/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"U-Um, what's going on...?" Yamame slowly asked, her voice tentative and slightly nervous. "Reimu?" She looked at Reimu and suddenly seemed to realise what she was doing, and she scrambled free of her grip, only to trip on my coat since it was far too long for her, which sent her tumbling to the veranda. She groaned in pain, then turned and looked at me. "What are you doing down there?" She asked me, incredulously. "Why are we at the Shrine? I thought we were at the Misty Lake?"

"What are you both doing here!?" Reimu's voice raised slightly, and I dragged myself to my feet as fast as I could, explaining that I'd been to that youkai meeting I'd mentioned to her, and then hadn't been able to make the trip back while carrying Yamame. "Oh, you're such an idiot!" She cried at me, stomping forward. First, she picked up her gohei and threw it back inside her room, and then dragged me up onto the veranda. "Why didn't you just say something!? I thought there was a vengeful spirit sneaking around or something! Are you trying to scare me half to death?" I mumbled an apology. "Not good enough! You're going on Shrine Fixing duty with Tenshi tomorrow!" I looked up at her blankly. "Don't say anything, just - Just go and get the spare futon...Actually, no. Just...Come with me." She dragged me inside her room, only stopping to let me kick my boots off. "You too, Yamame!" She called, and I saw Yamame follow, still looking a little bit lost and confused. "Arms." Reimu muttered at me, and I automatically raised them without even thinking. "Your sweater's probably a little dirty, and...It smells like alcohol."

That, I realised, was probably Meiling, spilling her cup on my clothes while sobbing and shouting about her work stress. With my arms raised, Reimu dragged my shirt off of me. "Yamame?" She asked, turning to the spider. "I've got a spare kimono in the cupboards, just down there." She pointed down the corridor that led from her room, and despite still looking a little confused, Yamame nodded and headed off. "Was it okay? Was Yamame okay?" Reimu asked me quietly. After a moment's thought, I nodded. "Good. I'll get the rest out of you later. You're still getting punished for showing up like this, though." Somehow, I found that a far fairer punishment than the one that Sakuya was probably going to inflict on Meiling.

"Is this the one?" I heard Yamame ask, and I was pleased to see her enter the room in Reimu's spare kimono, which did a very good job of fitting her. "It's a little..." That, however, seemed like a mistake.

"A little what?" Reimu asked sharply.

"Er, a little...tight." Yamame backpedalled, but I could see her fiddling with the sleeves, and I had a feeling that she was thinking about them being rather threadbare compared to anything she could have made. "But it's more than enough. Thank you, Reimu."

"Right." Reimu muttered. She rubbed her head. "I'm too tired for this. You, and you," She pointed at each of us in turn, "Get the spare futon and go to bed." I, already knowing where it was, automatically went, dragged it out, and positioned it next to Reimu. Reimu, for her part, immediately went and got back in her own futon, and was asleep in the time it took me to get the spare one out. Finally, I invited Yamame to join me.

We were both settled in a few minutes, though it was still a little chilly. To rectify this, I pulled Yamame as close to me as possible. And after a few minutes, I realised that Reimu had shifted a little, toward us, and she still had that habit of curling up and drawing all of the blanket around her. She looked cold.

I must have drifted off, because when my eyes snapped open, I found that Reimu's futon had overlapped with the spare one, and she was now curled up on my other side and using my arm as a pillow, while Yamame had her arms wrapped around me and clung tightly.

Just like old times.

I was overwhelmingly hot. Yamame wouldn't stop squeezing my arm on one side, and Reimu wouldn't let go of my chest. It was starting to turn into a problem, because I couldn't really feel my arm, either. Plus, I was pretty sure I was still drunk. And Yamame was definitely still drunk. Reimu...was probably drunk. I knew that my head didn't hurt yet, so I wanted to make use of it and escape the room for some fresh air. The problem was the two girls. How could I shift them without waking them up. I wasn't certain what Yamame would do, but I was very certain that Reimu would hit me.

After some amount of time that I wasn't quite aware of, I decided to just hold hope in my heart. One arm had Yamame all but wrapped around it, and the other was wedged between Reimu and my side, but fortunately, I knew a trick.

So, I rotated my hand around and poked Reimu in the side. She jolted, moved her arm down to where I'd poked her, and the moment she did, I sat up in a strange position to keep Yamame from waking up. Happily, I hadn't done enough to wake Reimu up, and after a moment, she settled her arms back to where I had been, though I did notice a slight frown on her face when she didn't find anyone to put her arms around. Now with a free arm, I set about untangling Yamame, which was easier said than done since she was gripping tight and didn't seem to want to let go. In another stroke of genius, I suddenly remembered Yamame's sister, Yura, and how she'd handled Yamame when she'd visited her home.

