight the project would grow so large, and other characters like Marisa have achieved great heights after long waiting times, true; but that's doubtful for her case as Okina is already so established. You write you learn, and boisterous lunatics that relish in their uncontrollable indulgence can still be fun to both write and watch fall.

>>47287112
She's not fun and that chapter's just bad, just as bad as that time Takanaeanaon wrote Remi simping over Goro and Seija, except it's Satori being bullied and raped again for no reasons and going "oh wow, look how cool and evil Okina is!"
Honestly probably the worse character in the HSE.

>>47287208
I mean, at least Takane anon wasn't ruining a sage's characterization for no discernable reason, though the OC wank certainly was a little much.

>>47287231
>>47287208
It's kind of funny to me that that's my most infamous moment, because I thought of it as just sort of a cutaway gag where Remilia chunni's out, building on her previous 'lady of the night' gaff.In retrospect, it was kind of a weird blow to her character and if I did again, I would've had Seija trip on a rug or something, causing a rube-gorberg machine-like cascade that breaks a bunch of stuff in the mansion, since the idea wasn't that 'oh look, these characters are cool' it was 'Remilia has an immature idea of cool'.

>>47287269
Don't be so harsh on yourself, you just made a joke that didn't land. Like the other Anon said it didn't fuck over the character of a Sage and another Anon did worse than both on you on every single post they made.
Besides the Goro crossdressing arc and his pregnancy are way longer, more plot important, and also worse.

>>47287303
The Goro Pregnancy is based tho

>>47287488
It was cool in the moment but looking back on it it just added to the amount of gap children in the story.

>>47215067 82

The air is still, dead one could say. Frigid, stagnant it seeks to steal away any warmth it comes into contact with. Luckily, Mima’s warmth cannot be stolen.

At least in theory, it shouldn’t. Temperature is not something that matters to a vengeful spirit. Neither the fires of Sanjiva nor the frost of Arbuda should give one pause, so why is it that she clutches her cloak so tightly?

It matters not, she is for the most part fine and not many could say the same if they were in her position.

The far more pressing issue, though she hates to admit it, is boredom. In the evening she had her hands full with the flood of refugees fleeing the village. At night, she kept herself entertained with the trickle that approached her shrine. Now as the moon has passed its highest point, she sits alone keeping vigil.

Logically, she should be fine to head inside. It is exceedingly unlikely that anyone will arrive until sunrise and even if they did, someone would be around to let them in. Despite this, she remains.

Perhaps it is diligence, a devotion to her would-be followers that pushes her to endure the cold. Perhaps it is pride, a stubborn unwillingness to call it a night. Perhaps she simply enjoys the peace and quiet.

Does the reason even matter if the end result is the same? No, the result always speaks louder than the intent. No matter how just the cause, it is damned if brings only pain. In that way, she-

The past is dead and gone. She’s analyzed her past deeds a hundred times before, dwelling on them changes nothing.

…

She thinks she prefers the wind. Sure it may make things colder, but at least it wouldn’t be so unbearably quiet. A howling gale would be something at least, far better than nothing.

An exterior door somewhere in the shrine slides open. In the following moment, there is silence until-

The snow compresses under a step with a crunch. It is not especially loud, but it’s made noticeable by virtue of the total silence otherwise.

The first step is soon joined by many others. It is not especially fast, nor is it painstakingly slow.

Mima isn’t certain which extreme she’d prefer. On one hand, she’d like to do away with the anticipation and see to whatever it is that’s occurring. On the other, as boring as these late hours are it’d be nice to savor the suspense over time so that the night feels just a little bit shorter.

Mima’s desires ultimately do not matter as the steps lead the mysterious figure to her at their own pace. The girl in question is Murasa, she’s staring at Mima from the edge of the veranda.

Mima waits for a moment for the girl to speak, but nothing comes from it. She clearly wants something but is hesitating for one reason or another. Once more it seems she must play mentor.

Patting the floor next to her, Mima commands, “Sit.”

The girl obeys, taking the spot next to her. Still, she hesitates, fidgeting slightly, and does not speak.

It’s strange, she is normally a rather lively girl from Mima’s experience. What could be bothering her to such an extent? “You’re troubled. What is it that’s eating away at your mind?”

Murasa coughs, “I-It’s nothing like that, I just want to put my thoughts in order. We’ve never talked alone.”

Mima wasn’t aware Murasa had any desire for a private conversation, though she supposes the topic is rather obvious, “We have similar natures.”

Murasa nods, “Yeah, Ship Phantom and Vengeful Spirit.”

Mima briefly considers pushing the conversation along but decides against it. Murasa is the one who sought this conversation out and she certainly is not pressed for time.

The Ship Phantom is quiet for a time before suddenly asking, “You’ve killed people before, right?”

Mima isn’t surprised, that is after all the unifying trait before the two races. Both are spirits with a murderous streak, “Quite a few in my time, but that was a long time ago.”

Murasa is neither shocked nor upset as others in this new Gensokyo might be. “It felt good?”

Mima nods, “It was euphoric for a time.”

Murasa stares at Mima closely, searching for something. “But you stopped, on your own accord?”

The last part was hastily tacked on. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to infer that Murasa had less choice in the matter. Byakuren forced her perhaps? Eh, there’s no point speculating when Murasa will likely reveal that soon. Mima nods, “The Hakurei maidens, the ones before Reimu that is, definitely were… quite insistent that I stop, but it was entirely my own decision.”

Still looking for something, Murasa prods Mima along, “Why did you stop?”

Mima shrugs, “Would you believe me if I said I was bored?”

That grabs Murasa’s attention.

>>47287821 83

Mima continues, “It’s all blurry now, but I still vividly feel that righteous burning anger that drove me forward. Every time I made someone who hurt me feel my pain, I felt this wonderfully sweet feeling. The problem was that there weren’t that many people that hurt me. I still wanted to feel that feeling so I… I got creative. You see obviously the associates of those people were to blame because they assisted them. If they were dead, surely the blame passed down to their descendants. If you continue like that, you’ll find a nearly endless number of people who ‘deserve’ to die.”

For a moment, Mima is lost in reminiscing, barely remembering her audience. “I could never recapture that feeling, however. I tried to make up for it in quantity, but it never quite worked and as soon as the brief rush passed I felt hollow. Soon enough I felt nothing from it, I just acted out of routine. Once you’ve walked that path for so long, it’s nearly impossible to stop, y’know?”

Mima startles for a moment when Murasa responds having momentarily forgotten her, “Yeah, before Byakuren found me I’d just go around sinking boats and drowning people. I never had any good justification to start though, I just wanted to hurt people.”

Mima counters, “I never had a good justification either. I may have dressed my actions up like Alice does her dolls, but at the end of the day my true desire to mindlessly hurt shone through.”

Murasa doesn’t look entirely convinced, but she doesn’t argue the point. “So how did you go from that to this?”

Mima smiles wistfully, “It was the Hakurei Shrine Maidens-”

Murasa interrupts, “I thought you said that-”

Murasa is in turn silenced by a look. “They did not force me to stop, but I always found them interesting. This was old Gensokyo when the humans were far more afraid and the youkai far less friendly. The mikos were the only people I really interacted with. Truth be told I avoided killing them because I was lonely. It was more interesting to have them as nemesis.”

Mima isn’t quite sure why she’s speaking, she had never even given Marisa the full story. Still, there’s something cathartic about talking about it. “There was one I was particularly… let’s say close to. She was rather young so it was quite a shock when she suddenly passed. Why her only child was barely walking at that point. If a youkai truly wanted to, they could have quite easily ended the Hakurei bloodline. A few tried, I killed them.”

Murasas blinks, “But why?”

Mima replies simply, “I was done pretending I think. That was around the time I took in Marisa too. It just felt so much more rewarding watching them grow and playing a role in that growth. I was Marisa’s mentor and the antagonist in little Reimu’s story. Then eventually Reimu reached the point where she could seal me properly and I more or less accepted it. It felt like a proper end, though given the situation I found when those seals finally failed… perhaps that was a mistake.”

… Ah, Mima rambled for quite a while, didn’t she? She practically gave her entire life story to some random youkai she barely knew with almost no-

Murasa surely must have gotten something out of it as her response is rather thoughtful, “I see, so it’s the same lesson Byakuren always gave, but actually lived through.”

Mima silently straightens and schools her expression. She isn’t done, “Y-Yes, you could say that. I take it you’re currently struggling with your urges?”

Murasa nods, “Yeah… it’s not… I haven’t hurt anyone in a long time, but sometimes I feel tempted. It’s been a little over a year since I’ve last sunk a boat and truth be told I think I’d like to sink another and make sure whoever is in it goes with. I-I won’t of course, but… I guess it’s just the stress of this whole mess. I just wanted to know how others handle it..”

Hmmm, “Why aren’t you drowning anyone right now? You certainly could.”

Murasa stares at Mima, “No I couldn’t. Byakuren would have my head and the rest of the shrine would be close behind. Besides, it’d make all the time I spent in the temple pointless, wouldn’t it?”

>>47287833 84

Mima nods, “If you feel it would, then yes. But beyond that, you could presumably flee Byakuren, maybe sell your soul to Yukari. It can’t be that you only fear punishment from the temple.”

Murasa replies, “Well yeah, punishment aside I’d lose everyone. It’d drive a major wedge between us.”

Mima smiles confidently, “Our reasons are one and the same. Our bonds bring far more satisfaction and fulfillment than mindless slaughter ever could. I cannot say you’ll be free of such urges, but so long as you have someone dear to you, I am certain you may overcome them.”

