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Aka fumed, gritting her teeth as her fingers ran across the dusty pebbles. She was on her hands and knees, palms gritty and chalky as she made her way across the rock garden. Prodding each individual stone with a finger, she recited a number, and then moved on.
The black fabric of her skirt was torn at the knees and her tabard was matted with the dull grey dust of gravel. She shuffled slowly across the ever silent garden, pebbles sticking to her sweaty palms. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft crunch of the gravel underneath and her whispered muttering of numbers.
What kind of stupid garb-
She froze, her eyes staring blankly ahead, her arm extended as her finger poked another pebble. The scowl on her face softened to something more neutral, possibly relaxed and almost peaceful. A tranquil silence fell upon the garden once more but it sadly could not last.
The tengu began to stir, those glassy red eyes of hers blinking rapidly, regaining a more natural and focused shine with each blink. Pushing herself off the pebbles, she sat back on her knees, a confused expression forming on her face. Though it was marred by the squinting of her suddenly dry eyes. Maybe she should bring this up with Yukari, she would know what to do. Looking around, she saw the familiar sights of Hakugyokurou’s courtyard before her.
“What was I..?” She spoke, the words feeling strange in her mouth, unfamiliar.
Aka frowned and then scowled. She’d lost count again. Various obscenities welled in her throat but she sighed in resignation, not uttering even a single one. The tengu grumbled instead, a coherent word not leaving her mouth.
And so she started once more, right from the beginning.
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The work of a tengu was never finished. Whether it was finding the latest scoop, doing some late night editing, or translating her shorthand into something more legible for Lady Yukari. But this was especially true for one as important as her. As Yukari’s most crucial, most dependable, and most diligent, hard-working shikigami, Aka had arguably the most important job in Gensokyo. Dwelling on such frustrations-
Like how pointless-
-only made things take even longer. And she couldn’t let that happen.
She blinked a few times, her eyes were dry again, but thankfully not gritty. Lifting her head, she saw the familiar sights of Hakugyokurou’s courtyard before her. She shook her head to clear away the cobwebs. Maybe she should bring this up with Yukari, she would know what to do.
And so she started once more, right where she left off.
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It was an important task, to be sure, as vital as it was mind-numbing. It had to be, for Lady Yukari had given her the order. Why else would Yukari have her do something so meaningless? Why else would Lady Yukari have her count all the pebbles in Hakugyokurou’s rock garden? The order echoed in her head, disrupting her train of thought, but thankfully she didn’t lose count this time. More grumbling left the tengu’s lips before she continued.
Why would Yukari have her do something so pointless? In fact, it was more than just pointless, it was downright ridiculous.
But such a thought never occurred to her.
329…
330…
331…
She didn’t even know how long she’d been here, she’d lost track a while ago. But that wasn’t true at all, that was just what she told herself. She was intimately aware of exactly how long it had been since she started. It had been one hundred and fifty seven days, sixteen hours, twenty three minutes and five seconds since she had stepped foot in Hakugyokurou’s rock garden.
But she didn’t like to think about that. Dwelling on it made her uneasy for some reason, especially when her time was better spent on much more important things.
582…
583…
584…
Why was she doing this again? Aka couldn’t answer that. Her thoughts were muddied and she just couldn’t focus. But she knew the answer, it was on the tip of her tongue, she just couldn’t place it. It was so close, she was so close. All she needed was a little push, a nudge even, something small, inconsequential.
643…
644…
…
The counting stopped.
Such disorientating thoughts made her pause. Pulling her hands back, she noticed they were trembling. Had she always been trembling? She couldn’t keep them steady no matter how hard she tried. Pulling them up to her face made her wince. They were so cold, so very cold. And they ached so much. She didn’t care how dirty they were.
What had she been doing? She struggled to find a straight answer.
She was suddenly much more aware of every single thing around her. Something flipped that opened her up to everything around her. But this wasn’t right, it wasn’t right at all. Her body was aching, reeling, and screaming at her to stop, to go… and—
Silence.
There was nothing around her. The sounds of birds or insects were distinctly missing. What kind of place was this?
She tried to move, she had to leave. It wasn’t safe here, she shouldn’t be here, it wasn’t right. Her thoughts were disorganized, emotions bubbling up to the surface. She tried pushing herself off of her knees, but they screamed at her in pain, as if they hadn’t been moved in ages.
That searing pain in her knees had awoken something in her. Not an emotion or a goal, but a feeling. She could feel a lot more. More than she wanted, more than she ever needed.
