/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Your version of good," The arm began, crossing her arms. Now that I'd had a moment, my heart was calming down and I could tell that there was something of a performative nature to this. I didn't think the arm wanted to particularly cause me harm. It wasn't like Rumia. It was...Something else. "isn't some absolute. It's a stifling, morally righteous, and sentimental set of principles that you cannot make others live their lives by." She shook her head. "If you're waiting for me to adopt all that, then we'll be here for a very long time."

Lady Kasen's arms were by her side, and she was clenching her bandaged arm. "So...what? That's it? You're not going to change?"

The arm stepped over me and even closer to Lady Kasen. "I did that to show you that I can change. I could have killed him right then. I didn't. I didn't even do much damage. I'm showing you that I have changed, but I'm not going to stop being who I am. I've been trying to teach you, too. Accepting who you are. Accepting that you don't have to deny yourself to still be what you consider good."

"But..." Lady Kasen looked conflicted. I raised a hand to my shoulder and found that the arm was right. The bleeding had already stopped, though I suspected that Raki's definition of not doing much damage might not have matched mine. I'd probably have a nice new set of teeth marks scaring that shoulder. Still, it'd be a good story. "I am a hermit. I want to be a celestial, some day. And more than that, I am an ally to humanity. Are you capable of that?"

"In time, yes. But again, I am still an oni." Raki's gaze softened a little. "Look. Partner." Lady Kasen's intake of breath was sharper, but with a slight stutter. "I do want to accept you. I hope you want to accept me. But we cannot accept each other without knowing exactly where we stand. I don't intent to go around eating humans. Hoshiguma, Ibuki, they grew in the time I was sealed, and I could be like them. I could be my own version of good. I'm just...not sure I can be like you."

I staggered to my feet, pulling the coat I had left sitting behind me on to hide the bite marks. Raki turned to look at me, then stepped closer and pulled my coat tighter. "I'm not sorry." She told me calmly. "But you'll be okay. And you don't need to worry. I'm perfectly under control." Funnily enough, I found that I believed her, even if my gaze was lingering a little on her teeth now. I felt like I needed to go and hide under some covers with Yamame and possibly Reimu too. At least for a while.

Lady Kasen led me a small distance away, then sighed heavily and put her hand on my undamaged shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'd spent so much time with her that I forgot...She's an oni, and she wants to be an oni. She doesn't want to be a hermit. I guess that's my fault. I sealed her for all that time." I shakily nodded my head. I didn't really blame Raki, but I didn't much want to be around her at this exact moment. "Well...Yuugi and Suika fell asleep in the training room, so you should be okay if you want to go back in. Or if you want to leave." I took Lady Kasen's bandaged hand. It was funny. It felt like there was definitely a hand underneath. I told her that I still trusted her, and I didn't want to leave permanently. "...Thank you." She whispered. “I should get back. Talk to her.”

In a movement so fast that I didn't even catch it, the arm's fist had suddenly shot forward. Lady Kasen's own had met it, resulting in a blast of energy from two oni bodies hard enough to make me stagger slightly. Quick as a flash, the arm attacked again, trying to strike a different region of the body. Each time, Lady Kasen was able to meet it with a fist of her own, as if I was watching some sort of bizarre fight between a person and their own reflection. They were perfectly matched; each strike being countered exactly in the middle of the space between them. They soon started involving kicks, which they also countered with the same elegance. For a single, mad moment, I likened it to a strange dance.

"Shit." Reimu muttered. "I don't like the looks of this." I wasn't all that optimistic about the odds either. Even if they were perfectly matched, would they both run out of stamina at the same time?

After a moment, the two caught each other's fists, forcing their arms into a locked position. From the looks of it, there was enough strain between the two to move the Heavens themselves. "How long are you going to do attack me?" Lady Kasen growled through gritted teeth. "I could have left you sealed!" I saw something flash across the arm's face. It wasn't the emotion I expected, and for a moment, I was confused. It hadn't been anger, or joy or excitement or anything like that.

It had been hurt.

The arm reared back, then smashed her head into Lady Kasen's, hard enough that it knocked the hermit to the ground. Within a moment, she was back on her feet and looked ready for more, but the arm had already dropped from a fighting stance. "What, is that all?" Lady Kasen asked, looking a little excited. "You've got more strength than that, so-"

"You betrayed me." The arm's voice was rusted, but unmistakably the same as Lady Kasen. Lady Kasen's excitement disappeared immediately. "You betrayed my trust." The arm stared at Lady Kasen, and there was something unmistakable in her eyes. "You betrayed everything we stand for as oni." She pointed a sharp fingernail at Lady Kasen for a second. "You let me down." The voice was almost calm, but there was intense emotion behind it, bubbling just under the surface. "Don't call me 'partner'." The arm whispered. "Don't - Just don't."

Lady Kasen's earlier excitement had evaporated. She looked frozen, like she was at a loss and didn't know what to do. "But I-" She tried. "I couldn't-"

"Couldn't what? Hmm, Kasen 'Ibara'? Couldn't let me go free?" The arm's eyes narrowed. "Couldn't trust your own self."

"I couldn't let you eat people, could I?" Lady Kasen seemed to have regained some thought process, because she responded sharply. "It's what you-"

"You couldn't. Because you had the chance to change, didn't you? The hermit who aims for another world. A regular do-gooder." The arm slammed a fist against her chest. "What about me, Kasen Ibara? Where was my chance!? What if I could have changed!?" She shook her head, letting her shoulders slump slightly. "No, you didn't even wait to find out. You just wanted to hide from yourself. You're still ashamed of your past." At this point, the arm began to pace in front of Lady Kasen, the only sound being the jingling of the chains around her wrists and ankles. "And any reminders. You'd rather create an elaborate plan and use her," She jabbed a finger toward Reimu, who half raised her gohei in defence, "To seal me again, instead of just accepting that you're an oni, and you'll always be an oni!"

>>33069437
Why is Arm-chan is superior to all the other Kasens?