/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Recently I visited the grilled lamprey stall that sometimes opens at night on the Youkai Trail in the hopes of asking the proprietor how to properly deal with Youkai woman at my repair stand.

She’s a Night Sparrow which is not too dangerous as far as Youkai go and there were rumors she had been seeing a man recently. I didn’t mean to pry or take advantage of such things, however as a fellow entrepreneur I hoped she’d be of help for my situation.

Thankfully she was sympathetic to my situation and after enjoying some of her cuisine was quick to provide some advice.

‘Give a girl a compliment every once in a while, and you’ll make fast friends!’ she told me and even encouraged me to practice with her. I told her that I liked her cooking and that her stall was well-kept, she didn’t like that too much.

‘Saying a girl’s good at business is like putting them at arms-length, if you want to get closer you’ve got to compliment their looks or dress you know!’ she had said, while flinging her hair.

I found this somewhat annoying since the whole point was to keep them at arms-length and keep my business relationships amicable. It always proves troublesome when humans and youkai or customers and shop owners get to close but given my situation, I didn’t feel I was in a position to judge and went along with it.

‘Your piercings are pretty.’ I told her. It seemed to excite her, and she told me to keep going. So, I complimented her hair, nails, and finally her kimono server’s outfit. It felt embarrassing, although I suppose it’s necessary for me to get used to this kind of thing. I just wish she didn’t act like an excited mother praising her child.

In the middle of all this, two White Wolves came into the stall on either side of me, one was the taller wolf who had given me the ‘pat-down’ a while back and the other was a fluffy haired woman who seemed as casual as a Tengu was capable of being.

The proprietress seemed caught off guard by their arrival and quickly took their orders, I on the other hand kept my cool even given the coincidence.

Why had they come out all this way to a little Lamprey stand? Why did they sit on either side of me instead of sitting next to one another? Well I suppose it was just another excuse to practice in a safer environment.

'Such nice fluffy hair, I haven't seen such a white wolf before.' I told one of the Tengu. Feeling the glare of the taller woman at my side I quickly turned to her and said 'Oh, but I suppose straight hair requires much work to maintain, it's very pretty.', my vocabulary is a little limited.

The response to both compliments was the wolves beginning to wag their tails, now, it's said that this was a sign of happiness, but for dogs. No doubt I had actually severely angered them and this was merely their excitement at being able to fulfill their duties in their off-hours , looking to the Night Sparrow, her surprised and panicked face indicated it would be best if I left as soon as possible.

But when I made to pay and depart, the taller woman grabbed my hand and asked 'don't you want to feel it?' forcing me to run my fingers through her hair. 'Ah, how about comparing which you like better?' the fluffy hair one chimed in, grabbing my other arm and forcing me to bob her own hair.

Mercifully, they let me off with this much harassment, telling me I should 'always back up my words with action'. I retreated to my house and triple-locked the door, but felt no safer for it.

Worst of all, recently more Tengu have been coming to the repair stand with all kinds of different hair styling and treatments. But I don't dare say a word about that.