Murasa sighs, “I felt like you’d say something like that. N-Not that it’s bad advice or I don’t appreciate it, but…”

Murasa trails off, prompting Mima to suggest. “You hoped for a proper solution?”

Murasa nods, “Yeah, some magic or something.”

Mima shakes her head, “Magic unfortunately cannot take the place of friends. I had to teach Marisa that a few times.”

Murasa looks out towards the woods, “Yeah, I know. I suppose I just needed someone who isn’t Byakuren to say it. I appreciate the moment to talk, I don’t normally… y’know.”

Mima replies, “The feeling is mutual.”

It’s silent for a while until Murasa asks, “So what was that before about a ship that can travel through time?”

Mima’s vigil became far less boring.

There we go, I've had this scene bouncing around my head for a while so it's nice to put it into words. It's not quite what I wanted, but when is a scene ever perfect?

>>47287855
This is pretty nice.

(4/6)
—
“Wha—?! No, I'm not evil or anything. Look, they enjoy it!” To emphasize her point, Marisa hurls the jar containing her litter up like a ball—a primal instinct begs me to fetch it, but I graciously resist, tail wagging ferociously anyway—the jar spinning a bunch before being caught by the ordinary magician. Inside, the three effervescent lights rotate and jiggle, motions that remind me of Hana when she was excited to go trekking with Anon. Reimu doesn't look impressed, scowling and eating her cookie; mine half-eaten, and I’m sitting to the right of the miko, the magician to her left. “On your face!”

“Marisa, you made them dizzy… Evil Magician~” Reimu mumbles with a satisfied smile that grows as Marisa groans—a small movement catches my eyes, Reimu's hand lifting to massage her shoulders. She's tired…? Well, it isn't out of the ordinary; she always seemed so tired in the past, moaning and lashing out… A simple sigh escapes her lips as she finishes the cookie—casual to the magician who had moved to lie on the veranda's wooden floor and poked her head with her boot like a child.

“You know nothing about soul children; I do—I'm the expert and you're just a bumpkin, meaning my words have much more value,” her massive grin shifts to me. “Ain't that right, Aunn?” My sudden inclusion makes me flinch a little, having been silent since we all sat here and began eating cookies and drinking tea; the combined nostalgia and confusing feelings battling inside of me and demanding all my attention… It definitely wasn’t the cold that numbed the tips of my ears or the fact that Reimu's lap seemed so inviting to lay my head on—no, no! You're not a lapdog, Aunn! You've got all the right to be enraged and mad at her! Quit desiring affection! “Oi, Aunn? You still with us?” Marisa calls again, legs resting on Reimu's lap, both of them staring at me with knowing curiosity—Marisa is setting something up…?—and, well, I cannot exactly pinpoint what's behind Reimu's eyes, but…

Feels like a yearn. Strong, but tempered.

“I… Y-You looked tired just now, Reimu,” I stammer.

Throwing Marisa's legs away—the magician shrieking as she rolled off the floor and onto the snow—Reimu seemed almost embarrassed. “Eh, kinda… I spent the entire morning working on my new sugarcane farm. It was more work than I'd expected~”

I blink.

Then, I blink again. S-Sugarcane farm…?

What even is a sugarcane?

“Haha, I knew you'd love it, Reimu!” Marisa doesn't even seem mad at the miko as she pulls herself out of the snow and casts a spell to quickly dry up her clothes, her children and tea cup safe on the tray. “We planted a bunch of these cool ass veggies yesterday, Aunn, and we'll be harvesting them in a few months… together.” Confusingly, she doesn't sit down again, snuggling her children away into her dried scarf and draining her warm tea, her wide grin softening to a meaningful little thing.

Under her suddenly piercing gaze, I feel… Naked.

“… You're not doing this against her will, right, Marisa?” Reimu asks, and I stare in confusion at the miko. W-What?

“Who do you think I am, you snob?” That seemed like answer enough, and Reimu nods, that yearn I saw before shining in the tense movements of her fingers and strained heartbeat… Befuddled, I stare at Marisa, but nothing comes out of it as she turns and hops onto her broom. “Forgiveness is always hard, Aunn, Reimu—but you two are family.” She clenches harder onto her children, and though I can't see her face, the immaturity of Marisa Kirisame has faded away; a woman stood there. “And, sometimes, that's enough… Thanks for the tea; see ya later-da-ze~”

Then Marisa flies away into the frigid skies.

… She set me up twice just today—guh…

“Ah, that dumbass.” Reimu mumbles, though she's smiling; it's strained and old, like the smile of a statue, but holds the light of a well-polished and maintained one, her eyes avoiding me. “… Forgiveness, huh? As if you have ever done something wrong~”

Those words make my tail wag, and the puzzlement slips away from my heart, hands clutching hard to my tea cup…

Marisa wants me to tell her everything.

To let Reimu know all I think of her.

Every little thing that troubled me, that brought me nightmares, that made me wish I had no unrelenting desire to protect her and our h-hom—the shrine.

Every sleepless night on the cold roof, the hunger pains that kept me awake to listen as Reimu raged downstairs and Hana and Anon cried, how I'd do nothing to help in fear I’d make everything worse…

And the love I had for them, even if the decades had rotted the space Reimu once occupied, with loathing and disdain taking its place.

It was now that I must tell her all of that…

… Yet fear strikes deep, pulls my heartstrings and promises to make my limbs cold, tail hiding between my legs.

I need to, but the memories! Trying to interfere would always make everything worse and—

“—Hey, Aunn.” I turn and watch as Reimu slowly smiles…

Before gently patting her lap. Offering it.

(5/6)
—
Fear seeps out; familiar whimpers and screams echo inside; lies upon lies that’d always raise my hopes only to let them crash and burn the next time I’d see Anon's fresh bruises or Hana's weeping eyes. She's synonym of evil! A representation of everything my statue-self ought to defend the shrine against… Yet I find myself longing for her warmth, for those rough and calloused hands that spoke of constant and excruciating effort—for any reassurance these decades of suffering were all just a bad dream. “I… Saw you were looking and thought you'd enjoy it.” Reimu's voice draws my attention back to her eyes, which squint with embarrassment and hesitation but never stray from me, her fingers curling anxiously. “… Marisa wouldn't have brought you here in a whim. She's grown~” The sparkle of her tone, the glint of her eyes…

Hana's eyes by the countertop hammer me like a rabbit making mochi, full of hope and seeking good—even if it amounted to nothing in the end, Hana gave her all.

For Yukari, of all people, she gave her all.

Yukari paid back with hell…

Her fingers writhe and fidget worriedly, and my body stiffens as my heart swells, my eyes bulge, and I cannot speak—realization.

Yukari didn't have this smile

Reimu does.

“She can still be snarky and a bit of a jerk, and maybe jumped the stagecoach… Sorry if that's not what you wanted, Aunn, I—”

I put my cup on the tray with a thud and, with a wagging tail that I didn't even try to hide, I shifted to lay on the wooden floor… And rest my locks of green on her lap, the rapid movement freezing the Hakurei miko whole—unfit for one of the most powerful around, heh… But synonymous with Reimu, her comfy awkwardness—my legs under the blanket of my tail, eyes on the falling snow and heart the quickest I've ever felt.

Is this the right move? After all those years, after all the bad I had to endure? Watching my family suffer and crumble apart…

Reimu's hand comes down and, albeit apprehensive in the beginning, starts stroking my hair. “Ah, I remember winter days like these when I was a child… You were all I had at times, Aunn, and I was grateful you never left me.” I can feel her heart-rate stabilizing through her pulse, my entire body reacting, and… Calming at her loving touch, chest clenching. “Nor, after all I've done, Hana and Anon. You never wavered; always gave it your all, and no matter how bad I was as a wife and mother, they always had you… You are a very good girl~”

I…

My body shivers, back aches as my tail goes back and forth, unstoppable and fiercely, hitting the miko's back rhythmically. She didn't seem to care.

… I did my very best, for as long as I could.

I couldn't do much around the shrine but tried more when Hana and Anon left. I tried to give Hana comfort through mating without babies and Anon a sliver of normalcy, even if visits were rare due to the weird effects of the HSE and the evil Yukari.

But it never bettered things.

Everything would always return to its awful state.

Until that evil woman is destroyed, things will never be good…

I wanna live again in the world where she wasn't a constant, where Reimu smiled and caressed me like this, where Anon could be happy, even if a fledgling feeling, and not that husk he tried to hide away from me in the few visits to the HSE; where Hana was a loving and wholesome sister, not whatever Yukari's disgusting acts have transformed her into.

I love them so much, I want them back…

And I tell Reimu all of that while crying, her fingers never leaving my hair or removing herself from my words because she is tired or whatever, like the Reimu of the last two decades would so frequently do.

She listens intently and cares without an ounce of detachment.

Even when I tell her all of her flaws, all that weighs heavily on my heart and causes me to cry when holding Hana and ensuring her nightmares were a distant memory; the anger and disgust burns fiercely with each stuttered word, and all Reimu does is listen…

Eventually, the whispered flurry ends, and a shame threatens to settle in my heart: I'm a protector! To just dump all those ugly feelings onto the person whose shrine I should be protecting is bad…

… Yet…

I've never felt lighter.

Reimu's voice breaks the silence and, with it, the struggle that was breathing, fear crawling up my skin as a serpent: “What a dumb komainu~”

She giggles.

I blink, shocked, yet cannot say another word—throat hurts…—as her hug becomes tighter. “I do not blame you for keeping your feelings private… Especially about me.” The shame that echoes is real and sobering. Considered, not denied. “That woman I was, Aunn… I've killed her. Not ever again; she'll hurt anyone.” An ominous tone follows, my skin shivering. “I'll apply the same for Yukari… Believe me, when those sugarcane grow, she'll never again torment our family.”

