A Pressing Matter

Emoji challenge || ALWAYS Accepting!! [ No Caps ]

“My press is not just the fastest, it produces the best quality prints at rates nobody can match.”  He’s very proud of that machine of his, “Now then, hopefully you have your paperwork in order, young one, if you wish to see it.” 

Yamanushi had been on the defensive, responding with counters.  He could probably keep going for a good amount of time, “Daichi Yuutamo…  You’re a damn fool, you know?  You never accept a fight under a daitengu’s conditions.  There was no way for you to properly wield that mace, let alone hit me with it.  Your combat skills are so shoddy that a guard trainee would have you beaten in a bloody heap if they fought you.”

He looked up at his better and drew ragged breaths into a chest that felt too tight. Muscles complained loudly as Daichi demanded they work, but he was able to shakily get his feet underneath him. “You… Made the terms, H… Honored Yamanushi,” the younger male huffed out as he took a step towards the mace. “This less… Lesser one has to hit you with the mace. He complies.”

It’s a real shame that pluck and Try Hard ™ couldn’t overcome 2,000+ years of combat experience. Otherwise, some hot-blooded tune would start playing as Daichi dragged the heavy weapon back up against his shoulder and then bam; some brilliant plan would come to mind, and Daichi would win by some 1 in a thousand miracle.

Instead, the Karasu wobbled on his feet and was dragged backwards and down by the weight of the mace as the last flickers of the anger that fueled him burned out.

He uncorked the sake bottle on his hip and dropped it by the fallen reporter.  “You’ve proven you deserve my support, at least.  So you’ll have it.  Had you hit me with that mace, I would have given you a damn promotion with it.  I can think of no better punishment than to force you to work in the stuffy main building.”  He laughed, “But fine, you have my support.  You ought to tell the hakurou.  They’d like that immensely.”

“I don’t have the patience for that, personally. What’s the point in waiting when one can take it immediately?” She’s also terrible when it comes to reading stories and mystery novels, since she skips to the end to find out who did it. “I’ll give you points for effort, but you lose points for going on about your sword and then not using it at all.” As the talismans flew down at her, she popped open her parasol, allowing them to crash into it harmlessly. It was simply magic, after all.

“It’s a typical response to something dangerous coming your way when you are too weak to face it.”  The tengu explained, shoving the blade into the umbrella in an attempt to cut it to shreds while the staff was swung for another attack.  He needed to destroy the umbrella in order rid her of her shield against the talismans.  The overall idea was to keep suppressing Yuuka with a flurry of attacks so he could dismantle her defenses.

Daichi’s bait was so obvious he might as well have labeled it.  Both he and yamanushi knew that the old man was possibly the least cowardly bird on the mountain…  At least, the most sane and living one.  If he was a coward, other tengu were practically spineless.

Still, the reporter dug deep into his anger and found a bit of power there. It wasn’t much, but he’d take whatever he could get at this point.

“It has to be won!” he screamed as the reporter took one step forward and hurled the Oni’s mace with all his remaining strength. How much did the thing weigh anyway? 100 pounds? Maybe 150? Either way, it was a tremendous strain to throw the weapon with the speed Daichi had imparted to it, and his following step was shaky enough that he found himself dropping to one knee a moment later. He struggled to stand back up, but that just left him down to hands and knees.

Yamanushi had been on the defensive, responding with counters.  He could probably keep going for a good amount of time, “Daichi Yuutamo...  You’re a damn fool, you know?  You never accept a fight under a daitengu’s conditions.  There was no way for you to properly wield that mace, let alone hit me with it.  Your combat skills are so shoddy that a guard trainee would have you beaten in a bloody heap if they fought you.”

“Well, when it happened last night… maybe half a minute for the wind cleaver? It’s very loud, honored, and so I guess ‘hiding’ it is harder than other things…” She could only guess. It was all new to her. “I’ve always been good at changing the wind around people. It’s how I helped Chief Editor Yuutamo’s child learn to fly, after all. But for this… it’s more like I imagine a shell of the wind around something, and the sound from it stops.”

