To you, who is reading this, history does not contain in a singular place. Explore more.
Night, at the Human Village, inside the school, a light could be seen from the outside. This is because a teacher is present, spending the night, grading her students' work.
Keine Kamishiwara, a history teacher for the children of the Human Village. Despite being a school for the human's, youkais and fairies managed to integrate themselves in, much to the dismay of one clan. Keine holds her brush dipped in red ink, marking any right or wrong that her students had made. Seeing the student's different answer brings a smile and sometimes, worry, because of their knowledge on history (especially coming from a certain ice fairy, who shall not be named). History have always been important. It's because of history, we can see how people from before lives their lives. The what, the how, and the why. How was the Human Village created? Why are youkai dangerous to human? What is a youkai? All this question and more, can be answer by reading upon our forefather. Maybe the question had been already answered by our predecessor, and in the off chance that it hadn't, maybe the people of now, could expand from the old, so that the newer generation could hopefully finished what they had started.
However, the most important, history records our growth. Our journey, from start to end. From what we do, our achievement, our memories, painful, happy, sorrow, your history will always be created. Only after you died, would your history die with. And even then, some after death, their story would become tales for the many. A tale of Epic. A tale of fantasy. A tale of learning. In the end of the day, history has always been a part of life. No one could escape their history. The good. The bad. And the ugly. That is why, history is important. Without history, a part of us wouldn't be complete.
Keine continues grading, her mind went on autopilot. Keine had already known the answer, as she was the one who made the question, while getting the teaching material from the Heida clan, as they are the one who truly keeps the record of Gensokyo. Well, mostly. Anyway, Keine continue grading until her focus started to waver. She blinks a few times while looking away from the text, seeing the same text over and over again, with different answer made everything blends in together. Maybe it's time for the teacher to take a break. After all, all work with no break can prone someone to make mistakes. Thus, she put down her brush and stretch her arms upward, letting her bone and muscle move. That felt nice. She takes a deep breathe. In and out. In. Out. In. Out.
Then, she turns to the edge of the table: a scroll had laid there. She reaches out to it and traces the cover. A closed green scroll with a white strip of paper (with text) on the outside, tied nicely with a red string. On the text outside, it reads:Clipped Wings. Keine stops tracing. Thinking on reading the text, she stops, because she had memorized it better than the Heida would. The Child of Miare did not know the existence of this text, as she had not experienced it (nor had anyone to tell her) and Keine intends for it to stay that way. She hopes that the sage and miko would also keep silent about it. But, seeing that telling the Child of Miare had no benefit for them, they probably wouldn't bother. Lucky that the miko of now had that kind of personality. But you might be wondering, who had written this text in the first place? That's simple,
It was Keine herself, who wrote it.
Without even opening the text, Keine starts to recall, to that day.
…
…
…
"..ei.."
"K..n"
"Keine!" a familiar voice calls out to the teacher. Surprised, she gets out of her stupor and turns her head to the origin of the noise. And standing next to her, it is the person from the text that she was remembering. The same one who she had hurt, and the same one that she feels guilty of. The Immortal,
Fujiwara no Mokou.
"O-oh, Mokou, what brings you here?" hastily, the teacher replies.
"What, I can't meet you if I don't have anything?" Mokou pouts, then she snickers, "I'm just kidding. I just thought that I hadn't met you for a while and thought that Keine probably missing me right about now?" she grins.
"Oh, Mokou, stop teasing me…" she closes her eyes. It had been a while when the two had met.
"Well… maybeIwas the one who misses you," embarrassed, she lightly scratches the right side of her face with a finger, "Oh yeah, what's that you're pointing at?" Mokou points at the scroll that Mokou should never see.
"O-oh this? Uh, it's nothing important!" quickly, she hides the text underneath the table, away from Mokou grasps.
"Hm~? Curious… is it a pervy text?" Mokou jokes.
"W-what?! No! It's not Mokou!" Keine hastily denies, which elicit laughter from Mokou. Ah, how Keine had misses this kind of interaction with Mokou. However, her heart still feels a certain amount of guilt from this. Does she even have the right to talk to her right now?