I…

… I nod, snuggling closer.

I believe her.

In this lightness, I believe in Reimu for, once upon a time, she was synonymous with trust and comfort.

Anyone got Suika plans? Cause I do.

>>47287821
>>47287833
>>47287855
Pleasant evening conversations are so neat.
>>47288425
>>47288420
Aunn is a good dog as expected.

>>47287855
Mima now has one (1) friend already, soon she'll have more friends then Alice!

>>47288425
Aunn finally gets her much needed snuggles. She is indeed a good girl.

>>47288468
Nothing planned, the closest I'm getting is maybe brining her in for Kasen healing. But that's not for awhile

>>47287269
doesn't really matter how you play it, it was still an established character talking about how cool an OC was, right in the middle of that period where they were just showing up everywhere all the time
Remi was in a nebulous spot for a while where no one really knew what to do with her

>>47288468
Nothing on this side. Go ahead!

>>47287112
This chart feels wrong, Evil and Good are about selfishness while Lawfulness and Chaoticness are about personal honor and codes of conduct.
Basically Okina and Yukari are both CE as they don't have a personal code of conduct they hold themselves to and are purely selfish.
Keine feels like a very motivated lawful Neutral, while Reimu is a better pick for Lawful Good or Neutral Good now that she's reformed. Hana is the more chaotic one, but Anon, Kasen's, Sekai's, and Marisa's placements feel right.
Actually thinking about it I don't think there are any principled villain types in the HSE that would fit as the LE pick.

>>47293021
Mr Heida. His sense of duty and his idea on how things should be are the reason he became a villain, along with his delusions that Akyuu is waiting for him.

>>47293021
should've had a retard column, I know exactly who'd fill it.
>L: Shrine maiden 'ana
>N: Normal 'ana
>C: 'ana Yakumo

>>47293021
Akyuu's dad is pretty LE, his code is to punish the youkai and their sympathizers who broke the rules of gensokyo and he sure as shit is doing that.

>>47293070
>>47294054
Forgive me I forget about him when he's not on screen.

>>47295870
I loved him, despite being type casted as a dementia ridden villain bent on genocide he was the most relatable person aside from Anon or Goro. If he wasn't so senile he would've been a real threat even before Keine opposed him with her plot armor and immortal attack dog.

>>47290773
>Remi was in a nebulous spot for a while where no one really knew what to do with her
The thing with Remi, is that like other OP characters they could cause too much problems at the time. so like Reimu and Junko, Heca and Tenshi, we just didn't really address them and put them off to the sidelines despite what their real involvement should've been.

The burning swastika draped to her black cloak brought winds that swept all over the desolate battlefield and, before my very eyes, the world shifted, as if bending to another's will: the noxious fumes, scorching and acrid smoke and charred ground… All gone, an assortment of moonlight flowers sprouted from the blue fire as piled corpses, half-dissolved by either poison or fire, turned to ashes, and where each lost soul had found its end, a gravestone of blue fire emerged to be garnished by the flowers. Big and small tombstones for adults, children and those who never left their mother's womb. Kamishiraswa proceeded forward in the stillness, beneath a full moon and through a river of graves and blooms, one hand extended to graze the flowers and the other grasping the handle of the sword—

—Of Kusanagi no Tsurugi, sword of emperors…

… Stillness?

My gaze darted to where the samurai forces pushing towards us, determined to end this nightmare, but all I saw was a huddle of men asleep in the fire.

The oni-Hieda watched that, motionless, silent.

Waiting, even.

For no apparent reason, my shoulders slumped, and I took a deep breath, Suzu by my side, watching Keine’s extravagant display of powers in awe—was this the point, I wonder? To show off to our forces that she has returned?—; Mokou reacted with much more aggression, rushing forward and closing the gap quickly to stop the were-hakutaku by firmly grasping her shoulder. They talked but, unfathomably to even me, I felt no desire to listen, just… I sat down, using Shichisei-ken to support myself, eyes closed and sucking in a gulp of fresh air. “… She's full of surprises, isn't she?” I mumble, and Kosuzu nods to herself, an uncomplicated smile despite the profound trauma that echoes inside; no one has their chests ripped open and walks away an unscathed soul. “I didn't believe you,” the truth is easy, and Suzu doesn't look much surprised. “I still don't; not until I get through what warranted her resurrection of all things… But nothing of that matters now.” With a huff, I lifted myself and positioned Shichisei-ken. “Go back to the lines and take our revolutionaries out of here; it's much more dangerous than we'd anticipated. I have ideas about Hieda's power… Let's not take any more chances.”

“… This is the first time you refer the revolution as ours~” Suzu hummed, despite her restlessness.

A polished, political poker face stops any red from rushing to my cheeks, and all that I offer the frail librarian is a cunning grin. “Whatever it takes to raise morale. A beautiful scenery is not consolidating our party's government too, am I wrong~?” I am not. Kosuzu Motoori laughs a little before turning and, with a simple nod—shared—running towards the mass of confused people who watch the baffling development and try to approach—

A pink missile halts Kosuzu with a hug that nearly takes them down onto the fire.

I huff, and…

… Huh.

I touch my belly, where a small mound of platelets should be concentrating to pressure the wound shut, yet find nothing but smooth and fair skin.

So even wounds were repaired, hm?

Gripping tighter to Shichisei-ken, I stare at Keine's and Mokou's backs: one a giant wall and the other fluttering darkness coated by a symbol of fire, horns pointing up and her tail wavering stoically.

Hopefully, whatever new you have tips the balance to our side, for I watch as the oni shifts his eyes from the mass of sleeping men and flowers to Kamishirasawa.

—

“Later,” is the only word she whispers as my hand falls on her shoulder, and this shackled heart nearly explodes. L-Later? Later?! What the hell does that mean?! She fucking died and is now here again, flesh and bone, not a trace of being a vengeful spirit or anything! I can feel the warmth of her soft skin, how the flesh whitens as my grip turns almost tyrannical in anger, eyes squinting and a viscous poison lacing my tongue, ready to spew all these distressing thoughts—

—Keine gives me a side-eye, and all that melts away.

For there is that same smile; same determination. The same look we shared when our friendship was mended, when she accepted to become mine…

A prospect, like her, reborn.

Her free hand lands on top of mine and, gently, takes it off her shoulder. “Later… With Aki and Mochi—when all is at last over.” Behind those eyes, I see yearning that resembles mine, rough and begging to be released, but hidden for now.

I have so many questions; so many doubts. So much forgiveness to beg for…

… But in this sudden clarity, all I do is nod.

Her smile softens before vanishing into eternal cast iron, the expression a culmination of this agonizing journey.

With three pairs of wings spread to protect her back, I am poised behind her, foretelling certain death upon the oni-samurai who shifts his 'eyes' from his fallen men to us. He remained unfazed. “I killed you, Witch.”

Keine stands unaffected by his demonic visage, and her tone, as always, bears respect. “Death cannot stop me, Hieda-sama.”

“Don't look into his eyes. You'll lose your powers.” Mokou grumbles, and I make sure to nod, dodging his yellow eyes…

… Though I already knew it.

The man's a monstrosity, both in the eaten future and in person… But he is by himself. His samurai had their vitality rewritten to be drained; their swords and guns decaying and oozing putrescence. I cannot interfere with either his past or future, but the blue moon makes future experiences and mistakes I'd have committed into food for action in the present…

Staring blankly at the cemetery of blue, I know exactly how to end this war.

What'll be of me is impossible to discern; the actions he takes—the lives he takes—are beyond my powers…

… It doesn't matter.

“Hm… I should've known. Monsters never cease their attack—their molestation of humanity. It breaks my heart to know I've let Akyuu's home turn into this, even after fighting so much in those harsh five years…” He rambles, voice ulcerated without lips or tongue, sounding sibilant and unsettling, like he was gnawing on gravel. “But not all is lost—not while I stand. You living again doesn’t matter…” His chest swells and, stopping for but a brief moment to gather himself, the katana is soon lifted the highest it could be, the demonic expression focused on us as that cursed stance, the very reaper of my second life, comes to the forefront…

Ancient papyrus embossed with inverted text sprawled all around me together with a kaleidoscope of Danmaku, the sword Kusanagi held low and ready to attack, years of using its historic version making it nearly an extension of myself. “Mokou, Miko.” I cannot see the watchful Saint's reaction, but I know she’s listening. “I have a plan, so I beg of you: no matter what… Cover me.”

With a wicked smile and light behind her eyes that I never want to see go away, the mother of my children spreads six wings of blue fire. “Don't you dare die again~”

A shimmer of gold dances along the periphery of my vision, and Miko stands by me, her sword fashioned of golden light, the handle adorned with constellations. “Hope you have something better than mindlessly attacking him. We already tried that…” The stern comment was followed by her preparing herself, Spellcards in hand.

Trust was water to quench drought.

The full blue moon illuminates the battlefield of a sea of turquoise fire, spectral flowers and tombstones, just as roaring claps of thunder crash violently onto the ground all around us, framing the naturalborn oni hungering for vengeance. “I've killed your kind my whole life… Today is just another day, and you just another monster.”

Thunder booms.

And the sword tries to cleave my face open.

Paper swirls and, under the blue moon, the past is rewritten, lungs overworking as I pop meters away from the deadly metal, the sky cracking open with thunderbolts that were consumed by Mokou's raging blue fire as she pounced onto the man in vain attempt to kill him, the oni responding with rumbling thunderstorms and severing slashes, Miko teleporting and peppering Danmaku and golden energy onto him only to have all of it evaporated amidst powerful discharges of electricity, everything that'd land phasing through the samurai, his void eyes locked on me and giving me no quarter, flowers of blue fire flailing wildly at the change of elements but soaking no damage as he winded up to me and, even in his violent and insane state of existence, fought with highly trained movements, like all which is happening is but a duel…

A man living in a different world, here and not here at the same time.

