I slowly came to consciousness, my senses in disarray after the traumatic experience. As I surveyed my body, I noticed it was riddled with patches of whiteness. It was a frustrating sight, but I knew that I had to act fast.
I grabbed my brush, the only tool I had to repair my damaged body. The work was painstaking - piece by piece, I had to paint over each of the white splotches until my ink body was fully restored. It was an emotional process, and I found myself shedding tears of frustration, staining the sheets beneath me.
But my outburst wouldn't change anything. Once I had mended my entire body, I looked around the room and realized with a sense of dread that I was in a familiar setting. It was the same room where I had been Yukari's shikigami, imprisoned and forced to obey her every command. The realization sent a shiver down my ink-spine, and I wondered what the future held in store for me.
With the ability to create Youkai's, I realized that revealing such power to Yukari would be a grave mistake. Love, a bittersweet drug, possesses the potential to shatter lives if given to the wrong person. One foolish decision could lead to centuries of remorse.
Seeking refuge from my current predicament, I unfurled a scroll and mustered all my strength to divert my thoughts. Brush in hand, I endeavored to paint an alternative reality for myself—a world where caution guided my every step, a realm where I never crossed paths with her.
Engaging in Sumi-e, an art form that solely relies on ink, I used my scroll to craft an Emaki—an ancient storytelling method. Reflecting upon works like the Illustrated Tale of Genji, a renowned painted narrative, I carefully wove together a story—one that would bring joy to my heart.
"What are you doing?" Her voice pierced the air, causing me to freeze in place. She drew nearer, her presence overwhelming as I hastily attempted to conceal my scroll. But to my astonishment, it vanished from my grasp. I glanced at Yukari, and there she was, reading it. Dread washed over me as I looked back at my desk, mentally preparing myself for the worst.
The sound of my precious scroll being torn apart reached my ears, and her hands gripped my shoulders with an intensity fueled by anger. She forced my gaze upon her, her face contorted with fury, and my eyes welled up with tears once more.
"Tell me, Kakujo, or should I say, Sumi Yomiko. Did you genuinely believe that happiness could be achieved without me?" she sneered, her tone filled with laughter, mocking the mere notion of my ideal life. It was a cruel reminder that my existence relied solely on her, and she reveled in that power.
Despite my best efforts to resist, I was helpless in the face of Yukari's overwhelming strength. I felt my inky body taking on physical form once again, and soon enough, Yukari was upon me. I knew what she wanted, and I was powerless to refuse.
My body and mind were numbed by the unwanted intimacy, and I could only let her do what she wanted. I was resigned to this fate - a shikigami, forever bound and subject to the whims of my master. It was a dismal thought, and I could only hope that one day, I might find a way to break free from this endless cycle of servitude.
As I glanced down at my body, I could see that the white patches had once again covered me - a reminder of Yukari's unyielding control over me. I couldn't help but look out of the window at the fake sun - everything within this realm was perfectly orchestrated by her.
Realizing the extent of my own desperation, I chuckled to myself. I was powerless against her, and I knew it. So I quietly went about mending my own body with my brush, fighting the urge to cry out in despair.
In the end, I painted myself back to black again. Perhaps, I thought, if I stopped mending myself, she might abandon me. But in my heart, I knew the truth - Yukari always got what she wanted, and I was just another puppet along for the ride.
Yet again, in the depths of my past, she coerced me into relinquishing the ink and brush, the tools that granted her the power to reshape me as she pleased. Exhaustion settled within me, and I made a firm decision to keep them out of her reach. Instead, I embarked on creating a tale that would bring me a semblance of joy, a narrative to alleviate my wretchedness. Perhaps injecting some humor into it would even coax a genuine laugh from my lips.
Through my paintings, I conjured lifelike creatures, providing them sustenance or the company they craved. I bestowed upon them voices and memories, fashioning solace within the confines of this desolate prison.
"Having fun?" I turned to face Yukari, only to find her disapproval etched upon her countenance. With a mere wave of her fan, my creations were reduced to wet ink, staining the room in an instant. Silently, tears streamed down my face, the weight of my sorrow too heavy to bear openly.
"You should understand, without a doubt, that you belong solely to me. Your interactions should be exclusively with me," Yukari's voice grew increasingly erratic, stirring up a torrent of unpleasant memories that flooded my mind.
