/jp/ - Otaku Culture

At that point, Raki noticed that I had moved, and when she saw that I was edging further into the corner of the room, she began moving back toward me. Crawling. On her hands and knees. With a drunken, lewd smirk on her face. Suddenly, I had what I could only call a premonition of what would soon be happening to me inside this room, and I found that it was only Yamame I was thinking of instead. I tried putting my hands on Raki's shoulder to keep her at bay, but I'd clearly forgotten that she was an oni, because it didn't do very much at all. Still, she did stop once she was close to me and leant forward. "C'mon..." She whispered to me. "It'll be fun." I shook my head and told her that I wasn't up for it. "Just a little..." She said, and I started to think that perhaps she'd forgotten what she was trying to change from. I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, she tried to go in for a kiss.

And that was as far as she got, because suddenly, she was stuck. She tried to push forward again and failed. Quizzically, she looked back, and I watched in some amazement as Yuugi lifted Raki off of me by the back of the neck. "No more." She muttered. "You're not doing this stuff to me anymore, Raki. Not with him or anyone else." She seemed a lot surer of herself now. "Not just for me. You kept saying you were trying to change, right?" Raki was struggling in Yuugi's grip, but Yuugi's arm held firm as if she wasn't holding a full person at all. "I think you need a splash of water." Yuugi said, walking to the door.

"A splash of - Oh, seriously? Look, if I apologize, will that make you feel better?" Raki said as she continued to struggle. "Look, just don't tell my partner." I stumbled to my feet and said that perhaps she did need to talk to Lady Kasen some more. "Oh for - It was a joke!" she cried, before falling silent for a moment. "Guess I've still got a way to go, huh?" She said with a slightly humourless laugh. I wondered if her conscious had only just managed to break through.

"Well, you can think about it on the way down." Yuugi told her, sounding a little excited. "And - I'm with you on the changing stuff. You don't have to act like this." And then, Yuugi reared back before breaking into a forward sprint for the last few steps toward the entrance to her house. With Raki screaming all the way, she hurled the arm of Ibaraki-douji into the open air. She flew forward, spinning in the air completely out of control, and began to fall. I'd expected that she would use her ability to fly to prevent that, but Yuugi told me that no oni worth their salt would try and get away from being thrown at something. I guessed that it was some sort of weird oni pride thing, so I just shrugged and kept watching as Raki tumbled out of control out into the middle of the Hot Spring Town before slamming into the middle of the largest spring to the sound of cheers. She'd landed right where the keystone had been.

With things silent once more, I turned to Yuugi and thanked her for helping. "Er, yeah. Y'Welcome." She had reverted back to being slightly awkward. "She knows how I feel about that sort of stuff...I'm not - Weird, or anything! I just...Want to meet a nice man naturally..." She was blushing again. So, feeling a little awkward about it myself, I reached up to pat her shoulder. She breathed in deeply, exhaled, then turned and walked back to her table. "Okay...So, are we fine with the contracts?" She asked me. I'd half forgotten, with Raki trying to do...things, but I thought so. "I'll go and round up some food and drink and get it all to the party as quick as I can, then. Raki should have cooled off by then, and Kasen should be there. Suika's probably already heard..." Yuugi seemed to have switched into planning mode, so I went to pick up the contracts, then realised that I was supposed to get Yuugi to sign them as proof. After doing so, I bid farewell for now and stepped outside of Yuugi's house.

"So, Raki's still up to her old tricks, huh?" A voice said, making me jump. I looked to the side and saw that Suika Ibuki was leaning against the wall of the house with her arms crossed. "Still," She said, pushing off and indicating for me to keep walking. "She's better than she was. Try not to hold it against her. Creatures made to inflict suffering we may be, but our own faults sting twice as much." Suika placed her arms behind her head and strode alongside me. "Saw your spider, by the way. Just entered the district." That put a smile on my face. "You know, Yuugi likes her a lot, too. No wonder she stopped Raki from-" I cut her off before she could say anything further, and just said that I was thankful that she had stopped her. "...Hm." Suika hummed. "Well, good for you. You get to keep your sense of fidelity. But, just remember, there is a reason why you don't see many humans in these areas." She eyed me with a grin that showed sharp teeth. "Best not wander around on your lonesome."

Which made sense, because in the centre of the street was Yuugi Hoshiguma, holding a much smaller oni in the air by one of her horns, of which she had two which curved outward. Her feet ineffectually kicked at the air, and she shouted, but Yuugi seemed content to hold her there, one arm fully extended and the other holding her sake dish. Yuugi had clearly gone to change, because she wore her bright blue kimono which exposed her shoulders and more than a hint of cleavage, and she’d pulled her hair into a ponytail that left her hair cascading outward. As we approached, Yuugi saw us, and her expression brightened. "Ah, there you are, Kurodani!" She brightly exclaimed, stepping forward to meet us as if it was just a stroll despite the whole person she was holding in the air. "Now, this fool, as well as a few others, seem to have been holding your sisters up. Despite," And Yuugi shot a sharp look at the oni, "My insistence that the Kurodani family were allowed to work in peace. Now, what would you like me to do with them?"

I looked over at Yamame but stayed out of it. It was her work, after all. "Hmm...If you want to slap them around a little, I'm not entirely opposed. Mostly, I just want my sisters to be allowed to do what they're good at."

"Well, that's good, because I'd love to smack some of these idiots around." Yuugi cheerfully said, before spinning on her hell and hurling the screaming oni out in the direction of the springs. "She'll be fine." Yuugi said to me, since I was the only person who looked even slightly concerned. "Now, anyone else planning to disrupt these fine workers!?" She shouted that bit at the small group of oni who were watching the incident. "No? Good!" She stood up straight and took a drink from her dish. "Ah, that's good." Then, she wandered over to Yamame. "By the way, come up to my place while you're here. Top of the hill, you remember?" Yamame nodded curiously. "I'd love to have another hanafuda game with you."

"Ah, er, you too." Yamame replied, nodding along. "I'll come up there before we leave."

"Good!" Yuugi clapped her on the shoulder, and to her credit, she didn't betray any sort of stagger. "Oh, and the others are around. Suika's off drinking somewhere. Upset that she was starting to sober up on the walk back, apparently. And the two..." She leaned in and mouthed 'Ibaraki', "They're planning to head to the hot springs in a while, but the hermit apparently wants to see you." Me, I asked. "No. You." She pointed a finger at Yamame. "She's staying, uh..." Yuugi gave Yamame some directions that went straight over my head, but she seemed to understand. "Now, I'm off to see if anyone else's head needs bashing. Come Former Hell or hot water, we'll get this restoration project done!" And off one of the Four Heavenly Kings walked, humming some song I hadn't heard before and drinking from her sake dish.