/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Human Village
Last of my posts for this thread, a lil' one-off.
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An old man with graying hair sat in his small office at the back of his shop, looking through the window of his first-story office the man noticed the falling sun, nodding to the woman who sat at the desk next to him filling out paper he said, “I’ll be having my late day tea, you can leave early today.”

Getting up from his desk with a cane in one hand the man began to exit the room as he motioned to a servant. Walking out of his store he headed towards a building at the back of the property.

Sitting down at the table the old man motions to his servant again, “Tea for two.” he said,” You are dismissed for the rest of the day after that.” Leaving the room silently the servant could only feel exhausted by his boss's eccentricities.

Reaching towards the center of the table the man switches on the mechanical light, its warm tubular bulb replicating sunlight to a higher degree than even outside world electrical lights did, although the similarity did not understand the principles behind its construction.

When his servant returned with the tea and the old man had nearly fallen asleep, “Thank you.” He said, “Have a good rest of your night.” It took several more moments than expected for the familiar presence to arrive on the other side of the door which faced the fence surrounding his property.

“Come in.” The man says. “You took longer than usual, I feared the tea might get cold.”

“Don’t blame me, if you haven’t noticed the village has been swarming with all sorts lately” The white-haired wolf said as she entered the building, her skin paling somewhat in reaction to the imitation sunlight.

“How couldn't I.” The old man said, morning with his cup to the outside. “Especially with it all surrounding that establishment of ill repute, your master isn't interested in this kerfuffle is she?”

"No sir. Does this change anything about our deal?” She asks, pouring herself a cup of tea.

“No, although.” he unfurls a poster. “although things might be getting a bit more rowdy.”

Reading it, she completely understood what the man meant, her ear standing at attention as she asked. "Will you need any protection"

"A few extra hands wouldn't hurt." The man admits in fake defeat, "Even if I'm not long for this world." He says mirthlessly

"Any exact problem, I'm sure the boss or Eienti has something." She says with concern in her voice. Loath to admit it, she had grown fond of the man over the last decade of them dealing business together, but that’s what being an immortal meant.

He waves her off with one hand, his bones aching as he does so. "Just old age, something you youngsters wouldn't understand"

Scoffing, she can’t believe this man, he always acts like he’s so much older than her. "Please, you're barely older than me." She says grabbing her necklace in one hand

The old man raised an eyebrow. "You have no right to say that while still having such a youthful appearance."

"Some of us age more gracefully than others." The wolf said with a smiler on her face

"Some of us are Youkai." He retorted, sipping his tea as he thought of all the recent troubles the village had been dealing with due to the youkai, particularly that girl who could control gaps.

"So our arrangement really will be changing?" she pointed at him with her cup of tea.

"I have a daughter don't I, you're familiar with her aren't you?" The man said, thinking to his daughter.

"Not to be rude, but she has an unreliable personality." She’d known her since she was a child, and very little had changed about her attitude or height for that matter.

"You are her friend, I am her father. She has not abandoned her name either, even in my passing she will honor me to that extent, even if she is not as hands-on with the business as I am."

"Keep an eye on her when I'm gone, that foolish girl is too much like her mother and has too little sense about her." The old man complained, thinking of better days, before that witch, before all the youkai in the village, before his wife's death.

She sighed, agreements, and contracts, were one of the humans' strongest weapons against youkai, especially when made and offered by the desperate, old, and dying. He couldn’t rightly refuse him anyway, but she had her own priorities and couldn’t one hundred percent agree "I'll try my best sir."

"That's all I can ask for." The man admitted. "Goodbye, Enoko-san." He said, with the same sense of finality he’d always use when talking about these sorts of things.

"Goodbye Kirisame-san." Enoko slipped out of the building and into the night beyond, hoping Saki would take the news well.

The old man had one more cup of tea before retiring for the night. ‘If only I could have been a better father, then perhaps she wouldn’t have gotten involved with that corrupt shrine maiden, or any of her problems.’