/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Hong Meiling was not normally given to fits of major embarrassment, not even when that black-and-white rat got into the mansion, but here, sitting in a brothel wearing a erotic version of the Shrine Maiden's outfit, she felt like dying. If Miss Sakuya saw her, or...Well, just about anyone, actually, she'd have to end her life before the shame killed her.

"Number 14!" The tiny Yamawaro bellowed. "You! Redhead! You're up!" Meiling lurched to her feet, feeling like the ground was shaking all around her. She wanted to perform some tai chi relaxation techniques, but she wasn't getting a chance. "I ain't got all day, girlie!" The Yamawaro, barely even half her height, shouted, and Meiling quailed. Ignoring the looks of the few others in the waiting room, she fixed her gaze firmly on the floor and walked forward. Then, she walked into the door, and it took all of her willpower not to die right then and there. She was certain she heard the Yamawaro snicker. All she'd even wanted to do was find Lady Patchouli!

Stepping through the door, she felt a strange vertigo, something she had only felt once before, on the single occasion that she had fought Yakumo Yukari. Immediately, she felt panicked, and now that she was free from prying eyes, she did let her eyes slide shut and her body fall into poses that were ingrained into her purple memory so deep that she could perform them while asleep.

Her breathing techniques helped calm her, and she felt a restlessness that she hadn't realised she was feeling fade away. With a clear head, she stopped stalling and walked further inside, the vertigo feeling intensifying until it reached a crescendo and immediately stopped. Suddenly, Meiling was not in the human village.

She was at the courtyard of the Hakurei Shrine, in early autumn. It was quite wonderful, actually. Especially for Meiling, who never really got to see many views aside from the ones she saw from the gates of the mansion. The valley expanding below her was lit in hues of gold, red and brown, and it was truly breath-taking, even compared to the view of the Misty Lake that Meiling could see from her position at the Mansion's gate. For a moment, she forgot what she was supposed to be doing and was content to just stare.

And then, she began to feel the flow of qi, and it was all wrong. The place wasn't truly expansive, it ended some ways forward. It was nothing but a paper tiger, if paper tigers could be pretty scenery. Meiling wondered who's benefit it was for. Was it just to enhance the experience?

Speaking of, what exactly was the experience? Behind her, quiet but easily audible in the true, small environment, was a conversation.

"That wire. No, not that one. Quite right." Meiling turned, finding herself quite surprised by the sheer scale of the replica of the Hakurei Shrine. Nothing compared to Remi's mansion, of course, but it was still very impressive. Meiling couldn't remember the last time she had been to the real Hakurei Shrine, or if she ever even had, but it certainly looked like a real Shrine. The voices she could hear were coming from inside, and Meiling could hear a man, presumably this 'Shrine Husband' that she'd been hearing about. And the other voice... "There. And then - Yes, exactly. That one. Koakuma could learn a thing or two from you." There she was. Lady Patchouli, at last.

"Was she the one with the wings?" The male voice was asking a question. "With...pale blue hair?"

"That was Remi. Koakuma has rather striking red hair. And a tail." Patchouli's voice grew clearer as Meiling got closer and hopped up onto the veranda. "Next...That one."

Meiling rounded the side of the veranda and paused, very confused at the scene before her. Happily, there was no sex going on, as that tengu woman had insinuated. Still, that likely would have been easier to explain than what was actually happening. Patchouli stood on the edge of the veranda, her arms crossed. She wasn't wearing the weird Hakurei outfit, but rather her normal clothing. Open in her hand was a large grimoire that could only have come from her library. Below her, on the grass of the Shrine's exterior, stood a man. Meiling felt her face heat up slightly because she knew the man. She'd just seen him in a book, a fact that was much worse than it sounded. And worse, he was just as much her type in reality as he was in the book. She took a second to run through some more tai chi techniques to clear her mind, and then she stepped forward.