Lunatic Red Eyes

The moon is crazed. It shines bright with the red of madness. All who are accustomed to battles of bullets surely know of "Lunatic," the bullets of pure insanity. The word lunatic derives from the word lunar, meaning "of the moon." Being but a youkai, I am not aware of the finer differences between the moon and lunacy as they are perceived in Gensokyo and the outside world. But there is one thing I do understand... The rabbit. Her eyes shine red and harbor a terrifying madness. That rabbit is here, in this Gensokyo, on this Earth. And on that long night, she revealed herself... and her madness. I saw her. Her image seared itself into my mind. The rabbit with the ability to manipulate madness, veiled in red.

The moon shone brightly in the sky on that long night, shortly before I saw the rabbit. Reisen Udongein Inaba is a red-eyed rabbit who lives on Earth. She has taken residence in Eientei in the depths of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, but apparently, she once lived on the Moon. She possesses the ability to manipulate madness. Some say it's her red eyes that allow her to do so, while others claim it's because she can manipulate waves. On that night, I wondered if she could really turn a person insane. And if she could, to what extent? Looking back now, perhaps I only felt curious about such things because madness had already begun to take hold. When I looked up at the moon, I could've sworn it shone red like the rabbit's eyes.

The Moon was red. Or was it? I feel like it was something else I was gazing up at. Something round that shines. Ah, that's right. It was red eyes. I saw the rabbit floating in the sky, her eyes shining crimson red. Those eyes shone just like the Moon at her back. No, wait. Was the Moon red? I feel like it wasn't, but... I can't... seem to... recall. ...Am I goinG inSane? N-No, I can'T be. But sOmetHing isn't Right. Am I losiNg my MInd? Has anXiety taken Me? The mind is made of waves... and if she can maNipulate waVes... No. I'm not goiNg insane. Maybe not. Probably not. Definitely not. It was at that moment, the red-eyed rabbit looked at me and pointed as if she was preparing to shoot.

"The moon is reD. YeS, it's red. JuSt like the rabbit's eyes. Red anD rOund and BRight... That's all there Is. All there Can be. WHy? Why? WhY? Why? WHy why why why why WHY why WHY why why why..." I heard the rabbit's voice. "This is what happens when you look into my eyes." Ah, right. The moon isn't red. What on earth was I thinking? The only thing that's red is her eyes. No, that's not all. Her finger was locked in my direction, red light flickering out from its tip.

Red red red red Moon Moon Moon red Moon rabbit red Moon Moon rabbit red eyes red red red Moon rabbit rabbit red eyes. The Moon is red and beautiful. Eyes are red. I look at them. The night, the Moon, the rabbit, her eyes. Everything is red! "You've fully succumbed to the madness," spoke the rabbit. DiD the rabbit say someTHing? "Well then, at the very least―" she said, and a red world burned itself into the back of my eyes. "That's right. This is madness," I thought. The space before me, the Moon floating in the sky, the rabbit, her eyes... everything was stained red. Was it because of the madness? Because of the color of her eyes? Or something different entirely? I have no way of knowing...