I reached my free hand around Yamame's back, and began to squeeze her shoulder gently, like a one-handed massage. Lady Kasen had spent some time forcing me to learn massage techniques during my first stint at the dojo, though I'd assumed at the time that she just wanted to force her new student into doing things like draw pretty pictures for her and give her massages, but she'd actually been aiming for me to use them to woo Reimu. I wondered what she'd have to say about me actually using them on Yamame.

Either way, Yamame's weakness to massages clearly extended to one-handed massages, because even in her sleep she let out a content sigh and relaxed her grip. I repeated the action on her other shoulder, and that was enough to send her back to the bed and free my arm. Finally free, I sat up properly and very gently eased myself off of the bed and to the floor, where I could stand up fully and stretch my body after a night wedged between two people who were, to put it gently, clingy in their sleep. Fortunately, things were still slightly fuzzy, and while I hadn't gotten any hangovers from regular alcohol since eating the peach, I wasn't sure if that would apply to the oni sake that Lady Kasen carried. Especially since I was sure that some of it had run through Yuugi's sake dish, which she had explained had the ability to raise the quality of sake poured into it.

I looked back at Reimu and Yamame, still asleep on the bed. Amusingly, they had grabbed hold of each other in their sleep, which I decided that I didn't want to have any involvement with. Especially since Yamame had professed a nervousness of Reimu after her impressive unconscious danmaku display yesterday. Still, I decided that my relative pain from trying to separate them and probably getting hit for it outweighed any potential embarrassment when they woke up, so I decided to leave them to it. I pulled on my sweater and grabbed my coat, then quietly exited the room.

The cold, watery light of the early morning shone from the windows of the dojo as I gently shut the door behind me. The corridor was silent, but I spotted evidence of the night's activities across the place. Scuff marks across the varnished wooden floor where Komachi had knocked all of the oni over, an errant bottle or two of sake, and even one of Lady Kasen's hair buns. I'd wondered what lay underneath those before I'd learnt that she was an oni, but obviously the horns couldn't have been as long as Raki's. Curiously, I approached the room that we'd all been drinking in last night. The door hung open, and I half wondered if I was about to stumble across a murder scene. I crept forward, feeling like I was some sort of thief in the night.

The village was uneventful, though I imagined that I would probably need to deal with Chiyari Tenkajin before long. If she was even there anymore, since it was possible that she'd gotten bored and left at some point. My old house didn't look much different from the outside, though, so I didn't really know. I waved to Oseki as I passed the café, but I didn't go in, since I wanted to get back to the caves. And privately, I was a little worried about Reimu. She'd been looking absolutely exhausted earlier in the morning, and even aside from that, she had seemed to be working herself a little hard lately. I hoped she was doing okay.

I got to the caves just as the weak sun peaked in the sky, and I swallowed heavily, then stepped inside before my panic could overtake my bravery. After a few steps, the light had mostly faded, but I refused to slow down in case I failed to get going again. And then, just after I turned down the tunnel that led toward where the tsuchigumo lived, I heard voices. "D'you reckon I could just chuck her down a cliff like this? She did destroy half our webs, after all." The voice was female and slightly familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Wouldn't recommend it. Someone would be along in the middle of the night to chuck you off a cliff in retaliation. You know the Spell Card Rules, sister." That voice was familiar, too. "Wonder what she's even doing here. Surely her Shrine isn't so bad that sleeping in caves is better?"

"Um, should we help her...?" That voice, I did recognize. That was Nai. "I mean, something's not right, er, right?" I quickened my pace, then decided that I didn't want to bumble into whatever was going on down the tunnels, so I slowed down slightly.

Of course, I shouldn't have expected to keep myself hidden from a spider, so I wasn't all too surprised when the voices cut off a moment later, and a moment after that, Nai's eyes were boring into mine. "It's you!" She said in surprise, dropping from where she hung in the middle of the cave to the ground. "Wow, it feels like it's been ages." Then, she slapped my shoulder, and I yelped. "Big Sister's very upset since you didn't come home!" I apologised and asked her to stop hitting me.

"Yes, little sister." One of the familiar voices said, and I saw the dirty-blonde sister of Yamame saunter into view from around the corner of the cave, her arms crossed. "And we don't much love those who upset the dearest of all my sisters." I had only seen her the one time, but the immediate impression I got from her was slightly mischievous. "But, you're also greatly pleasing her, so I suppose I can let you off for now." She bowed - extremely exaggerated - and offered me a smirk. Her eyes, somewhere between red and brown, narrowed just slightly. "Yura, at your service. Well, Yamame's service, actually." I introduced myself and said that I'd wondered if I would ever meet Yamame's sisters. "Some of us, maybe. My dear sister - Yamame - doesn't get to see all of us as often as we wish she would." She shrugged slightly. "So, you're the one who's stolen dear Yamame's heart, hmm? Well, you don't look quite as dumb as I thought you would." I blushed slightly at her wording, then said that I tried my best. "That right? Except when it comes to telling poor Yamame where you are? She's been working herself up into a frenzy all day." I felt bad about that, but in my defence, I'd thought that Reimu was going to explain things. "Reimu? The Shrine Maiden?" Yura suddenly burst into laughter, and I frowned. "All that sleepy Shrine Maiden's going to be good for at this rate is a free delivery for someone who's hungry!"