"Sorry, sorry! But can you blame me? You're so fun to tease, Keine~," she slowly stops laughing, "Well, how bout I make it up to you by being your drinking buddy? How does sake sound?" she brings out a white sake bottle with two cups from behind. It seems that she'd been hiding it from her back with her other hand this whole time. Drinking does sounds pleasant right now, however,
"I'm sorry, Mokou. But, I'm not in a mood right now…" Keine guiltily declines.
"Aw, really? But we haven't met for a while, and I really wanted to catch up…" Mokou look down. The same that she usually does to get Keine to change her mind. She tried to tell Mokou that she has to grade the student papers and she needs to be sober for this, which Mokou keeps on the sad act. And as always,
"Alright, Mokou. But just one drink!" she folds. Mokou beams at the agreement and start prepping the table for the night. The two starts with talking about mundane things, taking a swig of drink or two. The promise of only 'one drink' had been thrown out of the window. However, Keine managed to drink only a few. Yes, just a few. Then, came the main topic:
"Um, Keine?" meekly Mokou asks. How strange. Mokou being meek, "You know, about me and the guy?" Ah, of course. It's about him. That's why she is being meek. Smile through it, Keine.
"Hm? Ah, right. Your lovedone. Has there been any development going on with him?" Keine inquires.
"Well, I was wondering that, was it right for me to do this? Trapping him inside the Bamboo Forest like this?" Mokou questions. Keine, you need to answer.
"Hm… I think it's wrong," states Keine. Hearing that, Mokou slumps down, "I don't think anyone would like to be kept in captive. And it hurts more when he realized that hisfriendis the one keeping him there. It feels like a betrayal to me," says the hypocrite.
"However, you have your own reason, and I'm sure in the end, if you properly apologized and tell him your reason, he won't be as mad at you," Keine reassures.
"… you mean it…?" Mokou looks up, looking at Keine.
"Of course! And if you're afraid to explain it to him, I will go with you," Keine places her hand on her chest, "After all, I'm yourfriend, Mokou," the teacher seeks repentance.
"… thanks, Keine. When I'm with you, I feel like I could do anything," Mokou raises her head. Then gasps, "Is this the power of a teacher?" she places her hand under her chin. Hearing that, the two laughs. The night goes on for longer, before Mokou started to boast,
"Hey, Keine. You know? Last night, I managed to get a hug from him!" Mokou smiles, placing her hand underneath the chin while her elbow stabs the table.
"… is that so?" Keine takes a sip of her (empty) sake.
"Yeah, you know how we're doing like this, game of tag? And everytime that I managed to catch him, he'll do my request? Well, I'm slowly building it up, not trying to overwhelm him or anything. And now, I managed to squeeze a hug out of him! I can feel it, Keine. Soon, he'll start to be conscious of me, and forget all about that haughty princess!"
"Ahahaha, well, I can see that you're having fun right now," Keine smiles.
However, Mokou, you're wrong. You had forgotten. That this is not the first time that he had hugged you. The first time he hugged you was on the fifth date, after escaping the sudden downpour at the village, after entering his home, he hugged you, so that you won't catch a cold.
"Hmm… but maybe I was being a bit bold there. After all, hugging? What do I do if he thinks I'm being a loose woman..." Mokou pouts.
"Don't worry. Times have changed. Girls now are more proactive in finding their loves one. The old societal norms are in the past. You should act as you are, Mokou. I'm sure he'll like you for who you are," Keine reassures, knowingly knows already the outcome.
"... yeah, you're right. I should just be myself. I don't need to followthat girlstandards. After all, if I did this the other way, it won't be real. I don't want to lie to myself anymore," Mokou states, to which Keine nodded, "But, I need to take it slow. I don't want him to be too weirded out. I still have time. After all, I held his hand and a head pat, I'm already over the moon~." Mokou reminisces, "Maybe I should pay attention to my hair a bit more..." she twirls the end of it.
She had forgotten that she had already done so in the second date, when he (for some odd reason) trip near the edge of the Bamboo Forest, and after picking him up, at the end of the date, he patted your head. That day, you started to take care of your hair, trying to impress him even more.
"But, I need to start thinking of rewards. What should I ask him for him next~? Maybe a lap pillow?"
You forgot, Mokou. That's on the seventh date, under the one tree near the school.
"Or maybe a bento? I could learn it from that night-sparrow".
You forgot. That is during the 50th day, when you surprised him at work with a handmade meal.
