Is it the freedom inherent to them that makes them attractive? Is is the impermanence of both their presence and their absence? Is it the peculiar softness of feathers? Is it something about how wings accentuate curves? I can't tell.But I know that I love birds.
"Wake up. Wake up, we don't have much time left."You open your eyes and what welcomes you is the faintly smiling face of the chicken kami, adorned by blonde hair with that red patch atop, where the small chick is still sleeping soundly. Lucky bastard."Wake up." Kutaka repeats, shaking you gently yet firmly. Her smile widens as she notices your gaze focusing on her. "Come on, stand up and get dressed. I will be waiting for you."You nod and start to move from the bed, sluggishness quickly receding. At this point, you are more than used to waking up early, standard fare while living together with the Seraphic Chicken. Today, however, she woke you up even earlier than normal, which you conclude by the room being much darker than yesterday or two days ago. As you sit on the bed, Kutaka leaves, the soothing rustle of her wings and the swishing movement of her amazing tailfeathers more noticeable currently than plain colors or contours.You quickly put on your clothes and leave the bedroom. You can see through the windows that it is still quite a bit from dawn, but here, in this room, thanks to many openings, it is somewhat less dim. The smell of scrambled eggs informs you about the breakfast even before you spot all the utensils, carefully prepared at the table near which the chicken kami awaits you. With a grumble of stomach and an inviting gesture from Kutaka you sit at the table.You start by putting a considerable portion on the kami's plate, partly out of proper reverence, partly because you would feel as if exploiting her goodwill and effort if you didn't make at least some gesture for her. She beams you a smile at your consideration and begins to eat, although her eyes stay on you. You don't waste time and get a portion for yourself.It's simply amazing, although this is always the case when Kutaka tries her hand at egg-based dishes. You would expect to get used to that quality at this point, but you always get surprised by the actual taste. Not that you mind, exactly. While you eat, you ask what was the reason for early waking and the prepared breakfast."I want to see the dawn together with you at the waterfall's top today." The kami explains. "And I didn't want you to get distracted by an empty stomach while we were there."You point out that she must have woken up even earlier to prepare the scrambled eggs."Don't worry, I can handle a single waking up in the night. Besides, I do it for you today, you do it for me on some other day, this is how being together works." She replies with a smile, waving her hand. But then that soul-warming smile disappears, concern taking its place. "It's good, right?"You assure that it is well beyond good, as always, that nothing has changed. You even put seconds on your plate to emphasize."I'm sorry, my birdbrain got me." The Seraphic Chicken beams you an even warmer smile. Even after so long, you can't quite tell how often this is genuine and how often it is fishing for compliments. Yet, considering how deserving of praise Kutaka is, you don't have a problem with repeating it.As you finish the breakfast, you can tell that the dawn is coming. While the sun still isn't on the horizon, it is bright enough that you see the chicken kami in all her understated beauty. Kind face, red eyes that always reflect the plain joy of her smile, well-kept clothes, soft yet strong, yellow-feathered wings and, of course, the long tailfeathers, cascading down to her feet. You want to help and wash the dishes, but Kutaka stops you. Dishes can be done later, you need to go now, or you will miss the dawn.
