!H8UfLAg.DQ 2011/06/11 (Sat) 21:58 No. 142253 ▼ File 130782951181.jpg - (413.04KB, 700x550 , what is this route you speak of.jpg)
Right.
Where we were...
The situation with the doll isn't that much clearer than it was before, but I'm not sure if if even really need to understand any more of it than I already do. For now, at least.
Koishi, on the other hand, is not quite so clear-cut. For every question answered, I feel a new one presenting itself. Of course, that may just be due to her nature.
That just leaves Hinanai.
“You find her relationship with him to be particularly confusing, hm?”
Well, of course.
In just the brief times I've seen them together, she's gone from listening to him tell some bizarre bedtime story, to threatening him and looking as if she would love nothing more than to inflict some form of grievous bodily harm on him.
Then, when they're separated? She complains about him.
How he did this, or did that, and how this whole mess is all his fault, and so on, and so forth. From the time we spent walking around in circles through these halls, up to the 'incident' in the bath, I've seen and heard little else from her but ceaseless complaining about a guy she claims to hate, yet for some reason cannot stop talking about.
“Mm. You believe her words are not accurately reflecting what she feels in her heart.”
Oh, not entirely. I don't doubt she finds him annoying, if not downright infuriating. The question is, why? Is it really due simply to his actions, or is there something else going on? To hear her tell it, their meeting basically entailed him throwing rocks at her head, insulting her, and then walking away.
“Hm, yes. It would seem that is what occurred.”
Then she started following him?
“Indeed. In fact, from what I read of the two of them, much of what she told you is true, barring the occasional misunderstanding and exaggeration on Miss Hinanai's part.”
He didn't really try to 'have his way' with her, as she put it, I'm assuming.
“Hardly, though a kiss may seem as such, depending on the values of the recipient.”
Whoa, really? He actually kissed her?
Huh.
“So it would seem, though I do not believe it was entirely intentional for either party. Judging from his memory of the incident, that was about the time Koishi decided to get a little more 'hands-on' with with her interactions with him.”
Really? Interesting. Do you suppose she knew something they didn't?
“Hm? Koishi? ...I suppose it is not impossible, though it is just as likely that she was acting on impulse, and Miss Hinanai was pulled into it. Still, unwilling participant or not, I cannot deny that the event made some sort of impression on her.”
So, I'm not incorrect in my thinking, here?
“Regarding whether or not Miss Hinanai feels more for him than what she has expressed? Mm, yes, it is possible that is the case.”
Possible? You don't sound so sure.
“That would be because she, herself, is unsure of what she feels.”
Wait, really?
“Mm, yes. Despite her apparent age, it seems that her life has been one that has not allowed her heart to properly grow and mature as it normally would. An unfortunate consequence of becoming a Celestial through technicality rather than merit, further compounded by it happening to her at such a young age. Deprived of the experiences she would have shared with her peers, her heart is ill-prepared to process some of the thoughts and feelings that are commonplace among even adolescents.”
Hence, why their relationship sounds almost like some bizarre, twisted schoolyard romance. Because, in a way, it is one.
“Mmm, I do not know if I would go quite that far, though I would not say you are entirely inaccurate, either.”
Well, it is just a little similar to the classic pattern, isn't it?
Girl meets boy.
Boy puts bug in girl's hair.
Girl runs home, crying...
“Of course, it is not typically tears of joy that the girl is shedding, Miss Asakura.”
Hey, that beetle was the last one I needed to complete my collection.
You can't blame me for getting emotional over it.
“Hm. Still, you are correct. Although the situation is not quite the same, the spirit of it is similar. She is confused, that frustrates her, and because of that she lashes out at the source of her confusion and frustration. Perhaps it truly is that she detests him, or perhaps it is the opposite. Either way, I suspect she will be inclined to continue as she has until those feelings can be resolved.”
Why, though? And why him?
“You are no doubt aware of how irrational emotions can be, and by extension, how irrational people can be when they allow those emotions to dictate their actions. Miss Hinanai is, to say the least, no exception.”
From your tone, you sound as if you're speaking from personal experience.
“Mm, yes. Let us say that it was illuminating to read her heart when we met. I had been wondering for the longest time what caused that cave-in we had, a while back. The Palace was not damaged, thankfully, though there was some cleanup that was needed afterward.”
What happened?
“Miss Hinanai got bored, apparently, and decided the best way to alleviate that boredom was to cause an 'incident' and instigate fights with a number of the most powerful entities in Gensokyo. This included triggering a small earthquake that leveled a certain someone's shrine”
Ah, I see where this is going.
“Quite. Though safeguards are in place, earthquakes can still pose a problem for us down here. Of course, not long after that, we had our own little 'incident' erupt, and the matter was quickly forgotten. Though I am glad to know why it happened, now, I must confess that I have mixed feelings about having the culprit down here and in my home.”
Worried about a repeat of history? I know Hinanai can be temperamental, but I doubt she would do something so ridiculous as to risk bringing an entire cave down on her head.
“I would hope so, but I am afraid that the mindset that enabled her to trigger that first incident has not been fully corrected. Namely, selfishness and a distinct lack of concern for the consequences of her actions; yet another result of her status and the environment in which she was raised.”
So, she's still selfish and impulsive, but it's not really her fault she's like that?
“Oh, do not misunderstand. Her circumstances do not excuse her actions, they merely serve explain the reason behind them. It is just fortunate that her current actions do not appear to be as destructive as they previously were.”
Hold on, are you saying she's following around a guy she may or may not be crushing on, who threw rocks at her and generally confuses and irritates her, simply because she's bored?
“Perhaps, though I feel it is hardly the only reason. Her willingness to wander around with relative strangers may certainly be enough to alleviate boredom, I believe her fixation on him stems more from what he did to her.”
Kiss her?
“No, before that. When they first met, her hurt her. Wounded her. Not with the rocks her thew, but with his words.”
He insulted her?
“Not quite, though she would not see a difference. He criticized her skill at something. More than that, he criticized her. As would be expected, she took offense to that.”
So she's following around because he, somehow, managed to hurt her pride?
“Apparently so.”
A Celestial. Someone who, for whatever reason, was elevated to a higher form of existence, and who almost certainly possess powers and abilities that an ordinary human would not.
“Yes.”
And she is so worked up over the words of a lowly human, why?
“She wonders that herself, I believe. Perhaps it was the sheer audacity of being criticized by someone she viewed as 'beneath' her. Perhaps her pride is just exceptionally fragile. Perhaps it is something else entirely. I am afraid I cannot say.”
Even if you could, would you?
“Hm. Who knows?”
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