Work Text:
Utsuho Reiuji was in a foul mood, such a foul mood that if she were to be asked how she’s doing her answer would most likely be composed of almost exclusively vulgarities. It wasn’t even a shallow anger one could laugh at, she was genuinely tired of everything and unable to feel anything but rotten. Even each motion of lifting up her legs to take a step felt like another hassle. She was taking her time stomping along the musty padded dirt and cold smooth-ish rock ground beneath her, not eager whatsoever to get home and see those she lived with, even if deep down she did, in fact, want to see them. She was too angry to think about her actual desires, as anyone is after a bad day.
Utsuho tilted her head down to sniff her own armpit, and winced after a single whiff. She stunk of sweat, and the fact that everything else underground didn’t smell much better wasn’t doing much to help the headache she’d been babysitting all day. Her skin felt sticky from the sweat, her muscles ached from all the maintenance work she’d had to do in full protective gear, and her eyes felt like they were burning from staring at different monitors for hours. She felt like complete shit, and there was no other way to put that.
Work really had felt impossible today. She’d woken up feeling uncomfortable, and that led to her getting grumpy over the start of work, and doing work while she was already grumpy and uncomfortable and not wanting to be managing a subterranean nuclear reactor only led to her mood getting worse, and worse, and worse until by the end of her workday it had snowballed into her genuinely contemplating starting another incident so she could take out her anger on whoever came to beat her up.
At least the walk home had been the most peaceful part of her day so far, even despite the fact that she still was aching in four different ways. The Underground is composed primarily of ugly brown and purple tones, making enjoying the scenery around you much more of an acquired taste. Luckily, Utsuho either had learned to appreciate the underground’s aesthetics long ago or she simply didn’t care, because what it actually looked like around her was not on her mind during the commute home. The air was cool and the caverns held quiet, leaving her internal monologues about how much of a bother her coworkers are only accompanied by the far-off sounds of various villages scattered throughout the underworld.
Eventually the dirt path transitioned to one paved of stone, and the trudging of her boots along it slowed down as the mansion she’d lived in the past several decades came into view. Grand and sharp roof shapes, large white-grey pillars spiraling upwards, thick walls decorated with sleek windows. It was quite a privilege to have been taken in by the Komeiji sisters, but Utsuho didn’t want to admit that right now.
She bit her inner cheek as she considered not even walking inside. Being childish and running off in some other direction until Satori came looking for her, but she knew better. “Stupid” was definitely one of the first words someone would use when describing Utsuho, but she wasn’t all too stupid about emotions. She knew that people, herself included, want to do stupid attention-seeking stuff when mad, and she knew when she needed to just walk inside.
She sighed and began walking towards the palace once more. If her day was going to continue being just as fun as it had been since the moment she opened her eyes, she’d probably walk in to find Koishi having gone insane and wanting to kill everyone in Gensokyo.
The front doors to the palace opened to reveal… absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. It was tranquil, as usual when she got home from work. The air was cool and a lot fresher than outside, the checkered tile floors were smooth and shiny as ever, and the dim ambient lights still provided her a distant sense of comfort. In a sense, she felt disappointed. There wasn’t some catastrophe happening to justify her anger.
She shut the door behind her with her foot and slowly exhaled before she grabbed onto a small metal stick sticking out of the base of her control rod with her free hand and pulled it down, unlatching the nuclear device’s mechanism around her right arm with a refined series of clicks. No matter how many days you wear your control rod, the sudden feeling of cool air on your previously cocooned arm always feels strange, like taking off boots you’d worn in heavy snow. She now held the disabled control rod in her palm, and realized she’d need to bring it all the way over to her room if she wanted to charge it.
While her room was about thirty seconds of walking away, to the moment’s Utsuho this felt like an insurmountable wall in front of her. She just didn’t want to do it, and nobody was gonna fight her on that. She dropped the control rod down to the floor with a loud, resounding clatter (to which she didn’t even react) and kicked it aside, leaving it for Future Okuu to deal with. Maybe she’d just take tomorrow off or something. Another day of work didn’t even sound possible right now.
She was about to start wondering where her girlfriend that always greets her after work had gone, however before that thought had finished forming Rin Kaenbyou was already bounding into the front room of Chireiden with a gleeful smile on her face and arms outstretched. Her bright red braided hair and almost just as red squishy cheeks, her sharp fangs illuminating her white smile, her pretty black dress that she was always wearing some variant of.