"Then, maybe I could feed him at the same time~"
Continuing on, you also did that, but you have forgotten.
"Maybe I could-"
That's the ninth date.
"- or I could-"
That's the 11th date.
"- and.. maybe a kiss... hehe..." blush the immortal.
... you even forgot that, Mok-
... no, you didn't forgot. You will never forget those moment for the rest of your life. Those intimate moment. The same moment that you have told me many times. Clearly, to this day, I remember. And I know, that you won't forgot. But, right now, you have. You have forgott-
... no, it was taken.
I took everything... from you...
... I'm sorry.
"-and bringing him outside the place would be hard... Hm? Oh, looks like the moon is leaving us already. I... ended up bragging about our relationship... hahaha..." impishly the immortal says. How similar to how she act after the third date, "Sorry if I bore you of my story, Keine," she apologizes.
"Don't worry. A teacher's job is to listen to their pupil worry. Besides, I love to see that you found something that you wanted to do. I'm glad. Because before, you seem to be drifting away, walking without a set path."
"Hehehe, you're right. Before, beating up that princess was my only joy, the thrill of death and pain became the norm, but now..." Mokou holds her hand to her heart, "It's a different kind of feeling," she smiles, "Well, I think its best we called it a night. I need to go back before he wakes up. After all, our day starts early over there," Mokou starts to get up and getting ready to leave. But before she could, Keine's mouth moves,
"Mokou," she stops her... friend.
"Hm? What's up, Keine?" Mokou turns her head.
"... may I," stop it, "Would you mind telling me his name?" Keine asks.
"Huh? Of course. His name is..." Mokou pauses, she furrows her brow tilt her head, "Uh, huh? I... couldn't remember?" she tries to remember but unable to, "Oh well, you know how sometimes you just forgot about things? Don't worry, Keine, I'll tell you later when we meet ag-" before Mokou could finish, Keine went and give her a hug. Startled, Mokou asks,
"Ke-Keine, stop that! I don't like this kin-" before she finishes, she heard sniffling. Sniffling that's coming from her friend.
"..m so.." Keine mumbles between sniffles.
"... Keine? What's wrong?" Mokou asks.
"... sorry," Keines mumbles.
"Keine?"
"I'm sorry... Mokou. I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Keine keeps on repeating the same apology in between crying. Confused, Mokou doesn't understand why her friend is doing this. Has she done something that needs apologizing for? In her mind, there is nothing. Her friend had done nothing wrong to her. So, why would she do this? Is it something so bad that made her friend be in tears like this? Mokou wanted to ask, but for now, she should let her friend continue. Placing her hand behind her friend's back, she pats and rub, hoping that this would appease her tears.
"I'm sorry," Keine keeps repeating. I'm sorry, Mokou. Sorry for being weak. Sorry for not stopping you earlier. Because of my actions, your precious memory had been stripped away. All because I kept on indulging your desire. If I had stopped you earlier, you won't act like this. If I had acted as your friend, you wouldn't be in this mess. You won't act like a mother who had lost their child. I'm sorry, Mokou,
I can't stop your(Phoenix) love(Obsession)
At the same time, at the Hakurei Shrine, a lone shrine maiden sits on her porch, gazing upon the moonlight while taking in the breeze of the night, the sounds of rustling leaves became her companion. On her hands (resting currently on her lap) is a teacup that is filled with barley tea. She takes a sip, and then, gaze back to the moon.How nice, the shrine maiden thought to herself. It's not often she had time for herself like this. She takes another sip, and back to the moon. Despite looking to the moon, her mind is elsewhere. She remembers back to the day when she had to subdue the immortal, and before that, the conversation that she had with that man.
... can't believe that he actually follows through what she had requested.
Before that fateful night, Reimu had been talking with that man with the weretaku (who was there at the time) and she had asked him of one thing. One thing that the man shouldn't do in the present of a shrine maiden.
... laying with an immortal, how foolishthe shrine maiden thought. Human should always be with a human. That's the natural order and thinking otherwise is, well, un-natural. The order should be maintained so that everyone could live in peace. Breaking that rule would inconvenience, or even worse, harm another person around them. That would include the shrine maiden. And she does not like to be disturb. As she was thinking about normalcy and rules, a pair of (white gloved) hands make their way to her face (her eyes, exactly) and her chest pressed behind her back.
