/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"You alright, Yams?" Yura asked, stepping forward and hugging her sister.

"Fine, fine..." Yamame breathed, then shook her head and pushed Yura off of her. She strode over to the Kurodani worker who had been injured, and gently lifted her arm up. "I'm sorry, sister." She told her quietly. "Go and find Kisami. She'll probably be in the guest house. If you need medical attention, she'll sort you out." Yamame's sister thanked her, and the other Kurodani, one shorter than Yamame with very light brown hair, accompanied the injured one, leaving Yura and I with Yamame. "I wish they'd just be normal. Why is it that when you're just trying to help, they get all...argumentative." She was complaining about the oni, and I could certainly see her point. "Okay, um...Yura." Yura stood to attention. "Get someone else to come and help you, then finish the house as fast as possible. Throw away whatever you have to. The strain I gave that oni will have her knocked out for a day or two, so that's all the time you've got to get the repairs done. Then...Just ignore her. Never speak to her again." I put my arm around Yamame's shoulder to support her, since she looked a little dizzy. "Must be new here. Maybe she's never been knocked out by Yuugi like all the other oni have. Just...Get done and get out, okay?" Yamame told Yura, who nodded seriously.

"We'll get it done, dear sister. Don't worry about a thing." She looked at me. "Can I leave my sister in your care?" I told her that she always could. "Thanks. She might need a break, though. I'm off to gather up some of the more energetic ones so we can get this done fast." Yura nodded at us and took off in the opposite direction, back toward the house that the Kurodani workers had taken over.

"Dreadfully rude, that oni." Yamame murmured to me. "That's what homeowners are like, though. Some of those tengu contracts, my word..." She shook her head. "Luckily, that was the last one, so we're free for a little while. Do you want to...Um, go to the large springs?" I thought for a moment, then shook my head. I would be happy to spend some time with less people, I thought. "Hmm...Well, there's - Oh, but..." She trailed off, looking a little nervous, and I pushed her for some more information. "What, um, Hoshiguma said. About Lady Ibaraki looking for me. The place she's at is a private spring way up there." She pointed upward, fairly high up in the tangle of houses that comprised the town, and a little off to the side. "It's quite exclusive, but Hoshiguma must have gotten them in." I felt a slight smile and remarked to Yamame that it was a good thing we had permission from Yuugi to go where we wanted. She wilted a little, and I told her a little more seriously that I really did want her and Lady Kasen to get along properly, so I was serious about going there. It wasn't as if Lady Kasen's approval was necessary, or anything like that, so I'd be waiting for her regardless of the conversation's outcome. Yamame smiled at that, and I kissed her on the forehead.

And off we went, up more and more stairs. I thanked Lady Kasen in my mind for all of the running up and down the mountains in her senkai that she'd made me do, because I was barely breaking a sweat as we climbed higher and higher. The streets grew narrower and more sloped as we went, and I wondered how the people up here managed. Obviously, they could probably fly, but even so, it seemed like a constant aggravation.

And then, somewhere about halfway up in a quiet part of the Hot Springs Town, I began to hear two voices that I'd heard before. For a moment, I was pleased, but then I remembered that one of the voices was, to put it lightly, absolutely desperate for me to die. The other didn't hate me, but had threatened to murder Tenshi, so I wasn't really sure where I stood with her. "-Sure why Lady Satori even wants us here. It isn't our job, so - Okuu, what are you looking at?" We were still around the corner from them, but I could hear their conversation quite clearly.

"Just, um, reactor readings, Orin." I could hear the voice of Utsuho Reiuji. "They're just a bit..." There were some high-pitched beeps, and then I heard the sound of wings beating powerfully, just once. "Oh, never mind. It just needed recalibration. Minor contaminants, but not alive, so I can flush them out when I get back." I had heard Okuu's voice take on that cadence before, when Reimu had asked her if the reactor was going to melt down because she wasn't present. "Sorry, um...What were we talking about?"