I meet his sword, the overwhelming force taking me to the ground, geysers of blue and Miko teleporting dissuading his attention away from me with a Spellcard—but never long enough… Yet long enough for doubts to flare up in Miko's eyes with the ever-growing futility of bombarding him with attacks.

But it was having effect! Even if it meant that Mokou would be struck down, dismembered, and her entire body incinerated under howling thunders thick as a sequoia tree, even if Miko would stumble and falter, a saint with limits, as evidenced by the blood adhering to her forehead, an unexpected wound erupting here and there that would be immediately healed with my powers to rewrite past, her eyes growing strained and dimmed as the vicious war of attrition continued unabated.

A vision of true hell, composed of shocking yellow, burning blue and sharp gold, blood and guts flying over the cemetery of glowing chrysanthemums…

… And it was amidst this hell that the oni-samurai, for the first time, blundered.

I seized the opportunity with all of my might, rewriting history to place myself directly in front of his head and reaching out to touch the pale white of his face—

I cannot rewrite the history of the Hieda Clan…

So I write myself into that world of his, separated from mine.

Akyuu stares, appalled.

My hand is on his young, human face.

He reacts.

—Outside, I slash, before the opening closes.

The oni bleeds.

>>47296459
>>47296453
part 1 of Keine's ending done! Part 2 either tomorrow or after tomorrow, with Sanae and the 'Ana joining~
ah, writing three uberpowerful gurls jumping together a guy literally too angry to die with just a katana to his name makes me think of this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXaCQY5E2wo)), and I can't help but root for the guy...

>>47296401
>Junko, Heca and Tenshi
Thinking about it, those three only showed up in cirnoanon's no longer canon writing's and Takaneanon's in order for Goro and Seija to have more scenes.
Honestly that's a pretty grim fate for them, but since none of the write fags wanted to include them into the main story that make sense.

>>47296498
Tenshi showed up in yuukas side story, junko might have been a cirno thing but idk, and heca was featured in goro so its canon enough
But yes, there a reason they're off to the side of the main stories

>>47296546
It's grim for Tenshi, Junko, and Heca sine Junko and Heca show up to talk about how Goro and Seija while Tenshi shows up to job and I think Clownpiece jobs offscreen.
So they either don't do anything other than talk to Goro and Seija on their misadventures or job to them.
Honestly they just smell like a vestigial inclusion due to autism, probably the second least likely groups to show up in any editing down or rewrite of the HSE.
Right above the useless fairies which are in turn above anything that anon wrote

>>47296573
its not much, its a side story but needed, otherwise Hana's developments in the birthday party don't make sense with Yuuka. The junk/heca stuff isn't needed, but Goro did to Heca already so it's canon enough that she doesn't wish to intervene, she doesn't respect Anon's lack of spine. It is needed as an explanation as to why the HSE isn't demolished by the earth Heca

>>47296607
Would earth Heca even care in the first place, she's just some powerful homeless lady with no real authority or responsibilities?
I think it would make just as much sense if it wasn't addressed at all.
Yuuka as well I feel like doesn't need Tenshi as an explanation for how she got the flower, gods live inside of and on top of youkai mountain, Yuuka could've just walked there.

>>47296650
>Would earth Heca even care in the first place
Well thats why she was written out in her chapters, so we don't have to have this talk. it was had long ago, but I don't mind repeating it; Heca was written out in her chapter or two and its the canon reason why she doesn't do anything despite having the power and possible motive if moved.
>Yuuka could've just walked there.
Generally getting into heaven isn't easy, normally anyways. note that when anyone in canon got there it was on the hand of tenshi inviting them to troll her parents and kin. Tenshi is 100% needed to explain how Yuuka got in. Otherwise it's a whole ass quest and a half to get in.

What does Genji think of Reimu? Is he disgusted by her, angry at himself?

>>47296818
Never really written in and up to interpretation

Does anyone have the link to the post where Reimu saved her daughter from Rumia and teach her about Rumia to eat a few humans?

>>47296867
It's in the part one/two thread

Is there a reason why Reimu turned into an abusive piece of shit?

>>47296927
If we're still in line with the lore from Shrine Husband of Paradise?
During the years/months after getting married with Anon, a series of wild youkai attacks pushed Reimu's stress way up. Which caused her to start beating up and raping her husband.
Which in Shrine Daughter of Paradise lead to Hana being born, and the abuse slowing down for a bit.. Until it came back.

>>47296498
>and Takaneanon's in order for Goro and Seija to have more scenes.
They'd have the same amount of scenes with or without to be honest, although a tighter focus on a single location and an actual objective would've done wonders for the plotline. Blame Kasanon. They wrote that one bit about her thinking that the two had it easy in one of her chapters, so I decided it was a good idea to send them to double hell to make up for that.
>>47296573
>rewrite of the HSE
I've thought about rewriting a bit and it feels wrong. If you strip all the non-essential plots from the HSE you lose the autistic magic it has, it's like trying to 'fix' Tails Got Trolled, it misses the point. Especially because us writers read each others work and reacted to comments, so it's part performative work as well.
Sometimes I consider writing a standalone Seija/Goro story and I'm bullish on it, mainly because I have many other ideas, but I'm also worried that I missed the point of what I wrote originally and what it became.
>>47296927
Stressful job, overprotective tendencies, and isolationism caused a toxic downward spiral. I don't believe a specific reason was ever given, like "Yukari schemed to make Reimu's life hell because it was a 4D chess move to get Anon for herself", and that's probably for the best.

>>47296957
>Stressful job, overprotective tendencies, and isolationism caused a toxic downward spiral. I don't believe a specific reason was ever given, like "Yukari schemed to make Reimu's life hell because it was a 4D chess move to get Anon for herself", and that's probably for the best
No plot point, only using SHoP lore Yukari seemed to know the feral youkai incident was coming and tried to warn the guy in the start about her inner demons he'd have to confront.
Yukari had minimal involvement in the story

>>47296663
>Well thats why she was written out in her chapters, so we don't have to have this talk. it was had long ago, but I don't mind repeating it; Heca was written out in her chapter or two and its the canon reason why she doesn't do anything despite having the power and possible motive if moved.
I'm saying she didn't need to be addressed at all as she didn't have a reason to do anything in the first place.

>>47296957
Honestly I'd be up for a stand alone Goro and Seija story, their dynamic is nice, but I'm also interested in whatever else you write.

>>47299600
>I'm saying she didn't need to be addressed at all as she didn't have a reason to do anything in the first place
Then at the time when this was discussed, in the early days when everyone was pitching ideas. you should've spoken up, what is your complaint here?

>>47296471
crazy chapters, eager to see Hana joining the fray with her ultimate technique, molestation!

>>47301997
That when characters do appear they should be treated with respect and not used as jobber fuel for the sake of OC wank.
And that I feel like certain characters are very cuttable for when Archiveanon starts work on his archive.

>>47303181
>certain characters are very cuttable
You mean like 85% of the cast?

>>47303181
So you mean, if this wasn't a community project with free and open entry it could be streamlined and organized to not include things beyond the vision of one man? Never thought of that.
Maybe if you were a writer you could assert this idea into the stories at large.

>>47303312
That doesn't excuse not respecting characters.
>That when characters do appear they should be treated with respect and not used as jobber fuel for the sake of OC wank.

>>47304265
>free and open entry
You say that is if there aren't rules and as if "free and open entry" isn't something that has caused problems by making certain people feel like they are welcome.

>>47305557
>>47305557
Anon, I literally wrote those rules myself, that is not the intention of them and you're trying to rules lawyer with the actual writers who make this slop, using character as OC fodder is intended. Write instead of bitching and enjoy this work as it is, a free and open project

such a weird conversation in the thread, at least it amuses between breaks in writing

>>47303312
Tewi needs Hana rape...

>>47310744
Imagine tewi trying to console Hana only for the situation to be flipped on her head while the miko makes tewi reenact her abuse of Anon

(6/6)
—
The sun was long gone by the time Marisa crossed the skies above the shrine, a hand never leaving Aunn’s hair; even when the Ordinary Magician, grinning wide, landed a few feet away on the newly settled blanket of snow, her footsteps magically muffled. “So, I take things went down well~?” The jar perched on her shoulder was becoming as much part of her image as her immense hat and smug grin, broom tossed to the side as she sat by me on the veranda, greedily reaching for a cup and the teapot, a pout blooming when she noticed the beverage to be cold and stale—a solitary ember of mine made itself known by plunging into the cup and illuminating its bottom, steam rising to the beat of the magician's rejuvenated smile. “Heh, you could make a living outta of tricks like these~” She scarfs her warm tea like a lunatic, more to soothe her trembling hands than to quench thirst. Such a harsh winter this one is setting out to be…

“Things went well, indeed.” I shrug, apathetic to warm with Aunn sprawled over my lap, breathing easy and at peace.

“Hm~” A simple nod, all that was needed to understand her satisfaction. “Hana is good; checked a bit ago on her.”

I shift my gaze to her, attention grasped. Why tell me…?

… Instead of inquiring, I accepted as it was, though by then Marisa was already scoffing. “Bleh, don't look at me like that, cowtits,” wait, c-cow-wha— “I didn't stop to talk to her; she looked like she was having fun with Suwako and the other Moriyans-ze, though most moved to the village for whatever reason—a festival or something should be taking place tomorrow… wanna go together?” There's a shine in her eyes and, sadly, it's one I’m about to crush.