It is not quite the season yet, with early buds appearing on some trees, but there are no flowers up among the branches. Snow still holds in some patches, most however melted already. This, together with no other soul in sight, probably explains why the roar of the waterfall sounds stronger than usual.The spot where Kutaka loves to reside comes into your view, at last. Even normally getting there on foot is quite risky, but now, with more water, it is straight up impossible. The chicken kami turns to you and grabs you around your chest."Hold on!" she says and you quickly grab her by the waist. While both the embrace and the experience of flying is no longer as exciting as it was at first few times, you grow to like those sensations nonetheless. There was something about mutual trust, something about the Seraphic Chicken's effort for you, finally some childish joy at being in the air and not falling, all of those together made moments like this very pleasant.You land on the spot and you both turn towards the horizon, waiting for the sun to come out. Kutaka keeps holding your hand, squeezing it even a bit. You just know how important dawns are for her. There is a certain wariness in you, underneath all the pleasant sensations, the pragmatic acknowledgment that standing so close to the chicken kami will have an effect on your eardrums.Kutaka spots Amaterasu's gaze before you, yet you realize that the dawn breaks almost in the same moment, since her grasp on your hand suddenly becomes even stronger. But as you brace yourself for loud crowing, the feathered beauty turns towards you instead, lunging for a passionate kiss, the sun being the witness. Kutaka's other hand gets your free one too. You stand like that for a moment, then the Seraphic Chicken breaks the kiss, the smile on her face somehow feeling like a continuation of the intimacy between you two."Happy Valentines." She whispers.Positively surprised by what Kutaka did, you keep looking at her face for a good while, unable to find any good words. Finally, scrambling for anything not banal, you say that you hope no tengu will swoop in to interrupt the moment."Let them come!" The Chicken Kami retorts. "If any of them tries as much as to put a talon on you, I will show them why I guard the passage of oni. I am the goddess of chickens, after all. I would say that this is far more impressive than some youkai who are merely bird-related." She declares with a bold glint in her eyes. Rather cocky, for a chicken. But maybe just right for chicken kami.You reply that you were more worried about reporters making a fuss and printing scandal in newspapers. You wouldn't want to tank her reputation on the Youkai Mountain.Kutaka's smile wavers, replaced by keen observation of you, as if you were some very confused soul in Higan. She releases your hands, putting hers on her hips. Just as you are about to say something to defuse the rising tension, she lunges again, more aggressively this time, almost like a rooster attacking somebody. The Seraphic Chicken kisses you deeply, somewhere between passion and possessive protectiveness. Her arms wrap around your neck, while the softness around your sides informs you about Kutaka's wings also enveloping you. She maintains this kiss for even longer than before. When she finally stops and takes a step back, she looks at you with a steadfast confidence of Ministry worker."The threshold guardian moved pass the crossroads, no turning back." She declares. "They can write as much as they wish, every article will make good material for the nest's insulation."Well, if there is no turning back...You lunge at still defiant chicken kami, surprising the chicken kami. Now it is your turn to kiss her. She squawks, somewhat indignantly, but she grabs you eagerly, letting you in closer. Her wings start to twitch, the yellow feathers rustling and shining under the sun's gaze.The little chick at Kutaka's head wakes up at last, due to all those tremors. It sees its kami, face red just as the nest in which the chick resides, happily kissing her love, while yellow down keeps fluttering away, as if golden sakura petals in dawn's light...
>>50674999>>50675001adorable. its refreshing to see a bird be so upfront about their desires without outright assaulting a man. the tengu could learn a thing or 2 from this.
Many say that silence stretches, as if it is something painful, extending beyond natural. For others, silence is heavy or even pregnant with meaning, as if it is some rare occurrence that must be noted by everyone. Finally, for many, silence is unbearable, something to avoid at all costs.This isn't the case for you, at least not any longer. Nowadays, you would rather compare silence to a blanket, at times so heavy that you don't disturb it, even if there is a certain desire to do otherwise, but even on those occasions, silence was first and foremost comforting. The comfort, probably like the blanket allegory too, got associated with the silence to you thanks to the youkai laying her head on your lap right now. At this point, it was a routine: you both reading each their own book in mutual silence, her draped over you, or nesting her head in your lap, or, in reversal, you getting a lap pillow from her. The warmth of continuous touch, the soft presence of another body, the calming lack of exposure, all produced the association between silence and covers.You've even learned how to hold most books comfortably with one hand. The usefulness of such a skill manifests right now in your careful combing through your youkai companion's hair. Your free hand moves through the strands of her white hair, with your fingers occasionally twirling through blue streaks. It is both absentminded and very purposeful, at the same time. Former, because you are focused on your book, in the end. Latter, because the feeling of not just being covered by her, but also covering her, even if just a little, soothes your soul. And knowing that she loves this mutuality too, makes you unconsciously seek it all the more.You don't exactly notice the moment when your dutifully combing hand slips to her small head-wing on her left. Yet, the tactile change, from the standard strand-like softness of hair to the more rigid yet downy nature of feathers, registers in your subconsciousness. You realize that you are preening your youkai companion when you reread the same sentence for the fourth time. Handling feathers requires much more attention, after all, and you were focusing on doing it right without fully noticing.You sigh, softly. No point in fighting it. While still appearing as if reading, you focus now fully