It took a lot out of Utsuho to not smile at the sight.
Ever since the two of them had been taken in by Satori, Rin had always finished work before Utsuho, and she had always greeted the bird with a hug as soon as she got home. Utsuho would often find herself able to push through a particularly difficult routine for the reactor whenever she imagined the firm grip of that upbeat catgirl wrapping her arms around her and nuzzling her.
Rin stopped in her tracks, though, and shifted her expression to one reflecting worry. Utsuho wasn’t really trying to hide the fact that she was feeling like she was about to explode, and not in a funny way. While Utsuho coming home mad wasn’t unheard of, that didn’t mean Rin’s heart didn’t break every time it happened.
“Okuu?” Rin called, asking a question that didn’t require another word to be spoken.
Utsuho let out a slow exhale at Rin’s adorable voice calling her name, her already drooping wings slinking further below. Despite all her rage, not a single drop of it was directed towards the girl in front of her. It was like every atom of the world vibrated with white-hot rage, something Utsuho wanted to kick until it shattered to let her anger out, all except for the beautiful girl in front of her. Even ignoring her sounded absolutely awful, let alone taking out anger on her in any way.
“I need a hug more than ever, Orin.” Utsuho muttered, almost ashamed of her own anger. None of that burning energy inside her seemed to be put into her words.
Rin didn’t bother to say anything else. She stepped forwards, smiling once more, and slid her arms under Utsuho’s, then around her chest, pulling her own closer, and rested her smiling face over the bird’s shoulder, as she always did.
Utsuho closed her eyes and hugged Rin back, just as firm as she was being held. The warmth between them slowly washed over Utsuho, completely melting away the cold that’d sunk into her skin while she was outside; and even moreso, melting away her anger.
Utsuho couldn’t feel anything but peace with Rin’s soft hands caressing her back and velvety hair against her cheek. She pushed her cheek up against the side of Rin’s head, checking to be extra sure she didn’t have a latent power to turn into slime and melt into the catgirl’s arms. The space around them was completely irrelevant to Utsuho, she’d already gotten completely lost in the loving embrace. She wanted nothing more than to hold Rin as tight as she could forever and ever and ever.
“Please don’t let go.” Utsuho whispered into Rin’s ear, squeezing her even tighter. It was a silly question to ask, but you’d be even sillier for thinking Utsuho cared.
“I won’t.” Rin whispered back, then turning her head and pressing a gentle kiss against Utsuho’s neck. The slight wet sensation sent a chill down her shine.
Utsuho stretched out her wings, the powerful walls of silky black feathers rising up, then stretched them around Rin, walling the two off together in a fortress of solitude.
That anger that had been surrounding everything in Utsuho’s view was gone. Everything that wasn’t Rin was gone, everything that she’d experienced over the day except Rin hugging her was gone, every little trial and challenge leading up to this moment was completely irrelevant now. There simply wasn’t anything left to be angry at.
Rin was quietly purring.
Utsuho felt her heart flutter, a happy emptiness in her chest as she thought about Rin. All the times in the past she’d been helped out of a pit of anger or sadness by that girl, all the happy conversations they’d had while finding peace in the other’s presence, the little memories that stuck out from them growing up together over the past decades, and learning to love each other.
They stayed like that for some minutes. No further words needed to be shared, the feeling of Rin’s hands on Utsuho’s back communicated more than enough.
However, she did eventually find something she wanted to do in the moment more than hugging Rin, and spoke up.
“…Orin, you know how sometimes you’re not angry in your brain anymore, but you’re, uhh… still angry in your… body?” Utsuho muttered, opening her eyes to look at the woman in her arms.
Rin stepped back, still embracing Utsuho, and looked into her eyes. The two were still close enough to feel the breaths of the other hitting their faces.
“Of course, yeah. That happens to everyone when they get mad. Your brain wants to punch stuff, when you get mad, so your body gets all tense to prepare.” Rin cheerfully noted, smiling at the bird. “Do you wanna go for a run to tire yourself out?”
Utsuho looked up to the ceiling in contemplation, wings folding back up behind her. Stretching her legs and running until she felt like she was about to collapse actually sounded… really appealing. She snapped her head down to look at Rin and nodded rapidly, the bow affixed to the back of her head bobbing up and down as she did so. Rin quietly laughed at the sight, and kissed the tip of Utsuho’s nose.