“Nope, pass.” Marisa frowned, looking a little hurt. “The Moriyans will be there, eh? So will be Hana, too… Don't wanna ruin it for her.” A moment of silence and, sulking, Marisa nods. Sanae will protect Hana if Yukari tries anything… “Besides, I’ll meditate all day tomorrow—someone brought an emotionally charged Komainu to my doorstep today, and I couldn’t meditate properly,” I drink off my tea, making sure to throw Marisa my best attempt at a piercing gaze. Her muffled snickering probably should've offended me, but the sound…

Is very soothing~

“Sorry, sorry~but don't act like ya didn't enjoy it.” Her gaze settles on my hand as I caress Aunn, and the sleeping Komainu snuggles closer. The sight made Marisa draw close her jar of shining light, the coiled souls inside enjoying the proximity with their mother.

Oh, before I get caught in the conversation and forget, I inject some actual threat into the next words: “And what the hell did you mean by 'cow tits', huh?” She coughs—still drinking tea—strangled laughter escaping and making Aunn shuffle, the magician struggling to contain it, hat falling off her head. The anger stirred inside of me for a moment—a moment that made these red eyes freeze her in place—but, by the next, dissipated into a facsimile. “What you saw was an illusion of the fire! My breasts are average!”

“Heh, whatever you say-da-ze~Ran made sure to put some meat into those thin bones of yours, and now you can't go a minute without being naked!” She rolls her eyes and though I understand this is just jest, I can't help but feel embarrassed… Gee, how many years has it been since I last blushed? Marisa, seeing that, decides to stop pulling my leg… At least for now. I know her too well to think the provocation is over in the slightest.

I laboriously hold back the groan.

She pours more tea for the lot of us; the flame on the bottom of her cup ensures hers is warm. Mine doesn't matter; I cannot feel cold—even from food—since I exchanged my blood for fire. “What's even stopping you from using clothes inside your fire-da-ze? Isn't your uniform blessed to stop things from… backfiring~?” Those words, however, carry sincerity, despite the joke.

“They’re just… weird. They don't work like my previous blessings, and anything I've tried to contain them and stop damages is useless.” I let some swim out of my skin, Marisa approaching to have a better look. “So either I go fully naked, or to enshrine myself in them is to lose a good uniform.”

The magician remains silent, absorbed in contemplation and mesmerized by the flames. The light made Aunn's eyelids tremble, so I snuffed it, much to Marisa's momentary dismay, for what came next was a wicked smile. “… Why not have it studied, then?”

H-Huh?

Marisa returns a huge smile when I stare at her as if she's grown a second head. “Studied! By me and Patchy-sensei, Gensokyo's finest magicians—and a good fellow in me~! If we can comprehend its principles, then we could make a spell good enough to protect ya clothes against it—and you wouldn't ride into the Solstice clad in birthday outfit~”

That…

Doesn't seem like a bad idea.

I more than trust Marisa—and Patchiouli, I guess—to create magic stuff, and I wouldn’t need to disclose my power’s fundamental purpose…

…That doesn't seem like a bad idea at all.

>>47310927
just a small set-up for Patchyanon because, as I read the Book of Patchy, I'd noticed he left a hook about Patchy and Reimu; not a big thing, so if he chooses not to use I'll use it myself, though only after he's done with his next chapters
and also serves as explanation for why didn't they answer immediately during Keine's festival.

>>47310927
Poor Marisa still breast envy, but who can blame her? She's in her 40's but is less developed then a teenager. Not sure how she'll give birth to the triplets.

>>47310756
>>47310744
Tewi giving her that lingerie did unsurmountable damage to every future generation of Inaba that'll now suffer under Hana's non-euclidean sin kink...

>>47314121
incredibly enough, that didn't felt like breast envy/shaming, just two friends jabbing at one another. Marisa has completely and utterly beaten the allegations and enjoys her appearance and so, became immune to Maribullying.
Fucking insane timeline...

>>47315218
>just two friends jabbing at one another.
yeah but it can be better two hags sexoing one another. They already fucked Anon, are long time friends that went through puberty together, repaired their friendship and are obviously not winning the Anonbowl so it wouldn't be that weird

I let myself drift through the village, carried by the wind and pushed by the hustle and bustle of festival preparations. Everybody seemed to be preparing for a party, Youkai and Humans made deals, moved goods, coordinated times, but it was all fake, a facade for the revolution. Baghh, maybe so, but even if it was a fraudulent celebration I was still loathe to miss it, maybe if I wore a mask? No, my horns would give me away in an instant! And Oni don't wear masks!
"My, it's so convenient how you can move about like that. Makes me envious." Futatsuiwa chuckled as I materialized on the rooftop she'd picked for our evening meeting, a cup of a sake awaiting me.
"What are you getting at? I might be able to float around the village as I please, but I'm still only one little oni! No minions to order about like you!" I said as I took a seat and had a swig of sake.
"Ah, just indulging some fantasy, pay it no mind." The tanuki explained as he tail swished from side to side.
"Hmm, lots of imagining going on I think. Those people down there wondering how their revolution will play out, all of us fantasizing about giving Yukari a kick in the rear, while the lady herself is probably two steps ahead in her mind, fussing over what frills she'll wear to her victory celebration." I chuckled. "Let's be a little rebellious and spend our time talking about what is and not what could be hm?"
"A Suika who doesn't want to spend time on idle chatter? What have you done with our favorite Oni?" Futatsuiwa joked before turning in the direction of the HSE.
"Yukari's put together quite the force, The vampires of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Their Maid, The Wicked Hermit, The Astral Knight, the Otter Spirit gang, and the Tengu." She began, before taking a drag from her pipe. "Not to mention Yukari herself and even if it was just her it'd still be a nightmare."
I looked up at the stars in the night sky, thinking for a moment if I should drag one down and drop it on the Gap Woman's house to make easy on all of us. "She wouldn't take allies if she didn't need them, Yukari loves to meddle more then anyone after all. She's even taken Kasen." I gritted my teeth. It's not like me and her were on the friendliest terms since she decided to pursue being a hermit, yet our bonds of comradery ran deep.
"Sorry, when I heard about Yukari taking her I had thought-"
"Don't worry about it." I stated flatly. "It'll work out. Better we think about our own little band. Who's gonna answer the call?"
Futatsuiwa tapped her chin, doing a mental account of the factions against Yukari. "The underground youkai, The Myouren temple, the Moriya deities, Okina, Reimu, her daughter, The Kappa, Marisa, her vengeful spirit mentor who claims she's ascended, The Dollmaker, that Makai Deity who claims to be her mother, the Eagle Gang and their Leader, and maybe a few others besides...who knows?"
'A few others besides...' so there were moles among the enemies. Cowardly, maybe, yet trying to pull subterfuge on Yukari was a brave act nonetheless.
I whistled. "With a coalition like this how're we to lose? Maybe she's hoping we all trip over each other?" I chuckled.

>>47318623
"In a manner of speaking, I take it that's why you aren't going to the upcoming festival?" She asked.
"Hmm, they're times when I'm sensitive to the feelings of others you know? This is about the small-fry Youkai and Humans joining hands, a big shot like me showing up would just be too obnoxious." I waved. It was also, of course, because of the tenuous balance of power. If a big Youkai stirs up trouble, another will definitely show up until things reach a climatic conclusion. Quite crafty of that village teacher to pull this now, if it weren't for the solstice celebration causing all of us to hide our strength, her revolution would be quenched in an instant.
"So what aren't you telling me Futatsuiwa? Throwing all those big names about makes me think your hiding the real juicy details." I smiled, tapping my sake cup on the table.
The Tanuki sighed and refilled both our glasses. "The Yamawaro and workers I suppose. They have escape plans in place and are non-combatants. If it comes to it, I think they'd actually help escort Anon somewhere safe, if they were asked nicely."
"Hey, just cause I'm being considerate of small fry doesn't mean I want an expose on em'! How about you give me the real details huh?" I jeered.
"Alright..." She sighed. "That fox Shikigami of hers is definitely showing some rebellious signs and that cat shikigami of her's doubly so. Satisfied that you made me speak about an old foe?" Futatsuiwa poked.
"I might be, if it weren't for you using it as a facade to hide something else." I said, downing the second glass of sake and refilling the cup on my own.
"Well, it may come as a surprise to you, but that Amanojaku, Seija, now serves Yukari. Maybe because of her contrarian nature? It bodes ill either way, probably a sign that a great upheaval is coming soon. She's still the same bleeding heart upstart."
"Futatsuiwa, you know lying by omission is still lying." I said in a sing-song voice.
She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose before answering. "Goro, a Human Broker who fell in with Seija is also working for Yukari. It's no matter though."
I cocked my eyebrow at this. Gathering a band of villains was one thing, yet there weren't many Humans in Gensokyou who fit that description, what was Yukari up to? Seeing my interest, Futatsuiwa reluctantly continued.
"He'd take request from Youkai and Humans, things like corpse retrieval, negotiations for trade, talent acquisition, anything that meant stepping outside the village."
"Oh, like Anon used to do?" I asked.
"Not so. Anon would take odd jobs, yes, but Goro is more... commerce-oriented. He was raised by the Youkai who live at the Myouren temple and he's Human, so brokering deals between the two comes natural to him."
"Ehh? So where Anon is a natural sweet heart he's a natural swindler huh?" I asked.
"Something like that." Futasuiwa smiled. "Seems like only last month Nue was fussing over him after his Father passed, last week he was making his first deal with those Grassroot Youkai, and yesterday he sold water to the Kappa. Maybe tomorrow some new runts will be calling me 'Granny Suiwa'." She smiled, tapping her the ashes out of her pipe.
"Oh? Your fond of the con man huh? Thought you liked them older." I teased.
"Of course I do, humans age quickly and I'm a patient woman, that's not the issue though. The boy is certainly a trap laid by Yukari."
A trap? I thought about it for a bit, holding Anon alone was quite the card, I couldn't just drop a star on the HSE with him inside it. What good did two hostages do then? No, had to be something else, maybe something to do with commerce? Hmmm...
"I see you've already fallen for it." The Tanuki smiled.
"Ehh? I'm just wondering what this has all got to do with the solstice." I said, scratching my chin.
"That's precisely it. We've all clashed or drunk alongside Yukari's current cohort at one time or another, so she picks up an oddity, someone we wouldn't think about as a card she could play, and now you're asking 'why him?'" Futasuiwa shook her head. "It's why I tried not to bring it up. I'll bet Goro, crafty as he is, thought to get close to Yukari somehow and that woman saw a freebie, a way to distract us from our familiar foes."
"Ehhemm, that does sound like her, Yukari does love her distractions and fighting against a force with Konngara and Kasen on it is a thrilling enough task." I offered, spinning an empty sake cup on the table. "But I'm not so proud of an Oni to not admit that a hidden card is worth twice as much in Yukari's hand. I'm gonna pay her a visit and see what's what. See Anon too while I'm at it." I said, hopping up from my seat.
"You do that and send my regards. I, on the other hand, will trust my former business partner and trouble myself with how to confront a duo of Vampires and Oni instead!" She said with a huff as dispersed and made way for the HSE.

