New Type of Yukkuri

"It is time to earn some cash." decided Anon. He had made a killing off selling the disguised Alice yukkuris to the factory, but that had been a while ago and he needed some extra money to make up for all the extra ‘equipment’ he was buying.
It was a wintery day, the cold air wasp making him tuck his hands into his jacket pockets as he stepped out into the snow. After an hour or so rooting around fruitlessly in his normal yukkuri hunting spots, he gave up on finding anything easily. While going off the beaten path was dangerous, he wasn’t overly worried – not that many youkai went out in the cold, and that ice fairy was still around the lake, the last he had heard.
It was in a cave he found his prize – a narrow, deep hole that was far longer than it had any right to be – but amongst a group of common Reimu and Marisas, he found a yukkuri he had never seen before. It looked like a Mystia type, with odd wings, but instead of a winged hat, it had a green ribbon on it instead.
”Hmm… perhaps a Reimu-Mystia child? No… yukkuri genetics really don’t work like that. Anyway, it’s going to be my ticket to riches! A new yukkuri type…”
The winged yukkuri hopped up and down in front of him.
”Who’re you, mister? Take it over easy!”
He picked it up, feeling it’s warmth in his hands, heating his bones.
“Don’t worry, I’m a friend. What’s your name, yukkuri?
“Yu? Un.. unyuu…” The yukkuri’s face scrunched up in thought. Must be pretty stupid, Anon thought. Well, never mind.
“Hey, how would you like to take it easy with me? I’ll be able to feed you lots of good food!”
”Yu! Take it over easy!”
Anon brought back the strange, new yukkuri with him, as well as it’s two children. They were actually quite cute for disgusting freaks of nature, he decided. Back at his house,he set up a plastic cage for them to play in, and gave them some sweets.
“Thanks mister! Unyuu..” Anon laughed with them, wondering how they’d scream if he were to rip off one of their wings. But.. no.. no point in damaging the merchandise, was there? Besides, there were plenty of common yukkuris in the basement for him to torture if he needed some fun. He coughed suddenly, a nasty hacking sound emanating from the back of his throat. Perhaps he should have worn some warmer clothing?
The next day, Anon crawled out of bed. It was high time he started investing in a better windows – he was shivering and tired by the time he managed to drag himself up. He looked at his bleary face in the mirror and started brushing his teeth.
Huh? Blood? That couldn’t be good. A crash from the living room distracted him, and he raced out to see what happened.
”Unyuu-!” One of the koyukkuris jumped out of the box, gliding down to land safely on the floor. The room was a mess, with bits of paper everywhere. Anon sighed half in anger, half in relief – he had mostly yukkuri-proofed the room, and tidying it up would be a pain, but if the new yukkuri types got free, he’d lose all that potential money… He’d have to go slowly melt a few of the yukkurisas downstairs to calm down, though.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing?”
“We’re flying, mista!” It was more of a barely controlled glided, Anon thought. But as he managed to herd the yukkuris back into the plastic crate,he managed not to crush any of them.
He put it out of his mind as someone knocked on the door. Finally, the factory workers!
”It’s a new type of yukkuri! What do you think?”
The factory worker looked at the winged yukkuris, and made a thoughtful sound.
”Yeah, this type showed up only recently. We’ve only got thirty or so, so it’s not a bad find, though.”
”What? I’ve never seen this type before! Are you sure-“
”I’ll give you 13,000 for it. They seem to be quite rare, so they’re still worth something.”
Grumbling, Anon accepted 13K. He’d hoped for more, but it was a lot better than what he’d usually get. The factory worker bowed, and took away the winged yukkuri and it’s progeny. Time to celebrate by killing some of the yukkuris downstairs…
The factory worker chuckled under his breath as he carried the box away – a totally new yukkuri type, and only for 13 thousand? Believing the quick lie of that yukkuri type ‘showing up recently’ - what an idiot! Bringing back this never seen before yukkuri for such a cheap price was sure to get him a promotion. He could feel the excitement pulsing in his veins, a heat building up in his body.
“Mistah, where are we going?”
”Oh.. you’re going to.. The Factory.”
“Unyuu.. what’s that?” The worker was surprised – didn’t all the yukkuri know what the factory was? Ah, never mind. They’d find out soon enough…
----
Anon was in pain. He’d started coughing up blood, and his skin had started to peel off. He staggered out of his house, not even bothering to secure the remaining yukkuri he had been “playing” with. He needed a doctor… if he got as far as the village he’d be ok…
He made it about half a mile before collapsing for the last time, bleeding out of his eyes, his nose and fingers starting to rot off in the cold.
----
In the factory, the managers were very pleased at the new find. They started grow the new yukkuris rapidly, sending in Alices to rape and force-breed the winged yukkuri types, force-feeding them sugar and honey to keep them alive. It’d be interesting to test out how they react to pain, thought the factory worker. He’d been promoted, and was in charge of the new discovery. It was a very good day.
Elsewhere in the factory, alarms were going off.
”Track it down! Look, there weren’t any radiation tests scheduled today! Where’s the source?”
The assistant shrugged, holding up an antique Geiger counter, the best the factory could get from Kourindou.
Over half a day had passed, and the newly-promoted manager was feeling slightly nauseous. He amused himself by slowly spiking one of the new yukkuris through the eye, not killing it, but letting it hang above the others.
“Uuu… unyuu…” It wriggled weakly. He laughed, then coughed – a thickly wet sound that was accompanied by blood. That man who sold these things – did he have some sort of disease? His thoughts were interrupted by the men in rubber suits walking through the door.
“Yeah, it’s coming from over here. Hey you, what are you- Ah, no.”
”What’s wrong?” Bewilderment turned to confusion and fear as the men waved at him plastic wands, the machines in their hands clicking like crazy.
“Yeah, he’s a goner. Looks like those yukkuris are radioactive. Blimey, it’s off the charts – we need to evacuate the whole place and relocate.”
“What’s going on? What do you mean, ‘goner’?”
The man nearest him shrugged. “You’ve been irradiated with something over 3,000 rem. Sorry, but you’re probably going to die in about a couple of days. Nothing we can do.”
”..How? That can’t be right? I mean, what’s radioactive?”
The man pointed at the winged yukkuri,which was a Yukkuri Utsuho  “It’s them, I’m afraid. No idea how they survive it, but they’re the ones that killed you."
The worker’s rage built up. Was he going to die? Those… monstrous things killed him? He slowly walked over to the cage, feeling the heat the yukkuris gave off. And with a scream, he brought his foot crashing through the plastic, crushing one.
----
“Wow. Hey, Marisa, look at that.” Reimu peered out over the horizon.
“What? What was that giant flash?” Marisa, sitting next to her with a cup of tea, jerked awake.
“Looks like there was a massive explosion… wonder what it was. Oh well…”
Category:Text Stories