/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46019154
c'mon, Anon, she's not going to do anything wrong to them! Don't you trust the Bunbunmaru's reporter?

>>45906904
—
And I frown, cold in my heart.

It's unnoticeable to others, but I hold her hand every night; am there for each nightmare—the reason behind it used to elude me, but since she told me about the meaning of that symbol on the cloak, things have become clearer: her power to write history could ensure the problem of “Youkai dying if not feared” wouldn't exist, 'it’d be a simple fix', she'd said… But what'd that mean to Gensokyo? That someone can shape their collective reality and future to fit whatever mold they like on a whim? People like Yukari, Okina, Kaguya, and I have equals. We can be fought against, stopped by physical and magical barriers…

… But who can fight fate? I sealed mine 1300 years ago and nothing will ever change my decisions, no matter how much I regret them. To hold such power over the future, with the only saving grace being a selected few are unaffected…

I look at Keine with a mix of pity and disappointment, her body tall and eyes laced with sheer determination and calmness. Suzu and Mystia look proud and happy, giving words of support, unaware of the innuendos of her statement on changing youkai forever: to exercise such control over the people of Gensokyo would make her a 'tyrant'… And that'd be great. It would be a certainty that the youkai we're trying to help—and our kids—wouldn't need to worry, and the only thing we'd need is that no one ever discovers that SHE changed things. Youkai could live and prosper from, I dunno, common food like everyone else? Maybe something more esoteric if not, like happiness or whatever… But that'd bring forth nothing but corruption, and she doesn't want that.

I call it bullshit.

Power exists to be used, and hers will do more good than bad—it's just infuriating! So what if it's 'tyrannical'?! It'd make things better…

That symbol I had woven into her cloak comes to mind, my eyes narrowing, a seed of doubt blossoming inside. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely, she'd told me there…

Sulking, I glance at Aki sitting on Aya's lap, the baby watching in awe at the crow's massive, pitch-black wings, even brushing her tiny ones against them—my frown creases…

… Am I corrupted by my powers?

'Course not! All those times I attacked first and thought later were to protect my family—against the Yakumo scum; the reporter… They deserved it for threatening my family.

Aki giggles as her tiny hand catches a feather that might as well be a sliver of midnight. Aya jumps a bit, though she follows with a genuine, soft laugh—same for the three mothers around her—her cheeks rosy as she petted Aki's head. “Heh, you’ll have big ones too someday~” Resuming her words with Keine. In my mind, I see Mochi playing with that hound and Seija; the cursed man holding Aki as if a gust of wind could break her in two…

I tsk, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly bad. It was all for my family that I didn’t want to lose; it had justification! It wasn't just uncalled-for violence… Stupid fucking heart.

“It must be really stressful to juggle all that, Keine-sensei,” Aya says, better material than whatever echoes inside my head. “Still, I must say I'm happy at the initiative; not that I align myself with rebellious acts against authority, no, heh~but some of my… Friends are having half-human babies too in the future, and it's nice to know a born human like you is striving to make their lives better.” She bows with a smile, to which Keine reciprocates. “Could I know why you are doing all this? Is it to solely recover your reputation? Your job, maybe?” Aya holds the pen and notebook with expectancy; the question is valid…

… Yet, out of the blue, Keine laughs. Mystia simply smiles; Suzu has a beautiful gleam in her eyes, and I almost tsk'd again. Is Aya stupid or something…?

“Aya-san, you have half of my reasons to do all this sitting on your lap~” Gently, Keine taps Mochi's back, the baby munching on his fist barely reacting, his eyes focused on the wall. Keine looks radiant nevertheless, and Aya's smile grows with clear understanding. “And this precious little idiot is the other half of it!”

“Ahaha~I guess it makes some sense. Ten minutes, and I think I'm in love too!” She shrugs dramatically.

“It happens to the best of us,” Suzu says sweetly, and they all share a fit of laughter and I can't help but huff with amusement too—

Knocking on the door reverberates, muffled mumbling coming from the other side—Keine's name was loudly cited.

She visibly stiffens before relaxing, my hand gently catching hers. The first curious and maybe angry villager came to quench either feeling, and, with them, one more step towards changing this rotten place. “Well, that's my leave—I need to get all this edited and chuck it out! Thanks for the interview, Keine-sensei! Remember to buy a Bunbunmaru issue to know what cool things I wrote about you~! Bye!” She handles Aki to Suzu and, with a silly gesture, takes off flight through the window, nothing but a distant shadow in the next second.