>>47318633
>>47318623
You know this genuinely got me wondering, what's mamizou and the tanooki's takes on the HSE anyways, they are pretty much the only force really sitting fairly squarely neutral in this whole thing.

>>47318961
She works for the HSE but has been ignored and unmentioned due to not being popular.

>>47317908
lesbian romance is fucking boring though

>>47318961
Her tanuki work in the HSE, but she herself isn't affiliated with yukari or any faction. She just wasn't written until the recent Hana chapters, but in it she's been shown to be trying to cement the tanuki in the village like she was in FS

>>47320896
Patchouli and Meiling have been pretty good though

>>47320904
>Trying to cement the Tanuki in the village by working with Yukari than jobbing
Kino retard.
I hate the Tanuki, hopes she gets her shit shoved in.

>>47320958
they aren't a thing, though, unironically just good friends

>>47320904
She was also in the party and fucked a little with Yukari, so it could be said she's been hiding to not get the Yakumo treatment

>>47320987
more like having eyes in the HSE, like how the Kappa don't work 'for' yukari they just work with her on contract. Nitori hasn't even appeared in this work yet.

>>47321083
>Nitori hasn't even appeared in this work yet.
you jumped some chapters, then. She appears in some of Kanako's and Aya's, both related to Aya's terrorism and Hisou. Or, if you mean field of work, like around the HSE, then yeah, we were robbed of Kappa vs. Yamawaro antics...

>>47321083
>>47321132
Even the Kappa get more screen time than Mamizou "totally spying on Yukari."
Please if she was actually doing that somebody would have written her doing it.

>>47318961
I had written about her wayyyy back talking with Orin and Goro about a failsafe in case Anon died and before that she appeared for a bit in the Hana story.
Aside from that, there's also the Tanuki secondary, Kuma, who I occasionally write with Takane. Although she's doing the HSE as more of a work experience because she doesn't get along with the rest of the Tanuki.

>>47322802
Good thing nothing came of it, the story is busy enough as is and the writefags have enough on their plates.

The pain was unbearable.

How many times have I been shot at? Bullets grazed as eyes focused on protecting my sweet apprentices, children and teens; bullets penetrating my body and drawing blood; the exhaustion brought forth by containing one of the strongest around Gensokyo just after maddeningly fighting her, making this body sluggish, mind uneven and so, a prime target. Better me than my poor girls, forced to have a play in this pure and utter hell…

Perhaps death is coming for me, a sweet love left unrequited in that man's smile; my duty with Hana neglected, monsters that've been bearing down on her since she was born, failures and regrets gnawing my heart; watching that young girl being taken by a woman who'd preyed on her; knowing she suffered—in a shrine of all places—and I did nothing about it; and so much, much more…

… Death calls, and floating in this darkness, battered by bullets and the worst of my offenses, I feel compelled…

But it's a memory—a recent one—of a sweet and calm voice telling me someone's story—a man's?—and how, despite oblivion, he survived. Because of the people around him, he survived. Such a weird and sensational story, like something straight out of Gundam to the point of laughter…

Yet… it would be good, wouldn't it?

No matter how many mistakes I've committed, if I didn't help you, Anon, nor poor Hana—I'm so very sorry—even when I could've… It'd be cool to be blessed with such miracle.

… Hold fast, Sanae Kochiya, for a moment or two.

You know you're not alone, despite never marrying, never having kids of your own.

You have failed, but you're not alone…

Then, amidst darkness, something—someone—holds my hand, tender yet firmly. I clasp it back and wholeheartedly ignore the call of the dark.

The hand, whoever it was, anchors me in my haziness as I stare at the starless sky of my mind—strange, given that stars have always been my favorite… thing—ignoring pain and trying not to drown in my own blood. Hours or minutes pass, and that warm hand is everything that keeps me from slipping into nothingness.

Until…

… Until it was all gone.

All matter of harm and agony had just vanished, energy flowing through these veins at a pace unthinkable, so much so that I jolted up in a coughing fit, eyes shut and throat sore. The hand didn't release mine and, with tears forming on the edges of my eyes, I opened them to blinding lights, a blur of voices—save one—reaching my ears as people flanked me on all sides: “S-Sanae-san?”

The lights faded and vision returned, and that smudge of red gained expression—an expression of sheer relief—the buildings and landscape around her that of utter destruction, a familiar rumbling of energy dictating Suwako- and Kanako-sama are nearby and… Ah, I remember now what happened…

Mokou saved us. We'd have otherwise died in that hailstorm of bullets.

“Sanae-san!” A missile hits me and, with my vision fully acclimatized, I accept Hana's hug with no hesitation, her powerful embrace nearly sapping air out of my lungs. Oh, gorgeous~Many more hugs and voices reached me then, my apprentices… All bolstering not one wound as they tried to topple me onto the ground, but experience with such behavior—hugs are necessary when they fail to gain enough stars for a cool gift in the weekend, duh~—I managed to remain standing, my oldest maid staring at me in disbelief from the side… But my case wasn't a unique phenomenon: all around, people jumped out of precarious stretches and stood on their own legs, the march—I suppose—stopped, Suwako- and Kanako-sama staring just as dumbfounded as I was as they closed in, misery and death replaced by a sudden boom of joy.

Including me, the harmed and wounded, ill and decrepit, all woke up without one wound to their names… Though some stared expectantly at corpses, nothing happened.

“W-What's happening?” I muttered, the group hug reaching its end, Hana uncomfortable in it despite not showing up.

“Did you perform a miracle, S-Sanae-sensei…?” Sayori asks, always trying to be perceived as the strong one and not cry in front of the others

“That's what I'm wondering~” Suwako-sama followed, furrowed brows as the people around hugged and cried in the arms of loved ones thought lost, maimed or destroyed. The few Inaba and human doctor scurried in haste, trying to make sense of the 'miracle'.

“N-No! I was holding on for dear life; I couldn't have mustered—not even in my strongest—something l-like this…” A sigh leaves me. Everything has its roots; sooner or later, it'll become known. Until then…

I turn to Hana, the girl's eyes wide with exhaustion, barely keeping herself up… She beamed anyway~

I catch her hand, mimicking that smile, and state, “Good work, Hana! A hundred good-girl-stars for you~!”

“I... I-I didn’t do anything worth noting, Sanae-san!” She stammers, likely trying not to attract a spotlight over herself… Or maybe exactly so by acting humble~? Heh, doesn't matter; her redness was adorable~

As expected, answers soon came.

But, before them, came the shock. “The man became an oni.”

I… Couldn't really believe Suwako-sama, despite her wearing the face she only uses for important moments. The march had resumed, the lack of dying men and maimed children hastening the pace to a more ebullient stride, with Kanako-sama at the forefront to supervise and guide the rescue efforts. T-That Hieda, turning into an oni…? B-But how?! There were no artifacts that could've helped him achieve such thing, a-and… Seeing my disbelief, Suwako explained the rest, and when she spoke about how Hana tried to face the man in combat, I—

“WHAT?! You saw me being shot, and instead of staying where it was safe, you rush to a fortress and almost—Hana?!” The surge of emotions begs me to lash out; apprentices having been pulled away by Kanako-sama to do their job, so it was just me, Suwako-sama and a now terrified Hakurei miko…

“I-I—I d-didn't think! Nor knew! I-I was just… Seeing red, nothing more! I wanted them to stop shooting you guys, p-pummel them a-and, and—” She tried fending, though the trembling voice and eyes were all I needed to understand it.

