| abstract | - "Mwommy?" The koyukkuri Reimu peered out of its hiding spot curiously, hearing the soft rustle of grass crushed underfoot. The slight tremor that ran through the ground spoke of something bigger than even one of the hideously bloated yukkuris that could be found deep in the forest, large enough to swallow several adult yukkuri at one blow. All yukkuri are curious to a fault, and koyukkuri even more so. Throwing caution to the winds, the koyukkuri bounced out of the pile of leaves happily. "Yu~! Yu~! Dage id eajy! " The slow footfalls stopped. Crimson eyes, inhuman eyes, turned to gaze upon the tiny creature. "Ah, so this is a yukkuri..." "Yu~!" The koyukkuri recoiled away from those slender white fingers reaching towards it, almost tumbling over itself in fright. Having lived in the comfort and safety of Gensokyo's woodlands for all its short little life, it knew not what this blonde-haired giant was. Humans were but a byword some older Yukkuris used to scare the younger ones with. "Dont be afraid, little one. Are you hungry? Have something to eat..." Her voice was soothing. Again,the woman clad in brilliant white stooped and reached towards the koyukkuri with a closed hand. Her fingers parted slowly, revealing a heap of juicy red berries, glistening with morning dew. Some had been crushed in her grip, and the fragrant juice ran down her palm. Koyukkureimu looked at the pile of squashy berries hungrily. The greedy little thing had breakfast not more than an hour ago, yet it couldn't resist the allure of the ripe fruit. Forgetting its fear, the little ball of beanpaste hopped forward and attacked the berries as if it hadn't eaten all day, stuffing its mouth until its cheeks were bulging. The sound of contented chewing soon filled the air. Silvery laughter. "You really were hungry, weren't you? For such a small thing,you've certainly a healthy appetite." Koyukkureimu managed to swallow its mouthful at length, looking up at the pale woman with a sticky smile. Yu~! it squeaked happily, scooping another mouthful of berries into its mouth. It ate voraciously. Soon there was nothing left. When Koyukkureimu began licking the berry juice off the womans fingers, she withdrew her hand and laughed that silvery, warm laughter again. "You're tickling me!" Koyukkureimu bounced forward. Gimme more, lady! Weimu wan more eajy! "Do you want more berries?" "Yu~! Yu~! " The pale woman reached in her basket, drawing another handful of dripping berries from within. Koyukkureimu held its mouth open expectantly. "Yu~?!" She was holding the berries just out of reach of the tiny yukkuri. Squealing in protest, it hopped upward, trying to reach the berries, but only managing to bounce a few inches upward before plopping back onto the grass. It soon exhausted itself and lay on its side, panting from all the effort. In this state, it was all too easy for the koyukkuri to be picked up and plopped into the basket of berries. Upon finding itself surrounded with the wanted fruits, it set to gorging itself, ignoring the slight sway of the basket as it was carried away... "yu.." It was still and dark. The pervasive scent of berries made it difficult to breathe. " 'oo's there!? Lemme oud eajy!" Whack. Whack. Whack. The sound that had woken the koyukkuri continued without stopping. "Ids dark! Lemme oud! Weimu wan oud!" The koyukkuri began to cry, wailing in the darkness as loudly as it could. Clang! The percussive, insistent noise stopped sharply. Light flooded the basket as the covering was pulled away, forcing the koyukkureimu to blink and squint. "Oh, you're awake at last. I was going to let you sleep..." The hand that lifted koyukkureimu out was covered in flour. Her fingers opened, letting koyukkureimu plop out onto the wooden cutting board. There, now. You're out. Koyukkureimu sniffled piteously. Its face was shiny with tears. By contrast, the pale woman wore the same sunny smile that shed greeted the koyukkuri with. The warmth did not reach those red eyes. She was wearing a roughspun white apron over her clothes; her sleeves rolled back, arms covered in white flour nearly up to her elbows. "I want mwommy! Wanna go home eajy! " It tried to bounce off the cutting board, but the woman neatly scooped it up in her flour-dusted hand. All the flour made the koyukkuri cough and sneeze pitifully, shaking its little body to try and free itself from those fingers. "Led me GO eajy! Weimu cant tage id eajy like dis!" But those fingers were unyielding, like warm, smooth stone. A knife was in the woman's other hand, its edge gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window. But if you go home now, you won't get to eat the pasty that I made for you. Those silvery tones were now dangerously honeyed, full of venom. Look, I've stayed up all morning just to make a pasty for you and me to eat. She gestured at her surrounding with the knife. Eggs, flour, shortening, chopped arrowroot and the berry basket sat on the countertop, and a little pie-dish filled with dough for the crust. A silver kettle was boiling away merrily on the stove. Indeed, it looked as though she'd been busily preparing a simple pasty. But where was the filling? "And now you're saying that you already want to leave. That's hardly fair, little one. I was going to give you some of the pasty to take home to your mommy, too. She would have been so happy, and so proud of her little Reimu. The cold steel of the knife brushed against the tender, doughy Koyukkuris flesh. "Stop trembling, or I might really hurt you. This knife is so very sharp..." The koyukkuri could not stop shaking, terrified by that deadly whisper. "Y-y-y-yu~!" The knife slipped just a little bit, sinking into the koyukkuris eye. It popped like an oversized boil, but instead of squirting pus, sticky red fluid surged out into the woman's hand. "UGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!" Even as it screamed in pure agony, the knife was already circling around to the other eye. With a cruel twist, the eye was torn out rather than popped, to fall on the cutting board. It screamed and screamed again, even as bean paste and tears ran down its face, streaming from the useless socket. "Shush, shush, shush...shall I sing a song for you, little one?" "SDOB IT! SDOB HURDING WEIMU! IT HURDS!" Bean paste flooded the poor Koyukkuris mouth as the knife slid in, permanently widening it as the blade cut through its tender skin. The tip pierced its tongue, and then the woman gave a sharp backwards tug. With a sound like wet cloth tearing, the koyukkuris tongue came free. Now only a horrible bubbling red cry of pain came from the koyukkuri. In its blindness and agony,it squirmed and wriggled desperately in that pale hand, soon turning the woman's fingers crimson with sticky red bean paste as it leaked from a useless eye, a gaping socket, and the horrid red ruin of its mouth. "I suppose you don't want to hear me sing. Oh, well..." Just when it thought the agony could grow no worse, the knife's edge came up to kiss the koyukkuri's skin, slicing through it and peeling away a flap. By now the koyukkuris tiny life force was fading, its mind sinking away into the dark. Then,pain exploded through its entire body as the woman pulled-. She tugged at the flap of skin as though she were peeling an orange, the wet raw sound of flesh giving way under pure strength accompanying each strip of flesh as it was torn off. By now the koyukkuri was convulsing in the womans hand, making it hard for her to hold onto it. Bean past was starting to leak from the fleshy under-skin that she was revealing, tender and moist like muscle. Quickly, she moved it over the pie-dish and let the bean paste drip out into it. More and more of its skin came away, until she had pulled the entire covering off the koyukkuri. A paper-thin red coating was all that held it together, shifting and squirming in a way that reminded her of bared muscle. It had stopped moving now, a limp little doughball in her hand, save for the slight twitch now and then. Finally,she drew the knife across its midsection and let the bean paste spill from its halves. The rest of the family would have to wait after tea. For now, this little bean bun would make an exceptional pastry indeed. Already imagining how the tender flesh would bake nicely in the oven, the blonde began folding its skin over the dish. Really, why had no one suggested that she pay this quaint town a visit before? -fin-
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