“I’d love to join you.” She suggested.
“Alright. Do you have anything you need to do before, or can we just go?” Utsuho asked. Rin shook her head ‘no’.
The bird grabbed her beloved wife by the wrists and practically dragged her away and out the door like a ragdoll, to little resistance from the previously mentioned ragdoll. The door was opened to once again reveal Gensokyo’s underground, which shockingly hadn’t changed since Utsuho last saw it about five minutes ago.
“Do you wanna tell me about work while we’re doing this?” Rin asked, shutting the door behind them and narrowly avoiding jamming one of her tails in it.
“Orin, you’re not gonna believe how stupid today was.” Utsuho began, answering Rin’s question. She’d already stepped onto the stone path leading away from Chireiden and began walking down, to which Rin had to run for a moment to catch up.
Once the two were speedwalking side by side, Utsuho almost immediately broke into a sprint, surprising Rin with her pace and leaving her in the dust momentarily. She copied the sprint, trying her best to keep up, shoes slapping against the path forcefully, really giving her all, almost panting already, but Utsuho’s legs were simply longer.
“Okuu!” She called after only about twelve seconds, to which Utsuho turned around and skidded to a halt. “Wait up!”
Rin caught up (once more) momentarily and put a hand on Utsuho’s shoulder.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that I can’t keep up with you.” Rin panted, looking up at the raven.
“I can just tell you about my day when I get back-“
“I HAVE AN IDEA!” Rin exclaimed, prompting an interested stare from Utsuho. She straightened her back and cleared her throat.
“Let me sit on your shoulders. That way I won’t have to keep up with you, and you’ll get tired a lot faster!” Rin exclaimed. Utsuho’s skull exploded and got grey matter all over the both of them with how hard her mind was blown.
“That’s genius!” Utsuho replied, immediately pivoting around and crouching down. Rin smoothly — no, with mild difficulty managed to get her knees over the taller one’s shoulders and hold herself upright. Utsuho put her hands on Rin’s ankles and grabbed them tight, determined to not let her slip even an inch.
She slowly uncrouched, lifting Rin into the air. It was a little scary at first, the feeling of weightlessness and how easily she could fall off, but Utsuho’s firm grip let her ease into it. She didn’t really know what to do with her hands, so she awkwardly set them down on her thighs.
“Onwards, my noble steed!” Rin called, pointing out towards the horizon. Utsuho scoffed.
“Horses are nowhere near as cool as ravens.” She griped playfully. Rin giggled, happy to see that Utsuho was already able to joke around.
And then she took off. It was surprisingly shaky, every step Utsuho took a tiny little earthquake shaking Rin in one direction or another, and what was even more surprising was the fact that Utsuho was able to retain her previous sprinting speed. Utsuho’s footsteps pounding against stone, then dirt echoed throughout the underground and kicked up plenty of dust in the process. Meanwhile, Rin was looking around the Underground from her new vantage point. Obviously she’d been a dozen times higher a dozen dozen times before by simply flying, but there’s something special about getting a piggyback ride from your girlfriend that flying just can’t replicate. Utsuho was still moving through the air fast enough to create a cool breeze against both of them, though.
“So, first thing in the day I wake up with a nasty headache.” Utsuho complained, bringing Rin’s attention back to her. “That’s why I ran off to work without even saying hi to you. Kinda just wanted to avoid everyone else, you know?”
“Yeah.” Rin answered, listening dutifully.
“So I get to the reactor, not wanting to deal with anyone, and you’re never gonna guess who was right there, ready to-“
“Meiko?”
“YEAH!” Utsuho shouted. “I’m not even finished putting on my gear and she’s already telling me about her new girlfriend, and I have to sit there and hear all of it!”
“Why don’t you just tell her you don’t care?” Rin asked.
“I’ve told you how she is. If anyone does even the slightest thing she doesn’t like, her and her whole gaggle of identical friends will start spreading rumors around the reactor.” Utsuho sighed.
“Huh.”
“So Meiko finishes her fourteenth love story of the week and leaves to go talk to her friends who actually like her, somehow.” Utsuho continues. “I’m already feeling grumpy, but as soon as I get to my station, guess what?”