"-Do you think this place is? Eientei the Second? There's only meant to be-" I could hear shouting, but my mind wasn't ready to comprehend it yet. "-Hold on, for a start - Stop making that fucking racket!" I could hear yelling, but I still felt like I was halfway underwater. I could hear stomping and the vibrations beneath me. "The only reason you're even saying this is because you aren't fu- No, don't say a word, or I will perform a living, breathing, fucking autopsy on you, you stuck-up, delinquent, ex-celestial bi-" I managed to open my eyes. I was in the Shrine, and I was sat against a wall. Something was wrapped around me, and I couldn't tell what, other than that it was soft. I blinked several times, until my vision cleared, and I could see what was happening in front of me.

Reimu had clearly recovered enough to be back to her old self. She was fully dressed, and she was very annoyed. She'd taken up her gohei again, and was pointing it directly in someone's face. I tried to look a little closer, and was surprised to see Miss Tenshi, leaning against a different wall with her arms crossed, not looking the slightest bit concerned. Next to her, sat on the ground and with several bandages wrapped around her, was Marisa. She was nursing a black eye and looked like she'd been punched by an oni, but was in good spirits regardless. "Someone's recovered." Miss Tenshi muttered with an air of smugness. "All I said was-"

"Shut it, ex-celestial!" Reimu was shouting. "You want me to pincushion your face!?" She did look about five seconds from following thought.

Before she could, Marisa spoke up. "Uh, Reimu? Your husband's awake."

Reimu gave Marisa a murderous look before spinning on her heel. I thought about trying to get up, but my legs didn't seem to be cooperating. "And you - Why are you even here?" She asked pointing the gohei a little to my right. I turned my head, and now I understood what was happening. The thing around me was a giant raven wing. It was pressed against my shoulder, and I could see the veritable mane of black hair that the girl I was sat next to had. She had a green bow on her head and an intense frown on her face. "Well? Speak! You never hesitate to try and burn someone to cinders anyway!"

Okuu looked up at Reimu, her frown intensifying. "...But we're not in the reactor, right? I'm not clearing contaminants right now." She tried to rub her chin with her right arm, but the cannon attached to it got in the way, so she used her left hand instead. "Lady Satori told me to wait for her to return." She looked at me. "And Lady Satori said that I didn't need to tell Orin to take people to the furnaces if they aren't dead yet."

That sounded like good news for me, though Reimu didn't look all too pleased. "You shouldn't be taking our corpses at all." She muttered. "Why are you on the surface at all? Aren't you supposed to be in that reactor thing?"

"Er..." Okuu trailed off, looking confused. "Oh! Well, Lady Satori is on the surface for that detectivey thing, and I wanted to come because I haven't been to the surface for ages, and...there was a stand that sold grilled...something by the road and it...was tasty?" I felt like she'd lost track of what she was talking about at some point.

Reimu rolled her eyes. "Yes, very good, thank you. Not what I asked, though. The reactor isn't going to explode, is it?"

Okuu suddenly straightened up and her voice took on a cooler, more certain tone. "Of course not. The reactor is measured against several safety parameters to prevent a core meltdown, though it can survive for a week at minimum without intervention as the fuel is used. While there might be some minor radiation leakage eventually if it were to be left entirely, I will not be leaving the reactor's control room alone long enough for any problems to occur." Having finished rattling off several words that I didn't understand, her body relaxed again. "Well, er, it'll be fine."

Reimu shook her head in exasperation before crouching down to look at me. "Where'd you find him?"

"Um..." Okuu said, her frown deepening even further. "The...mountain...?" She had an intense look of concentration on her face.

It seemed like the answer hadn't been satisfactory to Reimu, who clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Ugh, birdbrains." She stepped back, to the centre of the room. "Okay, you," The gohei pointed at Okuu, who let out a strange noise that sounded something like 'Unyu?', "You," Now it was at Miss Tenshi, "And you," It was pointed to my left, where the wings were obscuring my view, "The weather won't effect you, so go and find somewhere else to loiter." Then, she pointed it at Marisa. "And you, lie down, shut up, and don't move." I heard general sounds of movement, and felt a slight breeze as the door opened.