on preening her, guided by your touch and occasional glances. A gentle tug here and there, careful checking for grime, straightening of barbs to maintain proper vanes. Everything is meticulously done, with no needless haste.You don't see it, not exactly. She appears to be reading, just like you. But soon you feel a faint tremor in your lap, one that only a creature hiding contentment may produce. Your companion's eyes stop moving, staring instead at the same point on the page, then finally glaze over. This silent display of pleasure and attention to your touch causes something in you, in turn, and soon your own legs tremble a bit.You finally finish your task. The silence and your companion still cover you, but all this internal tension in both of you made you suddenly motivated to do something. It's past morning, it would make sense to do some chores. You gently remove her head from your lap and stand up, stretching. She looks at you, after stretching herself on the sofa. Her upside-down face reveals her own agitation as she thinks rapidly about something."Hey." She finally says, breaking the silence for good.You meet her gaze, waiting for her to continue."You won't forget me? You won't forget my name, right?" She asks, her normal, even slightly hesitant voice still loud in here. "I... I don't want to disappear. Turn into pure fantasy." Her breath hitches, the fragility of small fry youkai's existence being a common dread for her.You don't respond at first. Only after a moment you kneel, kiss her temple and gently whisper her name. You promise to remember her for as long as you are alive. This seems to calm her down. But once again, one of you triggers the other: your own thoughts went towards passing Sanzu one day. Solemnly, you ask your love whether she will remember you after you die.For a moment, she looks at you bewildered, the prospect of you passing away being too much for her to handle. But then she grabs your head, hugging you, planting her own kiss on your forehead."Yes, I promise. For as long as I exist, I will remember you." She says. When she lets you go, she pulls out of her pocket a bar of chocolate. "Happy Valentines" She adds, her smile betraying that she realizes the tonal mismatch.You exhale through your nose, taking the gift. Then you stand up and leave, for now. But you both know you will return, to cover once again in silence and with each other. Until the final sleep.
not reading
>>50675301
>>50675301The mind reader is illiterate?
It is this part of the day when everyone is already on their feet, but it is not yet noon. You are just a few minutes' walk outside the Village, waiting for your... date, for the lack of a better term. You aren't quite sure whether she would use that word. She can get combative regarding libel at times, no doubt the effect of her job and environment. But meeting a quick-witted, beautiful girl on Valentine's Day probably counts, right? Even if she is a youkai.You look around and finally see her, descending from the sky. She wears a white shirt and that checkered skirt that draws attention to both her legs and her waist. High-tied twintails, as always, too, giving her face a unique character you can't quite put into words. Young, energetic, maybe somewhat haughty, yet fun-driven. But there is something that still escapes such characterization. Her black, feathered wings disappear as she lands, via a method you still don't quite grasp. Himekaidou Hatate, a crow tengu journalist, looks at you, pouting and crossing her arms across her chest."You won't believe what happened. We were given additional security tasks today, all of a sudden. We! Crows!" She complains, looking at you for reassurance in her grievances.You ask whether that means that your trip will be shorter than you planned."What? Hoping to get rid of me quickly?" She retorts, then looks at her feet. "Ugh, it's not fair, I was hoping to see so many things today. How am I supposed to report on anything if I don't have time to get material? It's like my superiors actually want me to sit at home and write everything via thoughtography. But!" The tengu reporter looks at you. "No matter whether they want to dash my hopes or not, I am not giving up. Are you ready?"You confirm and ask what Hatate plans."Well, considering the time, we can visit one, maybe two things at most." She explains. "And I want something sweet to eat! Candies, mochi, chocolate, sweet potatoes!"You point out that taters, especially sweet ones, are out of season."I know!" Hatate retorts, pointing a finger at your chest. "I was testing whether you were listening. But seriously, you know the Village better than I, obviously: is there a shop that sells sweets?"You know one."Then lead, prove to be a good guide. I so want to eat something sweet..." The tengu replies. You can't quite shake a feeling that there is something more to her request, but this isn't the best moment to delve into that, especially if the reporter is indeed under time pressure. You can never be quite sure how much tengu tell you outright.You start to walk back to the Village, Hatate walking besides you. She quickly adjusts the pace to match yours, although it seems like she is holding herself from walking faster. There is a certain nervousness in her gait. Is she so worried about the time constraints?"You know, lately I've been trying to uncover..." Hatate begins, unable not to fill the silence. She continues describing what she has found well into the Village. You follow her story, sometimes asking questions to clarify something. The way the tengu reporter's mind works always amazes you, seeing connections where you wouldn't expect. You don't get everything, as there is too much background information about youkai politics needed to understand everything, but you feel that you grasp the general shape of the reporter's investigations. You would probably understand even better, if your focus didn't slide from time to time from the story onto the fact that a pretty tengu was walking so close to you and counting on your attention. The worst kind of distraction: the pleasant one. "... So this points against the conspiracy Bubunmaru is promoting. You are making sure we are getting to that shop, right?" She suddenly asks, her tone pulling you out of a momentary daydream about playing with her twintails.You assure that you are getting close. In practice, you didn't track the route, but thankfully the shop was nearby."Come on, faster!" Hatate suddenly grabs you by the arm, making you both almost run. With effort, you ignore how nice her hands feel around your arm and instead make sure you don't get lost.
