/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46046551
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There’s something here; what it is ain’t exactly clear. It's small, like an ember… Yet it's everywhere, embroidering the mouths of hardworking parents, of skeptics and optimists alike and even wide-eyed teens.

It takes form of a simple question: “Who’s lying?”

Most people wouldn't care for that at first, not with the already hefty workload that is quotidian life—'doesn't impact me, why care?'

Something everyone mentioned above has is care for children and taxes to pay. Children in a place like Gensokyo, where youkai prowl all over, are extremely important, and all children need schooling; taxes keep the world spinning; no amount of 'Beyond common sense' will change that. The same person who manages our teaching institution and our hard-earned money is now under fire for allegedly mistreating one of his most esteemed subordinates, a teacher of decades who kept the village safe when the Moon made youkai go bananas…

That’s bad.

And what does Mr. Hieda do first? Take everything down; censor all of it.

… That’s very bad.

There's a woman with a gun over there, and Mr. Hieda just picked up the gun and shot himself in the foot.

—

“M-Mr. Hieda, a moment!” I sighed, looking at the direction of the voice. Another man approaches me, puzzled and wide-eyed, his wife, I assume, trailing behind. We're on school grounds and the students are just leaving; the sun being consumed by the horizon. This is not an evening of sweet relief like usual, but rather one of exhaustion and annoyance—a low growl escaping me as my worried and agitated entourage stops by the massive Ginkgo Tree on the right side of the school. I have been tormented by one topic all day long, like a cockroach that never dies: Keine's letters. Collecting everything and burning it away—rightfully ending the disgusting, fake piece of literature—wasn't quite enough to pacify the masses. “I'd like to ask about Keine-sensei's let—”

“Sorry, but Mr. Hieda is very tired and does not want to talk,” one of my bodyguards interrupted the man as he tried to get closer. “His advanced age takes a massive toll on his body—” That should've been enough, and I was already about to resume my walk back to the estate, though this nagging itch begging to be scratched layered the bottom of my mind, a constant throughout the whole day. What a headache…

“—The things that Eirin-sensei said don't match your words about Keine-sensei!”

… What?

I turn to the man, and he seems scared, teeth bared and sweating; the woman behind him remains placid and… There's just something about her eyes—

“Based on E-Eirin-sensei’s records, Keine-sensei never went to Eientei for an abortion!” His loud voice and my presence gathered attention, and the itch grew and grew. My other bodyguards immediately tensed, handmaiden to the left trying her hardest to pull me away from the man and the forming crowd, some people I recognize from earlier who've also tried interrogating me…

Oh, but none of that is relevant.

That may not have occurred in Eientei, but so what? It changes nothing! That viper aborted my Akyuu; I simply know it! “Your words don't match, Hieda-sama! Did you really lie to everyone?!”

“Please, get away from Mr. Hieda now!” The bodyguards tried to hide me from the public eye, whispers all around me of curiosity, confusion, and, outlandishly, even some agreement! The itch grew, and in my mind I saw a baby Akyuu in my arms, an innocent soul that'll have to wait years before she can return to this world, all because of that woman—

“Answer us, Hieda-sama!”

“Where did you get records anyway…?” Someone asked, but their voice was snuffed beneath the unrest that spread like wildfire.

“H-Hieda-sama, please, let’s move!” The handmaiden pleaded.

“What more did you lie about?”

“C'mon, there's no real evidence about these 'reports'!”

“Hieda-sama, what's happening?!”

“Yeah, why did you fire that hot teacher?! Her dress was so tight I could see every curve, man! This school stinks!”

“Mr. Hieda, answer us!”

“Are you idiots being paid by her?!”

“Paid?! Shut up, you bootlicker!”

Fights were starting; fingers pointed—

—And my Akyuu's name was being defiled, her terrible passing denied... All because of that goddamn woman!

“She aborted my Akyuu!” It came out with a shaking voice and limbs, fury leaking into my words and broad eyes; the crowd and my bodyguards—who were frantically trying to drag me away—froze still. “So what if it wasn't a physical abort, if there wasn't a baby to start with?! She spiritually did it! She's a monster! I don't need evidence; it was revealed to me in my dreams! It is shameful even one of you heard a word that woman spewed!”

I was the focus of thirty sets of eyes. All but one were aghast…

PICHUN~

… Holding a camera, the first man's wife grinned.

Her back suddenly sprouted dark brown wings, and she quickly took off, exclaiming, “Megumu-sama will love this!”

The ‘husband’, relieved, fell on his buttocks. “Sorry…” He mumbles. I don't even hear him.