Nami, Sakuya, Karasu, Yukio and Hayato were all gathered together off-stage from a podium. Yukio was fixing up Nami while Hayato and Karasu were talking to Sakuya.
"Alright, you guys." Sakuya spoke out, "I better get up there."
"Oh, okay. Good luck." Karasu responded.
"Go ahead and kill 'em!" Hayato cheered.
Sakuya soon walked up to the stage and cleared out his throat.
"Hello, everybody." Sakuya spoke out to the giant crowd, "Thank you all for coming to this announcement. And I know that some of you..."
"Are you nervous, Nami?" Yukio asked.
"Who wouldn't be?" Nami nervously chuckled, "Only Sakuya is familiar with this type of stuff."
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Karasu encouraged, "Just do what Sakuya said; say what you feel but don't try to offend anyone."
"But still be assertive, okay? None of them will listen to you if you're not." Hayato added in.
"Right." Nami nodded.
"Now, I'd like everyone to welcome Nami Yamamoto to give her voice to this issue." Sakuya stated.
Sakuya soon looked towards Nami, giving her a cue.
"Well, we shouldn't delay you." Yukio commented.
"You're going to do great." Karasu grinned.
"Go ahead and inspire those bastards."
Nami soon walked up to the stage and soon saw the crowds of Yokai staring at her. She felt a bead of sweat go down her forehead.
"Hi." Nami gave a small wave, "So, um, when I first came to this world, I was attacked by a group of Yokai and well, I would've died had it not been for Sakuya. And well, I'm sure that there have been other humans who have travelled to this world and died consequently. Which is unfair. Whenever Sakuya and Karasu venture into the human world, I don't see any of them getting attacked by any humans. So I think that, perhaps, you could all be kinder towards humans. If no humans are harming Yokai in their world then you could all do the same courtesy."
Nami soon glanced away for a bit to see Hayato, Yukio, Karasu and Sakuya giving her thumbs up and all smiles.
"So, what do you all say?" Nami questioned.
"Aren't you the girl who's trying to usurp position of leader of the Tengu Village?"
"Yeah! It is!"
"What? Is this some sort of way to get us to get the heat off you?!"
"Wha— No, that's not what I'm—" Nami protested.
"What makes you think that you can go ahead and take a position that others have longed for only for you to just snatch it out of their hands?!"
"Do you think that's right?!"
"And why should you even have that position?!"
"I— Well—" Nami stuttered.
Nami soon looked to Sakuya and the others who were all encouraging her to speak up and to succumb to their attacks.
"OKAY, LISTEN!" Nami bursted with emotion.
All the Yokai soon immediately shut up after Nami yelled.
"This is what I'm talking about!" Nami shouted, "I'm just trying to speak about my issues and you all are assuming the worst of me! Have any of you actually ever given humans a chance?! How can you even know what humans intentions are if you don't even see what they're like?! Humans want to get along with all of you! At least I do! Can't any of you see that there can be harmony between us?!"
The Yokai stood there silent. Until one of them spoke up.
"Stupid bitch."
Soon, the crowd started to erupt with more complaints and spiteful remarks.
Out of frustration, Nami stormed off the podium.
"Wait, where are you going?" Hayato asked.
"Away." Nami spat back.
Sakuya soon went back onto the podium and tried to speak to the crowd, "Please, settle down all of you."
Nami soon ran away from the area as tears streamed down her cheeks. She made whimpers and wails as she ran and Yokai who saw her just awkwardly stared.
Eventually, she tripped into an alleyway, right in front of a puddle. Her face splashed right into the small pool of water, wetting her hair and obviously face. Nami soon stared at her face within the rippling water.
Her face now looked distorted and not just from the ripples either. Her hair was now dull and matted, her skin was pale in a disgusting way, her face now lacked any sort of beauty. Nami soon smacked the puddle in one fell swoop. She soon sat up and went against the wall.
"Nami?"
Nami soon turned around to see the Yukiotoko standing there. Nami soon tried to wipe away her tears.
"Sorry... This is pathetic."
"Pathetic? You're just crying." Yukio replied.
"I know, crying is pathetic." Nami pouted.
"You're sounding a bit like Hayato there." Yukio soon sat down with Nami.
"Well, he's got the right idea then." Nami ran a hand through her hair.
"So, you're not okay, now are you?" Yukio queried.
"I feel so stupid. I keep getting my hopes up that maybe this time will be the one where they'll listen to me and try to make an effort to at least be civil." Nami expressed, "But they never will. Sakuya's been a leader for how long now?"
"10 years in this world." Yukio answered.
"And that's how many years in the human world? He's probably been trying to convince them before I was even born and no one's opinions have changed." Nami frowned.
"I can't really argue against that point." Yukio turned to Nami, "But Nami, it's going to take a while before things change. This prejudice has run through this society for generations. Maybe it's easier for humans to change since they go quicker than we do so new generations can accept new ideas. But for us, there are Yokai that have existed for over a thousand years. They will find Sakuya's ideas absurd since it's just not what they're used to. But I promise you, Nami, once things do start changing, it's going to be incredible."
"..." Nami played with her hair.
"Look, we all love you, Nami. We don't want you to bend your back only for you to break it. Just let Sakuya deal with the whole politics stuff, alright? He'll know what to do."
"Okay..." Nami responded.
"You ready to go back, yet?" Yukio asked.
"No. I'd rather not let anyone else see me like this." Nami replied.
"Alright."
YOU ARE READING
The Beauty Within | Soul of Yokai Prelude
FanfictionA story imaging the events of the tragedy of Sakuya and Nami. Disclaimer: The art on the cover doesn't belong to me and Sakuya, Karasu, Yukio, Hayato, and Nami don't belong to me either.