Now a little concerned, I asked her what she meant. "It's probably best if I just, um...Follow me?" Nai said, sounding somewhat unsure of herself. Shrugging, I did so, letting her lead me around the corner of the tunnel. Then, involuntarily. I slapped my palm against my face, which seemed to startle Yamame's other sister, who was stood with her hands on her hips over the clearly unconscious body of Reimu Hakurei, who'd wedged herself into a little crevice and promptly fallen asleep.

"Whoa! Startled me." The taller tsuchigumo said, turning. She had her hair pulled back, but it was messy in the way that suggested that she was unused to doing so. "Oh, you're..." Yura, who'd followed behind me, snorted. "Well, Yams' has excellent taste." Yura fell silent rather fast. "I'm Reiko. Can you, er, do something about...this?" She waved a hand over Reimu's sleeping body. "She's just as likely to exterminate us as thank us if we wake her up." Without thinking, I scratched my jaw. Reimu did have a rather nasty punch when woken up...

Lady Kasen didn't return that night. I found myself restlessly pacing the room, watching Reimu sleep, and occasionally removing the covers when it looked like she was getting too hot. I didn't feel trapped, or begrudge Reimu for being ill, but I did really, really want to see Yamame. The day was quiet, and I wasn't really sure what to do. I had no clue what sort of rituals Reimu performed as a Shrine Maiden, nor what sort of daily tasks she did in the Shrine. I decided to sweep the courtyard, and I was able to quickly bring all the stray leaves together in almost no time at all. While I leant on the broom, pondering what I would do next, I spotted someone coming up the stairs. She was incredibly tall, possibly even more so than Lady Kasen, and her hair was a vibrant gold which matched her eyes. She wore a strange hat that poked up in two points like the ears of a cat or a fox, with two tassels coming off of the tips. A massive dress covered her whole body down to roughly midway through her calves, and the sleeves were large, hanging down and obscuring her hands. Connected by a large button by her neck was a large tabard, which draped down her front almost to the edge of her dress, though I couldn't tell where it went on her back, primarily because of the nine massive tails which spread around her, each one a bright yellow ending in a white tip. A fox? IF I remembered right, nine-tailed foxes were some of the strongest youkai around, so I straightened up. She approached me with no hesitation, as if seeing some random man instead of the Shrine Maiden had been her plan all along.

"Good afternoon." She told me. "I'm looking for the Hakurei Shrine Maiden." I wasn't sure what such a powerful youkai was doing looking for Reimu, and I had no hope of stopping her if she tried to attack, so I slowly told her that Reimu was...indisposed. "Is that so? Such a shame. I only needed a moment of her time. Are you sure you can't let me see her?" I felt a sudden chill in the air. Nothing about her voice had changed, but her posture was ever so subtly different. Just barely leaning forward, her weigh balanced in a way that would let her strike out so far that I wouldn't even notice until my head was rolling across the floor behind me. I suddenly had the feeling that I was seconds from death. I held my grip on the broom, trying to keep my hands from shaking. She was probably hoping that I would break and let her see Reimu, but when I thought of her vulnerable Reimu felt at the moment, I knew that I couldn't. I very slowly and carefully said that the Hakurei Shrine Maiden was not currently able to answer, so she would have to come back another day.

I tried to look at her, but found that I was struggling. Instead, I tried to make peace with my probable death, only to hear the fox click her tongue in annoyance and take a step back. "Hmm..." She hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll have to seek alternate advice. Rather disappointing, but your bravery is commendable." She turned, raising a hand and tilting her head back. "I do hope she recovers from her illness soon. As a matter of fact, I believe an old friend would like to see her." She began walking away while I tried to make my legs works again. The sheer strength she had clearly held had almost made me collapse right there. It was only when she'd disappeared from sight beyond the stairs that I realised that I'd never told her that Reimu was ill. Now feeling a little concerned, I decided to head back to Reimu immediately.

My concern blossomed into outright worry when I pulled open the door and found Reimu collapsed on the floor instead of in bed. Cursing under my breath, I rolled her over and felt her head, which was burning hot. I pulled her up into my arms, intent on carrying her back to bed, but then she groaned. "Please don't put me back in bed." She said, her eyes screwed shut. I asked her what she was doing trying to get out of bed when she was so weak that she couldn't even stand up straight. "Need a bath." She said through gritted teeth. "I'm all sweaty." I felt the realisation wash over me. There was absolutely no way she would be able to do it by herself. She'd barely been able to stand, and I was worried that if she sat in a bath, she'd somehow drown herself. At the same time, I wasn't sure I was the person who could help her.

お疲れ様でした、お兄さん。
日本語の勉強をやめるのはもういいよ。

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