/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I couldn't see quite as well as her. Even the peach couldn't put my eyesight at that of a youkai, but I frowned and squinted regardless. "Yorigami Tourists has our full support, and you'll be safe the entire time! So, Miss - What's your name?" Something I couldn't quite hear. "Miss Kurodani, if you'd just come with us, we'll sort out your payment right now!" That, I could hear, and I turned to Yamame, who was staring with her mouth open.

"Buh." She intelligently said. Was it one of her sisters. "Uh. Um. They'd not be naïve enough to..." She paled a little. "Oh..." And then she grabbed my hand and dragged me off into the crowd. Not wanting to get trampled underneath a bunch of oni or whatever else was down here, I made sure to keep a tight grip. "Nai!" Yamame shouted, pushing through to the front of the crowd despite the shouted protests. "Nai, come back here this instant!"

And there she was, the smallest of the Kurodani family. Nai, who'd clearly received a fright when she'd heard Yamame's voice, because she'd already raised her hands in front of her chest and looked a little worried. "B-Big sister!?" She said in confusion as we finally broke through the crowds to where Nai was standing next to Jo'on. "I-I thought you were on the surface!"

"I was, and now I'm here. Bloody good timing, too." Yamame looked at Jo'on, who had an annoyed look on her face. "Sorry, Miss Yorigami, but something's come up. I'm afraid my sister won't be able to come on your tour today."

"Hey, lady!" Shion's voice sounded as she drifted slowly over to hover at Jo'on's back. "Don't try and cheat us out of a fair sale!" She looked a little less listless now. "We sold her on the tour fair and square!"

"Yeah?" Yamame put her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm her big sister and I say she's not going!" Yamame leaned in to whisper quietly. "You know, I remember when you two were throwing that oil stuff around and claiming you were rich. I'm not about to let a miser like you cheat my sister out of her money."

"A miser?" Shion repeated, and suddenly I felt an overwhelming urge to back away. "A miser!?" She shouted, and her body suddenly seemed to alight, blue fire surrounding her. "How dare you!? We're doing our best to escape our deprived lifestyle and you call us misers!? Shut up!" She was shaking her fist at Yamame now. "Who cares if it's dangerous or expensive or whatever!? We're doing our best here!"

Jo'on, standing next to her, rubbed her head and began to fish around in her pockets. "Well, if you've upset my big sis, then I've got no choice but to throw down. I'm sure you can understand defending your family, Kurodani." She pulled several rings from her pockets, slipping them onto her fingers. Each was a different colour and a different shape, but somehow, I expected that they were not delicate. Now a little concerned, I looked over at Yamame, who was staring back at the Yorigami sisters with grim determination. "Don't think about backing out now, you hear? There's a whole crowd watching. Isn't this nice? There's two of you and there's two of us." Yamame's eyes widened slightly, and she looked at me. I looked in the direction she was looking, saw no one, then looked back at her. Me? I pointed at my own chest. I wasn't a fighter! And worse, the crowd that had been watching the presentation, which was still mostly oni, were starting to look very interested in the prospect of a fight.

"Okay." Yamame whispered to me. "You're not getting out of this without fighting. I'm sorry, but if you back down in front of that lot," She indicated the crowd of oni, "Any reputation you could have had is finished. Luckily, you're not fighting an oni, and she probably knows just as well as you do that you're not as durable as some. Sorry for, um, getting you caught up in this." I mumbled an agreement and told her to make it up to me later. "Shush, you. Okay, take a deep breath."

"Oi, you two done flirting?" Jo'on called, the rings now settled on her fingers and looking like they were very heavy. "I'd like to wrap this up in time to get a few sales in."

"Nai, get out of the way." Yamame muttered.

"But Big Sister, I can fi-!" Nai insisted, but even I could tell that she was tiny and definitely not strong enough to fight someone with makeshift knuckledusters.

"No, Nai! Do as your big sister tells you!" Nai, never one to remain defiant against Yamame, only held for a second or two before backing away. "Okay, um...I really hope you had some sort of martial arts training with Miss Ibaraki. Remember to clench your jaw. I've seen enough fights between oni to know what happens if you don't. Protect your face and upper body and...Um, try not to get beaten up too bad. I don't think she'll go too far."