/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Having been given a suitable goodbye gift, I found myself leaving Yamame's house with something of a goofy smile on my face. Reimu wouldn't look at me. "Do you have to do that right in front of me?" She finally muttered. I shrugged and said that I hadn't been given much choice in the matter. "Look, if you're happy, great, but that doesn't mean I need it demonstrated to me." I asked Reimu if she was uncomfortable. "No. Just...Shut up." She finally muttered. After a moment, we'd left the dim lights of Yamame's home behind and were in the darkness of the caves, and I started to feel a bead of sweat roll down my forehead. I'd been so comfortable inside Yamame's home that I'd forgotten the whole reason I'd been there in the first place. Trying to get over my fears. After a moment, I heard Reimu stop and turn back to look at me. "Hey." She said, summoning a bright, white ball of danmaku in her hand. "Relax. We'll be out of here before you know it." She threw the ball, which settled to lazily float along the tunnel at a slow speed, and then she took my arm and made sure I kept walking. After some time, I started to see the light beginning to bounce down the tunnel, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "See? Nothing to it." Reimu told me, still pushing me along with her.

As the tunnel got bright, I realised that there was a problem that I hadn't considered. After several days in the caves with only dim lighting, the full brightness of a day outside was hurting my eyes. After a moment, I squeezed my eyes shut and belatedly remembered the hat I was carrying, which I dropped onto my head in the hopes that I could at least block some of the glare. "What's up with you?" Reimu asked me, and I said that it was too bright outside through gritted teeth. "Oh. Er, just take a minute, maybe?" I nodded and found myself leaning against the wall, waiting for my eyes to stop screaming in protest at the brightness. While I was waiting, I asked Reimu what exactly she wanted me for. "Have a guess." She muttered, sounding particularly annoyed.

Eientei? "Ha. I wish. No, they're still silent and we have no idea what's going on. I don't know if they're even there anymore. Marisa and Tenshi take turns keeping an eye on the place, but it's just like I told you the other day. Save for a direct assault, I'm not really sure what our plan is. No, this is the...other problem." Lady Kasen. "Exactly. She's told me to bring you back to the dojo for something. Won't tell me what, but I think we both know what it is." She planned to awaken the arm. I cracked my eyes open, squinting heavily but able to see again, and looked up at Reimu, who was pacing the cave entrance and tapping her gohei against her shoulder. "Yeah. I can already tell that this will be a headache." My vision had mostly recovered now, and I turned to look across the surface that I hadn't seen in days. It wasn't particularly exciting. Not raining, but overcast and likely to start raining before long. For a moment, I strongly felt the desire to turn right back around and go straight back to Yamame. But I was partly responsible for Lady Kasen's desire to awaken the arm, and I knew I needed to see it through.

"Let's get going." Reimu said, pulling me away from the wall and out of the caves properly. "I'm not looking forward to this. That oni arm is ridiculously strong, and if she gets loose...Well, it won't be good." I stumbled down the path, then regained my footing and brushed off my new coat. "You know, if you're going to be looking the part, maybe I should start training you in youkai extermination. Just because you've got your dear spider in your heart doesn't mean there aren't plenty of others who need a beating." That was an interesting proposition, and I told Reimu that I would think about it. We emerged into the village, and I made out that it must have been the early afternoon, because it was busy, and I could hear more noise than I'd heard in the last few days combined. "I suppose it's good that Eientei's got no rabbits left, since you can wander the village again, now." I nodded and said that I'd missed the place more than I thought I had while I'd been forced to stay away.

>>42564276
Discovered it through /f/ like 16 years ago or something. IOSYS mv's.
Touhou has kept me sane during some pretty dark times. Gensokyo was always right there.
I was fairly obsessed for awhile and shut myself off. The obsession has died down and I wish I could get that level of fanaticism back but it's probably for the best. Still enjoy the music and games dearly.