As another demonstration she leaned to the side and began to rap her knuckles against the wood floor. Even if they were obviously making contact, no sound reverberated. Not even the faint whoosh of her moving arm, imperceptible to all but the tengu, could be heard.

He considered her actions, and the ability to hide the keening when she concentrated.  It might be a very useful skill...

“Because I intend to give mine…”  The sword was slid back into its sheath as he pulled out a handful of talismans, “You’re a very powerful youkai…  and these are very powerful curses.  The sort meant to deal with land gods, or catastrophic youkai…  Like yourself.”  They were of tengu make, so he had nothing to fear from handling them himself, but it was another story for the plant youkai.

“Because I intend to give mine...”  The sword was slid back into its sheath as he pulled out a handful of talismans, “You’re a very powerful youkai...  and these are very powerful curses.  The sort meant to deal with land gods, or catastrophic youkai...  Like yourself.”  They were of tengu make, so he had nothing to fear from handling them himself, but it was another story for the plant youkai.

Something crackled, and the burning of plant matter could be smelled.  Looking down at his legs would reveal a variety of spiritual wards.  How could he have known she was coming?  The answer?  He didn’t.  He had no idea who was coming, only that Daichi had appeared in a panic not long ago, his tuuln echoing his fear.  That meant two things…  One: Daichi had pissed off someone really important, or tow: Daichi was in big trouble with the law.  With the big names either youkai or spiritualists, it pretty much was a good chance what was coming was a powerful youkai.  Anything otherwise would probably attract Kanako’s attention.  He’d prepared accordingly.

“Simplistic or no, the Hakurei Orbs are still quite a bit more powerful than your little stick. And believe me, you’re not the first or last to use spiritual weaponry against me. I’m still not worried.” Worried, no. Starting to get annoyed at how much of a pain in the neck this bird was being? Definitely. “And my thinking is fine, as it’s my thinking. Because it’s mine, it’s superior to anything else. Perhaps you’re the backwards thinking one, for thinking that a single bird can stand up to me, hm?”

“Oh very clever, a holy weapon. A would be sure kill against any and all youkai.” Even as she spoke, Yuuka blocked the staff with her other arm. Yes, she was grimacing in pain but at the same time, she wasn’t backing down at all. “Let me tell you a secret though, bird. It’s not the Hakurei orbs, and I took those head on as well. You think little tricks like this will save you!?” Yamanushi might be in trouble now. For any lesser youkai, this would have torn through them like a hot knife through butter. But Yuuka wasn’t a normal youkai. Yuuka had gone head to head with Reimu goddamned Hakurei before the spellcard system existed, and come out alive on the other side. 

Something crackled, and the burning of plant matter could be smelled.  Looking down at his legs would reveal a variety of spiritual wards.  How could he have known she was coming?  The answer?  He didn’t.  He had no idea who was coming, only that Daichi had appeared in a panic not long ago, his tuuln echoing his fear.  That meant two things...  One: Daichi had pissed off someone really important, or two: Daichi was in big trouble with the law.  With the big names either youkai or spiritualists, it pretty much was a good chance what was coming was a powerful youkai.  Anything otherwise would probably attract Kanako’s attention.  He’d prepared accordingly.

Which was precisely why Yamanushi chose to charge at her, mace swinging down.  The village defenses could only take one hit, so he’d have to make it so another never came.

“It happened last night, Honored Yamanushi.” She unbound the hilt and popped the blade from its sheath, the distinct shearing sound causing her to wince slightly as it filled the air between them. The courier continued to speak over with a loud voice. “I got very annoyed at it when I was trying to rest, but then,” her brow furrowed in tight concentration as she locked her gaze on the sword. For a moment the screeching wind around the blade faltered, but soon resumed. Focus, Nozomu! She had done it last night! After a few seconds, the noise from the blade was completely gone. She was trembling with the amount of concentration it took, but for a few seconds it was as no wind came off the blade whatsoever.