/jp/ - Otaku Culture

does she moult?

It took a good while to actually leave the house that Yamame's sisters currently occupied. From Yura trying to convince Yamame to come drinking with her, Reiko trying to explain further details about what we were supposed to be doing, Yamame herself struggling to actually tell everyone to leave her be, and especially Kisami, who wouldn't stop trying to embarrass Yamame and simultaneously hug her half to death. In fact, it had gotten to a point where I was feeling like they'd forgotten that I was even here. I didn't especially mind, because seeing how much Yamame's sisters loved her warmed my heart, but I was starting to wonder if it would ever actually end.

"Yura, please - What? Ki, stop trying - Yura, I said no! Reiko, can you get her under control?" Yamame was trying to field three conversations at once, and it was looking like she was getting a little frazzled. So, not wanting to have Yamame get stressed out before we'd even gotten started, I waded into the group of spiders, dragged Yamame out, and then politely told Reiko that we'd better get to work while everything was still fresh in our minds. Yamame sighed in relief, while Yura sighed in disappointment and Kisami didn't sigh, but did look a little put out.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Okay, go ahead. And let me just say thank you again, Yamame." Reiko told us, hugging Yamame once more. Before it could devolve into another mess, I pulled Yamame over to the door of the room. "Feel free to use any of the accommodation around here, too. Hoshiguma's given us somewhat free reign as far as lodging goes. It'll save you trekking all the way back to your house."

"Oh, er, thank you, Reiko. Very kind of Hoshiguma." Yamame said stiffly, since we technically had word from Yuugi already that we could stay wherever we wanted. "Well, um, we'd best be off. Ki, just - Just stay here, please. We'll never get anything done if you go out there and rile the oni up."

"How rude!" Kisami huffed, her hands on her hips. "For your information, my dear little sister, I don't 'rile' anyone up! At least, not intentionally. Well, sometimes...Well, not right now!" Yamame opened her mouth, so I dragged her through the door and apologized, saying that we had to be off. Then, I pulled the door shut before any more arguing could occur. Even so, I could hear Kisami through the door. "But maybe I'll rile one or two up just for you!" I had to steer Yamame away before she could open the door again.

"Fine, fine. I'm calm. I'm - calm, I said. Let go, you scoundrel!" Yamame finally pulled herself free of my grip after we'd reached the stairs and begun to descend. At halfway down the stairs, she stopped me. "Thank you, though. I'll confess that conversations with Ki usually end up like this. I love her dearly, but she's such a handful sometimes. And she still treats me like a child! I find it just about the most frustrating thing ever!" Yamame huffed, and I sympathetically patted her on the back, thinking about how she treated Nai like just as much of a child. "It's lovely of you to know when to reign me in." She got up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine, just for a few moments.

Unfortunately, a few moments was all it took. I heard something dropping, which caused Yamame and I to break apart and look down the stairs to the first floor, where there was a young spider that I hadn't seen before, but she'd clearly seen Yamame before. "Nai! Nai! Big Sis Yamame's kissing that human who broke all our webs!" She yelled, taking off down the corridor and into one of the sliding doors, where I heard a lot of excited chatter. Yamame groaned in embarrassment and clutched her head in her hands.

"Why's it all going wrong now?" She mumbled into her hands, and I laughed a little, then kissed her on the forehead and recommended that we get moving before any other spiders come to interrogate her. "Ugh, fine. Goodness knows why they never annoy Yura or Reiko as much as they annoy me. I mean, I get why they don't mess with Kisami, since she's their, uh, big-big sister - and a bit of a handful, but..." Yamame mumbled complaints all the way out of the building. I asked her if I should retrieve my coat, but she shrugged and said that it'd be safe where it was if I wanted to leave it there. I'd had an opportunity, on the way to the hot springs, to stop off at Yamame's house where she had fished out a spare black shirt for me, as my sweater was still bloody, and the material was torn up at the shoulder from where Raki's teeth had bitten into it. The shirt had long sleeves, which was turning out to be a little inconvenient in the heat and steam of the Hot Spring Town. I'd rolled them up already, but even so, I was certain that I was sweating just a little. Yamame was, too, so I didn't feel particularly self-conscious about it.