The heavy, almost overbearing weight on her back, every inch of clothing across her skin, the dull pain of the pebbles digging into her knees. The unfamiliarity of it all.
Where was she?
Looking around she saw… snow, a courtyard, white cherry blossoms on the trees, humble buildings, and a deafening silence… Was this… Hakugyokurou? But where was Yuyuko? Where was Youmu? She’d never been here without anyone else to accompany her. She’d never been here alone. Alone. That word struck a chord with her. It bounced around her head, like an echo in an empty room. She was so very much alone.
Alone at… Hakugyokurou, was it? But how? How could she be here without—
Where was Yuyuko? Where was Y— She blinked.
Where was she?
She froze. Was it winter? Taking a breath, she felt the cold air fill her lungs. The cold… It was so cold… The air itself raked over her lungs like icy coals. Each breath hurt more than anything, her muscles searing with such an awful, deep pain. But it was better than holding her breath.
She could feel the cold spread throughout her body. Another pained breath, but this one was different from the last. She choked, her chest tightening reflexively, muscles refusing to work. The cold seeped into her skin, her flesh, her body. Her body?
Her hands were gone from her face again, now resting in her lap with her palms facing the sky. But even so, she could not stop shaking.
When did she start shaking?
Had she always been shaking?
Her lungs ached with need but she couldn’t move, not even to breathe. How long had it been since she last took a breath? She didn’t know, she couldn’t know, she’d lost count. Vision began to swim, darkness creeping inwards…
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…
Air filled her lungs as she breathed in deeply. Warmth spread throughout her body, her extremities no longer lacked feeling. She blinked a few times and lifted her head. Before her were the familiar sights of Hakugyokurou’s courtyard. Shaking her head, and clearing away all the cobwebs, she noticed that her eyes were dry again. Frowning, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, hoping that would help at least a little.
She’d bring this up with Lady Yukari, she knows what to do.
But for now, she continued with her meaningless meaningful punishment assignment. Her consciousness began to drift as she slipped into a flow state.
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…
“Lady Yukari!” Her voice rang throughout the estate, the excitement in her voice unrestrained.
The loud clacking of footsteps echoed throughout the halls as she made her way to Yukari’s chamber. There she sat, staring out a nearby window but turned to face the doorframe just as Aka appeared.
“Lady Yukari.” She repeated, a smug smile appearing on her face as her heart began to beat faster. She stood up straight, her body stiff and proper, looking as best she could despite the dreadful condition she was in. Taking out her notepad, she flipped through the countless pages, all covered with ink, and now dust, until she arrived at what she was looking for.
The writing on the page was visible to all who cared to look, but it was clearly different from the rest of Aka’s notes. It wasn’t just that it was written in plain text, instead of the tengu’s special shorthand, the writing was correct factually, but just plain wrong. The numbers were messy and all over the place, like she had scribbled them with her non-dominant hand. Not that Aka would’ve noticed.
But before Yukari could say anything, Aka continued. Not that Yukari had planned to speak, mind you. She knew how eager and excitable her shikigami was, and she wouldn’t want Aka to interrupt her again.
“It’s eleven million, one hundred and forty seven thousand, six hundred and seventy three! That’s how many pebbles there are in Hakugyokurou’s rock garden!”
Silence.
It dragged on for three or four seconds, longer than what would’ve been reasonable for a normal conversation, let alone a shikigami reporting to their master. But Aka was too absorbed in her own pride to notice anything amiss. Her lips were stretched in a large, self-aggrandizing smile as she stood proud and tall, and expectedly. For doing such a wonderful job, surely she would be rewarded appropriately.
Yukari waited for these few seconds, waiting for the realization to hit Aka, but it never came. The corners of Yukari’s mouth rose ever so slightly before flaring out into a gleaming smile.
“Well done, Aka. I always knew you were the best for such a job. Now tell me,”
Yukari stood up and approached her shikigami, the flowing frills of her violet dress fluttering in the still room.
"Did you have fun?”
An innocent question.
“Fun?” Aka repeated.
“With your assignment.”
The tengu was silent. Conflicting emotions churned in her mind, her breathing starting to hasten. Her face screwed up in concentration as emotions barraged her psyche. There was something she wanted to say. Something she had to ask Yukari. Something she had to... mention…? Something she had to… She had to… She…
She blinked.
“Yes, Lady Yukari, I did have fun.”