/jp/ - Otaku Culture

For the second time today, Patchouli asked that question. "What...Means life? To you, I mean? What evokes life in your mind?" She didn't know what kind of answer she'd get from Yamame. She didn't know what answer she needed either.

But Yamame surprised her by breaking into a bit of a giggle. "My, that's a rather loaded question, hmm?" It had been, and Patchouli almost felt like retracting it. This strange familiarity was getting the best of her. "If I had to say, then..." She trailed off for a moment, and then strode around to regard the family portrait. Her spider limbs reached out, and she gently caressed the still, smiling face of her husband. "I think love is the greatest proof that we are alive, Patchouli."

"...Is that so...?" Patchouli murmured, watching silently. The warmth in the spider's eyes was unmistakeable.

"Yes. I think that the love we have for someone else is possibly the greatest force in the world." Yamame looked over at her and Patchouli could practically feel the fondness for the life she'd lived with her husband radiating off of her. "When my human passed on, I was filled with grief, but..." She absent-mindedly rubbed her left hand. A ring adorned it, and Patchouli should have spotted it sooner. A wedding ring. She'd never stopped wearing it. "Grief is just love. Love that has nowhere to go. And while I cannot give him the love I wish I could anymore, I can still give it to my family."

And...Damn it all, Patchouli found that idea was burrowing into her mind. "...I see. Thank you." She just barely nodded. She was still holding the claws that Yamame had given her, so she hurried about getting them into her bag before she could be drawn into any overwhelming emotions. Then, she quickly took her seat once more and sipped at her tea until she didn't feel the same emotional intensity. If she'd activated one of her detection spells, she'd probably have been blinded by the strength of Yamame Kurodani's love. "I have something rather lighter to speak to you about, too."

"Oh?" Yamame's spider limbs snagged her tea cup and passed it to her human hand. "And what would that be?"

"A job offer."

Yamame's eyebrows raised slightly and a very different sort of smile crossed her face. This one was somewhat...Predatory. "A job offer, hmm? Well, my sisters are busy with that festival for the moment, but do tell me all of the details."

Patchouli paused for a moment. How much to reveal? Obviously, not everything. In fact, not much at all. "The Scarlet Devil Mansion's library is to be remodelled in its entirety." In the time since the blast had levelled the place, Patchouli had worked out her ideas more thoroughly. She did want the library to be located lower, and she wanted it to be more vertical. Extending it horizontally once construction was done was easy enough with Sakuya's abilities, but Sakuya couldn't add a whole additional floor to the place by herself. "I have some requirements, but I am willing to leave a large amount of the physical work to you and yours." Of course, it would be up to Patchouli to add all of the magic that the blast had destroyed back. Yamame's eyes and body language gave nothing away, but Patchouli knew exactly what she was thinking. Fortunately, Remi had more money than she knew what to do with. "Money is no object."

And Yamame's eyes lit up. "Ah, that's lovely to hear! My, my, I think I'm rather interested." She leaned forward. "I'll have to come by the mansion. See what I'm working with." Patchouli nodded silently. "Though, we're busy at the present moment. We most likely wouldn't be able to get to work until...Hmm, after the Solstice?"

Patchouli nodded. "After the Solstice should be fine." She hoped. No, she believed. Things would be fine. She'd succeed in getting Sekai out of the ruins of the HSE, and she wouldn't lose anyone. "I fear I've acquired some of your husband's luck in recent times." What had possessed her to say that? "Coincidences..." The library had been destroyed, and then Patchouli just so happened to need to speak to Yamame Kurodani. And she'd even come in person. She'd just managed to catch a time when Yamame was able to come and speak with her.

Yamame's smile grew, and she just stifled a laugh. "In a different time, I think you and my husband would have gotten along well." She finally said with eyes full of mirth. Patchouli wondered about that. Was that why she was struggling so much here? Things bleeding over? "Okay. Either I'll be up, or I'll send someone over to the mansion soon. Just, uh, for preliminary stuff. We'll see where we need to go from there. And then, after the Solstice, we'll get to work. How do you feel about foul-mouthed redheaded- Actually, er, no, never mind." She smiled sweetly. "I'll work out how much the Scarlet Devil Mansion will owe the house of Kurodani." Patchouli felt a vague chill wash over her and hoped that Yamame felt like being generous. Well, hopefully Remi wouldn't mind.

I looked over at Yamame, and saw that she'd actually blushed slightly at the praise, which didn't give me high hopes for her not becoming one of Lady Hecatia's worshippers. "U-Um, yes..." She had now moved behind me and seemed to be using me as a shield so Lady Hecatia couldn't see how pleased she was with the compliment. "Well, I didn't know that she was responsible for the Hell t-shirts, either. They're even becoming popular in the Old City."

I remembered the one that the youkai living in my house, Chiyari had been wearing. Honestly, they were growing on me. I'd thought that Lady Hecatia's was strange when I'd first met her, too. Maybe I just wasn't built to understand high fashion. "Well, I'd like to get them popular in the rest of Gensokyo, too, so I'm definitely going to be making use of Miss Kurodani's talents, if she'll have me."

"A-Ah, I mean..." Yamame trailed off for a moment, then swallowed noisily. "I'll have to make an invoice." She said in her most business-like voice. I couldn't help but think that there was a hint of excitement under it.

"Totally fine." Lady Hecatia said with a wide smile. "Yep, yep, I expect that we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future." She eyed me as she got to her feet. "I forgot to ask - Crossroads?" She asked me, in a much quieter voice, though Yamame could still hear it. I looked up at her and nodded. Road successfully crossed, I said, and Lady Hecatia's smile grew wider. "Glad to hear it. It's always good to get some council in those situations, isn't it?" I nodded again. "Well, it seems you have your hands full, so I'd better leave you here." She reached out and took Yamame's free hand, and had just begun to raise it to her lips when she stopped and let go, leaving Yamame holding her hand in the air and looking perplexed. "Ah, not Greece..." Lady Hecatia murmured to herself, shaking her head. Instead, she bowed in a way that made me wonder if she had familiarity with the custom, then stepped back toward the door. At the last moment, she picked up her head, which was set on top of the cabinet next to the door, and the Earth orb of the three orbs that floated around her from chains anchored to the collar around her neck settled into the groove on the top. "Well, I'll take my leave. I'm totally happy that you had me."

"Y-Yes, well, come back soon?" Yamame said, only now managing to withdraw her hand from where it was still hanging in mid-air. Lady Hecatia didn't waste any time, and was gone in moments, the door shutting gently behind her. "That was a strange ending." She finally remarked. "She's never done that before." I shrugged, then again begged Yamame to free me from the blankets. To punctuate this, I tried to shake them off, thrashing about slightly in an attempt to get my arms free.