"Guess who~?" the pest says in a sing-song manner.
"What do you want, Yukari?" says the tired shrine maiden. Hearing that, the guest removes her hand and sits(gaps?) next to her.
"Oh dear, can't her friend not come by to say hello now?" she playfully teases, "My my, how rude is our shrine maiden of now?"
"Whenever you came by, you always brought over some bad news or something just to annoy me. Are you sure you're not a Binbogami, instead of a sage?"
"My, a God? I never realized you thinkthishighly of me," she snickers, which made the shrine maiden sighs.
"How positive... anyway, what do you want? The shrine is closed forunwantedguest during the night."
"Well~ I'm just here to report that our immortal friend just recently met with her other friend."
"Yeah, and? What does the peeping tom wanted to say?"
"Hm? My, you seem uninterested?"
"Why should I? I don't need to know the lives of everyone."
"Well, then I'll be talking to the wind~" the sage ignores, "It seems that our friend started to boast about her'lover', in vivid details might I say," she clasps her hands, "She seems to be talking about him,like he is still alive?I wonder, what might be the reason for this~?" she waits for the wind to reply. The wind sighs,
"The Weretaku, Keine Kamishirasawa, she had takenthe immortal's history,"Reimu reply. Seeing that Yukari wants her to continue, she indulges, "To be more exact, she had eaten it," Reimu takes a sip of her tea, "It seems that that person only managed to eat a certain part of it, whether it be deliberate, or not".
"Or not? Are you saying that there is something more going on?" Yukari wants to know. She usually done this just so that Reimu could learn something. Or, she just wanted to mess with her. Either way,
"The way that sheeatshistory, is not in a literal sense. She merelyconcealshistory. But, the way that she done so, is more so in ahypnosis.She merely tricked Mokou, and the other residents of the Human Village, to believe that the guynever existed in the first place. After all, someone with no history, or past, is similar to a walking dead."
"But, how did she managed to do so in a large scale?"
"She had done this previously, during the time when there was the fake moon? She had concealed the Human Village, making it as it never existed in the first place. For the people who never known about the village, or its history, they will never be able to find it, no matter what they do."
"However, you still managed to find the village after it was concealed. Doesn't that mean it wouldn't work on Mokou?"
"There are many people that are susceptible to hypnosis: the one with ego, the one who's naive, and the one who's not sound in mind.", she traces the rim of her cup with her fingers, "Mokou, at that time, think of nothing. Her mind is only for that person. She is, at that time, a beast that moves only with her instinct. She believes, at that time, that Keine had the ability to do so. She was so afraid that her... love... to be stripped away. And for how she is acting currently, it's not uncommon. I've seen people before this, that act similiar to her: when a mother lost her child, she associates her child to a doll, or when you can't accept the death of your significant other, you may start talking to a spirit of his, or how many times that someone had told him to not associates themselves with beings that are different from him but he refuses to do so".
"My, that last one seems directed?" Yukari pauses before continues, "However, it is true~. That's what you did, Reimu, you stripped their love away-"
"That, is not love," the shrine maiden interrupts, "No matter how you spin it, that could not be considered as love. She knows that laying with a mortal is a taboo for him. If she were to love him, she would have let him go to his kind. And if she thinks that she is the same as any human, she is mistaken. She may be human in the beginning, but there is no way that she is human now. If what she did is love, th-" before she finishes, Reimu stops. She took another sip. The sage smiles,
"True, that wouldn't be considered love now, would it~?" she grins. Silence from the two before Yukari continues, "Hey, Reimu?"
"...what?" an irritated shrine Maiden reply.
"I've been wondering something," she points to the direction of the shed, "Why is your once, not so used shed, covered in tal-"
"Yukari."
"?"
"If you have nothing more to say, then I would like to ask you to leave. I'm a bit tired for today, and I would like to rest early for the night," Reimu stretches her arms upward and starts to stand up.
"Oh, all right. Rest is important for young girls like us~". Reimu walks past the sage, but before that, she whispers,
"If you don't interrupt with what I'm doing, then I will turn a blind eye on yours," and with that, the shrine maiden walks to her sleeping quarters, leaving the sage alone. Yukari watches the shrine maiden's back and smile, before gapping herself away from the shrine.
