Red Sun Over Paradise
Anonymous 2022/09/22 (Thu) 04:11
No. 2556
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Reimu lay down, arms outstretched, on the cold wooden floor. Cicadas hummed in the distance. The shrine offered some shade from the oppressive summer heat, but she was drenched in sweat regardless. As she laid there she cocked her head and made a level attempt to kill the sun with her glare. The sun seemed to mock her as it remained firmly rooted in the sky. The miko's rage built and built as the giant red fireball continued to defy her. How could it possibly be this hot?!
A realization hit Reimu. The sun shouldn't be strong enough to resist her powerful Hakurei stare. She's the Shrine Maiden of Paradise damnit! That subterranean sun does what she tells it to, what makes the one up here think its so special?! It must be so strong because someone else caused it to be that way. An incident! A streak of red fabric shot away from the Hakurei Shrine to solve the incident at once, leaving rustling summer leaves in its wake.
Reimu rode the arid currents around Gensokyo on the hunt for suspicious people. As she glanced around the Human Village, Reimu caught sight of a redhead floating in a basin of water. Wait, no. On closer inspection it was a literal red head. Next to it, a headless body dressed in red and black fanned itself. Sekibanki was beside herself with heat exhaustion and could not see that her presence as a decapitated torso scared the whole village out of their now empty streets. It obviously was her fault and had nothing to do with the blazing red sun overhead, and what was about to happen next had nothing to do with jealousy over someone else getting to cool off in a pool. Reimu nodded to herself at this line of logic, confident in her deductive skills, and dropped down to chase the poor overheated rokurokubi out of town with her gohei.
The sun continued to shine and Reimu seemed no closer to solving the incident. Clear dry skies made it easy to spot some of the more unusual floating fixtures of the realm. Flying near to the Shining Needle Castle, she noticed the drum Tsukumogami reclining in front of a strange machine. It was a small white box that showered the girl with such a gale that her crimson hair splayed out behind her like a fan. Reimu got a glint in her
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Shizuha's Summer
Anonymous 2022/09/23 (Fri) 04:36
No. 2557
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“Lee, have you finished moving my materials inside?”
Shizuha poked her head out of a window, searching for the newest addition to her and Minoriko’s household. She soon spotted him stagger around the corner of the storehouse clutching several cloth bags.
“Almost!” he managed to grunt, panting from both the weight of the pigments she had asked him to fetch and the smothering heat of the Gensokyo summer.
Shizuha muttered something distinctly unbecoming of a goddess of even her modest stature, then ducked back in. Internally, she scolded herself. Wasn’t she supposed to be the responsible one? At least Minoriko was tending to her fields and not around to witness the gaffe.
Lee had finished putting away the bags and was laying down in the shade by the time Shizuha walked over with a pitcher of water and a few worn cups. She sat down beside him while he caught his breath and poured him a cup.
“Thank you.” He accepted the water with a grateful smile.
Shizuha found her eyes drawn to him as he drank in silence. She lingered on how his larynx punctuated the contour of his neck and followed it as it moved up and down as he swallowed the water. Out of habit, she found herself rendering her subject in terms of shapes and lines, of color and shading - means by which to more easily depict him with her brush.
Perhaps as a painter, it was natural for her to see her shaman through the lens of her art. By the same token, however, Shizuha had to wonder how she appeared to him.
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Bait
Anonymous 2022/09/23 (Fri) 05:07
No. 2558
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The ambush was executed flawlessly. It took place at the bend on the narrow trail as it dipped downwards around a small hill. The dense, thorny, and berry-laden bushes hedged the path on the sides. At the extremely-close range, the moment it would take to turn around and run was pointless. Short of leaping upwards and flying, there was no escape.
The ambusher stared at me firmly, her eyes showing little of their usual emotion. Likewise, her dark lips were drawn taut and her breathing silent. There was tension in her haunches as she leaned forward, appearing ready to leap should she detect a false move. Countless generations of careful breeding had endowed her with confidence in the hunt and prowess. That this was quite underappreciated in the village at present was a shame.
Her ancestors had been the proud sort, no doubt, used to the hard life of tracking and cornering youkai. How many cousins had been killed in their pursuit? Survival was never guaranteed, even when the conditions were favorable. Surprise was certainly something that favored the hunter but so did wits and the ability to collaborate with others. Before my time, only a few generations ago, hunters had gathered in groups and set out to exterminate troublesome youkai together.
Of course, today she was on her own. She may have been tracking but she was not hunting. Extermination was not on her mind either. Her behavior was instinctual, something that originated in her blood but was, ultimately, a vestigial impulse. Though impressed, I did not smile, instead crouching down to level my gaze with hers.
The bitch remained impassive for a few moments more. As I stretched my hand out, however, flickers of her usual gaiety reappeared in her dark eyes and the black lips curled at their base into something that could be generously interpreted as analogous to a smile. Her pink tongue flitted out as she brought her face close to my hand, making something of an imperious showing as she wrinkled her nose to sniff me.
I brushed my fingers against her soft cheek. It was more an acknowledgement than an act of affection.
She had managed to find me yet again.
I had left home early, bef
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