/jp/ - Otaku Culture

“It's been an hour already, and you're still pouting~?”

Despite her tone, my 'pouting' is totally justified: “You put me in the middle of a crowd; made me teach a birdbrain how to read AND then apologized too cutely! 'Course I'm still pouting, Izanagi!” Keine chuckles, my pout growing bigger. Too cute to be mad at… Fantastic. My hands plunge inside my pockets, eyes on the night sky and stars above, a soft second of silence stretching between us as we stroll, Keine holding onto my arm with her head laying on my shoulder—Aki and Mochi will stay the night at Mystia's and will stay there with some youkai that denied participating in the protests tomorrow. “… I'll fuck you tonight with a fire cock and pump your womb full of embers.” It's said with a smug, her giggling dying as a delightful redness took over her face.

I pull her in closer, and a tiny smile highlights the night.

A moment later, and we cackled together, the moonlight above the only witness of one of many moments of joy… that, like all others, will fade away for her— “Gee, stop with that face, Mokou.” She says and I frown, 'What face?' “That one—the sad one.”

“I'm not sad, just concerned,” I sigh, diverting my gaze to the tall bamboo surrounding us. “… Using a fake Full Moon to trigger your hakutaku form and writing Seiga's demise is just a delay with Yukari still in the game, and we've got no plan for that as of now. We're at her mercy… Any second, in a whim, our two kids…” Her tender right palm holds onto my cheek and I turn to her, those eyes calm yet ready. I lean onto the frail flesh.

“I understand, Mokou; I do. But we do what we can now; the past is written, and the future is a mystery—so stay here with me, in the present. It’s where I need you most.” That smile, that fucking smile… I wearily nod, head lowering, a bitter feeling swimming inside. Throw everything to the wind, run away to a very faraway place; show them all I can while we still have time…

… When will that stop being a dream?

Certainly not now.

Our walk finally comes to a close as a rather nostalgic place opens before us: the same lake, the same clearing—the same moon. “Gosh, you had cooked so well that night~” Keine hums, her smile growing from ear to ear. The place where we restored our friendship and took our first steps to developing love.

To think it has been just a few weeks, and I already cannot even recall what life was like before them—my very own family…

“I'll cook even better after tomorrow. A feast unlike anything you've ever seen,” I mumble, her eyes turning away from the scenario to me. “And it'll be in a place higher and much cooler than the top of Mt. Fuji; it'll be a volcano. An active volcano… Yeah, I'll take us and the kids to the top of an active volcano. How does that sound?”

“… I don't think the maw of an active volcano would be 'cooler' than the summit of Mt. Fuji, but sure, it sounds lovely~” The joke takes a moment to land, but when it does, I hit my forehead on Keine’s, a yelp of pain followed by giggles of amusing echoing. Being so close, though, I can’t resist pecking her on the lips. “… You’re forgiven~”

Faces connected, so close to each other. If a moment could last forever…

…

… However, Keine soon steps aside and takes out a seemingly harmless-looking scroll from her dress. She unfolds it on the ground and places by it a pen, a small towel for her knees, and a simple pot of black ink. With the preparations to use her hakutaku ability swiftly done, a deep-seated fear rises and clings to me like a tentacle, my heart palpitating—so much that can go wrong; so much that one singular second can change.

Lives crushed, futures erased, pasts forgotten—so agonizingly possible…

… But that's the life of a mortal, huh?

I peer into her eyes as she turns—eyes I could gaze into forevermore and still feel a rush of marvel. “Oi, Keine… For that food I promised you, our marriage to come; our kiddos—tomorrow, let’s do our best, okay?”

She pauses and stares at me as if analyzing something only she can understand; then she smiles fondly and nods. “For you three, I'll do beyond my best. You're my heart—don't ever forget it.”

I nod, kicking the grass and then grumbling, “C-Cool…” To the lullaby that is her playful giggle, I turn and put about thirty feet of distance between us.

Turning again, one hand pointing at the skies, I look over her, anxiety subsiding.

'Do what you can. For some people, that's more than enough.'

And so a cone-shaped torrent of blue flames roars towards the sky from my palm, displacing the air in waves that make our clothes and the lake's water wobble chaotically. The sheer, blinding glow lasted about two moments before it settled…

Shining above us was a massive full moon of serene, celestial azure inferno.

Keine gazes at it, her expression awestruck, body relaxed…

Then her silly hat falls to reveal sprouting horns, emerald green flowing down her dress.

Under this blue moon, it's like I'm seeing her for the first time again.