/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46685083
I like how the Aya Ray seems to be presented as a normal hazard that anybody could just come across by chance

>>46149398
she's so fast you'll never properly get a glimpse of it!

>>45880383
—
My heart pounds, hands together. Suzu comforts me with back rubs and, a few feet away, Mokou serenely feeds Aki; Mochi—the glutton~— already sleeps. Mystia, on the other couch, yawns, another victim of Mokou's insane idea of breakfast—her kids with Kyoko for safety—and, on the wall, the clock ticks loudly, as loud as my leg constantly rocks up and down. It's the first hour after sunrise and, by now, people should be seeing the letters everywhere. Mainly, it must've reached Mr. Hieda.

His reaction is the cornerstone of our situation; it'll define how much convincing the people will need to come to me. Knowing him, the hooks and traps I laid should garner an ill-thought response… Though it's impossible to guarantee it, plus my powers not working on him…

The doubts are consuming, but Suzu's comfort reels me back to reality and away from that dark pit.

Ah, such a bothersome thing: you know you've done everything you could, thought and rethought, planned for so long… Yet, when the time comes and the letters are out there and there's no going back, it suddenly comes to mind something else I could've done.

Something different, more effectively… Less dangerous, too… “Suzu—”

“—Is it about my safety?” She asks calmly. Mystia watches, puzzled and, a bit far away, Mokou giggles to herself… I nod, blushing. She snickers and pats my head, nestling Mochi in her other arm with aptitude. “Keine, you're not getting rid of me so easily~”

“Neither of me!” The voice is piercing and makes me go cold. I don't recognize it. I didn't hear it—

PICHUN~

A flash happens, and my eyes can finally spot the invader: huge pitch-black wings contracted and all tense; the window closed until a moment ago, now wide open; and a shining grin on Aya Shameimaru's face—a very tired face, with red eyes and weariness in every visible inch of it. That seems beyond the usual workplace marks of almost slave-labor…

… Maybe that's why Gensokyo's fastest reporter couldn't dodge a fireball that hit her square in the face, throwing her like a stringless doll towards the wall…

Yeah, not good.

A-At least she's still alive!

… Ugh, that's not going to taste nice…

Hm, was that a door opening…? Probably just a visual artifact.

“Keine, you're not—”

“Aya, please, just come and talk.” I utter with a clear tone of authority, honed from decades of teaching, arms crossed. Mystia freezes, Suzu goes wide-eyed for whatever reason, and Mokou pouts at me… And Aya, half-way through the window—I need to give it to her; even looking like she had just left the worst day of her life, she sneaked on Fujiwara no Mokou. That's a great feat… disregarding her previous ‘end’—gawks at me as if I had grown a third head—because the second had already grown and was staring at her in disappointment.

“I, he… Hi! Sorry for the intrusion—I really just wanted a nice, natural angle of Gensokyo's most recent insurgence!” She says as she elegantly enters through the window, Suzu squirming to my side when they make eye contact. I’ll ask later. “Aya Shameimaru, Bunbunmaru news~but you all already know that.”

Mokou stands by my side of the couch, with Aki on one arm and a massive fireball on the other. She looks dissatisfied, and I sigh. “Mokou, please…?”

She doesn't take her eyes off Aya, who waves, hiding her fear very well. Better not tell her what I ate. “The tengu jijis that visit my stand often gossip she visits the HSE a lot—you part of Yukari's gang of scum?”

“No, no, no! Bunbunmaru is a proudly independent newspaper! No strings attached! Besides, professional and private life are different entities~” Mokou narrows her eyes, but my hand on her wrist is enough to calm her down, the fireball dispersing with a roaring, menacing crackle. Aya shivers. Aki laughs… And, apparently, it was also the first time she saw my babies—weighting her chances of survival must've taken priority—her eyes widening and mouth agape… for some motive.

She then closed the distance to have a better look, much to Mokou's distaste—though my grip stopped the need for more uses of my power—and looked intently into Aki's eyes. “Aya…?”

“H-Huh?” She jolts, looking around. She doesn't seem somewhat amazed, even thrilled. What in the…? “Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to come across as rude… It's just that this one here—” Unsure for a second, she moistens her lips… then hovers a finger near Aki's face.

Mokou is so hypervigilant that smoke comes from her back…

Innocently, Aki grips the strong finger of a longtime writer, and a genuine grin spreads across Aya's non-melted face, “—She has his eyes~”

I blink. ‘His’?

That was… unexpected.

“… Oh! You mean Anon’s? Yup!” Mystia says, smiling. Aya stares at the sparrow with a puzzled frown. “She and Mochi aren't mine anymore—” There's a calm finality in her tone that'd have warmed my heart… if not for: “—But he was my mate, so 'course they got a lot from their papa~!”

Aya looks mortified. Suzu is glowing red.

… Ugh…

Well, it could’ve started a lot worse.