Work Text:
Tsubasa Hanekawa impacted the world like a meteor, the likes of which was only seen every 66 million years. While she started small, saving people on the small scale and visiting countries as a civilian, things quickly changed. Countries were erased off the map as her vision for the future was realized. The number of lives she saved could not be counted. She was beyond that.
Perhaps everyone alive could be counted among those she had saved.
With such an impressive sense of scale, it was only natural that Tsubasa would go on to be seen as a saint. She was more special than a saint, even. She was more important than any pope, metropolitan, or ayatollah. Tsubasa Hanekawa was in a category of her own. It felt disrespectful to call her human.
It was only natural that people would worship her. All across the world, new religious movements began appearing. At first, they were disparate groups with little overlap. However, they connected over the internet. As a result, they unified into a single belief: Tsubasaism. Her worshippers were found on every corner of the earth, but they were perhaps most notable in her home country of Japan.
It was everywhere. Practically overnight, Tsubasaism became the largest new religious movement.
Among the movement, those who had known her before she left Japan were treated as special. They had been so blessed that they knew this woman more important than a saint before she was known. However, that came with a paradox. Those who had known Tsubasa knew she was mortal. It was hard to see her as a messianic figure when you sat next to her in class for a decade. Those people sought to dissociate themselves from Tsubasaism.
What remained were tangential connections. People who had passed her on the street one day or who had taken her order at a restaurant once. Three quarters of people who claimed such connections couldn’t say what she looked like at that time, only what she looked like after leaving Japan, but for true believers, it didn’t matter. That led to many fractures within Tsubasaism, those who chose to believe to disregard a certain far fetched tale, with the smaller group needing to seek their own place of worship.
Sodachi Oikura knew that most of those who claimed connection to Tsubasa Hanekawa were liars. She knew this because she had met Tsubasa Hanekawa herself. However, because she knew the reputation these people had, and because she wanted to avoid all the issues that would come with it, she kept her silence.
That was not to say that Sodachi was skeptical of Tsubasaism. Just the opposite. Sodachi was as fanatic as they came. In fact, it was her experience that had made her that way
Tsubasa Hanekawa had entered into Sodachi’s life one day. She offered advice and proved to be the impetus which caused her to change for the better. Then, Sodachi never saw her again. It truly was like a visit from a saint. Sodachi knew, even before everyone else, that Tsubasa Hanekawa was special. In a way, she was the first Tsubasaist.
Tsubasa Hanekawa had even left Sodachi a holy relic. A tea cup that Sodachi had thrown at a pest. Tsubasa Hanekawa caught it and gave it back to Sodachi. At first, she didn’t realize the significance, but in time, Sodachi came to treasure that cup.
If others knew about it, it would become a relic for the entire world. It was even more valuable after Tsubasa Hanekawa returned to Japan and destroyed all records and relics she could find. Sodachi couldn’t believe that a being as wonderful as her would forget a meeting like theirs, so it had to be intentional that she let Sodachi keep it.
All of these things furthered her devotion.
However, even if Sodachi was a fanatic, she was still rational. She was far more rational than other devotees of Tsubasaism, or so she liked to believe. They were caught up in their devotion until it consumed them. Sodachi tried to maintain a healthy balance.
There were many ways she did this. She was mindful of religious leaders who abused their position. She was skeptical of cults which asked their followers for significant amounts of money. If she thought a sect was unjust, she would leave it and find a new one. It meant that she struggled to fit in, but it meant that Sodachi still held onto her rationality.
Just because Tsubasa Hanekawa was a divine creature didn’t mean Sodachi had to lose her mind. No, in fact, if she wished to help the cause of Tsubasaism, if she wished to spread the word and make the world a better place, then she would need to remain entirely within her own mind. She was a fanatic, yes, but fanaticism would drive people away. She would remain level-headed.
If Sodachi wanted, she could have led her own sect. She could have become the most well-known voice of Tsubasaism. Sodachi knew that wasn’t what Tsubasa Hanekawa would have wanted from her. While they had only met once, Sodachi had a strong idea of what Tsubasa Hanekawa wanted. She knew how to carry her message forward. After all, it was a message of peace, of understanding. In many ways, it was syncretic with many existing faiths. However, where other religions were things which humans had invented to explain the world around them, Tsubasa Hanekawa was real. Her words were real.
Tsubasa Hanekawa worked miracles, but they weren’t magic like so many other religions claimed. Her miracles were made by human hands. She ended wars as easily as she breathed. She was able to mend ethnic conflicts and help the helpless. One only needed to look at a newspaper to see her miracles unfold.
Everyone should believe in that, Sodachi felt. Tsubasa Hanekawa would save the world. If believing that made her a fanatic, then she would embrace fanaticism.
Until everyone loved Tsubasa Hanekawa as much as she did.