Gee, perhaps that wasn't a good approach—screaming at her… “I understand, Hana. You wanted to protect…” I pause and, gently, pat her on the head. She groaned, though that only brought me amusement—too old for head pats~? “… Thank you. It's super sweet of you, and it fills my heart with joy. But you were putting yourself in unnecessary risk. You cannot do that—you're a shrine maiden, Hana Hakurei! People's fiercest line of defense against bad guys! Losing you would've meant Kanako- and Suwako-sama wouldn't have arrived in time, and a lot more people lost their lives.” Her pouting subsided and her eyes grew strained; she understood my words, then… Suwako-sama glanced at me for a moment, then Hana, and, quietly, left with a gentle smile that went unnoticed by the Hakurei… Puffing my chest, instead of patting her head, I steadily placed my hand on her shoulder. “I'm not your mother,” takes a lot to stop venom from lacing my tongue. Reimu’s doing her best… Too late, but she's doing her best. “You don't need to listen to me or what I say, but I beg of you: treat yourself with the same care you have for those you love! Don't throw yourself into danger to bring forth revenge with no plan to counter your enemies! You faced Hieda without a strategy and lusting for revenge, and almost died… Losing you would've been a blow far too heavy for my heart…” What I can't control are the few stranded tears that make their way down my cheeks.

This is so embarrassing, but the thought of losing my Hana makes me shudder…

… Heh, ‘my Hana’. As if, Sanae, as if…

“Sanae-san, I… I'm sorry…” Her voice is strangled, that beautiful green ascot of hers held with so much strength, a sign of redirection—and one I cut with that hand on her shoulder climbing to hold her cheek.

“It's okay, it's okay—it's just your first big incident as a shrine maiden, Hana-chan~and, if I had to say something myself, you're doing very well! Ah, to think of mine, the many trips and turns; how very ridiculous I looked, ugh~” I laugh, doing my best to make it as contagious as possible; Hana's snickering and the sparkle of her eyes are what victory looks like. “… Hana, this is only your first incident. You’ll learn from it, and I guarantee that one day, with the help of time and experience, we’ll be able to look back on it and laugh at ourselves! Trust me, pinkie promise~!” I stretch my pinkie towards her, smile gleaming.

“I-I don't think that's necessa—”

I snatched her pinkie with mine, the girl yelping. “Pinkie promise!”

“… P-Pinkie promise?”

“And so it's done and cannot ever, ever be undone!” And I laugh, even if we're encircled by death and destruction, a procession of innocents carrying their dead, a miracle unexplained, the revolutionaries battling the oni in the distance…

Because, after all, this may be my last laugh.

… A natural-born oni, huh?

I shared another gaze with Suwako-sama, who stared from afar now, the frog goddess approaching as I stepped away from Hana and pulled my gohei. “I'll be leaving now, Hana~!” I say, smile soft.

“W-What—?”

“Sorry, but I need to urgently pursue vengeance against that oni~guess that's exactly what I told you not to do, hm?” Suwako is now by her side, and the girl stares with incredulity. “I will seal that monster before he threatens our house even more—what I must have done from the start… I’ll be back, so stay here~” I nod to Suwako-sama, who hums.

“This feisty Hakurei is going nowhere, eh?” Huh…? Hana goes silent, looking between me and the goddess…

… Then nods with a placid smile. “Okay! I'll definitely stay right here!”

She won't. Gee~

Better finish this quickly, then.

Just as I'm about to leave, though, my ears catch whispered words that leave Hana—low enough that she might think them as mere thoughts: “I wish you were…”

I fly away. Fast.

Anything to hide my thundering heart and face-wide smile.

The oni bled.

For the first time since this nightmare started, he bled.

Holding my breath as if waiting for something I couldn't exactly lay my finger on—I blinked and she was by my side, kneeling and bleeding. “Keine!” Miko teleported to our side just as I crouched to help her off the ground, a vicious wound across her face—

—Another blink, and it was gone. Goddamn hells, what are these new powers?! “You got a hit… A poor one, I must say.” Miko commented, spinning that light sword of hers with an attempt at jest, her eyes dodging Hieda’s as always; he'd screamed and stumbled back, holding onto his cut arm, blood seeping onto the flames beneath him—not much, meaning the damage was superficial… Tsk. “Well, gonna elucidate us on WHAT THE HELL his powers are already or do you want me to go and be eviscerated again?!” But if anything could have taken my eyes away from the demon, it would be her sudden, enraged scream, my body moving to shield Keine's. Maybe 'jest' was the wrong term, then. Fading adrenaline plus constantly having your body ripped to ribbons only to then repair itself—something I had centuries to grow used to—makes for a terrible mashup. The tense sigh that followed suggested that she was, at the very least, embarrassed with herself.

“I'm sorry for putting you through these, Miko-san.” Keine lifts herself from the fire, the river of paper crossing over and through my blue flames without hesitation—a pleasant sight… “His power is the manipulation of his clan's lineage.” Whatever rage remained on the saint's face melted away, furrowed brows and a muttered 'what', one I parroted, eyes on Keine's cloak as she trudged towards the recovering oni-samurai. “The clan state, himself; all is under his control, to a fundamental level beyond this world—what we see here is his reflection. We need to invade, burn his paradise, and slaughter him. I can take him outside his head, but only briefly.” Keine draws her sword, and Hieda follows suit, thunderbolts shivering my skin—it’s never fun to be disintegrated. “Be ready to attack when I do so, even if through my body… Do not hesitate.” She throws a side gaze towards me, and memories of a disembodied arm and hand haunt me…

… No.

That point was one of hopelessness.

There's hope now.

For this to reach its end, for us to see our children grow up happy, to marry her and live a good fucking life together…

I nodded and, without another moment to spare, Keine had disappeared, already on Hieda—

—A slash of thunderstorms came in the span of half a blink, cutting Keine in two—

—She was again reconstructed, aiming to touch his head—

I think I'm going to puke.

—The man expected that, yet his harmed arm carried no power and so Keine managed to steer clear of that cursed sword, the tombstones and flowers swaying together with her black clock. Hesitation is defeat.

Blue fire and gold sieged Keine as her hand landed on the man's head, thunder falling from the skies and doing their best to destroy our bodies. Miko was intelligent enough to dodge and weave across the landscape of falling bolts; I took it all, electricity melting my skin and ripping hair off; nothing in face of finally, finally landing a good punch on that oni's face; Keine repairing whatever damage Miko had sustained as her gleaming blade glided between the cracks of his armor and punctured flesh; the man screaming in agony before the blade met no more resistance and everyone dodged away from wild slashes; and I bet his eyes made out of void were wide and frantic, the yellow thunderclaps coiling inside and thrashing like crazy.

Nothing of that could stop Keine from charging forward once more, the blue swastika a portent of doom as the man was forced into the defensive, unable—or unwilling?—to heal himself using those fucked-up powers of lineage manipulation or something. His skill with the blade was unwavering even in his state, and Miko and I flanked him, grazing falling thunders.

Oh, how proud I am to watch Keine maneuver through those slashes, her confusing powers making her pop everywhere, the oni-samurai struggling to keep up with our overlapping attacks—

—Keine had her hand again on his skull—

The biggest thunder I've ever seen exploded where they both stood, the sheer force rupturing my eardrums and filling my vision with red, the blood vessels ruptured.

A suicide attack?!

It took but a moment for the blinding flash to subside, the oni standing amidst the flowers and tombstones… Tense, perplexed.

His eyes wide.

H-How—

—w-what’s—

“Close your mouth and get ready, Fujiwara.” I cannot turn my eyes from what lies in front of me. “… Be glad Hieda has no face. Otherwise, it'd be difficult to distinguish them~”

Keine stood in front of him, still and calm.

Above her head, the thunder held, as if frozen in time.

Half her head was of purplish hair, a familiar flower ornament there.

She reached forward, touching his face.

He muttered, his voice sibilant: “A-Akyuu…?”

Keine then stabbed him.

The agony of a katana stabbed through my head was unlike anything I'd ever felt before: its hand-guard pressing against my chin, the cold and corrosive metal protruding from the top of my head, violently tearing apart the contents of my brain, my knees weak and tumbling, the worn-down family heirloom Akyuu could’ve never wielded trying to slip out of my grip…

It feels like death itself.

… But it was nothing compared to the sheer wrath that surged inside of me while gazing into the witch’s eyes as that demonic mask that was my daughter's face melted away, rotted in principle and intention, the thunderbolt above her dissolving. This woman; this abhorrent monster and her subterfuge… “Ah, finally, the fucker's dead…” One of the witch's entourage mumbles, mere blurs as light fades away.

Dying.

I'm dying.

“Indeed, Father.”

I turn to face Akyuu, who’s peacefully sitting on the state's veranda.

—But this memory… It's just plainly wrong. Never once has my Akyuu witnessed the state in such disarray, burned to ashes and with the foul smell of rotten corpses filling the air, never! I made sure my Akyuu would've had a good infancy, filled to the brim with adventure; happiness!

… Never…

I fought the monsters for the better half of a decade, until the Hakurei miko was ready to assume her role…

So, why is my Gensokyo—my village—burning?

What's that towering building just in the distance, and the many eyes laid on infinite darkness that watch me so mockingly? Where have the peaceful days gone?

What has gone so wrong that my daughter's village ended up like this?

… Have I failed so thoroughly?

Of course, I have. A human grows old; gray—he loses and there's nothing he can do about it; despite his best efforts, those monstrosities are unrelenting. They f-first take your men, your neighbors and then, unsatisfied, they take away the woman of your dreams, the mother of your children.

Youkai take everything.

It's no surprise they'd eventually take away the village.

The sun, once a beaming source of haikus, had vanished from the skies, and the only illumination I had while crawling my way towards my Akyuu sitting on that veranda were the scorching flames destroying everything I've fought so hard for.

“… I'm so sorry, Akyuu…” I implored, heart seemingly about to burst. I am dying and with me is the Hieda lineage—Akyuu will never again come to experience the world because of my failure. “Your father has… tried everything to protect your village. B-But he was too weak—the Gap devil; the Witch and her demons… They overwhelmed your Father from all sides. I-I'm so very sorry, my dearest Akyuu…” Finally, I reach her and look up, expecting to see that purity—that child, which I called mine, perfect in all senses.

