/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46273118
“-So that’s where we are now” I finish, looking at Akyuu to see if she followed everything. She looked back to me, mouth pulled into a frown and a look of disbelief on her face. I suppose that was the expected reaction. I had been thrust into this into all of this so suddenly and for so long I had just accepted it.

“Father” she exhales, slumping her shoulders slightly, shifting to a pensive expression. She remains silent for a few moments before she takes a swig of sake before and speaks again. “I knew it was difficult on him. He tried not to show it when my time drew near, but it was crushing him. I would have given anything for just a few more years.” She turns towards me “But if you meet him again, could you tell him he’s being an idiot? All because of some delusion he had he’s destroyed the life of a long time friend of the Heida family and almost committed a bloodbath in the village. There’s no use in him outliving me if he’s going to live like this. Unless he comes to his senses he’s going to keep pushing against that revolution of yours”

“What about that? I just never knew how big it would get and now it seems like the whole village knows and support is growing. Aren't you the one that told me ‘Humanity and Youkai are enemies, don’t you forget that’?” I said as I put on my best Akyuu impersonation.

“You’re making me sound like an old crone, come on” Akyuu huffs, an annoyed expression-the same one she would give me when she thought I was being stupid-crossing her face for a moment. “I did tell you that, and I did play my role in maintaining the ways things used to be, but it seems like those days are coming to an end. You said it yourself. The old powers are acting erratic. My father, the sages, and Reimu have all abandoned their duties and are acting strangely. A brothel run by Yukari has been running in the village for months and has only gained influence. An entire generation has been born that will want to grow up in a society that accepts them. There’s no turning back from this, all that can be done is to guide the trajectory. If Gensokyo survives the change is another matter”

It feels like there’s a sudden chill in the air. The two of us just sit there, the only sound that of the river flowing behind us.

I break the silence. “Do you think I’m making a mistake again?”

“Not this time. It seems like the situation was already out of hand when you got involved. Keine’s plan is a way to try to correct what has already been done. Even if it means radically changing society. What would happen if this were ignored and swept under the rug? Dozens of children, if not more growing up isolated and lacking the basic necessities of life. It would be a moral failing to deny them that” She drummed her fingers on the wood of the counter, the sound so noticeable in the quiet void. “So this is what it takes to finally collapse the old order, huh?”

I’m surprised at how accepting she seems of all of this. “Back when I was still alive, I always wondered how long the balance could be kept. For hundreds of years, it had to be carefully maintained in secret to prevent collapse, and I played my role in it. But despite everything over the years youkai drifted closer to humanity. I suppose it makes sense. They’re a reflection of us. Our fear, our worries. Why wouldn’t they become closer to us and become more human? But to think it would result in this”

“So you’re certain all these children were fathered by Reimu’s husband?”

Even if I expected that question it still made me uneasy “I think so. All the pregnancies started after that place opened. I told you about the women that admitted to having his children, and Keine and Aya did say the children were half-youkai. Anon is certainly in the right-er-place to be with plenty of them. It just makes sense to me”

“You do lack any hard evidence, but I think it’s plausible” she says with a smile towards me. I grimace. No you moron! You were supposed to point out how I was wrong and I missed something obvious, not say I was right!

“That would complicate things. I wouldn’t want to take on the task of drawing out that family tree. Do you have a plan for if it’s confirmed then? It would be a scandal if it were found out, considering he’s a Hakurei and his current profession”

“I’m sure Keine has figured something out, she has to know” She just never brought it up because she wanted to keep it a secret for now and didn’t want to worry anyone else. Yep. I wasn’t going to be the one that told people.

(30)

>>45590278
Suzer and AQ.