“What?” Rin asked, following a pause where only Utsuho’s still rampant footsteps could be heard as she waited for Rin to reply.
“Low coolant. About half a percent away from setting off alarms in the whole building. Another hour of that going unchecked and I’d be dead, probably.” Utsuho cynically elaborated. “Utsuho Reiuji, exploded in reactor meltdown. The papers would go wild with that one.”
Rin winced at the thought of Utsuho exploding, even though that’s what her ability is.
“How was it that low in the first place?” Rin asked, concerned. If Utsuho shrugged, Rin couldn’t feel it because of how shaky the ride was.
“Overnight pump malfunction. I reported like, ‘hey guys we’re all gonna die if we don’t get this fixed’ immediately, so that was a whole ordeal.” Utsuho continued. “I’m not part of the coolant department, so I don’t actually have any involvement with this kind of thing, but I still had to watch and make sure they weren’t going to accidentally blow us up.”
“It looks like you came home alive.” Rin added, reaching down to play with some of Utsuho’s hair.
“It was scary, but we did eventually get that fixed.”
“That’s nice!”
“No, it wasn’t. Immediately afterwards the entire building was blaming this on everyone else for the entire rest of the day. Someone should have checked it more thoroughly, why didn’t the reactor automatically detect the issue and reroute, how did nobody notice until Okuu showed up, blah blah blah.” Utsuho mimicked. “And of course I was on the chopping block too, me being one of the supervisors.”
Both Rin and Utsuho sighed in exasperation simultaneously.
“What were they saying?” Rin asked, twirling some of Utsuho’s hair in her fingers as she was still running full speed. It was genuinely impressive that she hadn’t even slowed down yet, but Rin could certainly hear her panting.
“Okuu, why didn’t you check the coolant earlier? Okuu, why are you so mad? Okuu, you should have gotten here faster!” Utsuho mocked in a falsetto tone.
“Your stories always make me glad I don’t have coworkers.” Rin added.
“It gets worse.” Utsuho said.
“Oh my god.”
“Kanako was there today. She saw that entire mess happen.” Utsuho continued.
“Did she blame you?” Rin asked. Utsuho shook her head in between Rin’s legs.
“Thankfully, no. She likes me, so she knew it wasn’t my fault. I was still stuck in a lecture with nearly everyone else in the reactor for half the day, though.” Utsuho sighed. Her tone made it obvious she wasn’t exaggerating.
“Half the day?” Rin asked, horrified.
“Yeah! Everyone with a high enough rank to actually be responsible for anything was dragged into the meeting room by Kanako where she gave us the same lecture we’d heard a million times about our roles in the reactor.” Utsuho griped. “It sucked, so hard! My workday could not have ended worse.”
“At least you’re with me now.” Rin hummed as she stopped playing with Utsuho’s hair to reach down and rub her cheek. Utsuho sighed contentedly. Rin noticed she’d finally started slowing down to more of a jog.
“You getting tired, hun?” She asked. Utsuho finally slowed to a halt and crouched down, which Rin took as a signal to hop off.
“Carrying you to make running harder was fun, but now I feel like I’m about to collapse… so, yeah I’m tired. That was a great idea, Orin.” Utsuho smiled, turning around to face Rin.
“Thank you.” Rin replied.
“No, thank you. You’ve been really sweet to me ever since I got home, and you deserve more than my thanks.” Utsuho countered.
Rin would have smiled and said something sappy, but a foul stench penetrated her nose, perhaps the manifestation of Utsuho’s earlier anger taking the form of poison gas to kill everyone around her. Or maybe it was just sweat from working in a nuclear reactor all day and then going on a run until she couldn’t go on anymore. Rin felt her face scrunch up.
“Utsuho, my love…” She began. The bird smiled wide and looked at her with interest, under the belief she was about to say something extremely romantic and sweet.
“You smell horrible. Can we fly home so you can shower?” Rin concluded, still keeping her cheery tone. The smile on Utsuho’s face didn’t falter, though.
“Can we cuddle afterwards?” She pled, clasping her hands together as if she was asking Rin to perform some chore for her.
“I’d love that.” Rin affirmed, nodding.
“HURRAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!” Utsuho exclaimed, her voice fading away as the exclamation progressed due to her jumping and immediately beginning to zoom away through the air.