Another turn and you are in front of the shop. All in all, a normal building in the Village, nothing distinguishing it besides two things: a signboard above the entrance and a 'closed' sign on the door.You can see Hatate experiencing something akin to extermination in real time when she realizes that the shop is closed. If she wasn't holding onto you, she would certainly fall over at that moment."Why?" She asks, more to herself than to you. "Why is everything working against me?"You offer that you should have some sweets in your home, if the tengu wants them so much."No, that's not it! I mean, thank you, but... ugh." The reporter replies. She is clearly thinking about something else already, trying to find some solution to a problem she isn't sharing yet. "Wait, there was a stall with tsukemono back there, wasn't there?"You say that there was, indeed. Not because you've noticed it while walking here, but because you recall it from your general memory of the Village. You are once again impressed by Hatate's eye for detail."Alright, lead there now, please." She requests, tugging again at your arm.You ask again what exactly the tengu is planning. Because she certainly isn't telling you everything."Please, just trust me on this one. You won't regret it. Pretty please?" The reporter asks, her eyes locking your gaze with an almost un-tengu pleading.You feel as if melting under this look. With no further asking, you guide towards the stand with pickled food. At some point you start to run together, laughing, as if in some shared joke. You aren't even noticing the looks other Villagers give you at this point, too absorbed to meet Hatate's expectations and help her with whatever she is plotting. She likewise seems to be more invested in the shared moment than in caring about dignity.Stopping abruptly before the stand, you catch your breath, smiling at each other, while the stall owner looks at you, puzzled. After a moment, you straighten up. You start the conversation with the stand owner, but then you turn to the tengu. You aren't quite sure what exactly she wants to buy."Could you sell me a pickling stone?" Hatate asks the seller, once she recognizes that you are waiting for her input. The stall owner's face turns from puzzled to confused. "Yes, I know, this isn't a standard request. But I know what I want." The reporter insists.It takes a little bit more discussion and impromptu pricing of a pickling stone, but ultimately Hatate gets what she asked for. You two move a bit away from the stall, with your curiosity constantly growing. Then, Hatate turns to you."Happy Valentine's." She says, looking you in the eyes, while presenting you the pickling stone she bought.You take the surprising gift in both hands, your earlier curiosity morphing into being simply stumped."You thought I wouldn't remember or care, didn't you?" Hatate asks, smirking slightly. "That the mighty, proud tengu won't acknowledge her human date, huh? Well, I, unlike many others on the Youkai Mountain, am not as stuck up. Besides, the crow's mate is her jewel and needs to be celebrated." Her smirk turns into a pout. "I hoped to buy you some chocolate, but you saw it yourself... It seems that the Shrine Maiden was right about no opportunities in love, I constantly need to take matters in my hand... But the pickling stone is romantic, so it will work well as a substitute!"You recall now one article your date wrote, about this troublesome celestial. There was indeed something about the meaning of pickling stones as love symbols. You look again at the strange gift and no less strange warmth starts to fill you from your insides.Seizing the opportunity she herself created by occupying both your hands, Hatate kisses you. It's a quick kiss, but you feel as if the world slowed down for a moment. You barely notice the tengu taking a quick photo of you with her cellphone. Then, the reporter says something about really needing to go back to the Mountain and promising to meet again. You don't exactly parse the actual words in your current state, but you grasp the general meaning as if it was a lifeline.Pleasant distractions, indeed.
BIRD. TITS.
Having at least SIX kids with utsuho
>>50675301same>>50674995why did you put shou in a birb threab
>>50676369>why did you put shou in a birb threabThey look confusingly similar, please understand.
>>50675975The taters is so cute.
>>50675975more plz
very bird