I see a scorched demon, her neck slashed clean…

“Do you hate me, Father…?” She whispers, weeping like the many times she’d scrape her knee while playing in the gardens, or helping in the kitchen, or… when her mother died and we only had each other.

… I hug her.

With all my strength, I hug my beloved daughter.

Our demonic horns touched, my skinless face and her charred skin shared warmth.

I clung to my daughter as our world, clan, and lineage burned… But not our pride. “I love you above everything else, dearest Akyuu. The demons think they can destroy your home with no consequence…”

The fire enclosed us, cerulean like the sky we spent hours watching together. A sky now of darkness, thunders echoing aloud.

“… I share with you now my love eternal, Akyuu… But them, I share the rage of our lineage. The hundreds of years we fought the menace of Youkai; the remorse and anguish of lost loved ones; our denied hope of a peaceful future—all of it. I curse them with all of it.”

Akyuu hugs me back.

And then the flames consume us both.

—

“—Yes, I ate both futures—in the first, I took the full force of the thunderbolt and died. In the other, I rewrote the past of my face to be like Akyuu's, and it would've worked there if the timing wasn’t wrong; so, by mashing them together, we won.” I dodge my eyes from the prostrating corpse, Mokou sighing and scratching her hair. Miko snickers, an air of arrogance to her.

“What the hell, man, weren't your powers already complicated enough…?” Mokou mumbles and I find myself laughing, despite the atmosphere: the atmosphere of a struggled-for victory…

“It's not that hard, Mokou~!”

“Agreed—it's quite simple when compared to hermit arts; the application, however…” She rubs her chin with a thoughtful, albeit wicked, smile. “Hm, perhaps consolidating our political power won't be so—”

She stops. Her eyes bulge, appalled.

Towards Hieda.

Bewildered, Mokou and I both follow—

—and we watch as a corpse slowly rises to its feet, one hand holding his sword and the other reaching onto Kusanagi.

W-What is happening?!

And why…

I cannot use my powers…

A gurgling, sickening noise fills the air, slowly building like a crescendo, and we watch in horror as the corpse pushes Kusanagi up and—

A-And he just ripped his own demonic skull from the neck and shoulders with the crushing of a thousand damp and deformed bones, lifting Kusanagi no Tsurugi with inhumanly fluid movements…

… Languidly taking on that same cursed stance that once sealed my destiny, my body freezing all over with the sights and memories, Youkai nature unable to understand or react to this abomination before my eyes.

“I feel a d-desire coming from it—coming from something that should've been dead…” Miko stutters, clenching her sword of light so tightly that the knots of her hand whiten, the sight of the saint turning green with the ghastly sight quivering my heart. “… A desire to kill.”

Now brandishing two swords, his oni chains echoing menacingly with trained movements—katas, almost a dance—, the corpse reaches the zenith of that wrathful stance…

And, where his mangled skull used to be, a vast, unquenchable stream of blue thunder and electricity takes on a terrifying shape, crazy and unstoppable in its rage, burning like a nightmarish bonfire. The skull slides off of Kusanagi's blade into the fire below with chilling wet noises, soon engulfed by Mokou’s fire… immediately disintegrating into ashes.

Standing on a graveyard of luminescent tombstones and an ocean of chrysanthemums and fire, with the full moon and a starry sky, was a demon unlike any other.

The last obstacle between me and a good life…

It ends here, a way or another.

>>47325476
>>47325473
>>47325470
>>47325468
>>47325463
and here's part 2, next batch is the last of Keine's storyline, and should be coming this weekend~!
There'll be a little epilogue, though, likely set the next few days or so. But first, let's get to the ending!

>>47325476
He doesn't even die when killed. Oni's are actual bullshit and none of you can tell me otherwise.

>>47325773
Enough.... I have endured more than enough...I ask you forgive me, dearest Akyu...
He really has become a soulsborne boss.

>>47325773
He's dead-dead now, though, he just decided to leave the entire amalgam of his lineage's rage and bloodlust in the form of an evil spirit for the revolutionaries to deal with~I'm certain that won't have grave implications, especially not when Hana comes to say hi

>>47328117
>that file name
>>47325473
>“… I'm so sorry, Akyuu…”
we were THIS close, god fucking dammit

>>47329803
Surprise! It wasn't a stealth SnK Crossover it was a stealth Fromsoft crossover, now all we need is trusty Patches to save the day!
Unfortunatly there aren't many good ER pictures left of Danbooru that also don't have c*rno in them despite the Erdtree being a good fit for Sekai's tree and Mohg being a surprisingly good math for the gote.

>>47329872
just hope our characters don't end up like the ones in FROM games and SnK. I don't think I'd be capable of functioning as a person for a while if Hana dies/doesn't get her happy ending/defaults to be just like Abusive!Reimu

>>47328482
cute Sekai!

>>47331003
Nah it's Realistically how it should end up, anon is a weak doormat and reimu is an abusive asshat, nothing good ever comes from that mix of genetics.

>>47334893
Anon mind broke Yukari with one conversation though, at least a spine the man has now and the 'mu is either turning into a farmer or dying, with Sanae/Marisa/Yuuka(?) stepping up as Hana's true mama. If things go alright and no mega fuckery happens (unlikely…), her stubbornness to fuck up her life in any way possible will be defeated

>>47331003
I highly doubt anyone except for Seiga and Yoshika are dying, everybody else is too important and people wouldn't like seeing them dead.
Reimu's the only who I'm unsure about if she'll live or not.

>>47337140
I'm betting Yuugi or Suikacoin in the death department. Something needs to get Kasen back to herself when she spergs into Douji, just don't let Toyohime hear we're gambling deaths, she gets very pissy about that

>>47337140
I'm gonna be upfront, with basically every youkai aiming to collect anon as their wife, he should by all rights get ripped apart by the masses, hell he could get ripped apart by a random tengu on his way out the door of the HSE. Literally the only thing keeping him alive during the solstice is le heckin wholesome marvel moment known as sekai.

>>47337253
Toyohime is a bitch who only serves to be a mouthpiece in uninteresting and unfunny meta chapters.
Her opinion is pretty irrelevant.

>>47337497
>Literally the only thing keeping him alive
Trust the plan.

>>47337497
Most of this story is predicated on plot armor and convenient writing to hide the cracks. A lot of it probably falls apart on a reread if you put a second of critical thinking into it.
Like, for the whole Hieda stuff, there's just no reason that Reimu's intuition wouldn't have had her wandering the village long before anything even went wrong, and Hieda's plot armor is nothing short of amazing. He's a newborn oni, which shouldn't actually make him any more powerful. The idea that even Sanae couldn't take him out is silly, and the idea that, again, Reimu wouldn't have known that this whole massacre was happening is almost laughable. In LE we literally hear her say that she already knows how to exterminate an oni offhand, in response to Miko, who is literally at the village already and didn't just whack Hieda right off the bat! People take the oni as really hard to exterminate and the only reason is because it's Kasen we see in WaHH who had special requirements to being sealed.
With all that said, I still think the most egregious writing in this whole thing is Ran's emotional manipulation of anon into being dependant on her being portrayed as in the right.

>>47338090
That's far from the most egregious thing in the project, but most of the worst stuff is non-canon anyways.

it makes sense due to the nature of the project; the project wasn't planned and much of it was written through various people's lenses with various different thought processes and experiences. That how's it is and how it'll be until we finish it.
it doesn't excuse the mistakes made during the writing of the project, but there's not much we can do about them but learn how to do better and keep moving forward.
also explaining your examples:
>there's just no reason that Reimu's intuition wouldn't have had her wandering the village long before anything even went wrong
it was said in her last chapter she wouldn't be participating in the festival because she didn't want to bump with Hana and was going to meditate the whole day, which isolates her from the outside world, though indeed came a bit late because of change of plans since I wasn't expecting Hana to be in the festival and Reimu would be in the Underground talking with Koutei about Kasen, and me overall being busy
>The idea that even Sanae couldn't take him out
she hasn't come into face with him yet. She was fighting against Mokou and, in exhaustion after the fight and sealing her, got tagged heavily
>Miko didn't fuck up Hieda at the start
she was using most of her energy to protect the people from dying in the fires and smoke with her Shikaisen arts, though, and letting the enemy destroy itself would work better for her, which backfired and, by the time she understood the gravity of the situation, Mr. Hieda already had his lineage manip.
>Ran
heh~

>>47338354
>>47338090

>>47338502
t-thanks, hate when this happens...

>>47334893
I trust the Hana, all my homies HATE doom and gloom

>>47342772
Hana will awaken soon...

>>47338090
>Ran's emotional manipulation of anon into being dependant on her being portrayed as in the right
I can't wait for Hana to molest the fox for all the Stockholming of Anon. My favorite part was when takane anon wrote that bit where Takane reassured Ran she was 100% correct, and then another chapter of anon going 'nah you didn't just spend a year becoming my sole emotional crutch and let's ignore the fact I'm written to be desperate for real friends and throw myself at women for any sort of real love if I think it'll work'
The fox needs to be bullied, in fact all the yokes do just for good measure. Especially the cowe and mokou, I only wish she could've truly gone ham on mystia and we can see the fight of the silly little firecrackers and Hana's full banana mode

>>47344615
>Takane reassured Ran she was 100% correct
Now, It's been months since I wrote that, but I'm fairly certain it was a 'you're on thin ice' situation.
I should warn you I'm incapable of detecting Irony.

>>47345378
Don't worry, it's just agenda posting.

next batch is turning out to be fucking massive; gonna be hell to edit all this...
Oh well, such is life

>>47348590
Beat the book of Patchouli or you're a pussy