She transformed my ink-like form into solid matter, tightening her grip around my throat, depriving me of precious air. A twisted satisfaction danced in her eyes as she observed my struggle. Through my wheezing breaths, I managed to utter the plea, "Ple... Please... let me go..."
"Perhaps, when you cease fleeing from me and cease creating anything that isn't me," Yukari responded, her smile dripping with malice. In that moment, it felt as if my life had been forfeited to her relentless demands.
"Maybe I should rip out your right hand to teach you a lesson," Yukari chirped with unsettling cheerfulness. She released her hold on me, and with merciless precision, sank her teeth into the nape of my neck. The searing pain engulfed me, rendering me speechless except for the silent screams echoing within me.
Yukari simply ate some of my flesh with an air of satisfaction, while I could do nothing but sob in agony. She even went so far as to lick off the blood that had accumulated on my skin. Despite all of this, she casually declared her love for me.
But I knew that what I had experienced was anything but love. It was cruel, manipulative, and left me feeling violated and powerless at every turn. I was nothing more than a toy for her, to be used and discarded as she saw fit - an object of her amusement.
With each passing moment, I felt myself growing weaker and weaker. The blankness that had engulfed my body was now expanding, turning my once-vibrant form into nothing more than a white void. I could no longer fight back against Yukari's increasing violence and insatiable desires.
My sense of self was slowly crumbling away in the face of her overwhelming power, leaving me feeling helpless and powerless. I could feel her every desire overtaking me, washing away my identity and leaving nothing but a shell behind.
As I slowly faded into nothingness, I realized that this was truly the end of me. I was nothing more than a tool for her amusement, and now, even that was gone. Goodbye, self.
Yukari sipped on her tea, looking amused. "You have such a wild imagination," she commented casually, as though ignoring the fact that she had just abducted me to this place called Gensokyo.
Indignant, I responded, "I mean, you would do that! And don't try to deny it - I'll smack you."
Yukari's new Shikigami, Ran, looked at me with an odd expression, seeming unsure how to respond.
"You make me look like a villain," Yukari complained, shaking her head disapprovingly. "All I did was kiss you, and you've now tarnished my reputation with your wild imagination."
Despite her nonchalant demeanor, I could sense the truth in Yukari's words. Perhaps my imagination had gotten the better of me this time.
"Fine! I'll do it properly, geez!" Frustration surged within me as I snatched up my brush, scratching my head with it in exasperation. With renewed determination, I set out to depict the unfolding of events as they truly transpired.
She donned a regal purple Chinese-style tabard adorned with intricate Trigrams, layered over a soft pink Western-style dress. Her golden locks were elegantly coiled up beneath a mob cap, and she held a dainty pink parasol. It was unmistakable—the woman before me was a Youkai, and a rather familiar one at that.
"Hey there! I didn't expect to find you working at a convenience store. I thought you were in hibernation," I greeted Yukari Yakumo, a gap Youkai who happened to be an acquaintance of mine.
"Well, you should know why I'm here," Yukari responded matter-of-factly. Confused by her cryptic remark, I decided to seek clarification, determined to unravel the purpose of this peculiar encounter.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," I replied, my confusion evident. Determined to resolve the situation, I took matters into my own hands, scanning the items and skillfully calculating the exact total. I neatly stored the purchases within the confines of my scroll.
"You forgot to contact me! It's been an incredibly long time! Not even a single notice that you had awakened!" Yukari's anger intensified, causing me to let out a chuckle, unable to contain my amusement.
"Well, I did send a familiar your way, but it seems to have been consistently thwarted by a mischievous vixen," I accused her, a playful tone lacing my words. Yukari's expression shifted to one of panic, clearly caught off guard by my response.
Yukari seemed a bit frustrated as she spoke about her new shikigami, Ran. "I told her to report any odd occurrences, no matter how insignificant they may seem," she grumbled. "Anyway, she and I aren't like that. She's just my Shikigami," Yukari explained hastily.
As I urged her to get straight to business and tell me what happened to the world while I had been asleep, Yukari adopted a serious tone. I could sense a deep apprehension in her gaze as she began to reveal the shocking truth.
I felt my world turning upside down as she spoke of the changes that had occurred in my absence. The world was vastly different than it had been, and everything I knew had shifted entirely. It was a sobering realization, and I knew that I had a lot of catching up to do.