Moonlight Demon (GL LITRPG)

Keiko

On the back of Haruna's horse, Keiko watched the landscape as she and her teacher traveled to the east. The distant lands looked so beautiful that Keiko's jaw dragged against the ground as they moved. She watched everything around her with awe. The world was so much more amazing than she could have imagined it to be. 

If she was heading for certain death because this whole plan was foolhardy at best, then she could at least appreciate the wondrous views. Eventually, she started to daydream, her mind momentarily empty enough to allow her to sift through old memories. One came up, and Keiko could remember it as though it had happened yesterday. 

She had been sitting in a small garden-like area in the Zayama Compound. Here, members of her clan were gathered to celebrate the Festival of Blades. It was a Zayama-specific tradition, though one that the rest of Jade often chose to participate in, where old warriors and their deeds would be presented through large works of art. Songs, small statues, plays, reenactments, these things were the highlights of the events. 

Of course, because Keiko had yet to unlock her Spirit Eye, she could only witness the proceedings by way of sound. And, she hated that. Ordinarily, she could pick out different sounds and identify them with ease, but here, when everyone was gathered up and the sounds were all mixed together, that made doing so much harder than normal. 

So, she sat by the stairs leading back into the building, with her knees huddled up to her chest. And although she couldn't hear much clearly, she did note someone sitting down beside her. 

"Hey, liking the show so far?" 

She recognized the voice almost instantly. It belonged to someone who she'd met just a few months ago. 

"U-Uh... Yeah," Keiko replied. 

"Cool, what's been your favorite part?" 

"Uhm... I-It's all good." Keiko responded and Honoka laughed boisterously. 

"Well, if you don't make it as a fighter, you can sure as shit be a politician. I'm sure the Royal Council would have loved to hear that answer." 

Keiko sighed as the girl chuckled a little more. 

"I... What am I even doing here?" Keiko wondered aloud. 

"Aw, cheer up. Look on the bright side, now, you've got me with you!" 

"Uh r-right." 

"Pfft." Honoka laughed again. "Well, shit. Way to hurt my ego." 

"N-No, I didn't mean it like that, just..." 

"I'm just fucking with you," Honoka quickly stepped in as Keiko tried to explain herself. "Anyway, here, I got you something. They were giving this out in one of the stalls. Supposedly, it's some special candy from Amber, down south." 

"Oh?" A stick of sorts was placed in her hands. It was like a lollypop. She put it in her mouth and tasted a delicious, albeit strange, kind of chocolate. "Wow, that's good!" 

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome," Honoka responded. 

For a moment, a silence spread between them. All around them, Keiko could hear everyone enjoying themselves, laughing, and partying as the festival went on. Someone walked up to them though, and Keiko heard Honoka's voice take on a different, almost shyer tone. 

"Hey, babe." A boy said. "Come on, the fireworks are about to start!" 

"O-Oh," Honoka replied. "Right, be there in a sec." 

She then heard what she assumed to be the boy's footsteps as he walked away after the short exchange. 

The question she asked after that came automatically.

"Uh, was that your boyfriend?" 

"Yep, name's Lin," Honoka replied happily. "Really nice guy, maybe after the festival you could meet him. I'm sure you'd love him." 

"Um, yeah. Of course." 

As Keiko said that, she felt a wind of disappointment go through her heart, though she didn't understand why. She should have guessed after all, that of course a cool, confident girl like Honoka would be taken. It made sense. 

"You might want to put something over your ears in a few minutes though," Honoka said. "I heard the fireworks can be pretty harsh on unawakened Zayamas." 

"Oh, you're right. Uh, let me go get something." 

"Need me to come with?" Honoka asked. 

"No, no. I uh, know the way." 

"Alright. Talk to you later, then." 

Honoka left and Keiko stood up. As of course, she had the entire Compound's layout

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